mmm-yoso!!!

Asia Cafe (new owners; same food)

Thank you for stopping to read mmm-yoso!!! We write about food. Today it is Cathy writing. This is uncharted territory; Ed has died, memories flow.  Thanks to everyone for your kind messages about our dear friend. 

I remember reading Kirk's two-part post, as well as a third visit, all in 2006, about Asia Cafe.  

The first time I went to Asia Cafe, it was in July 2008- I met Ed (from Yuma) when He stopped here *before* checking into his Point Loma motel. He didn't have a mobile phone then and we had to coordinate the meeting time.  Neither of us posted about the meal.  {We did however, write this post about lunch the following day}.
 Other than some new(er) tables and chairs, the exterior and interior haven't changed much.  The owners have.  The menu (at the bottom of this post) is similar, with the 'off menu' items now listed.  Ordering hot tea ($1) gets a nice size mug delivered.
 The Mister is back into his spicy cravings mode and ordered the papaya salad ($6) at a heat level of '3'(out of 5).  Good thing he did; this was a just right amount of heat for him, while I was still able to taste the freshly shredded green papaya. The tomatoes added a bit of calming flavor as did the savory salty fish sauce in the base.    I was here for the Nem Khao ($8) and it did not disappoint.  The crispy rice with fried garlic and sour sausage dish was just about as I remembered, although the sausage was a bit more chopped up/in finer pieces than I remembered.  The flavors (I could taste the lemongrass in the sour sausage) were all there.   As our third dish, (we try to order one for each of us plus 'one for the table'), The Mister wanted to try the Phad See Ew with chicken ($6.50).  Crisped pan fried wide noodles with egg, broccoli, carrots and mushrooms made this dish a flavorful combination of comfort. 

Some good friend and good food memories recalled today.

Asia Cafe 4710 Market St San Diego, CA 92102

Asia Cafe 4710 Market St San Diego, CA 92102

Yuma - Tacos Mi Rancho and Los Manjares de Pepe

A few weeks back, I headed on over to Yuma, to visit my good friend and fellow mmm-yoso contributor, "Ed from Yuma". I'm sure, based on the previous post you know the reason. Sadly, it had been almost a dozen years since I'd visited Yuma. I never meant for it to be that way; after all, I had a great time during that all-too-short visit, which was capped off with a wonderful dinner. But time just seems to get away from us.

Since I've been doing a good bit of driving recently and the Missus was busy working, I decided to stay the evening. Strangely, it was drizzling during my entire drive east......scattered large drops of rain dribbling about.....I mean, summer didn't officially end in these parts until a few days ago.

While it was great seeing Tina and Ed, I could tell that he was getting very tired, it was time for me to take my leave.

I needed a place for dinner. I could have eaten at "that restaurant" across the parking lot.....

But this is Yuma.....

So, I decided to drive around a bit. I hadn't been around this part of Yuma on my last trip....it's basically the mall....though I had to send the Missus a photo of Dillard's. I haven't seen a Dillard's since I used to work in Arkansas and Georgia back in the 90's.

Tina had mentioned that a branch of Sprouts had recently opened, and there it was on 4th.

For dinner, I decided to head to a place Ed had recommended to me on my first visit to Yuma, Tacos Mi Rancho. Funny thing, Ed never did a post on the place until 2013, but it was obviously a favorite of his as well. On my previous visit, I had stayed right across the street from this reclaimed fast food stand. And there it stood; looking just the same twelve years later.

Just as on my previous visit; I sidled up to the counter. The very friendly young lady asked me if I wanted a table, but I told her he counter would do just fine.

The place was just as I recalled, basically two rooms, news and sports on the televisions.......colorful and cozy.

I went with three tacos; Al Pastor, Lengua, and Chicharon. But first, some chips.

 

To me, the big winner was the lengua; beefy, buttery, a squeeze of lime took the "edge off". The salsa here is on the milder side, but the tangy flavors helped to cut the richness.

The Chicharon had a nice smokey, spice, though it was a bit too chewy for my liking.

The Adobada kind of threw me off; it lacked the red achiote color; but was nicely flavored.

Overall, three nice tacos.

And very nice service.

Tacos Mi Rancho
188 S 4th Ave
Yuma, AZ 85364

I spent the evening studying for a couple of certifications I needed to renew.

