Closed – Page 31

Cafe Royale

November 14, 2016 mmm-yoso African Cuisine/Restaurants, Mediterranean Restaurants, Somali Restaurants

**** Cafe Royale has closed

So, my haircut guy has been on the move again; I’ve detailed some of his moves over the years at the end of this post. So, last March he moved over to Rolando, then back to Mission Valley….then in September, back to Rolando. Well, on the bright side, I tracked him down and having to get my haircut allows me to spend a bit of time exploring a neighborhood I might not usually check out.

Fairly close to the barber (he’s actually on ECB) is a place someone mentioned to me in passing (along with Bourre, which is in the same strip mall) is Café Royale….the name which actually reminds me of a cognac-coffee drink I’ve had. But this place is supposedly Somali – Mediterranean.

The place looks rather fast-casual; where you order at the counter. The menu kind of threw me off; I’m used to seeing pasta in East African Restaurants; it’s the Italian influence. But this place had everything from the expected goat and suqaar, to the unexpected Philly Cheesesteaks (?!?), jalapeno poppers, quesadillas, burritos, and tiramisu. Though the meat is Zabihah Halal. Usually, I’d avoid a place like this; but for some reason there was an odd attraction. Plus, I was told there was a second Café Royale in, of all places, Minneapolis, go figure.

The guy working the counter was quite nice….perhaps it was my fresh clean-cut look…probably not. I wanted the lamb shanks, but was told it wasn’t ready yet; so I decided on the “Goat Feast Royale”. Man, this was a load of food for $10.99…..

I love how places like this and say, Safari Grill make their rice. It’s so fluffy and full of flavor. And that green hot sauce doesn’t mess around either. I found the goat to be on the tough side, though the flavor; coriander came through, along with the sprinkle of sumac made sure this wasn’t bland. A bit too much gnawing on tough bits though.

Still the price was very good and I wanted to try that lamb shank. So after my next haircut I dropped by and ordered the Lamb Shanks Royale ($14.99). I got it to go and noticed how heavy the plastic sack was. Something else I didn’t notice….the menu said “shanks” not shank. Good lord, look how much food this is.

I can’t imagine any one person finishing all of this. The Missus was in shock over the portion size. It was just too much food….almost three meals total. The Missus, like I enjoys the rice; nice and fluffy with good flavor…She also enjoys that green hot sauce a lot as well.

The lamb shanks were pretty meaty and cooked pretty well; not falling apart, but nice and fork tender. Decent salt, but fairly mild in that gamey lamb flavor we enjoy. Again, look at the size of this plate.

So, you obviously won’t go hungry here and the portions reminded me of going to a friend’s house where “Mom” wanted to make sure you left with a full belly. It was nice trying something a bit different. The guys working here are fairly polite and friendly, though I’m not sure what I’ll order if I return.

Cafe Royale
6511 University Ave
San Diego, CA 92115

A Revisit to La Miche Kabobgee

November 13, 2016 mmm-yoso Lebanese Restaurants

**** Sadly, La Miche has closed

Good lord; with temps hitting the mid-90's last week, it was hard believing it's actually November! It was in the high-30's when we left Iceland….we even felt that the temps in the mid-50's in Seattle was quite warm. So when we got back home and this heatwave hit….sheesh.

Hot weather like this kind of kills our appetite. We wanted something with a lot of flavor, but not too heavy, and La Miche came to mind. Hard to believe that it has almost been two years since we last visited, but the owner Nabih still remembered us.

Like before, we tend to stick with the mezze here.

We started with the Baba Gannoush.

The version here is a bit too sour for our taste, which really dampens the usual smoky flavor of eggplant.

The Muhamarah, though, is still a winna!

This red pepper and walnut spread; thickened with bread has such a nice texture and wonderfully complex sweet-nutty-garlic-sour flavors. It is heaven on a warm pita.

The slightly ripe and funky-cheesy-salty Shaankleesh was also perfect….a wonderful mash-up of flavors based on nice and ripe Shanklish is also wonderful on bread.

The Missus also enjoys the chewy, spicy, and salty Soujouk. The acid from the tomato sauce helps cut the salt.

There's quite a combination of spices going on here. By this time we were quite full so we took most of this home. The next day, the Missus made the leftovers with egg, which is a classic combination to this dry and spicy sausage.

I'm not sure what took us so long to return to La Miche. Perhaps it's location; kind of hidden from view. We really enjoyed our meal on a day where we hit record high temps. We won't take so long to return in the future.

