mmm-yoso!!!

mmm-yoso makes 18!

I was just going to start another post when I looked at the date and realized there was some significance to this day....at least for me.

On this date 18 years ago, we did our first post. Geez, 18 years, perhaps it's time to send the blog off to college, right?

Never in my wildest dreams would I have ever thought we'd still be around 18 years later.

And in typical fashion, I'm really not prepared for this post. So, how about some photos of neighborhood flowers from my walks?

Or maybe some utility box art?

In all seriousness, we'd like to thank each and every one of you, for the visits, comments, emails....the wonderful recommendations! We've had the honor and the privilege of "eating, then writing about it" for  5010 posts now. 

Hopefully, we'll have some delici-yoso posts coming up......

The last few years have been sometimes strange and difficult....things have changed so much, but it has made me appreciate more than ever being able to keep up with the blog.

I know I'm not up to date with technology. At some point, I'll have to either get up to date or say goodbye. Hopefully, it will be the former.

Until then....we'll keep rolling along.

Thanks again for helping to keep this little blog going!

Yoso-Silly - It's Ramen Weather

Man, has the weather been crazy or what? With more rain that I can ever remember, I just didn't want to leave home. But, it was great ramen weather, right? So ramen it was......

   Which kinda hit the spot. This was not bad. So, here's where it gets interesting. This was actually from a package, albeit with some "additions". A few months back, I saw some frozen ramen on sale at Nijiya at $3.99.  I thought it was expensive (it's now $5.69). And having tried the Nijiya brand and other stuffs by Sun Noodle that I thought wasn't very good....still, I couldn't help myself so I bought 5.

And this turned out not bad. Noodles by Sun Noodle, the tare has a bit of that metallic instant noodle flavor, but I tamper it down by using more water, usukuchi shoyu, grated garlic, and shaved onion. That chili crisp doesn't hurt as well. And I'll use whatever I have at my disposal, like some frozen jioazi, some frozen chashu, leftover roast duck and duck fat....it all works well.

So perhaps I've changed my tune with regards to packaged ramen....

Still, I don't think I'm willing to try this yet.....

Especially after our experience at their location in Kyoto.

Still, this has been interesting and I'm wondering what the effect of all these "atmospheric rivers" have had on your eating habits?

Yoso-Silly - A Chili Crisp Comparison: Fly by Jing, Don Don Surprise, TJ's Chili Onion Crunch, and Home Made

I don't think I've mentioned this before, but our next door neighbor who moved in several years ago is from Hawaii! She's wonderful as is her pup Kai. Her sister, who lives in West Virginia (!!!!) is a talented cook and she recently gifted us with some Chili Crisp she made when she was visiting. Needless to say the Missus loves the stuff, especially on boiled and fried eggs. So naturally, this made the Missus have me buy a couple of different brands to see how they taste.

So, I hope you don't mind a silly post for tonight comparing the various versions I recently bought.

So, left to right:

We were shopping at Marukai....the shop that used to be Marukai Living and is now Marukai "Japanese Grocery". They were having one of their rotating regional Japanese fairs and we saw some rayu that looked like Chili Crisp. I believe it's called Don Don Surprise. While shopping at Trader Joe's we picked up the Chili Onion Crunch. And while recently shopping at Costco, I came across Fly By Jing Sichuan Chili Crisp.

The Missus had been using these to flavor different things and noticed a tremendous difference in these three. So, She wanted to do a side-by-side comparison. So I made some roasted smashed baby potatoes and we had at it.

From left to right - follows the photos of the jars. The fourth is the home made version, which we actually liked for the ma-la balance and the strong garlic tones. We'll miss this when it's gone.

As for the retail versions; here's the Missus's favorites

1 - Fly by Jing - Has the most spice, you can also make out fermented black beans. This would work well on any Sichuan style dish. Good ma-la with a savory complexity as well. It's also the most expensive. Gonna love this on cold noodles when the weather gets warmer and cucumber. Not sure about putting it on Vanilla Ice Cream though?

2 - Don Don Surprise - Mildest in terms of spice, but good amount of sesame oil. There's a mild beany flavor to things and I saw Gochujang and Miso on the ingredient list. Good topping for noodle soups.

3 - Trader Joe's Chili Onion Crunch - Had the most "crunch" of them all, but wasn't very spicy, and had the least amount of complexity. Looking at the label revealed that a host of dried vegetables (dried onion, garlic, red bell peppers) provided all the crunch. But this was really weak and I probably won't be buying it again.

