lavanda

palo alto, ca

website

an extremely varied menu includes mediterranean, italian, and croatian dishes. i've never had croatian food, so i decided to try something from the croatian menu. "sarma" -- stuffed cabbage with minced beef, onions, rice, fresh herbs, served on mashed potatoes. basically - meatballs wrapped in cabbage and doused in tomato sauce. it tasted fine, but it wasn't anything special.

i love cake, so, for dessert i ordered the cake with passionfruit sauce. the cake itself was okay, but it was drenched in overly sweet sauce. the menu had other items that sounded appealing - pastas, steak, schnitzel, and fish. although i didn't have a lot of success with the two dishes that i ordered, lavanda is a nice spot to have a glass of wine with some bar snacks. probably won't be back for dinner, but maybe for wine.

liang's kitchen

cupertino, ca

website

lots of great asian food in the south bay. derek managed to find another spot for taiwanese food. derek and i took his parents there for dinner. excellent beef noodle soup - ask for "ma la" if you want it spicy. but my favorite dish were the beef rolls - fried cong you bing (onion pancakes) flattened, filled with beef and cilantro, and formed into a roll. like a light flaky onion-y egg roll. there's other great stuff on the menu - hopefully we'll be back soon to try more.

torchy's tacos

austin, tx

website

forgot to mention, before we picked up y+a+n from the airport, jinny and i got a snack of guacamole and freshly fried chips from torchy's. (perhaps freshly fried is the theme of my austin trip?) the next day, we decided to get takeout from torchy's for the whole gang. torchy's is austin hipster mexican. colorful chalkboard menu? check. ironic hipster decorations? check (a red devil wearing a diaper is their logo). ironic hipster names for their menu items? check.

i ordered a "mr. pink" taco - guajillo seared ahi tuna, cabbage fresca, cilantro, and queso freco - and a "trailer park" taco - fried chicken, green chilies, lettuce, pico de gallo, and cheese on a flour tortilla. there's an option to make the "trailer park" taco "trashy" by replacing the lettuce with queso, but i passed. we also ordered, for the gang, a small bowl of queso and more freshly fried chips. tacos were pretty good - fresh, quality ingredients, but the queso was amazing. definitely my favorite part of the meal.

cypress grill

austin, tx

website

y+a+n finally arrived in austin, so we all went out for dinner. after all of the doughnuts, we decided to move onto something with a little more substance. still deep-fried, though, it is texas after all. jinny and kurt are excellent tour guides - we simply select a cuisine and they find us a restaurant with great food and atmosphere. at cypress grill i ordered the fried oysters, served with fries. pretty solid food.

kc donuts

austin, tx

link to yelp

you might think that getting a freshly fried doughnut topped with bacon and maple syrup icing would satisfy our doughnut cravings for at least 24 hours. you would be wrong. the next morning, jinny and i headed to the very popular kc donuts for doughnuts and kolaches. completely unassuming, tucked away in a strip mall, no fancy chalkboard menu, and no hipster decorations (ironic owls, anyone?). it's just a mom-and-pop (sometimes mom-and-son) shop. i ordered two doughnuts to go with my coffee - one sugar and one with chocolate icing - both delicious. nothing fancy about these doughnuts - they are simple, but perfect. fresh, soft, and with just the right amount of sweetness. yum.

gourdough's

austin, tx

website

believe it or not, we went to get doughnuts after eating at the hula hut. and not just any doughnuts. we went to gourdough's - a famous austin gourmet doughnut truck. it's located in one of the food truck parking lots which dot the austin landscape. (can we start doing that here in palo alto, please?) i ordered the flying pig - a freshly fried doughnut topped with several strips of bacon and maple syrup icing. the doughnut itself is the highlight for me, it's fried perfectly - crispy shell on the outside and soft and chewy on the inside. the toppings were a bit too intense for me, but still delicious.

hula hut

austin, tx

website

this place will always hold a special place in my heart because it is where jinny and kurt introduced me to QUESO. sure, i've had chile con queso at chevy's, but that doesn't count at all. in austin, queso is a magical molten concoction - creamy, cheesy, spicy. and its always served with freshly fried crispy tortilla chips. so good. jinny and kurt are queso experts - they know where to find the best queso in austin and hula hut is one of them. so good. did i say that already?

there was other food on the table as well. pictured is the texas-sized roasted chicken pipeline enchilada. no, that's not a typo. they really call it an enchilada. it's coated in "queso blanco" sauce which tasted like gravy. it was pretty good, but very heavy. frankly, at this point i was so full of queso it's a wonder i managed to take a single bite out of this behemoth. thankfully, jinny and kurt took me on a short tour of beautiful lake austin after dinner to walk off the meal. although perhaps it was so i could be ready to consume even more food. just wait till you see the rest of my austin eating tour ...

