mmm-yoso!!!

Oahu: Odds and Ends......

It's kind of funny......in 2010, I hadn't been "home" in nearly a decade, then during the course of less than 2 years or so, I travel back 3 times! This one really wasn't planned way in advance. A few months back, we got word that Mr.D and his family would be visiting with the In-laws. After taking us around Beijing , it only seemed right that we return the favor. Sadly, the Missus couldn't make it, so I flew to Oahu solo and spent a couple of days helping the in-laws out. I really enjoyed my time with Mr.D and family and will get more into that in future posts. For some reason, I'm kinda bushed...even more tired than I felt after returning from our recent Istanbul-Tunisia-Rhodes-Istanbul trip. So give me another day to regroup. In the mean time I thought I'd do a short post on some "stuffs".....

Let me just start off with a requisite photo.......

Here's some of the grinds I had during this trip......

Plate lunches and bentos of course.......

And of course, some of the other standards as well......

You know I'd have to have one of these, right?

I did manage to make the best of the time I had to myself and ended up having a pretty darn good meal.

 I did find more then a few things that I really didn't want to eat.......like a "loco moco burger". I could probably do the gravy, bread, and protein thing. But for some reason, the thought of having a "mound" of rice between two buns just felt....well, wrong for some reason.

As for 7/11 having the best Spam Musubi...... all I can say is "really"?

It's a sad day when okazuya's and mom-and-pop stores can't make a better Spam Musubi than 7-11...really?

Then of course, there was that sign to my right. Oxtail soup with fat-free broth? I think this one ends up on my "why bother" list. Though....it might be good.....

While on my way to baggage claim in the airport, the July issue of Honolulu Magazine caught my eye. Mainly because of this article.

I'm pretty sure you really had to live it to understand the phenomenon of this show. During it's run, it was such a huge hit on the local Japanese language station, KIKU, that it basically wiped the floor with shows on all the other stations....we're talking stuff like Mission Impossible! Just thinking of the show has me humming the theme song......

 

Yikes, I'm regressing......I better get some rest!

TJ Oyster Bar- great seafood, but no oysters, in Bonita

Yes, you have found mmm-yoso!!!, the food blog.  Kirk has stuff to do, ed (from Yuma) has places to go and Cathy is blogging about a place to eat. 

I mentioned in a prior post that in December I had met up with fellow food bloggers and friends, canine cologne, Dennis and Carol, for a food crawl around South County- Chula Vista and Bonita.  Of the many places we stopped at that day, our first was here-where I took this photo of the exterior.  In December.

As I tend to be cautious about writing about any place until I have returned a few times, all the food in this post was consumed at this location, in a small mall on the same block just West of the McDonald's near Otay Lakes Road on Bonita road.  

However, I do know the small storefront will be moving soon to just East of the McDonald's (and the Vons) in this same block very soon.  The new location looks a lot larger. In any case, the food here is excellent and the lines out the door may be diminished with the new building.

In December, we sat at the front counter, which consists of six stools, to enjoy some tastes of what is offered at this primarily seafood Mexican restaurant.  

We shared a large coctele and fish tacos.  Everything was fresh and tasty and I wanted more, but in retrospect was glad we kept along on our crawl, because this was just the first of so many new-to-me places that day.  

The fish taco was beer battered, not heavy and the fish was light, flaky and tasty.  The coctele-

had plenty of octopus in it (there were no oysters that day, despite the name of the place) and a very refreshing tomato-lime-cilantro sauce that the seafood was melding in.

I had to return with The Mister a few times. 

One day we went, before crowds showed up and shared a fish ceviche tostada ($2.75) and a shrimp ceviche tostada ($3.50).  Each of the ceviches were made to order and so crispy-fresh tasting.  The respective seafoods were citrus-tangy and you could still taste the respective 'meats'. I have returned just for ceviche, which is really nice on these hot Summer days.

Of course we realized at some point that the fish tacos are 99¢ every day and ordered two on another visit. We basically drive by and if there is a parking space, we stop, otherwise we haven't, because the parking lot is an indicator of available table space. I think the seating capacity inside is about 20.

I had been curious about the "Pescadilla" part of the menu and on another visit, we ordered the $7.50 Mariscos/Seafood Pescadilla. It's a quesedilla, filled with sauteed seafood.  Buttery, garlicy sauteed seafood. Served with rice, this is way more than a meal for one. Very rich, very filling, and now a regular order.

