mmm-yoso!!!

Honolulu - Lunch at SXY Szechuan and the Honolulu Coffee Experience Center

After an evening of revisits, we awoke the next morning with...well, no major plans other than doing a bunch of shopping. We had reservations for dinner and needed to get the usual...you know Lupicia, Hawaii Cookie Company, a couple of stuffs we needed for this trip, etc. We had thought of driving to a couple of places but ended up not using the car at all during our stay at the Ala Moana Hotel! We just had fun walking around.

We started off needing some caffeine to start the day. There are a couple of places really close, but instead, I wanted to walk the couple of blocks over to the corner of Kapiolani and Kalakaua. This is where the  "main" location of Honolulu Coffee, which I used to have when my office was located in downtown. I hadn't had their coffee in ages and I guess now they are a major chain!

Another reason I wanted to visit was that old timers like me will remember when this was the location of Coco's Coffee House (before that it was Kau Kau Corner - but I'm not that old!), which closed and was replaced by the Hard Rock Cafe in 1987.

So, that's what it kinda looks like now. We crossed on over and walked on in.

It's a pretty nice space. It's in a circular design, with a coffee roasting machine at the center.

At the front is where you place your order. The folks working are really friendly.

The Missus ordered a Peaberry Pour Over, I got a Cold Brew, and was a bit hungry, but didn't want anything too sweet. The young man recommended the Elote Scone, toasted, with a friendly warning of "it might be too salty, though." The drill goes this way, all basic coffee drinks and pastries are served at the counter. They call your name and you pick up your order. Cold Brew is specially made at this counter in the back by the area you can buy coffee beans.

You are given a number and they'll deliver the pour over to your table.

Also, all the pastries for the chain in HNL are made here.

Of course my order was ready first.

   The Cold Brew was ok, on the milder side. The scone was pretty good, not overly dense, nice chunks of corn, and not too sweet. I did not find it to be overly salty. Quite filling to be sure.

The Missus's pour over was delivered on a tray with two cups on the side.

The Missus said it seem to lack "character", She is also more into natural processed African beans and this was washed process and fairly mild.

Still, we liked the "vibe" of the place; think of it as a local version of a Starbucks Reserve Roastery.

Honolulu Coffee Experience Center
1800 Kalakaua Ave.
Honolulu, HI 96815

After our coffee we headed up Kalakaua. I showed the Missus where we lived for a short time. It was a cheap apartment, I had to support my Mom by those days. It cracks me up that it is now a parking lot....probably makes more money than the apartment did?

I then took the Missus to Don Quijote because most other places weren't open yet. Of course, you might remember it as Holiday Mart and then Daiei? Mega chain "Donki" owns many markets you might know, like Marukai, Times, Big Save, and even Gelson's. Anyway, this location of Don Quijote is open 24 hours It's huge; think of it like a huge Asian Grocery combined with Daiso on steroids. It kept the Missus busy for over an hour!

At which time we could head to Ala Moana to do our shopping. By the time we were done we decided to drop off our bags to our room and get some lunch. It was quite hot and we wanted to walk to lunch. I mentioned a place I'd read about on Kathy's wonderful Onolicious Hawaii, with the interesting name of SXY Szechuan. It's got an interesting location facing the parking lot on the second floor of the Kona Street side of Ala Moana, right where the ramp comes up from Piikoi. San Diego has been quite the wasteland for Sichuan in recent years and some Liang Cai and a veggie sounded good.

It was just after opening time for lunch; 11am and we were the first customers served.

The place isn't very big, though it also wasn't too busy on this day. There was only one other party eating during our entire meal.

We ordered two liang cai and some ong choy.

First up was the veggie. Man, this was so tender!

Even the stems! Great garlic tones; just enough salt and pepper, the Missus loved it.

We also got the Fuqi Fei Pian a favorite of hours. 

This had a lot more slices of beef than tripe; but the tripe was so tender as was the beef, which in this case seemed to be brisket. The seasoning had decent spice, good ma-la (numbing hot) with a balance of sweet and sour flavors. It wasn't overly salty and could have perhaps used more garlicky-pungent tones, but this was pretty good overall.

