mmm-yoso!!!

An Update on Sam and Sushi Yaro.......and I Dine In For the First Time in Nearly 400 Days

**** Sushi Yaro has closed

If you follow our little blog; you'll know that back in January, Sam, owner and Itamae of Sushi Yaro suffered a stroke. Of course my good friends kept me appraised of how Sam was doing, when he was discharged, when the restaurant was reopening, and such. I tried not to bother Sam much since he obviously had a lot going on....though the Medical Professional in the family always had a battery of questions for Sam. Once Sushi Yaro was reopened, I still waited......mainly because I wasn't ready to dine outdoors yet.....though finally, two months after I'd received my second shot, I decided I needed to see how Sam was doing and show some support. The Missus was working a night shift, so I decided to head on over to Engineer Road, and dine al fresco at the outdoor dining area I'd seen set-up in the parking lot. Except when I arrived, shortly before opening time......I really didn't want to be around too many people, this is what I saw.

The outdoor dining area for Sushi Yaro was gone! And the reason for that soon became clear. So, now there was a decision to make....yes, we're in the "Red Tier" which means indoor dining can operate at 25% capacity, yes I've had both vaccines, yes the restaurant was just opening so there were no other customers in the place, and yes, Sam called out my name when he saw me and waved me over to the sushi bar. And so it came to pass, 380 days since I last dined indoors I decided to have dinner at Sushi Yaro. After all, I really wanted to support Sam and see how he was doing.

The reason that the outdoor area is gone, besides San Diego being in the Red Tier is that Sam is running a one man show. And with all residual effects of the stroke, well, he just isn't able to handle too many customers. In fact, he told me about 8 people max.

As for what I ordered....well, Sam knows me, and after a short wait....he's moving pretty well considering, but there's obviously some motor deficits and such.....he had my dinner for me.

I'm not really going to go into the food this time around, I'll do that in a future post....except to say, it did hit the spot. Especially the sashimi which was perfect on a day when temps were hitting the low 80's....so much for spring, eh?

We spent most of the time talking about how things are going for Sam...residual effects and accommodations he's had to make after the stroke, his family and such. After all, I've known Sam for 20 years.

Soon enough, a couple of other couples arrived, when Sam hits his max, he'll ask folks if they want to do takeout and return a bit later. It's probably a good idea to make reservations if you plan on arriving after 530. There are also times when Sam's therapy and such runs late, or if he's really tired that he'll close early, so definitely, call.

Honestly, it was kind of tough seeing Sam run back and forth to the kitchen......to deep fry rolls for folks, to get ingredients, to get customers their drinks (I decided to forgo my usual Sapporo on this visit). But Sam seems to be handling it fairly well....he's a bit slower than before, but seems to be making progress, and I'm happy for that.

Soon enough there were eight folks in the restaurant; it was making me a bit uncomfortable....oh my how Covid has changed us. It was time for me to leave. I was glad to see Sam and said I'll be back soon.

As I left I told him, "take care of yourself; I'll like to be seeing you still in good health 20 years from now."

Sushi Yaro
7905 Engineer Road
San Diego, CA 92111
(858) 560-1782

Paris - Boulangerie Collet, Dinner at Pertinence, and the View She Never Tires Of

It had been a fun day so far and after taking a short break at the apartment; the Missus wanted to head on out again. So, off we went to the Marais, and resumed our "lèche-vitrine". We eventually came across a wonderful green space; Paris is full of these little parks. This one had a lovely garden, benches (of course), and wonderful waterfalls. I came to find out that this was Square du Temple.

It was a lovely little oasis.

On the way back to the apartment, the Missus said She was feeling a bit "peckish" and I mentioned checking out another Boulangerie right around the corner from the apartment, Maison Collet.

And we got ourselves a croissant aux beurre to share. This was a bit overdone, hard, dry, and lacking in the amount of butter I enjoy.

Well, it was good to try. Another one for the books.

Boulangerie Collet
100 Rue Montorgueil
75002 Paris, France

We managed to get in a short nap, then got ready for dinner. We had reservations at a restaurant in the 7th Arrondissement, Pertinence, which held a Michelin star. As has been our habit in recent years, this one was helmed by a Japanese Chef, Ryunosuke Naito from Japan and Kwen Liew from Malaysia. The little restaurant serves only 14 covers a night!

