Closed – Page 91

Ranas.com Mexico City Cuisine

January 4, 2007 mmm-yoso Mexican Restaurants, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!

**** Ranas has closed

My good Buddy Ed from Yuma has been mentioning Ranas.com in Spring Valley for several years. Having been assured that the food at Ranas are worthy of several "delici-yoso dances", and finally having some time off over this past Christmas weekend, the Missus and I made the drive to Spring Valley to find Ranas.com. We got off the 94 Freeway at Kenwood, took a left, and drove into the parking lot of a nearby strip mall. We didn't see a sign for Ranas, but the address looked correct.

We still weren't quite sure that we'd arrived at the right place, until we saw the sign in the parking lot…so this must be the place, right?

We entered the very colorful dining area, and were immediately greeted by a very friendly Young Man who told us that we could have a seat anywhere.

The Young Man, actually, I should say Gentleman, since he was so gracious, named Jose(I'm hoping I remembered his name correctly), asked us if we'd been to Ranas before, to which we answered in the negative. At this point, he smiled and asked us if we'd like to try some samples of the specials of the day….are you kidding!!! Within a minute, four little paper cups arrived:

Man, this was really good stuff! Jose took the time to explain each dish, and though I'd come here to try the Pollo en salsa de Cacahuate, the Peanut Butter Chicken that Ed always mentions, I suddenly changed course……

As we were famished we started with the Huarache Azteca($5.50), a "sandal"(Huarache) sized thick tortilla, topped with beans, potato, and nopal:

We were pretty unimpressed with this popular antojito(appetizer), the whole thing was a soggy mess, there was too much beans, and the flavor of the potato was completely obscured. It was a far cry from the versions we had at the two El Comals.

But have no fear…..our entrees were on the way! We shared all the entrees, trading plates when one of us exclaimed "switch"! So what did we get?

The Chicken in Green Pumpkin Seed Mole(Pollo en Mole Verde de Pepita – $6.99):

Talk about good! This rich, but not heavy Mole, had a nice, complex flavor, with hints of nuttiness and a slight spicy-smokey finish. Moping up the sauce with the corn tortillas provided is a must. The chicken was surprisingly moist, but this was about the mole. The rice was okay, and the beans bland. But man that mole!!!!

The Pork in Tomatillo Sauce (Puerco en Tomatillo Salsa – $6.99):

Chunks of tender pork in a tangy, slightly spicy, tomatillo sauce. Wow, we obviously went two for two on entrees. This sauce/stew was studded with potatoes and nopal, and was quite refreshing in it's own way….really good stuff!

We finished almost all of our tortillas mopping up the sauces. One thing we noticed about the corn tortillas provided, they arrived warm and tender but got very hard as they cooled…all the more reason to scarf everything up ASAP.

The Missus desired something sweet to finish up the meal, so She ordered the Kahlua Plantanos:

Not bad.

So…one good turn deserves another, right? So there we were three days later…at guess where? Yep, and Jose greeted us with a smile, and a warm, "welcome back".

And of course those wonderful samples……..of today's specials:

So this time, we ordered the Entomatado Pork (Pork in a spicy tomato sauce – $6.99):

Another winner, a nice, medium spicy, pork dish full of flavor. The pork was spoon tender, without being falling apart soft. Today, the beans had much more flavor as well. The Missus loved this.

The Cochinita Pibil($6.99) the classic slow roasted Yucatan Pork Dish:

This version was more stew-like and creamy than versions of this dish I've had before. Again rich, without being heavy is the signature here, and a nice slightly sweet finish to boot! Talk about finish, that's what we did to our corn tortillas. This was my favorite on this visit.

Instead of an appetizer or dessert, I finally ordered the Peanut Butter Chicken (Pollo en salsa de Cacahuate – $6.99), which Ed from Yuma always mentions:

Moist chunks of chicken in a sauce with a mild peanut flavor, think mildly spiced watery peanut butter. After having the two pork dishes, this tasted on the bland side. Not my cup of tea.

During our visit, Jose, who, it turns out is the Owner's son(it's a real Mom and Pop restaurant), explained that these were the dishes that he grew up eating. Which explains why the dishes were so good, like all good home cooking, the "specials" at Ranas had that unique ingredient, a combination of love, care, and pride, which makes everything taste so much better. The service we had at Ranas reflects that as well. As you can tell…we'll be back! Take some time away from the tacos and enchiladas, and check out those specials.

Ranas.com
9683 Campo Rd Ste A
Spring Valley, CA 91977

(619) 589-1792

Thanks for the recommendation Ed! We finally made it…and it was well worth it…..

Super Wok! Chinese Food to Go

January 3, 2007 Cathy Chinese Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

Super Wok has closed.

mmm-yoso is again not on vacation. Its just Cathy blogging while Kirk is busy doing other stuff, like digesting.

Hi. Thought you might like a good, inexpensive and local place to eat….

Oh, did I mention its, like, totally a hole in the wall? Sort of three tables inside, but nobody eats there. Its all packaged for you to take outside and eat…

Super Wok is located in Pacific Beach, on Ingraham, between Grand and Garnet, on the West side of the street. Next to the Coin Laundry, behind the Chevron Station. That's it- the whole building, right there in that photograph.

