mmm-yoso!!!

Turo Turo Tuesday - Kujo Eats (National City)

One of the benefits to putting together the "Big List" is that I needed to go over my former posts, which was a great reminder of places I hadn't been to in years. I went about checking on Erlinda's Filipino Cuisine, which had replaced a favorite sisig (along with fried chicken skin) spot of mine Conching and found that it was replaced by something called "Kujo Eats"? Now granted, these days I can't put it away like I used to and have really cut down on the amount of rice I consume. And though I've been trying to change things up a bit, with gas and food prices soaring, well, I've cut down on heading to places I once used to check out every 2 weeks or so to see what was happening. What really surprised me is that my post on Erlinda's is from 2014! Sheesh. As for Kujo Eats? Well, I went to the website which mentioned that the owner was born in Hawaii and raised in San Diego! Plus they open at 8am in the morning? So, I could drive on down and (hopefully) avoid crowds.

Exiting the 805 on Plaza and driving east felt so strange. When was the last time I was in this area? I mean, the last time I actually visited Tita's was in 2013. I headed off to where Plaza turns into Paradise Valley and into the parking lot of Kujo's which looks basically the same as when it was Conching.

And other than the new signage, the two level interior looks the same as well.

The women working are super friendly and of course there were some items that immediately caught my attention.

I didn't come across anything that seemed to have touches of Hawaii until I got to the cashier. They had Spam Musubi for sale!

I got a two item combo with "fried rice" which was $13.79, a bargain these days, especially if your lunch (+ tomorrow's lunch) looks like this.

My goodness, the portion size.

I instantly dug into the sisig, which was just passable with hard and chewy or waxy chopped lechon. The skin had not held up well, even though it was a shade after 10 in the morning.

I can't fault the amount of pork in this; though I do enjoy a good amount of onions as well. This was just slightly sour, while I enjoy a bit more of a bracing flavor. It also lacked spice, one of my favorite things about sisig.

The best item in the plate was the "fried rice"; which was a pseudo garlic rice.

The rice had a nice texture, a good amount of garlic, and more soy than other versions. It was quite satisfying.

The Tortang Talong looked wonderful.

It was nicely coated with egg, though I thought it needed more seasoning, not enough salt and pepper for me. The eggplant was nice and creamy, with a hint of that "aubergine-y" smokiness. I usually like a hint of garlic in my Tortang Talong which I couldn't detect here.

So, this ended up being two meals and change (I still had rice leftover for another meal). 

I was going to do a post right then, but decided that I should go back for another visit. I did wait a couple of weeks though.

This time I got the Lechon Kawale and Kaldereta. Again the portion size was more than generous; especially the rice!

Most of the time, folks working at these turo turo places see that I'm obviously not Filipino and they won't give me the free sinigang that often comes with meals. It's not a big deal as the amount of food provided is more than enough.

But on this visit, the nice woman included the soup.

I enjoyed this; it was bracingly sour, had just enough salt too.

The Lechon Kawale looked quite good. 

The chunks of lechon were quite large; the skin crunchy, though I thought it needed more salt. The meat was on the drier side of the scale and very mild in flavor. It looked better than it actually was.

While not as garlicky as on my previous visit; the fried rice was still good.

I thought the Beef Kaldereta, while on the greasy side was good.

  The beef, in this case short ribs was tender, which was a good thing as the bones made things rather unwieldy. I really liked the tart-tomatoey flavors that permeated the beef as well. This went quite well with the mild pungency of the rice.

I'm glad I checked out Kujo's, though my arteries are probably not as happy. I need to get down here more often and really need to revisit Tita's after all these years.

Kujo Eats
3400 E 8th St. Suite 115
National City, CA 91950
Current Hours:
Mon - Sat 8am - 7pm
Sunday     8am - 6pm

Trining's Bakery & Cafe (Mira Mesa) Revisited

Recently, I as headed to Paris Sandwiches to grab me a banh mi for lunch. I parked and started walking over to Paris, when, for some reason Trining's caught my eye. It had been a couple of years since I last visited and I wandered on over. I wasn't sure the place was open since the sign wasn't on.

