mmm-yoso – Page 548 – As in, yoso-silly, yoso-hungry, yoso-full, or best of all; mmm-delici-yoso!!!!! A San Diego based food and travel blog. An Ex-Pat Kama'aina and Friends explore food, restaurants, and travel from San Diego and points beyond.

Shaka Hawaiian BBQ – A Rice-aholic Relapse

May 3, 2006 mmm-yoso Local Kine Stuffs in San Diego, Plate Lunch

*** Shaka Hawaiian BBQ is now called "Mahina’s"

Now I must admit that I’ve finally fallen off the wagon…..you see we’ve been trying to cut down on our rice consumption. First we cut down our portion sizes, which all led to our going several meals without rice. Now for the Missus, this was not a substantial change. She hails from Northern China, where dough is king. But for yours truly, born and raised on white rice, it was a very significant change. On a normal day, it wouldn’t have been unusual for me to have rice three times a day…..but that has all changed. Call it "Chinese mind control" if you will( courtesy of the Missus), but whatever the reason it has worked. Until now…….

It all started with a record 6 days without rice. We began on our last day in Rowland Heights, and Dim Sum at Happy Harbor, followed by several days of salads(yep you heard right) for lunch and sandwiches for dinner, followed by a couple of days of steamed buns and Xiao Long Bao. By about the fourth day I felt a bit odd, as if a piece of "me" was missing (it was probably the "mi fan"). On the fifth day I was just craving rice, but doing my best to fight it off. Until on the sixth day, some steamed buns in the microwave, I was going over my old Emails. Now one of the really great things about having this little ol’ food blog is that I get recommendations all the time. So I reread an Email about a new "Hawaiian BBQ" in Pacific Beach sent a few months back by Campy, followed by one by Mizducky. A few Emails past that is one from Howie mentioning the same Hawaiian BBQ. Aargh! What’s a rice starved "local boy" to do?

So I drove with a severe sense of urgency down Garnet avenue. All the while thinking of Rice! Rice Hash! Rice Gravy! Rice A La King! Gallons of Rice Soup!(guess where I stole this from) And arrived at the corner Garnet and Fanuel. You really can’t miss the sign:

Nor the very bright storefront. Is orange the new "in" color, or is it because manufacturers are overstocked? It seems that every other restaurant I’ve been in recently has been orange.

Now nothing against the colors, but if I had used these during finger painting class, I would’ve gotten an ‘F’. That said, the small interior of the restaurant was very clean, and ORANGE……

By the time I made it to the counter, my mouth practically foaming, I almost fainted…..the first thing I saw were the "Atkin’s Low Carb Plates"!($4.99 mini/$6.99regular) By this time I was so starved for rice that I felt any protein served on my plate would be like a garnish(think parsley sprigs) for my RIIICE! So I asked the very nice Young Man at the counter about something called a "Shaka Pac" and a "Shaka Bento", and he proceeded to go over the contents, but he left out one thing. "Does it have RICE, man! Lot’s of RICE!" "Ummm, yes, of course, unless you don’t want…" "NOOOO, NO, I’ll take it!"

I got the Shaka Pac($7.99):

So how was it? Well the rice was delicious! Oh, the other stuff? Well this "bento-like" plate had two pieces of butterflied pieces of shrimp coated with panko then deep-fried and lightly salted. Very good, not oily, light, and crunchy. Alas, the BBQ Chicken, was much the same as most of these Hawaiian BBQ joints make them nowadays. That would be under marinated, tough, and relatively bland. Where’s the marinade, bruddah??? The BBQ Ribs, were surprisingly soft and tender, though again not marinated enough. Sufficient food for the price, though it sure won’t make me forget about a Zip Pac or a Surf Pac.

I also ordered a Mini Chicken Cutlet($4.99):

First off, I thought the portion of rice was kinda small – though it could’ve been my rice withdrawals "speaking". Totally routine breaded chicken, with "insta-gravy", though the gravy did have enough salt and pepper in it. The macaroni salad tasted almost exactly like the version I had at Hawaiian Express BBQ except with a bit more mayo. Terrible, too much pickle juice, not enough mayo, just not enough. I did think the portion size was on the small side.

Shaka Hawaiian BBQ along with Lau Lau, Kalua Pork, Chili with Rice, and Loco Moco, also serves up a few other interesting items; such as a "Shaka Moco", basically a Loco Moco with Spam and Portuguese Sausage and Pineapple Chicken (I’ll pass).

