mmm-yoso!!!

Thai Thai/Oishii (Santee)

Thanks for stopping by to read mmm-yoso!!!, a food blog.  Cathy is writing today.  Kirk and His Missus are having a wonderful time on vacation.  

I've written about Oishii three times, the latest was in 2011.  Back then, it was only one of two Thai restaurants in Santee and the two sided menu had more Japanese choices than Thai.  Now Santee has five Thai restaurants.  Anyhow, at some point during the Covid-19 slowdown, the "Japanese" menu/Oishii/sushi bar disappeared and Thai Thai (there's another location in Fallbrook) became the name of the restaurant with the menu being only Thai.  A few months ago, the original sushi chef, Mike, returned and so did the sushi bar and the name.

 The interior had undergone changes.
 The menu is pretty extensive and has many ‘authentic’ choices- not “dumbed down”. 
 There is a Lunch Special menu available Tues-Friday.  Specials include 'vegetarian soup' -yes, miso- as well as 'salad', vegetarian egg roll and fried wonton.
  On this day, yellow curry with chicken ($11.95) was The Mister's choice.  The curries here are very good- there are eight types.  Yellow curry is made with potatoes, carrot and onion and coconut milk.  A filling, flavorful meal. 
 During the pandemic, I would order 'to go' from the appetizer menu.  #13, "Crispy Rice Salad" (Nam Kat Tod) has become a favorite.  The spicy lime sauce compliments the red and green onion, dry chili flakes, fresh ginger, mint, cilantro and cashews.
 All of that is mixed with sour fermented pork (and thinly sliced cartilage) mixed with the crispy rice and toasted rice flour.  Very satisfying, especially during our heat wave.
 Here is the sushi bar, in its new location.  The menu is only sushi; no other Japanese choices.  

Thai Thai/Oishii 10251 Mast Blvd Santee, CA 92071 (619) 596-4892 Website Closed Monday, Open Sues-Sun 11-9

Kaelin's- Eating inside the market

mmm-yoso!!! continues being blogged by Cathy while Kirk and His Missus continue to enjoy vacationing.  

I wrote about Kaelin's Mi Pueblo  back in 2011 and it still is one of our 'regular' stops.  As always, The Mister and I try to have a small meal before grocery shopping so as not to be tempted to purchase 'impulse' items.   The name of the market has changed slightly, the interior is still kept organized and clean.  
 As you walk in, the first kitchen/menu board/ refrigerated grab and go to your right has a clay tannour oven with fresh, hot flatbreads on the counter (El Cajon has the second largest Iraqi community in the USA).   Actually, this Middle Eastern kitchen is shared with the Mexican kitchen- there is a spit of rotating shawarma next to the spit of rotating al pastor.  You order Middle Eastern foods here, are given price stickers and pay at the cash registers while your food is being prepared. The Taqueria/Mexican menu board and cash register is a few feet more into the store, next to the seating area.  We usually purchase an aqua fresca here.
 On this visit, we chose a package of hummus ($4.99).  Fresh made that morning, great flavors, plenty left over to take home.

   We ordered two beef kababs ($2 each) and I watched as the ground beef, mixed with spices, was placed on long, flat kabab skewers and began cooking on the grill.  Made to order.  The meat was served with a roasted tomato half and a mix of chopped onion and parsley. 
 Here is the loaf of hot tannour bread ($2.25) which was placed in a paper bag after being removed straight from the side of the clay oven. Crisp, flavorful browned bubbles with soft, easy to tear middles.  Great flavor.  It went well with both the hummus and the kabab meat.  

A nice light meal with leftovers and beverage for less than $15.

Kaelin's  Market 1435 East Main Street El Cajon Ca 92021 (619)440-1423 Market is open daily 7a.m.-10 p.m.  Kitchen opens 10:30 a.m. 

Kaelin's  Market 1435 East Main Street El Cajon Ca 92021 (619)440-1423 Market is open daily 7a.m.-10 p.m.  Kitchen opens 10:30 a.m. 