But as I walked on over I noticed folks eating and waiting for their orders.

    From previous experience I knew what was available from what was on the white board.

I saw a customer at one of the tables attacking what looked like sisig....it looked pretty good so I ordered that along with the Beef Kaldereta. These days a two item plate costs $12.99 and when paying I found out there's a $1 upcharge for sisig. I think it might be a good idea for folks to know stuff like that?

I drove back to the office and unpacked my lunch.

 So this comes with three, not two scoops of rice....really bad quality rice, the color wasn't right, no fragrance, terrible mealy texture.

The Kaldereta was the better of the two items. Though the beef was sinewy, it wasn't overly tough. Nice savory-tanginess. Though not quite as good as the version I had here last time, it was definitely better than the sisig.

This actually looked quite good when the guy was eating it and at first glance. A closer look and I started noticing how dark the lechon was. And guess what? Just like the last time I had it here, the pork was super hard. The peppers were "shibai" and there was almost no "heat", nor enough sourness, and not enough onion to make a difference in the dish at all.

Ok, so I got distracted. Sometimes you win, sometimes you get mediocre sisig...... There are, in my opinion, much better options in this mall.

Trining's Bakery & Cafe
10606 Camino Ruiz
San Diego, CA 92126

 

White Rice Morena

Back at the beginning of the month, I noticed that Fusion Eats had closed. After reading this post on Eater, I realized this location was going to be an outlet of White Rice. As I was driving past this weekend, I noticed that the sign was up for "White Rice Morena" so I decided to drop by.

Of course, the issue with this strip mall off of Linda Vista is the crazy parking....finding something that is only 10 minute versus 20 minute, versus and actual parking spot. No wonder places don't last here. Anyway, I found parking and walked on over. The place was empty with no hours posted, so I asked the really nice young ladies if they were open. And received a very friendly "yes, welcome, come on in" almost in unison.

Other than the posted menu, strategically placed plants, and some art the looks of the place was quite austere. Which is why I wasn't sure it was even open.

My first instinct was to go with the dish I had enjoyed the most during my visits to the Adams Avenue location, the Tocino Manok. But instead, I decided to try out the Lechon Kawali ($15) and at the last minute added a side of sisig (not on the menu $10). The cheerful young lady took my order and it was a short 15 minute wait for my order.

 Arriving home, I quickly unpacked things and immediately went for the item I found the most problematic on my previous visits; the rice. Sadly, it was basically the same; hard and dry.

As for the rest? Well, the egg was a bit overcooked, but passable. I really like the pickled veggies, which have a nice sour-mildly sweet-salty balance. And the lechon was quite good, the skin which had a nice bubbly-fried appearance was a pleasant crisp to crunchy, the flesh tender and porky. Not bad.

As for the Sisig? Well, last time it was hard and rubbery.

While this version was still chopped too coarse for my liking and I thought it could use more chilies, the texture was fine, as was the amount of sourness. I think I'll stay with the lechon and try the Tocino Manok if I return. Now if "White Rice" could get their namesake item straightened out....

I do think that White Rice is an upgrade over Fusion Eats and can see them doing quite well with the USD folks. Hope it works out.

White Rice Morena
5299 Linda Vista Road
San Diego, CA 92110
Current Hours:
Mon - Fri 11am - 8pm
Sat - Sun 10am - 8pm

COMC: Revisits to Smack’N Guamanian Grill, R & B Filipino Cuisine, and Krispy Krunchy Chicken

I'm just going to do mostly photos in this C(learing) O(ut the) M(emory) C(ard) post. I've done so many posts on these places.

Smack’N Guamanian Grill:

Been here so many times since they opened in 2019. I usually get the same thing; the Chebot BBQ Chicken, which is now $17.79. It was $15.79 on my last visit.

For some reason, the chicken wasn't nicely grilled and was really chewy; the Kelaguen was super bland. This was disappointing. 

This is what it looked like on previous visit.

Man, raise the prices and cut down on the quality and execution? I hope this is just an aberration, but I'm going to give this place a rest for a while.

