mmm-yoso!!!

Hitting One of the "Three C's" - Noble Chef and Sizzling Pot King

I've posted on both of these places many times; but I'm going to focus on something I noticed. When we decide on an "unplanned" meal; that is something eating out or doing take out at sort of the last minute, there are three immediate things that come into play. I call them the "Three C's" - Craving, Convenience, and Curiosity. There is a fourth "C" that I'll get into later.

The first one, "Craving" comes into play quite a lot, I mean I've done a ton of these craving posts over the years. 

I'm not sure you noticed, but we just returned from two separate "trips" in the last couple of weeks; the first was to Mexico City and Oaxaca, the second was hitting up the Southwest United States again. 

When in CDMX and Oaxaca we aren't really searching out Asian food; though in CDMX that seems to be changing; there's a ton of Korean Restaurants in Zona Rosa, and we've noticed quite a few Chinese/Japanese restaurants during our trips. And FLG - Southwest Colorado - Santa Fe, our other trip, well we had mostly planned out our meals ahead of time.

So, when we got back......well, after Mexico, the first thing the Missus wanted was Her Salted Fish and Chicken with Eggplant from Noble Chef. Which is what we got on the first day back in town.

Funny thing; I was craving some noodles....so the Soy Sauce Chow Mien fit the bill.

The guy working knew my order when I walked in the door.....

The Noble Chef
6159 Balboa Avenue
San Diego, CA 92111

Note - "FOY" KennethB has said that Eastern Dynasty has improved; so I gotta get back there soon! Thanks Kenneth!

After driving the 8 1/2 hours from Winslow to home, we were both starving. The Missus wanted something with a "little zip" and decided on takeout from Sizzling Pot King. Talking about the guy working knowing my usual order! This fine young man even added; "I haven't seen you in a while....."

The dry pot, ma-la, medium spicy, with tripe, intestine, and frozen tofu is the way we go.

But here's the kicker; remember I mentioned the "Fourth C"? That's kind of the wildcard......."cost". Our order from SPK is now around $45! Now after a 530 mile drive forty-five bucks was perfectly fine. But on a normal day? Even though this is a "meal-and-a-half" for us...back in December of 2020 this was $32.99. And while it used to be two meals for us; the portion size has gotten even smaller. 

It might give me pause in the future.

Sizzling Pot King
8058 Clairemont Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92111

So, let's have some fun!

Here's my question for you:

Did you notice; or do you follow a regular "decision tree" or protocol when doing these unplanned takeout or dine in meals? Inquiring minds want to know!

Thanks for indulging me and have a great weekend!

Scotland (2022) - Oban Distillery and Coast Restaurant (Oban)

After starting in Edinburgh and making our way past Loch Lomond and Luss, we arrived at our destination for the evening, Oban. While I had read that Oban was quite touristy, we really enjoyed the laid back atmosphere of the town.

Of course, since we were on a private whiskey tour, the first stop was Oban Distillery.

Just to let you know how relaxed Oban was; check out the pooch sleeping belly up in the window across the busy parking lot of the distillery.

Sean guided us in and got us on our tour.

Our guide was a hoot.....with a great sense of humor. He went over the five major Scottish Regions that make Scotch Whiskey and then the Flavour Map.

And then we were off into how Oban makes their whiskey. I won't go into that detail, but you can find a good outline here. Scotch Whiskey uses copper stills. We were told that the copper binds with the sulphurs released during the fermentation process. Thus the liquid produced has a cleaner taste. We were also told during our tours that each distillery has its own design for pot stills.

As for Oban....you gotta love our guide, who photobombed me when I wanted to take a photo of the stills.

At the end we had a sampling. The Missus prefers a more peaty-smoky Scotch; the versions here had a nice bit of almost citrusy-fruitiness to it.

This was a fun first stop for us!

Oban Distillery
Stafford St
Oban PA34 5NH, Scotland, United Kingdom

After freshening up at our hotel we set out to explore a bit and then find some dinner.

