mmm-yoso!!!

Emilia - Romagna: Breakfast in Ravenna and Returning to Bologna

Our visit to Ravenna had exceeded our expectations. I'm glad we had stayed the night; we enjoyed our dinner, and the relaxed, pleasant vibe of the city. We really enjoyed our suite at the Casa Masoli. It was so comfortable and spacious and took us back in time and waking up to this in the morning sure does make a statement!

Breakfast was included in our night's stay, so we packed and headed down to the quaint dining area.

Breakfast was basic but quite satisfying.

After breakfast; we freshened up a bit, stored our bags....our train back to Bologna wasn't until 1230, and decided to take one more walk around Ravenna.

It seems like many cities in Italy have their own "leaning tower". Ravenna is no exception. This is the Torre Comunale (Torre Civica) which leans slightly to the west.

As we made our way back to Casa Masoli, we walked thru what is considered Ravenna's Main Square; Piazza del Popolo. Things were quite lively as there seemed to be some kind of bicycle event for families. Folks smiled and waved at us, folks congregated and chatted, what I'm assuming is a Girl Scout Troop marched thru the square as older folks caught up on the latest news (and gossip). It made for a wonderful scene.

We grabbed our bags; thanked the woman who runs things, we'd had a lovely stay. Great sights, good food, wonderful people, what more could one ask?

The train ride back to Bologna was a quick 90 minutes and change. We walked to our apartment, dropped our bags and headed on out.

This being a Sunday, Bologna was buzzing. The streets full of students, visitors, and locals enjoying their Sunday. It seemed like everyone was out and about on this beautiful day.

Of course every visitor just "needed" that selfie of Asinelli Tower.

It was fun just wandering the streets and alleyways people and pooch watching.

We passed the Chiesa de San Martino.

And somehow found ourselves at Palazzo della Mercanzia.

This has been Bologna's center of trade and commerce since the 14th century!

And guess what? There was some "trade" happening on this day as well as right down the street on Piazza Santo Stefano, the monthly Antiques Market was happening.

It was fun browsing thru the different stands. Though our favorite by far was a particular used book seller...… whose "assistant" was hard at work!

All this walking and browsing made me want a snack.

So we headed off to the Quadrilatero and back to Af Tamburini. Which was quite busy as usual.

We just got a cheese sandwich and headed off to eat it at my favorite spot; on the stairs of San Petronio Basilica, where we could watch Bologna pass us by.

We love sitting on the stairs and just people watch.

Soon enough it was time to head back to the apartment for a nice nap.

This would be our last evening of this vacation and I had made a reservation at a well regarded restaurant for dinner.

You know, I hadn't read much about Emilia-Romagna over the years. A colleague of mine had mentioned his daughter going on an exchange program to Bologna, which is when, beyond all the food stuff, I started learning about the region.

From the warm and friendly people, the amazing food and ingredients (how can you beat Balsamic Vinegar, Parmesano Reggiano, Prosciutto de Parma, and of course culatello), to the history, I wonder why more people don't travel to this region.

Budapest - Getting There and Exploring Lipótváros (Leopold Town)

***** Sorry, not much food in this one. But, if you'd like to see some photos and stories on Budapest....

Four months seemed like an excruciating wait for the Missus. After going "back home" for a few days in January, She had to wait four months for our next vacation. But I thought this one was going to be worth it. It entailed starting in a city that the Missus always wanted to visit, Budapest, and ending in what has become (along with Japan) almost like our home away form home if you will.

The travel time was going to be rather long, though the meals on the San Diego to LHR leg was not bad at all.

And while the Galleries Lounge in Terminal 3 at Heathrow was rather small and seemingly a bit worn, it was quiet, and relaxing.

And so it was; an almost eleven hour flight from San Diego to Heathrow, a five hour lay-over in LHR, followed by an almost three hour flight to Budapest. In the end we'd had three square meals in an airplane.

We felt blessed to be able to travel in Business Class.

We arrived in Budapest after midnight, though getting thru customs and immigration, then working a system of getting a cab at the booth, you go to the cab booth, tell the person your destination, you are handed a ticket with a number. This number coincides with the cab number. You'll see the number on the visor of the taxi. Since we pack light and never check luggage going, we actually got to our hotel, the Budapest Marriott around 130 am. There's a reason I picked the Marriott; while the façade looks like something left over from the cold war, the view when I opened the shades in the morning looked like this.

That's the Royal Palace perched on top of Palace Hill, on the Buda side of the Danube. Man was it beautiful!

