mmm-yoso!!!

Happy New Year!

After forgoing the  usual thing last year, this year, well it was back to heading out to get Osechi for New Year's day, much like I'd done for most years since way back when. Even excluding the "Covid years", I had noticed quite a decline in offerings over the years. So, this year, I had noticed the adjusted 8am opening time for Nijiya and got there right at 8. There was no queue of folks and I was pleasantly surprised at what seemed like more of a selection.

I quickly got a couple of things and then headed on out.

Surprisingly, Marukai had almost nothing! Regardless, we're ready for tomorrow!

And so, we're closing the books on yet another year here at mmm-yoso! I'd like to propose a toast!

Ooops....sorry for the "dad joke"!

I'd like to raise my glass and propose a toast:

"To all of you, who read our little blog. Here's wishing you all a wonderful 2024"!

Cheers - Happy New Year!

Taipei - Din Tai Fung, the Original Location (Xinyi Road)

We were a bit sad to be leaving Chiayi. We'd had such a fun time, wonderful people....and that turkey rice! But it was time to move on. We made good time on our return to Taipei. I picked interesting accommodation in Taipei. Since we had upcoming travel and staying in the vicinity of Taipei Main Station would be beneficial; I elected to stay at Sky 19 Hotel as it was right along an exit of Taipei Main Station....we really never figured the Main Station out, but the locale was great. The "hotel" was actually located on a single floor (the 19th of course) of a high rise. It was actually a great location for us. We were staying in Taipei for 1 night before heading to our next destination, then returning two nights later. 

So, here we were back in Taipei when the question arose, "what's for dinner"? Actually, we had kinda planned things out. We had always wanted to dine at the original location of Din Tai Fung and this was our opportunity. So, we walked to Xinyi, and got to the original DTF on Xinyi Road.

And of course, this being Taiwan, there was a line. Which in this case is a good thing!

We checked in and provided our cell phone number; we'd be called when there was a table available and went for a walk.

After a bit we returned and even though we hadn't been called, when the Missus asked, we were told that there was a table available.

As with all the locations of DTF I've been to; you can watch dumplings being made.

This shop has multiple floors and we were seated on the third floor.

The service was very efficient and professional, without being "stuffy". You are provided with a order sheet which you fill out and hand to the Server.

There is actually an "instruction card" on each table with directions, in 3 languages no less, on how to devour your XLB.

In the blink of an eye, a little dish of soy sauce-vinegar and ginger is provided. The Missus also requested some black vinegar which was provided as well.

Soon enough our dishes started arriving. We had really been enjoying the veggies in Taiwan; it's usually perfectly blanched and simply flavored. I've always loved Warabi/Pohole back home in Hawaii, so when I saw stir fried Bird's Nest Fern on the menu, I just had to have some.

For me, when it comes to fern shoots and such, it's mostly about the texture and these did not disappoint. So tender; a mild sweetness, lightly seasoned with soy and a bit of garlic. Man, this was so good. From this point on, I'd make sure to order this if I saw it on a menu.

Speaking of having to order something......well, like the Missus said regarding my fondness of a certain cut of swine in Taiwan, "you didn't meet a pork chop you didn't like." And the version here was no different.

Nicely seasoned; just enough soy-five spice-white pepper, with a mild sweetness. A slight crispness, nice pork flavors. Yes, the streak continued.

And then our first XLB arrived, the version with Green Squash and Shrimp.

First thing I noticed was how delicate the wrappers were; quite light. The filling had a mild "crunch" to it courtesy of the shrimp, along with a slight briney-sweetness from said crustacean. Just on its own, it tasted a bit lacking in the sodium department; but that's what the soy-vinegar-ginger condiment was for.

The wrappers for the Spicy Pork and Vegetable won tons were equally as delicate and light.

They've really got a handle on creating a pork filling here; it's very tender, just perfect amount of flavoring to add a touch of savory and sweetness, which highlights the oinkiness of the filling. That spicy sauce was a bit too mild for us...probably because we're used to Sichuan ma-la. Still, this was quite good.

Then the pièce de résistance arrived; the Pork Xiao Long Bao and I've got to say, in my opinion, the "DTF reputation" is totally earned.

   

I thought the wrapper looked a bit thick; but it was soft and delicate. The filling had a wonderful pork flavor and was quite tender. The dumplings were very "juicy", the soup wonderfully flavored. These were easily the equal of the amazing Guan Tang Baozi in terms of wrapper and seasoning, but possibly a step above in refinement. It's certainly the best XLB I've had to date.

Last up was the Crab Roe and Pork XLB.