One last note on the service. Kudo’s to the Young Man working the counter, he’s fantastic. He would follow up with every table to make sure that they enjoyed their food. I’m sure it made everything taste better. When he thought I’d been waiting too long for my take-out, he came on up to me with a cup and asked me if I wanted something to drink. Just think if I were to add caffeine to my already severely carb depleted state? (He even asked if I wanted a Hawaiian Sun drink)But I thought it was a nice gesture, what a great Kid!

So, I guess I’ve fallen off the wagon…and staying there. Though I did once go something like 4 weeks in Columbus, Georgia without rice(I finally went to a bad Chinese Restaurant, and they served Uncle Ben’s…….), I don’t plan too many riceless days.

Hey, pssssst:

Anyone?

Shaka Hawaiian BBQ
1315 Garnet Ave
San Diego, CA 92109

also

Grossmont Shopping Center Food Court
5500 Grossmont Center Drive
La Mesa, CA 91942

El Borrego Restaurant

May 1, 2006 mmm-yoso Mexican Restaurants

**** As of 12/28/2025 El Borrego has sadly closed

A few months ago we noticed a new restaurant opening on El Cajon Boulevard. You really couldn’t miss the colorful paint and signs. And finally this past weekend we made our way to El Borrego Restaurant.

And the clean and bright interior was just as colorful as the exterior.

As were brought our menus, a smiling (and very tall) Young Lady came over to our table, and welcomed us. She also asked us “Do you like lamb?” When we answered with a very positive “yes”, she said, “Then I think you’ll like us!” She then proceeded to go over the one page menu, that featured, what else? Lamb! The Young Lady whose name was Rodnia explained that Borrego style Barbacoa was the specialty of the house. She explained that the standard Barbacoa was lamb steamed in a “vaporera”. We placed our orders and soon enough our Tamarindo and Horchata arrived along with the “condiments” for our order:

The condiments were accompanied by a salsa verde, and a red salsa. Rodnia also gave us a taste of the Lamb Broth:

A nice and hearty dark brown broth, full of flavor. Strips of Barbacoa, garbanzo beans, and rice dotted the consomme’. With a squeeze of lime this was very tasty, and really made us look forward to our food which arrived in a few minutes.

First to arrive was the Mixiote($10).

This seemed to be a seasoned Lamb Leg wrapped in a parchment like paper (papel de mixiote?). We stripped off pieces of lamb and proceeded to make tacos with the fresh tortillas and condiments.

First off, we noticed that every table used the salt shaker provided and took this to be the “norm”. The salt was needed because, though the lamb was rubbed with seasoning, the meat didn’t seem to have been salted. As good as the Mixiote looked, we both thought that the “rub” took away all the “wildness” from the lamb. I also found out that the salsa verde had quite a bit of “zip” to it.

We also ordered a half pound of Barbacoa($9).

Now with a touch of salt, these made wonderful tacos. The combination of flavors and textures that the onion, cilantro, tortilla, and lamb provided made for a very rich and tasty taco. I showed extreme restraint by only eating 6 of these.

We enjoyed our meal enough to ensure that we’ll be back. The only item we really didn’t care much for were the tortillas, very mushy and bland, but at least they were fresh.

The people at El Borrego were very nice and friendly, they seemed intent on making sure that we enjoyed meal, and obviously took great pride in the food they served, shown by the amount of time they took in explaining each dish in detail(Of course we kind of stood out). In this day and age when it seems that many restaurants just want to serve you food, really not caring how you enjoyed it, and then get you out the door, the amount of pride that Rodnia and the others at El Borrego have in what they serve was refreshing. I think I’ll have a large bowl of the Lamb Soup($3.75), and a Nopal Salad($1.50) next time, along with the barbacoa of course.

El Borrego Restaurant
4280 El Cajon Boulevard
San Diego, CA 92115

Yoso-silly – The Comment of the Week(And it’s only Monday)

May 1, 2006 mmm-yoso yoso-silly

Since I started this blog in May of last year. I’ve noticed that as "hits" increase, so do the "flame" emails(some of which I can’t even bring myself to post), the spam, or spam-like comments, and the various trollish comments.

Here’s an interesting comment of my post on Porkyland:

"Doesnt it seem funny that these reviews came rapid fire one after another….. As if an internal person was writing them back to back. Porkyland is ok, but I doubt San Diegans are hammering away at their keyboards over it. Stop using such obvious marketing strategies. They make you look desperate."

