mmm-yoso!!!

Happy Halloween

Yes, we're still travelling. And really enjoying things. Another update soon.

One interesting thing we noticed in London were all the places decorated for Halloween!

The most entertaining for us were all the "ghosts" walking around the grounds of the Tower of London.

They were really amazing and stayed in "character" in spite of the roaming public, really adding to the atmosphere!

Pretty cool eh?

Anyway, we here at mmm-yoso would like to wish you a fun, healthy, and safe Halloween!

And don't work too hard, like this person obviously did!

Happy Halloween!

2024 Rose Parade Road Test #5, Breakfast at Bob's Burgers (La Puente)

mmm-yoso!!! is primarily a food blog with sometimes interesting stories about how the food was acquired.  Cathy and Her Mister took a short road trip on Saturday and here's that post. 

Link to 2024 Float Road Test #1

Link to 2024 Road Test #2

Link to 2024 Road Test #3

Link to Road Test #4

On the last Saturday in October, we woke at 4, left home at 5 and after a quick stop at Cream Pan in Tustin, arrived at Phoenix Decorating Company in Irwindale, just in time to see three floats for the 2024 Tournament of Roses Rose Parade being tested for mechanics and maneuverability.

 "Sounds of Success". presented by Coding for Veterans, a Canadian based organization.  The H60 and P35 aircraft are much more recognizable now that the rebar outline is covered.  This symmetric float (same on the camera and off camera sides) looks like it will have giant screens in the center.  The 'keyboards' under the screens are surreal. 

 Unsure about this float, but the 'spotter' in front is easy to see, as is the 'driver' near the back (with the ToR safety evaluator seated next to him). You can see the slot where the Spotter looks out in the above float photo. 
 Also unknown is this float, with an intricate 'skeleton' which may have some interesting mechanics attached.

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The road testing was short, the weather was windy and chilly and The Mister and I were not very hungry yet.  We did drive to Porto's and got a few seasonal bakery items and a loaf of cranberry walnut bread (spent less than $11!) and started driving around, looking for 'someplace new to us' for breakfast.

 Well.  Of course we stopped. 

 The walls and ceiling are covered with nostalgia.  After ordering and paying, we got our beverages and found a nice, clean table.  Our food was brought to us.  The breakfast menu is pretty simple.  The complete menu at the Drive Thru has me wanting to return.

 Realizing I haven't had a breakfast sandwich in a very long time, I jumped at the chance to try a sausage breakfast sandwich on rye ($8.99).  flat omelet style eggs on toasted, thick slices of rye with four skin-on breakfast sausages, lettuce, tomato and mayonnaise...just a wonderful sandwich.

 The Breakfast plate with a hamburger patty, three eggs (over easy) and real hash browns ($9.99) was The Mister's choice.  Oh, we both really appreciate the char broiling of a patty and the seasoned grill here produces a wonderful flavored burger..  The eggs were perfectly over easy and the soft boiled potatoes, crisp fried on a flat top grill were just wonderful.  Of course The Mister also chose rye toast-an excellent bread, filled with rye seeds.

Bob's Burgers 14952 Valley Blvd. La Puente, CA 91746 (626) 961-2523 Open Fri-Wed 7 a.m.- 9:45 p.m. Closed Thursday  Website

 What caught my eye, on the counter were these Sampuru- fake food models.  But it's not Japanese food  (although apparently the teriyaki chicken and beef on the menu are very popular items).  I've never seen Mexican or American breakfasts, much less burgers and French fries done in this wax style of advertising.  Then again, look at the wall behind the fake food displays... kanji?

 

Where in the world are we - part 1

So yes, we're off on another trip and are having a great time. We are now on the third "stop" of this holiday.

The first stop was a place we've flown thru so many times, but really never took the time to enjoy. This time, we wanted to check things out and enjoy. And that we did. It's a bustling city, full of iconic locations.

Yes, it's an easy guess......

