mmm-yoso!!!

Niban (more visits)

mmm-yoso!!! welcomes you back to peruse more meals consumed. Kirk is still busy and Cathy is writing again. 

In 2006, again in 2010, once more in 2011, part of a mixed post in 2016, I've written about this fast/casual, inexpensive, good Japanese restaurant which has been part of our 'regular rotation' for more than a decade.  This post is about our December and January visits.

The key to some of the more interesting items here is to check the walls and windows, although the menu itself is simple and good.   One of the December window posters was this-Cheese Curry (with chicken) ($8.95).  This included salad and a beverage.  Well, this was different.  Kirk said it is Yoshoku Food, - Westernized Japanese. The curry was, as always, great (there are shredded pieces of beef along with large pieces of carrots, onion and potatoes in the slightly sweet mixed flavor sauce).  The cheese topping was different and a nice texture along with saltiness made this bowl of comfort a bit different.  The window next to the entrance not only has a large menu, but the shelving underneath has a display of four specials for that day.  On this day, the ginger chicken with fried gyoza Bento box ($8.25) was one of the specials.  The dumplings can be steamed or fried; the top right corner has two small 'salad' sides- one of soy marinated bean sprouts and the other a salmon based chilled salad.  The regular salad has a fresh ginger dressing and the ginger chicken was juicy (dark meat) along with mushrooms and zucchini.  A hearty lunch. 
When you walk in, just above and behind the cash register (where you order and pay before finding a table) is a small chalkboard with two 'Daily Lunch' Specials (now $7.25; each was $6.75 in December).  This one is the 'Gyoza Lunch'.  These are the steamed gyoza, which I like just a little more than the fried ones.  The filling is the same (more pork than vegetable) the skin is nice and thin. The miso soup is standard and good, as is the salad and (large serving of) rice.
  The Bento lunch ($7.25) has three pieces of fried seafood (shrimp, fish and squid in this case), one inari (sweet tofu skin filled with rice, topped with crab), six California rolls and some of that salmon salad.  Again, a good lunch. 

 There is a six seat sushi bar, where many people enjoy their meals (walk up and have a seat and pay after).

Niban 7081 Clairmont Mesa Blvd San Diego 92111 (858)268-0465 Open Mon-Th 11-2:30, 5-9:30 Fri-Sat 11-2:30, 5-10 Sun 4:30-9:30

P.F. Changs (a first visit)

mmm-yoso!!!, a blog about food.  Kirk is out and about and taking a short vacation.  Cathy is writing about a meal.  

Yep, this is another Gift Card post.  I don't regift and have friends who sincerely want The Mister and I to try some of their favorite places; we have never been to P.F. Changs and were in Mission Valley on a beautiful, clear day and I had the Gift Card in my pocket. The surreal Las Vegas casino-like giant horses out front of each location of this Asian themed, casual chain restaurant greet you.

Along with a tastefully decorated interior. 
A pot of (caffeinated) ginger-peach tea was ordered ($3.75).  It's by Republic of Tea and very similar to the Plantation Peach tea I usually buy from the Charleston Tea Plantation (the only tea grown in America). I must have hot tea with Asian meals.
As we were being seated, we noticed that every table had this: the first choice at the top left of the menu (under "Street Fare").  So, we had to.  Lettuce Wraps (chicken or tofu; we chose chicken) $11.50.  A 'secret family recipe', 'signature dish', the do-it-yourself  slightly sweet, slightly spicy chopped melange of chicken, water chestnuts, green onion, crisp noodles and chilled iceberg lettuce with a bit more of the sauce was delicious.
Also from the 'Street Fare' section: Tempura Shrimp and Vegetables ($11.95).  Lightly battered plump, sweet shrimp, bell peppers spinach and carrots served with a Sriracha/sweet aioli.  This was also quite good.  
From the 'Lunch' section of the menu, we decided to share the Chiang Mai Noodle Bowl ($11.95).  Egg noodles and marinated chicken in a coconut curry broth, some crispy wonton strips with fresh grape tomatoes and flat leaf parsley.  Once all mixed, this was also a great mix of flavor and texture.  Quite satisfying.
We still have more than $50 left on the gift card.  It's good food and there is much more to try. 