Oban was a charming town and we enjoyed the views.

We saw an interesting church from the harbor and decided to walk on over to the Northern side of town past the main road to check out Saint Columba's Cathedral.

If you're interested, here's some good info on the Cathedral.

We then headed back into the city. We went thru a more residential neighborhood before getting to Dunollie Road.

Which turned into George Street where I had a place on my list named Coast Restaurant, which seemed to have the type of menu we enjoyed so we headed on over. It was exactly at opening time; 530pm so we easily got a table.

The service was warm and welcoming; typical of all the service we had in Scotland.

The Missus started with some wine. I got a Isle of Jura 10 Year Single Malt.

The menu itself was divided into two parts; the Light Bite menu, where you could even have some of the starters as mains, and the A La Carte menu. We chose items from both to make out dinner.

The Missus wanted to try the mussels, so we ordered that off the Light Bites menu as a main (£15).

I believe mentioning how amazing the seafood was in Scotland and this was no exception. Sweet, tender, not a gritty bite found anywhere. This was so good.

We also got the Crab Pot (£9.5).

Wonderfully sweet and briny crab claw meat, with a refreshing, if a bit too sweet creme fresh, we enjoyed the baby chard and arugula which helped develop a textural contrast and add earthiness to the dish.

And also the starter of "Hand Dived Scallops" - £10.95. 

So sweet, tender, perfectly rare in the center. The smoked bacon added another layer of flavor and smokiness. The tempura samphire tasted like asparagus. This was quite good...and look Black Radish, more than one scallop for almost half the price!

This was a nice dinner. We'd gladly eat here again.

Coast Restaurant
104 George St.
Oban PA34 5NT, Scotland, United Kingdom

After dinner we went for our usual stroll. 

 There's something about the pace of life here that really made one relax.

Though many places seemed to close early. Folks would pass us on the street and greet us.

We returned to our room and settled in. Tomorrow would be quite a day as we'd be taking the ferry to Islay and visit not one, but three distilleries.

Thanks for stopping by!

Crudo Cevicheria & Oyster Bar

I had some business to attend to downtown during mid-August. Being that I absolutely dread parking downtown, I'm happy to have the trolley stops off Morena these days. Once business was attended to, the most important question of the day arose....."what's for lunch?" Just the week before I had read about Crudo opening in Little Italy in Eater. It was pretty "atsui desu ne", but I was happy to note that the Little Italy Trolley stop was just two blocks from the restaurant. Sold!

I got there right at opening time and the friendly hostess guided me to a table.

I appreciated the outdoor dining area, but it was just too hot on this day.

I like the sleek interior all dressed up in oceany aqua.

Looking over the menu I made my decision. Being that this was Little Italy, I expected small portions, so I ordered two items. Starting with the Fish Ceviche ($16). I was pleasantly surprised at the portion size and the three tostadas to start. The nice young lady came back twice asking me if I wanted more blue corn tostadas!

    The fish was perfectly marinated, with just the right amount of toothsomeness. The marinade was nicely balanced; with a good balance of sour to salt. Enjoyed the ripe avocado which added a slightly creamy texture and a mild buttery-nuttiness to the dish.

The chili de arbol salsa was indeed spicy, with smoky tones.

This was a wonderfully refreshing and restorative dish on a hot day.

I also ordered the Pulpo Carpaccio ($19).

Man, that octopus was perfectly cooked, so tender! Loved the amount of salt and mild acidity as well. I wasn't sure how Parmesan Cheese was going to work with this; but because it was shaved ultra-fine it added a wonderful milky-savory-saltiness to the dish which I found quite pleasant.

In typical Mariscos fashion a variety of hot sauces were presented, but I didn't need anything masking the wonderful flavors of the food!

I saw at least five people stop by during my meal asking if Crudo was open, what were the hours, etc.....