Its run by a husband and wife and their young daughter is there too. They are from Shanghai. The food is decidedly Westernized Chinese…the kind I grew up with in Detroit. Its good and fresh. There are 4 woks in the back, 2 rice cookers in front, and refrigerators and freezers with the food for cooking and a refrigerator with bottled and canned beverages. OK, the menu.

Yep, this is it. Its laminated and in front of you, next to the cash register, and there are things written on the wall behind the cash register…its all the same stuff, except I saw one tofu dish on the wall that isn't on the menu. That's it. You order, pay, sit down and wait. You get your food and its packaged and you have to find a place to eat. I think a lot of people use the Laundromat. We decided to drive south a few miles to the Ski Ramp/Boat ramp at Mission Bay and chose a picnic bench with a view.

We ordered some basics …the chicken egg foo young ($4.75) and the Curry Chicken ($5.95) as well as the paper wrapped chicken (6 pieces, $3.75).

The paper wrapped chicken was superb! Juicy, chopped chicken mixed with some crunchy water chestnuts, fresh herbs and some sauce that had sesame oil and I don't think any soy (it was not salty).

You can see in this photo the serving was juicy and steamed perfectly. It did not need anything added to give it flavor.

The Mister wanted to try the curry, because it had a * (Star) next to the description on the menu, indicating "hot and spicy". It also cost a bit more but that was because it came with fried rice and an egg roll.

The 'fried' rice was nothing exciting/nothing added…just the white rice that was put back into the wok..nothing added to it. The egg roll was *quite* nice, crispy skin and the filling had fresh, crispy vegetables. It was made there, not from a package. (An appetizer serving of two egg rolls is $1.80). The curry had onion, carrot, mushrooms, canned bamboo shoots and green pepper. The green pepper was kind of soggy, like it had been stir fried a second time. The sauce was a nice level of heat…enough so that it was hot but you could also taste the ingredients. The chicken was all white meat and quite flavorful as well as juicy and there was a lot of meat in this dish.

The egg foo young. Oh my- absolutely the best I have had. This was made with at least three eggs, mixed in were the bean sprouts, some carrot and onion..making the omelet just a wonderful base, and it is a meal in itself. I saw just "egg foo young" on the menu for 20¢ less and wasn't sure why. It must be just the egg mix..ah, but for that extra 20¢, I got a *lot* of chicken breast, again, juicy and plentiful, along with sauteed mushrooms and that gravy that was not over-laden with corn starch. I have only seen egg foo young made as a one shot deal- with the meat ingredient also cooked in with the egg. I like this way better…can have just egg or just meat or mix it if I want to.

By the way, the menu has "chop sewy" on it…I will try that next time…There are 17 lunch specials served from 11:00 to 3:00 daily. The most challenging thing, after deciding on which of the 71 items on the menu to choose from, will be finding a place to eat your food. You will like it. Try one of the egg foo young dishes.

Super Wok 4468 Ingraham Street San Diego 92109 (858)270-4859

Mon-Thur 11:00 a.m.-10:00 p.m. Fri-Sat 11-10:30 Closed Sundays NO CHECKS, NO CREDIT CARDS ACCEPTED

It’s Burger Week – Ch-Ch-Chain: Boll Weevil

December 23, 2006 mmm-yoso Burgers, Chains

*** This location of Boll Weevil has closed

I thought it would be appropriate to end burger week, with a visit to a "chain" of sorts….well not a nation-wide chain, but a local chain, called Boll Weevil. I did a quick search on Wikipedia and quickly found out what a nasty looking fellow the Boll Weevil is. Now who the heck would name a restaurant after such a destructive, nasty looking fellow? After looking through Wikipedia again, I found the story here. According to the entry, the proprietors of a steak house called "The Cotton Patch" opened up a chain of smaller, casual burger restaurants next to Cotton Patch Restaurants and they called them Boll Weevil. Am I the only person who finds some irony in the fact that Boll Weevils are still around, and all the Cotton Patches are gone? Guess them little Boll Weevil ate all the Cotton Patches……he-he-he!

The location of Boll Weevil we visited recently is located on Clairemont Mesa Boulevard, and in addition to all the standard Boll Weevil dishes, also offer BBQ, and other items….you can check out the smoker in the front of the restaurant. I'll pass, but you may be interested. It seems that recently several Boll Weevils have closed down, I know that the one on Convoy Street, among others(Midway) have closed down over the years….don't know why, they just seem to be disappearing.

We arrived at Boll Weevil, and found a table – this is the type of Casual-Family-Bar-Restaurant, where you sit yourself, the place was doing some pretty bang up business on this night. The Missus and I opened our menus, and suddenly both thought, "prices have gone up a bit since we last visited."

Well maybe it was just us…….since we aren't regular customers at Boll Weevil.

The Missus decided on a 1/2 pound Blue Cheese Bacon Burger, with Seasoned Curly Fries as her side($9.79):

I now understand the necessity of the condiment tray at Boll Weevil, the burger was on the tough-bland side, the "Goo"(not Blue) Cheese was just salty and had been placed under a broiler or something to melt it into a gooey texture, and the bacon tasted a bit old. The Curly Fries were great though. Nice and crisp, and well seasoned.