hong kong flower lounge

millbrae, ca

website

back to millbrae to drop stacey off at the airport. first, however, we stopped for dim sum. hong kong flower lounge was recommended to us by april and lennon - and they know good dim sum. this place gets very crowded very quickly - so its best to arrive shortly after they open - anytime between 10:00 am and 11:00 am is usually safe. otherwise you could end up waiting an hour for a table.

giant multi-level complex with carts, trays, and food stations. we don't bother with the food stations - we prefer the food to come to us. all the usual dim sum favorites are excellent here - shaomai, ham sui gok, congee, deep fried taro dumplings, turnip cakes, tofu skin rolls, and egg tarts. if you're a fan of ma la gou - malaysian yellow cake - be sure to special order it because it rarely shows up on the carts.

millbrae pancake house

millbrae, ca

website

stacey finally came to the bay area for a visit! we picked her and her friend up at the airport and headed directly to millbrae pancake house. okay, maybe not directly - our GPS decided to take us through san bruno first. anyway, we eventually arrived around 11 am and there was already a crowd lined up outside. we grabbed a number and waited about a half hour before our table was ready.

the restaurant is basically a huge diner with a giant menu of breakfast options. the chatty waitstaff refers to everyone as "dear" or "darling." it was very difficult to decide, so i just ordered everything - chili cheese omelette, side of hash browns, side of swedish pancakes, and biscuits and gravy for the table. the omelette was massive and delicious - chili had great spicy flavor. everyone at the table agreed that the swedish pancakes - crepes served with strawberry butter - were amazing. great food, great atmosphere, close to SFO - we'll definitely be back.

village pub

woodside, ca

website

like derek, our friend rajesh knows good burgers. he's been telling us to try the village pub burger ever since we moved to the south bay. our earlier attempts had failed, but derek made reservations for yet another anniversary dinner. (it's our first anniversary, we're allowed to have more than one celebratory meal, right?) so we got all dressed up and were ready to dine with the moneyed, hedge-fundy, venture-capitalisty elites that populate woodside. the average age of the village pub dining room was definitely up there, but i suppose derek and i are no spring chickens either.

despite the white tablecloths and formal atmosphere, service was incredibly friendly and gracious. the burger was not on the dinner menu, but we were allowed to order from the pub menu. i can't remember what appetizer i ordered but it probably involved caviar of some kind and was probably amazing. derek thought the village pub burger was delicious. i ordered the steak frites with bone marrow because i can't pass up anything with bone marrow. very very good - my only complaint is that they pre-sliced the meat and drenched it with sauce. i'm a grown woman, i can slice and sauce my own steak, thankyaverymuch.

ad hoc

yountville, ca

website

derek and i had just been to french laundry over new year's, so we decided to try its less expensive and less formal sister restaurant, ad hoc, for our anniversary dinner. ad hoc has a very casual atmosphere - waitstaff in jeans, loud classic rock/soul music, and no tablecloths on the tables. we were planning to order their famous fried chicken, but it turns out that it is only available on certain monday nights. instead, they had a set menu to be served family-style: a salad, an optional shrimp risotto, tri-tip steak, vegetable sides, a cheese course, and ice cream sundaes.

we weren't really in the mood for steak and the tri-tip was sadly overcooked. also, despite being served in a baking dish, it got cold quickly. the only highlight of the meal was all of the vegetables - incredibly fresh (from the french laundry garden, perhaps?) and well-prepared. the fennel, in particular, was amazing. derek was bewildered as to why i kept raving about the fennel, but it was seriously delicious. the sundaes were underwhelming - while the chocolate sauce was terrific, we didn't drive all the way up to yountville and make reservations weeks in advance to get ice cream sundaes for dessert. sigh.

lala's creamery

petaluma, ca

website

adorable little old-fashioned ice cream shop. when we walked by on the way to central market the night before, i made a mental note to check out lala's later. although it opened fairly recently, it has the old-timey soda shop feel that fits in perfectly with historic downtown petaluma. i ordered a sundae with tea & honey ice cream topped with hot fudge, whipped cream, chopped nuts, and a cherry. the ice cream was delicious - tasted like taiwanese milk tea but less sweet. definitely stop by if you're ever in petaluma.

yeti

glen ellen, ca

website

instead of visiting wineries, we decided to hike jack london state park just north of sonoma. it was cool to see the remains of jack london's ranch (apparently he was very interested in the science of farming). otherwise it was an ordinary hike in the forest. the map and guideposts, however, were vague and ambiguous -- we accidentally ended up at fern lake about a half mile outside of the state park boundaries. thankfully derek's iphone gps was still working and we managed to find our way back to the car.

we were very hungry after our little expedition and jack london village was just a short drive south of the park. because it was sunday afternoon, yeti was the only restaurant that was open and they were just about to close the kitchen. thankfully, the cooks graciously agreed to serve us. although the restaurant served both nepalese and indian cuisine, we went with our standard indian restaurant order - chicken tikka masala, saag paneer, and basmati rice. i'm not the best judge of indian food, especially when i'm starving, but i thought it was delicious - creamy, spicy, yum.