I'm an early riser these days....I think what they say about needing less sleep as you get older might actually be true. I was ready to hit the road and head back to San Diego. It was 630 am and I got into the car and....decided to make one more stop. There was one place that Ed said I should try....he mentioned regretting not being able to take me there. I wanted to have no regrets floating in the air; so I headed off to Los Manjares de Pepe; which Ed has called "the best Mexican restaurant in town" and possibly the "best overall restaurant in town" in two posts over the years; Los Manjares de Pepe.

So I drove on over to West 8th Street and waited a bit in the parking lot of this converted residence until the open sign lit up.

The warm and friendly woman working quickly seated me; handed me a menu, and asked me if I wanted some coffee, which was exactly what I wanted. The morning was already fairly warm and the previous day's moisture had made things a bit muggy. The nice A/C swirling around me really stimulated my appetite.

There was one item from Ed (from Yuma)'s posts that had caught my attention all those years ago. The Pepe's special. Pork stewed in what is described as a tomatillo sauce on the menu.

Man; this was delici-yoso. The pork was moist and tender; that sauce, as Ed noted, wasn't very tangy, but had a nice balance of flavors. The smokiness from whatever pepper was used for it came through nicely. The salsa added a touch of heat, but was still mild, but really helped to cut any richness. The tortillas were excellent; I ate them all....and of course those runny eggs, adding another layer of velvety richness to the dish. The beans were good as were the breakfast potatoes. But it was all about that pork.

I saved that last tortilla to mop up all that sauce.

Ed my friend; I can only imagine how even more enjoyable this meal would have been with you!

Los Manjares De Pepe
2187 W 8th St
Yuma, AZ 85364
Open Daily - 7am - 9pm

For those who want to know a bit more about Ed's life; you can find that here. And a very nice post here. As to how Ed got the moniker "Ed from Yuma"? Well, I think only Ed and I know that one......

Saying Goodbye - In Memorium: Ed from Yuma

It is with a heavy heart that I pass along to our "Friends of Yoso", that Ed from Yuma passed away this past weekend.

If you have been nice enough to visit our humble little blog over the years, you have undoubtedly read one of Ed's posts.

Tina wanted me to pass this on to all of you:

"Please tell the readers at mmm-yoso how much he enjoyed blogging and conversing with them about the restaurants and the food."

We'll miss you Ed. Rest well my friend. Until I see you again, you'll be missed.

Four Daughters; The Union Club; Memories and Reconstructions; 126 W. Main, Medford, Oregon.

Cathy and Kirk have their own posts and their own memories; this post is about Ed (from Yuma) and Tina exploring his memories in a post.

I had not returned to Jackson County in Southern Oregon since my mother’s death in January 1981. On this visit, I had to go to Four Daughters Irish Pub on W. Main St. in Medford. The entrance was easy to spot from across the street:

The front door was inviting:

For me, the floor views toward the back and easily exceeded my expectations:

And I was delighted to see this brief history of the building posted on the wall in Four Daughters

One key point stands out from this history – Christian Schempp’s Beer Parlor and the subsequent Union club only occupied the eastern half of the building space until you got nearly a third of the way through the building, so they were much smaller bars and lacked all these brick walls, tables etc.        

         But this space had a more personal meaning also: My grandfather, Christian Schempp, apprenticed as a butcher and sausage maker in the old country. He and his wife, Marie, came to the United States in 1923, and they had their first child, Hilda, my mother, a couple of months after their arrival. Christian was a hard worker and ambitious. By the late 1930s, he owned a meat packing plant in Modesto, California. However, he had been gassed in the Argonne Forest during the First World War and had severe sinus and related problems throughout his life. In 1939 an attack of mastoiditis nearly killed him. His doctor told him to give up cold damp conditions, which meant he had to give up meat packing.

As a result, he moved to Medford and purchased what would become Christian Schempp’s Beer Parlor in 1940.

Not long after Pearl Harbor, according to one of his favorite stories, he realized that the government would begin rationing and restricting the supply of beer, so he purchased a warehouse (?) full of beer. When the Army opened a training base at Camp White a few miles away, his tavern was the only place in town with enough beer to satisfy the thirsty GIs.

In early 1945, my father William Edmond (Ed) Davis was liberated from a POW camp in the Philippines and after medical treatments etc. was discharged from the Army. He made his way up to Medford. Soon my dad began working for my grandfather, where he met my mother, falling in love, and I was born in November, 1947.