La Miche Kabobgee
9350 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92123

Seattle – Sitka & Spruce

November 9, 2016 mmm-yoso American/New American Restaurants, Fine Dining, Seattle, Washington

**** Sitka & Spruce has closed

I thought I'd do this post a little out of the usual chronological order and you'll see why in a future post. I mentioned getting stranded in Seattle on the way back from Vancouver due to the Great Delta Debacle of 2016 in an earlier post. Anyway, being stuck in Seattle isn't that bad for us….of course I lost extra vacation time. But I quickly got us a hotel and reservations at a place we really enjoyed during our last "visit" Sitka & Spruce.

While we did enjoy our meal we really weren't quite as impressed this time around and perhaps the best part of the meal was my cocktail, called "The Garden".

Loved the addition of the celery bitters and oregano, which gave this white grape juice and ancho reyes cocktail a wonderful complex array of flavors. Not too boozy and quite refreshing. The sweetness of honey and citrus really balanced things out.

We started with some Shigoku Oysters ($3/each), which is basically a new variation of Kusshi Oysters a strain of Pacific Oyster.

These were very mild in flavor and perhaps a bit too firm for my taste. Also, one of the oysters tasted a bit off; but I suffered no ill effects.

We also ordered the combination of pickled and fermented vegetables with pickled egg ($11).

This was a lot of pickles….a lot, enough for 4-5 people, except for the egg of course, which was very good. The Shishito Peppers had a very nice texture and the beets were delicious. Probably too much of a good thing though.

Next up; the Heirloom Tomatoes and Halloumi ($18).

The tomatoes were good…a bit too mild in flavor and acid. This dish had way too much basil on it. The big surprise was the seared Halloumi, which had a fairly crisp exterior and a creamy interior. It added a bit of saltiness to the dish which was welcomed as was the presence of Shiro Plums which added a pleasant sweetness.

The Crispy Yukon Golds with Tuna and Egg Yolk ($14) was quite good.

That egg yolk added rich creaminess and the tonnato (a tuna-mayo based sauce) added a nice creamy-savory flavor as well. The olive oil was lovely and the potatoes delicious. The tuna confit really had no flavor and brought nothing to the dish in our opinion.

The Broccoli with Charred Eggplant ($13) was quite good in spite of the rather greyish hue of the dish.

Think broccolini with baba gannoush. The restrained amount of Aleppo Pepper added some zip to the smoky eggplant puree. The anchovies were a bit too salty for this in my opinion.

The seemingly odd combination of Nectarines, Lardo, Seared Shishito Peppers, and Chickpea Puree ($14) sounds a bit disjointed, but it worked quite well.

An interesting combination of textures and flavors; sweet, that chlorophyll-sweet-mild spice of the peppers, the texture of the lardo, and topped off with a nutty hummus like puree, this worked nicely for us.

As with our previous meal; we were intrigued with the combination of textures and flavors, some of which worked better than others. Though during our previous visit, we had that one dish which we thought was just amazing, which we didn't find on this visit. Still, while you might think $120+ for mostly vegetables (and cocktails) is mighty steep, the meal was a fun little ride.

Sitka & Spruce
1531 Melrose Ave
Seattle, WA 98101

Red Card Cafe

November 8, 2016 mmm-yoso Gastropub, Salads, Sandwiches

** Red Card Café has closed

A few months back; Red Card Café replaced Kitchen 4140. I was intrigued at the concept, a Gastropub featuring various street food dishes.

I really like the space; casual, yet very nice…though I haven't set foot in the dining room, preferring the bar area or the outdoor seating.

The theme of the menu is….yep, global dishes from soccer countries. It's kind of out there, all over the place with everything from Cubanos, poutine….aracini to pierogies!

Over the last few months, I managed to visit four times. I like to check out a place a couple of times before doing a post whenever possible and the location of Red Card, in my 'hood made it easy to do multiple visits.

The owner; Caroline is a joy to chat with, and the folks here are pretty friendly.

The tap selection is small but decent, and they feature stuff from Bitter Brothers (right down the street) among others. So I started with a Golden Child.