I'm sure we'll be trying other versions as we find them.

Have you been checking our different versions of Chili Crisps/Oil? If so, what are your favorites!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Big Island - Kilauea Lodge and Restaurant (Volcano Village) and Halemaʻumaʻu Erupts!

After checking out Hilo for a bit we headed to our destination for the next two evenings, Volcano Village. Years ago, the Missus and I spent our honeymoon at Volcano House and we have always had a great affection for the Big Island. One of our traditions is visiting Volcanoes National Park whenever we're on the Big Island, though we both had a hard time believing it had been a decade since our last visit! 

I had been very excited about our visit because at the time I booked this trip, both Halemaʻumaʻu and Mauna Loa were erupting! Something that I had always wanted to see; especially at Halemaʻumaʻu Crater in Kilauea Caldera. Sadly, by the 9th of December, the eruption ended. I was kind of bummed. But to our amazement on January 5th Halemaʻumaʻu Crater started erupting again!

So, we headed right into Volcanoes National Park and stopped at the Visitors Center.

Our experiences with Rangers at National Parks have always been wonderful and this was no different. We were given info and told that the lava activity could be viewed from Kilauea Overlook. To my surprise we easily found parking and just a few yards away was the viewpoint. We enjoyed the view and stayed for a while.

We then headed off to check-in at our accommodations. I wasn't able to get reservations at Volcano House and decided we should stay in Volcano Village near the entrance to the national park. I picked Kilauea Lodge, which turned out to be a wonderful place to stay.

This was the former location of a YMCA Camp and the wonderfully comfortable rooms and amazing staff made staying here a pleasure.

The sound of the birds chirping, surrounded by rain forest.......so different from our "real world". 

The Missus and I wanted to head back to see the eruption at night, so we inquired about dinner reservations. The great staff got us dinner reservations early....the place seemed totally booked, so we could head off to watch the lava action. We then took a short walk around the hotel grounds and rested up for a bit, before walking over to the dining room, which was a large rustic space with the "Fireplace of Friendship" as the centerpiece.

The customers were a mix of Kama'ainas and Tourists. Though it seems the locals come for happy hour and leave early.

We were happy to note that the focus is on local produce and ingredients.

We started with some Crabcakes ($14).

The crabcakes were on the dry and bland side and the panko crust just wasn't crisp enough for us. The crab just lacked the delicate sweetness we look for.

For Her main, the Crispy Tofu ($28). While the tofu wasn't fried and crisp enough, the produce was amazing.

The cauliflower was buttery and sweet and the mushrooms were so meaty and earthy, they were the highlight of the plate.

I got the catch of the day ($35) which was Ahi.

Again, the highlight of the plate were the veggies; the cauliflower and even the potatoes were so tasty. Sadly, the ahi was cooked to death and dry. The lemon-butter sauce could have used a bit more seasoning and acidity as it was quite bland.

Still, the service was so warm and friendly, our water was kept filled....no wine on this evening as we'd be heading back into the park. The staff here is amazing as we saw several very entitled and demanding customers and yet he staff still handled things with grace and aloha. The service made this a nice meal.

Kilauea Lodge Restaurant
19-3948 Old Volcano Road
Volcano Village, HI 96785

After dinner, we headed back into the park. And man, was it busy. We were guided to a field close to Kilauea Military Camp and then took the Kau Desert Trail, much of which is paved to the overlook. And what greeted us was breathtaking.

Words cannot express the drama, beauty, and grandness of it all.

It's something that I've waited all my life to see and it exceeded my expectations. Madame Pele really delivered.

The Missus couldn't understand why I was so taken by this, after all "you grew up in Hawaii, doesn't everyone see this all the time?" I tried to explain to Her how blessed we were to see and experience this. There are folks I grew up with who have never seen anything like this, locals who lived their entire life without being witness the power, the drama we were seeing. We're given a view into how our islands, nay the world, was formed. This was something special. Once you see something like this you'll never forget it. I know I never will.....

Thanks for stopping by!

Santouka Weather

Man, it's been feeling really cold here the last couple of days. I can't really recall having such extended periods of cold weather here in San Diego. When I checked with the Missus to see what She wanted to have for dinner, She said, "I'd like some ramen...." So, my first thought was Menya of course. But then I remembered "FOY" Junichi's mention of enjoying having a bowl of ramen at Santouka. Santouka holds a special place in our hearts. We consider it to be the first "real" ramen spot to open in San Diego, which started what we call "San Diego's Ramen Renaissance" back in 2008. Over the years it's the shio toroniku that has become our favorite.

