It's hard to believe that it's our 19th Christmas here at mmm-yoso!
I just took a look at that post from 2005! My goodness!
Anyway, as always, we hope everyone is having a fabulous holiday season!
Merry Christmas!
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Strasbourg – Scenes from the Christmas Markets
**** Not much food in this post. Quite a few photos from the always colorful Christmas Markets in Strasbourg though.
I did an earlier post on our visit to Strasbourg and walking around Petit France. We actually spent a good deal of time enjoying the Christmas Markets during our two evening and one day stay. I thought I'd just do a single post as more of a photolog.
We had really enjoyed our visit to Strasbourg way back in the winter of 2017. We especially loved the Christmas Markets, lively, with everyone in a joyful frame of mind, we found it to be a relaxing change of pace from Paris. And at night, the place looked so beautiful and enchanting. We found it no less so on this trip.
From the wonderfully decorated streets to what seems an endless supply of Christmas ornaments, the 13 Christmas Markets in Grande Île just bring out the kid in me.
And at night, the Grande Île comes alive.
Our first evening was spent enjoying the markets, especially the window displays. And of course we had to get the Missus Her Choucroute.
Sadly, all the photos of the food….I believe it was the lighting around the eating area, caused my photos to turn out looking like this!
As I detailed earlier, we spent the next morning checking out Petit France. Of course we passed thru several Christmas Markets along the way. Each market seemed to have a theme and several had folks "in character" to make things even more fun.
We stopped by a booth at Place du Temple Neuf and got some Truffle Risotto.
Then headed two blocks away to bustling Place Broglie.
And went back to the same stand as the night before.
Where the Missus got Spaetzles à la Choucroute et Aux Lardons, which She thoroughly enjoyed.
I got a Tarte Flambée from a nearby stand.
And as always, we enjoyed people watching.
We then headed back to hotel to rest up.
When evening arose, we headed back out.
Again enjoying the colors and booths.
We made our way via a now familiar route.
To colorful Place Kléber which is considered by many to be Strasbourg's central square. The Christmas tree in the square always garners your attention.
At this point, we had to decide on what to get for dinner. After two meals of choucroute, the Missus decided that some Asian food might be really good on this chilly evening, which is when we headed to Lamian.
Like on our previous visits; I've always loved the Christmas Markets in Strasbourg. Though there's much more to see. You can click on these links if you'd like to see and read about Strasbourg Cathedral and Petit France.
I'm sure we'll return if we are in France from the last week of November onward.
Thanks for stopping by and Happy Holidays!
Paris – Aux Crus de Bourgogne Revisited
After our surprisingly enjoyable meal at Aux Crus de Bourgogne, a place that we had walked past countless times thinking it was a tourist restaurant, I made reservations to return for dinner. This took us past our favorite street in Paris, Rue Montorgueil, which I've written about countless times already.
During this visit, the street had been declared "Rue des Bulles" ("Bubble Street") for the season. Every year, Nicolas Feuillatte Champagne House declares a Rue des Bulles and the street is decorated in balloons that resemble champagne bubbles.
It makes an already lively street seem even more festive.
No matter how many times you've walked down a street, there always seems to be something you never noticed before.
We walked up to Rue Bachaumont and presented at the restaurant. One thing we quickly noticed was that the menu had changed since our last visit and several of the items we enjoyed last time were not available.
The place filled quite quickly……folks seemed to be really getting pretty large meals.
Of course, things started with the baguette with rillette, which the Missus enjoys.
We enjoyed the Vol-au-Vent with mushrooms the last time so we ordered the Bouchee a la Reine, which is basically vol-au-vent with poultry.
We had previously enjoyed the mushroom dishes here, but for some reason this dish was really weak in mushroom flavor and the chicken was super dry. The vol-au-vent was still good though; crisp and buttery.
The Missus enjoyed the Escargot as She did before.
And we got even more baguette for sopping up all that garlicky goodness.
Because we had eaten so much for lunch, we ordered one main to share. We ordered the Sweetbreads and Mushrooms. The mains come with one side and we got the green beans. We weren't prepared for the monstrosity that arrived.
