mmm-yoso!!!

2024 Rose Parade Float Road Test #2 and breakfast at Ocean Bo (El Monte) plus

Thanks for stopping to read mmm-yoso!!!, this blog about food.  Cathy is writing today because she has a post about food (and some other things) while Kirk is busy with work.

This past Saturday had us waking at 4, leaving at 5 and getting to Irwindale at 7; the start of what we thought would be an efficient morning. 

2024 Rose Parade Float Road Test #1 

A few floats were being tested for mechanics and maneuverability. The Oddfellows and Rebekahs float, "All You Need is Love", passed with flying colors!  I can't wait to see which natural materials are used to decorate the unicorns. The Kiwanis 2024 float, "Serving in Harmony" passed its third road test, with people (weight) on board and will be ready too decorate with 'dry' materials and glue on the first Saturday in December.  You can volunteer to decorate by signing up HERE. 

 The Lions Clubs International float, "Changing the World Through Music" has a great rendering of the Parade theme (Celebrating A World of Music; The Universal Language) and float title.
 The Royal Court float was also tested; seven members will be seated here as part of their year long reign of community service. Stored inside the float barn, the Elks Clubs float with headless and handless Fife and Drum Corps is painted in (usually human 'skin' decorating, done with various spices, is separately worked on and I suspect that is why the heads and hands are not attached). The Petal Pushers and Lutheran Hour Ministries entry, "Make a Joyful Noise Unto the Lord" has been further painted in.
 The Rotary International entry, "Clean Water, the Music of Life" with the ducks and umbrellas looks to be a winner.  It's cute and conveys the message of the Parade and of Rotary. 
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Being efficient, we were on the road South and got to Portos before 8 a.m..

 Plenty of parking, no lines, a quick pick up of the seasonal peach tart, a blueberry croissant, cranberry orange scone, cheese roll, walnut raisin bread and a Cuban quesadilla (pretty much another form of cheesecake).

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 We started on the 10 West, toward El Monte, took an exit and I made a quick stop upon seeing this signage.
 The menu was outside, inside and at the counter.  
 We ordered #1, #3 and #7 (Shrimp Har Gow, Shrimp Shiu Mai and bean curd wrapped meat) ($18 total) and put the bag in the car.  It would be a late lunch.
 Very good, fresh, quite large pieces.  Glad we stopped. 
Hong Kong Dim Sum House, 9505 Garvey Ave, South El Monte 91733 (626) 350-7099 Open Wed-Mon 7-3, Closed Tues

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 Since it was early, and we wanted Dim Sum,  we we decided to try Ocean Bo again
 The menu is the same, prices slightly higher by 30¢ ($4.59) than in October.

 The drill was the same; check off your order on the menu and everything is brought out at once.  We knew what was in the car so ordered different things here. 

Steamed Fun Gor, Ham Sui Gok, Shrimp and Chive dumpling, Seafood Gow and baked egg tart (each $4.59).  Hot tea was $1.80 each and the pot was constantly kept refilled.
 Cross sections; different skins on each item, everything very fresh and very efficient service.  A great place. 

Ocean Bo 3944 Peck Road El Monte (626) 452-1818 Open daily 8 am-9 pm website 

Even though we were done at 9:29 a.m. and thought we would get home quickly, that didn't happen.  We drove over to the 15 and ended up getting in at 12:45.  Crazy traffic! Still a nice day.

Toulouse - Marche Victor Hugo (Again), Lunch at Restaurant Attila, Criollo Chocolatier, a Walk Along Canal de Brienne, and Other Stuffs

We started our last day in Toulouse by taking a short walk in the area.

We had really enjoyed Toulouse, there's a down to earth, relaxed vibe to the place. We spent the morning wandering about.

Nearing 11, we walked on over to the huge March Victor Hugo, which I covered in an earlier post.

We ended up getting some stuffs for a nice self catering dinner for our last evening in the city.

We then headed upstairs where the restaurants are located. Man, the passageway is pretty cramped.

We settled on a seafood place named Restaurant Attila. I really wanted to have some Coques (Cockles) and Langoustines.

Of course there's a plat du jour and other lunch specials as well.

We were guided to our table where we placed our order. The seafood in the marche looked wonderful, so we were quite excited about this meal.

First up was the Salade de Coques Persillade (10€ - $11/US).

The cockles were prepped well, no gritty bits. I was surprised at how tender these were, with a nice hint of savory-sweetness. Strangely, I expected more of a briny flavor, but these had a nice butteriness to them. The greens and such was fine, but those cockles were definitely the star.

The Langoustine with Aioli (13€) was a disappointment.

The langoustine were over cooked and really dry and even though it was supposedly cooked with a court bullion the flavor was lacking. 