While still somewhat hesitant and cautious about dining in; after having rather mediocre takeout experiences with Santouka, we decided to have an early Valentines Day dinner.....at Santouka in the Mitsuwa Marketplace.

There was no one in the queue when I got to the window, the Missus had gone to check-out the snack aisle while I placed my order. I had some good timing, as a line emerged while I was waiting for our order.

We ordered the usual; the Shio Ramen Toroniku Style ($15.95) and some Natto Gohan ($3). Who'd have thunk that spending twenty bucks for ramen and a rice bowl would be considered a reasonable priced dinner these days?

Our ramen was ready quite quickly.

   Man, this was so much better than takeout. The noodles, which were the biggest issue with takeout was decently springy. Still not quite I recall it being in the "good old days", but much better.

The much maligned (and rightfully so) tamago has become kind of an inside joke with the Missus and I. I recall fooling some folks with a homemade boiled egg when we did takeout. The Missus and I crack up when we recall visiting the flagship store of Santouka in Asahikawa and finding that tamago was just as bad.

The pork cheek had been perfectly braised; it had a nice balance of soy-porkiness that just did it for us. It was also fairly tender...too long of a "swim" in the broth and it would start breaking up.

That thick sided donburi really did the trick for the broth as it stayed scalding hot during the whole meal. The broth had a nice tongue coating feel and like I always say, in spite of it being "shio" (salt), it is the least salty of the broths to me.

I also noticed that the broth had a mild "zip" to it....then I looked carefully and noticed the red specks in it. Are they now adding togarashi? The only thing missing is the mild seafood tones that the versions in Japan have. When Santouka first opened in San Diego, it had that flavor profile but it was soon changed. Also, the broth seemed a bit fattier than I recalled, but I'm not complaining.

As for the Natto Gohan, well it's "soul food" to me as I mentioned in this post.

I used to be somewhat embarrassed for enjoying this gooey, slimy, cheesy-nutty, funky smelling fermented been dish. But these days I hoist and fly my natto flag with pride! It helps that the Missus loves natto as well.

I realize I just spent over 500 words on a place I've posted on many times. Yes, quite a few ramen places have come (and gone) since Santouka opened, but it's still a favorite of ours. Perhaps it's sentimental, but we still enjoy our meals there. Thanks for staying and reading this post!

Santouka Ramen
4240 Kearny Mesa Rd(In the Mitsuwa Marketplace)
San Diego, CA 92111

Thanks for inspiring me to return to Santouka Junichi!

We hope everyone is in good health and spirits!

Carcassonne - FloridaBlanca, Aux Croissants des Lices, and Here We Go Again

After spending the morning in La Cité and having lunch at Adelaide we realized that we still had an entire afternoon (and evening) left. So, what to do now? We decided to head into Ville Basse and take a look around. So we headed down the hill and crossed the Aude at the lovely Pont Vieux.

The view of La Cité from here is quite nice.

And we ended up walking down what I believe is one of the main streets in Ville Basse, Boulevard Barbes. Which is named after Armand Barbès, whose statue is found along the street.

What caught our attention was a bit past the monument.

It was a Christmas Fair going on.

We wandered about for a bit, then decided to walk on over to the train station to see how far it was. In the end, we decided to make the 30 minute walk to the train station the next morning.

We were also looking for possible places to have dinner, but of course we were too early for the typical French dinner time and decided to head on back to the apartment. On the way back, we crossed the larger, more modern Pont Neuf. And the view of La Cité was amazing.

Once crossing over we headed to Rue Trivalle to see if we could find somewhere to have a meal....if not, we would just head back to Le Passage. Well, there was another place open, named FloridaBlanca.

By now, there was a steady drizzle going on, so we went on in. The place was buzzing....and guess what? It was another tapas restaurant!

   We managed to get a high-top for two. And along with the standard menu, the menu del-dia was presented. There was a nice, easy going, yet joyous vibe here. Folks were having fun. There was a group of folks, it seemed like employees from a company having a "very" happy hour. They asked me to take a photo of them. Of course, being American, I told them to say "cheese"....perhaps I should have had them say "fromage"?

And so we placed our order and soon enough our stuffs arrived.

This was nicely prepared simple dishes made in that tiny kitchen, prep was the key. The Aubergene Frite, was nicely fried slices of eggplant, nicely done, crisp with a creamy interior. The padrons were simply charred, just like you'd have in Spain.