Hmmmmm, this was so very interesting that I wanted to make sure to post it.

I mean it’s a masterpiece, isn’t it? A touch of cynicism, sarcasm, even a bit of high-handed condescending attitude……

Most people that know me; and I’ve had the pleasure of meeting several of you, understand that I’m a pretty plain-spoken, no-nonsense, and overall, a pretty straight forward individual. So naturally, this oh-so-eloquent and intelligent comment left me in awe!

This individual(troll? trollette?) named "Michelle", worked so hard to sound intelligent, superior, and basically "high-mucka-mucka", that She, He, or It, forgot that one can prepost in Typepad. Also, what the heck is "an internal person", I guess it’s the opposite of "an external person"? Sorry, I’m really not that great at pseudo-existentialistic jargon. "Michelle" also underestimates Our ablility to try new restaurants, new food, old restaurants, and find grocers and restaurants scattered all over San Diego, and points beyond. tsk-tsk….

"Stop using such obvious marketing strategies." So what am I marketing, specifically? Now this one really hurt; I go out of my way to Not put advertising on my blog(except for Amazon, cause I use it all the time). I pay my way completely, and I also pay $149 a year to Typepad, for the sheer pleasure of doing this. I’d still do it, if no one ever read it but the Missus and Myself. I also, never, ever, call my entries "reviews", though many do define it as such. It’s just a "food blog", and will always be such. Sort of a "what we ate for breakfast/lunch/dinner" thing. If anything qualifies as the veritable Pete Wells "cheese sandwich" it’s mmm-yoso!!! And I think most of you "get it."

You know, in the end, I’m not the one who sounds desperate(for attention). Perhaps it’s a cry for help?

Thanks for indulging me(yet again), but I thought this comment was so very funny!

The Xiao Long Bao Experiment

April 30, 2006 mmm-yoso Cooking, Recipes

I must admit, I’m guilty…..I adore Xiao Long Bao, those wonderful Shanghai style soup dumplings. So here’s an batch of Xiao Long Bao:

Believe it or not, it’s from our kitchen. A few weeks ago, I planted a little seed in the Missus’s mind. One of the sites that I visit quite often is eatingchinese.org, and Gary Soup does an excellent job of finding interesting links and articles on Chinese food. On the site is a link to a Xiao Long Bao Tutorial. I mentioned this to the Missus, who immediately said "uh-uh, no way, don’t know nothin’ about making Xiao Long Bao." But understanding that "dough" and "dumplings" are so basically entrenched in the Missus’s fate, a few weeks later she asked me to print out the Xiao Long Bao recipe….and we were on our way.

So what follows is a very "broad" interpretation of that recipe. There are other recipes out there, but we decided to use the Chinese recipe as a guide. Again, it was just a guide. I’ll be documenting what we did, and what the results were. It was quite "interesting".

There are many variations on the "soup" for soup dumplings. Some use chicken feet, pork "skin", or other items. We chose Pig’s feet. There was also an item in the recipe to "congeal" the soup. The Missus didn’t quite know what it was, but later with some help, we determined it was Agar-agar.

So on Friday we made "aspic".

Pig’s Feet (Hock) Aspic:
2 Pork Hock/Leg(Pig’s Feet)
8 Cups Water
4 Stalks Green Onion(bruised and roots removed)
2 3" Fingers of Ginger Smashed
1/2 Cup Shaoxing (Chinese cooking wine)
White Pepper
Salt
2 Tb Agar Agar

1 – Set a pot of water to boil.
2 – Once boiling, place pig’s feet quickly in the water for 10-15 seconds to allow removal of "scum" on pigs feet.
3 – Rinse and scrub well.
4 – Place in pressure cooker and cover with water. In this case 8 cups.
5 – Add greens onions, ginger, Shaoxing, and white pepper to liquid.
6 – Close pressure cooker and bring to "high heat", once high heat is attained, lower temp to maintain high pressure for 45 minutes.(Approx a two hour simmer on a conventional stove) After 45 minutes let the pressure drop normally for 15 minutes, then quick-release pressure. The meat should just fall away from the bone.

7 – Remove all large remaining portions of pork then strain.

8 – Place broth into a large pot or "wok" and defat. Bring broth to a simmer and add agar-agar. To add agar-agar first get a ladle of broth and add agar powder and start mixing. Slowly lower agar into broth and gently mix until fully incorporated(no "glops" or lumps).
9 – Remove from heat.
10 – Cool, then cover and refrigerate.

