mmm-yoso!!!

Happy New Year!

  Much like Christmas, we decided to lay low for New Year. But here's a sort of festive shot from a wedding we had the pleasure of attending a few weeks back! Many congrats "YY" and "Q"!

All the Missus really wanted was some Poke and Karei Karaage this year. So I hopped into the car and drove up to Marukai Costa Mesa. Even though the Marukai here in San Diego is getting better, the fish department is still lacking. When I arrived at 915 the parking lot was empty, when I left at about 945am the parking lot was packed.

   

And after making a few stops in the "OC" (you know I was going to make the most of the drive), I came home and made Poke for lunch.

 

As for the Karei Karaage, I've posted on it a few times before, so I'll spare you all.

I just wanted to do a quick post and wish everyone a safe, fun, and Happy New Year!

Best wishes from the gang at mmm-yoso for a great New Year! 

Islamorada Fish Company: Bass Pro Shop dining-yes, dining(!)

mmm-yoso!!! is the blog about food in all forms of acquiring, preparing, eating and the various ways we(Kirk, ed (from Yuma) and Cathy, as well as a few others) came about to have it happen.  A sort of diary that you get to read.    Enjoy.

Hi again.  Well, I had yet another fun adventure the other day.     We were driving North on the 15 .     

It was quite beautiful.  We stopped at the Victoria Gardens Mall, and on the outer ring saw it...

The new Bass Pro Shop. 

Of course, I get catalogs from both Bass Pro Shop as well as Cabela's and the two stores are kind of interchangeable inmy mind...both sell hunting, fishing and outdoor gear and all of their Brick and Mortar stores have a interesting,  themed restaurant serving excellent food inside (except for the next closes BPS in Las Vegas, which is attached to the Silverton Hotel, so does not offer food in the store).    Think Ikea, but more fun.

So, we walked in and there was a 90 minute wait for the restaurant. 

This was the day after Christmas, when most restaurants are not very crowded, on the ring road of a very popular mall, which has several pretty nice restaurants, as well as a King's Fish House, which has quite nice seafood.  We waited. {When we were leaving, the wait was still 90 minutes...}

 

We walked outside.

 

Checked out the boats in the parking lot, more of the view, the waterfall...and inside the plethora of items for sale... 

Including this delightful shotgun shell themed mailbox for only $99..which I kind of really wanted, thinking it might keep some door to door salesmen away...

Soon, the vibrating LED happy lighted coaster went off and we were seated, given beverages (The Mister had an excellent brewed iced tea ($2.19) I wanted water) and a loaf of hot fresh white bread... 

Which was hearty and a bit salty, yet topped with a granulated sugar crust, making me heretofore refer to it as "kettle bread" (you know, kettle corn...but bread...?  Oh nevermind)

 

We ordered the calamari appetizer ($6.95) which was the largest serving I have ever had.  This was perfectly fried squid rings and tentacles topped with shredded Parmesan and parsley and served with a warm marinara.

It really needed more than one lemon wedge to  squeeze juice over all of the calamari on this plate...

 

We also ordered the one pound (opposed to the 2 pound) appetizer of garlic steamed clams.

The resulting sauce on the bottom of this bowl was rich and hearty and went quite well with the cheesy toasted slice of sourdough served with it.

Fresh and substantial.

The Mister ordered the fried catfish plate($11.95).  Five fillets, lightly breaded with a flour/cornmeal mix, served on top of thick cut fries (which were topped with Old Bay© seasoning) and a side of coleslaw, which was very crispy and made with a pineapple juice sauce, and some house made tartar sauce, which I particularly enjoyed.

I got the Angler combination plate ($18.95): a crab cake that was 95% crab (no filler) and was lightly, crisply fried and had great flavor; five giant, juicy grilled shrimp and a large fillet of Mahi Mahi, which was barely(lightly) grilled and also tasted very fresh.  All were served on top of a very flavorful rice pilaf(there were some vegetables-carrot and celery at least-in the pilaf blend) and with a house made remoulade, the colslaw and house made potato chips, dusted with the same Old Bay© seasoning.  I added malt vinegar and salt to my chips.