The sauce for the mushrooms were wonderfully flavored, but very gloppy and pasty in texture. The veal sweetbread was massive, dry, tough, and very metallic.
The green beans were undercooked, hard, and in need to more salt.
The service was very prompt and professional.
Well, this was not quite what we expected based on our previous meal. It seems that the menu changes from day to day. Based on this meal, the Missus and I decided that we'd need to see the menu before committing to a meal here. So in the future, since we're usually close by, we'll check out what's being served first.
Aux Crus de Bourgogne
3 Rue Bachaumont
75002 Paris, France
Still, we enjoyed the walk and the always lively Rue Montorgueil.
Paris – L’Éclair de Génie and Fondue 9
Man, the first ten days of our two week stay in Paris just seemed to fly by. At least for me. On this bright, but chilly Saturday morning, we decided just to do the flâneur thing as we headed down Rue Vieille du Temple. We found a couple of shops that caught our attention.
And had fun browsing…….
Man, I want to find an English edition of this book…..
Right across the street was a lovely park and garden.
This is the Jardin de l'Hôtel Salé.
Further down the street is a large community center; the Halle des Blancs Manteaux. Since it was Christmas season, there was a large craft fair going on.
We had a fun time exploring.
We made our way down to Rue Rivoli and saw this Eclair shop on Rue Pavée.
The Missus had been wanting to try some elcairs so we headed on in.
There was quite a collection of beautiful looking eclairs.
After some hemming and hawing, the Missus made Her selection.
And we headed on back to the apartment.
L’Éclair de Génie
14 Rue Pavée
75004 Paris, France
After storing our purchases, we gave some thought to lunch. For some reason, we felt pretty cold on this day. I mentioned a hot pot place we'd seen on Rue Saint-Denis a few days before. Hot pot sounded like just what we needed, so we headed off to Fondue 9.
The restaurant seemed a bit tiny, until we realized that there was dining upstairs as well. Can you imagine carrying hot pot up and down stairs….one false move! We also noticed that the customers during our visit were all Chinese, a bit of change since we'd seen pretty much a 50-50 mix during our visits to various Asian restaurants in the city.
After checking out the menu; we decided on the "lunch special".
After which we headed straight on over to the condiment bar to get our "stuffs".
Not much in terms of spicy sauces and no fermented bean curd. And we started to worry that the hot pot was going to be a bust.
But as our Yin Yang hot pot made it's way to the table we knew this was going to be ok. You could smell the herbs and spice.
Lots of white pepper.
All the usual suspects arrived.
Even frozen tofu! The noodles were quite stretchy.
The tripe was a bit too tough; though the seiche; the cuttlefish was surprisingly tender.
What was most surprising of all was the fish, which had been nicely velveted and rubbed with chili oil.
It was wonderfully buttery and tender after a brief swim in the broth.
The meat were of good quality; especially the lamb, which was so gamey and tender.
This was quite a satisfying meal for us. We had found a solution to the cold; at least for a while.
Fondue 9
168 Rue Saint-Denis
75002 Paris, France
We headed on back to the apartment and took a short nap.
When we woke; it was "tea time" for the Missus. Time to break out the eclairs.
These were a bit too sweet for me.
The Missus, it turns out, is not a fan of crème pâtissière, the custard fillings used for eclairs.
But of course, we had to eventually try elcairs….because, when in France, right?
Mien Trung Revisited
The recent cooler (by San Diego standards) weather had be craving some Bun Bo Hue. I decided to head on over to Mien Trung.
As always, the owner "Boo" greeted me as I entered and chided me for not having visited in a while. I didn't realize it at the time, but it had been over a year since my last visit! Whoa.
We had a nice chat and I ordered my usual; the Bun Bo Hue ($12), these days the small bowl will do fine by me.
The plate of sprouts, greens, and herbs were fresh, the bun slippery and nicely textured. For some reason, the broth seemed more spicy than usual; or perhaps I'm just getting wimpy in my old age. That combined with an assertive lemongrass flavor and singeing heat really set my lips on fire.
The rustic thick cuts of beef were full of bovine goodness and the pig's feet had a nice thick layer of skin. I'm not not the biggest fan of the crunchy tendon provided, but have gotten used to it over the years.
