mmm-yoso!!!

Crepe World-on Convoy, dessert crepes after a quick meal at Chopstix

mmm-yoso!!! is a food blog and today Cathy is blogging.  Because Kirk and ed (from Yuma) are eating.

Hi.  The other day, The Mister and I went to Chopstix and got large bowls of soup, because at 96°, with 18% humidity, it just wasn't warm enough for us.     The top one is the miso ramen and the bottom one is the dumpling ramen.  Each about $6.50, huge, tasty, warm.  When we were done, we walked out and wanted dessert.  We thought about Yogurt World and Tapioca Heaven, but this new building is closer when you walk across the street.  Crepe World.  (The Nice Young Lady who waited on us was wearing a Yogurt World t-shirt; I did not ask if they were owned by the same people)It is right on Convoy, so you don't have to encounter what I like to call the 'parking lot from Hell'.  It was not crowded.  As in, we were the only people there, our order number was 13 and it was 6:41 in the evening...I think this was the second day of it opening.  A large area, lots of tables and chairs and some park benches for seating...a rather extensive menu of savory (takoyaki, various 'sandwich crepes') and sweet crepes and waffles.  There is a website on the business card, but it is not set up yet.   We ordered and each crepe was served up in pink paper cones. (click to see full photo)(Typepad is acting strange again)  I chose the #20, red beans with custard and bananas ($4.58).  It was huge and filled with all the ingredients.  The crepe was light and crispy on the edges.  The custard was light and eggy tasting, the red beans were sweet and tasty.   The Mister chose the #15- a fruit crepe stuffed with Nutella­® and fresh strawberries ($3.68).  The same delightful crepe, filled with nutty, chocolate-y Nutella­® and sliced juicy, flavorful strawberries.

A nice ending on another hot, but not humid, day in San Diego.

Crepe World 4646 Convoy #102 San Diego 92111 858-268-8388 Website (listed on business card)

Durian Fro-yo anyone? Flavaful Yogurt

After a nice meal at Sab E Lee, FOY (friend of yoso) JohnL suggested that some Fro-yo would be the perfect way to cap off the evening. My initial response was, "Fro-yo? Hmmm, I'm not quite sure." It was at that point that JohnL said the magic words, "I think you might be interested, they have Durian frozen yogurt....." Durian fro-yo? You couldn't get me there fast enough! Lucky for me it wouldn't be a long wait. Flavaful Yogurt is less than a block away, in the old Ba Le location.

 

I had thought this place was a water shop, but they also do frozen yogurt.

 

And sure enough they had Durian.......

Overall, I wasn't too impressed with the Durian flavor, it tasted more like "off-coconut". Not enough of real Durian flavor. I did enjoy the Coconut, which was just as good as the version at Yogurt Lounge...who it seems is always out of coconut. I also enjoyed the Lychee fro-yo, which if a bit too "icy" was an excellent palate refresher.

  

The Missus was a bit dubious when I mentioned Flavaful Yogurt to Her. But a few days later we dropped by and got a cup.........to digress a moment. Did you ever notice that no matter what you put in your cup, it always comes to at least five bucks???? OK, back to Earth....the Missus really enjoyed the Plain, coconut, and taro. As usual we shared a cup. Any more would have triggered my lactose intolerance. I guess the Missus liked it. We were back a few days later.

 

The flavor of the plain get kinda close to Beijing style yogurt in flavor if not in texture. This fro-yo has good balance, not too tart, not too sweet. It is a bit sweeter than Yogurt Lounge, but not in a bad way. For me, it's a bit too "icy" on the sorbet side, but it is our current favorite.

 

I went to Flavaful Yogurt to try the Durian flavor, and ended up coming back for the lychee, coconut, and plain.

Flavaful Yogurt/Avian Fresh Drinking Water
6937 Linda Vista Rd
San Diego, CA 92111

Thanks for having me check out Flavaful, JohnL!

A Friday meal and dessert (Phuong Trang and Big Joy Family Bakery)

mmm-yoso!!! is the food blog and Cathy is stepping in with a quick post.  Kirk and ed (from Yuma) are busy.

