mmm-yoso!!!

What's My Craving: Banh Mi Bo Kho from Pho Lucky

I look forward to those "San Diego chilly" days; you know, what we here consider cold, the low 50's, a nice chill in the air.....and weekends are even better. The Missus sleeping in, I set out, "honey-do" list in hand, and this time decide to make a short detour....to Pho Lucky, for the Banh Mi Bo Kho.

And while I have been disappointed on occasion with the beef stew here, it will hit the spot more often than not. As it did on this day....perhaps not quite as thick as I prefer, but full of tangy, beefy, slightly anise flavors. The tendon with just the right amount of toothsome versus buttery. The bread is standard issue, but is warmed and who cares after you dip....nay, drench it in the "gravy". The onions add a bit of acidic pungency teaming with the cilantro to cut the richness and revive your palate a bit.

Need to cut the salt and richness even more? Add a squeeze of lime. For me, this has become comfort food. The only sad thing is, I still had all my major shopping to do after this......

Pho Lucky
9326 Mira Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92126

Midweek Meanderings: Lemon House Opens, Great Wow (or perhaps Wall?) Replacing Goldfish World, and Other "Stuffs".

A few things for this rather chilly Wednesday.

Lemon House Vietnamese Cuisine:

Didn't notice this until last week. In the former location of Maru.

I thought it was a rather odd that instead of Vietnamese; the sign was also written in Chinese. So I asked the Missus who confirmed that the Chinese does in fact include "Vietnamese" in it. Quite odd though.

4681 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92123

Great Wow (???) Restaurant Replacing Goldfish World:

I dropped by Nijiya to grab a bento on the way back from a meeting and I noticed a sign on the former location of Goldfish World. It said "Great Wow Restaurant"...... Now for some reason that struck me as odd. Perhaps it might be "Great Wall"? The reason I'm really not sure that it really is named "Great Wow", is the part of the sign that says "Comming Soon"..... Go figure....wow.....

3860 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

RakiRaki Taking Over the BABs Location:

RR's slow annexation of that strip mall continues. As Pokirrito looks almost ready to open. I noticed that they've laid claim to the now defunct BABs location.

With RR's owner's talent for self-promotion and hype; I'm sure we'll find out soon enough if they are just expanding the shops space, or if this is going to be another "concept".....

4646 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

And speaking of suckers.....

You know, I've got my weaknesses. I drop by Nijiya at least once a week; sometimes even more often to grab something quick for lunch. And I have to say, I'll always try their seasonal offerings.

Man, you know I love stuff like sake kasu, to make amazake (I'll get the recipe up one of these days), and you know my love of using Shio Koji. So when I saw the pork mirin kasu, I had to get it. Man, that pork was leathery and dry as heck. Not much flavor as well. Bummer, because the takenoko gohan was really tasty.

Win some, lose some.

Hope you have more winners than losers this week!

Boiling Passion

**** Boiling Passsion has closed

Less than a week ago, I mentioned a new hot pot place.....Boiling Passion. It just so happened that one of our coworkers; "Lily" was transferring departments, so we wanted to take her to lunch. And BP seemed just the place.

I like what they've done to the interior; brick and wood paneling...nice job considering how quickly the place got turned around from Pho Paradise's closing.

A quick look at the menu revealed that yes, this is indeed what Eater describes as a "take off" on the very popular Boiling Point. Hot pot for lunch? $12.99, for dinner, $13.99. You can add extras for an additional charge, but I found the portion size to be quite generous.

We each got a different version of hot pot; "PL" got the "House Special Hot Pot", basically stinky tofu.

While the amount of protein in the hot pot isn't substantial; the overall portion size is. In addition, we were asked several times if we wanted our broth topped off. In spite of this being "stinky tofu", this wasn't very pungent, the flavor quite mild overall. But at least it wasn't too salty.

Three sauces are provided, the bean curd based sauce is the best overall.

"YZ" got the Korean Style Hot Pot.

One interesting thing to note.....the heating gel used is pretty potent and very hard to control. "YZ" broth kept bubbling up and she had to hold up a napkin to avoid getting splashed.