Last up were the Huitres ( 9 for 15€ - $16.50/US). These were from Marennes, an area famous for their oysters. These really delivered.

Pleasantly briny with a wonderful clean finish! Definitely a winnah!

Restaurant Attila (in Marche Victor Hugo)
5 Place Victor Hugo
31000 Toulouse, France

After lunch, we headed downstairs.

  And just wandered around. I ended up buying more Tarbais beans in the shop/deli above....yep, 35€ a kilo and I bought another half kilo.

After which we headed back to the chocolate shop that the Missus had enjoyed earlier named Criollo Chocolatier.

Man, the place was humming!

The pieces here are sold by weight and the Missus bought a good sized box of it.

Of there's any reason for us to return to Toulouse, it's so the Missus can restock on chocolate from here.

Criollo Chocolatier Toulouse Victor Hugo
23 Place Victor Hugo
31000 Toulouse, France

We then headed back to the hotel and started doing some packing. 

After which, we decided to go on another walk. I picked out the Canal de Brienne area. The canal which connects to the Garonne is a short 1.6 kilometers in length, but tree lined and quite peaceful. You totally forget you're in the middle of a large city.

Apparently, that building above was an old tobacco factory, which now houses a building the university.

It was a lovely walk and fun to see a different part of Toulouse.

We walked back to our room and just relaxed and then had dinner. Later that evening, we heard singing and chanting. Looking out the window we noticed a endless line of folks, waving the Moroccan flag. Apparently, Morocco had just beaten Belgium in a World Cup match. We decided to head on down to the square. It was a fun parade, one of joy and celebration, peaceful without any antics....a refreshing scene to be sure!

A couple of groups had even set-up around the perimeter of the Christmas Market and were singing and dancing.

We decided to head into the Christmas Market.

To get some Vin Chaud of course! 

Egad! I've posted on Vin Chaud before, we have a kind hate-love-hate relationship with this warm mulled wine drink. We really don't care for the taste....but we love that it really puts you in the holiday spirit.

And perhaps we're developing a (bad) taste for this????

Warm mulled wine in our bellies, we slept soundly, got up early and finished packing. We then took the metro to Toulouse Matabiau. We were a bit early and crossed the street for some coffee.

Before catching our train to our final stop on this month long journey.

We had enjoyed our time in "La Vie en Rose", the Pink City - Toulouse. But next we were spending most of two weeks in....well you know where, right?

Thanks for stopping by!

Toulouse - A Walk Along the Garonne and Dinner at Aligot Bar

After spending the morning in Albi and returning to Toulouse, we did a bit of window shopping, then returned to the hotel for a nice nap.

Upon waking we relaxed a bit and then decided to take a stroll. The Christmas Market, right outside our hotel was going strong.

We decided to take a stroll before finding a place to have dinner. As to where we were headed; well, that was answered when we got downstairs. There seemed to be some kind of "walk" going on. 

Folks were having such a great time....singing, laughing, it seemed so wonderful that we just kind of followed along.

They headed over to the Garonne, the river that flows thru the city and then crossed on Pont Saint-Pierre. Just having a joyous time waving those light sticks.

After doing a bit of "Googling" on my phone, I found that this was the Course des Lumières a Cancer walk/run. It was really great seeing a community come to together like this.

Instead of heading across the bridge, we decided to walk along the Garonne. It was such a clear evening, the reflections on the river were striking.

It was so beautiful.....

We walked to the Port de la Daurade area, then decided to head back to find a place for dinner.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, because of how busy things were and because most places in the city don't do online reservations, we weren't able to get dinner reservations even when we dropped by a restaurant several days before. So......we just walked around a bit looking for a place to eat.

Close to Notre-Dame du Taur, which we had visited earlier on the trip, was this little place named Aligot Bar.

This Bistro/Fast Casual-ish restaurant served food from the Aveyron region just east of Toulouse. I had been wanting to try Aligot, but the Missus, after taking a look at the gooey-stringy mashed potatoes had always declined. But I noticed the "Salade de Occitane" on the menu, which seemed much like what the Missus enjoyed in Carcassonne earlier in the trip, so I managed to talk Her into it.

We were seated and placed our order. Soon, a young lady sat on the table next to us. She was Asian and we started talking. She's Japanese, from the area right outside Heathrow Airport! It was a fabulous conversation about growing up Asian, the meshing of cultures and all of that.

The Missus enjoyed Her salad.

The Farci au Foie Gras was nice and gamy, though it lacked the nice, offal richness of foie gras. The duck proisciutto was cut too thick, therefore making it really chewy. A decent salad for the price of 13€....actually a bargain if you think of it costing $14/US!

