mmm-yoso!!!

Lunches with JJ - The Crack Shack (Little Italy)

So, now that we have JJ I've been looking at places that are pooch friendly. I quickly noticed something; there are several places that I had actually visited years back, but really weren't too impressed. In those days I would always try make at least two visits before doing a post. These places were pretty much a "one-and-done". So those photos just ended up in the recycle bin. These days, with prices and such, I feel less tied to having to make multiple visits. Plus, with JJ in tow, it makes for additional points of interest, right? I did my one visit to the Crack Shack in Little Italy probably somewhere back in 2015, I recall the portions being large, but not being too impressed with what I'd had and not bothering to return (BTW, even Juniper and Ivy met that same fate as well).

But now, with JJ in tow, perhaps there's a new wrinkle to my priorities. And perhaps the food has improved? Plus, since I go to the Little Italy Mercato almost every Saturday, parking on Ivy Street, this location is in my view every week.

I liked the fact that the place opens at 10am daily, so I decided to see how it would be at 10 on a Sunday. I found parking on Kettner and was surprised how quite things seem. Perhaps folks were still recovering from New Year?

So, it was time to finally return to see how things were. I was greeted as I strolled up to the ordering window by a very cheerful young lady, who also smiled and greeted JJ when she saw him. She was very nice and friendly.

Looking at prices, I was pretty surprised that they hadn't gone up too much since my visit way back when. It looks like about a $2-$3 increase in like 9 years? 

In the end, just wanting an idea of the how the chicken sandwich is compared to what I recalled, I went with the Coop DeVille ($14) and the Fries in Schmaltz ($4.50), which I didn't order last time. JJ and I had a seat overlooking Kettner.

The gentleman who delivered our tray to the table was very nice and even said hello to JJ.....so this place is obviously dog friendly, at least it was on this day. JJ of course, just wanted to play with everyone!

  Man, those were quite a bit of fries! Unfortunately it was over fried and super salty...way too salty to enjoy. I love the richness of schmaltz, which also has a savory component to it; but this was just too salty. I couldn't finish the fries.....

As for the sandwich. Well, the brioche handled the mayo ridden slaw well; I do wish for a bit more acidity and the cabbage was chopped too thick for my taste. More pickles would have also been a nice touch. The batter did well and held up even with the generous amount of slaw.

 Now I understand that Jidori chicken is a bit chewier, but this was very tough and rather leathery. Also, having had my share of Jidori, which flavors differ from region to region, I expected some interesting poultry flavors. None were to be found.

It was a good size sandwich, priced reasonably, though I think the version I had back in 2015 was better! With locations in Las Vegas and the OC, has CS taken on the chain restaurant model?

Though JJ did enjoy the service! The staff was wonderful and it was a nice, sunny, San Diego winter day.

Still, unless my "FOYs" can come up with a recommendation of what to order....and please; no "Mexican Poutine" which is basically pollo asado fries and has no cheese curds! I think I need to find other options to check out.

The Crack Shack
2266 Kettner Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92101
Current Hours:
Sun - Thurs 10am - 10pm
Fri - Sat        10am - 11pm

Juewei Food - A Quick Look

During our last visit to Yomie's I noticed that Juewei had opened. 

So, with Matcha Red Bean Yogurt in hand, we decided to see what was up. Having been to Jue Wei Kitchen in San Gabriel we kinda knew what to expect. And yes, there were all the duck and pig parts in trays in the counter.

Suddenly the prospect of some duck tongue or intestine sounded like a good addition for dinner. I'm not the biggest fan of duck neck, so we'd be passing on that for now. The menu also includes various fried items and like Zhengxin Chicken Steak down the street there were a number of skewered items for sale as well. Though, based on our previous experience with Jue Wei, it was all about the duck and piggy parts. Our idea of getting both duck tongue and intestine was derailed when we saw the prices; each was priced at $79.99 a pound! Yikes!

So, we decided on a small portion of duck intestine, and small orders of pig ear, pig head, and yuba bean curd. The young lady working was really nice; she told the Missus "it is good to try and have a taste since we have only been open for a few days"!

As I thought, we really enjoyed the duck intestine.

