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Road Trip – Nikka Ramen (Goleta) and 1909 (Temecula)

American/New American Restaurants, Cocktails, Dog Friendly, Japanese Restaurants, Ramen, Road Trip, Santa Barbara County, Temecula/Idyllwild/Palm Springs - Riverside, CA, Travel

Our two week road trip up the coast was nearing an end. To break up the last two days, we were staying a night, first in Goleta, south of Santa Barbara….I was trying to stay in Carpinteria since it’s been a recommended stop, but was unable to book accommodation. Then we’d be staying a night in Temecula, before heading home.

It was a uneventful 4 hour drive from Santa Cruz to Goleta. We arrived a bit too early to check in, so I had a stop in mind. We decided to stop and do a nice little walk/hike at Ellwood Bluffs and the Ellwood Beach Loop. There’s a Monarch Butterfly preserve, but it was the wrong season for that.

Some nice wide open trails and also views from the bluffs.

Along the bluffs we came across this.

Along with this Historical Marker.

After our nice little walk, we headed back to the main drag in Goleta. I had gotten us a room at the Leta located right on Calle Real. We settled in and relaxed. When it as time to head out for dinner, we wanted something in walking distance and I’d found a ramen shop a block or so away from out hotel named Nikka.

The reviews seemed positive and they had an outdoor dining area that was dog friendly. We were greeted and seated. The young man who waited upon us was very nice; but I could tell that this was more of a “fusiony” ramen place as he kept calling he ramen I ordered as “tonkatsu” ramen and while the menu boasted of the 24 hour simmering time for the broth, they called the version I had as “Shiro ramen” not shio ramen.

They also had stuff like poke bowls and ramen “burritos” on the menu. And in fact, I decided to order the Combination Baos (3 baos for $12.50). I ordered one of each.

As I figured, the baos seemed like those premade frozen ones you can get at the market. The karaage was too salty and dry, the chashu had a very nice texture but was super bland and over shadowed by the sweetness of the bao. The shrimp tempura, while overfried was the best of the three as it was tender and presented a decent shrimpiness.

As for the Tonkotsu Ramen ($17.50).

Well, the broth was barely past room temp and was super thin for our taste. It was pretty darn bland as well.

I had ordered the “thick noodle” which was a tad overcooked, heading toward too soft. Also, you can tell how thin the broth was since the noodles rea;;y didn’t “pick” any of it up.

The chashu was the best item in the bowl, nice texture, perfect tenderness, though a bit lacking in the porkiness department.

Overall, a “C” level bowl of ramen.

Well, service was nice. We hadn’t expected much from this place and I guess they lived up to those expectations.

Nikka Ramen
5701 Calle Real
Goleta, CA 93117

We did have a nice night of sleep at the hotel and breakfast was included in our stay, which was enough food to keep us until dinner!

We had decided on making one last stop before heading home, at a place that we’d never really taken to. We had visited Old Town Temecula several times while living in the SGV and when we first moved to SD. But had never really enjoyed the place as it seemed overly touristy. I thought that perhaps staying the night might make things more enjoyable, so I booked us a room at the Hampton Inn, which was right across busy Rancho California Road from the start of Old Town.

JJ got in a nice nap while we drove to Temecula.

We checked in and then headed to Old Town to wander around a bit.

Man, the bars were doing some good business; even at barely 4pm on a Sunday.

The Missus got some cream for Her and JJ, which they don’t always have at Temecula Olive Oil in Old Town. I also got some olive oil as well.

Temecula Olive Oil Company
28653 Old Town Front St.
Temecula, CA 92590

We wandered a bit more…..

And then decided to grab some dinner. An acquaintance had recommended a Bar/Restaurant named 1909 Temecula to me. The place had outdoor seating and was fairly busy; even at 445!

The menu consisted of typical items like burgers and tacos, stretching into Korean Fried Chicken, Risotto, and even Lobster.

The Missus started with a Sangria, which She enjoyed.

I had the Cedar Smoked Old Fashioned, which had some decent smokiness, but was a bit on the sweeter side and tasted a bit weak.

We decided on a couple of items; one of which was recommended to me; the House Chili (bowl – $12).