Excellent food, great serving sizes and great service.  An extremely nice experience.

Islamorada Fish Company (inside the Bass Pro Shop, Ranch Cucamonga) 7777 Victoria Gardens Lane, Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91735 (909)922-5500 website

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Shabu Shabu House

I'd been waiting patiently for the opening of Shabu Shabu House since I first saw the "coming soon" sign back in the beginning of November. Initially the sign read "We will open on November 12th". November 12th came and went, with no sign that this place would be opening soon. Beyond the removal of the target date, you'd be hard pressed to notice anything going on in the place. I'd crane my neck and check out what was going on whenever I passed. Soon enough November turned into December.... and by that time, I'd started losing interest. Luckily, FOY Calvin kept me abreast as to what was going on with the place. Right before Christmas Shabu Shabu House opened.

 

It wasn't that I'd been craving Shabu Shabu, it was more that I was kinda curious. The restaurant itself is very bright, clean and shiny (as you would expect a new restaurant to be), spartan, if a bit antiseptic looking, which is probably a good look, if you'll be serving raw meat.

 

I was seated promptly, and handed the one sheet 'menu". It was very clear, this was a straight up Shabu Shabu restaurant. Along with the standard beef (regular and prime), pork, shrimp, scallops, salmon, mussels and chicken are offered. All offerings come in combo/set form. Lunches range from $11 (8 pieces protein) to $19 (12 pieces prime beef), dinner from $14 to $22.

One quick look at the surroundings and I was pretty sure this was going to be straight up kombu in water Shabu Shabu. In essense it's simple boiled beef, with in this case, a scant piece of Kombu being boiled in good old H2O. So for me, in situations like this, it can come down to the little things that matter. On the good, the service was very nice, if a bit too cloying and hovering, which can be attributed to being new and being eager to please. On the bad, no hot tea, only water and sodas..... for me hot tea goes well with Shabu Shabu. Also the heating device is waaay on the other end of the counter, and if you're "vertically challenged", like ahem...me, you might end up dripping stuff everywhere as the meat makes it's way to your bowl of rice. Part of this was my fault, perhaps I should have taken a seat on the higher counter, where the chairs would have put me in a better position for eating.

The meal sets come with "assorted vegetables", in this case, a large helping of Napa Cabbage, some scallions, enoki mushrooms, a few spinach leaves, and a couple of huge sticks of carrot. Tofu and Udon Noodles are also provided:

 

This was perfectly fine, though perhaps a shiitake mushroom(I'd trade some of the bulky carrot sticks, really I would!), and maybe some shingiku, would have added more flavor and color to the dish.

I went for the Prime Beef Lunch (regular size - $15). Just like Shabu Shabu House in Little Tokyo, they bring out a huge side of rib eye, and slice it fresh for you.

 

It is cut almost paper thin, and the portion size is more than adequate. Not super marbled, but just right for Shabu Shabu. If the meat were too marbled, all the fat would dissolve in the broth, making the meat tough and stringy, and leaving you with the Exxon Valdez disaster in the pot. Again with an eye toward detail, the Gomatare (sesame dipping sauce - for the meat) was decent in flavor, but the accompanying ponzu-ish, soy sauce-ish sauce (for the vegetables) needs some work. The rice was cooked fine, and I was even asked if I wanted more.

After I finished my meat, the young lady working came over, and skimmed my broth! A nice touch! I was provided with a bowl with some dark looking liquid in the bottom.

 

After cooking my udon for short while in the broth,I added it and my remaining vegetables into the bowl, along with some broth, and finished off my meal.

 

And though this was bottled Tsuyu Soup Base, it was added in the perfect ratio for me. It was a satisying end to the meal.

In short, as Calvin wrote, "if you enjoy Shabu Shabu House in Little Tokyo, this is a reasonable facsimile." I couldn't have said it better. Add some hot tea to the menu(another couple came in right after me and wanted hot tea as well), and a better variety of veggies, to go with the freshly cut meat, and I'd be good to go. I don't think I'll grow any taller, so I'll try sitting on the higher counter next time. I found the service to be very good, though it could be because employees out-numbers customers. I think prices are reasonable by San Diego standards. For me, I think I'll make my own at home for a while longer......

