mmm-yoso!!!

Gaya Gaya - A First Look(s)

About a week-and-a-half ago, one of the folks in the office told me that Sarap had changed owners.

A day later, I read in the Eater that DJ Tangalin had taken over the spot and renamed it Gaya Gaya.

While I thought my meals at Bivouc Ciderworks were a bit of a mixed bag, I was interested in checking the place out. As were a couple of other folks so we headed on over.

The interior looks a bit more spacious; the rather huge benches and tables had been removed and things spaced out a bit better. Other than that things looked pretty much the same. The "Sarap" signage is still up, but one look at the menu and you know it ain't the same place. The names of the dishes are familiar, but reading the descriptions, well, it was now a different world. There seemed to be fusion touches to many of the dishes.

Of course; there were those that were excepted.

It had been ages since I've had decent Balut….but man five bucks! Whatever, I decided to try it. No one else around the table wanted to join me though.

In most cases; I've had it overcooked, which really didn't help texturally. Also, the nice "fowl-ly" flavors are lost. This was nice, soft, juicy, savory, with a light mustiness. I have a couple of stories about the first couple of times I had balut back home in Hawaii; but I'll save that for another day. I really enjoyed this version as it wasn't over-cooked.

The Bicol Express ($15) here is served with mussels.

While I missed the spice (thus not really Bicolano in my mind) and the usual good dose of bagoong; the mussels were tender and those twice cooked potatoes did well in the dish. This dish seemed more Thai than Filipino to me. Still, not bad.

The Bagoong Fried Rice ($6) on the other hand was terrible.

The rice wasn't coated well; there were many clumps and some really hard pieces of rice. Not enough bagoong for our tastes. All of us had eaten the bagoong fried rice at Sarap, which was much better than this.

Calvin just had to order the "Award Winning" Tuna Poke ($13).

Maybe it's because I just got back from visiting "home"; but man, this was bland. It seemed so good while reading it through on the menu; but the fish wasn't coated well enough, not enough white shoyu. The fish itself was fine, moist, tender, but was just so bland.

Next up; the Crispy Pata ($19).

This was interesting; the pata seemed brushed with a slightly sweet glaze. It was served with a pseudo atsara which had masago in it. The soy concoction was interesting as it had a good balance of salty and sour. Sadly, the skin of the pata was really hard....not crunchy or crisp, hard. The flesh was also quite dry...not sure why the mint-dill garnish was necessary. It was disappointing.

So, a bit disappointing, but I wanted to do a revisit a few days later....sadly, I had no takers so I headed over by myself.

I decided to go with the Adobo Rice Bowl ($12). This was quite good.

The pork belly was cooked just the way I like; not falling to pieces, but super tender and moist. The sauce was a perfect balance of salty to mildly sour, with just a hint of sweet. The porkiness of the pork belly came through nicely as well. The rice was decently cooked, perhaps a bit on the dry side. The pickled cucumbers helped to cut the richness of the dish. No, it's not your typical "gut-busting" portion; but more quality than quantity.

I also decided to the order the Pinakbet ($9).

This was decent; the eggplant soft and buttery; the pumpkin was slightly firm and not mushy, with a touch of sweetness. Loved the bagoong in this....it added a wonderfully pleasing savoriness and saltiness to the dish. I did sorely miss ampalaya (bittermelon); which I think adds tannic-bitterness to pinakbet.

Overall, a decent visit. Which had me wondering; was the first visit just a fluke? So, I decided to drop by one more time. Not being particularly hungry; I just went with the Chicken Tocino Rice Bowl ($11).

Not quite sure about this....the chicken thighs didn't seem to have been marinated enough. It had a decent amount of saltiness; but really needed that fruity sweetness (usually from pineapple if I recall), and some tanginess. The color was really light and the chicken was on the dry side. The egg was overcooked for my taste; I'd have preferred easy over. The rice was moist and fragrant.

Well, not sure what to make of my visits. The Servers working, a different one on each of my visits are very friendly; but man, the space is so large, so I'm hoping they'll staff a bit better. I feel the prices would be fine for elevated Filipino food; but I'm not sure if that's what is happening here. Still, things are still on soft-opening mode. The chef was either meeting with folks or doing paperwork in the dining area on each of my visits.

