mmm-yoso!!!

Sage French Cake and Coffee-quality food and a New Year Resolution I have kept!

mmm-yoso is the blog, written by a bunch of friends about food we eat, sometimes with some side notes about other things we do while eating.  Today, Cathy is blogging.

Hello.  Cathy here.  Part of my New Year Resolution for 2008 was to take time to relax every day.  Even if only for a few minutes...an hour a least I think I told myself.

So, the other day The Mister and I were shopping at Nijiya Market and finally got ourselves over to French Cake, located in the same parking lot.  Many people have told me to try it here, and I have said I would...and now, finally, in 2008, I have. 

Should have done it sooner.

We tried the banana split mousse ($3.75)- a very gelatinous, firm mousse, with very strong, rich flavor  of banana and blackberry syrup with a dense flavored thin slice of chocolate cake on the bottom and an unsweetened whipped cream on top.  Perfect flavors for me- I don't crave sweets and do appreciate the true flavors that were in each bite. Even the cocoa in the cake.

We  got regular coffee from the pump pot.  It was strong flavored and fresh.

One of my recommendations from Yummie Yummy was to try the tiramisu ($4), and I am so glad we did.  An excellent rendition that was very fresh and very non sugared down, with fresh marscapone with cocoa and cake which was perfectly textured.

I will be stopping here regularly, as part of my wanting to stick to my New Year Resolution to relax for at least one hour daily- and not eat or drink in the car while driving...

Yeah...I made a New Years Resolution and somehow turned it into a reason to stop at a bakery at least once a week...I don't want to hear it...

Sage French Cake and Coffee 3860 Convoy Street, Suite 112 San Diego, CA 92111 (858) 571-3484  Tues-Sat 10-8, Sun 10-6, Closed Mon

Portland: Voodoo Doughnuts, Stumptown Coffee, and other "stuff"

For people who don't like to eat in restaurants, the In-Laws sure did enjoy the breakfast buffets at the Embassy Suites. I on the other had other things in mind. And though several people mentioned that the location of the Embassy Suites in Downtown Portland was right on the "edge" of the more "scary" part of Downtown Portland, we had no problems. In fact I loved that we were just a block away from two of my favorite places in Portland.

The first being Voodoo Doughnuts.

This small and dark little doughnut shop with the edgy-punk look makes up some pretty good doughnuts.

And though there are many "fun" and offbeat names....stuff like the "Triple Chocolate Penetration", the "Arnold Palmer", and the ah..ahem, "Cock-n-Balls", being the unhip and boring Guy that I am...I just order the Old Fashioned Glazed. Now the Missus needs to undergo some serious Krispy Kreme deprogramming, She found the doughnut too light and fluffy, and gasp".... old fashioned", but not so bad that She was able to hold off taking a bite until I took a photo.

As you can see it is good stuff! Reminds me of the doughnuts we used to get at this little renegade doughnut shop in Honolulu Chinatown. The shop located in a tiny doorway would only open from midnight to about 6 am, and made some great doughnuts.

Voodoo Doughnut
22 Sw 3rd Ave
Portland, OR 97204

It was my plan to take my doughnut down the street and grab a cup o' joe from my favorite coffee shop in Portland(the doughnut never made it):

Stumptown Coffee Roasters.

Now from what I understand Stumptown hand roasts all their own coffee beans in small batches. Just watching the Baristas hard at work, you can tell they're pros.

And though the crew is rather "detached" and the room cavernous(better for the afternoon DJ, I guess) and loud. The coffee is always rich and smooth. All three cups I had there were excellent. The Missus even thought the coffee was "too smooth", and lacked character....sounds like She needs some Starbucks deprogramming as well!

Stumptown Coffee Roasters
128 Sw 3rd Ave
Portland, OR 97204

After breakfast we met up and walked the 2-3 blocks to the Portland Saturday Market, which I've posted on before , so I thought I'd just do a few photos.

Now the In-Laws are not big on lunch, so I managed to sneak in a "snack" from this booth:

I ordered some Pierogies($4.75). You know me and dumplings! A friend's Mom used to always make us fresh pierogies when she visited, and boy did I love them! These however, were not that good.

The toppings were much better than the pierogies. The potatoes were really dry. But still this was more than enough carbs to keep me going.

You see, the day was just beginning. With the help of FOY ("friend of yoso") Guilty Carnivore(thanks, man!), I was able to plan our day to the last detail. Some timing was involved, you see, even though the Max Light Rail ran every few minutes to Washington Park, the Washington Park Shuttle wasn't beginning service until later in the month. So we had to coordinate our arrival with Route 63, or wait up to an hour between buses. As it happened we did well, and made to our destination.....first

The International Rose Test Garden.

