mmm-yoso!!!, a food blog, is being written by Cathy while Kirk and His Missus are vacationing.
Kirk wrote his first post about Hogetsu almost 19 years ago. His most recent post was in 2021. This Chula Vista storefront at the back of a strip mall has not changed in all this time.
Mr. and Mrs. Takeda, who opened Hogetsu in 1983, have retired and passed along their knowledge to a younger couple. The name, Hogetsu, was given by permission of the prefecture when the store opened. The name now must be retired. 
What's that in the top left corner?
They've added a neon sign! Modern times are coming…
Step inside: the display case is the same. Traditional flavors, shapes, fillings. Made with short grain, glutinous rice, pounded into a paste, the tea cakes here are the freshest you can find; I won't even purchase any mochi in grocery stores if I know I will soon be in Chula Vista.
There is always a good variety to choose from when I stop in, and everything is always fresh.
I have purchased the frozen Komochi so I can have a savory snack at home. The container is about one pound. The texture is similar to the suwama (chewy mochi).
Here are a few of my recent purchases. Yes, one day I was able to walk in and only order one coffee and one green tea-each were gentle flavored at first bite and ended up so flavorful at the end.
The new owners have been experimenting with the name change and did tell me that they have settled on Thank You Very Mochi and will be ordering signage soon. The Takeda tradition will continue.
Thank You Very Mochi 1210 Third Avenue Chula Vista 91911 (619) 422-6677 Open Wed-Sat 10a.m.-5 p.m.
Step inside, order, pay and your name will be called. There are 18 seats inside and tables out in front.
The Monte Cristo Breakfast sandwich ($14.99) is served with warm syrup and a side of fruit. 
Made with Boar's Head oven roasted ham, Havarti cheese, mustard and mayo on egg-dipped white bread which is pan fried, this hefty sandwich is enough to share. 
There are four soups available daily, all home made: tomato basil, chicken noodle, clam chowder and chili (Cup $5.49-5.99, Bowl $7.49-7.99). The clam chowder is my favorite, although all are wonderfully flavored.
The cheesy flatbread ($11.99) is a meal in itself. A thin, made in-house crust topped with roasted garlic tomato sauce, provolone and mozzarella. Simple and good.
The garlic-cilantro jumbo shrimp plate ($16.99) includes a cup of soup or small salad, sautéed broccoli and asparagus and ten jumbo shrimp which are marinated in the house garlic and pepper sauce and lightly cooked (still meaty and firm).
On the bottom of the wall menu there is a section "Pepper Farm Special" ($7.99). A choice of four cold half sandwiches, chips and a fountain drink. (for $11.99, you can get a choice of four hot half sandwiches, chips and a drink). This is the Bovine: roast beef, havarti cheese, garlic aioli, mustard, red onion, tomatoes, banana peppers and spring mix on a hoagie roll. It's a large half sandwich. 
There are desserts, too.
A lot of the business is take out, but we managed to grab a seat at one of the five tables inside.
There is a menu on the front window and we were handed menus when we sat down. There are lunch specials!
The Mister ordered a lunch special, which came with a chicken based, thick egg drop soup. Complimentary 'crunchies' were brought out with the silverware.
Soon, our orders were brought out. Egg Foo Young (because it was our first visit and I always order EFY on my first visit to any Chinese restaurant-everyone makes EFY uniquely). Lunch Special #23- Salt and Pepper Fish.
The Lunch Specials are $11.95. The Special comes with steamed jasmine rice or fried rice and a vegetable egg roll in addition to the soup (choice of egg drop or hot and sour). You can substitute steamed vegetables and chop suey for additional fees. The batter and fry of the fish was excellent- not greasy, light and crisp. The fish was light and flaky. This was tasty and a good portion.
Mixed Vegetable Egg Foo Young ($14.95)-what a delightful version! Three large patties, filled with bean sprouts, broccoli, peas and carrots and so eggy, fried nicely with a light and crisp crust and topped with a proper (not thick, not salty) brown gravy. One waitress brought us more gravy halfway through- which was just enough to take home with the leftovers.
