FrogPrincesse

That was lightning fast! Very impressive.

I checked online and was surprised to see that the St George pear brandy was selling for less than $40 for a full-size bottle. A really good price for this! It's an eau-de-vie from what I understand.

Santouka Ramen is a Japanese chain and its San Diego branch is located inside the Mitsuwa supermarket on Kearny Mesa Road. The décor and ambiance are non existent, but the ramen is so delicious that you forget your surroundings in an instant, too busy slurping the rich broth and devouring the ultra-tender meat. I have tried other ramen places in San Diego, but this is still the reference for me. I usually get the Tokusen toroniku ramen which is their specialty and has the most generous amount of pork of all options.

@rarerollingobject Which flavors were your favorite?

@JoNorvelleWalker The Martinique reviver depicted above was made with Clement white rhum and Clement coconut liqueur (plus lime juice). Of course I just went to Hi-Time last week and spotted the coconut liqueur, but didn't buy it. https://www.hitimewine.net/clement-mahina-de-coco-liqueur-750ml-106511

Wa Dining Okan for lunch. This is a tiny Japanese place (20 seats, half of them around a central "bar"), cash only (like Sab-E-Lee actually), on Convoy, next to a very nice smaller Japanese market, Nijiya. The style seems to be Japanese home/comfort food, at least for lunch. It's unpretentious and everything is very well prepared, with a lot of attention to detail. The selection of pickled vegetables seems to vary with each visit for example. Here is the lunch with braised pork belly (ultra tender) and added mini bowl of tempura for my daughter. I think this was about $15. I would prefer a softer boiled egg, but other than that, this is a fabulous lunch. I like that everything is served in wood or ceramic dishes (no cheap plastic here). And the miso soup, which is usually a very unmemorable item, is actually a highlight for me here.

Cobra's Fang (Don the Beachcomber) with Lost Spirits 151 Cuban rum, B.G. Reynolds passion fruit syrup, homemade falernum, lime, orange, Pernod, Angostura bitters. I love this drink! Also it's one of the rare tiki drinks that only calls for one rum without sacrificing interest.

It looks like the Fairweather guys are keeping their secrets for now. I will have to try to extract them in person... Here is a Manhattan from about a week ago with Wild Turkey rye 101, Cocchi vermouth di Torino, Miracle Mile forbidden bitters. It had a lot of nice warming spices.

Another one from the "Friends" section, the Meat Hook (Shaun Layton) with Rittenhouse 100 rye whiskey, Cocchi vermouth di Torino, Luxardo maraschino liqueur, Laphroaig 10 year Scotch whisky. It's a great Red Hook variation!

I finally decided to buy a bottle of Bigallet China-China, something often recommended as a Picon substitute (it was available for a very short time at my local BevMo, gone by the time I decided to buy it, so I had to get it at Hi-Time). $40!!! Not cheap. But I do not regret my purchase. The "hype" was justified! It is amazing. The first thing I made was the Keen-A On You (Donny Clutterbuck), a drink conceived with Bigallet that I had previously made with Picon. With Picon it was already a delicious drink, but with Bigallet it gained a depth that was amazing. This tasted like an ideal version of a Sidecar to me, actually. Wonderful. I wonder if there are any other cocktails created for it.

Here is what I ended up buying. The first three bottles on the left are restocks. I was going to get Elijah Craig for the bourbon instead of the High West Prairie, but I remembered about the whole Elijah Craig age statement debacle, and the Prairie was only $30.

I ordered a 1 and there was barely any heat. On the other hand, my husband's Panang curry, which was also a 1, had little pockets of serious heat!

Haha. This wasn't my creation, but I can try to find out...

Me too! They are my favorites! Early May seemed early for perfectly ripe peaches, but I am not complaining...

Here is a slice of rustic peach tart I made a couple of weeks ago with local peaches that were absolutely delicious. I made a saffron-peach jam with the rest. Edited to add: a picture of the entire tart

San Diego has a small number of artisanal bread bakeries. Bread & Cie has been my favorite for years, and their breads are now available in many supermarkets, which is very convenient. But it's nice to have some variety. So I was excited to spot a new bakery this weekend in Linda Vista. It's called Pacific Time and it is also a sandwich place with a small market with things like small-batch preserves, local beers, a cheese counter, charcuterie platters, and wine. It's located within a recently renovated strip mall that also hosts Brew Mart & Ballast Point. The bread I bought was a French-type rustic boule, dark, a bit reminiscent of Poilane but less dense. The crust could have been a little more crispy (it felt like the bread had sat around a little bit and softened in the paper bag), but the flavor was wonderful. Here is the bread:

This thread used to be lively and fun... Time to revive it! From this weekend, at Sab-E-Lee's new larger and much more comfortable location on Linda Vista road, a minute away from the previous one (which still exists with a more limited menu), a delicious duck larb. The only complaint was the cabbage on the side. I don't know if that is typical or not, but I prefer some nice lettuce... Next time I want to try their version of beef & tendon soup!

Martinique Reviver at Fairweather this weekend with rhum agricole, lime juice, coconut liqueur. Like a longer version of a Ti Punch. Delightful.

The prices of Japanese whisky have skyrocketed now that demand is high and stock are getting depleted. I am apparently sitting on a little fortune at home, I had not idea... Wow. I could no longer afford anything at these prices! These pictures was taken at Hi-Time Wine Cellars.

Aprium vanilla jam a la Christine Ferber (except I quartered the apriums instead of halving them, and didn't bother removing their skin...).

This one seemed a bit odd on paper but I was in the mood for a Fernet-forward cocktail, and I decided to trust the drink's creator... Magic Julep (Giuseppe González) with mint and equal parts Fernet-Branca, Angostura bitters, simple syrup. It's a little sweet, but complex too thanks to the copious dose of Angostura bitters. I liked it very much actually. I wonder what it would taste like with a different brand of Fernet...

No, not chewy. There is a very slight (but pleasant) resistance and yes, a crunch with the first bite, and then it's mostly rich gelatin. I agree with you that a proper pho needs tendon AND tripe (plus brisket and flank, etc).

Kevin's podcast is great! I also like Erick Castro's Bartender At Large series. http://www.bartenderatlarge.com

I also often get beef tendon in Vietnamese pho soup, where it's typically both crunchy and gelatinous. Delicious and full of umami!

Not-Quite-Georgia Julep (Phil Ward) with Daron XO Calvados, Landy cognac, Briottet wild peach liqueur. Not the most harmonious calvados/cognac combo, but I can see the potential.