And though we were a bit early in the season, and many of the roses weren't in bloom, we still enjoyed the beauty of it all.

We also made time for the Portland Japanese Garden which is right across the street, also worth a visit.

I was surprised at how the photos turned out from my little ultracompact camera......

We managed to catch the Bus back to downtown and after getting the In-Laws settled and a short break went out for dinner......

To Be Continued!

Tea Houses- Boba- Snacks? Why has this been kept secret?

mmm-yoso is not on vacation.  That is the name of the blog, silly. Cathy is a-blogging and Kirk is taking a much needed rest, and really is on vacation.

Oh, I am sooo the White Girl on this blog...I had no idea exactly how Caucasian I was.  Sure, I had the whole "chee fee" incident, and I didn't know sago were the same as boba and...well, I didn't know much about boba...and, I had seen "tea houses" and "tapioca drinks" and figured 'eh, Asian Starbucks wanna-be's'.  Really.  I figured those 'tea' places served hot tea and those silly boba drinks.  Lots of young Asian kids hang out there; I saw some drinks coming out in plastic cups and also figured well...you do know the signs say "Starbucks Coffee", right? So it must be the same- tea and those boba  drinks and Starbucks makes coffee and all those frou frou drinks.  No big deal.

ANYHOW...Years ago, from the place inside 99 Ranch, I got a tea and milk and 'pearl' drink and it was good tasting, although I thought chewing on the giant boba (tapioca pearls) was kind of like chewing on snot, albeit flavorless snot, but the boba part held not much fascination to me...I love tapioca pudding, but the actual boba in a beverage...eh.  Well, I liked the tea part, then the milk and there was a lot a lot of liquid sugar...and I don't like sweet.

Then there was an epiphany.  I was having lunch with Mr.  C, at Bolsa on Mira Mesa.

and we had our 'standard' Pho stuff:  

and we started talking about boba drinks. In my mind I was thinking, 'oh yeah, sweet stuff with snot chewies on the bottom'. However Mr. C has never steered me wrong, and he started telling me that the place in the same mall as Bolsa, Tapioca Heaven, had the *best* milk tea boba of anywhere. So, I was polite.  I had the milk tea at Tapioca Heaven and it was *wonderful*.  It tasted like ...tea...with milk...and there was a choice of boba  to put in it- regular brown, small brown, green and strawberry. You could ask for no sweetener.  Who knew?

The most fascinating thing I noticed at first inside of Tapioca Heaven was that they had free wi-fi.  Hello!

Then I noticed something else, much more important- they have snacks.  Fried snacks.  Inexpensive fried snacks. But Mr. C and I had just finished a nice lunch at Bolsa and I didn't want to eat any more, even a snack.

and so, I wrote Kirk a note. "Why haven't I heard of these places that sell boba drinks with snacks?" I asked.  "They are wonderful- so much more fun than a Starbucks, which does fascinating high calorie coffee based beverages and sells some 'meh' tasting sweets and sandwiches, but by no means sell fried goodies".

The reply, from The Missus, was "Oh boba, that is so last century". 

Ahem.

So anyhow, I was on a quest.   Since Mr. C had told me that  the boba milk tea at Tapioca Heaven was the best, I decided to make that my standard...to see if any tasted better anywhere else.  Of course, I needed to try snacks also.

So The Mister and I went to Tapioca Express. See, it used to be next to Bolsaa-on Convoy.  Bolsaa isn't there any more, so you won't be confused. It is going to become some Cajun-y place in the summer.

When you walk into Tapioca Express, the wall is lined with the menu of beverage choices.   At the register, where you order and pay, were two typewritten pieces of paper with a menu.  The Mister and I had to try a bit of everything.

Chicken nuggets, chicken wings, fried squid, all with a choice of no spice, medium or hot. (we tried all three,the no spice was great and the medium was good too, the hot was just a little too much in the sense that you couldn't taste the chicken as well as with the medium spice).  Steamed pork dumplings and also fried donut holes with both whipped cream and also a vanilla cream dipping sauce.  Each of these snacks were less than $4 each. This is wonderful snacking- or a meal.  I saw one guy with something that looked like loco moco and I will go back to try that.

Next we went to K Sandwiches, got a boba milk tea, hot milk coffee and fresh squeezed orange juice.

Also, since we were at K...I got a pate chaud; its only $1 and so flaky and fresh and filled with a wonderful pork pate mixture.  A friend, who  was born in France and is working out here,  said it is very authentic and good.

