Well, after failing to complete the server move after 36 hours, waved the white flag and said it was going to "regroup".
And they have been trying to restore service for the last 14 hours.
I'm able to get into my Typepad account now, but am still unable to post photos and photos are not displaying either.
So no Halloween photos this year, but here's one I posted to Flickr this morning.
Please have a fun and safe Halloween!
Hope to be back soon.
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**** Not much food in this one. Though if you like to see a San Diego connection and castles and such, this post might be for you. I'll try to keep things as brief as possible
Our two whole days in Edinburgh would be fairly full. I know that a visit to Edinburgh Castle is pretty much a must and since we'd be in Edinburgh over a weekend, I made sure to get tickets for the castle online with an entry time of right when they opened at 930.
One good thing about our AirBnb on Blackfriars street was its location right off the Royal Mile. So the walk was pretty easy.
We walked past places that would become all too familiar during our short stay in Edinburgh, like the St Giles Cathedral, which we'd visit the following day and the distinctive former Tolbooth Church, which is now a building known as the "Hub".
We were going to be early for our reservations, so we hovered off Castle Hill onto Johnson Terrace, before heading up the steps to the entrance to the castle.
I'm glad I booked tickets online as we got to go right on in and didn't have to wait in line. I also received a guide to Edinburgh Castle for free. As there were really only a couple of places in the castle complex that I wanted to see, we kind of just made sure to see those, like the crown jewels (where photos aren't allowed), we just went to those places and stopped whenever something caught our attention.
Because of where folks gathered, our first stop was below the Great Hall; the Prisons of War.
The vaults below the Great Hall and Queen Anne Building were first used as a prison during the Seven Years' War and by the end of the war held over 500 prisoners here. The vaults became a prison again during the American Revolution and the French Revolutionary Wars.
The Missus did think that they ate pretty well based on this display.
And of course, there are the stories; like the one I read about when a prisoner tried to escape by hiding in a dung cart. Unfortunately, the cart was emptied by being tipped over the walls and the prisoner supposedly died. Which, according to this post may or may not be true, the post also notes that the ghost of this prisoner still haunts the castle where you smell, well, you know what, while the ghost tries to push you over the walls of the castle.
We visited the Great Hall....
Took in the view from the Argyle Battery.
And when we got to Mons Meg, well, I totally forgot to take a photo because it had a view of one of the places I had wanted to see, the Edinburgh Castle Dog Cemetery.
Which was established in 1837 as the burial place for regimental mascots and soldier's pet pooches.
We took "aim" from Dury's Battery.
And explored the National War Museum.
Where along with the memorabilia and paintings of soldiers like Lieutenant James Irving above, we saw this.
That's Bob the dog who was the Regimental Pet of the Scots Fusilier Guards, 1st Battalion, from 1853 - 1860. According to this site:
"The regiment adopted Bob when it was based at Windsor in 1853. A year later he accompanied it to the Crimean War where he distinguished himself by chasing cannonballs at the Battle of Inkerman. In recognition of his courage, he was awarded the special silver medal attached to his collar."
We also visited the Royal Palace. Edinburgh Castle was the principle royal residence from the 11th to the 17th century, so many familiar names resided here.
Upon glancing upon the Scottish and British Royal Coat of Arms, I noticed something.
The Unicorn, the national animal of Scotland is wrapped in chains. I was wondering why and came across this.
We'd been exploring for a couple of hours at this point and things were getting crowded.
We headed out of the castle and down Johnstone Terrace.
But instead of heading East and back to the Royal Mile, we headed west. It was Saturday, which is when Edinburgh's Farmer's Market took place, so we walked on over to King's Stables Road to check out the Farmer's Market.
It wasn't a very large farmer's market, at least on this day. But the Missus did find some soap She loved. And folks were really friendly and nice.
Edinburgh Farmers' Market
NCP Castle Terrace Car Park
Castle Terrace, Edinburgh, Scotland
Saturday 9am - 2pm
I had another ulterior motive for heading in this direction. I was looking for a specific statue with a San Diego connection.
