mmm-yoso!!!

Happy New Year!

This year the Missus had me forgo the usual Osechi thing for New Year. And we just went with Sukiyaki instead. Which is basically all about prep.

But of course, the Missus still wanted a "special" amuse-bouche.....

And so as we approach the end to another year - our 17th here, we'd like to wish everyone a safe and prosperous New Year!

Things have surely changed over the last two years and our hope is that you have made it through in good health, both physically and mentally.

As always, we are so thankful for your visits and all the wonderful comments!

Happy New Year!

Oaxaca - Monte Alban and a Revisit to Boulenc

After having done a couple of tours in Oaxaca we decided to something on our own. We had wanted to visit Monte Alban and went to a tourist bus station and used the tourist bus system to get to Monte Alban.

Which took us to the large parking lot and main entrance to Monte Alban.

Monte Alban was an amazing site to visit. This UNESCO Heritage site has a history that goes back to 500BC. What is amazing is that this mountain was manually flattened. Yes, the top of Monte Alban was flattened and leveled by the Zapotec people over 2500 years ago!

It is estimated that Monte Alban had over 100,000 occupants at its peak. And then much like another wonderous site located on top of a mountain we visited; the city was abandoned. 

There's so much to see here. Right as you enter the impressive North Platform and Sunken Patio grab your attention.

And you can see the South Platform and its pyramids in the distance.

There are many distinctive structures to see.

 Along with several stela some of which were used as astronomical devices.

Near the South Platform is one of the more interesting and distinctive structures, a five-sided building that looks like an arrowhead. It is noted that based on the passageway, carvings, and orientation of the building that "Building J" was probably served a purpose as an "astronomical calendar".

 

And the views are quite dramatic as well.

One of the most popular and intriguing locations in Monte Alban is the Galeria de los Danzantes ("dancers"). There are stone carvings of "dancers".

While initially thought to be "dancers", later study and analysis have been inconclusive. It is theorized that the carvings are of the dead, possibly representing defeated enemies.

We went up the stairs of the South Platform, here's the view.

Yes, there's a lot to see here. So many structures, a ball court, more stela, all with "stories" and theories attached to them.

But as with most of these places, we hit our limit at around the 3 hour mark. We wanted to visit the museum, but it was still closed due to Covid policies at the time of our visit. We went ahead and had some coffee in the cafeteria, then headed to the parking lot where we got a ride back to Oaxava with one of the vans heading back into the city.

I think we'll return and do a private tour one day.

Back in Oaxaca, we were famished. The Missus had enjoyed Boulenc so much that we decided to return. The place wasn't very busy so we easily got a table.

The Missus got Her Aguacate y Cilantro. Sorry, no photo, as soon as the plate arrived at the table the Missus tucked right into it!

I was interested in something I'd seen on the menu during our earlier visit and decided to order it. Yep, it's what is called the "Banh Mi" ($121/MX - $6/US - with a fried egg). And while it did seem a bit expensive, this is what it looked like!

Of course less than five minutes after the sandwich arrived, this is what it looked like. That egg just vanished in the ether!

The bread was a crusty, yet light sourdough baguette, the roasted mushrooms earthy and delicious. The pate was made with cashew and mushroom and was really tasty. The pickled veggies were actually fermented and delicious.

This was very good!

We enjoyed Boulenc on this visit as well. And we'd return one more time before leaving Oaxaca.

Boulenc
Calle Porfirio Díaz 207
68000 Oaxaca de Juárez, Oaxaca, Mexico

We spent the rest of the afternoon strolling around the picturesque city.

Before heading back to the hotel to relax before dinner.

Which would be another wonderful experience!

Thanks for stopping by!

Oaxaca - Casa Taviche

We were dropped back at our hotel after our wonderful Mezcal Tour and took a short nap. Upon awakening, I peeked out the window from our little balcony to see what the weather was like. This was August and having traveled in Mexico during this time before we knew about the serious afternoon downpours that occur. And while we could see the clouds moving in; it didn't look like a major drenching was on the docket for this evening.

Having scheduled the Mezcal Experience, I hadn't made any dinner reservations for this evening. Which was probably for the better since the Missus wasn't too pleased with our previous two dinners. I chose a place that featured a small rotating menu, a bit farther away from the hustle and bustle of Centro named Casa Taviche.

The dining area is in a cute little courtyard.