There's so much to see that we limited our visits; I'm sure we'll be back. After all, there's so much history here.

And spent a good amount of time at places we did visit.

And, as we've done in recent years, we carefully picked tours to suit us. Which usually have an interesting wrinkle to them.

What about the food you may ask....after all; the main focus of our humble little blog is still food.

Well, what we ate here ranged from two Michelin Star Chinese.

To more traditional grindz.

Our next stop was a pleasant surprise for us. Considered to be the fashion and business center of this country; it still seemed quite laid back. We enjoyed strolling the streets and plazas, which included one of the oldest shopping malls in the world. Which was quite stunning.

The Duomo was also something to behold.

We included a visit to the roof as part of our admission. Even though raindrops were falling, it was stunning.

There was one main reason for our visit, which did not disappoint.

And our favorite meal of our trip thus far was here.

Which was located in the wonderful little neighborhood we were ensconced in. In fact, we ate all of our meals in this area. Which included some traditional dishes of the region.

We're now at our next destination and enjoying things. We hope all is well with you!

Thanks for stopping by!

Pieology (revisit)

Pieology has closed.  

Here you are, reading mmm-yoso!!!, a food blog.  Once again, Cathy is writing while Kirk stays busy with other things.

I last wrote about Pieology, a customized pizza fast cooking (three minutes) in a wood burning stove establishment, in 2017.  We received a Gift Card and took advantage this day.

 Same location, same way of ordering, another success story of making it through Covid-19.
 Similar menu with higher prices.
 Choose your items by looking and pointing while walking along the order line.
 Watch your order go into the fire filled oven, pay and find a seat.  Soon items will be brought to your table.  I wanted to try the 'new' Folded dough garlic cheese bread ($5.95).  Garlic herb butter, Mozzarella and Romano on freshly made dough, folded over.  This was kind of a perfect bite for me.  Tasty and filling...very cheesy with the garlic butter making a perfect condiment. 
 The 3 Topping Signature Pizza ($11.35) on the original crust, house made red sauce, mild Italian sausage, pepperoni and mushrooms was our choice for a pizza.  I gave The Mister most of my pepperoni and sausage and enjoyed the cheese and mushrooms on the crisp, chewy yet fluffy light crust.
 Which was cooked perfectly in that stove. 

There's money left on the gift card for another meal.  Maybe I will be craving a salad soon-and can get all the vegetables I want.

Pieology Pizzeria 5575 Balboa Avenue, Suite 310 San Diego, 92111 (858) 565-0600 Open daily 9:30 a.m.-11:00 p.m. Website

Ichiban Sando (Chula Vista)

mmm-yoso!!!, the food blog, is being written by Cathy while Kirk is busy elsewhere with His Missus.  

In May, Kirk wrote about Kumo Japanese Sandos and in August, I wrote about Sandos from Grocers.  There's another stand-alone store in Chula Vista, open since April 2021.

 Ichiban Sando is on H Street just east of Broadway (across from the mall). 
 There are menu boards above and menu choices taped below the ordering window as well as a convenient pocket size menu. 

 The Shrimp Katsu Sando ($11.50) is served on a choice of toasted homemade milk bread or brioche bun and with cubes of pickled radish.  Crispy breaded shrimp on the toasted bread- an excellent, large and filling sandwich. Kewpie mayonnaise on the bread as well as mixed with the cabbage gives all the flavor you need.
 The Pork Belly Bowl ($10.50) was another choice this day.  Steamed rice, pickled red cabbage and kimchee along with plenty of soft, tender pork belly topped with a Kewpie based sauce (slightly spicy;  maybe sriracha, which tastes sweet and hot).  Mixing the pickled vegetables with rice with bits of the fatty pork was quite a nice bite of textures and flavors.

 The Fruit Sando ($8 on the wall under the cash register but $8.50 on the paper menu) was wonderful- the soft, fresh home made milk bread, fresh and thick whipped cream and fragrantly ripe strawberries and kiwi made a perfect dessert snack.