Hi again.  I went out to dinner just now and wanted to share.  Most of you know this parking lot.

A variety of businesses are in here.  Really.  In addition to the listed businesses,  there is a billiard place and a motorcycle place, Happy Family Bakery I think a Tae Kwon Do studio. 

Kirk pretty much considers Phuong Trang  MOR (middle of the road) Vietnamese It is good and where I bring friends who have never experienced Vietnamese food, for a first try.

So, we usually get three dishes when we eat out (one for each of us and 'one for the table'). tonight,

The calamari salad, which could be a meal in itself, was wonderful.  

The squid was poached perfectly and was soft and sweet.  The dressing was made with fish sauce, sesame oil which complimented the sesame seeds and chopped peanuts on top.  The fresh mint and papaya, along with the pickled carrots and turnip added great flavor and crunch to all of it.

The Mister ordered the broken rice with Tau Hu Ky(crispy tofu skin around ground shrimp) and a ground pork patty

The fried tofu skin was just right and the ground shrimp seasoned perfectly with ginger and some garlic and sweet rice wine.  The ground pork was grilled and juicy.  This was served with a salad of more pickled vegetables.

I got my usual, Bun with cha gio chay (fried spring roll made with tofu). 

The Bun (rice noodles) were sticky but had a nice flavor.  The salad underneath the noodles was made with  leaf lettuce, plenty of mint and lots of thin cucumber peels.

The cha gio chay wrapper was lightly crispy, properly fried and the filling was very nice with a touch of fish sauce flavor.  Salty, but not soy sauce salty...

This was served with the fish sauce, which is pretty mild here.

We also had hot tea and the total for this meal was ~$23<

Then we walked next door, to Big Joy Family Bakery .  Because it was Friday, I got my usual loaf of organic raisin bread.

The Mister got the red bean and fresh fruit (bananas, strawberries, kiwis), some canned mandarin oranges with French vanilla ice cream and ice bowl(topped with mini moochi and crushed peanuts). This is what it looked like halfway through.

...and a cup of drip coffee, which looks unusually large in this photo taken with my iPhone.

I got a custard filled croissant.  Buttery layers of dough, filled with a delightful creamy custard. 

All of the breads and pastries here are fresh made with quality ingredients. 

A nice night.

I hope you had a good one also.

Phuong Trang 4170 Convoy Street San Diego 92111 (858) 565-6750

Big Joy Family Bakery 4176 Convoy Street San Diego 92111 (858)627-0888

Las Vegas: Rincon Criollo and Luv It Frozen Custard

After dropping the Missus off in the morning, I took a 4 hour "stroll" around the strip. Things looked pretty much the same on the strip since my last visit. I had to laugh when I passed the Bellagio.......

 

The last time I was here with the Missus, She was attending a class as well. The venue for the class was Imperial Palace (ick), and while I had Steak Frites at Mon Ami Gabi for lunch, overlooking the Lake at the Bellagio, the Missus was served Baloney Sandwiches (true story) for lunch! I'm not quite sure if She was exaggerating, but the Missus told me the baloney had a green tinge to it..... Luckily, this time the venue was a bit better.

By the time I hit the Wynn, I was starting to get hungry, so I headed back to my car. I had one lunch in Vegas, and there were many choices. But I knew what was ruled out....

 

No cheap drinks.....

 

And no buffet.....

And in keeping with our eating "theme", nothing on the strip.....

I had more than a few choices to consider. Perhaps some Filipino Food? Salo Salo Grill had been recommended, and good ol' Elena's Restaurant had set up shop in Vegas as well. There was Yun Nan Garden for Yunnan and Sichuan. But I thought some Cuban food sounded good. Way back in the days "BB" (before blogging) 'Jorge' had recommended two Cuban Restaurants in Las Vegas. One of them was Havana Grill , but that was a bit more of a drive than I wanted. Which is how I found myself driving North on Las Vegas Boulevard, past the Little White Chapel, "Where Joan Collins and Michael Jordan were married!" (Not to each other I hope) And farther out, past the shadows of the Stratosphere. An drove into a parking lot with some pretty colorful art work:

 

I parked, and walked past the Reggae Lifestyle store....

