mmm-yoso!!!

COMC - Memories of Meals in Provence (Before Covid)

**** This post is done by request. It's of places we visited back in 2019. I'll be back with more up to date posts tomorrow!

I was recently asked about some recommendations for Provence. The reader (who requested anonymity) sent me a fine email asking me if we'd ever been there. And yes we had! And we loved our tine in Provence and enjoyed our stay in Avignon. But why no posts you might ask? Well, we visited in the winter of 2019. I always seem to have a backlog of travel posts it seems. By the time I had gotten around to posting on our trip....well, this thing named Covid happened. For the longest time, I really didn't feel comfortable doing travel posts.....in the middle of a pandemic. And then when I restarted, well, I was so behind. I was not even going to do posts on our trip to Israel and Jordan. But thanks to "FOYs" KerriK and LaurieH, who both indicated that they wanted those posts, I did them. But by the time those were completed it was mid-spring of 2022! I did a post on our short stay in Paris before heading to Provence and then decided that with a huge backlog of travel and road trip posts to just forgo posting on Provence. I did mention our "interesting stay" at CDG, before heading home from that trip since it dovetailed into our returning to Paris in 2022. So, since this "FOY" wants to see some photos of our meals in Provence....waaaay back from 2019, here goes.

La Cuisine du Dimanche (since closed):

Was our first dinner in Avignon.

This was an interesting meal. Some of the combinations were odd and the presentations somewhat strange for some dishes.

La Cuisine du Dimanche
31 Rue de la Bonneterie
84000 Avignon, France

L'Agape:

This was a nice dinner. Modern presentation, nice flavors.

L'Agape
21 Place des Corps Saints
84000 Avignon, France

Avenio:

Our favorite dinner during our stay in Avignon.

Avenio
19 Rue Des Trois Faucons
84000 Avignon, France

Maison Ripert:

This was a nice meal. A bit too much going on, but still excellent ingredients.

Maison Ripert
28 Rue de la Bonneterie
84000 Avignon, France

L'Épicerie de Ginette:

Lest you think we were just eating in fancy restaurants. one of our favorite places was L'Épicerie de Ginette. We visited twice. After all, who wouldn't love this.

We loved the tartines here.

L'Épicerie de Ginette
25 Place des Corps Saints
84000 Avignon, France

And while I'm not sure how valuable this post will be now, I hope your meals are wonderful!

Trining's Bakery & Cafe (Mira Mesa) Revisited

Recently, I as headed to Paris Sandwiches to grab me a banh mi for lunch. I parked and started walking over to Paris, when, for some reason Trining's caught my eye. It had been a couple of years since I last visited and I wandered on over. I wasn't sure the place was open since the sign wasn't on.

But as I walked on over I noticed folks eating and waiting for their orders.

    From previous experience I knew what was available from what was on the white board.

I saw a customer at one of the tables attacking what looked like sisig....it looked pretty good so I ordered that along with the Beef Kaldereta. These days a two item plate costs $12.99 and when paying I found out there's a $1 upcharge for sisig. I think it might be a good idea for folks to know stuff like that?

I drove back to the office and unpacked my lunch.

 So this comes with three, not two scoops of rice....really bad quality rice, the color wasn't right, no fragrance, terrible mealy texture.

The Kaldereta was the better of the two items. Though the beef was sinewy, it wasn't overly tough. Nice savory-tanginess. Though not quite as good as the version I had here last time, it was definitely better than the sisig.

This actually looked quite good when the guy was eating it and at first glance. A closer look and I started noticing how dark the lechon was. And guess what? Just like the last time I had it here, the pork was super hard. The peppers were "shibai" and there was almost no "heat", nor enough sourness, and not enough onion to make a difference in the dish at all.

Ok, so I got distracted. Sometimes you win, sometimes you get mediocre sisig...... There are, in my opinion, much better options in this mall.

Trining's Bakery & Cafe
10606 Camino Ruiz
San Diego, CA 92126

 

Midweek Meanderings - Minh Ky Changing Ownership and Nha Quoc Te Being Replaced by Birrieria Y Menuderia Guadalajara

Here are some changes coming to City Heights!