We were handed the small menu and I could not believe the prices!

We basically shared our dishes.

Of course the Missus needed to start out with the Pozole Rojo.

This was slightly porky and much better than what we'd had previously. There was enough salt, though it really needed a good hit of oregano and the Missus was wishing for all the "sides" which was already in the soup. Still, not bad.

The Tostada de Guisado de Champigons was very good.

Man, this was so delici-yoso; the braised mushrooms were so earthy and tender; there was a hint of sweetness, spice from the salsa rojo. Great textural contrast from the tlayuda and sprouts. Crisp, peppery spice from the radishes. This was very good.

It was the season for Chilies en Nogada and I wanted to try one; so we ordered it.

This was quite good; the roasted chili poblano was stuffed with a pork filling that had mild spice and sweetness from fruit and pomegranate. The walnut cream sauce was very smooth; there seemed to be the essence of cinnamon floating in the air. The Missus cracked me up when She claimed that this must be a "Middle Eastern Dish"! I almost fell out of my seat! I told Her that most of the stories I've read about this dish is that it was created by Nuns in Puebla for a feast for General Agustín de Iturbide who had signed the Treaty of Cordoba granting Mexico independence from Spain. She didn't believe me until I told Her; "take a look, the dish is the colors of the Mexican flag"!

So far, the Missus hadn't found a version of Mole that She liked. There was a mole sugueza, which is a version that uses corn to thicken the sauce. The Missus loves Her maize, so I hoped She would enjoy this. Consider the Costillas de Mole Segueza as "mission accomplished".

The pork ribs, while on the chewier side were porky, nicely seasoned, and smoked! You could really taste the maize in the thick sauce, along with a hint of clove, hoja santa, cumin.....and best of all for the Missus? This wasn't overly sweet.

Service was kind of "relaxed" (slow) and a bit spacey - they forgot about our mole dish and we had to remind them, but it's hard to complain with these prices and how much we enjoyed this meal.

After two not so enjoyable dinners, this meal marked a turning point. It would get much better from here on out

Casa Taviche
Miguel Hidalgo 1111
68000 Oaxaca de Juárez, Oax., Mexico

Oaxaca - Private Mezcal Experience at Palenque El Cornejo

Over the last couple of years I've become a proponent of small group or private tours. I do a bunch of research ahead of time and really want to learn and experience things. Understanding your preferences is important and reading reviews imperative. Over the last few years we've become interested in Mezcal and we were finally in the Capital of Mezcal; Oaxaca, so why not try to find a guide to learn more about Mezcal. I found a company; Where Sidewalks End that featured a private Mezcal tour they call, the "Sacred Mezcal Experience". We would actually visit a Palenque and visit the agave fields, with not only a guide, but with the Mezcalero!

Our guide, Victor picked us up at our hotel and soon we were off. During the drive we were provided so much information; the difference between Artisan and Ancestral Mezcal. Ancestral Mezcal does not allow for the use of stainless steel, the agave must be hand or stone milled, and the distillation must be done in clay pots! Also, the saying "All tequila is mezcal, but not all mezcal is tequila." That is Tequila is made from agave; but only one type of agave is used.

Soon enough we arrived at Palenque el Cornejo in Santa Catarina Minas. The very rustic palenque and tasting room greeted us.

 And while there were some folks in the tasting room; that's not where we were headed. Maestro Antonio Carlos Mendez, known as "Cornejo" greeted us. He is a third generation Mezcalero and his production, other than help from his young sons is a one man show.

Soon enough we were loaded into the back of a pick-up with Victor and two of the young boys to head out into the fields.

And after passing thru a gate the truck was parked and we headed up into the hills.

   Along the way we were introduced to the various species of agave that were growing. There are almost 50 difference species of agave used to make Mezcal; though Espadin is the most common because it can be cultivated.

What makes other species of agave difficult is that the plant can propagate in two different ways; by seeds, which you can see in the photo to the right, Antonio waits until the right time to harvest the seeds and then they can be planted nearby; or pups, little "runners" from the mother plant which can left to grow around "mom" or carefully moved. According to Antonio, some species can take over 20 years to mature. So just think, if Antonio planted seeds from certain plants today, it might be his sons who harvest the plant!

As for the species, it was quite humorous, the various plants were named and we were tested on them. I actually got 5 of the 6 correct! Not that I can name them now. Though I distinctly remember that's a Tobala below; it's very distinctive.