We also got a BBQ pork Bahn Mi  ( think it is Number 9 on the menu) for $3.69.  Here is a cross section view of both.

Snacks, free wi fi and boba drinks.  Fascination. 

So, the other day The Mister and I went to the Tea Station on Clairmont Mesa.  Its in the same mall as Lolita's and Teri Cafe and that Pho place everyone says they go to.

They have sit down service inside, and a menu .

We sat down and were waited on! At the other places you would walk up and pay and wait for your drink, kind of like Starbucks.    

We tried the tea flavored dumplings ($6.50)

The flavors were different between the green ones and white ones both the dumpling and the filling, but you can see in the second photo (click- all the photos enlarge) a cross section and that the dumplings were quite meaty and full, very fresh and I believe one was chicken and the other pork.  They were delici-yoso!

We also had to try the fried spicy chicken ($4.50)

Lightly crispy, nice spice (you can tell them the level of spice you want).  Fresh.  Great.  Gosh, it's adult chicken nuggets!

Tea flavored spiced pork slices ($6.50), served with 3 side dishes, it says...either they figured we could not count because we were White, or rice is one of the sides.  Whatever.  Plenty of food.

Oh, and we got beverages...

So, anyhow, the secret is out.  Tea, milk tea, boba, not Starbucks...all with free wi fi and snacks...fried snacks.

We have now gone to many of the tea places around town, not always with a camera...and we try the fried chicken at least.  Nothing has been bad or disappointing.   

Some of the beverages are unusual- sesame, lavender, rose, yogurt..just about everything Starbucks doesn't have.  { Snow ice, or snow bubbles are merely finely *fine* shaved ice with flavoring-kind of a Slushee®, for the White folks out there.}

Tapioca Heaven definitely had the most tea-tasting milk tea, but getting any of the beverages without sweetener helps.

Oh, and now I kind of enjoy chewing on those tapioca snot-like things....it's part of the whole "boba experience"

Tapioca Heaven Cafe 9225 Mira Mesa Boulevard Suite 115 San Diego 92126

Tapioca Express 4646 Convoy, #106B San Diego 92111 (858) 363-9889 website

Tea Station 7315 Clairmont Mesa Boulevard San Diego 92111 (858)268-8198website

Leilani's Cafe

I remember once being asked while having some sushi, "geez what do you do, drive around different neighborhoods looking for interesting places to eat?" I remember answering with an affirmative, "Yes, doesn't everybody?" And getting a strange look in return. I don't quite know how to describe the expression on that Gentleman's face, maybe pitiful amazement would suffice, but that look has remained imprinted upon my memory. And every so often when I do "take a drive", I chuckle to myself thinking about that look.

And those drives do pay off, as in the case of Leilani's Cafe. I was driving up the "quiet" part of Cass street in Pacific Beach, when the banner for Leilani's Cafe caught my eye.

Leilani's looks like another one of the almost endless number of coffee shops and cafes in the Pacific Beach area....I do think there's one on every corner. And I would have just driven past, except that I saw the Kikkoman Soy Sauce bottles sitting on the tables lining the outdoor patio tables, I can spot a Kikkoman bottle a hundred yards away...okay I'm exaggerating...make it fifty yards away. The significance of the shoyu bottle is important, telling me it's more than muffins, croissants, and sandwiches being served at Leilani's. When I got home, I did a quick search on the indispensable Southern California Plate Lunch Connection, and found a listing for Leilani's, which pretty much sealed the deal. I dropped by Leilani's on a quiet afternoon.

As I walked into the tiny cafe, I could hear the sounds of Bruddah Iz in the background. The interior of Leinlani's is quite small, and the fireplace in the corner and later on, when I saw the shower stall in the restroom, it pretty much confirmed that this was a former residential studio or duplex. The walls are lined with photos of Leilani's Grandchildren, and other "local-kine" knick-knacks.

Initially, the menu seems a bit long and somewhat intimidating. The first thing that strikes you are what seems like every single type of Frappa-Zappa-Crappa-Nappa-Cuppu-cino known to mankind. It did seem as if Leilani's was just a Coffee Shop. But wait, a little to the right, and you'll start seeing familiar items.

And there among the Hot Oatmeal, and Cream Cheese Bagels, were the Loco Mocos, Spam and Eggs, and even a Spam Bagel! Most items ran in the $6 to $10 range.

Being absolutely famished, I went for the most expensive item on the menu, the Big Luau Plate ($12.50). After I placed my order, Leilani went to the tiny back kitchen, and started cooking everything up. The aroma of the food cooking triggered off some memories....it smelled like my Mom's cooking......

