mmm-yoso!!!

A Taste of "Home" for Sunday Lunch

I'm kinda surprised at how busy I can be on a typical weekend morning.

For example; today, after waking Frankie, taking him for a short walk:

1 - Make food for Frankie and his Cousin Auggie - basically 9 pounds of simmered chicken thighs, carrots, sweet potato, and quinoa (yes, F is a hipster I guess). Freeze. Enough for about two weeks.

2 - Meanwhile; finish off making duck confit in the oven. (I made the duck fat yesterday and cured the duck overnight) We've got a heat wave coming this week; so I'm not going to want to have that oven on.

3 - Go grocery shopping

4 - The Missus requested Niku Tofu; so I made that

5 - Make a batch of Ume Dressing

6 - Put together the Missus's salad for Her lunch tomorrow

7 - Put duck into storage pan and wait to cool - this'll keep for months

8 - Clean

Whew; it ain't even eleven yet and I'm bushed.

I really wanted some comfort food......so I made this for lunch.

I'd been missing "home"....the untold toll of Covid-19 is the mental side of things.....no normalcy, we're not able to do many things that were part of our usual way of life. I think not being able to travel has been especially taxing, beyond all the days of work, inability to head out for dinner, the social distancing, the exhausting politicization of the pandemic.

I didn't really expect this to be good....it was an impulse buy when I went to pick-up poke for the Missus at Hawaiian Fresh Seafood Fish Market...but seeing the Chili Pepper Water...I just had to get that.....and so why not grab the laulau and kalua pork?

And it did the trick....especially the fragrance of the luau (taro) leaves.....just the aroma takes me home and back to when, still in high school, I was working (full time by the age of 16). My manager, took me under her wing, and sort of adopted me, they were part of a large family....in fact, my Mom knew the family; the Kukahiko's from growing up in Honolua! Carol would take me to family gatherings in Waianae....introducing me as her "Japanese son". She was quite a character.....all her nieces and nephews called her "Auntie Tita". Food was the best part of these gatherings; at least for me, and they had one of these huge, round metal, steamer things that looked like a buoy. All full of bombucha home made laulau....the best I've ever had. I could put away five jumbo laulau! A little 112 pound Japanese kid!

So, while there was no salted fish in the lau lau, but there was a nugget of fatty pork - in this case pork belly. It was fine...….just the aroma was worth the price, as was the condiment of choice.

And soon after, I was ready to join Frankie as the "Kanak Attack" settled in......

The power of food and our memories of it...…..

We hope that in spite of these challenging times, that you are safe and in good health!

Takeout From Golden Island

Back in May, I noticed that Fung Fung Yuen had apparently changed ownership and was now something called Golden Island. Couple of weeks later, I did a online search and noticed that Golden Island took online orders. But oh my, the sticker shock....Har Gow at $6.19? Though I have to say that I recently did takeout from Jasmine; which is only about 20 cents cheaper. I went ahead and placed my takeout order online; it was accepted and I was given a time for pick-up.

I arrived precisely at my designated time and the very nice gentleman whom I believe is the manager greeted me. There was a makeshift able set-up for to-go orders....unfortunately, I had to wait an additional 20 minutes for my order...good thing I didn't have any meetings planned.

I had ordered three items; Har Gow ($6.19), Shrimp Siu Mai ($6.19), and because I thought the Missus would appreciate it; the half Roast Duck ($15.99).

The siu mai were of good size; the shrimp filling a bit on the tough side instead of a nice firmness; but the shrimp had a decent slightly sweet-savory-briny flavor....while mild; it wasn't bad at all.

The Har Gow was terrible.

First off, the wrappers were too thick and brittle. Two of the dumplings were already torn open when I opened up the container. Secondly; the shrimp were dry, tough, with some gritty bits and there was a definite muddiness to it as well.

I also got the Roast Duck.

Which wasn't too bad. I think you can tell that the skin is not quite as laquered and crisp as I enjoy. Also, if you look closely; there some feather remnants on a couple of pieces. The meat was quite tender and moist and the flavoring, while on the mild side wasn't in the same class as.....say.....Noble Chef. I took most of it home and prepped it using my toaster oven hack; but the Missus was unimpressed.

