mmm-yoso!!!

China 1968 (El Cajon)

mmm-yoso!!!, a food blog, writes about a variety of places in San Diego County (as well as around the world). Kirk is usually posting here, but for now, it's Cathy.

Located in a strip mall fronted by an El Pollo Loco, with a pizzeria on one side and next to a laundromat, China 1968 has been here since 2014. Family owned, family run, everybody who works here seems to remember you, if not your 'usual' order.  It's a regular stop when we don't want to 'venture West' for Asian food.    There are 14 Lunch Specials on the menu, ranging from $9.49 to $11.49.  Each is served with rice, (vegetarian) egg roll and cup of soup (either egg drop or hot and sour).  This is the Kung Pao Chicken ($9.49).  You are asked if you would like it medium-hot or hot-hot in level of spiciness.  It is made to order, as is everything on the menu. This is quite good with the fresh mushroom, onion, zucchini, peanuts and smooth, spicy/vinegar-y/lightly sweet sauce with a perfect amount of heat (I asked for "medium plus a little more" in spice level).  You can taste each of the vegetables as well as the juicy chicken. 
 The chicken corn soup (medium $7.49, large $9.49) is wonderful, tender and meaty chicken, plenty of flavorful corn bites and egg swirled in a tasty chicken broth. The large size is great for sharing.
 Our "must order" at every Chinese restaurant- House Egg Foo Young ($16.99).  Beef, chicken and shrimp are mixed in with the (very fluffy) eggs and the crust formed on the large pancake was remarkably lightly crisp.  It's all topped with a variety of fresh vegetables (and no bean sprouts!) and a good brown gravy. The EFY here is my absolute favorite and the eggiest version I've ever tasted.    One day, we saw another table ordering this and on our next visit, it was a 'must try'.  Salt and Pepper Shrimp ($17.99).  That is a large tablespoon with a single (no shell) shrimp in it.  Plump and juicy shrimp, a wonderful, perfectly fried light and crisp salty/peppery batter with garlic and scallions and a few red peppers mixed in.  This plate is a meal in itself with some white rice.

Each dish is made to order and everything here is fresh and flavorful. A great place for great food. 

 China 1968 500 Broadway El Cajon 92021 (619)593-0495 (619)593-0498 Open Mon-Tue 2:30-8, CLOSED WEDNESDAY, Thurs-Sun noon-9 p.m. Website

The Original Pancake House (revisit)

mmm-yoso!!! is being written by Cathy today; Kirk is unavailable.

Originally, I wrote about The OPH in 2009 then again in 2013 and once more in 2015.  It's time to share another breakfast.  
 Going early is smart; the line can get long and some tables have been removed to be socially distanced.  The menu choices are the same, as are the heavyweight silverware, real half and half for coffee ($3.55, kept constantly filled) and even condiments on the tables. 
 Diced honey-maple ham and eggs with pancakes as the side ($13.25).  It's a good ham (and there's plenty) mixed in with the fluffy, soft scramble of eggs.  The pancake batter here is unique and the cakes are always prepared properly, having a light-crisp exterior and cake soft interior with a slight buttermilk 'twang' of flavor, if you don't overpower with syrup or whipped butter.
 Banana nut pancakes ($13.75) are sometimes all you need. There are smaller pieces of pecans and diced banana inside each buttermilk pancake.  The banana slices are just the right amount of sweet needed for each bite. 

Another memorable breakfast, able to be enjoyed indoors. 

Original Pancake House 3906 Convoy San Diego 92111 858-565-1740   Website open daily 7 a.m.-1 p.m. 

 

Original Pancake House 3906 Convoy San Diego 92111 858-565-1740   Website open daily 7 a.m.-1 p.m. 

Eastern Dynasty - A Couple of Takeout Visits

Back at the end of September, I noticed that new Chinese Restaurant had opened in Convoy Pointe Plaza; in the location that had become "Guest Kabob" and had previously been Xi’an Kitchen and Jin's Pot. A couple of days later I did a takeout visit.....which was interesting as the menu looked quite familiar.