Day 2:

So now you’ve woken and are totally "psyched" about making some Xiao Long Bao!

So while the Missus was making the "dough", I made the Ginger-Scallion Water from the recipe.

Ginger Scallion Water:
5 Stalks Green Onion
2 4" pieces of ginger chopped into 1/2" slices
2 Cups Water

1 – Placed ingredients in blender.
2 – Pulse until all ingredients are "chopped"
3 – Strain and place water aside.

The dough? Well, I’m sorry, but the Missus does it all by "feel". What she can tell me is that according to the instructions, she used a combination of high-gluten flour and all-purpose flour, along with cold water. She then kneaded until it formed a "dough" and no longer stuck to your hand. Then allow the dough to rest for 20 minutes.

While the dough was resting we made the filling:

The Filling:

1 Lb of Ground Pork
3 Tsp Salt
6 Tsp Sugar
4 Tsp Soy Sauce
White Pepper
Ginger Scallion Water
1 Tsp Sesame Oil
Aspic
1 Egg Yolk

1 – Combine Ground Pork, Pepper, Salt and Sugar (twice the amount of sugar then salt), and Soy Sauce.
2 – Stir Pork mixture in one direction while adding Ginger Scallion water until the filling is saturated and achieves a "pasty" texture.

3 – Remove the aspic from the refrigerator and "unmold". Slice the jell into small cubes.

4 – Make sure the cubes are small – we also added egg yolk to bind.

4 – Mix equal amounts of aspic and pork filling together.

I then left it to the Missus to roll out the dough and form the dumplings. And boy did I feel for Her. You see, in order to form the dumplings, the dough had to be "stiff", to the point it was really difficult for Her to roll out.

When we had enough, I started steaming them.

I thought they looked great, and they also stood up to the heat well.

So what did we learn? Well first of all, I never thought I’d ever say this, but there was too much soup, so we need to adjust the ratio. Also, I don’t think we needed as much Agar, there was enough gelatin in the pig’s feet, we would only need about maybe 1/2 tsp. The Missus was disappointed in her inability to get the dough thin enough, and I felt for her; the dough was so "stiff" and hard to roll out. We’ll work out the kinks in the future. She thought the dough was much too thick, so maybe this is where we get a pasta maker……

I still managed to eat 2 dozen. The filling was tasty. And we had alot of fun making this.

Huo Guo at Ba Ren

April 29, 2006 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants

I almost feel guilty about doing this post. I mean, I feel like I’ve done Ba Ren to death. But after an average experience at Kingswood, and a fairly chilly(by San Diego standards) April morning we decided to drop by Ba Ren for "Yuan Yang Guo", the "split" Hot Pot.

The Hot Pot is very hard to find on the menu at Ba Ren, so if you don’t speak Mandarin, this is what I suggest: Walk to the counter where the menus are, and pick up the Hot Pot order sheet and bring it to your table.

There are 3 broths available, the clear broth, the spicy, and one with pickled vegetables(we’ve never tried this). And you check off the ingredients for your hot pot. Meats range from frog legs to shrimp. And vegetables from Napa Cabbage to Baby Bok Choy.

Next your "condiments/sauces" arrive:

Clockwise from the top; fermented bean curd, sesame paste, fermented shrimp paste, and our favorite, leek sauce. The Missus uses almost half the container of Leek Sauce! I just use a touch of fermented shrimp paste with my leek sauce.

A portable stove is brought to the table along with a pot that has a divider in the middle. One side holds a "clear" broth, loaded with various herbs and spices.

The other side contains a red, spicy broth.

Though the broth looks really spicy, I didn’t think it was especially "hot". The stove is turned on, and all of the ingredients starts arriving.

Here’s a round-up:

2 Orders of Tofu – just regular tofu, not frozen. Still very good in both broths.

Vermicelli noodles, kind of hard to keep track of in the broth. So the strategy is to place it in your "basket" first, then lower into the broth:

The fish (flounder) is pre-marinated with corn starch and wine, and will stay moist and intact when placed in the broth. So tasty, this one belongs in the clear broth.

Golden (Enoki) Mushrooms:

Spinach:

Napa Cabbage. Here’s a hint for the Napa, let them cook for a while, they will end up soaking in all the flavor.