The blue cornbread was too wet and mushy. The chili lukewarm. There was supposed to be “steak” in this; which I think was super hard pieces of meat. It had an interesting flavor profile; perhaps a bit on the sweeter side? I was told that they use beer to make this chili. It was the best item we had during this meal.

The Al Pastor Tacos ($16) were not good. The pork very dry and chewy. The flavor too sweet.

The supposedly house made tortillas too brittle and lacking in good corn flavor. The fries were dry and soggy.

The Shrimp in the Shrimp & Chorizo ($18) was tough and chewy, with a muddiness to it.

The sausage seemed more like Longaniza as the meat seemed on the courser side and without the spice of chorizo. Still that was not bad. The bread had been nicely grilled, the sauce was quite tangy and acidic.

Overall, 1909 seems like a very touristic place, though it was super popular as there was a line of at least 20 people waiting when we left. Good thing we had an early dinner. Service was nice, but things took a while to get to our table.

1909
28656 Old Town Front St.
Temecula, CA 92590

We walked back to the hotel and relaxed. I did a post and caught up on things. We had a decent night of sleep. There was a bit of traffic noise, but things weren’t too bad.

While not quite the ending of our epic little road trip we had wanted; we…and JJ still enjoyed ourselves, from revisiting Paso Robles yet again and enjoying the Alchemist Garden, to our favorite meal of the trip at L’Escargot in Carmel, to lovely Mendocino and Santa Cruz, this was one for the books. And we are so honored that you were able to vicariously come along with us!

Say Aloha

Plate Lunch

Back in my post on Super Mario‘s, “FOY” Elle asked if I’d been to Say Aloha, a newish local kine restaurant that opened up in Hillcrest. I had heard of the place, but the hours were really limited and it is located in Hillcrest so I hadn’t really tried to visit. During my visits to White Elephant, JJ and I took a walk around the block to see exactly where the place was.

It wasn’t open, but it seemed to be located thru that doorway to the left of AWOL Bar? Being only open from 5pm Thurs to Sunday is a hinderance; especially seeing the location and all. And yet, a couple of weeks later, the Missus and Her coworkers had a HH planned. It was in walking distance so She took JJ. I decided that the time was right for a visit. I headed on over and actually found some paid parking a few blocks away. I walked on over and peered inside that doorway. There was some event going on in Hillcrest that evening so it was kinda crazy as the bar was having drinks dispensed to folks. Anyway, he was nice enough to point out that Say Aloha was actually in Rosemary and Thyme Cafe.

So, I walked on in and was greeted by a very friendly woman, who introduced herself as Marline. I was led out the back door to a very nice covered “tropicalish” courtyard.

I was seated and handed a menu.

Because it seemed that there was this “sip and stroll” type event going on; folks kept on popping into the courtyard to take a walk around and check things out. I was the only true customer until nearly the end of my meal. It was fun to see folks so festively dressed up though.

Wanting to try several items, I decided to go with the Mix Plate; not cheap at $23.95! Ouch! Anyway, a really nice guy came out and introduced himself as Avian. He’s the chef/cook. He told me that unfortunately, the kalua pork was not ready, so would it be ok to sub chicken katsu? I was fine with this.

While waiting for my order and watching the “sideshow” of people wandering in and out; Marline came by and asked how I knew about Say Aloha. I mentioned being from the Islands and the “coconut wireless”. She laughed and said that Avian is Guamanian. She also cracked up when I said “what, no kelaguen?”

That’s my plate lunch above. Smelled quite nice. I decided to try the mac salad first. It was nicely coated, perhaps bit more than I prefer, but no complaints. This version had that nice tanginess and wasn’t overly salty.

The chicken katsu was my least favorite item. It seemed to have been over-fried, really dark in color.

Tough and dry, lacking in seasoning.

I did enjoy the Katsu Sauce though. It’s really local style, meaning more ketchup based, quite tangy.

I liked the flavors of the Teri Chicken. It had a nice balance of sweet to salty, with an interesting hint of acidity. I was later told that they use pineapple juice in the glaze.

It was nicely grilled, if a bit on the chewy side. Much better than the typical “Hawaiian BBQ” stuffs you get here.

Now, even though I’m not a fan of the typical chewy “LA Kalbi” that permeates plate lunches, this version was surprisingly tender.

