mmm-yoso!!!

Revisits - Woomiok and Mien Trung

It feels like (San Diego) winter now; so here's a couple of revisits to a new place on the rotation and an old favorite.

Woomiok:

Woomiok has become a favorite of the Missus. So, with the recent cooler weather, the Missus wanted Her fix.

This time around we ordered the assorted beef in stone pot. As with previous visits; the kkakdugi and the squid panchan were the best, while the baechu kimchi was decent but, could have used some really more intense fermented flavor. The japchae was really bland.

We were pleasantly surprised with the portion size of the dish ($34.99).

The tendon was buttery and the brisket and other usual "tougher cuts" were tender and beefy. There was what looked like typical pho top round, which was drier and tough and the worst cut overall. The bone based broth was very nice with a touch of salt. A very comforting dish overall. In fact, I loved the leftovers which I mixed with rice and heated up; making a rice porridge of sorts.

We left warm and satisfied.

Woomiok
3860 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Mien Trung:

Just like last year; Mien Trung was my first real meal out after returning from our trip.

The place was hopping; I just ordered the smaller bowl of Bun Bo Hue. It looked kinda light; but it was pretty good. Nice spice, great lemongrass flavor, the meats were more tender than on previous visits....even the tendon. Not over-loaded with MSG......the noodles were slippery and firm; the veggies (I still miss not having banana blossom though) fresh.

This had that "aaaah" factor going.

Mien Trung Restaurant
7530 Mesa College Dr
San Diego, CA 92111

Modeum Bossam from Grandma Tofu & BBQ (Halmouny)

After our recent meals at Prime Grill; the Missus mentioned Grandma's Tofu and BBQ. And while I thought that She was thinking of the Heokyumso Jeongol (Black Goat Stew) from Halmouny, the Missus was actually thinking about the Modeum Bossam, something that we hadn't had in maybe.....five years! Perhaps our visit to Bossam Alley in Seoul kinda put a damper on things.....

But now, finally, the Missus was wanting the Modeum Bossam again and we headed off to Grandma's. Upon getting seated and opening the menu; we noticed something right off.

Notice the fine print - "rice and Korean side dishes not included". So, no rice or panchan with the bossam dishes anymore. Still, we went ahead and ordered the Modeum Bossam.

I quickly noticed another thing when the plate of porkiness arrived....the usual napa cabbage had been replaced by regular boiled cabbage. Yeesh....what's with all the cutting costs going on?

Anyway; everything else was in order, from the fermented baby shrimp, to the pink salt, to the chilies....though the amount has been cut down....to our favorite garnish here; the fermented bean paste. The kkandugi (radish kimchi) was actually quite good....heck even the low quality oysters were fine.

The Missus didn't care for the soondae, the blood sausage which was really mushy, sticky, and metallic in flavor this time around.

The pork belly was more tender than it looked, with a nice porkiness. The pig's feet was the best item as it had a decent, soy sauce flavor, a very mild sweetness, great swine-iness, and that texture......that only a trotter lover would enjoy.

So while there was a bit of disappointment....no rice, no panchan, regular cabbage; the meal turned out fine in the end. I'm thinking we'll need to order something else in addition to the Gul and Jokbal Bossam. I think the Missus is finally over trying the soondae here.

Grandma Tofu & BBQ (Halmouny)
4425 Convoy St.
San Diego, CA 92111

 

Saturday Stuffs - PT Eatery Replaces Pho T Cali, Chef Jun Replaces Spice & Soul, and Recently Consumed

PT Eatery Replaces Pho T Cali:

In my latest post on Pho Duyen Mai, "Derek R" mentioned that PT Eatery was replacing Pho T Cali. I had noticed that the Pho T Cali sign was covered while driving by during the week, but didn't have time to stop by. So, today, while running errands I drove into the parking lot and took a photo.

Derek mentioned that this place is related to Phuong Trang....so I'm not sure if I should be really happy about this....we'll see.....

7351 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92111

Chef Jun Replacing Spice & Soul:

I saw a notice posted in the window of the building that formerly housed Spice & Soul.

