Closed – Page 84

La Playita-Mexican Seafood. Excellent.

August 13, 2007 Cathy Seafood, Taco Shops, What Cathy Eats!

La Playita has closed

Other posts on La Playita can be found here, here, here and here

mmm-yoso never goes on vacation. It is a blog, you know. A blog about food. Today, Cathy is talking about what she ate. The other blogger guys are merely reading and enjoying vicariously.

Hello again. I am back and oh so happy. The Mister and I just had the most wonderful meal. In April, Mr. P. told me this place was great when I asked him about it and I merely stored that tidbit of information.

I could kick myself for not going to La Playita sooner. It is right up the street from Ba Ren, in the same parking lot as the Smart N Final on Clairmont Mesa Boulevard, in the back corner of the parking lot Lp_003 , closer to Limerick Street.

This is pretty much what it looks like inside-3 small tables and 7 stools at the counter…and lots of references to Pancho Villa, I am unsure why. You order and they start assembling and cooking. Basically, it is all seafood except for the corn tortilla quesedilla for $2.50, mentioned on a piece of paper taped on the wall.

We decided to be the token Caucasians and order in that way this first time, so the fish(0r shrimp) taco ($2.50) (also mentioned only on a piece of paper taped to the window and on the wall), was ordered. They had to fry it- an unusual sound – using the pan fryer and all. These two are the only fried items you can order.Correction- when it is hot weather out, those are the only two fried items you can order. When it is of a better temperature outdoors, there are several 'specials' on the wall listed that are pan fried and delicious!

Lightly corn meal battered slices of fresh red snapper (which is otherwise used in the ceviche) served on a single tortilla with tomatoes, cilantro, onion and some spicy, creamy orange colored sauce which is also made in store. Served with a home made hot sauce which is very good.

This is the menu on the wall. No take out menu and the website isn't quite working. (Click to enlarge.)

The medium Shrimp Cocktail ($7). We did not count how many large, juicy, sweet tasting shrimp were in here, but at least a dozen. They were barely cooked (i.e., not mushy) and nicely chilled. So sweet and quite large. The nice lady at the counter (mom?) put some what we thought were onions and shrimp juice on the bottom, then the shrimp, then more sauce, which was made of fresh tomatoes and their juice, cucumber slices-not onions!-, cilantro and lime juice. Perfectly simple and wonderfully refreshing. (The Mister does not like onions at all.)

Then, the reason I came- ceviche. This is the small ($5) tostada of "House" ceviche- Three sizes available, 4 types to choose from(could have gotten shrimp, imitation krab or the large ($10) size of ceviche tostada called "Super Crazy") and the House one is made with scallops. Scallops that are raw and only start cooking in the lime juice when you order and the ceviche is assembled. Fresh. For you. When you order. This small size is more expensive than other ceviche tostadas around town, but is definitely double the amount of seafood and tomatoes, cucumber and cilantro than you usually get elsewhere. No Jalapeño or onions, just fresh, crisp wonderful fresh flavors. By far the best I have had.

If you are craving Mexican Seafood, this is the place to try.

La Playita Seafood 5185 Clairmont Mesa Blvd, San Diego 92117 (858) 874-6484 . No hours listed. Website

A Brooklyn Pizzeria- on Mission Gorge Road; NY Style Pizza without the attitude

August 10, 2007 Cathy Pizza, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso, the blog, is back with Cathy talking today. Kirk and Ed are merely eating somewhere -one of them in California, the other in Arizona- so they, too, can blog soon. This is a fun hobby we have.

Hi. So, anyhow, The Mister and I were out last Sunday, looking for something cold to drink in the humidity that is "summer" (for all of two weeks) to those of us who now live in San Diego and were on Mission Gorge Road. We saw "yetanotherStarbucks" and stopped. A few doors down, this placard caught my eye:

This storefront was a Republican Party Headquarters for the 2004 election, and I never paid attention to it once "Frank’s Happy Chef" closed in the mall ( We really liked Franks- Greek and wonderfully fresh; it is now an Indian Buffet). There is a Souplantation in there, but the parking situation is kind of horrid since there are quite a few places to eat and it is within waking distance from two Kaiser Hospitals.

I stepped back and saw the signage with the not too original name (or so I thought)…"Pizzeria, Etc."