Same wonderful wrapper, tender filling, perhaps a bit on the sweeter side, and less "juicy".

In the end, the food was wonderful, though we'd definitely go with the "OG" pork XLB all the way. The Service was efficient, and we had a memorable meal. I'm sure we'll be hitting up DTF whenever we're in Taipei in the future.

Din Tai Fung Xinyi Restaurant
No. 194號 Xinyi Rd.
Da’an District, Taipei City, Taiwan 106

After dinner we wandered around the area a bit; then took a nice leisurely walk back to the hotel. We'd be heading to Hualien the next day; but not before exploring a bit more.

Thanks for stopping by!

Birrieria Y Menuderia Guadalajara (Chula Vista) Revisited

Recently, the Missus had an appointment in Chula Vista which finished fairly early at 930am. Since we don't get to this area very much these days, we decided to get something to eat. Of course, De Cabeza/El Único came to mind, but the Missus was craving some Menudo. In the days "BC" (before Covid) when we were in this area much more often; the obvious choice would have been Talavera Azul. But, on our last visit, the offerings just didn't seem to be as good as on previous visits. So, I suggested we check out Birrieria Y Menuderia Guadalajara on Broadway. It had been over six years since my previous visits, which had been done solo. So, we headed on over and easily found parking in the small lot. 

The woman who seemed to be running the front of house was so very warm and welcoming. When placing our order I asked if the same ownership group was opening the location in City Heights I'd seen a couple of months earlier and was given an affirmative on that!

Of course, the Missus got the Menudo Rojo. And just like on my previous visits we could make out the definite "offaly" fragrance as the bowl made its way to our table.

   The Missus loved the rich "thickness" of the broth. Which, She brought up to Her preference in flavor with the provided lime, cilantro, onions, and the fairly picante salsas. The richness of the broth had accents of boviney-offal tones. There were various type of tripe provided; really buttery honeycomb tripe, firm book tripe, and blanket tripe.

The tortillas were much thicker than I recalled, but the maize flavor came thru. I will say this; the tortillas had no problem keeping form after dunking.

And for me....well, it just had to be Birria de Chivo. As with the menudo we could make out the fragrance of the bowl before it hit the table. I do prefer the more traditional birria de chivo to the quite fad-driven de res. 

The broth did have a decent gamey flavor, but could have used a bit more richness. I added a good amount of cilantro and onion. The meat provided was on the stringy and chewy side. In fact, the Missus didn't care for this much. I gotta get back out there to find a good bowl of birria de chivo. I'm sure that "FOY" Ivan might have some suggestions.

The Missus did enjoy the menudo and the service was wonderful, so I think we'll need to check out the City Heights location. We might wait until all the crazy road work happening on University is complete though.

Birrieria Y Menuderia Guadalajara
396 Broadway
Chula Vista, CA 91910
Current Hours:
Daily 8am - 4pm

Merry Christmas

It's hard to believe that it's our 19th Christmas here at mmm-yoso!

I just took a look at that post from 2005! My goodness!

Anyway, as always, we hope everyone is having a fabulous holiday season!

Merry Christmas!

Strasbourg - Scenes from the Christmas Markets

**** Not much food in this post. Quite a few photos from the always colorful Christmas Markets in Strasbourg though.

I did an earlier post on our visit to Strasbourg and walking around Petit France. We actually spent a good deal of time enjoying the Christmas Markets during our two evening and one day stay. I thought I'd just do a single post as more of a photolog.

We had really enjoyed our visit to Strasbourg way back in the winter of 2017. We especially loved the Christmas Markets, lively, with everyone in a joyful frame of mind, we found it to be a relaxing change of pace from Paris. And at night, the place looked so beautiful and enchanting. We found it no less so on this trip.

From the wonderfully decorated streets to what seems an endless supply of Christmas ornaments, the 13 Christmas Markets in Grande Île just bring out the kid in me.

And at night, the Grande Île comes alive.

Our first evening was spent enjoying the markets, especially the window displays. And of course we had to get the Missus Her Choucroute.

Sadly, all the photos of the food....I believe it was the lighting around the eating area, caused my photos to turn out looking like this!

As I detailed earlier, we spent the next morning checking out Petit France. Of course we passed thru several Christmas Markets along the way. Each market seemed to have a theme and several had folks "in character" to make things even more fun.

We stopped by a booth at Place du Temple Neuf and got some Truffle Risotto.

Then headed two blocks away to bustling Place Broglie.

And went back to the same stand as the night before.

Where the Missus got Spaetzles à la Choucroute et Aux Lardons, which She thoroughly enjoyed.