So, this morning, on my way to Costco, I took a short detour to see what was up. Looks like this place will become Chef Jun. Sounds like perhaps a Korean restaurant? I had heard that the person who either owns the lease or the mall is Korean; so this might make sense.

Update: Chef Jun will be a Sushi and Kappo style restaurant. Thanks Derek!

Interesting for Bay Ho.

4033 Avati Dr
San Diego, CA 92117

And finally......I think the Missus is missing Japan. She had requested that I make tempura four times during the last week....during the week....sigh....

And then last night; She wanted a Sukiyaki-ish "thingy" for dinner.

So last night after my (hopefully last for a while) batch of tempura was consumed, I made my standard warishita. This morning I picked up the Missus's favorite ingredients....and the Missus feasted this evening. We'll have enough for a couple of meals.

Happy wife, happy life, right?

Hope you're having a wonderful weekend!

Mukeunji Daejji Galbi Jungol from Prime Grill

I know most folks think of Korean BBQ when one mentions Prime Grill.....I mean, "grill" is in the name of the place, right? But for the Missus and I, PG has been a place to get Bi Bim Bap and Bi Bim Naengmyun when the mercury soars here in San Diego. When things cool down a bit, it would probably be Seolleontang from Woomiok or Heokyumso Jeongol from Grandma's that would come to mind. But now, the Missus has another favorite; the Mukeunji Daejji Galbi Jungol from Prime Grill.

It's a dish that uses "Mukeunji" which is poggi kimchi that has been aged at least six months. It's got a much stronger fermented flavor and is what we eat at home. Along with Daejji Galbi; braised pork ribs; which here add a nice porcine touch to the dish. There's a couple of huge pieces of kimchi that is sliced before placing the pan over the heat. Throw in some nice and meaty king mushroom, tofu, enoki mushroom, ssukgat - what I grew up calling "shungiku"; chrysanthemum leaves, and some rice cakes, this makes for quite a comforting meal.

We enjoy the leftovers even more; as the pork tends to add much more flavor overnight. I add in even more aged, fermented, kimchi...the good stuff, minced maneuljong muchim, the potent kimchi garlic scape, daikon, watercress, and tofu, and we have a heck of a second meal.

It's one of those dishes that tastes even better the second night......

Though it's pretty darn good at the restaurant as well.

Prime Grill
4620 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

So, now that things are cooling off; what dishes are all you nice folks thinking of?

Bann Korean Cuisine - Now in the H Mart Food Court

Of all the places in the H Mart Food Court; the one that really interested me was Bann. While I considered Bann to be a decent option for lunch on Miramar Road; the food was prepared fresh, the flavors, while on the mild side, was decent, with the Kimchi Fried Rice the stand-out. Still, with a more discerning crowd, I was interested to see what changes, if any Bann had made since the move.

And so I headed down to H Mart at around 11am. The place is not nearly as crowded as when the place first opened. Good for me....not sure for all the businesses.

Bann is located to the right of Myungran Hot Dog.

The menu is tight and dishes no longer have the superflous green salads and mandu added to the menu items. Prices are about the same; even a few cents cheaper than before.

Though if you chose to have beef with your kimchi fried rice; it would be almost fourteen bucks!

I placed my order for the Kimchi Fried Rice with Spam (of course) and had a seat at one of the table.

Soon enough, I heard the mechanized "voice app" go off, it's the same voice for all the stands. It seems that each stand has a number sequence, so you'll deal with numbers in the thousands; "order five thousand - six hundred - seventy - three"......

First off; the portion size seemed to have increased quite a bit.

Secondly, it's way more spicy than it used to be....quite nice, though it might mute some of the other flavors. Couldn't really make out salty - savoriness of the Spam, which might be a good thing for some, but I really like the flavor of Spam.

Good amount of kimchi used; though it's not good fermented kimchi as it lacks the complex cheesy-sour-savory tones of a good baechu kimchi.

Thirdly, the egg was a nice sunny-side up.

Overall, a nice version of straight-up Kimchi Fried Rice. It won't win any awards, but is a decent version.

I really enjoyed the nice folks that used work the register at the Miramar location, but did not recognize the young lady working on this day. She was fine, but not nearly as pleasant. This was a decent lunch and Bann seems less fusiony these days. Nothing to go out of your way for; but perfectly fine if you're shopping at H Mart and need to load up on carbs.

