Closed – Page 86

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!!!

Al Salam Halal Meat and Restaurant

June 16, 2007 Cathy Mediterranean Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

Al Salam has closed.

Hi. Its a Saturday night and mmm-yoso is tired. This is a short post on a favorite place Cathy and The Mister like to go to when they want something healthy and tasty. Kirk isn't posting anything tonight anyhow.

Hi. This will be short; I don't have a photo of the menu- it is one piece of paper kept at the cash register. Also, the camera died…well, the batteries did, anyhow.

Joseph E. asked me about my favorite place or two when I responded to a question about Mediterranean foods on a Forum earlier today. I pretty much have kept this one to myself for a very long time. They have good business mostly from the same local families and walk ins. There are many Mediterranean places in El Cajon, due to the large Chaldean population (when Iraq was having elections, one of the four places in the USA to vote was right down the street from this restaurant on Main Street in El Cajon). There were a lot more places on Main Street, seemingly one on top of another, but they have now spread out over the City of El Cajon. Nonetheless there are many small markets that are very ethnic and I saw a few that are both Arabic and Mexican in inventory on Main Street. (Main Produce Market as 1255 East Main, near Second has a "Coming Soon" sign and writing in Arabic and Spanish).

So, this little place…Most people come in here and get food to go, or just buy some Halal meats from the one refrigerator case, filled with Halal meats (I think the easiest way to describe Halal is "Muslim Kosher".) The menu is mostly written in Arabic with two columns for prices- it is less expensive to get something to go than to 'have service' as the owner says. Nevertheless, we are willing to pay the extra dollar or two per item and sit down at one of the 8 tables.

The building used to be a Doctor's office.

If the lady is working, she speaks good English, if it is all men in there (as it was on Saturday night), be patient. They speak broken English but they cook very well. They have a hard time explaining things if you ask a question-(we tried asking about the ingredients in the salads)- so order something simple (hummus appetizer, lamb kabob, Greek salad) or point and say "yes, I want that". It will be good.

It is clean inside, no air conditioning. They will bring you a pitcher of ice water.

The menu has appetizers, salads, main courses and kabob sandwiches.

We ordered the Shawarma (lamb/beef cooked on a spit with spices, shredded . The taste and texture is a little different than Gyros) and a Greek salad and one hot tea. The hot tea is served in a small glass and there is no refill; it is nice mint flavor and goes well with the food.

You get this GIANT piece of bread- round and hollow like pita, whole grain in texture. A good 12 inches plus in diameter, toasty warm and cooked on one side and folded into a basket.

The condiments on the table are salt, pepper, sugar, olive oil and sumac. (Sumac is a powdered spice, kind of lemony/tart in flavor so it sort of also substitutes for salt). You know my camera died, don't you?

Here is the photo of the Shawarma plate. $8. A good pound of shredded, cooked, nicely flavored and still lightly game-y tasting lamb/beef served with sliced raw onion, tomato, parsley and pickled turnips.

The Greek salad was $6- chopped tomatoes, sweet Persian cucumbers, lettuce and a good amount of a very nice salty, fresh Feta cheese. The dressing is a red vinaigrette. Nice and thick, but not too much; you can toss it more so it spreads over the ingredients. I sprinkled sumac on everything- the salad, my pieces of bread…

The Mister gave me a lot of his lamb to put onto the salad, made himself lots of little bites on top of pieces of the torn bread and I had a lot of the bread also and there was still some leftover. Total bill was $15.70

The men were all there tonight and did not interfere with our meal, even to ask how it was going. When we were leaving, all of them asked us how we liked it and when were we coming back…so, don't be offended if you go and they seem to be staring at you. They are more used to the 'to go' orders, and having the lady working there.