It was cartilaginously crunchy; almost hard. Think of super crunchy nankotsu "noodles". It was sneakily numbing-spicy and soon I was actually sweating! We really enjoyed this.

The Pig Ears ($11.99/lb) were cuts a bit thicker than we're used to. You can purchase whole pig ears and chop them yourself if you're up to the task.

Quite crunchy with a good "ma-la" (numbing hot) - sesame oil flavor as well.

The Pig Head ($11.99/lb) was milder in flavor, fairly meaty with crunchy bits.

I do enjoy Yuba Bean Curd Skin ($11.99/lb) and this was decent, crunchy and refreshing.

Mild spice, the sesame oil flavor seemed more upfront, light sweetness, though perhaps a bit on the salty end of the scale.

We had our cold dishes with Pidan (Century Egg) and cold tofu for a nice, light dinner.

We enjoyed checking our Juewei and thought the duck intestines were good.....though was it $79.99 a pound good? Not so sure about that!

Juewei Food
4690 Convoy St. #103
San Diego, CA 92111
Current Hours:
Sun - Thurs 11am - 11pm
Fri - Sat        11am - Midnight

PB Poke House, Fish & Things Poke Bar, and Poke Chop. Does PB Now Stand for "Poke Bowl?"

I know I've mentioned trying new places and getting ideas for places when overhearing conversations. A few months ago, I was having coffee and breakfast at a usual neighborhood stop when I overheard two "bro's" chatting about food. Of course that got my attention. One of them kept on saying that PB was the best 'hood for food in town. Of course, where did he live? Right, you got that. Anyway, he mentioned that there were three poke places in PB he frequents and he even gave them in order of preference. Hmmm....you know, with the traffic, crowds, tourists, and let's not even talk about parking, I rarely get to PB. When I do it's a stop at Trader Joe's on Garnet and maybe head up Ingraham to Gelson's or  and perhaps Wayfarer. Though mornings in the "off-season" aren't too bad and I might make a stop....in fact, I'm waiting for things to settle down a bit before giving La Clochette another try (thanks for the rec' Kathy!).

But poke, eh? I had the idea of trying the three places mentioned. Of course, I wasn't going to push the issue. I've had my share of mediocre poke (at places that can't even spell "poke" - thought that's perhaps an indicator) at those "chi-poke" places. I just waited.

And then it happened a couple of months back, I needed to head out to Mission Boulevard...the Mission Beach side. So, I thought I'd just head up Mission and see if I could snag some parking on the street near one of the two places I had in mind. I really wasn't very confident, but guess what, there was street parking right on Mission across the street from....

PB Poke House:

As I crossed the street, I had a sense of nostalgia overtake me. You see PB Poke House is located here.

Folks who have been in San Diego for a while might recognize the location. Yep, the original location of Da Kine's was upstairs. Man, the memories. I was consulting in San Diego in the late-90's and missing a plate lunch. And at that time Da Kine's was the only show in town. ....

Anyway, back to reality. The shop is fairly small, it has a few tables inside and one outdoors.

The woman working was really friendly. Being more of a old fart basic poke guy, I went with the large Classic Shoyu Poke Bowl ($19.50). My bowl was ready in no time and I headed on home. This looked pretty good. As I opened up the bowl, I decided to set simple overall criteria - if this place was a block or two away, would I get the poke once in a while?

    The fish looked not bad. As I looked at the seaweed salad and surimi salad, then had a taste of the poke, I got full on 8th and B "vibes". The fish was of decent quality, fairly tender, no off flavors. Like 8th and B the fish was highly sauced and on the sweeter end of the spectrum. Not sure why they call this "classic" since it's much sweeter than what I get back "home".

The portion size was fairly generous.

 It might have been a bit much, but was really not bad at all. What was bad was the brown rice which was severely undercooked and hard. Not good eats.

So, the verdict? I guess if PB Poke House was around the corner I might eat here every so often, after all they have Spam Musubi. It's a bit too sweet and over-sauced for me, but the fish seemed of decent quality and the folks working were really friendly!