Since the sun rose early and set at around 830pm, we'd be able to get in a good amount of exploring. There were two things we noticed right away as we walked along the Danube. There were benches everywhere....along with statues and monuments...too many to count. Like this one; simply called "A girl with her dog".

The day had started overcast and it started drizzling a bit, well, more like an irritating mistiness as we got to the Parliament Building.

And yes, that's another statue, of Attila József a 20th century poet, who is much beloved in his home town of Budapest. In fact, his birthday is celebrated as National Poetry Day in Hungary. Sadly, József's life would be a rather short one. He was run over by a train on December 3rd, 1937....whether a suicide or a terrible accident is up for debate. Regardless, he died at the age of 32. His statue sits on the stairs right before the parliament building, looking at the Danube.

We headed down the stairs and headed south along the Danube, to this somber monument of 60 1940's style iron shoes at the banks of the river.

This is the monument called "Shoes on the Danube Bank". This memorial remembers the hundreds of Jews killed by the militia of the Arrow Cross Party. Many were murdered along the Danube and were forced to remove their shoes and even strip naked before being shot.

From the rocks and pebbles placed in and around the shoes; something that is often done on graves; to the flowers, candles, and other items.....on a later visit we saw a woman who looked like was in perhaps her late 80's place flowers here, walking arm in arm with what I can only assume were relatives.

It was quite moving.....

More on the Shoes on the Danube here and here.

We then crossed back and took in the impressive Parliament Building.

As we took a walk around the building there were...well, monuments galore. Like this one of István Tisza.

On the grand statue of Ferenc Rákóczi, who led Hungarians in an uprising (unsuccessful) against the Habsburgs.

Across from the Parliament are two other grand looking buildings; the Museum of Ethnography.

And the Ministry of Agriculture.

We crossed the street to check something out at the end of the building.

These black "plugs" are actually bullet hole markers that memorialize the victims of "Bloody Thursday" a moment at the beginning of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. On October 25th, 1956, a large group of peaceful protesters gathered in front of the Parliament Building. For whatever reason, the Államvédelmi Hatóság (AVH - the Communist Police) opened fire and scores were killed.

Yes, the views are beautiful, the buildings grand.....

But if those structures could talk...…..

Thanks for stopping by!

Revisits - Kangxi is Coming and Spicy Hut

Man, seems like we've hit summer overnight. It was pretty warm today....so why not turn up the heat a bit more with these revisits.

Kangxi is Coming:

My first couple of visits was a mixed bag; so I waited a while before returning. Calvin and Daniel from Georgia decided to join me. Looking over the menu, which had changed a bit from our previous visits, we noticed a couple of items that we enjoyed when this place was Village North.

Since the kitchen staff is supposedly the same a VN, we started with the Black Pepper Beef which we had enjoyed at Village North.

There was basically no spice to this and the beef was too tough. It didn't have the toothsome, but velvety texture of previous versions we'd had here.

I ordered the La Zhi Ji, the classic chicken with chilies dish. The portion size was quite large.

First off; there wasn't enough chilies and this wasn't spicy enough. Secondly, barely any Sichuan peppercorns, so the "ma-la" effect wasn't there. This was really salty and the batter for the chicken was too thick.

 Bummer.....

Finally, we noticed one of our favorite dishes from Village North; the Fried Shrimp with Chilies.

This was strike three.....the shrimp were over-cooked; the shells weren't crisp; all that other "stuff" didn't add anything to the dish and again, barely nay Sichuan peppercorns.

Now, I really like one of the ladies who works here. She remembers me from my visits when this place was VN. But that isn't enough to keep me coming back if the food is as mediocre as it was on this visit. It feels like Kanxi is Gone.....

Kangxi Is Coming
4428 Convoy St.
San Diego, CA 92111

Spicy Hut:

One of our co-workers; "SJP" has gotten a promotion and will soon be changing departments. "YZ" and I wanted to take her to lunch to celebrate. We asked her what she wanted and she said "Spicy Hut"! Now "SJP" had never had Sichuan food until she had lunch with us a few months back. So we were pleasantly surprise at her choice.

SJPs favorite dish at Spicy Hut is the La Zhi Ji. Chef Hu, seeing both "YZ" and myself, told us he'd be making this personally.

Which meant that there was good amount of numbing, floral Sichuan peppercorn, and decent spice. While not on the same level as Ba Ren, the chicken was nice and crunchy, with a good amount of "ma-la".

The Shui Zhu Yu (the classic "Water Boiled Fish" dish) was better than on previous visits.