2 Types of Lamb – first the "Fatty" Lamb:

The the "regular" Lamb. I enjoyed the regular lamb more, the fat on the fatty lamb became rather tough after cooking. The lamb tastes great in the spicy broth.

Finally, the "premium" beef. We didn’t enjoy this as much as the Beef from Kingswood, I thought it was cut too thick.

Whew, this was alot of food. Both broths were excellent.

When we had eaten our fill, we placed everything in the broths to cook. Once that was done, we turn off the heat and let all the herbs sink to the bottom, and ladle out some "soup" to finish.

For a restaurant that doesn’t specialize in Huo Guo, that Hot Pot here is very good.

Also, one final note – the base for the MalaGuo is available for purchase if you want to make your own spicy hot pot at home. We’ve done it before, and it can be fun. Maybe we’ll do it in the future for a post.

Ba Ren
4957 Diane Ave
San Diego, CA 92117

The Mystery “Huo Guo” Contest

April 26, 2006 mmm-yoso yoso-silly

*** Here’s the five winners:

1 – Liver Bomb
2 – Becky
3 – Calvin
4 – Happy
5 – Robert

I’ll get you GC’s out next week.

Oh, what’s the restaurant – believe it or not it’s Ba Ren. A report is upcoming.

I’ve been getting into the habit of posting "incomplete" entries recently, which is just totally unacceptable by my standards, and for this I humbly apologize. In order to "teach myself a lesson", I though I’d do a little contest.

Someone emailed me recently after our visit to Kingswood, lamenting the fact that there was no decent "Huo Guo"(Hot Pot) in San Diego. Well, we think that you can get a good Yue Yang Guo in San Diego, and here’s the proof:

So where is this from? Well, that’s the fun part…..you tell me! The first 5 unique(1 IP address per) persons to Email(not comment – but Email) me the restaurant here in San Diego that serves up this herbaceous Hot Pot, will get their choice of a $5(US) Starbucks or Peet’s gift card. (Don’t shoot me DCCF, ok – I needed something I could mail anybody)

So just email me your guess and preference of Starbucks or Peet’s card, and if you are one of the first 5 correct guesses, I’ll send you a reply email asking for a name and mailing address(so no bogus Email addresses this time). Easy enough, right?

Bonus points for you(just points…) if you know what that is above. And here’s some supporting photographic evidence.

I’ll reveal the restaurant tomorrow, along with the 5 winners(I’ll use your "handle", in case you’re shy…..).

Good Luck!!!

Golden City Part 3 of 3 – Dinner and Coming Full Circle

April 25, 2006 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants

**** Golden City has closed

*** As of July, 2006 Golden City is under new Ownership – posts on the “New” Golden City, can be found here and here.

Waaay back in September of last year Golden City Chinese Restaurant reopened in a new location. At first I was over-joyed at having one of my favorite inexpensive Chinese Restaurants open their doors again. I was somewhat embarrassed at being the first customer at the new locale. And as is somewhat normal for any new restaurant, the food was a bit of a let down. About a month later the Missus and I had sampled the late supper specials in Part II. Though the prices were still very reasonable, the food really was just a “shadow of it’s former self.”

So, a few months back the Missus and I decided to drop by Golden City and sample a few dishes from the “regular” Dinner menu. We started with the Fish, Preserved Egg, and Cilantro Soup($8.95):

We’ve had this soup before, and when it’s made well, the clear broth is well flavored and comforting, with the cilantro adding a very clean taste. On this occasion, the soup was on the weak side, though the fish was very moist and tender. There wasn’t very much preserved egg in the soup. We were slightly disappointed at this dish.

The Peking Duck($18.00 – 2 courses):

The Peking Duck at Golden City is priced right. And though the duck was not as high in quality and flavor as the $18 Peking Duck Special at Pearl, an everyday price of eighteen bucks isn’t bad. The buns and duck were a bit on the dry side. What the missus really wants is the minced duck meat with lettuce. She enjoys that much more then the duck skin. Duck meat is stir fried with water chestnut and other items, and provides a nice rich dish when wrapped with lettuce. Whatever we take home usually ends up in a fried rice the next day.

I had intended to end the post here. But I thought it would be fun to try the exact same dish as my first visit again to see if the kitchen had now hit stride. On entering, I noticed that some of the furniture had been moved around.