Adalynes Chicken Shack (La Mesa)

mmm-yoso!!! is a food blog which has been around since 2005.  Kirk usually writes the posts, but right now, He and His Missus are vacationing and Cathy is writing. 

Back in February, I saw this building going up on University just East of the Kroc Salvation Army Center in La Mesa. A mental note was made and misplaced.  As fate would have it, The Mister and I were driving by while looking for lunch.  Adalynes opened in March 2022.
 Walk in and step to the right; seating for 40 (along with four big screen televisions) is to the left.  Order and pay- a menu board is above and the open kitchen behind it is quite large.   The "Fish Market" display case was not filled but the price list was available and if you made a purchase and wanted your fish fried, it is an additional $2 per pound.  
 A simple menu.
 An appetizer order of calamari ($9.99) included tentacles, not all rings.  We asked for the batter to be 'mild' since there were several selections of spicy side dips.  The calamari was tender, the batter was a proper fry; light and crisp.  This is a large serving.
 We decided to try the Combo meal ($15.99) of three pieces of chicken strips and six shrimp.  We chose our one side to be sweet potato.  Again, we asked for no spice in the batter.  The shrimp were plump and large, had a very light coating and were nicely fried.  The sweet potato side came in the form of 'tots' and were really good.   The chicken-three large pieces of breast meat with just a light coating which was thin, crisped and tasty. 
 The chicken was not dry at all. 
 These four sauces were brought out with our food (cocktail sauce, "special" sauce (it has jalapeño juice and bits of jalapeño), a BBQ based sauce and a chipotle/smoky sauce.  There's a counter by the tables which has condiment pumps of hot sauce, ranch and catsup.  

A nice place that is doing a steady business serving quality fried foods. 

Adalynes Chicken Shack 6903 University Ave La Mesa 91942 (619) 232-5963 Open Mon-Sat 11-9, Closed Sunday

Grecian Cafe (again)

mmm-yoso!!! continues to be written by Cathy while Kirk and His Missus continue to enjoy their well earned vacation.

I wrote about Grecian Cafe in January 2019, without mentioning the reason we first stopped here was because of our regular bread run just down the street at Frank's Bakery.  The update to that post is the the corner anchor restaurant here is no longer Pizza Hut Round Table Pizza, but is Pho and Grill International. The other update is that this family owned and run restaurant has been here for more than 30 years.
 Walk in, order and pay.  There is a menu board above the ordering space in the wall.  Your food is brought out by one of the family members.  

 As always, we order onion rings ($4.49).  Thick slices of sweet onions, sweet batter, properly crisp fried and not greasy.  This is served with ranch dressing.
   A small Greek chicken salad ($9.49) holds a lot of tasty, moist roasted chicken and comes with pita bread and tzatziki.  The salad part is the same size as the side salad which comes with the meal below and includes cucumber, tomato and onion and a red wine vinegar based dressing.
   The Moussaka and Gyros combination plate ($15.99) was ordered on this day...because we wanted leftovers.  Plenty of fluffy rice with some peas and carrots topped with slices of gyros and, of course, the Moussaka- the bottom layer is baked potato, then a nice layer of eggplant, the sweet (cinnamon and oregano) spiced ground meat filling topped with a layer of thick béchamel and covered in a subtle seasoned (garlic, thyme, parsley, basil) tomato sauce. 

Another long time family owned, quality restaurant which survived Covid-19. 

Grecian Cafe 9676 Campo Road Spring Valley 91977 (619) 464-0385 Open Mon-Sat 11-8, Sun 1-7 

 You can see the Santa Sophia Roman Catholic Church tower just East out the side window of the restaurant.  The Greek title, "Santa Sophia" (Holy Wisdom) is popular in Greek Orthodox churches and is rare for Catholic churches.