P.F. Changs 7077 Friars Road San Diego 92108 website Open daily 11-11

Eating inside HMart

Here you are, reading mmm-yoso!!!, a blog about food, again. Welcome.  Kirk is enjoying some time off and Cathy is writing.  

We've had HMart in San Diego since 2012. There are only a few 'food court' selections inside the store, unlike at the Super H Mart in Diamond Bar (mentioned in the middle of that post). There is one "Enter" and one "Exit" door.  To the right of the 'Enter" is a small kitchen, cooking and wrapping food for those who want to 'Grab and Go'.  There is a small seating area (including two corner chairs which are useless).  The kitchen prepared meals are pictured above the 'By the Pound' items.  ($8.50/lb)(Hot or Cold)
The hot items are plentiful, protein based (other than rice) and kept fresh, since the cooking area is three steps behind the trays.
The cold area has a great selection, especially if you are thinking about buying something you've seen pre-packed in the refrigerated area of the store.  There's also sliced sushi roll pieces, pork and tofu if you want cold protein.
We grabbed a few items on this visit before beginning to shop.  Cold items were kimchi, seaweed salad and marinated mushrooms.  All were good (nice flavor/mild heat of kimchi) and complimentary to the hot items- fried squid, fried head-on shrimp and breaded, fried pork in a sweet sauce. Total for these two boxes was $6.  The item on the bottom right was just packed (still warm) and placed in the open refrigerated area.
 Pan fried crab cake ($3.50).  Fresh vegetables, plenty of crab, crispy fry. A good meal on its own.

There's a dispenser of hot water, cups, utensils and condiments in the eating area, so you can have a decent meal.  

HMart 9440 Mira Mesa Boulevard San Diego 92126 (858)577-0060 Open 8 a.m.-10 p.m. daily Website

NEW LOCATION (opening  in February): 7725 Balboa Avenue (SE corner at the 805) San Diego 92117 (same parking lot as the 24 Hour Fitness) 

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 
 

Al Pastor Authentic Mexican Grill (Chula Vista)

mmm-yoso!!! is the blog name.  Bloggers are (usually) Kirk and (today) Cathy.  Posts are random: locations, type of food,  liked or not.  Today: Chula Vista, Mexican, liked.

I had heard of it: Kirk posted last June and again in October.  It's owned by the same person who owns Aqui es Texcoco (where I've gone for breakfast). In late December, cc and I had a little 'food crawl', stopping here.

The clean 'Mexico City' decor has televisions scattered throughout and it's not busy in the early morning. The Mister and I returned a week later. This post shows both visits and breakfasts ordered.

The first menu page (top, far left) is 'breakfasts', but both menus are served all day.  

We ordered a Chicharron de Queso ($6.50).  Simple grilled, rolled cheese along with simple guacamole.  Excellent.
 Al pastor ($2.50), costilla (rib meat)($2.75) and chuleta ahumada (smoked pork chop)($2.65) tacos.  We liked the al pastor best; the spit grilled, pork based, chili/spice marinated, pineapple topped meat was moist, flavorful and satisfying.  The costilla was good, basic quality meat, needing some of the tabletop condiments at some point.  The smokiness of the chuleta was nice, but pretty much smoked ham (which I love, but this, too, needed some hot sauce to taste 'finished'). 
After having Alambres at Tako Factory, The Mister and I were curious to see what this version was like.  We were able to choose two meats, so thought the bistek along with the smoked pork chop (The Mister loves smoked meats) would be good ($9.75) and we did add cheese ($1.25) just because.  Well, the freshness of the tortillas, meats, bacon, grilled onion and peppers along with the creamy cheese was just about perfect.  I can see why Kirk's Missus likes it here.
 A mollete is a a fresh, split, toasted bollilo topped with beans and cheese ($3.75). You can add chorizo for $1  and we did (on both visits, choosing the milder green chorizo)(description of green chorizo is on this link-scroll down to Mexican Chorizo) (basically, tomatillo, chiles, cilantro and garlic). I remembered fondly having a mollete at Tropifruit, in 2014 and the version here is great.  

All in all, a new favorite spot in Chula Vista for a quality Mexican breakfast, lunch and late night dinner. 

Al Pastor Mexican Grill 520 Broadway Chula Vista 91910 Website Open Sun-Thurs 8 a.m.- 1 a.m., Fri-Sat 8 a.m.-2 a.m.