Down the same block two stores West is the El Cajon International Foods Market. They sell cooked kabobs inside the store. You could get a kabob at Al Salam and then one at the Market to compare…

Al Salam Halal Meat and Restaurant 550 East Main Street El Cajon 92021 (619)585-5374

Hinh Ky Mi Gia

June 13, 2007 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Vietnamese Restaurants

**** Hinh Ky Mi Gia is no longer

Want to meet the Missus’s favorite “duck” of the moment? Well, “hang”(like a roast duck) in there……

Hinh Ky Mi Gia is located in the same strip mall as Pho Ca Dao, right next to World Foods Supermarket on El Cajon Boulevard. In fact it’s kinda tucked away in a corner and pretty easy to miss.

As you can tell by the sign, this used to be an outpost of Tan Ky Mi Gia. Apparently an ownership change occurred back in October….I’m sure there’s an interesting story behind this! This is a bare bones Mom and Pop operation, as you can see it’s now June, and the Tan Ky Mi Gia sign still hasn’t been replaced. The interior of the restaurant is bright and pretty clean, and though we’ve never seen the place packed, there always seem to be at least a few tables occupied, and a stream of take-out orders.

We first visited Hinh Ky a few weeks back, when it was still unseasonably cool for May. I was in the mood for some Egg Noodle Soup, and as you can tell by the name (Mi = Egg Noodle), this is one of those Chinese Vietnamese Soup joints. Which usually means decent portions at low prices…..

As we grabbed a seat, the Missus noticed that several older gentlemen were all having the same thing. With typical aplomb, the Missus asked the Owner, a really nice guy, “what are they eating?” He pointed out the dish on the menu….and this is what She got, the Egg Noodle Soup with Roasted Duck ($5.50):

Well that’s the soup portion, nice medium broth, not overly salty, with a mild hint of seafood (i.e. slight almost shrimp like flavor). The noodles were serviceable, nice and crunchy, but will get slightly softer as time passes…so the Missus’s solution? “You have to eat faster if you want crunchy…o-KAY!!!”

Want to meet the Missus’s latest duck obsession? This is the duck that came with the noodles:

Not the most beautiful roast duck, the skin perhaps not as crisp as I would like. But, man this duck had some flavor! It was also doused with a good amount of “drippings” making it extra moist. The flavors of five spice were very “upfront”, and the fat to meat ratio was good. I don’t know if they make this inhouse, but whomever makes it sure knows what they’re doing. This was a very pleasant surprise, especially for less than 6 bucks.

I decided to order the Beef Sate Egg Noodle Soup($5):

When this bowl hit the table, I thought this was going to be really good. It wasn’t bad, but very weak in flavor, and not the least bit spicy. The beef was nice and soft, and had a decent flavor, but this was overshadowed by the duck.

I’ve detailed the Missus’s “obsessions” in an earlier post, so in typical fashion we were back a few days later.

This time I tried the Dumpling and Won Ton Egg Noodle Soup($4.75):

The broth was the same as the Duck Noodle soup on the previous visit, the Char Siu had good flavor and was pretty tender. The dumpling and won tons were not as good, I’m used to dense dumplings in Mi Gia restaurants, but these were extra hard, and lacked flavor. Still, I find it very difficult to complain about a good sized bowl of noodle soup for under 5 bucks…..

This time the Missus ordered one of the “most expensive” items on the menu. The Roast Duck on Rice ($6).

Along with the nice plate of duck on fragrant jasmine rice, and little bowl of “broth”(same as the noodle soup) arrived. And a few seconds later, a bowl of duck drippings with lily buds. The Missus enjoyed this, to the last bite…to the very last bite, I’m talking about every bite. In other words, I never had a shot at it. She did tell me it was good…….let’s see, “good”, “wife”, “duck”, all very nice four letter words, but believe me I could add a few four letter words of my own!

So on to our next (yet another!) visit. The Missus had Her Duck on rice, which She said was not quite as good as on previous visits(so I actually got to have some), but also asked the Gentleman if we could just have a side order of the Five Flavor Duck. By this time he was used to seeing us, so he smiled and said, “yes, yes, anything you like, we make for you……..”