This was a very nice meal! And since my Buddy Candice had reported on it; during the heatwave this past month we decided to grab some lunch. And of course, Crudo seemed like just the remedy for the heat and humidity. Again I took the trolley and Candice met me a opening time. We sat on the same table as I did on my previous visit.

There was one item that caught my interest; the Tiradito Mixto ($25). You know me and tiradito, right?

No complaints about the prep and quality of the seafood. I didn't care for the marinade which was unusually sweet and detracted from the dish. The menu stated that this version of tiradito used XO Sauce, which is what fascinated me. Perhaps that's what threw this whole dish off?

The wonderful Aguachile en Salsa Verde ($19) made everything right again.

Man, the wonderful texture of the shrimp! A perfectly balanced salsa verde; decent spice, great acidity, nice pungent tones! This is probably my favorite item form our meals.

We also got the Coctel de Mariscos ($18). Loved the addition of the saltine crackers...which, no pun intended, "cracked me up".

All the seafood was wonderful; though this was a bit too "Tame" for my taste. I like a bit more clamato and good tanginess in my cocteles. Still, this was decent.

I really enjoyed chatting with Candice, it was great catching up on things. It seems that Covid has really put a damper on all my meals with friends. I'm hoping to remedy that soon.

And Crudo was a fine place to enjoy with friends on a hot, humid September day.

I guess I'm going to have to bring the Missus here soon....though She's not a fan of catching the trolley! We'll see how that goes.

Crudo Cevicheria & Oyster Bar
1608 India St.
San Diego, CA 92101
Hours:
Sun - Thurs 11am - 10pm
Fri - Sat 11am - Midnight

Gyokai Natto Don From Izakaya Sakura

Man, the last extended heat wave really had me on the ropes. Our old 1950's built house doesn't have A/C; though we did buy a portable unit for Frankie, which recently crapped out. The hot weather had me craving some of my hot weather favorites; specifically the Gyokai Natto Don from Izakaya Sakura. It had been a while since I had visited Izakaya Sakura, over a year-and-a-half when I did takeout....well, because of that thing called Covid. It had been nearly three years since I had dined in at Sakura. I decided to go right when they opened for lunch, early in the week, and peeked in.....

There was one person at the sushi bar, who it turns out was waiting for a huge takeout order, and one party of three dining al fresco, so I decided to have at it.

Kazu working at the sushi bar reminded me of old times....though the masks quickly reminded me of something else....

The dining room configuration was something new to me.....

The Server was very efficient and to the point and I ordered the Gyokai Natto Don, which is now $22. 

  Except for the packets of Kikkoman Shoyu, definitely a Covid thing, this pretty much looked the same as what I recalled. I enjoyed the miso soup, nice beany-nutty flavor....I really liked it. Perhaps I've been having too many watered down versions recently. The Japanese potato salad and the pickles were decent. But the agedashi tofu's battery was strangely rubbery.

As for the bowl...well, I don't recall having so much rice during previous visits; I'm going to have to order "half rice" next time! The maguro wasn't of the best quality, but decent; there was some aji which surprised me and I enjoyed, as I did the shiromi (white fish) and hamachi. Not as much fish as I used to get though. Also not a fan of the seaweed salad they put in a filler.

Still, all that sticky, beany, fermented natto, wasabi, shoyu. This did the trick.

I'm glad Sakura has made it through the pandemic so far. It's because of places like this that I started this blog. It's a place that I've been going to from the beginning of the blog...from back in the days of Chowhound. It was a favorite of the late Ed from Yuma and we shared many meals there. We used love the fact that the place had no signage and way back in those days had a sign saying "WE DO NOT SERVE CALIFORNIA ROLLS" plainly visible. In fact, I recall having dinner with Ed at Sakura (around 2002-03) when a very pushy customer demanded that Kazu make him some rolls. Kazu brought out a phone book and offered to help the customer an appropriate sushi bar. Of course times have changed; rolls started appearing, and then there was that day when Sakura's "sign of the times" went up.

