mmm-yoso!!!

It's San Wo, not Sam Woo, Tasty House Replacing Tealightful Cafe, Itacho Sushi Replacing Mikami, and other "stuffs".....

Just a couple of things for this Monday.

Itacho Sushi Replacing Mikami:

I saw a sign up on the former location of Mikami Sushi, so I drove on in to take a look.

Looks like another AYCE sushi place is taking the spot.

7319 Clairemont Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92111

Tasty House Replacing Tealightful Cafe:

On the same drive I saw another new sign while driving West on Clairemont Mesa. This one in the former location of Tealightful Cafe....I didn't even know they closed. Seems like the owner has been having health issues....

The sign had me wondering if this place would have anything to do with Tasty Noodle House (more on that below), which folks told me had closed. But the Missus and "FOY" Xiāngjiāo both said that based on the Chinese name it's unlikely.

4726 Clairemont Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92117

And what about Tasty Noodle House?:

I had heard and been asked if Tasty Noodle House has closed. Even though I https://mmm-yoso.typepad.com/mmmyoso/had a very mediocre visit back in February, the place was doing some good takeout-delivery business when I visited.

On my next foray to Convoy, I dropped by and noticed the doors to the restaurant were open.

But the hand written sign on the door said "Sorry! We Closed".

I then noticed, at the top left of the window, out of direct line of sight, this sign.....

Yikes!!!!!

Tasty Noodle House
4646 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

And Finally, It's San Wo, not Sam Woo:

I recently went to the Clairemont Mesa location of 99 Ranch Market....this was actually on the same drive where I noticed Tasty House and the Itacho signs. Since the location on Balboa opened, which is closer to home, I seldom visit the legacy location any more. I quickly noticed a couple of changes....one of which will be in a future post. For some reason, I looked up and I noticed that the sign for Sam Woo BBQ had been "modified".

And now said "San Wo BBQ". What they heck? I had last visited in September of last year and I believe the sign still said "Sam Woo". What the heck is going on? I know that Sam Woo's are kind of a loose conglomeration of places based on a single family. I also know that the owner of the LA location was sentenced to prison for tax evasion, but this was news to me! Again our good friend Xiāngjiāo did tell me it's the same ownership....so I dunno. The Missus said the name in Chinese is the same, they took off the last character, but it's still the same.

Sam Woo San Wo BBQ Restaurant
7330 Clairemont Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92111

Man, so much going on in Kearny-Clairemont Mesa!

Where in the world were we.....

Hi, dis is JJ! My daddy said he's too pooped to do a post...maybe he needs one of my bags? I dunno.... It was only 1,300 miles...he getting old I guess!

Anyway, he is sorry about not posting for the last couple of days, but we were on a road trip, my fourth so far. Yeah, I know Daddy is behind on those as well. So I am helping out.....he don't know, you don't need thumbs to use the keyboard!

Anyway, we had a lot of fun.

Our first stop was Scottsdale.....wow kind of fancy place. I was hoping some of the folks here would adopt me....I was ready to leave with them!

People here seemed to have a good time.

And den, we went to a place on Woof 66???

Where Mommy and Daddy have been many times. Dey said one of their favorite places is here.....

All I know is that Momma made me stand on dis corner three times to take pictures?

So weird, yeah?

An den we went to some big place where dey wen look at pretty hills and stuffs.....

Our last stop was where dere was a big puddle.....I don't like puddles! I'm afraid of dem, but we went anyway.

And I heard the bridge was falling down and told Daddy, but he don't listen to me. Good ting we left before dat happen!

Mommy and Daddy told me that they had some good food.

But I don't know since I can't have hoo-man food. So you will have to wait for that.

Whoa, now I'm tired.....dis blogging ting isn't as easy as I thought. I need a nap....

I tink daddy will be back tomorrow. I hope my aunties Alle and LL will like it! Bye-bye!

Sunday Stuffs - Renaming Grim Avenue to "Lucky Lane", Wagyu Street opens in Ajisen Ramen, and Midnight Skewer coming to Convoy

So, fellow longtime blogger and our good friend "CC" was good enough to share this Instagram Post by Matt, the owner of Tribute Pizza.