We will stop by to try the various versions of egg sandos as well as other katsu flavors.  The beverage choices -coffees, teas, frappes and smoothies are intriguing.

Ichiban Sando 573 H Street Chula Vista 91910 (858) 294-4179 Open Daily: 10:30 a.m.- 8 p.m.

Perry's Cafe (Old Town)

Perrys Cafe closed in August 2024.  It is very much missed.

Thank you for stopping by to read mmm-yoso!!!, a food blog.  Today's post is being written by Cathy while Kirk enjoys some time off with His Missus.  

I think it's because I miss having fish as my breakfast protein, which started years ago at Smokey's (which unfortunately closed last month) and eventually was easily satisfied when I discovered fish on the breakfast menu at the El Cajon location of Perry's, which has, sadly, also closed.  Kirk first posted about this location of Perry's in 2007.

 The Mister and I made the trek West, to Old Town, a few months ago, so that I could have the breakfast I was craving and He could fulfill His cravings.


 His order was F10- the Italian sausage frittata ($15.99).  A simple baked (in cast iron; thicker than an omelet) egg dish of Italian sausage, tomatoes and mixed cheese.  A nice, mild sausage, fresh tomatoes and plenty of cheese and eggs...filling and tasty.
 Instead of toast, He chose biscuits and gravy- house made, fluffy inside with a crisp crust covered by a creamy, breakfast sausage filled gravy.
 Also part of the meal were hash browns.  Nice and crisp.

 Here's my Fish and egg meal ($16.99)-cod fish, lightly floured and pan fried, two (properly) poached eggs and crisp Home fries. The fish was served with the appropriate condiments of tartar sauce and lemon.  
 Instead of bread, I chose the muffin of the day (blueberry).  It's light and cake-like and filled with fresh, plump blueberries.

So happy this location made it through Covid-19.

Perry's Cafe 4610 Pacific Highway San Diego 92110 (619) 291-7121 Open daily 7 a.m.-1 p.m. Website

Temari-Zushi (Midway District)

Thanks for stopping by mmm-yoso!!!, a blog about food.  Kirk is busy elsewhere and Cathy is writing the post today. 

The Mister and I were in the Midway area of town and we pulled into the parking lot at the North East corner of Rosecrans and Midway (the mall anchored by Rubios).  A couple of places looked interesting, 
 The Lunch Specials sign sealed the deal this day.

Decor here is predominantly round objects...explanation later.

 The regular menu is very interesting, warranting a return visit.

 We each ordered a lunch special which includes miso and salad.  I also ordered a hot green tea ($2)-it was a wonderful genmaicha (green tea with roasted rice) loose tea tightly packed in a filter bag. 

 The Mister also wanted to try a California roll ($5.75).  Made with imitation crab and cucumber, this was very nice, quite large.  (Grated wasabi is $1.25; I neglected to take a photo.)

  Chicken yakisoba lunch ($13.50).  This had wonderful, thin noodles and was a flavorful stir fry of the chicken and vegetables (cabbage, carrot, onion and carrot).  The hand roll also had imitation crab along with cucumber.  

{Explanation of the name of this establishment and the decor:  Temari  originally were leather balls used in a game similar to ‘hacky sack’ and now are soft, round, embroidered balls, a toy. viewed as art, covered in silk, accessories to kimonos and given as gifts, usually to girls on Girls' Day (Hinamatsuri).   Temari sushi are made to look decorative.  "Zushi" is one of Japanese grammar rules.  Japanese requires that certain consonants are changed when they are used as the first letter of a word attached to a prefix.  The “S” in “sushi”, for example, needs to be hardened into a “Z” in compound words, as is the name of this Restaurant.}

The Karaage/Temari/Edamame lunch ($13.50) was my order.  Beautiful, temari sushi-made with the slightly vinegared sushi rice-different rice than the rolls above- topped with salmon, ebi  (shrimp) and spicy tuna.  Great flavor and a bit different.  The chicken karaage was also round and had a light batter (which had a soggy (but not greasy) bottom by the time I got to the last piece).  Salted edamame was just enough vegetable to complete this meal. 

