mums

san francisco, ca

website

mums is all-you-can-eat and optionally all-you-can-drink shabu shabu. which inevitably results in sake bombing by a large and boisterous crowd. show up on a saturday night and you will very likely leave full, drunk, and half-deaf. your clothes might be slightly damp from being splashed with sake, beer, and/or soup. shattered glasses are common, judging by the efficient and non-chalant manner in which derek's sake-bombing failure was cleaned up. if that sounds like your idea of a good time, i highly recommend this place.

how was the food? does it matter? the quality of the meat (we tried beef, pork, and chicken) was surprisingly good for an all-you-can-eat place. i enjoyed the ponzu-based dipping sauce (especially with the daikon added) and derek's favorite was the peanut sauce. i've had better hot pot elsewhere, but not with an all-you-can-eat-and-drink package. good food, great fun.

southland flavor cafe

cupertino, ca

website

cupertino village is a complex with a ranch 99, a few bakeries, and several excellent chinese restaurants with strange names. southland flavor cafe? it's probably a literal translation of the chinese name, but a better translation would be "southern taiwanese cuisine." i wonder if i can make a career out of fixing chinglish. derek's parents happened to be in town while val was visiting from chicago, so we made a trip out to cupertino village. managed to pull tiffany away from her studies too for a mini family reunion.

my favorite (pictured) was the pork rice bowl which can feed a small army (or me) for about $6. another favorite was the beef noodle soup, served with the wide noodles that derek likes. the only downside to this place is that every other table orders the malodorous and aptly named "stinky tofu" (that's actually the english translation). the state of california should mandate "stinky tofu only" sections for taiwanese restaurants. we always try to finish our food quickly when we hear a nearby table say "chou dou fu" because that stuff is deadly.

bon vivant

palo alto, ca

website

bon vivant is a new french restaurant that recently opened in downtown palo alto. the interior is bright and inviting, especially on a sunny day (which is about 90% of the time here in california). derek and i were in the mood for something new and different and decided to try this place. despite the fact that they stop service at 3, the kitchen graciously let us sit and order an appetizer and entrees at 3:15. yes, that's when we eat lunch.

my favorite was the appetizer that we shared - duck rillette, which includes shredded duck, wild arugula, red onion, shaved fennel, and toasted bread. the duck was deliciously fatty, but balanced well with the fresh greens. excellent. the crepes were also quite good - mine was filled with smoked salmon, but the duck rillette was definitely the highlight. overall - pricey, but tasty.

karendipity cooks: gougeres

april and lennon gave us a lovely "bride and groom's cookbook" as a wedding gift. it's meant to be used by a couple to cook together in the kitchen. there's lots of entrees, salads, pastas, but what caught my eye was the recipe for gougeres, those fabulous cheese balls that they serve at churrascarias like pampas. my gougeres did not turn out as puffy and light as the picture in the cookbook, but they're still delicious. the secret to these was a pinch of cayenne to the mix for a hint of spice.

reposado

palo alto, ca

website

reposado is one of our favorite places to eat on university avenue ("the ave"). great raucous atmosphere - lots of people chatting and having a good time. excellent wine list and very good sangria. this is a good place to bring friends to - i brought anthony and his cousin here when they were in town.

my absolute favorite entree is the hanger steak. unfortunately it's not a very photogenic hanger steak, but it's delicious - perfectly grilled and served over an arbol chile demi glace. because i always get the guacamole (not quite spicy enough but perfect if you add their smoky salsa), i can never finish the entire steak. it's fantastic as leftovers, especially over some noodles. also - the chocolate gelato is homemade and amazing, but my favorite part of the dessert are the buttery mexican cookies they serve on the side.

kanpai

palo alto, ca

website

yes! finally! two things to celebrate. 1 - derek and i finally found a decent sushi spot in palo alto and 2 - i've finally caught up with all of my posts. i ended up skipping a few places because i either forgot to take a picture or i had taken a picture, but couldn't remember the restaurant. i hope to blog more regularly in the future but we'll see how it goes... anyway, back to the food -- kanpai received some pretty good ratings on yelp, so we decided to give it a try. as soon as we walked in, the atmosphere reminded us of authentic japanese restaurants we visited in tokyo and manhattan, so that was very promising.

derek knows all about my love of uni. as soon as we sat down he asked the waiter whether they had uni. the response - "yes, and it's very fresh!" and it was amazing uni, some of the best that i've ever had - extremely fresh. in fact, i ordered another piece after eating the first. the rest of the sushi was good, but not the same quality as the uni. next time, we know to ask them for what is "very fresh" that day. they also serve the sweet shrimp nigiri with the shrimp heads deep-fried, so you get all the good brainy bits too. delicious. in addition, kanpai has an excellent sake list and really good rolls - we'll definitely be back!

