mmm-yoso!!!

25 Forty Bistro and Bakehouse (Old Town)-revisit for lunch

Well, you've found mmm-yoso!!! and we'd like to welcome you to our blog about food. Kirk usually blogs here and sometimes so does ed(from Yuma). Cathy usually chimes in about meals she has enjoyed when the guys are busy. Today, it's Cathy.

Hello again. I posted about a few lunches at 25Forty Bistro last year. 25Forty has changed since then; it's still open for Brunch and dinner on weekends, closed on Mondays and now is open for lunch on Thursday and Friday only. As part of that lunch offering, one of the menu choices is an all you can eat buffet at an affordable price of $8.

A few weeks ago, The Mister and I had some time and drove to Old Town for lunch here. The seating outside is the same, as are most of the tables inside, but along the back wall is a small buffet area.

We started lunch with iced tea and water. The water, as always, is brought out in glasses and with a large chilled bottle for refills at will. The iced tea is a good, strong brew.

The Mister ordered the All You can Eat buffet. As it was crowded, I did not want to get up to take a photo of the buffet area, but it is not large and on the tables looking like a nice buffet you'd have at a friend's home over the Holidays. This is a bit of everything available: cheeses, olives, pasta salad, salad with chicken, sliced ham, plain salad ) I do like the dressing here), rigatoni with meat sauce (very nice), roast pork (excellent) and mashed potatoes (perfect). The plate is very large and The Mister's second trip to the buffet area only brought back a bit more cheese and walnuts, which he said was his dessert...

I chose the $10 lunch combination, which includes a beverage, a baked dessert and either a salad or sandwich. As in my other post, I chose the steak salad, which I crave. The meat is so tender and perfectly seasoned and placed on top of balsamic dressed mixed greens. The heirloom tomato had wonderful flavor.

The selection of desserts was slightly overwhelming. I walked over to the counter and saw a selection of cupcakes as well as pastries. I noticed that people can order a coffee beverage to go (there were 'to go' cups stacked next to the espresso machine) as well as pastries and apparently lots of people do so. After a bit of time, I chose this Nutella® filled pastry.

As you can see, the pastry was fresh and flaky and filled with the chocolate-hazelnut spread. We shared this. It was a delightful end to this pleasant lunch. We walked around Old Town and "played tourist" before returning to the car. San Diego is a very nice place where we are fortunate to live.

25Forty Bistro and Bakery 2540 Congress Street San Diego 92110 (619)294-2540 Closed Monday. Website

Nahrain Fish and Chicken Grill (with a short visit to Shakira)

Welcome (back) to mmm-yoso!!! the blog of food. Sharing meals with you is what we do. Today, Kirk and ed(from Yuma) are lurking while Cathy is sharing.

Hi. The Mister and I have noticed signs for Nahrain and Shakira while on Main Street, whenever we are going to Valley Foods Mediterranean Market, where we shop (and eat in the store) fairly regularly and finally decided to stop one day. This is the view from the parking lot, but from the street, while stopped at the signal light at Ballard, you may only notice "Shakira", the top sign for the mall right next to the parking lot flower stand. Shakira is a bakery.

Over there, to the right, on Main Street is Nahrain- the blue sign.

When you walk in, the fresh fish are in the counter next to the cash register. Those on the far end, next to the catfish, under the tray of shrimp are yellow pompano, which are only served fried with rice according to the menu. All the other fish are sold by the pound.

To the far left are the very large Grass Carp fish.

On the side of the dining room is...a fountain.

It's filled with even fresher fish.

Just so you know, the live catfish are $8.99/lb, the ones in the counter are $5.99/lb. The live tilapia are also $8.99/lb and the ones in the counter are $6.99/lb. Strip bass are $8.99/lb, Grass Carp are $5.99/lb and the red snapper are $7.99/lb.

On our first visit, we weren't certain what to order, asked about the tandoori chicken (because we noticed a Halal certification for the restaurant) and were told it would take 40 minutes to prepare, so we ordered this side of hummus ($3.99) was very good, fresh and not too large.

Then we each ordered a sandwich. These were served on fresh sammoon bread.