I'm going to revisit in a couple of months; hopefully things will just keep on improving.

Gaya Gaya
7580 Miramar Rd
San Diego, CA 92126
Hours:
Daily 11am - 3pm, 5pm - 9pm

 

Lana'i - A Revisit to Richard's Market

We slept in a bit on our last morning on Lana'i. I could see my In-laws out the window walking and enjoying the peace and quiet. While the Missus slowly woke; I went and filled up the Jeep. The Hotel Lana'i provides breakfast; but the Missus and I just had some coffee and then headed out.....our flight didn't leave until 11; so we had some time to just hang out and enjoy.

You could say Dole Park is the heart of Lana'i City. Built in the 1920's, most of the businesses surround the park. There are a couple of interesting places in the park like the Community Center and the Lana'i War Memorial that honors those from Lana'i who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country.

We met up with the In-Laws while crossing Lana'i Avenue and we walked on over to the Lana'i Cultural and Heritage Center, which I mentioned before. This might be the only place where you'll actually see a pineapple plant on the island. They decided to plant some in front of the building; which used to be the Dole Administration Building because, as the really nice volunteer working this day told me; "folks think pineapples grow on trees, so we thought we should show them what a pineapple plant looks like!"

My Mother In Law was especially interested in the displays and I had a great time chatting with the woman volunteering...she is just a bit younger than me; so there's a lot to talk about. She also filled me in on what Pulama Corporation is doing on the island......and other stuffs like why there's so much wire mesh around trees and plants...it's because the Axis Deer are quite populous and bold enough to walk down the street to get some "good grindz".

After a really fun time we decided to get "breakfast". You know what we were having, right? Yep, it was back to Richard's Market.....

For the large poke bowl - 3 different poke...real poke, not the mainland "chi-poke" stuff on brown rice, and the Missus wanted some kimchi on top, which they gladly added no charge.

Maybe it's because I can't get a decent version here; but I enjoyed the Ahi Limu. Decent quality fish and a bargain for $9.99, enough for the Missus and I.

Richard's Market
434 8th St
Lanai City, HI 96763

After eating we wandered around a bit. Soon enough, it was time to head to the airport and our flight back to Honolulu. At the airport; I left the Jeep as I had found it; in the 72 hour parking, unlocked, keys and paperwork under the mat.

It was a refreshing joy to revisit Lana'i….a different slice of life; sort of how things used to be. It was great to recharge, refresh, and, well.....slow down. Things we all need to do sometimes!

Lana'i - Reacquainting Myself and Richard's Market

When planning our trip back "home", the Missus and I discussed maybe checking out a neighbor island. In my hearts of hearts I was thinking about Lana'i. It had been nearly seven years since we last visited. Since then Larry Ellison had bought the island. And while the rhetoric sounded right; turning the island into an " environmentally friendly, self sustaining, city", I had my doubts. While I don't visit the island very often, I have roots there, my dad is from the island. It turns out my in-laws were quite excited about visiting Lana'i as well. And so we decided to visit.

And while there were some changes; for instance, there's no more $35 unlimited shuttle use; with only 30 miles of paved road on the island, I really didn't think I'd be driving. But heck, I went ahead and looked for a rental car....turns out the only car rental company on the island, Dollar, had shut down. So maybe Lana'i is trying to minimize the carbon footprint? I did manage to track down a guy who rented out jeeps....no, I wasn't going to take my in-laws four-wheeling, but we'd have some freedom to check things out.

In typical Lana'i fashion; I found the jeep in the 72 hour parking, keys and paperwork under the front seat. And we were underway. We got in early, so we dropped our bags off at the Hotel Lana'i (more on that further down) and headed off.

I decided to first drive up Keomuku Road. While we wouldn't be visiting Shipwreck Beach. the Petroglyphs, or the abandoned town of Keomuku, where they took a small fishing village and turned it into a sugar plantation. Story goes, in building the infrastructure for the sugar business they destroyed sacred stones and the Gods got angry; which brought on a plague epidemic and turned all the available fresh water into salt water. It's now abandoned and quite a sight to see. I've been there twice....

We headed up Lanai Avenue, heeding the 15mph speed limit, taking a turn at Keomuku Highway, which leads up to the Lodge at Koele, which is under going some major renovations. I was told it's going to become some kind of "wellness retreat"?