Yes, times have changed, but Sakura is still around. I'm glad for that and will hopefully be back soon.

Izakaya Sakura
3904 Convoy St Ste 121
San Diego, CA 92111

Andres Restaurant Closes After 40 Years

About two weeks ago "ST" sent me an email, which I didn't get to for a while. In the email ST mentioned that Andres Restaurant was planning to close. Because of all our travels, I didn't get to that email for a while. Then yesterday, our good friend "Alle" sent me a text saying that this was Andres last dinner service and they were closing as of the 24th. I checked Andres website which confirmed that Andres was closing after 40 years in business.

Earlier this morning, I drove on over to Bird Rock on Morena for some coffee and then crossed the street to check out what was up with Andres.

 Things looked pretty much the same with no large notices or signs. Until I took a look at the note on the door.

It looks like the restaurant is closing, while the market will remain open. It's a bit strange that I last visited Andres Market three weeks ago, but hadn't a clue about what was going on.

Both ST and Alle mentioned some family tragedy that prompted this rather sudden decision.

Regardless, I know of many folks who enjoy Andres; and many who grew up eating there. It's sad that over the last couple of years we've lost some much beloved eateries that had served their respective neighborhoods for years. I first posted on Andres in 2005!

Sad news.

1235 Morena Blvd
San Diego, CA 92110 

Guanajuato (2022) - Museo Casa Diego Rivera and a Revisit to Mestizo

After doing a good bit of walking earlier in the day, we relaxed and took a short siesta. Upon getting up, we decided to head on out. Guanajuato was a fine place to stroll and just take in the different plazas. Like Plaza de Los Angeles.

We needed to grab something from Oxxo, so we went down the stairs onto busy Avenida Benito Juarez and enjoyed the colorful buildings on the street.

We had made very early dinner reservations with one stop in mind before our meal which was almost right across the street from the restaurant.

Artist Diego Rivera was born in Guanajuato and though his family only lived there for a few years, the home he lived in has been made into a a museum.

  Since we had already visited La Casa Azul earlier on the trip, I thought a visit here would be a nice "bookend". The building's restoration and conversion to a museum was initiated by Diego Rivera's daughter, Guadalupe Rivera Marin. As to how many children Diego Rivera had, well the numbers vary based on the source....

The museum is fairly small, but we enjoyed seeing the scope of Diego Rivera's work and the different styles he embraced from Cubism to Impressionism, to Post-Impressionism, and Muralism.

To be perfectly honest, before this trip, while I had read (and seen the movie) and seen the works of Frida Kahlo, I really did not know much about Diego Rivera.

Visiting Casa Azul, Museo Diego Rivera, and reading the various tales like how Leon Trotsky lived with the pair while in exile (Trotsky was assassinated in Coyoacán in 1940).

    According to this wonderful website Rivera feared for his life (it was uncovered in the 1990's that he was a informant for the US) and went the the American Embassy and ended up in San Francisco. During that time Frida and Diego got remarried and he lived out his life in Casa Azul.

Man, talk about real life being more interesting than fiction!

Museo Casa Diego Rivera
Positos 47
Zona Centro, 36000 Guanajuato, Mexico

Even though Mestizo is basically a few buildings over from the museum, it was still a bit early, so we decided to drop off the stuff we got from Oxxo at the hotel. 

We noticed that the Basilica Guanajuato (full name - Basílica Colegiata de Nuestra Señora de Guanajuato) was open as we exited the hotel, so we decided to take a peek.

And then headed off to dinner. 

We had enjoyed our previous meal at Mestizo so much that we had made reservations for a follow-up dinner on our last night in the city.

Service was just as friendly this time around and we ordered our favorites from that earlier meal along with one addition.

We did notice something different on this visit. 

The flavors and presentation for the Tartar de Atun en Chile Viejo and the Chinchulines con Guacamole weren't quite as on the mark as on our previous visit.