After a short wait(Leilani was doing all the cooking Herself), my plate arrived. Where to begin....let's start with the starch, there were two scoops of rice, with some Teri-Sauce on it(this is scary, it really is like Mom), A piece of Local-Style Teri Chicken, Kalua Pork and Cabbage, and a rather large piece of Fried Mahi Mahi. The Kalua Pork was moist, and had a nice smoky flavor, and wasn't too salty, overall it was quite good. The cabbage was a bit undercooked for my tastes, but this goes to show that it was made to order, not sitting around to to be microwaved. You can't really see it, but there was a pretty large portion of Kalua Pork and Cabbage. The fish was a simple seasoned and fried piece of Mahi Mahi. I'll readily admit that this isn't everyones cup of tea, it's a bit more fishy, and there were more than a few bones. But this is almost exactly the same way that my Mother used to fry up Aku, and other fish, no frills, simple, and the fish will stand on it's own. The fish was moist and flaky.

The piece of Teriyaki Chicken thigh was full of flavor, sweet yet not too sweet, very good! Beats that generic Hawaiian BBQ stuff any day of the week. The macaroni salad had a good amount of mayo, just enough salt, and the addition of celery was a nice flavor and texture bonus. This was a satisfying and filling(to the point of a nap) meal.

So, of course I had to make a return visit. There were two items that I was a bit interested in, Leilani's Spicy Hawaiian Fried Rice($5.75), and of course the Loco Moco($6.25). Lucky for me, I could get the best of both worlds, it's called a Hilo Style Loco Moco($8.75):

This Loco Moco featured a nicely browned hand formed hamburger patty. I'm pretty sure that the patty was almost all beef without filler, which meant a drier and tougher patty, but with a more pronounced beef flavor. The gravy was home-made, dark in color, with a mild beef flavor. The eggs were done a perfect over-medium.

The spicy fried rice was studded with pieces of Portuguese and Spicy Italian Sausage, which added great flavor. As did the shredded carrots. The rice was indeed fairly spicy.....I really enjoyed it.

The food at Leilani's has that "home cooked" signature, something that Mom or your favorite Aunty might make for you. The food may take a while longer, but it does carry that bit of TLC that is missing at those generic, corporate, all-business type restaurants.

I did manage to chat a bit with Leilani, but unfortunately didn't get much info on Her, other than She's from Hawaii...we were too busy talking about getting Local-Kine stuff in San Diego, and how she prepares Her food, and other "stuffs".

Hey even your Pooch can get a little bit of Aloha!

For some reason, I don't do very much exploratory driving anymore...maybe I need to get back into the groove.......you never know what you might find!

Leilani's is open 7 days a week, from 630 am to 2pm.

Leilani's Cafe
5109 Cass St
San Diego, CA 92109

Open Daily 630am-2pm

Saturday Snack - Ono's Cafe

A while back I heard of a small coffee/tea/dessert shop in the Bonita area called Ono's (love the name) that supposedly served Malasadas. Yep, Malasada's.

Now nothing can make an Ex-Pat Kama'aina as homesick as the thought of hot and fluffy Malasadas from Leonard's Bakery in Honolulu. For those who don't know what a Malasada is; think of it as a Donut without a hole, fried to a nice golden brown crisp on the outside, with a light and fluffy interior. Served piping hot, there is nothing that quite compares to it in my book. Though Portuguese in origin, Malasadas has long been an Island favorite. So naturally, this made Ono's a "must-try".

Ono's is tucked away behind a branch of Well Fargo on Bonita Road. Though hidden from the street, once in the parking lot, you can't miss the "statue".

The decor is a tasteful Asian-influenced tropical, with "New Age" Asian instrumental music piped in. On this day the Cafe was quite full, with people having tea or coffee, and various desserts like Kahlua Cheesecake.

I did find a sign for Malasadas, 9 for $3.50! Now that is very, very inexpensive. I placed my order, and was told that it would be an 8 to 10 minute wait. Soon enough, a small white package was delivered to me. I opened it as soon as I got to the car.

Though the donuts were golden brown, and smelled heavenly, these looked more like donut holes then Malasadas. I guess that explains the price. As I took a bite, I noticed that the interior of this small donut was cake-like and pretty dense. Overall these tasted pretty good, since they were served hot and fresh.

The texture was somewhere between a Malasada and Andagi, the dense Okinawan "donut". These really weren't Malasadas in my book.

