karendipity cooks: asian spaghetti

it's been quite a while since i've posted about something that i've cooked. i do cook, especially now that i don't live in the land of seamlessweb -- but it's rarely something post-worthy. (lots of quesadillas ...) this dish, however, is definitely post-worthy. asian spaghetti! my brother chris bought me ming tsai's latest cook book simply ming one pot meals for christmas. this book is perfect for people who like to eat asian food, but need very simple recipes that don't take a lot of ingredients, precision, or time.

i'm not going to post the recipe because presumably there's copyright and whatnot involved, but i will hint that there's canned tomatoes, soy sauce, beef, and pork. a lot of beef and pork. the recipe calls for spaghetti, but i prefer to use capellini pasta which gives the dish more of a mai fun feel. the flavors are a strange hybrid of italian and asian, but it works perfectly. yum.

marnee thai

san francisco, ca

website

wow. amazing thai food. i now understand why it is such an effort to get a table here. we went on a saturday night and it was completely packed. april and lennon had managed to get reservations for 5, but when we got there, we all had to squeeze into the very narrow entrance area and wait about a half hour past our reservation before we actually got seated. even then, c had to sit in the path between tables and kept getting jostled by the waitstaff.

but it was worth it. started with the delicious sticky spicy chicken wings (pictured) with a dark soy chili sauce. love love love the fried corn cakes (very indonesian). it's been so long i forgot what we ordered for our entrees, but i remember being very impressed. however i can't forget the dessert - roti with ice cream. sounds strange, i know, but it's sensational. will definitely be back in the outer sunset soon to try this spot again.

jeffery's

menlo park, ca

website

about a week or so after we first moved to the south bay, derek and i got lost trying to find 101-north. in fact, we got lost several times. and each time we got lost, we drove by a classic-looking diner called jeffrey's, a burger joint. desperate to find a great burger spot in the south bay, we made a mental note to stop by later when we weren't trying to get to the freeway.

the interior mirrors the exterior - reminsicent of a 1950s diner. but shiny and new. very shiny. i really liked the burger here. the patty has a nice salty crust that reminds me of the shake shack. the rest of the ingredients are less spectacular - the bun is just okay, the condiment bar (iceberg lettuce and unripe tomatoes) is just alright. but let's not be too picky. order a big basket of their excellent onion rings and enjoy.

prospect

san francisco, ca

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derek and i made it up to SF to join tina, vanita and rajesh for dinner at prospect a few months ago. yes, i'm that far behind. excellent decor and atmosphere. extremely high ceilings, dark wood interior, roomy comfortable booths. in fact, my firm had an event here a few weeks later - the back room was perfect for a gathering of about 40 of us. the bar area and cocktail list looked pretty good as well, but tina had brought a fantastic bottle of wine from rochioli vineyards to share.

my favorite dish is pictured - the uni risotto with tiny seared scallops. amazing. buttery and rich uni in buttery and rich risotto. although it was unfortunately only a starter, so the portion was small. next time i might order two because i wasn't that impressed with my main course. the desserts were fantastic, though -- loved the fancy smores.

mayfield bakery & cafe

palo alto, ca

website

i'm sure you're starting to see a pattern in my south bay posts. lowering my dining expectations. hampered by geographical limitations. being surprised when food is actually good. having wine with every possible meal. well, here's another one. derek and i had been to calafia way too many times at this point, so we decided to try its neighbor - mayfield bakery & cafe.

the waitress really knew her wines and recommended an excellent white to go with my roast chicken. i was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the chicken - juicy meat, crispy skin, and a tasty risotto on the side. as we were leaving, the manager thanked us for coming, then called us over to the corner of the restaurant. there, he invited us to choose a loaf of bread from their basket. maybe they had leftover bread? maybe we looked like we needed more sustenance? i chose a large round loaf of olive bread. since we didn't have a toaster yet, i heated up slices in a pan and drizzled a little olive oil over them. a delicious snack that lasted us all week.