Hard to believe I've been coming here for over 17 years! It's still my favorite Bun Bo Hue. I need to visit more often.
Mien Trung Restaurant
7530 Mesa College Dr
San Diego, CA 92111
HiroNori Craft Ramen Revisited
In my post on Ramen Nagi, "FOY" Mar mentioned liking the Shoyu Ramen from HiroNori. Man, it had been three years since my last visit which was, because of Covid a takeout visit. So, the last time I'd dined in at HiroNori was in late 2019 and the last post I did was in July of 2019 when I stated that HiroNori's shoyu ramen was "my second favorite ramen in San Diego". Of course, the obvious question is, if HiroNori is my second favorite, why don't I visit more often? Well, there's this thing called "parking" that I hate in the Hillcrest area. I mean, there are lots in the strip malls in City Heights and on Convoy that I detest, but for some reason, just having to search for and pay for street parking or some of the exorbitant lot prices kinda drives me off.
But recently an opportunity arose. I had an appointment in Hillcrest and it ran into the opening time for HiroNori, so I decided to finally return.
I lucked out as there were two tables still open when I arrived. The two young ladies working were just fabulous, so kind, efficient, and hard working.
As before, I got the Shoyu Ramen ($15.10), I'm not a fan of the Tonkotsu ramen here. I got it with the thicker noodles and the wonderful young lady talked me into getting the garlic paste as a side. There were some huge takeout orders; one guy came and to pick up 10 orders of ramen to go. The young ladies had him drive up front and they walked the orders to his SUV for him. Like I said, great service. So, I was surprised that my ramen came out so quickly.
Man, I still really like the noodles here. It has that perfect ratio of chewiness to slippery pull and girth that I enjoy. The garlic paste went well with the tamago, which was nicely seasoned and still warm. It was a bit much for the broth; which had that nice tongue feel and savory tones I enjoyed previously. In the past it teetered on too salty, but today it was nicely balanced. The garlic paste was too bitter and messed up the balance of the broth. Man, the barrel aged shoyu does wonders for the broth adding a slightly sweet-umami "edge" to things.
The menma was nicely seasoned but cold. The chashu was as good as always; yes, its not the most buttery, but it is tender enough, providing what a call and pleasant "meaty chew". It has been simmered and flavored nicely and the porkiness has not been lost.
I enjoyed this bowl and also the service. As things are now Ramen Nagi is my favorite ramen in San Diego. However, the former #1, Menya Ultra has fallen to number 3 as HiroNori holds strong in second place.
I really need to figure out how to get here more often.
HiroNori Craft Ramen
3803 5th Ave
San Diego, CA 92103
Current Hours:
Mon – Wed 1130am – 8pm
Thurs – Sun 1130am – 9pm
Thanks for the reminder Mar!
A Day Trip to Chantilly and Dinner at TenZen (Paris – Since Closed)
I knew that when spending two weeks in Paris, I'd need to break things up and plan some side trips, we'd already spent two evenings in Strasbourg exploring the Christmas Markets and for an encore, I thought that since we'd already done Versailles and Chartres, a nice day trip to Château de Chantilly might be fun. I'm not sure I mentioned, but Annabel Simms wonderful book, An Hour From Paris is a wonderful resource. We caught the TER, Regional Express Trains from Gare du Nord, and arrived at Chantilly Gouvieux in 25 minutes!
The Château is a couple of kilometers form the train station. Instead of following the standard signs along the road, we took the path described in the book to get to the Château, and then walked thru the village on the way back.
We loved the forested path.
It was lush and green, birds were singing, even though it was winter. The trail is clearly marked and cleared.
We even had our own "escort" for part of the walk.
You'll past the racetrack before arriving back at the main street and the Musée du Cheval.
These days, unless we're on a tour, we try not to pack too many things into our explorations. We were just going to visit the Château. On Rue du Connétable, you take the road as it curves right, becoming Route Pavée and you'll soon come to this wonderful sight.
That's Château de Chantilly. You saunter thru the gates.
Up to the ticket booth. I'd bought my tickets in advance and then the Château is yours…..to visit of course….