I went for it, ordering the Aligot Classique with Duck Confit and Toulouse Style Sausage (19,5€ - $21.50/US)

And guess who enjoyed the cheesy-gooey Aligot? Yep, the Missus! It was stringy. though smooth, love the flavor....it's like potatoey cheese fondue-pudding if you will. The duck confit wasn't very good; it hadn't been heated properly, the skin was rubbery, the flesh tough and stringy. I did enjoy the Toulouse sausage though. The casing had a great snap, the flavor galricky-porky and this had a bit of pepperiness to it. 

Overall an ok meal and chatting with the young lady was wonderful.

Aligot Bar
35 Rue du Taur
31000 Toulouse, France

Needless to say, we didn't leave hungry!

H Brothers (Escondido)

Thanks for stopping to read mmm-yoso!!! which is being written by Cathy today. 

Recently, The Mister and I were in downtown Escondido to run some errands.  We parked at one of the free parking lots just behind buildings on East Grand (just off of East 2nd Avenue) and started walking.  We knew there would be someplace to eat.

 The red brick building with the black awning, next to LLL Reptile on East Grand between North Kalmia and North Juniper.  It's pretty easy to spot.   
 There is plenty of indoor seating as well as quite a few outdoor tables.

Step inside and the menu is on the wall.  There are paper menus also.  Order, pay and your food will be brought to your table.
 The first item that caught our eyes, top left-Original Poutine ($8.99).  Fresh cut fries, brown gravy, cheese curds.  We had to.  The fries were skin on, definitely made here.  Not too crisp, but hot and thoroughly cooked, covered with the not-salty brown gravy and cheese curds, which melted in the heat of the fries.  The cheese was plentiful and stretchy and a really great part of each bite.  There were leftovers which reheated quite well in the fry pan at home.  
 Pretty much the center of the menu board, the Cuban Torta ($16.99) wa our agreed choice.  A toasted Torta roll slathered with mayonnaise, filled with adobada, pulled pork, ham, provolone, a fried egg, pineapple, and pickled jalapeño.`
 You can see it all here.  Each meat (plenty of meat in this sandwich) was fresh and offered a discernible variety of flavors.  Then there were textures-the egg was runny, adding a richness and the sweet slice of lightly crisp pineapple was very complimentary to all of the porky goodness.  Even the light crunch, slight saltiness and light heat of the pickled jalapeño helped bring it all together with each bite.  We each had leftovers of our respective halves.
   Looking over to the bottom right of the menu-Beignets ($7.99).  Oh yes, this would be a dessert day.  We were asked if we wanted the deep fried dough to come out with our meal or would we like to wait, since everything is made to order here.  We said we were not in a hurry and later were asked if they should start on the dessert.  

The hot fried dough pockets arrived covered in powdered sugar and accompanied by three sauces: chocolate, blueberry and raspberry.   The beignet alone had great flavor, a crunchy exterior, fluffy interior and I thought needed no additions...then I dipped a corner.  The sauces were wonderful!  Fried dough became a spectacular dessert and this was a really nice treat.  There were no leftovers to take home.

Everything is made here, daily.  Quality North American comfort food.  We will return.


H Brothers 212 East Grand Escondido 92025 Open Tues-Sat 11 a.m.-9 p.m. (442) 999-5542  Website Closed Sun-Mon

 

Revisits to Kim's Deli and Sandwich Island Deli

It's funny how the mind works. I was getting some takeout from Sue’s Korean Kitchen, when suddenly I was wondering how Kim's Deli was doing.

Kim's Deli:

So, a couple of days later at around 10am, I drove down Arjons Drive to see what was going on.

I parked in the cul-de-sac and walked on over to the little shop located in the business mall. The two older Korean women were hard at work putting together takeout orders when I arrived.

I thought about having a sandwich, but what reminded me of Kim's when visiting Sue's was the Bulgogi Bowl, which was pretty straightforward and simple, but was priced at reasonable $9 back in February 2021. It's now $12. Regardless, with prices these days, it still seems like a bargain. So that's what I got.

    Calling this a "bowl" is a definite misnomer as it's pretty hefty. There's the standard green salad with a sesame dressing plus some fairly standard and kinda mushy and pretty salty japchae. The rice was nicely done and the portion size seemed a bit larger than before.

The bulgogi, was better this time, not as tough, though flavor wise, it was edging on the sweeter side. I saw the woman in the back actually cook the meat in what looked like a combo pizza oven - broiler. The sauce on the side tasted like bottled stuff and was super sweet in flavor. 

Like I mentioned before, this really gave me old school "lunchwagon" vibes. It's not great, but considering the price at $12 and the portion size, in this day and age it's worth it. Plus, I actually had some leftovers....there was a ton of rice under the meat and japchae.