Grecian Cafe (Spring Valley)

Thanks for stopping to read mmm-yoso!!!, a blog about food.  Kirk, who is usually here writing, is out of the state and Cathy is sharing a short post.

For about 20 years, this corner storefront (it shares parking with Round Table Pizza and is across the street from Rana's, a block East and kitty corner from Butler's Coffee House and one block West of Fruity Loco) has been a mainstay in Spring Valley.
 Walk in, there's a menu over the cash register where you order and pay.
Find a seat and everything is brought to you. This is a 'Mom and Pop' run place and sometimes they are very busy.
The Mister and I each wanted a salad (instead of soup) with our orders and these large plates were brought out.  Standard toppings, house made dressing; the Feta was was Greek (sharp, salty, firm)(I've been buying Bulgarian or Albanian Feta lately-milder and creamy), which I haven't had in a while and the saltiness was just right (I didn't have to add any tabletop condiments).  
Gyros pita (I ordered the Combo #1-Gyro with salad and drink ($9.49)).  The pita is so soft, fresh, warmed on the grill.  The gyros is plentiful and with the tomato, onion and (house made) tzatziki, has great flavor in every bite.
If you've paid attention to some of my posts, you might have noticed The Mister orders moussaka when he sees it on the menu.  The eggplant based dish has variations in its preparation. The entree ($11.99) comes with sliced pita and some very flavorful, fluffy rice in addition to the salad (or soup) 
 The version  at Grecian Cafe has a tomato sauce (on top of the fluffy béchamel) along with ground beef, eggplant and soft sliced (not mashed) potato on the bottom.  The flavorful red sauce (I could taste cinnamon) was complimentary to everything else in the towering casserole. This was a wonderful version of this Greek classic recipe. 

It's always good to visit established restaurants. 

Grecian Cafe 9676 Campo Road (at Conrad) Spring Valley 91977 (619)464-0385 Mon-Sat 11 a.m.-9 p.m., Sun 1 p.m.-8 p.m.

Boll Weevil (Lakeside)

mmm-yoso!!!, a blog about food.  Kirk is taking a break and gathering intel for future posts.  Cathy is writing.

Back when Kirk, Ed (from Yuma) and I were writing "Burger Week" posts, Kirk wrote about Boll Weevil in 2006, and I wrote about it in 2010 along with another 2010 post.  Since then, a Boll Weevil opened (and subsequently closed) only two miles from home.  We went there regularly, yet I never posted about it.  Now, the closest Boll Weevil is about six miles away, in Lakeside. 

This location, approximately a mile from the Lakeside Rodeo grounds, is appropriately themed. It's very large inside and has various areas where parties can be held. 

The Mister and I tend to order the same thing on each visit.  This is unusual for us because at other places, we like to order different things and share.  When we go to Boll Weevil, it is for this:  
1/2 pound Steerburgers, medium rare, no cheese ($8.69).  This is a very satisfying meal when using the (photo at bottom) tabletop condiments.  
A 'complete' burger sort of looks like this, before the soft, toasted bun is smashed so as to be able to fit into my mouth.
 The Mister got all wild and crazy on the last visit and ordered a Buffalo Chicken Salad ($10.99) with Bleu Cheese dressing.  The nuggets of chicken are lightly floured, fried and tossed in a nice Buffalo sauce.  The lettuce, crispy, provides a nice cooling effect along with the chunks of bleu cheese in between bites.  The Texas toast, slathered in garlic butter, is a nice accompaniment.   On that visit, I ordered a half pound steer burger, medium rare.  It's what I do.  
One day, there was a tabletop special of a double cheeseburger with fries ($10.49).  It was two 1/4 pound patties, so sort of the same as our 'usual' order but with cheese.  Different for us, anyhow. It was good. 
There are plenty of sides to choose from here, but the Frings (fries and rings) ($4.49) are a fallback order when we are hungry.  

There are only five locations of (the 1966 founded, originally named Cotton Patch) Boll Weevil.  Still a good, unpretentious burger.

Boll Weevil 9741 Wintergardens Road Lakeside, CA 92040 (619) 334-1718
 

Chopstix Too (one more time)

Thank you for stopping by to read mmm-yoso!!!  Kirk is taking a short break and Cathy is writing several short posts.  