I asked if anyone at Eastern Dynasty had been at Noble Chef and was told; "no, absolutely not....why would you think that?" I pointed out several items on the menu that looked suspiciously familiar. But was again rebuffed. Of course, a couple of days later it became clear that there was a link to Noble Chef.

Over the last couple of weeks, I've done a couple of visits....sorry to say, that unlike Soo (please read his post for another viewpoint on Eastern Dynasty), I've been kind of underwhelmed. Perhaps dining in makes all the difference? But, because of the seating arrangement and how crowded the place has been on all my visits....even at opening time, I'm holding off for now.

Here's a listing of the dishes we've had from Eastern Dynasty.

Decent:

Kwai Fei Chicken:

I recently had some very disappointing Kwai Fei Ji from Golden Island and decided to try the version from Eastern Dynasty.

 On the good side; this was tender and moist. On the other end of the scale this was really quite bland and the sauce seemed watered down as well. It could have used more sesame oil and ginger tones. At least it was texturally good.

Soy Sauce Noodles:

Something I usually order from Noble Chef.

   Not a bad version; decent "wok hay", though it needed a bit more soy sauce and it was cooked unevenly. There were hard pieces of noodles stuck together in clumps. Also, the noodles seemed to have been chopped into short strands as well.

Mediocre:

Eggplant with Salted Fish and Pork:

 This one had potential; the eggplant was perfectly cooked; quite creamy in texture. You can see what the issue here is, right? Where's the salted fish and pork....well, there are a few "crumbs". Usually, the salted fish acts as a "foil" for the eggplant, which has been fried and can be somewhat greasy. This was one bland and greasy dish.

Roast Duck:

I know folks rave about this.....but we didn't for it very much.

The duck looked good; but both the Missus and I noticed something right off....where was the fragrance of five spice? The skin was hard, not crisp; the flesh was tough and bland. The Missus had two bites and told me; "the rest is yours......."

Shrimp with XO Sauce:

Here's another one where the stir fry was done well; the shrimp plump, though lacking in flavor and the snow peas crisp.

Not enough seasoning; not enough XO sauce, this was so bland.

Not Good:

Fried Tofu with Two Mushrooms:

Another dish that looks strikingly familiar, right?

The tofu as cold inside; the sauce was overly thick and as you can see, really light in color; it needed more soy sauce.

Pork Maw with Preserved Vegetable:

On two occasions I was told "not" to order something and recommendations were made. I tried to order the Pork Intestine with Preserved Vegetable, but was told to order the Pork Maw with Preserved Vegetable instead.

Now, I do like pork maw (the exterior wall of the pig stomach)...but where's the preserved vegetable? It's MIA. This, like many of the other dishes was really bland...maybe because there was "something missing?"

Mei Cai Kou Rou:

On one visit; I tried to order the Steamed Pork with Salted Fish and was told that it was "too salty" and asked to order something else. I was recommended the Steamed Pork Belly with Preserved Vegetable.

Good lord, this was so greasy and bitter. It was just really hard to eat.

I as told that the Salt and Pepper Pork Chops are quite good; so I think I'll wait until I feel ok with dining in here.

The Missus did say something kinda interesting; remember when I was told to get dinner from Noble Chef after a not so great lunch there? After confirming the Noble Chef connection She asked me; "is the old Noble Chef lunch cook the one at Eastern Dynasty?"

Eastern Dynasty
4690 Convoy St. #109
San Diego, CA 92111
Current Hours:
Daily 11am - 3pm, 5pm - 9pm

Revisits - Saigon Sandwiches & Deli and Cafe Dore

My last visits to A Chau and Cali Baguette left me wondering how some of the other "old school" banh mi shops were doing, And another Phuong Nga errand had me in City Heights once again. I was craving a Banh Mi Ba Chi from Cafe Dore, so I headed west on University. I was in luck and found some parking in the lot on Marlborough and walked over to Cafe Dore....and sheesh; the place was packed to rafters with groups "old timers" and oh my, the cigarette smoke. There was no way I wanted to walk in....so, I walked on over next door to.....