I had indended on returning, but kinda forgot about the place until "RD" mentioned (mainly about the prices) in the comments of my TJ Dumplings post. So, I decided it was time for a revisit. I again placed an order online and the same really nice guy; I think his name is Michael (??) greeted me. It seems that things were getting straightened out as I waited less than five minutes for my order this time around.

This time I got the Pork Siu Mai ($5.39), Ginger-Scallion Tripe ($5.39), and seeing Salt and Pepper Chicken Wings ($10.99) on the menu, I had to get that as well.

The tripe wasn't braised long enough and was really hard....not crunchy, but hard.

The flavoring was quite mild as well; very light hints of ginger and there's usually a mild chicken flavor to this dish as it's usually braised in chicken stock.....but that was quite mild as well.

I did not enjoy the Pork Siu Mai.

The pork was really, really hard and too chewy. There were some rather large pieces of celery in the filling, The shrimp was over-cooked and had that same muddy flavor to it...similar to the shrimp in the Har Gow I had on the previous visit.

The Salt and Pepper Chicken Wings could have been fried a bit more as it was on the mushy-greasy side.

It could have used more seasoning and I think the oil used was a bit old as there were hints of rancid oil in some of my bites. Wings had some black spotting on bones; so perhaps it had been in the freezer for a while?

Not a great meal.....

And in most cases; I would have left things at that. But the gentleman working had been really nice and I wanted to see if Golden Island could really pull off a Shrimp Siu Mai that was worth over six bucks. Plus, there was one more item on the menu that I wanted to try.

So, a week or so later I placed another online order. By this time outdoor dining was picking up and Golden Island had some al fresco tables ready for customers, along with taped marks for social distancing and lining up....which seemed a bit too close to tables if you ask me. Not that it mattered on this day since no one was eating at the time.

On this visit the timing was perfect as my order was ready to go just as I arrived.

I had ordered the Shrimp Siu Mai again, the Bean Curd Roll with Abalone Sauce ($5.39), and seeing Imperial (Empress) Chicken on the menu (aka Kwai Fei Ji) I decided to order that ($14.99).

While the prep job on the shrimp in the siu mai wasn't quite as good this time around; there some overly large chunks, the siu mai was steamed nicely as the shrimp was tender and moist, the wrapper had a bit of stretch to it and the oceany-sweetness of the shrimp could be made out.

The Bean Curd Rolls on the other hand wasn't very good.

The bean curd skin was strangely unevenly cooked; some spots mushy and falling apart; other parts too hard and brittle. The fillings had a nice crunch, but lacked flavor. The sauce was oh so bland and gloppy. I brought two of them home. After heating the Missus took one bite and told me to eat the rest.

So, how was the Kwai Fei Chicken?

I was so pleasantly surprised by this. While the skin of the chicken was a bit on the chewy side; the meat itself was tender. The chicken had been steeped/simmered nicely and just the chicken alone had good flavor, a hint of anise, a bit of a winey-ness, nice savory tones. And the best surprise was the sauce....take a look at it; full of scallion and ginger, not overly full of oil, it was perfect. Mild pungency, a hint sesame oil...….man, this was better than what my old standby, Golden City makes.

I'm glad I did that third visit. Things ended on a high note for me. Aaaaand, I have new place for Kwai Fei Chicken. Though I'm still not sold on paying Sea Harbour prices for routine Dim Sum.

For another view on things; check out Soo's post on Golden Island.

Golden Island
10660 Camino Ruiz
San Diego, CA 92126
858-578-8800
Current Hours:
Mon - Fri 10am - 9pm
Sat - Sun 930am - 9pm

Monday Meanderings - A Requiem for Tiger! Tiger!

Last week Thursday, I got a text from my good "FOY" Candice....it's always great to hear from her....but this time she was the bearer of bad news. She knows how much the Missus and I enjoy Tiger! Tiger! She knew that the Missus and I loved "TT" and we were actually "stalking" the place...…..we'd drive by to see if they had reopened, only to have our hopes dashed when we saw that they were still closed.

She wanted to make sure to let me know that Tiger Tiger would not be reopening; before I read the news...….that's what good friends do. And based on the emails I've gotten (thanks KarenM/Bob/ST) once the story broke in Eater (please read the Eater post), I guess a lot of folks were going to miss the place too.