I got the "Super Burger"($5.09), which is the 1/2 pound "Steerburger"(after all Boll Weevil is "The Home of the 1/2 lb Steerburger) straight-up, which for me is the test of a burger, no cheese or "secret sauce" to hide behind:

My burger tasted better than the Missus's, it was fairly moist, though tough. And even though the menu states this….in plain English:

Both our burgers were cooked way beyond well…..

I tend to use the burgers at Mr Peabody's as a reference point for these type of burgers, and Boll Weevil fell short. Tough and on the bland side, these were just mediocre.

On previous visits, I'd always order some Frings(French Fries and Onions Rings – regular order $3.79):

The portion size was alot smaller than I remember…let's do the math; if the small portion of fries is say, worth $2(and that's really stretching it), that would make each one of those onions rings cost about 45 cents a piece…. The fries were just okay, nothing special, and the rings had been over cooked and proceeded to shatter into little pieces when I bit into them.

I dunno what happened to Boll Weevil, was it just a fluke? I will say that the service at this location of Boll Weevil was very nice, though a bit slow…but mostly due to the couple across from us who kept sending everything back(soup not hot enough…I don't like this salad dressing….I don't like this spoon!!!), and running the poor Gal ragged.

I know so many people who love Boll Weevil, but I'm kinda like this guy…..on the fence:

I really don't know if I'll be back…….

Boll Weevil
9330 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92123-1223
(858)571-6225

It’s Burger Week – Longhorn Cafe-Howdy Pilgrim!

December 20, 2006 Cathy American/New American Restaurants, Burgers, Pubs and Pub Grub, Sandwiches, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso is not on vacation. Kirk is just taking the day off (from blogging, anyhow) and Cathy is blogging. Stay and look.

Hello, again, and welcome back. I'm just going to talk about a great sort of neighborhood place that has been there forever and has an All-American type of ambiance…by that, I mean burgers and beer….

In the Vons/Rite Aid Shopping Center where Mission Gorge turns into Friars Road, next to Kaiser Hospital at Zion…at night, well, its the faded sign..

You walk in, the bar is along the wall to your left, booths on the right and televisions blaring. Lots of cowboy memorabilia on the walls. Walk straight back to the room on the left- The John Wayne Room…

Trust me, this is nowhere near all the memorabilia collected here.

You can read about John Wayne on the menu also.

So, you sit down and the table is set, with menus, plastic wear, condiments…

The menu is fairly simple; burgers, steaks salads, appetizers. Bar food.

(You can read, at the bottom of the John Wayne story, the breakfast menu)

We ordered basics. The 1/2 pound Longhorn burger ($6.25), cooked medium rare, with a side of onion rings ($4) and the 6 ounce top sirloin steak dinner ($8.50), served with salad or coleslaw or soup, freedom fries and garlic toast. The Mister also ordered a Red Trolley Beer, which was $2.25- the Happy Hour price-cheaper than the draught beer.

The salad arrives in a paper plate atop a plastic plate with a real fork (there are plastic forks on the table). Standard, iceberg lettuce, fresh tomatoes, a pretty good blue cheese dressing. Nothing extraordinary, not bad.

The Top Sirloin steak, cooked medium rare, also. The steak was very flavorful and tender. The garlic toast was nice. The fries were standard, cooked well.

The side of Onion rings is quite large. They were crispy and made with whole onions, not the minced ones.

My 1/2 pound burger, done medium rare, served with ONION and tomato and lettuce. You saw that condiment tray up there…I added pickles and mayonnaise. Oh, the bun is toasted.

Excellent food, great atmosphere, close to Qualcomm and friendly people..everywhere…

Longhorn Cafe 6519 Mission Gorge Road San Diego 92120 ( in the Vons and Rite Aid Shopping Center)

(619)283-0831

Windy City Beef- Angus burgers! (and fresh authentic food from Chicago)

December 19, 2006 Cathy Burgers, Hot Dogs, Sandwiches, What Cathy Eats!

Unfortunately for all of us, Windy City Beef has closed and is going to become another Chicago on a Bun outlet. Similar, but not as good, in my opinion. Truly a loss . 🙁

mmm-yoso is not on vacation. Kirk and Cathy are alternating days of reporting some good food we like that is local! Today, it’s Cathy’s turn.

Hello again. I think you know by now that I grew up in Detroit. OK, that isn’t Chicago, but it’s close enough..it is about a 6 hour drive and in another time zone, but the Midwest accents are the same and the flavors and foods are Italian, Polish and just hearty American…you know, beef is a primary ingredient. Well, since February, there has been this place on Fletcher Parkway, just off the 125, (southeast corner) called "Windy City Beef". I know about the Windy City…I like beef…hmmm. Oh, and I’m doing Part 2 of a Week of Burgers!