It's about a petition to honor the one and only Lucky and change the name of this portion of Grim Avenue to Lucky Lane! You can sign the petition on a link at Tribute's website. I know the passing of Lucky really touched many of us. He was one of a kind and I for one did sign the petition. I usually don't get involved with these sorts of things; but Lucky was special. He touched many, was a fixture, and really, to me at least, was the "heart and soul" of the neighborhood.

Anyway, I'll keep it at that. Thanks for letting me know CC! And we'll be heading to Tribute soon....it's been a while. It's the least we can do as Tribute really lived up to it's name with this beautiful tribute.

Wagyu Street opens in Ajisen Ramen:

I saw this while waiting at the traffic light on the corner of Ruffner and Clairemont Mesa.

Looks like Wagyu street, which has a location in; if I recall, Long Beach,  is sharing the space with Ajisen; featuring bentos, bowls, salads and such.

Not a fan of Ajisen....and I'm not sure Wagyu Street is enough to draw me back. But, in case you're interested.

7398 Clairemont Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92111

Midnight Skewer coming to Convoy:

I saw this when I dropped by China Max. It's on the second floor above China Max in Plaza del Sol.

I quizzed the Missus on the name in Chinese and She said it refers to street food stands. Looks like another after hours Chinese drinking and street food place. Wasn't this some kind of dental office before?

4698 Convoy Street #203
San Diego, CA 92111

Hope everyone has a great week!

Xin Nian Kuai Le! Happy Lunar New Year!

Well, of course the Missus had to make sure that JJ had "appropriate" attire for the Lunar New Year, right?

Hmmm....I dunno, what do you think?

Anyway, as we look forward.....

JJ and all of us here at mmm-yoso would like to wish you all a prosperous, happy, and fun New Year!

Gong Xi Fa Cai - Xin Nian Kuai Le!

COMC - Mad For Cheesecake Revisited, NYE Dinner at Et Voila, Dinner with Friends, and an Update on Zion Market's Move!

Just doing some cleaning of my photo folders here...so it's time to C(lear) O(ut the) M(emory) C(ard). Just short posts...

NYE Dinner at Et Voila:

The Missus wanted to something special for JJ's first New Year, so we decided on going to Et Voila for the NYE dinner. We had NYE dinner there before Covid and they have an small outdoor area with heaters. The one thing being, you can't make reservations online for that. So, we took JJ and dropped by to make reservations in person. Not wanting to be out on the road too late during the eve, we made reservations for the first seating at 430pm.

We ordered every item available, one of each when there were a choice of two courses.

We didn't think much of the amuse and the first course and were quite disappointed that they didn't serve the typical baguette either!

That "faux" foie gras was very disappointing as it was mushy, metallic-too livery in flavor.

But things turned around with the second course; the Bay Scallop Gratinee.

And the mains were quite good.

Especially the Veal Loin; you can see JJ peeking at it in the background.

We took the desserts home as we were quite full.

And I think JJ enjoyed his first New Year Eve.

Et Voilà!
3015 Adams Ave
San Diego, CA 92116

Dinner with Friends:

I've been blessed with having some great friends like Candice, "Yummy Yummy", and "Xiāng Jiāo". I've even posted on some great meals I've had with friends over the years! They are such wonderful folks, thoughtful, kind, generous....

JeffP who I've mentioned in several posts and who even shared in doing the One Chip Challenge with me one year is such a person, as is his wonderful bride "LL". I've been honored to get to know them! They are both so kind, fun, and generous. And it was in true display when they invited me out to dinner! At their "special place". As it's a small, intimate, setting that's already pretty darn full, I'm not going to give it away. But since I do use our little blog as a food-travel-personal diary of sorts, I thought I'd just post the photos here.

That LL and JeffP, who both have busy schedules, their careers going full blast, thought of having dinner really touched me!

Friends enrich our lives, broaden our horizons, bring joy, and laughter to us, and create wonderful memories.

Thanks so much LL and JeffP for a wonderful, memorable, and fun evening!

And Mad For Cheesecake is still the Missus's favorite in San Diego:

So, we've been doing the Japanese cheesecake rounds again, revisiting several places again.

And in the end, the Missus's favorite was still.....