We were very happy to have stopped here and will return when in the area. 

 Temari Zushi 3555 Rosecrans Street San Diego 92110 Open Mon-Thurs 11 am-3 pm, 5 pm-9:30 pm Fri 11 a.m.-10 p.m., Sat 1 pm-9:30 pm Closed Sunday Website

Taste of Hong Kong (Cathy's visits)

mmm-yoso!!! is a blog about food and where you have found yourself stopping to spend some time reading on this lovely October day.  It's a day when Cathy is writing while Kirk is keeping busy, elsewhere.  

Kirk had been here initially in January and returned again a few weeks later with a different experience.  The Mister and I decided to try Taste of Hong Kong and see what we thought.

 Decades ago, this location was the first restaurant where The Mister and I had Dim Sum (carts and all).  The area at the front door had a window counter display case of roast ducks and roast pork; we would stop here for some roasted treats to take home if not going to Woo Chee Chong down the street.
 Fried squid appetizer ($8.99).  This came out last and was freshly fried to a nice, light crunch, not oily and was an excellent version, with garlic and peppers.  This could have been my meal, but we shared.
 House Special Pan Fried Rice Noodle ($17.95). Beef, pork, chicken, vegetables, egg, rice noodles all stir fried with a smoky wok hey comfort flavor.  A nice plate that we enjoyed.
 Combination Platter-Choice of Two roasted meats from the window display at the back of the eating area ($19.95).  Roast duck and roast pork belly.   Juicy, fatty, crisp skin with moist, flavorful, meaty goodness.  Enough left over for a nice dinner.  
 Prices are in line with other Cantonese style restaurants.  Quality is great.  Service is excellent.  We will try again.

Taste Of Hong Kong 4428 Convoy Suite 320 San Diego 92111 (858) 240-2728  Closed Tuesday.  Open 11:00-2:30, 4:30-9:00 
See-the hanging ducks and pork are back in the corner display case.

Elmisa Cafe (Rancho Bernardo)

mmm-yoso!!! is being written by Cathy today; Kirk is busy.

So, The Mister and I started driving and looking for breakfast.  We had noticed this former Starbucks on Rancho Bernardo Road at West Bernardo Drive (just west of the 15 at RBRoad) had become sone sort of 'Cafe' in February 2020, but neither of us had stopped here.  Finally we did. 

 The menu board has a good selection, with beverages, smoothies, fruit bowls, breakfasts (bowls and toasts), salads, sandwiches and flatbreads.
 The Healthy Bowl ($8.99) was a great choice- turkey, steamed eggs, spinach, tomatoes, arugula, mozzarella, avocado and a pesto topping.  The warm turkey and soft eggs were plentiful and complimented the (also warm) vegetables, cheese and pesto.  Flavors, textures and deliciousness. 
 The Elmisa Toast ($8.99) on an excellent 'artisan sourdough' was topped with avocado spread, hard boiled egg slices, Feta, tomato, cucumber, dry mint and extra virgin olive oil.  So many flavors, wonderfully combined in each bite!

 A large (20 oz) cup of coffee ($3), by Lavazza was fresh and very good.

We will return to try more of the menu.  So glad we finally stopped here and that Elmisa made it while starting during Covid-19. 

Elmisa Cafe 11611 Rancho Bernardo Road San Diego 92127 Open daily 7 a.m.-3 p.m. (858) 432-4504 Website

Ramen Nagi

Ramen Nagi created quite a buzz when they opened at UTC a few months back. Having eaten at the location in the Golden Gai, I was curious even though this location of Nagi didn't make the hardcore niboshi broth that the Tokyo location is famous for. I initially thought about going right away, but it was just too hot at that time. And then I started getting texts from FOYs like JeffP showing me the crazy lines and also hearing about folks waiting 90 minutes in line for their ramen. I'm sorry, I got work to do and just don't have the time nor fortitude to wait in lines during lunch hour. It's one thing to be in a line that just moves constantly like at you know where, it's a whole 'nother thing here in SoCal, I mean it seems even lines for baked goods move slowly.