It's quite impressive. There are actually two château here, the Petit Château, and the Grand Château, which is where the entrance is.
We loved the statues of the dogs that "guard" the entrance to the château. The one above are named Lumineau and Seduisant and were actual pooches belonging to Henri d'Orléans, Duke of Aumale, who commissioned Augustus Cain to create these.
The Grand Château was actually destroyed during the French Revolution and rebuilt in the 1870's. The original structure was built in the 1500's by the Montmorency family, but eventually taken over by the Orléans family. Henri d’Orléans had the château rebuilt and that is mainly what we see today.
The Chapel of the Condé Hearts, Suites, Dining Hall and the huge Reading Room are something to see.
But beyond all of that there was one area we really wanted to see.
The Musée Condé.
Consisting of over 2500 drawings it is the second largest art collection in France next to the Louvre. You'll notice some interesting arrangement of paintings. This is because the Duke d'Aumale, who bequeathed this to France, had some conditions, one being that the collection be shown in it's original location; the works cannot be moved, nor can any of the works be loaned out. So, if you want to see these works by Raphael you'll have to come here.
For some reason, we enjoyed our visit here much more than Versailles.
Perhaps it was the lack of crowds or the atmosphere……we kind of enjoyed the peacefulness.
Yes, it's not a palace, but it is quite stunning in its own way.
After our visit, we headed back to the train station via the village of Chantilly. It was getting close to our designated train time, so we quickly grabbed a sandwich and caught our train back to Paris.
After the full morning, we rested up, before heading to dinner. I had read about a small tempura restaurant located under the quite popular Zen Restaurant in the 1st Arrondissment. This little 12 seat underground restaurant was named TenZen and featured a multi-course meal featuring…well tempura of course. Staying in Paris for the length of time of our visit, meant we could really "eat like we would at home", which meant…well, Chinese and Japanese cuisine. Sadly, TenZen closed mid-2023, but I thought you might enjoy the photos.
Zen restaurant is a bustling shop in the area of Paris we call "Little Tokyo". You enter the restaurant, show the hostess the reservation and were guided downstairs.
This was the realm of chef Jiro Kondo. He does all the cooking.
For the three hours, we really felt like we were back in Japan.
From the excellent Otsumami.
To the decent quality sashimi.
This was all fine. But then, came the reason we visited.
My goodness, the tempura was just perfect, the batter light and airy, yet really enhancing each item.
My goodness, the Madagascar Shrimp was so amazingly sweet-oceany, such great flavors and textures.
The shrimp from Normandy was no slouch either.
Several of the items included Black Volcanic Salt from Iceland which really added a slight smoky component to things.
And the tempura finished off with a perfectly cooked scallop.
And things were finished off with a Kakiage Don and some miso soup.
Oh, and of course dessert.
After our meal, we were escorted out by the staff, just like Japan!
We were really sad to hear that TenZen closed as it was a place we wanted to return to on our last trip back to Paris.
TenZen – (since closed)
8 Rue de l'Échelle
75001 Paris, France
I hope you don't mind me doing this post as I want to remember and recall this wonderful meal.
Thanks so stopping by!
Paris – Petit Palais and Dinner at Onii-San
Our train from Strasbourg was on time and we got into Paris-Est right around 1230. From there it was a snap getting back to our apartment.
After two nights at various Christmas Markets and watching me enjoy myself whether it was doing the flanuer thing, spending the morning on Rue Montorgueil, or just deciding where I was getting my morning croissant from, the Missus was ready to get into "shopping mode".
And so we unpacked, put in a load of laundry, and headed on out.
Passing thru some very familiar places.
And places we had just recently gotten to know.
Past Place Venodome.
All dressed up for the season.
Down Rue Saint-Honore.
The Missus knew the way by heart.
As before, we were treated like royalty at our destination with a personal shopper, some light refreshment……
And as several times before, we left, the Missus happy, our credit card not so much….but such is life.
Chanel
31 Rue Cambon
75001 Paris, France
We then headed out, with no objective in sight, just enjoying the day and came across the Petit Palais.