Meet Fresh- Treats (Mira Mesa)

mmm-yoso!!! welcomes you back.  Once again, Cathy is writing because, once again, Kirk and His Missus are vacationing.

There are two locations of Meet Fresh, a Taiwanese dessert chain,  in San Diego.  One is in the HMart parking lot in Mira Mesa.  The other is in the strip mall on the SouthEast corner of Clairmont Mesa at the 805 (where there was a Souplantation and still has Niban, a McDonalds and Starbucks).  The menus are the same, the air conditioning is wonderful, the hours are different.  Each location is equidistant from home; we've been to both.
 Walk in, order and pay.  There is a menu above the register and another full menu on the wall.  There's also a laminated one at the register.
 Soon your number is called and/or displayed when your order is ready. 

 Q-mochi set with almond pudding and red beans ($6.75) was presented in this cute dessert bento box/serving tray with tiny cutlery.  The two types of mochi were slightly different in flavor, topped with a light Carmel sauce and toasted coconut.  The sweet red beans were (and always are) a tasty treat and the almond pudding, when tasted before everything else, had an excellent flavor; the texture remained perfect and never got watery. 

 This was a hot fresh milk tea with boba ($6.25)which was ordered out of curiosity.  I liked it. This is a medium shaved ice ($11.75) alongside an iced lemon black tea ($4.50)
 There are a few choices of shaved ices along with three sizes (the prices are $9.75, $10.75 and $11.75).  Topping combinations are varied and all sound good.  I pointed at one on the laminated menu at the register.  The cylinder shaped Q-mochi, potato balls (sweet potato/taro), jelly and mini mochi balls surrounding the ice cream topped fluffy milk soaked shaved ice made each bite unique.  We ended up taking a lot home.

A nice place for a relaxing treat. 

Meet Fresh 9420 G Mira Mesa Blvd 92126 (619) 877-8818 open daily noon-10

7051 Clairmont Mesa Blvd #303 San Diego 92111(858) 740-3789 Open 4-10 Thurs-Sun   Website

Pancho's Mexican Restaurant (El Cajon) (Again)

Here you are, reading mmm-yoso!!!  This is a "Cathy" post; Kirk and His Missus are busy enjoying vacation time.

I wrote about this local restaurant in December 2019, when we didn't know what was going to hit us. 
 This family owned (since 2004) restaurant has survived the Covid-19 ups and downs and is still going strong. 

 The Monday-Friday Lunch menu is simple and offers a good variety. 
 I always order a cup of albondigas ($4.25) from the regular menu and enjoy the traditional meatball soup with fresh, still slightly crisp vegetables (zucchini, chayote, tomato, onion), flavorful broth and the fresh herbs (there is oregano in the meatballs and cilantro in the soup).  A good start.
   The enchilada plate comes with a choice of shredded beef, shredded chicken, cheese or ground beef filling.  This is the ground beef-which is really a picadillo- there is onion, bell pepper, garlic and tomato mixed with the ground beef.  The from-scratch enchilada sauce and melted cheese round out the flavors of this plate.  The Tostada Compuesta is a fried flour tortilla topped with refried beans, a choice of meats (this is shredded chicken, photographed after eating half the serving) (shredded beef, ground beef and carnitas are also meat choices) and is topped with lettuce, tomato, cheese and sliced avocado; a wonderful meal. 

Pancho's Mexican Restaurant 2257 Fletcher Parkway El Cajon 92020  Website (619) 460-4202  Open Mon-Th 11:30-8, Fri-Sat 11:30-9, Sun 10-8

Kumi Cafe (Kearny Mesa)

mmm-yoso!!! is a blog about food.  Cathy is writing today while Kirk (and His Missus) are enjoying weather and food elsewhere.

 Back in March, Kirk mentioned that Chopstix Too would be closing and that Kumi Cafe would be expanding to San Diego.  Last week, The Mister and I stopped in. 

 As always, I ordered hot tea ($2.50).  This green tea, served in the thermal cup, was of excellent quality. 