We tried the Carpaccio de Pulpo con Xoconostle y Polvo de Chili Secos. Basically octopus with prickly pear and chili de arbol powder.

 As before the tortillas were up to the task though not outstanding. The pulpo was on the tougher end of things and we thought more citrus/sour tones were needed as well. We enjoyed the lemony-peppery-slightly anise tones of the epazote.

The one saving grace was that the Tuetano was just as wonderfully buttery and beefy as on the first visit.

So, while it seems that perhaps the "B" team was in charge on this evening, things ended on a high note for us.

Mestizo
Positos 69
Zona Centro, 36000 Guanajuato, Mexico

We then headed to La Clave Azul for a nightcap.

Since this was our last evening in Guanajuato and we had really enjoyed ourselves, we decided to do a little victory lap...starting with Jardin de la Union.

Where folks were out in full force.

We ran into the sweet gal selling cheesecake and we ended up paying for two and asked her to "pay it forward"! 

As we got back to the hotel we noticed an interesting "scene".....

Hmmm, this fella looks familiar, right?

There seems to always be something going on in Guanajuato!

We slept well, got up, packed, and had breakfast at the hotel. The Nopales con Huevo were quite good.

After breakfast, we checked out, and met our driver Aaron, who as always was right on time and got us to the airport. It was time to head on home......

But....I'm sure we'll be back someday!

Thanks for stopping by!

Guanajuato (2022) - Breakfast at Santo Café

On our second full day in Guanajuato, we stretched our boundaries a bit and ended up going from the Southeast side of the city to the Northwest side.

While doing my research on Guanajuato, I noticed several posts on a charming looking café with seating on a bridge overlooking a cobbled street named Santo Café.  We had enjoyed walking in this wonderful city and even though it was a bit of "a truck" to the restaurant, we decided to head on over to Santo Café.

It was a pleasant walk, past places that were now familiar to us, Jardin de la Union, Teatro Juárez, and Templo de San Francisco.

We came across the street where Santo Café was located and walked up the stairs and crossed the bridge to the restaurant. It was fairly early and none of the three tables located on the bridge were taken.

We placed our order and took one of the tables on the bridge. The Missus got a Cortado ($32/MX - $1.55/US) and I got an Americano ($30/MX - $1.50/US) which were decent.

We got the Chilaquiles Verdes agrega dos Huevos ($117/MX - $5.80/US) to share, which ended up being more than enough for the Missus and I.

The eggs were perfectly done, crisp edges, runny yolk. The chips maintained a good crispness, the queso wasn't intrusive, and the Missus loved the tangy, mildly spicy green sauce. The beans were creamy and earthy. A decent breakfast that would hold us until dinner.

And for some reason, we enjoyed the view. A few folks even waved at us as they passed!

Santo Cafe
Del Campanero 4
Zona Centro, 36000 Guanajuato, Mexico

From here, we decided to head on out to of all places a cemetery. One of the most visited placed in Guanajuato is the Museo de las Momias, the mummy museum. The Missus wasn't interested in visiting, though during our walking tour, Susana mentioned that the cemetery where the mummies were found was actually next door to the museum. We decided to get some steps in and visit the cemetery.

So we headed on out.

One interesting tidbit about Guanajuato. Miguel Cervantes is quite popular here and Don Quixote even more so.

There's even the La Casa del Quijote, the Don Quixote Museum.

 There's a Cervantes Festival in Guanajuato. And the Wikipedia page on the festival also mentions some of the background of why Cervantes is such a big part of the city.

Walking past Teatro Juárez and Iglesia de San Diego during the day provides a different view of things. At night, this is a bustling, lively area of the city and it's easy to miss things.

Like the two statues below. The one on the left is called "La Giganta". The one on the right is of a Rondalla Singer.

From the center of town we made our way Northwest, past Mercado Hidalgo, then up the one of the hills that surround the town. Right past the Mummy Museum is Panteón Municipal Santa Paula, the cemetery.

Which was quite large.....

