mmm-yoso!!!

Szechuan Chef Revisited

"SJP" recently took a position in another department, while I'll miss her, it amounts to a raise and promotion of sorts. "YZ" and I wanted to take her to lunch. "YZ" chose Szechuan Chef for lunch.

Here's what we had.

First up was the Spiced Bean Curd with Chive. Basically, 5 spice pressed tofu like you get at the market.

The dish looked quite colorful, but this was quite bland, really lacking in flavor, and there was no trace of "wok hay".

I ordered the Beef Tendon with Pickled Pepper, something that was pretty good on a previous visit.

This was much more gloppy than what I'd had here before and still lacked a decent amount of Pa Jiao (pickled pepper). The texture of the tendon as excellent though; soft and buttery. And while not particularly spicy, this was far from bland.

I also ordered another dish that had been pretty good on previous visits; the Beef Sour Soup. And while there was a lot less beef than what I'd had here before; I think it was of better quality.

The assertive sour tones really cleared your palate after the tendon dish. Still a good dish from Szechuan Chef.

The other clunker of the meal was the Tofu Skin. YZ and I were a bit confused when this dish didn't come out first as it's usually a nice cold appetizer. Well, this version was stir fried.

The bean curd skin was brittle and the cut of the bell peppers was too large. It lacked flavor and was really bland.

For the last dish we had the Salted Egg Yolk Soft Tofu. This was done pretty well.

I recall this being the dish "RonR" enjoyed when we had lunch here a while back. It's very "eggy" and savory. There are pieces of a "canned meat product"....a Spam-like substitute that added saltiness and texture. The tofu was soft and supple; this was a nice dish as well.

So, three-out-of-five isn't too bad. "YZ" told me the chef is from Chengdu. In terms of Sichuan style food; there's a real lack of "ma-la" (numbing hot) going on here; even when I've tried some of the supposedly spicer dishes.

That's okay, it was good to get out of the office and the three of us had a blast "talking story". Good luck SJP! Don't be a stranger!

Szechuan Chef
4344 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Cathy's also been here a number of times.

Alsace - Exploring Colmar, Dinner at Winstub de la Petit Venise, and a Kinda Creepy Coincidence

While planning our trip to France, I told the Missus that I really wanted to head back to Alsace. I had really enjoyed our time in Strasbourg the year before. And though we'd be a week early for the Christmas Market, I thought having a short break in Colmar would be great! And so, we headed from Reims to Colmar, arriving at around 330 in the afternoon. As we headed to our apartment crossing Rue Turenne we understood why this area was called "Le Petit Venise"; not that it looked anything like Venice, not by a long shot.

But there are lovely little canals and wonderful half-timbered houses, and lovely bridges, like the Pont de Rue de Turenne. Which someone told me was called the "fanny bridge" because at certain times of the day folks would be lining up for photos and selfies with their backs against the railing, so looking from along the way, all you saw was a line of folk's backs and backsides lining the railing!

And to make things even better; we had a wonderful apartment with a balcony that overlooked the bridge. We'd entertain ourselves by heading out onto the balcony several times of the day just to watch folks on the bridge....or even just watch the water flowing by.

This was our view.

More on the apartment later on.

Of course we unpacked, freshened up, and headed right on out.

We headed down the charming alleyway of Rue de la Poissonnerie, to the lovely Quai de la Poissonnerie where some of the most beautiful houses are. Many were built between the 14th and 18th century are very brightly colored.

It's like you walked down the street into the middle of some fairy tale.

Right across the bridge is the Covered Market; the Marché Couvert. Even though we were somewhat familiar with what is available during this time of the year in the region, we went in to take a look. And as you can see; it was getting close to the holiday shopping season!

We strolled around a bit.....took a mental inventory of the shops and what was available.

And then headed out. We'd return a bit later to do some self catering.

Marché Couvert
13 Rue des Écoles
68000 Colmar, France

We walked out the other side of the market onto Rue des Tanneurs. I'm guessing from all the canals (which we learned in Modena) that the leather shops were probably located here. This shop made wonder if it was Valentine's Day or Christmas?

We wound our way thru the charming medieval streets of Colmar.

The Missus was enjoying the window displays.