The last item was something I saw on Kathy's post on SXY; the Pork Belly with Garlic.

   Slices of pork belly wrapped around cucumber; looking at it, we were reminded of what we'd had Mountain House. There was a good amount of garlic, but the pork belly was too thick which really made it gummier than we like. While the cucumber did add a nice palate cleansing refreshing note, the overall flavor seemed a bit off balance. It needed more spicy, sweet, and savory. Funny thing, we dumped all the drippings from the Fuqi Fei Pian on the remainder of this dish and we enjoyed it much more. Still, the version at Mountain House is a step above this. Though, we did enjoy our meal. If we weren't staying in a hotel and unafraid to have leftovers, we definitely would have ordered more.

Still, this was a nice meal, the spice really had an almost cooling effect on us as we walked back to our room.

SXY Szechuan (Ala Moana Center)
1450 Ala Moana Blvd.
Honolulu, HI 96814

We decided to have nice nap in air-conditioned comfort, then do a bit more shopping before heading off to dinner!

Thanks for stopping by!

The Croissant Files - Bonjour Patisserie and Cafe de l'Opera

Here are a couple of more croissant visits.

Bonjour Patisserie:

I had read that one of the pastry booths in the Little Italy Mercato had opened a brick and mortar shop on Cedar street. I had tried the croissants from Bonjour Patisserie's stand at the farmer's markets and wasn't very impressed, but since the Missus wanted to try the Spiral Croissant to compare against the version Desserts by Clement. So, after doing my typical Saturday Farmer's Market stop, I headed on over to Cedar to the newly opened shop.

Walking in I was greeted by the nice young lady working. And there was the Pistachio Spiral Croissant that the Missus wanted.

I got one butter croissant and the spiral croissant and headed back to the car and then home.

Once home I went and tried the butter croissant.

  Though it looked over-baked, the exterior wasn't flakey and crisp. The interior was on the doughy-bready-chewy side and the croissant, in my opinion really lacked butteriness. This was mediocre at best and was the same as what I'd had before from their stand. Well, at least they're consistent, right?

The Missus also dug into Her spiral croissant. Which looked pretty good.

    But the Missus cut into it and took a bite and made a face. She made me have a taste. The crust was doughy, gummy, and lacking in crispness. It was on the thick side. The filling was too sweet for my taste as well.

So guess who was sent back to Desserts by Clement as few days later?

Well, another croissant tried and marked off.......

Bonjour Patisserie
320 W Cedar St.
San Diego, CA 92101
Current Hours:
Tues - Sun 8am - 4pm
Closed on Mondays

Cafe de l'Opera:

During my visit to Izola's new location, while walking back to where I had parked my car, I passed a newish looking cafe. I took a quick look inside and saw that they had various patisseries, including croissants. The friendly young lady noticed that I had the Izola box and we had a short chat; the gist of it being that Cafe de l'Opera made their own croissants. I promised to drop by for some coffee and to try their croissants.

A few Sundays later, I decided to get a bit of walking in; so I headed down the hill and caught the Blue Line to the Park & Market stop and then hoofed it over to the Diamond Terrace Condo building where the cafe is located.

The same very nice young lady was working. I placed my order and had a seat in the nice looking cafe.

I had ordered a Cold Brew along with my croissant.

Man, this was a pretty stiff cold brew! It pretty strong and really woke me up! Not bad at all.

As for the Butter Croissant.

   It was soft and doughy, lacking in that flaky-crispness that I enjoy. I'm not sure why they call this a "Butter Croissant" as sorely needed more butter flavor. The interior was a bit too "moist" for my taste as well. 

Too bad, because I liked the cold brew and the young lady working here.

Cafe de l'Opera
910 J St.
San Diego, CA 92101
Current Hours:
Mon - Fri 7am - 3pm
Saturday  7am - 2pm
Sunday     730am - 2pm

And so my exploration of croissants in San Diego continues.......

Oahu - Bean About Town (Kaimuki), the Makapu'u Lighthouse Trail, and Revisiting Ono Seafood

After having a wonderful evening in town, I woke to this view in the morning.