I got the Lamb Hot Pot, which, according to Lily should have had suan cai. The stuff in my hot pot tasted like plain napa cabbage, lacking in any fermented flavor and not even close to the suan cai we make at home.

The lamb was very tasty and gamey, the mung bean noodle, which I chose instead of rice wet quite well in this along with the enoki mushrooms and tofu. I'm not a fan of blood cake, but I really like the version served here, nice texture, ever so slightly sweet without a strong metallic flavor. I do wish the broth had a bit more flavor though. Along with one fill up of broth; this was more than I could finish.

So what about Lily? Well, the point of this lunch was to chat and enjoy so I took only one shot of every hot pot. As you can tell, it came out much too blurry. Lily ordered the winner of the bunch the Ma-la Hot Pot, which had a nice spice; not super spicy, but quite flavorful. She gave me a nice taste in one of the bowls provided.

Kind of a bummer that the photo of the best item of the day didn't turn out.

Luckily, John and Candice had some time to grab dinner and with the weather unseasonably cold, hot pot sounded like just the thing.

We started with "Golden Dumplings" - fried bread. I really haven't had a good version of this since we last ate at Kingswood in Rowland Heights nearly a decade ago. This was served with condensed milk.

This was very light and lacking in the nice mild sweetness I enjoy.

Candice ordered the Curry Hot Pot which was decent and John the Sate....which must have been good, because he basically destroyed it. I was having such a great time chatting that I forgot to take a photo of the Ma-la Hop Pot, 'doh, lightning strikes twice. So you'll have to settle for this photo and basically take my word or it that this is pretty much the way to go here.

As an extra bonus, I noticed that this came with some intestine....something I really enjoy. Heck, even the fish balls tasted pretty good here. Wish they had a bit more bean curd skin though.

Well, I'm just going to have to drop by again...probably soon if the weather holds its course. As of this writing, I probably enjoy the hot pot, well at least the hot and spicy version (the rest are on the bland side) here more than QT Pot, though I need to revisit them soon. The folks here are nice and since it's grand opening trying real hard. Candice recognized one of the owners as previously working at Noble Chef. I hope they do well....check them out and let me know what you think!

Boiling Passion
3904 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

 

Tacos El Zamy – Yuma

Kirk and Cathy are really busy today, so another post by Ed (from Yuma).

When the long defunct Indian restaurant on 4th Ave. was transformed into a taco shop, the change was instantly apparent:

So of course I had to drop in and see what was going on. On my first visit, if memory serves, they were serving only quesadillas, or pastor, asada, or cabeza tacos, so I ordered three tacos. I was pleasantly surprised when a wheel of condiments showed up on my table:

The guacamole sauce was pretty standard, as was the salsa, cabbage, onion/cilantro, and lime wedges. I enjoyed the thick slices of cucumber which I dipped in the guacamole sauce and topped with a little salsa. My taco shop appetizer.

Looking around, I could tell that the new owners had painted the inside as well as the outside, cleaned the place up, and put in new furniture:

The tacos were decent, if nothing really special:

All the meats, even the very red pastor, were lightly seasoned – the basic flavors coming through.

On my next few visits, it was clear that the restaurant was thriving with customers in the front, back, and side room:

No longer was the young son of the family wandering around amazed at the restaurant and the customers. Many more choices were written on a whiteboard:

Wow, a vampira – gotta try one of those:

Crunchy, meaty, cheesy. Yep.

Covered with fresh chopped lettuce and tomato and sprinkled with crumbly cotija cheese, a beef and frijoles sope was tasty as well:

The beefy rolled tacos (topped with cabbage) had plenty of crunch:

And I could wash everything down with real Mexican Coca-Cola:

Since this is an independent family restaurant, there is some variation from visit to visit. For example, most of the time the chicken taco looks like this:

But one day, the chicken had lingered longer on the grill and had a more interesting crispy texture:

On that same visit, the cabeza was really outstanding, muy rico:

And of course, all of these things came with that same condiment wheel.