This was just ok, basically a soy sauce duck, nothing really special. Lacks the rich flavor of the Roast Duck.

I ordered the Beef Stew Rice ($5.75), which was a nice bowl of Beef Stew.

As Beef Stew goes this was just okay, I thought the flavor of the stew was very mild and lacked “richness”, though the beef was soft. The generous amount of tendon was just a tad too hard. It was still a good amount of food.

So on our most recent visit(still with me out there???), the Missus had Her Roast Duck Egg Noodle Soup, but I had to try something new, and decided on the Pork Rib Egg Noodle Soup($5):

I really enjoyed the broth, flavored with tomato, beef stew seasoning, and colored by annatto oil. The broth also had a mild touch of spice. The pork ribs looked kind of strange, very pale, and I expected the ribs to be tough, but they were pretty soft. The ribs did not have a great deal of flavor though. The shrimp, were well, shrimp in soup…….

In case you were wondering what the Missus’s strategy is: “In these types of Asian restaurants, I look to see what the older men are eating” Why, you may ask? She will look directly at me and say, “most times, older men are losing their sense of taste, and will order stuff with lot’s of flavor……just like you, heee-heeee-heee……”

So our suggestion? Try out the roast Duck here, I don’t think it’s for everybody, because the flavor can be on the strong side, and it’s the fatty drippings that really contribute much of the flavor, but the Missus loves it. This is a real Mom and Pop shop, run by a very nice couple, there are times when a Young Lady who I assume is their daughter very, very, reluctantly helps out. It cracks us up. The Ladies in the kitchen are also very nice. Once one of them came out to tell us they were out of something and apologized! What can I say about the prices…………

Hinh Ky Mi Gia(The business card I have says Hing Ky Mi Gia)
5237 El Cajon Blvd
San Diego, CA 92115

Open Daily – 8am-8pm

This story always “quacks” me up:

The Missus actually used to believed that ducks naturally had the roast duck five-spice flavor. Really! Because that was the only way She had ever had duck, Chinese Roast Duck or Peking Duck, so She thought that all ducks tasted that way! After having duck in a “European” restaurant, She still believed that most ducks tasted like roast duck. So what was the difference? She told me “must be because it’s free range!!!” he-he-he

I hope everyone is having a great week!

Pho Pasteur Anh Hong-That Vietnamese place in the same mall as K Sandwiches

June 11, 2007 Cathy Vietnamese Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

Hello again, mmm-yoso readers. Cathy here, blogging because I want to and Kirk doesn't.

Good morning, or afternoon, or evening, whenever you are reading this. Cathy here, with a confession and interesting observation. I somehow always assumed Kirk had posted on this place, and he hadn't. I have referred to it as 'you know, the place in the mall with K Sandwiches, the one with pink tablecloths' and assumed everyone knew what I was talking about. Silly me.

Well, here is one meal The Mister and I had, but trust me, we have have gone here pretty much regularly, because of one item on the menu…it is 123D, on this paper "To Go" menu…in fact, if you can read this menu (there are 197 items on this two sided paper), it isn't all of what you can possibly order once you get inside. There are a few 'variations' and sides and paper words taped over the menu.

So, anyhow, on this visit we got the #55 appetizer- Squid stuffed with ground pork and mushrooms.($4.99)

Not fried, not crispy. More baked… and flavorful with a warm sweet-salty sauce o the bottom (which went went with the lettuce, tomato and onions).

The Mister decided to go for more of a Chinese dish this time, # 141-Pan fried rice noodle with shrimp and vegetable ($7.49)

Most of the thick rice noodles were pan fried and had a nice crispiness crust on them and the shrimp had a good, sweet, full flavor. The vegetables (broccoli, carrots, bok choy)were not overcooked and the sauce was more salty and had a heat we had not experienced before…not Szechuan, but definitely a red chile…it was good and different.

