mmm-yoso!!!

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the Padadak locations in San Diego, save the San Marcos location, though some would say that's not really San Diego had been replaced by Crispy Chicken.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

Revisits to Kim's Deli and Sandwich Island Deli

It's funny how the mind works. I was getting some takeout from Sue’s Korean Kitchen, when suddenly I was wondering how Kim's Deli was doing.

Kim's Deli:

So, a couple of days later at around 10am, I drove down Arjons Drive to see what was going on.

I parked in the cul-de-sac and walked on over to the little shop located in the business mall. The two older Korean women were hard at work putting together takeout orders when I arrived.

I thought about having a sandwich, but what reminded me of Kim's when visiting Sue's was the Bulgogi Bowl, which was pretty straightforward and simple, but was priced at reasonable $9 back in February 2021. It's now $12. Regardless, with prices these days, it still seems like a bargain. So that's what I got.

    Calling this a "bowl" is a definite misnomer as it's pretty hefty. There's the standard green salad with a sesame dressing plus some fairly standard and kinda mushy and pretty salty japchae. The rice was nicely done and the portion size seemed a bit larger than before.

The bulgogi, was better this time, not as tough, though flavor wise, it was edging on the sweeter side. I saw the woman in the back actually cook the meat in what looked like a combo pizza oven - broiler. The sauce on the side tasted like bottled stuff and was super sweet in flavor. 

Like I mentioned before, this really gave me old school "lunchwagon" vibes. It's not great, but considering the price at $12 and the portion size, in this day and age it's worth it. Plus, I actually had some leftovers....there was a ton of rice under the meat and japchae.

Kim's Deli
8515 Arjons Drive
San Diego, CA 92126

As I was having the bulgogi "bowl" my mind drifted off and thoughts of Sandwich Island Deli entered mi cabeza. Though it wasn't the sandwiches I was musing on; it was something else.

Sandwich Island Deli:

Which of course, had me driving down Trade Street a couple of days later to see what was going on.

Again, it was just past 10am and the place seemed pretty quiet.

Everything seemed peaceful at the counter.

What you don't see is the Asian couple working like crazy putting together orders. By the time the woman saw me and came over to take my order there were six packages on the counter!

As for what I ordered, well, like Kim's I was going to have a sandwich on another day. The "bento box" which is what I had on my previous visit had gone up a mere 75 cents in nearly 2 1/2 years! 

Something else caught my eye. There's Chicken Yakisoba on the menu. And it's priced at only $7.95. I was wondering what the heck a $7.95 dish would look like here? All sandwiches, save one (the Egg Salad Sandwich - $6.99), are more expensive than the yakisoba. Heck, most everything at Nijiya is now more expensive than that! So, I had to try it.

That bag felt pretty heavy. I opened it up and cracked up.

This looked like something I'd throw together when I was 12 years old, trying to make use of dry, packaged ramen noodles.

And actually, there was more sautéed cabbage, than noodles. Or anything else for that matter. And it was quite bland in terms of soy-savory-sweet tones.

There were a few pieces of chicken, mushrooms, and zucchini. The seasoning was very mild and also tasted like it was poured from a bottle or gallon container. Perhaps I should have followed the lead of the guy who came to pick up his yakisoba....I'm guessing he's a regular because the woman gave him two containers of sauce for his order.

Truth be told; the teriyaki-ish chicken bento is better than this. Though it's hard to complain about something that costs $7.95. Heck, remember I got a second-rate Banh Mi for $9 recently? And I got my daily requirement of cabbage with this meal to boot.

Sandwich Island Deli
7350 Trade St.
San Diego, CA 92121

Rebuilding the Rotation - The Market at HFS, Sue's Korean Kitchen, Bay Park Coffee, and Zgara Greek Grill

I'm not sure you've noticed, but we've gone on quite few trips since December, one of which was a month long! I know, we here all about "revenge travel" these days. Well, I'm not sure that's what it is for us. We're all getting older and for...at least me, I'm thinking better revenge travel now than to have wait longer and let it become "Depends" travel if you know what I mean.  With all of those trips; it's been pretty difficult getting "back in the rhythm" of things like developing that rotation.