Stopping across the construction; I stopped when I noticed the wonderful pastureland and some ponies.

I'm fairly certain my in-laws had never see this part of Hawai'i; the Cook Pines, the pastures.....the curious and friendly ponies.....

Who walked right on up to us.

This little fellow was especially curious and friendly.

Then it was the slow drive up the road.

Stopping often along the way for photo-ops....

Like the view of Moloka'i and the Shipwreck on Shipwreck Beach.

It was such a lovely day.

On the drive back; I stopped so we could take in the view of Lana'i City.

It was nearly time for lunch. Sadly, I'd read that Lana'i 'Ohana Poke Market and even more regretfully, Canoes Lana'i, which drew from the lineage of the Tanigawa family and S&T Properties, where I had my first hamburger, had closed. I'd read the Richard's Market, which was really run down the last time I saw the place....everyone used to go to Pine Isles, had been renovated, and now had poke.

Oh my goodness....I don't even recognize the place!

Very modern; lots of prepared foods......

And they did poke....so we got us (and the in-laws) poke bowls to share....on brown rice. Large bowl $9.99 and enough for two!

They even threw some kimchi on top for the Missus! The spicy mayo had too much mayo for me; but the limu poke had a good amount of ogo, wasn't too salty, the fish was decent quality. The shoyu poke wasn't drenched in shoyu and was quite good. Like I said, enough for the two of us. For some reason, the nutty brown rice goes pretty well with poke....ok, there; I've said it.

This sure wasn't the Richard's that I remembered! And good lord; the place is open until 10pm these days!

Richard's Market
434 8th St
Lanai City, HI 96763

After lunch, I drove down to Hulopo'e Beach to see the Puupehe - the "Sweetheart Rock", which I've written about before.

While walking up Puu Pehe, I heard one of the "bruddah's" complain about how crowded the beach was because it was a holiday.

It's all relative, right?

These folks were having a grand old time....that's a portable karaoke machine you see on the left.

When it was time to check in, we headed back to the Hotel Lana'i for a break before dinner. The exterior looks the same.....

But the hotel has undergone its first renovation since being built in 1923.

And oh my goodness; from the wood paneling, to the large screen television (remember when we had on the "only television on the property" back in 2012?), to Japanese toilets, to iPad controls.

Sarah, the amazingly friendly and wonderful front desk person was a joy; friendly, warm, I really enjoyed talking to her about old time Lana'i and the recent changes.....

And that cottage we stayed at on our last stay is being renovated. I'm wondering what that'll be like?

And...maybe not so strangely, I felt so relaxed, something that has been escaping me over the last couple of years.

It's the magic of Lana'i I guess.

Honolulu - It's Back to Fresh Catch

After a wonderful dinner at Kinjiro (and karaage at Karayama) we awoke early to catch our shuttle to LAX at 520am. I actually slept better on the flight than at the hotel.

And breakfast was adequate and held us for quite a while. After getting about 2 hours of shut-eye, I awoke, freshened up, and soon enough, we were landing at "home".

My In-laws picked met us and of course the first thing we wanted was.....poke, of course! The Missus's Mom and Dad live in Ewa Beach, so the natural stop was Tanioka's. But man, the line was crazy....folks standing outside, with a security guard letting folks into the shop one-by-one. We decided to just drive "home" and unpack.

And then....well, we just needed to get some poke. Ono Seafood is closed on Sunday (and Monday), so after mulling some options, we headed off to my "neck of the woods" and Fresh Catch. Funny thing; I'd actually packed the Fresh Catch insulated bag to keep stuffs cold for this trip. So I guess it was just fate?

Not to say that Fresh Catch wasn't busy....they were.

The woman behind the counter was very efficient....but the pressure was on to have your order ready by the time you hit the counter. Decisions....decisions.....

In the end; it was a half pound each of the Hawaiian Blend, Spicy Ahi Shoyu, and Smoked Tako.

The Hawaiian Blend was the favorite hands down; just enough salt, but not enough ogo...still, the onion was sweet, there was a hint of spice.....the fish was good quality...well, in comparison to the poke in San Diego.....well; let's not go there.

The Spicy Ahi Shoyu was too sweet and salty.