As much as I was sad that Toronado closed; I kinda saw that one coming. This one however, really kinda sucks as you probably can tell by all my posts on the place. I'm surprised by how many of those posts has "back to the routine" in it. And of course the place is inextricably tied to Sammy.

I think this says quite a bit.

We're sad to see you go Tiger! Tiger!; you were an big part of our rotation in San Diego. I wish we had a chance to thank the folks for all the wonderful meals and beer we've had there over the years.

I actually made a special trip to take that first photo above on Saturday to pay my respects.

3025 El Cajon Blvd
San Diego, CA 92104 

Just when I thought that 2020 couldn't get any worse...……….

Sunday Sandwiches - Tadian Cafe

I noticed this little shop on my way to Hawaiian Fresh Seafood a couple of weeks back. There used to be a little sandwich shop named Café Seven; that I visited last year, but never returned. 

It was now named Tadian Café....interesting name. I wondered if the owners were Filipino....you see; back in Hawaii, I used to work with a fellow whose family was from the Province in the Phillipines bearing that name......we used to joke about a specific mountain in that province that had quite an "interesting" name.

After looking thru the online menu; I noticed things like smoothies, Teriyaki Plates, Broken Rice, among the sandwiches....there was a distinct fusion aspect to the menu......which, while particularly not enticing to me, made me a bit curious about the place.

So, I placed an online order and headed over to the Tadian Café. My order was ready and on the counter when I arrived....I was in and out in less than 2 minutes. The young lady prepping food was very pleasant and quite sweet.

And I headed back with my Chinese Sausage Sandwich ($7.99), which nicely priced. There are options for sandwiches online....I basically just wanted my bread toasted.

I quickly read the label on my bag which said "Tadian - Vietnamese Cuisine and Sandwiches"....which cleared up some of what I had in mi Cabeza....

This was a decent sandwich for the price and my favorite of the three that I've had from Tadian. The standard issue "French Roll" was somewhat airy; if a bit too dense to consider a banh mi. The lup cheong had been toasted and had what a pleasant chew to it....it might be a bit too tough for some; but I especially enjoyed this with the creamy avocado......lup cheong and avocado, who knew? The pickled jalapenos, you know, the type you buy at the Mexican market in a can, added acidity, a mild spice, and helped bring things together. Lettuce, tomato, onion, rounded out the sandwich, with the mayo adding richness, but being otherise unobtrusive.

Not a bad sandwich at all.

While taking a quick peek at the photo menu behind the counter, I noticed an interesting sandwich; which I don't recall seeing anywhere before - a Thai Roast Beef ($8.50). So, the next time I had a chance, I ordered one, adding sprouts (50 cents) and thinking it might need some heat, jalapenos.

This time my sandwich was waiting for me on the shelf right inside the shop.

I'm glad I got the jalapenos as even though this was a fairly hefty sandwich; this really didn't impress me in terms of "Thai" flavors....yes, there was some sweet and savory-salty flavors; but it would have been pretty run-of-the-mill and in need of some "zip" and more assertive flavors.

The roll was nicely toasted and somewhat crusty as well; which certainly helped things.

I also noticed a pack of LKK Sweet Chili Sauce and crushed red peppers in my bag. Perhaps I was supposed to add my own flavors?

This past week; I decided to grab a sandwich on the way home to check on Frankie. On my last visit, the young lady recommended the "Pastrami Bomb" ($8.99); so I decided to order it - on toasted sourdough.

When I got home I opened things up - it was a decent sized sandwich.

You can tell what my problem was with this, right? The bread hadn't been toasted enough and it had way too much honey-mustard...…..the bread was saturated as was the pastrami. I'm game to try this again; but will definitely ask for them to go easy on the honey-mustard mayo, since the pastrami tasted fine outside the sandwich and I think it would have been quite good evenly dressed.

I did however, get a tidbit of information on this visit. I asked the young lady about the meaning of the name and was told that in Vietnamese it means something like "let's go and eat".....I'm sure one of my "FOYs" will let me know if that is true or not.

So basically, there's an interesting range of sandwiches at Tadian; from Grill Cheeses and interesting variations on standards and a bunch of stuff on the menu with an Asian/Vietnamese flair. As most of my regular readers know; I have an affection for these independent, family-owned sandwich shops. The young lady working is so sweet and my sandwiches have always been ready for pick-up when I arrive, I'll definitely return.

