mmm-yoso!!!

Pardon me while I have a burger.......

If you live in California, Nevada, Arizona, or parts of Utah, I'm sure you'll recognize this....

It is of course, a classic "Double-Double" from.....

Funny thing, the first time I had a burger from In-N-Out, I remember telling my buddy Richard, "what's the big deal???" At which Richard, being a life-long resident of SoCal gasped as if I had committed heresy. Richard demanded that I perform an unusual act of contrition by...ahem, "kissing his buns" if you will. Realizing that I had verbally stabbed Richard in the heart, and also that he was my ride to the airport for my flight back home, I backpeddled stat.

But after moving to SoCal, and after having more than a few burgers from In N Out, I'll readily admit that the unique smell emanating from an In N Out can really get the stomach rumbling. I often tell the story of sneaking In N Out burgers into movie theaters, only to have someone whisper, "who's eating a double-double" several rows away.

I usually order either a "Double Meat", or just a regular ol' "Double-Double".... there's no "secret menu" animal-style, protein style, flying dutchman, or as I heard one elderly woman once order, "doggy style(!!!!)" for me. I like the bite of raw onions, and the slight crunch of the toasted bun (but no "extra toast" for me).

OK, I just realized that I've taken three photos of my hand holding a "Double Double"...

I've ruminated long enough on two pieces of charred animal flesh topped with gooey melted "curdled milk from an old cows udder". I bet that still didn't turn you off from this burger, did it?

Enough, I've waited until October to have my first "Double-Double" of the year..... my other posts will have to wait a day!

The "Real" Food Court at Plaza Bonita

A couple of months ago, our good FOY, "MG" asked me if I had been to Plaza Bonita after the recent (sort of) renovation. I said that I'd been to Beard Papa (sadly now closed), and so I'd seen the new, and relocated food court, which looked a lot better than what I remembered. MG laughed and told me, "I don't think you've seen the REAL food court at Plaza Bonita". "Where's the real food court?" Her answer, "you need to go down the escalator...it's next to Target". I asked her what was comprised the "real" food court, but was just told that I needed to go check it out myself. So back in April, I found myself in the area, it was pretty early, 930 in the morning and I didn't think anything would be open, but I thought I'd just pop in a check it out.........

And Plaza Bonita was indeed very quiet, until I walked down the escalator (it wasn't even turned on yet), and just plain cracked up.

 

It was the "terrible trio" of Filipino Chains in one place; Chowking, Jollibee, and Red Ribbon Bakery. Of course all are owned by JFC, Jollibee Foods Corporation. At this time in the morning, it was a haven for "mall walkers".......

 

Admittedly, over the years, I've become less and less enamored of the food served at Jollibee and Chowking, but I must say, that the young lady working the counter at Jollibee was very pleasant, and of course they do table service, versus the lady at Chowking, who had somehow maneuvered a stool behind her perch behind the counter...she did love the microphone though, "thirty-four.....thirty seven...."

So you can get it all here.....from the fried chicken that cooked to order, and nice and moist.

 

Though I find the batter a bit too crumbly, on this visit it wasn't quite as greasy as I remembered. The gravy has that strange artificial flavor, but you just can't help pouring it over the rice.....

 

Speaking of artificiality, is there anything that looks more like plastic food than the Pancit Palabok from Chowking?

 

Unfortunately, according to the Missus, this tasted like plastic food, not the best of what Chowking has to offer.

 

The Missus did enjoy Her slice of Mango Cake from Red Ribbon bakery, though.

So, in case you need your Filipino Fast Food fix......the "real" food court at Plaza Bonita might fill the bill.........

Ah So Sushi and Steak: Yuma

Mmm-yoso is Kirk's wonderful foodblog. Sometimes he lets Cathy and others share their meals with you. In his last post, ed (from Yuma) discussed a wonderful Japanese meal in San Diego County. This post is different.

Most of us Yuma locals were excited a few years ago when we got an allegedly Japanese restaurant: Some of my enthusiasm melted away when a group of us came in for a Friday lunch, and somehow my order got lost in the system.  At first, the server didn't even seem to notice that one of us had not received a meal.  When I finally tracked her down and re-placed my order, the food still didn't arrive.  When I finally located a manager -- and that required finding the bartender and explaining everything to him -- the manager insisted that my wait was not extraordinary since the time on the computerized order was only 20 minutes previous.  I had to explain everything twice, before he understood that I had been in the restaurant for nearly an hour and that my friends had already finished their meals and I hadn't gotten a simple sushi combo yet. I was hungry, and when hungry, I get crabby.