Kim's Deli
8515 Arjons Drive
San Diego, CA 92126

As I was having the bulgogi "bowl" my mind drifted off and thoughts of Sandwich Island Deli entered mi cabeza. Though it wasn't the sandwiches I was musing on; it was something else.

Sandwich Island Deli:

Which of course, had me driving down Trade Street a couple of days later to see what was going on.

Again, it was just past 10am and the place seemed pretty quiet.

Everything seemed peaceful at the counter.

What you don't see is the Asian couple working like crazy putting together orders. By the time the woman saw me and came over to take my order there were six packages on the counter!

As for what I ordered, well, like Kim's I was going to have a sandwich on another day. The "bento box" which is what I had on my previous visit had gone up a mere 75 cents in nearly 2 1/2 years! 

Something else caught my eye. There's Chicken Yakisoba on the menu. And it's priced at only $7.95. I was wondering what the heck a $7.95 dish would look like here? All sandwiches, save one (the Egg Salad Sandwich - $6.99), are more expensive than the yakisoba. Heck, most everything at Nijiya is now more expensive than that! So, I had to try it.

That bag felt pretty heavy. I opened it up and cracked up.

This looked like something I'd throw together when I was 12 years old, trying to make use of dry, packaged ramen noodles.

And actually, there was more sautéed cabbage, than noodles. Or anything else for that matter. And it was quite bland in terms of soy-savory-sweet tones.

There were a few pieces of chicken, mushrooms, and zucchini. The seasoning was very mild and also tasted like it was poured from a bottle or gallon container. Perhaps I should have followed the lead of the guy who came to pick up his yakisoba....I'm guessing he's a regular because the woman gave him two containers of sauce for his order.

Truth be told; the teriyaki-ish chicken bento is better than this. Though it's hard to complain about something that costs $7.95. Heck, remember I got a second-rate Banh Mi for $9 recently? And I got my daily requirement of cabbage with this meal to boot.

Sandwich Island Deli
7350 Trade St.
San Diego, CA 92121

Roadtrip - Qing Dao Bread Food (Monterey Park), Bistro Na's (Temple City), and Song Long (Westminster)

Recently, the Missus and I was wondering how some of our old favorites were doing in LA and OC. We decided to drive on up and stay the night at the Courtyard by Marriott on Atlantic.

So, we headed on up and arrived at area on Garfield near Garvey just after 11am. And easily found street parking! On a Saturday? What the heck?

Qing Dao Bread Food:

Even though we hadn't been back here in over five years it looks basically the same.

QDBF had long been a favorite of ours for Jiaozi and there's an endearing quality to the place for the Missus. After all, She's from QingDao. She gets a kick from hearing the "Qingdao Hua" (青岛话) - the unique accent of Her home town. And every time we come here we recall the story of my MIL calling the place when the Missus told her that I thought the Jiaozi here rivaled hers! In case you missed it:

"the Missus called Her Mother....and guess what, Her Mother actually called QDBF! Among the things my MIL did find out was that the Owners are from the same neighborhood as the Missus's family. What She didn't find out was the recipe to their Jiaozi dough! Even using small talk and the "La Guan Xi" (doing the buddy-buddy thing) method didn't work. The response to the recipe request? "You come here eat, and we'll tell you the recipe!""

She never did get that recipe.......

Anyway, we ordered the Pork Tongue, the Shrimp, Pork, and Leek Jiaozi, and the Lamb Jiaozi (of course).

We were served glasses of water. Not really paying attention I took a sip....it was boiled water! We cracked up; it's how they serve water in China!

 The pig tongue was as expected, fairly chewy and very porky. Quite typical.

The one thing that has changed over the years at QDBF is the garlic. Garlic is the traditional condiment served with Jiaozi and other dishes in QingDao. Mixed with black vinegar, I always call it the Missus's "little dish of memories". When we first visited, it was done the traditional way, pounded in a mortar and pestle, the bruising releases the oils and flavors, and the garlic is surprisingly rich and mellow. Sadly, on our last visit, it had been minced in a food processor. You may think it's strange, but the flavor and texture is totally different, it's much more bitter in our opinion.

The jiaozi arrived in tandem.

 We quickly noticed that on this visit, the dumpling wrappers were very soft, lacking in the slight "pull" that we enjoy in jiaozi wrappers. The filling of the shrimp, pork, and leek was very moist and actually had a good amount of "soup" in them...very nicely flavored, though a bit short in the shrimp department.

The wrappers on the Lamb Jiaozi was the same.

 But man, that filling was so gamy, moist, juice just poured out of it when I took a bite.