Smack’N Guamanian Grill
9506 Miramar Rd.
San Diego, CA 92126 

R & B Filipino Cuisine:

Another regular "turo-turo" stop for me since I first visited in 2008! 2008??? Man, what were you doing in February of 2008? 

I basically get sisig and whatever just comes out of the kitchen or looks good. So this time it was the Sisig and Beef Mechado. I can't put it away like I used to, so I go with "half rice" nowadays.

  The sisig had decent spice, balanced with some good sour tones. This might be the best I've had here in terms of seasoning and flavor. The lechon kawale was on the chewy and hard side; but still, I liked the flavors.

R&B has this weird habit of keeping large and ponderous slices of meat in their stews, which I've mentioned before. The meat was tough and there was a kind of greasiness to the dish.

At least the sisig was good.

And I know what "FOY" JanFrederick was doing in February of 2008. He recommended that I give R&B a try....almost 15 years ago! Thanks Jan!

R & B Filipino Cuisine
11257 Camino Ruiz
San Diego, CA 92126

Krispy Krunchy Chicken:

**** Krispy Krunchy Chicken is now a location of Cluck n Sip

This is totally "low hanging fruit". It's so easy for me when I'm shopping at 99 Ranch Market (I know of folks who still call it "Ranch 99", do you?). I place an order and return to pick it up on my way out of the store. It always handles the trip back home with no problem. And on this day, they fried it up fresh because there were no wings ready.

Potato wedges are usually a bit on the dry side; but like the name says the Krispy Krunchy Chicken, is still indeed crispy and crunchy. For me, this always needs Crystal Hot Sauce or Tabasco to cut thru the fried tones and saltiness. It's not amazing and worth going out of your way for, I call it "Popeye's elevated". But it's a pretty consistent product, convenient to get when I go shopping, I guess it fills a niche.

Krispy Krunchy Chicken
5950 Balboa Ave (In the 99 Ranch Market Food Court)
San Diego, CA 92111

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

White Rice Bodega

I had been wanting to check out White Rice in Liberty Station, but the place just always seemed too crowded. So I was happy to read that White Rice Bodega opened in Normal Heights. As a plus, the place opens at 10am on weekends, which seemed to fit right in with all my "errands".

The location is quite nice; though it's going to be interesting to see how it goes if they become popular as there is limited seating.

All of the seating is al fresco.

    I like the fact that they have QR code menus; otherwise you'd have to ask at the window since there's no menu posted. I'd gotten so used to doing QR codes when visiting Mexico that I got kinda thrown off when we returned home!

The staff here is awesome; so friendly, always smiling, very helpful.

And for those "social media" mavens; they even have a "photo spot" marked off......

So you can be your most "instagrammable" self.....

White Rice specializes in "silog-ish" bowls and such. This is modern, sort of hipster Filipino food and the prices reflect that - $8.50 for five lumpia and all that. That's a buck-seventy per lumpia.

Of course, once I saw Sisilog ($14.50) on the menu....well you know me and Sisig, right? It did take almost 25 minutes for me to get my bowl to go. I'm thinking they are still working out all the procedures and processes.

    I must say that the bowl looked quite good. The seasoning for the sisig was on the milder side in terms of sour tones and I didn't get much spice until I had a bite with three hidden slices of what looked like Thai Bird Chilies. Whoa.... I came across "groups" of chilies in the bowl. I guess they don't like being alone?

The egg was just perfectly done; still runny after the trip back home.

As for the lechon; while the pork and the fat was very nicely textured and flavored; the skin was hard and dare I say, rubbery?

    Most problematic for me was the rice, after all this place is named "White Rice", right? It was terribly hard, dry, and there was hardly any garlic flavor at all. I mean, in addition to being called "White Rice", this was a silog, right? The "si" in the "silog" stands for sinangag -garlic rice. In terms of portion size, I usually have to tell those turo-turo places to give me "half rice", so this portion was fine with me.

So the following weekend, at the end of my shopping Saturday, I decided to stop by White Rice Bodega again....based on my experience with the sisig, I wasn't going to order the lechon kawale. I'm usually leery of Tocino at most places because it's usually quite dry; but I went with the Manok Tocino ($13.50). The wait time was about 20 minutes this time around.