The sun was still shining rather brightly as we finished our walk to the restaurant. It was the end of May (2019) and the sun doesn't set until past 930pm during this time of the year.

It's a clean, spartan dining room and the only folks working were the two chefs!

There is what looks like some kind of sleek manhole cover in the middle of the dining area, which turned out to be a hatch to the cave below. During our meal, the Chef had to run down to grab a bottle, the fellow eating at the other table went "ooooh" and looked at me humming the tune of Mission Impossible. I answered with "Monsieur James Bond"! And he cracked up....who said the French don't have a sense of humor?

Speaking of wine; we took the 6 course tasting menu (105/€). The Missus got the wine pairing, which cost a supplement of 70/€ and was enough for the both of us to share.....as for me; I got the caviar supplement at 30/€ which was worth every last bit of money.

After the wonderful and warm bread bites, the amuse was brought out; a Green Pea Foam, light as a feather, with a slight sweetness and tart from the kiwi jelly.

And then the first dish......the Langostein which came with a Konbu Sauce and a Miso Sauce. Check out that caviar; which really complemented the plump, sweet-briney langostein.

I preferred the konbu sauce with this as it heightened the nice seafood flavor. Also loved that nothing was over-seasoned.

The Missus loved this bottle of wine the best.

Man, look at the size of that Foie Gras.......

And yet, it was the thin slices of pickled daikon that really impressed me. It also was a nice foil to the rich-livery foie gras. Not a big fan of the Amaretto sauce though.

When the Red Mullet came out; I really didn't know what to think as it looked like a solid piece of fish; but it was amazing and my favorite dish of the meal.

The skin was light, yet very crisp, it was a treat indeed. The flesh was perfectly moist and mild in flavor....cue in the caviar. The grilled lettuce had a nice sweetness to it; but it was the celery micro greens that were really amazing, packing quite a punch of flavor!

Next up, the pork neck, which was done medium rare - yes medium rare.....I trust places like Pertinence. And this was very tender, considering it was pork neck, and had a touch of anise lingering on the tongue.

Man, I was pretty full after this......I usually leave dessert totally up to the Missus; but this time it was Roquefort with Umeboshi Caramel Camambert. How could I resist???

This was a fine and enjoyable meal. Service was excellent and relaxed, the dishes well paced, quite impressive with the restaurant staffed with only the two chefs. It was well worth the price!

Pertinence
29 Rue de l'Exposition
75007 Paris, France

Since we like to eat rather early; our timing was perfect as we left the restaurant and headed up to Rue Saint-Dominique and then up Avenue de la Bourdonnais crossing the Seine on Pont d'Iéna to see the sight the Missus never tires of.

And then we headed back to the apartment......

And then off to sleep. Where I'm sure the Missus was dreaming of the "City of Lights".

Thanks for stopping by!

Sunday Sandwiches - Gourmet Artisan, Tadian Cafe, and Rubicon Deli (UTC)

And suddenly, temperatures are in the 80's..........so, it's probably an apt time to do a bunch of sandwich revisits. These are fairly close to the office so are a good option for lunch, it's easy to either do online or call in an order and a couple of them also open early which makes it convenient while I coordinate picking up lunch between meetings.

Gourmet Artisan:

The place in this post that I actually visited in the days "BC" (that's "Before Covid"). On this day I placed my order online and just before I headed over I got a text telling me they had changed their hours which hadn't yet been updated on their website. So, I waited a bit before picking up my Ham and Brie Panini.

I used to enjoy the thin cut parmesan-garlic-truffle fries here back in the day. However, in the fall of 2019, it seemed they had stopped doing their fries that way And during my last visit in August of last year, it seemed like at least the garlic-parmesan was back in the game; though the fries were undercooked and soggy. So.......I was wondering where that wheel of "fries roulette" would stop on this day. Well, sadly, it looks like the thin cut fries were out, replaced by really soggy fries, but at least it had parmesan sprinkled on it.

