mmm-yoso!!!

Eating (and drinking) in the Time of Covid-19 - Chicago Fire Grill, Bay Park Fish, and Beer From Harland

How is everyone doing? Here are a couple of stuff-to-go and a couple of cold ones. I'm not going to go into the food much here....it's just not the time for that.

Chicago Fire Grill:

I went to grab a quick lunch for the few souls who are still in the office....plus I wanted to see what "words of wisdom", George, the owner had. Anyway, upon getting there, I ordered from the doorway....George asked me if I could hear him......I told him, "I could hear you from Orange County....."

We all had a zillion calls during the day and with all the self-quarantine, it actually felt good to get out for 20 minutes to grab lunch and scurry back to the office and yet another call.

George says that he'll hang in there; though he wasn't totally sure about the hours....he's trying to keep it going at least for lunch.

Chicago Fire Grill
8935 Towne Centre Dr.
San Diego, CA 92122

Bay Park Fish Company:

During my short shopping stop at Seisel's, I saw this sign in front of Bay Park Fish.

And while BPF has kinda fallen from favor for us over the years; it along with Siesel's were the subject of one of my first posts back in 2005. So I went in and placed an order before I went to Siesel's. When I got out of Siesel's and walked over, my food was ready...….I decided not to take the 30% off and also tip a bit...….it's almost like my responsibility.

Got the shrimp torta and smoked fish stack.

Currently open from noon to 5pm for take-out.

Bay Park Fish Co.
4121 Ashton St.
San Diego, CA 92110

We've been trading food with Frankie's favorite auntie "Alle", who lives close by. One day, she had gone on a "beer run" to Harland and graciously gave some brews.

Here's the Harland Japanese Lager.

And something really special; the Harland MoMo Mochi IPA.

Nice, slightly fruity, mildly sweet, in the session IPA hoppiness scale....very nice Hazy IPA made with...well "Momo" (peaches) of course.

Thanks Alle!

Be safe everyone!

Point Loma Seafoods (yes, more visits)

mmm-yoso!!!, a food blog with posts of places to eat in and around San Diego as well as the world.  Today, it's a San Diego post. Cathy is writing while Kirk is adjusting back to this time zone.

There have been plenty of posts about this (since 1963) San Diego institution. My latest post was in 2018.  So, here's another one. We stop here whenever we are at the airport, picking up or dropping off.
 There is a fresh fish counter for convenient purchases, with a restaurant menu above. THIS is a link to a current priced menu.
When you walk in, there is a white board (which is back) with some current specials, which are not on the regular menu (seasonal items). You step up to the counter, order and pay and your number will be called. 
 You grab your own beverages and find a seat, indoors or upstairs or outside.
 The 'Combo"-Bay Shrimp and Crab salad is market Price ($17 this day).  A very large portion (the photo doesn't show the depth of the container), Mixed greens, great portions of fresh Dungeness crab and plenty of (quite large) Bay shrimp.  The house made dressing is perfectly complimentary.
  A bowl of New England clam chowder ($4.92/$5.30 with tax) is made using a wonderful recipe with whole chopped clams and potatoes, celery and onion (and of course, real cream). Again, my photo doesn't show the size of the bowl properly, but this and the salad were easily shared as a nice lunch.   When you order the fried clam plate (it's listed on the black colored white board at the door, this day for $26), a container of Ipswich Belly Clams is pulled from the glass counter and given to the kitchen so they can begin the frying process, which is perfect.  A nice cornmeal and flour based breading, fresh clams; nothing more needed. The Mister craves these, a childhood treat when growing up on the east coast, when he could grab a bag of fresh fried clams to munch on while riding his bike to and through Rhode Island. The fries are thin and perfectly crisp, the slaw here is unique-bell peppers along with the fresh, crispy cabbage and light sauce- flavors so fresh and unadorned, letting the ingredients shine.  
 The Combo Seafood Plate ($17.50) Two pieces of cod, Two shrimp, one crab cake.  A little bit of everything, perfect fried.  Just so satisfying and perfectly fresh and flavorful.  The tartar sauce is (also) made here and complimentary to the fried items.  The cocktail sauce has a nice bite of horseradish and we only use it for the smoked fish.  

A San Diego Institution still around for a reason. 