Near the end of King's Stables Road is a church - the Parish Church of St. Cuthbert.
And nope, this has nothing to do with the church's cemetery.
But right along one of the walls is a familiar statue. Do you recognize it?
Yes, it's Bum the Dog! I had done a post on the statue of Bum and his story back in June and mentioned an Edinburgh link.
This explains it. Edinburgh and San Diego are sister cities!
I considered this "mission accomplished" for the day. We decided to return to our accommodations.
Instead of returning by heading around Edinburgh Castle via Princes Street Gardens, we decided to make a U-turn and head back via Castle Terrace and Victoria Street, then head back via the Royal Mile.
We ran into a craft fair on the way back.
And did some shopping and browsing on the way back. We stopped in at a cheese shop I had on my list; I.J. Mellis and I ended up getting a sampler pack for our lunch back at the apartment.
Once back on the Royal Mile, I went looking for some rather obscure things. Like this one.
Apparently, this is the sight of the last public execution in Edinburgh. It is also said that Deacon Brodie, was hung somewhere near here. And to pile on with the irony, remember in this post I mentioned that Deacon Brodie designed the gallows that would be used to hang him. Kitty-corner from here sits Deacon Brodie's Pub!
Right before St. Giles Cathedral is this mosaic heart.
This is the Heart of Midlothian, which has quite a backstory. Everything I read said that folks spit on this a lot.....so perhaps it's not the best place to stand on and take your selfie????
Speaking of St. Giles Cathedral.
Well, we'd be visiting the following day, but there was something I wanted to see....in the parking lot.
John Knox founded the Presbyterian Church of Scotland and was a leader of the Scottish Reformation. John Knox was buried in St. Giles cemetery. Well, you may say that St. Giles has no cemetery. Because this is prime real estate, those in St. Giles cemetery were (supposedly) moved in the 17th century. But John Knox was (supposedly) not moved. So, if you'd like to find John Knox's grave it's in parking stall 23....
Yes, for real. On this day there were no cars parked in that stall, so I managed to get a photo. What's the saying? "Reality is stranger than fiction."
As we were walking along the Royal Mile I saw a couple of these structures.
These are Wellheads. This was the source of water for folks in the Old Town until the mid-1800's! Yikes!
We got back to the apartment. The owners were amazing as they had stocked the fully functional kitchen with coffee, cereal, bread, and such.
Because we had our "blowout" dinner in Edinburgh scheduled for this evening, having some bread and the cheese we picked up the I.J. Mellis made sense. I'd actually wanted to get stuff from the actual cheese monger, but they were super busy so I just went with a prepackaged sampler which was fine.
The blue cheese was especially good. I'll make sure to check them out again if I'm ever back in Edinbugh.
I.J. Mellis Cheesemonger
30A Victoria St.
Grassmarket, Edinburgh, Scotland
Next up, dinner at Martin Wishart. And yes, they'll be much more food in that post!
Thanks for stopping by!
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I recently went and did a takeout revisit from Eastern Dynasty. Instead of sitting around and waiting for my order while the restaurant filled up, I went for a stroll. I do drive along Convoy quite a bit and will often see places closing and opening, but when walking you really do notice things. Another thing I noticed....perhaps it's always been this way, was how fast folks drive on Convoy. I swear, there were cars zooming by at over 50 mph! Taking turns with squealing tires! Yikes!
Anyway, I noticed a couple of things during my walk......
Manna Rice Bakery is Closed:
Right in the same strip mall as Eastern Dynasty I saw that Manna Bakery was closed. Man, this is an oldie. I've never posted on this place. I think my last visit was in pre-blogging days, but I know they had a very loyal clientele.
4688 Convoy St.
San Diego, CA 92111
Red Moon Noodle House is Gone:
Walking to the strip mall with what I think is the worst parking lot on Convoy, I quickly noticed that all signage for Red Moon Noodle House was gone.
This closure kinda flew under my radar.