Nonetheless, I decided to give the restaurant another chance.  I doubt if I will ever forget that visit as I sat at the sushi bar and ordered various nigiri.  As the itamae was bragging that the chain had restaurants in 44 different states, he was preparing me an order of saba, pouring vast quantities of sauce over the fish. Why? One foul and nasty taste answered that question and told me that the fish was, like Nemerov's Goosefish,"most ancient and corrupt and grey."  The horror. I shudder everytime I think about it. The single worst sushi I have ever been served. Ever.

Hope does spring eternal, however, and when I saw that Ah So had been voted the best Asian restaurant in Yuma, I decided to give it another couple of shots.  Maybe it had gotten better.

When I showed up both times at lunch, I tried to come with an open mind.  I was pleased that icewater arrives with a lemon slice that I didn't even need to request: The miso soup is consistently thin, light but balanced in flavor, and lacking almost any content except for a couple shards of seaweed, a  few thin circles of green onion, and on one visit, a cube of tofu the size of a garden pea.  Nonetheless, it was certainly satisfactory: For my first visit, I decided to order something safe, something almost impossible to screw up, tempura: At first glance, this looked okay.  There were several sizable shrimps and assorted vegetable pieces nicely arranged into a tower on the plate.

But when I looked more closely, I couldn't see any of the delicate lace like crunchies that typify a Panko crust: Putting aside any concerns, I started with the onion ring; after all, I've liked almost every onion ring I've ever eaten, at least to some extent.  Well, not this one.  First, there seemed to be no onion, at least none that I could taste.  In fact, the only taste the ring had was stale cooking oil and greasy breading.  Truly unpleasant.

The next item I tried was a slice of, I think, sweet potato: What I mean is that it looked sort of like it had some sweet potato in at, but the paperthin vegetable was overwhelmed by the greasy coating.

After wiping the grease off my fingers,  I attacked one of the large shrimp, biting off the end.  But there was no shrimp there.  The last half-inch of the shrimp shaped thing I had put in my mouth was simply breading.  After I peeled off the dense exterior, my large shrimp turned into something slightly smaller than my little finger, a truly shrimpy shrimp: It was also desiccated and flavorless.  Yuck!

When I was finished, I left behind a nearly full bowl of unappetizing breading: To be fair, I wanted to give the place one more chance, so I returned to try a sushi combo.  The $12 combination arrived at my table looking very pretty: The chef had done a good job arranging the items so that the colors were balanced.  It really was an attractive and inviting tray.

The California roll was decent.  While the sushi rice could have been seasoned better, at least the roll was not packed with mayonnaise.  In the mouth, I could not detect the flavor of the krab or wasabi, but the creamy avocado was pleasant and the cucumber crunch was a nice contrast.

The tuna, even with its neon pink color, was okay, although it finished with a slight background metallic flavor that I found marginally unpleasant.  But mostly, it seemed a bit dried out and had very little flavor of any sort at all: Ditto the whitefish: It is possible that this was hirame, but it could've been any mild whitefish for all the flavor that it had.

One of the highlights of the nigiri was, oddly enough, the krab.  This was good quality imitation crustacean and was the most moist and flavorful thing I put into my mouth during the entire meal.

The ebi was okay as well, though a bit dried out and having only a very mild shrimp flavor.  Again, however, the item seemed severely underseasoned.  This time after I only bit off half of the piece, I lifted the remaining shrimp off of the rice ball and discovered why all the nigiri had been exceptionally bland.  There was no wasabi anywhere.

Perhaps the restaurant expects that its customers are going to drown their sushi in the brownish swamp that forms when you stir an entire serving of wasabi into a couple tablespoons of soy sauce.  And maybe if I had done that, there would've been more flavor to each of the pieces -- but not a flavor I enjoy much anymore.

The worst single piece of fish was the albacore: It tasted tired and a little off.  It was also mushy in texture and left an unpleasant aftertaste that lingered long after the meal was finished. I hate bad albacore burps.

The salmon was certainly better than the albacore, but like so many other items, it lacked much depth of flavor, richness, or intensity. No way unpleasant, just passably mediocre: I saved the tamago for last.  Mostly, it was sweet and dense.  Still, not really bad at all.  In fact, the sushi combination was adequate enough that I could eat it again, though most likely, not again real soon.