Then, I got my "usual" Bun Tau Hu Ky ($6.29) #123D, if I haven't said it enough.

Salad on the bottom (made with mint and cucumber shreds), cold rice noodles and the usual toppings of mint, peanuts, shredded carrot and daikon and then the topping- bean curd skin wrapped around ground shrimp..and fried. See that cross section? Oh how I crave this stuff. I look for it at every Vietnamese place I go and have only found it at three so far: Here, Convoy Noodle House and Pho Saigon Star. I have had it as an appetizer at all the places, even though it is not listed on the menu that way. Here, at Anh Hong, they charged us $4.99 or four large pieces. Worth it.

So, if you are in the Mesa College area, and don't want to go to one of the many other places in the parking lot, try this one; it is good.

Anh Hong Pho Pasteur 7612 Linda Vista Road San Diego 92111 (858)569-7515

Website

Afterwards, walk on over to K Sandwiches (in the same parking lot)

Go to the back, to your left, and pick up a couple of pastries…then do what we did-drive to a Starbucks (there are at least three within 3 miles), get some coffee in "for here" cups , sit down, and enjoy your dessert. (That is a chocolate cream cheese croissant and a raisin custard swirled pastry. Each one costs $1 and is fresh made at K Sandwiches).

Sushi Time

June 10, 2007 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants, Sushi and Sashimi

**** Sushi Time has closed

A few months back, I was having some sushi, and since eating at the sushi bar is very much a "social" activity, the nice gentleman to my left struck up a conversation. As with many of my conversations, the subject ended up being steered toward food (If anything, I'm consistent), and in particular, sushi. Toward the end of the conversation, he leaned toward me, and in the most conspiratorial tone, started whispering the name of "his" favorite sushi bar. Was it Ota? Maybe Shirahama? Or Sakura? The conversation went something like this:

"Sushi…..in Lemon Grove, huh?"
"Yeah, it's my go-to place in East County for sushi…."
"What's the name of the place?"
"It's called Sushi Time, I know, I know, don't let the name fool you"
"Really? Sushi Time, in Lemon Grove…."

And so, a few months later, here I was on the corner of Federal Boulevard and College Avenue. I guess it was sushi time…

I had seen this place before when visiting a nearby taco shop, but never, ever, thought I'd be eating here. I entered the dark restaurant which was pretty busy, and quickly noticed 2 things; first, I was the only Asian customer in the entire restaurant, and number two, there was the ubiquitous sheets of colored paper with names of various "rolls" taped across the back of the sushi bar……

I found a seat before two of the Itamae working, and started up a conversation with the young man. I was given a check-off sheet for sushi, SOP in most of these type of places, but decided to ask and see what was "good" this evening.

Me: "So what's good today?"
Young Itamae: Looks at me, and after taking a brief pause, "What do you eat?"
Me: "I eat anything…."
Young Itamae: Shrugs his shoulders, and gives me a small grin, "Well, we have most everything on the menu…"
Me: "Toro?"
Young Itamae: "Oh sorry, no toro…."

Somewhat nonplussed and realizing I was going nowhere, I did strategy two, and bought the Itamae some beer. Which made things quite friendly all around. I never did find out what "was good", but I did find out that the two really nice "kids"(Joe from the Valley, and Sho-go from Okinawa) were both students at San Diego State. The older gentleman was the Owner, but during my visits I never had the chance to sit in front of Him, though we had a nice conversation. It seems that he's also from Okinawa, and knew both Jou(former Owner of Sushi Ishikawa) and Kuni (former Owner of Katzra).

So I placed an order "to start" and after watching about two dozen rolls go by, the first part of my order was handed to me. And I was in shock…

It's hard to discern from the photo, but these were the largest nigiri I've ever had, in both the amount of fish, and rice…..

The Hamachi "Toro"($5.95) was quite good, creamy, with nice fat.