A bit too sticky-sweet for my taste; but that texture was definitely king!

This was overall, a surprisingly decent version of local kine plate lunch items. Just to be clear, this is NOT Hawaiian Food, ok? It’s not the food of ethnic Hawaiians….sorry, don’t mean to beat that dead horse, but have overheard several conversations lately about L&L being “Hawaiian Food”. Yeow…..

The folks working here are very friendly and the patio lovely. Though Marline did tell me that she prefers people not bringing their dog to Say Aloha. Which is fine, though Rosemary and Thyme which operates this space on Saturday and Sundays from 830am – 130pm is.

Mahalo for the reminder for Say Aloha Elle!

Say Aloha
1475 University Ave.
San Diego, CA 92103
Current Hours:
Thurs, Sunday 5pm – 9pm
Fri – Sat 5pm – 10pm
Closed Mon – Wed

Spicy Noodle Revisited

Chinese Restaurants

Well, it’s that time of the year again I guess……mornings recently have been pretty chilly. I’ve been seeing; make that feeling the low 40’s here. And for the past couple of days, the temps soon head up into the 70’s by 10am! Crazy….. Though based on my posting habits; it’s really that “time of the year” as the last time I posted on Spicy Noodle was during last January! Man, I am so predictable, huh?

Anyway, I was feeling a bit hungry as I was driving back from Zion at around 1030am…which is when Spicy Noodle opens. So, I thought why not and headed on over. Lots of available parking at that time of the day, before the lunch rush.

Like many places these days, it’s QR code ordering….except if you’re an “old timer” which I definitely qualify for….but perhaps I’m not that old. Even though my eating habits betray me, I was able to order using the QR code; unlike that party of 3 older gentlemen who came in after me that needed physical menus.

There’s basically one thing I get here. The Fat Intestine Noodle, which I was happy to note is still priced at $14.99….same as last January!

Screenshot

As with my previous visit, things happen quickly once you order. My “fat intestine” (take it any way you want to) arrived within 10 minutes of ordering.

I was happy to note that this was even better than on my previous visit.

While the “bungy”-offaly and tender fat intestine made me wonder if the poor oinker was suffering from perhaps some metabolic syndrome…that thought didn’t last too long as I quickly devoured it.

This time around, the soup was nice and spicy and had me wiping my brow by the end of the meal. The soup was also richer than before leaving me to wonder about my “fatty intestine”. All jokes aside; this was a savory-funky broth, with a decent richness.

The noodles had a nice pull to them, with a pleasant chewiness. The decent richness of the soup allowed the noodles to “pick it up” and coat them.

Can you tell that I enjoyed this? I need to revisit a bit more often. There was only that one other table occupied during my entire meal. I hope Spicy Noodle is doing ok and will continue to stay in business.

Spicy Noodle
8046 Clairemont Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92111
Current Hours:
Daily 1030am – 230pm, 5pm – 9pm

Mom Kitchen – Clairemont, A Hainan Chicken Rice Check

Chinese Restaurants

Mom Kitchen recently opened a second location on Clairemont Mesa. I decided to head on over to see if my favorite dish from the Mira Mesa location translated well to the new location.

I went during the first week of December, right at opening time. Mom Kitchen has taken over the space that used to contain an Afghan Market and Restaurant if I recall. This parking lot can be a real horror during peak times, so by going early and before word got out about Mom opening here, I could beat the crowds.

The young man working was so nice and friendly. As I mentioned earlier, there was only one dish I was interested in ordering for this visit.

I thought the Hainan Chicken and Rice was quite good during my visits to the MM location….the one weak link was actually the rice. Now priced at $19 (it was $17 at the MM location on my last visit), I was looking forward to trying this. Especially since “FOY” Jeff, who loves Hainan Chicken said it was quite good during his visit to the MM location.

Soon enough my lunch arrived. I quickly noticed something.

The rice! Instead of having hard grains of plain rice with barely a drizzle of the chicken broth and aromatics; this was well coated!

Decent savory-chicken flavor! I mentioned that the rice here was much better than what I’d had at the MM location and he smiled and said “we have more experience now and the kitchen here is large and better staffed.” Great!

I’ve always thought that the ginger-scallion sauce at Mom was perfect for my taste and this was no different. Not overly oily, great, with good, but not over powering ginger tones.