In the early 1950s, Oregon legalized liquor by the drink, and my grandfather purchased a liquor license.Now that the bar was now more than a beer parlor led to the change in the name to The Union Club. In 1950s, my father took over more and more responsibilities of running the bar. When Christian had a severe stroke in 1958, he sold the bar to my dad and had a busy and pleasant retirement.

Soon my father (and my mother) were faced with a crisis. Oregon began requiring establishments with a liquor license to do at least 25% of their gross sales in food. Perhaps the measure was an effort to reduce deaths from alcoholism and cirrhosis, but it would also free up some liquor licenses for corporate hotel chains opening along the interstate highway system.

Until that time, The Union Club served a small selection of bar favorites. They could griddle up a hamburger or cheeseburger, and my dad’s beef stew and chili were always available. Bar snacks like pickled pigs’ feet and pickled eggs and peanuts were favorites, but all of these put together were less than 5% of gross sales. Therefore, they installed a full kitchen with lunch counters and booths in the middle of the building. Having steady income from the bar, they sold food at cost, and the Union Club became a popular lunch spot that also did some dinner business.

My mother managed the kitchen in its early years, and in the summer, I washed dishes for the lunch rush and sometimes did prep work and waited tables in the evening.

In the early 1970s, my father’s health began to fail and he sold the establishment.

Aologizes for the long historical interlude, but it helps to explain why I was so amazed at the transformation of the bar.

Now to the food. While the extensive menu covers all kinds of bar food, we could sample just a few, and it is really hard to sneak deep-fried mushrooms past my wife:

 
Really great crunchy exterior, moist mushroomy interior. They came with a ranch dipping sauce, and for poor lactose intolerant me, some good old-fashioned course mustard.

And beer. Four Daughters does not have a huge tap list, but there were still plenty of choices – both of these are brewed on premises:

Tina ordered the meatloaf, two thick slices, spiced with oregano, and accompanied by decent grilled vegetables, creamy cheddar mashed potatoes, and a thick slice of bread and butter:

I went for the old-fashioned Irish beef stew:

This broke no new culinary grounds, but the gravy was plenty beefy, the mashed potatoes creamy and flavorful, and the portion as much as I could eat.

Already stuffed at this point, we took our bread pudding back to the room with us:

Before we left, they urged us to go upstairs and look at the casual bar area. About two years ago, my right meniscus convinced me that climbing stairs was not something my 67-year-old knees could do anymore, so I handed Tina the camera sat back and drink beer, and waited for her return. It wasn’t until I saw the photographs later that I became aware of how the owners had transformed the space into a truly amazing bar and lounge. Here is a picture from climbing the backstairs:

This large room with 110-year-old brick walls, tons of cushy furniture, looks like a great place to show up at 8 PM and be escorted out by a Lyft driver at 1:45.

More great brick wall:
and the huge upstairs bar:

Tina took this photo of the giant staircase:

Glad I wasn’t climbing that. And when she came back to the ground floor she found your humble author approaching sensory overload and a food/alcohol induced form of enlightenment:

 

I hope you all enjoyed, and I just want to dedicate this post to ALL our immigrant mothers, fathers, and ancestors. We/they are America.

Wine tasting in Southern Oregon

mmm-yoso!!! is Kirk’s fascinating food and travel blog out of San Diego. Sometimes he lets Cathy or me, Ed (from Yuma), blog here too. Thanks!!!

I wish I could share with folks the great natural beauty and wonderful hospitality Tina and I experienced in Central Oregon. But I am uncomfortable writing about wonderful meals prepared by friends and family, and Tina and I both failed to take photos of the Cascade peaks and rugged scenery we witnessed our way down to Jackson County in Southern Oregon.

We arrived on a scorching (108°+) afternoon in the Rogue Valley too early for our motel room, so we sought the house where I grew up and the nearby house of my grandparents. Pulling into the driveway there, we were greeted by the current owner, who was happy to learn about the history of the house and happy to share some details about living in Medford these days. After he learned that we were interested in wine tasting, he insisted that we drive a short way to 2Hawk winery, nearby on N. Phoenix Rd.

Located about 2 ½ miles from where I grew up, the brand-new winery was built with old wood:

Amazing to see vineyards where there were once empty fields or cow pastures at the edge of town:

The tasting room was modern and attractive, the servers were very friendly and helpful, and some of the folks at the winery seemed like locals who drop by in the afternoons:

2Hawk offered a couple of different tasting flights, but their lineup was limited but good:

In fact, limited supply seems to be plaguing many of the new Southern Oregon wineries. One place we stopped was out of wine to sell, and when I came back two days later to 2Hawk to pick up a bottle of their excellent reserve Tempranillo, which they had kindly let me sample, they had none.