Of course the Missus wanted to go "holo-holo" right away, but I needed some nourishment to keep up with Her. I had picked up some extra musubi from Iyasume the day before and had that for breakfast. And then we headed out. Of course we needed to get our caffeine fix on the way.

I'd read about a place named Bean About Town in Kathy's page about dining in Kaimuki and it seemed like the perfect spot. They have two shops; one in Waikiki and the other on Waialae avenue. Old timers would recognize the location as it is in the same building as where Tanoue's (which I wrote about in my post on visiting the old Neighborhood) used to be. It's a small shop, there looks to be like 5 parking spaces, so street parking is likely. If I recall, this used to be a barbershop when I was growing up.

Right across the street is Kaimuki Park where I wasted spent a good amount of time as a kid.

The Missus ordered a pour over, which She loved, and I got a nice, fairly stiff Cold Brew.

We had a nice seat on the little two top facing Waialae avenue. The Missus liked the design on my cup so much that She sent me back in the shop to see if they had some merch with the same design.

Sadly they did not.

Well, it looks like we've got a place to get some coffee next time we're in the area.

Bean About Town
3538 Waialae Ave. Suite 101
Honolulu, HI 96816

From here we headed up Waialae to H-1, then Kalanianaole, past Hawaii Kai and Sandy's to our destination; to the gate that says Kaiwi Scenic Shoreline. Since we were fairly early we found parking. I had the Missus pick out some hiking (for Her this was all "walking") spots for this trip. She chose the Makapuu Lighthouse Trail. Man, I don't remember the last time I was here.

Anyway, it's a paved trail, that goes a bit over the mile each way, with a 500 foot elevation gain. I actually enjoyed myself. I even saw Pele's Chair on the path up!

And of course, this is Hawaii, so you will see rainbows.

You can see inside Koko Crater too.

Of course the Lighthouse is not accessible for folks and is off limits, but you do get glimpses of it.

There's a lookout at the top.

And of course, there's Rabbit Island.

It's a wonderful panoramic view.

I heard that you'll often see whales, but none for us on this day.

Still, it was a fun activity for us. I was having fun "playing tourist".

Afterwards we headed back; stopping in Aina Haina for a short break. On our way back to the hotel, the Missus said, "can we go to Ono Seafood, I want more poke!" Man, we hadn't been to Ono Seafood since 2019! It's long been a favorite of the Missus since we first visited in 2011. So, we headed on over and easily found parking in the lot for the apartment building the shop occupies.

We got a poke bowl with brown rice and shoyu poke. Then headed back to the hotel to eat.

Though it seemed a bit more "sauced" than  I recall, this was ono! Good shoyu, we enjoyed the limu, which adds a nice oceany-crunch. The fish was tender without the chewy connective tissue that permeates poke here in San Diego. Still one of our favorites for sure.

Ono Seafood
747 Kapahulu Ave. Apt 4
Honolulu, HI 96816 

After lunch, we headed back on "footmobile" (when's the last time you heard that one?), walking to Don Quijote on Kaheka, then returning to Ala Moana to do a bit more shopping, before returning to our room for a nap.

Looking out at the lanai, I noticed that I wasn't the only one enjoying the view.

Thanks for stopping by, hope you're having a wonderful weekend!

Finjan Coffee

In these times I seem to have an never ending search for breakfast options in the Clairemont/Kearny Mesa area, for when I'm done my first stage of shopping early and have to wait for places to open. In the time before Covid, there seemed to be many more options. 

I had totally forgotten that the folks who own Tahini, had moved their restaurant into the larger space next door where Ryoma used to be. Cathy has done a post on that location. And Finjan Coffee now occupies the former location next door and they open rather early.

The set-up look basically the same. The girls working were very friendly.

The menu looks large, but there are only 5 food items on it. Hot and cold drinks make up the rest of the menu.

I got a Cold Brew, nicely priced at $4.25.

This was kind of weak in flavor, very mild, tasting almost like plain iced coffee.

As for my food, well, I didn't feel like spending $11 for avocado toast, so I went with the Fava Bean Toast ($9).