Saigon Sandwiches & Deli:

Man, I didn't realize it at the time; but it's been nearly fourteen years since I last visited!

And of course things (not including prices) have changed.....whereas I used to joke that Saigon Sandwiches had a huge secondary market in phone cards and cigarettes; well you know what they have now?

Masks in every shape and size it seems!

The Banh Mi Ba Chi ($5.39) looked quite good.

 Though when I opened up the banh mi...well, it was either mocking me, or perhaps a fan of the Rolling Stones?

All kidding aside, I really enjoyed this sandwich......the bread was crusty, it also seemed to have been lightly buttered. The pork belly was sliced on he thin side; but I enjoyed the cilantro, which was mostly leaves and full of stems. I liked the ay the jalapenos were thinly sliced instead of one giant piece. It was perhaps a bit on the light side in regards to pickled radish and carrots; but that worked well in proportion to everything else in the banh mi. Which, at least for me is what a good banh mi is all about.

I'll make sure not to wait fourteen years before returning!

Saigon Sandwiches & Deli
4133 University Ave.
San Diego, CA 92105
Hours:
Open Daily 7am - 7pm

Still, I was wondering how Cafe Dore was doing....

Cafe Dore:

So, I returned to the same strip mall at just after 7am the next morning.

The place was already two-thirds full of older gents....more then a few of them puffing away. Though these days, as I noted in my last post three years ago, all those "video machines" are gone.

I walked on up to the counter and the older gentleman and woman working behind the counter actually smiled and greeted me form behind the plexiglass! I went ahead and placed my order for the Banh Mi Ba Chi ($5), my favorite banh mi here at Cafe Dore.

Then something interesting happened...the woman asked me to take a seat and brought me a cup of iced tea; "for you while you wait"! Whoa, was this really Cafe Dore? I did feel a bit like the guys were staring at me in the place....but looking up; I noticed I was right under the television with the lottery results! Well, at least some things haven't changed.

The older gentleman brought me my sandwich and thanked me......

   I really enjoyed this sandwich. While perhaps the bread was prepped a bit better at Saigon; here it was also nice and crusty. The slices of pork are a bit thicker and also seems to be sweeter. The jalapenos were also thinly sliced and had a nice kick. Good amount of cilantro and pickled veggies.

It seems, that even though, some things haven't changed, the customers are almost all male....old timers experiencing what I call the "Coffee Culture of Vietnam" which can be a bit intimidating....the service here just seemed to be a softer, kinder, more welcoming Cafe Dore.

Cafe Dore
4135 University Ave.
San Diego, CA 92105
Hours:
Mon - Sat 7am - 5pm
Sundays 7am - 4pm

Paris (Before Covid) - Restaurant ERH and Golden Promise Whiskey Bar

Yet another quick pre-Covid travel post. 

We returned from our little day trip to Chartres and took a nap and rested a bit. For dinner, I chose a restaurant close to where we were staying. We'd be flying out to Tel Aviv the next morning and just wanted something close by. That didn't mean it would be just another dinner though. I had made reservations at Michelin starred ERH restaurant. The restaurant as basically two blocks from where we were staying.

Noting that ERH shares an address with a sake bar and a whiskey bar, we arrived early for our 730 reservation; and notified the restaurant that we'd be having a aperitif at the Whiskey Bar named Golden Promise.

We each enjoyed a cocktail whilst waiting for our table.

Soon enough our table was ready.