As of now, at the current location, the menu is on the wall and the cash register, where you order and pay, is right in front of you when you walk in the door.  I hope the menu and quality of food at the new location stays the same.

TJ Oyster Bar 4246 Bonita Road 91902 (619)267-4577

 

 

 

 

Valley Foods Mediterranean Market- Eat in the store, shop in the store(revisit)

Welcome(back) to our food blog. Kirk, ed (from Yuma) and Cathy usually blog in this space.  Today, it's Cathy's turn. 

Hi again. I've posted about Valley Foods, a small grocery store in El Cajon, run by a group of refugees from Iraq, two times now.  It's turned into a regular stop for The Mister and I, for both a quick lunch and a place to do some interesting shopping.

When you walk in, just to the left are six tables and steam trays, with a price list above the trays.  You order, pay and have a seat.  (There are three cash registers straight ahead when you walk in)

The steam tray area is always interesting. The weekly specials, with even better prices, are listed in the area below the trays. 

One day, we tried the lamb shank meal ($7.99) We were asked which rice we wanted to go with the shank and chose this one, which had bulgur and vermicelli.  Then the nice lady put some scoops of a tomato and onion sauce on the grain mix before putting the large and moist lamb shank on top of it all.   

We were also asked which soup we wanted to go with and chose this spinach-tomato soup, which was really good.  

Another day, we chose the fried fish filet meal (also $7.99).  This was tilapia, lightly breaded with corn meal and place on saffron rice.  This came with the Iraq salad- chopped cucumber and tomatoes in a simple olive oil and lemon dressing and steamed vegetables.  The squeeze bottles of pink liquid on the tables, the only condiment other than salt and pepper, is red wine vinegar.  I use that with the vegetables as well as the rice after eating about half of it 'plain'. 

The masgoof-prepared whole tilapia ($6.99) is in the steam table just like this and this is what you get.  The whole fish, split and grilled with a whole onion and a whole tomato, also grilled. Usually one of us goes into the store and buys a piece of bread to go with this filling, simple meal.

The kabobs are always fresh and moist.  They used to be 99¢ each, but in July the price changed to $1.15 for the chicken and $1.25 for the beef.  Very much worth it.  Even if you order just one, you get a side of sliced raw onion topped with sumac in the tray.

Here is a cross section photo of the kabobs. You can see some of the herbs which are mixed with the ground meats before grilling.  I really like the kabobs here, not only moist, but so flavorful- and large.  If we order five, we end up taking two home for dinner.

The chicken schawarma plate ($7.95).  I mentioned in one of my other posts about the spits in the back cooking schawarma. This is an easy way to get more than a sandwich.  The moist, grilled meat is a hefty portion and comes with lettuce, tomato, house made pickles and house made hummus and a small, hot piece of flat bread, which is made in the store.  

As mentioned, we are here to shop also.  Walking just past the steam trays is a glass case selling a few lunch meats, like all beef Mortadella, many types of olives, some pickled vegetables and various Feta cheeses.  Right next to that case is this open case, selling grab and go items.  A few are the same as offered on the steam trays, at the same prices. 

Right across from that open refrigerator is this case, which has salads, the house made hummus, house made eggplant dip (that's what they call it, it is not labeled as baba ganoosh) and -the reason I am here at least once a week- house made yoghurt.  Each is sold by the pound and I crave the yogurt.  It is unlike any yoghurt I have ever tasted.  There is a definite 'burned' or smoke flavor to it, along with an initial 'tang' that I just love.

Then there is the texture.  You can see the 'skin' that was formed on top of this first scoop taken from the container. The yogurt is thick but not smooth.  I always buy a container when here.  The price is about $2.59/pound; worth it.

Along the back wall, just next to the open grab and go foods is the bakery.  There are fresh sammoon  rolls sold in bins just past this area (small, 11¢ each, large 30¢ each).  At the end of this sweets display area you may get lucky and see a line of people standing and looking through that door right there. That's where the bread oven is located.  If there isn't any fresh bread cooling, then someone is stretching and pulling dough, placing it on the rounded, flat pillow-like paddle and bending over, slapping the bread onto the wall of the hot oven and in less than a minute, grabbing it with long tongs after asking you how many and "white or wheat?" (If there is no line, there is a bell on top of the counter that you can ring to get the Baker's attention)

In a few seconds, the large, hot bread is folded and placed in a paper bag and handed to you. This is a large paper bag and the bread is folded twice.