A far cry from the amazing Buri Toro I once had, but I was quite pleased. Much better than expected.

The Albacore "Toro"($5.95) was not quite as good, a bit on the stringy-tough side.

I'm not a big fan of Sriracha on nigiri, and made a mental note to ask to have it left off next time.

I'd asked for Hirame (Flounder) but they were out. By this time, the Young Itamae making my sushi suggested something called "white tuna"($4.95) on the menu. Now, I'm in the habit of calling Albacore "Shiro Maguro"(White Tuna), but they already had Albacore on the menu. This is what arrived:

After a bit of questioning, Joe explained that this was Escolar. Now I've had Escolar cooked, but never raw. Also, Escolar is banned in Japan, why, you may ask? Well, you can read about it here. Looks a lot like Chilean Sea Bass, but it didn't have much flavor, and I could tell that this was "saku" (cut and refrozen) fish. It had that mushy-watery texture of "saku" fish. If you're wondering, I had no side effects, even though Sam later told me, "Kirk-san do not eat that fish, people die from eating it!"(I think a bit over dramatic on his part) It seems that after consuming Escolar a percentage of people suffer from Keriorrhoea, nuff said, you can read about it yourself, after all this is a food blog, so let's get back to the food.

By this time, I was pretty full from the jumbo nigiri, but still had one more item coming. The Amaebi:

This was fine, not overly sweet, but okay. The Atama(deep fried shrimp heads) were a bit too hard and chewy.

By his time, I had hit the wall, I was totally stuffed. I was still a bit surprised at the size of the Nigiri. Thinking that perhaps I got preferential treatment because of the "beer", I asked him if the size of the nigiri (I was the only person who I saw eating Nigiri that whole evening) was the norm. He replied that this was the "normal" sized nigiri sushi. The sushi was fine for neighborhood sushi. As you can tell, the cutting of the fish was not done with an immense amount of skill, but the rice was uniform in size.

When I returned home and downloaded my photos, realized that it was hard to determine the size of the nigiri. That when I decided to make another visit to Sushi Time…more research, you could say! This time it was on a Friday night, and the place was fairly busy, I could see various rolls practically flying out to hungry patrons sitting in the dining area. I managed to grab a seat in the exact same spot as my previous visit.

So this time, I ordered with some caution. And started with some Chu-Toro, the piece of fatty tuna toward the end of the belly. It's not quite as fatty or rich as O-Toro, but usually good nonetheless.

This was not bad, I've had better, and I've had worse. It pretty low in the fat department, but I was satisfied. I also got the last of it. I can see how that happened, thought these were not as large as the nigiri on my last visit, it was still quite large, and you can't get too many nigiri from one piece.

I tried to figure out a way to communicate the size…I think a comparison to my index finger came out the best:

Or maybe my cellphone(this was the smaller of the two pieces)

This time they had Hirame($4.50), but I forgot to tell them to not put on the Sriracha:

The fish was fresh, firm without being too tough and chewy.

Albacore($4.50):

Just so-so.

As before the Hamachi "Toro" was the best item of the night.

When you think about it, Sushi Time does a pretty good job for a place that does everything from Donburi to Teriyaki to Sushi. The clientle is as diverse as the menu. The service I received was very nice, even though the poor Itamae were slammed…I've never seen so many sushi rolls in my life. Personally, I'm not a big fan of super-sized sushi, preferring the perfect bite, and quality over quantity, but Sushi Time does a pretty good job, and the fish varied from decent to good. Plus, Sho-go and Joe were both really nice guys.

Sushi Time
6950 Federal Blvd
Lemon Grove, California 91945

Shizuoka Japanese Restaurant -It’s been in La Mesa for all those years for a reason

June 4, 2007 Cathy Japanese Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

Welcome to mmm-yoso the blog. Today, it’s Cathy’s turn because Kirk just doesn’t want to blog.