Eventually popping out at Saint Martin's Church.

It was getting a bit chilly; so before heading back to the apartment we stopped for...ahem, "a spot of tea".

Kind of pricy, though it was right across the street from the Cathedral.

Pâtisserie Salon deThé J-C Clergue
21 Place de la Cathédrale
68000 Colmar, France

We headed back to the apartment; which we loved!

Along with the wonderful balcony; the place was stocked with water - both still and sparkling, Nespresso pods, a gratis bottle of Alsacian wine, Regular and Coke Zero.

It was warm and welcoming! As was Marie, who I believe manages the apartments here. If you're ever interested it's Reflects Sur La Lauch. I had booked our trip quite a bit in advance, so I had no problem getting the apartment with balcony.

I hadn't made reservations for dinner; it was a Thursday night, I thought all the day-trippers would be gone, and the Christmas Market wasn't starting until the following weekend. The place I had on my list was Winstub Brenner. But, when we walked over it was closed. Apparently undergoing some renovation and prep before the busy Christmas season. So we headed one building over to Winstub Le Petit Venise, a charming two story restaurant.

We were seated upstairs amongst the charming, vintage appliances and décor.

The staff were professional and very helpful. The Missus already knew what She wanted, as did I based on our visit to Strasbourg. It's all about the Choucroute Garnie for the Missus...man does She love Choucroute (sauerkraut).

And the Missus claimed that the Choucroute here was better than anything She'd had in Strasbourg last year! It was nicely flavored, sour, but not over-powering, the texture slightly crisp.

And all of those meats! The sausage did have a nice "snap" to it. Quite a nice albeit, heavy plate of food.

Not like my very light Jambonneau…...right?

This, in case you didn't know is Jambonneau = Pork Knuckle. This was quite good, great texture, wonderful smokiness, whatever was used for basting really developed a wonderful lacquer coating. I loved the veggies mixed with a nice sinus clearing horse radish. The potatoes were buttery, but not overly so and studded with bacon....like I was in need of more pork, right?

We had a couple of glasses of wine and called it a night.

Wistub de la Petite Venise
4 Rue de la Poissonnerie
68000 Colmar, France

Nice dinner, right?

Well, so here's the Epilogue.

The next day, as I mentioned in a previous post, we went on a tour of several villages in Alsace. It was supposed to be a small group tour, but we ended up being the only two who signed up for the tour for that day. It was a wonderful time. It was inevitable that during that day, the subject of Anthony Bourdain came up. By this time, I'd actually forgotten that Mr Bourdain had committed suicide in Kaysersberg. Christopher, our guide, mentioned some of the previous requests from folks on the tour. People seemed to be on a pilgrimage and wanted see all the places AB visited. I thought it kind of strange and sort of creepy. And while I understand what he meant to a lot of people, I mean let the man and whatever demons he may have had rest in peace. I really wasn't up-to-date on AB, I used to watch No Reservations diligently. But for some reason, by the time Parts Unknown came along....well, I've only seen about half of those episodes to this day. During our conversation Christopher asked us where we had eaten dinner. I told him we had really wanted to eat at Winstub Brenner, but it was closed so we went to Winstub Petit Venise instead. He asked us what we had...we showed him the photos. He looked at us and asked us if we saw Anthony Bourdain's Instagram. I told him I don't do Instagram; I don't even have an account, but the Missus does. Christopher mentioned that Anthony Bourdain's last meal was eaten at Petit Venise! Yikes! And now folks were making reservations requesting stuff like wanting to eat at the same table he had his last recorded meal at. That just felt a bit creepy and weird. He told us to look at the last photo posted by Anthony Bourdain. We got Instagram booted up on the Missus's phone when we got back to the apartment after dinner that evening. Good lord.......the Missus had ordered what was the man's last documented meal......

I needed to go for a walk.

Man, what a bummer. I'd much rather have ended this post with something like this.

Lima Restaurant

Back in June, one of the folks in my office was headed to Jury Duty and asked me where to eat; of course I recommended Sultan. Which he really enjoyed. Though when he returned he asked me what I thought of the "new" Peruvian Restaurant which was across the street from Sultan. New Peruvian? Across the street from Sultan? So on the following weekend, I decided to head on down to see what he was referring to. And there on the corner of F and Fourth, with a rather discreet sign was "Lima Restaurant".