My Chicken Cream Chop sandwich ($4.99) was freshly fried and crispy. Cream chop is a chicken breast (or beef ) marinated in a seasoned cream sauce and 'chop' means then rolled in bread crumbs and fried (I've seen potato chop on menus). The rest of this sandwich was onions and tomatoes. All the flavors melded perfectly.

The Mister ordered a beef tikka kabob sandwich ($4.99). Finely ground beef mixed with onion and parsley and seasonings and grilled. This was very moist and flavorful. This sandwich was served with all those pickles, tomatoes as well as onions and flat leaf parsley.

When we were leaving, the owner came over and told us we can always call in and order a tandoori chicken, masgoof chicken or masgoof fish and it would be prepared and ready by the time we got there.

Masgoof. We had to research. Masgouf. The national dish of Iraq. The fish(or chicken) is split down the middle, leaving the back intact, sort of a large circle. Then the animal is coated in olive oil, salt, turmeric and tamarind then cooked over fire.

We called in that Friday, telling them we were driving in and would like a tilapia, around 2-3 pounds; that there would be two of us sharing a meal inside the restaurant. We arrived pretty quickly and the food wasn't quite ready and so we decided to order a salad. We could not decide on fatoosh or Arabic salad, and since both are $3.99, we were offered half of each.

The Arabic salad, on the left, is mainly lettuce, cucumber, green pepper and tomatoes and a delightful dressing that has fresh mint. The Fatoosh salad has fried pita bread croutons and an equally delightful, fresh and different dressing. This is a large plate.

Soon, a giant flat folded wheat bread as well as plates and sides and hot tea (which was brought out early because we asked, but it is included in the meal and usually brought out at the end)

The condiments (in that cute fish shaped platter) are tomatoes, onions and pickled mango...mango chutney..salty and not too sweet and it is complimentary to the fish:

The tilapia was proudly presented to us by the chef. Beautifully cut, seasoned and cooked, this meal was wonderful, fresh, filling and..less than $20. Yes. Everything is included and the fish ($6.99/lb) was less than three pounds.

Here is (the now) obligatory photo of The Mister's fancy fish carcass cleaning work. The skin of the fish was not as tasty as other fish skin I've had, but the fins were crispy good. Also, this was tilapia, a fish with a double skeleton going on...so not as easy to eat as other fish.

So. We walked next door, to Shakira and were overwhelmed with choices. We were not hungry after that awesome meal-but knew at some point we would be hungry again.

We decided to take home one of the cheesy flatbreads. This is not as large as the bread that accompanied our meal, but more the size of a very large pita bread. It is $1. It was a fresh and soft bread topped with a soft mild cheese. There were several differently topped flatbreads, all vegetarian and all $1 each. I will be returning.

Then we exercised restraint and each of us chose one sweet piece of dessert. The top/square piece is filled with chopped pistachios and topped with shredded filo. The bottom round one has whole pistachios. Sold by weight ($8/lb) the price for these two pieces was $1.08. These were not too sweet and made with a light syrup rather than honey. The filo dough remained crispy until the next morning.

All in all, this is yet another great place to eat in El Cajon.

Nahrain Fish and Chicken Grill 1183 E. Main Street #A El Cajon, CA 92021 (619) 334-3222

Shakira Pastry 1183 E. Main Street #B El Cajon 92021 (619)440-6068

Loïc Patisserie and Restaurant- Bistro dining in North County

mmm-yoso!!! is a food blog with a bunch of interesting posts, centered around food. Kirk and ed(from Yuma) are the guys who post here. They're both otherwise engaged at the moment, Cathy isn't otherwise engaged, so she's putting up a post today.

Hi again. As you know, I pretty much drive about and stop whenever someplace looks interesting; it's a fun way to live. Last year, I stopped and drove past this signal light at the intersection of the Del Dios Highway and Calle Ambiante a total of six times while passing through Rancho Santa Fe going to and from the I-5 to the I-15. The mental sticky note to stop here finally was finally at the top of my list.