PB Poke House
4150 Mission Blvd. #145
San Diego, CA 92109
Current Hours:
Daily 11am - 7pm

A couple of weeks later, I decided to see if I could sneak in and find parking at the next place which was right up the street from PB  Poke House. The name of the place......

Fish & Things Poke Bar:

In retrospect, I'm not sure I'd want to have seafood at a place that sells fish and "things"....what kind of things specifically? And after my visit, I did some checking and found that this is a franchise that started in Elk Grove? Just south of Sacramento, not quite the hotbed of fresh seafood in my mind.

Of the three places visited, this was the nicest looking, and had decent indoor and a couple of outdoor tables.

Like the other shops, this was the typical fast-casual set-up.

The menu is pretty large, featuring some cooked dishes, sushi (ahem, rolls that is), and build your own "chi-poke" bowl. 

I went with the Classic (of course) Hawaiian, which seemed like shoyu ahi ($20.95).

My first thought when I opened things up was "what's up with the mac nuts?" The half nuts were just too big for this. The shoyu wasn't overly sweet, but was used quite sparingly. The quality of the fish, while not bad, wasn't to my liking. Too much "sugi" - rubbery connective tissue. The rice was cooked nicely....I forgot to ask about brown rice. I might have been traumatized after my visit to PB Poke House.

 The portion size seemed on the smallish side, but still isn't bad compared to the "manini" 2 ounce portions I've seen at the chi-poke places.

To me second tier poke. And I'm sorry to say, second tier and raw fish is something I really don't want to eat.

Fish & Things Poke Bar
740 Hornblend St.
San Diego, CA 92109
Current Hours:
Mon - Sat 1130am - 8pm
Sunday 1130am - 730pm

After this, I decided to give it a rest and kinda left things as is. Until recently, when the Missus requested an item from a nearby Patisserie (more on that revisit later). Which just happened to be on the block right next to....

Poke Chop:

Which is another mini chain with several locations and another coming soon in Mission Valley. According to the "surfer bro'" this was the best of the three. I'd been having some luck finding parking in PB and this day was no different as I got a nice spot on Gresham, which would my "escape from PB" via Grand quite easy.

I walked on over and was crossing the street at 11 when the place opens.

By the time I crossed the street and walked in, there were already folks in line ahead of me.

Looking at the menu, it was obvious this was one of those "chi-poke" places. Pick your fish, pick your stuffs, pick your sauce, etc.....

It was interesting listening to what the guys in front of me ordered, lots of salmon and spicy tuna, mayo based sauces, won ton chips......

As for me, well the marinated tuna wasn't ready, and the nice fellow working the front of house suggested I get the tuna, I took a medium bowl ($17.50), with both the Sweet Sesame and Ginger Shoyu on the side. Which is what I got, without all the other "chi-poke" stuffs, getting just ginger, and furikake, along with brown rice.

When I opened things up at home I had a pause.

    Good lord, this looked totally like "saku", Carbon Monoxide treated fish. So much sugi, so dry looking, I was kinda not wanting to eat this. I tried a piece and it was mushy, yet chewy, with a metallic tinge. Yikes. 

On the positive side, the brown rice was nutty and tender, but man, that sweet sesame was syrupy and super sweet, the shoyu tasted fine, but even that couldn't hide the quality, or lack thereof of the fish. The ginger-shoyu was fine but could not hide the very low quality of the fish. Egads, it reminded me of the first time I learned about "saku", fish treated with Carbon Monoxide for color and preservation all those years ago.

Well, if you want to go the "chi-poke" route with a large portion of saku fish...well, this is for you. As for me, even if it were right across the street, I would not eat there. But heck, if its your thing have at it.

Poke Chop
1404 Garnet Ave.
San Diego, CA 92109
Current Hours:
Daily 11am - 9pm

As for me, well we're headed "home" in a few months, and in the interim I'm going to HFS if I just need to get some poke!

Honolulu - The Crack Seed Store (Kaimuki), Musubi Cafe Iyasume (Ala Moana), and Other "Stuffs"

**** I hope you don't mind another Hawai'i post. Not a whole lot of food in this one.

On this trip home the Missus really enjoyed Herself. She got some hiking ummm walking (Her definition) and we visited places I hadn't been to in decades. We also managed to stay 2 nights in "town" (Honolulu), which I really enjoyed.