2335 N. Phoenix Road | Medford, OR 97504
541.779.WINE (9463)

http://www.2hawk.wine/

The Rogue Valley with nearly 30 wineries is the center of the Southern Oregon Vineyard industry but I wanted to take Tina over to the Applegate Valley, just to the west, because it is much more rural, very beautiful, and offers some distinctive wines.

But folks gotta eat; so we stopped in at the C St. Bistro in Jacksonville. Jacksonville, now is a very small town, has a historic district that goes back to the 1850s, when Jackson County was founded. It’s in a nice location up off the Valley floor some, but it would’ve been inconvenient for the railroads, so they went down to the heart of the Valley and created Medford.

The C St. Bistro is a small home style  lunch and dinner spot in Jacksonville:

http://www.cstbistro.com/

It has a pleasant patio though it was getting awfully hot by the end of lunch:

I had a nice fresh lemonade that I failed to photograph. I opted for the turkey BLT, made with toasted homemade focaccia:

Real roasted turkey – an abundant portion – was the highlight of the sandwich. Being lactose intolerant, I ordered the tomato soup with no sour cream. It was full of red ripe tomato flavors, but the acidity might have been better balanced with the sour cream as Tina’s was:

But the real highlight of her lunch was the magnificent wild mushroom and melted cheese cibatta:

Here’s a detailed photo:

The bill was reasonable:

We headed out of town on the Jacksonville/Ruch highway, which crosses a low spur of the mighty Siskiyou mountains and descends into the beautiful Applegate Valley:

We stopped at only two wineries; the Schmidt family winery (the funnest in the Applegate Valley) seems to have a party going on constantly:

330 Kubli Road Grants Pass, OR 97527

541-846-9985

https://sfvineyards.com/

I’m sure the wines were very good, we enjoyed the tasting for sure, but the emphasis at the winery seem to be on the beautiful grounds and picnic areas:

Our last stop in the Applegate Valley was at Cowhorn vineyards a few miles south off the main road at the edge of the forest and the Valley, one of the most innovative and progressive vineyards in the Southern Oregon wine region:

The entire winery has no carbon footprint. All employees have 52-week a year employment and healthcare. Though the winery is very new, some of their best wines Syrah, Grenache, and Tempranillo are some of the most sought after and expensive in the Valley and (in my humble opinion) some of the best tasting.

The vineyards are spread out from the winery:

1665 Eastside Road
Jacksonville, OR 97530
(541) 899-6876

 

http://cowhornwine.com/

 

Tina and I thoroughly enjoyed the wine tasting and scenery. What makes Southern Oregon wineries unique is a variety of microclimates, most cooler than many regions in California, all more elevated than most other regions in Oregon or in California, and producing varietals not usually well represented in West Coast wineries such as Tempranillo, Grenache, Viogner, Roussanne.

If you’re in the area, you should definitely stop in and check out the one top 10 Vineyard area in the United States that you had probably never heard of before.

First and Last Meals in Portland - the Mekong Bistro; Dar Salam

Kirk and Cathy get a day off today as Ed wants to talk about his and Tina’s first and last meals in Portland.

On our trip, we flew into Portland and out of Portland, but the lion’s share of our visit was spent on the road going to Central Oregon, Southern Oregon, and the Oregon coast. After we flew in and before we flew out, we had the same problem, we wanted to eat somewhere close to our motel and to PDX.

Mekong Bistro:

The area along 82^nd Ave. in East Portland is a treasure trove of small restaurants of various ethnicities. Intrigued by the thought of Cambodian food, we found the Mekong just off 82^nd:

The restaurant was a large space with an inviting bar, though not very busy on this Monday night:

The menu was huge, a whole page of happy hour specials, and several pages of Cambodian, Lao, Thai, and Vietnamese choices. Of course, we wanted to focus on the Cambodian, but first, to take the edge off our appetites, we ordered chicken wings off the happy hour specials:

A real winner. Fresh from the fryer, crust perfectly crunchy, meat tender, moist, and flavorful. Though almost too hot to handle, we couldn’t stop ourselves from munching away. The dipping sauce was meh, mostly sweet, but nothing could detract from the wings themselves.

Our first bowl of Cambodian soup was sour pork and watercress:

Okay, that’s a pretty lousy picture; this’ll give you a better idea of what was in the soup:

The rich broth had a complex sour profile and the pork and watercress were well cooked, but not overcooked.