The one item, that hasn’t changed for the better is the terribly over-cooked boiled egg.

Which while decently marinated….it wasn’t enough to cover the bitter-metallic flavor of that over cooked yolk.

Well, back to the positive. Which was the chicken. Which was so moist, juicy, and tender. It was also deboned.

The skin was also very tender. Nicely cooked and seasoned, so savory, and great with that ginger sauce!

This was possibly the best Hainan Chicken Rice that I’ve had in a while! So Jeff, maybe you’d like to give this location a try and let me know? I’m sure RD will be checking things out soon as well!

You can read about Soo’s visit to this location of Mom Kitchen here.

Mom Kitchen
5440 Clairemont Mesa Blvd Suite B
San Diego, CA 92117
Current Hours:
Mon, Wed, Thurs 11am – 83pm
Fri – Sun 11am – 9pm
Closed on Tuesday

Road Trip – Lupulo and Revisiting The Buttery (Santa Cruz)

Bakery, Beer, Croissants, Dog Friendly, Gastropub, Monterey/Carmel/Santa Cruz - Monterey Bay/Peninsula, Road Trip, Travel

After a nice morning hike and a pork filled lunch we had ourselves a nice nap. Upon rising, we decided to head back to downtown Sant Cruz, where the Missus could get more shopping in. And then we’d find a place to have an early dinner.

Because the Missus didn’t feel comfortable among all the homeless in San Lorenzo Park, we walked over to the Soquel Avenue Bridge and crossed the river there.

Check out this truck and trailer crossing the bridge!

Right as we got to Pacific Avenue, one of the main streets in Downtown; the Missus saw this shop.

What else could I say other than “Ommmm on in”?

It was quite a “groovy” experience.

We wandered thru the side streets and alleyways. Check out the tea master at this Tea House.

We headed north to where Pacific Avenue meets Front Street and came to the Town Clock.

Which I later learned had quite an interesting story behind it. You can read about it here.

We then headed down Front Street.

Lined with shops, coffee places, and restaurants…..

And came across these Rockin’ Nana’s….man, they were really good! And much cooler than me!

Meanwhile, a street art thing was happening on the corner.

While walking thru one of the passageways, we came across this “groovy” tea shop/cafe. Named Roxa (and no my fellow Kama’aina’s it ain’t RockZa ok!) Hammock Cafe.

It sold tea and other herbal drinks and had actual hammocks spanning two floors! No, I didn’t feel comfortable taking photos since there were folks just having their teas and lounging on the hammocks. The Missus actually got some tea from here.

I could see why Santa Cruz played a big part in the “Summer of Love”. Some of it still lingers on….

We decided to get an early dinner. Of course the question was, where? I had heard about a nice Gastropub named Lupulo, that served up some decent brews and some “Latin” style dishes so we decided to walk on over and give it a try.

There was outdoor seating, which worked fine for JJ. I went in and ordered. The gentleman working was quite friendly.

The place was pretty busy as well…..

The menu was indeed Mexican/Latin based, I placed my order and had a nice Pliny while we waited for our order.

I loved the glasses here!

And we also enjoyed watching the customers……

As for food. Well, you know how the Missus loves Her meatballs, so I ordered the Albondigas.

The bread was meh……but those beef and pork meatballs were quite good. A bit dense, but you could tell there was pork there! The tomato “sofrito” was tangy, with nice garlic tones. This was fairly good.

I also ordered the Cochinita Pibil tacos….which was made from chicken rather than pork.

This was actually not bad at all. Nice tangy acidity, a bit on the chewier side, which is fine for tacos. Decent savory tones, really enjoyed the pickled onions. The tortillas were quite basic and routine, but not terrible. This was actually not bad and made for a pleasant meal.

Lupulo Craft Beer House
233 Cathcart St.
Santa Cruz, CA 95060

It had been an enjoyable day for us!

As for the next morning….well….you know we’d be back at the Buttery. And by this time…..well, JJ was now into full “croissant mode”!

And it was just as good as the day before if not better!

The Buttery
702 Soquel Ave.
Santa Cruz, CA 95062

We really enjoyed Santa Cruz and can’t wait to return….with JJ of course!

Thanks for stopping by!