4646 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111
Uncle Tetsu Japanese Cheesecake Coming to Convoy:
I walked down Convoy and managed to safely cross the street at Dagget and noticed some activity in the "other" infamous parking lot off Convoy where Jasmine, Dumpling Inn, and El Viejon are located. The sign is up for Uncle Tetsu Japanese Cheesecake right next to Mochinuts.
So, it looks like a location of this chain from Hakata, Japan is making its way down to San Diego. I know there are a couple of locations is the LA/OC area already, including one in our old stomping grounds of Hacienda Heights.
So, now with YikoYiko, Sunmerry, and Uncle Tetsu it seems we're going the way of Hot Pot and KFC in the area. When it rains, it pours, right?
4609 Convoy St.
San Diego, CA 92111
And from the Cesspool of Useless Information Files: The time Helen Keller Flew a Plane
While walking I was listening to one of my favorite podcasts and the episode with the story of when Helen Keller flew a plane!
As stated in Britannica:
"In June 1946 an airplane traveled from Rome to Paris, crossing over the Mediterranean Sea. There was nothing unusual about this flight except one thing: for 20 minutes of the plane’s journey, one of its passengers became its pilot. The passenger was Dr. Helen Keller...."
And it's been verified by Snopes.
Amazing! And somewhat inspiring......
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**** This is a long one! So, if you're not interested in mysterious stones, castles and such, you can go ahead and scroll down to the food.
We had a great time on Islay, from the Scotch tastings, to the wonderful sights and people, it was a trip we'll not soon forget. But in was now time to head back to Edinburgh. We must have been more tired than we thought...or perhaps our hearty breakfast got the better of us? Both the Missus and I took a nice nap on the ferry back to the mainland.
Since, we were returning rather early in the day, Sean had a couple of stops planned for us. The first two stops was in the Kilmartin Glen area.
We parked in a small designated parking lot and crossed the road where Sean led us to this pile of rocks.
This is Dunchraigaig Cairn. In case you're not sure of what a cairn is, it's basically a pile of stones used as a marker, be it a burial site or to identify a path, or some other purpose. Dunchraigaig Cairn had its first documented excavation in 1864, though it said to have been "badly robbed". It was a very impressive cairn.
Many photos I've seen of this cairn show the entrance, or cist open. On our visit it was closed and I was rather glad, because in 2021 the first Prehistoric Animal Carvings ever found in Scotland were discovered here! Pretty awesome huh?
Our next stop made our day. You know how the Missus and I love the mysterious and unknown, right? Well, after parking we were walked over to a group of standing stones in sort of an 'X' formation.
Whoa, these are the Nether Largie Standing Stones.
The central stone is the largest and covered with lichen. It has cup like indentations.
The outlying stones are aligned in northeast to southwest, so perhaps to mark the solstice or something of that nature?
Just Googling "Nether Largie Standing Stones" will deliver you a wealth of theories; everything from a tool to predict the solstice and eclipse, to burial rituals, to this being a ball court! You gotta love it!
And if that wasn't enough; our next stop was very impressive......
That's Inveraray Castle, home of the Duke of Argyll, who is chief of the Clan Campbell....which means all Campbell's in the world!
It was quite stunning, walking down the path to the castle.
This really looks like something out of a movie, doesn't it? Touring the estate, the Duke of Argyll and family still occupy part of the structure, was very impressive. The foundation stone of the castle was laid in 1746 and the castle has gone under renovations after two fires. After the fire in 1877, the third floor and the four conical roofs were added. In 1975 another fire engulfed the castle.
What was probably the most impressive room of the castle is the Armory Hall, with its huge collection of weaponry. The ceiling of this hall is 21 meters - that's almost 69 feet high and is said to be the highest ceiling in all of Scotland!
Of course the thought of being in here when a earthquake hit and getting impaled by one of the pole-arms entered my head.....
The Salon was a very nice room.
It is said that Lerner and Loewe actually composed some of the songs from My Fair Lady at this piano while staying at the castle.
This is the Drawing Room.
This is the Victorian Room, located on the first (second floor in the US) floor.