Point Loma Seafoods 2805 Emerson Street San Diego, CA 92106 (at Scott Street) (619) 223-1109 Website Open Mon-Sat 9-7, Sun 10-7 (these are winter hours) 
 

La Catrina Tapas & Cantina

La Catrina has been somewhat of an enigma for us. I first noticed this shop on the corner of University and Herman, in the former location of Tostada's while walking around the area when the Missus was getting Her hair done one day.

A few days later we dropped by for dinner and really enjoyed the tacos......

And the Missus loved the salsas as well; especially the version with chili de arbol and nuts. It was spicy and complex, really heightening the experience.

So, I was thinking we'd do a couple of more visits, then I'd do a post.....except, the menu kept changing, the Rib Eye and Bone Marrow tacos we'd enjoyed changed.....

Then the rock shrimp tacos; which were delicious on a previous visit, were suddenly not fried on one visit.....

On the next visit the shrimp were nicely battered and fried, but now came with fries.....

And then, to top things off, we went twice during hours posted on the place's website; only to find them closed. Sigh.....

So, after three actual visits and two aborted visits, I basically called it quits.

Until we recently got back from Mexico City. The Missus really wanted some tacos....actually She missed the great salsas we had. So, after checking out the hours on La Catrina's website, we returned. And so far so good.

There was one dish we've had at La Catrina on every visit. It's the Carnitas and Octopus Cazuela; a shareable portion of porky, rich carnitas, and nicely prepped octopus.

The flour tortillas served is a bit inconsistent at times; but when you get it slightly charred it just brings the flavors up to another level. I never thought the combination of carnitas and pulpo would work, it does in this case as the octopus adds a very nie texture. And yes, the Missus loves the salsas....

When things are right; there's a wonderful combination of textures, along with the richness of the pork, the acidity and slight pungency of the onions and pico de gallo, all brought together by the charred flour tortilla and picante salsas. And while it's not always been perfect, it's never been bad.

What we also did on our two recent visits is get whatever Happy Hour or special is going on.

There's usually the Rock Shrimp Tacos.

Which were 2 for $7 during our most recent visits. And the last time we had them; the layer of queso on the tortilla had been wonderfully griddled, forming the perfect, crisp, nutty-milky shield for the tortilla. The shrimp were crunchy, moist, and quite well, but not overly seasoned.

This last time the Fish Tacos were 3 for $8.

The Missus loved these. The fish was perfectly fried, crunchy exterior, the flesh moist, with a mild sweetness. It went well with the smooth and creamy guacamole and of course the salsas.

On our previous visit the Rib Eye Tacos were 2 for $7. While the portion of meat was quite generous, we didn't for these very much.

The meat was tender, but hadn't been seared properly and lacked color and the flavor a nice caramelization brings to meat. It was moist, but also seemed on the greasy side and hadn't been seasoned enough for our taste. The queso had not been griddled enough so it was soft and didn't protect the tortilla from all that juice and grease; causing the taco to lose its integrity and fall to pieces. Maybe you'll have better luck with this one.

Something we tried twice but didn't have much luck with at La Catrina is the Ceviche.

Both times we tried this; the fish had been chopped into fairly small pieces and had been overly "cooked" in the lime juice making it mushy. Also, we found the ceviche to be way to sour and salty both times. We haven't tried it on recent visits, so maybe......or maybe not.

We really enjoyed our last two visits to La Catrina; it seems we've found what works for us and what we enjoy. The staff here has always been friendly, welcoming, and quite nice. I'm hoping that all the inconsistencies we ran into are over. I'm also hoping the place survives. Perhaps it's because we eat at a rather early hour; but we've rarely seen more than one or two other tables filled during our visit. There's so much potential here.

La Catrina Tapas & Cantina
3139 University Ave
San Diego, CA 92104
Hours (as of this past week):
Tues - Thurs 4pm - 10pm
Fri - Sat    Noon - 1am
Sunday       Noon - 9pm
Closed on Monday

Seasurf Fish Co (Del Mar)

Thanks for stopping by to read today's issue of mmm-yoso!!!, a blog about food.  Kirk and His Missus are continuing their vacation and Cathy is writing this post.

In early October 2017, when The Mister and I were leaving Bushfire Kitchen after a lovely lunch, we saw signage across the parking lot about some sort of seafood restaurant 'opening soon!'.  There it ended.  Until a few weeks ago when I was driving and heard a special ring tone from my mobile phone and needed to pull off the freeway to respond immediately.  So here we were in the same parking lot... Seasurf opened in late October 2017 and was the fourth partner of a group of Los Angeles/Culver City/Santa Monica based restaurants named Sea Salt Grill.