But it looks like things are straightening out and I'm ever slowly falling back into a routine. So here are a couple of places, most should be quite familiar to regular readers, I'll just leave it as a C(learing) O(ut the) M(emory) C(ard) post with a minimum of verbiage.

The Market at HFS:

It seems that the warmer the weather gets, the more I visit.

There had been a gap of over five months since I've restarted my visits and I no longer know the folks working here. The selection is smaller these days; at least on my two recent visits, though those didn't take place during what I recall were the peak days.

I basically stick with the ahi poke here and it still hits the spot. As things heat up and the Missus starts wanting poke, I'm sure I'll be visiting even more often.

Sue's Korean Kitchen:

The folks in the office really like Sue's, so it's been a fairly regular stop for me. Plus, they open at 10am which helps me to beat lunch time crowds.

It's the Kimchi Fried Rice that has us coming back.

Sue’s Korean Kitchen
6755 Mira Mesa Blvd.
Suite 109
San Diego, CA 92121

In my neck of the woods; well, there's not much. But here're two places that I hit up regularly.

Bay Park Coffee:

I usually meet our good friend "Alle" who was Frankie's favorite Auntie for coffee and to catch up on things once a week or so.

And though they've had some staffing turnover over the last year or so, the folks working are quite nice. We usually catch up on things over a cold brew and veggie bagels.

Bay Park Coffee
4130 Napier St
San Diego, CA 92110

Zgara Greek Grill:

After my last revisit to GyroGrill, I headed straight back to Zgara. I hadn't been in a while and business there seems to have really picked up.

And take a look at the photos from my last visit to GyroGrill and compare the gyro there to this version. 

So, of course I'm now back in the habit of visiting as often as I can and it's still the pork gyros here for me. It's always great to chat with Eric, who remembers me from the days when Zgara was in PB.

Zgara Greek Grill
1229 Morena Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92110

So, hopefully I'm back in the rhythm now and will be adding places back to the rotation. As always, I'm so thankful for your visits and comments!

What's been on your rotation recently?

Prime Grill (Cathy's revisit)

Thanks for stopping by to read mmm-yoso!!! today.  Cathy is writing while Kirk is 'researching'.

The first time I went to Prime Grill was in 2016 and it was with Kirk and Ed (from Yuma) who had this perspective of the visit. The Mister and I returned the other day and were going to order from the regular menu, but the All Day Special  Menu, which was All You Can Eat for $27 per person would cost about the same.  We decided it would be fun to cook our own and eat all we could. 

   The complimentary banchan (pickled 'sides)were brought out along with the sauces (and salad and rice we ordered from the menu).  Everything is replenished when you ask.
 First up-thin brisket, beef bulgogi and chicken BBQ.

 You are given tongs and scissors to help cook and cut your meats.  The bulgogi and BBQ sauces carmelized on the grill and gave some flavor to the brisket.
 
Steamed egg is always a nice side dish from any Korean restaurant.  We could have ordered two, but managed to restrain ourselves. 
 The 'corn cheese' is an excellent side to share. 
 For our second round, we chose thin beef belly and thin pork belly...so we could compare.  
 A clean grill had been brought out, so there was no flavor imparted from the bulgogi and BBQ sauces and we instead ate the meat with the pickled sides (the kim chee is excellent) and rice on top of salad: a completely different second meal.

Tasty and fun and good time spent together.

Prime Grill 4620 Convoy Street San Diego 92111 (858) 277-0800 Open daily 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Website

A Revisit to Sue's Korean Kitchen

Recently, my coworker "Richard" actually came into the office! I hadn't seen him in ages it seems and so I thought it would be nice to pick up some lunch. I gave him a couple of choices and he picked Sue's Korean Kitchen since he'd never had the food from there. I like getting to Sue's early; they open at 10 to avoid waits and crowds. He left it to me to do the ordering.