Shabu Shabu House
4646 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111
(858) 268-8648

Oh yes......you know this parking lot, don't you???? I'll just keep it at that!

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Thuan Phat Market, and Yum Cha Cafe coming to San Diego

If you're a regular reader of mmm-yoso, you know I've been following the opening of Thuan Phat Supermarket in the former Vien Dong location. Now that the crowds have calmed down a bit, we decided to check the place out.

   

First thing I noticed was the "SF" logo, and after returning home, I found that Thuan Fat and Shun Fat (aka SF) Supermarket are basically one in the same. Though it was noted that  each Supermarket adjusts what they carry for the demographic.

Walking into Thuan Phat, you'd notice little difference from the former Vien Dong market.

    

The store is brighter, and looks cleaner. But the basic layout is pretty much the same.

 

This being basically an SF Supermarket makes for a good variety of products, and though the focus of the produce, and most items being Vietnamese, there's also a good selection of Chinese products as well.

The variety of seafood is good, as are the prices. I'm not sure if the prices observed will be regular prices, or are just a grand opening draw.

 

  And though I found all of this interesting, I was a bit distracted. I was on the hunt for verification of some info I was given.

FOY "Chia" mentioned that Yum Cha Cafe was opening in Thuan Phat. In case you aren't familiar with Yum Cha Cafe, it is a very popular take-out Dim Sum (Yum Cha) shop located in the San Gabriel Superstore. It's not the most mind-boggling Dim Sum you'll ever have, but it has always been of decent quality, and very cheap. This made perfect sense since the company that owns Shun Fat and Thuan Phat, also owns the San Gabriel Superstore. I did notice the construction taking place in the now partitioned former "deli" area:

 

Walking around the corner I noticed a doorway. Above the doorway was all the verification I needed:

 

So it looks like dining in the Linda Vista area is getting more and more interesting........

In case you're wondering about Yum Cha Cafe, you can read Wandering Chopsticks post about the San Gabriel location, here.   

Thuan Phat Supermarket
6935 Linda Vista Road
San Diego, CA 92111

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Sakura on a Budget?

Hope you all are enjoying the holidays. Kirk, Cathy, and others post here regularly, but today ed (from Yuma) wants to share a dinner with you at one of his favorite places in San Diego, a sushi bar that is on Kirk's rotation.

Living out in Yuma is not easy for a sushi lover. Last time I checked, channel catfish sashimi is on no menu anywhere. That's probably a good thing.

So on most of my visits to America's finest city, I stop by that little temple of izakaya cuisine, Sakura. But with the economy, I am thinking more these days about my personal economy, such as it is, and I warned Kazu as soon as I sat down that a Chirashi was going to be the centerpiece of my dinner. "But start out," I said, "with a couple of other things first":

I have to admit, I wasn't expecting three rounded pork balls garnished with scallions first thing. But these were a fine start to the meal. Not too dense, and rich with porcine goodness, these bite sized treats  were complemented by the slightly sweet sauce spicy with ginger.

The next thing set before me was more outstanding and more complicated.
The first thing I noticed and smelled was smoky bacon. Ummm bacon:
 After further review (it is football season, after all), I noticed a couple of perfectly cooked asparagus spears chopped and lying akimbo on the top of a tower composed of a small tofu slab covered with mushrooms:

When I rotated the little bowl, I noticed a single wedge of cooked fresh tomato. Deconstructing the dish, I realized that four different mushrooms had been combined here -- a cluster of brown capped enoki mushrooms (perhaps bunashimejis?) lay directly on the tofu, largely hidden by the shiitake cap in this pic. Two normal button mushrooms and a large chunk of some giant mushroom (help anyone?) also sat in the broth:

My mouth got happy quickly. The bland soft tofu played an ideal background that allowed the various soloists to make good music together. And, truth be told, bacon, mushrooms, and asparagus are a few of my favorite things (whether you are now thinking  "Julie Andrews" or "John Coltrane" or "say what, dude?" says a lot about who you are).