In other words, I still don't like this restaurant very much. So how did this place get voted #1? Well, it is located at the mall and seems to be a popular dating location. It serves alcohol. Maybe in the company of an attractive friend, after several beers, the food seems pretty good.

Still, I think the restaurant should change its name.  Instead of "Ah So," how about "Ah Ful So So," or maybe "So So Ah Ful"? Those seem right to me.

Ah-So Sushi & Steak, 1325 S Yuma Palms Pkwy, Yuma, AZ 85365 (928) 329-7442

Mimi's Café: Meals at the Faux Château (Yuma)

Kirk eats at chains; Cathy eats at chains; today ed (from Yuma) will let you know that he sometimes eats at chains too.

After Mimi's Café opened a branch here in Yuma, I kept getting reports from friends who liked the food.  So about a year ago, Tina and I descended on the restaurant to try a dinner.

From the outside, the place looks like a rustic châteaux (containing one or two small warehouses) plucked from the banks of the Loire and dropped into the middle of a large asphalt parking lot:

Inside, this same cultural/architectural mishmash rules.  You have the parque ceiling (I believe this is the correct term) like a 19th-century French bistro in the main room: you have open beamed ceilings and a fake balcony (not shown) in the New Orleans room (a New Orleans room?): and then you have a Romanesque barrel vaulted area that would bring to mind a medieval monastery with electric lighting, if of course the bricks were real:
 Nonetheless, some things about our first meal were very good.  Along with rather ordinary French bread, we received two slices of savory whole-wheat nut bread: Tina's Mediterranean Chicken Fettuccine, though containing numerous ingredients, was focused and tasty:
 The creamy asiago sauce, though a bit greasy, was not as heavy and rich as an Alfredo and didn't overwhelm the other flavors.  There were just enough chunks of chicken, and the pasta, while not aldente, was not overcooked.  Spinach, sun-dried tomatoes, and marinated artichoke hearts added complexity to the flavor and color to the presentation.  A few chopped fresh tomatoes cubes and shreds of domestic Parmesan lay across the top of the noodles.

My chicken piccata was an attractive plate: As you can see, the two slices of chicken breast, showing grill marks, and four well prepared grilled and moist asparagus spears were the culinary stars of this dish.  What this picture barely shows, however, is that the poultry and the veggies lay atop a large mound of mashed potatoes.  Now I love mashed potatoes as much as the next person, but I really couldn't understand combining spuds with an Italian style main course.  In addition, while the flavors of everything worked fine, this entrée seemed to me to be as much a product of an accountant as a chef.  The mushroom was very thinly sliced,  only three capers dotted the meat, and the amount of lemony piccata sauce was slightly less than would be needed to flavor the two chicken slices.  No sauce for the potatoes -- though to be honest, they had a nice buttery flavor.

The side salad with ranch dressing was also decent.  The nice lettuce mix had shredded carrot, a couple of cucumber slices, a few bits of diced fresh tomato, and three large mass-produced croutons.  The amount of dressing seemed calculated to moisten the greens and veggies with nothing left over: I selected a glass of Sauvignon Blanc from the minimalist wine list and was pleased to see that the restaurant had figured out the glass-of-wine conundrum: What I mean is that serving a single glass of wine presents a restaurant with a problem.  If it uses small glasses, the wine must be filled up to the brim, which all of us winos know robs the wine of fragrance.  On the other hand, large stemware is much more expensive, and some customers feel cheated if the wine doesn't fill the glass.  Here the wine was served in a small carafe so that no one would feel cheated, the restaurant could use inexpensive stemware, and a customer could swirl the wine around in the glass.

The service on this (and every subsequent visit) was competent, professional, and friendly--clearly the staff is well trained.

As you can probably tell by the tone of this report so far, I was both amused and impressed by the ambiance, the businesslike way that Mimi's was managed, and by the generally competent cuisine.