The Japanese centric menu (there's a 'Spicy Seafood Bowl'/Bibimbap offered) is straightforward.  

 The cucumber salad ($5.95) was served in this deceptively deep bowl.  It was refreshing, sweet and salty, cool and crisp and was munched on throughout the meal.
 We were here on one (of many) unbearably hot days last week and I was craving Tsukemen.  Seeing the Tenzaru Soba ($11.95) on the menu under "Cold Noodles", it was ordered;  a very reasonable substitute.  The Zaru soba-chilled buckwheat noodles- served with a lovely soy/dashi (salty) cold sauce along with green onion was quite perfect.  The "Ten"-mixed tempura- was nice serving of perfectly fried vegetables and one shrimp.  The  tempura sauce (dashi, soy, mirin and sugar) was quite good and complimentary.

The Mister ordered from the "Entree" part of the menu: the Chicken Katsu Curry ($13.95).  All entrees include miso soup, rice and salad. 
 The miso soup was a notably good quality. 
   The plate served was Chicken Katsu ($1 less than the Chicken Katsu Curry).  When reminded the order was for curry, our waiter apologized and went to the kitchen.  There was a wait because the curry was being prepared.  The bowl arrived in a bit (it was quite busy and only two people were working) and WOW- what a lovely curry sauce; carrot, onion and potato.   Slightly sweet (from apple I think) yet savory, the thick sauce was very tasty.   The chicken katsu was a good thickness, had a nice panko breading and was perfectly deep fried and crisp.  The rice and salad were also nicely flavored.  I suppose the 'proper' curry plate would have had more rice and less lettuce, with the curry poured over the serving, but eating it this was was nice and we got to see the Chicken Katsu Entree.

Everything here so far is excellent. 

Kumi Cafe 4380 Kearny Mesa Road #300 San Diego, 92111 (858) 565-1288 Open Sun- Th 11-9:30, Fri-Sat 11-10 

Pho Hoa (again)

mmm-yoso!!! is being written by Cathy for the next few days; Kirk has some free time and isn't posting.

Coincidentally, the day when Kirk posted about Avian Sandwiches, The Mister and I had just finished a wonderful lunch at Pho Hoa, which is located in the same shopping center anchored by Thuan Phat Supermarket.  There are many posts about Pho Hoa here (use the 'search' box on the upper left).  I've only posted about this old school shop in 2015, even though it has been a regular stop before grocery shopping.
 Not much has changed since Covid-19.  Menu is the same.  Tabletops are still sticky.  Prices have, of course, increased.

 Pho Tai (rare beef) (large, $11.40) arrives with fresh herbs and add-ins, still has a rich deep colored and flavorful broth which is slightly salty.  Noodles were not in a 'clump'.  Overall, this bowl was very refreshing.
 The half order of Spring Rolls ($5.60) arrived with the shrimp and pork still warm.  The lettuce, sprouts and mint were crisp and very fresh.  Even the vermicelli noodles were still warm.  Made to order and exceptionally good.
  The grilled pork Bun ($12.60) was quite a large serving of thicker slices of char grilled pork on top of lettuce and cold vermicelli topped with pickled radish and carrot, sprouts and mint and topped with plenty of peanuts.  The nuoc nuam sauce/dressing is a wonderfully balanced fish sauce based dressing.

This meal really met our cravings.

Pho Hoa 6921 Linda Vista Road San Diego 92111 (858) 492-9108 open daily 8 a.m.-9 p.m.

HMart and eating in the store (Mira Mesa location)

mmm-yoso!!! continues to be written by Cathy while Kirk and His Missus catch up from another wonderful vacation.