But first, the Missus needed Her Li Hing Mango fix and since we were headed to town there was one place She really loves, it's in my old neighborhood, where I grew up. Located on Koko Head Avenue is the Crack Seed Store, which I included in the post linked above. I was also interested in visiting because I had found out that the original owner, Mr. Young, who BTW, ran the place for over 40 years had retired. Thankfully, he did find new owners, who according to this article are also in the same business and use the same distributors. Mr. Young also shared his "secret" recipes with them so everyone could get the same stuffs they had always enjoyed.

Anyway, we drove up, there was no street parking on Koko Head, but I managed to score some parking in the lot behind the businesses. A guy pulled out of his stall as I was turning in and guess what? He also still had over an hour of parking left on the meter. Double score!

There were several different li hing mango versions, but the Missus zeroed in on the one She likes. Forgot to take a photo of that, but here's a plethora of li hing mui.

Of course the Missus went and opened up the bag and started chowing down on it as we walked to the car.

She said it's just as good as She remembered! Awesome!

Crack Seed Store
1156 Koko Head Ave.
Honolulu, HI 96816

It was still fairly early, so we decided to walk around a bit.

Looking at the businesses, when did Kaimuki get so hipster?

The Missus enjoyed this shop.

The name sounded familiar and yes indeed, the owner told us they used to be in Ward Center, but moved here in 2021.

We had fun buying gifts for folks back in San Diego. And, we even got something for ourselves.

Red Pineapple
1151 12th Ave.
Honolulu, HI 96816

We then headed over to Ala Moana Center. We were staying at the Ala Moana Hotel. You know, I'd never stayed there. There was just no way I wanted to stay in Waikiki and I didn't think the Missus would  go for the Pagoda, so Ala Moana Hotel was it. 

Anyway, it was too early to check in, so we went to the mall to check things out. It was Chinese (Lunar) New Year so Ala Moana Center was all decked out.

And as often happens; we saw something that reminded us of Sammy.

The Missus did Her usual tea shopping at Lupicia.

After which, it seemed like a good time to get something small for lunch. We'd had a big breakfast back in Ewa Beach in the morning.

Thanks to fellow long time blogger Kathy, who now does the fabulous Onolicious Hawaii blog, I found the post on the Lanai, in the location old Shirokiya (we miss you so) store, in her guide to Where to Eat at Ala Moana Center. We enjoyed the Lanai because the places seemed more "local" focused. And there is a location of Musubi Cafe Iyasume there!

And we felt that two musubi would be enough for a very light lunch.

So we got the Avocado-Bacon-Egg-Spam.

The rice was nicely cooked, but in spite of the presence of my favorite canned meat product; the bacon was soggy and rubbery and there wasn't enough  avocado to really make a difference.

We did like the Kimchi and Spam version though. I mean; kimchi....Spam.....

Salty-sour-a bit of spice, say no more. I'm looking forward to having this again.

Musubi Cafe Iyasume (In the Lanai - Ala Moana Center)
1450 Ala Moana Blvd.
Honolulu, HI 96814

I had parked on the second floor of Ala Moana Center on the Mahukona Street side where there's the bridge to the hotel. I walked on over and went to see if our room was ready; which it was! Yes!

In another funny moment, the nice young man at the check in counter asked me if I've stayed with them before. I told him no, it was too expensive to stay here when I was young; though I did go to Rumors (a legendary night club in the hotel that closed in 2017) quite a bit in my younger days. He told me, "awesome, you ever heard of the Point After?" I told him I used to go there and Bobby McGee's a lot too. He then told me "my Grandfather used to go to the Point After a lot." Aiyah! Suddenly I'm "Ji-chan"?

Anyway, our room had a decent view.

We had a nice nap, then decided to take a walk before heading out to dinner. We strolled on over to Ala Moana Park for a pre-dinner walk.

As a whole it was pretty mellow on this late afternoon.