Minh Ky Changing Ownership:

Reading about this in Eater San Diego caught me by surprise! And the link to Minh Ky's website yielded this message:

Man, I've been going to Minh Ky forever it seems. Minh Ky had the distinction of being one of the last places I dined in at before the big Covid shutdown, I even did takeout in December of 2020, and felt it was only right to revisit once I started feeling comfortable with dining in again. It's one of those places that I ate at starting back in 2004, before I started this blog!

At least Minh Ky is not closing like other long time businesses in the area such as Tan Ky Mi Gia and Cafe Dore. I'm hoping the food will be just as good.

If you need one last visit, the long time owners last day will be October 2nd. After that, you can still visit them at Dumpling Inn.

Minh Ky Restaurant
4644 El Cajon Boulevard
San Diego, CA 92115

Nha Hang Quoc Te Being Replaced by Birrieria Y Menuderia Guadalajara:

A while back "FOY" Elle asked me if I'd seen the sign for a new business in the Nha Hang Quoc Te spot. It just seems that I don't get to City Heights as much as I used too. Especially the area around Quoc Te which has some crazy road work (road work Clairemont Drive and Towne Center Drive - both roads I drive on all the time is bad enough!) going on.

But, I did make the effort to see what was happening this past weekend.

And yes, Quoc Te is being replaced by Birrieria Y Menuderia Guadalajara! I'm assuming it's the same ownership as the Birrieria Y Menuderia Guadalajara I ate at in Chula Vista?

I know, I need to start doing my rounds again!

4448-A University Ave
San Diego, CA 92105

A big thank you to Elle! Thanks for thinking of us Elle!

Takeout Revisits - Chaba Thai and Ngon Ngon to Go

Just a couple of takeout revisits for a busy Monday.

Chaba Thai:

I thought we needed a break from our revisits to Sovereign. Been doing a lot of takeout from there and really aren't taking photos any longer. I was busy and wanted something on the way home from the office, with ample parking, and less seedy surroundings. I thought doing the usual takeout items from Chaba Thai might work out.

I ordered the same items as usual and went for shopping at 99 Ranch Market before returning to get my takeout. All was ready when I returned in 20 minutes and I headed home.

The Krapow Gai, the Missus's favorite dish from Chaba had a lot of minced chicken, in need of as bit more spice and was on the dry side. There was quite a bit of pidan hidden under all that chicken which made the Missus happy. The produce didn't seem a fresh as usual though.

Of course I got the Khao Kluk Kapi with Honey Pork.

    When all the planets align this is a good dish....of course no one wants to only have a dish be good once every 30 years, right? This was actually better than what I had on my last visit. The pork was nicely marinated and cooked, the meat moist and tender. The rice could have used a bit more shrimp paste, but was passable. I do enjoy the lime, onion, and some of the apple with this dish as it adds different dimensions of pungent, acidity, and tannic-sweetness to the bites of pork. This time the scrambled egg was placed on the side and the Missus poached that before I had a shot at it. In terms of portion size; I noticed that there was less pork than on previous visits.

I do wish there were more options with regard to decent Thai cuisine in the area.

Chaba Thai Kitchen
8010 Clairemont Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92111

Ngon Ngon To Go:

Man, has Ngon Ngon been open for over a year already? I had done a couple of revisits for takeout, just getting the Bo Luc Lac. But on a recent visit, I decided to get something different. 

And just decided to get the Com Thit Nuong, the pork chop with rice, which was the cheapest item on the menu at $11. I placed my order and went to get some pastries for the crew in the office.

    My order was waiting when I returned. Overall, for eleven bucks this wasn't bad at all. The rice wasn't of the best quality, but was cooked decently. There was a standard green salad which was on the verge of heading south.

The pork chop was not bad; a bit on the more salty than sweet side, but quite flavorful overall. The texture, as anticipated, it was on the chewier side, but not dry. There were two pieces one laying on top of the other. 

The Nuoc Mam Cham wasn't quite as sweet as what I'd had here before which I enjoyed and really livened up the pork.

    This was not bad at all. A humble dish, decently flavored, and nicely priced for this day and age. Nice folks working here too! There was a steady flow of folks eating in and picking up takeout. I'm happy that business, at least to me seems to be doing well.