Some of the agave were quite impressive....

And we loved that his sons were actively involved. In fact, Victor told us that the three boys rather work in the agave fields than go to school! 

The oldest son was not able to attend on this day because of a school activity, we met him later and he was so clean cut and an amazing young man.

After our tour of the hills we headed back to the work shed. Going downhill we got a chance to appreciate the view.

Back at the work shed we were fed lunch; a nice hearty meal of tamales.

And before leaving, there was one more thing to be done. There was another reason I booked this tour. We would each get one "baby" agave to plant! So, you now what our "pups" were named, right? Also, notice the stones next to the shoots? During our walk, I noticed that the boys were placing stones next to plants and asked Victor about this. He told me this was the way to "mark" that the plants are accounted for. So, of course I got our "boys" some stones, right?

I'm hoping we can return someday to see how our "pups" are doing.

After which things were closed up and we headed back to the palenque.

We arrived back at the palenque for the next part of the tour......the production and distillation of mezcal. The heart of the agave plant is called the piña. Once harvested, these are roasted in a stone lined pit.

This is what the agave looks like when it's done. We were even given tastes of the piña.

The agave is then milled, then water is added to the fiber and juice to begin fermentation.

Then the fermented agave juice is distilled twice. 

And Antonio even described the process for Mezcal Pechuga to us.

After this, we got a private tasting.

And even though we basically only do carry-on sized luggage, even bought a couple of bottles.

This was an amazing day; we learned so much, met some wonderful, warm and hard working folks, got a taste of history and culture, which was even more than we could ask for. It was such a wonderful, humbling experience that exceeded our expectations.

This is why we travel!

Takeout from Homestyle Hawaiian (Mesa College)

Right before our trip to France I was wondering "what can't I get in Paris"? Over our trips it seemed that Paris has done a pretty good job of answering the call for our cravings whether it was Ramen or Chinese (we gotta work on getting some good Vietnamese in Paris....I know it's there...). In my mind it was either tacos or a plate lunch. Now, I've  seen more than a few taco places and also quite a bit of poke shops; there's even one on Rue Montorgueil! But I have yet to see a plate lunch spot. There was even a place named Honolulu Arts Et Métiers less than two blocks from where we were staying in the Marais on our return trip. But a look at the menu revealed poke bowls....and jiaozi? It looked like a Chinese restaurant in disguise.

In the end, I went with my gut, and growling stomach, deciding on Homestyle Hawaiian's Mesa College location. Especially since it had been over a year-and-a-half since I last visited.

Things have been rearranged a bit since my last visit. HH is always trying different "stuffs" and now there's something called "Dirty Soda" on one side of the shop and the counter has been moved to the north end.

At the time of this visit, the 2 item combo had gone up a dollar since my previous visit to $15.95.

I got the usual, the mix of Chicken Katsu and Korean Chicken.

Unpacking the plate I knew just by the heft that the portion sizes had gone down since my last visit.

   No longer would I be getting two meals out of this. Even the amount of rice was less. The sauces are provided on the side so as not to make the breading/batter soggy. The katsu was breaded nicely and still crisp, though for some reason the chicken tasted like it hadn't been seasoned and was quite bland. Even with the Hawaii style katsu sauce (ketchup based) provided.

The Korean Chicken was on the dry side though still crisp and that sauce, with a combination of sweet and salty just does the trick for me. Still, I think it used to be better before.

 The rice was moist and did the trick. While the mac salad wasn't quite as good as what I'd had on previous visits; a bit too much mayo and very bland. It needed more salt and maybe some black pepper as well.

Still, not a bad lunch overall.

Man, it's hard to believe that that I've been coming here since the place opened in 2009, before Mo's kingdom of restaurants expanded to six locations. And though I haven't seen Mo in a almost a decade, I still think of him whenever I get grindz here......remembering the days of Da' Kitchen and Mo's Island Grindz. 

My how time flies!

Homestyle Hawaiian Island Style Food
7524 Mesa College Drive
San Diego, CA 92111

Montpellier - Reflet d'Obione

I had a nice dinner planned for our first evening in Montpellier with reservations at the one Michelin Star Reflet d'Obione which I had read about in this post on the Edible Reading Blog. Being that we were spending an entire month in France I knew that we'd need to pick our "tasting menu" spots judiciously. We surely didn't want to burn out on these places. We both thought that having a nice dinner in Montpellier would be fun.