   This was a lovely looking bowl! And that fried sunny side egg was even better this time around with wonderful crisp edges! I loved the atchara and the almost VN style pickles as well.

The rice however, was just as bad as on my previous visit....so I guess this is the standard here?

The chicken however, was very good. Nicely charred, tender and moist, a bit mild in flavor for what I consider tocino to be. But that vinegar and garlic dip really helped things out.

This was definitely the better of the two items I tried.

The staff here are so friendly and welcoming. Now if only they'd get the rice straightened out. It's kind of ironic that at a place named "White Rice", my least favorite thing would be the rice.

You can read about Soo's visit to the Liberty Station location here.

White Rice Bodega
3586 Adams Ave. Suite 100
San Diego, CA 92116
Hours:
Mon - Fri 11am - 8pm
Sat - Sun 10am - 8pm

Turo Turo Tuesday - Lisa's Filipino Cuisine Revisited

I recently had to place an order for chicken wings from "you know where". Since all this Covid stuff started and now with the insane gas prices, I just don't seem to get on over to National City much. So, after placing my order, I walked on over to see if Lisa's was still in business and they were indeed. Since it was early around 930 in the morning , I walked on in to check out what they had available.

Much of the lunch type dishes were just coming out....good timing on my part. So, I decided to place to do some takeout. I told the woman what I wanted and could not believe how much food she was putting in my containers! And it came out to under $12 bucks with tax........enough to feed two or maybe three people. Luckily, there were some other folks in the office I could share this with.

I got the Sisig (of course) and the Chicken Afritada which had just come out to the steam table.

    How I managed to carry this from the car to my desk without sustaining a hernia I'll never know. I forgot to ask for "half rice" so I got a ton of nicely cooked, moist rice. What's the deal with the giant chunks of protein in turo turo dishes these days? There were like two half thighs, bone and all in the overwhelmed styrofoam container. The chicken was on the tough side and there was a shortage of veggies (i.e. carrots, bell peppers) except for one orphaned potato; that I usually expect in this dish. I guess of you want to max out your protein intake... As you can see, it was quite greasy, and super salty.

The seasoning for the sisig was pretty good; nice spice and good sour tones. When it comes to the "leftover lechon" versions of sisig, I enjoy the crisp pieces of skin, but this seemed quite soggy and mushy in terms of texture. Though the other folks; who have never had the stuff liked it.

Still, in this day and age, I guess I totally got what I paid for and then some, right?

Lisa's Filipino Cuisine
1210 E Plaza Blvd.
National City, CA 91950
Hours:
Daily 7am - 8pm

Max's Restaurant

Max's on Mira Mesa opened at the end of June of 2020. We have a rather long history with Max's, starting during our time living in LA in the late 90's...by the time we moved to San Diego, Max's in National City had become Villa Manila, which eventually became a favorite of ours for Crispy Pata and Kamayan Night. Though to be honest, we haven't been back to VM since way before the pandemic hit. Enough of that; this is about Max's. A few months after opening, I decided to see if the fried chicken at this location (because, having been to couple of locations YMMV) was any good. Since this was in September of 2020, I decided to do takeout. I went and did an online order....just a half chicken and fries.

So, I arrived and walked up to the counter; it was 1130 and no one was in sight. I waited about 10 minutes until a gentleman showed up. I mentioned my order and was told it was almost ready......and then cooled my heels for another 20 minutes! Now, I had placed my order at 11am, arrived at the designated time, and still waited another half hour for my order. Good thing I didn't have any meetings until 1pm; otherwise......

Anyway, I opened up the cardbox containers upon arriving back in the office. The fried chicken, which I believe is brined and thus is quite juicy was as good as I remembered, thin skinned, crisp, if a bit on the salty side.

Quite nice.

I used the Jufran, the banana ketchup on the really dry and limp fries......I'll bet this was just sitting on the side during the extra time I waited for my chicken.

This was not good eats.