Then the strangest thing happened; I heard someone calling my name. I turned around and didn't recognize this older fellow. He identified himself and holy smokes! He was my best friend from Elementary, Intermediate, and High School, thru the mid 90's. He lived a half block from me in Kaimuki! Even though by the time I left the islands I had a new group of friends, I'd still drop by and talk story and stuff. He was the first of us to get a driver's license and used to drive his grandfather's car. We used to go to Keyhole at Ala Moana park, go swim, have some, ahem, liquid refreshment, all that kind of stuff. He still comes here several times a week to walk and still lives in the same Kaimuki house he grew up in. Makes me wonder if I would have been the same had I never left the islands? He caught me up on some of the folks that were in our "group"; some have already passed on. Everyone from that group except me ended up in the trades; painters, refrigeration, sheet metal, it's not a easy life. He still has the same phone number, which I recited from memory. It's been almost three decades and I'm not sure how he recognized me? I'll need to call him when I'm back again.

It was turning out to be an interesting trip.

Thanks for stopping by!

Don Chicken (Encinitas) and Cal Pacific Orchid Farm

Recently, I was up in the Encinitas area and decided to make a couple of stops on my way back home. The First was to the Cal Pacific Orchid Farm which I had heard about from some folks I know who live in North County and also read this on Hidden San Diego. I decided to stop by. The huge greenhouse is located off of Orpheus Avenue which parallels the I-5. It was interesting finding the place as there's a discreet single lane driveway from the street which heads up to the greenhouse and the small parking spaces.

Many of the beautiful plants are in lovely arrangements and the staff are so friendly. The gentleman working that day was very nice and spent almost a half hour chatting with me. My grandparents on Maui grew orchids and my Mom had a couple of plants when we lived in Kaimuki. For some reason, I thought that orchids needed a rather humid environment to grow, but the gentleman went through some of the various species, how they thrive in San Diego, that they do like moisture, but not too much water and not too much direct sun....which is why we saw so many in the Cloud Forest in Ecuador.

The gentleman obviously enjoys his job and has a real passion for orchids.

One thing I found interesting is that Cal Pacific will "board" your plants if they are not doing well, not blooming, or in need of additional care!

The folks here are wonderful. I'm going to make sure to get my orchids from them!

Cal Pacific Orchid Farm
1122 Orpheus Ave.
Encinitas, CA 92024
Hours:
Mon - Sat 9am - 4pm
Closed on Sundays

Of course the next item on the agenda was......well, what's for lunch? A while back, someone, I don't recall who, asked me if I had been to Don Chicken. I looked thru my emails and searched through my comments but was not able to find that recommendation. Well, you know me, could I fight off the temptation of some "KFC"? Probably not. Especially when it's just a ten minute drive away.

Don Chicken is located off El Camino Real in one of the many strip malls lining the street. I arrived a few minutes before opening, so I headed over to Baker and Olive a few doors down to take a look at things.

The open sign lit up just as I started heading back toward the restaurant. Don Chicken is yet another chain from Korea, though my friends told me that the chain is really popular in Ho Chi Minh City? Which, for some reason made me think of Crispy Chicken n’ Tomato which declares itself the most popular KFC in Japan.

On this day, the place was a one man operation, at least while I was there. The menu features Oven Baked and Fried Chicken in various sauces. The specials include bulgogi, tteok-boki, a chicken sandwich, and even katsu. But, since this was a KFC joint, I was just going to get the Fried Wings. The wings only come in orders of 10, a bit much for me, but at least it was priced at $15.99, which was much cheaper per piece that the $8.99 I paid for 4 wings at BHC recently.

And after a short wait, my wings were ready.

 The wings came with a rather large order of Mul Kimchi, crisp, not overly sweet, a good palate cleanser for fry-o-lated foods.

As for the wings, well these weren't overly large, which I prefer as the skin/batter to meat ratio to more to my liking. The meat was moist and tender, no dark areas and no off flavors.

   The batter was somewhat crunchy, but it really got soggy quickly. The seasoning seemed quite mild, but I had a raging thirst after eating 6 of these wings. I took the remaining wings home and even tried to revive in the air fryer, but that didn't work too well. I'm thinking that if I tried this again it would have to be with some kind of sauce; but based on experience with other KFC chains of this ilk, I'm going to assume it's going to be too sweet and heck, it already gets soggy-mushy too quickly anyway.