 The sign at the light is "Cielo Village". Cielo means 'heaven' or 'in the clouds' and is the gated residential community straight ahead on Calle Ambiante, the Rancho Santa Fe neighborhood Fire Department is to the left and businesses are to the parking lot when you turn right from this street.{Loïc is the chef owner's name, you may have met him selling baked goods and crepes at the Sunday Rancho Santa Fe Farmers Market.}

Pulling into the parking lot, the buildings all have the façade of being built in the South of France, or Northern Italy. The Bistro menu reflects pastries, breakfasts, salads and crepes as well as panini sandwiches, pizza and hamburgers. There is also a dinner menu which isn't online; it is seasonal. Dinner is served only on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights (that will be another post).

 

 

 

 

Fresh pastries are on display when you walk into the 'Coffee Shop' entrance, which serves some great beverages as well as the pastries. You order and pay here, just like you were at a Bistro in France. You are given a number and find a seat, food is brought out to you and are free to take your time visiting with friends while enjoying your meal.

 

 

 

 

 There is plenty of outdoor seating, with views South. Loïc is located in Rancho Santa Fe, but it is very close to Escondido and not very far from the 15 at Via Rancho Parkway.

There is very large indoor seating also available. The bar area is also reminiscent of France and the bistro scene. A wide selection of wines to have with your meal are available along with a pretty extensive choices of dessert-ish liqueurs (fancy brandies, dessert wines, cognacs; no hard liquor)

The wine refrigerator is centrally located.   

You can see more tables if you look through this display case, filled with colorful, empty bottles.

On my first visit, I brought The Mister. We ordered and paid and brought our coffee (fresh brewed, $2.25. Cream and sugar are added for you; as with Bistros- no condiments on the tables) and huge, flaky, buttery croissant ($3) to an indoor table.

We munched on this perfect, flaky, buttery wonderness while we waited for our salad to be delivered. This is how a croissant is supposed to be- a crispy, flaky crust and fluffy layered innards...not a soft crust with layers. That's a regular sized butter knife (8.75 inches) on the plate (9 inches), to show you some perspective of the size of this wonderful fresh pastry.

Soon, our Garden Salad ($10.50) was brought to the table. Mixed greens, topped with a house made dressing that had an olive oil and vinegar base, but also anise, herbs and a very distinct heat to it. Since I did not see black or red pepper flecks, I am assuming it was white pepper, which to me has a nutmeg-undertone. It was very complimentary to the greens. The freshly grilled zucchini and red peppers were flavored with Herbes de Provence and the cucumber, tomatoes and chives were perfectly sliced. A wonderfully perfect mix of heat (temperature as well as spice) and chilled (the thinly sliced, flavorful cucumbers) and textures.

While we were ordering, the abundance of pastries was overwhelming. I finally decided on a slice of this rectangular Pithivier, a classic tart, which I justified to myself as being a "safe" desert because it wasn't as sugar based as the other selections. This slice was probably 8 x 4 inches (and 1/3 of the pie in the display window). I could feel the weight of the puff pastry dough combined with the ground almond filling when I carried the glass plate to our table. This went perfectly with the coffee; it was not too sweet, the buttery puff pastry was crispy and the very slightly sweet crumbly almond filling was so satisfying. I will order this again, to share.

A few weeks ago, I had occasion to meet a friend here for breakfast. We decided to eat outside. This is the parking lot as viewed from one of the tables; the Loïc buildings are to the left. You can see some of the homes up in that slice of heaven, Cielo, all the way at the top to the right.

I let Mr. C. choose a pastry and he wanted this chocolate filled chocolate chip covered puff pastry ($4.25) (again on a 9 inch plate) was shared and enjoyed by both of us. It was still warm, crispy fresh on the outside and fluffy pastry on the inside with a very, very nice melted chocolate throughout.

During the week, until about 11 a.m., only breakfast croissants are prepared to order. Five or six choices are listed and all are $6.95. This morning, we both chose to order spinach egg croissants. Served on fresh baked, crispy and fluffy croissants, the egg spinach filling is fluffy and delightfully fresh tasting. The baby spinach is tender and adds great flavor.

Another morning the same week, Ms. T and I met here for breakfast. She got the bacon egg croissant (in the back) and I just had to get the spinach egg again. We ate at one of the two tables inside the coffee shop because it was chilly outside.