After this visit; I decided that I'd wait awhile before returning.....thinking that dining in might be the way to go. Not realizing of course, how long I'd be waiting during the pandemic.

And then, there was a time, when we thought we good see the light at the end of the Covid tunnel, when we thought that perhaps the worst was behind us......Calvin, "M", and I decided to actually go out and grab some lunch. Of course we wouldn't be taking any crazy chances...."M" wasn't too familiar with Filipino food...other than the usual lumpia, adobo, and the like....we headed over to Max's, arriving right at 11am. And it would be fairly quiet until right before we left.

There was only one hard working young lady on duty...I felt for her as takeout and other customers gave her a tough time. Based on my previous visit, I set some expectations, which unfortunately was pretty much in line with how long things took after we ordered.

We did of course have the fried chicken....sorry no photo, which M really enjoyed. But then, there some other dishes, like the Chicharon Bulaklak.

This is basically the fat that wraps around the intestine. It had a chewy-crispness and was fairly mild in flavor....just the slightest offal-ness. M, not quite used to the earthiness was not quite into this dish.

Calvin loves pancit palabok and enjoyed this version, I thought the noodles were a bit overcooked and it lacked the deep shrimpy-fish savory tones that I enjoy.

It just seemed under-sauced, but heck Calvin never found a version of this he didn't like....so I was happy he enjoyed it.

Just to have our carbs covered; I ordered the Garlic Fried Rice.

Which nicely filled the carb gap.

I also ordered the Classic Sisig. Unlike many of the versions in San Diego which uses leftover lechon kawale, this one used pork cheek.

I haven't had this style of sisig in years. Good swiney gaminess; though I wished they used some other parts of the pig head for some textural variety. Not bad, but in need of more spice, sour tones, and pungency from onions. This came across as pretty greasy and of course "M" was not a big fan of this.

Just to cover myself I ordered the Beef Kaldereta as well.

Man, the beef was so tough, the kaldereta while beefy lacked the tangy-sweetness, with a hint of spice that I enjoy. I also like a hint of liveriness usually provided by lechon sauce (Mang Tomas) which seemed like was missing here.

And so, one would think that I'd end things here, but there was one item that I still wanted to try.

Little did I know that it would take almost half a year for this final visit.

With things slowly improving, the skeleton crew decided to do a takeout order from Max's and I had the honor of ordering.

The drill was basically the same. I ordered at 11, was given the designated time of 1135 for pick-up. The same really sweet, but over worked young lady was the only person working the front of house and there was an additional 20 minute wait for my order.

I got it back to the office and arranged the items in the middle of the walk way between cubicles, set out paper plates, napkins, and utensils and the guys took turns getting their plates.

Of course there was a whole fried chicken. Which when hot was every bit as good as what I'd had before; though it got soft and greasy fairly quickly.

The garlic rice didn't have as much flavor as on my previous visit; but with all this fried food, we needed some carbs.

Actually, with all this fried food and pork what I really needed was to be hosed down afterward, but would have to wait until I got home!

I ordered the lechon kawali sisig which was on the dry and tough side.

And like the other pork version needed more spice and sour tones.

And of course; what I really wanted to try....the Crispy Pata.

Which looked hard and dry; but wasn't too bad. It's was not nearly as good as my favorite version, but the skin was crisp, there were nice, gelatinous, gooey bits under that skin and the meat was tender. It was milder in flavor than other versions, but was still decently porky. In fact, this was the first tp be wiped out! Good job guys!

Speaking of wiped out; I think I've had my share of fried foods for a while....at least that's what my Cardiologist told me (jjk)!

To me this last meal, even though we ate in our cubicles, there was no one else in the office so we could joke around and chat quite loudly, gave us a taste of how things used to be...... the camaraderie of sharing a meal; good or bad, the bonding of breaking bread (or scarfing down fried pork), something that has been sorely missing in our lives for the last two years!

Cheers!

Max's Restaurant
8285 Mira Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92126
Current Hours:
Wed - Mon 11am - 9pm
Closed on Tuesdays

You can read Cathy's post on Max's here and Soo's post on Max's here.