The sweet and sour fish soup had different flavors:

This photo shows many of the ingredients:

Bean sprouts, greens, squash, pineapple, and perfectly cooked excellent quality fish. The fish had no off or muddy flavors, tasted very fresh, and had been lightly grilled or fried so that the pieces of the filet stayed together. Really excellent.

The soups had come with a small bowl of ordinary rice, and the bill – gotta love no sales tax in Oregon – was quite reasonable:

Our friendly waitress, who was Lao, explained that the bistro is owned by a Cambodian/Lao couple, which helps explain the wide range of menu items. I would happily go back and wish I had an opportunity to work through more of the menu.

Mekong Bistro, 8200 NE Siskiyou, Portland, OR 97220; (503) 265-8972.

Dar Salam

Looking for our last Portland meal, Tina found Dar Salam, pointed out it had good ratings and that we hadn’t had Middle Eastern food anywhere on the trip. Sounded good to me and the restaurant looked inviting that morning in a modest neighborhood on NE Alberta:

We were early, no doubt the first customers of the day, and were both impressed by the pictures and memorabilia of Iraq that covered two walls of the restaurant:

Looking at the photos closest to us, you can see a wide range of vistas and individuals in Iraq. So many of the images seem to have a personal meaning and there was a poignancy just looking at the decor. It reminded me that exile from one’s friends, family, and native land is often very sad. Americans picture Iraq the way we see it on TV, full of violence, dust, rubble, and chaos. It wasn’t always like that:

Tina and I each ordered a soup. Her chickpea and onion soup (leblebi) was wonderful and healthy, flavors brightened by lemon juice:

I had the adis, an extremely smooth soup based on red lentils spiced with garlic and zatar:

Both soups were outstanding.

A large warm pita bread arrived next:

The joys of fresh Middle Eastern flatbreads. I pity those poor people (like us in Yuma) buying their pita bread in Kroger’s or Albertson’s. The bread came with a small bowl of all of olive oil and zatar:

Truth be told, neither Tina nor I used much of the flavored oil because the mezza plate showed up:

We loved it. The tzatziki was fresh and tangy. The hummus smooth and perfectly flavored. The baba ghanouj was perfect, extremely smoky and extremely flavorful. Good enough for a close-up:

The falafel was crunchy, rustic, and flavorful:

Overall the meal was as good as I could imagine. A perfect expression of Iraqi cuisine. Everything is prepared from scratch by the owner and his mother, truly prepared with love. I wish I could return and explore the whole menu.

And the bill was downright cheap:

Dar Salam, 2921 NE Alberta St., Portland, OR 97211, (503) 206 – 6148.

 

SGV: Sea Harbour Dim Sum; Norton Simon Art; Nha Trang Soups

Kirk and Cathy both work too hard, so today they're letting Ed (from Yuma) post here.

I recently wrote about seafood dinners Tina and I had on our first and last evenings in the San Gabriel Valley. This post is about the day in between.

That Saturday began just after 10 AM at Sea Harbour where we were seated immediately and asked what kind of tea we wanted. We hadn't thought about that so we went along with Jasmine which showed up quickly on our table:

It was pleasant, but our minds were on dim sum. We ordered items we had not had before, so no pork ribs, chicken feet, or shu mai. Instead, look at this pork and shrimp dumpling with truffle sauce:

Truffle flavors dominated. The shrimp and pork provided more texture than flavor - and that was fine with us.

The ox tendon and tripe in brown sauce was full of tender chewy tripe and tendon seasoned with five spice:

A lot of tendon and tripe. We both enjoyed our first few pieces, but this was one of those dishes where we could have used more pairs of chopsticks at the table. Too much of a good thing.

Tina had suggested baked mixed mushroom custard tart:

This was very tasty, full of mushroom flavors. The textures were perfect. The pastry was light and flaky, and the filling had little bits of crunch amid easy chewing slices of button mushrooms:

We also ordered the shrimp, dried scallop, and Chinese celery dumpling:

Kirk really enjoyed this dumpling on one of his visits to Sea Harbour, so we wanted to try it. He's right, the wrapper is faultless and the filling flavors spot on, the celery balancing the seafood:

On the other hand, I was surprised that Kirk never mentioned the steamed preserved salted egg yolk bun, which arrived looking pretty ordinary:

But inside was sweet gooey egg yolk:

The overall effect was like a warm rich sweet egg custard. The only problem I had was egg yolk squirting out of the bun when I bit into it. That could make for messy eating.