I'd have liked more onions...need that pungency to cut the saltiness. Still the fish was good quality.

The smoked tako had too much mayo; but a nice smokiness.

Enjoyed the tobiko, which added a bit of texture; but the octopus was hard instead of being chewy.

Still, this was a nice start to our trip.

Fresh Catch
3109 Waialae Ave
Honolulu, HI 96816 

Ah, it was good to be "home". It had been too long.

And it was hard to beat our "dining room"...…

The Missus's mission was now to have poke every day.

Back to the Routine. Revisits to Taisho, Tiger Tiger, and Zarlitos.

As I've mentioned in other posts, the past year, now year and a half has gone by in a flash. Our schedules have made it difficult at times to get back into our routines. Finally, after several trips, a heck of a lot of work, things are settling down. And we're getting back to those places that need no introduction for those who've been reading our little blog over the years.

Taisho:

It's been a while since we checked out Taisho; a least 4-5 months! For a place we used to visit every week.

It's still as good as ever. Now open seven days a week.

I'm hoping we can make it back more often.

Yakitori Taisho
5185 Clairemont Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92117

Tiger! Tiger!:

Now that it's warming up; the Missus is in the mood to return to Tiger! Tiger! After a bit of a slump, it seems the food here has returned to form.

The "Ramen Sausage" was the oddest sounding item we came across. It turned out to be delicious. The sausage kind of had the flavor of a chicken-ramen broth. It was a nice surprise as we were ready to not like it.

Tiger! Tiger!
3025 El Cajon Blvd
San Diego, CA 92104 

Zarlitos:

When it gets too warm for our usual weekend breakfasts at Aqui es Texcoco; it's time to head back to Zarlitos. These days, the Missus actually orders the Poke-silog.

Zarlitos Family Restaurant
505 East 8th St.
National City, CA 91950

To all of you who still read the blog after all these years; I think this is post #3851 or something like that. We thank you!

As does Frankie.

Hope everyone is having a great week!

Saturday Stuffs - How About a "Poke-silog" for Breakfast (Zarlitos), The Fire Spot Coming to Convoy, and Other "Stuffs"

Pokesilog?:

So the Missus wanted a nice, early weekend breakfast at one of Her favorite spots. We were met by the same very sweet and pleasant young lady, that usually works on the weekends.

We were seated and handed the usual brown, sticky, well-worn menus. I was going to get "the usual", a Chicksilog. But as we sat, the young lady handed us this additional menu. "Zarlitos Family Restaurant Secret Poke Menu" it says.

Along with the poke on one side, it also lists....good lord....Poke Fries? Shades of Pokiritto; Poke Burritos? Even more hilarious, something called "Hashbrown Thing". Hashbrowns topped with spicy tuna, Spam, and an egg? I think this takes the poke on everything fad a bit too far.....

Somehow, the Missus talked me into ordering the Pokesilog ($9).

Ok, so the Missus got the egg, which She enjoyed, the rice was hard and not so good. You know what I think about the so-called "Seaweed Salad", but the Missus had no qualms about that and the Tuna Scrape; you know, the stuff they put into that spicy tuna roll you get at those gringo sushi shops; probably from True World Foods, was nice and spicy. That was a large batch of surimi...all fine. I chose the Spicy Garlic Poke, which was perhaps a bit too sweet, but I couldn't complain about the quality of the fish on this visit. And only nine bucks.....take that "Chi-poke" shop!

The menu is currently only available from 8am to 2pm during weekends.

And, if you actually do try that "Hashbrown Thing", tell me about it, ok? I'm probably going back to my Chicksilog next time.

Zarlitos Family Restaurant
505 East 8th St.
National City, CA 91950

The Fire Spot Coming to Convoy:

I noticed that some work was going on at one of the shops in that strip mall with the worst parking on Convoy. So I took a quick look and found that something called "The Fire Spot" was taking the Print Shop's place.

Couldn't find much online.

So your guess is as good as mine......hot pot? Sichuan? Meat Skewers?

I guess we'll find out soon enough.

4646 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

My favorite license plate frame of the week....or maybe year:

Obviously a very proud mom!

Is the 'C' supposed to be a 'G' or am I supposed to add an 'R':

I noticed this sign while waiting at the traffic light on the corner of Convoy and Clairemont Mesa.