Here is an unfolded white bread on the stove at home.  It covers both right burners, the center burner and part of the left burners-18-ish inches around.  

Oh.  One piece is 99 cents.

Here is a photo of the wheat bread with a small container of the house made eggplant dip- which also has that smoke flavor-showing a size comparison.

Anyhow, in addition to these prepared foods, the store has a few aisles of basics, a small meat department and even smaller fish selection and a small vegetable department, some bulk bins of grains and sweets.  It's a nice, not fancy, local place and I hope everyone has the chance to shop like this near their home.

I hope you are having a good week! 

Valley Foods 1275 East Main Street El Cajon 92021 (619) 749-8355 Website

 

 

How to: Tea Eggs

Cathy here, adding a short post to mmm-yoso!!! while Kirk and ed (from Yuma) are busy with other parts of life. 

Just a short Saturday post. Within other posts recently, I've alluded about my latest craving, tea eggs.  These see to be the perfect snack-a portable protein with both salty and savory components. I've purchased prepared versions when I see tea eggs on the menu and have been trying to perfect my own version at home.  

First, make hard boiled eggs- bring eggs in cold water to a boil and keep at a low boil/simmer for about five minutes.

Remove the eggs and tap the shell, slightly breaking it with a spoon.  Into the still hot water used for cooking the eggs, add the above three ingredients- black tea, soy sauce and Five Spice (or whole anise).  Of course,it depends on the size of your pan and the amount of water in it. You can't really add too much of any ingredient; the tea will end up flavoring the yolk and the soy and Five Spice will flavor the white of the egg.  The ratios I have found to like (in my three quart pot) are: one Tablespoon of five spice: one Tablespoon plus one teaspoon of black tea (three teabags):1/4 cup of soy sauce.  I do love salty...

Bring the ingredients to a low simmer in the pan and add the cracked eggs back in.  Let simmer for 20 minutes. At first, the ingredients are not melded, as above.

After the 20 minutes of a low boil, the eggs are technically done, as above (you can see I added some star anise to the mix).  You can leave the eggs in the liquid in the refrigerator for up to two days and the flavors really meld.

When peeled, the whites show the pattern left from the cracks.  When cut, you can see the soy color has enveloped the egg white.  The flavor of salt from the soy and tannin tart from the tea and almost sweet from the five spice are just what blends with other small snacks, as on the plate above, or is good by itself.

I hope everyone is having a nice weekend. 

Using the BBQ grill day-"Mexican" Corn, Lettuce and Spatchcock Chicken

mmm-yoso!!!, the food blog is back today with Cathy blogging.  Kirk and ed (from Yuma) are researching subjects so they can blog again soon.

 Hello again.  With the crazy hot weather of late, The Mister and I have been cooking outdoors as much as we can, and keeping the inside of our home cool.  I thought I would share some easy recipes and a few techniques. 

Grilling corn in the husk is easy.  Put the whole ears on a medium heated grill. Turn the ears every five minutes, as the husk burns.  20 minutes total. 

Remove and let cool a minute and hold the 'tip' end.

Cut off the bottom/stalk.

Pul from the top and the silk comes off with the husk.

Clean, cooked corn! You can eat this as is, it's been steamed in the husk and if fresh, needs nothing added.

Or you can make Mexican corn, using cleaned corn with the above photographed ingredients: Mayonnaise or olive oil, Cotija grated cheese (it's like Parmesan- a hard cheese)(you can buy it whole and break it into small pieces) and Tajin seasoning(a chili pepper, salt, dehydrated lime juice mix). 

If you put 'cleaned' corn onto the medium heated grill, brush with a bit of olive oil first then roast it until it is lightly charred (I do this with 'older' corn) it cooks in about ten minutes.

Slather the ears of corn with mayonnaise...

You need the stickiness so you can coat liberally with the grated cheese and Tajin. This tastes like summer!

Now, back to the grill.

This is a new flavor point for me.  Grilled lettuce.  Cut a head of Romaine in half, brush with olive oil and sprinkle on salt and pepper (I have also done this with Italian seasoning and also salad dressing and both work, but I think each has almost too many spices for my palate).