One of the things I really developed a taste for during our trip to Tunisia was a nicely spiced merguez. Caroline hails from France and the chef is formerly from Sausage and Meat. So what more natural way to start things off than with a sausage, right? I did find out that the merguez was not made inhouse; bummer. I ordered it anyway. At $14, I thought a single sausage and some rather ordinary fries was not going to be a great value….unless that sausage delivered. The flavor of the merguez was a bit on the mild side; quite tame….based on the owner's background, I was expecting the thinner, rather snappy, slightly spicy, very flavorful meguez. I did like the house ketchup.

A few days later, the Missus joined me on a nice sunny evening.

Having just returned from Vancouver, where the Missus discovered an affection for Poutine and combined with Duck Confit, it just sounded like something we should try.

The Duck Poutine ($16) just had too much going on; too sweet, too heavy, you really couldn't taste the duck and the dish came across as being on the greasy side.

We also ordered the Cuban ($12) with Yam Chips ($3 when included with a sandwich).

The Yam Chips looked very dark and seemed a bit greasy, but was really crisp and had a nice salty-sweet potato flavor. The Missus really enjoyed this sorta-Cubano. The bread was nicely toasted; the mustard and pickles really lifted the flavor of the slightly citrusy and decently moist pork, and the slighty nutty-milky flavor went well with the sandwich.

This turned out to be a decent meal.

So I returned a few weeks later. This time I went with the Hot Dog which seemed a bit crazily priced at $12. It was however, quite good.

The hot dog tasted quite "porky", a bit different, loved the nice bacon bits, the wonderful house made mustard, and the sweetness of the caramelized onion. The potato bun went really well with all of this. And instead of being over-wrought and busy; I enjoyed this.

To balance things out; I went with the Kale Caesar ($7).

I enjoyed the fried kale which, along with the croutons added dimensions of crunch to the already crisp and fresh kale. The salad wasn't over-dressed and was very nice overall.

A few weeks later I returned; not being overly hungry, I went with the now rather ubiquitous Char Siu Steamed Buns ($14).

This was pretty mediocre, from the buns which seemed like something that was previously frozen, lacking the light fluffiness of fresh steamed buns. The meat was more like pulled pork than actual char siu. The sauce was a hoisin based glaze that was closer to a pseudo BBQ sauce than something truly Asian. It was also too sweet for my taste.

I finished the meal with a bottle of Three Philosophers for dessert.

Man, it had been a while since I'd had one of these.

In the end, I'm glad that we have Red Card in the neighborhood, heck, like I mentioned in Lynn's post of Red Card, this might be the best place on Morena now. And while I'm not the type to "just be happy to have it" and Red Card's menu, which is kind of all over the place seems to have its pitfalls, I'm glad to have another choice on the Boulevard.

Red Card Café
4140 Morena Blvd
San Diego, CA 92117

Onami (all you can eat Japanese)- lunches in Mission Valley

November 5, 2016 Cathy Buffets, Japanese Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!!, the food blog, is where you have found yourself. Kirk is still vacationing (literally at the top of the globe), Ed (from Yuma) is just East of us, enjoying his retirement and mini vacations in places other than California and Cathy is writing this post.

My job is odd, I can meet with clients at their home, office or in a public place. The 'ambiance' of an all you can eat buffet is such that there is less pressure to turn over a table quickly (unless there is a line out the door waiting to get in, which usually isn't the case during the week). One client in particular enjoyed (very much) the now closed chain of Hometown Buffet restaurants in the county, and I would meet him there primarily to eat all the fried chicken with the unique side dish 'Spinach Marie' that I could.

There are still 'all you can eat' places around, mostly Chinese buffets and San Diego based Souplantation.

My client discovered Onami, the all you can eat Japanese sushi/seafood buffet at the Westfield Mission Valley Mall. While waiting to be seated, you can see a 'Ramen and Udon Bar' just to the left. You can have a bowl prepared and a choice of five (do it yourself) toppings are available. Right around the corner is a cold noodle area, which offers the only toppings needed: green onion and shredded radish.
Seating areas are varied and interspersed next to the variety of hot and cold food areas.
Near the back of the restaurant are the hot foods, with many seafood choices.

There is an area where you can choose various vegetables, fish pieces and shrimp to be freshly battered and fried.
There is a cold area with a selection of twelve prepared salads. Along the other side is the sushi area, with item choices being prepared and refilled constantly. Then there was the dessert area, with a tremendous, portion controlled selection available.

Everything was fresh and tasty and quite nice. The space is quiet enough in some areas for conversation. The cost for weekday lunch was less than $15 each, which I though was good for the quality and variety.