Ngon Ngon To Go
10550 Camino Ruiz
San Diego, CA 92126

Paris - Trois Croissants, Ernest & Valentin Reaumur, Boulangerie Pezeril, and Liberté Turbigo

If you've been reading our little blog long enough, you know I've got a thing about croissants. A good croissant aux buerre is a thing of beauty to me; crisp, light, buttery..... And of course France, and especially Paris, home to over 30,000 bakeries would be the place to try them, right? Thru trying a bunch of croissants during our trips we've come up up with our favorite, which we've revisited several times. There is one interesting thing though. When I ask folks that own the apartments or work at the hotels we stay at about their favorite, they'll undoubtedly name a place within a block or two. When I mention our favorites, I'll often get an odd look. I've kinda figured things out; the French believe that a croissant, like the baguette is a birthright and with all those bakeries there's bound to be one in close proximity. I was once told that within the main arrondissements there will be one within a short walk and being a regular means that you develop a relationship with the folks in the boulangerie. The owner of our apartment told me that there were two boulangeries within a block of the flat. Well, he was wrong as there were three! One opened during our two week stay!

So, at least in terms of croissants, I decided to do the "live like a local" kinda things during our two week stay. So here goes.......

Ernest & Valentin Reaumur:

We saw this location of Ernest & Valentin, I believe there are six locations within the city limits of Paris, right when we arrived as it had a prime location on Rue Reaumur right by the stairs exiting the Arts et Métiers metro stop.

This shop was bustling, but the service was efficient and somewhat friendly. 

This would be my favorite croissant aux buerre of the three I tried. It was decently crisp and flakey.

It was light and fluffy. While it could have used a bit more butter, in terms of a balance of butteriness to salt, this was the best of the three.

 

I would end up having this four times during my stay.

Ernest & Valentin
42 Rue Réaumur
75003 Paris, France

Boulangerie Pezeril:

A block to the East on Rue du Temple is Boulangerie Pezeril.

This was by far the busiest of the three boulangeries. There was always a line in the morning.

This place had a nice local vibe and the employees seemed to really know their regular customers.

Unfortunately, the croissant was quite over baked and hard.

While it had a decent butteriness, I didn't care for the texture. I also noticed that folks really didn't go for the croissants here. There was one good things about this visit. While paying for my croissants I noticed three police officers walk in. They knew exactly what they wanted. Each got Jambon Buerre - the ham and butter baguette sandwich. This was a great clue for me. I would end up stopping by for a sandwich to eat on the train when we did day trips. As it was pretty good.

Boulangerie Pezeril
183 Rue du Temple
75003 Paris, France

Liberté Turbigo:

One the third day of our stay I needed to head on over to the local Carrefour City and noticed that a Boulangerie was opening up.

This was to be the sixth location of the Liberté chain. A few days later they were open and I dropped by.

During my 2 visits, it seemed like the demographic skewed to the younger crowd. If I recall these were also the most expensive.

These were the largest croissants; quite substantial, but lacking in enough butter for my taste and a bit doughy as well. Still, not bad.

Liberté Turbigo
63 Rue de Turbigo
75003 Paris, France

Spending a couple of weeks in one location was fun, at least for me. And can you imagine having three bakeries all within a block of where you're staying? I was told that in Paris "there's a boulangerie on almost every corner". And, at least in this case, it seems that saying is true!

Thanks for stopping by!

Paris - Dinner at Les Enfants Rouge (Again)

After taking a break from a fun day, we decided to head on out before dinner. The destination? One that we consider a must visit during the holiday season in Paris. We are always interested to see the Christmas window displays at Galeries Lafayette. This would the third holiday season we'd be in Paris, so we couldn't miss that, right?

We walked on over from the 3rd Arrondissement to the bright lights of Galeries Lafayette in full Holiday mode. We strolled around and took in the holiday window display.

Every year the display tells a story. The last time we were in Paris during the holiday season (pre-Covid, 2019) the theme was bees and the hive.

This time, the theme....well, we couldn't quite figure it out.

Can you figure out what the story is about?

After making it around to all the windows; it looked like something to do with outer space and aliens?

Later we'd return to Galeries Lafayette and get the full scoop on the story.....

From here we decided to walk to our dinner destination. Of course, this is Paris, so it was a stroll full of landmarks....

I had made reservations at a place we'd enjoyed previously. Les Enfants Rouge, located right around the corner from Marché des Enfants Rouges was a favorite of our from our previous trip. Yes, we'd been to several places of what we call the "Nikkei revolution" in Paris. Chefs from Japan who worked in the highest levels of French restaurants and eventually opened places of their own. We'd been honored and blessed to sample the dishes at places like ERH, Pertinence, and Alliance among others. But what we had enjoyed at Les Enfants Rouge was the unfussy dishes which leaned more toward Japanese cuisine in our opinion.