Place the cut side onto a low to medium heated grill, maybe for a minute.

Turn over and place the other side on the grill(there will be some oil and salt/pepper on the grates because olive oil /salad dressing fell into the cracks; this side seems to be done very quickly).  A simple salad.

On to spatchcocking...

"Butterflying" is a cutting technique- you butterfly shrimp, whole fish and steaks- cutting part way down and laying the shrimp or piece of meat flat..if you do that same technique to fowl the technique is called 'spatchcock'. Basically, I cut down the back of the chicken and flatten it, pushing down and breaking the breastbone if necessary.  

This photo is a spatchcocked chicken that was placed onto an edged/jelly roll sheet pan and sprinkled with some seasoning and placed on the other/unheated side of our gas grill, using the grill like an oven. The chicken, and all fowl, cook faster using this cutting technique. This chicken was done in less than 30 minutes.

This 15 pound spatchcocked turkey was done in 90 minutes (at 325) this past Thanksgiving.

I hope everyone has a good weekend. You can grill stone fruit (nectarines, peaches, plums) and just about every vegetable, using direct or indirect heat.  Stay cool and eat well! 

A Delight of France in Escondido

Well, you have found mmm-yoso!!! and are probably wanting to read about food.  Cathy is blogging today; Kirk and ed(from Yuma) are busy with other things.   

The other day, The Mister and I found ourselves in Escondido around lunch time.  I recalled that I had met a friend for lunch somewhere around here a few years ago and thought I had enjoyed it.  So we parked, we walked and then I recognized the facade. It seems that there are several newly opened restaurants on Grand Avenue, this main street downtown, and even the ownership of A Delight of France has changed recently.  

The interior is neat and clean and looks like I think it would look if located in France.

As with bistros, you walk up, order, pay and find a seat.  I also fetched my own coffee and water and silverware.  A very nice lady (I think the owner) came over and asked if I would like some bread.  This half a baguette of still warm, crisp crusted French bread, along with strawberry preserves and butter was brought out while we waited for our food. 

Soon, my plate- the French Deli plate ($10.75)- was brought out.  A large plate filled with a selection of four meats, including pate, saucisson, ham and turkey, a grainy mustard as well as Brie and cheddar cheese , a hard boiled egg, tomatoes, cucumber, pickles, olives, cornichons and a small scoop of a wonderful egg salad. This was a fresh, tasty selection and filling lunch.

The Mister ordered the Quiche du Jour ( a choice of ham and cheese or spinach this day) ($8.95).  It comes with the side salad which is lightly dressed and, as you can see,  a salad made of a variety of lettuces, cucumber, celery and tomatoes. The quiche was deceptively large/deep, filled with ham and cheese and a nutmeg flavored custard with a wonderful flaky light crust.

We did not have room for dessert, but the selection was beautiful and plentiful.  Business was brisk, with the seating area filling up just after we had ordered.  All in all, a nice lunch on a beautiful street that is reinventing itself. We will make an effort to visit more, especially  the newer restaurants.

A Delight of France 126 West Grand Avenue (between Broadway and Maple-Broadway is the divider between East and West) Escondido 92025 (760)746-2644 website  

Ed Noodles around San Diego

Most days, Kirk posts about adventures and food here at mmm-yoso!!! Often Cathy blogs about foody events as well. Some times Ed (from Yuma) has a post. Today is  one of those times.

While Tina was stuck in Yuma working, entertaining international visitors and amusing our dog, I was looking forward to a few days in San Diego. Not wanting same ol’ same ol’, I carried a list of some of Kirk's favorite Vietnamese dishes with me. Of course, one place was closed for remodeling, and I ran out of time before I ran out of restaurants, but I had three interesting noodly adventures.

 Chinese Kitchen

All I have is an exterior picture:

The folks at the restaurant were amazed that someone who looked like a total gabacho knew to order the duck soup, Bun Mang Vit (thanks, Kirk). The folks at one of the tables in the tiny, shabby little restaurant said "yeah, that's what we’re all having." Anyway, I was conspicuous enough without taking pictures, but Kirk is right about soup – the duck is good, the noodles are plentiful, and the dipping sauce perfect and full of ginger. I have had more flavorful duck broth, but it's hard to complain about a $6.50 meal as good as this one.