Yep, it's still Mad for Cheesecake.

We even got one for our neighbor, who is also from Honolulu, and she agrees with the Missus, that this is the best she has had in San Diego.

Mad For Cheesecake
1420 E Plaza Blvd Suite B-5
National City, CA 91950

One last note - news on Zion Market's Move from Candice:

*** Yes, Zion Market has finally opened, if you'd like to see my post on the new location you can find it here.

I'm not sure folks know this yet, but our good friend Candice is now on Instagram. And just announced that Zion Market is opening in their new location on Thursday, January 23! Well, finally!

8330 Clairemont Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92111

Hope everyone has a fabulous week!

Saturday Stuffs - Phuong Nga Opening a Second Location, Inka'fe Replacing Humble Bean, and by Request, More JJ Photos

Just couple of things for this Saturday.

Phuong Nga Opening a Second Location: 

In the comments section of my latest post on Mien Trung, "FOY" Elle, who always has the "scoops" on City Heights and Mira Mesa mentioned Phuong Nga was possibly opening another location near World Foods where Tan Ky Mi Gia used to be. It just so happens that a couple of days later, the Missus was craving the Bun Rieu from Phuong Nga (you can read that post here).

So, I decided to head into the parking lot at 5237 El Cajon Boulevard and wouldn't you know it.....the sign reads:

So, when I had a moment when picking up my noodle soup from Phuong Nga I asked the young lady working. She confirmed that this will be a second location because "business has been very good". So they are not moving. There was a line forming so I didn't ask any other questions. Good to see that their business is doing well!

5237 El Cajon Blvd
San Diego, CA 92115

Thanks as always for the info Elle!

Inka'fe Replacing Humble Bean:

I took JJ for his first grooming appointment. We decided to try a place fairly close by. Since this was his maiden voyage, I decided to get a bite to eat and also take a walk. I was surprise to see that the Humble Bean, which I've bean been to is being replaced by something named Inka'fe?

With a name like that I'm assuming it'll be Peruvian Coffee? It's interesting because the drive thru Gold Soul Coffee is nearby and right down the street is the now crazy busy Superbloom.

2615 Denver St.
San Diego, CA 92110

I did note that Google said the place was open, but it definitely wasn't on this day.

As for JJ, what do you think about his haircut?

Which leads me to....

By Request:

In the comments section of my post on Bica, "FOY" Junichi requested some photos of JJ, so here you go....

Been taking JJ exploring a bit, you might recognize these places.

JJ would like to thank his "Uncle Junichi" for the attention!

Happy New Year!

Ah yes, another year passes and we turn the page to 2025!

Just like I've been doing every NYE morning since way back in 2005, I went to check out what was going on at the various Japanese markets. These days, it's mainly Nijiya that does Osechi.

It seems that Mitsuwa does preorders and I'm not sure about Tokyo Central, which didn't have anything out when we visited.

I got some stuffs from Nijiya as well as Kinpira Renkon, Konasu Karashi, and Karashi Mentai Takana from Niitakaya, the Tsukemono stand in in Mitsuwa. It made for a nice lunch.

Instead of having this as basic okazu, the Missus wanted a salad. So, I put one together.

This was a nice lighter lunch. We would be having NYE dinner at Et Voila, taking JJ along. I'll get that post done in a bit.

While walking on Adams, we noticed a wedding taking place at the Adams Avenue Theatre. On New Years Eve???

Well, the groom ain't got no excuse for not remembering their anniversary date, right?

Anyway, as we upend the calendar for 2024, and turn the page to 2025, we'd like to wish everyone a wonderful, safe, and delici-yoso New Year!

Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas

Yes, it's yet another Christmas in the books.

This one has been kinda busy! Well, I've had some technical issues as I noted in my previous post. But there's one other....well, wonderful reason!

But first, here are some photos from our usual evening to check out the Christmas lights. As I noted back in my 2020 Christmas post, during the heights of Covid, this was something we'd do every year with Sammy and Frankie.

And even though Frankie left us in 2021 and Sammy in 2017, it's something we still try to do every year.

Though this year was special. You see, we did it with this little guy.....