This was quite good. The fava beans were seasoned well, great savory spices, the texture of the beans were fairly creamy, yet hearty. I enjoyed the tomatoes and the refreshing cucumber. The bread, which seemed like sourdough as it had a nice yeastiness to it was toasted well. The only item that I didn't care for was the Tahini which was too watery and lacked flavor. Other than that, I thought this was a nice breakfast or light lunch item. And as for the Tahini, the nice young lady mentioned that the next time I should try it with the Cilantro Tahini, which may have given me the solution to the one item on the toast I didn't care for.

I returned a few weeks later and this time ordered an Iced Americano ($3.50). The place was kind of busy, strange for a Sunday and only two girls were working when I arrived. I also decided to try the Labne Toast ($8). This time around I got my drink right away, but waited almost 30 minutes for my toast. I also forgot to take a photo of my Americano which was again on the milder side. But I did remember to photograph my Labne Toast.

   The bread was again nicely toasted, the cucumbers again refreshing, I wish it had more tomatoes and I appreciated the mint. There was a generous of labneh slathered on the toast, but it was just too puckery and sour for me to enjoy, the sour Zaatar just piled on, I'd have appreciated perhaps touch of sweetness and savory to balance things out a bit? As a whole, much too sour for me. My salivary glands are puckering up just looking at the photo!

The young ladies working here are very nice and friendly. I need to find a caffeinated drink I enjoy here and get that Fava Bean Toast with Cilantro Tahini and I think I might have a fairly regular breakfast stop. 

Finjan Coffee
9119 Clairemont Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92123
Current Hours:
Mon - Thurs  630am - 5pm
Friday             630am - 10pm
Saturday        630am - 10pm
Sunday           8am - 8pm

Cuppa Cuppa Coffee Lab and Lemon Grove Coffee

I recently had to take my vehicle in to get an estimate for some repairs. I ended up leaving my vehicle after the estimate. During that time I had two coffee stops, here they are.

Cuppa Cuppa Coffee Lab:

I initially set an appointment for an estimate and after handing over the keys decided to find a place for a cold brew and maybe a bite to eat. On a previous visit I had noticed that Cuppa Cuppa, which had a drive thru booth on Mission Gorge Road had a new shop in the Vora Apartment complex on Twain, so I decided to walk on over.

The shop is pretty small, a couple of outdoor tables, a few indoors, and some bar seating.

The Barista working was very friendly, she explained that they roast their own coffee beans and actually showed me the roaster which was in the corner.

It was pretty darn hot, so I went with a cold brew and inquired about something savory. The young lady recommended the ham croissant and said that it was much better heated, which sounded good to me.

The cold brew was nice and strong, which perhaps might be a bit much for some, but it provided a nice "kick in the pants" for me on this morning.

The croissant was quite light, it had attained a dark color during the toasting process.

    Which meant that when I bit into it, flakey croissant shrapnel flew everywhere! Also, the ham had attained almost a bacon like texture during the heating process. The ham gave the croissant a good bit of saltness; though I would have enjoyed a straonger butter flavor. The interior was light and not overly doughy. This was not bad.

I liked the service and the strong cold brew. I'll probably return for my caffeine fix when I take my car in for servicing.

Cuppa Cuppa Coffee Lab
4440 Twain Ave. Suite 102
San Diego, CA 92120
Current Hours:
Mon - Fri 7am - 2pm
Sat - Sun 8am - 1pm

Upon returning to the shop, I was told the scope of work, parts would be in fairly quickly, the work would span a couple of days. I decided to go ahead a leave my car and just get the work done. Which meant that I still had a full day ahead of me and no car. Then, I came up with an idea. I'd catch the trolley to Lemon Grove. Why, you say? Well, read on my friend.

Lemon Grove Coffee:

A few months back, Emily, one of my favorite folks who works at Clairemont Coffee told me that Hannah, the co-owner, along with her sister in-law Casey were opening up a coffee shop in Lemon Grove, appropriately named Lemon Grove Coffee. A couple of weeks back, I saw Hannah working at CC, and she told me that I should go and check the place out if I'm in the area. So, having a good amount of time on my hands, I went ahead and caught the Green Line, to the Blue Line, to the Orange Line, and ended up at the Lemon Grove Trolley stop. 