 Lucky Seafood

Here I have no exterior picture because I forgot. No interior shot either. I ordered pho # 4, flank steak, tendon, tripe, and brisket (thanks again, Kirk). The garnish showed up first:
Look at that wonderful abundant fresh basil. Perfect. Notice the sawtooth leaf underneath it. Four thick slices of jalapeño and perfectly fresh bean sprouts.

Then came the soup:
Both the flank and brisket were melt in your mouth tender. A little more tendon and tripe would've suited me, but it is hard to complain about a soup this good. The broth in particular was extremely rich, spicy with anise, and deeply and profoundly beefy. I cannot remember a better pho stock.

The noodles were truly outstanding. They still had some toothy pull and separated nicely instead of balling up:

And when I looked at the noodles carefully, I realized that some of the noodles were wider than others, and I wonder if mixing two gauges of noodles helps keep them more separated. In any case, this is my new standard for a bowl of pho.

Thuan Kieu

Years ago, Kirk and I had some Bun Mam (pungent catfish and pork belly noodle soup) at Nhu Y, which used to occupy the space now named Com Tam Thuan Kieu:

On his last visit, Kirk thought Thuan Kieu’s version was still the best in town, but that it seemed to be changing. If my visit is any indication, the evolution of Bun Mam here is continuing.

First came the garnishes:
Notice that everything is mixed up together – as if the restaurant is saying, we know the right proportions of mint leaf, shredded red cabbage, shredded regular cabbage, beans sprouts, lime juice, and fresh jalapenos. I honestly don't know what the long green grass like leaves are, but they went into the soup anyway.

The noodles that showed up on this occasion seemed better than the ones that Kirk describes on his visit:
They are not watery at all. They were hot and had a nice bite.

And this is how the soup looked:
The broth certainly was less pungent than the version at Nhu Y, if my memory is accurate. In fact, it does not look as dark and funky as the version in Kirk's post. Otherwise the visible contents seemed about the same, except for that odd green thing at the back of the bowl that looks like some sort of a strange vegetarian clam.

Here you can see the chunks of eggplant (cooked soft and buttery), decent sized shrimp (a little overcooked), a one of the few pieces of squid (pleasantly tender), and some of the pork belly:
This picture shows more of the pork belly (rich and flavorful and slightly chewy). Notice also the flecks of red chilies in these pictures:
There were two thin slices of excellent, clean flavored catfish:
And that strange green clam thing? Actually, it was a jalapeño stuffed with Vietnamese white sausage and then roasted whole before going in the soup:
This was something new to the soup and was an excellent addition, providing green chile spice and sausage flavored pork in every piece. And it did add an interesting visual as well.

Overall, this Bun Mam was, for my taste at least, truly outstanding. It had a greater interplay of flavors than I remember from the version at Nhu Y. In fact, it reminded me in some strange ways of the complexity that I love in the Bun Rieu at Mien Trung – perhaps my favorite Vietnamese soup in all of San Diego. Well, it used to be my favorite.

Shopping and eating on University Avenue: Penzey's Spices, La Casa del Maiz and Carnitas Las Michoacanas

This is the food blog called mmm-yoso!!! The bloggers here are usually Kirk, sometimes ed(from Yuma) and sometimes Cathy. Today is one of those sometimes Cathy days.

Well.  This has been a crazy summer so far. The Mister and I seem to have something scheduled every day, but aren't overly busy...just home-type chores, which includes gardening and the occasional Home Depot and food runs.  We have been cooking at home a lot and were thrilled when we found out that Penzey's Spices was opening a San Diego location.  Kirk posted  about one of his Penzey's stops during a Torrance Road Trip in 2010. The Mister and I get excited when the Penzeys catalog shows up every couple of months and usually make two orders a year, to save on shipping charges.  The spices, herbs and blends are so fresh and interesting. We decided to take a drive West, to the Hillcrest area of town to see "our" new Penzey's store.  

The store is located on University Avenue one block East of the Ralphs/Trader Joe's Center, in the same parking area that has the Starbucks. Apparently that little mall is named Hillcrest Colonnade.