As before we strolled down the quiet side street and entered the neat and rather austere restaurant and was greeted by the very kind and professional hostess who led us to our table. As before we went with the three course menu for  75€ and one wine pairing.

And like before, we basically shared everything family style and the great service picked up on this and placed dishes in the middle with separate plates for us!

The Lamb Terrine was so very tasty, mildly gamey, and might I say, almost refreshing in  a way?

Loved the purple cabbage slaw and the shallot and parsley sauce, all of which went well with the terrine and the bread! The terrine was also perfectly seasoned with an soft texture which belied the look of a farmhouse style terrine.

The Duck Hearts were not as metallic-iron-ny as expected.

In terms of flavor, it was definitely savory and very "ducky" to the tenth power. The foam had a nice sweetness to it, helping to temper the flavor of the duck. We didn't care for the Roquefort Risotto which had some hard pieces and detracted from the overall flavor of the dish.

The Roasted Scallops were fabulous, perfectly cooked, still rare in the center, sweet, with a briny finish.

The seafood based "sauce" was very creamy, hints of savory shellfish, the mushrooms were earthy, with a mild sweetness to them.

And then the dish we were waiting for, the Tempura Fish. On our previous visit, it was the highlight of the meal. Make that "meals" as this again was amazing!

This time the fish was maigre, which I understand is croaker. The fish was coated in a light and crisp batter and was very moist. For us, it's that deeply savory, nori based "dashi" that is so deeply umami and really takes the mild flavored fish to a different level. 

There was one dessert that sounded interesting, the Baba with Toki Whiskey, a 10€ upcharge.

The typical looking Baba arrived at the table and then, no kidding, they brought a bottle of Toki out and proceeded to pour around two ounces of it over the Baba. We cracked up! Liked the whiskey, not quite sure about the "Rum Baba".

We both enjoyed the Lychee Mousse which wasn't overly sweet. And surprisingly the grapefruit supreme paired well with this!

This was another wonderful meal at Les Enfants Rouge. Great unpretentious service, great food, we can't wait to return. 

Les Enfants Rouges
9 Rue de Beauce
75003 Paris, France

Of course, this in itself presents another interesting issue of sorts. Over time, we've come up with some favorite places to eat. And it seems that it may be hard to try other places without sacrificing a visit to one of our favorites! 

Though looking at it another way, if that's the biggest issue we have with Paris; well that's a nice "problem" to have, right?

Hope you're having a wonderful weekend!

Roadtrip - Jiou Chu Dumplings (Rowland Heights)

So, the Missus's new favorite restaurant is Mountain House. And since that meal we've been back three more times, I'll combine that into one post later! And we've stayed overnight on each visit. On the first revisit, we dined at places I'd posted on before, so I'll do that in a COMC post. The third time we did a bit of a longer road trip, that'll be coming up. This was the second revisit. We were looking for a place for lunch. On our previous trip, I'd read about a new dumpling shop opening in Yes Plaza. Aaaah, Yes Plaza, I'd posted on our "history" with Yes Plaza before and my has the place changed. Anyway, after having dinner at Mountain House on the previous trip, we took a drive to the strip mall. It was 730pm and at that time Jiou Chu Dumplings was only open from 5pm to 830 pm and there was still a line of folks waiting outside! The Missus looked at Her Instagram and wouldn't you know it, so many influencers showing off! Of course, often times it's all about the "content" and attention than the actual food.

The week before we left for Rowland Heights, Jiou Chou started opening at 11am. We decided to go for lunch and arrived at around 1040. The place was empty, there was no line, so we headed off to Hong Kong Market to buy some snacks and returned. It was just after 11am when we parked and noticed that there was a line!

Notice the 85° logo on the signage? Well Jiou Chu is owned by 85C and has two restaurants in Taichung, where we had just been a couple of months prior! This is the first location of the dumpling restaurant in the U.S.!

 There was a sign posted saying that the place wasn't doing takeout orders on this day. I guess they were anticipating a major lunch rush? By the way, this was a weekday. One thing we noticed, that is usually a positive sign were that most of the customers were older folk, which to us is usually a pretty good sign.