The fairly large, high ceiling restaurant was quite empty. Looking more like a sports bar than a restaurant.

The woman who waited on me was very friendly and warm. Turned out she was one of the owners.

I started with a Chicha Morada; which was perfect.

Very balanced sweet - cinnamon tones; quite refreshing.

And a little bowl of plantain chips and canchita, nice and warm arrived at the table.

I had ordered the Lomo Saltado, which arrived looking wonderfully vibrant. In a rather different presentation; the fries were served to the side. The nice lady told me that these days folks in Lima prefer Lomo Saltado served this way and I could mix it in as I desired.....or keep it separate to extend the crispness. Like I always say about Peru......the cuisine is always evolving.

The beef was surprisingly tender; there was a good ratio of tomato to onion.....providing a nice balance of acidity to pungency.  I of course, like my papas fritas saturated in the sauce and my only complaint was that there wasn't enough of it. The sauce was more soy sauce forward; with less vinegar, but wasn't overly salty.

This was a nice version. Because the restaurant was fairly quiet; I had a nice conversation with the woman; who was indeed from Lima. We spoke about how the cuisine was ever changing, with everything from the new style "Leche de Tigre"; a creamy, cold soup like dish and how Tacu Tacu con Lomo Saltado has gotten popular. She also told me that Lima Restaurant was having a formal grand opening at the end of July. They were working on the installation and all of the licensing and approvals for a Pollo ala Brassa rostisserie.

I left quite satisfied. And waited to see if I'd hear anything about Lima Restaurant, but the only thing I saw was this; which, by the way, incorrectly attributes Lomo Saltado to the Japanese Diaspora. Being a Sansei myself; I'd love if that were true. The truth of the matter is; and this is from all of my Peruvian food books, and also everywhere online, Lomo Saltado is a Tusan (Chifa) dish. Sigh....

So finally, after not hearing anything for a while, I decided to head back down to the Gaslamp to see what was going on at Lima Restaurant.

The place was very quiet on this visit as well. The gentleman working was quite nice. Though the cancha this time around was cold and dry......not a good start in my book.

I started with the Causa. Which actually had real crab in it! It was perhaps a bit heavy handed in terms of mayo, though the potato was very moist and the seasoning spot on. The very gracious Server asked me if I wanted some "hot sauce" and I responded "some aji?" Which totally changed his friendly but reserved demeanor....."yes, we have four different aji!" So, I selected the Aji Rocoto and the nice Server actually brought me two. The Aji Rocoto and the Aji Panca. "The rocoto is very spicy, so I brought you the panca as well; which you might enjoy more." Great service. The Aji Rocoto was quite spicy, while the Panca had some heat and helped to cut the richness.

I also ordered the Cebiche Pescado, first asking what type of fish was being used.

I was quite thrilled to find out it was sole....making this truly a Cebiche Lenguado! Which was quite nice. The fish was nicely "marinated/cooked" in the Leche de Tigre, as it was still firm, but yielding and not mushy at all. The Leche de Tigre was surprisingly "picante"; quite spicy, but still refreshing. It was also ginger forward; not quite sure if I enjoyed that. At first I didn't think there was very much Leche de Tigre, but it was hidden underneath all that fish; along with quite a bit, perhaps too much, red onion.

I had actually saved my canchita not being sure they would serve more with the cebiche, but they did. It was on the dry side. The chocolo (corn) was too hard and tasteless; the camote had no flavor and was quite hard.

Still, I enjoyed the quality of the fish. I'd have this again just to see if the addition of all that chili was a mistake.

I had a nice conversation with the Server and mentioned the Pollo ala Brassa. He told me they were still working on completing all the inspections and will (hopefully) have it in by the end of August.

I enjoyed the quality of the main ingredients used and the folks working here. I wish it was in a more convenient location for me; though at least I now have another option when I get called for Jury Duty.