We thoroughly enjoyed the meal. Sea Harbour lived up to its reputation, and the price seemed reasonable:

Sea Harbour Restaurant, 3939 Rosemead Blvd., Rosemead, CA 91770, (626) 288-3939

 

After dim sum, we headed up to the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena (website). As you'd expect, it has a modern and attractive entrance:

Our friend Penny recommended it, and we are very glad she did (thanks Penny). Though we did detour to find Adam and Eve by Cranach, we concentrated on modern art. There were five van Goghs on display including masterpieces like this portrait:

And even more Picassos:

We also enjoyed a special exhibit of works collected by Galka Scheyer, the art impresario who introduced modern art and artists (including Kandinsky and Klee) to California. While the Norton Simon is not on the scale of LACMA or the Getty, it is an impressive collection.

Norton Simon Museum, 411 West Colorado Boulevard, Pasadena, California 91105, (626) 449-6840

 

We wanted something simple and low-key for dinner. Vietnamese noodle soup sounded just about right, and Nha Trang - which specializes in bun bo hue and bun rieu - had a location about a mile from our hotel. It all seemed easy, we had no trouble finding a parking place, and then we realized it was closed (who knows why). So Tina's smart phone located another Nha Trang in Alhambra, not too far away:

Again we were eating early and were the first customers of the evening:

The small menu was printed on the placemats:

In addition to soups, we ordered eggrolls that were quite good, savory and crispy fried:

Originally there were more. They were served with lettuce and fresh herbs:

I only wish they had arrived before our soups, though we did manage somehow to eat all of them.

The soups came with a generous plate of shredded lettuce and red cabbage, lime wedges, bean sprouts, and abundant fresh herbs:

Really fresh herbs, bunches.

I got bun rieu:

It was decent with nice seafood pork tomato  broth. Compared with the version at Mien Trung, however, it fell a little short. The broth wasn't quite as stellar, and the tofu wedges were dense and chewy. The crab/pork meatballs were fine and flavorful, but I missed the light chunks of crab cake (?) at Mien Trung.

On the other hand, the thin noodles were well prepared and those abundant herbs really stood out when added to the soup. Took it to another level.

Tina had the bun bo hue:

Excellent. Lots of beef, tender and flavorful. The pork was represented by chunks of pig foot, which Tina enjoyed gnawing. The thick noodles, not all clumped together, were nearly al dente with a firm bite. The spicy heat got our attention, but was not overwhelming. While the broth was not especially beefy, it had a preternaturally dark brown color. All in all, a very good bowl.

We were looking for a low-key dinner with good Vietnamese noodle soups. And we found it.

Nha Trang, 417 W. Main St., Alhambra, CA 91801 (626) 588-2833.

Two Seafood Dinners in SGV – Seafood Palace; Newport Seafood

Ed and Tina recently had an extended weekend in the San Gabriel Valley area, eating interesting food and going to interesting museums. So Kirk and Cathy get today off.

Tina had to work on Friday morning, so we came rolling into Temple City just about dinner time. After the drive, we were looking for something familiar and tasty, and Seafood Palace nee Seafood Village was certainly familiar (another post) and we hoped tasty.

We were happy to see the boiled peanut and pickled vegetable free appetizer:

Refreshing and enjoyable.

Of course, we ordered the house special deep-fried crab:

The flavors are impressive -- Dungeness crab, dried red chilies, abundant small fried chunks of garlic, chopped scallions, and the crunchy tasty coating. This is no wimpy crab. Unfortunately, however, the crab itself was overcooked and lacked moist juiciness:

This was not a bad dish, it just fell short of its usual perfection.

On the other hand, the baked oysters in black bean sauce was close to perfect:

The oysters were firm and chewy, nicely breaded, and flavorful. The black bean sauce matched slight funkiness of the bivalves. We liked. We liked so much that we were halfway through before I stopped and took the photo.

And the house special fried rice was light and tasty:

The meal concluded with a small cup of sweet red bean soup:

In addition to the generally good food, we were pleased with the service; there appeared to be a floor manager who oversaw the waitstaff. Our waters were refreshed regularly, and plates full of shell bits were replaced with clean plates. The bill seemed reasonable:

Seafood Palace, 9669 E. Las Tunas, Temple City CA 91780, (626) 286-2299

For our last dinner in the San Gabriel Valley, we were looking for more seafood. Researching restaurants, we kept running across references to Newport Seafood; it seemed to be the gold standard for the area, but it was also expensive and famously over crowded, with long lines and waits of one to two hours.