The bread in the sandwich hadn't been toasted enough for my taste; though I do enjoy the milky-salty-porky combination of brie and ham. I also like the garlic aioli used on this sandwich and was happy that it was used with some restraint this time around.

As it stands though; things seem a bit inconsistent here and I'll probably give it a rest for a while.

Gourmet Artisan Fine Sandwiches
7094 Miramar Road
San Diego, CA 92121
(858) 860-5814

Tadian Cafe:

I'd had some pretty decent sandwiches from Tadian Cafe last year and thought it was time for a revisit. Especially since I had meetings form 11 until 2 and Tadian opens at 9. Plus, their online ordering is straightforward and on each visit my order was waiting for me when I arrived. Like those previous visits everything went quite smoothly.

This time I ordered the "Peppered Roast Beef" ($8.50), which of course was waiting nicely wrapped when I arrived.

Interesting sandwich; I liked how well toasted the roll was.

It just had a bit too much sauce on it for my taste....especially compared to the amount of roast beef.

That tzatziki-ish sauce, combined with the avocado just made things much too mushy. Though I did enjoy the nice heat brought on by the jalapenos. If I order this again, I tell them to leave off the sauce.

Tadian Cafe
5955 Mira Mesa Blvd. Suite K
San Diego, CA 92121
(858) 453-5740
Current Hours:
Mon - Fri 9am - 3pm

Rubicon Deli:

Ever since my first couple of visits, Rubicon has become a favorite of mine. The problem being, the sandwiches are a bit too much for me.....also, if I'm ordering a sandwich to share with the Missus; She's got to have Her favorite. So......I just basically wait until those days when I'm really hungry; or will save half the sandwich for lunch the next day.

My favorite is the the "Super Mario" on Garlic Cheese Bread with Crispy Onions ($9.79 + .75 for crispy onions).

I really love the combination of textures and flavors this sandwich has; from the crunchy and cheesy bread, to the slightly sweet tones of red pepper tapenade, the sour-sweetness of the balsamic glaze, along with the peppery tones of the arugula. Asiago adds a nice nutty-milkiness to things. It's the sum of the ingredients in terms of taste and texture that I like about this sandwich.

And like Tadian; the online ordering process is a breeze.

I think of this as more of a treat as I usually am not able to finish it all. 

Rubicon Deli (UTC Location)
4130 La Jolla Village Drive - Suite 104
San Diego, CA 92037
(858) 877-9911
Current Hours
Open Daily - 10am - 730pm

Ok, so there you go. Hope everyone had a safe weekend! Take Care!

A Takeout Revisit to Greenhaus Vegetarian Eatery

Ever since I had the Missus have a taste of the chickpea and garbanzo "Happy Belly Plate" from Greenhaus, She's been hooked. We get takeout every couple of weeks for the Missus to either have for lunch (when I'm too tired to make lunch for Her) or to eat at home when I'm not around to cook.

The Missus claims the chickpeas from Greenhaus is way better than what I make from home and I'm willing to agree; if it means I can retire from cooking and prepping garbanzos at home.

The Happy Belly Plate is basically a "protein" (the Spiced Chickpeas in this case), a "sauce" (the Lentils), and two sides....we get Basmati Rice and Naan. All for $12.

It is quite a bit of food as you can see. I'll sometimes supplement the order with a side of the Masala ($4) which I'll have with the naan.

This would be basically two meals for the Missus...or if I'm having the naan with the Masala sauce and perhaps something else like roasted cauliflower/potatoes it will feed the both of us, with enough for another meal for the Missus.

She enjoys the creamy chickpeas, the tender lentils, and it's just salty enough for Her to enjoy.

I've tried other items here as you can read from my previous post as well as the Naan Wrap with Spicy Tofu and Masala Sauce ($9.75).

In this case, I wasn't a big fan of mushy tofu and the naan was a bit too hard and crisp for a wrap in my opinion. A bit too much bread and veg to protein for me as well.

So, we'll just stick to what the Missus enjoys.

The owner is a really nice guy, ordering online from the Greenhaus website is easy, and there are no extra charges. So, I'm more than happy to support another locally owned business and it keeps the Missus happy. Which is very, very, important!