We ventured in and grabbed a menu.

I saw the name and website address "A Brooklyn Pizzeria". Hmmm. Other NY Style pizzerias sometime have "an attitude" with us. No names shall be mentioned here. You know where I mean, and I do like their pizzas.

It is not air conditioned inside, but we did not want to take a whole Cheese Pie home…and, they had salads on the menu (unlike my prior Favorite Pizza Joint in San Diego). We said we would eat in, ordered a small antipasto salad ($5.50) and a Cheese Pie ($11.00- $1 less than where we usually go) Of course all pies are the same 18 inch size and made in the NY style. There is a case of ready made pies, where you can order a slice or two at the front door, just like at that place with an attitude.

Nunzio prepared our small salad in two bowls for us- which was nice.

Not much lettuce (which I did not want anyhow but suspect we would have gotten more of if we got the salad "to go") but a provolone/capicola roll, some cut up mortadella and Genoa salami along with gardiniera, fresh tomato, cucumber, olive pieces, onion and a pepperocini, all tossed with a nice Italian dressing and topped with shredded mozzarella. Brought out to our table- nice.

The cheese pie. Again, brought out to our table, (unlike being set in a window with merely the toppings of the pie yelled out, so you can go and pick it up yourself, like at that other place). Nice, thin crust, good, salty, fresh tasting mozzarella with a very good, rich, tomato-y sauce. We did add oregano which was on the table.

When we finished, we went up to ask about dessert with the leftover pizza on the pan and Nunzio boxed it up for us.

This place serves excellent Pizza. (There is a daily special of 2 slices and a drink for $6) and somehow I suspect the sandwiches are great also. They also sometimes have Zeppoli (2 for $1), although not the day we were there. I *love* Zeppoli and can find it on occasion only at Solunto Bakery in Little Italy. The people who work here are all very nice and friendly and efficient. Try to stop by. You will like it and won’t get yelled at.

A Brooklyn Pizzeria 6171 Mission Gorge Road San Diego 92120 phone (619) 584-9000(fax) (619) 584-9004 Sun-Thurs 11a.m.-9 p.m, Fri-Sat 11 a.m.-10 p.m. website

Palominos #2-yet another (good) Mexican and Seafood Shop

August 9, 2007 Cathy Taco Shops, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso is a blog. Today Cathy is doing the talking, because this is where she ate. Kirk and Ed are taking a break.

Hello again. The Mister and I have been sick, yet still eating, just not taking photos and therefore nothing to blog about. However, the camera went with us today when we met up at one of our easy dinner meeting places- Palominos #2 -located across Ruffin Road from the Registrar of Voters Office.

A simple menu with some outstanding food (click to enlarge).

You order, pay and then can load up at the Chips and Salsa Bar.

I kind of like all of the salsas for one use or another, either just to eat with the chips while waiting, or as a compliment to the various meats or seafood.

No real preference. All are outstanding. Fresh made daily.

We started out with an Al Pastor taco ($2.40)- one of the best al pastors I have had.

The pork has been in a deep rich marinade that has a little heat from the red chiles and I detect oregano and cumin in the moist with crispy edged pieces of meat and sweetness from pineapple. It is an excellent example of Al Pastor.

Since it was Tuesday, we got the Special for the day- chile relleños (or cheese tamales), rice and beans ($4.75-reg $5.99).

The chiles are fresh, not canned, the cheese is a very fresh tangy jack and the sauce has a subtle bite to it. They are made in house, fried to order and the batter part that is not covered with sauce is oh so crispy and fresh.

Sometimes I am in a mood for a crispy chilled taco and the shredded beef ones are what I choose($2.05 each). There is something about the shredded beef- must be the grease- that I so crave. Inside the freshly fried shell with some lettuce and cheese and some hot sauce…oh I sometimes *have* to have that crunch.

What I *always* get here, no matter what else we order, is the ceviche tostada ($2.99). Made fresh daily with more tasty fresh rock shrimp (rather than small unflavorful shrimp), fresh tomatoes, cilantro and onions (barely any jalapeño as some other taco shops use)…it is perfect. Almost always I am not the only one ordering this treat no matter the day of the week or the time of day. It is served with a bottle of Tapatio Hot Sauce on the side and a sliver of avocado…just wonderfully refreshing. Quality Food. Plenty of indoor seating and three outdoor tables.