I arrived right after the place opened. The woman working waved at me and said "I haven't seen you in a long time, maybe almost a year!" Checking back, I hadn't visited Sue's in almost a year, she was right! Wow, what a memory!

Richard left it up to me to choose. I always get the Kimchi Fried Rice here, so I went and placed two orders. Richard is younger and is still a "growing boy" whereas my growth is more directed toward girth these days. So I knew he'd need more than Kimchi Fried Rice. So, I also ordered the bulgogi ($15). I did notice that the Kimchi Fried Rice has gone up a dollar to $10.99 since my last visit almost a year ago, which considering how other prices have risen didn't seem to bad to me.

My favorite here is still the Kimchi Fried Rice.

I get mine with Spam (of course) which adds a nice salty component to this fairly spicy version of KFR. The house made kimchi has a nice slightly fermented flavor and it seemed more intensely flavored then I recall. Richard loved this.

As for the Bulgogi. Well, I do like the panchan made inhouse....I've seen older Korean folks coming in to buy it in bulk from the fridge here.

    The Bulgogi was quite tender, perhaps a shade sweeter than I prefer, but not bad at all. Richard enjoyed this as well, telling me that this was better than what had recently had at a Korean place on Convoy! Go figure.

Since we had KFR, I took the white rice home along with some of the panchan, which the Missus gobbled up. Looks like I need to drop by and get some one of these days.

It was great having Richard in the office. Say what you will about the joys of remote work and perhaps I'm just an old fuddy-duddy, but I miss the social and collaborative spirit of working together in the same area.

Sue's really reminds me of the Korean BBQ places "back home" like Gina's, there's something soulful about these places. And just think, Sue's opened in spring of 2021, in the middle of the pandemic and they've survived! Maybe one day we'll learn their story.

For now....well, I think I'll need another kimchi fried rice fix soon!

Sue’s Korean Kitchen
6755 Mira Mesa Blvd.
Suite 109
San Diego, CA 92121
Hours:
Mon - Sat 10am - 9pm

Woomiok Weather

I don't know if it's me getting older or what; but this winter seems much colder than previous years. Even the temperature adjustment after returning from France, where we visited Strasbourg didn't last long. I started feeling really cold after days! And then of course all of that rain from the Atmospheric River, well we needed something warm and comforting to eat. It was time for us to get our fix form Woomiok. So, I did the usual thing, dropped by Woomiok right when they opened and placed my order for the Emperor's Soup and an extra side order of Bone Soup to go. I then headed to Nijiya to do some shopping.

The young man who took my order was a joy. My order was ready for pick-up when I returned.

Upon getting home I unpacked and laid everything out.

 I didn't realize it, but it had been over a year since I last visited. I did notice a couple of changes, other than prices which has gone up about $2 since the last time. There was a lot less rice and noodles as before; but to be perfectly honest, we don't order this for the noodles or rice. And there seemed to be a bit less meat as well.

Once the Missus got home, I set up the large dolsot with our Iwatani Butane Stove and we were off.

    The bone soup still has that nice tongue coating richness and once you add the salt and scallions to the mix it's quite comforting. Like I said, its really about the soup for us.

The baechu kimchi, jangahjji (pickled peppers and radish), and kkakdugi  (radhish kimchi) were all quite good this time around.

Here's a little hack we do and one of the main reasons we like getting this for takeout. While at Nijiya I'll get some soft tofu, which I drain and dry, then add to the dolsot. It really adds to the dish. Add the side order of soup and the tofu and this ends up being two meals for us.

It's really warm and comforting. And one of the first things we get when the cold starts getting to us.

Woomiok
3860 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Hope everyone is keeping warm. And tell me, what have you been eating to warm your belly?

Chicken Wing Thang - Katzya Revisited (H Mart Food Court)

**** Katzya has closed

One of the things about being on a trip for over a month; the fridge and pantry gets pretty bare. I spent last week and weekend catching up, restocking, and believe it or not; the Missus has been missing my cooking! Go figure. One of the stops was H Mart. It was just a tad after 11 and I was getting a bit hungry. I had enjoyed the Chicken Wings from Katzya on previous visits and the wings did well on my takeout visit, plus I'd last had wings from the recently opened Pelicana Chicken, so I decided to go for it.