There was a reason we had taken our specific walking route earlier in the day. The restaurant was close to Porte du Peyrou off of Rue Foch, down a quiet side street so I wanted to have some familiarity with the area. Like many of these places, which really don't need to advertise, the entry was rather simple and discreet.

And the interior simple, but classy as was the service.

We took the larger "Horizon" menu which featured 7 courses and shared a wine pairing. All the dishes are sourced from the region and seasonal. Montpellier is located a short distance (+/- 10 kilometers) from the Mediterranean, so we were interested to sample the seafood,

The oysters were nicely presented and prepared.

Crisp and briny, with savory minced sea asparagus (salconia) and was topped with frozen, mildly tart shavings that we were told was yogurt (?!?). This was a very nice start to the meal.

The next item was a bit strange. They called it Alkaline Broth.

This was like a weak dashi with sprouted lentils in it. 

The scallop dish was outstanding.

The scallop was perfectly seared, rare, sweet, and tender. The charred endive was wonderfully sweet with a pleasant bitterness, the sabayon was light, yet rich, with a very clean finish.

The Missus loved the Guinea Fowl Quenelle.

Which was light and savory; but I think it's the celeriac puree, the Missus is not a big fan of celeriac, which went so well in this dish with a light celery-sweetness. The coffee veloute was a nice and savory surprise.

The Langoustine was sweet and tender.

And one thing we had noticed with this and all of the previous items; in spite of the rather elaborate presentation and combinations, the flavor of the primary ingredient shone thru. The minced butternut squash and puree went well with this.

The local line caught fish, in this case sea bass was again seared perfectly. Tender, buttery, with a hint of sweetness.

Up to this point we had enjoyed this dinner more than what we'd had at Granite a few nights previous. The one dish that we enjoyed more at Granite was the pigeon. Here the overall flavorings of the pigeon was too sweet and tart.

We did love the beetroot Napolean, though it added yet another layer of sweetness to the dish that was not needed in our opinion.

The entrements were good, refreshing, and very restorative.

The Missus enjoyed dessert.

And heck, even non-dessert lover me, enjoyed the Chocolate Fondant, which wasn't overly sweet.

It was rich and creamy; the praline crisp with the unique nutty flavor of chicory.

This was an excellent meal. The service was well paced, efficient, polished, and professional, while still being friendly. Except for the wine pairing and the pigeon dish, we enjoyed this more than Granite in Paris.

Reflet d'Obione
29 Rue Jean Jacques Rousseau
34000 Montpellier, France

Well, Montpellier who knew.....

Merry Christmas

We want to wish everyone a safe, joyous, and merry Christmas. I try to do one of these posts every year, but took a look and realized that I didn't do one last year. So, I need to get back on the right track!

The last couple of years has been tough for just about everyone I know. It has affected and changed my outlook on life and how I approach things that's for sure. 

But somehow, we've made it so far. 

And I have learned to be grateful and appreciate things. And we here at mmm-yoso appreciate all of you! Like I always say; we would not still be here if not for you!

Thank you as always for dropping by and have a safe, happy, and merry Christmas from us here at mmm-yoso!

Montpellier - Green Lab and Place de Peyrou

When planning our most recent trip to France, we knew we'd be spending our final two weeks in Paris, but where to go before then? The Missus wanted to visit places She had never been before and Brittany, Normandy, and the Loire was high on Her list. But I just didn't think visiting those locales at the end of November, beginning of December would be the best time. Nice and Marseille was high on that list, but in the end we thought visiting Carcassonne would be interesting and I'd always wanted to visit Toulouse, but we needed one more "leg" of the trip. We'd already been to the main cities in Provence....those posts never got done because like I mentioned in this post; after Israel, Palestine, and Jordan, we spent a night in Paris before heading to Provence, we planned 5 nights there, but got stranded because of a rail strike and ended up flying from Marseille to CDG and staying at the airport. This was at the end of 2019. So, while I started doing posts on that trip....well, you know what happened, right? Those posts on Provence never got done. Maybe one day I'll just to a COMC thing. Anyway, while I love train travel, the Missus has a "no more than 4 - 4 1/2 hour" rule when it comes to travelling by rail, which is why I have to plan on stays in places like Stuttgart, which is perfectly fine with me as I get to explore. After doing a bit of research, I developed an interest in Montpellier. Now you really won't find much about Montpellier in those guidebooks, but the city looked interesting; from the meandering old town, to having one of the oldest Universities in the world. And I'd read that fully one-fourth of the city's population is composed of students! That contrast would make for quite an interesting visit!

