mmm-yoso!!!

Road Trip (During Covid-19) - Cocktails from the Good Lion, Sama Sama, Handlebar Coffee (Santa Barbara), and Morro Bay

After dinner at the Black Sheep we headed down State Street all the way to the "Funk Zone" area. It was way too crowded, even on a Sunday night, so we decided to head back to the motel room.

About two blocks down; the Missus and I looked at each other...….we still wanted a "nightcap" (or two). I recalled the place right under "The Earth Without Art is Just EH" sign, a cocktail bar named the Good Lion. The outdoor tables were nicely separated and we decided to stop here. The Server was really friendly and reminded us that the current law required us to order some food. Right next door was a restaurant that was on the "list" I'd presented to the Missus before our trip, an Indonesian Restaurant named Sama Sama and they had partnered with the Good Lion to provide food. So we decided to order an item from the menu.

The Missus ordered a "Good Toddy" a warm cognac and spiced rum drink that She said warmed Her up nicely.

I got an Oaxacan Old Fashion.

The first one was kind of on the weak side....so of course I ordered another, which was a bit stiffer and I enjoyed more.

While sitting a very friendly pooch wearing a couple of LED lighted collars walked on up.....she was soooo sweet and friendly, just asking to be pet. Her name was Lexi, I wish I took a photo of her.

Meanwhile, our food from Sama Sama arrived. We had ordered the Crispy Rice Salad.

A bit like Nam Khao, except milder in flavor and the rice was very light and crisp. Not very spicy, the Missus enjoyed the fried egg....it was a nice "dessert" of sorts. Really balanced flavors; cilantro,  fish sauce, salty-savory sausage. Even though we would have enjoyed some pork skin in this, I'd gladly it again.

We enjoyed the service, our waters were constantly refilled, the servers really made an effort to keep folks happy. It was a nice way to end the evening.

The Good Lion
1212 State St.
Santa Barbara, CA 93101

Sama Sama Kitchen
1208 State St.
Santa Barbara, CA 93101

We headed back to our room and fell asleep. Though the rooms were a bit dated and the walls thin; I could hear people talking and all of the street noise.

The next morning we woke and checked out at around 7 am and headed off....first stopping to refuel and grab some coffee from Handlebar Coffee

The Missus, the coffee snob, was disappointed that even though they roasted their own beans; that they didn't do pour over; so She got a double espresso, I got an Americano.

And then we were off to our next destination.

Handlebar Coffee Roasters
2720 De La Vina St.
Santa Barbara, CA 93105

We got on 154 West, then the 101 North, then the1, and made good time to our next destination. It was a place that I always wanted to check out....mainly for one thing.

It was still misty when we got to the village of Morro Bay. We easily found parking and started walking down Front Street. We decided to stop into this kinda touristy looking fish shack and shop.

And I saw something that I hadn't had since we visited Vancouver; salmon candy.

The really friendly young man provided samples and even though it was a bit more fishy than what I'd had before; I got some Salmon Candy. We always bring along a good sized ice chest on long road trips so we could purchase items like this.

Giovanni's Fish Market And Galley
1001 Front St.
Morro Bay, CA 93442

From here we headed south and walked down the Embarcadero. There were many shops; but we didn't see any tourists; just a few locals walking their dogs or having coffee and also other "residents".

It was still quite foggy as we walked down the street window shopping. Though we could hear the barks and honks from seals.

There are quite a few memorials along the waterfront.....

I recall seeing this shop and telling the Missus, "I hope they don't get folks orders wrong....."

We ended up stopping and getting Frankie's "cousin" some treats.

We stopped at a couple shops that were open.

And walked all the way down to Tideland Park before turning around and heading back toward the car.

By now, the fog had started burning off; giving me a view of what I came here to see; Morro Rock.

The drifting fog gave the volcanic plug an air of mystery. We could also see the platform where all the sea lions were hanging out on.

Of course there's always that one fellow who has to do his own thing......

All while under the watchful eye of this one.