central market

petaluma, ca

website

why were we in petaluma? cheapest hotel in napa valley where i could use my starwood points. this is how a lot of our travel decisions are made. anyway, it was fortunate because otherwise we would have never found this amazing restaurant - central market. awesome food, awesome atmosphere. i love restaurants where the chef and waitstaff are clearly excited about the food and wine that they're serving. they were out of tables when we arrived, so they sat us in the corner booth next to two large windows. it was super comfy with big pillows and we had a great vantage point to observe the nightlife in petaluma (it's quiet).

our waitress was fantastic - she recommended excellent wines for us and steered us toward great options on the menu. best appetizer that i've had in a long long time - fresh mozzarella served with arugula and crostini slathered with artichoke tapenade. the fact that i still remember all of the ingredients in the appetizer demonstrates how good it was. derek had an amazing smoked fish as an entree - i think it was rainbow trout. dessert was a rustic strawberry pie - clearly homemade. so good. worth driving up to petaluma for, imho.

napa valley burger

sausalito, ca

website

because of our work schedules, derek and i were too nervous to book any flights for our first anniversary in case we had to cancel. instead, we decided that if we had time to get out of palo alto, we would just drive up to napa valley and maybe even do some wine tasting. luckily, our work schedules freed up and we had the whole weekend free. on our leisurely drive up to petaluma, we decided to stop by sausalito to look for milk chocolate and macademia nut cookies.

instead of cookies, we found a cute town, beautiful scenery, and a lot of tourists on bikes. derek (surprise, surprise) wanted a burger, so we decided to try the napa valley burger company. derek's burger was pretty good. i really enjoyed my chili - nice and spicy. the cheesy tater tots were good, but cheesy tater tots are always good. next time i want to try hamburgers sausalito - we walked by and there was a line out the door, which is usually a good sign.

cafe tiramisu

san francisco, ca

website

derek and i happened to be working in our respective SF offices one day and we decided to have dinner in the city before heading back to the south bay. belden place is a narrow alley near the office with a line of restaurants and outdoor seating. supposedly it's reminiscent of european outdoor dining -- it reminds me of little italy in new york and post alley in seattle. we walked through the alley, glanced at the menus for each of the restaurants, and decided on italian food at cafe tiramisu.

pictured is my appetizer - black ink risotto with pan seared scallops and lobster bisque. the scallops were perfectly cooked, buttery, and delicious. the risotto and lobster sauce matched the scallops well - with just a slight hint of the sea. my entree, however, was less successful - spaghetti with clams and uni. the uni, unfortunately, was not fresh and tasted a little funky. both a hit and a miss - we'll probably try another belden place restaurant next time.

umami burger

san francisco, ca

website

i've wanted an umami burger ever since giada de laurentiis described it as her hometown favorite on the "best thing i ever ate" (video) two years ago. i love umami flavors. i love burgers. it sounded perfect. except it was located in los angeles. but last year, umami burger opened a san francisco outpost, appropriately located in the cow hollow neighborhood. vibe is extremely casual, the waitstaff seems genuinely enthused about the food they serve, and the menu is one of those menus where i just want to order everything on it.

i chose the famous umami burger - shiitake mushroom, caramelized onions, roasted tomato, parmesan crisp, and housemade umami ketchup. (that's the parmesan crisp sticking out in the picture). if you're a fan of sweet & salty - this is the burger for you. incredibly rich flavor - definitely hits all of the umami notes but the sweetness was almost too much. but i would happily eat this burger again. and again. the truffled beet salad was fantastic (i would put that truffled ricotta on everything). derek ordered the manly burger - beer-cheddar cheese, smoked-salt onion strings, and bacon lardons. excellent. there's a nice beer and wine selection and humphry slocombe ice cream sandwiches for dessert. amazing. if only it wasn't so far away from my apartment - i hope they open a south bay location next!

yucca de lac

palo alto, ca

website

the stanford shopping mall is just one of those places where palo alto people tend to congregate. the mall, the dish, university ave, california ave, that's about it for palo alto hot spots. so we really shouldn't have been surprised when we ran into m+s there, the day after eating dinner with them at madera. palo alto is a small world.

yucca de lac has a very modern exterior with an appealing patio area - bright & sunny with comfortable-looking lounge chairs. according to its website and the description on the menu, it's a popular hong kong eatery. i've never heard of it before and after eating here, i can't imagine that it's actually popular in hong kong. it's basically expensive healthy-ish chinese food. my fried rice was decent but bland, hot & sour soup was pretty good but over-priced. there's a tiny chance that derek and i will eat there again if we're stuck at the mall and want to sit on a comfy lounge chair while drinking cocktails, but this is not a destination restaurant by any stretch of the imagination.