Kirk and I first wrote about Chopstix Too on the same post in 2006.  I wrote some follow up posts: 2008, 2018 and probably other times.  (Vicky wrote a post in 2009). Fast, casual, fresh, Japanese.

It's been raining for the past few days and I have more than several bowls of soup to show you, but last week, we changed it up.  

 Here is photographic proof that it does rain in Southern California.
 We arrived before noon and the tables were not filled (they were by the time we left).
 The Mister chose the plate of Ika Katsu with Mabo ($9.45). You may not think this is a big deal, but if you peruse my previous posts, each one of those shows a bowl of Mabo Ramen; this was the first time ever when it was not ordered.  The Mabo sauce was great; it goes with rice, too!  The fry on the squid was light, crispy, not oily-very tender squid.  The miso was well made.  The crisp salad was refreshing; we've only been eating cooked (in soups and stews) vegetables the past few weeks.
I chose the seafood yaki udon (instead of soba) ($9.95).  Mussels, squid, shrimp, fresh vegetables (broccoli, cabbage, carrot, bean sprouts, green onion) and the fat udon noodles, stir fried was just comforting, texture and flavor filled bites throughout the whole plate. 

The rain should be over by today, but we need some sunshine (and heat)-so much needs to dry to get the chill gone.  It's still soup weather, though.  Future posts.

Chopstix Too 4380 Kearny Mesa Road San Diego 92111 (858) 565-1288 open Sun-Thurs 11 a.m. until 9 p.m., until 9:30 p.m. on Fri-Sat website

 

Chopstix Too 4380 Kearny Mesa Road San Diego 92111 (858) 565-1288 open Sun-Thurs 11 a.m. until 9 p.m., until 9:30 p.m. on Fri-Sat website

2019 Tournament of Roses Rose Parade Showcase of Floats, a meal at Mr. D.'s Diner (Pomona)

mmm-yoso!!! is primarily a blog about food.  There's always some reason we get to try the food that is blogged about.  Today is a post of a New Year tradition (which I've shared for a few years) and a meal at a 'new-to-us' place.

The day began with an early wake up and drive North to Pasadena, where the 130th Tournament of Roses Rose Parade showcase of floats were lined up end-to-end on Sierra Madre Avenue, at the end of the five mile parade route. The walk along the floats is 2.5 miles and it's not all flat. There were 45 floats, along with Equestrian Units and Marching bands, for a total of 91 Units in the Parade.  (I do have photos of each of the floats, many photos.  If there is one you would like to see, I can put it at the end of this post).  For now, here are some details of some of the floats which you might have missed as they ran across your television screen in less than 30 seconds. "Books Keep Us on Our Toes", by The UPS Store featured this ostrich in her ballet shoes and won the Sweepstakes Trophy for most beautiful entry encompassing float design, floral presentation and entertainment. 
"Garden Fresh" by Mrs. Meyers Clean Day featured the trademark outline of Mrs. Meyer watering a bathing (see the loofah?) sunflower.
 Easter Seals is observing its 100th year and in addition to a cake and gifts, there was a cupcake or two on the float.  The Lions Clubs International float, "Rockin' the Vest" (an ode to this 2011 'Rap' video used for recruiting new, younger members) had the Lion tail swinging along with the music. Also note the various materials used on the body of the Cadillac-nothing is one dimensional when decorating.

Cal Poly and "Far Out Frequencies" incorporated a guitar, accordion, tamborine and french horn in the design. 
Carnival Cruise Lines had some SCUBA divers "underwater".
The backside of the drumming "Taiwan The Heart of Asia" entry from China Airlines (which won the International Trophy for Most Outstanding float from outside the United States) is beautifully detailed. 
When the Stella Rosa "Taste the Magic" float first appeared, there was a great display of confetti and streamers, but even in the stationary position, there is a sort of motion seen in the design.  
If you are from Southern California and listen to the radio, when Trader Joe's ads are finished, the announcer always says 'Thanks for Listening'...and the abbreviated license plate on their float (THX4LSN) is an ode to that detail. 
The Big Bear "Play-Rest-Repeat" float entry showed many of the various activities available all four seasons in this community a few hours North of San Diego. Not only skiing and snowboarding,  but also boating and fishing.

The Northwestern Mutual float, showed an elephant family on vacation, taking 'selfies'.  This view (of the camera screen taking the selfie) was of the 'off camera' side; every part of each float is detailed.