Then my main course arrived:

 A Chirashi is wonderful for sushi lovers on a budget. Instead of having each piece of fish sit on its own handmade rice ball, a Chirashi is a scattered arrangement of sashimi and related items on top of a bowl of sushi rice.

As always, the fish was first rate; you can see the quality in the pictures. The salmon roe, in particular, is a so good here that I often eat the little eggs one by one, popping them on the roof of my mouth. The yellow tail and salmon were especially rich and flavorful this day as well.

A good Chirashi will also reflect the season and perhaps include something unusual. This one did. In the foreground of this picture you can see one of the two chunks of herring roe that adorned the bowl:

The chunks had crunch and more crunch, but the firm fisheggs were not salty or too strongly flavored.

My other surprise was this little guy:

 This tiny fermented squid was reminiscent in flavor of a good shiokara.

As always at Sakura, I ate well, and I was staying within my budget until Kazu mentioned that he'd forgotten to put uni in the chirashi. A cynic might think that the omission was deliberate, as I cannot stop at Sakura without tasting the uni. Anyway, here is a picture of dessert:

Some things are more important than budgets!

Fancy-ish French Toast and bacon-Yet another $5 Friday meal

mmm-yoso!!! is the blog.  About food.  Written by Kirk, ed(from Yuma), Cathy and a few others.  Cathy is writing today so everyone else can recover from Christmas festivities.

Hi.  I'm back to writing about a meal for two for $5 or less, using ingredients on sale this week.  This time, since many people are having quite a few days in a row off from work, and the ingredients used are on sale this week, I thought I'd show what we did for breakfast today.

It is the day after Christmas and many 'Christmas-y'  items are at least half off.  This year, many items were half off before Christmas.  I bought six Panettones ( usually described as Festive Italian Bread-really it is a bread made with at least raisins and orange and lemon peels and zests) at Fresh and Easy and also some bacon and eggs. 

The bread is baked in paper shells which peel off easily.  Panettone looks like a giant muffin, but do not use or eat it like it is cake.  It is abread, made with yeast.

 I noticed almost every market has Farmer John brand  bacon on sale for $3 a pound this week.

So, cook the bacon first. Leave the grease in the pan.

Soak some slices of Panettone in an egg-milk mix. 

Then fry the slices (I cut each circle of bread in half)  in the bacon greased pan.  

Flip over to cook the other side.  

A 'proper' French toast should have a crispy exterior and soft, creamy interior.  That is why frying the soaked bread in the bacon grease helps.

 

I served the French Toast with the bacon and some tangerine segments, fresh from the yard.  Tangerines are also on sale this week.

I hope everyone is have a wonderful Holiday Season and thank all of you for your good wishes and hope all of us have a wonderful year ahead!!!

Cathy's French Toast

Sliced dry bread, 2-3 eggs, milk. Frypan with bacon grease and/or butter to cook.

If using plain bread, can add orange juice or vanilla extract to egg/milk mix.

Soak long enough that the center of the bread is soft. You should only flip the bread once one side is cooked and when the second side is cooked, it should be finished-don't keep flipping it.

Happy anniversary, sweetie

It was the night before Christmas......

And all through the house,

Not a creature was stirring,

Not even a:

 

He-he-he...

You know, I jumped into the car earlier today, in an attempt to find something appropriate to photograph for a Christmas post. Not wanting to brave the malls, or anything of the like, I stopped in the parking lot of Zion Market, and happened to looked up....

 

And call it silliness, or a sign if you will...... But it has indeed been a pretty stormy year for many.

And so I stopped there. So, instead of a post on our Christmas dinner, we divided up the 40 bucks or so set aside for dinner into fives, and are giving it away tonight. Not much, I know. But whether it's to make us feel better, or will make someone's Christmas Eve a bit better, so be it. We can eat simply at home, and I can put aside my snarky cynicism for one night!

How can you tell the Missus wasn't born in the US? Ask Her to sing Her favorite Christmas Carol:

"Jingle Bells, (short pause) ummm, Oldsmobile, da-dee da-dee daaaah!"

A drunk walks up to the Missus:

Drunk: "Give me liberty, or let me diiieeee"

The Missus: "You really don't want to me to make that choice for you right now....really!"