Palominos #2 Mexican and Seafood Restaurant 9353 Clairmont Mesa Blvd Suite I San Diego 92123 (858) 292-8470 (Behind the Carl’s Jr.) Mon-Fri 6:00 a.m.-10:00 p.m., Saturday 6:00 a.m.-8:00 p.m. Sunday 6:00 a.m.-9:00 p.m.

Green Papaya Vietnamese Pho & Grill

August 5, 2007 mmm-yoso Pho, Vietnamese Restaurants

*** Green Papaya is closed and has been renamed.

A couple of weeks ago FOY(Friend of Yoso) and Uber Food Blogger Captain Jack, told me about a new Vietnamese Restaurant in Pacific Beach. He mentioned the name of the place was Green Papaya. So that week, I drove down to PB to check out the restaurant.

The interior of the restaurant was very nice, clean, well lit, and tastefully appointed. The restaurant was totally empty when I entered, and after waiting a few minutes, I walked into the kitchen, and surprised a pleasant young man who led me to a seat and dropped off a menu.

With a name like Green Papaya, I had hopes that the menu would contain a few different and interesting dishes. But even though the "namesake" Papaya Salad (Goi Du Du) was on the menu, most of the dishes were standard Pho, Bun, Mi, etc. In addition the prices reflected the "Pacific Beach premium".

After looking over the menu, I just went with the usual. I started with Cha Gio(Egg Rolls – $5.50). The Cha Gio arrived within a minute! On the positive side, at least the "appetizer sin" where appetizers arrive after the main course wouldn't happen here.

On the bad side, when these arrived in a minute, the first thought that went through my head was, "these gotta be reheated". And eating these did nothing to dissuade me. As you can see, one of the Cha Gio is burnt and two of them were soft and greasy.

The Nuoc Mam Cham is described as "a light fish sauce." And they sure weren't kidding, it was a bit under flavored and more on the sweet side. So if you're not into fish sauce, this might be for you.

I also went for the Pho Dac Biet Extra Large (Special Combination – $6.75):

The garnishes were the usual suspects, and were very fresh. I had expected this Pho to be very mild, and generic….boy was I wrong. Though the broth was very low in oil content and light, the strong flavors of anise and clove came through. The noodles were the usual clump on the bottom of the bowl, okay in texture, though the portion size was a bit skimpy for an "xlg" bowl.

The 5 slices of rare steak were very dry and tough and there was but a scant strip of tripe.

In keeping with the clientele there was only one piece of brisket, and a small piece of tendon. It's too bad, because the brisket had excellent flavor, and the tendon was a buttery soft. If I were to ever eat here again, I'd go with something with mostly tendon and brisket.

Overall, the service was very nice, as is the decor, but I prefer the Pho and Cha Gio at Pho Sao Bien up the street. I did ask what the specialty of the house was, and the young man answered with the question, "you don't like our Pho?" He recommended the Bun (Vermicelli dishes), but the thought of the watered down Nuoc Cham…….

Green Papaya Vietnamese Pho & Grill
1820 Garnet Ave
San Diego, CA 92109

Hours: Mon-Sun 10am-9pm
858-273-1664

Birrieria Y Pasteleria La Nortenita

July 31, 2007 mmm-yoso Mexican Restaurants

**** Birrieria Y Pasteleria La Nortenita has closed

I readily admit that at I will over strategize at times. If I'm not sure that the Missus will enjoy a particular restaurant, I'll usually try it out first. But at times, this approach just doesn't work out. La Nortenita is a good example of that. I first drove by La Nortenita earlier this year, and made a note to check it out. The problem was that each time I tried to stop by, the place was either packed, or no parking could be found. Finally, I just told the Missus about the place, and early one weekend morning we made a drive down to La Nortenita.

As you can see this little restaurant is partially hidden by trees, and if you're driving down Imperial avenue at a fast clip, you might just blink and miss it.

But if you slow down a bit, you won't miss this:

So let's all rub our greedy little hands together, and go "mmmm Barbacoa"!

The little restaurant has a "homey" feel to it, except for the "window" which looks a bit out of place. And the wonderful aromas floating in the air!