I again ordered the Pork Chop with Spicy Salt($6.25 – prices had gone up 30 cents), that started with the Hot and Sour soup:

I’ve always enjoyed the Hot and Sour soup at Golden City, but today it tasted a bit off. I also noticed frozen carrots, and some corn(egad!) in the soup as filler.

The Pork Chop arrived a few minutes later, along with the same lousy egg roll.

This time the Pork Chop was fried to a nice crisp state with a moist interior. The garlic wasn’t burnt and overall this was a pleasant dish, a definite improvement over my first visit.

Though we still think that Golden City is a mere shadow of it’s previous “self”, the prices(especially the late supper menu) are fairly reasonable, and the service has always been good. Golden City is also one of the few restaurants open until midnight in the area.

Part I of this post can be found here.

Part II can be found here.

Golden City Restaurant
5375 Kearny Villa Rd.
San Diego, CA 92123

Open Daily 11am – Midnight

29th Annual Cambodian New Year Festival

April 24, 2006 mmm-yoso Festivals & Events

Being fans of various food festivals and events the Missus and I always check the California Community Connections San Diego Food & Festival Events listing. We are pretty much disappointed to know that San Diego doesn’t have a Thai New Year, or Songkran Festival. But the good thing is that there is a 4 – day Cambodian New Year Festival.

Cambodian New Year is also celebrated during the same period of time as Thai New Year. The San Diego Cambodian New Year Festival is held at the Colina Del Sol Community Park, and turns the normally somewhat seedy park located at 52nd Street and Orange Avenue into a wonderful family experience.

And of course there’s food! Normally 8-10 booths. We did get our share of food, starting with our favorite; Papaya Salad.

Here’s the booth that made our favorite Papaya Salad:

One of the benefits of getting to the event a bit early (1030 start), meant that we were able to chat with the vendors. This Young Lady was so very nice and friendly, and wanted to make sure She made your salad just right.

The prices were $3 for a small salad, $5 for a large. You can guess which we bought. All of the Papaya Salad vendors also gave you a taste of your completed salad to make sure that it was created to your satisfaction. Try and get that at the Funnel Cake booth…….. We scarfed up this salad so fast, there are no photos, but let me assure you it had a very balance of salty(fish sauce), sour(lime), and sweet(sugar). So good that we made sure to get another order as we were leaving. We also got some chicken skewers for $1, that were fairly bland, but still good for the price.

We managed to get several versions of Papaya Salad:

The prices were consistent at each booth, and all of the vendors asked you to check the flavoring of the Papaya Salads they made. And each Papaya Salad was different.

This booth served up Thai and Laotian style food:

And I’m sure I’ve seen them at a Farmer’s Market somewhere. But I’m pretty sure they didn’t serve up the great looking Pork Larb on display here. ($5.00 for all Larb, $3.00 over rice)

I’ve found that Pork Larb has more flavor and is more moist then Beef Larb. This version also had a very generous amount of herbs and onions.

I would have enjoyed it a bit more if the bitter pork liver had been omitted, but this was a pretty good Laab.

At this point, we decided that all of my picture taking was slowing down the whole process, so the Missus decided to "charge forward". And picked up some Green Mango:

I grew up eating Green Mango with Shoyu and Sugar; and this was pretty close with a fish sauce, chili, and sugar dip. The Missus was absolutely taken with this.

She also got some Shaved Ice from this booth:

The Kids manning the booth took their job seriously and didn’t fool around. They were quite impressive, and really worked efficiently as a team.

By this point it was starting to get crowded, and it was time to leave. Here are a few more photos:

If you plan to attend(and we suggest you do), try to find parking on the street adjacent to the park. Parking in the park’s lot is free-form, and is pretty cramped. You won’t regret attending this festival, you’ll find that it is much more friendly and laid-back then most festivals of this type. And the food is pretty good as well.

Cambodian New Years Festival

Usually between April 13th though 16th every year.

Saigon on Fifth

April 23, 2006 mmm-yoso Pho, Vietnamese Restaurants

**** Saigon on Fifth has closed

You know how sometimes you drive past a locale, noticing the new signage, making a mental note to make sure to try the location out….then immediately forgetting about it? Well, this is what happened with Saigon on Fifth.

Until Calvin sent me an Email mentioning His visit to Saigon on Fifth. Geez, (immediate slap to the head) how could I have forgotten. The location on the corner (sort of) University and Fifth has been a kiss of death for various restaurants. First a Rubio's went down in flames, then a pizza joint called Me N' Ed's lasted a few years. Since our office is within walking distance I decided to head over for lunch on a recent afternoon.