Turo Turo Tuesday - Revisits to Nanay's Best BBQ, R & B Filipino Cuisine, and Manila Fast Food and Desserts Revisited

Back in the office; I decided to do the "rounds" and check out some of the turo-turo ("point-point") places around Mira Mesa. Sadly, there was one place that  became a "casualty of Covid" - Mama Cinia closed earlier in the year.

So, packing a good appetite I headed on out.

Nanay's Best BBQ:

I'll be honest and say that Nanay's has been my least favorite of these places (except for Grill City....where I had a "reaction" to the food) even back when it was Tem's. I looked over the offerings and ordered back in June of last year; the Chicken BBQ and Sisig-ish Spicy Pork, with "half rice".

 So, if this is what they consider "half rice"....yeeesh. This was indeed a carb-meatfest. But, to be perfectly honest, this was probably the best plate I've had from Nanay's.

Other than the rice which was on the dry side as usual.

The pork was moist, though it's still on the overly mild side with regards to spice and sour tones. 

The "BBQ" Chicken was a pleasant surprise. I did mention in my June 2020 post that I thought the chicken was getting better here and this was undoubtedly the best I've had either Nanay's or Tem's.

Fairly tender and moist, nice balance of sweet to salty; it went real well with the rice.

So, it seems that Nanay's keeps getting better!

Nanay's Best BBQ
6715 Mira Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92121

R & B Filipino Cuisine:

R&B had long been a favorite of mine since I first visited in 2008. In fact, when I received that racist email about these type of places back in May of 2020, R&B was the first place I visited to make a point.

I usually get the sisig, which while being flawed still has my favorite overall flavor profile of the turo-turo joints in the area. Along with that; I'll get what looks like just came out of the kitchen...in this case, the beef kaldereta was just brought out while I was waiting in the two person line.

 The woman always asks me if I'm "on a diet" when I order half rice here; it cracks me up.

The rice was fine; somewhat moist.

The beef in the kaldereta was on the tough side. Also, all the pieces of meat and veggies were really large which made for a ponderous eating experience . The flavor was decent, definitely not bland, though a bit on the greasy side.

The sisig was on the dry side and cut too large as well. But it still had the amount of sour-salty tones with adequate spice. While not on the same level as what Conching or Ed's Bistro used to serve,  this is my favorite in the MM area.

And look at the spiffy new menu at R&B:

 And our own Cathy has recently been here as well.

R & B Filipino Cuisine
11257 Camino Ruiz
San Diego, CA 92126

Manila Fast Food and Desserts:

Man, have I really been going here since 2006 (albiet under different ownership)? Even though it was just past 10am; the place was pretty busy.

I saw the pan of kare kare come out as I was waiting, so I got that along with...duh, sisig of course. The folks here added sinigang, I would usually have to ask for it. Along with the perfect amount of rice I requested.

 Of the three places, the rice here was the best; soft and fluffy.

I terms of texture; this sisig was moist, but waxy and could have used more crispy bits. It was nice and full of porkiness, but could have used more sour and spicy tones...it definitely needded more onions and chilies....but of course, lots of folks want all that meat.

   Much like the kaldereta at R&B, the pieces of meat and vegetables were cut very large in the kare kare. Though I have to say; the everything was so tender; I especially loved the buttery texture of the tripe. I wish the kare kare had more flavor, I ended up using all the bagoong alamang. 

   Actually, the item I enjoyed the most was free....it was the sinigang which was bracingly sour.....it perked me up.....made me feel alive!

And these days....well, if there's anything I want to feel; it's alive!

Manila Fast Food and Desserts
8979 Mira Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92126

You know, I was looking at my initial Covid-19 turo-turo posts and remembered that it was a racist, xenophobic email that set it off. 

Which just leads me to what I wrote at the end of this post on Mama Cinia:

"Food should bring us together; my grandparents working on the plantation enjoyed an interesting variety of dishes.....because, even though the plantation management tried to keep all the nationalities apart to control them, they all had lunch together in the fields. A shared experience, one where in spite of the jokes we make about natto, balut, and harm ha, respect for each other is gained, smiles and food are shared, a wonderful cultural exchange. As travel has taught me....we are more alike than we are different."