And Tacos El Zamy continues to get better. The whiteboard has been replaced by this electronic menu:

And the wheel of condiments comes with an extra spicy salsa on the side:

One thing that hasn't changed is the friendly and personal service. I have always been well treated. For example, when I recently ordered three tacos, my friendly server reminded me that at El Zamy 4 tacos are only $5. I couldn't resist what was basically a $.50 taco, so this platter soon showed up at my table:

The cabeza, chicken, and pastor were pretty much the same as before, but the birria (de res) was wonderful – rich and savory.

I couldn't quit thinking about that birria, so on my most recent visit I ordered the birria plate (after all, this post wouldn't be complete without trying one of the plates, right?):

The wheel of condiments and the warm corn tortillas on the side were fine. And even though the rice was subpar and the beans a bit runny, the birria was really great. I left happy and satisfied.

In many ways, El Zamy is like a taco truck in a building, featuring many of the basic taco truck favorites done well. Unlike a taco truck, the restaurant offers protection from wind and weather. The ambience – such as it is – makes this the kind of place where a Yuman could give Cousin Fred and his wife Nancy from Nebraska a good quality authentic Yuma taco experience without subjecting them to plastic chairs, a dirt parking lot, and inclement weather. And the food is good and prepared with love.

Tacos El Zamy, 2071 S. 4th Ave, (928) 366-3269 or (928) 817-2461

Sunday Sandwiches: Arely French Bakery Cafe

Cathy has posted on Arely Bakery several times over the years; the most recent being about a year and a half ago. A few months back I noticed that the tiny shop had expanded, taking  over the shop next door.....I'm trying to recall what it was....beauty supplies perhaps?

In need of an early lunch, I decided to drop by and grab a sandwich before a series of conference calls that would take up a good chunk of the day.

You can see the expanded dining room next door as you enter.

Back in 2007, Cathy ordered the "Le Parisien", it was a mere $4.50 back then; now it's $7.95, though now it looks a bit larger.

The baguette, baked on the premises, was decent, it could have been a bit more crusty and was, in typical San Diego style, a bit more chewy than I prefer. The Black Forest Ham was decent; but the real star of the sandwich was the brie, rind and all, which made this sandwich quite good, earthy tones, very mild pungency (nothing even close to real French Brie, which I believe is still illegal in the US), and very nice in this sandwich. In terms of proportion, I would have enjoyed a bit more tomato and less lettuce.

With the work scenario a couple of weeks later, I decided to call and pick-up the Prosciutto Panini ($8.60), which was wonderfully toasted.

Man, the toasting job on this baby was just about perfect. Didn't care for the prosciutto they used however, as it was extremely salty and paired with a very mild mozzarella it was the dominating flavor through out my eating experience as everything else; the basil and the tomato were just nullified. Too bad, because in terms of texture, this was really good.

Thinking that I had to try a panini again, I went with the Caprese Panini ($8.50).

Bad call on my part as went too far in the other direction with this one. While the tomatoes tasted quite good, the whole thing was a rather bland mess. The bread wasn't as well pressed this time; I'm thinking the cheese didn't hold up real well. In fact, when I separated the two halves there was a giant glob of melted mozzarella.

Last week I decided to drop by one more time. This time ordering the Le Lyonnais ($7.95).

And while I'd prefer lardon/bacon to salami on this, I really enjoyed the sandwich. Nice smear of fairly tasty egg salad, nice crisp greens, acid from the tomatoes and pickles. Very nice overall. I'm still of the same opinion of the bread and even think that a light toasting might make everything that much more enjoyable.

The two young ladies who have run the counter on the days I visited were very nice and friendly; especially with some of the rather "cranky" older customers. One of these days I'll stop by for breakfast, or even perhaps lunch. For now, it's nice to have another sandwich option fairly close by.

Arely French Bakery Cafe
4961 Clairemont Drive, Suite A
San Diego, CA 92117

Granada: A Revisit to Saint Germain and Dinner at Alacena de las Monjas

We'd had a pretty busy day, starting the morning with a visit to The Alhambra, then getting some train ticketing straightened out and taking a walk around the Old Town. We were bushed when we got back to the apartment and had a well deserved siesta. There's something to be said about an afternoon nap. We awoke refreshed, ready to take on.......well, dinner, of course! This being Spain, dinner really doesn't start until 9pm or thereabouts, so we decided on taking a nice little walk along Paseo de los Tristes (Walk of the Dead Ones), the street that runs parallel to the Darro River, just past Plaza Nueva.

