mmm-yoso!!!

Burma Place

It was quite nice to hear about Burma Place opening in San Diego. Burmese cuisine that hasn't been represented much in our fair city. So a couple of months after the shop opened, in spite of the crazy gas prices at the time, I made the 50 mile round trip and did a takeout visit.

The restaurant is located in RB, next to a place that I last visited nearly 13 years ago. And to be perfectly honest; that might have been the last time I was in this strip mall!

The woman working when I arrived is very friendly; you know the type, the one who calls you "sweetie", "honey", "dear"....... And my order was ready when I arrived.

I had ordered two salads which I immediately put in my cooler and another dish that I thought would hold up well on the drive home.

Of course I had to get the Laphet Thoke - the Tea Leaf Salad ($15.99).

I liked the fact that there was some cabbage present and since this salad really needs to be mixed well; I went and placed it in a salad bowl and proceeded to mix things.

For me; it's all about the amount of fermented tea leaves and how it's been treated. We prefer a more assertive fermented-slightly bitter-mildly astringent flavor and this was on the mild side; really coming thru more like a vinaigrette. I did appreciate the split roasted soybeans; the firm crunch is always appreciated. But overall, this was disappointing.

I also got the Rainbow Salad ($14.99), which has a boatload of ingredients and a fairly mild tamarind based dressing.

Four kinds of noodles in this, enjoyed the fried shallots and a bit of spice from the peppers. We both thought this was the better of the two salads.

For our hot item; I flashed back to the wonderful Kabocha Stew we had at Burma Cafe in Daly City and got the Pumpkin Stew Chicken ($15.99), which I thought would probably benefit from the extra time it took to get it home.

This was terrible. The chicken meat, which was breast was dry and tough. The kabocha wasn't ripe, was hard, and lacked flavor. The broth was watery and really bland.

Well, with how gas prices were at this time, and how mediocre the meal was....there was no way I'd be able to talk the Missus into either a takeout or dining in visit. Just when I was about to delete my photos Calvin wanted to get some lunch....guess where?

We decided to go at the earliest possible time and met at 11am.

The same really friendly woman was working and we were the only folks in the restaurant for a good part of our lunch. It was great to catch up on things.

Of course we started off with the Tea Leaf Salad. Our Server took almost five minutes mixing the ingredients together for us!

While still on the mild side in terms of flavor, this was much better than what I'd had as takeout. I would have preferred a bit more cabbage, but this was a definite improvement.

By far, the best dish of the day were the Garlic Noodles with Pork ($11.99).

The pork; in this case char siu was a nice match for the saltiness of the noodles. The noodles were perfectly coated with a tasty sauce. The sauce on the side was a straight-forward spicy, so just a drizzle on the noodles worked well.

We got the Spicy Shan Tofu. Shan Tofu is made with "besan", basically a Chickpea Flour. At it's best it's both light, yet creamy, and holds it's shape.

The texture of the tofu was not quite as what I'd recently had at The Dutchess, being a bit more gritty and not as pliable and tender. The sauce was tart and mildly spicy; this actually tasted better the next day, though the tofu didn't hold up well.

We also got the Kebat Lamb ($17.99). 

A typical homestyle stir-fry with curry, tomato, onion, and cilantro, this was fairly mild in flavor. Calvin and I both felt it needed more "umph"; more tangy-acidity, pungency, spice, and yes, more cilantro. The lamb was rather chewy and very mild in flavor. If you'd ever want a lamb dish that didn't taste like lamb; well have at this one.

Overall, a decent meal, but not worth going out of your way for in my opinion. While I'm glad that San Diego's food horizons seem to be expanding; I'm not happy "just to have something". So, I hope things keep getting better!

Burma Place
16719 Bernardo Center Dr.
San Diego, CA 92128
Hours:
Daily 11am - 230pm, 430pm - 9pm

Roadtrip (2022) - Some Hiking, Shopping, Bart's Books, and Dinner at the Dutchess (Ojai)

We did quite a bit during our first full day in Ojai.

Starting the day with some hiking. We decided to head out to Rose Valley Falls for a quick hike. Getting an early start meant we easily found parking near the camp grounds. The hike was quite short and for the Missus unexciting....except for me taking a fall and smashing up my iPhone. The actual trail took us like 20 minutes and the photos came out looking much more dramatic than how things looked. All the Instagrammers were out having a fun time with their selfies here.

After this short hike we got back on Rose Valley Road and did the Piedra Blanca Formations Trail, which was an easy and enjoyable hike. 

The start was thru chaparral shrubland for about a mile. At that point you start getting a peek at the amazing white rock formations.

We found the formations to be quite interesting. Upon closer look you'll see caves, crevasses, and striations.

And if you're like me....if you stare at the formations long enough you start seeing shapes. I thought this one looked like an elephant. What do you think?