I recalled that the Soy Garlic Wings were pretty good, so I went with that. When I last visited, the price of $14.99 for 7 wings seemed really high, and while still pricey, it feels less so these days with all the inflation.

I got the wings home and opened up the container and oh my.....

 These wings were just drenched in sauce. There was a huge pool of sauce at the bottom of the box. The two or three pieces on the top, while over sauced held up fine, but the pieces on the bottom were a soggy mess.

The texture of the meat was fine, moist, tender, lacking in any discolored spots, but it was just swimming in too much sauce, making this overly sweet.

For you reference, here's what I got back in 2019.

    Doesn't even look like it's from the same place, does it?

Another thing that was different was the the Mul Kimchi. But this change was an improvement, at least to me. The radish was not as sweet as on previous visits, making this somewhat refreshing. Though nothing could overcome the sticky sweet sauce overload.

Bummer, because I think the quality and size to batter ratio of the wings here are to my liking. I guess I'm back to just the fried wings here.

Katzya
(In the H Mart Food Court)
7725 Balboa Ave
San Diego, CA 92111

Tofu House Mira Mesa (again)

mmm-yoso!!! is back again on this chilly day.  Kirk is busy with His Missus on another continent and Cathy is writing another post.  

My last post about Tofu House was in 2020 when we had to eat outside, because, you know, Covid-19.    The menu is on the wall, or you can scan a QR code and read the menu on your phone. 

 The Mister wanted Boiled Tofu, and it was furiously boiling when brought to the table!  He had ordered the 'Chef's Special' ($13) which included shrimp, pollack roe, clam, oyster, mushroom and kimchi.  (white rice is included, but the multigrain rice option is an extra $2; get it).  Great, fresh seafood and smooth, satisfying tofu.
 I've been craving something from a hot stone pot (because crispy rice).  Ordering the "Chef's Special Hot Stone" ($20) was just the flavor filled melange I wanted.  Marinated beef rib eye as well as beef short ribs over the sizzling rice, topped with plump shrimp and small but flavorful scallops really hit the spot. 

A flavor filled, warming and satisfying lunch.  This location has a better parking situation than the Convoy Street location.

Tofu House 9089 Mira Mesa Boulevard San Diego 92126 (858) 860-5296 Open daily 11-8 website
 Your condiments are brought to the table after ordering. 

Pelicana Chicken (Balboa Avenue)

I noticed that Pelicana Chicken was opening in a post last month, the latest in the "KFC invasion" of the Kearny Mesa area. In fact, I think there are more places serving KFC than pho in the area these days! Then just a few weeks later, while running some errands, I noticed that Pelicana was in soft opening mode. So, the next time I had some late errands to run (Pelicana currently opens at noon), I decided to stop by and do a takeout order.

I parked and walked into the shop and was greeted in a very cheerful and smiling manner. I was told that the place had only been open for less than a week at this time. So even though the place opened at noon, it was empty.

I know prices like this are pretty much the norm these days, but the amounts on the menu still gave me pause.

I placed my order and was told 30 minutes. So I made a quick Nijiya run and returned. I waited another 5 minutes and my order was good to go. At least it wasn't sitting around, right. 

I was wondering how the wings would hold up on the drive home, so I ordered the 9 piece Original Fried Wings ($15) and got the Original Sauce on the side which added another $1.50. It's free if you order it on the chicken. 

   The chicken held up quite well after the drive home. This batter is more of the "laquer" type and it was still quite crunchy. Not much seasoning though, so it really needs a sauce. The sauce came in a presealed container and was like a sweet (emphasis on "sweet") chili sauce that was kind of weak overall.

The Mul Kimchi was also provided in a presealed container.

   

This was not as crisp as I enjoy and much too sweet. Man, read that ingredient label. You know, sometimes I'd rather not know. It has sodium saccharin and aspartame, i.e. Equal®, and sugar (glucose) no wonder it's so sweet. Oh, and in case you didn't get your daily allowance of aspartame and want an extra one of these....well, that'll be $1.50.