Tadian Cafe
5955 Mira Mesa Blvd. Suite K
San Diego, CA 92121
Current Hours:
Mon - Fri 9am - 2pm

Munich - The Asamkirche, St Michael's Church, and a Caffiene Break at Dallmayr Delikatessenhaus

**** Not much food in this one as I'm trying to go through my backlog of travel posts.

After visiting the Viktualienmarkt and finishing up my "sir...please no not say Spam....please...… we continued meandering along.

This very modern looking structure is the Ohel Jakob Synagogue. I read that this area, around Sankt-Jakobs-Platz was where the original Synagogue stood; which was destroyed by Hitler in 1938.

On this day; it was a nice peaceful place; close to busy streets and businesses.

There are things that aren't in the guidebooks that you come across when you do the "Flânerie" thing; like these interesting colored tiles.

Sometimes they remain a mystery until I'm able to do a bit of research after getting back home. But this one had a sign in English.

This is the "Monument to the Gays and Lesbians Persecuted under the Nazi Regime". There wasn't much I could find in English; but you might find this article of interest.

A few blocks down Sendlinger Strasse; a busy shopping street was our next stop; the Asam Church (Asamkirche). Also known as Church of St. Johann Nepomuk; this 30 foot wide church was created in the Baroque style by two brothers, sculptor Egid Quirin Asam and painter Cosmas Damian Asam as a private church....so basically, they could really go for it. And I've read that the church could act as a showroom of sorts for the brothers.

So, basically every inch of this chapel is decorated.

In fact, if you do travel to Munich; get Rick Steves guide to Munich and Salzburg, the part on the Asam Church s highly entertaining and a hoot. Mentioning that this private pale of worship served as a "promotional brochure to woo clients, and is packed with every architectural trick in the books."

From the ceiling art....which is created in such a way to make it seem like a domed ceiling to the golden gilded grim reaper snipping off the thread of life.....there's quite a bit packed into one fairly tight Barogue space.

I had read that it was never the intention of the brothers to make the church public; but pressure from local citizens forced the family to allow for public access.

Whatever the intentions and backstory, the Asam Church was a fun short visit for us.

Like I mentioned earlier in the post; Sendlinger Strasse, the street the church is located on is quite a popular shopping area. The Missus enjoyed window shopping as we headed down the street. As always, half the fun is people watching.

I wish things were like Paris and there was a outdoor café handy; it would have been fun having a coffee and just sitting down to watch folks (and their pets) walk by.

We turned a corner and headed up Eisenmannstrasse and found ourselves in front of the impressive St. Michael's Church; with its distinctive façade featuring statues of the House of Wittelsbach; which ruled Bavaria from 1198 until 1918! The church is also considered to be the largest Renaissance church north of the Alps. The church itself was created by the Jesuits as part of the "Counter-Reformation" to counter the Protestant Reformation in 1583.

The Altar stands three stories high.

The crypt down the stairs contains the tombs of the Wittelbach. For us; the item that really stood out was the huge Monument to Eugène de Beauharnais who is also interred in the crypt of the church.

After visiting St Michael's we decided to find a café and grab a caffeine fix. I had a place in mind and along the way was the impressive Frauenkirche, which is the location of the Archdiocese of Munich.

It quite amazing that this Gothic inspired church was built in only 22 years - from 1466 - 1488.

Much of the church was destroyed during World War II, the towers survived and the church was rebuilt around that.

What really got our attention was the monument of Ludwig IV as you enter the church.

There's also the Der Teufelstritt (The Devil's Footprint); my photo unfortunately didn't come out.....hmmm......

There's also this relic of Pius X in the cathedral.

As for our caffeine fix; I decided on a place I thought the Missus, who really enjoyed the cafe's in Vienna, might like. Established in 1700, Dallmayr Delicatessen seemed like a place we might like. The "Stammhaus"; the original store is huge, has three entrances, consists of 19 departments, and we were greeted by a fountain...nothing strange about that, right? Except this one had live cray fish in it.....

Though we were tempted by the many offerings...….Dallmayr was given the title of "Royal Bavarian Court Supplier" in 1900 and it's easy to see why.

We headed upstairs to the Café-Bistro Dallmayr​.