Of course every castle has at least one ghost, right? Inveraray is noted to have several. The most well known one occupies the MacArthur Room. It is said that a young harpist was murdered by the Duke of Montrose's men in 1644. The the ghost of the harpist is attached to this bed, must be one heck of a bed! And according to the legend, when a family member is about to die you will hear the music from a harp coming from this room!
And there's the "Grey Lady" often said to be the ghost of a former kitchen maid who can only be seen by daughters of the Duke of Argyll!
Nothing like some good "Obake stories" for the month of October, right?
I also enjoyed touring the kitchen in the basement.
Which was last used in the 1950's.
The grounds of the castle are immaculate.
And there must be hundreds, if not thousands of stories.....
That millstone above is said to be cursed.
This was a enjoyable stop!
Sean got us to our AirBnb in Edinburgh in perfect time. The flat was fantastic, just meters from High Street, but still fairly quiet.
Soon enough, it was time for dinner. We originally had dinner reservations at Forage & Chatter, but the restaurant cancelled our reservations a week before the date. Luckily, I managed to get reservations at Monteiths, which was just around the corner from where we were staying a few days before we arrived in Edinburgh. Like Devil's Advocate, Monteith's was located in a Close. In case you are wondering what a "close" is.
And of course Monteiths is located on Monteiths Close.
The restaurant serves "modern" Scottish cuisine and cocktails. Serves was friendly and efficient. The restaurant was a bit on the dark side so please forgive the photos.
We started with the Beef Tartare.
There was what seemed to be shaved cured egg yolk on this though it didn't add much to the dish. The beef was tender and if a bit coarsely chopped. Nice clean flavors overall.
We also got the Smoked Duck.
The duck had a nice smokiness to it and was on the toothsome side, but still quite tasty. The goat cheese added a bit too much acidity for our taste.
The Potato Dumplings, Wild Mushroom, and Truffle.
Nice mushroom flavors, mild truffle, and the potato dumplings, which were pretty much gnocchi were really rubbery.
The best dish of the evening was the Hot Smoked Salmon.
The salmon was wonderfully smoked, good balance, just enough salt. I wasn't sure about the Hazelnut Bearnaise sauce, but the rich creaminess, along with the herbaceous tones really balanced out the smokiness of the salmon. The nutty buckwheat pancakes was a nice accompaniment as well.
Overall, a decent meal and the staff was very nice.
Monteiths
61 High St.
Edinburgh, Scotland
After dinner we headed out for a stroll. I thought we'd head up Calton Hill As we headed up, we saw Old Calton Cemetery, something I had on my "list" of things to see. The Missus humored me and we decided to check the place out.
That obelisk is the Political Martyrs Monument. There's even a American Civil War Memorial, with a statue of Abraham Lincoln. Sad to say that photo didn't come out.
Quite a few notable folks are buried here.
Man, look at the dates!
Man, if these tombstones could talk....the stories that could be told.
Instead of heading up Calton Hill, we decided to head on back down. The view was very nice.
We walked down the stairs....
Then crossed over Waverly Station. Took took a short walk down the Royal Mile. Before deciding to head back to the apartment and call it a night.
Of course we got to Deacon Brodie's Tavern before we decided to turn around. And here was yet another story. You gotta love this one!
"He had designed the gallows that were to eventually seal his fate." Can you say ironic?
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One of my favorite local blogs is Cool San Diego Sights, posts are put up on a regular basis and and some of the posts are quite interesting. And during the pandemic, I took to visiting places I'd long heard of like finding the grave site medallions for folks who are buried un San Diego Avenue. Along those lines, I had heard that Mission Hills Park, Pioneer Park had graves onsite and also buried in the park. And after reading this post, I decided to head on over to the park which I'd driven past many times.
It's a nice park, located right next to a school.
The pooches always seem to be having the best time!
The wall surrounding the park looks pretty old.
And as you head east just south of the playground area (?!!?!?) overlooking Washington Street you see it.