Then I realized -- we were planning on a Sunday night dinner, so there couldn't possibly be long lines. "But let's show up early, just in case," Tina suggested.

So at around 5:30 Sunday evening, we arrived at Newport Seafood, parking across the street to avoid the already crowded parking lot. Here's an exterior shot of the place:

Amazingly, there were already over a dozen people waiting for larger tables, but we got lucky and got the last booth. Here's a fuzzy interior shot:

There is also an area with several semi private rooms as well as the main dining room.

We had barely sat down when we were offered appetizers (not free) of boiled peanuts or cucumber chunks. We went with the cukes:

Very tasty, crunchy, spicy, and tangy -- the nutty flavors of sesame oil in the background.

Since this was our splurge meal, we opted for some wine, ending up with the Raymond Napa Valley Chardonnay, which was okay though the restaurant was out of our first choice:

Then came hot and sour catfish soup:

Stunningly good. Not at all like Chinese hot and sour soup, this was redolent of the complex flavors of southeast Asia -- pineapple, tomato, lemongrass, cilantro, green chilies, celery and more, closer to hot and sweet than hot and sour. Along with that good broth was a lot of catfish (wonderfully fresh, but somewhat bony) and numerous chunks of fruits and veggies along with chopped bean sprouts. A carnival of tastes.

But we had really come for lobster. The menu offers five different lobster presentations (including simply steamed), but whichever you choose, you get an entire lobster. We opted for the Newport special preparation. It arrived looking very special:

Chopped green chilies, diced scallions, and black pepper were the dominant seasonings. Lobster flesh exposed by the chopping had been breaded before the lobster was fried. While not as moist as steamed lobster, the meat was flavorful, fresh, and juicy when extracted from the shells:

The first-rate New England lobster was a real treat, and the preparation was flavorful.

We also ordered the clams in black bean sauce:

The black bean sauce didn't seem quite as tasty as the one at Seafood Palace two nights before. The clams, however, were perfect --exceedingly tender and mildly clammy, highest-quality bivalves treated well.

By this point of the meal, we realized a certain unplanned similarity between our two seafood dinners. Yes, Seafood Palace features chiu chow cuisine, and Newport Seafood is in the style of Tan Cang, a small port by the Mekong River estuary, but chiu chow dishes often show Southeast Asian influences. And yes, the fried crustaceans were different, as were the mollusks in black bean sauce, but the overall pattern of the dinners was largely the same, hence this post.

Anyway, at the end of the meal at Newport, we received a complementary chopped orange:

And the bill for the meal:

The overall experience Newport was positive. While the waitstaff was not as attentive as Seafood Palace, it was certainly professional and unobtrusive. The food was excellent. So we were happy as we walked out of the restaurant past the couples and families waiting for the next table to open up.

We had a good time in the SGV.

Newport Seafood Restaurant, 518 W. Las Tunas Dr., San Gabriel CA 91776, (626) 289-5998 (website) 

Buck & Rider – Seafood Dining in Phoenix

Ed (from Yuma) finally has the functional tools and the time he needs to write a post for the blog. Kirk and Cathy get a break today.

Not long before my computer became nonfunctional, Tina and I were in the Phoenix area to get together with her brother and wife and catch a spring training game. But we also wanted to have another lunch at Buck & Rider since our last meal there had been pretty good, and their menu contained a lot of dishes that we wanted to try. We arrived soon after they opened:

Since we were heading home after lunch, we decided to avoid drowsy driving and stick to sparkling water, refreshing on that hot day:

The choices of oysters were impressive considering Phoenix is in the middle of the desert:

We could watch the shucker (or is it shuckster?) at work:

We could even look at the oysters in their shells and inspect their documentation (papers please):

We ordered two High Rollers from Washington (Hood Canal) on the right of the picture, and two Madhouse from the Maryland Chesapeake:

They were served with lemon wedges and our choice of condiments; we picked cocktail sauce, which was spicy and tangy (but which I didn't use) and horseradish, which was pungent and freshly ground. With the horseradish, the taste of the bivalve was emphasized.

A close-up of a High Roller:

And a Madhouse:

While both were certified extra small, both were extra tasty, especially the one from the Hood Canal. Outstanding.