Though the menu is written in Spanish, it is pretty easy to understand. The Missus and I have a little joke, even though I won't be able to ask for the restroom in Mexico, I sure won't starve……..

The menu is broken down into tacos, gorditas, sopes, and tortas on one page, and the "combination plates" and guisados on the other. First the condiments were delivered to the table:

Since this is a barbacoa/birria restaurant, ordering was pretty easy. I started with 1 Birria de Chivo and 2 Barbacoa de Borrego(in this case slow cooked lamb) tacos($2.14/ea):

Three large size tacos with a generous amount of meat, wrapped in rustic, steaming hot tortillas that were made to order arrived at the table.

The Birria de Chivo taco consisted of shredded roasted meat, that had been dunked into a chili infused broth, which delivered a nice rich chili "punch".

With just a touch of onions and cilantro, I needed nothing else to enjoy this taco.

The Barbacoa de Borrego consisted of shredded lamb that had been mixed with a bit of the lamb broth/consomme.

Adding a tiny squeeze of lime to balance out the richness, and onion and cilantro to act as a counterpoint to the wonderful mildly wild and gamey flavor of the meat. A touch of salsa roja added a nice bit of smokey heat to the taco, making it mucho delici-yoso…….

The Missus was torn, She couldn't decided whether to get the Birria de Chivo or the Barbacoa….so She got both! Luckily, there were medium sized (mediana) portions available.

The Birria de Chivo was the first to arrive (mediana – $4.95):

Along with the good sized bowl of soup, a warmer with about a half dozen thick and steaming tortillas arrived…so hot you could barely hold them! The actual broth was not as spicy as it looks, and had more of a peppery-spicy flavor, with just a tiny hint of sweetness. The broth was hearty, though not too rich.

There was an abundance of meat in the bowl as well.

The Missus also ordered the Barbacoa de Borrego(mediana-$4.95):

A plate arrived with fragrant barbacoa topped with a steaming tortilla. As was our previous experience with the barbacoa at El Borrego a bowl of lamb broth/consomme arrived as well. The consomme was a light broth flavored with lamb drippings, with small shreds of lamb and garbanzo beans. The flavor was not a pronounced as the version at El Borrego, and a small squeeze of lime added some brightness to the dish. The barbacoa had been flavored with the broth as well.

Here's a better look:

The meat was moist, with a nice and rich lamb flavor. As with barbacoa, there's a salt shaker on the table for flavoring…..which I think is unnecessary. As the Missus started to dig in Josefina Ramos delivered 5 more steaming hot tortillas to the table. Man this was good! The Missus, who believes, but doesn't follow the "Yin-Yang" philosophy of eating (i.e. "hot foods" balanced by "cold foods"), told me that even though She almost finished both dishes, there was no feeling of being stuffed silly, probably due to lamb being "hot" food, thus giving Her invigorating energy! Until we went home and She proceeded to go into a food coma…….

A week to the day later, the Missus had a craving for lamb, and so we drove back down to Imperial, and La Nortenita. We arrived at a bit before 10am so the restaurant was empty, and Josefina greeted us with a large warm smile. I think she recalled the Missus's appetite! Not wanting to stuff ourselves silly, the Missus ordered the Birria de Chivo "grande"(sorry, no photo!), and I ordered the Barbacoa (grande – $7.63):

This time a larger plate! Along with the steaming hot tortillas and consomme. On this day, I thought the barbacoa was even better than on our previous visit. Still moist and flavorful, but this time the meat to fat ratio made this an almost decadent dish. The Missus who thought the birria was better, changed Her mind after tasting the barbacoa.

This was very satisfying, and too much for me to finish. Luckily, the Missus was on hand. By this time the little restaurant was completely filled. And through some restaurant ESP, it seemed that everyone knew that the barbacoa was excellent today since almost everyone had plates of barbacoa in front of them. It was interesting watching the different techniques for eating the lamb. Some made little tacos and dipped them into the broth, some poured the broth over the meat and made little tacos, and those dubbed the "efficient eaters" added the cilantro and onions to the plate, and mixed in the broth, and went to town! The Missus kept telling me…just think if we had some rice! So I'm guessing a rather large take out order is in our future.