We'd enjoyed this stop; it was quite relaxing, the views were nice.....I'm not sure when the area is busy or if it's always this relaxed. Also not sure how the food is in the area; perhaps one day we'll spend a night.

For now it was time to head on out to our destination for the next couple of nights.

Thanks for stopping by!

Amsterdam - Rijsttafel at Indonesian Kitchen

It was already dark when we arrived in Amsterdam. Somehow we found our way to the fantastic apartment we were staying at. We enjoyed the location, walking distance to much of Amsterdam, yet in more of a residential area in the Jordaan. In other words, you wouldn't be smelling the "cash crop" while walking to the corner grocery, if you know what I mean. Our hosts were amazing; they left us beverages and water....and got the Missus hooked on Stroopwafels, even showing Her the correct way to have them with your tea/coffee. We were asked what dining plans we had for our stay. I'd made two reservations for dinner, but not for the eve of our arrival. I mentioned wanting to try Rijsttafel ("Rice Table") the product of Dutch Colonialism in Indonesia. Our host quickly got on the phone and made us reservations at his favorite spot; named Indonesian Kitchen.

It was about a 20 minute walk from the apartment. Which wasn't bad. The Missus thought it was rather cold, but after Tromsø I thought it felt downright balmy. The tiny restaurant is located on the lower level along Herengracht.

It's quite a discreet location, especially at night. We basically found it because of the menu posted along the sidewalk.

The place was indeed packed, but tucked alongside the wall was a small two-top with a reserved sign on it. Our table. Because of the tight confines, I was very discreet with regards to taking photos. The last thing I wanted to do was interrupt anyone's meal.

Of course we went with the Rijstaffel. I was later told that the portions here were on the smaller side, but this was more than enough food for us. I was also told that the chef here used to work at Amsterdam's only Michelin starred Indonesian Restaurant.

I started with a Bintang, which predictably tasted like Heineken.

The meal started off with three appetizers. This might have been our favorite part of the meal, especially the scallops which were perfectly seared, still tender and moist inside. And the whitefish which was almost buttery.

The mango salad was refreshing. The peanuts really added that nice earthiness to the dish, cutting the sweet-acidity.

Next up was a fish soup, which was fine. I expected a bit more spiciness and sour tones.

But for some reason we found this to be rather bland.

Next up was a big bowl of rice and the first foursome of dishes arrived.

The Beef Rendang finally had the chili kick I was looking for; the lamb chops were perfectly cooked, still slightly rare in the middle, but the sweet soy just overwhelmed the dish...much too sweet. The chicken curry was quite bland. The second beef dish was pretty mild as well.

The second foursome arrived a few seconds later.

The item on the bottom left was delicious, a bitter vegetable in a wonderful dressing. The prawns were a bit over-cooked but the spicy sauce was indeed nice and spicy, and it had been seasoned quite well.

The vegetable curry that accompanied the dish was pretty bland; though the flavor of the veggies shown thru.

Service was wonderful, friendly and very pleasant. We'd end up taking most of this with us and had it for lunch the next day.

Indonesian Kitchen
Herengracht 287
Amsterdam, The Netherlands

We were glad to have been able to try out some Indonesian food during our all too short visit to Amsterdam.

Amsterdam itself is quite amusing. We really got a kick out of the signage and some of the sometimes oddball things we saw. The Missus could not stop laughing at the blanket placed over the student depicted in the sculpture of the Dutch Teacher and Politician Theo Thijssen off Brouwersgracht. I guess they wanted to make sure the young lad didn't get cold.

Some of the shops were also quite adorable.

This one is called the Cow "Museum"....which was actually a shop.

 

We got back to the apartment, the Missus set to work making a cup of tea which was nicely provided and of course those Stroopwafels......

Tomorrow was going to be a busy day.......

Thanks for stopping by!

Borneo Kalimantan Cuisine and Some LA Museum Eats

Today Ed (from Yuma) is finishing up his posts about a recent trip to LA. Tomorrow Kirk or Cathy will be posting about something different. That's what happens here at mmm-yoso!!!