Tina's tuna burger, the next item to arrive at the table, fell short of outstanding:

The slaw was probably very healthy and certainly very bland. The bun was homemade and nicely grilled. The burger itself was large, filled with ground ahi, breaded and fried. The avocado portion was generous, but the sandwich never came together to my taste. The teriyaki like sauce on the burger and the chipotle mayo spread on the bun seemed an odd combination. And the fried exterior seemed an odd complement to the raw interior:

Likewise, the fries were just okay:

The portion was generous and the potatoes tasted fresh, but they lacked crispness and maybe had sat under a heat lamp for a little too long.

So I felt like I'd hit the jackpot by ordering the Port St. Lucie French Seabass sandwich:

Except for the slaw, this was excellent. The fish tasted fresh and flavorful. The roll, the breaded filet, the tomato, and the tartar sauce along with generous dill pickle made a flavorful combination.

Here's the check:

Was it worth it? Heck yes. The oysters (even though pretty spendy) and the seabass sandwich were outstanding. The tuna burger and the fries were okay; only the slaw was truly disappointing. We'd come back again.

Buck & Rider, 4225 East Camelback Rd., Phoenix, AZ 85018, (602) 346-0110. website

 

Ed’s SD Highlights: Prime, Golden City, Kokoro

Ed (from Yuma) writes about three spots in San Diego today. Kirk or Cathy will be writing about who knows what tomorrow. That's the way mmm-yoso!!! rolls.

These restaurants have been written about here previously, so I just wanted to touch on a few highlights.

Prime – I had a lunch at Prime Grill (website) featuring dolsit bi bim bap:

It was okay though my stone bowl didn't crisp up the rice very well, unlike Kirk's experience.

The eight ban chan items ranged from good to excellent. The squash was perfectly cooked and lightly seasoned:

Some broccoli I forgot to photograph was nicely highlighted with a tangy red sauce. And I have no idea what this earthy, slightly sweet and slightly woody vegetable is, but I liked it:

And of course the kimchi was outstanding:

I always used to wonder why some Korean restaurants served kimchi that was not as good as what I could buy in a jar in a Korean market. Prime’s is more complex and much better. I also enjoyed the metal teapot and cup:

The bill:

Prime Grill, 4620 Convoy, Ste A, San Diego 92111, (858) 277-0800

 

Golden City – it had been many years since my last visit, but this venerable Chinese restaurant (website) on Clairemont Mesa Blvd is a longtime favorite of Kirk and Cathy. Memory is a tricky thing, but the interior seems more modern and appealing than it used to be:

Talk about an extensive menu; here, actually, three menus:

Of course I had half of a kwai fei chicken:

Cold, intensely flavored, and very tasty. The bone splinters were the only unappealing part of the bird. Most of this went back to the room and the ice chest. Great for munchies.

Off the monthly specials menu, I ordered steamed fish and pumpkin in black bean sauce:

Except for being far too much food, this was wonderful. The fish was fall apart tender and fresh flavored. Its natural sweetness was complemented by the sweetness of the orange squash and contrasted by the savory umami of the black bean sauce.

The bill:

Golden City Restaurant, 5375 Kearny Villa Rd., San Diego 92123, (858) 565-6682

Kokoro – Tina and I really enjoyed our omakase here back in December, so it was my splurge dinner on my visit. I told Akio-san I was in the mood for some sashimi and some sushi – whatever he thought I would like – and I assured him I eat everything. Here is the sashimi platter:

The scallops seemed better this time, but the "like red snapper" fish at the front of the platter was outstanding, rich and chewy. The Santa Barbara uni also excellent.

The eight pieces of sushi, served one by one, were very good. The highlights: This black snapper was  attractive and had a nice firm mouth feel:

The toro was rich and tender as expected:

The hirame arrived with just a sprinkling of rock salt as did this wonderful plump oyster:

In both cases, the salt instead of shoyu emphasized the clean flavors of the seafood and the sweet/tangy flavors of the sushi rice.

But the number one highlight of the evening was this:

Alaskan cod ovaries served slightly warm. Rich creamy fecundity, even more decadent than uni, sinfully delicious.

The bill:

I don't usually discuss restrooms, but I was moved by the Ansell Adams poster on the wall:

It is sad to think about our government rounding people up, taking them from their homes, and putting them in camps.

Kokoro, 3298 Greyling Dr. Ste. B, San Diego, CA 92123, (858) 565-4113 (website)