On subsequent occasions, we have visited the restaurant for breakfast, mostly because my favorite local breakfast place has gone out of business (RIP Arnie's).  In general, our breakfast experiences at Mimi's have been hit and miss.  A good illustration of this was my recent order of waffles with sausage and egg: The two sausages were large and good, with standard breakfast sausage spicing and a firm meaty texture -- no greasy mouth feel at all.  The waffles, while nice looking, lacked any crispness and were dense and heavy. The over-easy eggs were well past easy: However, their fried eggs here usually have a nice crispy edge to them: On the other hand, some of the items on the breakfast menu are truly mediocre.  The orange juice is generic at best, the latte substandard, and while the blueberry muffin looks good: It is a reminder that at Mimi's sometimes looks are deceiving: The bran muffin, on the other hand, was outstanding (bran must be cheaper than blueberries): When Tina ordered the Cajun sausage with scrambled eggs and potato, the whole dish didn't quite reach okay.  The sausage had a peculiar taste (to my mind at least) and the home fries were flavorless and crunchless: My Monterey Omelette (with which I had "fresh fruit" instead of the potatoes) looked very pretty, but was pretty disappointing: Instead of being light and fluffy, the eggs were two dense slabs separated by a slice of flavorless jack cheese dotted with bits of real bacon. The visible part of the omelette was covered with more of the mediocre cheese, the only slice of avocado on the plate, and an additional strip of bacon (which looked better than it tasted).  The best part about this breakfast was the outstanding roasted tomato salsa.

Even the attractive fruit left something to be desired: The pineapple was still in its rind, and a couple of the almost hidden grapes were rotten instead of fresh.

On the other hand, some of our breakfast experiences have been more positive.  The eggs ranchero bowl, though containing some of the mediocre potatoes, has been a really a nice take on Huevos Rancheros: The beans are black beans, the tortilla is crunchy, and the two salsas (one chipotle and one tomatillo) add two good flavors.

My favorite breakfast item has been the cinnamon raisin French toast: While the toast is not especially eggy, its whole-wheat raisin bread with cinnamon is very good.  Unfortunately, on my last visit, this great item was missing from the menu. Who knows why.

Obviously, if this restaurant were truly bad, I wouldn't continue to try it again. I find the ambience and the decorations to be amusing and am impressed by the consistently good service.  Occasionally the ambience, which seems like what you would find in an independent eatery, is almost enough to make me forget I'm eating in a chain: And then I remember that the wine advertised on the poster is not available at the restaurant and the homey photos on the wall are just stock pictures. All is as real as the bronze fiddler. At Mimi's, there often is less than meets the eye. More surface than depth. This is a restaurant run by illusionists and bean counters -- but it must be said, very competent ones.

Mimi's Cafe Yuma, 1690 South Pacific Drive, 928-783-2680

Sonic. A chain *finally* comes back to San Diego.

mmm-yoso!!! is a blog about food. A few of us merely write about what we eat.  Today, while Kirk and His Missus are on vacation, Cathy is writing.  ed (from Yuma) is still in Yuma.

Hi again.  Sonic, a drive in, park, order out your window and have food delivered to your vehicle, then eat in your car restaurant, reminiscent of the drive in restaurants popular in the 1950's and 1960's is a chain which used to have a store in Chula Vista about 20 years ago.  We enjoyed driving up, having our food brought out to the car by a person on roller skates, and then eating our meal inside the car.  A kind of throwback to an easier time.  It must not have had much business, closed and the only time we got any kind of Sonic food was when we drove back East for Thanksgiving.

A few locations were still in California (there are over 3500 nationwide locations) and when I have had a craving for that food, The Mister and I could drive to El Centro, or Hemet for that Sonic "fix".   In fact, we did that this past November. 

All the locations pretty much look like this. 

and the menu pretty much looks like this.

The food is delivered to you in cardboard containers and paper bags. 

The cherry limeade is a popular favorite.

As is the chili-cheese dog and the burger on Texas Toast.

The Mister and I don't have to take that long drive any more!  The first of six San Diego Sonic locations opened a few weeks ago, in Santee.  There have been lines of cars daily.  To the point where after 10 a.m., vehicles are directed to a "staging area" and guided to drive in and park and order in an organized way.  Last Sunday, there were 60 vehicles waiting at 2 p.m..

However, Sonic opens at 5:30 in the morning.  I know this.

The menu is served all day, and there is a "Happy Hour" from 2-4 daily, with all beverages 1/2 price.

The Mister and I merely get breakfast in the morning.  Odd, I know.

Three mini biscuits with sausage and gravy.

 

I get what I always crave: A cheese/egg/bacon toaster with lettuce and tomato (no extra charge) ...so it is kind of a BLT with egg and cheese, on the wonderful Texas Toast.

The combo comes with a beverage and either fries or "tots", a Sonic Standard.

Once the other locations open, I hope the crowds will lighten up in Santee.  It's just food... good food. With wonderfull beverages.

Sonic,  locations nationwide. Website link

COMC: Phnom Penh - Kampong Thom Market, Asia Hotel...and something else.