madera

palo alto, ca

website

madera is now one of our favorite special occasion restaurants in the area, right up there with evvia. it's a favorite restaurant (also hotel/spa) for the venture-capitalist/hedge-fund/dot-com/silicon-valley types. not that derek or i fit into any of those categories, but we know good food when we taste it. we've been here twice already in the last few months - once to introduce m+s to silicon valley (they recently moved from berkeley) and again when derek's parents visited. it's a beautiful location - sit outside for dinner if it's not too chilly and you'll have a gorgeous view of the sun setting behind the mist covering the distant hills.

my favorite dish here is the appropriately titled "rich & salty" - which consists of three split bones with roasted bone marrow topped with osetra caviar. yes. bone marrow topped with caviar. i know! the toast points on the side were underwhelming - bland, thin, and too crunchy. i wish they would serve a proper toast accompaniment - like the crispy bread with garlic, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar at casa mono. but i'm just being picky. the rest of the food at madera was good, but everything paled in comparison to the rich, fatty, salty goodness of this simple yet extravagant appetizer.

sundance the steakhouse

palo alto, ca

website

even though we're in sunny, laid-back palo alto, the interior of this restaurant reminds me of old-school new york steakhouses like wolfgang's, spark's, or smith & wollensky. except in palo alto, you're more likely to run into a venture capitalist than a mob boss. nevertheless, it was an appropriate spot to take the summer interns out for lunch. one note - parking is annoying - a tiny lot with a weird one-way entrance/exit. i ended up parallel parking on el camino which was unpleasant for me (and probably for the drivers around me as well).

but onto the food -- an appetizer of raw oysters was perfect to share: light and refreshing, tasting just a hint of the sea. sundance is apparently known for their prime rib, which most of the guys at the table ordered. it seemed a bit much for lunch, so i ordered the french dip sandwich with au jus. the prime rib meat inside was pretty good - rich and flavorful, but the bread was boring and didn't complement the meat. i was quite jealous of the juicy looking prime rib slabs on everyone else's plates. next time, definitely ordering that instead.

main street burgers

los gatos, ca

website

derek discovered this spot while he was driving back from some firm retreat in the south bay. he saw the advertisement for "invent your own" ice cream sandwiches and knew that he had to take me here. derek ordered a massive burger with bacon and melted cheddar on an egg bun. the burger was pretty good, but nothing amazing. the egg bun is buttery and rich, which might be good on its own, but it ended up making the greasy burger taste even heavier. i enjoyed the mushroom swiss burger (with truffled mayonnaise), but mostly because of the mushrooms and truffle flavor.

for the ice cream sandwich, you can choose either graham cracker cookies or brownie cookies and fill it with any of their excellent ice creams. i went with graham cracker cookies and rocky road ice cream for a s'mores effect. they have a special machine that hard-freezes the ice cream before its placed between the soft, chewy cookies. makes a perfectly frozen and non-drippy ice cream sandwich. amazing. we went again a few weeks later with derek's parents: ordered burgers, walked through downtown los gatos to burn off the burgers, and came back for ice cream sandwiches. delicious and perfect for a hot summer day.

tortilla jo's

anaheim, ca

website

what does one do after graduating medical school? go to disneyland, of course. we left pasadena and drove down to our anaheim hotel (which took FOREVER, by the way, i don't know how angelenos survive in this metropolis of freeways and gridlock). that evening, we decided to check out downtown disney (an outdoor mall right outside the main gates) to prep for the next day's disneyland adventure (the niece needed a new minnie mouse dress and a snow white lego set).

lots of food options in the mall, but all of them were extremely crowded. i left my cell phone number with tortilla jo's and received a text about a half hour later when a table became available. honestly, i wasn't expecting much for a restaurant that's clearly geared toward tourists, but the food was pretty good. fresh chips, excellent spicy salsa. i can't remember what i ordered - possibly the chile relleno and an enchilada - but i remember being pleasantly surprised with the quality.

porto alegre brazilian steakhouse

pasadena, ca

website

my brother had just had his medical school graduation ceremony at the pasadena civic auditorium. mom, dad, aunt tina, amanda, cindy, my niece, and i were all waiting outside, pondering where to take the newly minted doctor out for a celebratory lunch. well, my niece was doing less pondering and more singing and dancing. i really wanted to go to koreatown for my favorite korean bbq but it was too far and there were too many of us to make that happen.

glancing across the street, we noticed that the shopping mall had a churrascaria on the top floor. a quick check on yelp confirmed that it was decent and my sister called to make lunch reservations. i really don't know how we survived before iphones. anyway, to cut to the chase, the buffet portion of the churrascaria wasn't great. the gougeres were okay, but everything else was boring. what was great, however, was the meat - the sirloin and skirt steak were my favorites. perfectly cooked with just the right amount of char. the photographed piece doesn't look very good, but i forgot to take a picture of the good stuff. sorry.

bread winners

dallas, tx

website

derek and i were in dallas for two days to celebrate c+j's wedding. took the opportunity to see some friends who were nearby - eric, tony, and kate. tony and kate recommended bread winners for sunday brunch and eric graciously headed there early to wait for a table. clearly a very popular spot - there was a crowd waiting outside and an intercom system announcing seatings.