reggio's @ o'hare

chicago, il

website

i'm a huge fan of chicago style pizza. my co-workers and i went to pizza due after a work event, but only because it was close to our hotel and open late. nowhere near as good as giordano's. so i was still craving a true chicago-style pizza at the airport, on my way back to SFO. reggio's was a little stand in the middle of the united terminal advertising a "butter crust." how could i say no to that? it didn't seem to really be chicago-style pizza. the crust was good, but not great. sauce was a little bland. but the cheese was good and it was sufficiently filling to sustain me through my five hour flight.

the publican

chicago, il

website

chicago has amazing food, but it's not easy to figure out which places are going to be good. thankfully i have christine and val to show me around whenever i'm in town. we headed to chicago's version of the meatpacking district for a meat-centric meal at the publican. the restaurant is clearly one of the farm-to-table types and it appears to have brought the tables and pigpens from the farm as well. christine, val, and i were seated at a booth located in one of these pigpens, which was fun.

there's vegetables and starches available on the menu, but we focused on the good stuff - a full order of the mussels served with crusty french bread to dip in the broth (i'm glad we ignored the waiter who suggested that a half order would be sufficient), a plate of pork belly served over lentils (if i remember correctly), and my favorite - the blood sausage served with kimchee and apples. this was my first time trying blood sausage (but i've seen anthony bourdain rave about it on tv). it was fantastic - the richness of the sausage was perfectly balanced by the spicy acidic kimchee.

sasabune

los angeles, ca

website

you know a place is going to have good sushi when ... (1) it's recommended by cindy c and (2) you're greeted with a sign that warns you that they don't serve california rolls, spicy tuna rolls, or teriyaki. the only real option at sasabune is the omakase -- the waiter asks you whether you'd like the japanese or the american tasting menu. (we chose japanese, of course!) i had no idea how much lunch was about to cost, but i didn't particularly care. i had been deprived of good sushi for far too long to let financial concerns interfere.

amazing sushi, definitely around seki-level quality. we started with two plates of sashimi - toro in a ponzu sauce and what i think was raw clam with pink salt. so good - extremely fresh, buttery sushi. then the waiter brought us the nigiri courses, two pieces at a time. my favorites were the uni and ikura (pictured) and sweet shrimp, although every piece was fantastic. finally, they serve crab hand rolls - they don't look appetizing, but they were delicious. lunch ended up costing about $100 (incl. tax and tip) so this is definitely a special occasion spot, but i was very happy with the entire experience.

randy's donuts

inglewood, ca

website

cindy c and i make a lot of spur-of-the-moment dining decisions whenever we're together. (see in n out post). while driving to lunch, cindy c pointed out the famous 30-foot tall donut atop the randy's donuts structure. i might have remarked, "donuts sound good," and before you know it, we're in the parking lot. cindy c pointed out that we weren't exactly in the safest neighborhood, but nothing was going to stop us from getting donuts. the verdict? excellent cheap donuts - moist and delicious.

pacifica del mar

del mar, ca

website

after outlet shopping in carlsbad, derek and i stopped by del mar on the way back to san diego. there were some cute restaurants along camino del mar, but we decided to go to del mar plaza for easy parking in the multi-level garage. del mar plaza has several restaurants (and very random expensive shops). we really wanted to try flavor del mar, but they were no longer serving lunch at 2 in the afternoon.

we tried pacifica del mar, which was right next door. we got great seats on the patio with a nice view of the ocean. we were still looking at buildings across the street, but you could see the ocean beyond the buildings. the food was good, but not great. my pasta with clams was good, but covered with too much cheese. there's an italian custom of not putting cheese on seafood dishes, which i know many people ignore. it would have been preferable to have cheese as an option rather than a requirement.

richard walker's pancake house

san diego, ca

website

one of the benefits of having friends scattered across the globe is that there's always someone willing to show us great restaurants wherever we go. san diegan monica suggested that we meet her for brunch at richard walker's pancake house. there was already a line outside at 11 am on a sunday. a good sign. we ended up waiting only about 10-15 minutes before getting seated.

the menu has a variety of pancakes - much like ihop, only so much better. monica ordered the apple pancake, which appeared to be an apple pie in the form of a single giant pancake. i decided to order the potato latkes (pictured) - i haven't had these since moving out of manhattan a year ago. served with apple sauce, the latkes were delicious. derek had normal-sized pancakes, eggs, bacon, and hash browns. everything was good, but i think monica's massive apple pancake was the clear winner.

extraordinary desserts

san diego, ca

website

wow. this place really lives up to its name. this is a favorite of cindy and ryan, former san diegans, and they make a trip here whenever they're in town. this time derek and i went with cindy, ryan, and the kids. the table was filled with sweets - strawberry napoleon (pictured), strawberry pie, truffe framboise (raspberry chocolate cake), and i think we also had a brownie but the sugar overload may have affected my memory. each dessert was artistically presented, showered with flower petals. beautiful and delicious, truly extraordinary.

before driving up to disneyland, we all went one more time for breakfast. i ordered the chocolate coffee cake, which turned out to have molten chocolate liquid in the center. cindy ordered the chocolate strudel. an intense breakfast, to be sure, and neither of us could finish. ryan had the brilliant idea of boxing up our leftovers and bringing them into disneyland. it was the perfect dessert after our (surprisingly good) meal of pasta and salad at the pizza port.

emerald chinese seafood restaurant

san diego, ca

website

blogging ethics dictate that i have to disclose if there is a potential for bias in my reviews, so i have to tell you that steve's parents own this restaurant. i might be biased, but the food was seriously good. i love dim sum and emerald has all of my favorites, especially the stir-fried noodles that you don't always find at dim sum places.

shown at the bottom of the picture is the magical plate of noodles - magical because they were delicious and also because no matter how much i ate off the plate, there always seemed to be a massive pile of noodles left. other favorites were the pork shiu mai, congee, and hom sui gok (deep fried glutinous rice dumpling filled with pork). finished the meal with some egg tarts, of course, but watch out - the plates are hot! biased or not, if i'm ever in san diego again, we're going here for dim sum.

los panchitos

san diego, ca

website

adventures in san diego with our host, steve, started with excellent spanish tapas and expensive cocktails at cafe sevilla in the trendy gaslamp district in downtown san diego. progressed to rum+cokes and a video dj mash-up performance (turn-table scratching with videos?) in a warehouse at the afterparty for the asian american film festival. and ended with cheap mexican food on pacific highway. a job well done, steve.

los panchitos was the final stop of the night. open very late, it serves perfect post-partying cuisine. authentic? probably not. but it was still pretty good. i had cheese enchiladas and ordered rolled tacos for derek, which are basically flautas. cheesy greasy hangover-prevention goodness.

korean bbq

palo alto, ca

link to yelp

yes, that is apparently the name of the restaurant. which is somewhat descriptive because they do serve korean food, some of which was probably barbecued earlier in the day. it's tucked away in a corner of town & country mall. in fact, we had been to town & country at least a dozen times before and we had never seen it. derek found it on the internet when he was searching for korean food.

the restaurant is basically a buffet of pre-cooked korean food, most of which gets nuked in the microwave before they serve it to you. you choose two entrees and two ban chan for your plate. i went with the japchae (noodles), bulgogi, crab seafood salad and kimchee. the food isn't great - the bulgogi is a bit dry and the japchae is a little bland, but it's basically the quality that you would expect from a fast food korean buffet spot in a mall. (although the korean in the westfield san francisco mall is much better).

gilbert's firefish grill

santa cruz, ca

website

after costco, we continued our tour of the south bay by driving down to santa cruz, which was highly recommended by derek's cousins. traveling to santa cruz from palo alto requires taking a windy highway through the mountains and derek was thrilled to test out the car's maneuverability. i was less than thrilled, but was convinced that it was the only way to get to the beach. santa cruz's boardwalk was pretty fun - my favorite "ride" was the skyglider, which is basically a skilift that takes you from one end of the boardwalk to the other. while on the skyglider, we saw a bunch of neon signs in the distance and decided to head out there for dinner.

turns out, we were looking at the santa cruz municipal wharf, which is a long pier lined with restaurants and shops. all of the restaurants served the standard seafood options that you would expect on a wharf. we chose gilbert's because it looked a little bit more modern than the others. something about being near the ocean just calls out for fried seafood - derek ordered a platter with fried calamari and grilled fish, i ordered the fish and chips. everything was very good, but it's hard to go wrong when everything is deep fried.

margaritas

redwood city, ca

website

trying to broaden our horizons and explore more of the south bay, derek and i decided to venture to redwood city to find restaurants, culture, and whatnot. actually, we were running out of paper towels and redwood city has the closest costco. anyway, we did walk around downtown redwood city. there was a nice farmer's market, a theatre district, and a beautiful old courthouse which now houses the san mateo county history museum.

the restaurants looked very promising too. we decided to try margaritas, which was pretty good mexican food. not the best i've ever had, although derek really enjoyed his pork carnitas. as we walked off our meals, we walked by another mexican restaurant which was much busier - milagros cantina. we'll have to try next time.

il fornaio

palo alto, ca

website

this is another restaurant that derek and i frequently pass by. the atmosphere looked a little too formal for us. finally, it was a special occasion (which might have been that we were both out of the office at dinner time) and we decided to celebrate by dining at "fancy" il fornaio. turns out, there's a lovely patio area in the back with very effective heat lamps where the atmosphere is much more casual. looking at the menu, we realized that this restaurant is part of a chain and we had been to the seattle location before. the menu's specials periodically change to highlight a different region of italy.

i didn't recognize any of the wines listed on the menu, so i just picked whatever was reasonably priced. our server (who was extremely attentive and friendly, by the way) apologized because they ran out of that wine, but recommended another that was "more frizzante." i shrugged and said okay. it ended up being a red sparkling wine, which was weird but not unpleasant. anyway, now i know what "frizzante" means. the food was very good - derek is still raving about his bacon salad and my butternut squash ravioli was delicious.

slider bar

palo alto, ca

website

a brilliant marketing strategy -- a giant banner advertising belgian frites. i've passed by this restaurant many many times, but they managed to draw me in with the promise of belgian frites. they didn't exactly fulfill their promise - belgian frites are supposed to be double-fried, which makes them dark and crunchy on the outside with fluffy potato in the inside. but the fries were still good, especially the curry dipping sauce.

derek likes the chicken sliders here. i ordered two of the beef sliders and they were good. nothing remarkable. seems like a nice place to hang out, eat a small burger, and catch up with friends. but if i was craving a really good burger, i would head to in n out instead.

akane

los altos, ca

link to yelp

derek and i have been desperate to find a quality japanese restaurant in the south bay. akane is not it. derek chose this restaurant because it had a favorable rating on yelp. i'm not sure why. maybe it was an off day but when derek and i went, the food was very disappointing.

i ordered the nabeyaki udon. the only thing right was the poached egg, which was perfect with the udon noodles. but the broth was bland and the fish and the chicken were overcooked (and bland). we ordered a sushi roll and some nigiri. the uni tasted funky and not in a good way. the mackerel was not fresh. the sushi roll consisted mostly of green onion and what little raw fish was included was tasteless. sigh.

charlie palmer steak

washington, dc

website

charlie palmer is best known for his restaurant aureole, which i've never been to but heard good things about. after several days of hotel catering, i was really looking forward to a real meal and a real steak. when i lived in manhattan, derek and i went to many excellent steakhouses. palo alto, not so much. in california, they tend to drench their steaks in unnecessary sauces. ridiculous.

charlie palmer did not disappoint. my steak was excellent - perfectly cooked and perfectly seasoned. the right amount of char and the right amount of fat. a pleasant surprise was the amazing starter salad, served with a poached egg to add yolk to the dressing. dessert, a berry cobbler, was also very good.

ben's chili bowl

washington, dc

website

i first heard about ben's chili bowl from stacey, who went when she was in DC for president obama's inauguration. i was in DC for a much less glamorous reason - a three-week trip for work. work was very busy and we rarely made it outside of our offices to see sunlight, much less eat a meal ... but a group of us managed to escape long enough to make a pilgrimage to the famed ben's chili bowl. if you have a certain number of people in your party, you can go straight to the back and grab a table. someone will come by to take your order. we didn't realize that, so instead we ordered amidst the chaos of the front of the restaurant.

ryan recommended the "half smoke," which is a quarter-pound half-beef half-pork sausage, doused in chili. yes, it tasted as good as it sounds. i've never had chili like this before - it's spicy, meaty, and thick - more sauce than soup. however, when ordering, i made a tactical error by assuming that the massive amount of chili that they poured on the sausage would be sufficient and i ordered my fries plain. big mistake. next time, i gotta go with the chili cheese fries just to get more of that amazing chili sauce.

crepevine

palo alto, ca

website

the crepevine is popular with stanford kids, or who i assume are stanford kids. they look young and unemployed. my guess is its because the prices are reasonable, the portions are large, there are plenty of seats, and they let you sit wherever you want for however long you want. derek and i have been here a few times. i don't like sitting inside because during the summer, there's usually flies. outside, for some reason, the flies don't bother me that much. however, i much prefer ordering takeout and eating my food in the comfort of my own insectless living room.

crepevine generally serves diner food - for brunch that means pancakes, waffles, eggs, etc. obviously, they also have crepes which are premade, then heated and filled when you order. on our first visit, i ordered blueberry pancakes, which were good, but nothing compared to the magical blueberry pancakes at clinton st. baking co. in manhattan. derek's corned beef hash, however, was excellent - cheesy and meaty with crunchy bits of fried potatoes. solid brunch fare.

1331 bar & lounge

washington, dc

website

in town for a week of meetings, i managed to escape long enough to have drinks and snacks with anthony at 1331, located inside the marriott near the white house. it was surprisingly spacious and modern for a hotel lounge. instead of booths, the lounge has small couches set up that face eachother, with a coffee table in between. it's a little awkward for eating, but theoretically we were only there for snacks.

but we were hungry, so we ended up ordering grilled vegetables, hummus, bruschetta, and buffalo wings. it didn't sound like a lot at the time, but our little coffee table was overflowing with food. everything was good, the bruschetta was probably my favorite. 1331 also had a decent and reasonably priced list of wines by the glass. overall, a nice quiet spot to hide from the summer DC heat and catch up with a friend.

yank sing

san francisco, ca

website

strangely situated in an office building (rincon plaza) near the financial district in downtown, yank sing is a massive dim sum operation. at least on weekends, the crowd of dim sum'ers fills the restaurant and spills out into the lobby of the office building. jen and matt brought the kids and we found a perfect table in the lobby, underneath a ray of sunshine from the skylight above.

some of the dim sum options were better than others. we ate here a while ago, but i remember being a big fan of the shanghai soup dumplings and not such a fan of the regular pork dumplings. pictured is the fatty duck served in mantou pancakes - delicious. yank sing is a little pricey for dim sum, but it has a great atmosphere and quality food.

tamarine

palo alto, ca

whenever we ask a local about good restaurants, they invariably include tamarine in the list. it is located just down the street from our apartment but it is always packed. last minute reservations are nearly impossible to get. we finally planned ahead enough to make reservations for dinner. we arrived on time, but they still made us wait at the bar for twenty minutes before seating us. fortunately they make excellent cocktails.

asian fusion here means that they use high quality and expensive ingredients and then throw asian sauces on them. turns out to be pretty decent fare. the shaking beef (pictured) was delicious. was it worth the price? not sure. might be good for a special occasion with a focus on cocktails. otherwise i say go to a real asian restaurant for something more reasonably priced.

bistro le clochard

curacao

website

curacao doesn't have that many fancy restaurants. remember that couple that i mentioned in the pane e vino post? well, we saw them again at pampus the following night (where i forgot to take a picture). then we saw them AGAIN at bistro le clochard on the next night! turns out, one of the guys is originally from curacao but studied hospitality abroad and had returned to take his partner to some of the best restaurants in curacao.

bistro le clochard is definitely one of the best - everyone at the resort recommended it and it's been around since the 1970s. the restaurant is located inside an old fort from the 1800s and includes includes a little outdoor ledge on the water. we sat at a corner of the ledge, where we could look up at the old fort looming above us and out into the ocean to watch ships passing the island. great romantic atmosphere, solid french cuisine, excellent wine, and great steaks.

pane e vino

curacao

link to tripadvisor

we decided to go somewhere fancy for dinner one night and the resort recommended pane e vino, which was about a half mile down the street. the resort, however, ordered us a cab because they didn't want us walking in the area at night. when we arrived, there was a security guard outside the restaurant, so the resort was probably right to order us a cab. pane e vino is located in what looks like a little yellow house. it's cozy, with only a handful of tables. for a while, there was just one other couple in the restaurant. they had ordered two glasses of champagne - looked like a good idea, so we did the same.

incredible italian food, some of the best that i've had. the chef, who is italian, came out toward the end of the meal to greet his guests and everyone showered him with compliments. first, derek and i shared a massive antipasto plate with mozzarella, tomatoes, roasted vegetables, and parmigiano cheese. my entree was seafood pasta in a rich and winey sauce. derek's entree (pictured) was intense -homemade spaghetti in a butter truffle sauce served shaved truffle and chunks of foie gras. it's like a heart attack in a bowl. a delicious, rich, and fatty heart attack.

jaanchies

westpunt, curacao

link to tripadvisor

carlos, the resort's resident tour guide, took us on a fantastic tour of the west side of the island. gorgeous beaches and incredible coves to explore. the west side of the island requires a car, which means that the beaches are less crowded and tend to have more locals. one of the stops was jaanchies, a famous restaurant that serves the local island cuisine.

i ordered the fish. derek got the beef stew (again). as you can see, my fish was served with picked vegetables, rice and beans, and buttery shrimp. the seafood was incredibly fresh and everything was delicious, especially with the spicy onion sauce that they serve on the side. jaanchie's is an open air restaurant with a garden full of tiny birds along the front of the restaurant. it's a little disconcerting to be eating so close to the birds, but you get used to the chirping.

hemingway's

curacao

website

we were getting tired of just sitting on the beach at the resort and wanted to explore more of curacao, so jenny did some online research for us and suggested the curacao seaquarium. it was only about a mile south of us, so we decided to walk. along the way, we saw several other resorts and beautiful beach areas packed with tourists. one of these areas was seaquarium beach, which apparently has a cover charge (ridiculous), but if you look like you belong (which means, if you look like a tourist), you can just walk onto the beach without anyone asking you for money. there's a few shops with beachwear, scuba gear, and a couple of restaurants.

we stopped at one with seating on the beach, hemingway's. i decided it was a great opportunity to try some dutch snacks. curacao was formerly a dutch colony and the place is full of dutch tourists. pictured is my order of bitterballen, a deep fried beef snack. i don't know where these have been all of my life. i don't understand why this delicacy has only been discovered by the dutch. it's chopped bits of beef, mixed with potato, deep fried, and served with coleslaw. awesome.

iguana cafe

willemstad, curacao

link to tripadvisor

we chose curacao for our honeymoon because it's conveniently out of the hurricane paths and we happened to be traveling during the caribbean's hurricane season. found a fantastic luxury resort (which was also fantastically expensive, but you only get one honeymoon, right?). the resort was located about a mile and a half away from the capital city, willemstad. apparently it's not safe for tourists to walk that distance (said the resort staff), but we didn't find that out until our trip was nearly over. we walked during the day, did not run into any issues, and it was nice to explore the area.

iguana cafe is on an extremely touristy stretch of the capital. it's the perfect place to sit, eat a touristy meal, drink an appropriately tropical alcoholic beverage, and watch the "famous" floating bridge float back and forth to allow ships to pass through the channel. derek ordered the "local" beef stew, which was delicious. i ordered the very touristy chicken strips, which were fried to death but still delicious. a rum punch and a pina colada rounded out our excellent lunch.

sam wo

chinatown, sf

link to yelp

a month before our wedding, derek and i made a very quick trip up to sf's chinatown to find me a wedding qi pao. did some quick yelp searching and found a place called L & G trading. derek picked a style he liked, in red (per tradition). i tried on the XL (sigh). it fit. we bought it. and we had plenty of time to find a spot for lunch.

we wandered around a bit and found sam wo, which is really a hole in the wall joint. menu looked good and very cheap. downstairs is a small kitchen and there's a very narrow staircase to a small dining area upstairs. ordered some wonton noodles, congee, and you tiao. the noodles and congee were standard, but the you tiao was surprisingly good. probably because it was freshly fried. apparently sam wo is popular with non-asians, not sure why, but maybe they know about the you tiao.

maverick

mission, sf

website

my friends are scattered across the country, across the globe and usually my only interactions with them are through gmail or g-chat, so it's great when a bunch of us can actually get together in person and share a meal. tony and kate were in town for a wedding, eric happened to be on a business trip for work, luckily i managed to escape my work long enough to caltrain up to SF for dinner with the gang. lisa recommended this great spot in the mission (but unfortunately couldn't join us). maverick hits all of the right SF highlights - focus on fresh and local ingredients, sustainable and ethical practices, comfort food, but with a twist.

the menu is always changing to keep up with the seasons. good news for the diner, bad news for the blogger who went to the restaurant months ago and can't remember exactly what she ordered. i do recall that the guys ordered the fried chicken, which maverick is famous for and which was fabulous. i also remember that the girls ordered the asparagus dish with the runny egg that turned into an amazing sauce for the veggies. kate, of course, picked out the perfect glass of red wine and i always follow kate's lead when it comes to wine. great food, great company, had a lovely time.

ryowa

mountain view, ca

link to yelp

i really miss all of the fantastic ramen shops we used to eat at in nyc (and the ones we tried in tokyo, of course). the south bay is seriously lacking in the ramen department. derek managed to find a spot on castro street in mountain view. it was pretty crowded when we went on a saturday afternoon. we had to wait a while before we could grab a stool. the shop reminds me of the ramen bars we visited in tokyo - simple layout, condiments on the bar, stool, wait until a spot opens before you sit and slurp.

i ordered the tsukumen, dipping noodles - while it was good and satisfied my craving, it wasn't nearly as good as the tsukumen with fatty crispy pork at setagaya. it's also missing the dense chewy noodles. but ryowa has buttered corn, good broth, decent noodles, it will do just fine. i'm hoping the crowd of eager ramen eaters indicates a growing interest in this japanese specialty and we'll see more ramen shops open up in the area.

mom-dipity cooks!

made a trip home to see the parents. i only blog restaurant vists or the rare occasions when i cook something photogenic enough to post. but i think i'll make an exception for mom-dipity's cooking.


no one can beat my mom's dumplings.


steamed sea bass, snow pea shoots, and lion's head meatballs.


the best mi fun in the world.

burger bar

san francisco, ca

website

derek and i are huge fans of top chef masters competition, where hubert keller was a finalist. when i found out that he had a burger restaurant in san francisco, derek and i had to go. i was slightly worried when i discovered that the burger bar is located above macy's in union square, which is extremely touristy (which usually suggests bad food). but we forged ahead.

the burger bar is not what we expected. it clearly caters to tourists. the floor is sticky with what i assume was the result of tourists spilling sugary cocktails and beer everywhere. the burgers are overpriced and while they were decent, it wasn't the quality that we were looking for. for me, the highlight was the zucchini fries, which were crispy and crunchy on the outside, but soft on the inside. but even the zucchini fries aren't worth a repeat visit here. lesson learned - gotta trust my instincts and not be blinded by the names of famous chefs.

citizen cake

san francisco, ca

CLOSED

after fresca, a+ma took us across the street to citizen cake, a cute little shop devoted to desserts. love the name, love the decor, love the desserts. apparently the menu also includes pizzas and sandwiches, but for me, the focus is on the display case full of cakes, brownies, and other desserts. i ordered the s'mores brownie, topped with a gooey toasted marshmallow. rich, decadent, and delicious.

fresca

san francisco, ca

website

a+ma took derek and me to a peruvian restaurant on fillmore. they serve fancy california versions of traditional peruvian food. i took a picture of the paella i ordered. i can't remember what else we ordered, except for the fact that alcohol was involved. which might explain why i can't remember what else we ordered. but i do remember that the food was fantastic, along with the company.

alice's restaurant

woodside, ca

website

this may be one of the few restaurant raves where i will probably not be going back. at least not without some dramamine. as i mentioned in the la toque post, we got a new car on the way to napa. in fact, we are now leasing a 2011 bmw m3. apparently this car loves to go fast, especially on winding roads. the roads in the hills just northwest of palo alto are quiet and twisty - the perfect combination to test the limits of sports cars, motorcycles, and your inner ear equilibrium. derek had taken the car on these roads (alone) a few times and saw a cool restaurant he wanted to take me to.

alice's restaurant is located at the crossroads between two highways in these hills and it's clearly a biker hangout. the parking lot in front of the restaurant is filled with huge motorcycles and a handful of expensive sports cars. there's even a booth advertising the services of attorneys specializing in representing bikers (??). inside, the atmosphere is perfectly casual and cool. the burgers are amazing - the meaty and juicy patties are the highlight here. i ordered an omelette - delicious, served with excellent hash browns and a biscuit. the only problem is that i was woozy all day from the trek. sigh.

village bistro

san jose, ca

website

santana row is a massive outdoor shopping complex located in san jose, california. in addition to the shopping (standard mall fare), there are hotels, spas, restaurants, and even apartment complexes. although derek remarked that living above a shopping mall would be like living in disneyland, removed from reality. palo alto gets pretty sleepy at night, but santana row is always buzzing. village bistro, which refers to itself as a "california bistro" did not look inviting. it looked fancy and stuffy. but once inside, the atmosphere was fun, light, and vibrant.

too bad the picture is terrible, because the food was amazing, some of the best that we've had since we moved to california. fantastic cocktails. in typical california style, all of the ingredients are local and sustainable. i had wild salmon - perfectly cooked, buttery and delicious. the sauce was spectacular. derek ordered the burger (of course) - he loved it. we went back again and ate outside on a sunny day and had fantastic make-it-yourself bruschetta. they serve crunchy grilled crostini with a selection of housemade ricotta, roasted garlic, tomato marmalade, and candied olives. mmmm.

gott's roadside

napa, ca

website

we love burgers, diners, and roadside stands, so when y+a recommended gott's roadside for burgers in napa, we knew we had to go. especially after a disappointing meal at la toque, we weren't going to take any chances with lunch the next day. napa has a very cute and very walkable downtown area and we explored the market and walked through a few shops before heading to gott's.