COMC, definition: When a kind of forgetful blogger tries to "Clean Out the Memory Card" and posts on events that happened quite a while back.

Recently, the Missus reminded me that I had never posted on our two days in Phnom Penh. I didn't believe Her...."there's no way I forgot to do posts on Phnom Penh." And yet I did. So pardon me while I C(lean) O(ut the) M(emory) C(ard) and catch up on all those potential posts that have been languishing on my hard drive.

We had decided to "bus it" to Phnom Penh from Siem Reap, it was cheap, and it gave a glimpse of the countryside. The bus happened to make a stop in Kampong Thom. And while everyone rushed into the nice and clean restaurant and shop. We noticed something several blocks away. It was a rather large market. It was situated on a large dusty, drab, patch of dirt, with piles of garbage lying around, but it was interesting. It was also fascinating to note that no one on the bus ventured even close to this market. So here's a few photos:

   

How's this for a big pile of bugs?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Andof course there's always prepared food..... just as in Vietnam, Baguette Sandwiches are very popular.

 

And there were several of  these typical eating stands.

 

Each stand had pots or trays lined with dishes...a steam table, without steam. You were free to peer into the pots, and eyeball the various items.

 

You pick out what you want, and the dishes usually come with rice.....have a seat and eat.

 

Unfortunately we had a bus to catch.....

We made it into Phnom Penh, and in spite of the very comfortable bus ride on the very clean Mekong Express Bus ($10 Siem Reap to Phnom Penh), after hitting the National Museum of Cambodia I needed a rest. Instead of staying along Tonle Sap, we decided to stay on busy Monivong Boulevard. Our Hotel was the Asia Hotel. This hotel has a special place in our heart.....it was quite quirky in several ways. First, many of the folks working here are somewhat detached, but the folks who are nice, are really...well kinda overboard nice. The lobby smelled kind of strange...the fragrances from the attached restaurant permeated everything as the lobby did not have great ventilation. And then there were the signs....everywhere..... Tons of signs in the lobby of things you cannot do:

    

Everything from No Cooking and No Durian, to no drying laundry, to no bringing strange women (!) into your room. And it seemed that management would not be responsible for anything!

And to top it off there was this sign...yes you too can fire off a B40 Rocket Launcher for just 200 bucks!

 

When I read the ($8 US) "go to shooting by taxis 2 ways".....I couldn't stop laughing. I hope no one took that literally! BTW, I saw a couple of young men "packing" when we went for a walk....I'm guessing this is legal in Cambodia. And there was a fridge in lobby where you could grab a bottle (or two, or three, or....) of beer, and an attendant would pop the top, and you'd trot off to your room.....

And then there were the hallways. Did you ever see the movie "Ju-on" (the Grudge)? I found the perfect setting for a sequel. The gloss white along with bad flourescent lighting, combined with rather tight hallways, is not very flattering.

  

In spite of these somewhat amusing quirks, the rooms were very large, clean, and the hot water was....well hot!

 

And thankfully, the A/C worked well, and the beds were comfortable.

And on the cleanliness note. This young lady was death on two legs for any flying insect in the lobby. We called her the "Ex-term-in-NATOR", and she worked with a dedicated fervor. I'm still looking for one of those battery powered fly zappers......but I don't know if they sell them here in the states.

 

And yet, there was something even more amusing......

When we checked in, one of the young men, looked at me proudly, and guided me toward an adjoining doorway, telling me: "we are very modern, and advanced...."

So what was he talking about.....some kind of cutting edge technology?

Something advanced?

"We are the first to have......" He proudly puffed out his chest.

"A KFC in Cambodia!"

 

Yep folks, you heard it right here. And this KFC did bang up business...plus the Missus turned out to be quite fond of Mirinda Orange.

Of course this KFC had it's own regional specialty:

   

Called Colonel Rice (which I believe is a Malaysian KFC item), which I tried....it's rice in some bland seasoning with sweet raisins (ick) covered with gravy. One thing I did like was the inclusion of chili paste with everything.

Just think, among all of the strong selling points of the hotel, big rooms, cold A/C, comfy beds.....KFC outshone them all!

Taco Tuesdays-inexpensive deals around town.

This is mmm-yoso!!!, the food blog where Kirk, ed (from Yuma) and Cathy contribute sometimes interesting and sometimes mindless posts about food they ate.  You get to enjoy our creative writing exercises.