man, i love eating in texas. i didn't take a picture of everything we ordered but trust me, everything was texas-sized. to start, the table shared a giant cinnamon roll and a sticky caramel pecan roll. for my entree, i ordered biscuits and gravy with a side of sausages. heavy, but good. pictured is derek's chicken fried steak topped with sausage gravy. the brunch cocktails were a little too sweet for my tastes (i ordered the frozen cherry limeade), but the food was excellent.

bi-rite creamery

san francisco, ca

website

jinny and i drove by the beach at half moon bay but it looked too chilly to get out of the car. instead, we drove up to san francisco for ice cream. probably not the smartest decision, but it made sense at the time. san francisco was freezing and jinny and i were shivering as we waited in the long line outside the bi-rite creamery near delores park. thankfully when we made it to the front of the line, a table had opened up inside and we could eat our ice cream in relative warmth.

bi-rite is famous for its ice cream sundaes and is frequently featured on those various what-to-eat-in-sf shows on the food network and travel channel. jinny and i shared a sam's sundae (chocolate ice cream with bergamot olive oil, maldon sea salt and whipped cream) and a sundae with honey and strawberries (if i remember correctly). both were pretty good, but probably not worth waiting in line for when it's cold and windy in san francisco. i think i'll stick with rick's down here in the south bay, where it's warm.

half moon bay bakery

half moon bay, ca

link to yelp

hello again. so work has been busy. it's still busy, but i'm going to take my lunch hour today to try to catch up on some posts. the fabulous jinny was visiting the bay area about a month or two or three ago. when jinny and i hang out, we generally go wherever the wind blows us. on a whim, we decided to head up to half moon bay, famous day-trip destination for bay area residents.

we had no itinerary but followed the signs from 101-north toward half moon bay, then decided followed the signs to "downtown" and "main street." ended up parking on main street and finding a cute bakery, aptly named "half moon bay bakery." i can't remember what my baked good was called, but it was basically a holeless donut, filled with custard and topped with chocolate. amazing. jinny and i sat on the bench outside while we devoured our treats - pretty sure about 3 people walking by saw us eating and decided to check out the bakery.

bangkok spoon

mountain view, ca

link to yelp

this is one of derek's favorite lunch spots near the office. he ordered the pad kee mow and i ordered the pad see ew. he he enjoys the thinner longer noodles that they use here, although i prefer thicker rice noodles, similar to ho fun in chinese restaurants. decor was very nice, prices were good, service was friendly and speedy. food was decent, although derek's was a little bit better because it was spicy. my tofu had a little bit of a char on it which i liked but others might not. overall, not a destination restaurant, but a good spot for some noodles if you're in the area.

tokyo express

san francisco, ca

website

a few co-workers and i walked across the street from our san francisco offices and found tokyo express. it's a little confusing at first because there are numbered cards sitting on empty tables. however, when you order at the register in the back of the restaurant, you can tell them which table you want and the number sitting on that table. when your food is ready, they'll bring it to your table. very fast and efficient service -- this is clearly a lunch spot catered to busy professionals. my pork katsu was pretty good, although they relied on bottled tonkatsu sauce that was a bit too tangy. it's a good spot if you've got a group of 4 people and don't want to wait for a table elsewhere.

juban

menlo park, ca

website

miracle of miracles, derek and i were both leaving the office before 7 pm. we decided to celebrate by going out to dinner. and we decided since we had so much time on our hands, we should drive over to menlo park and check out a restaurant downtown (downtown of course being a single street with a handful of restaurants and shops). juban is japanese-style korean bbq, if that makes any sense. it's similar to gyu-kaku in new york city. the meat is prepared in a soy sauce-based marinade and is usually cut to be more aesthetically pleasing than you would find in a typical korean bbq spot.

the meat was very good and it was fun to cook it ourselves at our table. unfortunately the meal was missing the banchan dishes that you usually get with korean bbq and they even made us pay extra for the kimchi. we did, however, get an excellent bowl of oxtail soup - a warm and comforting broth, filled with rice and oxtail. since you do all of the cooking at your table, this is a very efficient place to eat - it took us about a half hour from getting seated to getting our check. a pretty good option for japanese bbq in the south bay.

pampas

palo alto, ca

website

this is a favorite special occasion spot for derek and myself. peak times require a reservation, but we prefer to dine early when it's less crowded and everything is fresh. it's a churrascaria, similar to churrascaria plataforma in nyc - a set price for all-you-can-eat. they give you a disc that is green on one side, red on the other. flip it to red while you check out the salad bar (my favorites are the marinated mushrooms and the coconut couscous). flip it to green for servers to come by and slice you a piece of meat. my favorites are the top sirloin, the skirt steak, and the tri-tip. they also bring around filet mignon, lamb, spicy chicken, housemade chorizo, and grilled pineapple.