It was in this cemetery that the mummies for the museum were found. Apparently, there was a "burial tax" that had to be paid for perpetual burial. When taxes were not paid, the bodies were disinterred and stored in a nearby building. The environment of Guanajuato is conducive to mummification.

While walking amongst the graves we noticed this pooch.....

Who seemed to be on a mission. So we followed.....

Apparently, this pup has a favorite spot in the cemetery where it just went and took a nap.

All in all, an interesting visit.

From here we headed back into town.

Down the colorful streets of Guanajuato.

It was time for a nice siesta. So we could enjoy our last afternoon and evening in this colorful city.

Con Pane and Garden Coffee

On one of our recent trips, to a city well known for their cuisine, one of the Missus's favorite things She consumed, was, well....avocado toast? In fact, She had it three times during our visit! To be perfectly honest, the shop baked their own sourdough and the avo-toast was really good.

That sourdough bread was just perfect; sliced thin, great flavor, super texture....well, of course when got back home, the Missus wanted...avocado toast. Though finding the right bread was going to be an issue. After trying a couple of places, I ended up going back to Con Pane, which I've mentioned several times in comments and posts, but had never done a post on the place. It used to be a favorite for a passable baguette, but after the bakery reopened under the ownership of the Cohn Group, well the baguettes weren't up to what we were used to. I dropped by and picked up a sourdough loaf and had it sliced thin...and guess what, while it's still a bit on the "San Diego chewy bread" side, Con Pane has now returned as a regular stop for us. As in weekly for the last month.

    Con Pane has two distinct lines; one for ordering food and café items. The other for bread and pastry only. As you can tell, I go first thing in the morning when they open. I'll often park all the way down by Trader Joe's and get a couple of extra steps in, while shopping at both places.

The bread line usually goes fast.

Like I said; I get the sourdough boule, sliced thin. 

And I'm usually in and out in a few minutes.

    While still a bit on the chewy side, when toasted it achieves a nice crispness, with good sour-tangy tones which doesn't overwhelm the yeastiness of the bread.

The Missus enjoys a good amount of avocado, with a squeeze of lemon, topped with cilantro micro-greens. I like making panini's and pressed sandwiches with salumi, cheese, and tomato.

So, who knows, maybe I'll try the baguette again one of these days.

Con Pane Rustic Breads & Café
2750 Dewey Rd.
San Diego, CA 92106
Hours:
Mon - Wed 8am - 3pm
Thurs - Sun 8am - 5pm

At the beginning of the month, I ran into "Bruddah Noel", who told me that he was now working at Garden Coffee in Old Town. I had never heard of the place and Noel gave me instructions on how to find it. It's was supposedly close to Tuetano Taqueria and the Congress Cafe. I looked at the address on Congress street, but don't recall seeing a coffee shop. After parking my car, I saw the sign.

So, I followed the signs.....

And came to a closed gate.....

So I made my way to Congress Street to the gate I thought was closed....it wasn't......duh....

And walked down into a cute little area.....

And the little shop was doing some good business....

   There were a couple of folks working on their laptops....when things slowed down a bit I got a chance to chat with Noel. I got my cold brew....Noel knows exactly how I take it.

It's a cute little place and it seems there's quite a few regular customers. I guess the rather discreet location means you have to want to find it....

They also have plants for sale as well.

   I've been back a couple of time and all the folks working are friendly. One of Noel's coworkers went to Sacred Hearts Academy "back home"...in my old neighborhood. Nice peaceful vibe in Old Town, I can see why folks like having a cup of coffee, maybe a pastry, and working at their laptops for a while here.

Currently, Garden Coffee is only open from 9am to 3pm Tuesdays to Saturdays. So, for me, with four coffee shops in the area that I frequent Garden Coffee will be a destination for a "late" cup.

I hope Noel does well! 

Garden Coffee
2611 Congress St.
San Diego, CA 92110
Hours:
Tues - Sat 9am - 3pm