While the wrappers were not "perfect" on this visit, we still have to find jiaozi we like better. It was also quite fun to take this little trip down memory lane. Hopefully we won't wait another five years to return.

Qing Dao Bread Food
301 North Garfield Ave.
Monterey Park, CA 91754

After lunch we decided to take a stroll and were surprised to see how quiet things were; especially in the shopping plaza on the corner of Garfield and Garvey. Also, most folks we passed were of the older demographic. We hadn't been around here since before Covid and the place seemed to be missing the vitality that we remember. It seems that younger folks have moved on and away from the area, or did the shooting in January of this year have even more of affect of things? We stopped by Ten Ren Tea Time and the Missus got some Oolong for Her collection.

We got to the huge Courtyard by Marriott and was able to check in early. We went and took another stroll across the street to Atlantic Times Square and found that other than AMC, Daiso, and a couple of restaurants, many of the businesses were empty as well. What the heck? This had the Missus wondering how Focus Plaza, i.e. San Gabriel Square was doing. One of the Missus's first jobs waaaay back when was located here. We were shocked to easily find parking and then while walking around.....

Of course, the 99 Ranch Market was going strong. It seemed that all the businesses surrounding this mall was doing good business, so I went online to check and found that the mall will being undergoing renovation starting in August and will be rebranded as TAWA (the owners of 99 Ranch Market) Gateway. Whew.....

We then headed off to dinner. We last visited Bistro Na's on our way back from Monument Valley and Sedona. One Michelin Star Bistro Na's has become a favorite of ours since we first visited back in 2019 and we've revisited half a dozen times since. Though we hadn't been back in over a year.

Unlike where we had visited earlier, Camellia Square and the surrounding area was quite busy.

Bistro Na's:

As always, the service at Bistro Na's was top notch. Sadly, several of our favorite dishes were no longer on the menu. Though our "key" dishes were.

Like the refreshing Chili Tofu Skin.

And the smoky and tender Beijing Style Smoked Duck Breast.

The Crisp Shrimp is a must order here.

 We did notice that the dish has changed since our last visit. The shrimp shells and the shrimp seems to have some coating; like the tofu skin, the portion size is smaller. The shrimp is not quite as delicate as it used to be. But the flavor is still there and the shells and tail are a pleasure to eat.

As for new dishes; well, we ordered the Bittermelon with Pickled Garlic.

This was delici-yoso! Totally suan-tian-ku-la-xian! Sour and mildly sweet tones, tamed the bitterness initially. There's some Sichuan Peppercorn in this to numb you. The bittermelon comes on strong at the end for an interesting finish.

The Intestine with Laba Garlic was not quite at the same level.

The intestine was cooked perfectly, great texture and offal-ly flavors. But the sourness overpowered the dish and that garlic was potent and very bitter. Still, not a bad dish.

We did miss the okra and crispy lamb brisket. Hopefully, those dishes will be back on the menu soon.

Bistro Na's
9055 Las Tunas Drive
Temple City, CA 91780

We took an after-dinner stroll before heading back to our hotel to relax.

As the sun went down, we looked out at Atlantic Times Square and noticed that many of the residential units seemed empty as well.

The next morning, we were up in the air about where to eat before heading home. I noticed that there was a Dim Sum place in the hotel named Chef Tony.

I did some research and found that Chef Tony is owned by Tony He of Sea Harbour. Hmmm.....while a bit fascinated, our last visit to Sea Harbour was not very good. We decided to pass. Instead, we decided to drop by another old favorite that we hadn't been to in a while, Song Long. In fact, like QDBF, we hadn't been back to Song Long in over five years!

Song Long:

We arrived around 930 on a Sunday and the place was empty when we walked in. The staff looked like they've put on some years as well.

We had to chuckle when the bread was brought to the table.

We ordered our usual; the Cha Ca Thang Long.

 Soon enough the large plate of bun, herbs, and veggies. And of course the Missus enjoys the Banh Trang Me dipping it into the mam nem. As for the Mam Nem, we noticed that it's not quite as potent as it used to be.

But, if we had any reservations about the Cha Ca, those were soon quelled when our sizzling plate arrived.

From the caramelized shallot to the tender fish, which almost had a mild sweetness to it, this was quite good.

The place filled up as we were finishing up our meal.

And though I have another location for Cha Ca in the area on my "list"; this really hit the spot.

Song Long Restaurant
9361 Bolsa Ave Suite 108
Westminster, CA 92683 

We enjoyed this little road trip. It was good to know that our "old favorites" were still serving up food that we enjoy.

Thanks for stopping by!