I got a Tarte Flambée from a nearby stand.

And as always, we enjoyed people watching.

We then headed back to hotel to rest up.

When evening arose, we headed back out.

Again enjoying the colors and booths.

We made our way via a now familiar route.

To colorful Place Kléber which is considered by many to be Strasbourg's central square. The Christmas tree in the square always garners your attention.

At this point, we had to decide on what to get for dinner. After two meals of choucroute, the Missus decided that some Asian food might be really good on this chilly evening, which is when we headed to Lamian.

Like on our previous visits; I've always loved the Christmas Markets in Strasbourg. Though there's much more to see. You can click on these links if you'd like to see and read about Strasbourg Cathedral and Petit France.

I'm sure we'll return if we are in France from the last week of November onward.

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Holidays!

Paris - Aux Crus de Bourgogne Revisited

After our surprisingly enjoyable meal at Aux Crus de Bourgogne, a place that we had walked past countless times thinking it was a tourist restaurant, I made reservations to return for dinner. This took us past our favorite street in Paris, Rue Montorgueil, which I've written about countless times already.

During this visit, the street had been declared "Rue des Bulles" ("Bubble Street") for the season. Every year, Nicolas Feuillatte Champagne House declares a Rue des Bulles and the street is decorated in balloons that resemble champagne bubbles.

It makes an already lively street seem even more festive.

No matter how many times you've walked down a street, there always seems to be something you never noticed before.

We walked up to Rue Bachaumont and presented at the restaurant.  One thing we quickly noticed was that the menu had changed since our last visit and several of the items we enjoyed last time were not available.

The place filled quite quickly......folks seemed to be really getting pretty large meals.

Of course, things started with the baguette with rillette, which the Missus enjoys.

We enjoyed the Vol-au-Vent with mushrooms the last time so we ordered the Bouchee a la Reine, which is basically vol-au-vent with poultry.

We had previously enjoyed the mushroom dishes here, but for some reason this dish was really weak in mushroom flavor and the chicken was super dry. The vol-au-vent was still good though; crisp and buttery.

The Missus enjoyed the Escargot as She did before.

And we got even more baguette for sopping up all that garlicky goodness.

Because we had eaten so much for lunch, we ordered one main to share. We ordered the Sweetbreads and Mushrooms. The mains come with one side and we got the green beans. We weren't prepared for the monstrosity that arrived.

   The sauce for the mushrooms were wonderfully flavored, but very gloppy and pasty in texture. The veal sweetbread was massive, dry, tough, and very metallic.

The green beans were undercooked, hard, and in need to more salt.

The service was very prompt and professional.

Well, this was not quite what we expected based on our previous meal. It seems that the menu changes from day to day. Based on this meal, the Missus and I decided that we'd need to see the menu before committing to a meal here. So in the future, since we're usually close by, we'll check out what's being served first.

Aux Crus de Bourgogne
3 Rue Bachaumont
75002 Paris, France

Still, we enjoyed the walk and the always lively Rue Montorgueil.

Paris - L’Éclair de Génie and Fondue 9

Man, the first ten days of our two week stay in Paris just seemed to fly by. At least for me. On this bright, but chilly Saturday morning, we decided just to do the flâneur thing as we headed down Rue Vieille du Temple. We found a couple of shops that caught our attention.

And had fun browsing.......

Man, I want to find an English edition of this book.....

Right across the street was a lovely park and garden.

This is the Jardin de l'Hôtel Salé.

Further down the street is a large community center; the Halle des Blancs Manteaux. Since it was Christmas season, there was a large craft fair going on.

We had a fun time exploring.

We made our way down to Rue Rivoli and saw this Eclair shop on Rue Pavée.

The Missus had been wanting to try some elcairs so we headed on in.

There was quite a collection of beautiful looking eclairs.

After some hemming and hawing, the Missus made Her selection.

And we headed on back to the apartment.

L’Éclair de Génie
14 Rue Pavée
75004 Paris, France

After storing our purchases, we gave some thought to lunch. For some reason, we felt pretty cold on this day. I mentioned a hot pot place we'd seen on Rue Saint-Denis a few days before. Hot pot sounded like just what we needed, so we headed off to Fondue 9.

The restaurant seemed a bit tiny, until we realized that there was dining upstairs as well. Can you imagine carrying hot pot up and down stairs....one false move! We also noticed that the customers during our visit were all Chinese, a bit of change since we'd seen pretty much a 50-50 mix during our visits to various Asian restaurants in the city.

After checking out the menu; we decided on the "lunch special".

After which we headed straight on over to the condiment bar to get our "stuffs".