Hello again.  Cathy here with a summary of an interesting phenomenon I have been noticing around town- really inexpensive fast food...Taco Tuesdays-deals on tacos at Del Taco and Rubio's and L&L Hawaiian- available only on Tuesdays.   You can get a semi-decent meal (protein and vegetable anyhow) for little cash.

Del Taco three for $1.38 Hard shell or soft shell. The "filling"...about what you should expect for 45¢...yet quite tasty if you spread the meat around and add some hot sauce and three are enough to satisfy as a snack.  The hard shells are very thin an delicate.  You can get this three mini taco deal for 78¢ more any other day during the week.

The $1.25 fish tacos-Tuesday only-from Rubio's(with a 75¢side of guacamole and $1.38 side of beans.) The innards of a Rubio's fish taco... beer batter fried piece of flaky fresh white fish topped with shredded cabbage and a tangy white sauce and salsa.

  Here is a better photo- Served on a corn tortilla (although you can get it on a flour tortilla, which would make it not a taco). Served with a slice of lime garnish to squeeze over everything.

Last week, we ordered a quesedilla ($4.49)-cheeses melted in a large flour tortilla garnished with guacamole and sour cream and served with fresh fried corn tortilla chips.  It was not very good nor very filling.   Stick with the taco special.

If you just have a craving for a fried shell, a sort of meat filling, topped with shredded lettuce and cheese all fried in that shell, Jack in the Box has two tacos for 99¢ 24 hours a day...you've had these.  I know.

 

Then, last week, we went to L&L in Santee.  There was a sign on the door-Tuesdays only- 99¢ tacos.

This is a photo of the Kalua Pork taco.

OMG! Soooo good. Very large. Cheese, lettuce and sauce.  You can ask for no cheese. The price every other day is $2.19. Try this one...

There are other choices: shrimp, fish, BBQ beef and chicken.  I am going there now and will finish this post later...

Rubio's website

Del Taco website

Jack in the Box website 

L&L Hawaiian Barbecue website  

 

  Addendum: At L&L, the grilled fish is pretty good.  The chicken is also very nice. The BBQ beef is kind of sweet.  Kalua pork is the best.

Snack Time- Tapioca Express

mmm-yoso!!! is the little blog, written by some friends who use it as a bizarre outlet to only talk about food they eat.  Enjoy reading.

Hi.  I've been a little busy lately and still find time to eat.  A lot of the time what I eat is not a meal, but a bunch of snacks.   Boba houses abound, and I tend to just stop somewhere when I am hungry and see one.  Here is a synopsis of a quick lunch.  I apologize for the photography now; I did not use flash and should've used the camera in my mobile phone, which has turned out better photos in the last few posts.

Tapioca Express is a franchised outfit, with many locations in California, Washington, Nevada and Texas.  I go to the one on Convoy, in the mall with no parking available, ever. Each location of Tapioca Express has a bit of a different menu, but the food is prepared fresh to order and sometimes I don't need much.

The menu is on the wall and *only* the far right column is food items- the rest is beverages available. 

Yes, beverages. 

Overwhelming variations of juices, teas, coffees, icy, shaved ice, yogurt frost, and "snow bubbles"..not even mentioning the addition of boba or jellies, sweetened or not, milk added or not, hot or cold...

I never can decide and get the hot coffee milk tea.  (Yes, I end up getting an "everything bagel" when I go out for the same reason.)..The Mister ordered a cold sesame mango iced something.  I always ask for no added sweetener.  No need. Each of these beverages was about $3.  Boba costs and extra 50¢ and just doesn't seem to do anything for me.

I always get the fried tofu (~$3).  I get mild or medium spicy, because I like the taste of tofu.  Go figure.

All the snacks are served in bags with bamboo skewers so you can grab and eat.

At some point, I use the skewers like chopsticks because it is silly to keep poking in the bag.

Crispy calamari rings (~$4).  All the snacks come with a choice of spice level.  Mild.  Trust me.  The hot just overwhelms everything. There is a lot of fried squid rings in here and I like the flavor of squid and breading.  {The medium is right on the edge of being too spicy hot.}

A variety of dipping sauces are available, provided by Sysco.  Sweet and sour and ranch dressing.  They are in focus when in front of you. 

Oh, what is that in the back?

Potstickers.  This plate is $4.75 and a meal in itself.  Ten pork and cabbage filled pockets of goodness, steamed, pan or deep fried, served with some steamed veggies (broccoli in this case) and a soy/vinegar/garlic dipping sauce. Very good.