It's a wonderful stretch of road and the views of the Alhambra form here, especially at night are wonderful.

On one side you have the Darro River and the Alhambra; on the other tiny alleyways leading up to the Albayzin, the Moorish Quarter.

The walk was short, but enough to stimulate our appetites. Thinking (wrongly), that we might tire of tapas in Granada, we booked dinner at Alacena de las Monjas, when we passed by on our first day in Granada. They didn't start dinner service until 9pm, it was 745....what to do? Well, head back to Saint Germain of course!

It was about a 15 minute walk to Saint Germain, which was just opening when we arrived.

There was something about this place that we really loved. The selection of wines suited the Missus, who found that She really enjoyed the house Blanco-Seco. I really loved Encaste, a nice very balanced Cabernet Savignon from Dona Felica Winery in Ronda.

We also wondered if we'd get a repeat of a tapa from our first visit. Well, we didn't! This time around it was a nice brie, brushed with honey and a fruit compote on bread.....love the way they toast the baguettes here.

Without a doubt, our favorite wine bar in Granada.

Saint Germain
Calle Postigo Velutti 4
Granada, Spain

We then headed off to Plaza del Padre Suarez....pocket wifi is wonderful, we initially used it on our first trip to Japan and it was invaluable, especially with Japan's crazy address system. For Spain we used Wifivox which I highly recommend. It was delivered to our hotel in Madrid and we used it without incident. Nothing like being to use Google Maps and other apps while roaming around unfamiliar territory.

Alacena de las Monjas was an interesting experience to say the least. The atmosphere is somewhat romantic and the prices not cheap....for Granada standards. It's not quite fine dining; the staff is young, very nice, they work hard, but really aren't very polished. We really didn't need reservation as we were the only table for most of our meal and there were only two other tables occupied when we left. I did love our table which was located in the cellar.

The young staff really wasn't able to help us in wine selection so I chose something randomly.....

The amuse arrived.....

It was kind of funny....just sliding around the plate. For some reason, the presentation bothered the Missus. So I went ahead and plated it the way I thought it should be presented.

Much better, eh?

We started with the "Traditional" Salmorejo (9 Euros).

This classic Andalucian cold soup is a favorite of mine. While gazpacho, the more well known cold soup is seasonal, salmorejo is consumed year 'round. This version was very smooth and creamy, though according to the Missus, it needed more olive oil and "where was the hard boiled egg garnish?"

I got the Anchovies with Iberian Tomato and Beet Carpaccio (18 Euros).

The flavor of the anchovy was too strong for the Missus. Meanwhile, I loved the savory-brininess. Lovely peppery-grassy flavors from the olive oil, the tomatoes added a mild acid component, though I could have used more acid and perhaps some additional pungency. The flavor of the beets were very mild, I expected a bit more sweetness.

The Missus got the "Charcoal Smoked Octopus" (18 Euros). Isn't that simply called "grilled"?

While the "smoked" flavor was almost non-existent, I think the octopus had been sous-vide first, then grilled. The texture was outstanding, crisp exterior, almost melt in your mouth. I'd have appreciated a bit more seasoning as I felt more salt was needed.

I got the "Suckling Lamb Shoulder Cooked at Low Temperature" (24 Euros). Man, this was a huge portion, we ended up taking most of this back to the apartment.

Again, this dish could have used more seasoning and perhaps some time in a pan to crisp up the skin which was gummy. Still, this was obviously sous-vide and the wonderful gamey flavor made up for any shortcomings. The lamb melted in your mouth...the potatoes were basic, but quite tasty as well.

As a whole, I don't think I'd return here if/when we're back in Granada. The service was very nice, though rough around the edges, and I expected better execution at this price point. Not a terrible meal, but not memorable.

Alacena de las Monjas
Plaza del Padre Suarez 5
Granada, Spain

Granada: Cafe Bar Mercado

After having some nice Bocadillos at Cafe Opera 5, we made our way back to the train station. You see, I went to check our tickets for the rest of our trip and noticed that one set was missing! Luckily, I had my receipt. Along the way we finally found a supermarket and stopped to get a few items.