We were led to a table and seated. The restaurant was pretty sizeable.

Folks just kept on coming in and within fifteen minutes of being seated we noticed that the place was full!

Listening in, the Missus noticed that folks were placing orders to dine in and additional orders to go! I guess that's how they got around "no to go orders" for the day?  Several of the parties around us had apparently been here before. Ordering was done, at least by us, using the QR code. We noticed that many of the older folks struggled a bit and had their orders taken by the very accommodating staff.

Of course we started with the Pork Xiao Long Bao ($11.99). We quickly noticed that the prices were pretty good, perhaps that's why all the folks were coming out?

    These were not very good. The wrapper was chewy and brittle, there was some "soup" in the XLB but it was very bland. The filling was tough and chewy and also pretty much tasteless.

Kinda sad overall.

Next up were the two versions of Pork Chops. When we were in Taiwan the Missus said several times that I "didn't meet a pork chop that I didn't enjoy".

The Fried Pork Cutlet ($8.49) had a nice black pepper flavor, decently salty, but was over fried, tough, and dry.

The best item of the meal was the Fried Pork Strips ($8.49).

Think of this as a pork version of the typical Taiwanese "popcorn chicken". It was crisp-crunchy, moist, with a good amount of five-spice, white pepper, and salt.

We had wanted to order some Guotie since the photos looked quite good. They were out of several versions so we ended up getting the Kimchi-Pork version ($11.49). Good lord, this was a mistake.

The wrappers were gummy, the filling was weird, the "kimchi" lacked flavor as did the pork which was chewy. The menu warned that these dumplings contained hot soup, but that was a false alarm as there was none. This was our least favorite item of the meal.

Well, this meal was a fail. Unlike Taiwan where "lines don't lie", here in the states things can get over run by hype it seems. That's too bad as we were kind of excited about eating here. Oh well, nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?

At least we tried it......and we'd be headed to Mountain House for dinner.

Jiou Chu Dumplings
18156 Colima Rd.
Rowland Heights, CA 91748

Green China Grill (Lanzhou Noodlelicious?) Revisited

As the weather suddenly turned a bit cooler, I decided to take advantage of things and get my noodle soup fixes in. I had been wanting the Beef Noodle Soup from Green China Grill, which I found strangely listed as Lanzhou Noodlelicious on Google when I went to verify opening hours.

When I arrived, the sign still says Green China Grill, so go figure.

I arrived right after opening, but there were already two tables filled with folks. The young man and young lady working were very nice.

Ordering was done by QR code. I went ahead and ordered the Beef Noodle Soup with Sour Cabbage, which is now $14.99. I ordered it with the "thin flat" knife cut noodles, which the young man nicely told me would take a bit longer.

Anyway, it was worth the wait.

    I tucked in quickly when the bowl arrived and was quite pleased with this! The soup, while still on the lighter side of things, had a nice amount of white pepper, there was a decent amount of beefiness, and the MSG level was a lot lower than I recalled. I could have used more xue cai which adds a nice, pleasant sour-acidity to things and textural contrast, but this was fine.

The noodles had a pleasant slightly toothsome pull to it. I enjoyed the texture.

The meat was more tender than I recalled and nicely beefy as well.

I actually had to stop myself....I was enjoying this way too much! I realize that it had been four-and-a-half years since I've dined in here, two-and-a-half since I did takeout. Why hadn't I returned sooner. I'll gladly state that this was the best noodle soup I'd had in a while. In the end, I just decided to enjoy things and go along for the ride. It was good just to sit and slurp up a decent bowl of beef noodle soup.

I'll make sure to not let too much time pass before returning.

Green China Grill (Lanzhou Noodlelicious)
4688 Convoy St.
San Diego, CA 92111

So, now that you've kindly taken the time to read this post. Tell me, what have you been enjoying now that things have cooled down a bit?

Pho-raging Along Clairemont Mesa - Pho Duyen Mai, Pho Fusion and PT Eatery

I was recently told that Pho Duyen Mai has changed ownership. From my understanding, one of the partners of Cross Street is the new owner. I wanted to check what was going on, but it was just too hot to think about a bowl of pho. Of course, the weather has suddenly changed course over the last couple of weeks.....I guess fall is now here? Anyway, I decided to see what was up.