The display area inside is mostly stacked wooden crates and even this kitchen vignette (I grew up with a Kelvinator refrigerator just like this one; a common sight in Detroit).  See the larger jar in the middle on top of that fridge? That's a sample jar.  There is one with just about every product in the store- you can smell the herbs, spices, whole chilis and blends (there are even glass bottles with the liquid extracts for you to sniff).  It was like reading the catalog but live! 

As I said, we have purchased items from here before and sort of knew what we wanted... but of course we got more than that.  The blends are very convenient and have all the flavors we like and would end up mixing anyhow.  (The Mitchell Street Steak Seasoning was our 'gift' when we presented a coupon from the catalog which we had received in the mail.) 

Really, I only came here for the peppers- they are unusually moist and fresh...they smell 'rich' and almost buttery in the sample jars; that's the only way I can explain it. They are not all dry like the stuff from dusty packages on store shelves that need to be reconstituted or added to liquid to get at the flavor.  I don't use much for the flavors I like and the smaller size portions available are just right for a few months.

We then headed East on University and in the newer City Heights mall area (with the Albertsons, McDonald's, Starbucks among other stores) made a stop (for the second time now) at this clean, modern tortilleria, La Casa del Maiz.

Basically a tortilla factory

which sells a few other related items

shelf stable milk, eggs, cheeses, salsas and a refrigerator of beverages, mostly Jarritos.

 

On this visit, we went all crazy and purchased a dozen flour and a dozen corn (you are given a choice of white or yellow) tortillas.  The corn are wrapped in paper and are sold by weight.  How much are these still warm , fresh made tortillas?

Yes.  A dozen fresh, hot corn tortillas *and* a dozen fresh, nicely thin and flaky flour tortillas...that's the price. 

Since it was close to lunch time, we continued East on University, down to one block West of the Kroc Center.  This sign is on what used to be a Starbucks and can be seen from the street.  The restaurant is just to the left in this photo.

Walk in and that's the menu: Burritos, carnitas by the pound, quesedillas, sopes, soups, tacos, plates, posole, tortas, tostadas maravilla and chilaquiles. The by the pound carnitas are not at all the only meat here, although (so far) I like it very much. 

Neat and clean, there is seating for 60 inside.

If you order to eat in, sides are brought to your table when you order. 

As well as a salsa bar at the front, if you are buying something 'to go'. As an aside, the green hot sauce tastes green-and is hot/spicy.  The orange hot sauce is very pleasant and has a mild, if any, heat.

On our first visit we ordered one pound of carnitas ($10.99).  It comes with rice, beans(cooked with lard and runny, in a good way) and a dozen corn tortillas.

The carnitas are just filled with flavor, moist with a little crispness, not fatty and just right.  This serving of one pound was substantial for the two of us; we had leftovers (especially of the tortillas, which are good, but not when compared to those from La Casa del Maiz)

 

This was the recent meal- a carnitas taco ($2.39) and a cheese quesedila ($2.79)-filled with all white cheese and very good with the hot sauces offered.

The al Pastor burrito ($4.99).  The marinated meat is tender, flavorful and plenty in the burrito, which has some rice and the wonderful wet beans, the al pastor marinade and avocado.  This was a wonderful surprise and I now want to order the other meats on the menu... 

All in all, a nice drive, great food and shopping and we were almost home.  I hope all of you are having a good week. 

Penzey's Spices 1274 University Avenue San Diego 92104 (619) 297-2777

La Casa Del Maiz 4403 University, Suite 100 San Diego, 92105 (619) 283-3566

Carnitas Las Michoacanas 6503 University Avenue San Diego 92115 (619)229-9574 

 

Da Boyz and Brewers in Yuma

 Ed (from Yuma), not Kirk and not Cathy, is posting at mmm-yoso!!! today. About 2 restaurants (in Yuma).