Things sure are changing in the Morena corridor. With the trolley coming in and new development....I understand that the car dealerships have lost their lease and will be slowly moving out.....it'll be interesting to see what happens to the area over the next 4-5 years.

Greenhaus Vegetarian Eatery
1118 Morena Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92110
(619) 446-6510
Current Hours
Mon - Sat 11am - 9pm
Closed Sundays

The "Special Bento" to go From Izakaya Sakura

 You might be wondering why there was no post on the place that probably has the most posts on out little blog was during the pandemic. Well, to be perfectly honest, the items I enjoy the most from Sakura really wouldn't hold up that well for takeout. Add to that the rather surly and sometimes plain rude service I've gotten in recent years along with the food not being up to par at times.....well, I just didn't want to deal with that.

But my recent visit to Hogetsu had me thinking about all those days of yore, all the wonderful meals and memories...I thought, what the heck and dropped by to see what was going on.

Sakura has quite the outdoor set-up going on (this was before the recent red tier change). I took a look at the menu on the table in the doorway and saw that those dishes I really liked weren't available...but the "Special Bento", which I hadn't had in years was....and would you believe it's still $12......13 years later?

I went to Nijiya to pick up a few things and my bento was ready when I returned.

The bento did look similar to what I had back in 2007. Not as much meat based items perhaps; but overall this was still quite a bit of food.

The miso soup was even decent!

My favorite items was the chicken karaage. I was surprised it was still crisp when I got home. As I mentioned way back in 2015 when I did a karaage comparison; the version at Sakura is on the lighter side; which made me doubt that it would hold up to takeout, but this was still pretty crisp when I ate it at home.

The menchi katsu, basically a deep fried meatball had also held up pretty well; still crisp, nice seasoning, loved the katsu sauce. I wasn't as enamored with the glazed salmon which was on the fishy side and the aji kushiage, which almost looked like a shrimp was lacking in flavor. The tamago here is always a decent bet and the pasta....well, that was filler.

In the side compartment was a Japanese version of "pot-au-feu" which uses sausage and chicken instead of beef like the French version does. It's also made in dashi, which actually went well with the whole thing.

The rice was perfect; moist with just enough lightness.

While I'm fairly certain that I'll wait until I feel comfortable dining al fresco or indoors before returning, it was nice to revisit one of our "golden oldies". After all, we've lost a good number of these places during the pandemic. And still at $12....well, you can't even get a sandwich for that these days.

Izakaya Sakura
3904 Convoy St.
San Diego, CA 92111
(858) 569-6151

Bun Mang Vit to go From Tu Thanh

I mentioned my failed visit to Tu Thanh in my last post on 777 Noodle House. Well, two weeks later, after dropping off coffee for the Missus at Her work, I decided to give it another try. I arrived at around 920am, found some parking on 48th Street and walked on over. The last visit, finding them closed at 915 on a Saturday must have been a fluke; because they were open and business was in full swing with 2 customers in front of me.

I took a look around at the empty tables and felt quite sad for this small mom and pop business.....though since my visit we're now in the "red tier" and I'm sure folks are eating in here.

Once it was my turn; I ordered my usual, the Bun Mang Vit and asked how long it would take. I was told 5 minutes. Five minute! So I waited and it indeed took only five minutes. Who needs to call in orders here.....

Deciding to just have my noodle soup when I got home; I immediately unbundled things.

And saw that all was in order. I then proceeded to put together my meal.

The noodles were in perfect shape and didn't need to be separated. I did heat up the broth; I thought the dried bamboo could use a bit more time in the soup. I then plated the veggies and herbs, the duck, and put the Nuoc Mam Gung in a bowl.

One thing I quickly noticed about the Nuoc Mam Gung, was that it was lacking in ginger and garlic.....and it was much too sweet, a rather large change from what I'm used to having here.

The duck was perfectly prepped, a bit toothsome and full of gamey "duckiness".......

I've mentioned in previous posts about the lack of banana blossom in the mix these days and it seems that is the new norm. It's almost all cabbage mix these days....sigh.....