Last Saturday, I realized I was still craving a perfect crepe (which I have been looking for for almost a year) so, it was back to Loïc. A perfectly flavored and cooked -thin but not dried out as in too thin- and filled Crepe de la Reine.($10.50 includes the salad). Filled with chicken breast, tomatoes, mushrooms and a fresh Mornay sauce (a cheesy Bechemel), this crepe was indeed perfect in flavor, texture and fillings.

The Chef Salad includes large pieces of diced Black Forest ham, sliced turkey and large diced Prosciutto as well as raw mushrooms, tomatoes, cucumber and those olives- those wonderful, different savory brown olives. The mixed greens were again dressed with the light, herb flavored dressing with a slight heat. The combination of flavors of this substantial salad was excellent.

Really good food, with a really good view. Loïc is becoming a regular destination this year.

Loic Patisserie and Restaurant 18021 Calle Ambiente (in Cielo Village) Rancho Santa Fe, CA 92067 (858)759-4409 Website

 

Charlie's Best Bread Cafe- Point Loma.

A food blog, mmm-yoso!!!  is written by several friends who enjoy, individually, writing about food they have enjoyed, food they have cooked, food they have not enjoyed. Sharing, much like a meal.  A virtual meal.  Today, Cathy is sharing.  This post is about enjoying.

The Mister and I were driving down Rosecrans Street the other day.  At the corner of Cañon, there has pretty much always been a Bank of one name or another-In half of the building, we noticed something familiar.

About nine months ago, half the (closer to Cañon) building began to house Charlie's Best  Bread Cafe on the ground floor. It used to be Con Pane, which moved to Liberty Station (a post about Con Pane soon). So, it was a bakery which turned into a bakery...and deli...and cafe.

Charlie's Best Breads has been in Pacific Beach for about 27 years.  We buy bread from Charlie's when we are in that neighborhood (which isn't that often).  This Roseville/Point Loma location has breakfasts, sandwiches, salads, sweets and the regular artisan and organic breads as the  'up North' location.  We decided to  had to stop.
It is not too large inside, and there are a few tables out front.  The whole menu is overhead, including espresso coffee choices and weekend specials (French toast made on Challah bread and apple crepes).  The regular breakfast menu includes quiches and croissant sandwiches as well as one breakfast burrito and some kids choices.

The complimentary water dispenser (on the left) has water infused with fresh cucumber slices, a nice touch.  

Since we hadn't planned on stopping anywhere for lunch, we ordered light.  The Mister chose the House salad, with grilled chicken breast ($4.95) Yes.  The House salad by itself is $3.95.  Since they have grills for the panini sandwiches, they can grill a chicken breast.  For one dollar.   The salad is all Romaine lettuce and tomato and cucumber and croutons (oops...those seem to be missing, my bad) and a very good size meal. 
 
I decided to try a traditional sort of sandwich order....Pastrami on Rye, half sandwich ($4.95).

Not traditional. The organic rye was sliced thin and had a good sour flavor. The pastrami, a good amount, thick sliced and mildly smoke flavored is heated, the rest of the ingredients are cold and warmed only by the Pastrami.  As you can see- Swiss cheese.  As you can also see, whole grain Dijon mustard. There is also a light shmear of  horseradish.  Then there is the Gorgonzola.

Never would I have put these flavors together.  Never would I have thought they would "go" together.  They do.  It is good.

There are also panini's on the menu, same prices as the sandwiches (which are $7.95 for a whole).  The pastrami panini is on pumpernickel and has sliced apple and sauteed mushrooms.  That will be my order next time.  If we aren't stopping in for breakfast.
We bought a seeded baguette to go.  It is a proper French bread (weighing about 250 grams...and three feet in length) with crispy crust, light yet chewy bread and the sesame seeds add a nice bit of flavor.  $2.25.

There are daily breads (see the website)  and the Fri-Sat-Sun Portuguese bread, at $5.25, is frequently sold out.  Charlie's is a bread shop stop more than a deli, but the deli offerings are really good. We will be back for breakfast.