For us, the experience of eating at La Nortenita is like eating in your favorite Aunt's home. The service warm and friendly, and if they know you love their food….. As an example, while waiting for our food, the Missus was checking out the various cakes, and other confections. Josefina seems to be quite an accomplished cake maker. As we were finishing, the nice young lady working on this day, brought us both a little sample for dessert, now that deserves an exclamation point! The restaurant can be on the hot side, and the ventilation is not the best, so when this tiny restaurant gets full…. The barbacoa is not as refined as El Borrego, but I prefer the rustic flavors and richness of the lamb at La Nortenita. Though I think the broth at El Borrego is much richer in flavor.

Birrieria Y Pasteleria La Nortenita
2455 Imperial Ave
San Diego, CA

Tacos El Rico

July 23, 2007 mmm-yoso Mexican Restaurants, Taco Shops

*** Tacos el Rico is now a location of Tacos el Paisa

I've tried unsuccessfully to eat at Birririeria El Nortenita on Imperial a few times in the last 2 months. Call it bad timing if you will, but the place is always too busy, so I usually just have a meal elsewhere. On a recent trip, the elsewhere was a colorful new Taqueria called Tacos El Rico:

If I recall this used to be Delia's, the Clairemont Drive location of Delia's has closed as well, I'm not sure what happened. One thing is pretty clear, El Rico sure makes good use of the colors red and yellow!

As you can tell from the lively and brightly colored menu, basic taco shop fare is served here. The variety of "meats" is pretty decent, with all usual suspects; Carne Asada, Al Pastor, Lengua, Cabeza, and Tripa, all present and accounted for……… And all served as Tacos, Burritos, Gorditas, or Mulita.

I placed my order, and waited a few minutes, grabbed my tacos, and went to sit outside, under the bright sunlight, and the even brighter red umbrellas.

I had ordered 3 tacos ($1.75 each). From left to right Birria(I was going to get some Birria one way or another!), Cabeza, and Al Pastor.

Please excuse the somewhat unsightly "bloody" tint to the photos. I didn't realize until I downloaded my photos, but the light filtering through the, yep you got it! Red umbrellas gave the photos this strange tint. The tacos were served on double corn tortillas which had a nice flavor, a bit chewy, and not brittle at all. Each taco also had a generous portion of meat as well.

I started with the Al Pastor:

The pork didn't have the caramelized appearance of typical Al Pastor, and was very "wet". I think of this as more of a marinated pork, rather than something spit roasted on the Trompo. The flavor was very mild, with just hints of chili flavor. There was also the problem of the pool of oil at the bottom of the taco, if you look at the photo closely you'll notice it. Not the best Al Pastor I've had.

The Tacos de Cabeza, was more of the solid "chunk" style, rather than the long cooked shredded meat that I enjoy.

This meant that the texture of the meat tended toward a more "waxy" texture. The overall flavor was very mild, not like the condensed beef flavor I enjoy. On the good side, this wasn't oily in the least, and it tasted okay with a touch of the Salsa Roja. As you can tell, there was so much meat, it was falling out of the taco.

And of course, I had to get my Birria.

This was by far the best. The meat had been cooked until soft and moist, than shredded. It had retained some of the "wild" flavor I was looking for, gamey and rich. The onions and cilantro helped to cut through the richness of the meat, and the corn tortilla stood up well to the moist, but not watery meat. This taco made the meal a success….I did get my Birria! Which made me a happy man(call me obsessed – but you know that already…).

The reason I sat outside, was so I could check this out:

Yep, this Taco Truck looks pretty new(where's all the bright red and yellow colors??). Got me wondering where we might be seeing it soon!

I'm not quite sure if I'll be stopping by Tacos El Rico anytime soon, since there are so many choices in the area. But who knows, I may run into that taco truck one day.