Not much in terms of spicy sauces and no fermented bean curd. And we started to worry that the hot pot was going to be a bust.

But as our Yin Yang hot pot made it's way to the table we knew this was going to be ok. You could smell the herbs and spice.

Lots of white pepper.

All the usual suspects arrived.

Even frozen tofu! The noodles were quite stretchy.

The tripe was a bit too tough; though the seiche; the cuttlefish was surprisingly tender.

What was most surprising of all was the fish, which had been nicely velveted and rubbed with chili oil.

It was wonderfully buttery and tender after a brief swim in the broth.

The meat were of good quality; especially the lamb, which was so gamey and tender.

This was quite a satisfying meal for us. We had found a solution to the cold; at least for a while.

Fondue 9
168 Rue Saint-Denis
75002 Paris, France

We headed on back to the apartment and took a short nap.

When we woke; it was "tea time" for the Missus. Time to break out the eclairs.

These were a bit too sweet for me.

The Missus, it turns out, is not a fan of crème pâtissière, the custard fillings used for eclairs.

But of course, we had to eventually try elcairs....because, when in France, right?

Mien Trung Revisited

The recent cooler (by San Diego standards) weather had be craving some Bun Bo Hue. I decided to head on over to Mien Trung.

As always, the owner "Boo" greeted me as I entered and chided me for not having visited in a while. I didn't realize it at the time, but it had been over a year since my last visit! Whoa.

We had a nice chat and I ordered my usual; the Bun Bo Hue ($12), these days the small bowl will do fine by me.

 The plate of sprouts, greens, and herbs were fresh, the bun slippery and nicely textured. For some reason, the broth seemed more spicy than usual; or perhaps I'm just getting wimpy in my old age. That combined with an assertive lemongrass flavor and singeing heat really set my lips on fire.

The rustic thick cuts of beef were full of bovine goodness and the pig's feet had a nice thick layer of skin. I'm not not the biggest fan of the crunchy tendon provided, but have gotten used to it over the years.

Hard to believe I've been coming here for over 17 years! It's still my favorite Bun Bo Hue. I need to visit more often.

Mien Trung Restaurant
7530 Mesa College Dr
San Diego, CA 92111

HiroNori Craft Ramen Revisited

In my post on Ramen Nagi, "FOY" Mar mentioned liking the Shoyu Ramen from HiroNori. Man, it had been three years since my last visit which was, because of Covid a takeout visit. So, the last time I'd dined in at HiroNori was in late 2019 and the last post I did was in July of 2019 when I stated that HiroNori's shoyu ramen was "my second favorite ramen in San Diego". Of course, the obvious question is, if HiroNori is my second favorite, why don't I visit more often? Well, there's this thing called "parking" that I hate in the Hillcrest area. I mean, there are lots in the strip malls in City Heights and on Convoy that I detest, but for some reason, just having to search for and pay for street parking or some of the exorbitant lot prices kinda drives me off. 

But recently an opportunity arose. I had an appointment in Hillcrest and it ran into the opening time for HiroNori, so I decided to finally return.

I lucked out as there were two tables still open when I arrived. The two young ladies working were just fabulous, so kind, efficient, and hard working.

As before, I got the Shoyu Ramen ($15.10), I'm not a fan of the Tonkotsu ramen here. I got it with the thicker noodles and the wonderful young lady talked me into getting the garlic paste as a side. There were some huge takeout orders; one guy came and to pick up 10 orders of ramen to go. The young ladies had him drive up front and they walked the orders to his SUV for him. Like I said, great service. So, I was surprised that my ramen came out so quickly.

  Man, I still really like the noodles here. It has that perfect ratio of chewiness to slippery pull and girth that I enjoy. The garlic paste went well with the tamago, which was nicely seasoned and still warm. It was a bit much for the broth; which had that nice tongue feel and savory tones I enjoyed previously. In the past it teetered on too salty, but today it was nicely balanced. The garlic paste was too bitter and messed up the balance of the broth. Man, the barrel aged shoyu does wonders for the broth adding a slightly sweet-umami "edge" to things.

The menma was nicely seasoned but cold. The chashu was as good as always; yes, its not the most buttery, but it is tender enough, providing what a call and pleasant "meaty chew". It has been simmered and flavored nicely and the porkiness has not been lost.

 I enjoyed this bowl and also the service. As things are now Ramen Nagi is my favorite ramen in San Diego. However, the former #1, Menya Ultra has fallen to number 3 as HiroNori holds strong in second place.

I really need to figure out how to get here more often.