one of their tricks to keep you from eating too much expensive meat is to put really good sides on your table - gougeres, fried polenta, and fried bananas. the gougeres are amazing, especially fresh out of the oven. pacing yourself is key when you eat here - it helps to order a good bottle of red wine. we like the napa cabernet sauvignon from their wine list. flip the disc to red, take a wine break, maybe even a little conversation with your dining companion, then flip it back to green for more meat.

hobee's

palo alto, ca

website

hobee's is a chain of restaurants in the bay area. looks like a shari's-type family restaurant and we thought it would be a good place for brunch. clearly they are famous for their blueberry coffee cake - we saw everyone order the blueberry coffee cake and they even sell it at the front desk. breaking one of our cardinal rules (order what everyone else is ordering), we got the peach walnut coffee cake (pictured). it was okay - a little dry, very light, but could have used more peaches.

for our entrees, we each ordered the hash browns with various toppings. mine was topped with cheese, mushrooms, and onions. derek's was topped with chicken apple sausage, green peppers, tomato-basil sauce, and cheese. we were really hoping for the shredded-style hash browns like the ones they serve at joanie's. no such luck, they ended up being small wedges of potatoes. not a fan. it seemed like a popular spot, but derek and i really should know better than to stray from our favorite brunch spot, joanie's.

chairman bao

sf bay area, ca

link to twitter

i've seen this food truck featured on numerous tv shows and in numerous magazine articles, but it's usually parked up north, in san francisco. i was thrilled to find out last week that it would actually be parked right outside my office building in palo alto. it's so much easier when good food comes to me rather than vice versa. their menu has steamed buns, which are small white mantao pockets (pictured on the right). the menu also offers baked buns, which are much larger (as you can see on the left).

not that you can tell from my blog, but i'm trying to eat a little healthier. when faced with chairman bao's amazing menu, i decided to order the steamed bun with pork belly (smaller portion of pork belly) and the baked bun with tofu (larger portion of healthy tofu). what i actually received was a steamed bun with spicy chicken and a massive baked bun with ridiculous amounts of pork belly. i did not discover this discrepancy until i had already walked the 20 yards back to my office. clearly too far to turn back, right? the pork belly was crispy and fatty, the baked bun was slightly sweet, and the pickled radish balanced the flavors - very very good. i hope they come back.

ppq dungeness island

san francisco, ca

link to yelp

crabs prepared asian-style - perfect for large parties to share. but parking is a nightmare. we spent 40 mins circling and ended up half a mile away from the restaurant. seriously, if we weren't there to see j+j visiting from nyc, we might have just headed back home. otherwise, it was a great spot for j+j to meet up with their many sf friends. the $40/crab matches what we used to pay for fatty crab in nyc, but the set menus for larger groups provide better value.

our table shared 3 crabs and a few side dishes, including excellent garlic noodles. we had black pepper crab, roasted crab, and spicy crab. the roasted crab was definitely the best for me - deep fried and infused with garlic. others preferred the spicy crab. i didn't actually eat a lot of crab - i prefer the main shell over the legs (too much work). but i really enjoyed the dessert - fried bananas with mango ice cream. everyone else was too full from crab to eat the dessert - which just meant more for me.

L&L hawaiian barbecue

palo alto, ca

website

i'm surprised i haven't blogged L&L's yet because derek and i frequently eat at their many locations in the bay area. my favorite entree is the kahlua pork with cabbage + side of rice + side of macaroni salad. the macaroni salad is addictive. the portions can be pretty large, but they offer a mini version, which is a good size for lunch.

after running some errands, derek and i were hungry and needed a snack before dinner. we decided to stop by L&L's on our way up to san francisco. we ordered the spam musubi which has grilled spam, rice, and teriyaki sauce wrapped in nori (dried seaweed paper). delicious. and of course we also ordered a side of macaroni salad. a perfect snack.

kirk's steakburgers

palo alto, ca

website

the picture of the giant steakburger, stuffed with toppings, dripping with sauce, outside the restaurant was too appealing for derek and i to pass up. while the topping bar is cool, the burger itself was dry and tasteless. i didn't even finish mine. what i did finish, however, were the chili cheese fries. the chili had great flavor and nice chunks of beef. the cheese was well-melted. the onions were tasty. but i doubt we'll be back just for the chili cheese fries.

rick's ice cream

palo alto, ca

website

slowly but surely, derek and i are discovering all of the little hidden gems in the south bay. rick's ice cream is definitely one of them. tucked away in a little strip mall (as everything in california tends to be), there's a little ice cream shop serving incredible small-batch ice cream. my mocha almond fudge tasted of strong coffee, rich chocolate, and had tons of almonds. there's so many other flavors i want to try - salty caramel, sideways (cabernet flavored!), rocky road, computer chip, chocolate brownies, black raspberry crunch ... i'm sure we'll get to them all eventually.