I never noticed this sign before, but am pretty sure it's been here for a while. You'd think they'd fix it, right?

It did have me thinking what the correct spelling should be....'Massage' or add an 'r' and it becomes 'Massacre'.....

And then I got this texted to me:

Wow, who knew.....

Though I did ask the question; shouldn't it be 2 eggs and 1 wiener?

Hope you're having a great weekend!

Breakfast Revisits - Zarlitos Family Restaurant, Elijah’s Restaurant & Delicatessen, and Poke Etc

A couple of breakfast revisits.

Zarlitos Family Restaurant:

It's already been established that Zarlitos is the Missus's favorite breakfast stop. Basically, it's poke for breakfast. And the Missus can sometimes put away a pound of this stuff.

I however, had to still work and find the perfect breakfast counter-point. It became a real "Goldilocks" type of moment. No, not that Goldilocks; this Goldilocks!

The first time...well, I just had to try the sisig. But man, this was way to sour for breakfast.

As a whole not too bad in terms of sisig; but I wanted a bit more spice. The pork was crisp and not overly chewy, but it was just missing something....and perhaps was not the best choice for breakfast.

On another note; a friend sent me a bunch of postings last month....apparently Anthony Bourdain anointed Sisig as the next big thing. I dunno, I think my first post on sisig was way back in April, 2006. Hey, even an old fuddy-duddy unhip food blogger enjoys a moment where one of his favorites dishes; one with its own category list hits the spotlight. As for the next big thing? Hmm.......

Next visit; I went the ex-pat local boy route.....the Spamsilog.

Man, talk about too much of a good thing......I expected like maybe two slices, max. But this was three fairly substantial slices. Way too much saltiness. Even though the Spam looked undercooked; it was strangely crisp. I think it was dumped in the fryer. In spite of this not working out, I did find part of the equation. First off, I'm not a big fan of the standard garlic rice here...and they do give a lot of rice. I got steamed rice and found that the Missus sharing a good amount of it....and one of my eggs to boot.

So we were at two out of three here.......almost there.

And then I ordered the Chicksilog; the fried chicken quarter, rice, and eggs.

The chicken is simply fried; but the fat has been rendered out from under that crisp skin. It's obviously been double-fried. That skin was nice, light and crisp, with a enjoyable level of greasiness that just goes well with some vinegar.....yes, vinegar is a must as it really cuts the fattiness.

That's two easy-over eggs hiding below the fried chicken. I share one egg and about a third of the rice with the Missus, along with a bit of the chicken....of course She loves that skin dipped in vinegar. I place the egg on top of the rice; break the yolk, and add shoyu.

As Goldilocks said; "this one is just right".......

Zarlitos Family Restaurant
505 East 8th St.
National City, CA 91950

Elijah’s Restaurant & Delicatessen:

I'd managed to bring back a pound of Schwartz's smoked meat from Montreal and the Missus wanted me to track down some Rye Bread. For some reason; I recalled that Elijah's sold their own rye bread. "AlanH" had also recommended the goulash soup, which was a Wednesday special at Elijah's, so I got there right before 11am on a Wednesday to check it out.

This being a breakfast posts; you can kinda figure out how I fared. The really nice gentleman informed me that they weren't serving the goulash soup at this time.

So I took a look at the menu.

Breakfast I believe is served all day....for some reason the Reuben Omelette ($10.95) jumped out at me. So I ordered it. Man, talk about a load of food.

And to be perfectly honest; I kinda enjoyed it.......slight sour and crunch from the sauerkraut; sliced corned beef added meatiness and saltiness, the Swiss cheese a blanket of milky comfort, and for some reason Russian Dressing.....now, when I used to work in a restaurant during my younger days; we added a dollop of mayonnaise to our scrambled eggs for extra richness...here it's the ketchup in the dressing, along with the mild acidity from the cheese that really helped things along.

The potatoes were nicely fried and seasoned....the Missus really likes the potatoes here, so I saved most of it for Her. Along with half the omelette which I had later on for dinner.

So I struck out on the goulash soup, but didn't do badly at all.