Like I mentioned earlier, the noodles ere perfect....slippery while still maintaining a decent al dent "pull" to them.

The broth was a bit milder than before; with definitely a lot less MSG, letting the flavor of the rehydrated bamboo shoots come through. Though it seems, that like the veggies/herbs, there's a lot less of that these days as well.

Like I mentioned in my last post on Tu Thanh, things aren't quite as good as it was when they first opened nor even close to when Chi Tu Thanh was at the late Chinese Kitchen (Chi Tu Thanh Nha Hang). But it's still the best Bun Mang Vit I've had in San Diego by far.......so, by all means, let me know if you've found a version of Bun Mang Vit that eclipses this one. Otherwise; Tu Thanh will see me again soon when that Bun Mang Vit itch kicks in.

Tu Thanh
4804 University Ave. #A
San Diego, CA 92105
(619) 282-8778
Current Hours:
Thurs - Tues 9am - 7pm
Closed on Wednesday

Paris - Jefrey's Cocktail Bar, Stohrer, Sainte-Chapelle, and Café Montorgueil

**** Sorry, not much food in this one, but if you like amazing stained glass.....

Our train from Stuttgart arrived right on time to Paris 'Est. We then caught the metro to Les Halles to the apartment where we'd be staying. On our last visit to the Missus's favorite city, we found that we really enjoyed staying on the Right Bank and I found an apartment close to a street we loved on a prevous visit. After getting the keys to our flat and freshening up for a minutes....well, you know the Missus, She wanted to get out and about. I had a route in mind and we headed East on Rue Grenata and then took a quick turn on the corner. The Missus was wondering why I seemed to be going around in a circle when we came to my first destination....to which I replied to Her "voila!"

This is Passage du Grand-Cerf, a shopping arcade if you will. Created in the 19th century, these glass ceiling shopping arcades once numbered over a 150....but most are now gone. There are a few left; the most well known....at least to me is Galerie Vivienne. There is such charm in places like this....it transports you to a different time. The window shopping....or as the French call it "lèche-vitrine" which literally means "window licking" is fun. I'm guessing those folks with their faces right up to the windows....steaming it up with their breath do look like they are licking it. We've all seen (or done) that, right?

From here we headed down to the Seine, taking Rue Sainte-Denis until we came upon this square right in back of Les Halles.

The rather lovely looking square has quite a grisly history. It is now called Les Fontaine des Innocents and was once the site of a cemetery. I had read that the cemetery had become so full that the bodies were pushed into the cellars of nearby residents. Eventually orders came down from Louis XVI to move cemeteries out of the city for sanitary reasons.

And so the residents of Holy Innocents' Cemetery were moved. But it doesn't quite end there. Apparently, all the intact skeletons were moved to what is now the tourist draw, the Catacombs of Paris.

And it's not only large squares and fountains. Right on the corner of Rue de la Reynie and Rue Saint-Denis I saw this.

Which for some reason grabbed my attention. After doing a bit of searching...luckily the inscription on the monument is readable; I came to find out that this is a monument to Eugene Scribe a popular Playwright and Author.

That's the Tour Saint-Jacques ('Saint James's Tower'), which is all that remains from a church, Church of Saint-Jacques-de-la-Boucherie ('Saint James of the Butchers') which was sponsored by the butchers at the nearby Les Halles. The church itself was destroyed at the end of the French Revolution. But by contract the tower was saved. There's something around every corner in Paris it seems.

Our last trip to Paris had been in November of 2018 (this was the end of May 2019) before the horrible fire at Notre Dame in April of 2019. We were horrified watching it on the television. We took a walk past....the fire had just occurred the month before and we were wondering what we'd see.

We were happy to see that Notre Dame was still standing; but saddened at the damage.

We crossed over to the Left Bank on he Petit Pont and strolled around for a bit...this is the lovely Square René-Viviani.

Then passing the super crowded (with tourists) Shakespeare and Co.

And then decided to go turn around and head back.....and grab a café allongé on one of the cafe's near to where we'd be staying.

And so, we ended up at Café du Centre on Rue Montorgueil a half block from where we were staying.

There's something about this mostly pedestrian market street that we enjoyed.