Charlie's Best Bread, Bakery, Deli & Cafe 1110 Rosecrans Street (at Cañon) San Diego 92106 (619)487-0227. Mon 7 am-3 pm, Tue-Fri 7 am-6pm, Sat-Sun 7am-5pm Website

Suzhou: The Lingering Garden and a fairly familiar stop......

Our first day in Suzhou was a busy one, and after walking back to our hotel room after dinner..... I was totally spent and crashed pretty quickly. I also knew that if the Missus had Her way, we'd have another full day coming up. And I was right, The Missus decided that we should walk from our hotel to the Lingering Garden (留園).

It ended up being a pretty long walk, but also gave us a pretty good look at some of the neighborhoods along the way.

 

In one of the shops along the way, we noticed that these "candidates" for dinner had made it out of the tanks, and were trying to avoid becoming the main course.....

 

We also came across a large "market area", and decided to take a detour..... I love these places.....

 

 

 

 

 

Scenes we've seen played out on a daily basis all over the world....

 

 

Meandering through the narrow alleyways.......

 

And over the canals....the ancient highway system for Suzhou.

 

Ending back up on the main street......

 

Out past the Changmen Gate....

 

 

 

You'll come across a simple long wall and gate....... the simple entrance belies the beauty of the Lingering Garden, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and along with The Humble Administrators Garden, The Summer Palace in Beijing, and the Imperial Mountain Summer Resort in Chengde, is considered one of the Four Famous Garden of China.

We'd arrived right at opening, but there were already a couple of tour groups in line. While waiting, a young lady walked up, and started chatting with the Missus. Apparently, University Students majoring in History and Tourism give free guided tours. We ended up having a free private tour, albeit in Mandarin (with the Missus translating). The young woman was very knowledgeable and pleasant, and we really enjoyed the experience.

 

The Lingering Garden was built in 1593, and had gone through several owners, each of whom added his own touch to the garden but still keeping within its grand design. The garden covers about two hectares and is divided into four parts, the central, North, East, and West. Which are connected by a corridor.

There's so much to write....and even more I forgot as the young woman was full of immense detail and stories of the garden. I'll stick to those that have really stayed with me. The first thing that I think of when it comes to the Lingering Garden was the wonderfully angelic song coming from this boat in the middle of the pond.

 

I've never been a big fan of this type of Chinese music, but here, in this environment, it was beautiful....... just plain beautiful.

 

The young woman told us we were lucky that it wasn't very crowded. When the garden is too busy, and the chattering gets too loud, the woman stops singing, since no one can really hear her.

The natural stones also grabbed my attention. Many of the large stones replicate mountains, landscapes, and in this case a scene. This one is called Eagle Fighting Wolf.... and looking closer it did indeed look like a eagle swooping down on a wolf.

 

This stone is probably the most well known.... we were told that it was headed to the Forbidden City... but the transfer was halted when the Communist regime took over.

 

For me, the most imp[ressive hall in the Lingering Garden is the "Yuan Yang Ting", the Mandarin Duck Hall.

 
The hall is divided into two saloons which are decorated differently. Even the beams and the roofs are different on each side of the hall.

 

There's so much more....but so little time. Here are a few other photos.

 

 

 

 

 

This is one place I'd like to return to.

There's a saying I heard several times while in China - "Shang you tian tang, xia you su hang" (上有天堂 下有苏杭), "In Heaven There is Paradise, On Earth, Suzhou and Hangzhou".

My foot had started bothering me a little, so we decided to catch the bus back. Unfortunately, traffic was so bad we decided to get off the bus after a couple of stops and walk back to our hotel. Along the way, I noticed this shop.....

Look Familiar?

 

I'd been trying to get the Missus to 85C Bakery in Irvine, but She just didn't seem interested. But it was getting kind of hot, and we decided to take a short break..... and it ended up being just the perfect stop for us.

 

 

It turned out to be the perfect thing.

After this, every time the Missus was tired and needed a little pick-up, we'd look for a 85C Cafe.....

We were really enjoying Suzhou!

La Mesa Bistro & Bakery. Breakfast.