I also considered getting the Sea Snail Salad, but really didn't want to pay another $24, so I just went with an order of fries ($6). As well as the wings held up on the drive home, the fries were a total fail.

You can tell by the color, these weren't fried enough. It was dry and they barely seasoned it at all.

Well, at least the chicken wings held up quite well.

A week later, I decided to give Pelicana another go. This time I decided to have the wings sauced and I figure I'd cover myself by ordering the "Crispy" Chicken Wings ($16) and went with the Soy Based Sauce. The young man working was awesome and efficient and I did the same Nijiya run. Timing was great as my order was approaching the counter as I walked into the restaurant. 

These wings are more heavily battered.

 The wings were somewhat unevenly battered, the pieces on the top were quite crunchy, but for some strange reason, even though I liked the fact this wasn't swimming in sauce, the bottom pieces had gone mushy. For some reason, the meat of the wings were drier as well. This soy based sauce was also too sweet for my taste.

Personally, I prefer the "original" prep to the "crispy", which is actually more "crunchy".

I'll chalk these visits up to the "soft opening" for now. Though the presentation, menu, and food has a definite corporate "feel", the folks working were very pleasant. We'll see what things are like in a couple of months.

Please read Soo's post here.

Pelicana Chicken
7767 Balboa Ave.
San Diego, CA 92111
Hours:
Sun - Thurs 12pm - Midnight
Fri - Sat 12pm - 1am

Midweek Meanderings - Red Moon Noodle House and Manna Rice Bakery Closes. Uncle Tetsu Japanese Cheesecake Coming to Convoy, and the Time Helen Keller Flew a Plane

I recently went and did a takeout revisit from Eastern Dynasty. Instead of sitting around and waiting for my order while the restaurant filled up, I went for a stroll. I do drive along Convoy quite a bit and will often see places closing and opening, but when walking you really do notice things. Another thing I noticed....perhaps it's always been this way, was how fast folks drive on Convoy. I swear, there were cars zooming by at over 50 mph! Taking turns with squealing tires! Yikes!

Anyway, I noticed a couple of things during my walk......

Manna Rice Bakery is Closed:

  Right in the same strip mall as Eastern Dynasty I saw that Manna Bakery was closed. Man, this is an oldie. I've never posted on this place. I think my last visit was in pre-blogging days, but I know they had a very loyal clientele. 

4688 Convoy St.
San Diego, CA 92111

Red Moon Noodle House is Gone:

Walking to the strip mall with what I think is the worst parking lot on Convoy, I quickly noticed that all signage for Red Moon Noodle House was gone.

This closure kinda flew under my radar.

4646 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Uncle Tetsu Japanese Cheesecake Coming to Convoy:

I walked down Convoy and managed to safely cross the street at Dagget and noticed some activity in the "other" infamous parking lot off Convoy where Jasmine, Dumpling Inn, and El Viejon are located. The sign is up for Uncle Tetsu Japanese Cheesecake right next to Mochinuts.

So, it looks like a location of this chain from Hakata, Japan is making its way down to San Diego. I know there are a couple of locations is the LA/OC area already, including one in our old stomping grounds of Hacienda Heights.

So, now with YikoYiko, Sunmerry, and Uncle Tetsu it seems we're going the way of Hot Pot and KFC in the area. When it rains, it pours, right?

4609 Convoy St.
San Diego, CA 92111

And  from the Cesspool of Useless Information Files: The time Helen Keller Flew a Plane

While walking I was listening to one of my favorite podcasts and the episode with the story of when Helen Keller flew a plane! 

As stated in Britannica:

"In June 1946 an airplane traveled from Rome to Paris, crossing over the Mediterranean Sea. There was nothing unusual about this flight except one thing: for 20 minutes of the plane’s journey, one of its passengers became its pilot. The passenger was Dr. Helen Keller...."

And it's been verified by Snopes.

Amazing! And somewhat inspiring......