Along the way we pass the Monastery of San Jeronimo.

We walked parallel to Gran Via, then LAC, actually walking through the University. Making it to the train station and the Renfe Desk, I was told that since I'd purchased our tickets at El Cortes Ingles, I'd have to go to their travel office. He was nice enough to point out; grabbing a map, the closest office of their travel agency, even drawing out the path we should take! All of this with his minimal English and my inability to speak much Spanish! We managed to find the nearby office and the woman who worked their was amazingly nice....even though it took about an hour, she straightened everything out for us and we left tickets in hand.

The office was right next to Plaza del Triunfo, so we took a nice little stroll through the plaza.

That's the Triumph of the Virgin Column above. Though there's not much out there on this plaza that's not in Spanish; I've read some interesting stories about this location. There originally was a Basilica at this location, but it was destroyed and replaced by a Muslim Cemetery. When the Christians took Granada, a hospital was built here. When the forces of Napoleon took Granada, this was the site of public executions. Mariana Pineda heroine of the famous play (with the set and costumes by Dali) and an opera was executed here in 1831.

Business taken care of; the Missus broke out the Rick Steve's book and we set off on one of the walks. We started off at the Corral del Carbón (Coal House) which was built in the 14th century by the Moors. Like the Ungelt Courtyard in Prague and even more so, the "Hans" in the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul, this was a place for merchants to spend the evening, their camels and pack animals resting on the ground floor; a caravanserai.

Across the street is a rather colorful alleyway; the Alcaceria. This was once the location of the silk market. The street between these two locations used to be a river and a bridge connected the Corral del Carbon and the Alcaiceria. Now it's a long alleyway full of tourist shops.

We headed down the lanes and ended up in a plaza we'd walked through the night before....Granada was already starting to get smaller; full of cafes and shops named Plaza de Bib Rambla and the fountain with Neptune on top called "Fuente de los Gigantones" (Fountain of the Giants).

Right around the corner is the Cathedral, which looks quite impressive.

I think being tucked in between other buildings just makes it look that much more impressive. As with other churches and cathedrals we saw during this trip, this is built on the former site of a mosque.

I really enjoyed the view of the rest of the square, Plaza de las Pasiegas, from the Cathedral steps.

We went around the side street of the Cathedral past a building that for some reason was one of my favorites in Granada.

And back out to Gran Via. By now, the Missus was getting a bit hungry. We decided to head back toward Mercado Agustin. We'd seen a Café/Bar/Restaurant when leaving Café Opera, with signs posted with a really nicely priced menu del dia - basically daily lunch specials.

The place was very comfortable, a section with little tables below and a larger bar area up above. They did offer a rather inexpensive menu del dia; like 8 Euros and also full and half servings (media raciones) of dishes. The missus took the menu del dia; Sopa de Calabaza, Pumpkin Soup to start, Calamares de Granada, and a glass of wine.

I went with a Cerveza......

And a media racione of the Morcilla con Pinones; blood sausage with pine nuts.

Good thing I got a half order. This was quite good; blood sausage, more like a nice earthy, slightly sweet, blood pudding, studded with pine nuts which provided a nice contrast in flavor and texture. The Missus really enjoyed this as well...it went so well with bread.

The Missus enjoyed the pumpkin soup.

The "Granada style calamari" turned out to be basically fried squid rings......

The flavor was quite nice, but the squid was on the tough side.

The Missus got an Americano for dessert and our Server was nice enough to bring me one as well. This was a nice relaxed lunch. The service was very friendly and the prices were more than reasonable.

Cafe Bar Mercado
Calle Alvaro de Bazan
Granada, Spain

Funny thing, we left the restaurant by the back door and walked into a courtyard. There were tables filled with folks having wine and tapas. The Missus said, "hey, this looks good!" I had to laugh, it was the outdoor tables of Saint Germain! We'd come full circle it seems. It was time to head on back for a nice afternoon siesta.......

COMC: Brunch at Tiger Tiger, Chef Chin, and Carnitas' Snack Shack

**** All of these places have closed

Some photos that have been languishing around for a while....it's time to C(lear) O(ut the) M(emory) C(ard).