pho vi hoa

los altos, ca

website

this is a real pho restaurant, as opposed to madame tam, which is a vietnamese-ish restaurant that happens to serve pho. so of course there are going to be some things that the real pho restaurant does better: (1) better fattier beef, (2) selection of pho - i can choose a bowl that has tripe, tendon, and all these weird chewy bits, and (3) price.

the real pho restaurant also serves an excellent fresh lemonade - a little sweet for derek's tastes, but perfect for mine. but what was missing from the real pho restaurant, however, was the flavor of the broth. it was good at pho vi hoa, but i think madame tam, surprisingly, has a richer and more flavorful broth. so, pho vi hoa for the meat and madame tam for the broth. hmmm.

pamplemousse

redwood city, ca

website

never had a canele before, not entirely sure how to pronounce it, but it looked delicious. waiting for derek to get his hair cut, i decided to hang out at a cute little french bakery on broadway. the display case beckoned with beautiful little macarons and lots of pretty cakes. the canele was delicious - caramelized sugar at the bottom, moist cake in the middle. eggy and rich. yum.

txoko

san francisco, ca

website

california is going to ban foie gras beginning in july 2012. i don't actually like foie gras, but it shouldn't be banned. based on all 3 articles i've read on this issue, i believe there are humane ways to make foie gras. also, i'm generally a fan of allowing individuals to make informed choices about their ethical obligations when it comes to food - over a certain baseline standard, of course. given that there are humane ways to make foie gras (the duck/goose doesn't seem to be in any discomfort or pain), i don't think that baseline standard is met.

okay, what does that have to do with txoko? april is on a quest to try all of the great foie gras dishes in the city before the ban begins. while i'm not a fan of foie gras itself, i'm a fan of restaurants that serve foie gras, so derek and i joined april and lennon at txoko for dinner in the city. april enjoyed her foie gras appetizer and did a full write-up on her blog. derek and i shared the massive rib-eye which was very juicy and fatty. i started with an amazing green garlic soup - creamy, garlicky, and delicious.

tenfu chinese restaurant

menlo park, ca

website

this chinese restaurant is within walking distance of our car wash spot. wash and wax is just enough time for us to walk to tenfu, eat lunch, and walk back. the restaurant gave us the english-language menu, but we noticed that the other table had the chinese-language menu. the english menu said "beef stew noodle soup," but thankfully it turned out to be normal beef noodle soup.

and it was surprisingly good - rich beefy broth, chewy dense noodles, and solid chunks of beef. i wasn't expecting a place so convenient to have such good food, but we'll definitely be back for the noodle soup. we were in such a hurry, i forgot to take a picture until i had slurped down all of my noodles. well, that's what the empty bowl looks like.

bar agricole

san francisco, ca

website

vanita found this great space for the gang to get together for dinner. it's a beautiful restaurant with wood panels, high ceilings, and a cool atmosphere. originally they were going to place us in the back of the restaurant, which was dark and depressing. instead, we waited an extra half hour and got a better table in the front of the restaurant (vanita, rajesh, and i had to wait for the rest of the gang anyway). next time we'll know to request a front table.

waiting gave us the opportunity to explore their cocktail menu. i had a planter's punch - white agricole rum, lime, grapefruit, and bitters. then a rye gin old fashioned - rye gin, gum syrup, bitters, and two zests. both were excellent, although the old fashioned was quite strong. then i think i had another planter's punch. the rest of the night is a little fuzzy - the anchovies i started with were okay, but needed bread. (what kind of restaurant doesn't give a bread basket?) i ordered an entree too, but i can't quite remember what it was.

sorabol

san francisco, ca

website

after breakfast at the ferry building i walked over to union square to do some shopping. having learned my lesson from my last visit to the westfield shopping center, i went back to tina's food court recommendation - korean food at sorabol. i'm pretty sure they cook the bulgogi in butter. according to jinny, that's how real koreans cook, anyway.

in an attempt to be healthy, i decided to add some spicy tofu, which was good but uninteresting. next time i'll just get extra bulgogi. the kimchee is free - grab a few containers when you get to the end of the line. good flavor to the kimchee, it adds the right amount of acidity to match the buttery bulgogi. there's probably better korean food in the city somewhere else, but sorabol is a great option if you get hungry while shopping.

blue bottle coffee

san francisco, ca

website

the day after the exam, i decided to wander the streets of san francisco by myself. i started the day at the ferry building for breakfast. there were so many choices - do i get a cute little cupcake from miette, a meat cone from boccalone, or a roll from acme bread company? i decided to try blue bottle coffee to see what all of the hype is about. each cup of drip coffee is individually brewed, but thankfully i ordered a rosemary-studded olive oil shortbread cookie to munch on while i waited for that process. and it really is a process - there's a contraption with a row of coffee cups and coffee filters filled with coffee just above them. a woman with a teapot of hot water pours a little bit into the filters, watches them, pours a little bit more, watches them again, repeat.