 There was a small fire on board the longest float entry this year (Link to story), disrupting the end of the parade.  The float was saved because of good preparation (you know, all of those Road Tests I post about have one of the tests the ability for the entire float to clear off and out in 45 seconds).  This entry from the Chinese American Heritage Foundation, "Harmony Through Union", depicting the final nail joining the Transcontinental Railroads (the "Golden Spike") was on display at the Showcase   as was the tow truck that brought the float to this location. 

Here are details of some other floats.

When we left the Showcase viewing area and started driving, we had to stop at Arsen's House of Cookies first (for cookies, boureks and a calendar) then headed East...somehow getting to Foothill Boulevard while passing many 'possible' lunch spots.  We had seen another location of Mr. D's Diner but kept driving, until we saw this location and stopped.

The building looked like it had been a Coco's or some similar type of 'family' restaurant.  The 'Specials' list outside the door showed us the pricing was reasonable.  

The decor, 50's (this is part of "Route 66" after all).  The menu had nine pages. The "To Go" menu only has seven pages.
We hadn't had much of a breakfast, so the Pancake Combo ($8.49) was a choice. Really nice, sweet, fluffy pancakes, perfect over easy eggs, skin on sausage and crispy flavorful bacon.  Just right. 
 As with many of these family type diners, Greek choices are on the menu.  The "Traditional Greek Salad" ($10.79)(add chicken $2.99) has on the menu in bold lettering "Lettuce Upon Request".  "Traditional" means you get this- tomatoes, cucumbers, red onion, bell peppers feta and greek olives tossed in Greek olive oil and herbs. The (very large) bowl was topped with toasted pita. With the (plentiful amount of) grilled chicken, this was a hearty, tasty, perfect meal. It didn't need lettuce.

Glad we stopped and hope to stop here again.

Mr. D's Diner 401 E. Foothill Blvd. Pomona, CA (909)938-4222 Open daily 6 a.m.-10 p.m. website

Traditions- 2019 calendars, Rosca de Reyes and fresh roasted chestnuts

mmm-yoso!!! is a food blog and sometimes food is a small part of the posts.  Today, it's about 2/3. Cathy is writing.

Happy New Year and thank you for the good wishes via Kirk's post.  It's a time of finishing up the holiday season, rearranging and writing '2019' on paperwork.   Part of my regular activity consists of acquiring new calendars from various businesses and sometimes posting about them with photos.  This year is the same. 
It started out slow; there were four Saturdays before Christmas in December 2018.  A lot of businesses waited to do their giveaways with a purchase.


Then giveaways began en masse and my friend, cc, helped by also collecting some of the calendars from various South Bay businesses.  I had told her that it was sad that our, 'regular' calendar from Orchard Supply Hardware (which closed in October) would be missing after giving away a train-centric calendar every year since 1931.  She even purchased one calendar for us (the outhouse one on the bottom right corner of this last photo (it will hold a prominent place in The Mister's office). We actually needed to find space for two more calendars because now there are so many.  

Within some of the above linked posts there has also been mention of Rosca de Reyes, a traditional Mexican bread shared on the 12th night after Christmas (Epiphany, January 6, Feast of Three Kings), usually while taking down Christmas decor. (In France, the traditional bread is Galette de Rois).  cc and I did a small 'food crawl' the other day and stopped at three South Bay bakeries.

 All of the bakeries had beautiful window art advertising the upcoming holiday.

They also had beautiful displays of the roscas for pre-ordering...
 as well as plenty of samples.

However, I had already pre-ordered (as well as picked up and mailed one Rosca on Thursday) from Su Pan. I was there at 6 a.m. today.
and Roscas as well as other fresh baked sweets were everywhere, fresh and ready to be picked up.  
A Grande for our neighbor and a Chica for us.  Fresh..so very fresh; the car smelled great.  Three slices with breakfast was perfect!

Another annual tradition is to take advantage of the freshly roasted chestnuts from in front of Lucky Seafood Market (which ran out of calendars before we got one). The little tent covering the chestnut roaster has disappeared, but the roaster, attached to a propane tank is right there at the door. (Apologies for the thumbnails, something happened with the phone update and the large size shows up sideways, but clicking on these enlarges and makes them appear upright...I don't know...).

 

There is one more annual tradition, which will be posted soon.  Does anyone else have unusual traditions?