I walked in and, oh my, the decor! I must say, I've never been in a Vietnamese Restaurant that looked quite like this. Very nice and upscale, though I must say that the first thought that entered my mind was "well, somebody has to pay for all of this….."

I looked at the menu, and knew instantly who pays for all of this………guess?

The very nice Server took my order, and soon enough my food arrived, starting with the Spring Rolls ($5.95):

Now I expected maybe a bit more shrimp, or a really refined spring roll, but these were very small, and there were only two small "rolls". There was a bit more pork then usual, but because the rolls were kind of short on vermicelli and lettuce, the pork made the rolls seem very dry. I can get better from Vien Dong market for like 3 bucks for 3.

Now, I had also wanted some nice strong Vietnamese Coffee, but was told they didn't serve coffee, which was fine with me. But just to illustrate the level of service(maybe a bit too attentive), they managed to brew me a nice strong cup of Vietnamese Coffee, which with a touch of condensed milk, really did hit the spot.

Just in time for my "Combination" Pho' ($7.95):

I had never thought that I'd see the day, 8 bucks for a bowl of Pho'! It arrived in a pretty cool, but kinda small "casserole" bowl bolted into a wooden frame. Style points for the presentation, and for being served piping hot, but minus points for the garnish, consisting of a slice of lemon(!!!), a small amount of bean sprouts, and the most pathetic looking sprig of basil I've ever been served. To be fair, I asked for, and was given more basil.

Also minus points for 3 tough, rubbery meatballs.

As well the too thickly cut, and semi tough meat. Also, the "combination" at Saigon on Fifth is meatballs and beef. So no tendon, no brisket, no tripe, nada! So safe……

The amount of noodles was about half of a usual bowl of Pho' as well. What was really interesting, was the broth. For a restaurant that seemed to want to "safely introduce" Vietnamese cuisine, the broth had quite a bit of oil. Enough to coat the back of my spoon! Other then the oil content, the broth was a medium to light Pho' broth with a mild anise flavor.

Let me say that the service was very good, though maybe a bit over-attentive, but that's to be expected at a new restaurant. Other individuals that have eaten items like the Lemongrass Chicken, and other items, have said that the dishes are good, though the portions small, and rather over-priced. Rather then to go into any more detail about my meal, I'll let you draw your own conclusions.

In fact, I think Calvin says it well: "The kind of dimly lit, classy place you could take your boss for something exotic without risk. Nothing funky, nothing chewy, nothing to offend your blue-haired aunt. Service is fawning, but they're still working out the bumps. Pho is rich, but so tame." Calvin should probably do the writing for this blog, he can describe the entire restaurant in less then a paragraph! Calvin, you da' man!!!

Saigon on Fifth
3900 5th Ave
San Diego, CA 92103

Road Trip: Happy Harbor Restaurant – Rowland Heights(Los Angeles)

April 19, 2006 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Dim Sum, Los Angeles County, Road Trip

A few months back I read Elmo’s post on Sea Harbor Restaurant on His wonderfully written Food Blog, Monster Munching. I even made to sure to stop by on a earlier visit, just to check it out and could not believe the crowd. A few months ago I heard that Sea Harbor had now become Happy Harbor, but that the Dim Sum remained pretty much the same. I emailed Elmo, and he confirmed that from He understood, Happy Harbor had retained the entire staff. So Happy Harbor became a "must try" on this trip.

We arrived before 10am and were silently "waved to" out table, and handed a picture menu and order sheet. The Dim Sum at Happy Harbor is done "menu style", so there was no jostling around, waiting around for carts "only-the-strong-and-hungry-will-survive-every-table-for-themselves" Dim Sum battles. Also, because the Dim Sum here is ordered off the menu, all Dim Sum strategy is thrown out the window. The key strategy being "timing", which is to plan your arrival early enough to beat the major crowds, but late enough so that the "good stuff" has already made it onto the carts. Arriving too early would often times mean that much of the "good stuff" would not have made it’s way onto the carts yet. None of that today for us, since we’re assured of getting whatever we wanted no matter how early we arrived.