Good lord! Apparently, this was the site of Calvary Cemetery, which fell into disrepair. And in the 70's it was decided that there should converted into a park. So, you figure they'd go ahead and move the 800 graves, right? Well, they removed all the tombstones except for those that line the edge of the park. They did not however, remove the graves.....so all those folks are still buried under Pioneer Park. There a list of them in the park.
You can't make this stuff up?
While driving back from Pioneer Park, I passed a place that I hadn't thought about in years.
Ibis Market! Man, we used to get our hummus fix from here when we first moved to San Diego and lived in Mission Valley. Which would be over 21 years ago!
I decided to stop and check the place out.
It pretty much looked the same.
I walked to the deli counter and had to rub my eyes.....
Deli sandwiches are priced at $6.99.......which is crazy low for these days!
But I was interested in other items.....
The Missus and I miss Harvest Market down the street which closed during the pandemic. So, I sent the Missus a text and got a couple of items....
The hummus sampler. The Missus liked the jalapeno hummus, my favorite was the classic hummus, our least favorite was the artichoke hummus which had curry in it. It had a bitterness we didn't enjoy.
The Missus recalled how much She always liked the Dolmas, so I got that for Her.
I got my old favorite, the pickled beets which I still enjoy.
So much that I finished the whole container.
We enjoyed this warm weather meal with some pita that I bought as well.
A few nights later, the Missus sent me to Ibis to get some Falafel....I wasn't too keen on getting deli counter falafel, but what the heck. Of course I got my pickled beets and another item that I recalled liking.
The Armenian Potato salad, which is pretty good.
We still had pita bread and hummus leftover, so I just had to figure out how to heat up the falafel.
So, this is what worked the best. I got the toaster oven out and put it on toast at a high temp. I then microwaved the falafel for 1 minute to heat thru. I then crisped it up in the toaster oven. Not the best falafel I've had but the outside was crisp and interior was fairly moist and still had hints of a nice creaminess.
I like the couple that run the place; they are quite friendly and helpful.
It's nice to know that Ibis is still open two decades and one pandemic since we last visited.
Ibis Market
1112 Fort Stockton Drive
San Diego, CA 92103
Hours:
Daily 10am - 7pm
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**** You can find my post on my first visit to Pho Lucky since the reopening here.
My buddy "Calvin" told me that he heard Pho Lucky was reopening so I headed on over this past weekend. And guess what?
This brought a smile to my face. While perhaps the pho was not always consistent, Pho Lucky made my favorite version of Bo Kho. Though looking at the sign, I'm thinking this might be a whole new set of folks? Hopefully, we'll soon see.....
9326 Mira Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92126
And it's been 900 days......
I went over to Nijiya to do some shopping....something I do a couple of times a week it seems.
And for some reason; I flashed back to this:
And this.....
And then I did a quick check on my date/time calculator and saw, that it was going to be 900 days since "that day". I think of that day being March 16, 2020 when all the closures pretty much started. Like I mentioned in my TK Donuts post it really hit home on the 18th of March. I was already going to work super early; like before 5am and by now nothing was open for coffee, not even 7-11 or Starbucks. I drove down Clairemont Drive and onto the I-5 North and saw not a single vehicle....getting off at Nobel Drive, ditto.....nothing until I passed a police cruiser near Genesee. It was eerie, like I was transported to some sci-fi movie.
I'll never forget that morning.
And of course, since this is a food blog, I mourn the loss of so many places, some personal favorites, and others places with a long history in their neighborhoods. So many places......
Things continue to change; new challenges arise. Frankly there were times when I wondered if I should keep on posting So many have stopped or moved on to the latest platform/app. But the desire to eat and share our meals/shopping/travel hasn't abated. For this I thank all of you for the wonderful comments and emails!
Take care and have a wonderful weekend!