So perhaps I'll just give it a rest? If you've visited Don Chicken what was your meal like?

Don Chicken
215 S. El Camino Real Suite G
Encinitas, CA 92024
Current Hours:
Mon - Sat 11am - 9pm
Sunday 3pm - 9pm

Zhengxin Chicken Steak (Convoy), a Quick Look

This was just a spur of the moment stop, but I thought I'd share it with you all.......

We were driving down Convoy, when I noticed that Zhengxin Chicken Steak, which I had just noticed last month had opened! I'd neither heard nor read anything about that. I pointed the place out to the Missus who knew it was a major chain from China and since that crazy parking lot (actually, most of the parking lots on Convoy fit that category these days as the bike lanes have diminished street parking) was barely half full. It wasn't meal time, but the Missus wanted to have a look.

As we entered, I pointed out the menu behind the counter, with all the fried goodies, but the Missus was focused on something else.

All the skewers.... The young man working was so very nice and explained that the skewers were fried up and the special "seasoning powder" was used on them.

We decided to order a couple as a "snack". I was told about a 6-7 wait, so I had a seat, only one table was occupied at this off hour, while the Missus went to check out Iceskimo next door.

When my order was ready, the young man actually walked out and handed it to me! Such a nice guy. He also asked if we wanted "extra powder". I told him that we'd try things out as ordered and if we liked it we'd be back. He laughed and said "I hope you enjoy it!"

And so, arriving home for our afternoon snack. We had ordered Chicken Skin (of course), Gizzards, Lamb, all priced at $1.99 and a Chicken Wing, which I thought was strangely priced at $5.99, but was huge.

The scent of cumin was clearly present.

I had thought that the Chicken Skin wouldn't hold out on the drive home, but it was still pleasantly textured, the powder has a bit of smoky-mild spice, and we really enjoyed it. It just carried the flavor of the spices well.

The lamb was gamey, cuminy, and fairly tender, quite good. The spices really came thru well on the crunchy-poultry-fried gizzards. While the Missus enjoyed the huge wing, I thought it a bit on the tough side and somewhat bland. Though it could be that I had the lamb right before trying the wing. At $5.99, I'll probably pass on that in the future.

And I agree with the young man; some extra seasoning powder would be nice; especially since none of this was especially salty.

This was a nice, pleasant surprise. We really didn't expect much from yet "another chain", but we like the flavoring and the service was wonderful. I'll return to try the "chicken steak" soon; though I don't think the Missus will want to deviate from the skewers. 

I know, I usually do multiple visits before doing a post, but this was a pleasant surprise so I thought I'd share it with you. So, hopefully you don't mind a post on Zhengxin Chicken "stick".

And, if you do drop by Zhengxin Chicken Steak, let me know what you think!

Zhengxin Chicken Steak
4609 Convoy St. #C
San Diego, CA 92111

Thanks for stopping by!

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.

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Crispy Chicken n' Tomato (La Jolla/UTC)

Back in the comments of my "Rebuilding the Rotation" post FOY "Peter" mentioned that the La Jolla Village Square location of Padadak was being replaced by something called Crispy Chicken n' Tomato. Peter kindly included a link which indicated that the chain was the #1 Korean Fried Chicken Chain in Japan. Is that something to brag about? Hmmm.....sort of like saying Ajisen Ramen is the #1 Ramen Chain in China?

Anyway, a couple of weeks back, not sure on what to grab for lunch I decided to check the place out. I did the Google search and found that all the Padadak locations in San Diego, save the San Marcos location, though some would say that's not really San Diego had been replaced by Crispy Chicken.

The one good thing about this mall is that since the trolley stop was built there always seems to be ample parking. I arrived right at opening and sauntered on in.

The friendly young lady was an absolute joy. I placed my takeout order and was told there would be a 15 minute wait. The young lady mentioned putting in an online order, making sure I knew there wasn't any additional charges.

Of course, I couldn't help but notice the #1 Korean Fried Chicken Chain in Japan sign.

One quick note. Since when is Hiroshima in "China"? Last I heard, Hiroshima was in the Chūgoku region of Japan? Did I miss something in Geography class?