The restaurant is very low-keyed and was were really interested in the tasting menu since the chef, like many of our previous fine dining meals in Paris was Japanese, Keita Kitamura. IN fact, ERH stands for eaux (water), riz (rice), and homme (man), as a homage to the three necessary ingredients for sake.

I'll try to keep this post brief from this point forward.

The amuse:

Jerusalem artichoke with Ikura was amazing! The Parmesan Crisp was nice, the potato cream tasted like taro....

As was the monkfish fritter with sate and basil.

The scallop was so very sweet.

The veal tartare was also quite good.

That radish and haricot vert cream just blew me away.

The Foie Gras dish was served in a novel manner.

In a pastry of sorts, with mango and beets to add some interesting textural and flavor contrasts.

The "Bar de Ligne" (Eropena Bass) with Oyster dish was a bit underwhelming.

Really salty, the persillade (parsley) sauce not really adding much to the dish.

The Carnard de Chaland with Chou Vert, which seemed to be Brussel Sprouts rather than cabbage was quite nice.

Great complexity, sweet - sour - bitter.

And the Missus enjoyed the desserts.

A very nice experience; one which we'd gladly do again.

ERH
Golden Promise Whisky Bar
11 Rue Tiquetonne
75002 Paris, France

As I had my usual beer before sleeping, I again thought about how lucky I was to be able to have these experiences.

The next day we were up early and caught the RER to CDG.........

Next up...Tel Aviv!

Thanks for stopping by!

Chartres (Before Covid) - Chartres Cathedral and Lunch at La Table du Marche

Here's another quick pre-Covid travel post. 

On the second day of our short visit to Paris, the Missus wanted to explore a bit. We had visited Versailles on a previous trip, so this time around I thought we'd check out Chartres and the Cathedral, often said to be the best Gothic Cathedral in Europe.

Getting there was quite easy from Gare Montparnasse.

And it seems that everyone is invited to take the one hour ride to Chartres.

And once there; well, it's easy to find your way to the Cathedral.

You really can't miss it.

While walking to the Cathedral we passed this amazing mural.

 Doing some research, I found that the mural is of Jean Moulin a hero of the French Resistance in World War II who lived in Chartres. Read more about him in the link to the Wikipedia page above.

The Cathedral is indeed grand. It is said that there were four to five churches on this spot, dating back to the 4th century!

There is quite a bit to see if you have the time. We just decided to stroll around and enjoy some of the highlights.

There's a worn statue in Place de la Cathedrale. It is of Fulbert of Chartres who was Bishop of the Cathedral when it burned in 1020. Fulbert devoted his time to rebuilding the Cathedral which was completed around 1145.

There are beautiful Rose Windows over every entrance.

The Church is dedicated to Mary and there are signs of that everywhere.

 Many pilgrims come to the church to see the Black Madonna (above). There's some really good information on why the Madonna is black here. But you might say, the Madonna pictured above isn't black. Well, several years back the Cathedral was part of a huge restoration project and all those years of soot and such was removed from the statue; it was very controversial to say the least.

A few blocks from the Cathedral is the Marché aux Légumes - the produce market. And since it was Saturday, we took some time to check ot out.

It's always fun visiting these places and watching the locals go about their daily lives.....

By this point we were getting a bit hungry. Right at the edge of the market is La Table du Marché - the Market Table. So we thought why not?

The staff was very friendly and welcoming. At places like this, it's always helpful to check out the plat du jour....and we ended up ordering two of the daily specials.

The friendly woman working was delighted that the Missus ordered the Andouillette, which She had loved in Lyon.

While not quite at that level; it was literally bursting with offal-y goodness.

I was thrilled to see Boudin Blanc as a daily special.

And while, like the Missus, this wasn't quite as good a my favorite, it was quite mild, but nicely sautéed and I enjoyed the dressing on the greens.

The service was very warm; the prices, since we're used to Paris prices seemed like a bargain; 10 Euros for the Andouillette and just 7 for the Boudin Blanc!!!