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I received an interesting email after doing my post on El Zarape 10 years later from "MattT". It was a very nice email, Matt is a rather newish reader, and he said he enjoyed our posts......except he totally disagreed with how I felt about the chicken from Saffron. He mentioned moving to San Diego himself, not knowing his way around, finding Saffron, and really "connecting" with the chicken there. I took a look at my last post post on Saffron, and holy-moly, it's over 12 years old! Well, a lot can happen over 12 years. In 2016, beloved Su-Mei Yu either sold or went into a partnership with Karina's Group. If I recall, the group tried opening a location of Saffron in La Jolla, but that didn't last long. I know that the airport location is still in business.
So, I decided that it was time to try that chicken again at Saffron. So, after hitting up Lazy Acres and making another short stop (more at the end of the post), I headed on down to India avenue and instantly found free parking on the street. Maybe things were looking up.
It was just after eleven and Saffron looked to be doing some good business.
I hadn't been here in so long......a few years back Karina took over the old chicken shop location and Saffron condensed its menu and moved all operations to the restaurant.
I just went with what I thought would work best in terms of flavor and ordered the Two Thighs Combo with the Sweet Pepper Sauce ($12).
Before I show you what my meal looked like; here's the chicken in 2006:
This is 2010.
And this is what I got on this visit.
Yikes. Well, the chicken was nice and moist, but the skin lacked color, was really rubbery, and worst of all the whole thing lacked flavor. I mean it really lacked flavor. Like I've said before, I really can't call this Kai Yaang. Strange thing is, I've made recipes from Su-Mei Yu's cookbook and things have turned out well. In fact, there's a "Gai Yang" recipe in Cracking the Coconut and it utilizes her "Big Four Paste" (coriander seeds/peppercorns/garlic/cilantro), more garlic, fresh ginger, cumin, caraway, and tumeric. None of which was present here.
The rice was nicely cooked, the Cambodian Salad, like on my previous visits was the best item of the meal.
Overall, it's just not my thing. I do understand that Su-Mei Yu is much beloved here in San Diego. In fact, while waiting for my food, I was treated to a video of Su-Mei Yu cooking with a very familiar figure.
So Matt, I'm sorry that I didn't quite enjoy the chicken from Saffron. And that's ok. I'm sure there are folks who read posts of my sentimental favorites and wonder, "what the heck is wrong with Kirk's tastebuds here". We all have our favorites and sometimes it may not that gastronomically great meal.......but it may take us back to a certain time or place or event and that is great as well.
Thanks for the revisit reminder Matt!
Saffron Thai
3737 India St.
San Diego, CA 92103
Hours:
Daily 11am - 9pm
Before heading to Saffron, I decided to finally check out a sight in the area that had been on my list for ages; Harper's Topiary Garden. So, I made the drive to Union and Vine Street and finally laid eyes upon this wonderful, whimsical creation.
I loved all the different characters....you can't help but smile when looking at this wonderful labor of love.
If you're wondering what the story is check out the story here. You'll love it!
And also check out CC's post on Harper's Topiary Garden! Hope to see a new post one of these days CC!
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So, I go on vacation and all hell breaks loose....sheesh.... So, this past weekend, I decided to take a short drive to see what happened while I was away.
LouiZiana Food Closes:
Soo mentioned this in his post just before we left on our trip.
They closed on August 21st and the signage is already down.
Really nice folks. I'm sorry to see them go.
7128 Miramar Rd.
San Diego, CA 92121
Strange thing is, I actually visited during the end of June and all seemed well.
SuperNatural Sandwiches Closes:
So, this past Monday, I woke to a text message from Cathy, mentioning that SuperNatural Sandwiches had closed. I then checked my email to find 7 emails messages mentioning the same thing. All of them linked to SuperNaturals Instagram. I gotta say; I've been a pretty regular customer thru Covid and they've always seemed busy, so this was indeed a shock.
And I've got quite a history with them; from the days at the San Diego Public Market,to when they opened their first brick and mortar location in the same mall, to the current location.
I wish them well and perhaps one day the Siren will rise again!
7094 Miramar Rd.
San Diego, CA 92121
It Now Seems that JJ Chicken is NOT Coming to UTC:
I need to thank "Patty" for the heads-up on this one. She mentioned that there's no indication at JJ Chicken is opening in the comments section of my post from last year. Turnover in Renaissance Towne Center seems pretty high. I drove on into the parking lot and yes, looks like the sign for JJ's is goners.....