While the possibility of Lobster Thermidor (a "light lunch"?) seemed interesting; I was still full of Spam Leberkäse, we decided to just get some coffee. The Missus got the French Press which came with the old fashion hours glass timer; very quaint.

I just needed a picker-upper and got a double espresso.

Which was just what I needed.

After finishing up; we spent a bit of time downstairs and the Missus got some gifts for friends back home.

And then we headed out; there were still a couple of other places the Missus wanted to see.

Dallmayr Delikatessenhaus
Dienerstrasse 14-15
München, Germany

Thankful for a nice little break and bolstered by our coffees we headed back out.

As we walked through Marienplatz for the umpteenth time, I was happy to have had a double espresso.

We still had a few sights the Missus had on Her "list"

Well, we're almost at 950 words now...….so, I'll continue on in a future post.

Thanks as always for stopping by!

Banh Mi Bo Kho to go From Pho Kitchen

Things had cooled off a bit; though due to the wildfires the air quality is pretty terrible these days. The Missus was working this past weekend and I kinda wanted some Bo Kho; Vietnamese Beef Stew and didn't want to travel too far. So, I decided to give the online ordering for Pho Kitchen in Linda Vista a try. Ordering online was, of course quite easy. I drove on over....and man; that tree in front of the restaurant sure has grown as it did a good job of obscuring the front of the place.

Speaking of obscure; that's kinda how I felt as I entered the restaurant....and just stood for a few minutes; then called out, then stood for a few more minutes....then called out, then finally a young lady came out and I mentioned my name and got my order.

I gotta say; the Covid-19 precautions here is just a cart in front of the cash register. Luckily, no one else was in the place...….

I got home and unpacked my Banh Mi Bo Kho ($10)….it was pretty hefty...there was a good amount of cilantro and onions as well.

Once plated; it looked pretty good.

I had kind of forgotten about my previous experience with the Bo Kho here....it's basically doctored pho broth; pretty weak in the tangy-anise flavors I enjoy with a decent bo kho and the soup was quite thin as well. Decent salt and a mild beefiness to it. The carrots were decently cooked this time around.

The bread is a bit too dense for me to consider it banh mi....as I said before; it's more like a bolillo roll than banh mi.

The best part of this meal was the beef; though the pieces were quite large, the beef had been cooked perfectly; tender, but not falling apart, with a decent beefiness and flavor. The one piece of tendon was not too bad either.

I told myself (once again); to just stick with the pho here....though I might as well just suck it up and head to Pho Hoa Huong for that.

Pho Kitchen
5375 Napa St
San Diego, CA 92110

New to the Rotation (You can probably guess) - Hawaiian Fresh Seafood Fish Market and Zgara Grill

Yes, you can probably guess which places are now on our "rotation". And, I'm pretty sure after this pandemic is over these two places will still be frequently visited by us that I didn't even write "Pandemic Rotation" in the title.

I'm sure you already read my initial posts on HFS and Zgara as those two posts probably had the most comments I've seen in a while.

Anyway, here goes:

Hawaiian Fresh Seafood Fish Market:

Geeez, the Missus has me going at least twice a week, sometimes three times, you can tell She's been missing "home". Here are a couple of things I've noticed.

1 - There's more variety on the weekends.

On Saturday, they have two lines for poke. And, there's often something different on offer; like on this particular weekend.

Yes, it's the "Pretty Much Just Ahi"...….just seasoned with salt, sesame seeds, green onions. The quality of this fish was quite good.

The Missus added a bit of shoyu and wasabi to Hers......I didn't need anything.

On one weekend there was bluefin shoyu poke.....that was ono!

The item I've seen every weekend was the Hawaiian Ahi. It has a bit of limu in it, not much, but enough for you to get a taste.

2 - Of course weekends are also kinda busy.

I usually get to HFS right before they open and have noticed over the last couple of weekends, there's a line to get in before they open. It's getting longer every week.

I guess word is getting out.

3 - Don't forget to get Da' Card.

HFS has a card that will earn you a stamp for every $10 purchase.

After 10 stamps; you get a free medium poke bowl.

Sad thing is; that you gotta be ova' the increment of $10...….if you spend $29.99, you only get two stamps. Oh well.

Still, that's my third full card ready to go.

4 - Speaking of Medium Poke Bowls.....