And you'd play you're game of "pepper roulette" as well.

I saw the Jambon D'Agneau and just had to try it. The Server made sure to tell me; "it is lamb" twice! I just wanted to try this.

My goodness, this was so delici-yoso! Think of all the high points of lamb, good fat, mild sweet-gaminess, that "flavor of the pasture". Man, this was so good, I ordered another plate!

The Champignons Farcis, stuffed mushrooms were fine, but nothing special.

I just wanted more lamb. Look at the little leg compared to a jambon!

We got some Patatas Bravas, but it was served with the sauce on the side and wasn't as good as the frites we had the previous night.

And the Missus even got some dessert.

During our meal, the Missus and I wondered why there isn't something like this in our 'hood. It ain't hard, there are places that "claim" to do tapas, but we're not impressed. Perhaps folks here aren't really interested in these type of simple dishes? And then, we also wondered; what's up with Carcassonne and these tapas places? I know that Carcassonne is one of the stops along the route to Spain, could this be the reason?

Anyway, we had a fun time and enjoyed this meal.

FloridaBlanca
22 Rue Trivalle
11000 Carcassonne, France

As we were finishing our meal, I went and checked our train timetable using the SNCF app and found that all trains out of Carcassonne were canceled. Sigh...so here go again! So once we got back to the flat, I found out that there was a train derailment and all trains had been cancelled. And even though it said it would be for a day or two....heck, this is France..... So, I went and reviewed options and eventually booked us a bus from Carcassonne to our next stop; Toulouse.

The next morning, we cleaned up a bit and headed on out. We'd be walking to the train station where we'd (hopefully) be catching our bus to Toulouse.

We happened to come across this Boulangerie and decided to pick up some sandwiches for the trip and a croissant.

Really nice folks working here! So friendly, patient, and helpful.

Aux Croissants des Lices
4 Rue Georges Clemenceau
11000 Carcassonne, France

Getting to the train station we could see the tracks were taped off. I could also see our bus on the schedule board and confirmed with the very helpful station staff.

It was now time to have my croissant.

Decently flakey, it was a bit too doughy for my taste. I also thought it needed more butter, but it suited me fine.

We watched as a news crew arrived to interview the delayed and stranded.

Soon enough a bus arrived at the front of the station. And we started queuing up. The news team actually came over to me for an interview, but I told them I don't speak French. To bad, it might have been funny having my face on the newscast, huh? Maybe I need to work harder and learn more French?

We stowed our luggage and boarded the bus and were on our way to Toulouse. And while we would take twice as long to get there; the Missus and I were just happy to be on our way!

We had enjoyed Carassonne. Two nights and one full day was the perfect amount of time for us.

Next stop, Toulouse! 

Midweek Meanderings - La Miche Closes, Yum Yum Africa Seems Closed, and the Egg Shortage

Here's a depressing Wednesday post, so you may just want to skip this one.

The Egg Shortage:

Call me clueless about the egg shortage. I pick up our eggs at the Indian Summer stand in the Little Italy Mercato on Saturdays, so really hadn't been aware of this. Last weekend, when the one man show for the stand, Andrew mentioned the egg shortage, I didn't have a clue! I guess we'd been away on our trip and then since I don't buy eggs from any of the markets, I hadn't noticed. But, based on stories like these, it appears either the Avian Flu or possibly something else is the cause. And of course, prices are quickly increasing as well.

After chatting with Andrew and doing my shopping at the Mercado, I went to check out the eggs at my next stop, Nijiya and this is what I saw.

Crazy. Well, today is Wednesday, so hopefully eggs are back in stock!

Has this been affecting you?

Yum Yum Africa Seems Closed?:

I'm saying seems closed, because back in June I received an email saying they had opened.

Of course, even though I noticed the coming soon sign in January of last year, I still took my time to visit.

Upon returning form France, I dropped by Garden Coffee and noticed the place didn't appear open and there was a "purchase and lease" sign displayed.

Which has me scratching my head. Did they ever open and have like a record quick closure....or perhaps they never opened at all and still just doing pop-ups?

2543 Congress St.
San Diego, CA 92110

La Miche Closes:

And the saddest news of all. Last Friday, "FOY" KathyQ sent me an email asking me if La Miche had closed. La Miche was usually a warmer weather stop for us, so I didn't know. I went and took a look at their website and found the sad news.