Tacos El Rico
2494 Imperial Ave
San Diego, CA 92102

Plate Lunch Week: Da Kine’s Plate Lunches – Mira Mesa

July 18, 2007 mmm-yoso Local Kine Stuffs in San Diego, Plate Lunch

*** As of December 2007, Da Kine’s Mira Mesa has closed

I don’t think it would be fair to do a plate lunch week and not include that San Diego institution Da Kine’s. Nelson Ishii is pretty much the pioneer of plate lunches in San Diego, having started Da Kine’s almost a decade ago. I remember seeing Nelson once at the Da’ Kine’s in PB when I was here for a consulting gig in the late 90’s. I knew it was him because, well, everyone knew him. I said, "hey bruddah, you make a pretty good plate lunch". His response? "Uh…." as he went on his way. After we moved to San Diego in 2001, I noticed that the quality of the food had started to go downhill. And by the time I finally did a post in September of 2005, it seemed that Da Kine’s had hit rock bottom. In fact, about 5 months after that post, I received an email that started with, "Wow, yoso-harsh…..". It was from the manager of the PB Da Kine’s apologizing, and asking me to return. And so I put Da Kine’s back on my "list". But before I had a chance to return, Da’ Kine’s in PB was no more. I felt I needed to keep that promise to return, so I decided on visiting Da Kine’s Mira Mesa location.

It was pretty quiet on the weekend morning in May when I paid Da Kine’s a visit.

In fact the Young Lady behind the counter seemed absolutely bored and going through the motions. So when she asked me what I wanted, I had no problem saying "I like Wop Yo Jaws…." She was not amused…..(BTW, "Wop Yo Jaws" doesn’t meaning anything like what you may think….)

In case you didn’t know, Da Kine’s has named their "mixed plates" somewhat interesting names such as Da’ Bugga, FOB Special, and in this case, the 3 item mixed plate is called "Wop Yo Jaws"($7.95). (You can find the real pidgin meaning here) I guess it’s supposed to be funny and cute, but knowing what these phrases mean, it makes me feel strange uttering them to order a mixed plate.

This is what arrived:

I was pleasantly surprised, take a look at the photos of items I had on my previous visits and compare. It’s like night and day. The Chicken Katsu at Da Kine’s is pounded really thin, creating a greater batter to meat ratio, not something that I really enjoy, but it was fried to perfection. I also like the Ketchup based katsu sauce that Da Kine’s uses. The Grilled Teri Chicken was hot and moist, if a bit under marinated. The Teriyaki Beef was well marinated, and fairly tender. It was a good example of "local-style" Teri Beef which is not overly sweet by nature.

I was impressed with the portion size, having been used to the ever shrinking portions at Da Kine’s in PB, this was a surprise. The Macaroni Salad, as usual was pretty bland, lacking in salt, and in this case too much mayo was used, but it wasn’t too bad.

Overall, this was a satisfying meal….

So still "feeling like one winnah" as I discarded my nearly cleaned plate in the trash, the indifferent young lady, asked me "how was your lunch?" I answered describing my meals at Da Kine’s in PB, and how this compared, and started into a blow by blow description of what I enjoyed about the food, when I noticed the totally blank look on her face….. She really didn’t, or hadn’t wanted an answer to her question, it was the "question asked for which no response is desired", she had probably expected a single yes, or no answer. Yes, I am a food dork. Finally she uttered a single "uh…" As I left I thought, maybe she’s related to Nelson????

Da Kine’s Plate Lunches – Mira Mesa
10606 Camino Ruiz
San Diego, CA 92126
(858) 586-0606

Plate Lunch Week: Mahina’s

July 17, 2007 mmm-yoso Local Kine Stuffs in San Diego, Loco Mocos, Plate Lunch

*** Mahina’s has closed

The storefront of Mahina’s looks familiar, doesn’t it?

It should if you’ve been reading mmm-yoso long enough. Mahina’s used to be Shaka Hawaiian BBQ, I’m sure you’d recognize the powder blue and bright orange colors.

Same bright(well, now not so bright) orange interior as well.

Something that caught my attention immediately was that this was the exact same menu as Shakas, except that Label Maker Tape with "Mahina’"s on it was placed over "Shakas" on every menu item. If you don’t believe me, here’s a close-up.

So what was a "Shaka Pac" on my last visit was now a "Mahina’s Pac" and so forth. All done with with a strip of label tape….. Because of this, my first impression was that Mahina’s is a bare-bones operation.

This being a bit on the early side of noon, I decided to go with the ~~Shakas~~, ummm Mahina’s Loco($7.99), I placed my order with some difficulty, the Young Lady had a hard time understanding me, and I her. After finally getting through, she relayed my order to the Young Lady in the back in Korean. I had a seat, and in a few minutes my "loco" was ready:

Looked like the typical Loco Moco, the eggs were a decently done easy-over, but the preformed hamburger patty tasted a bit "off", so I set it aside. The gravy was really bland, and had the texture of glue. The macaroni salad lacked salt and had apple in it…..which has no place on a plate lunch, it made the mac salad too sweet, and the salad wasn’t dressed with enough mayo.