You are here. You are reading mmm-yoso!!!, the food blog.  Kirk and ed (from Yuma) are working. Cathy apparently isn't, so she will blog about another meal she has enjoyed.  You can enjoy vicariously.

If you follow the blog, you may have noticed a pattern.  I like breakfast. I also live in East County. So, when I go out for breakfast, it's usually close to home.  At Interstate 8 at the Grossmont Center Drive exit, you can go North to Grossmont Mall/Hospital, or South on La Mesa Boulevard, toward the downtown/"Village of La Mesa".  Pass two signal lights when going south, and you'll see a small mall anchored by the USE Credit Union.  
It's been here for years, does a brisk, local business and is located in the far back corner of the mall, you'll see cars parked from 6:00 a.m. until about 3:00 p.m., seven days a week.
Walk inside (after perusing the 'Specials' menu board outside) and you can grab a menu (which is titled with 'Old Fashioned Baking, Healthy and Nutritious Foods, Gourmet Coffees and Catering') and sit down.  Then walk up to the cash register, order and pay. You'll get a number card to place on your table. You serve yourself beverages (there is a lemon-water dispenser near the door)and... See all those pump pots of coffee on the right? 'Gourmet coffees' are listed on the menu.You pick up a cup (paper or ceramic) and pick the one you'd like (only two of those coffees are flavored, the rest are beans from around the world; I picked the Sumatra for about 3/4 of the cup and added some French Roast for the rest and The Mister chose Costa Rica).  There are also espresso drinks which can be made for you. Those are fresh made pastries in the display case straight ahead.
The Mister's granola waffle ($7.95) with two poached eggs and two slices of bacon, topped with fresh fruit (they make fresh fruit smoothies here and offer fruit bowls and sides, so garnish is easy). The granola waffle was a special this day.  The waffle was not as 'fluffy' as the plain waffle, meaning not as tall...but the flavors and nutty-ness and cranberries was wonderful. The granola was evenly dispersed and not 'chunky' in the waffle.  The eggs were poached perfectly and the bacon provided just the right bit of saltiness.

I kind of wanted lunch...or maybe salty, so ordered the Deli Omelette ($7.95), made with corned beef, pastrami, tomatoes, onions and Swiss cheese. It's made with three large eggs and *filled* with all those ingredients, and the melty Swiss just makes it luxuriously smooth.  This was served with country potatoes (I could have chosen fruit-they give you a lot of fresh fruit) and choice of toasted potato bread, whole wheat, sourdough or English muffin.  I *love* potato bread, buy it whenever I can find it (which is rarely) and this is made here.  Oh and the sesame seed topping makes this just right when toasted. (The other breads baked here are also really good, especially for the lunch sandwiches).

La Mesa Bistro and Baker doesn't need any publicity and doesn't even have a website.  If you can drop by for breakfast or lunch, you won't be disappointed.

La Mesa Bistro and Bakery 8697 La Mesa Boulevard La Mesa 91941 (619)589-0806 Open seven days 6:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m. 

Opera Patisseries Fines- Part Two-Lunches

Welcome (back) to mmm-yoso!!! the food blog.  Kirk and ed(from Yuma) are busy finding things to write about and Cathy has things to write about. Here you go.

Hi Again.  When Kirk and His Missus were on vacation in China, I wrote about breakfast at Opera Patisserie and told you I'd write about lunch. Quick like a bunny, in my painstakingly methodical way, here are photos of some of those non-breakfast meals. Opera is only open six days a week, for breakfast and lunch and serves its breakfasty menu items after 1:30 in the afternoon. We have never had a bad meal here and  this was one of our 'joint' choices of meals to share the week between our birthdays. 
 One item I did not mention, which is usually sold out by lunch time is the house made almond croissant ($2.49 and so worth it). 