White Rice Morena

**** White Rice Morena has closed

Back at the beginning of the month, I noticed that Fusion Eats had closed. After reading this post on Eater, I realized this location was going to be an outlet of White Rice. As I was driving past this weekend, I noticed that the sign was up for "White Rice Morena" so I decided to drop by.

Of course, the issue with this strip mall off of Linda Vista is the crazy parking....finding something that is only 10 minute versus 20 minute, versus and actual parking spot. No wonder places don't last here. Anyway, I found parking and walked on over. The place was empty with no hours posted, so I asked the really nice young ladies if they were open. And received a very friendly "yes, welcome, come on in" almost in unison.

Other than the posted menu, strategically placed plants, and some art the looks of the place was quite austere. Which is why I wasn't sure it was even open.

My first instinct was to go with the dish I had enjoyed the most during my visits to the Adams Avenue location, the Tocino Manok. But instead, I decided to try out the Lechon Kawali ($15) and at the last minute added a side of sisig (not on the menu $10). The cheerful young lady took my order and it was a short 15 minute wait for my order.

 Arriving home, I quickly unpacked things and immediately went for the item I found the most problematic on my previous visits; the rice. Sadly, it was basically the same; hard and dry.

As for the rest? Well, the egg was a bit overcooked, but passable. I really like the pickled veggies, which have a nice sour-mildly sweet-salty balance. And the lechon was quite good, the skin which had a nice bubbly-fried appearance was a pleasant crisp to crunchy, the flesh tender and porky. Not bad.

As for the Sisig? Well, last time it was hard and rubbery.

While this version was still chopped too coarse for my liking and I thought it could use more chilies, the texture was fine, as was the amount of sourness. I think I'll stay with the lechon and try the Tocino Manok if I return. Now if "White Rice" could get their namesake item straightened out....

I do think that White Rice is an upgrade over Fusion Eats and can see them doing quite well with the USD folks. Hope it works out.

White Rice Morena
5299 Linda Vista Road
San Diego, CA 92110
Current Hours:
Mon - Fri 11am - 8pm
Sat - Sun 10am - 8pm

Six for Saturday Silliness

Recently, when I was having coffee with our good friend "Alle" and went over my typical Saturday morning errands she was incredulous and couldn't quite believe I could make 5-6 stops and finish in 3 hours and change. So today, I decided to pay a bit more attention to things and decided to do this silly Saturday post.

My Saturday usually starts with a cold brew from Bay Park Coffee. I usually get there around 720 - 730, get my cold brew and head on down to the Little Italy Mercato. As I mentioned in an earlier post I park on Ivy, I'm usually there around 745 or so and take a nice stroll to the market. I always enjoy the art and slices of life I see along the way.

Though there have been adjustments and different vendors I'll check out; the first place I stop is across Columbia Street at the Indian Summer stand, which I also mentioned in that earlier post.

The proprietor, Andrew knows all his regular customers and is a really friendly guy. Andrew has 20 dozen eggs for sale each Saturday. It's kept behind the counter. It's the Missus's favorite eggs at this time, so I usually get 1 or 2 dozen each week. I'll also get various produce items as well.

I'll then cross Columbia and hit up the produce stands there.

Being careful not to disturb the "Shiba gang".

The Missus is currently on a blueberry kick ("it's brain food!"); so I'll pick up a three pack from here.

I then cross over India to do more shopping. Right now, the Missus's favorite avocados come from this stand.

The folks here are so nice. I'll tell them I need three avocados, one for tomorrow, then another two days after, and then another for one to two days after that. They'll pick out a set of fruit to match my requirements. Such great service!

Little Italy Mercato
Saturday 8am - 2pm

I'll then head back to the car either taking India Street.....

Or Kettner. Anyone want to title the photo below????

This morning it was 820 when I headed off to my next stop. There's not much traffic or crowds at this time of the morning on Saturday.

My next stop is just 10 minutes away as I head up India Street, then take a right up Washington to.....

For certain produce items (they often have decent white asparagus when in season) and specialty grocery like the stuff below that the Missus is currently obsessed with.

Lazy Acres
422 W Washington St.
San Diego, CA 92103

Well, remember those avocados? The Missus is still wanting avocado toast a couple of times during the week, so I have to make a stop at Con Pane for some sourdough. This morning, my drive down Washington to Pacific Highway, then Barnett took a mere 12 minutes. Yes, Con Pane is super busy on weekend mornings, but since I'm not getting sandwiches, etc, I can take the "Bread line".

Even if there are one or two people in front of me, I usually get out and to my car (I usually just park by Slater's 50/50) in 20 minutes.