Pho Duyen Mai:

I decided to visit right at opening time, which is 10 am.

And I'm glad I did. Even though I was the second party thru the doorway, the place filled up quickly.

I took a look around and quickly noticed a couple of things; I didn't recognize anyone working and the rib bones (Xí Quách Suon Bò) were no longer offered. I also noticed that there were quite a few more folks working then I recalled as well.

I went with the #28, the Rare Steak, Flank, Brisket, Tendon, and Tripe - small ($12). It was interesting to watch. By the time I placed my order, seven more tables were occupied! While the woman went around delivering menus and then taking orders, the young man who tended the register made a loop around the dining room dropping off water. After all the orders were taken, the woman taking the orders made a loop around the dining room delivering utensils and napkins. An older, smiling gentleman delivered my bowl of pho to the table.

    I quickly noticed that some of the basil had gone south already and the portion of sprouts was even smaller than on my last visit.

Also of interest was the dearth of proteins. There were two thin slices of rare beef, which was rolled up, one slice of flank, one of brisket, one decent slice of beef tendon and the tripe was MIA. Everything but the tendon was sliced super thin.

The noodles were in the typical clump, but was decently cooked and still had a nice pull to them.

As for the broth......well, it was very thin and light, almost lacking in color, super salty, with that "San Diego sweet" tone, with just a hint of anise flavor. I had to make use of the slice of lime to help cut the saltiness. Needless to say, I was quite thirsty after this.

Wow, this was quite disappointing. And I used to think that Duyen Mai was the best pho in the area.....but with a change of ownership...shades of Pho Lucky.

Pho Duyen Mai
5375 Kearny Villa Rd
San Diego, CA 92123

This visit had me thinking about the other Pho shops along Clairemont Mesa Boulevard. So over the next couple of days I decided to do some revisits, MS (heebie) G(bies) be damned.

Next up was down the street.

Pho Fusion:

It had been a while since I'd been to Pho Fusion, so I was interested to see how things were.

As is my M.O. I arrived right at the 10am opening.

It was pretty quiet during my entire visit as only two parties arrived. The older gentleman was nice but seemed a bit distracted. I ordered the regular #14, Brisket, Flank, Tendon, and Tripe ($10.95). My bowl arrived very quickly.

 I'm used to Pho Fusion being a bit miserly with the sprouts and basil and they lived up to that reputation; though at least it was of decent quality.

The soup was quite dark, though clear, overly salty with that "sweet" note, and lacking beef and enough anise tones.

There was a good amount of protein....though perhaps I was measuring this against what I'd previously had at Duyen Mai? This time around, the tripe and a nice crunch, and the flank, while being chewy had a nice amount of beefiness, which was missing in the broth.

    The noodles were in the typical clump, but were not over-cooked. As mediocre as this bowl was, it was still better than what I'd had at Duyen Mai. Kinda sad....

Pho Fusion
8038 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92111 

Which left me with one last option on Clairemont Mesa Boulevard.....

PT Eatery:

In all honesty, I was not fond of the "Pho not to Offend" from PT Eatery. But that was in the days "BC" (Before Covid) when they had first opened at the end of 2019, beginning of 2020. A revisit was well overdue.

I had put PT into the category of "Fusion Phuong Trang lite". Though the fact that I consider Phuong Trang to be MOR pho...well, you can kind of figure out my expectations here.

I do like the decor and on my previous visits the folks working have always been friendly and professional. I was glad to see that things were still the same in this category.

I ordered the Small Combo ($12.95). Which arrived with a fork?????

I didn't know I was giving off those "silverware vibes"? Needless to say, I used the napkins, but the fork stayed in the basket.

At least the basil and sprouts were super fresh. This was also the largest portion of the three places I visited.

    Whoa, this was by far the largest "small bowl" of the three places as well. The soup had a good amount of cilantro and onions.

Of the proteins, the best items were the flank, which was beefy and surprisingly tender and the tripe which had a nice crunch. The rare steak was a bit over cooked by the time the bowl hit the table and while there were several pieces of tendon provided it was a bit too hard for my taste.

Unlike on my previous visit, while the noodles were in a huge clump at the bottom of the bowl, it was decently cooked and not mushy.