What made this loco moco a ~~Shakas~~ Mahina’s Loco was the addition of Spam and Portuguese Sausage. I fished out a piece of Spam, and what I thought was another slice of Spam.

After examining both slices I noticed the color difference. The slice on the left was Spam, in all it’s nitrite glory, some cynical part of me expected Treet(nothing worse than fake Spam!!!) which tastes like really bad luncheon meat, but this was the real deal. I would rather have had my slice of Spam a bit caramelized. The dark slice to the right, is supposed to be Portuguese Sausage(does it look like a slice of sausage?). It had some spice, but no real rich pork flavor, or depth of flavor, the meat had a grainy texture, and there was a distinct lack of fat. It was just plain strange…..

I’m kind of at a loss….I really don’t know what to make of this meal. Could it really be this bad? I really wasn’t impressed with Shakas, but this was worse.

An idea popped into my head as I typed this. Mahina’s can’t possibly be this bad, can it? So, if anyone has any idea of something that Mahina’s does well, please let me know, and I’ll make an effort to try it. So let me know what I’m missing, ok?

Mahina’s Hawaiian Food
1315 Garnet Ave
San Diego, CA 92109

Flaming Wok- Mandarin and Szechuan in Santee

June 27, 2007 Cathy Chinese Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

Flaming Wok has closed

mmm-yoso, the blog, is what you are reading. Kirk is still not feeling like posting and Cathy does feel like posting.

Hello again. We were hungry, did not want to drive, yet had a taste for something Asian. Down the street, next to Albertsons, for more than 17 years.

Flaming Wok used to be kind of really neat to walk in and watch. The woks were right there behind glass, with flames. Kind of why they named it that way.

They have remodeled. There goes that photo. Now it is just the name of the place.

Nice, decor, but, what is wrong with this photo?

FORKS!!!!

OK. I am done. Just a little pet peeve. The food is good.

I like how the menu has superimposed drawings of the general categories- chicken, shrimp, eggs, cow.

We started with our usual, three ingredient sizzling rice soup. ($6.95) It comes in a large bowl and is ladled out into the smaller bowl seen here. We each got about 3 small bowls of soup from the large one. Sizzling rice squares, a rich chicken broth, shrimp, chicken nd beef, along with water chestnuts, bamboo shoots, mushrooms and pea pods. The peas were crispy fresh and the meats were juicy and flavorful, with the shrimp being quite large and sweet.

I got the vegetable egg foo young ($7.25)- a huge portion, kin of ended up shaped like it was cut on the bottom of the wok, filled with bean sprouts, shredded onions, shredded carrots , crispy crust on the outside and light and fluffy on the interior. Served with a sauce that was gelatinous/made from beef bones. Not salty, but deep rich in flavor. All of this reheated well the next day.

The Mister wanted noodles. Special Upside Down Pan Fried Noodles ($9.75). Thick rice noodles, cooked and fried until crispy.then placed on top of the stir fried beef, chicken, pork and shrimp in a thick gravy with broccoli, carrots, onions and water chestnuts. The noodles had a nice "bite" even when drenched in the gravy.

It is a nice, local, delve into good fresh Mandarin Chinese Food without the drive to Convoy Street.

Flaming Wok 9888 Magnolia (at Mast) Santee 92071 (619)596-3749 open 7 days 11:00 a.m.-9:30 p.m.

Return to Vien Dong III – Part 2 Following Up

June 19, 2007 mmm-yoso Markets & Grocers

*** Vien Dong Market is now Thuan Phat Supermarket. And updated post can be found here.

I know that those of you who commented on the first part of this post have been wondering when I'd get around to doing the follow-up. Following the initial email from Daniel, I made several visits to Vien Dong, research I guess you could say.

Daniel provided a "list" of several key improvements, and I thought I'd verify them.