The mmm-yoso gang would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas!

Road Trip: Hunan Seafood - Rosemead (Los Angeles), CA - And we get the answer to an Urban Legend.

  Ever since reading this post on Eileen Likes to Eat, I've been waiting for an opportunity to check out Hunan Seafood (formerly CrownCafe). It had been an uphill fight from the beginning. You see, the Missus'sFather is from Hunan, and I've marched ourselves to a few "Hunan" restaurants that have been anything BUT Hunan.  When the Missus first heard the name of this place, She scoffed, "Hunan Sea-food? Yeah, right....." You see Hunan Province, is landlocked, bordered by mountains on three sides, and the Yangtze river on one(I don't think Dongting lake qualifies). She explained it to me this way; "Iowa is located on the Mississippi River....would you eat at a place called Iowa Seafood Restaurant?" But the combination of the photos on Eileen's Blog, and the good mood the Missus was in after our "first lunch" at Food Cabin put Her in an amiable state fo mind.

Hunan Seafood Restaurant appears very bright and clean from the exterior, but is starting to show signs of wear and tear in the interior. The service is typical SGV, all business, order quickly, don't ask questions......

We started with something near and dear to the Missus's heart; the Steamed Hunan Ham, Smoked Duck & Fish ($10.98):

   

The Missus clearly recalls visiting Her Paternal Grandmother in Hunan when a teenager. For a city girl it was quite a shock. No electricity, no indoor plumbing, the potty being in the same shed as the family pigs (totally freaked out, She held out for several days....until Her Dad rescued Her, taking Her into the city to potty), and the very hard life of Lily Blossom farmers. Funny thing is, we now pay thousands of $$$ to experience nearly the same thing nowadays - does anyone else notice the irony? There were of course, the great memories as well....... the wonder of lying on the drying slab and clearly seeing the Milky Way for the very first time. But, as a teenager, being the nice, plump, fresh meat for the local mosquitoes was not much fun.And toothpaste being the only available remedy for mosquito bites..... I can barely restrain myself mentally picturing the Missus covered with blots of toothpaste....wearing Her Jimmy Choo shoes with Her Gucci bag in tow.....

The scent of smoke was very strong when the plate literally hit our table. Looking at the plate, I was quite sure that it had hit quite a few tables in its time.  Steaming both moistened the meat, and really brought up the fragrance. The La Rou (smoked pork) had a great texture, the fat soft and buttery, and the meat while smoky in flavor was much milder in saltiness than the preserved stuff you buy in markets. It also lacked the somewhat artificial flavor. The duck was good, but it was the fish that I enjoyed the best:

 

Salty and intensely smoky, the Missus said this was just as good as the stuff Her Grandmother used make and send Her Dad in China. The fish was slightly dense and chewy, though not as tough as jerky. The Missus had to call Her Father immediately after tasting this.... it brought back many memories.

And then it happened. We had heard of "it" happening before, but had never seen it in person. While waiting for our rice, the Missus murmured, "oh..... my .... God! I don't believe it!" When I asked Her, "what's going on?" The Missus stage whispered; "they're recycling rice....taking the leftover rice from one of the tables and dumping it back into the pot." The ricepot in Hunan Seafood is out for all to see, and as I turned to look, they dumped yet another container of leftover rice from another table into the ricepot...mixed it up a bit and put it into a rice container, which made its way to our table...... I should've taken a photo, but was too stunned. I wish I hadn't seen that....the meat was nice and salty, and I really wanted some rice..... You know, we've drunk Chicha de Jora made from maize germinated in the mouth of the maker, so reused rice doesn't sound too bad.... but for some reason I just couldn't bring myself to eat this rice! I had heard of rice being recycled, or maybe reused for fried rice, and wasting rice is a sin.... however, faced with eating this? So I guess the urban legend of reusing rice is true.

Meanwhile, the wonderful looking Toss Fried Mutton with Cilantro ($9.98) made it to our table.

 

Just as with the unapologetic reuse of rice, this was an in-your-face spicy. Such is Hunan food; no goofing around with sweet, sour, or numbing flavors. The mutton was moist and tender, but was just overwhelmed with the red chilies (you didn't think those were red bell peppers did you?) and cilantro. You really couldn't taste anything else. Whomever cooked this showed some good cooking technique, but the dish seemed out of balance.