HiroNori Craft Ramen
3803 5th Ave
San Diego, CA 92103
Current Hours:
Mon - Wed 1130am - 8pm
Thurs - Sun 1130am - 9pm

Thanks for the reminder Mar!

A Day Trip to Chantilly and Dinner at TenZen (Paris - Since Closed)

I knew that when spending two weeks in Paris, I'd need to break things up and plan some side trips, we'd already spent two evenings in Strasbourg exploring the Christmas Markets and for an encore, I thought that since we'd already done Versailles and Chartres, a nice day trip to Château de Chantilly might be fun. I'm not sure I mentioned, but Annabel Simms wonderful book, An Hour From Paris is a wonderful resource. We caught the TER, Regional Express Trains from Gare du Nord, and arrived at Chantilly Gouvieux in 25 minutes!

The Château is a couple of kilometers form the train station. Instead of following the standard signs along the road, we took the path described in the book to get to the Château, and then walked thru the village on the way back. 

We loved the forested path.

It was lush and green, birds were singing, even though it was winter. The trail is clearly marked and cleared.

We even had our own "escort" for part of the walk.

You'll past the racetrack before arriving back at the main street and the Musée du Cheval. 

These days, unless we're on a tour, we try not to pack too many things into our explorations. We were just going to visit the Château. On Rue du Connétable, you take the road as it curves right, becoming Route Pavée and you'll soon come to this wonderful sight.

That's Château de Chantilly. You saunter thru the gates.

Up to the ticket booth. I'd bought my tickets in advance and then the Château is yours.....to visit of course....

It's quite impressive. There are actually two château here, the Petit Château, and the Grand Château, which is where the entrance is.

We loved the statues of the dogs that "guard" the entrance to the château. The one above are named Lumineau and Seduisant and were actual pooches belonging to Henri d'Orléans, Duke of Aumale, who commissioned Augustus Cain to create these.

The Grand Château was actually destroyed during the French Revolution and rebuilt in the 1870's. The original structure was built in the 1500's by the Montmorency family, but eventually taken over by the Orléans family. Henri d’Orléans had the château rebuilt and that is mainly what we see today.

The Chapel of the Condé Hearts, Suites, Dining Hall and the huge Reading Room are something to see.

But beyond all of that there was one area we really wanted to see.

The Musée Condé.

Consisting of over 2500 drawings it is the second largest art collection in France next to the Louvre. You'll notice some interesting arrangement of paintings. This is because the Duke d'Aumale, who bequeathed this to France, had some conditions, one being that the collection be shown in it's original location; the works cannot be moved, nor can any of the works be loaned out. So, if you want to see these works by Raphael you'll have to come here.

For some reason, we enjoyed our visit here much more than Versailles.

Perhaps it was the lack of crowds or the atmosphere......we kind of enjoyed the peacefulness. 

Yes, it's not a palace, but it is quite stunning in its own way.

After our visit, we headed back to the train station via the village of Chantilly. It was getting close to our designated train time, so we quickly grabbed a sandwich and caught our train back to Paris.

After the full morning, we rested up, before heading to dinner. I had read about a small tempura restaurant located under the quite popular Zen Restaurant in the 1st Arrondissment. This little 12 seat underground restaurant was named TenZen and featured a multi-course meal featuring...well tempura of course. Staying in Paris for the length of time of our visit, meant we could really "eat like we would at home", which meant...well, Chinese and Japanese cuisine. Sadly, TenZen closed mid-2023, but I thought you might enjoy the photos.

Zen restaurant is a bustling shop in the area of Paris we call "Little Tokyo". You enter the restaurant, show the hostess the reservation and were guided downstairs.

This was the realm of chef Jiro Kondo. He does all the cooking.

For the three hours, we really felt like we were back in Japan.

From the excellent Otsumami.

To the decent quality sashimi.

This was all fine. But then, came the reason we visited.

My goodness, the tempura was just perfect, the batter light and airy, yet really enhancing each item.

My goodness, the Madagascar Shrimp was so amazingly sweet-oceany, such great flavors and textures.

The shrimp from Normandy was no slouch either.

Several of the items included Black Volcanic Salt from Iceland which really added a slight smoky component to things.

And the tempura finished off with a perfectly cooked scallop.

And things were finished off with a Kakiage Don and some miso soup.

Oh, and of course dessert.

After our meal, we were escorted out by the staff, just like Japan!

We were really sad to hear that TenZen closed as it was a place we wanted to return to on our last trip back to Paris.

TenZen - (since closed)
8 Rue de l'Échelle
75001 Paris, France

I hope you don't mind me doing this post as I want to remember and recall this wonderful meal.

Thanks so stopping by!