Gotta stop in and try it. Hey- they call it "pop" here, not "soda", not "beverages"…pop. Look at that menu! Check out the website by clicking here. The family is Italian, from Chicago and they use their own recipes and make it fresh. Family run…Well, The Mister and I had to, you know… here is a close up of the menu for those of you looking at prices. I didn’t realize the photo would not be as clear, sorry. So, its basic food that I grew up with. Burgers, beef sandwiches, Italian sausage sandwiche, a chili dog, a brat, a Polish dog, pizza, and … oh and that "Windy City"- a Chicago Style Hot Dog, which is a Vienna Beef hot dog with mustard, relish, fresh chopped onions, tomato wedges, kosher pickle, celery salt and your choice of hot or sweet peppers, served on a freshly steamed poppy seed bun. OK, one of those ($2.95) and an Italian sausage sandwich, called "Da Mayor"…a home made deliciously seasoned Italian sausage, char-grilled to perfection served in au jus gravy on fresh baked Italian bread ($3.95)..and a side of chili cheese fries, just to see what the chili tastes like, of course…($2.85) 🙂

You order, pay, sit down and it is brought to your table, in brown paper bags, just like I used to get in Detroit (with your order written on the outside of the bag) at the local Coney Island Restaurant.

Open up those bags, and the packaging..

and look at that- juicy, plenty of food AND the authentic *NEON GREEN* Chicago relish..wow! It smells so good! It is the Vienna Beef regular hot dog, (not the old fashioned one with natural casing) and the flavors are *excellent*; the taste brings back good memories. The Italian sausage sandwich-oh yes, that is *not* a Costco Italian sausage (which I do buy when I can’t get to Little Italy downtown). You can taste the fennel pieces in it, and its juicy and oh so fresh, and char grilled the correct way.

Oh, here is the a close up of those buns (with a bite taken out of each; we couldn’t wait). The Italian bread was definitely fresh with a nice light crispy crust. The poppy seed roll was steamed and eggy tasting. I’ll get to the chili/fries in a minute.

Previously (for the sake of this blog, heh heh) I had brought home some other basics and photographed them…

The Big John Burger (1/3 pound juicy Angus ground beef with lettuce, tomato, sliced onion, ketchup and mustard, served on an old fashioned potato bun) ($3.95). They say they cook the burgers to medium well, I asked to be as less of that as possible and it was cooked more to a medium..and gosh was it *very* juicy and flavorful!..Angus beef is sooo much better… (I will get into my meat doneness preferences in another post; the people who work here are following the law about cooking raw meat. Point is, it was medium done and *still* was juicy and great tasting. )…oh and that potato roll! My very-very-VERY first job was working in a Polish Bakery..I know bread; I know what I like..and I do *so* like potato rolls and bread. This was excellent..the burger and everything about it…and for only $1 more, you can make it a 2/3 pound burger! (and its called a "Sears Tower", of course)

This is "Da Boss" The famous thin sliced slow roasted Italian seasoned beef served in au jus gravy on fresh baked French bread and served with hot or sweet peppers (these are the sweet ones) ($5.65). Excellent. Juicy. Perfectly seasoned. A lot of just beef. That bread. mmm!

So, back to those chili cheese fries…well, guess how the chili is made…um, the trimmings from that thinly sliced beef from "Da Boss" can’t go to waste, you know…yep- look at the chili up close (you can click onto those pictures up there) *chunks* of beef..homemade chili…*mmm-yoso!* There are pinto beans that are blended in; you don’t bite into any whole ones- the beans are used as the thickener and you know they are in the chili, its a nice background flavor…and yes, this chili could win a few contests, I think. Oh, the fries are double fried, so they stay crispy with the chili and cheese on top of them…a great detail making that little side dish..well, superb!

So, this little placard is on every table. What is that?

Fresh, hand cut potato chips? I went up to order some, but alas, they were out of those sliced potatoes. Next time. However, the owner, who was working, asked me if I liked Cannoli..well, duh…its a dessert that is not too sweet, a ricotta cheese filled pastry shell…um, OK, I’ll take the Cannoli, please. So, He went in the kitchen area (its an open area; you can watch everything being made) and filled a Cannoli shell for me, dipping each end in pistachios and brought it out to our table.

Oh My! The freshest, crispiest, most delicate pastry shell, filled with the freshest ricotta, powdered sugar and slight vanilla flavor Cannoli filling I’ve ever had! (and, I’ve had a few, thankyouverymuch).

I asked, and the pizza is made from the owner’s Grandmother’s recipe..the dough risen on the pan (it is Sicilian thick pan style) and then a light tomato sauce (He said usually his grandmother just put on spaghetti sauce) and lots of cheese. That’s for next time, too.

Windy City Beef- Family owned and operated, helping out the local Community with fund raisers (see the website) and making fresh, good food that people from the Midwest miss, all while serving pop as the beverage…and *really* excellent Angus burgers.

Like the sign says- They don’t serve fast food, they serve fresh, homemade quality food- quickly.

Windy City Beef 2872 Fletcher Parkway El Cajon 92021 (619) 465-BEEF (2333) Open 7 days, call for hours. www.wcbsd.com

There is quite a bit of some great Chicago memorabilia contained within the space…and a very telling poster for those of us who understand….

Some Revisits – Shanghai City, Golden City, and Other “Stuffs”

December 17, 2006 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Cooking, Niu Rou Mian, yoso-silly

Well, it’s been tough, since having that amazing dinner at Urasawa, I haven’t been able to bring myself to eat for over a week. HA, yeah, right! I’m obviously joking. I’ve got about 5 more posts regarding restaurants in the Los Angeles area, including places like Deerfield Garden, and Santouka Ramen, albiet the Torrance location. But I thought I’d return back to San Diego, and do a post on a few revisits to various restaurants.

