Tokyo Sushi, BBQ & Crepe (in Hemet) with a random stop-at Winchester Cheese Company

mmm-yoso!!! is the food blog.  Bunches of people seem to read what Kirk and ed(from Yuma), Cathy and a few others write about.  You are one of them. Welcome back.

Hi.  So, you may remember I documented my  annual drive  from San Diego to  Detroit  last year.   This year the weather  is absolutely not cooperating and my mom did not want The Mister and me to take to the roads, driving 12 hours a day for three days in a row.  Needless to say, I was a bit fearful also, yet I also was so looking forward to this drive.  I am going crazy not spending three days in a car with The Mister, then three days with my mom and brother and his family in Detroit and then another three days driving home.  In that same car.  With The Mister.  Really.

I know where we "should be" about now and, more importantly, what we should be eating when in that area.  There are fast food joints that don't exist out here in San Diego.  There are tourist traps that are so much fun.  We don't plan where we will stop, but have done that trip for so many years, there are a lot of places I have not shown you yet. 

So, this year is different, yet unplanned and I *really* want to just drive and stop, without a plan or schedule. 

So I did.

North.  To Hemet. There it was. 

 

These two places.  In a mall in Hemet.

 

Next to each other.

 

What do I do?

 

Hm, Beijing Hawaiian. Sounds fairly common. Heck, I just had a Kahlua pork taco  in Santee the other day.   Tokyo Sushi, BBQ and Crepe.

Crepe.
I had to.  

 

Walk up, order, pay. Watch The Owner and His Wife cook, behind the sushi bar. 

Neat and clean, dark lacquered tables and a bustling take out business.  Soon, my order arrived.   

 

A good sized, freshly made, sesame oil and seed infused seaweed salad ($2.95). Crunchy, fresh and an excellent portion. 

   

I had a cup of hot green tea, as I always do with my meals and it came with this nice lid to help it steep properly.  There is a charge for tea here.      

 

Doesn't matter.  This is Combo #35, Chicken Katsu. ($5.95) This had to be two chicken breasts, perfectly fried, placed on top of shredded cabbage to get rid of any excess oil (there wasn't any)  and served with steamed rice and a salad covered with a wonderful home made dressing. 

I asked and the dressing is made with cider vinegar and sugar and carrots and celery. A family recipe.  (The katsu sauce is store bought and the container is written all in Japanese in yellow and has a bulldog symbol on it.  It is vinegary and compliments the crispy katsu quite well.)

   

The reason I chose this place.  A crepe.

 

Filled with sliced banana, a good vanilla ice cream and topped with whipped cream and chocolate sauce. ($5.95) Excellent.

 

So glad I stopped here.  If you are out here, for some reason, do stop.

I decided to drive home a different way than I arrived (had taken the 215 and somehow got here); had passed SR79, which I know crossed the I-15 in Temecula, but is only 2 lanes wide.

 

 

I saw this and had to stop.  Actually, I had to make a U turn on the two lane route.

I drove down a dirt road a short distance, seeing the Alta Dena milk cows on my right.

 

Apparently the cheese cows were to the left.

 

The Winchester Cheese Company. 

There are samples of four different aged Gouda cheeses(minimally 60 days and the "super aged" is more than one year) and four different flavored Gouda cheeses(cumin, jalapeño, garden herb and smoked), all made from raw milk. 

 

I tasted all of the 'plain' Goudas and decided the least aged one had more depth of flavor to me, plus if I wanted to taste more aging, the edges are a bit dryer and should have a more aged flavor.

(I think flavored and smoked cheese is wrong, by the way.)

So anyhow, my own little vacation right here in Southern California. So far. Drive and stop; no plan.

Tokyo Sushi, BBQ and Crepe 1121 S. Sanderson Avenue Hemet 92545 (951-925-7711)

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Winchester Cheese Company 32605 Holland Road Winchester 92596 (951-926-4239)website

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Comments

[Carol]

How fun! And Gouda is gooda! You know, I think I have a few of those cow trinkets.

[Carol]

I forgot to say "Happy Thanksgiving" to the mmm-yoso bunch! I'm always thankful to have found you guys. :-)

[Chris]

I wish I was there.

[Cathy]

Hi Carol. It is Gouda made from raw milk and very different. This brand is sold at Henry's for $1 more per pound for each flavor. Not a bad markup-but a nice drive. Happy Thanksgiving to you and your Mister.
You would've liked my documenting the drive to Detroit again this year, Chris. You can drive and have an adventure too. It's fun. I had no idea I would find these places.

[Brother of Cathy]

That's a nice Conestoga there near Temecula.

It's 36° here right now. Mostly cloudy. No snow to speak of. Turkey is in the oven.....

[Cathy]

It was a completely random find-like the dinosaurs in New Mexico. I miss Sonic and Steak N Shake and Braums and Cracker Barrel and White Castle and Tim Horton's. And all of you.

Do we not own telephones? Happy Thanksgiving.

[sawyer]

i used gmap to see where hemet was...knew it sounded familiar...i hiked once at san jacinto

that salad dressing sounds very interesting, did he happen to tell you the recipe? =)

happy turkey day to you cathy, kirk and ed!

[Cathy]

Happy Thanksgiving to you too, Sawyer. Glad to show you new areas. The map thing helps now too, I think. Kirk has told me how to do it, so I will be updating my old posts. The carrots and celery were sort of pureed in the dressing. There was no onion and I assume apple cider vinegar. It was not sweet despite him telling me there was sugar in it. I am going to experiment, since I have all of those ingredients around here. I did not detect any oil, but think I will try sesame oil. The usual ratio for a batch of dressing is 1/4 C vinegar to 2Tbs oil.

[stephen]

Cathy,
That's a great random find. I love gouda(plain). Haven't been too thrilled with the selection in some of the stores. Gonna check out their site.
Happy Thanksgiving!

[cathy]

I absolutely thrive on random happenings, stops and no planning, Stephen. This was just fun and helped me out of my antsiness of not driving home for this holiday. This Gouda is made from raw milk and does have a different flavor. I know they sell this brand in various forms at Henry's. It is good. I hope you had a nice Thanksgiving also.