A darker, deeper, red meant there was enough spice in this. It's still a bit short in the "ma-la" department, but it's definitely spicy enough. The fish was nicely prepared, very tender, succulent, basically almost melting in your mouth. Still, this dish could be even better, with more complexity....more chili bean paste, hints of ginger and garlic, etc. Still, not bad at all.

Finally something to balance things out; the Guo Ba, the sizzling sound of the crispy rice as the sauce is poured over it is supposed to be "good luck"; so it was an appropriate dish.

The "gravy" was a bit more gloppy than usual; though it might not really matter as the textures change with every bite. It was a bit heavy handed in terms of white pepper and salty. The fish was also not poached as well as it was in the Shui Zhu Yu.

Still, Chef Hu's strength is fish and chicken, so our dishes turned out to be as good as expected. No, it's not Ba Ren, but I enjoy the food here more than Chef Hu's other restaurants - Fu An Garden and Spicy King. And for once I didn't order the Ko Shui Ji ("mouthwatering chicken").

I'll be sure to get that next time.

Spicy Hut
9460 Mira Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92126

Road Trip - Tasty Noodle House (San Gabriel) Revisited

Before our trip, I had to head back to the SGV for an appointment. This was going to be a solo trip. The decent Baozi we'd had at Northern Cuisine had me wondering if my favorite Tianjin Baozi from the Tasty Noodle House in San Gabriel was still as good. Be aware, not all Tasty Noodle Houses are created equal. My appointment was done by 1030, which gave me more than enough time to head over to this tiny restaurant tucked into a corner of a strip mall on West Las Tunas Drive.

The configuration of the place has remained the same; though the color is now more neutral.

The woman working was very nice....I was here for only one thing, but felt that I needed to try something else as well. So, I ordered something called "Chinese Watercress" on the menu. I really did expect Xi Yang Cai....but got this.

Holy smokes, a plate of stir fried Culantro (Ngo Gai in Vietnamese). I can truly say that I'd never seen this much cilantro on a plate before. Sadly, this was greasy and not seasoned well, it was really salty, with not enough garlic.

And then, my Tianjin Baozi ("Pan Fried Pork Buns" on the menu) arrived.

These were quite good; the baozi were crisp on the bottom, the tops light, fluffy, and springy. The yeastiness of the baozi wafted up into the air.

The filling had a nice balance of porkiness, sesame oil, and a light ginger flavor. It's moist and smooth, though not overly light.

It's not quite Guo Bu Li Baozi ("stuffed buns that even dogs would not eat" - a specialty of Tianjin), but whatever....it's still a favorite of mine.

It's great to know that even though it's been five years since my last visit this place still delivered.

Tasty Noodle House
827 W Las Tunas Dr
San Gabriel, CA 91776

And yes, Golden Deli in the same strip mall still has crazy lines.....

Though to be perfectly honest....I'll take this.....

Sunday Sandwiches - Barrio Donas (Best Donuts Bakery & Deli Rebooted)

Man, it seems like I've been going pretty much non-stop since getting back from our trip. Today is my first day off and after like twelve hours of sleep last night, a nice lunch (road trip style), and a afternoon nap, I'm finally starting to feel somewhat in-synch. There really hasn't been much eating out since we got back, but here's a place I stopped at a couple of times in the last week.

We got in late Saturday evening and I had to go in for a few hours on Sunday. I got up, got dressed and headed off to work, but was kind of hungry. I recalled seeing that Best Donuts had been going thru a facelift before we left on our vacation so decided to see if they had reopened. And they had; so I stopped and walked in.

Man, they've really done quite the job on the place.

Best Donuts had reshuffled the lay-out several times during my visits over the years. I don't think they'll be moving stuff around much after this renovation.

I recognized the young lady working the register, who told me that the ownership of the shop remains the same. One thing that has changed are the prices, the breakfast tortas are now in the $5.50 - $7.50 range and the regular tortas will run you from $8.50 - $9.50. Wow, I remember getting the A la Mexicana here for $4.99 on my last visit. Well, someone has to help pay for the freshinging up, right?

Instead of ordering my usual, the A la Mexicana; I went with the La Nortena ($6.50).

The bread was still nice and warm when I got to the office. It had held up well for the 15 minute drive. It was quite yeasty and just as good as ever. I had never been a fan of the machaca here; but this time it was beefy, moist, and rather tender. The sauce had a mild spice and smokiness to it and was delicious with the eggs. The pickled jalapenos added a nice zip; though I think using something like queso asadero or cotija would improve the sandwich. The mozzarella used is gooey, but in this framework you can't really taste the cheese.