It was lively. And yes, there are tourists. But there seemed to be the hustle and bustle of everyday like as well.

I'm wondering how much Covid-19 has affected the café culture in Paris. There's something wonderful about sitting outside with our café allonge....you can spent 10 minutes or 3 hours with your coffee if desired....you can read a book, a paper, socialize, or just be like us and watch the world go by. It just seemed so therapeutic.

Losing this would be tragic.

Café du Centre
57 Rue Montorgueil
75002 Paris, France

After spending a good amount of time just chilling, we headed back to the apartment.

The evening we had reservations at a place I posted on earlier. Before dinner, I wanted to grab a cocktail from a nearby Cocktail Bar I had read about named Jefrey's. It was just one street down from where we were staying.

It's a cozy little place with both upstairs and downstairs seating. We had two of the four seats at the bar. We loved the service here; the folks working were so friendly.

While working through a round of the standards....you know, an Old Fashioned for me, etc. We chatted with the bartender who was so knowledgeable and friendly.

After mentioning that I enjoy smoky flavor profiles he recommended that I try the "Smokey Monkey" made by, well, Monkey Shoulder. It was really wonderful. Sorry to say, I was told that while Monkey Shoulder is available in the U.S.; Smokey Monkey is not.

We were happy to have found a place to grab a cocktail in the neighborhood and would revisit on later trips.

Jefrey's
14 Rue Saint Sauveur
75002 Paris France

Sadly our dinner at Le Pont de Sichuan didn't live up to the first visit. But that was ok......

The next morning I got up and did a couple of things online; then it was time to grab a croissant.

I decided to head to the oldest Patisserie in Paris, Stohrer which has quite a history, dating back to 1730 and just happens to be on Rue Montorgueil.

Another claim to fame that Stohrer brought the Rhum Baba to France. It is claimed that the modern version of this cake was in this spot sometime around 1835.

I stood in line and ordered a croissant au beurre, which looked lovely, nicely lacquered, crackly, but on the dry side and not quite to our taste in terms of the butter flavor.

It was not bad....perhaps I should have gotten a rhum baba as well, but it seemed to early in the day.

Stohrer
51 Rue Montorgueil
75002 Paris, France

After having the croissant, we headed out. I had purchased advance tickets for Sainte-Chapelle and the Conciergerie. We got to the location right before opening and were quickly allowed entrance.

The very gothic exterior of Sainte-Chapelle is somewhat obscured by the surrounding buildings. And you really don't get the full scope of the chapel.

And then you enter and are simply awestruck at the beautiful stained glass.

There are over 1,000 biblical scenes depicted in the stained glass of the upper chapel in the photo below!

And the lower chapel!

Originally built over the period of ten (!) years - 1238-1248 as a Royal Chapel by Louis IX to house relics including the supposed Crown of Thorns. 

The chapel was damaged during the French Revolution, but restored in he 19th century.

Amazing!

Sainte Chapel resides in a large complex of structures originally called Palais de la Cité, now called the Palais de Justice.

Right next to the Palais de Justice is a place with a grim and dark past; once a palace, the Conciergerie became a place of detention after the French Revolution. It is where the Revolutionary Tribunal tried "enemies of the Revolution". During a two year period (a year of which is called "The Reign of Terror") almost 2800 people were executed by guillotine.

Entering the barren and haunting halls is quite an experience if you know just a bit of French history.

And even in the most somewhat innocuous places, the reality strikes you. The lovely courtyard looks so peaceful.....

Until you look up and notice the scary looking spikes; still in place, to keep prisoners confined.

There's a memorial room in La Conciergerie that lists out the 2,780 names of those condemned to death, with some very familiar names.

Whew....we needed a break.

So, we headed back to the apartment and decided to stop for another caffeine break. This time at the place next door to Café du Centre, Café Montorgueil. We actually found that we enjoyed this café quite a bit....it had more of a relaxed local vibe and was actually cheaper than the place next door, go figure?

We enjoyed our Café Allonge; while watching time and people slowly pass......

Café Montorgueil
55 Rue Montorgueil
75002 Paris, France

Before we knew it, an hour had gone by. We decided to head back to the apartment for a short break......