The Mister and I first discovered a Super HMart in 2012, actually on the same day that the first HMart opened in San Diego.  In 2013, I wrote a post about a meal enjoyed there, then in 2019 I wrote another post about more selections we've enjoyed before shopping in the store.  Post Covid-19, things have returned to 'normal' and today's post about the Mira Mesa location and its tiny food court area is to keep you updated. 
 If you walk in the entrance on the right, you'll be at the proper area. 
 If you had walked in the entrance to the left and counter-clockwise through the store, you'll see this overhead signage.
 Grab a container and choose from the hot/steam trays

 as well as from the chilled trays.  At the end of the line are canned and bottled beverages and the cash register and seating area.  Everything is $10.99/lb. {there is also a water fountain with cups in the seating area}

 The fried items seem to be fresh when we are here; lightly crisp and not greasy.  The squid and whole shrimp are a favorite (as you can see from these separate visits).  The chilled trays always hold something wonderful.  Each of these packed full trays weighed a little less than one pound. You can also order something from the kitchen- the menu board is right above the trays. The Bibimbap (mixed rice with meat and vegetables) has been a special taped to the bottom of the menu board for a while now ($9.99).  Steamed rice topped with a variety of vegetables and marinated tender, thin sliced beef (you can also get the beef in the per-pound steam tray) topped with an egg.  It's served with pickled radish, Kimchi and the mildly spicy, slightly sweet gochujang sauce.  A spoon is necessary for mixing the ingredients together.  You can have all of this served in a stone pot (dolsot bibimbap) so the rice is sizzling and brown/burned (in a good way) for $2 more (#10 on the photo menu).
#20 on the menu is 'pork cutlet' ($11.99).  Topped with teriyaki sauce and served with rice and salad, this is quite a large meal.  We were sad that on this visit, the pork was fried just about 30 seconds too long, leaving it a bit dryer and more chewy than usual.  

Once we finish our meal, we shop.

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

Holey Donuts (El Cajon)

Thanks for stopping to read this food blog, mmm-yoso!!! Kirk and His Missus are winding down their vacation while Cathy remains writing another post about a local place.  

In the corner of the strip mall anchored by Boot Barn and Turners Outdoorsman Shop as well as Ami Sushi, one block East of Parkway Plaza, this nondescript signage popped up in April of 2020. 
 Depending on the time of day, the shelves may be filled with fresh donuts or not.  
 A Raised Crumb and an Old Fashioned ($1.50 each) along with a large up of coffee ($2.49) is a nice treat.
 The owner offered us a slice of 'bread pudding', a sort of experimental item which might be offered someday.  It was wonderful, rich and milky and topped (as well as filled) with butterscotch chips.  I would buy this.  But, what kind of bread?
 The croissants which are made here, of course!
 When you walk in, the Coffee Bar is in front of you.
 Also when walking in, the window art lets you know there are more than donuts sold here. 

 These menus are displayed straight ahead.

We decided to share the Steak Sandwich ($13.75)

While paying, the chef walked by.  We were asked if we wanted fries, onion rings or mashed potato with the sandwich and we were hesitating.  We decided on onion rings and then chef asked if we were sharing..."yes", I answered...and then He said, 'well, I'll put the sandwich on two plates, he wants the rings, what do you want?' and I happily answered "mashed"...  
 And so that's what we were served!  
 I must say, the sandwich had to be cut anyhow to fit onto one plate. 

This is a steak sandwich, tender, melt in your mouth, pieces of steak (not the frozen, pre-sliced thin stuff) with a house made garlic aioli, grilled onion and mushrooms on a toasted roll.  The mashed potatoes were twice baked, with bacon bits and skins.  The rings were whole onions, lightly battered.  (Yes, slightly dark but not burned). 

Completely unexpected and so very good.  Such service, such great food quality, such nice people working here.

Why hadn't I found this sooner?  How did I finally decide to stop by?
 The Toyota dealership, where I took in the car for service in July.  Free coffee and free donuts.  

I've not seen any other advertising.  Holey Donuts really survived Covid.

Holey Donuts 795 Arnele Ave El Cajon 92020 (619) 536-4747 Open Tues-Sun 6 a.m.-2 p.m. Closed Monday