It's a walk up, order, pay type place with your food brought to your table.  There is indoor and covered outdoor seating.  The menu is varied with Salads, Sandwiches and Poke.  There are Grilled, Steamed and Fried choices as well as Bowls, Tacos, Burritos with interesting 'sides' and 'extras'.  We sat down with the menu to plan this meal. 
 Seaweed salad ($3.99) was a reasonable choice to serve as a palate refresher during the meal we planned.  Fresh, tender (I somehow have had a few unfortunate encounters with seaweed texture which I can only describe as 'shredded plastic') with a subtle sesame flavor.   A large, flavorful serving. 
There are two home made soups available ($3.99/cup) and we ordered one of each.  The Baja Seafood Chowder 'cup' (I wonder how large the bowl is) filled with fish, shrimp and sea clams along with tomato, carrots, celery, onion, hominy and potato was really good.  The Fisherman's Wharf Clam Chowder had sea clams and baby clams along with onion, celery and potato.  Also excellent.  Even side by side it was difficult to pick a favorite.  
Of course we chose the Crispy Calamari ($6.99) to share.  The light cornmeal breading and perfectly fried, tender squid was also great.  The tartar and cocktail sauces were fresh made and really tasty.  Kind of sad it was the only fried item we ordered, but in reality it was just enough.
At the bottom of the "Off The Grill" part of the menu was Seafood Cioppino ($13.99).  This was a perfect item to share.  Scallops, clams mussels, shrimp, calamari and fish in a garlic tomato sauce: traditional Italian stew on top of a small serving of rice.  The two pieces of  grilled toast were just enough to sop up the rest of the juices. Such wonderful flavors!

Condiments were not needed for any of this meal. 

So glad we stopped and were able to try a bit of everything. There will be return visits.  

Faye has been here.

Seasurf Fish Co 2650 Del Mar Heights Road Del Mar, CA 92014 Website (858) 280-7100 Open: Mon-Fri 11a.m.-9 p.m., Sat-Sun 12-9

The Fancy Fish (Mira Mesa)(again)

Thanks for stopping by to read mmm-yoso!!!, a food blog.  Kirk is taking some time off and Cathy is filling in with posts about meals she has enjoyed. 

First things first.  I wrote a post about The Fancy Fish in July, 2017.  The menu prices are the same. The only difference noted is there is an $8 Fish and Chips special (along with a few other items) now offered daily, instead of only on Friday (and on Friday, the Fish and Chips is $7.50).The (currently only, but soon to be referred to as 'the first' San Diego HMart is just to the right in the above photo). 

 Walk in, order, pay and your food is brought to your table.  You'll be checked on by one of the owners during your meal. 
The glassed in open kitchen can be fun to watch.  In front of it, you can get your own beverage (from a Stubborn Soda machine), utensils, condiments and, if needed, to-go boxes.
 We decided to try the daily $8 Fish and Chip special (there are other specials, too).  
Two large pieces of white fish, lightly breaded and perfectly fried, served with a good portion of thin cut (also perfectly fried; non-greasy) potatoes and an excellent slaw.  This by itself could be a light meal for two.  But, we were hungry.
Seared albacore tuna salad ($12.50) was the order.
The salad is served in a very large bowl (almost three inches tall) with a choice of house made dressings (Ranch, Thousand Island, Cilantro Lime, Toasted Sesame, Honey Dijon, Berry Vinaigrette and Cusabi (cucumber wasabi; a pleasant, lighter version of straight wasabi).

Fancy Fish is an underrated, gem of a restaurant.

The Fancy Fish 9430 Mira Mesa Blvd (at Westview Parkway) San Diego 92126 (858)586-6228 Website Open Sun-Thurs 11a.m.-9 p.m. Fri-Sat 11 a.m.-10 p.m.

Lenten Specialties for 2018- fish sandwiches, seafood specials and tuna pie(!)

mmm-yoso!!! is the name of this food blog.  Kirk has written the majority of posts this year and needs a break. Cathy finally has the time and energy to write about  various foods she has enjoyed; the blogging will continue, uninterrupted. 