Flaky, crispy and billowy layers and layers of buttery goodness, filled with a delightful not too sweet marzipan. An excellent treat or meal...
My other post had shown an egg white omelette filled with mushroom, asparagus and tomato and here is a photo of a 'regular' (eggs with yolk) omelette with the same fillers (same price of $8.95).  I actually like the egg white omelette better...but am not complaining about this one, which was a lunch for me one day, served with a salad and fried Yukon Gold potatoes topped with a parmesan cheese.
The Quiche Lorraine can be a breakfast or lunch dish here.  It is perfect.  The buttery, flaky crust.  A  thin layer of just enough nutty flavored Swiss cheese.  The pancetta.  The nutmeg flavor in the custard. Bits of onion...wonderful!
The crepes- Chicken curry ($8.50)...that is a curry white wine sauce.  The crepes are thin yet don't fall apart.   
They were filled with pieces of roasted chicken breast, red bell peppers, cooked tomatoes, Gruyére cheese and some fresh herbs. Nicely flavored, not spicy. Not too rich.  The spring salad is topped with a mustard vinaigrette.
Here is a better photo of my half order of Ahi Niçoise Salad ($ 6.50).  It is served in a rather large bowl.  The spring mix of lettuces is also mixed with Yukon Gold potatoes, green beans, cherry tomatoes, hard boiled eggs, red bell peppers,  olives and topped with a Dijon mustard vinaigrette.

Opera Patisserie 9254 Scranton Road San Diego 92121 (858) 458-9050 Mon-Fri 7 a.m.-2:30 p.m., Sat 8 a.m.-2 p.m. Website

Bread on Market- a quick, delicious breakfast

Sadly, this wonderful bakery has closed.

mmm-yoso!!! is the blog.  The people who write the blog are friends who like to eat and talk about their adventures.  Today, Kirk and ed(from Yuma) ae having their own adventures and Cathy is writing about one of hers.

Hi.  I used to be in downtown San Diego a lot, but either at 6 a.m. or after 6 p.m. and this place was always closed when I would drive or walk past.
  Bread on Market opens at 7:30 a.m.,  it is closed by 4 p.m. Sun-Thurs and 5 p.m. Fri and Sat, unless the Padres are playing an evening game and then they stay open until 7 p.m.  They bake really good breads and pastries, make wonderful sandwiches, soups and salads. Then there is breakfast, my most favorite meal of the day.  

The menu is on the side wall, and there is a chalkboard out front with specials listed.

You walk up, order and pay, get your own coffee or beverage and have a seat.  It is small inside, only about ten tables and sometimes the line goes out the door.

Here is a kind of cross section of an almond croissant ($2.75).  Filled with a delicate in house made marzipan, which is light and fluffy and not overly sweet , light layers of dough, baked to a crispy exterior and topped with coarsely chopped almonds, which give it a wonderful texture.  It was fresh, but not out of the oven warm.
This blueberry scone ($2.75), however, was hot from the oven at about 8 a.m. one Sunday a few weekends ago.

Flaky, creamy dough and filled with fresh blueberries.  It was wonderful. One of the best scones I have ever had.

 

The Country Breakfast ($4.25) Two scrambled eggs, sliced Francese (a square roll of white bread with a chewy but soft crust), butter, cream cheese and strawberry jam with fresh fruit.  Just enough and so fresh.
One Sunday, we decided to try the Cheese plate for breakfast ($7) Fresh baguette and a choice of two  cheeses (this was Brie and Gorgonzola; we could also have chosen Goat, Cheddar or Jack) served with Kalamata olives, dried cranberries, apples and sliced strawberries.  This was very nice and just enough for us. 

We usually buy a loaf of rye bread when we are here; I don't have a photo, but it is filled with caraway seeds and very, very good.  The sandwiches are excellent and cost between $7.50  and $7.95.  An excellent place I wish I had stopped by sooner. Now it is a destination.

Bread on Market 730 Market Street San Diego 92101 (619) 795-2730 Website

Panaderia La Moreliana

I'm a bit under the weather, so just a short post tonight. Thanks for bearing with me.....

If you are a regular reader, you already know that I don't have much of a "sweet tooth". That's why various desserts and sweets don't have much coverage. For that coverage, please visit Kirbie's and CanineCologne's blogs. And though I know that Captain Jack has a real weakness for Mexican Desserts...... in fact, we had to make a stop at Panchita's after our recent South Bay Taco Crawl. And as usual the pastries were just not to my taste. Too much sugar, too much Manteca??? Who knows..... That's why I find the fact that I'm doing a post on a Panaderia kinda odd, because I'm the last person in the world to stop at one.