Hello again, friends. As you know I live in East County and sort of know the area. If you are familiar, then…over there on Fletcher Parkway, where the Souplantation and Michael’s are – in that strip mall- is, and has been, Shizuoka. There are 12 or 13 tables inside, depending how you divide up those in the center, they have never expanded or extended their lunch hours or dinner hours, and the menu has stayed pretty much the same over all these years. (The dinners are 50¢ more than lunch and beef is $1 more than chicken). 17 or 18 years, in fact. Sure, prices have gone up in general, but for the most part, that is it. You still walk in and the nice ladies all say ‘hello’ (and they all say ‘goodbye’ when you leave). The tables are always set with paper napkins and chopsticks. The hot tea has always been free. Sure, its served in a plastic teapot, with plastic teacups , but it is always fresh and tasty.

Pretty much everything comes with miso soup, which always has seaweed and tofu in it and it is always hot. It isn’t the instant miso but made from the paste.

Rich broth. Soft, silky tofu. Re-hydrated seaweed, with flavor.

We got the Chicken Karage as an appetizer ($3.20). Quite a lot of dark meat chicken, lightly breaded with a slightly spicy batter and served with a Ponzu sauce.

Light, crispy, flavorful without the sauce and…well…only $3.20. It was a great start.

We each just wanted teriyaki Bentos this evening and I got the chicken with gyoza as my other choice. ($6.20)

All the Bento Boxes are served with a green salad with a nice ginger sesame dressing , a delightful cold noodle salad that is consistently al dente and has a wonderful mayonnaise based sauce and, the square of tofu in the middle.

The Mister got the beef teriyaki with his additional choice being sashimi- tuna, sliced thinly, in three pieces… but it had flavor.

Oh, the teriyaki sauce is a deeper flavor than I have had at other places and is not sickly sweet. My gyoza were filled with a well seasoned ground pork filling with water chestnuts and a small amount of scallion, adding just the right flavor as well as texture. The gyoza skins are not too thick nor thin and the gyoza are fried to a nice crispness.

This place does a brisk take out business and is always busy. There is a wait, it is a teensy waiting area and you will be seated in the order you walk in and stand there. It is best to get there when they first open (they are closed between lunch and dinner) so you can be assured of a seat. It is a wonderful, small, not fancy place with great fresh food.

Shizuoka Japanese Restaurant 9118 Fletcher Parkway La Mesa 91942 (619)461-1151 (in the mall with the Souplantation and Michael’s)

Tues-Fri 11:30-1:45, 4:30-8:45 Sat and Sun 4:30-8:45

Return to Vien Dong III Part 1 – The Email

May 31, 2007 mmm-yoso Markets & Grocers

*** Vien Dong Market is now Thuan Phat Supermarket. You can find post here.

Part 2 Can be found here.

A few weeks ago, I received the most surprising and (for me) amazing email. It was very professional, and cordial, but most of all, it gave me hope. Why hope? It seems that trying to get things done, like a simple refund, takes an executive order. Remember our canceled vacation, and the promise of a refund? Well it took almost 4 months, countless emails and phone calls to what seemed like an outsourced customer service representatives(I'm putting that in lower case on purpose) who all have "no last name", I eventually got fed up with the glad-handing and after doing some research found a "real" person through a professional associations website, and finally got this online travel service to refund our money….4 months later! Everyone was nice, but you could tell what the state of customer service was like…..you knew they were just "trying to get rid of you" and hoping you'd give up, and they wouldn't have to refund your money, which I believe had already been refunded by the Airlines and Hotel we were to stay at. You see, I'm becoming a cynic already!

Sorry for the long diversion, back to the story. In January of last year I did a little post on Vien Dong III Supermarket, made a few observations, and went on my merry way. I was a bit sad that the hot food was gone, and did make mention of the "pungency factor", as did someone in the comments. There were some other interesting comments as well.