I did a quick search online and found nada......bummer. So, if anyone has any info....
Thanks for the heads-up Patty!
8895 Towne Centre Dr.
San Diego, CA 92122
But Perhaps Ramen Hanyuzur is Coming to UTC?:
I noticed this on the other side of the mall while checking things out.
It's the unit between Star Anise and Cote D'Azur. I believe this used to be an Italian restaurant?
Of course, after what happened with JJ's perhaps I shouldn't be counting my Ajitsuke Tamago before they're ready?
8935 Towne Centre Drive #113
San Diego, CA 92122
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I had to make a quick run to Siesel's last week. At that time finding parking was just horrible and I managed to find a spot several blocks away from the shop. While walking back to the car I noticed a huge set-up in back of the Poseidon Project.
I went in and chatted with the nice folks at Poseidon and they told me that they were starting BBQ on weekends starting on the 5th of August, running from Fridays to Sundays.
Sure enough, I drove past the place yesterday and saw the signs up.
The BBQ is being done by the folks from Smokin' Joe's BBQ. If I recall, these were the folks doing BBQ in at Iowa Meat Farms a while back.
Since I'm all for more variety in our area, I decided to drop on in and get some takeout.
The drill is; you order from the friendly folks here, get a receipt, pay inside Poseidon, and return back with a ticket and pick up your order.
Before ordering, I asked what style of BBQ this was...especially since the menu had Pork Ribs, Beef Ribs, Tri-Tip, Sausage, and Brisket on it. Having worked and travelled thru some of the south during an earlier life, I was quickly educated on the BBQ of different regions. The guys working looked surprised when I asked, but quickly replied, "Mississippi style".
So, at least for me, unless it's Mississippi Smoked Pot Roast (it's really good, try it if you have a chance) it's basically pork products. I was tempted with pulled pork, but really was craving some ribs and rib tips, which is what I got. Speaking of what I got; the meal also gets you three sides.....aaah, the good 'ole "meat n' three" in spirit.
And also some (rather mediocre) corn bread.
The rib and tips both had a very nice, deep, distinctive smoke ring and a decent, almost "crisp" if uneven bark.
The amount of run used on the baby backs made it really salty, though strangely, the amount on the rib tips were perfect.
The rib tips were very tender, moist, with the porky flavor shining thru and was my favorite. If the baby backs weren't as salty; they would have been quite good as the meat came off the bone perfectly.
The sauce was on the sweeter side; though the spicy version had a good amount of spice. I really didn't use any of it for my ribs/tips.
As for the sides. Well, I had wanted Black Eyed Peas but they were out.
My favorite item was usually one of my least favorite' the Breen Beans. Can you tell why?
Yep, that's fatty pork parts in the beans. It added some good flavor. Also, as you can tell, unlike many versions the beans aren't overcooked and are tender, but still somewhat firm. I'm not a fan of mushy green beans....mushy peas maybe, but not green beans.
I thought the texture of the collard greens, usually one of my favorite items was good.
But this was much too salty and acidic. I also like a nice touch of smokiness in my collards which this lacked; perhaps it was shrouded by all that salt?
The Mac and Cheese was like one giant lump and not my favorite.
Still, not a bad start. And I'll try them out a again in a couple of weeks. It's a nice addition to the neighborhood and I hope they stick around. I enjoyed the BBQ from Joe's much more than other places that had opened (then closed in the area). It might be a good option if you're grabbing a cold one from Harland or Poseidon; or just looking for a picnic at Mission Bay across the freeway.
And sometimes, because I'm getting and such....these type of posts bring back blogging memories.
And also is a reminder that I need to start using the 'ol smoker again.
Anyway, if you check out Smokin' Joe's, let me know what you think.