Tina and I had a good time in LA. We saw interesting and sometimes amazing stuff in the museums, but this is a food blog not an art blog, so I’ll mostly focus on food. But I do want to give a brief shout out for the Mapplethorpe exhibits in both LACMA and the Getty. He was an incredibly talented photographer who took pictures of all sorts of things, even things like this:

Now let's look in a different direction:

Since we were comped two days of free breakfast buffets at the Hilton (don't ask) and had a lot of leftovers, we ate very little at the museums. But a lunch at an informal café at the Getty was pretty tasty. I had a half portion of a beef, radicchio, and horseradish sandwich with a cup of vegetable minestrone:

Really quite good. The soup was packed with vegetables and had the classic Italian flavors. I was quite taken with the sandwich – interesting combination of flavors. Tina's sandwich seemed more conventional to me, but she liked it:

The next day at the Huntington, we were feeling a bit peckish from walking around the grounds, so we went to the pavilion at the Chinese garden:

and both had a nice jasmine iced tea and a red bean paste stuffed pastry:

However, the main focus of this post is the meal we had at Borneo Kalimantan Cuisine on Garfield in Alhambra:

This small restaurant says it's the only restaurant in the entire United States featuring the cuisine of the Indonesian part of the island of Borneo. It has a couple tables in the front and then a row of tables along the wall to the back of the restaurant:

The menu had a page of appetizers, a page of soups and curries, a page of rice dishes, and two pages focusing on noodles. We tried to order some variety.

Our server was exceptionally friendly and welcoming, and after we ordered, he set our utensils on the table – two small plates, two forks, two soup bowls, and two soup spoons:

Our first dish, from the rice section, was Ayam Muda Goreng Penyet, which the menu described as Indonesian spiced chicken fried Singapore style:

The fried chicken had no breading but the outside was cooked crackly crisp. Its interior was moist, and while the chicken was very hot, there was no trace of oiliness. Tina and I also enjoyed the nicely sweet and mildly hot chili sauce. A perfect match with the bird.

The steamed rice was fine, and it came in very handy with the second item to arrive at the table, Borneo Oxtail Curry Soup:

While the menu said the coconut curry was spicy, most of the spicing was of the aromatic and sweet variety – a reminder that Borneo is in the same region as the fabled Spice Islands. There was one large piece of tail and two or three smaller pieces. All very tender and mildly beefy. The soup had some scallions and cabbage pieces, but my favorite of the vegetables were the chunks of fresh tomato that provided an acidic contrast to the creamy sweetness of the soup. Of course we ladled the soup into our bowls with the rice.

One page of the menu had been devoted solely to Borneo style homemade egg noodles, which could be thin, medium, or thick and chewy. Each type of noodle could be matched up with one of three types of toppings. We decided on Mie Karet Hakka, chewy egg noodles served Hakka style with red pork, marinated egg, fish ball, and fish cake:

The eggs were tasty, a good upgrade from regular boiled eggs. The few small fish ball halves and the plentiful slices of fish cake provided a nice light seafood flavor. The red pork lacked the porkiness and richness of good char siu, but all of these things – as well as some scallions, fried shallots, bean sprouts, and a thin stalk or two of gai lan (?) – were really just flavorings for the wonderful kinky chewy toothsome egg noodles:

A great noodle dish. It was served with a small bowl of seafood flavored broth on the side:

At first, we ate the noodles dry, sometimes dipping items into the broth, but toward the end of the meal we poured all of the broth into the noodle bowl:

It was good to the last drop.