Road Trip – The Buttery, Pipeline Road Trail, and Revisiting Special Noodle (Santa Cruz)

Bakery, Chinese Restaurants, Croissants, Dog Friendly, Monterey/Carmel/Santa Cruz - Monterey Bay/Peninsula, Road Trip, Travel

Upon waking on our full day in Santa Cruz, we decided to head up Soquel Avenue to a bakery I’d heard about. It was a short 10 minute walk from our hotel. Right past the Shopper’s Corner Market, was the Buttery.

The low key location had a nice outdoor area.

And the Missus watched JJ, while I went inside to get us some croissants and coffee.

There was no one in the queue when I entered and I was pleasantly surprised at the price of the plain croissants – $2.95.

So, I was ready to be underwhelmed at this croissant, but it was surprisingly good!

The exterior looked a bit overbaked, but the laminate was crisp, but not flaking to pieces. The ridges didn’t fall off either.

The interior was nicely honeycombed and fluffy. But most importantly, there was a decent amount of butteriness to this! Not bad at all! Better than what we’d had at Bouchon Bakery a few days previous!

I even gave JJ a taste and he went bonkers! Oh man, did I open up a can of worms here!

The Buttery
702 Soquel Ave.
Santa Cruz, CA 95062

Of course we’d return the following morning….

And of course the Missus needed me to “burn off” those croissant calories, so we headed back to the hotel, then set out to Henry Crowell Redwoods State Park. Marissa, the lovely young lady at BPC had recommended the Pipeline Road Trail, though she told me that it was kind of long – 6 miles or so. The big plus being that it starts at the Park Office and that it is well paved and maintained. It is the only dog friendly trail in the park as well.

There a 900 foot elevation gain, but we really didn’t feel it.

There were some nice views.

And of course those lovely Redwoods……

And JJ handled it like a champ. Actually, you can tell by his expression that I’m the “weak link” here…..

It was on the “easy side” for the Missus and JJ, who did really well.

After heading back and freshening up, it was time for lunch. Well, since we had enjoyed our dinner the previous evening at Special Noodle and the Missus was still missing Chinese food we walked on back to the restaurant.

The gentleman from the previous evening remembered us and we were seated in the same area. He even made sure got chopsticks without asking this time!

We decided on some different dishes this time around; starting with the La Rou with Smoked Bamboo.

This usual Hunan style dish was a bit short on chilies and spiciness, but the bamboo was nice and crisp; though the pork was definitely like the stuff I can get at 99 Ranch Market. It was far from bland though with a good amount of soy and smokey tones.

The rice had obviously just been finished as it was steaming hot; but also a bit on the mushy side.

We also got the Braised Pork Belly – Hong Shao Rou, which turned out to be quite good!

Just tender enough, without being mushy, the porkiness came through nicely. Ginger – Soy tones came thru nicely, and more importantly for the Missus, this was much more savory than sweet.

After finishing this; we really needed a nap!

Special Noodle
415 Ocean St.
Santa Cruz, CA 95060

I guess this will be a regular stop when we’re in Santa Cruz!

Now it was nap time!

White Elephant Asian Kitchen

Dog Friendly, Thai Restaurants

In my search for dog friendly Asian Restaurants in San Diego, I came across White Elephant Asian Kitchen in Hillcrest. Looking at the location, well, it brought back memories….not all of them good of Amarin Thai Restaurant, which was here for like 20 years? We ate at Amarin way back in the early 2000’s and even did a post on the Mira Mesa location way back in 2005! Still, when in the area, we preferred Bai Yook, which closed around 2013. How’s that for old timer memories?

Anyway, I noticed White Elephant was dog friendly and I hoped that the place wasn’t stereotypical Thai based on the location…so JJ and I headed over.

We arrived right past opening time and I peeked into the restaurant to get us an outside table.

The woman working was very serious, though that would change a bit later. JJ did well, since the area was nicely shaded.

The menu cracked me up as most of the dishes were “translated” into English…..

Along with the menu, an “anti-fly” device was also brought to the table.

I asked the woman if the “Crispy Rice Salad” was Nem Khao and the Waterfall Beef was actually Nam Tok and things immediately got friendlier. I got both dishes at a “7” on the spice scale.