Bann Korean Cuisine
7725 Balboa Ave. (In the H Mart Food Court)
San Diego, CA 92111

Eating to Beat the Heat - Revisits to Buga, La Miche Kabobgee, and Santouka

Well, it cooled down for a bit, got warm again, cooled off, and then it's Monday and quite warm again......and it's not really the temps, but rather the humidity that's kind of bothering me. Man, to think I was born and raised in Hawaii. Crazy.

Anyway, here are a few revisits.

Buga:

I just looked at my last post on Buga and it's been exactly one year! Strange; I thought it had been longer than that. I wanted some bi bim naengmyun and Buga is right off the 805; so I thought it would be a rather quick and easy meal.

I got there right at opening time so the place was empty. Strangely, it stayed that way for my entire visit. Even though I got out in 25 minutes, it was pretty strange to see the place completely empty.

And no; I didn't order the "Internal Organs Special"; which would have been too much for me anyway.

I got the Bi Bim Naengyun as planned.

The last time I had Bi Bim Naengmyun at Buga it was a bit strange. It was water and quite soupy, a far cry from the drier, more spicy version that used to be served here. What I got this time was a bit different as well; it seemed like a bowl of regular Naengmyun in a typical dongchimi - based soup topped with the usual spicy gochujang based sauce for bi bim naengmyun. It seemed like a hybrid of sorts; which actually wasn't too bad. It still had the spiciness along with the bracing - refreshing - sour - Asian pearish soup. The noodles were perfect; stretchy, but not hard. Enoguh to bring some sweat to the brow, but also cool me off at the same time.

Sadly the panchan was mediocre; really lacking in punch, with no fermented tones at all....it was all quick-kimchi and a too sweet potato salad.

Buga Korean Restaurant
5580 Clairemont Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92117

La Miche Kabobgee:

We usually head to La Miche Kabobgee when the temperature rises; to get some of the mezes we enjoy. So, one evening I headed over to grab some take-out and the place was closed.

I noticed the sign posted on the door with limited hours posted.

It seems that the really nice gentleman who owns the place had some heart surgery.....which had me a bit concerned.

So I dropped by during a lunch service.

I was happy to see him working. Moving a bit slower perhaps, but he was still the very mellow, and gentle guy I recalled. I chatted with him for a minute before this large party came in. He's doing better and is almost back to full speed. I'm glad.

The menu has fewer mezes than before; I think it's a bit of an abbreviated one; but there were still a couple of items I had previously enjoyed, starting with the Muhamarah.

I really enjoy the combination of flavors in this red pepper - walnut - pomengranite "dip" which is thickened with bread. Though it's much less spicy and tangy than I recalled; it's still a winnah' with the fresh pita that arrives scorching hot. I've learned that it's better to just eat all of the bread as it just isn't as good a few hours later.

I also got the Makanek; these little sausages had a wonderful snap, the ground veal is nicely seasoned, and that lemon based sauce is quite bracing!

This was a nice meal and it was good to know Nabih is doing well. So well, that La Miche will be back to normal hours in September.

La Miche Kabobgee
9350 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92123

Santouka:

In my last "eating to beat the heat" post; Junichi mentioned the Hiyashi Chuka from Santouka. I had actually had the Hiyashi Chuka from Santouka once before and had not been too impressed. But man, that was eight years ago! So, I figured it was time to try it again.

I wasn't certain that Santouka had the Hiyashi Chuka, but sure enough it was the summer special. I could tell it had been a very long time since I'd had this; it was $8.50 then; it's now $12.50. So, I guess its been going up by 50 cents a year?

Anyway, I ordered my noodles and had a seat. A few minutes later my number was called.

Well, if anything, Santouka gets points for consistency in presentation, as this looked basically the same as what I'd had eight whole years ago. At that time Dennis of A Radiused Corner (we miss you man!), called it a "tease" when it came to the proteins.

Those two thin slices of toroniku look rather lonely on that pile of noodles, huh? The provided toppings were rather "sparse"; though if you're carb loading, you've got your dish!