  I'd gladly eat food from Hunan Seafood again, ummm.... well, maybe just some take-out, or even better, I'll just force myself to NOT look at the ricepot. We'll probably even bring the Missus's Dad here when they visit, but face him away from the ricepot. But at least we now new the answer to that old urban legend; "do Chinese Restaurants reuse uneaten rice?"

Hunan Seafood Restaurant
8772 E Valley Blvd
Rosemead, CA 91770

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Luang Prabang: The Morning Fresh Market

The Fresh Produce Market in Luang Prabang gets going pretty early in the morning. I've been told 5am or so. I really wasn't too excited about visiting the market since it was located on a side street right past the Palace Museum, and just steps from tourist central. Man, was I totally wrong! The Fresh Market proved to be the most fascinating market I've ever visited. The following photos were taken during the course of our stay in Luang Prabang, as we passed through the market on the way to "Same-Same" every morning. It got even more interesting after I started recognizing some of the more exotic items after taking a cooking class. So off we go.....

 

At first glance, this market looks just like any other outdoor market in Southeast Asia.

 

There's a ton of fresh produce:

 

The covered meat and poultry section....

 

Where I snapped one of my favorite photos....

 

And all the usual suspects.

 

Everything you'd need, and also a ton of prepared food as well.

 

And so we strolled along. Just your typical SEA market, ho-de-do (Lunag Prabang has a way of putting you into a calm, relaxed state)....until we turned the corner.

And ummm, isn't that chopped and portioned python? And what about all those honeycombs?

And were those silkworms? And what the heck is in that blue bucket? Is that someone's pet, or "what's for dinner?"

 

Later on we'd (well, I) found that fried silkworms and bee larvae are delicious!

There's a lot of various dried critters, many of which are used to flavor various Or Lam (stews).

 

And there were many forest animals, some cleaned and prepped, and some, like that snake on the left, very alive.

 

And those little bodies in the center were the same as the little dude in the blue bucket. I was told they called these "forest rats". And no, we never saw any Laotian Rock Rats. But this was a veritable edible zoo.

 

There is a premium on "live".......

I also saw a good number of turkeys, something I didn't expect.

 

This woman sold live poultry, which were kept in baskets. Inquire about one of her chickens, she'd quickly pull one out of the basket in a smooth motion for inspection.

 

 

Purchase something, and it is dispatched and cleaned in a quick and efficient manner.

 

The variety is staggering!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Water Buffalo Skin is very popular for dishes like Jeow Bong.....

 

And no matter how many times we visited, we always noticed something new and different. Like the weird human looking "fruit" the sign said was "Karipom". I haven't been able to find anything on this, so if you have some info I'd love to hear from you!

And there were those items we learned to identify after eating and learning to cook some of the dishes. Like the river moss that they make into Khai Pene:

 

On the lower left are "Lao Olives", on the right, Sa-Khan, the branches used to flavor Or Lam:

 

This is called Cha-om....and if you think it looks familiar, you'd be right. It's acacia.

 

On the right is Wick Wai - Rattan, also used to flavor stews:

 

Many of the folks in the market are very friendly....even to clueless tourists like us. The (relative) cleanliness was also apparent.

Many of the vendors live in the forests, mountains, and along the rivers surrounding Luang Prabang. Much of what you see is what was gathered for market. Sometimes it's just a few items....a bird, or maybe a few mushrooms......

 

Whether you want them unplucked, or ready for cooking, you'll find it here.

 

 

And of course, that all important staple, Padek, is represented in full ripeness. 

 

 

  I started looking forward to our walks through the market every morning. You'd never knew what you'd see. And in spite of the camcorder carrying tourists, this is a vibrant "people's" market.

 

 

At the end of the market is the grill area........ where all manner of sausages and "meat on a stick" are grilled up.

 

Grilled pork belly is very popular......

 

Ever had the feeling that someones dinner was staring you down????

 

So if you're ever in Luang Prabang, don't forget to check out the Fresh Produce Market..... you'll never know what you'll find!