The Nem Khao was a non-starter, there was no crisp, crunchy rice and it was really weak in spice.

The sausage lacked the sour tones of a good Thai/Lao sausage and no strips of pork skin either. The dish as a whole lacked that sour-spicy-herbaceousness and textural contrast of a good Nem Khao.

I was starting to understand that this was truly Ameri-Thai when my Nam Tok arrived.

Again, hardly any spice and really lacking in the toasted rice powder, fish sauce, and lemongrass flavors. It was in fact pretty mild overall, perhaps edging on too sweet. The one positive note was that the beef was quite tender and there was a decent amount of cilantro. As you can see by the amount of mixed greens; this was more of a salad, than Neua Nam Tok.

The woman was quite nice and came to ask me what I thought. So, feeling that she was really sincere, I told her. She smiled and said, “yes, I understand” and nodded in the direction of the other folks in the place. She then told me “please come again and say you want real Thai spicy, and I think you’ll enjoy it more.”

So, I decided to return one more time.

The really nice woman wasn’t working, but I decided to try my luck. Not being super hungry, I just ordered the Crispy Duck Salad, spice level 10, also indicating that I’d like it “Thai spicy”.

I didn’t know how I’d take to having pineapple in this; but it went fairly well with the dish, adding tart-acidic-sweetness. I liked the crunchy chunks of battered duck, good flavor and texture. While this was indeed more spicy that what I’d had on my previous visit, it was still lacking in bright-pungent-savory tones as a whole.

Oh well, JJ still enjoyed the shade.

In spite of being heavily Ameri-Thai, I’m glad we were able to try things out. I understand that places must appeal to their customer base and location. And of course, one never knows unless you try, right?

White Elephant Asian Kitchen
3843 Richmond St.
San Diego, CA 92103
Current Hours:
Mon – Thurs 1130am – 3pm, 430pm – 9pm
Friday 1130am – 3pm, 430pm – 930pm
Saturday 12pm – 930pm
Sunday 12pm -9pm

Momo Sando & Omakase

Asian Fusion/Pacific Rim/Hawaii Style Fusion, Japanese Restaurants, Sushi and Sashimi

Momo Sando & Omakase just opened in the spot that was occupied by Kumo Japanese Sando in the Plaza Sorrento Food Court. I heard that there was a “soft opening” period before the announced Grand Opening date of January 5th. Being curious about this “grab and go” sandos and sushi, by a former Executive Chef at two Nobu locations…and also, what made this concept different from say….Nijiya and Mitsuwa, I decided to drop by. Thinking that there might be some crowds based on the hype, I had a Plan B of Sue’s Korean Kitchen, which is located next door.

I arrived at a quarter to 11 and there was a short line waiting. So, I got into the queue.

The line grew exponentially as the minutes passed, so if I had arrived even a minute or two later, I’d have gone to Sue’s. Soon enough the door opened and we entered the small shop, with display cases of prepacked sushi and sandos. The woman working the register was like a Carnival Barker yelling out what each customer was purchasing! The line moves pretty quickly.

There are some special, limited offerings. On this morning, there was some uni available, but it was gone after the third customer!

As for me, I used the chance to peruse what was available and in the end; unlike the $90 purchases being made by the two customers in front of me….I just wanted to test the waters….

And simply got a Tonkatsu Sando ($15).

Check out the line as I walked to my car!

As for the Sando.

The shokupan, the bread, was on the drier side, lacking the mild, buttery-sweetness that I enjoy in that type of bread. On an interesting note, some of the crust was sliced off, and some left on?

The Tonkatsu, was pleasantly toothsome, the panko crust still had a good amount of crunch. I enjoyed the crisp-crunchy cabbage and the by-the-book katsu sauce. The bread was starting to get soggy by the time I got to the last slice seen above.

The sando was not bad, better than many of the other versions in San Diego. So, I decided to return the next day to try out the fish. I had the same strategy, which worked out about the same.

There’s quite a selection of fairly standard sushi/sashimi options and stuff that is on the “fusion-y” side…of course, dealing with a former chef of Nobu’s that’s to be expected. To be perfectly honest, we’ve been to Matsuhisa when we lived in LA back in the 90’s, and it was fine; we’ve been to several locations of Nobu and have always been a bit disappointed.