You probably notice each January that fast food places make an effort to showcase some sort of 'new'/limited time seafood based item.  This is perhaps in conjunction with consumers'  'New Year Resolution' to eat less meat and/or the beginning of the 40 day religious season of Lent, which begins on the day after "Fat Tuesday" and ends on Easter, during which some Christians only eat pescatarian meals.  In any case, most of the items shown here still seem to be available. For example, there is the McDonald's Filet o' Fish, which is available at a discounted price (around $2) on Fridays all year.  The squared, solid, breaded and fried fish chunk is topped with a 2/3 slice of cheese and tartar sauce and served on a steamed, soft white bread bun.  Of course, in March, having a Filet o' Fish along with a minty Shamrock Shake is a short-lived flavor combination.  For quite a few years now, Wendy's has offered a North Pacific Cod sandwich (~$4), which is unique and excellent.  The cod is flaky, the fry is crisp and not greasy, the toppings of lettuce, tartar sauce and pickles are just right.  This year, a few locations of Chick-Fil-A offered a fish sandwich and fish strips on Fridays during Lent.  It did not taste like chicken, the sandwich had the 'traditional' CFA topping of two pickles and was certainly different for the chicken-centric chain.
 Popeye's offered a $5 " Shrimp Tackle Box" for a limited time.  There were a dozen spicy battered, plump shrimp, along with seasoned fries and a biscuit in this filling meal. My friend, and fellow blogger, cc, sent me this photo of the Fish and Chips she and Bert had at Fuddruckers.  $10 for three fish pieces and fries.
cc and Bert also managed to try the (real!) crab sandwich offered at Boudin.  The limited offering will be back next year and I'm looking forward to trying it. Then there was the day I was in National City.  There was a sign in the window and I had to stop.   Yep.   Tuna pie- $2.49.  It's been on the menu since last summer, but I never was in the neighborhood...
It's, you know, like an old fashioned Mcdonalds apple pie- fried.  Filled with a warm, creamy tuna (no noodle) casserole, this was a great snack.
Yes, I ate in my car.  It had been a long day and there was going to be traffic on the way home. 
I also bought a taro boba drink.  It was great. Did you know Jollibee is the flagship of Jollibee Foods Corporation, the largest and fastest growing Asian Restaurant Company in the world?
 

Thanks for reading!

Lana'i - Dinner at Nobu

My In-laws had really enjoyed Lana'i so far....there was something about the freshness of the air, the relaxed vibe, and for us, being about 8 degrees cooler than Oahu. After a nice nap; we awoke and decided to take a short stroll.

Dole Park is basically the center of the city. Most of the businesses line the street around the park. As do buildings like the city's district court.

Let me ask you; have you ever seen a Court House that looks like this?

Soon enough it was time to head off to dinner. Initially, I had wanted to try the Lanai City Bar and Grill which we had tried on our previous visit. I'd heard some really good things about the new Executive Chef. Unfortunately, it was Monday and the restaurant was closed. So, I decided to make dinner reservations at Nobu....yes, Nobu, which opened several months after our previous visit.

We arrived for dinner reservations; the dining area is very nice; with great views of Manele Bay.

Our Servers were excellent; professional and yet quite friendly.

I started with a perfectly decent Pisco Sour; though the Missus lamented the lack of "eggy-richness" like what She's had in Peru.

For pupus we started with the Grilled Shishito with Den Miso ($10) and Edamame with Truffle ($12).

We'd have preferred our shishito peppers with a bit more color to them as they weren't "grilled" enough to develop the deep roasted pepper flavor, nor make them more tender. The peppers had retained too much of the chlorophyllic green flavor.  The miso-sugary Den Miso did fairly well on this, but would have been even better had the peppers been roasted/grilled properly.

The Edamame was fine; still very firm and had a light drizzle of truffle oil.....a very light drizzle.

The Whitefish with Dry Miso ($28) was next.

One of Nobu's signature dishes; a firm whitefish is topped with dehydrated miso; olive oil, sliced garlic. The fish was super dry and tough....even for shiromi. The garlic chips make things a bit too bitter and for some reason; the miso powder was very bland.

One of the dishes the Missus, a real mushroom lover, wanted to try was the Crispy Shiitake Salad ($26).