Elijah’s Restaurant & Delicatessen
7061 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92111

Poke Etc:

I know poke at Zarlitos and Longanisa at Poke Etc? What can I say? I'd actually been wanting to try the Ilocano Longanisa, something that I haven't had since my days "back home". Like I mentioned in my Poke Etc post last year. My Filipino friends back home were Ilocano and that was the type of longanisa I was used to. Man, when I had my first Longsilog here on the mainland!

Anyway; the Ilocano Longanisa here comes with eggs and rice, with an amazing price of $4.95! So finally, a year later, I made my way back and ordered it.

For some reason I expected easy over eggs; but man, that's a lot of eggs and longanisa for five bucks. The eggs weren't seasoned and were on the gummy side. The rice was better than on my previous visits. Maybe because it was 10 in the morning. Something was not right with the longanisa; I'm used to garlic hints with a sour, vinegar bite....but these tasted, well, almost rancid, bitterness. It also smelled kind of strange.....sort of cheesy...which I love in cheese....but not quite here. I'd actually taken this home before eating or I'd ask the really nice woman about it. So basically decided to cut my losses.

I'll probably go back to the poke here during future visits.

Poke Etc
916 E 8th St
National City, CA 91950

Pacific Poke Co.

I first noticed this place during one of my visits to Mama Cinia. It hadn't opened yet and I had to sigh at what looked like yet another "Chi-Poke" place. A few months later, I intended on getting some pho at Cow Cali, but there was actually a bunch of people waiting in line.

PPC was right next door and had just turned on the "open" sign. So, I thought why not check them out.

And yes, this was indeed one of those pick some seafood; pick some toppings, make a bowl kind of place. They also had Spam Musubi, miso soup, and a couple of other items on the menu.

I ended up ordering a Large Bowl ($12.50); four scoops of protein, I did like that they had a marinaded version, almost like real poke (not), because the fish looked a bit dried out. So I got that, with the sweet and spicy sauce. Nice that they didn't charge extra for avocado like a lot of places do; white onions, cucumbers, and green onion. Simple is best.

This was actually not bad; the fish was relatively tender, not much connective tissue, no off flavors, the marinade and the "sauce" worked rather well. The avocado was starting to brown, but was fine. There was one sneaky little move....I don't remember requesting any wasabi, but I put this little lump of what looked like smashed avocado in my mouth....ho-ly smokes....try eating an entire spoonful of wasabi!

While not really "Poke" to me, I thought this was pretty good; perhaps on par with Tokyo Deli and much better than other versions I've had.

And yet, I just kinda let it go at that for a few months. Then a few weeks after reading Kirbie's post, I decided to head back. In search of a light lunch, I went with the Large - Salad option. And I did appreciate the availability of Hamachi, since many places don't serve it based on food cost. 2 scoops Ahi, two Hamachi, marinated (of course). I was a bit surprised at the rather small size (even for me a rather light eater)  of the salad. Back "home" we call this "manini".

Man, this was on the small side....but all would be well if the fish was good. Which it wasn't. The Hamachi tasted a bit off; on the fishy end of the scale, I pushed that off to the side...my salad got even smaller. The Ahi this time had too much connective tissue and was too chewy. Well, the masago and the rest of the ingredients were decent.

In the end; I'm not quite sure which bowl is the norm here. All I've got to say is YMMV. And I really don't feel like a tie-breaker visit right now. Maybe one of these days.

Pacific Poke Co
9168 Mira Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92126
Hours:
Sun - Thurs 11am - 8pm
Fri - Sat 11am - 830pm

Poke U

Yet another one of these "Chi-poke", fast casual places. This one in the food court of Zion Market. The now ubiquitous, pick the seafood, pick the toppings, pick the sauce.......kind of place.

It's the typical drill, you pick what you want...rice or salad, etc.....fish scooped with what looks like a 1/2 ounce scooper....and you get....

Well, not that. That's a real poke bowl....from Ono Seafood. This was $7.50 back when we visited; I think it's now like eight bucks or so.

Here's the $9.95 bowl + $1 for avocado since looking at the fish, I thought I'd needs something with a bit of creaminess to set things off.

Folks were nice....they gave me some miso soup...pretty dark looking stuff, but it was not bad. Not too salty. The tuna and salmon looked just barely passable and the albacore not too good, so I went with tuna, salmon, and two scoops of scallops, which was a mistake as the scallops were still slightly frozen and had none of the nice sea-salty sweetness I enjoy. The tuna was on the dry side, the salmon passable. The rice was adequately prepared; though the cho-jang like sauce was watered down and lacked enough of the sweetness of versions I enjoy.