We enjoyed the meal a lot. The clean bright restaurant, the friendly server and the 90s pop playing in the background created a pleasant atmosphere. The dishes we tried were various and tasty. Though the place is cash only, you gotta like the price tag:

Road Trip: Saturday Indonesian Food Fair - Duarte (LA)

Gravitational force is interesting....it can be defined in very simple physical terms as the force of mutual attraction which pulls two bodies together. Perhaps I'm stretching it a bit, maybe taking a bit too much "metaphoric license" per se...... but over the years, and in my travels, I've noticed another gravitational force of sorts. Cultural gravitation is what I called it. It is the invisible, undeniable force that our culture, whether by nature or nurture, has on us. It's much stronger for those of us who are far away from our original "home".  And for many, there are those items which bring on that inner, nostalgic warmth that is at the center of this gravitational pull. And if you're like me, food is that source, it marks births, deaths, birthdays, reunions.....memories of friends and families. It is that center. Over the years, I've seen that gravitational force in action. What else could explain the folks waiting in the parking lot of a Chinese Restaurant on Buford Highway in Atlanta, some having driven from as far off as Birmingham, arriving at 7am in the morning, waiting for Dim Sum. Or seeing more Chinese on one Sunday, shopping and eating at a mall in Phoenix, than I knew lived in Arizona. There are celebrations and events that provide that "center" such as festivals. And, there are even regularly scheduled events, which provide the weekly comfort food fix, allowing one to face another week. The weekend Wat Thai Temple Food Court was one of those weekly events. And, the amazing, OC Food blogger supreme, Elmo mentioned another, the Indonesian Food Fair. That post was back in 2006, and I had added it to my list......but much like the Wat Thai Temple food court, much to my disappointment, the Indonesian Food Fair bit the dust. Whether, like the Wat Thai Temple, it was NIMBY-ism, or not, I don't recall. And if it was, I don't know if I blame them. We live on a nice quiet street.There's a Church right down the road, and a couple of times a year, they have events, which we don't mind, it's kind of cute and quaint. But if they had them every weekend......I'm not so sure. 

But luckily for me, right before a recent solo trip back to LA, I went over to Chowhound's LA board and saw this. Like a Phoenix, the Indonesian Food Fair had risen from the ashes. (And if you're wondering, Wat Thai Temple's Food Court is back in action, though on Sunday's only.) Which is how I found myself parking my car in front of the Duarte Inn on a recent Saturday morning.

   

I had to crack up...... I had done some work in the area during the late 90's, and one of the guys I worked with just loved the El Pollo Loco which faces the street in front of the motel.

The food fair starts at 10am, and if today was a good example, it is pretty small and intimate. On this day, only 5 booths were present.

 

But let me tell you.......the fragrances were amazing. Unfortunately for me, it was not a Siren's song, but the wonderful scents that drew me close.

 

And it didn't help that everyone was so nice and patient with me......a total neophyte with regards to Indonesian Food.

 

Most everything is steam table goods....but don't let that dissuade you.

 

One of the ladies ordered like seven plates from this booth.

 

And the young lady working this booth was so very nice and patient. I just kinda stood in the background until the ladies were done, and the young lady explained all the dishes to me.... needless to say, I was impressed.

So what about the food? Let me first say, the colors are a feast for the eyes...and the smells are a feast for the nose. And overall, some of it like the "yellow rice" (Nasi Kuning) I couldn't get enough of.

 

And who doesn't love a boiled egg?

 

We found some of the offerings to be amazingly mild, in spite of the scents.

But this eggplant was killer:

 

And I felt like I should post the photo of this on my wall.

 

I found the Nasi Gudeg (simmered jackfruit) to be a bit too sweet....must be the palm sugar.

 

But the "spicy fish" was the best thing on the plate....which was not too spicy for us, in spite of looks.

 

Again, don't be like me and be seduced by all the smells, you should let Elmo be your guide....and the folks here are nice.

Indonesian Food Festival - Saturday 10am - 2pm
Duarte Inn
1200 Huntington Dr
Duarte, CA 91010

One last item, I'm dedicating this post to "Amy", who has moved to LA from San Diego. Amy emailed me recently, and mentioned that she's been reading for a few years, but had never had the chance to comment or email me. I'm sure Amy is a lot like most of you folks, and I just wanted to thank everyone for checking us out. Oh, and Amy, Los Angeles and Orange County has much to offer.......like the Indonesian Food Fair. Just let me know what good eats you find out there, ok?