Con Pane Rustic Breads & Café
2750 Dewey Rd.
San Diego, CA 92106

My next drive is the longest. I usually drop by Nijiya every Saturday morning. There's usually something we need from there; whether it's tofu or sencha for the Missus, or like right now, She is requesting Katsu Don or Kelaguen on a weekly basis and prefers the chicken from Nijiya. I make Nijiya my fourth stop since it opens at 9am. This morning, the drive took 17 minutes and I arrived at 910 avoiding the initial mass of humanity at the doors waiting for the market to open.

Nijiya wasn't very busy on this morning, so I got out of the place in 15 minutes!

Nijiya Market
3860 Convoy St Ste 109
San Diego, CA 92111

Now on occasion I'll stop by the 99 Ranch Market on Balboa...which would make it a "seven for Saturday". But there was no need on this day so it was off to my next stop; down Balboa and onto Morena.

This morning it took 14 minutes to get to the Fruit Stand. I can't believe I last posted on the place 17 years ago! Anyway, more produce, especially when I'm grilling veggies for the Missus.

The Fruit Stand
4330 Morena Blvd
San Diego, CA 92117

The last stop, for odds and ends, is only a few blocks from home; Sprout's. Even with the hell that is the road and pipe work happening on Clairemont Drive (we avoid like the plague during weekdays) it was but a 10 minute drive.

On this day, it was scallions, sweet onions, alkaline water (for the Missus), and some various snacks. I take advantage of the self check-out here which is usually much faster than waiting for the cashier.

Sprout's
3015 Clairemont Dr
San Diego, CA 92117

I walked into the house with our bags of groceries at 1020! Just in time to start working on lunch! Sigh......

Thanks for indulging me and I hope you have a fantastic weekend!

Toulouse - A Day Trip to Albi and Lunch at Ebisu Ramen Bar

We were really enjoying Toulouse. It had a totally different vibe than Paris, more grounded, mellow, down to earth. We wanted to do a bit more exploring, so I had booked train tickets to Albi, a town with quite a history. As a plus, Elyse of Toulouse Guided Walks informed me that Saturday was Market Day in Albi which was well worth checking out. Our location right at Place du Capitole made it a snap getting to Toulouse Matabiau via the metro. We took an early train (725am) to Albi-Ville, arriving just past 840 on this crisp Saturday morning. From the train station, it was a short 15 minute walk to the main square and the immense Sainte-Cécile Cathedral (Albi Cathedral) a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is also said to be the largest brick cathedral in the world.

The red brick buildings really catch your eye.

The Market stalls were being set-up. We walked on over to the Marche Covert passing stands with some humongous produce. Check out this frisee.

Or these Cepes.

We were both shocked at the size of the veggies!

We stopped for a coffee at one of the local shops.

Before heading into the covered market.

There wasn't much going on as most shops hadn't opened yet. The bean vendor was open and I saw actual Tarbais Beans being sold. I was quite excited as I use the wonderful beans we get from Rancho Gordo and wanted to compare. Then I saw the price; it was 35€ a kilo! Yikes, that's like $20 a pound! For beans? Still, I went ahead and bought a half kilo.

From here we decided to cross over the Tarn a check out the view from there. So we headed down the atmospheric streets....

Down the Quai Choiseul.

And down to the river before crossing over on Pont Vieux which dates back to the 11th century.

Things were even more quiet on this side of the river. And the views were wonderful.

Things got more lively as we headed toward the other, larger bridge to cross on back. And a market was going on here as well. This one was more bustling.

We eyes the produce before crossing back over the Pont Neuf.

It was now getting close to 10am, when the Cathedral is opened for visitors, so we headed on over.

As much as the church really looks like a fortress, the interior was quite stunning. Your eyes are instantly drawn to the enormous mural of the Last Judgement which dates back to 1474.

It is the largest Last Judgement mural from the Middle Ages.

After wandering about for a while, the Missus was ready to head on back to Toulouse. So we strolled on over the Albi-Ville and caught the 1126am train. 

Arriving back at Place du Capitole, we decided to look for a place to get some lunch. Walking toward our hotel, we passed this Ramen shop.

It was pretty cold, so some ramen sounded pretty good. Of course we wouldn't be having our ramen outside either. The drill was interesting. Ordering was done on a machine, memories of Japan, but payment was not. You basically got a number from the machine and placed it on your table. Once your order is ready it is delivered.

As we would often do at these places, we got a rice bowl, in this case the Sukiyaki Don.

We had ordered an extra tamago with this, which was a shade on the over cooked side and not marinated well. The egg yolk in the bowl was also too hard and over cooked. The rice was on the mushy side, but the beef was fairly tender, with a decent soy-sweet balance. What was interesting was that a good amount of togarashi was used giving this a bit of a kick.

As for the ramen. We got the Shoyu Ramen.