 

And the "Adult Superstore"......

 

And to my destination......

Rincon Criollo Cuban Restaurant:

 

When I arrived, the place was starting to get busy, an older woman stood, and pointed me to a table in the corner. Most of the customers there had the rapport and body language that told me they were regulars. Most of the conversations were in Spanish......

 

The menu here is located under the plate glass covering each table.

 

Jorge had recommended a couple of dishes to me......the two version of Puerco Fritas came highly recommended, but that would have wiped me out for the rest of the day. We still had dinner plans for Lotus of Siam, so I decided on something other than pork.

As I was reading over the menu, some bread, toasted  in the "Plancha" (Cuban Sandwich Press) arrived.

 

I had decided on the Boliche Mechado ($9.99). Boliche is a Beef Roast (usually rump roast), stuffed with Chorizo sausages, simmered in a tomato based sauce. And when it arrived at the table, it looked just like photos I'd seen of the dish:

 

It's very hard to see in the photo above, but there are two chorizo sausages stuffed into the slices of beef roast. The beef was nice and moist, firm, but not tough. The sauce was quite nice, tangy, with a mild garlic flavor. My only complaint would be that it was served lukewarm. I'd have preferred it a bit hotter. It came with some plain, and very mild tasting black beans and rice. The chorizo added a bit more "zing" to the dish, but not much.

 

Of course it seemed like every other customer had ordered the Masas de Puerco Fritas (deep fried chunks of pork) or Chuletas de Puerco Fritas (pork chops), both of which looked wonderful. Talk about food envy. Still, this was a pretty good lunch.

Rincon Criollo
1145 South Las Vegas Blvd
Las Vegas, NV 89104

(702) 388-1906

Later that evening, the Missus wanted something "sweet" to freshen Her palate after dinner at Lotus of Siam. One of the really nice Servers recommended Luv It Frozen Custard, which is also located North of the strip, right off Las Vegas Boulevard. We arrived to a pretty crowded parking lot.

 

There are lots of locals that will give you advice here.....the gentleman in the photo told us he's been coming here for over 35 years...since 1973! When I first saw the sign saying "frozen custard", I warned the Missus. She is not a fan of "eggy" desserts. She ended up purchasing a combination Pina Colada/Raspberry cup.

 

This frozen custard was less "eggy" and lighter than the versions I tasted in Madison. The raspberry tended toward the sweeter side, and had almost an artificial flavor. The pina colada flavor was less sweet. We thought this was okay, but nothing we'd rush back for. In fact, for the rest of the evening, everytime I mentioned the place, the Missus would repeat, "it was ok.....but I didn't LUV IIIIIT!" 

Luv-It Frozen Custard
505 E Oakey Blvd
Las Vegas, NV 89104
(702) 384-6452

Tue-Thu. 1:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Fri-Sat. 1:00 p.m. - 11:00 p.m.

You should check them out if you're in the area....who knows....you just might LUV IIIIIT!"

Saturday Stuffs: Some revisits to Sab E Lee and Hogetsu Bakery, I finally get some fro-yo at Yogurt Lounge...

Some revisits to a few places on our rotation.

Sab E Lee:

Sab E Lee, has been a weekly stop(or more) for us since they opened last August. Just when I think I've got the menu covered, I notice something new. The latest item I noticed was "Thai Fried Chicken." On our visit to Bangkok last November, the Missus andI loved the "TFC" (Thai Fried Chicken) so we were excited to see it on the menu. Unfortunately, much like the Koi Soi there was a short wait while the chef tried to source the "right chicken" for the dish. Finally, last week, when I dropped by to pick-up atake-out order, Koby smiled and said, "Kirk, we're marinating chicken, so you can come by and get chicken from tomorrow." We finally made it back this evening. Being aware that Sab E Lee had been reviewed in the Reader, we dropped by early, at about 430pm. Three tables were already full, and by the time we placed our order, there was a line of folks out the door, and a waiting list of folks! Call it the "Reader effect," I askedKoby about all these folks, and he told me, "these are all new customers, I've never seen any of them before!" So just be prepared if you intend to drop by for some Pad See Ew!