The deep fried mushrooms were really mild in flavor; lacking that sweet-earthiness. The greens were very fresh and lovely, but the dressing had too much rice vinegar for our taste and really over-shadowed the truffle oil in the dressing....you barely knew it was there.

Our favorite item of the evening was the Warm Mushroom Salad($29).

Again; the greens were excellent, crisp, fresh, with a sweet-bitterness. The mushrooms were sautéed to perfection; not overdone, the texture firm yet yielding. There was the perfect balance of seasoning, salt to acid to really bring out the best in the mushrooms.

Our least favorite dish of the night was the Crispy Rice with Spicy Tuna ($28).

Man, that rice was hard, not crisp, hard, and the centers; which should give way to some softer-creamier rice was also hard. And this coming from a guy who loves Yaki-onigiri. The scrapings used for the spicy tuna was more fishy than we prefer.

Since there were four of us; I ordered the Black Cod Miso in Butter Lettuce ($9/piece - $36).

This was fine; though the fish wasn't as fatty as I prefer. Still, not bad, mild richness, balanced sweet-umami tones. My MIL agrees with the Missus that they prefer my (based on my Mom's) recipe as this was on the mild side for them.

The last dish was the Pan Seared Opah, Crispy Ong Choy, with Truffle Yuzu Soy ($32). Man, this could have been a winnah! However......

We were forewarned that this was going to come out medium; which made my heart sing. Opah is terrible when over-cooked, making it leathery and dry. When this arrived; well, it had been overcooked, and was so dry. The yuzu-soy; though again very light on the truffle had a nice savory-umami-sour-light sweetness and went quite well with the super tender and almost sweet broccoli; which I'm assuming was local.

In the end; our service was great....which is what made the meal, as the food was uneven and somewhat disappointing; especially at this price-point. The Missus and I have had several meals at different locations of Nobu over the years and for some reason have never been "wow'd" by our meals. Not sure what it is as I've made items (with some adjustments) from a couple of his cookbooks over the years which have turned out well.

Nobu (at the Four Seasons Manele Bay)
1 Manele Bay Rd
Lanai City, HI 96763

Well, at least it was a beautiful night in Lana'i City!

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.

Point Loma Fish Shop

mmm-yoso!, a food blog.  Cathy is writing today while Kirk is researching something to write about.

The Mister and I wanted to go to Point Loma Seafoods, but the line to the parking area was backed out onto the street.  We started driving around and saw what had opened in the old Charlie's Best Bread (Point Loma location) on the corner of Rosecrans at Cañon, just across the street from Harbor Town Pub. An open air dining concept, the space is quite large. 
Walk up, order, pay, find a seat and your food is brought out to you.  That's the whole menu.
There's a small bar area next to the cash register. Behind it is the 'Dog Friendly' area-bar height seating and essentially opposite from the low tables.
Since this was a first visit, we decided to try some 'basics', like the clam chowder (cup, $5).  WOW.  This was so rich; tasting of cream and butter and clams.  If you've ever had She Crab Soup (and we have, many times, when living in Virginia), the bisque-like texture and and mouthfeel is the same...just no sherry (or crab).
The menu style is "1. Pick a fish, 2. Pick a marinade, 3. Pick a style".  So, this was albacore with lemon butter as a salad ($12).  Another WOW.  The fish was rare-seared, moist, flavorful.  The mixed greens salad had pickled onions and capers as well as cucumber and cherry tomatoes.  We chose the house made ranch dressing, figuring it would be a 'neutral' flavor.  
There were several ads for the 'Fish Shop Seasoning' on the tables and ordering area.  We were curious about the description of 'a little sweet with a mild spice' and ordered the jumbo shrimp only-grilled with this seasoning ($11).  There were seven shrimp which were plump and juicy-perfectly cooked.  The seasoning was a Cajun dry rub-you can taste the smoky first, notice the sticky (brown sugar) and still can get the briny sweetness of good quality shrimp along with a nice spice end note.  These were pretty much perfect.  The house made side sauce (chipotle aioli) was complimentary and went with the shrimp.  (I tried some bites of shrimp with the Ranch dressing, but it didn't 'go' with the other flavors). 
 We also decided to try something fried and this small side of onion rings ($3) was our order.  I think you might be able to tell these were perfectly battered and fried to a good crunch.  The thick slices of sweet onion were crisp/fresh.