Life many of the places we visited on this trip, we had passed by the Petit Palais many times and finally decided to visit. Free admission made things a lot more attractive as well. The Petit Palais is an art museum, housed in a beautiful building that was built for the 1900 Paris Exposition.
It houses many several well known works and also temporary exhibitions (of which there is admission).
We were here on a whim, so had no agenda in mind. We'd just be wandering and enjoying things.
There's a grand portrait of Sarah Bernhardt.
It is by Georges Clairin and is said to be a favorite of the Actress who kept it all her life. It was donated by her son after her death.
Being that we're in the Les Halles area a good amount of time during our stays, we enjoyed this work.
Which captures the busy, chaotic place that "the Belly of Paris" was during the 19th century.
We also noticed folks actually painting as well.
It seems like this is an art group or class enjoying Petit Palais.
We got some tea and coffee and settled in the Terrasse and just enjoyed the place.
Petit Palais
Av. Winston Churchill
75008 Paris, France
We then started to head on back to the apartment; doing our share of lèche-vitrine – window shopping (literally translated as "window licking" in French) along the way. Though not everyone wanted us "licking their windows" it seems!
The Missus wanted something for le goûter (tea time) and we decided to stop at Fou de Pâtisserie on Rue Montorgueil again.
She chose the La Tarte Citron.
It was a "tart" tarte indeed, not overly sweet and the Missus enjoyed it.
Fou de Pâtisserie
45 Rue Montorgueil
75002 Paris, France
When it as time for dinner, well, a few days previous, we passed what looked sort of like a modern Japanese restaurant. The tiny place was packed and I cracked up at the name "Onii-San" which means "older brother" in Japanese. So, we walked on in and made reservations for dinner.
We were welcomed and seated. Looking at the menu; it became apparent that this was a pseudo-Izakaya, featuring some interesting dishes. The staff; except for one person we saw in the kitchen was French, so this was going to be an interesting meal. I need to apologize for the photos as the lighting in the place was quite flakey.
We placed our order and soon enough, the dishes started arriving.
First off, the Tempuras de Legumes – Vegetable Tempura (14€/$15.25US).
The batter was a bit too thick and heavy for tempura, the dashi was actually pretty good, nice savory tones. The vegetables were too hard.
The Shiitakes (15€/$16.35US) was interesting.
There were only four halves of mushrooms in this…like 2 Shiitakes! The wakame cream was kinda weird in flavor, mildly savory-oceany, but also milky. There was a interesting bitterness to the dish. We later found out that there sansho pepper in this. The ikura were actually trout caviar and were quite good; salty, with a sweet finish.
The Aubergine (Eggplant – 15€/$16.35US) was another con-"fusion" dish.
The eggplant was on the undercooked side for our taste. We liked the blanched watercress as it had a pleasant bitterness that went well with the sweet-soy-wasabi flavors in the sauce. Not sure about the cheese though as it just didn't seem to belong here.
Things took a nice turn for the better with the Tuna Tartare (26€/$28.40US).
The tuna was chopped nicely; it almost melted in your mouth; the shiso really enhanced the dish as did the trout caviar The ponzu sauce added that savory-sour-tangy component and the wasabi cream added a nice richness. We weren't sure about the brioche, but this seemed more like Japanese milk bread and was quite good.
Speaking of Milk Bread, I saw Toro Sando (26€/$28.40US) on the menu and just had to order it. It was our favorite dish of te evening.
Initially, I took a look at the fish and it sure didn't look like toro; but it was surprisingly tender. The breading, while not the best, still had a bit of crunch. The bread was fairly fluffy, buttery, with a mild sweetness. The wasabi mayo was a perfect match and the ponzu shallot worked so well with seafood. This was a surprisingly good sando!
On an interesting note; while searching for addresses I found that Onii-San opened a Sando shop named Ototo last years as well! Makes perfect sense.
While this wasn't a perfect meal, it was an interesting fusion, sometimes "Con"- fusion. While we've been used to French cuisine with Japanese touches; this place went in the opposite direction, with interesting results. Such is the ever changing state of food in Paris!