So a few weeks ago, I get this email, that starts with, "Dear Sir or Madam"…and my mind goes "oh-oh, somebody's really ticked off…." But as I read the letter, a smile broke out over my face, and I felt really good….I don't know why, but I did. So I got permission to print the letter in it's entirety(I'm inserting a few photos):

Dear Sir or Madam (mmm-yoso),

Please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Dan and my family owns/operates Vien Dong III International Supermarket. I'm also a reader of your site for about a year now. I had been meaning to write you for some time regarding your review of our store. I thought it was very good and wanted to thank you for your interest. It was very refreshing to see people put stuff up on the web about us and we truly appreciate it. We also wanted to let you know that since your review we have done a lot of renovating and would be really honored if you would come by for another visit and see for yourself.

-The pungency factor is no longer a factor
-Resurrected the food to go + deli and bakery area
-Raised our ceiling added skylights and brighter energy efficient lighting
-Renovated the seafood department with newer more accessible tanks and freezers.
-Upgraded checkout system for quicker processing and visability
-Expanded produce department to include wider variety and volume of produce
-Increased small business/restaurant customer servicing

Regarding the comments on live seafood, our core customers have always preferred to select their own product; picking the biggest and the freshest seafood currently available. Many other Asian supermarkets do not allow customers to select their own seafood and as a result people are always concerned about getting mis-serviced with damaged or dead product or overcharged by water/ice weight packed by the market. So it has always been or policy to welcome customers to pick and pack for themselves and letting product go out on a first come first self serve basis and letting customers pick exactly what they want. Of course our employees are always more than willing to assist anyone who need help.
Regarding the comments on the checkout lanes, we have configured them that way in order to foster a more social service environment. My dad came up with the idea when we first switched to the PC-based checkout system with large screen computer monitors. By pairing up the checkout stands, the cashiers can communicate and assist each other better by working in pairs and at the same time be more physically accessible to the customers. The large screen monitors would also be more accessible to the customers to view and physically point at particular line items. The additional benefit of pairing the checkout stands was that the grocery bagger (my old job) would be more accessible to more customers as well.
If you have any other questions or comments on how we can improve the store your input would mean a lot to us. We'd also really appreciate it you could give us your input on new individual products. I look forward to hearing back from you.

—
Best Regards,
Daniel M. Tran

Vien Dong III International Supermarket
6935 Linda Vista Rd.
San Diego CA 92111 tel: 858 292 8110

Wow, maybe one little post from our humble little blog, with everyone's input(comments!!!) can make a difference? I dunno…….. There are very few points that I'd have issues with. The only item, was that I (we) do reviews. You'll find that I never, ever say, I do restaurant, or food reviews….I leave that to the Naomi Wise's, and the other"food writers" and experts, I'm just a "food eater", and share my experiences on this blog. I think it's a much more intimate, and a more personal experience, and heck, I'm not much of a writer anyway.

I need to thank Daniel, for allowing his email to be part of a post(and making sure the hot food was back), but you know I'll be following up…which is what part 2 will be!

And more importantly….what do you think?

Grillions Homestyle Grilling-Healthy, Mediterranean or American Style- your choice!

May 21, 2007 Cathy American/New American Restaurants, Mediterranean Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

Grillions has closed.

mmm-yoso: the name of the blog. Kirk: the main guy who writes here. Cathy: one of the friends who helps out when Kirk is on vacation, or just doesn't want to write or writes when she has something to say. Today: Cathy writing because Kirk is on vacation…but she also has something to say.

Good day, and short week before the Memorial Day weekend. Hope all is going well for you. I'm fine and have a new place to tell you about. This place has only been open a week as of today, as a matter of fact. It's called "Grillions" and we like it! Saturday, when The Mister and I were having a late lunch at Wired, we walked out and saw a "Grand Opening" sign on what used to be Daily's, the heart-healthy restaurant at Renaissance Towne Centre Mall, just southeast of UTC .