Still, "FOY" Calvin really wanted to try Nagi after I mentioned the place to him while having ramen during a rather mediocre visit to Menya (post upcoming). So, we decided on a plan. It would be on a Monday; we'd arrive 15 minutes before opening and see how things are at that point in time

As things turned out, we got to the shop at 10 before opening (11am) and were the second party in line. We were handed sheets to select how we wanted are ramen....the US's version of the Japanese ramen ticket machine I guess.

This being my first visit; I decided to go with the "Chef's recommendation" along with a tamago (of course). We were also told that karaage was available.

Once the place opened things moved fast. There already was water on the table along with all the condiments; we handed off our order sheets, mentioned that we wanted karaage, and it was off to the races.

Our ramen arrived within ten minutes.

  At first blush I found the broth to have mildly porky - savory tones but was on the salty side; though it was fairly fatty - rich and nicely coated my tongue. I really couldn't make out any garlic flavor, probably because the broth was too salty.

The yolk of the well seasoned tamago was a lovely, tender orb and was warm! One of my pet peeves is having the yolk of my boiled egg served ice cold in my ramen.

The noodles were on the thinner side, slippery, with a decent "pull" to them.

   As much as I enjoy spiciness, I didn't care for the "Nagi sauce" in this bowl of ramen as it really heightened the saltiness and distracted from the flavor of the tonkotsu style broth.

The chashu at Nagi is made from pork shoulder which can be on the tough side; but the slices here are thin and the meat has a decent tenderness along with a mild porky-soy sauce flavor.

Calvin really liked the marinated moyashi.

The Karaage took a bit of time to arrived, but was lip-melting hot!

  These pieces were quite large; in fact Calvin and I could only finish one piece each and ended up taking the rest back to JeffP as a "consolation prize" since he couldn't make it. The batter was quite crunchy, almost edging on hard. The meat as on the chewy-dry side. It was covered in an overly sweet sauce. I don't think I'll order these again.

Both Calvin and I had enjoyed the ramen at Nagi. In my mind, I had already envisioned the "version" of the ramen I wanted on my next visit. And so, going with the same game plan I set off for "Nagi part II" on the following Monday, arriving at 10 minutes before opening. This time there were four parties in front of me. 

I was handed my ordering slip which took me but a few seconds to complete.

This being a solo visit, I was seated at the counter.

Which gave me a front row seat to view the "line".

Which was in constant motion....

I could actually see my bowl being put together....it arrived in minutes.

    The chashu this time around looked to have an almost "red" tinge to it; but was perfectly fine. I had ordered the broth to be "heavy" in terms of richness which it definitely was. So very rich, but not greasy, in fact the texture reminded me of the Seabura (backfat) ramen we had in Narita! Loved the thickness. Going for a lighter tare meant it was less salty and wouldn't you know, I could even make out the garlic!

 The boiled egg was every bit as good as on the previous visit....good consistency displayed here.

I got the thicker noodles and being that I like them "katame" I ordered it "firm". I would even enjoy thicker noodles here. These had such a nice stretch and chew. I was really pleased with the noodles this way. I know it's not everyone's cup of tea, but I found it enjoyable.

To me, the adjustments I made on this visit worked out well. And even though I took time to savor things; I was out of Nagi in 20 minutes! Shades of Japan!

Well, it looks like I have a new favorite ramen shop in town. Now I gotta talk the Missus into trying them out.

Ramen Nagi UTC
4301 La Jolla Village Dr. Suite 2033
San Diego, CA 92122
Current Hours:
Daily 11am - 230pm, 5pm - 9pm