Happyharbor02

There are some interesting menu choices at Happy Harbor(no Duck’s Tongue, though). Happy Harbor serves up what I call "New Style" (or Nuevo) Dim Sum, the sometimes innovative and interesting dishes that other popular Dim Sum places such as New Concept and Mission 261 now serve up. We placed our order and the server silently walked up, and picked up the order sheet and whisked it away. I could not get over how quiet the combination of sleepy looking customers and totally silent, stoic, Servers were. Somebody on another table sneezed, and I nearly jumped out of my skin. I turned to the Missus and told Her, "I feel like I’m having Dim Sum at the library", fully expecting to be "shushed" by some ruler wielding Spinster.

Soon enough, our dishes started arriving. The first item arriving were the Vermicelli Noodles with Taro and Duck($8.80). I thought it odd that the noodles were served before everything else:

Fried sticks of taro, and slices of duck stir fried with vermicelli, the taro providing a sometimes unexpected "chew" to the dish. Not a bad dish, not oily, though nothing really great about it.

Shrimp and Chive Dumpling:

The shrimp was very, very, fresh, having retained a wonderful mild crunch, and flavor slightly sweet and briny. I could have used a bit more chive, but call it my crude desire for a bit of "oomph". The dumpling wrappers were on the brittle side, though this was a perfectly fine dumpling. Not Earth-shattering, but good.

Shrimp Cheong Fun:

The Missus and I looked at this when it silently floated to our table, and the first thought in our collective minds was; "geez, it looks like the plastic food in the windows of ramen houses". The sweet soy sauce, was delivered on the side, which I thought was a very nice touch. The shrimp was again top notch, no overt gummy cornstarch texture and flavor. The noodle severely lacked "pull", I want my cheong fun to have some pull, and a bit of chewiness to it. This version tore too easy.

Xiao Long Bao:

The Missus enjoyed the Xiao Long Bao, though I thought there was too little soup, and too much meat. The flavors were very nice; sweet and rich porky goodness. I wish there was more broth. This was served with simple black vinegar on the side. I liked the thickness and chewiness of the wrappers; not too thin, not too thick.

"Shark Fin – Phoenix Eye" Dumpling:

This reminded me of Terry Malloy from On the Waterfront saying; "I coulda been a contender." And it truly would’ve been. First off, most "Shark Fin" dumplings, do not have real shark fin, bean thread or something similar is used. This baby had strands of Shark Fin on it, though this amount of shark fin would not really affect the dumpling much, it provided some nice "eye candy". Under the shark fin laces was a wonderfully sweet slice of scallop, below which was a fairly large amount of perfectly cooked(again!!!) and very fresh shrimp. Talk about delici-yoso!!! The wrappers were the problem, they were very gummy, and sticky, tearing and sticking to everything, it was impossible to remove them from the dish intact, thus the dumplings never made it to our mouth in one piece, but a series of bites which detracted from what would have been one of the best Dim Sum dishes I’d have ever had. It coulda been a contender……

Pan-Fried Spinach Bun with Chicken and Shrimp:

The most interesting looking dish we had all day. A spinach steamed bun, is pan fried. Dig the groovy green! I thought it rather strange to be served with sweet-sour sauce, but it did work! The bun was so nice and fluffy, and not too sweet, with the caramelizing providing a nice mild crunch. I really couldn’t taste spinach, but the filling of chicken and shrimp, though on the mild side, worked in conjunction with the sweet sour sauce. Go figure! These were very good.

And the grand finale, Szechuan Style Goose Liver Wontons ($16.80 for 12):

Silently brought to the table and served. I don’t know quite what to say, other then delici-yoso!!! Each wonton was comprised of large half slices of shrimp(yes, again), with two to three little slivers of powerfully rich goose liver. Anymore goose liver would have made them too rich to eat. The broth was a simple stock flavored with chili oil, and there was an interesting amount of Sichuan Peppercorn as well(the little black dots). So rich, we could only finish 3 wontons a piece.

The only thing I’d do differently would be to order the "French style" Goose wonton, instead of the Szechuan style. I think simpler, clear broth would be better next time, and there will be a next time!

All told our bill came to $48, and the noodles and wontons comprised half of the bill. But I’m not going to give up those wontons. As we left the restaurant, the noise level had picked up, since tables were starting to get filled. But the strange thing is, from walking into the restaurant, to the delivery of take-out containers, to paying our check, not a word had been uttered to us by any Employee at Happy Harbor…..I guess they must be happy beyond words??? All hail silent Dim Sum service, another first for me courtesy of Happy Harbor.

Happy Harbor Restaurant
1015 Nogales St
Rowland Heights, CA 91748

Here are some really lousy menu photos: