The Happy Wanderer - Paradise Vacations

DEW DROP INN - Mobile, AL This is a casual diner known for their hot dogs and cheeseburgers, which singer Jimmy Buffett, who was a Mobile native, credits with starting his love for burgers. Although they had typical southern dishes and daily specials, like fried catfish, I decided to try a couple of chili dogs with a side of cole slaw. If you look at the picture below, you can kind of make out the type of chili they use. It's a very dry, crumbly type that I've never come across before. I actually didn't care for it very much. They say that ex-Mobile-ers come from miles around to get their hot dog fix. I grew up on chili dogs from Tommy's and Pink's. Maybe it's just what one is used to, but the chili dogs from the Dew Drop Inn were, as Jules would say, "ain't in the same league, ain't even the same sport" as my favorites. Overall rating - 2.5 sumos

EL SALTILLO - Biloxi, MS As Yuki's was supposed to be the "best" Japanese restaurant in the area, El Saltillo was said to be the "best" Mexican restaurant in the greater Mississippi coast region. Kind of like saying that February is the best month in hell. Someone ordered the enchiladas. Now doesn't this look like one of those $0.99 Banquet frozen dinners? I ordered the carnitas. Now one thing I could never complain about was the portion size in the deep south. You certainly get plenty of food for your money. What you don't get, on the other hand, is flavor. The carnitas were just barely spiced, the wrong cut of pork was used, and it didn't have the crispy outside, tender inside of really well prepared carnitas. And I thought the Mexican restaurants in Denver sucked (which they do). Overall rating - 2 sumos

YUKI'S - Biloxi, MS Now who'd have thought that you could get sushi in the deep south...not me. Then again, with a military base nearby you can usually find a variety of ethnic foods to serve the hungry population when they get tired of chow hall SOS . Maria was an expat Samoan from Hawaii who worked on base. "Is there anywhere to get local grinds around here" I asked? Not bloody likely, but she said that there was a sushi place nearby. I skeptically asked if it was any good. "It's okay" she said. That was pretty much the theme the entire time I was down here. The vast majority of places were "okay," no more, no less. At that point I knew I was tempting the food gods, but I had to try some sushi. I ordered the tempura/teriyaki dinner, plus two pieces each of salmon and yellowtail. The sushi was not bad, nice big pieces and flavorful. As for the dinner….hmmm, where to start? The tempura shrimp was about five parts batter to one p...

AC ME OYSTER HOUSE - New Orleans Not all restaurants have reopened post-Katrina, even though it's been almost two years now. I read that Anthony Bourdain ate here after Katrina, so we went to check it out. Lisa and I split a dozen oysters. This was only the second time that I have had raw oysters. They were okay, definitely fresh, but they were a little gritty. I wonder if it had to do with where they were harvested, or with the preparation. I first time I had oysters, at Emeril's in Vegas, they weren't gritty at all. For my main course I had the crawfish etoufee. I was not impressed. I think they used minute rice in the dish. I've never had etoufee before, but it's supposed to be more spicy than gumbo. I thought it was just okay. Overall rating - 2.5 sumos

CAFE DU MONDE - New Orleans So I find myself stuck in Biloxi, Mississippi for three months, just west of the " Redneck Riviera ." The food on base at Keesler is not fit for humans, so weekends and many weeknights find us checking out the eateries in the local and surrounding areas. The first weekend found us in New Orleans, since I had never been there before and I figured this was the most likely place for quality food. First stop, the Cafe Du Monde for their famous beignets and chicory coffee. How was it? Well, drop dough in hot oil and top with enough powdered sugar to shoot a Scarface sequel...and it was pretty good. Of course, if I came here towards the end of my stay, after eating fried food for three months straight, and I may well have had a different opinion. I ordered the regular black coffee, instead of the cafe au lait, because I wanted to see how much the added chicory added/detracted from the flavor of the brewed coffee. It wasn't that great. In fact,...

THE SHED - Ocean Springs, MS The Shed is known amongst the locals as being one of the best BBQ places in the area. It's just north of interstate 10, but you'd think you were in the deepest south as the restaurant is in a wooded area and you imagine hearing banjo music. I ordered the ribs/chicken combo, with cole slaw and potato salad as sides. Both meats were overcooked, especially the ribs. The sides were average, nothing more. I don't know if we caught them on an off-night (it was a Saturday), but if this was the best bbq in the area, then I truly feel sorry for the local residents. Overall rating - 2 sumos

YOSHINO SUSHI - Tokyo This restaurant is located in Nihonbashi. The owner's son and my cousin's husband went to school together. With that kind of connection, I made this the celebratory last meal of my trip. This area is fairly quiet at night, and the restaurant only stayed open until 9:30. Usually that's plenty late for me, but my friend had a full night planned. This was a great way to start. Got the omakase, or Chef's choice. These are just pictures of my plates. They brought us one per person, so we had six plates between the two of us! The specialty at Yoshino is baby clam sushi. It was really good. Very tender and flavorful. The food just kept coming and coming. I don't know if this was the norm, or if we got special treatment. That's what I'm thinking. We had so much food I was stuffed, and I never get full on just sushi and sashimi. Below from left to right is: top - salmon eggs, tamago (egg), squid, bonito, middle - flounder, maguro (tuna...

TSUKIJI FISH MARKET - Tokyo I couldn't go all the way to Japan without visiting the famous Tsukiji fish market. Apparently one used to be able to view the fresh tuna auction, which takes place at 5:30 am. I understand that tourists aren't allowed to view the auction anymore. That makes sense to me. The first thing I thought when I got there was that the entire market should be off limits to tourists. It's a place of work, and I did not feel comfortable wandering through there. With such narrow passages, even though I tried to be conscious of the workers, there just isn't enough room to keep from getting in their way. I tried to get up early, but I didn't get there until 7:00 am. By then, the activity was winding down. I can't imagine how busy it must be earlier in the day.