La Table du Marché
11 Place Billard
28000 Chartres, France

We left satisfied and ready for a nap when we returned to Paris!

Our Best Thanksgiving Wishes To You!

Just a quick thank you to everyone for taking the time out to read and even comment on our posts. We are so very thankful for that in these times. 

The Missus is busy at work the next couple of days; so I made a nice dinner for Her last night....I know, it's not traditional and all, but She enjoyed it.

I wonder how all of you are doing and hope you are all safe and well.

I took this photo this morning after running some early morning errands and realized how thankful I am to live where we do, to still be in good health, and to still be able to enjoy life.

Thanks everyone from the bottom of our hearts!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Revisits - Cali Baguette and A Chau

Man, talk about see-sawing weather....one week it seems like it's finally fall; the next week we got days in the 80's...... During one of my trip to get the the Missus's current favorite bun rieu I was, well, a bit hungry. Just for something to keep me until a late lunch or early dinner. For some reason I just wanted a Banh Mi Pate Cha....and good lord, it had been a while since I'd had a "real" banh mi; not one of those fusiony versions, that always seem to miss the mark for me. And since I was there on 54th and University, I thought I'd check out.....

Cali Baguette Express:

Man, it has been years since I'd been here. Once upon a time Cali Baguette had quite an empire with locations on Convoy; which is now Cali Banh Mi. Not quite sure what the story is; but it's definitely not the same; especially the bread. In fact, my last trip to Cali Baguette Express in Mira Mesa was not quite up to par either.

But here I was, craving a banh mi pate cha....so.....

Good thing I wasn't craving some noodle soup here; since they were out of a lot of stuff. Supply chain issues and all that I guess.

And as a sign of the times; what was once a $3 sandwich is now $5....which is still not a bad price considering. 

Arriving home, I went ahead and unwrapped the banh mi....

A couple of things struck me right away; first the cutting was kinda off center....good thing I wasn't sharing this as a snack with anyone. Second, the bread was soft and doughy; lacking in crusty-flakiness, a hallmark of good banh mi in my opinion. Decent amount of cha lua, though hardly any musty-offaly pate......too many cilantro stems, not enough leaves. Still, that huge slice of jalapeno did get me pretty good.

I just wish the bread was better.......

Quite sad, because I remember this place being much better.

Cali Baguette Express
5125 El Cajon Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92115
Hours:
Mon - Sat 6am - 8pm
Sunday 6am - 7pm

This banh mi had me wondering how some of the "old school banh mi shops were doing in San Diego. And so, the following weekend day, I headed off to....

A-Chau:

Which was the first Banh Mi shop I posted on back in 2005. Over the years, I think A Chau has slipped a bit. The service has always been perfunctory; but on recent visits; the bread has been stale.....though I gotta say at a bit past 7am....I had the entire horrific parking lot to myself.

The place is looking a bit worse for wear; but not much else has changed....except the price; the Banh Mi Pate Cha is now $5.50.....it was $3.95 on my last visit; but that was three years ago.

A lot of businesses in this strip mall has closed as well.

 This was a bit better than what I'd had  on my last visit. The bread wasn't stale; though it could have been toasted a bit more. There was quite a bit of cha lua and perhaps too much mayo in this, which just nullified the scant amount of pate. Again; when it comes to banh mi, it's all about proportion to me. Also, not enough cilantro and jalapenos were MIA. Not quite sure if it's because of supply issues....but I did miss that.

Not bad and definitely better than what I'd had previously.....and, I decided to try the cha gio....which, perhaps because it was early in the day was still hot.

These are now $1 a piece! The rice paper wrapper is still a bit more chewy then I recall; but it's still much better than many other places. And it's pretty much stuffed to the gills with pork.

A Chau Restaurant
4644 El Cajon Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92115
Hours:
Daily 7am - 530pm

These two visits has got me wondering how the other places I frequent in City Heights is doing. I guess it's time to start making the rounds!