Enjoy your weekend!

Onami 1640 Camino Del Rio N Ste 206 San Diego, CA 92108 Phone number (619) 295-9774 Hours: Mon-Thurs 11:30 am-2:30 pm, 5:30 pm-9 pm Fri 11:30 am-2:30 pm, 5 pm-9pm Sat 11:30-9:30 Sun 11:30-9

Perry’s Cafe (El Cajon) Breakfast revisits

October 26, 2016 Cathy American/New American Restaurants, Breakfast/Brunch, What Cathy Eats!

Here you are, back at mmm-yoso, looking for an interesting post about food in San Diego County and beyond. Kirk is too busy to write anything today and so is Ed(from Yuma), so it's Cathy doing the writing.

Kirk has written about the original location of Perry's Cafe in 2007, 2010 and 2012. cc and I met at the original location last year, Dennis wrote a nice post in 2013 and Mary stopped here in 2014. I wrote about the El Cajon location ("my" Perry's) in 2011.

Both the El Cajon and the Pacific Highway location are known 'truck stops' and have been open since 1985. Each has the same hours (6 a.m.-2 p.m. daily) the same menu, consisting of Breakfasts (Italian, Mexican and traditional American) and lunches (Mexican dishes, sandwiches and salads). The El Cajon location is closer to home and we stop here on weekdays (weekends are a madhouse, with lines out into the parking lot) for a quick breakfast and/or lunch. This post is only about breakfast.

The interior is a step back in time. The food is simple, good, diner food.

One thing about breakfast sides here: you can get toast, an English muffin, biscuit or a fresh, warm from the oven blueberry or bran muffin. Sausage links or patties are available and the hash browns- well, if you've read Kirk's posts, those are his favorite item here. The sausage patty is excellent and the poached eggs are always perfect. The Mister is in a waffle/pancake phase and the strawberry waffle with (properly made) over easy eggs and bacon ($9.25) was his craving this day. Another day, I wanted the French toast, with blueberries ($9.75). This came with (my choice of) bacon and poached eggs. That egg dipped, pan fried bread was just so very nice; crispy exterior and fluffy, eggy interior. The blueberry topping was kind of a pie filling in style, but not at all sweet, other than natural blueberry sweetness. Just right. The smoked pork chop breakfast ($9.25) was an excellent choice, as was the house made baking powder based biscuit which was brought out with a plain (not sausage) pepper gravy. The jiggly, over easy eggs were so very runny, which melded perfectly with the crispy hash browns.

Always a satisfying, tasty and fresh breakfast stop. Traditional diners are the best. We are fortunate to have these two in town.

Perry's Cafe 475 North Magnolia El Cajon, CA (619) 440-5724 open daily 6 a.m.-2 p.m.

Caffé Bene

October 24, 2016 Cathy Caffeine Fix, Desserts, Sandwiches, Taiwanese Food and Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! is the name of the blog you are reading. Kirk has an even busier day than usual and Ed (from Yuma) is out and about (in Yuma) doing his things, so Cathy is writing today's post.

Caffe Bene has over 1600 locations in a dozen countries around the world. One of those locations is in San Diego, on Convoy Street (it shares the same parking lot with Prime Grill). Opening over a year ago, cc and Kirbie posted about it.Spacious with a simple decor, the 'Global Coffee House' offers a fairly quiet meeting space with free wifi…

coffees, teas, beverages as well as a variety of snack foods, treats and small sandwiches. The Signature drink here, 'multigrain power drink', Misugaru, can be served cold or hot and I like each version and have purchased one or the other on each visit here. It's tasty, not too sweet and quite filling. I think it may also be good for you.

There is a small selection of sandwiches on the menu. The above is a Spicy Chicken Sandwich ($8.95). Served hot on a fresh roll, the chicken breast, fresh spinach and melted cheese were quite fresh and tasty. The 'spicy' sauce was nicely hot, (not Sriracha sweet, just a good punch of heat). The side of potato salad was just enough to compliment the other flavors.

The ham and egg sandwich ($7.95) was not served hot, but was just as pleasant in flavor pairings. Hard boiled eggs, a good amount of ham, spinach, red onion and a mustard based sauce were all complimentary and made a nice little shared meal.

Caffe Bene is known for its Liege waffles and honey bread and we tried a simple order of a waffle with gelato ($5.50). Liege waffles are small, rich, stretchy/chewy and a bit crunchy from embedded pearl sugar in the batter; another variety of waffle. The gelato? Strawberry- a very densely flavored gelato, which would be good on its own but also went very well with pieces of the waffle.