Still, it seemed that the sandwiches here had taken a step up. So, I decided to drop by on my way to work a few days later. Which is when I found out the place doesn't open at 5-530 am anymore. Rather they open at 6 during the week. Luckily, the nice young lady quickly turned on the "Open" sign when she saw me....it was 558 am.

This time, I went with my usual at Best Donuts, the A la Mexicana ($6.50).

The bread was as before; warm, yeasty, and quite good. Not quite as much eggs or beans as I recall, but with the jalapenos and salsa, this is my kind of breakfast. In this case, the light milkiness of the cheese comes thru. Would have liked a bigger smear of beans though.

On one of my days back, I had meetings thru lunch. Barrio Donas starts serving their tortas at 10am, which meant I could stop by in between meetings to grab a torta. Man, they were pretty busy at 10, with a line and several customers waiting.

I went with the Chilanga ($9.50).

When I opened my sandwich back at the office; I was pleasantly surprised to see that the sandwich had been nicely pressed. Based on the melted cheese in the breakfast sandwiches; I figure that they do some kind of heating, but this really add a pleasant crustiness to the sandwich.

I really enjoyed the beans, chorizo, onions, jalapenos, and tomatoes, all of which added layers of savory, pungent, tangy, and piquant tones. There was a thin slice of ham....more protein I guess. The milanesa, pounded breaded beef was on the tough side for my taste.

Not bad, though I'm not sure it's worth almost ten bucks.

I think I'll stick with the breakfast offerings, which are quite satisfying. It's nice to see an old favorite rebooted and doing so well. The young lady who works mornings here is so friendly as well.

Barrio Donas
4714 Clairemont Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92117
Hours
Mon - Sat 6am - 9pm
Sunday    7am - 6pm

 

Little Italy Bar & Grill (Scripps Ranch)

Here you are, reading mmm-yoso!!!, a food blog.  Kirk had been on vacation for two weeks, got home, posted a few things and the time zone change hit.  Cathy is writing today's post. 

The Mister and I were driving around, aimlessly, looking for someplace 'new' to us, as we tend to do.  This storefront, in a strip mall next to the Vons in Scripps Ranch, had been a French Restaurant, open only in evenings.  In 2016, it became an Italian Restaurant- open for breakfast on weekends as well as lunch and dinner daily. We decided to stop.    We were asked if we wanted the Breakfast or the Lunch menu- and took one of each.  (Thumbnails at bottom of the post).  
 There are various tables and seating areas, including an outdoor patio.
 The signage out front indicated "All Starters 1/2 off Sat-Sun open-5".  The Burrata starter (regular $15.95, so $7.97) was ordered.  Wow.  What a quality cheese, creamy and so very fresh.  Topped with some crushed black pepper, it was served on top of sliced Roma tomato, a good slice of prosciutto de parma and large pieces of basil.  Olive oil and balsamic decorated the side of the plate.  If I were alone, I'd order this (and at 1/2 price, two) as my meal.  
We decided to share one entree and had a choice of soup or salad.  The soup of the day wasn't one we liked, so we asked for the side salad (dressing already mixed in; house Italian was what we chose), a refreshing choice.
 Chicken Parmesan ($14.95) was ordered (lunch menu) and, as with proper Italian entrees, the plate came with sides of steamed vegetables and pasta topped with the house made marinara.  Fresh, flavorful sides.  The chicken, pounded thin, breaded and (properly) fried was moist and juicy, crispy and light, parmesan flavors and topped with more fresh marinara and Mozzarella.  Great.
 At the top of the Lunch menu is a "Bambino" (10 inch) pizza with one item ($10.95).  We thought we should try it, choosing artichoke.    Not too thin of a crust, wood fired and lightly charred.  A light amount of marinara, plenty of cheese as well as artichoke.  We took home leftovers and had a light dinner.

Another quality neighborhood restaurant.  A great find.  

Little Italy Bar & Grill 10006 Scripps Ranch Blvd (between Red Rock Drive and Aviary Drive) San Diego 92131 (858) 368-4688 Open Mon-Wed 11-9, Th-Fri-11-10, Sat 9-10. Sun 9-9 Website

Ban Lao Cuisine Revisited

My recent revisit to Mekong Cuisine had me wondering how Ban Lao was doing. It had been nearly a year since my last visit, so on that very next weekend, I decided to head on up to City Heights and check things out.

Ban Lao opens at 10am on weekends, so the severe parking shortage in the lot isn't quite as bad. I arrived right after they opened and was seated by the friendly and talkative women working.