In fact, we could see the contrasts from the time we arrived. The apartment we were staying in was a mere ten minute walk from the train station. We went thru a tunnel that connected the tram line to quite a modern area with a mall. The apartment was in the interesting looking building connected to the Ibis Hotel.

We had a very nice view of the city.

Just steps away to the east was a large shopping mall named Le Polygone. Just to the west is the main square of the city, Place de la Comédie. This lively and lovely square features restaurants, fast food joints ("McDo" does great business with the students), cafe's, a movie theatre, and the lovely National Opera. Because we didn't have a map of the city, we stopped by the Tourist Information center and got the "detailed" map (,50 €) which we used along with Google Maps to get around.

At the heart of the square is the Fountain of the Three Graces.

The square is nicknamed L'Oeuf ("egg") because of its oval shape. From here there are arteries heading in all directions. We decided to take one of the side streets, away from the Ecusson (the old city), down Rue de Verdun for a light lunch at a place I had on my list; Green Lab.

Because of the large student population, I thought that there would be some nice casual eateries with diverse cuisines and with just one notable "fail", these places delivered. Green Lab features Lebanese and Middle Eastern influenced vegetarian and vegan dishes in a "fast-casual" type set-up. You order at the counter and they'll bring out your food to you. The plates looked pretty large so we just ordered the Falafel and Hummus (9,99 €) which ended up being enough for the both of us.

While we didn't care much for the pita, which was too dense, hard, and "bready" for us, we thought the falafel were quite good. Crisp outside, mildy creamy interior, nice nutty herbaceousness, this was actually better than what we'd had at L'As du Fallafel in Paris! The hummus was quite rustic, the nutty - savory tones came thru quite well.

This was actually better than we expected and enough to hold us until our Michelin Starred dinner.

Green Lab Comédie
12 Rue de Verdun
34000 Montpellier, France

We headed back to the square and decided to do some exploring. We headed up Rue de la Loge, one of the main shopping/downtown streets in Montpellier. We had arrived on a Saturday and I had thought that things might be a bit crazy....but we found that Montpellier had a relaxed, fun, community loving vibe to it. We got a kick out of this band with an interesting "cast" of characters playing on Place Jean Jaurès.

And as we headed further up the street, the Missus quickly noticed these tags on the ground.

Well, I didn't know that Montpellier is on the Camino de Santiago!

We enjoyed wandering up the streets of the Ecusson.

And we arrived at this.

Yep, Montpellier has it's version of the Arc de Triomphe, the Porte du Peyrou which was completed in 1693 and is actually modeled after Porte Saint-Denis, which I mentioned in this post. Right past the Porte is Place Royale de Peyrou.

Which has a striking Water Tower designed to look like a Greek Monument.

Which actually used to store water!

With an aqueduct.

That used to route water to the cistern in the tower.

There are gardens and a promenade.

And on this day it looked like a large meeting of motorcycle clubs was going on.

As we walked back toward the Arc we heard chanting and drums.......it was a protest.

Which made its way into Place de Peyrou.

It was interesting, anti hate protest meets biker clubs.......with no incidents. You gotta love it!

On a lively Saturday in Montpellier.

On the way back to the apartment, we started taking notice of the public art along the side streets.

Along with churches and other grand structures down alleyways and side streets. This is the Église Saint-Roch.

Montpellier was turning out to be quite an interesting stop.

Paris - La Maison d’Isabelle (Yet Again), The Cluny Museum, Au Pied de Cochon, and Le Train Bleu

When planning for our trips I'm careful not to over schedule ourselves. Yes, we could probably do three museums in a day, but would we really enjoy it? And especially when we return to our favorite locales, I tend to sprinkle out our planned activities, knowing that we'll probably return in the future. And since we'd be spending a good amount of time in Paris, I only scheduled or made reservations for about every other evening.

On this day, I made plans to visit the Cluny Museum whose collection covers the Middle Ages. I had always wanted to visit the Cluny for one main reason which I'll detail a bit further on in this post.