The Better Half: Stressed Economy Special

Kirk and Cathy, as always, are eating and thinking about sharing their meals with you. Today, however, it is ed (from Yuma) discussing a recent meal he had in San Diego.

[The stressed economy wasn't special for this place - sadly, it's now closed.]

After a few days of eating Thai Vietnamese Korean sushi (no, not at the same time), I was looking for something different. I also had discovered that The Better Half was offering, between 5 and 7 p.m., a stressed economy special, three courses for $15.

The restaurant actually occupies two buildings linked by an outside patio, which is where the hostess greets customers. On the left side is the small kitchen, visible from the street, which offers a view of the chefs working hard on their preparations:

 On the right is the two-room dining area:

It is modestly, but tastefully decorated, and the track lighting allows small lamps to focus on each table top:

 As you can already tell, this tasteful lighting does not make for the best photographs, so let me apologize in advance for the quality of the pictures in this post.

I had another reason for this visit. I was in San Diego by myself this trip, and the thought of having dinner and a half bottle of wine (The Better Half specializes in 375 ml bottles) seemed inviting. In fact, I was very impressed with the wine list; I had no idea that such a wide variety of excellent wines were available in smaller bottles. Wines on the list ranged from $14-$91, with many choices between 15 and 25. I settled on a Pinot Noir from Paraiso Vineyards ($22), located in the Santa Lucia Highlands area in northern Monterey County, a winery that I was already familiar with from my days in Monterey:
I had already looked over the standard menu and was prepared to order the fruit stuffed quail, accompanied by a wild mushroom risotto, if nothing on the special menu was inviting. But the economy menu insert offered all sorts of tasty dishes, a choice of salad or wild mushroom soup as a first course, grilled mahi-mahi in cilantro sauce, wild game meat loaf with mashed potatoes, or Cornish game hand hen with rice pilaf for a second choice, and some tasty desserts for the third. I could have eaten any of the choices happily.

After I ordered, a large whole-wheat and fig dinner roll was brought to the table. I could smell its arrival as the aroma of warm bread filled my nostrils:

 Accompanied by lightly herbed whipped unsalted butter, this was a perfect start:

Soon my wild mushroom soup arrived. Okay, to be more accurate, a soup plate arrived with a small pile of sliced sautéed wild mushrooms sitting by themselves on the bottom of the dish. For a moment I was puzzled -- this was like no soup I had ever seen before -- and then the friendly and helpful waitperson poured a dark grayish brown liquid from a metal teapot into the bowl. It looked like this, only much more inviting:

 Perhaps the best mushroom soup I have ever eaten. The sautéed wild mushrooms added a bit of texture to the creamy broth. The primary flavors were Portobello and wild mushroom, accented perfectly by the flavor of sherry. The wine note served much like a squeeze of citrus into a rich soup, complexifying the savory breadth of the overall flavor.

Soon after I finished with the soup, the main course arrived. I had chosen the game hen with the pilaf:

The bird was roasted perfectly, still wonderfully moist and tinged slightly pink at its innermost joints. The flavor was straight forward without many herbs or any marinade. Good basic roast fowl.

The pilaf was the star of the plate. The flavor was rich and deep. I could taste both the wonderful stock in which the pilaf was cooked, as well as the flavors of the grains. The range of textures was amazing. The white rice and orzo (rice shaped pasta) were soft; the wild rice and wheat berries were chewy; and the sliced almonds added a perfect touch of crunchiness. Some chopped scallions added color:

 The meal ended with a large scoop of excellent strawberry ice cream accompanied by mint leaves:

By the standards of a pho house this was an expensive dinner. But for fine dining, and this truly was fine dining by any standard, the meal was a bargain. And truth be told, I have spent far more than this at Sakura. Far more. Kirk will no doubt remind me that the meal would have been extremely cheap if I had drunk water instead of Pinot Noir (and The Better Half has a nice choice of bottled waters as well as tapwater). Oh well, if price were the only issue, I would be chomping down at McDonald's Dollar menu. :-)

The Better Half, 127 University Ave, San Diego, CA 92103, (619) 543-9340