I must say, Lemon Grove Coffee has a nice spot, right across from the trolley stop.

So, I headed on over. This shop is quite spacious, like twice the size...or more of the Clairemont shop.

There's an area with what almost looks like bleacher seating. After I took this photo, a couple of folks came in and sat in the "stands", busting out their laptops. Remote workers I guess.

It's a nice place for a break from the scorching weather outside.

I didn't know any of the gals working, but they were all very friendly. And my cold brew here is a buck cheaper ($3.25) than what I get at the Clairemont Drive shop.

The cold brew was fine; in line with what I get at CC.

Service was friendly, the prices were quite inexpensive, seem like a nice addition to the neighborhood which seemed to have more than few closed businesses, and I'm really happy for Hannah!

Lemon Grove Coffee
7801 Broadway
Lemon Grove, CA 91945
Current Hours:
Daily 6am - 3pm

I took a good amount of time with my cold brew. I wasn't looking forward to the trolley trip and walk back home. By the time I looked at my phone, it was just about lunch time. There was one place that had been recommended to me several years ago. And how often am I in Lemon Grove? I decided to find that restaurant and get some lunch.

Stay tuned!

Midweek Meanderings - Shaka Coffee (Balboa) Closes, the Meaning of "Meat Day", and a Pandemic Flashback

Just a couple of odd and ends for "hump day".

Shaka Coffee on Balboa Closes:

I recently did some takeout from Noble Chef. I parked and noticed the coffee stand in the strip mall had closed.

And the reason was made clear a split second later.

Sigh.....

I mean aren't there already 3 other Starbucks locations within a couple of blocks?

The Meaning of "Meat Day":

So, I did a quick stop at Nijiya for "Meat Day" which is the 29th of the month.

A customer looking at some pork asked her companion why meat day was always on the 29th. Which got me thinking.....I hadn't even thought about the reason.

And then it came to me; 29 in Japanese is something like "ni-kyu/ku" if I recall, and I'm sure you know that "meat" in Japanese is "niku" (肉). Duh, how many years have I been going on meat day and didn't realize this.  I guess I'm not the "sharpest knife in the drawer".

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

Having a Pandemic Flashback:

Well, this one has nothing to do with food or drink. I made a quick run to our local Rite Aid on the way home today. I walked in and went to the section with cleaners and couldn't believe my eyes.

I then walked thru a couple of more aisles.....

I immediately had flashbacks to March of 2020! I did find what I needed and went to the cashier. I asked him what was going on, was this location of Rite Aid closing? He told me it's just a "supply issue." Well no kidding.

Now to make this even more interesting; I'm wondering if he was actually an employee of Rite Aid or perhaps an apparition? Well, because when I looked at my receipt.....

Hope everyone is having a wonderful week!

Superbloom Coffee & Juice

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Memorial Day weekend! I'm sure folks are either busy doing stuff or hopefully having a restful time. So, I'm just doing a quick post this afternoon!

It's kind of strange; even though we live right up the hill from Mission Bay, we hardly ever visit. We used to take Frankie and Sammy for walks at Fiesta Island and evening strolls along the bay; but after they left us, we just weren't motivated to visit. Frankly, if I wanted to "hit the beach", I'd much rather head on "home". Plus, it gets pretty crowded at times.

Still, recently, I decided that a nice stroll along the bay might be nice. I started near Fiesta Island, right where the Birthplace of the Modern Triathlon plaque is.

And I just headed north on the bike and pedestrian trail.

Past the Mission Bay Resort and Leisure Lagoon. Soon enough I was at the location of what used to be the the Mission Bay Visitors Information Center. A landmark and historical building designed by Richard Lareau.

It has now gained new life as the Mission Bay Beach Club and what I heard is a coffee shop named Superbloom.

It's a nice looking stand that serves coffee, tea, beer, wine, and various sandwiches. It was fairly busy on this weekend morning.

Due to the location, I expected prices to be higher, and my cold brew clocked in at $6.50.

Instead of getting a table, I headed around the back of the building, the side facing the bay and saw some nice seating.