Even though I was expecting Malasadas, and these didn't fit the bill, they still tasted good when "hot". Though I wouldn't go out of my way to visit Ono's in the future, I'd probably drop by for a cup of coffee or some dessert if I'm in the neighborhood.

Notes: Service was friendly and efficient. There are a number of desserts, smoothies, and other drinks available.

Ono's
4154 Bonita Rd
Bonita, CA 91902

Cafe Dore' - Banh Mi Amore'

Since my Wor Won Ton Mein quest had pretty much been a wash-out, I focused my attention on my Banh Mi craving that had been hovering in the background waiting for a chance to break-out.

I decided to ask the Gal at the Dry Cleaners for a recommendation, and I listed off the Banh Mi places I've been to, all of which met with a slight negative nod, after which She told me to try Cafe Dore', saying "they are kind of slow, but do a good job". Which means, you might wait a while but it's worth it. She gave me instructions, and I found Cafe Dore', in (another) strip mall in City Heights, located next to a Vietnamese "Deli" and coin laundry.

There was a group of Vietnamese men having coffee and chatting. I drew alot of stares as I passed them. I entered the cafe and there were 4 tough looking Vietnamese guys sitting around watching the television. One of them stood up and simply said "yes?", they obviously thought that I took a "wrong turn" somewhere. I mentioned that I had been told that they make a really good Banh Mi; there were instant smiles all around....and the Gentleman pointed to a small flyer listing 5 sandwiches all ranging from $2.00-$2.50 under a piece of glass on the counter - this was the only "menu" in the whole place! I finally figured that this was actually a Vietnamese Coffee Shop, not really a restaurant.

After a short wait he handed me a package with my sandwich ($2.50) in it.

To say that this was a heck-of-a-sandwich is an understatement. The baguette was crunchy and fresh, the pate, BBQ pork, and "ham" combined with the veggies to create a very tasty and balanced flavor. The cilantro and cucumber was palate cleansing. My only (small) gripe is that they went easy on the hot green peppers - maybe going a little bit "easy" on me. This was easily the best Banh Mi I've had in San Diego so far!

The location is on the corner of Marlborough Ave and University Ave. Cafe Dore' has no English signs in it, no menu, except for the sandwich list under the glass counter, so I don't know what else they serve, but will find out. The strip mall also has a Vietnamese BBQ, a Seafood Shop, a Market, among other things. Might be a nice place for the adventurous to explore! This was one heck of a Banh Mi!

Cafe Dore
4135 University Ave
San Diego, CA 92105
(619) 563-3525

Between Marlborough Ave and 41st St

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Caffeine Fix - San Diego Trolley Stop Coffee

In need of some cash I headed to the nearest local ATM - only to find that the entire bank had moved! As I walked back to my car I noticed this across the street:

My curiosity piqued, I drove across the street, and lo' and behold it was a real, running, operating trolley-coffee shop on wheels - called San Diego Trolley Stop Coffee! Naturally, I had to stop and have a cup. Today, the trolley was less busy, so I was able to ask John (the owner) a few questions which he happily answered; yes, he did buy the trolley and converted it to a Coffee Cart on Wheels, it took him about 9 months (6 months full-time) to complete the conversion. Yes, it does run, and yes, that is a coffee "degree" from The Seattle Barista Academy!!! So John actually went to school to learn how to make coffee.

Located in the same mall as Save-On on Sandrock Rd in Serra Mesa, John makes a good cup a' Joe. You may want to drop by and ogle the Trolley. And based on his Certification, John probably makes a mean latte as well!

Sandwich Emporium

*** Updated post can be found here.

What a name! When we first moved to the Bay Park area I tried this Sandwich/Coffee shop in a little Strip Mall on Clairemont Drive - it was terrible! Since then twins Peter & John have taken over the business and upgraded(modernized) the menu and the food.

Notice the Traffic School sign.....kind of a strange mall. But back to the food. Some of the sandwiches are Country Ranch Chicken, two types of Reubens, something called a BLAT (Hickory Smoked Bacon, lettuce, Avocado, tomato), and also great coffee, locally roasted from the San Diego Coffee Company.

My current favorite is the Italian with Mortadella, Salami, and Ham - I get mine with no Mayo, Mustard, and Italian Dressing on the side. $5.75, for a filling sandwich. Sure beats the Subway across the street. Hopefully the Twins will keep on upgrading the menu, and keep on making a good cup of coffee!

And yes, it's not always Peking Duck and Sushi for us!!!!

Sandwich Emporium
3054 1/2 Clairemont Drive
San Diego,CA
619-275-1351

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