Shanghai City

*** Update – Shanghai City has closed and is now Spicy House.

The recent cold and rainy weather was perfect for Niu Rou Mein, so we made our way to Shanghai City. Looking back at my original post, I realized how terrible my photos were, so I brought my camera along.

Every Saturday and Sunday from 10am to 3pm, Shanghai City features a Chinese Breakfast menu, and though prices have gone up a bit:

Most items are still priced at a reasonable $4.95-$5.95 range, and there is no discernable difference in portion size between the weekend specials and during other times. One thing I have noticed, is that Shanghai City is much busier during weekend mornings since we first started coming here in 2001. Also, the crowd is now a bit more diverse, with more than a few Non-Chinese customers.

I of course had my bowl of Niu Rou Mein($4.95):

Just as good as always, the broth is spicy and rich, the noodles still have a nice “pull”, and the beef is moist, and tender with a nice flavor.

In order to get me out of the Niu Rou Mein habit, the Missus decided to order a few different items, starting with the Chao Nian Gao(Stir Fried Sliced Rice Cake) with Pork($4.95):

Unlike the version we enjoy at Chin’s, this dish was totally overwhelmed with the flavor of Sesame Oil, and you couldn’t taste anything else. The rice cakes were very soft, but not mushy, almost like noodles, and I enjoy my Nian Gao a bit less cooked.

The Missus also ordered the Pickled Mustard Greens and shredded Pork Noodle Soup at Chin’s so She thought she’d order that($4.95), instead of her old standby, the Eel Noodles Soup.

And though the noodles were good as always, the mustard greens had very little in the way of flavor, ditto the pork, and the broth while it looked rich, was on the mild side.

And of course, we couldn’t leave without some Xiao Long Bao($5.95):

And though the quality of the Xiao Long Bao at Shanghai City can be wildly inconsistent, and the wrapper a bit on the thick side, we still think it’s the best in San Diego. We have also noticed that during busier periods the XLB at Shanghai City is a bit better, probably due to turnover.

Shanghai City
3860 Convoy St
San Diego,CA 92111
619-278-5883

Closed Tuesdays

*** An updated post on Shanghai City with new prices can be found here.

**** Golden City has closed

More Golden City – Yep, again! This time in the mood for some Roast Duck, we ordered a whole duck($15.95, $8.95 – 1/2 Duck):

I was surprised at how good this was! Really. Not oily, and not salty, roasted to perfection, this was much better than what I expected. Many restaurants will pour broth over the duck before serving to rehydrate the meat….no such thing here. It is not cheap, but quite good. I’ve never really ever gotten into the really sweet and lousy plum sauce that’s served with roast duck……And Duck Fried Rice made with leftover duck is always a good thing!!!

The Gailan with Dried Fish($9.95), is Chinese Broccoli stir fried with dried-roasted fish:

The first time we had this, it was sublime; the Gailan had been peeled and so was soft and tender. The crisp dried fish added a salty-sweet flavor, and the garlic added a nice punch to pull it all together. It had been stir fried to perfection. The second time we had the dish was on a Sunday evening, and it was borderline terrible, the fish was hard and almost inedible, the Gailan was not peeled and tasted bitter, and was extremely fibrous, and the garlic was burned, and worst of all the dish had not been cooked correctly and it was slightly oily. We put it down to it being Sunday, and perhaps it was the ‘B’ team cooks running the show. So third time a charm? Well this was sort of a “tweener”, the Gailan had not been peeled, but wasn’t very bitter, and had been cooked well, the fish was perfect, but only a scant amount was provided. The garlic was burnt and bitter, I don’t quite know what to say. Wildly swinging inconsistency is quite frustrating, and causes quite a dilemma…I mean, how can I recommend this dish if it’s never the same twice?

Golden City Restaurant
5375 Kearny Villa Rd.
San Diego, CA 92123

Open Daily 11am – Midnight

I tried making the Gailan with Dried Fish, purchasing the dried fish from 99 Ranch Market.

I first toasted the fish in the toaster oven, peeled and blanched the Gailan, and thinly sliced a few cloves of garlic. I did a simple stir fry, and ended up with this:

It was okay, but I’m sure that I didn’t use the right type of fish, it didn’t taste right. Also, I should have used the Big Kahuna to cook this but was too lazy, high heat would’ve made a big difference. Still, it wasn’t too far removed…….

So stay tuned, between the various restaurants visited in the LA area, I’ll do a few posts on places like Kayaba, and even this place:

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Postscript – By request I added a photo album of Urasawa photos, and even did an album from the AKC National Championships.

Hancock Street Cafe-hmmm

December 2, 2006 Cathy American/New American Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso is NOT on vacation. Kirk is taking a day off and Cathy is blogging.

Hi. This is gonna be a bizarre post. The Mister and I have been here only this one time,and I usually don’t make a judgment on the first visit… I don’t like to say much bad about any place. The food isn’t "bad", per se…it just isn’t that good…

OK, say you are in the area of the Sports Arena, perhaps on a weekend, wanting to go to Kobey’s Swap Meet, and you got off the I-8 at the Rosecrans exit and were trying to get there from the ‘back way’, making a right at Les Girls (for those of you who don’t know the area, use your imagination)…that’s Hancock Street…its one way…and you see this on your right:

As you pass, you see the front of the building, the Elvis and Marilyn statues..and the "live Jazz and Blues" signage. Well, you know me. I had to stop.