Lima Restaurant
409 F St.
San Diego, CA 92101
Hours:
Mon - Thurs 11am - 9pm
Fri - Sat 11am - 10pm
Sunday 11am - 8pm 

Bann Korean Cuisine - Now in the H Mart Food Court

Of all the places in the H Mart Food Court; the one that really interested me was Bann. While I considered Bann to be a decent option for lunch on Miramar Road; the food was prepared fresh, the flavors, while on the mild side, was decent, with the Kimchi Fried Rice the stand-out. Still, with a more discerning crowd, I was interested to see what changes, if any Bann had made since the move.

And so I headed down to H Mart at around 11am. The place is not nearly as crowded as when the place first opened. Good for me....not sure for all the businesses.

Bann is located to the right of Myungran Hot Dog.

The menu is tight and dishes no longer have the superflous green salads and mandu added to the menu items. Prices are about the same; even a few cents cheaper than before.

Though if you chose to have beef with your kimchi fried rice; it would be almost fourteen bucks!

I placed my order for the Kimchi Fried Rice with Spam (of course) and had a seat at one of the table.

Soon enough, I heard the mechanized "voice app" go off, it's the same voice for all the stands. It seems that each stand has a number sequence, so you'll deal with numbers in the thousands; "order five thousand - six hundred - seventy - three"......

First off; the portion size seemed to have increased quite a bit.

Secondly, it's way more spicy than it used to be....quite nice, though it might mute some of the other flavors. Couldn't really make out salty - savoriness of the Spam, which might be a good thing for some, but I really like the flavor of Spam.

Good amount of kimchi used; though it's not good fermented kimchi as it lacks the complex cheesy-sour-savory tones of a good baechu kimchi.

Thirdly, the egg was a nice sunny-side up.

Overall, a nice version of straight-up Kimchi Fried Rice. It won't win any awards, but is a decent version.

I really enjoyed the nice folks that used work the register at the Miramar location, but did not recognize the young lady working on this day. She was fine, but not nearly as pleasant. This was a decent lunch and Bann seems less fusiony these days. Nothing to go out of your way for; but perfectly fine if you're shopping at H Mart and need to load up on carbs.

Bann Korean Cuisine
7725 Balboa Ave. (In the H Mart Food Court)
San Diego, CA 92111

Clearing Out the Memory Card - Bistro Na's (Temple City) Revisited

The Missus had been talking about returning to Bistro Na's since our first visit. So, knowing that's we'd have the Sunday after returning from our Budapest trip free; I made reservations before we left. Little did I know that Bistro Na's would earn a Michelin Star the week we returned.

I wondered how this would affect the restaurant. Well, it was even more crowded (Sunday lunch); but the service, as before was excellent.

And the food? Well, I'm just going to give you the overview here, as we'll probably be headed back to Bistro Na's soon.

The Chili Tofu Skin Salad and signature Crispy Shrimp were still amazing. The Crispy Lamb Brisket was very good; gamey, crisp exterior, and super tender. The Missus enjoyed the Braised Brisket with Quail Egg; but said that the red cooked beef shortribs I make at home is easily just as good. The only clunker was the Fried Mixed Mushrooms; which while crisp, were way too sweet to enjoy.

This place is easily the Missus's favorite Chinese restaurant right now. As for me; as long as they keep making that bean curd skin and crispy shrimp, I have no complaints.

Bistro Na's
9055 Las Tunas Drive
Temple City, CA 91780
Hours:
Sun - Thurs 11am - 230pn, 5pm - 9pm
Fri - Sat   11am - 230pm, 5pm - 930pm

Reims - Brasserie du Boulingrin

After spending the day touring the Champagne Region and having had two dinners at fairly modern bistros, I thought having a nice "old school" dinner would be a change of pace. So we walked on over near the Porte du Mars and the area we had checked out the day before, to an Reims institution, established in 1925, Brasserie du Boulingrin.

Decked out in art deco style, with a menu to match Entrecote Roti, Tete de Veau, Ris de Veau…...

We started with some wine.....we let the Server pick and he did a nice job.

We decided to go with the one dish I was looking forward to trying here and the Missus got a simple salad.

I ordered the Pieds de porc panes rotis au four et lentilles de Champagne......figure it out yet? It's roasted breaded pig trotters with local lentils.