I plopped my self down and enjoyed my cold brew, which wasn't bad; a bit on the lighter side, but definitely not watered down, nor overly bitter. And there was the bonus of having a view of the bay.

It was a pretty nice and relaxing time. I then headed home as the place started getting crowded.

I had noticed that Superbloom featured a "Happy Hour" from 4 - 6pm during the week, with $2 off beer and wine. So, a few weeks later, the Missus and I decided to take the walk down to Superbloom, a nice 20 minute walk. 

The Missus ordered a glass of Chardonnay ($11 Happy Hour) and I ordered a Harland Japanese Lager ($7.50 Happy Hour). We took a bit of time to take a look at the grape vines planted around the building.

Before picking up our drinks. I quickly noted that my pour was just around three-fourths of the glass and the temp wasn't right.

The Missus thought the Chardonnay, by Sonoma's Bold Wine Company was decent; some citrusy notes, smooth, with a hint of acidity.

While sitting with a view of the bay; we noted how nice watching the sunset would be; the problem being our sunsets were now occurring after 730 pm and Superbloom closes a 6. Well, maybe in the future.

Speaking of the future, it looks like a restaurant will be opening at this location as well.

While I don't anticipate Superbloom being a regular stop for us; especially with the "busy" season approaching, it's nice to have another spot within walking distance.

Superbloom
2688 East Mission Bay Dr.
San Diego, CA 92109
Current Hours:
Daily 730am - 6pm

Hope everyone is having a wonderful Memorial Day weekend!

Witch Creek Winery, Sleeping Tiger Coffees, and Carlsbad (Danish) Bakery (Carlsbad)

We enjoyed strolling back to our hotel after dinner at Jeune et Jolie. We had gotten some coffee at the shop on the corner of Carlsbad Boulevard and Grand Avenue on our last staycation in the area. I had forgotten to take photos during that visit. The coffee stand was actually in Witch Creek Winery. We decided to pop in and take a look. There were folks enjoying themselves, though the place wasn't overly crowded.

The musician was plating Guantanamera which was a favorite of my late mom. We decided to finish off the evening with a nice glass of wine.

We got a glass of the Chardonnay and a glass of the White Blend.

The Missus really enjoyed the White Blend. We finished things off by sharing a glass of the Sparkling Wine, which I enjoyed. Fairly light, fruity, but not overly sweet.

We took the 3 block walk back to the hotel. It was a brisk, but pleasant night. We slept well. The next morning we woke and relaxed a bit. I went to get some coffee provided in the hotel's recreation room and we sat on our porch and enjoyed ourselves.

We then took a nice stroll along the Carlsbad State Beach walkway. 

After our morning walk, we decided to check out. The nice gentleman manning the front desk told us it would perfectly fine to leave our car in the lot until one or so. So we loaded up the car, then headed on out. The Missus wanted to check out some of the shop in the area, most of which didn't open until 10. So we ambled up State Street and then Roosevelt.

I was getting a bit hungry and recalled seeing a fairly popular bakery during our last stay in the area. So we headed on over.

The name of the place is simply Carlsbad Bakery. It used to be named Carlsbad Danish Bakery.

The very nice woman working seemed to have a Danish accent, which made me smile as I hadn't heard that in quite a while. I had thoughts about just getting a croissant, but decided on the Brie-Mushroom-Spinach pastry. The Missus got some flourless chocolate cake that She saved for later and enjoyed.

Pastry in hand we started walking back to the hotel.

As we walked past Witch Creek Winery, we decided to grab some coffee. And headed on in.

We'd been here on our last visit, so we knew what we wanted. The Missus got the Tanzania pour-over and I got a cold brew. We placed our orders and took a stroll around the shop.

The place was empty so it was nice to wander around.

There's quite a bit of "stuffs" for sale in the shop and on the patio. Some of it was quite cute and charming.

Once our coffees were ready we took a seat outside and enjoyed watching the parade of pooches up and down the street. The Missus enjoyed Her pour over and the cold brew was great fuel for the drive ahead.

There's a Starbucks next door which does some major business; but Sleeping Tiger was fairly quiet. I dunno, we much rather support a local business.

I had my pastry, which was much larger than it looked on the counter.