OK. its *tiny* inside. TWO chairs and one table, and those three tables with no chairs out front…

The decor is kind of interesting…

Here is the menu: simple, this two sided paper. We ordered, said we would eat there and we were not asked to pay up front. Mario, the owner and sometimes cook, is a very honest and trusting man.

There were cars pulling up in front, people walking in, ordering something simple-like two pints of chicken soup, one cold and one hot (the soup is fresh-made on the premises), chili (also fresh made) or a candy bar and leaving. One guy ordered a Stromboli and I thought that sounded good. I saw the large Gyros sign out on the side of the building, so ordered one of those..and a coffee. Mario asked if I wanted cream and sugar in it…hmmm…

The Stromboli came out first. It looked a little too perfect; like it was was not made there, but was heated nicely and tasted very good. It was stuffed with ham, sausage, pepperoni, mozzarella, mushrooms and onions.

The gyros took longer to make, and we were told it would be about 5 minutes. The gyros meat was the kind you buy already frozen and the pita was a standard kind you can also buy…nothing fresh here but the tomatoes, lettuce and a lot of onions..well, no, I don’t think the sauce was made there.

Hmmm…

It wasn’t bad, but the lunches were kind of an ode to Smart N Final, or Sysco.

Many people have told me the breakfast croissants are great and made to order. We have to go back from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m., when it opens, to see if this is true.

The owner, Mario, plays seven instruments and goes out front and plays music when there is nothing to do inside. Every evening at 9 pm, he plays music out front also..whether anyone is there or not. He looks like a cross between Benny Hill and Charlie Chaplin… and he is playing that look up, by dressing that way ..with the small mustache and funny hat. He has also gotten a copyright for the name "Benny Chaplain"…and he is going to walk from San Diego to Washington, D.C., next year…doing 20 miles a day, leaving on April 1st and arriving on September 11, recording the walk…all while walking like Charlie Chaplain and playing his music along the way…(You know I could not make this up) to raise money for the American Cancer Society. Mario’s wife died of cervical cancer 7 years ago.

He is trying to get sponsors in every state and is also contacting all the Governors of each state he will walk through… His son is going to run the restaurant while Mario walks. He is selling t-shirts to raise money.

You will notice on the menu that he will be opening a location near Petco park downtown in 2007. I wonder if the name will be "Hancock Street"…I will try this place again, for the breakfast sandwiches, to be fair.

Hancock Street Cafe 3354 Hancock Street, San Diego 92110 (619) 296-2060

Tommy’s Italian Ristorante

November 30, 2006 Cathy Italian Restaurants, Pizza, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso is not on vacation. Its just Cathy blogging today.

Hi. There is this place in El Cajon, on 2nd at Persimmon. Its been there for 30 years now, always owned by an Italian family.

The style of cooking here is Sicilian, which is to say, there are Greek, Arabic as well as Italian influences to the food…kind of like Puerto Rico is a US Territory and you would not say that Puerto Rican food is “American food”, Sicilian food is not totally Italian…Sicily is an island off the tip of the “boot”, therefore south of Naples and pretty much rivals Naples with flavors…using sardines and local seafood in a lot of the dishes as well as fresh (buffalo) mozzarella. Caponata (eggplant salad) is also a regional specialty.

Since we had eaten all we could for our Thanksgiving Day, the Mister and I decided some good, basic Italian was in order…nothing fancy.

We got the large antipasti salad …(Oh, and a side of anchovies for me). The salad was a nice antipasti, with mostly iceberg lettuce, lots of olives(The Mister *hates* olives, so all for me), a good Genoa salami and mortadella and a very nice provolone, topped with oil, vinegar and dried oregano. This was the large size ($9.95) and we had plenty to take home for tomorrow. If you get this salad as a “to go”, it comes in a small pizza box and there is even more lettuce.

The large cheese pizza arrived (we had a coupon for $3 off a large pizza..we did take home half of this and it made for a great breakfast and snack the next day).
I know, it kind of looks like its not done; the cheese isn’t burnt or bubbly…
but , as you can see from this cross section, its kind of all cheese and not much sauce, which is how I usually ask for it at some places where the sauce is too strong in flavor…here, the sauce is mostly chopped (canned, with a great flavor) tomatoes, oregano and olive oil..what The Mister and I consider “proper” pizza sauce (we spent some time in Italy many years ago).

There is a small Deli inside with a pretty good selection of Italian meats and cheeses, as well as other items imported from Italy. It doesn’t have the smell of a more authentic deli, Like Filippi’s in Little Italy…probably because there aren’t any dried salted fish here. The deli is a good source if you are in East County and don’t want to drive downtown. There are three different imported Panettones available for Christmas on sale now: Original, one with milk chocolate baked into the dough (the dough is part white and sort of striped with chocolate”sticks”) and one made with Limoncello cream…(lemon liqueur)…

Stop by if you are in the neighborhood; you’ll leave satisfied and happy.