The "sauce" was weaker than I recalled, not as dashi forward and the sour tones were muted. I ended up mixing in all that mustard to help give things some "umph".

The noodles were nicely prepped and well chilled; so no issues there.

And as much as I like carbs and Santouka (remember us hunting down the original store in Asahikawa as few years back?), I'm not the biggest fan of the Hiyashi Chuka here.

Santouka Ramen
4240 Kearny Mesa Rd(In the Mitsuwa Marketplace)
San Diego, CA 92111

Things seem to be cooling down nicely as I'm finishing up this post......so maybe cooler weather is in store.

Chicken Wing Thang - Katzya (In the H Mart Food Court)

Friend of Yoso "KenP" was nice enough to remind me that today, July 29th was National Chicken Wing Day. So, I decided to see what I could dish up and found photos from visits to Katzya in the new H Mart Food Court.

Not sure it's quite ready for "prime time", but hey, it was two visits.

A few weeks back, Candice, Xiāngjiāo and her hubby MichaelFC, wanted to have lunch. We decided on checking out the new H Mart Food Court. We each picked a place and got something from each shop. I got Katzya, which is the new Donkatsu (Tonkatsu) and Chicken Wing Shop.

I did two orders of wings....it's a sign of the times when folks actually say, "wow, it's only $11.95 for eight wings....that's so cheap", like the girl in front of me exclaimed. I guess when you compare this to Furaido or Bonchon it is cheaper. I guess it's all relative.

Anyway, I did one order of the regular fried wings and one order of the "Spicy Chicken Wings". Sorry to say; this is the only surviving photo I have of that visit.

The wings were medium sized with a decent batter to meat ratio. The flesh was fairly moist, no complaints there. The batter had some crunch but was on the crumbly side and the regular wings were so bland, really lacking in flavor. Notice the quotation marks on the "Spicy" wings.....that's because, while being quite sticky and messy, the wings were way too sweet and not very spicy at all. The pickled radish was fine...….but man, nothing could cut the teeth rattling sweetness of those wings.

Soon after; I started my visits to the H Mart Food Court to start tasting the various dishes and such. Other than Bann; which is kind of like a revisit since which I'd eaten at quite few times when they were on Miramar; Katya was my first revisit.

With the intention of sharing my lunch with folks in the office; I ordered two items; the Soy Garlic Wings and the Spicy Pork Cutlet.

The Soy Garlic Wings were a pleasant surprise.

The wings were still crunchy when I ate them. I'd expected cloying sweetness; but this was more balanced then the (not) spicy chicken wings. More salty than sweet, perhaps in need of more garlic pungency; moist flesh, decent crunch and not overly crumbly, decent meat to batter ratio. Not bad at all.

Then came the Donkatsu; which was nicely packaged; the "gravy" and shredded cabbage separated from the pork cutlet and rice. Good job there!

The pork cutlet didn't fare as well as the wings as it was already getting pretty soggy when I got back to the office. It was pretty lean and so on the rubbery side. The rice was still hot and slightly fragrant.

To be perfectly honest; I enjoyed the crunchy, refreshing, simple shredded cabbage with sesame dressing the best.

Because that "gravy".....well.....

Well, I poured it onto the pork cutlet, it was a bit too gloppy-gluey in texture. It had a serious, slow crescendo of heat.....no joking around there. But it had nothing else to really bolster the spice....no salt, no sweet, no other seasonings and spices. It was very one-dimensional.

This is not something I'd order again.

I had truly intended on doing one more visit. But heck, since KenB did mention it was National Chicken Wing Day....I found a reason to just go with what I have and move on. Those Garlic Soy Wings weren't bad, though one out of four ain't so great. Heck, even in baseball, a .250 batting average might get you sent down to the minors.

Katzya
(In the H Mart Food Court)
7725 Balboa Ave
San Diego, CA 92111
Hours:
Open Daily 11am - 8pm

Thanks for the friendly reminder Ken!

Chicken Wing Wednesday - Cross Street Chicken and Beer Revisited

I always try to return to places and I thought it was about time for a revisit to Cross Street. My previous visits were when the place was in pre-soft opening mode and I'd waited a good long time...since then there's been several other "KFC" places open in the San Diego region. So, I was interested to see how Cross Street was doing.