I've basically stopped taking photos at Sab E Lee, but decided to take one of the chicken:

   

This version was very moist, if a bit short in the spicy and sweet flavors of Thai street cart chicken. I've though of trying uber Food-Blogger Chez Pim's recipe, which looks so good, that I'm afraid if I made it, I'd never stop eating....... 

Of course we had some of the usual suspects like the bamboo shoot salad.

 

Issan Sausage.

 

And one of the Missus's favorite things, Salted Fish Fried Rice (not pictured). By this time the little shop had gotten so crowded, that we felt bad about taking up space so we packed up our leftovers and headed home.

We're so happy for Koby and the gang......hard work, and making great food pays off!

Sab-E-Lee Restaurant
2405 Ulric St
San Diego, CA 92111

Hogetsu Bakery:

In need of some "Omiyage", I headed off to Hogetsu Bakery, one of my favorite spots. When we arrived, the little shop was quiet as it usually is. But by the time our orders were ready,the place was getting crowded........perhaps this is the Candice Woo effect? What I found slightly humorous was that a group of young folks were carrying cameras! he-he-he....... Personally, I think they need to lose the flash though.... As always, the Missus got Her dozen manju as well:

 

Being told by the lady that I've been coming here for about 10 years gave me pause, we've only been living in San Diego for almost 8 years. But she was right, I used to come here before heading home when I did consulting work in San Diego back in '99. Sharp memory......

 

 

  Whatever the reason, I'm glad to see this wonderful family owned business doing well.

Hogetsu Bakery
1210 3rd Ave
Chula Vista, CA 91911

And finally, I do a Fro-yo post!

Yes, I've given in.......I'm doing a Frozen Yogurt post. And being the typical totally oblivious, and unhip person, I think I'm what, maybe only 3-4 years too late? When the Missus wanted some frozen yogurt one day....well, I didn't have a clue. Lucky for us, Howie, the brains behind The Foodieview, did all the work for us already. Over the course of a week, we tried some of the top entries in Howie's "Yogurt War." And as usual Howie, and his intrepid, non-lactose intolerant group of yogurt testers were right on. Our favorite was:

     

Yogurt Lounge on Clairemont Mesa. To us the yogurt here was not too sweet, not too milky, and not super tart. Our favorite is a combination of the Green Coconut and Plain. Can't eat too much of it, since my lactose intolerance will kick in. But it does a nice job of clearing the palate after a spicy or rich meal. I still find fro-yo to be overpriced....it seems no matter how small the cup or bowl is, you'll end up spending four to five bucks.

Yogurt Lounge
7317 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92101

I hope everyone is having a great weekend!

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

Beard Papa - Plaza Bonita

What would I do without all of my FOYs(Friends of Yoso), the minute Beard Papa opens in San Diego, I get 3 emails letting me know! So thank you, thank you, EdL(a longtime FOY), Sam, and Ricki. Ever since, I first read about Beard Papa in a post by Reid, I've been fascinated by the phenomenon. Though unlike Kathy, I don't have much of a sweet tooth, which I think is my saving grace, we really didn't hunt Beard Papa down during our road trips to LA....well, I didn't need to. Before you knew it, a Beard Papa opened in the food court at Marukai Gardena. The Missus and I shared a single vanilla cream puff:

And in spite of my lack of a sweet tooth, it was quite good. The shell(Choux) was thin, light, and crisp, and filling was not too sweet, but still rich.

And that would be it, for the next time we went to Marukai Gardena, Beard Papa was gone, and a "post for a rainy day" went down the tubes. And even though I ran into Beard Papa in other places, like San Gabriel and in Costa Mesa, I never really had the urge to visit. I'm just surprised that I hadn't deleted these photos.