Here are some pages from the rather large menu.

Tommy’s Italian Ristorante and Deli 1190 Second Avenue, El Cajon (619) 440-2676

Big Kahuna’s

November 27, 2006 mmm-yoso Local Kine Stuffs in San Diego, Loco Mocos, Plate Lunch

*** Big Kahuna's no longer resides in PB.

Located in Pacific Beach on Ingraham Street is Big Kahuna's:

Part pizza joint/sports bar, part plate lunch restaurant, I've been told that the owner of Big Kahuna's is the Grandson of the original owner of Da Big Kahuna's Pizza on Puuloa Road in Honolulu.

Of course with a name like Big Kahuna, you'd have to go with a beach-surfer-tropical theme.

Though Big Kahuna back "home" is known for the pizza and sandwiches, I thought I'd try out the plate lunches. If you're wondering what the pizza at the original Big Kahuna looks like you can find a post on where else, but Ono Kine Grindz, it even has a photo of, ahem, the Big Kahuna "Balls".

For lunch one afternoon I ordered the Beef Teriyaki Plate($8.95):

In a few minutes a very large plate arrived, three scoops of rice, even! I enjoyed the macaroni salad, with just the right amount of mayo.

The teriyaki was indeed "local-style", on the sweeter side with the flavor of ginger. The sauce was more of a glaze, than a sauce.

Though I love good pineapple(my Dad is from Lana'i), I hate it as a topping for food, so I scraped it off. The meat was a very tough sirloin, and I mean very tough, and in spite of the sauce quite dry.

One evening I found myself in the area, and decided to try out the Lau Lau Plate($8.95):

Again three scoops of rice, and quite a large Lau Lau, which smelled promising.

The luau leaf tasted bit on the bland side, not the usual flavor of "greens" that I enjoy so much. There was a nice chunk of fat in the Laulau, but no salted fish, and the pork was on the dry side. To be perfectly frank, this is a typical Mainland Laulau, so I wasn't very disappointed.

While I was waiting for my Laulau the very nice Waitress mentioned a breakfast menu, and was kind enough to bring me one to check out.

And there it was….a Loco Moco. I was told that Big Kahuna's serves breakfast on weekends, so I made a mental note…..

And made an appearance at 1030am on a Saturday morning. I walked in, and it seemed that everyone was still sleeping….so I grabbed a table, and eventually managed to order my Loco Moco($7.50):

After a short wait, my Loco Moco made it's way to my table in slooooowww moootion. First thing I noticed was that the burger was crumbled and stir fried with onions and a gravy. For some reason the thought, "I think this is last night's burger", kept playing over and over in my head….

The eggs(3) were okay, easy over, the yolks slightly runny, though I would have enjoyed crisp, crunchy edges on my eggs, but that's being nit-picky.

The gravy, was more like a sauce, and the nice, dark color belied the fact that it was pretty bland, luckily there was a good selection of condiments and sauces to help out. Ditto with the crumbled burger, though it was piping hot.

The service at Big Kahuna's is "bar service", and though very nice, sometimes a bit on the spacey side. I had ordered my toast dry, but got it buttered, and the Server/Bartender was more concerned with stocking beer than bringing me my Diet Coke. Still every contact that I've had at Big Kahuna's has been friendly.

I've tried a few other items that are not pictured, all portions are quite large, always making sure you get enough carbs! The Kalua Pork, though a bit under flavored was pretty good. I thought the Portuguese Bean Soup was very bland, lacking a nice smokey flavor ham-hock flavor, and with hardly any beans, sausage, or anything except soup for that matter. I've not had the pizza at Big Kahuna's though it looks pretty good, though those "balls"(12 for $6) – garlic bread rounds baked in butter, and topped with melted cheese cheese, make my arteries cringe in fear. I'll cover the Big Kahuna Burger on a future post.

Big Kahuna's
3780 Ingraham St
San Diego, CA 92109

Chopstix Too

November 14, 2006 Cathy Japanese Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

About a week or so ago, I mentioned that Chopstix Too, a sort of "Casual-Fast" version of Chopstix had opened in the same strip mall as Mitsuwa Marketplace. Talk about setting yourself up for success.

So I finally walked on up to check out the menus attached by clothespins to chairs….and sheesh, talk about cheap grand opening specials! Bargain-City…..

Okay, so I’m sold, I’ve got to check this out. At this time of the morning 11am the place is empty, yet bustling. Seems like the employees are still getting used to the surroundings. The interior is pretty fast-foodish, with simple booths and tables, and a sushi bar crowning the cavernous interior.

I didn’t bother opening the menu; I ordered the Chicken Teriyaki & Tempura Combo($4.95 – Grand Opening price – $5.95 regular):

The special came with a bowl of so-so miso soup, a green salad with Asian-style dressing, rice, some chicken(dark meat) teriyaki, with a sauce that was less sweet than the usual American-style teriyaki, and3 pieces of tempura. The tempura was not bad; it was not as crunchy, nor did it have the lacquered texture of the version at Chopstix. Pretty fast-foodish, but well worth the $4.95. It’s much better than picking up a pretty much cold bento from Mitsuwa or Nijiya.