This was not bad; enjoyed the creamy brie which also had some nice earthiness, which the mushrooms further enhanced. The croissant dough was lightly buttery; though it lacked the flakiness that I enjoy; this was not bad. I guess I'll need to try the croissants next time.

You can read about Soo's visit to Carlsbad Bakery here.

I'm guessing we'll be returning to these two stops when visiting Carlsbad.

Carlsbad (Danish) Bakery
2805 Roosevelt St.
Carlsbad, CA 92008
Tues - Sat  7am - 3pm
Sunday      7am - 1pm
Closed on Monday

Witch Creek Winery
2906 Carlsbad Blvd.
Carlsbad, CA 92008
Current Hours:
Sun - Thurs Noon - 7pm
Friday          Noon - 8pm
Saturday     Noon - 9pm

Sleeping Tiger Coffees (In Witch Creek Winery)
2906 Carlsbad Blvd.
Carlsbad, CA 92008
Current Hours:
Thurs - Mon 7am - 5pm
Tues - Wed   7am - 3pm

We had enjoyed Carlsbad; but now it was time to head on over to our next stop.....

Paris - The View from Galeries Lafayette Haussmann and Lunch at Maison de Chengdu (Yet Again)

I really didn't want it to end; but here it was, our last day in Paris. We decided to spend our last morning doing what we've done so many times in the City of Light. I went to the corner Boulangerie, of which there were three and had a croissant at the apartment. And then we headed on over to Rue Montorgueil and had our Cafe Allonge at Café du Centre like we've done so many times.

No, it's not about the coffee really. Even the caffeine snob...the Missus loves this. It's about watching life walk past you and breathing in the city.

It's not unusual for us to spend an hour or more here.

Café du Centre
57 Rue Montorgueil
75002 Paris, France

And of course, once we were done, we headed off....well, with no goal in mind, just to do that Flâneur thing. Which brought us to the Passage des Panoramas.

Where we could do that "other" thing we'd really embraced called lèche-vitrine ("licking windows" i.e. window shopping).

As we exited the passage I had an idea. Since we were close to Galeries Lafayette, why don't we head on over. Now we had already seen the holiday displays earlier during our stay, which were admittedly a bit strange this time around. But there was one other thing I'd always meant to do at Galeries Lafayette and I thought since it was a pretty nice day, this would a good time.

So we headed on over and entered the store.

And headed on up to the rooftop terrace, where you get great views of Montmartre.

And the Eiffel Tower.

We enjoyed the view!

Soon it was time to get some lunch. We decided to stay around the apartment and just go back to Maison de Chengdu. We had enjoyed this simple Sichuan restaurant a block from the apartment so much that we had already eaten there twice.

We were seated upstairs this time.

This time around it was a three-out-of-three. We got our two favorite dishes from our previous visits, the Intestine Dry Pot and Green Beans with pork. Both were just as good as on previous visits.

You can read about those dishes in my previous posts on Maison de Chengdu.

The "new" dish was the Sautéed Mountain Yam, what I call  yamaimo.

Whoa, in spite of the underwhelming look of the dish, this was quite good. The slippery mountain yam had achieved a bit of sweetness when stirfried. Yes, it was slippery, slimy, but quite nice with the earthy-sweet wood ear. It was so simple, yet quite satisfying.

Looking back, I think we were quite lucky to have selected where we stayed. Heck, our favorite simple, straight-forward Sichuan restaurant was a block away. And yes, the dishes we had here were better than the Sichuan in San Diego. Isn't that sad?

Maison De Chengdu (古味成都)
16 Rue Volta
75003 Paris, France

Chiayi - A Lou Shi Turkey Rice (阿樓師火雞肉飯), Wenhua Road Night Market (Again), and River Bird Coffee Roaster (江鳥咖啡- 嘉義吳鳳北路店)

After returning from Alishan we had some snacks at the 7-11. I was quite shocked to see draft beer "pulls" in the store....you can get draft beer at a 7-11!