Anyway, I took a short walk and returned to pick up my order.

I had wanted to just see how the wings were without all the various sauces just to get my bearings, so I ordered the 8 piece wings Original ($14.50). A look at the fries had me thinking that they would not hold up well, even on the short trip back to the office, so I got the Onion Rings with Truffle Salt ($7).

    That's what things looked like when I opened up the boxes back at the office. I did a quick taste of the tomato topping which was super bland, you couldn't even really taste tomato. The version of Mul Kimchi provided was weird as it had a real strong anise/clove flavor that wasn't very pleasant.

As for the Onion Rings with Truffle Salt....well, the color was very dark...maybe black truffle salt??? Ahem, no, it was burnt, the breading bitter.

    And not a hint of truffle flavor to be found.

As for the wings; well, they did not hold up real well during the 10 minute trip back to the office. I found the batter to be thicker and the wings were fairly evenly coated... the pieces that weren't overly soggy were more crunchy than crisp, the seasoning also mild, apparently you do need some kind of sauce on this. The wings were on the larger side and were quite moist.

Looking over the website, I noticed that Crispy Chicken had lunch specials where you could order a bowl, yakisoba, bulgogi, or like I did the Chicken Plate, which comes with both the boneless chicken and chickens wings, corn slaw, veggie fried rice, and one of three choices of sauce for $14.50. So, I went with the Soy Honey I ordered online and my lunch was ready when I arrived.

Of course you know what what stated on the takeout box, right?

I gotta say, the price to portion ratio was quite good for these days of inflated prices.

    The wings had held up better this time. I tried the sides first. The corn slaw was terrible, the "dressing" was really watery and this lacked flavor. Very little corn, you might as well just give me raw coleslaw mix.

The fried rice on the other hand was not bad. The rice was nicely coated, decent, simple, straightforward soy sauce flavors. It was my favorite item of the day.

The boneless chicken was served in fairly hefty chunks.

    The batter had peeled away from two of the pieces, which had been turned face down in the box. The sauce was not overly sweet, but I still would have preferred a bit more saltiness, this was much milder than the versions at other places. The chunks of chicken were on the dry and tough side.

    I'm not going to beat a dead horse about that Mul Kimchi. I just don't care for the flavor.

The wings had held up much better this time and definitely did better with a sauce. Though the wings weren't evenly coated really paring down the impact of the already mild soy-honey. Perhaps I should have ordered the "Monster" sauce, after all, from my experience Japanese don't like super spicy food and you know...this is the #1 blah, blah, blah, blah......

In the end, this might be my least favorite of the four KFC chains in San Diego. Though I'm wondering what it would taste like in "Hiroshima, China"?

Crispy Chicken n’ Tomato
8657 Villa La Jolla Dr.
San Diego, CA 92037
Current Hours:
Open Daily 11am - 10pm

Saturday Stuffs - Ban Lao Becoming So Saap, Boiling Passion is Now Kanpai BBQ & Shabu, Boston Market (Balboa) Becoming California Fish Grill, and Other "Stuffs"

Just some odds and ends for a quiet Saturday.

Ban Lao Becoming So Saap:

In my post on doing takeout from Mekong Cuisine "FOY" An mentioned if I'd heard that So Saap was taking over the Ban Lao spot in City Heights? Whoa, no I hadn't heard about that. Last I saw,  Ban Lao had taken over the Que Huong space. And that was just a couple of years back! So, after doing my usual Saturday errands, I decided to head on over. And wouldn't you know it.

I hadn't even had the chance to visit them at the "new" location! Damn you Covid! Folks that I know who've been to So Saap's Market Street location haven't been overly impressed! Ban Lao was one of the few places where they'd actually make what I consider to be Lao Style Beef Larb. That would be raw beef with beef bile.

4134 University Ave
San Diego, CA 92105

Thanks for letting me know about this An! I really appreciate it. I don't think our little blog would still be around all these years without thoughtful folks like you!

Boiling Passion is Now Kanpai BBQ & Shabu:

Speaking of my visit to Mekong and few years back, Boiling Passion occupied that space. They then moved to a smaller space in the strip mall. When I took a glance at the shop I noticed that it was now Kanpai BBQ & Shabu.