Da Boyz

More than 10 years ago, a pizzeria opened in Yuma Foothills called Da Boyz. At first, we all assumed that this was some new national chain since the decor and logos were very professional. In fact, there are two other locations, one in La Mesa and one in Rancho San Diego. I have no idea about either of them. Similarly, I haven't eaten in the Foothills branch of Da Boyz in five years or more. Why? Because Da Boyz took over and renovated a beautiful large location in old town Yuma on Main Street:

It has extremely high ceilings and a lot of space:

Separate rooms decorated with pictures of Marilyn Monroe or the rat pack or Elvis are available for groups and special occasions. Here are some pictures from the Elvis room:

I like Da Boyz. The service is professional and this location is extremely well-managed. While the beer selection is largely conventional, there are usually at least one or two seasonal brews available:

To my taste, this is the best eat-in pizza restaurant in town – not just because of the nice atmosphere – but because the pizzas are good:

The crusts are real bread crusts:

A wide variety of toppings are available:

And the cheese is flavorful and real:

In addition, the salads are huge:

A small salad can be a filling meal or provide side salads (as shown here) for 2 to 4 eaters:

 

Leaving just an empty bowl:

Even though the lettuces are nothing special, a garden salad will have pepperoncini, sliced olives, bell pepper, red onion, tomato, and cucumber. The Italian dressing is surprisingly tasty.

 Of course, there is more than just pizza and salad. While I find the pasta to be pretty ordinary with unremarkable sauce and overcooked noodles, some of their sandwiches make a nice lunch. Here's the meatball (or perhaps sausage?):

When I'm looking for something slightly healthier, the turkey and provolone is good (this is half a sandwich - I share sometimes):

Da Boyz is one of those restaurants that I should have posted about years ago because it is part of my standard rotation and is a local favorite, having been voted the best pizza in town in the most recent newspaper poll. OK, so I finally got around to it.

Brewers

A more recent addition to the Yuma dining scene is another large restaurant called Brewers:

The story of this restaurant – as I've been told by several different people – is that it is owned and operated by the individual who was once the husband of the owner of Da Boyz. While Brewers is another favorite of mine, it offers some very interesting contrasts to Da Boyz.

 The large interior space is more modern in ambience and has a definite sports bar feel to it:

Here is a different view of the interior:

Instead of pizzas, Brewers has a nice selection of flat breads – cheese and toppings on lavash bread. (Rumor has it that Brewers cannot serve pizza because of the divorce settlement – but since I have not read this on the Internet, I do not know it as a fact). In any case, this is the blue bacon flatbread:

This is halfandhalf flatbread - part Mediterranean (spinach, feta, pepperoncini, olive, and garlic) and part Margherita (fresh tomato, basil, and garlic):

Brewers also has sandwiches (each of which comes with a choice of french fries, onion rings, seasoned chips, sweet potato fries, or tater tots). Some of the sandwiches are pretty mediocre. Here is a gyro with onion rings:

The sandwich meat and pita bread were pretty meh, and the onion rings were equally mediocre. Similarly, I should have known better than try a pulled pork sandwich:

However, those tater tots are really excellent. Extremely crunchy outside, moist and flavorful within.

 The Santa Fe turkey sandwich was tasty although the roasted green chile did not have real New Mexico flavor. The sweet potato fries, even with this latticework design, lacked much crunch though they were flavorful:

The burgers are generally the best sandwich choices. Here is a basic burger, and you can see the well seasoned, handmade patty as well as the tomato, lettuce, onion, and pickle complements:

And to repeat myself, the tater tots are really good.

 Another favorite is the honey mustard chicken burger. Along with the standard toppings of pickle, onion, tomato, and lettuce, you get a large chicken breast filet, a couple of slices of smoky bacon, melted Swiss cheese, and a flavorful honey mustard sauce:

The french fries are just okay.

 Some other things here that Tina and I enjoy – recently, she tried the Cobb salad and it was a very good rendition of the standard favorite:

And I could not believe how excellent the fish tacos were:

Yuma is one of those rare places where one can get good Mexican food even at restaurants that are not primarily Mexican restaurants – probably because most of the cooks in Yuma restaurants are Mexicans or Mexican-Americans. Anyway, those fish tacos, while extremely simple, were outstanding. There was just enough white sauce, the cabbage added some vegetable crunch, the salsa was remarkably smoky and spicy, and the fish fillets (yes, each taco contained an entire pollock fillet) were perfectly fried, crunchy on the outside and moist and flavorful inside:

As good as some of the food options are at Brewers, this place has a major advantage over any other place in Yuma: 10-12 taps devoted to various craft brews, mostly from Arizona, California, and Colorado. This is the listing of beers available on May 28 (notice the cross outs and handwritten additions):

Look at the top of the tap list, not the Bud and Millers listed toward the bottom. Here is a very different taplist for June 14:

Oskar Blues Dale's Pale Ale, Left Hand Milk Stout Nitro, Ballast Point Sculpin Ale, Grand Canyon Shaggy Bock, Four Peaks Peach Ale, Arrogant Bastard, San Tan Brewing Negro Nitro, Four Peaks Sunbru Kolsch, Coronado Mermaid Red, Maui Brewing Coconut Porter, TapIt IPA, Stone IPA, and Sam Adams Summer Ale are just some of the specialty brews available on one or both of those two days. Finally, in Yuma, you can sit down with friends and have beers that look like this:

Or like this:

Wow!! Yuma has arrived in the 21st century. And those beers go really well with deep-fried zucchini:

Da Boyz and Brewers both make my life in Yuma better. If you visit them, they will probably improve your life (though perhaps not your waistline) as well.

Da Boyz Italian Cuisine 284 S Main, Yuma AZ 85364, (928) 783-8383

Brewers Restaurant and Sports Bar, 2331 S Ave B, Yuma AZ, 85364, (928) 783-0073.

Kairouan(Tunisia) - Morning in the Medina and Brik for breakfast

We slept quite well in Kairouan, the previous day was pretty hectic and the La Kasbah Hotel was quite nice. As usual, we got up very early, about 5am or so. We enjoy taking early morning walks when we travel. You get to see a city waking up and also the crowds are less severe. Kairouan's medina is known as being probably the least commercial and touristy of all the larger cities in Tunisia, so I wanted to see what it was like. We asked the doorman where the medina was and he pointed to right around the corner.

The medina looks quite fortified, surrounded by walls over 30 feet high.  These walls were erected during the early part of the 18th century, though recorded history of the medina goes back to before the 8th century.

If  some of the medina looks somewhat familiar, it might be because it was used to depict Cairo in Raiders of the Lost Ark. It's kinda funny, we were hitting a bunch of movie sites during this trip. One of the stories I heard was that the character "Sallah's" house was an actual house in the medina, but when they did a shot panning across the top of the city, they had residents remove over 300 television antennas for a day so they could shoot.

 There is a feeling that the medina here is rather unspoiled....the streets are rather wide, the back avenues consist of residences, I'll show you much more in a later post.

The Missus and I really enjoyed walking through here, it gave us a feel of what daily life might be like in Kairouan. As we made our way through the streets we started to see folks opening their shops and making their way to work in the morning.

It didn't take very long for us to make our way to the other end of the medina.

As we  headed back through the medina we came across this little shop doing quite a bit of business.

In the shop, a gentleman sat, legs crossed, above a large cast iron pan, that looked like a wok. He received a ball of dough from a young man with striking green eyes and hair the color of the Grand Erg Oriental. When I asked Ben about this later, I was told that it's not unusual for Berber to have even blue eyes and blond hair!

I saw the gentleman get the dough started in the hot oil, which never smoked, I confirmed later on that it was grapeseed oil, which has a high smoke point. He then added an egg. I told the Missus, "man, I wonder if that's how brik is supposed to really be made?" I then asked the woman waiting for her fried dough  and a couple of those with eggs by pointing to the dough floating around.....she confirmed it was indeed brik.

Folks were buying this stuff in quantities of four to six. The prices were also pretty cheap, something like 0.4 Dinar (25 cents) for a hefty sized piece of fried dough and 0.6 (35 cents) for one with an egg. Soon the woman had her order filled. The guy behind the pan spoke to another man asking for his order.....he pointed to us, basically informing the "chef" that we were next in line. Folks here in Kairouan were more reserved, but very gracious. So, of course we had to have some brik.

After handing the cook some dough, the young man waved us to the counter in back to have a seat. he also showed us the sink in case we wanted to wash our hands. In a couple of minutes, our brik arrived, steam rising.....

The dough was crisp, light, but still with some substance, and not greasy at all. We soon discovered a very nice thing about the dough, it was studded with caraway seeds, which just brought it up another notch.

The egg was wonderfully runny, it seemed to have been poached. You eat this with your hands, when the young man saw us digging in, he kindly brought us a few more napkins!

This is why we travel....I mean the sights are great and all that, but having brik in the back streets of the medina in Kairouan, well that's like the cherry on the top of the most wonderful ice cream sundae......

 I hope you're having a wonderful weekend.