"We will be closing permanently effective January 1, 2023. We cannot thank you enough for your loyal patronage these past few years (especially during COVID). It was our greatest pleasure to introduce Lebanese cuisine to the community. Many of you started off as customers and became good friends. We will truly miss all of you and we take pride knowing that we were able to provide a small contribution to making your day wonderful. Please feel free to email us at [email protected] and we’d love to personally say thank you. Again, from the bottom of our hearts, thank you for a great 10 years and we wish all of you a prosperous 2023."

Very sad news as the place was a favorite of both Cathy and I over the years. I also know that the owner, the kind and generous Nabih has had some health problems in recent years. I can only hope that they are in good health and wish them the best.

We'll miss you!

And thanks to KathyQ for bringing this to my attention.

9350 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92123

Happy New Year!

This year the Missus had me forgo the usual Osechi thing for New Year. And we just went with Sukiyaki instead. Which is basically all about prep.

But of course, the Missus still wanted a "special" amuse-bouche.....

And so as we approach the end to another year - our 17th here, we'd like to wish everyone a safe and prosperous New Year!

Things have surely changed over the last two years and our hope is that you have made it through in good health, both physically and mentally.

As always, we are so thankful for your visits and all the wonderful comments!

Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas

We want to wish everyone a safe, joyous, and merry Christmas. I try to do one of these posts every year, but took a look and realized that I didn't do one last year. So, I need to get back on the right track!

The last couple of years has been tough for just about everyone I know. It has affected and changed my outlook on life and how I approach things that's for sure. 

But somehow, we've made it so far. 

And I have learned to be grateful and appreciate things. And we here at mmm-yoso appreciate all of you! Like I always say; we would not still be here if not for you!

Thank you as always for dropping by and have a safe, happy, and merry Christmas from us here at mmm-yoso!

Riding the San Diego Trolley and a Visit to UTC

mmm-yoso!!! is a blog written mostly by Kirk.  But since He and His Missus are on a month-long vacation, Cathy is helping out.  All of our posts are about food, either directly or indirectly.  Today is another indirect post. 

In September, I received the dreaded notice in the mail-Jury Duty.  This notice was not like the others received during Covid-19 times (call a phone number after 5 p.m. starting on a specific Thursday until the following Wednesday or upon being called in to the Court).  No, this notice gave me a date to show up-Downtown.  Since I hadn't been on the Trolley in years, knew it had expanded to University Town Center in November 2021 and was curious after seeing the 'new' extension being built over the years, then seeing some banners advertising a "Ride the Trolley Free Day" happening in a few days, The Mister and I decided to make a day of it to get me re-acclimated to this mode of transportation. We started at the top right corner of this map (Green Line), changed to the Orange Line and after getting downtown, changed again to the Blue Line going North, ending up at the top left of this map. (Going home, we changed from the Blue to the Green Line)
 It was sunny leaving Santee.
 Then it got a bit cloudy when we hit downtown.
 Many people left the Trolley at this stop, since it was closest to the Ballpark and the Padres had a playoff game.
 By the time we were headed on the 'new' line, alongside Interstate 5, there was full fog.
 We stayed on until the last stop, followed signage (and the other people who exited) to the Mall (through the parking lot) and eventually got to the Food Court, which overlooks the Ice Rink.
 After checking all of the Food Court offerings, we decide on a meal and went off to order.  The Mister stopped here, at Craft Pizza.
He ordered a Calzone with ham, sausage and mushrooms; an item going back to our dating days.  This was excellent.
 I went over to Kebab Grill and ordered a 'Lunch Special' advertised behind the cash register to the left in this photo.
 Salad and
 Lentil soup.  Each was really good and made for a filling and complete meal. Then we started walking around the mall. 
   The Mall has remained about the same, with new stores taking the place of old ones.  There were some interesting vending machines.
 Then we saw this.  Had to stop.
 A great selection of cookies, cupcakes, pastries and ice cream as well as hot and cold beverages.  
 We shared a cup of coffee and a Jesuite pastry (Napoleon/flaky pastry filled with an almond custard, topped with almonds) (Triangle shaped  like a Jesuit Priest hat).

Then we headed home, enjoying a different route.  
 It was still overcast changing from the Blue Line to Green Line in Old Town. Passing the new Snapdragon Stadium and back to sunshine by the time we got home.

Jury Duty was at the new Courthouse, which has scaffolding and canopies all around because windows have been mysteriously shattering.  It's very nice; has a good cafeteria. I wasn't called, so expect another notice in the mail next year.  

Soo rode the trolley, too!