If you're not going to eat the bowl right away - get them to split it for you. They'll separate the rice from the fish.

There's no way I can finish all that rice. In fact, the Missus and I will split the rice, so this works out perfect......only thing is, She is making me order brown rice now!

Also, this is a nice way to try smaller portions of other "stuffs" like the tako or albacore....the sesame albacore isn't bad and once they had kimchi tako that was pretty good as well.

So there you go.....I know I missed something, but heck, that just means I can do another post, right?

Hawaiian Fresh Seafood Fish Market
6491 Weathers Place
San Diego, CA 92121
(858) 282-0591
Covid-19 Hours:
Daily 10am - 4pm

Zgara Greek Grill:

Right now, since they've reopened on Morena, Zgara has been a twice weekly stop for me. I know I'll eventually try some of the other stuffs on the menu....but the pork gyros was already my favorite from their days in PB. And upon walking into the shop, I'm fixated on that beautiful rotating pile of pork.

So, I'm sticking with that for now.....

I'll let you folks tell me what else is good on the menu.....

Not much else to say. And while I've heard that "ChrisW" said I had a moment of "uncontrollable incontinence" (my translation) when confronted with my pork gyro; to be perfectly clear, I didn't. Though it did get mighty close there. I'm not quite that old yet.

Still, his might be well worth peeing in my pants for.....

I spoke to the owner on my last visit since I've seen him there every day. He told me that finding someone who can make his food the "right way" is difficult to find; so he's working everyday for now. A definite win for us, but I hope he doesn't burn out.

I had a "FOY" who asks to remain anonymous send me this screen shot a few weeks back (thanks!) - from back in 2015! I had forgotten all about it. It still holds true today:

Hmmmm…….I think I know what's for dinner.

Zgara Greek Grill
1229 Morena Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92110
Hours:
Sun - Thurs 11am - 9pm
Fri - Sat   11am - 10pm

So, there you go....I think you'll be free of more posts from HFS and Zgara for a while......I've just kinda stopped taking photos since I've been going to both places so often.

Hope everyone is keeping safe and in good health!

Ume Dressing

The Missus was getting tired of Her typical Arugula/green salad, even though I made the vinaigrette from scratch.

So, I decided to start looking thru my cookbooks for some inspiration. This one is from Yotam Ottolenghi's Plenty More. The recipe uses ume puree....so I went hunting for umeboshi paste and found a couple of different brands. The one that won out; both for intensity and balanced flavor was also the most expensive, $8.99 at Nijiya. Regardless; the Missus loves this sprout salad. I use three different types of sprouts; radish, a milder more conventional (i.e. broccoli) sprout, and something with a bit of peppery boldness - arugula or kale sprouts.

I usually make double this recipe, which is good for four good sized salads - in other words four lunches for the Missus.

It does deviate a bit from the original in Ottolenghi's book; but not greatly. I use more ume paste, less Sesame Oil, freshly ground black pepper, I also use more neutral oil (avocado); and also sneak in agave syrup (of course).

Ume Dressing - Inspired by Ottolenghi's Recipe in Plenty More:

2 Tsp Ume Paste (depending on brand, you may need more)
1 Tb Organic Rice Vinegar
1 Tb Lime Juice - Fresh Squeezed
2 Tb Minced Shallot
1 Tb Soy Sauce - I found the Kikkoman works well in this recipe
1 Tb White Sugar
1 Tsp Agave Syrup
1/4 Tsp Sesame Oil
5 Tb Avocado Oil
salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

- Combine first 9 ingredients in a bowl and whisk
- Taste and season with salt and pepper

That's it!

To make the salad I mix the base ingredients in a salad bowl - 1 cup shelled edamame, thinly sliced radish and onion (sliced then briefly soaked in cold/ice water to remove the harshness), thinly sliced red cabbage, cilantro leaves, sliced cherry tomatoes, the three sprouts...

I put into a Pyrex container for the Missus and add several more items....what She calls "the good stuff", sliced avocado, cucumber, and either thinly sliced smoked duck or duck prosciutto (we get ours from D'Artangnan). Add a container of the dressing. The Missus adds in a container of roasted sliced almonds and pumpkin seeds.

And we have Her current favorite salad. Which She's been enjoying during the recent heatwaves...….