Brunch at Tiger! Tiger!:

We'd kind of avoided brunch here as the menu seemed uninspiring. After returning from our last trip, we'd been working hard, so decided to just relax and see how the brunch was here. We were pleasantly surprised. Especially by the wood fired potatoes with the guajillo aioli.

Tiger! Tiger!
3025 El Cajon Blvd
San Diego, CA 92104 

Chef Chin:

"YZ" had completed a big project, so we decided to go out and grab lunch. We hadn't been to Chef Chin in a while. It was an ok lunch. The best item by far was the Xun Yu, the Jellyfish Head with Chicken the worst.

Chef Chin
4433 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Carnitas' Snack Shack:

It had been over a year since we last visited and the Missus wanted a snack.....and this is Carnitas' Snack Shack, right? We shared the pulled pork hash, which was delish....the fries were much too salty though.

Carnitas' Snack Shack
2632 University Avenue
San Diego, CA 92104

Aaaah, there you go....my memory card is a bit lighter now!

Midweek Meanderings: Banh Mi Bakery and Cafe Coming Soon, Boiling Passion Replaces Pho Paradise, and Mekong Cuisine Replace Sang Deuan

A  new shop coming soon and two new places for hump day......

Banh Mi Bakery and Café:

For some reason, this strip mall on the corner of Clairemont Mesa and Ruffin Road always eludes my attention. But on this past weekend, a sign with "Banh Mi" on it caught my eye, so I drove into the parking lot to check it out.

This is the strip mall with Giovanni's. This shop is right next to Palomino's #2, which Cathy has written about a couple of times.

9353 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92123

Boiling Passion Replaces Pho Paradise:

You can find my post on our visits to Boiling Passion here.

I noticed the sign when driving to pick-up a bento at Nijiya. I noticed that Pho Paradise had closed back in January. Boy did they turn this place around quick. But did they really want to name it "Boiling Passion"?

When I sent off a photo and text to my friends; "John" quickly texted me back asking if this was a massage parlor. I quickly sent off a string of texts about "meat" that isn't really appropriate for this blog.....I'll let your imagination go with that one!

3904 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111 

Mekong Cuisine Replaces Sang Deuan:

I went up the parking lot to turn around and noticed another change.

I hadn't even noticed this one! Sang Deuan sure didn't last long. Well, another place to try. They kept the "Lao & Thai" portion of the old sign, so I'm thinking the menu is probably similar to Sang Deuan's.

3904 Convoy St.
San Diego, CA 92111

So there you go....have a great week!

Circling Back to Latin Chef

Recently, I'd been wondering how things were going at Latin Chef, I hadn't been by nearly three years. Once upon a time LC used to be almost a weekly stop for us. But over the years things changed; first they lost their original chef who went back to Cusco, so there was no one to make that wonderful tiradito. Then on my last visit, LC had started serving Brazilian food. So now three years later?

Well, there was a little placard on the table that says Latin Chef now serves a buffet lunch. And looking through the shelves, I did indeed see a buffet set-up....they also put in a sink, a toaster oven, and a microwave.....in plain view of  the customers. The seating has been cut back too.

The dish I had been wondering about was the lomo saltado; once my favorite version in San Diego was served at Latin Chef, it had the right amount of soy sauce, the tomatoes were firm, but just breaking down, the sauce not too salty, but full of flavor, and the meat, toothsome, like it should be, but not tough. So I decided to get the Lomo Saltado ($13.50) which made me want to cry......

The sauce, what little there was, just had no flavor; the tomatoes weren't cooked enough, look at the meat, it barely has any color, was tough, and had that mild metallic flavor of something starting to go south. Two of the papas fritas were not cooked fully. Even the quality of the rice was terrible.

It really made me sad. Once upon a time, this was the typical Lomo Saltado at Latin Chef.

Over the years there are more than few places that have fallen off our list. And while Latin Chef had been off our radar for a while, this meal particularly bothers me. Once upon a time, the food here was quite good. Good enough to inspire us to travel to Peru, where I had one of the most memorable meals of my life. That was about 8 1/2 years ago...sadly, things do change over time.

Latin Chef
1142 Garnet Ave
San Diego, CA 92109