Still, two of the good things about the place is; they open at 1030 and I often have weird lunch hours, and they are fairly close by in the Zion Market Food Court....where I usually don't have to fight tooth and nail for parking.

A couple of weeks later I returned.

In the mood for something lighter, I went with the salad version of the medium bowl...again $9.95 + $1 for avocado.

This time around I had some albacore, which wasn't very good, slightly off tasting. The salmon had a lot of connective tissue....the tuna looked decent and I got a double scoop, which was good move. The soy-mustard dressing added enough moisture to things....as you can tell it's rather dried out; though not as bad as what I recently had at Poki One and Half....plus they know how to spell poke.

What did make me laugh was when one of my coworkers accidentally called this place "Pork U"..... The shop also makes everything else the other places in the food court don't...from ramen to teriyaki bowls to (con) fusion "nachos".

As for all these poke places? Well, it'll be interesting to see what happens when we hit saturation point. So far; I think the best of these places, not including the ones that actually "make" poke might be Tokyo Deli Downtown?

Poke U (In the Zion Market Food Court)
7655 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92111
Open Daily
1030am - 830pm

Revisits - Villa Manila and the Missus's Favorite Poke Spot (It's Zarlitos!)

A couple of revisits for you.

During the short week between Christmas and New Year, I decided to take Calvin and JohnF out for lunch. We usually eat along the rather close confines of Kearny Mesa....but this was the Holiday Season, so why not relax a bit (even though they had to stay at work even longer on this day)? John is from NorCal and Filipino.....the big joke with him is that when it comes to food, he says, I'm "more Filipino" than he is. He is also a pretty big eater, so I thought a visit to Villa Manila would be fun.

Ordering was to the point; bagoong rice (sorry no photo, though JohnF said his wife loved the leftovers), and of course Crispy Pata (a small portion).

From the looks I didn't think this was going to be as good as previous versions I've had here. But man, this was worth the "meat sweats". The skin was crisp, all that gelatinous goodness was there, the meat was moist, what more could you ask for?

I had to order the Bicol Express....which is not quite what is used to be.

There's not quite the same amount of bagoong alamang, so the flavor while still on the salty side, doesn't have as much of that savory finish. The pork is still tender, though the portion size has gotten smaller.

And then there is the Nilagang Baka, the beef shank soup. Calvin, whose Missus is Vietnamese really enjoyed the beefiness of the broth. You should have seen the look on his face when they came to refill the broth!

Overall, still a nice meal. Even though VM is not quite what it was before.

Villa Manila
500 East 8th Street
National City, CA 91950

So, the Missus didn't believe me when I said that Zarlitos made some decent poke. But an interesting thing happened. During the nice Bitter Brothers Anniversary dinner, Candice mentioned the poke at Zarlitos to the folks sitting with us. Turns out it was Keoni Simmons (and yes, his dad is from Hawaii), who confirmed my belief that the poke Zarlitos makes is legit. And so that conversation with the Missus went on as we headed to Hogetsu Bakery. So She relented and we decided on stopping at Zarlitos.

Where she proceeded to eat a pound of poke. Now, even though I make Spicy Tuna Poke for the Missus, I'm not a big fan. The Missus enjoyed the version here.

First off, the quality of the fish is decent, no fibrous "suji". I think this would do fairly well "back home". These days, I put a bit of wasabi in my spicy tuna poke and that's what the Missus was missing....no major complaints on this though.

The Limu poke was a bit more problematic. The fish was of decent quality, but there was too much sesame oil in this...and yes, it wasn't salty enough...when was the last time I mentioned something not having enough NaCl?

Also, this version of "limu" poke used wakame....I mean, really? Even Poke Etc down the street used Limu Kohu. Still, this was much better than those "Chi-Poke" places that have sprung up everywhere.

Of course the Missus needed some rice; so I ordered the Longsilog.

Which was passable.

In the end, while it's not Tanioka's, Fresh Catch, Suisan, or Ono Seafood, it'll do until we get back home again.....hopefully soon.

Zarlitos Family Restaurant
505 East 8th St.
National City, CA 91950