We returned to the hotel, took a short nap, then headed out for an early dinner. The Missus was really in Her element in Taiwan. She would chat up folks and get recommendations. We were so taken by the Turkey Rice that we wanted to have that again. The young lady at the Tea Shop right at the corner recommended a Turkey Rice shop named "A Lou Shi". She told us it opens at 4pm, so we headed on out and wouldn't you know, we found the place!

And there was quite a line! Since this is Taiwan, the line was a good thing! It moves so quickly.

Check out who was waiting for some Turkey Rice right in front of us!

One quick look at the counter and you knew what they specialized in.

The place was in continuous movement of folks ordering, eating, then vacating.....

We really enjoyed the stir fried veggies in Taiwan, so of course we ordered all of it!

All the greens were prepped the same way, blanched, then sauced, then minced garlic were added.

The ong choi was crunchy, there was a light sauce which heightened the flavor. The garlic added a nice pungency.

The lettuce had what tasted like oyster sauce on it, along with the garlic.

The yam leaves had a texture like spinach, without the "gooeyess", but also had a nice mild sweetness along with the chlorophyllic flavor.

All were quickly blanched so the flavors weren't leached and there was some crispness to things.

And of course, we loved the bamboo shoots.

Crunchy, with a earthy-nuttiness and a hint of sweetness.

This place served Turkey Rice two ways. Sliced and a version more braised.

   The rice was perfect, but the sauce was greasier and milder in poultry flavor than what we'd had earlier and the turkey meat was more chewy/tough as well. 

Overall, we preferred A Hong Shi.

A Lou Shi (阿樓師火雞肉飯)
No. 102 Wufeng North Rd.
East District, Chiayi City, Taiwan

Still, check out the line as we left!

We had to walk thru Wenhua Road Night Market on the way back to the hotel.

And the Missus decided to stop at this charming looking stand for some Douhua - beancurd pudding.

Which She enjoyed.

And of course there was a "show" going on at the Central Plaza that evening as well.......

There's always something happening here I guess!

In an earlier post, I mentioned having problems getting train tickets because of the Qingming Festival (i.e. Tomb Sweeping week). Well, in order to get back to Taipei, I ended up hiring a driver, which in terms of US prices is quite inexpensive. In fact, after doing this car hire, I went ahead and did the same for other "excursions" during our trip. One good thing about having your own driver is that you have greater control of your schedule. So, I timed things so we'd be getting to our hotel in Taipei right at check-in time. This meant that we wouldn't leave Chiayi until after 12.

So, after grabbing a snack at the Hotel, we checked out and stored our bags and decided to take a walk around Chiayi.

There was a kind of rusticness to Chiayi, making it quite different from Taipei and Taichung. Businesses dotted the landscape all along Wenhua and Wufeng Road.

On Wufeng Road we came along this shop and decided to get our caffeine fix.

It turned out to be quite the hipster coffee shop.

The young lady working was so nice and sweet, while also being a bada$$ barista!

She made the Missus's pour over and I got my cold brew.

And she gave us some "treats" to have with our coffee.

River Bird Coffee Roaster (江鳥咖啡- 嘉義吳鳳北路店)
No. 132 Wufeng North Rd.
East District, Chiayi City, Taiwan

After our nice caffeine stop, we decided to stroll on back to the hotel. We stopped to do some shopping (and sampling) along the way.

Right at the center of the city is a fountain that dates back to the Qing Dynasty when Chiayi was the center of the sugar industry. The fountain stands where the city wall stood during the Qing Dyansty. But there's something else that catches your eye.

Yes, it's a baseball player; specifically a pitcher. This is known as the "Kano" statue. The statue is of the late Wu Ming-Chieh, star player of the Kano Baseball Team, the team from Chiayi was chosen to represent "Formosa" in the Japanese High School Baseball Championship in 1931 and against all odds made it to the final, losing in the championship game. Wu Ming-Chieh was the pitcher on that team. It is said that the success of the Kano Team encouraged Taiwanese to play the sport and now baseball is considered to be the national sport of Taiwan. An award winning movie was made about the team in 2014. And this is a wonderful article if you'd like to have more info! Everyone loves an underdog story!

We walked back to the hotel and in a few minutes our driver arrived and we were headed back to Taipei.

Thanks for stopping by!