"The pungency factor is no longer a factor"

This one was strange. Each time I entered the market, there was the standard issue smell, not quite as strong as before, but it was there. But strangely enough, as I walked toward the meat department the smell would dissipate, growing more and more faint. Each visit was during a different time of the day…mornings are always the best, but there it was, the slight meaty-fishy smell. But several steps later, it was gone.

I don't know if my sense of smell made an adjustment, or if there was an environmental or other reason for this. One thing I did notice was that the cashier area is much brighter, and there's a feeling of "space".

Raised our ceiling added skylights and brighter energy efficient lighting

I'm wondering if the raised ceiling has in some way contributed to the pungency issue. Perhaps all of the smells collect in one spot. Still, on my 4 visits it was not nearly as bad as before.

Renovated the seafood department with newer more accessible tanks and freezers.

This one is quite obvious.

But there was one thing I wanted to check, what was in those vats. I was pretty impressed, the water is well circulated, and very clean. Usually most live seafood lives in poorly circulated, murky, sometimes filthy water. As you can see this wasn't the case.

Expanded produce department to include wider variety and volume of produce

I always thought of the produce department at Vien Dong to be quite good, though somewhat cramped and claustrophobic. I can't even begin to tell you the number of times I've been rapped in the ankles or almost run over by durian laden shopping carts pushed by little old ladies…..

Now the produce department has been spread out a bit, and the aisles are a bit wider, and it seems that the department has been brightened up a bit as well.

And then there's my favorite part….

Resurrected the food to go + deli and bakery area

I know it's really just steam table stuff, but you can't beat the prices (2 items and a starch – $3.50, 3 items and a starch – $4.50). And sometimes there some pretty good stuff to be had.

I'm partial to the fried chicken…it's not bad.

It's nice to get a hearty meal for the price of a burrito….

Thanks for restoring my faith in customer service, Daniel!

One last thing

Daniel sent me the URL for a website Originalpho.com that is being developed by Daniel's Company. Usually, I don't do stuff like this, but because Daniel was generous enough to let me reprint his email in my earlier post, this was the least I could do. So check it out, you can request free samples. And here's something interesting. Our very own Cathy actually requested some samples…..

And in her own words:

You sent me the *very nice* letter from Dan, dated April 28, on Sunday April 29, where he mentioned www.originalpho.com to request product samples, and I immediately checked it out. I know companies send out samples because they want you to try and buy. Good business.

I got to choose a flavor (savory chicken, traditional beef, garden vegetable and succulent seafood). I was torn, thinking I would get a chance to try one small "Cup O' Pho" (as in the photograph) and wasn't sure if I shoudl play it safe with vegetable or go for what I know- beef. I expected one of those Styrofoam "Cup O's" to show up someday in the mail. I know whenever I request a product sample, I end up forgetting about it and eventually, months later, it shows up and I am pleasantly surprised.

You can see from the photo that it was sent on April 30 (I requested it Sunday night) and I got the whole pack, like they sell in the store- 6 cups, 70 gram cups. WOW! I certainly did not expect that much at once. It was a *very* pleasant surprise.

The Mister and I got to try the Cup O' Pho in the plain, unadorned sense- eating it as it came from the packaging (after adding the boiling water to cook the noodles, of course)…and then following the recommended add ins- add 1.5 ounces beef, 0.5 ounce bean sprouts, and red onion with the 'optional' (like it is optional) add ins of lime wedges, fresh chilies, cilantro and basil.

I combined two of the cups/ingredients and the add ins from home and made a very nice meal for the two of us one night. (There is a beef bullion-ish seasoning packet; a dried vegetable packet with garlic/onion/chervil/carrot and a spicy oil packet -shallot oil, soy bean oil, garlic and onion).

The foldable fork is helpful and I always save them from wherever I get them. You never know. I have chopsticks and foldable forks in my car side doors at all times. (really)

I sent Daniel a follow-up email asking him if Originalpho.com really did always send out a 6 pack of samples, and here's his reply:

We plan to slowly introduce more products on the internet and this is sort of our first run at it. We are able to ship very quickly because we've setup a good shipping operation out of our warehouse and are able to ship very inexpensively to commercial addresses. We think it makes sense to send out 6 pack samples because they are already well packaged for shipping and are light weight. We also hope that people will share them, especially come lunch/snack time in the work place, and that people will really understand first hand how convenient and tasty they can be.

So all you instant noodle fans – Free Pho!!!