Yes, it is a chain, but this is the only location around and it is quite nice.

Caffè Bene Website 4620 Convoy St San Diego, CA 92111 (858) 278-2204 Open daily 9 a.m.-midnight Website

Chicken Charlie’s FryBQ: some daily specials

October 22, 2016 Cathy American/New American Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

Thanks for stopping to read mmm-yoso!!!, a blog about food. Kirk is just too busy to write a post right now and Ed (from Yuma) is finishing up a post which you will enjoy soon, so Cathy will be writing today.

This location of Chicken Charlie's has closed. There is a new location in Rancho Bernardo.

A few people noticed that I barely mentioned one particular booth at the San Diego County Fair this year. Chicken Charlie's has been a staple at the San Diego County Fair for 20 years. When someone asks 'what's the new food at the Fair this year?', Chicken Charlie and whatever his new concoction is is brought up. Always something interesting and fried perfectly, quick service. The stop at the Chicken Charlie's trio of booths makes your trip to the Fair is closer to being complete.

Almost two years ago, Charlie Boghosian opened a storefront in San Diego at the corner of Balboa at Genesee. Kirk wrote a post about it . The Mister and I stopped in a few times and after a while, realized the food there wasn't all 'Fair Food'.

In addition, there are almost daily 'specials', mentioned on Facebook…crazy prices on regular items and sometimes a not on the menu board item. The specials have a limit of four and I've found myself walking in just to find out with the special is (because, believe it or not, I am not always on Facebook daily) and staying to try an item. Most of the specials are between $5 and $10.

What is on that regular menu? Most of these items…

Chicken and waffles, two pieces, $6.49 (regular price). I must say that Charlie knows how to fry chicken properly. It's never greasy, always crisp and filled with flavor. The waffles are an added bonus.

The shrimp filled pineapple/Maui Chicken ($9.95, special price, about every two weeks, is $6).

Also about every two weeks, the chicken or shrimp salad is $5. This is a great meal, plus a savings off the regular prices of $6.95 and $7.95.

There are times when we just want a different or additional side dish (if we share a special) and the onion rings ($2.95) and fried zucchini ($3.95) just hits the spot.

One day there was a 5 fried shrimp and 5 wings basket with fries (but I substituted the cucumber tomato salad, which I really like)($8). You can see the large shrimp, which are lightly dusted with seasoned flour and fried.

There was a $12 special not long ago. It was three pieces of fried chicken, five shrimp and three meaty ribs, along with a side of fries (and you can see I substituted cole slaw). So very good and enough to share. This was a 3-4-5, for $6. Three shrimp, four riblets and five onion rings. The ribs here are fried then covered in a very nice sauce. Always meaty. This wasn't a special, just a half rotisserie chicken with one side ($7.95) which is also prepared so well. Charlie knows his chicken.

The only special we did not like was mashed potatoes, topped with chili and bacon, topped with two fried chicken pieces and all of it covered in a cheese sauce, topped with green onion. It was $6. Each item, individually, was good. The combination was insipid. Too much going on, unnecessarily.
The lobster slipper tail basket ($11.95) has never been on special. There were at least ten (I think 12) lightly battered and fried slipper lobster tails-meaty with a thin shell- served with melted butter (and the included side, this time we chose fried zucchini). Really good, again, shared. A couple of weekends ago, the special was…a fried Twinkie topped with chocolate and bacon…$1. Ever so lightly batter dipped, it was like biting through a delicate potato chip to get to the warmed Twinkie filling. Chocolate and bacon on top-bonus!

Chicken Charlie's FryBQ 5407 Balboa Ave San Diego, CA 92111 (858) 279-1111 Sunday-Thursday 10:30 a.m.-9:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday 10:30-10:30 website

Butler’s Coffee House (Spring Valley)

October 21, 2016 Cathy Breakfast/Brunch, Caffeine Fix, What Cathy Eats!

Butler's has closed, but the location remains a Coffee Shop

Well, here you are, looking at a food blog named mmm-yoso!!! Three of us write about food and happenings in and around San Diego, parts of California, other states across the USA as well as various countries around the globe. Kirk needs a rest (and maybe a vacation), Ed (from Yuma) is resting (after returning from a mini-vacation), so Cathy is writing today about a place in East County.