But first; did you know that there are 8 fontaine petillantes; that is, sparkling water fountains in Paris? Yes, for real, these fountains will dispense sparkling water at the press of a button. For free. There was one close to our hotel next to Les Halles so we decided to try it out.

I liked it; the Missus wasn't impressed. Perhaps if the weather was hotter it would have made more of an impact. I did think it was pretty neat though.

From here we headed off to the 5th passing all those familiar places.

And soon we were close to our destination. But first......the museum is located in the 5th Arrondissement which gave us an opportunity to revisit our favorite croissant purveyor yet again. Man, we could smell the butter a block away. And the line at La Maison d’Isabelle, which always moves quickly anyway, wasn't very long at all.

The shop is located right at one of the metro exits, just think, you'd be coming up the stairs or escalator from the Maubert - Mutualité metro station to be hit with the scent of butter in the air?

We got our croissant and headed on over to Square Samuel-Paty just like the last time to devour our croissants.

And it was a good as ever.

Crisp and flakey exterior, fluffy on the inside, great butter to salt ratio.....

Still our favorite in Paris.

La Maison d’Isabelle
47T Boulevard Saint-Germain
75005 Paris, France

And the Cluny is located basically across the street from Square Samuel-Paty. We arrived right after the 930am opening time, so the museum wasn't very busy, which made for a relaxed visit.

   And while we loved the heads of kings of Judah that originally graced Notre Dame and were severed during the French Revolution ("off with their heads I say!!!!") in what is called vandalisme révolutionnaire, wonderful jewelry, Limoges Enamel, and the stunning stained glass from Sainte-Chapelle that depicts the story of Samson; there was one collection I wanted to see.

It's a series of 6 tapestries completed around 1500, famously known as The Lady and the Unicorn. Upon entering the room we were stunned; it is one of those times when seeing a renowned work was actually more impressive in person.

The 6 tapestries, made of wool and silk were amazing. It is generally accepted that each one represents one of the senses.

Though you might ask, "why are there six tapestries". The sixth work has the inscription “À mon seul désir” (To my only desire) and has been interpreted in many different ways.

As for me....well, I happened to see Frankie in the tapestry and perhaps he knew we would be visiting on this day! We'd have another reminder of F during this trip as well. We were comforted knowing he was watching over us.

Seeing this was one of the highlights of our trip....

I have a feeling we'll return; if only to see that tapestry again!

Musée de Cluny
28 Rue du Sommerard
75005 Paris, France

We strolled back to the hotel and took a nice break. We'd be headed to Montpellier the next morning. We had enjoyed our meal at Le Petit Bouillon Pharamond at the end of our last trip to Paris, a big plus was that it was very close to our hotel, that we went to see if we could get a table. Man, there was a line to get into the Boullion, even at the ungodly dining hour (for Paris) of 6pm! So, we needed a "plan B". There was a place I'd had on my "list" for a while, it seemed a bit touristy, but has quite a history. Au Pied de Cochon was founded in 1947, at that time Les Halles was still considered the "belly of Paris" and Au Pied de Cochon fed the hungry masses 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We thought it might be fun just to drop by and see if the place had an open table.

And this quite colorful brasserie still had tables available. You gotta love the decor as it just oozes almost stereotypical Frenchness.

As you can figure by the name of the place, pork is king here.

The bread provided was a nice and crusty baguette.

Which came in handy since the Missus, wanting Her beans, ordered the Cassoulet de Pied de Cochon ( 27 €).

She liked the beans, thin skinned and creamy. The garlic sausage was decent as well, though all that pork was a bit over-the-top for Her. This also needed some salt as well. The Missus did a nice job of finishing this off!

I got what is possibly the signature dish of the restaurant; the Tentation de Saint-Antoine ( 27 €) - "Temptation of Saint Anthony". If you recall from a previous post, Saint Anthony de Abad is the patron saint of pigs.

In case you're keeping score at home; this consists of breaded and fried pig's feet (pied de cochon), very tough and undercooked for my taste, snout, chewy and quite meaty went well with the Bernaise sauce, ears, too hard (still trying to find a version that lines up with what we had at that little Izakaya in Hiroshima, and the winnah, that pig tail...which was fairly tender with some nice crunchy bits, and was oh so porky. Maybe all the "stuff" that stuck to that tail when in use added to the flavor????