Of course I had to decide what to eat. It was fairly warm that weekend so I went with the Nem Khao. The last time I ordered the Nem Khao here I thought the portion provided was on the smaller side. This time though.....

It was twice the size of what I'd previously had here! This was a rather rustic version; large chunks of pleasingly sour sausage; thicker slices of pork skin. It was a very pleasing in terms of savory-sour tones; though the rice that had been on the outside of the ball when fried was more chewy than crisp. Lots of lettuce and herbs provided, allowing for a nice combination of various flavors; from the mild anise to sour to salty, and so forth.

I also went with what was one of my favorite items here - the Sien Savanh, the Beef Jerky.

The version here is not totally dry and hard; rather it is crisp on the exterior and chewy and on the softer side on the interior. The umami of the fish sauce really set things off and the chilies and sweetness in the dipping sauce added another dimension to things.

I enjoyed my meal so I returned the next weekend. Things had cooled off a bit.....we're having such crazy weather this year. Which made for a good opportunity to try the Khal Piak (Khal Peak).

Man, this was a huge bowl of soup. The broth was not quite as thick as the version at Mekong, but it was just as scaldingly hot! It was more salty than that version, along with being more peppery. The noodles in this case had been cut into short pieces, but had a nice chew. The broth had a touch more complexity than the version at Mekong. A couple of standard issue, "squeaky" meatballs completed the soup.

It did "hit the spot" and I left with full, warm belly. Nice to know that Ban Lao is still making decent Lao food.

Ban Lao Cuisine
4126 University Ave
San Diego, CA 92105
Hours:
Mon - Fri 1030am - 930pm
Sat - Sun 10am - 930pm

Where in the world were we?

Whew; just got back to San Diego last night and it was immediately back to work. For just a short while though.

It was quite a whirlwind of a trip; 6 cities in what was basically fourteen days. Still, it was invigorating.

So, while I regroup; here's a rundown of places...….I'm sure you'll be able to figure them out.

We got into our first stop at around 1am in the morning; but that didn't stop us from fully enjoying this beautiful city that was claimed to have been established when a mythical bird dropped a sword establishing what is now this city.

There was so much to see in this wonderful city, one of the most populous in the EU.

The city itself was once actually three separate towns that we unified in the late 19th century.

Once the co-capital of a huge empire in Europe, you can really take in the grandness.

From its huge market hall and beautiful bridges, the city especially dazzles at night. Since it straddles a river, you are able to take in the views, from both the water, and from the hills.

Our second stop was on the map specifically because the Missus wanted to see one work of art.

With wonderful palaces and cafes, we managed to make the most of our time in spite of the rain and the wind.

Our next stop was just for one night; but we made the most of our time in this city of fantastic architecture, which is mostly known in the US for being the setting for a classic musical and birthplace of a famous composer.

We actually spent a night in a seminary.....

Our next stop was a bit of a surprise to us.

We loved the people; who were very nice, friendly, and quite kind. They seemed a bit serious at first, but really know how to have a good time.

The town hall is an amazing site.

And we saw a victory rally for the "football" team which won the national championship....it was orderly, safe, clean, and while beer flowed everywhere, and we ran into no knuckleheads.

We also had one of the best meals ever in this city!

And we really enjoyed the museum district; especially the Egyptian Museum.

You could say we weren't, ahem, any "wurst for wear"....

To avoid a very long train trip; the Missus doesn't want anything over 3-4 hours, we spent a night in a lovely, very laid back city; with a wonderful central square.

The hotel we stayed at was fantastic and we managed to catch up on some shopping as well.

And our final stop needs no introduction if you've been reading our blog for a while. It's the Missus's favorite city.

A month before our trip a tragedy occurred here...one of the symbols of the city caught on fire. And while one of the spires and the roof was destroyed, much more was saved.

Here's hoping that once the restoration is done; it will be better than ever.

And we basically did what we always do here; schedule ourselves for one major place to visit.

And spend the rest wandering this wonderful city.....

In fact, while we did a good deal of walking during the trip (usually 8-12 miles a day), we actually did over 14 miles during one of our days here! Whew!!!

And of course we did our share of eating.

From traditional dishes of the places we visited.

To more modern cuisine.

To what was in season.....

Some items to add variety.....

And of course some fine dining choices as well.

We did our share of eating and drinking as well.

I know there's still a bunch of catching up to on posts from other trips to do. I need to be more "on the ball".

So let me regroup and start catching up on things.

Thanks for stopping by!