The southernmost 'anchor' building used to be a small grocer which had a small restaurant connected. Now, the grocery building is another location of Keg 'n Barrel, a beer and liquor store. The restaurant is walled off and a separate business, Sangucheria PSF (Peruvian Street Food), which opened in January 2022. Kirk posted about it 
The small shop has seating for about 35 and is walk up, order and pay. Your food is brought out to the table.
The simple menu has a good variety of choices.
We decided to share. First, a cheese empanada ($6). Thin, flaky crust filled with a hefty amount of warm, firm (not gooey) Oaxaca cheese. This was very satisfying.
The Choripan sandwich ($10) was served with two house made chile based sauces (that one on the left is catsup; the green one had a pleasant heat and that yellow one was spicy, probably habanero or a cousin).
Served on a thin/ crisp crusted, warm bread which was light and airy (and crushed down easily), this weighty sandwich was enough to share.
Two split then grilled chorizo links topped with a house made chimichurri sauce (with distinct parsley, garlic and oregano flavors). You know I am picky about chorizo (see 
That catsup was for the sweet potato fries ($4.50) we ordered. We also shared an Inka Kola ($2.50); the familiar vanilla soda flavor brought back good memories.
There's plenty of parking on this end of the parking lot; the former 
The interior is spacious; there is only one waitress, so I think that is why they have limited seating.
Of course, we ordered hot tea ($2 each) and it was an excellent matcha, strong with a slight bitterness along with a slight sweetness. 
We decided to try the mixed tempura appetizer ($11). Properly fried, light, crisp and not oily at all. Potato slices, broccoli florets and carrot slices along with three large shrimp. This was a sizable appetizer portion we shared, using the house made, not salty tentsuyu dipping sauce. 
The Mister ordered the teriyaki chicken combo ($14) which came with miso soup. A better version-not watered down and containing thicker seaweed slices along with tofu cubes. Flavorful in a not-salty way.
The chicken itself was breast meat, so a tiny bit dry. The teriyaki sauce was house made and not sticky sweet; pleasant. The carrots and broccoli (same as from the tempura) were a nice side along with the rice.
I ordered the sashimi salad ($20) which had very fresh and fatty salmon, soft yellowtail and excellent tuna on top of greens (which included the thick seaweed that was in the soup) and a pleasant (again, house made) ginger-sesame dressing. An excellent lunch salad.
Since 1955, Lido's has been a mainstay on Broadway in Lemon Grove. This family run restaurant has been a gathering place for families, co-workers and various school sports teams as well as other community events. The take out business has been doing well, especially during Covid-19.
The antipasto salad for two ($11.95) is easily shared. Greens, crisp pickled vegetables (carrots, celery and cauliflower), olives, fresh tomatoes and wedges of stacked salami, mortadella and mozzarella, all topped with a house made Italian dressing make this shared salad a wonderful accompaniment to any meal.
The minestrone soup bowl ($5.25) is my usual order; the daily made rich, herby stock with chunky, slightly crisp celery and carrots along with onions, tomatoes, chickpeas and pasta is consistently flavored and traditional.
Of course we ordered a large sausage and mushroom pizza ($21.95). It's a throwback to our first date. Fresh, thinly sliced mushrooms, chunks of a mild and wonderful Italian sausage; all on a thin crust with a mild sauce.
Every large pizza includes 'Hors d' Oeuvres', or you can.purchase one (or additional plates) for $3.95.
The Missus loved this! And made me have a taste. While more bready than the flakey-crisp of a regular croissant; the exterior was nicely lacquered with a bit of a crunch, the inner layers not overly doughy. The pistachio filling was on the lighter side; with a mild nuttiness and not overly sweet. This was pretty good!
Well, this was pretty good. I prefer my croissant aux buerre a bit more crisp, but this was not bad. It was light , fairly fluffy, and not overly doughy with a nice, balanced butteriness, and a mild hint of salt. While not in the same league as our 
The beef, in this case short ribs was tender, which was a good thing as the bones made things rather unwieldy. I really liked the tart-tomatoey flavors that permeated the beef as well. This went quite well with the mild pungency of the rice.