Smokin' Joe's Soul Food Weekends at The Poseidon Project
4126 Napier St
San Diego, CA 92110
Every other weekend (Fri - Sun) starting on August 5th
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Recently I was thinking about areas that I hadn't been to in a while and University Heights came to mind. I couldn't recall the last time I was in the area.....at least not since Covid. So, on a recent weekend morning I decided to drop by and take a nice stroll.
I parked across from Trolley Barn Park and crossed the street.
In case you're wondering why this is called Trolley Barn Park.
This was the actual site of the Trolley Car Barn from 1913 - 1949.
While crossing the street, I realized that over the years I've driven by the park many times; but had never walked through the park. Well, this morning was as good a time as ever to do so!
I actually entered the park from Panorama Drive.
It was mid-morning and all the "activities" were just getting started......yoga...
Soccer for little "kiddies"....
The sidewalk has markings of the streets along the old trolley route.
There's an interesting marker that details the route of the trolley.
And there's also a very nice view of Mission Valley at the south end of the park.
I'm sure you've noticed all the signage and artwork with ostriches in the University Heights area.
Do you know why?
Well, the area at the southern end of Park Boulevard was W. H. “Harvey” Bentley's Ostrich Farm; yes, for real! According to the University Heights Historical Society:
"In 1904, John D. Spreckels invited Harvey Bentley to relocate his ostrich farm from Coronado."
There's this gate which was the entrance to the ostrich farm.
And there's this sign, which I didn't recall seeing before. According to this post, the sign just went up in May of this year.
I also noticed the mention of "William Hilton's Silk Mill". It turns out that the structure that now houses Meraki Café was once the location of a silk mill!
Around this time, I decided to grab a bite. Over the last couple of months, I'd been wondering how some of the "old time" (to me) places that I hadn't visited in years were doing. So I decided to head on over to El Zarape. Now I knew that I hadn't been to El Zarape in a while; but man, it had been a decade since I last visited. And before that visit was a seven year gap! I knew that El Zarape currently opens at 10 in the morning on weekends, so I was fairly certain that I wouldn't have a problem placing a takeout order.
The layout and design looks basically the same as it did a decade ago......
As did the menu....with the hipster additions of "Beyond Meat"...and the other stuffs that I would never try like the "Aloha/Wasabi/Soy" burritos.
For old time's sake I ordered two of my "standards" from the old days; a Fish Taco and a Shrimp Taco. The gentleman working was very friendly and it was a short wait....I sat outside for my order. I then made the short walk back to Trolley Park to eat.
Opening things up....well, the tacos didn't look too promising.
Though I will say that the avocado sauce and salsa rojo taste exactly the same. Though I'm guessing that due to Covid precautions the old salsa bar is gone and now the sauces are served in containers.
The shrimp taco ($4.25) was less than pleasing.
The shrimp was rubbery, the tortilla didn't hold up and fell to pieces after my second bite, even with a protective layer of cheese. This was just so very bland, I didn't expect the sweet-richness of wild caught shrimp, but this just had so little "shrimpiness"....take a look at what the shrimp taco looked like before.
It doesn't even look like it's from the same restaurant....though I guess a lot can change in a decade.
It used to be that the Fish Taco at EZ was sort of a loss leader....it was still 99 cents in 2012! Now it's $2.50 which I think is a good price in this day and age. But the main question that came to mind when I looked at my taco was where's the fish????
It was just covered with a ton of cabbage, which was much more thickly sliced than before. As you can tell by the color, the fish had been fried too long; the batter had really darkened and the fish was dry.....though the crema and the avocado sauce helped things out a bit; the sliver of fish made this more a cabbage taco with a garnish of fish.
I really didn't expect too much from EZ, but it seems that time hasn't been too kind to the tacos at El Zarape. It's kind of sad really, since there was a time when I thought the fish tacos here were delici-yoso, of course that was a very long time ago.
Still, I was quite sad.....
El Zarape
4642 Park Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92116
Current Hours:
Mon - Fri 11am - 10pm
Fri - Sun 10am - 11pm
On the bright side of things, I did learn a bit about the history of University Heights.
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