The Mister and I went driving early in the morning, while it was still chilly and overcast, looking for someplace to stop for breakfast. As is our habit, there was no planning and we merely drive and the passenger yells out 'turn here!'. This fine day got us to Campo Road and we noticed this new (to us) aqua colored signage.

Driving around the building, we realized it used to be a bank. The Drive Up Menu looked fairly interesting, so we went inside. With some research, I found out that Butler's opened in May. The interior is decorated for Halloween. In addition to the wall menu, there are more items written on that black glass area. There is also a small pastry shelving area and a refrigerated item area. You can see the interior is quite large. That's the bank safe there on the right (with the zig zag 'caution' tape across the front). I must admit that since the advent of Direct Deposit and ATMs, I don't recall the interior of my Credit Union, but guess it's probably as spacious.

We only ordered a large 'bold' coffee (beans from local company, Cafe Moto ) to share, because I had been awake since about 3 a.m. that morning and had finished an entire press pot already. The sandwiches are made to order. I chose a spinach, egg and cheese ($3.95) (choice of cheese: Provolone, American or Pepper Jack. Of course I chose Provolone). Toasted, buttered English muffin topped with the egg fluffily lightly scrambled with fresh chopped spinach and topped with melty Provolone. This was very good. The Mister chose the ham, egg and cheese sandwich ($4.25) (same cheese as I chose). You can see the ham is not from a deli package, it is an off the bone slice – a nice sized portion, not salty. The Provolone was also melted, the English muffin toasted and the egg scrambled to a fluffy lightness.

All in all, great quality and another local business found.

Butler's Coffee House 9631 Campo Road, Spring Valley 91977 (619)433-8913 Open Mon-Sat 6 a.m.-6 p.m., Sunday 6 a.m.-3 p.m.

Tea Station (again)

October 18, 2016 Cathy Desserts, Taiwanese Food and Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

Thank you for stopping to read this blog, mmm-yoso!!! Kirk is still working long days. Ed (from Yuma) is also really busy with appointments and things retired folks do. Cathy only has classes to take, so there is free time for her to write about some meals.

I've been posting about Tea Station in one form or another on this blog since 2007. This Taiwanese chain now has three locations in the County.

There are two main eat-in areas ( as well as a nice outdoor space). The menu is filled with photos.

We usually try a different hot tea each visit. So far, our favorite has also been the osmanthus, a light colored, fragrant, deep flavored tea ($6.99 for this pot) I want to say the flavor is a fruity black…not that there is fruit added, just the leaves have that background flavor of peaches. The shredded pork plate ($10.25) comes with the large portion of tea flavored pork, rice and the (daily changing) three sides: one hot and two cold this time. The cabbage and green beans had a light pickled flavor and the corn had more of a tea/tannin/brisk taste. All were complimentary to the meat.

The deli plate with pork house noodle (or rice noodle) soup ($9.99) is a good choice which we can share. The soup is quite nice and not salty; good flavors from the ingredients. The 'deli plate' is quite interesting, with tea flavored bites of hard boiled egg, seaweed knot, smoky tofu and a dried preserved vegetable. Tea flavored dumplings ($8.99) are almost always a fallback choice. The tea flavoring the meat is subtle, but there. The presentation is always pretty. You can see the skins were not thin. The taiwanese tea sausage ($5.99) is also an automatic choice. It's served with slices of raw garlic, which are just so perfect with the flavorings in the sausage. The spicy fried chicken appetizer ($5.99) (light/medium spice level) is always perfectly lightly breaded and crispy fried; not greasy.

On a recent visit, we tried a pot of the chrysanthemum/Pu-ehr tea ($5.50) This photo of the filter shows you the mix of chrysanthemum flowers and tea. We really liked the more subtle fermented flavor of this tea. You can see it was darker, and Pu-Ehr is fermented; quite earthy in flavor on its own, but by being 'cut' with the chrysanthemum flowers, it was a flavorful accompaniment to our meal this time. There are three menu pages devoted to 'dessert', which is shaved ice, which you can create or order. We have asked for the menu, stared at it, then always agree we want this same item: grass jelly with sour plum ice ($5.75). I have eight photos of this dessert. No condensed milk or any other toppings. Just a light, pleasant way to end a meal, with some tea, of course.

I hope you are having a good week so far!

Tea Station 7315 Clairmont Mesa Boulevard San Diego 92111 (858) 268-8198 website