i ordered mini corn-dogs (yes, i'm a 10-year-old at heart) and a bowl of chili. fantastic chili, made a delicious dip for my corn dogs. derek had the burger and fries. also excellent. solid american food done well. y+a know how to find great food.

la toque

napa, ca

website

sorry for the lapse in blogging, things have been very busy, but now the big event is over and i will try to catch up with the backlog so that my new posts will be more timely. the lag has caused me to forget many details about prior meals. i'll skip the meals where i can't even remember which restaurant we ate at. hopefully moving forward i'll be able to post right after the meal rather than months later and give my devoted reader(s) more accurate information.

derek and i decided to take advantage of our new norcal locale and venture up to napa valley to check out what the fuss is about. unfortunately we also decided to stop by the car dealership while we were up there and ended up spending most of the weekend getting a new car rather than touring wineries. we did make it to la toque, however, which is a michelin star restaurant. derek and i were missing the fancy new york food scene and thought we could relive the experience at la toque. unfortunately, the only thing amazing at la toque were the desserts. the panna cotta was incredibly light - somehow floral and fruity all at once. the food was good, but not worth the price. the sommelier was engaging and gave us intriguing backstories on each of the wine pairings, but one of the wines was undrinkable. overall, not worth the trek but perhaps it was an off-night.

max's

palo alto, ca

website

by now, derek and i have been to the stanford shopping center many times. when we try to find a spot to eat, we usually end up at the palo alto creamery (which i have apparently forgotten to blog - it is probably one of those photos in my collection that i didn't recognize). the restaurant next to bloomingdale's always looks too dark and imposing. but one day, we didn't feel like the creamery and decided to venture into the dark and imposing restaurant.

inside it's completely different. bright lights, fun music, tons of families. huge menu full of awesome choices. i love the slogans on the menu "this is a bad place for a diet" and "everything you've always wanted to eat." we've been here a few times now and i always get the caesar salad with grilled salmon. each time, the salmon is perfectly cooked - just the right amount of char on the outside and melt in your mouth tender on the inside. derek has gotten a few things off the menu and he always enjoys his choice.

ozumo

san francisco, ca

website

after a couple of days of working hard at the SF office, the team decided to go out for a celebratory dinner when our project was finished. we ordered several dishes for the table and several bottles of excellent sake. i really don't remember much after that. but i do remember that i did not want to inflict my uni-obsession on my co-workers, so i did not order the dish that i really wanted.

i have no qualms, however, on inflicting my obsession on derek. derek had just finished taking the california bar, three days of stressful exams, so we went out to celebrate at ozumo. i ordered that dish i was eyeing - the yamabuki - fresh uni, shimeji and shitake mushrooms in a healthy Genmai brown rice risotto. after the uni-xtravaganza i had at sakagura, this was a disappointment because it lacked strong uni flavor. the rest of the menu was good, though. quality japanese food, but maybe a little toned down for the financial district crowd.

karendipity cooks: black bean orecchiette with spicy pork and broccoli

this is one of derek's favorites. another recipe from ming tsai's cookbook. this one is super easy to make. one thing to keep in mind is that you should chop up the broccoli into bite-sized pieces, otherwise it can become unwieldy.

not going to post the recipe, but i will explain my modification. the recipe calls for fermented black beans. as they do not sell fermented black beans in our whole foods, i had to go with the garlic black bean sauce. this sauce does not have as strong of a flavor as straight black beans, so i use more than the recipe calls for.

cafe encore

millbrae, ca

link to yelp

derek picked me up from SFO after a very long cross-country flight from JFK. not feeling all that great, i was craving solid chinese food, perhaps a bowl of noodle soup. just a hop and a skip away from the airport, we found a small strip-mall-food-court-thing that is so common in california.

derek wanted in-n-out, but i convinced him to try cafe encore. hong kong style cafe food. kind of greasy, but it hit the spot after such a long flight. i ordered a large bowl of noodle soup topped with saucy pork. derek had the same saucy pork over rice. solid chinese food near the airport, good to know.

bonfire @ jfk

queens, ny

link to yelp

i had to make a few work calls while at the airport, so i decided to settle into a quiet corner of todd english's bonfire restaurant at the united terminal at JFK. waitstaff was very polite and left me alone while i finished up my calls, except to refill my soda.

i was craving a hot dog ever since i made the tactical error back at la silhouette, so i ordered the hot dog and fries with coleslaw. expensive. greasy. heavy. the bread was too thick and dry. but the fries were good. typical airport food, but i was hoping for something better from a restaurant with a famous chef's name attached to it.