First thing I wondered was if this was an offshoot of Kanpai in Chula Vista? Second thing I noticed was that they were on soft opening mode with only Shabu Shabu...."BBQ Coming Soon"? I guess this is really a very "soft....." opening?

3904 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Boston Market (Balboa) Becoming California Fish Grill:

On my way back from Nijiya and 99 Ranch Market, I decided to stop in at the Walgreens near the corner of Genesee and Balboa. When I parked, I noticed that Boston Market was gone.

  Man, this location of Boston Market had been here forever! I decided to walk on over to see what was up....hoping that perhaps an interesting eating establishment was coming to this location. I should have known better. It's a chain swap out. At least it's California Fish Grill which claims serve only "Responsibly Sourced Seafood". You can read about Cathy's visit to one of their locations here.

5502 Balboa Ave.
San Diego, CA 92111

Other "Stuffs":

We have a ton of leftovers from various meals, especially our last short Road Trip (posts coming soon). For some reason, I've really been enjoying the leftovers.

This past Tuesday, I was walking out of Clairemont Coffee with my cold brew when something stopped me dead in my tracks. It was a pretty rare sight in San Diego....a rainbow!

For some reason I was so touched by this sight. It reminded me of "home", you know:

"Where I live, there are rainbows
With life in the laughter of morning and starry nights

Where I live, there are rainbows
And flowers full of colors and birds filled with song"

It just brought a smile to my face....and it just brightened my entire day!

So, here's hoping you all have a wonderful and bright weekend!

Jollibee (Cathy's visits)

mmm-yoso!!! , a food blog, is being written by Cathy while Kirk and His Missus are on the road. 

Jollibee, a chain originating in the Philippines, is the largest and fastest growing Asian restaurant company across the globe, with 1500 locations (70 in North America).  Three are in San Diego County.   Even though burgers are on the menu, Jollibee is primarily known for its "Chickenjoy"-marinated, hand breaded chicken which is never greasy and always crisp and juicy.   Each location has a Jolly Bee greeter at the door. 
 There are some specials near the ordering area as well as online if you pre-order.  

The restaurant is always clean, ordering is efficient.  As soon as you begin, there is another person or two listening and beginning to gather your choices.  By the time you pay, a tray or 'To-Go' bag is waiting.  You do have to fill your soda from the machine.
 A salty brown gravy is included with each chicken order.  That's a pineapple juice drink ($3.49) on the tray, which was filled from behind the counter.
  A three piece meal with one side -adobo rice- and beverage from the machine ($11.99).  Adobo rice is fried rice with pork.

Adobo is a method of cooking in the Philippines.  It is a braising of the 'protein' (although you can make adobo vegetables) in a marinade of five items: vinegar, garlic, bay leaf, soy sauce and peppercorns.
 The two piece combination with palabok ($11.99).  Palabok is rice noodles topped with a garlic-pork-shrimp sauce topped with sliced hard boiled egg; a really nice side dish.
 We also ordered the 'Limited Edition' fried pie ($2.99) which is coconut pineapple-large shreds of sweet coconut and chunky pieces of tangy pineapple in a flaky, buttery crust. The 'regular' pie (peach mango) is always satisfying.  
 On another visit, I picked up two Deluxe Chicken Sandwiches ($5.99) with a side of 'crispy fries', which remained crispy on the drive home.    "Deluxe" means the sandwich has mayonnaise, lettuce and tomato.  It is served on a brioche bun.  As you can see, there was also a peach mango pie. 
 The chicken can be regular or spicy and regular is great-meaty, juicy, crispy and very large.  Packets of Cholula are available and compliment the flavor if you change your mind and want spicy.  I'm not crazy about brioche buns, since they basically don't absorb sauces (or juice) but this was toasted and fresh and not overly bready.

Jollibee has consistently great service and serves consistently great, fresh food.  An excellent chain. 

Soo wrote about Jollibee in 2021. cc wrote a couple of  Jollibee posts more than ten years ago.

Jollibee 8436 Mira Mesa Blvd San Diego, CA 92126 (858) 800-3130  Open daily 9-10 Website