This is a particularly bad photograph of the crispy chicken.  The bag is a very large handful size and costs about $4.  The chicken is, as with everything fried here, in a light batter -almost just flour- with a choice of spice level and in the case of the chicken, also fried with basil leaves for flavor...and the fried, crispy basil leaves are in the bag and so tasty.

There are also rice plates available which are quite large and filling and everything is at most ~$7.  I do like the coffee shop/wifi/quick food aspect of this place.  Supposedly the snacks are similar to those in Taiwan.  I wouldn't know, but that's what the website tells me.  I have heard the food at other locations is not good, but have never had a problem at this one.

If you haven't tried the snacks here-or from any boba or tea house, you should. You will enjoy it. 

Tapioca Express 4646 Convoy San Diego 92111 (858) 636-7889

website

BBQ Chicken - B(est of the) B(est) Q(uality)? A first look

Yep, that's what it stands for, a simple and modest, "Best of the Best Quality". I've been looking for our very own "KFC" (Korean Fried Chicken) joint to open here in San Diego. And lo' and behold, as noted by "Gilbert", on this post, BBQ Chicken is a KFC. And based on Uber-Blogger Elmomonster's post on the Irvine location of BBQ Chicken, and San Diego's own Dennis of A Radiused Corner, who was kind enough to email me scanned menus, I couldn't help but get excited.

If the location looks familiar, it should. This was the long time location of Flavor Thai on Convoy  Street. And yes, I did drop by on opening day, October 3rd. And led to one of the tables. BBQ Chicken is sort of hybrid style restaurant, you'll get restaurant type service which meant you are seated if you want to eat in, but you pay at the register. For take out you go straight to the counter. The menu is very brightly colored, and though it looks huge, much space is dedicated to pretty photos of each dish.

 

Being opening day, I'll skip the somewhat disorganized service, and the all of he other "glitches", and just mention 2 things. First, I was reminded that my chicken will take 20 minutes because it's made fresh, which is no problem. And secondly, I ordered a 2 piece combo ($5.99), mainly because being the masochist that I am, I wanted to taste what Elmo called the WOWFRE (worst of the worst fried  rice ever). But 50 minutes later, I was still sitting, having read the label of my bottle of Tabasco sauce several thousand times. Meanwhile, even though they we staffed almost one Server per customer, things looked chaotic. There was one young lady who really looked like she knew what was going on. When I asked her if my chicken was coming soon, she looked shocked, and exclaimed, "you didn't get your chicken yet?" A few minutes later, another Server brought my food to the table.

It wasn't quite a 2 piece combo, but rather 5 pieces of chicken ($9.25 less because I was given a 10% grand opening discount). I was starving and wasn't up to waiting another 20 minutes, so I just dug in. One of the hallmarks of Korean Fried Chicken is the frying technique, most of the fat is rendered off, and the skin becomes one with the batter, very nice crunch, and not greasy in the least. Either to make it sound more healthy, or maybe just a marketing gimmick, the chicken is fried in olive oil, which gives the chicken a distinct flavor, and an even more interesting after taste, which I thought was kind of bitter-fishy. In fact, I brought 2 pieces home, and the Missus's first thought was; "huh, looks like Church's, but it;s twice the price". And after catching a whiff, "ugh, I can't eat this, it smells like fish." The wing and drumsticks fare better overall than the thigh pieces, they are moist, and have better flavor. I found the overall flavor of the batter(before the after taste kicked in) to be mildy nutty with some peppery tones. It was okay to good, but not anything I found particularly outstanding.

But to be fair, I returned for take out a bit later. I ordered the Red Hot Drumsticks(5 pieces - $8.99), but got the Seasoned Chicken, with what I believe was the Sweet and Spicy Sauce (8pieces - $6.50). I don't know what else to call these things other than...well...chicken balls:

The batter didn't take to travel, it had become gummy. These were really tough, and the cloyingly sweet, and only mildly spicy glaze was not to my liking. Couldn't finish them.....

I also ordered the Teri-Q Gold Wings(10 pieces - $7.99):

The batter for these seemed a bit thicker than the regular chicken. It is mildly sweet, but pretty bland overall. It may be just me, but after having tons of Salt & Pepper Chicken Wings, I wasn't impressed with these. I even think my simple ol' Garlic Chicken Wings have more flavor.

I am going to give BBQ Chicken another shot, I do want to try the Red Hot Drumsticks. I just think I'm going to give it a few weeks, or maybe months before I'm back. Give them a shot, and let me know what you think......