Daily's had been around more than ten years, started by a UCSD Cardiologist, to give his patients and friends tasty, heart healthy meals and it was quite popular. I am not sure what happened, but it is gone, and Grillions is now here. The Mister went in, grabbed a menu and said it wasn't very crowded. Next door, Le Peep was overcrowded with large tables of people using the over-saturated Le Peep coupons for their Saturday brunches. We saw a few curious people looking into Grillions but not eating there.

So- the menu:

BBQ chicken and ribs, BBQ'd burgers, grilled veggies, chicken fish, kebabs…whoa! and side dishes that could be various single grilled veggies (tomatoes, home style potato wedges, baked potato, corn), grilled home style potatoes, home style beans, coleslaw, rice… well, heck, we could do grilled or BBQ'd chicken and/or ribs with slaw and baked beans OR have a burger, OR have a kebab served with rice, pita and grilled vegetables…the combinations are endless!..and yet seemingly quite healthy.

We went back on Sunday, the next day. It still was not busy and Le Peep and Wired were. But that was OK. We asked. They had opened last Monday. Word hasn't gotten out. I hope you are reading this. It is *good*. You walk in, pay and wait for your number to be called. They grill it up right there under that menu. We ordered simply: I got the beef kabob plate($8.95)

It is served with rice, grilled veggies topped with a tzatziki-yogurt based sauce, pita bread and served with a sauce on the side that is vinegar-garlic-cilantro and goes quite well with the beef- and on top of the rice later.

The beef was plentiful, juicy, excellent flavored, and grilled, of course. The vegetables were delightful with the grilled bits to them- broccoli, cauliflower, onions, red and green peppers. The rice was more basmati/not sticky, but fresh and good.

The Mister tried the stuffed grilled chicken breast ($8.49) that comes with two sides- he chose the Home Style beans and Garlic Grilled Tomato: Grillions_004

The garlic grilled tomato was wonderful tasting and I wish we had more. I am going to have to try to duplicate this one at home. The beans are *excellent*, very much home made- the skin on the beans was strong, not mushy, meaning this stuff was definitely not from a can, made with a nice spicy sauce. The chicken, oh the chicken! A good sized breast, stuffed with goat cheese, sun dried tomatoes and basil and grilled. So moist, tender, tasty! Quite unexpectedly good.

We were quit full, but again, knowing I was blogging and 'taking one' for all of you, well, there it was on the menu- a grilled banana split ($3.50). One of my most favorite desserts. I once got a banana split cake (not an ice cream cake, mind you, just banana cake with thick chocolate frosting, strawberries and pineapple in the frosting with whipped cream and nuts and a cherry on top) for my birthday and the *only* thing I get at Dairy Queen is the Banana Split Blizzard… um, sorry, digressing again…

This is made with frozen yogurt that does not taste like yogurt- it is creamy, vanilla without any 'tang' of yogurt. The banana is so *so* very nice when grilled…not with butter, so not quite a Banana Foster taste, but yet, that burnt carmelization…mmm-yoso good! The nice lady brought it to our table and asked if that was enough chocolate sauce! It was perfect (since I am not a choco-holic and all).

The Mediterranean foods are not quite Greek or Persian (no lamb or gyros or hummus on the menu) but are excellent, fresh and by being grilled, healthy. Next time, I will try the BBQ ribs and chicken, which we saw someone else getting, along with the cole slaw and beans, which I think would make a great combination.

Do try it. The photos on the menu correspond to the numbered menu items. The wraps look large, as do the salads. As of yesterday, the only people working were family members, although someone walked in and asked and I heard one of the owners tell the person they had retained some of the Daily's staff who were available to work .

Grillions 8915 Towne Centre Drive San Diego 92122 Phone(858) 457-1204 Fax (858)457-1179 Mon-Sat 10 a.m.-9 p.m., Sun 11 a.m.-6 p.m. website