Meet JJ. After Frankie's passing, folks were asking us about adopting another little one. But we just couldn't do it. We just couldn't conceive of replacing family, you know? We just could not think of doing that.

Then, the Missus's coworker sent Her a photo of the little guy above, barely two months old. And he just seemed like "the one"..... So, we cancelled all our upcoming trips and on Halloween night, he joined the mmm-yoso family.

So, say hello to JJ.

He is quite the character, a little ball of energy, full on puppy mode, very smart, loves to eat (like daddy!), so FOMO, and seems to have an opinion on everything.

He also looks like a grumpy old man....so the Missus says we now have "two of them" in the household.

He is growing fast and has doubled his weight and grown so much since he arrived.

We last had a puppy in the house back in 2003........man, I don't know how we did it back then!

JJ is quite the character and really likes people and car rides, so you may be seeing an influx of posts on dog friendly places. Things have changed a lot since we had Sammy and Frankie.

And so, this year it's JJ, the Missus, and I who would like to wish you and yours the most wonderful and safe Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

Odds and Ends

Just a bunch of "little stuffs" for a pretty chilly Friday! Yes, I know, it's San Diego......

It's the Sukiyaki time of the year:

Yes, the Missus has been requesting Sukiyaki again. These days I use two grades of meat.

I use a basic sukiyaki grade - from Nijiya for cooking with the veggies and stuffs. It adds the requisite beefiness to the dish. And then I get about a quarter pound of prime or wagyu (when it's "Meat Day") for dipping.

I have a feeling I'll be making this again this weekend.....

Salad in December?:

Yep, the Missus said She wanted a salad.... But, of course it wasn't just a simple salad. After all the requested ingredients it looked like this.

Everything from roasted cauliflower and sweet potatoes, boiled eggs, etc.....

And then I had to come up with an "appropriate" dressing. I settled on making a Bacon Vinaigrette.

So, the Missus has been wanting a version of this salad like four days in a row.......

Meat Jun?:

In my post on making Okra Kurogomae, I mentioned serving it with some Meat Jun I made. "FOY" Kimo emailed me asking me for a recipe. Well, I'm not it's ready for prime time. The biggest issue is finding the precise cut of meat I want. Both Zion and H Mart cuts their rib eye quite thin. Though I've made due with marinating the meat a specific way. As for the recipe; it's a cross between an old recipe from Wanda A. Adams wonderful cookbook, the Island Plate and of course, the Kathy has a version on Onolicioushawaii as well. With a couple of adjustments and personal touches as well.

It ain't the prettiest thing.

But our neighbor, who is originally from Manoa liked it as did the Missus, who specifically requested that I make this after having it twice during our last trip "back home". Strange thing, this stuff keeps ok and actually heats up well in the Air Fryer? Anyway, maybe I need to make this a couple more times, right?

Yep, so that's what's been cookin' here.

Hope everyone is keeping warm during our cold spell!

Happy Thanksgiving - We're enjoying the Smoked Chicken from Juewei!

Just wanted to wish everyone a wonderful and delici-yoso Thanksgiving!

We are so thankful for your visits and wonderful comments! 

And of course since this is a food blog....

I'm sure you know by now; our 19th Thanksgiving doing the blog, that we aren't big turkey kinda folks. So, what are we having this year?

Well, it's kinda interesting, we were getting our weekly Yomie's fix and decided to pop by Juwei and get some duck intestines, yuba, and quail eggs, when we saw this on the counter.

The Missus asked the woman working what it was. Turns out it's "smoked chicken". She informed us that this is something new and this batch had just come out of the kitchen. It smelled really good. So we bought 2 at $18.99 each.

Turns out that we have a new favorite item. The chicken was moist, good savory-smoky-saltiness. I do like to crisp up the skin a bit in the Air Fryer. It had been nicely marinated and seasoned.

While we still enjoy the chewy duck intestines; we have a new favorite from Juewei.

I hope they keep making that chicken!

Juewei Food
4690 Convoy St. #103
San Diego, CA 92111
Current Hours:
Sun - Thurs 11am - 11pm
Fri - Sat        11am - Midnight

Wishing you all a warm and wonderful holiday, filled with delicious food!

Happy Thanksgiving!