mmm-yoso!!!

Monday Meanderings - It's Honeyjam Chicken Not JJ's and Olleh Sushi Replaces Old House Hot Pot

Just a quick post for a busy Monday.

It's Honeyjam Chicken not JJ's:

So, first off a big "THANK YOU" to "FOYs" Patty and Rena who gave me heads-up regarding what was going on with the spot that was initially indicated to be JJ Chicken. Patty was nice enough to comment on my it appears that JJ is not coming to Renaissance Center and on the very same day Rena sent me an email with a photo (Thanks so much Rena!) mentioning the same thing! So, of course I needed to do an update and a couple of days later I headed on down (up??) to Renaissance Towne Center and yes indeed it looks like Honeyjam Chicken and Beer is now taking the spot that was planned for "JJ".

And since there's a sign up, it looks like this one will actually happen!

8895 Towne Centre Dr.
San Diego, CA 92122

Thanks so much Patty and Rena, I appreciate the time and effort you both expended. You know, I don't think our little blog would exist without wonderful folks like you!

Olleh Sushi Replaces Old House Hot Pot:

I noticed this when I was driving to Daiso. Looks like Old House Hot Pot is gone. Sorry to say I never had a chance to check them out.

Looks like the Olleh Kingdom is expanding. They already have a AYCE Korean BBQ in the Old Seoul - then Roadem BBQ spot on Convoy. This one is a AYCE Sushi....I guess they specialize in what my  good friend calls "All You Cannot Eat".....

8199 Clairemont Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92111

And finally......

My apologies for the blog being down almost a whole day over the weekend. Apparently there was an issue with Typepad's servers. It had been happening intermittently over the last month or so and this time; things went down for all their customers.

Now Typepad has notified me that there will be another downtime this month. But haven't been clear on specifics yet.

Hope everyone has a wonderful week!

Scotland (2022) - Breakfast at Port Charlotte Hotel, Bunnahabhain and Bowmore Distilleries, and Lunch at The Lochside Hotel & Restaurant (Islay)

On our first full day in Islay, we got up early, and decided to take a short stroll around Port Charlotte.

It was a charming town.

We headed back to the hotel for breakfast.

I saw something that I've always wanted to try on the menu.

It's hard to go wrong with any smoked fish in Scotland and the Missus ordered the Loch Fyne Smoked Salmon with Poached Eggs.

There was a bread, dairy, and cereal station available. The salmon was quite good and the eggs perfect.

I had always wanted to try Kippers and here I finally had a chance. I ordered the Loch Fyne Smoked Kippers.

Man, with the fried potato scone, this was so good. Deeply savory, wonderful smoked fish flavors, perfect salt. A squeeze of lemon to help cut the richness and we were good to go. The Missus had a taste and was sold. In fact, She would order this the next morning for breakfast!

Port Charlotte Hotel
Main St.
Port Charlotte PA48 7TU, Scotland

As usual Sean was on time for our pick-up. One of the benefits of having a private driver/tour is the flexibility. We found that doing three tastings in a day was a bit much for us and asked Sean if he could cut it down to two for this day. Which was no problem.

The first stop was just a quick one. Ardnahoe Distillery was fairly new, opening in 2019. Sean had never been there so he asked us if we'd like to take a look.

It was very modern and sleek looking. It was a nice stop to stretch our legs a bit and the Missus enjoyed all of the portraits of Her favorite animal; the Highland Cow....which they call "Heilan' Coo".

The next stop was Bunnahabhain Distillery. It was quite a drive to the distillery.

   Our visits on this day revolved around tastings, though we were given an short walking tour of the distillery.

Bunnahabhain Distillery is known as the most remote distillery on Islay. We were told that the village of Bunnahbhain was created to actually house the distilleries employees! Their Scotch is also unique as they are known for their unpeated Scotch Whiskey.

When it was time for our tasting were were each given an impressive "tasting kit"!

There was no way the Missus and I would finish one each; so we split one and brought the other home, which I gave to "FOY" JeffP. 

The Missus thought this a bit on the overly "sweet" side; while I really liked the 18yo and the Amontillado Cask versions.

We had quite the drive to our next destination; Bowmore and Sean made a stop at a wonderful ceramic shop named Persabus Pottery which the Missus loved.

She ended up buying a beautiful looking cup

And it looks like cats are loved and most welcomed here!

It was about a half hour drive to the town of Bowmore. Which, after staying in Port Charlotte, and visiting the distilleries and villages seemed like a big city (it's the Administrative Captial)....with a population of.....700!

We made a quick stop at the pharmacy, before heading off to Bowmore Distillery.

The Visitor Center seemed a bit more fancy than the other tasting rooms. And instead of a tour there was a video presentation. Bowmore was the first "legal" distillery on Islay, founded in 1779.

Which came with 2 free tasters of our choice.

It's nicely balanced, with nice fruity tones.

After this tasting we stopped for lunch at the The Lochside Hotel & Restaurant. We'd eaten quite a bit for breakfast, so the Missus and I went with some smaller, starter items.

The Missus enjoyed Her Stornoway Black Pudding.

Which was fairly crumbly, but pleasant to eat, quite moist, not overly "iodiney", and nicely seasoned, perhaps a  bit on the salty side, which made it go good with the poached egg.

If you noticed; I've been looking for dishes I'd read or heard about during my meals on Islay. And here I got the Cullen Skink.