The Missus had a taste of all of this and agreed, that tail was good. The French couple sitting next to use had two tails as appetizers. I didn't see it on the menu; but we'd definitely come back for that.

Overall, a fun meal, and service was quite good as well. 

Au Pied de Cochon
6 Rue Coquillière
75001 Paris, France

Needless to say, it was a food coma evening.

We awoke early the next morning and relaxed a bit before heading off on the metro to Gare de Lyon. I will often try to schedule our trips on the metro at hours when I believe things won't be too busy, especially when we have luggage. It's not always possible, but I try. I also try to schedule and coordinate check-out times at our locale with check-in times at our destination, and our scheduled arrival by train. We got to Gare de Lyon a bit early; this was because I wanted to grab some coffee and tea for the Missus at a place I'd heard about located in Gare de Lyon named Le Train Bleu. I had heard of Le Train Bleu, but had never really given much thought to visiting the place even though we'd been through Gare de Lyon a couple of time before. However, after listening to one of my favorites Podcasts on Paris; The Earful Tower, which I started listening to when I was missing our travels during Covid and after reading Oliver Gee's post on Le Train Bleu, I wanted to check the place out, if only for some coffee and tea. And so we got to Gare de Lyon, and found the rather discreet entrance to Le Train Bleu. And you can see why you might want to have at least some coffee here......

Le Train Bleu was originally built for the Paris Exposition of 1900 in the Belle Époque style. The setting is so regal, elegant, grand, and beautiful. It transports you to a different age. 

And in the morning, it is perfectly fine to have coffee, tea, and maybe some yogurt while waiting for your train if you aren't keen of having lunch or dinner here.

The prices aren't cheap, but not bad overall.

And man, I could just keeping looking at paintings for hours.....

You might also want to read this post on Le Train Bleu.

Le Train Bleu (In Gare de Lyon)
Place Louis-Armand
75012 Paris, France

Thanks for stopping by!

SuperNatural Sandwiches (Miramar) Back in Business Under New Ownership

**** SuperNatural Sandwiches has closed

SuperNatural Sandwiches had been a fairly regular stop for me for ages. Since their beginnings at the now defunct San Diego Public Market. So, I was sad and in all honesty rather shocked at the somewhat sudden closure of their remaining shop on Miramar. I understand that all the changes in dining and rising costs have really affected businesses over the last two years. So many places with a long history in San Diego and many favorites that have closed in the last 1,010 days....you remember that day, right?

But I was just as surprised to get a text from "JeffP" while I was on vacation telling me that SuperNatural had reopened; albeit under new ownership! Thanks for letting me know Jeff!

So, one of the first places I went to check out when I returned was......

I arrived just at opening; 11 am and walked in and automatically headed right to the counter.....and whoops....

There is the set-up for a sushi bar in that area now. The area where the beer bar is located is where you place your orders these days. I also noticed that prices had gone up quite a bit (again) since my last visit in June.

My usual, the "Siren", is now $14.95 and adding a side of Garlic Fries is another $5.95. Back in June, two months before they closed it was $13.25 and $4.75 respectively. So a sandwich and fries, with tax was over $22 now!

I placed my order and the young lady working confirmed that the place would start serving sushi soon. Hmmm......not sure about that one.

Anyway, this how my sandwich looked when I got home.

   It looked pretty much the same and I'll say that the fries where just as good, slightly crisp, with a creamy interior as it used to be.

I took the sandwich out of the container; the bread looked the same and it was evenly toasted. I actually liked the fact that it had a bit less sauce than it used to.

 So I took a bite and...got all bread? What the heck. It seemed like about half the sandwich was all bread. Strange. I'm thinking either they are still getting used to cutting the bread in the correct manner or they are using less ingredients. Anyway, the shrimp didn't seem of the same quality and seemed overcooked and rubbery; it also looked smaller than before, see the photo below.  That's the cap from the little container of sauce for the fries.

There is a part of me that wonders if I'm just enhancing my memories of the "old" SuperNatural?

So perhaps some of you can set me straight. Let me know what you think if you visit the "new" SuperNatural? I know "FOY" Junichi mentioned the reopening in the comments of this post, so maybe he'll let me know what he thinks. Or maybe "FOY" Loren whom I know enjoyed this place.

For now, over $22 for a sandwich and fries means it'll take a while before I return.

SuperNatural Sandwiches
7094 Miramar Rd
San Diego, CA 92121