At first our kind Server wasn't sure we knew what we had ordered....so he asked again.....and we repeated what we wanted. "Monseur, are you sure?" We nodded in the positive.

The Missus really enjoyed the perfectly cooked lentils; tender but still holding its shape. She basically went at it like a hot knife thru butter.

As for the trotters...well, they were perfectly roasted; the breading gave the exterior a bit of a crunch. The seasoning was simple, but spot on. Nice tender bits of meat and wonderful collagenic connective tissue.

I think you can figure out how much we enjoyed this, right?

Sorry about the photos; there were red neon lights right above us that pretty much killed the photos.

We enjoyed this hearty dinner. It was a fine last meal in Reims, nothing fancy, but quite satisfying.

Brasserie du Boulingrin
29 rue de Mars
51100, Reims, France

After dinner we took our time getting back to our hotel room. Like I mentioned; there was quite a bit of road and other work going on around Hôtel de Ville (City Hall).

Compared to Paris, things were quite quiet on this Wednesday evening.

We walked on over to the usually busy shopping street; Rue Condorset, which was very quiet this evening, and enjoyed watching Le Carrousel Vénitien.

Then headed back to our hotel for a nice night of sleep.

Our train wasn't leaving until 1245pm, so we had some time to kill in Reims. We decided to head on back to the Cathedral, which I covered in an earlier post.

And enjoyed the stained glass.

And reminded myself of the stories of Joan of Arc. And how, after the French victory at the Battle of Patay, Joan convinced the Heir Apparent (Dauphin), Charles to be crowned in Reims. Thus began what is called "the March to Reims". On July 17th, 1429, Dauphine Charles, was the 12th ruler crowned in Reims and became Charles VII.

Another interesting story is how Charles VII's estranged son Louis heard of his father's impending demise and rushed to Reims to ensure that he and not his brother Charles of Valois, would be crowned king. Ah yes.....such drama and intrigue.

We enjoyed our time in Reims and perhaps we'll return someday.

Reims is close enough to be a day trip; but if you plan to visit, you may want to at least stay one night. It seems that as day turns to evening in Reims, at least during the week, the day trippers sail off into the sunset and Reims becomes a peaceful, laid-back, city, with so much history....and yes, Champagne everywhere.

Some folks will even bend over backwards for you!

Turo Turo Tuesday - Revisits Edition; Nanay's Best BBQ and Pinoy Fiesta

A couple of revisits of Turo Turo places here in San Diego.

Nanay's Best BBQ:

Stuck in meetings, folks graciously picked up some lunch for me...….

Not so good...it was from Nanay's. Now, I totally get that the guys really like huge portions.....but I think they can do better.

The Menudo was so bland; lots of meat, but there were a couple of pieces that was almost inedible connective tissue. Not enough tomato, or much any flavor as a whole.

The "Spicy Pork"; their version of sisig was the remainder of BBQ Pork in a kind of stir fry. The pork was tough; not spicy enough, lacking in sour tones.....

Nice try guys....but totally quantity over skill and quality. Lots of leftovers for others though.....

Nanay's Best BBQ
6715 Mira Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92121

Pinoy Fiesta:

I went and ordered some Salt and Pepper Chicken Wings for a potluck recently. So, being in National City, I decided to grab some lunch. Of course, Tita's is the obvious choice. But it had been a while since I'd visited Pinoy Fiesta, so I decided to see what was going on there.

The really friendly woman working had just filled the tray of Chicken BBQ, so I got that, along with (of course) some sisig.

I should just give up on the sisig here; it was cold, waxy, sour, but not spicy, and just mushy overall. Ok, it's finally sunk in.

The chicken bbq was interesting as it was very tender. Didn't care much for the sauce though as it was overly sweet and acidic. Too bad as that chicken was so soft and tender.

I did really enjoy the woman working who was so sweet and warm......though I think it'll be a while before I return.

Pinoy Fiesta
550 E 8th St
National City, CA 91950

Hu Tieu Nam Vang Kho-mparison: "KuyTeav" From 777 Noodle House, Ly Heng, and Trieu Chau

I'm thinking this post is long overdue; after all, I've been eating Hu Tieu Nam Vang ("Phnom Penh Noodles") Kho ("Dry") for ages. But just recently, I decided to try all three (not two) places in City Heights which claim Cambodian (versus Khmer) roots.