"We are more alike than we are different" - which I believe with all my heart.

Take care and have a great week!

Trining's Bakery & Cafe (Formerly Gemmae - Same Staff and Management)

A few weeks back I did a takeout revisit of Golden Island. I had heard that the kitchen staff had changed (which was true - post coming up) and saw that Gemmae's was now Trining's Bakery & Cafe. So, a few days later I decided to drop by to grab some lunch.

It was just before 11 and there was a steady flow of customers.....most of whom seemed like regulars.

   The woman working the front was quite friendly and when I asked about the name change, she smiled and said "don't worry, it's all  the same people!"

The drill for lunch is; you look at the white magnet board; whatever is ready is moved from the board on the right, to the board on the left. I had been wanting to try the sisig, but it wasn't available, so I made due with the Kare Kare and Beef Nilagang.

   I was kind of afraid of the "three scoops of rice", but it was a manageable amount. The rice was also decently cooked and fairly moist.

Sadly the beef in the nilagang was super tough and chewy and the soup was really salty....I really couldn't finish it.

There was one wonderful piece of buttery tripe in the kare kare, which was not bad if a bit on the greasy side. Maybe it was because the nilagang was so salty, but it seemed a bit on the bland side as well. I actually used up almost all the bagoong alamang. Well, at least this was edible.

While this was a less than stellar meal; I decided to return a week later; this time closer to noon. And this time there were more items "available" on the board.

And this time; I did manage to get the sisig, along with beef kaldereta.

 The kaldereta was pretty good, nice tanginess, mild beefiness, the meat fairly tender. It is by far the best item I've had here.

Because, well, I really didn't care for he sisig. The diced lechon kawale was super hard....not crisp, not crunchy...hard. I did appreciate the sliced red chilies, but this really didn't have enough spice or sour tones for my taste. 

I guess I'll have to stick with my regular stops for Filipino food in the area. Though I do recall having a decent "silog" here years ago when it was still Gemmae's. Perhaps that's the way to go? It would probably have to be on a weekend or day off though, since I'd probably head right back to bed after having all that rice early in the day. So maybe.....

Trining's Bakery & Cafe
10606 Camino Ruiz
San Diego, CA 92126
Hours:
Tues - Sat 5am - 7pm
Sunday 5am - 6pm
Closed on Mondays

Turo-Turo Tuesday, the Covid-19 Edition Part 3 - Mama Cinia Rice & Noodles

**** Mama Cinia Rice & Noodles has closed

Sorry for the gap between posts...….I just didn't feel like posting after the events of the last couple of days.

But here's one that I need to finish; the last of the trilogy of turo-turo take-out from Mira Mesa - Mama Cinia.

Like other places, they've blocked off the small area where tables were. The folks here are really nice and friendly, marks on the floor for social distancing, though not quite as good as Manila Fast Food and Desserts. Still, things worked out fine. I decided on the Sisig (of course) and the Pinakbet looked pretty good.....and just "half rice".

The sisig was pretty good, meaty, with nice crunchy bits. In terms of texture, this was the best of the three I sampled. I still think it needs more "umph", needs to be more spicy and more vinegar, though on this visit, it was definitely better than Manila Fast Food. The pinakbet wasn't bad either, though the eggplant was a bit over-cooked and while the bittermelon had that wonderful tannic-bitterness, I think it could have used a bit more bagoong.

Still, not bad at all.

Mama Cinia Rice & Noodles
9178 Mira Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92126

All three places had processes in place, which while perhaps not perfect, did the job. So, Spam comment dude, you got it all wrong man. Enough with all this stuff already.

Food should bring us together; my grandparents working on the plantation enjoyed an interesting variety of dishes.....because, even though the plantation management tried to keep all the nationalities apart to control them, they all had lunch together in the fields. A shared experience, one where in spite of the jokes we make about natto, balut, and harm ha, respect for each other is gained, smiles and food are shared, a wonderful cultural exchange. As travel has taught me....we are more alike than we are different.