BBQ (Best of the Best Quality) Chicken
4768 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

858-571-3333

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Lately.......

"I have had the strangest feeling....." Not to imitate the style of one of my favorite bloggers Penny, who often finds just the right lyric or quote for her various posts....

But lately I've been finding myself fading away at certain times, just "wool gathering". I'll be doing a post....you really can't call what I do writing or composing....it's really just "doing". And my mind just sort of wanders. Maybe off to the cobblestone streets of Cusco. Perhaps I've just been working too hard. But I'm starting to get that feeling again. I think we need to head off, to where, I'm not quite sure yet....

It's a funny thing, some of the nicest, most memorable meals we've had on trips, have ended up on the "PWTSDS" ("putdz" - Places Where the Sun Don't Shine) list. That would be the mmm-yoso photo scrap heap. And yet, these were meals we really enjoyed. So without further ado, I think maybe it's time for those "ugly duckling" photos to shine.....so if you'd just put up with me!

Anticuchos in Cusco (Peru):

I believe this was right after our dinner at the Chicharroneria. We were walking down Avenida del Sol, when we spied a crowd on the corner of Avenida del Sol and Ayacucho. A woman was making Anticuchos, and if the crowd was any indication, it was very good Anticuchos indeed!

Seeing the crowd, and breathing in the scent of grilling meat restimulated our appetites, and suddenly we just had to have some Anticuchos. But how to deal with the mass of humanity? Just as in all of our travels, whether in a confused state in a train station in Hanoi, or getting Anticuchos, we met our Guardian Angel. This time, an older gentleman saw the Missus trying to edge Her way forward. He immediately took control of the situation, and waved the Missus next to him. He quickly yelled out for some Anticuchos for the Missus, and even looked them over.....just to make sure.

The Missus said these were the best Anticuchos She ever tasted, and at Un Sol (about 33 cents), it was more than a bargain.

I'm sure the kindness of the Gentleman made them taste even better!

Pardo's - Miraflores (Peru):

As we noted, we stayed at the huge Marriott in Miraflores before returning home. Right across the street is a mall, Larcomar, which is built into the cliffs overlooking the ocean. And in the mall is a location of Pardo's Chicken, the largest Pollo a la Brasa (rotisserie chicken) chain in Peru. There seemed to be a Pollo a la Brasa shop on every street corner in Lima. People here are crazy about it.

We were headed home the next day, and were bushed, and Pardo's seemed to fit the bill. As good as the chicken was....

It was the Papas Fritas (French Fries) which we enjoyed the best. The potatoes were a nice yellow in color (Papas Amarillas - like Yukon Gold), which tasted like the soul of a potato. I can still taste them.......

And with a dip in the Aji Sauce...sort of like an Aji Aioli....man was this good. There's something to be said for having just the right food, at the right time.

Which takes us to Siem Reap and...

Maharajah Royal Indian Cuisine (Siem Reap):

After a day of hiking among ruins, and tired of Fish Amok, we wanted something different. An acquaintance of mine had mentioned that the Indian Food in Siem Reap is not half bad. And we just stumbled into Maharajah.

Gotta love the "spicy scale" provided on the menu....

The unfortunate thing about the restaurant was the lighting, it was a horrible "bug killer green", which made everything look pretty unappetizing.

The Missus enjoyed Her Special Vegetarian Thali (meal set - $3/US), which was an absolute bargain!

I got the most expensive item on the menu; the Mutton Thali ($6/US). And yes, it was indeed mutton, very gamy, and pretty tough. But the Dal was very good.

It was just the right meal at the right time. In fact, the Missus wanted Indian the following night as well.

It's funny how these meals stuck in our mind. Just the right thing, at the right time. Our memories of these places are quite varied as well. For all of the photos of Inca Treasures....

And the magnificent temples of Angkor.....

It's the photos of things like this dog "scratching an itch" in the fresh grass in Calca,

or the children learning traditional dances at school in Cusco,

And the children in Siem Reap.....

With smiles that are priceless..... that we remember the most.

Funny thing, it's the people, and our experiences with those people that the Missus and I discuss the most. The kindnesses of strangers, the stories of the folks we encounter, the understanding that we are all more alike than different.

Yes, I think soon it'll be time to get on a plane and go somewhere....not quite sure where yet, but we'll be sure to let you know. And hopefully I'll finish all those Cambodia posts before I head off on another vacation.

You know, my week has suddenly gotten better. I hope you have a great one! If you've hang around till the end I thank you.