The place is open for lunch these days so I headed over between meetings.

I got there right at 1130 and actually found a parking spot......seemed like a good sign.

The menu has changed a bit since my previous visits, with lunch specials, and other items though the service was just as friendly and nice.

I started with something I found interesting on the menu; the Corn Poppers ($7).

I actually enjoyed these fried little spheres. The interior was like a molten bechamel and had some nice and sweet corn; wasn't overly cheesy, the bacon was a nice savory touch.

I actually enjoyed these more then the wings.

After some contemplation, I went with the Soy Garlic ($12) Wings. Now, in my previous post I mentioned how large the wings here were and my preference of a smaller wing with a better batter - skin - meat ratio. If anything, these were even larger than before!

The coating seemed to have also been revised as it was harder and more lacquer like then before. Not necessarily a good thing in my book as it was a bit too crumbly. It as also drenched in sauce....previously, there was a nice light glaze; which made for a decent balance in saltiness to sweetness to batter to tasting the chicken. In this case it was just way too sweet as the glaze just overwhelmed everything. Not sure if this is the new standard here. The chicken was moist and cooked perfectly so no complaints there.

Like I said; I enjoyed those corn poppers....and used to like the fried pickles which are no longer on the menu. I also really like the young people working here. I'll probably return; but with a few more folks in tow and this time will definitely order those garlic parmesan wings instead.

Cross Street Chicken and Beer
4403 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111
Hours
Sun - Wed   1130am - 930pm
Thurs - Sat 1130am - 1130pm

Brick Bowl-Sourdough, Vinegar, Korean-Kearny Mesa

mmm-yoso!!! is the name of this food blog.  Welcome (back).  Today, Kirk is vacationing and Cathy is writing.

I saw the signage across the street from my parking spot after shopping at Niban and picking up a 2019 calendar.  Another new place to try. Turns out that Brick Bowl is known as 'the restaurant next to Yu Spa', a Day Spa with a Korean style sauna and many other services.  Since the parking lot also houses several auto repair shops as well as a busy car wash, Brick Bowl has a variety of customers (and potential customers) looking in at the menu choices.
There are some menus to the right of the cash register where you order and pay. Photos of menu are at the bottom this post.  The chalkboard special is good Monday to Friday and is the best way to try a smaller portion of the menu basics.
 The fresh made sourdough bread is the basis of the Brick Bowls. 

You can 'Build your own Brick' (starting at $9.99) Choose a sauce, a meat, veggies, cheese and add-ons. There are also six choices of 'Chef Specials'-ingredient mixes decided.  The Mister wanted to try the "Bocelli's Italian Meatball Brick" ($10): marinara sauce, 100% beef meatballs (seven were in our Brick), cooked spinach, grilled onions, grilled bell peppers, olives, tomatoes and Mozzarella cheese. The grilled, buttery, herbed garlic bread on the side is what was pulled out from the thick cut slice of fresh sourdough.   
The photo doesn't do it justice, but this bowl is about two inches thick.  Everything tasted so good- very fresh ingredients.  
The secondary item available here are the (hot or cold) sparkling vinegar drinks ($3.99).  The "Elixir of Acid" graphics, as well as the tabletop tent information is interesting.  
 We have tried the mango and the pineapple flavors, but there are more: passion fruit, lychee, pomegranate and watermelon.  The Mister and I used to purchase 'drinking vinegars' at Korean markets, but now add sparkling water to apple cider vinegar, at home.  The same is done here-along with the various fruit flavorings.  There is an A La Carte Menu and we decided to try the pan fried dumplings ($7).  The filling chocies are either vegan or pork.  We went with pork.  The filling was meaty and flavorful and the dumpling skins were thin and crispy and also wonderful.  This was a nice little snack.

 There is also Bibimbap ($11) which we got with beef and egg.  We received a second bowl and you can see the divided up ingredients.  This was so fresh and so tasty and had just enough (not too much) rice...despite the fact that it wasn't served in a hot stone bowl so the rice didn't crisp up, every ingredient was so fresh and it all went very well together.  Small containers of kimchee, pickled radish and cucumber were also given and there are house made condiments, water and cutlery on a table near the door.    A cup of seaweed soup (beef broth or vegan) comes with the bibimbap. A lot of seaweed and so much flavor.