 While this was a super easy hike for the Missus, She enjoyed the solitude. We didn't run into another hiker on the trail until we were almost on our way out. Plus, those formations were quite interesting.

On our way back we decided to stop in at the Arcade again. We dropped into Heavenly Honey, which was on the busy side. so, we just bought some gifts and headed on out.

Heavenly Honey Company
206 E Ojai Ave.
Ojai, CA 93023

One of the Missus's coworkers who loves Ojai mentioned a wonderful "resort" nearby that we should take a look at. So we headed off to Ojai Valley Inn. This being the Saturday before the 4th the place was pretty busy but we found parking and had a nice little stroll on the property.

It was a nice setting, but not our kind of thing. We checked out the menus at the two restaurants, but the Missus wasn't too interested.

On the way back to our hotel, I decided to make a stop at Bart's Books, which claims to be the "world's largest outdoor bookstore."

We easily found parking and walked on over.

The books that line the shelves facing the sidewalk are available 24 hours a day and you pay via an honor system.

The bookstore is located in the original home of the founder of the shop Richard "Bart" Bartindale in established in 1964.

While the Missus perused various travel books, I asked the staff up front where the food and cookbooks were. They were located in the "kitchen", duh.....

The shop was quite empty during our visit and the Missus really enjoyed the shop and even found a book She wanted. We would return the very next day to explore a bit more.

I later figured out why She enjoyed this shop so much. It seems that "Bart" was inspired by those little wooden book carts along the Seine....which is of course, in the Missus's favorite city.....must be the Ojai Psychic Friends Network at work?

Bart's Books
302 W Matilija St.
Ojai, CA 93023

We then headed back to our accommodation at Hummingbird Inn. Located just outside the main "strip" in Ojai, it's pretty peaceful and relaxed...well, Ojai is quite relaxed as a whole. The Missus really enjoyed the shaded outdoor area out front where She could sit and read.

The hotel is very dog friendly, as is all of Ojai, and in the mornings all the folks staying in the place would have their pooches out doing their morning rounds.

While the Missus enjoyed the day, I took a stroll over to the IGA a few blocks down the street to get some sparkling water.

We enjoyed the markets in Ojai....man, the produce looked quite good and I should have taken photos of the nice selection of cheeses and such.....

For dinner, I made an interesting choice at a restaurant called The Dutchess.

Located next to Ojai Rotie; the Dutchess is a bakery/coffee shop during the day, which then converts to a Burmese Restaurant for dinner service. Even though I wasn't convinced this combo would work, I thought it might make for an interesting dinner. I booked indoor seating for 7pm. 

We arrived and were seated immediately. Good thing I made reservations as all tables, especially for outdoor dining were booked.

The service was very warm and friendly; though a bit slow and disorganized. Our main Server seemed only to be able to do one thing at a time.....I ordered a cocktail and the Missus asked to have a taste of one of the wine....well, the woman brought the wine, then left....not returning for almost 10 minutes, at which time the Missus said She'd take the wine....the Server then disappeared to return with my cocktail....then vanished again for another 10 minutes to get the Missus's wine. Oh, and then she got us our water. This would pretty much be the pattern for the whole meal. She was very nice however.

Thankfully, the food, which seemed like a Burmese fusion had it much more "together"

We started with the Chickpea Tofu ($10).

The Missus loved this dish! The perfectly crisp exterior gave way to a wonderful creamy and light interior. The beany-nutty flavor came through nicely. Though I thought the dish was a bit on the salty side, a dip into the tamarind sauce just evened things out for me. The Missus didn't need the sauce at all and just loved this dish.

For us, the only disappointing dish of the evening was the Tea Leaf Salad ($20).

While I was glad this dish used cabbage; the dressing way too sour, the dish really lacking in the fermented bitter-tartness I enjoy from laphet.

For me, my favorite dish of the evening was the Puri ($18). Lest you think this is just fried bread with perhaps a chickpea dip, think again.

   This version came with a fabulous Chicken Liver Mousse. The Dutchess's "baking chops" really delivered here as well as the puri was light, yeasty, full of flavor with a nice hint of salty-sweetness.

The Chicken Liver Mousse had a smooth-creamy richness, nice savory-earthy offal tones that were tones down with the plum jam. This was so good!

The Dutchess also displayed some good "baking chops" with the Danbauk (Biryani - $31) topping the dish with puff pastry.

   The puff pastry was very light with a wonderful texture. The rice in the dish was tender and the complex seasoning, while again on the saltier side, did well with a touch of raita, which added a nice, refreshing component to everything. Wish there was a bit more lamb in the dish; what we tasted was wonderfully gamey.

We were pleasantly surprised with our meal and would dine here again.

The Dutchess
457 E Ojai Ave.
Ojai, CA 93023

Ojai was indeed full of surprises.....good ones!