Instead of going with a standard futomaki, nigiri, or chirashi offering, I decided to getting something a bit different. There’s an option with black truffle on toro, but this one caught my attention.

As you can see….this ain’t no Nijiya sashimi set, being priced at $35! Yikes! Miso soup and the shoyu-wasabi-ginger are included.

This is what it looked like unpacked.

The miso soup was decent, not watered down.

Real fresh wasabi is provided, though as you can see, it’s starting to oxidize and brown.

The fish was of good quality; though I wasn’t a fan of the nakaochi – the tuna scrape which was really mushy and had a metallic finish to it.

The akami (maguro) was decent sushi-bar quality, nice texture, but in my opinion didn’t need the chili crunch.

Strangely the rice was hard and chewy……not a great standard to set.

The shari…sushi rice seasoning seemed quite aggressively seasoned, very vinegar forward which wasn’t too bad.

As for the toro….as you can see; much like the wasabi, the fish was starting to brown.

Still, it was very fatty and tender; quite good with the wasabi and shoyu.

It was quite interesting. It seemed like most of the customers were late generation Millennials or GenZers. I felt like jichan again. The quality of the product seems pretty good….though it’s very “concept heavy” to me. That “grab and go” toro was more expensive than the last 4 chirashi I had in actual restaurants. But perhaps it’s the perfect place for the tech crowd and that population who can afford $30+ for lunch. As for me; I need to wait and recover a while before visiting.

Momo Sando & Omakase
6755 Mira Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92121
Current Hours:
Mon – Fri 11am – 4pm

Ju Feng Yuan Revisited

Chinese Restaurants

I had fully intended on returning to Ju Feng Yuan after my not so great visits to Super Dumpling in Carmel Valley. It had been a while since I last visited and though I think Lucious Dumpling’s Outpost in Eastlake is now my favorite, I needed to revisit JFY, which was my previous fave for jiaozi in San Diego. So, I set out with a visit to JFY in mind…but got sidetracked to Dumpling Inn…..a big mistake on my part.

I know “FOY” RD mentioned the Popcorn Chicken and Julie is a big fan, so I had my agenda set! I would not get sidetracked this time!

I arrived on a weekend at opening time and was the first in.

I did the iPad ordering thing from my table. The Pork and Chinese Cabbage Dumplings ($11.95) and Popcorn Chicken ($9.99).

The Popcorn Chicken was actually the first to arrive.

Fairly crunchy, a bit on the chewy – drier side, but not bad. Decent mild five spice tones. Good salt and pepper. I’m fairly certain they use potato starch, based on the texture.

Proper popcorn chicken; though a step below my favorite, which is from Soup du Jour….strange; I thought I did a post on the place which I’ve visited like 8-9 times since getting back from Taiwan…but I guess not??? I need to do one more visit to catch up then get me post done.

I mentioned previously, that I’m not a big fan of the sauce that accompanies the jiaozi, but of course they do have Black Vinegar.

I did enjoy the Pork and Chinese Cabbage Jiaozi – 8 decent size dumplings.

The wrappers were adequately tender, with a decent stretch to them. I do like mine a bit more “fluffy”, but this was fine; better than most anything you’ll find in SD.

The filling was textbook pork jiaozi, nice savory tones, seasoned well, not overly minced and tender. Good porkiness. Would not be amazing in the SGV…..but in SD……

I wish JFY was closer to me; though it is a faster drive than Lucious Dumplings…which I need to return to! Thanks for always thinking of us RD and Julie!

Ju Feng Yuan Dumpling Cafe
12265 Scripps Poway Pkwy Suite B109
Poway, CA 92064
Current Hours:
Mon – Thurs 1130am – 3pm, 5pm – 830pm
Friday 1130am – 3pm, 5pm – 9pm
Sat – Sun 1130am – 330pm, 430pm – 9pm

Road Trip – Sweetie Pies Bakery (Napa) and Special Noodle (Santa Cruz)

Bakery, Caffeine Fix, Chinese Restaurants, Dog Friendly, Marin, Napa, and Sonoma Counties, Monterey/Carmel/Santa Cruz - Monterey Bay/Peninsula, Road Trip, Sandwiches, Travel

We had a great night of sleep at the Napa River Inn…and no, we didn’t have any “spooky” visitors as I had heard about earlier in the evening at The Fink. Before we left for our next destination, I decided to grab a quick Breakfast Sandwich from Sweetie Pies Bakery which is right next door to the hotel.