When I tried the broth a strange flavor hit me. Was it actually? Well yes, there was a light beefiness that could actually be made out. It felt so foreign since this is what was sorely lacking in the previous two bowls. While still on the "sweeter" side for my taste, this wasn't too salty. The amount of onions and cilantro actually contributed a hint pungent-citrusy flavors to the soup as well.

Well gee wiz....who would have thunk? I preferred PT Eatery to Duyen Mai? Maybe I need to revisit Phuong Trang since it's been a good number of years? Well, let's not get too excited. It's more likely that I'll head to Linda Vista the next time I'm craving some pho.

PT Eatery
7351 Clairemont Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92111

Paris - Ten Belles ( Canal Saint-Martin), Breizh Cafe (Marais) and Revisiting Edwart Chocolatier

Since we were spending two weeks in Paris, the Missus decided that She wanted to get Her hair done. So, after doing a bit of research She found a place in 10th Arrondissement. So, we headed off, up Rue du Temple past Place de la République.

Crossing over to the 10th, which we were not familiar with. There seemed to be a real "local" vibe to the area.

I've seen dog walkers, but this woman carted pooches around.....not sure what this is called? Kinda cute though.

We found the salon without much of a problem. While the Missus was having Her hair done, I decided to take a walk around the area and find a place to grab a cup of coffee.

  There was quite a bit of interesting street art in the area. There was a place named Holybelly that was the subject of one of the Earful Tower's Podcasts and since it was in the 10th, I thought I'd walk over to check the place out. Hole smokes was the place busy, with a line waiting to get in.

I had done a bit of research the night before and did have a coffee shop on my list of places to check out.

This one was on the other side of Canal Saint Martin.

Which by the way, I had never visited in all our trips to Paris. Go figure.

It was a nice, mild, winter day, so the walk was quite pleasant.

Right across Canal Saint-Martin, down Rue de la Grange aux Belles is a location of specialty roaster Ten Belles, which I believe has three shops in Paris.

The folks working were quite friendly. I tried to order an Americano in French, but the girl laughed and started talking to me in English and told me "good try"! 

And it was a decent Americano to boot.

I took a seat at an empty table and just had a nice relaxing moment. A few minutes later, I saw the gentleman on a small single table next to me greet a woman. Unfortunately, he had no room, so I scooted over and made the hand signs to trade tables with him and we switched. He made sure to walk over after and shake my hand, giving me a nice, warm "merci beaucoup"! As I left the couple both waved goodbye to me. Such nice folks....

Ten Belles - Paris 10
10 Rue de la Grange aux Belles
75010 Paris, France

As I strolled back down along the canal, who should I see but the Missus walking up to meet me!

It was still fairly early, we decided to grab a bite to eat. Both the Missus and I had heard and read about the chain of Crepe shops in Paris that were highly recommended; Breizh Cafe. So many folks mentioned this place and they have several shops in Paris, Lyon, and even one in Tokyo if I recall. The Marias location on Rue Vieille-du-Temple is very popular, but we easily got a table.

So Breizh Cafe specializes in crepes from Brittany, that would be buckwheat "galettes". We aren't into overly sweet main sweet dishes for breakfast-lunch-brunch, so we both went with savory galettes.

The Missus got the Complete Champignons, which included jambon, Comté, and a sunny side up egg.

I got the Complete, which is jambon, egg, and comté.

Both the Missus and I were quite underwhelmed. The food lacked seasoning, the galettes were bland and this just wasn't too our taste. Perhaps galettes aren't our thing? 

At least the people watching was fun.

Breizh Café
109 Rue Vieille-du-Temple
75003 Paris, France

We've run into folks who've been to Briezh and they echo our opinion. And the owner of Hola Paris told me that buckwheat galettes can tend to be on the bland-dry side as well. So, like I said, perhaps galettes aren't our kind of thing. But we're glad we tried them and will again if we're in Brittany.

We had a nice walk to our last stop before heading back to the apartment.

During a previous visit to Paris, we dropped by Edwart Chocolatier. And even though we had a good amount of chocolate on hand from other places we visited earlier during the trip, the Missus wanted to add to Her collection.

And after a few samples, the Missus added to Her ever growing chocolate collection.

Edwart Chocolatier
17 Rue Vieille-du-Temple
75004 Paris

I'm guessing Edwart is now a regular stop on our visits.

We'd headed back to the apartment for a break before doing a bit more exploring and heading to one of favorite restaurants in Paris for dinner.

Thanks for stopping by!