As for the roots of the dish itself; I'm more inclined to agree with folks who believe that Kuy Teav is more of a Cambodian-Chinese (Chiuchow/Teochow) hybrid that had been adopted by Vietnamese cuisine; than a purely Khmer Dish. In fact, while we ran into the very traditional Num Banh Chok when visiting Cambodia, a dish that has legendary deep roots in Cambodian folklore, there's not quite the equivalent for Kuy Teav.

Regardless, I tend to eat Hu Tieu Nam Vang Kho in the very typical way; for breakfast. And over the last couple of months, I decided to revisit these three places a mere third of a mile apart.

So, let's get started, shall we?

777 Noodle House:

777 used to be my choice for Hu Tieu Nam Vang Kho; but was eventually surpassed by Ly Heng, but on my last visit, things were looking up.

So, what would it be this time around?

The bean sprouts were nicely blanched; the only place that did this during this rotation. The noodles were nicely cooked; though the sauce for the noodles were the mildest of the three. This bowl also had the least and cheapest toppings. The accompanying soup was good, not too salty. I shocked at what was the usual shank with meat as it looked fairly skimpy. It was however, almost all, very tender, very porky meat, and just a sliver of bone!

In terms of price; this was in the middle of the three bowls. If you'd like to know more about the original owners of 777 and enjoy a blast from the past, you can check this out from almost seven years ago to the day it was published.

The place is looking a bit worn; though it's basically the same folks who have been working the front of house from when I first visited back in 2010.

777 Noodle House
4686 University Avenue
San Diego, CA 92105

Ly Heng:

Next up; Ly Heng, which I first visited when they opened in 2014. Over time; I thought that Ly Heng had over taken 777 with regards to the Hu Tieu Nam Vang Kho.

I was a bit surprised with what arrived. It was the most interesting presentation and also the cheapest ($6).

The soup had a nice sized bone in it with a decent amount of tender, flavorful, meat. As usual; it edged on the salty side, and was perhaps the least favorite of the three.

Check out that presentation; in a shallow bowl, with everything on lettuce (?) which wilted. The chicken served with this was dry, the liver tasted not-so-fresh, the noodles were over-cooked. The bean sprouts weren't blanched as well.

Hmmmm…..

The young lady who waited on me was wonderful and Ly Heng was the most modern and busiest of the three places. It was strange as everyone; all five other tables seemed to finish at the same time and leave within minutes of each other.

Ly Heng
4451 University Ave
San Diego, CA 92105

Trieu Chau:

Talk about a blast from the past. Yes, that post is from 2006! Actually, I did revisit after our Cambodia trip. Let's just say I didn't "handle" the food well and leave it at that. Usually, I'd never return to, or ever post about somewhere when that occurs. But heck, it's 2019, right?

And while the restaurant looks basically the same outside; I think the interior looks a bit better.

Though there are some interesting touches....like did you ever wonder what happened to Mandarin Garden's (another blast from the past) chopsticks after they closed? Well, look no further.

The version here was the most expensive; like eight bucks, but it also had the most meat.

And while there was a pittance of unblanched bean sprouts and the bone in the soup was just that....no false advertising here, it was almost all bone, with some really tough meat and connective tissue, I think the broth was the best, as it actually had some nice porkiness to it.

The noodles were a bit over-cooked, but the sauce used for the noodles were also quite good, if a bit salty (the lime helps with this); it did help that there was a good amount of what looked like seasoned-sautéed garlic as well. The shrimp was large, moist and plump. The rest of the meats were fine as well. So if you prefer more meat with your Kuy Teav, this is the place to hit up.

Trieu Chau Restaurant
4653 University Ave
San Diego, CA 92105

So who was the winner? Well, me of course as I got to enjoy three decent versions of Hu Tieu Nam Vang Kho, all for less than most of us pay for a sandwich! Though I will say that the version at Ly Heng has slipped (though it's only $6) and I was pleasantly surprised by Trieu Chau.

These noodle soups are so inexpensive that you should probably check them out if you're in the neighborhood.