Onii-San
82 Rue des Archives
75003 Paris, France
Our accommodation was just 2 long blocks away. We passed the "very blue" Mairie de Paris Centre, the "Mayor's Office" along the way.
We had a day trip set for the next day, so it was off to bed early for us.
Thanks for stopping by!
Big Island – Tex Drive In (Honokaa), a Revisit to Suisan (Hilo), and Liliʻuokalani Gardens
After enjoying our visit to the Waimea Town Market, we packed up, checked out, and headed back to Hilo. We could take our time since our flight wasn't until 230pm and decided to stop at Tex Drive In in Honokaa. It had been a bajillion years since we'd been here and decided it was time to try out the malasadas one more time.
We were surprised that it wasn't very busy as this was a Saturday.
We just ordered one plain malasada.
It was as we remembered; a bit too dense and bready for our taste. But it was fun just to be here again after all these years.
Tex Drive-In
5-690 Pakalana St.
Honokaa, HI 96727
From here it was a clear shot down the Belt Road. We had been in these parts many times so we really didn't bother to stop until our "lunch" destination. You know what the Missus wanted, right? Yep, it was Suisan one more time! In other words "hana hou"!
This time we got a plate; with the Ahi Shoyu and the Ahi Mango Habanero, a half pound of the Ahi Limu, and a Half pound of the Spicy Ahi.
The quality of the fish in the Shoyu Ahi was much better this time; but still not the best. The ahi habanero was quite buttery and there was some decent spice and salt. I never knew that the Missus had never had Ling Hing Mango before! She just loved the stuff! The rice was a bit on the dry side but passable.
There was much more limu in the ahi limu this time around and the fish was nicely salted and tender. This was quite "old school" delicious.
The spicy ahi was good as well. Mild spice, the fish tender.
Suisan Company Limited
93 Lihiwai St
Hilo, HI 96720
We were lucky and scored the bench right in back of Suisan.
We still had a bit of time on our hands after lunch, so we decided to cross the street and check out Liliʻuokalani Gardens. Man, we hadn't been here in years!
The original 5 acres was dedicated by Queen Liliʻuokalani to be a public park in 1907. The park was increased in size to 17 acres in 1917.
The park was then dedicated to the first Japanese immigrants to the island and has claimed to be the largest Edo-style garden outside of Japan.
There are lovely arching bridges over fish ponds, pagodas, torii, stone lanterns, and a wonderful view of Hilo Bay…..
Funny thing, even though I've been here several times, I never knew the history of the park until after my return from this trip.
You can find even more info here.
Soon enough, it was time to fill up the rental car, and head to the airport.
I'm hoping we won't have to wait another decade before returning!
Midweek Meanderings – Da Kine’s Back to Only Catering and Green China Grill is Officially Lanzhou Noodlelicious
Two quick items for a lazy (me) Wednesday.
Da Kine's Back to Only Catering:
Well, the saga of Da Kine's continues. As I'm getting older, I really can't put it away like I used to. I now kinda space out my plate lunches. I thought I'd head on down to La Mesa and see what was up with Da Kine's. I did a quick check to verify hours, when I noticed that the address was different as was the name – it now said "Da Kine's Hawaiian Catering". I went and checked Nelson's Facebook site and yep…..man, things ended at the La Mesa shop back in June! I must be losing my touch!
I quickly contacted "FOY" Kerri who verified that Nelson was just doing catering for the time being while looking for a new location.
I'm guessing you can contact Nelson via Facebook if you have any ideas.
In the meantime, if you need some catering:
(619) 581-5613
6334 El Cajon Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92115
Hope he finds another location soon!
Green China Grill is Officially Lanzhou Noodlelicious:
Remember, during my post about my last visit to Green China Grill, I mentioned that the business was listed as Lanzhou Noodlelicious? Well, I did a quick stop to see what was up with the reconstruction of China Max since the fire.
Passing the former Green China Grill; the sign now says……
Lanzhou Noodlelicious……so I guess Green China Grill is now officially Lanzhou Noodlelicious. Not sure about this name change.
Lanzhou Noodlelicious
4688 Convoy St.
San Diego, CA 92111
I'll drop by again soon just to check in to see how "noodlelicious" things are…..