Before heading back out to do more exploring, shopping, and then of course; dinner!

For those that took the time to read this rather long and rambling post, I thank you! And I'd especially like to thank both Kerri and LaurieH who both mentioned missing our travel posts....thanks so much for the kind words!

Midweek Meanderings - Harland Brewing Opens in Bay Park, IsaBella Changing Locations, and Sushi Hachi by Kimura Closed (Were they ever open?)

Just a quick post for a post time change Wednesday.

Harland Brewing Opens in Bay Park:

As I mentioned back at the end of November, Harland Brewing was taking the place of the short lived Benchmark Brewing on Napier off Morena. Well, I understand that as of Monday they've opened; serving food from Poseidon Project.

I gotta admit, with San Diego moving into the Red Tier as of today, the timing is pretty good.

Harland Brewing - Bay Park
4112 Napier St.
San Diego, CA 92110
Current Hours:
Mon - Wed   3pm - 9pm
Thurs - Sat 12pm - 9pm
Sunday      12pm - 7pm

Isa.Bella Changing Locations:

Closing the loop on this one was pure luck. About two weeks ago, I dropped by the strip mall off Morena, I noticed that IsaBella Pizza was gone. It had taken the place of Bollweavel back in 2014.

I really had only been back twice after doing my post back in 2014 and really wasn't too impressed.

Then last week, I happened to be in Clairemont Town Square when I noticed an ABC application on one of the doors.

And lo' and behold....it looks like IsaBella will be opening here. It kind of fits in the mold of places right outside the theatres at Clairemont Town Square.

4705 Clairemont Dr.
San Diego, CA 92117

Sushi Hachi by Kimura Closed (Were they ever open?):

I noticed this when I finally went and did takeout from the place with the most posts on our little blog.

Which was included in the same post where I mentioned Harland was opening in Bay Park.

A notice of ownership change. Perhaps they were torpedoed by Covid…...sad. 

Which led me to wonder.....did they ever open?

3904 Convoy St #117
San Diego, CA 92111

Anyway, that's it for now. Hope everyone is having a great week!

Cabeza en su Jugo from De Cabeza

During my recent visit to Hogetsu Bakery, I decided to make one more stop. It had been so long since I'd been down to Chula Vista. A while back, one of favorite breakfast stops, Aqui es Texcoco moved and took over the large space that Al Pastor Mexican Grill occupied. The former space of Aqui es Texcoco, still under the same ownership became a Cabeza en su Jugo spot named appropriately, De Cabeza. It had been quite a while since I'd had Cabeza en su Jugo and I thought it would be a nice lunch on a chilly day.

Walking into the little shop I was happy to see that the manager of Aqui es Texcoco, when it was in this spot, Jesus was managing De Cabeza. He seemed so happy to see me; he said "we really miss you and you wife". Jesus has always been so gracious, warm, and friendly to us that I felt a bit guilty for not dropping by earlier, so I explained to him all the Covid stuff in a rambling, fumbling manner, and that I hadn't been down to Chula Vista since 2019!

I quickly noticed a couple of upside down items in the restaurant and Jesus explained that De Cabeza has turned things "upside down" with it's great food! I had to laugh. So, of course I got the Cabeza en su Jugo.....made Jesus's way and took it home.

Man oh man, the beefy fragrance permeated my car!

I believe I called Cabeza en su Jugo "beef-a-licious" in post from long ago and this was even more beefy. All the good bits from the cow's head were so tender; the pungency of the onion and the mild citrusy-pungency of the cilantro really added to this soup. There was a mild spice to things as well. I really didn't even need the tortillas; though they came in handy for a nice corn infused beef-a-licous bit when I plied down some of the tender pieces of wonderful bovine goodness in them.

It was so full of flavor and the onions and cilantro really helped to cut the richness that the lime seemed superfluous to me. There was just enough salt to keep me happy.

I saved a little less than half of the soup for the Missus which She loved (of course); which had me driving back to De Cabeza his past weekend......which I dropped off for the Missus at Her work. I guess as Covid slowly (fingers crossed) dies down, we'll have another place on our rotation. Plus, they've got Alambres; which the Missus enjoyed at Al Pastor Grill...so it'll be good to see how that compares.