As always, I researched after going home and having the meal.  There's a sister location.  The Pacific Beach Fish Shop has been on Garnet since 2010; I remember seeing it when working for the Registrar of Voters for the two Special Elections but never remembered to go back. cc was here, in 2014 (Happy Birthday, Bert!) Kirbie was at PB Fish Shop in 2014, too! Oh So Yummy was here in 2017. The Point Loma Fish Shop location opened about a year ago. Mary was here in March.  We will be back; there's parking, fair prices and the food so far has been great.

Point Loma Fish Shop 1110 Rosecrans Street #100 San Diego, CA 92106 (619)794-2449 Website Open daily 11-9 
 

Machu Picchu Bar and Restaurant

A few months ago, one of my coworkers mentioned a Peruvian place he and his wife loved. They are, like me, big fans of Peruvian food. I was surprised at the recommendation. It was a place in the Gaslamp, named after one of the places I'll never forget; Machu Picchu. He highly recommended the Pescado alo Macho; so I headed on down soon after.

The restaurant is located on 5th Avenue, next to Rockin' Baja Lobster. The interior is quite wide open and really looks like a sports bar with an additional dining area upstairs.

This being 1130 on a Sunday, the place was totally empty. The person tending the bar told me choose any table and I had a seat. A menu was provided and I started with a Chicha Morada; which wasn't overly sweet, though the cinnamon-clove flavor was also slightly muted. It was fine though.

In a short while my pretty generous plate arrived. The gentleman told me to be careful of the Aji sauce....which he pronounced Ah-Gee, rather than the correct Ah-hee...oh well.

The dish as a whole wasn't too bad at all. The fish, sea bass, was fried nicely, light and crisp, moist flesh with no off flavors.

The rest of the seafood was a mixed bag; the calamari rings were tough and rubbery and the mussels overcooked. The shrimp edged on being dry and overcooked as well. The sauce was very thin; but quite spicy....it definitely was "macho".

I prefer my sauce for pescado alo macho with a combination of aji Amarillo and aji rocoto; this one was quite one-dimensional and could have used perhaps a bit more tanginess from tomato and some pungent-savory flavors. It wasn't too salty though.

And while the rice was on the dry side and the "salad" was quite simple....looking at it I was thinking some sarza criolla would be a nice pungent, slightly spicy way of helping things along....even though that sauce...and the Aji was quite spicy, it would help to refresh. But it was just a salad with a simple dressing.

Still, the fish was the star, and was not bad at all.

So, a little over a week ago, when I took the trolley and visited the Little Italy Mercato and the Tuna Harbor Dockside Market, I decided to head on over to Machu Picchu. This time, the young man working was obviously Peruvian. Again the place was empty, except for two couples at the bar having mimosas.

This time, I started with the Causa Limena which was huge.

The sauce again had a good amount of spice. It was a bit too cold, the potatoes were on the mealy side. I like the potatoes in my causa to be moist and slightly creamy, this more mealy. The chicken filling had enough celery, but way too much mayonnaise for my taste. Lots of chicken though. Not my favorite version.....though it was quite hefty.

I couldn't help but order the cebiche pescado. The fish again was decent quality, but it had been in the citrus a bit too long and was starting to get mushy. The marinating liquid, the leche de tigre ("tiger's milk") was too thin and was much too sour. I prefer a bit more balance in my leche de tigre, a bit of oceany fish stock, pungent onion, cilantro, you get it. The sauce was again spicy Aji Rocoto based. I asked the young man if this was just Aji Rocoto; or if they snuck in some Aji Limo as well. He told me it was just Aji Rocoto. I wished for a bit more Canchita, but I really wouldn't have enjoyed eating it my favorite way....with a spoon of leche de tigre.

The camote was mushy and lacked the sweet and sometimes cinnamony tones of those in Peru. And corn on the cob replaced the wonderful large kernel "choclo", Peruvian corn.

Not a terrible version of cebiche pescado, but lacking in some of the details that make this dish one of our favorites.

Service was a bit slow, but friendly. The portions are quite generous but with typical Gaslamp prices.

Machu Picchu Bar & Restaurant
314 5th Ave
San Diego, CA 92101
Hours:
Sun - Thurs 11am - 10pm
Fri - Sat   11am - 11pm

After that lunch, it was easy getting on the Green Line back to pick my car up. Perhaps I need to check out other places in the area when my car in in for service.

Thanks for reading!