Road Trip - Irrawaddy Taste of Burma (Stanton)

During my late November stay in Irvine, I had really wanted to return to Cafe Hiro. But not knowing what time I'd be cut loose, I didn't want to make reservations and not keep them. So, I did return to Café Hiro, but the place was packed. Luckily, I had a "plan B". I'd noticed a restaurant when I drove back to my hotel on Katella.

It had been a while since I'd had Burmese food. So this ended up being my back-up. The place was surprisingly empty on a Saturday night.

The Servers were very friendly and gracious.

I ordered a Myanmar Lager while I perused the menu. Slightly malty. fairly light overall.

I had one item already in mind and searched for another. Because of the hours of work and my leaving straight from the client the next morning, leftover didn't make sense.

But there was no denying the fact that I needed to order the Tea Leaf Salad ($11). I love the fermented bitterness of "laphet", tea leaves that have been fermented.

In terms of being nice and refreshing, this salad was very good. In terms of having the pleasantly bitter-tart-fermented flavor of laphet, this fell a bit short for me. The dressing had a good amount of lime in it and was on the sweeter side for my taste. Loved the seeds and peanuts. Nice salad overall, but not quite what I want in my laphet thoke.

For my main; I chose the Sour Leaf (chimbaung - Hibiscus Leaf/Roselle) Shrimp ($13), in spite of the rather humorous description on the menu.

A very pleasant, if not especially memorable dish. I expected a bit more spicy heat, sour, pungency, and saltiness. This was quite mild. There was an abundance of shrimp that tasted a bit muddy side, but were nicely cooked. My favorite item in the dish was the okra, slightly crunchy with a pleasant gooey-slimy finish. Think of this as a fairly mild, though oily curry, and you'd be right.

This was a pleasant meal and I'd think about visiting again one of these days. Nice service and I thought things were well priced. Not very busy on a Saturday night though.

Irrawaddy Taste of Burma
7076 Katella Ave
Stanton, CA 90680

Roadtrip: Burma Cafe (Daly City) and other stuff

Full and happy after lunch at the Firestone Grill, we headed northward. Hitting Gilroy we couldn't help but stop at one of these tourists traps.....

We also stopped at the Gilroy Outlets. The Missus doesn't shop much at outlets, it's not Her "thing" I guess. But She was interested to see what the lululemon shop had to offer. Of course She was wearing some limited edition jacket thingy which made all the sales girls go "that's so nice isn't it?" ick..... Then I came to find out that we didn't stop for Her.....we stopped here to get some stuff for me???? Anyway, two shirts later we left the place......me wearing lululemon, sigh. I feel somewhat emasculated for some reason. They are comfortable though.

We eventually got to our hotel. We were staying in San Bruno at the Villa Montes. It gave us lots of options and we kept joking that we were going to NorCal, but not into SF......

After a short rest we got back on the road a drove around a bit. We were still pretty full form lunch and decided on a fairly light dinner. I gave the Missus a couple of options and She chose the restaurant which was located in Daly City. So we drove to Daly City stopping here and there. When the Missus saw the 99 Ranch Market we decided to stop since we were still running a bit early. After stretching our legs a bit we headed to our dinner destination, Burma Cafe.

Burma Cafe is located in, what else, a strip mall. The mall looked a little run down, with most of the shops looking like this one right next to Burma Cafe.

Burma Cafe was without a doubt the nicest looking shop in the place.

They had just opened for dinner when we arrived, so it was pretty empty. The interior was on the dark side, yet it created a fairly nice intimate mood.

The really nice young lady seated us, we came to find out she is the owner's daughter.

The menu is concise, but full of dishes I wanted to try.

Of course we had to have the Lahpet Thoke, the Fermented Tea Leaf Salad, which is often called the Burmese National Dish.

I realize that the traditional version of this dish doesn't usually include lettuce, but in this case the crispness of the greens really made this a refreshing dish. The mildly bitter-astringent-pickled flavor of the fermented tea leaves, which looked a lot like pesto was really enjoyable for us. The addition of various nuts, beans, and seeds added textural contrast and flavor. The tomato gave the dish a bit of an acid kick as well. I'd have this weekly if we lived in the area.

A while back, I read that kabocha is used quite a bit in Burmese cooking. I thought the Missus would really enjoy the Kabocha Pork Stew.

The Missus, a big fan of kabocha loved this dish....even if it had pork in it. The pork was perfectly tender, soft, but not mushy. I really enjoyed the combination of spices used in this dish, complex, mildly spicy, but not overwhelming. I wasn't such a big fan of the kabocha, I felt it was a bit too starchy and undercooked....but hey, the Missus loved it.

We both enjoyed the ambiance. The young lady who served us was very nice and even chatted with us about how the food was prepared and the spices they use. I wish we had a place like this in San Diego.

Burma Cafe
63 St Francis Sq
Daly City, CA 94015