There are only a few other A La Carte menu items to try and some other drinks along with planning out some Brick Bowl combinations...I do like limited menus and the Korean choices make this small restaurant even more intriguing.  

Brick Bowl 3927 Convoy Street San Diego 92111 (between Ostrow and Othello) Open Mon-Thurs 11:30-3, 5:30-9. Sat 11:30-9, Sun 11:30-8 Website  

Soup Weather in April! Revisits to Facing East and Woomiok (Yet Again)

Good lord, is it really almost May? We've sure been on a bit of a weather rollercoaster this year, eh? Anyway, this rainy-cooler weather means I can get more "soup fixes" and here's a couple.

Facing East:

Man, has it been nearly two years since my post on Facing East? Time sure does fly. Based on those three visits, I was surprised to see Facing East still alive and kicking a few weeks back while I drove up Convoy. They must be doing something right. It was probably time for a revisit. After all, I revisited Steamy Piggy, right?

Upon arrival, I was a bit shocked at how much the menu had changed. Gone were all those gimmicky Xiao Long Bao and in its place was Ramen (?), Nabeyaki (??). I mean I expected the Asian-fusion Baos and heck even teriyaki chicken and the legion of fried foods....but Drunken Noodle?

Well, this was going to be interesting indeed.

The young lady who was my Server was very nice, though again the food took a while to come out. Even though I was the only customer in the place.

While there was no way I'd be having ramen here; I thought the Duck Noodle Soup, which looked like a play on Niu Rou Mian would work out well for me.

There were six nice slices of roast duck, which had been torched. The duck was fairly tender and retained a nice sweetness and gaminess that had carried through being added to the broth. The standard issue noodle were over-cooked and on the mushy side for my taste. The broth was like what I'd had in the NRM on my previous visit, slightly spicy, lots of pepper, more greasy than rich, lacking in enough savory and anise tones for me. I really enjoyed the pickled vegetable, which helped to cut the greasiness, though the bok choy was mushy by the time the bowl hit the table. The portion size was quite generous.

So, while there was no more Foie Gras XLB, the Pork and Crab XLB was still on the menu.

On the positive side, while the tips of the wrapper was too hard, the wrapper as whole was better than what I'd had before. It had a bit of pull to is and nothing leaked. There was also a good amount of soup in the XLB. The meat however, was tough with rubbery bits in it and I couldn't make out any crab! I had three and took the remainder back to the office where I had folks try them out....both Calvin and "YZ" mentioned how tough the meatball was.....and both were surprised that there was supposed to be crab in this. It even lacked the normal sweet-porkiness I expect from a good XLB.

So there you go. A revisit. The menu has changed a bunch, but I still found the dishes to fall short.....

Facing East
4647 Convoy St Suite 101C
San Diego, CA 92111

Woomiok (Yet Again):

A few drops of rain and the Missus wants to head back to Woomiok. Though I should be happy that Woomiok has become a favorite of Hers.

On this visit, we noticed that there have been dishes added to the menu, though the Missus got Her usual Seolleontong. I went with the #7 which had Brisket, OxTail, Ox Knee, Cheek, and Shank.

The panchan has also been enhanced with the addition of japchae. Unfortunately, it's pretty weak in flavor. We noticed that folks on other tables didn't finish theirs as well. Though, to be perfectly honest, I think the baechu (napa cabbage) kimchi has been getting better on each visit.

As always, the Missus enjoyed the  the kkakdugi and the squid panchan.

As for my version of Seolleontang, well, I thought it was quite large. Enjoyed the strips of egg and the king mushrooms.

The broth coated my tongue nicely, and with the perfect amount of salt and scallions added it was quite nice. The meats were fine; though I really missed the tendon. I'll be going back to the regular mixed meat next time. Also, we might tell them to just hold off on the thin noodles which always seem to be overcooked....we just like to add rice to the broth....it becomes like a comforting porridge of sorts.

So that's it....I promise; no more Woomiok posts for a while.

Woomiok
3860 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Hope you had a great Monday!