In this case it was the sign that got my attention.....

 Seen from 3rd Avenue in Chula Vista, off the main street on Quintard Street. For some reason, on one of my visits to Internacional 2000, I decided to drive by and check the place out.

After seeing the front of the bakery, I decided to walk in a grab some stuff.

 The "tradicional Michoacan" signage got me to walk in. This shop specializes in bread and pastries from the Michoacan region of Mexico. I was curious, mainly because I had read this post on Mexico Cooks. To quote a line in that post, the "people of Michoacán consume a million pieces of artisanal bread per day...." That's a heck of a lot of bread. Unfortunately, there were no "birotes" (what they call Bollilos in that region), I'm guessing they had sold out. There was also about four people in line picking up cakes. 

Since these Panaderias usually put out some pretty inexpensive stuff, I decided to grab a few items for the Missus. And though the selection wasn't that large, there were most of the usual suspects.

And on subsequent visits there always seem to be something different.

Subsequent visits???? Well, I found something that I knew the Missus was going to enjoy... the Coricos:

Light and crumbly, very mildly sweet, with a nice savory "masa" (corn) flavor, the Missus likes this version...... I've got to grab some pumpkin turnovers on a future trip.

I guess you never know what you'll find when your driving around..... you might find some coricos!

Panaderia La Moreliana
275 Quintard St
Chula Vista, CA 91911

Big Joy Family (Bakery & Cafe) (dot com)

mmm-yoso!!! is the food blog, mostly written by Kirk, along with some friends.  He is almost at His vacation destination with The Missus and has no internet access.  You get to read about what Cathy eats in the interim.  The title of this post has to do with their signage...

Hi.  Not long ago it was the "seven days of feasting" when The Mister and I celebrate the week between our birthdays with at least one meal out a day...he gets to choose the first three days and I get to choose the last three.  The middle day we have to both agree upon.  So anyhow it was his turn.  Again.  He likes sweets. Why play games?

If you have ever been to Phuong Trang, you've seen this place.  It is right next door.  We would pass by, after having our fill of (middle of the road) food and look through the window.  For years.  We took a chance one day...and return here as often as we go to French Cake. The influences here are Japanese and Korean, an interesting mix.

If you haven't been paying attention, I do not crave chocolate. Don't expect to see any in this post. I chose this cream filled stick ($2.25) It is about 12 inches long and since we were eating in, it was served to us cut into six pieces. A non-sweet whipped fresh cream inside a light slightly bread-dy textured, faintly sweet tasting shell.

I, of course, got a hand drip coffee (large $2.95).  Served with real cream and whatever that stuff in the colored packets is...

The Mister wanted a mango banana smoothie (large-$3.95) served in this very cool looking tall glass. It is made with Monin mango syrup and a real banana. He also wanted a small plain frozen yogurt ($3).

I decided I wanted to try a red bean topped flaked ice (small-$3.50) which is also topped with tapioca like cubes, small rice cakes (mochi) a red bean powder and a scoop of very nice, rich vanilla ice cream.  This is more than enough for two.  The large is served in the same size bowl but has two more scoops of ice cream.  You can also get fresh fruit and green tea powder as optional combinations.

The real reason we came...on Friday and Saturday only, the bakery makes an organic raisin walnut bread.  $2.75.    We ate one loaf, sliced for us and served with an *excellent* salted creamy butter.  We got another loaf to go.  It has a crispy crust, with a soft textured, light, non bulky wheat interior, filled with plump raisins and crispy nuts. 

All of this food was less than $22 total, served to us, fresh and wonderful. We did not go out to dinner that night.

You can see other items made here on the website.  The cakes are beautifully decorated.  Just walk in and try something.  There are comfy tables and chairs and free wifi M-F.

Big Joy Family Bakery and Cafe 4176 Convoy San Diego 92111 M-Sat 9:30 a.m.-10 p.m., Sun 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Closed 1st and 3rd Mondays each month. (858)627-0888