This place has quite a selection of treats for your sweet tooth. We had gotten a sample delivered to our room for breakfast the previous morning.

I ordered a Fried Egg Sandwich to take back to our room.

A basic toasted Ciabatta, with creamy avocado, and pesto.

The bacon was basically a single slice lining the middle of the sandwich, on the burnt side, and a single fried egg. Again only enough to cover two-thirds of the sandwich.

My guess is that “Sweetie” is mostly about the pies as the name indicates?

Sweetie Pies
520 Main St.
Napa, CA 94559

After devouring the sandwich, we checked out and headed to our next destination; Santa Cruz. It took us about 2 1/2 hours to arrive at our accommodation, the Hotel Paradox. We were early for check-in so the hotel let us park and we went to explore Santa Cruz for a bit. The hotel was on the other side of the San Lorenzo River from downtown Santa Cruz and we were next to San Lorenzo Park. On the map, it looked like a nice “green space”. Unfortunately, it was taken over by the homeless population while we were in town. So, instead of having a nice green space for JJ to explore, well…..

We did think the Dragon Archway, which faces the last Chinatown in Santa Cruz across the river. And you can see the two folks hanging out under the archway as well. This made the Missus somewhat uncomfortable crossing the bridge at night. We ended up using the busier Laurel Street Bridge when it was dark.

Regardless, the Missus and I really enjoyed downtown Santa Cruz. It had a kind of Hipster-Artsy-Hippy-Surfer vibe to us. Very mellow and laid back; at least when we were there.

We dropped by Santa Cruz Coffee Roasting for our caffeine fix. It was recommended by one of JJ’s Bay Park Coffee “Aunties”, Marissa who used to work there and went to UCSC.

Cold Brew and Latte fortified we headed on to do some shopping.

Santa Cruz Coffee Roasting
1330 Pacific Ave.
Santa Cruz, CA 95060

The Missus loved wandering thru the “eclectic” shops.

And bought quite a few items during our stay.

It seems that tarot card reading, and various psychic readings are big business here.

My goodness, check out the name of this shop! I wonder….

Yes, it was quite entertaining here!

We decided to grab an early dinner….by this time, the Missus was sorely missing Asian food…well, Chinese to be specific. I did some research before the trip and found a place that was dog friendly and basically two blocks from where we were staying. Now, I did have my doubts because the place served everything from Orange Chicken to XLB to Chow Fun to Sichuan/Hunan and has multiple locations, named Special Noodle. But I thought we’d give it a shot. Now if I had my doubts…imagine the Missus!

We arrived and I expected us to be seated on the patio; but the very nice gentleman escorted us to one of the back dining rooms!

He also spoke Mandarin….which eased some of the doubts the Missus had. The menu was huge….talk about “Vietnamese Menu overload” times 2!

Yep, this place tries to cover all bases.

It was a huge portion of rice for a single order.

We decided on some typical Hunan style dishes. Starting with the Pickled Beans with Minced Pork.

While kind of mild in the spiciness department, this was a pretty legit dish. Nice soy flavor, the long beans had a nice crunch adding that mild salty-sourness to the dish. The pork wasn’t overly chewy. Nice savory dish!

And of course I had to try the Intestines with Chilies.

Made with a combination of sliced jalapenos and dried chilies, this had a nice smoky kick. Nicely seasoned with soy sauce-garlic-white pepper and a touch of numbing Sichuan Peppercorns. The pork intestine was fairly tender, with a pleasant initial toothsomeness. Nice funky tones and a really good dish.

And of course……

What we did notice as the place filled up was that the Chinese customers were seated in the same area as us. While the “other” customers were seated in the front dining area, which we named “Eggroll Land” ! Kind of funny….

The Missus was pleasantly surprised at the food and even though She got Her “fix”, we’d end up returning the next day for lunch!

Special Noodle
415 Ocean St.
Santa Cruz, CA 95060

We were enjoying Santa Cruz. In addition to the “vibe” we had gotten decent Chinese dishes as well!