Basically a smoked haddock cream soup....think of it as a less thick smoky chowder if you will. Actually, I enjoyed the rustic bread the most! This was nice and filling.

The Lochside Hotel & Restaurant
20 Shore St.
Bowmore, Isle of Islay PA43 7LB, Scotland

Sean had noticed that we took a bit on interest in the rather unique looking church in the town. So after lunch we drove on up to Kilarrow Church.

It's quite an eye catcher to be sure. Built in 1767, Kilarrow Church is still used to this day, making it the oldest church still in use on Islay.

There's a cemetery right next to the church that caught my eye.

This is a Commonwealth War Graves site.

I was rather shocked to see many "Unknown" tombstones. According to this website there are:

"36 unknown seamen of the Merchant Navy" 

Buried here. Very sad.

We started heading back to Port Charlotte, taking in the views....

Because it was still rather early in the day; Sean had one more stop in mind before dropping us at the hotel! 

Stay Tuned!

Scotland (2022) - Ardbeg, Lagavulin, and Laphroaig Distilleries. Dinner at Port Charlotte Hotel (Islay)

After a nice day in Oban, we headed off early the next morning to catch the ferry to Port Ellen on Islay. It was a bit of a drive and I was quite fascinated with the whole thing as I hadn't ever been on a ferry this large before. I mean the ferry could hold buses and semi's, heavy construction equipment. It let cars in first, then had the cars lifted to the ceiling. I'd ridden the Washington State Ferry several times; but this was much larger.

We were entertained by this pup while waiting to get our van onto the ferry.

It was drizzling a bit and the pooch just wasn't into going to do his business or even a walk. He refused to move until finally; his "Dad" let him back into the car! It was pretty funny. We knew who ran things in this family!

The ferry was quite spacious and well equipped and had several designated areas.

Sean our driver told me to meet him back at the van a few minutes before docking; so we headed out to relax.

We saw the pooch sitting with Dad and eventually napping away in the pet friendly area. It must have been a pretty tough morning! The seats and sofas there were quite comfortable.

After a while, we headed off to the coffee kiosk for a caffeine fix.

There was some pretty comfortable seating here as well.

And the coffee decent as well.

Soon enough we had arrived at Port Askaig.....

Sean had arranged for three distillery visits and we'd be hitting them right in a row.

But first, we stopped here.....

What in god's name is this you might ask? Well, this is what gives Islay Scotch Whiskey its unique character. It's peat, basically an accumulation of decayed organic matter.

The peat is dried, then slowly burnt to give Islay Scotch it's smoky flavor.

And then it was time for our stops. Like many of the tours we do these days...most private or small group, there's just so much information.....I'll just do quick recaps of our visits.

First stop Ardbeg Distillery.

Most of the distilleries we visited had a similar look; the white washed buildings and some had wonderful views as well.

We loved Ardbeg's "mascot"!

We did a tour of the grounds and got a nice history; Ardbeg was established in 1815! We then got a tasting.

Quite peaty; though a good amount of sweetness came thru.

Lagavulin was next. The setting was amazing as there are ruins of a castle right in the bay in back of the distillery. This is Dunyvaig Castle.

We got a nice rundown of the machinery here; some of it unique and almost one of a kind.

The tasting here was quite diverse; everything from really strong with a "bite" to quite peaty. We were told that the pot stills are filled to the maximum at Lagavulin; thus the contact with copper is lower than most other brands creating a unique flavor profile.

The Missus's favorite Scotch is from Laphroaig, so She was looking forward to our visit. And overall, the Laphroaig tour was the most comprehensive as well.

We actually got to go into a malting room.

Saw peat being "burned".....

And was basically walked thru much of the process.

As for the tastings....well, the Missus still likes Her Laphroaig 10! And perhaps the Quarter Cask. I'm more of a Sherry Oak kind of guy and I had a taste of the 16...oh my!

Looks like some other folk like Laphroaig too!

Perhaps our favorite part of the tour were the "opinion tiles" which detail the love-hate polarizing opinions of the Laphroaig. These are at the entrance of the distillery.

It details at the bottom of the tile details what the person tasted.

My favorite one was.....

There were a group of Frenchmen....wearing kilts and all the gear on a Scotch pilgrimage! Sean went and took photos of them.

You gotta love this place!

Islay was indeed beautiful; the folks warm and welcoming. And the scenery......

But man, we were bushed. Sean dropped us off at out accommodation, the very comfortable Port Charlotte Hotel.

And after doing a bit of research before our trip; I figured that the most suitable meals for us would be in the hotel.

And it would turn out to be a good choice.

We started with 6 Loch Gruinart (local) Oysters.

My goodness; these were so good! Not overly briny; with a sweet-cucumbery aftertaste. We ended up ordering another half-dozen.

The Wild Mushroom Salad was also quite good.

Good earthy flavors; loved the addition of pine nuts added that unique, almost sweet flavor. The truffle oil dressing didn't hurt things at all either.

The Seafood Chowder was interesting; tomato based.

Really couldn't taste much other than the broth.

The Chips were ok.

A bit too dense for my liking.

The Islay Scallops were good, but not seared enough.

Really enjoyed the beets though! Very sweet and perfectly cooked.

And of course, an encore of oysters.

Port Charlotte Hotel
Main St.
Port Charlotte PA48 7TU, Scotland

After dinner we took a stroll.

Port Charlotte was like something from a postcard. 

Something that I only thought existed in movies. It was peaceful, relaxed, and we were enjoying things.

Thanks for stopping by!

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