So being in the vicinity of National City recently, I dropped by Plaza Bonita, and headed to where I thought the most likely location of Beard Papa would be. And there was no Food Court...at least where I thought it would be! It had been a few years since I'd been here, and the entire food court had been moved. They sure are trying to pretty the place up.

The set-up looked kind of haphazard, but there it was the signature Beard Papa yellow. The prices, were $2.50 a cream puff, a bit more expensive than I remembered. I did purchase 6 cream puffs($10.50 for 6), 3 vanilla, and 3 of the other flavor of the day, chocolate.

When I arrived home, I opened my little yellow box, and checked out the cream puffs all snuggled in.

I had one vanilla, and noticed something; either my tastes have changed, or the filling is a bit sweeter than I recalled. It was not quite as rich as well.

It was also a bit more "lumpy" than I remembered. The shell had not traveled well, it was soggy, and the bottom hard like a pie crust.

The chocolate was too sweet for my taste.

Though I found the shape of this cream puff to be a bit amusing.

 

I'm not quite sure if it was just grand opening inconsistencies, or if Beard Papa has lowered the quality control standards, but these were not as good as I remembered.

EdL mentioned in his email, the interesting choice of locations for the first Beard Papa in San Diego. EdL thought, like I did, that Beard Papa would open up somewhere around the Kearny Mesa/Clairemont area. But at least you can now get your Beard Papa fix locally if you need it.

Beard Papa, in the Plaza Bonita Food Court
3030 Plaza Bonita Rd
National City, CA 91950 

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

Red Berry-Frozen Yogurt on Convoy Street

Cathy is blogging for mmm-yoso today.  Kirk is probably still at work.  Ed is, you know, in Yuma. It's a short one.

Frozen yogurt.  It is everywhere.  Sold by the ounce. With and without toppings.  Sometimes sold by the cup.  Crazy flavors.  Cool interiors of stores. Crowds of people.

Eh, I don't crave sweets, you know this.  But I have tried quite a few of these places.  They are almost outnumbering Boba places.  But I haven't seen any with free wi-fi.  I do eat yogurt, the 79¢ cream top incarnation from Trader Joe's and the Cream Top from Brown Cow when it is on sale.

I have gone to the very busy new Frozen Yogurt place next to Tapioca Express and Tofu House on Convoy street. Once.  They sell it by the ounce there.  I got one swirl of peach and one swirl of plain.  No toppings.  It cost $1.64.  It was good, it was frozen yogurt, I remember Heidi's Frogen Yozurt.  It was a trend in the 70's and 80's.  Meh.  I have no cravings.

Here is the latest incarnation: Red Berry.

It is in the mall with Nijiya Market, Shanghai City, some other places, and Curry House.  You know where.

If you enlarge the photo you can see the signs on the door-free samples! Whoo hoo! We were there.

The interior is kind of really neat- cool tables, cool chairs, really cool lighting and a neat effect on the stainless steel walls.

Here is a peek at the menu.  $3 for a small (plain) yogurt, $4 for a small with toppings- as much as you want- you can top it one time only-  The topping bar was pretty extensive- lots of fresh fruits and some dry stuff ( I did not see Mochi, but did not look for long).*** I was just informed that there are indeed mochi available as a topping, but they look like marshmallows and are easily passed over***

We sampled the blueberry (nice, smooth and tart and richly flavored), the green tea (not much tea flavor- tasted almost like the plain - and did not try the strawberry or mango and ordered a small cup 1/2 peach and 1/2 plain.  $3.

Pretty darn large.  (that is The Mister's big ole' hand holding the cup). Pretty darn good-plain was nice and tart and the peach had a real/not artificial sweet peach flavor- slightly tart.  I liked that it was more creamy and not 'gritty' as some frozen yogurt I have tried.  Enough for the two of us to share before we walked into Nijiya.

Oddly, there was no tip jar.  We asked.  Nice young man working there.  He chatted with us.  The one time I wish there was a tip jar.

Red Berry, Inc. Frozen Yogurt 3860 Convoy Street, #106 San Diego 92111 (858)571-7947

There is another location in Newbury Park. It's a chain!

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!