It was good to see Jesus and to know things are going well (as possible). It was also great to have the Cabeza en su Jugo.....that deep beef richness just has the "aaaah" factor for us. I'm sure the Missus will be wanting this again soon...especially if the chilly weather continues for a spell.

De Cabeza
1043 Broadway
Chula Vista, CA 91911
(619) 349-2505
Hours:
Daily 8am - 8pm

 

Our Pandemic Takeout Rotation

I was recently pondering what our Pandemic Takeout Rotation is....that is, the places we've done a bunch of takeout from over the last year......I'm guessing that this post is somewhat timely since (not a great thing) the WHO declared Covid-19 to be a pandemic on this day a year ago.

What I did notice is that things like weather, work, cravings, or indecision kind of drove the decision process. So I've categorized places by that process

So here goes.....

For cold weather - Menya Ultra and Woomiok:

Like I mentioned before, I'm not if it's because we're spending more time at home; but this fall and winter seems to be much colder then I recall.

So, of course Menya Ultra's Stay at Home Kit...….so well and thoughtfully put together; love the fresh noodles (i.e. fresh made and uncooked) is our rotation.

It's basically at least two meals......there often is too much noodle; so I'll often use it for another dish.

Menya Ultra Ramen
8199 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92111
858-571-2010

When the Missus or I feel somewhat tired......we enjoy the Emporer's Soup along with an extra side of bone broth from Woomiok.

We enjoy the restorative effects of the bone broth....even if it might be "all in our heads".

This was especially nice after the Missus or I felt some of the side effects from our vaccines.

Woomiok
3860 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111
(858) 737-4599

And then when we're experiences unseasonal warm weather - it's the Market at HFS:

That's an easy one, right? It's also a handy fix when I'm missing "home".

Of course, you know the Missus right? Eating poke just ain't the straightforward for Her......there's a bit of prep involved. Can you imagine when I actually deliver this for Her lunch at work?

And I blew this one because one thing was missing....shiso leaves...sigh....

Hawaiian Fresh Seafood Fish Market
6491 Weathers Place
San Diego, CA 92121
(858) 282-0591

For that "special" takeout dinner - it's Tadokoro:

I guess this one should be pretty obvious based on some of my previous posts.

Sushi Tadokoro
2244 San Diego Ave
San Diego, CA 92110
(619) 297-0298

And when we can't make our mind up? Well, it's probably Noble Chef or Sizzling Pot King:

For those times when we don't really know what to get.

The Noble Chef
6159 Balboa Avenue
San Diego, CA 92111

Though I think we've been getting Sizzling Pot King weekly now.

It's usually two meals for us.....and heck, if you're wondering what I do with those leftover noodles form Menya Ultra.....

 I save all the drippings from the dry pot and use it as a sauce for the noodles....I know, kinda weird, but I like this strange version of Liang Mian…..

Sizzling Pot King
8058 Clairemont Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92111
(858) 279-0088

The Missus's weekend coffee fix from Birdrock:

I'll usually drop off pour over from Birdrock on Morena.

She loves the fruity acidity of African beans and of course when there's Geisha (caution - over $12 a cup for pour over)…..

The folks there already know me by name and make an awesome pour over......even though their spelling can be a bit iffy......

Bird Rock Coffee Roasters
1270 Morena Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92110

And then, there's my weekly reward for working from home - Zgara Greek Grill:

Another pretty obvious pick. I'm not the biggest fan of all this WFH stuff; but Frankie needs and deserves the attention and care. So, once a week I'll reward myself.

Zgara Greek Grill
1229 Morena Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92110

You know looking at this list makes me wonder why other places from my usual rotation like Mien Trung aren't here.....there are some obvious reasons for others; like Yakitori, Yakiniku, Korean BBQ, and some of my regular Japanese restaurants....well, I just think takeout wouldn't do justice to the food.....though maybe EE Nami might make this list soon.

Anyway; here's looking to brighter days....I'm hoping the light at the end of the tunnel is coming into view.

And of course, I want to know, what has your takeout rotation been?