But that’s not all…..there’s a "To Go Only" menu, that has specials like Curry Bowl($3.50), Chicken Katsu Bowl($3.95). Wait a second, Chicken Katsu Bowl for under four bucks? Sheesh…Bargain City!!

So being the sucker for Chicken Katsu that I am, I ordered the Chicken Katsu Bowl($3.95).

But wait, I’m not done….because it was inexpensive, I also ordered the Fish Katsu($3.95):

It’s hard to tell which is which, huh? This was a styrofoam soup sized bowl, with a nice amount of rice on the bottom. A layer of shredded cole slaw mix(shredded cabbage), and few pieces of broccoli acted as a buffer for the fried product. Honestly, it was a bit on the greasy side, but still will fill you up. The other item that I didn’t care for were that first off, teriyaki sauce was used instead of katsu sauce, and the whole thing was slathered with spicy mayo, like what is used for those spicy rolls. As if the dish needed any more fat! Is this worth $3.95…you bet, but next time I’ll order it without any sauce(or mayo), and use some of those leftover katsu sauce packets.

I’m sure that I’ll do another post on the regular menu items in the future…sort of a Chopstix Too, part too…he-he-he, sorry couldn’t help myself.

Now comes the fun part, it was bound to happen! Cathy and I ate at Chopstix Too during the same week. So you get a "double post", a two-for-one special so to speak. Actually, I’m letting Cathy go so She won’t serve me with a food stalkers warrant from the Food Police! LOL! So without further ado, heereee’s Cathy!

mmm-yoso is NOT on vacation. Kirk isn’t even taking a break off from posting. We both went to Chopstix Too-didn’t even see each other- and have pretty much the same observation of pretty much everything on the menu…here’s the rest of it.

Hi Everyone…I just want you to know I think the Mister went to Chopstix Too *before* Kirk did (The Mister works within walking distance)…for lunch…and that evening he brought home some of those "Grand Opening Take Out Only" specials.

The crunchy roll served with salad ($4.95) (Crunchy Roll is pretty much that fake krab stuff and avocado..its larger than most rolls..wrapped in seaweed and the rice and rolled in tempura leftovers…crunchies…topped with a sort of katsu (sticky sweet) sauce and the spicy mayonnaise).

This is a meal in itself-crunchy roll is quite large. The same one Chopstix has been having on ‘special’ forever. The salad is light, crispy and topped with the "Asian salad dressing" that is standard-more or less vinegar and sweet..no garlic or ginger.

He also brought home the Spam sushi ($3.50) made with avocado and pickled radish. It was nice. He also brought home some of the generic bowls Kirk apparently got (after perhaps stalking The Mister…) One of these is the calamari katsu, which held up quite well in the traffic home. The other is the chicken katsu, which was tasty but not crispy (the calamari was on a bed of shredded cabbage to maybe keep the steam from the rice from softening the crust). {ooh, I just looked at the photos and two are the same…that’s how well I could tell the bowls apart}… and then there was the tempura bowl:

The tempura coating does not fare well inside a bowl with steam for about 15 miles in rush hour traffic. There is a shrimp, carrot, zucchini and pumpkin..the veggies and shrimp were good, still crispy, not mushy…but the coating was not as much fun as you get with fresh tempura inside the restaurant….by fun, you know, crispy, light, airy…making you think it has no calories…

So, we decided to meet up for dinner, off of the "regular" menu one day. This is probably your first view of the building, when you take the exit off of 163:

Its kitty corner from Mitsuwa, in the same parking lot, attached to the Taco Bell. Originally that half of the building was a Sarah Lee Outlet Store, where I happened to be one of the first, and a regular customer.

We seem to have sat in the exact same booth as Kirk did, with that view of one of the two flat screen TV’s in the place… The regular menu looks more like this: Its a little bit different from the regular Chopstix menu, with lots more sushi items. You may notice the "miso butter corn ramen". We asked our polite waitress what it was. She said:’its miso with butter and corn and ramen noodles’. Maybe next time.

We opted for a few "standards", to test the kitchen:

The seaweed salad, ($3.50) nice and fresh…not much different than elsewhere. The mabo ramen ($5.95) seemed to have a richer broth and was excellent. I really like fresh ramen noodles.

I opted for the Seafood Katsu ($8.25). Served with miso, salad and rice. Three shrimp, two pieces of fish and two pieces of calamari, all lightly battered. I liked all of it. The shrimp is made from shrimp paste and is larger and denser than just a single piece of shrimp would be…and there is still a tail attached…which I always eat anyhow…its fried, crispy…fiber…

The grand opening specials will probably stop at the end of November…or not I suppose. The Mister and I went to the original Chopstix and with our bill, we got a coupon for a free California roll with purchase of any meal at Chopstix Too. Its a smaller California roll (6 pieces) and the coupon was stamped with an expiration of November 30.

All in all, Chopstix Too is the same as the original Chopstix, with an added sushi bar and *much* better parking. The Grand Opening Specials make it worth the trip also. I saw quite a few people with "to go" foods just eating in the parking lot….besides all the people following me around in general….ahem!

Chopstix Too 4380 Kearny Mesa Road San Diego 92111 (858) 565-1288 open 7 days 11 a.m. until 10 p.m. Closing hours may change.