   As you can see, the Missus was all about the tamago on this day. This bowl had a lot of "stuffs"; scallion, spinach, bean sprouts, cabbage. The best item in the entire bowl was the menma which had a wonderful texture and the earthy-soy sauce tones were on point. The two slices of "chashu", I use the quotation marks because the two thin slices were not pork belly, it was lean and tough. 

The broth was really "flat", lacking in richness, hardly any shoyu flavor, and was the color of muddy water. And this was one of the rare occasions where I think the soup needed salt!

The noodles were overcooked and mushy.

You can't win 'em all......

Ebisu Toulouse
3 Rue Lafayette
31000 Toulouse, France

At least we were just steps from our accommodation. It was time for a nap!

Kitakata Ramen Ban Nai

Back in August, I noticed that several businesses were opening in the strip mall off of Convoy that houses Target and Costco Business (which BTW, has closed their "food court"). One of the places opening was Kitakata Ramen Ban Nai part of a huge chain which tracks its history to Kitakata in Fukushima and has several very popular shops in Orange County. The style of Kitakata Ramen is quite distinct; lighter, flat - curly noodles in a soy sauce based broth. Most "Rameniacs" that I know tend to use the word "lighter" when describing this style of ramen. I was quite interested to check them out and visited on the Monday after the restaurant's soft opening arriving right at the 5pm opening time.

Based on how busy I'd heard the Irvine and Costa Mesa locations are, I was surprised to see the place only half full. And the counter, where I was seated was totally empty.

Looking over the menu I decided to just try the "Kitakata Ramen" (regular - $14.75). Note, tamago here is extra, a $1.90 upcharge. I also ordered the Chicken Karaage - noted as "Juicy Fried Chicken" ($9.25) on the menu.

There was a bit of a wait for my food, which I'll write off as part of the soft opening process. 

 Ramen was the first to arrive. The broth is indeed lighter, though there were some nice globules of fat in it. I thought it was on the overly salty side and pretty one-dimensional in flavor, though that might be written off to the sodium overload. The chashu; which had a nice "fat cap", was thinly sliced, with a wonderful soy-porkiness to it and very tender. The tamago was also nicely cooked and marinated but was ice cold, a pet peeve of mine.

As for the noodles, they were indeed curly and quite "light" and bouncy, though these were over-cooked for my taste and were on the mushy side.

My karaage arrived after I had finished my ramen....I figure it's soft opening timing and hopefully will be resolved in the future.

I was not a fan of what I believe is the sesame-based sauce provided. The karaage was unevenly coated and quite mild in flavor. There were three crisp pieces and two very dry and tough pieces. When I turned those pieces over, I figured out why.

The pieces had been cut several times to check for doneness! Another pet peeve of mine.

So, this was almost twenty-six bucks for ramen and karaage: sheesh! The place was nicely staffed and the folks working were very nice. The place had filled up by the time I left.

I decided to return a few days later right at 11am for lunch. Like my previous visit, the place was very mellow when I arrived and seated at the counter. This time, I decided to try the Shio ramen.

I got the Mixed Vegetable Shio Ramen ($16.75) with an egg (again - $1.90). This time it seemed like my wait was even longer, but my bowl finally arrived.

    This version came with a small "pile" of veggies - mostly bean sprouts, some carrots and spinach, etc.....for what seems to be a two dollar upcharge that's not really worth the price. The shio broth seemed even lighter than the shoyu version, less rich, but not as salty. For some reason, there was a pungency like that of white pepper that resonated with me. I preferred this broth to the shoyu version.

As before the chashu was tender, flavorful, and quite good.

The light, almost airy, noodles were cooked nicely this time. It seemed like the noodles were wider and even more curly on this visit.

And then I came across a "blob" at the bottom of the bowl.

Apparently some noodles were stuck together during the cooking process and melded into a hard, inedible ball of gluten madness. Oh man, what a bummer. I showed this to the young man working who was speechless and told me "sorry" and then walked away. Soon someone else brought me my check! So, perhaps I was in an alternate universe at that moment having lunch at Kita-"katai" Ramen?

In spite of some shortcomings, some of what I had was quite good. And I believe that Ban Nai is way ahead of what I call the "typical level B" ramen shops in San Diego, providing a good change of pace from all the Tonkotsu and Hakata style ramen in the area. And heck, my first visit to Santouka when they opened in San Diego was not very impressive either. Hopefully, they will keep getting better. We'll see in a couple of months.

Kitakata Ramen Ban Nai
7951 Othello Ave.
San Diego, CA 92111
Current Hours:
Mon - Fri 11am - 3pm, 5pm - 10pm
Saturday 11am - 10pm
Sunday 11am - 9pm