18 minutes from entering the line to getting my coffee (although the line was even longer by the time my drink was ready). it was $3.75 for a drip coffee with foamy steamed milk swirled into a pleasant design. this is special occasion coffee - making this a daily habit might dent both your wallet and your patience. but i had the time and the funds, so i enjoyed sitting at the blue-bottle-customers-only counter, sipping my exceptionally aromatic coffee while watching the comings and goings of the ferry building.

b restaurant & bar

oakland, ca

website

b restaurant had that upscale farm-to-table rustic look that usually indicates good food and good drinks. my drink was called "high hopes" (which i thought was good to have before the final day of my exam) with gin, benedictine, grapefruit, and lime. don't worry, i was still able to study after one cocktail. derek's cocktail, called "love on" tasted like a mix of cough syrup and lotion. bad.

the tables were turned when it came to the food. i ordered the fish, served on saffron risotto with squid ink and oyster buerre blanc. sounds delightfully fishy, doesn't it? it wasn't. it was bland. derek, however, really enjoyed his housemade fettucine with rainbow swiss chard, garlic, peas, cranberry beans, and pecorino. we shared the excellent caesar salad with amazing housemade croutons and white spanish anchovies. for dessert, the pecan tart with bourbon whipped cream was delicious. overall, it was kind of hit-or-miss, but the hits were very good.

cock-a-doodle cafe

oakland, ca

website

i haven't lived in the bay area for very long so all i know about oakland is what i see on the local news and it usually involves protestors and/or violence. i had to take my exam in oakland so i was stuck there for a few days. turns out, there's this very charming and hipster-ish hood called "old oakland" near downtown. that's where i found cock-a-doodle cafe.

the cafe was nearly empty at 11 am on a wednesday, it was just me and one other person who was clearly studying for the same exam. service was very friendly and it was a perfect spot for breakfast. excellent iced tea, served with giant wedges of lemon. the chicken-apple scramble was amazing - chicken-apple sausage, mushrooms, mozzarella, spinach, grilled onions, and roasted pepper. the biscuit was a little dry, but their homemade blueberry jam covered any and all imperfections. delicious.

indochine

palo alto, ca

website

derek and i like to be able to walk to restaurants. now that we no longer live on university avenue, we have fewer walkable choices. indochine is one of them. it offers thai & vietnamese cuisine. i'm always wary when a restaurant offers more than one cuisine - it usually means that they don't do either well. but we've ordered takeout from here a few times and they make a pretty good pad see ew with tofu.

one night, i was craving pho and we decided to walk over and try indochine in person. the pho was not good. the meat had clearly been cooked (and over-cooked) before it was added to the soup (real pho should have sliced raw beef placed in the soup just as you're about to dig in - the beef cooks in the hot soup). the broth was bland. very disappointing. we'll still get pad see ew here, but we'll trek over to madame tam on university when we want pho.

la bodeguita del medio

palo alto, ca

website

this is one of my favorite lunch spots on california avenue. lovely ambiance, white tablecloths, and excellent iced tea. it takes a little bit longer than some of the other spots nearby so my co-workers and i come here only if we have the time to spare. we always ask for their bread because they serve it with an amazing chili oil - so good. i get the fish sandwich - similar in appearance to a filet-o-fish, but its actually delicious. crispy flaky fish filet topped with tartar sauce in a soft bun.

so i had high expectations when i brought derek here for dinner. the prices are quite a bit higher in the evening and they don't offer the fish sandwich. sticking with the fish theme, i ordered a white fish they had on special. a little bland, unfortunately. derek's dish, however, was excellent - the ropa vieja - shredded skirt steak in a rich and buttery sauce served with delicious plantains. well, now i know what to order if i come back for dinner.

so gong dong tofu house

palo alto, ca

link to yelp

the volvo ended up requiring overnight repairs so i was stranded. derek left work to pick me up and we decided to grab a meal nearby at so gong dong tofu house. i had been there before when we first moved from new york and i remember having a very disappointing bibimbap.

well, i've either forgotten what good korean food tastes like or so gong dong tofu house just does a better job with their soon du bu (spicy tofu soup). my soup was quite tasty and derek actually enjoyed his kalbi. i need an real korean person to try this place out and let me know if my taste buds are still working.

alison bakery

palo alto, ca

website

the volvo needed a check-up, so i left the car at the volvo dealership and walked across the street to find a place to study for my exam. the giant starbucks looked like an obvious spot, but i noticed alison bakery right next to it. the glass display full of giant croissants, cakes, and cupcakes drew me in (we all know how mediocre starbucks' baked goods are). the bakery also had ample seating with a sunny interior, so it looked like an excellent place to study.

the proprietor was quite happy to see me walk in. this bakery recently opened and it must be difficult to get people out of their 'bucks habit. no espresso drinks but they have an excellent and cheap drip coffee. the proprietor mentioned that the banana muffins had just come out of the oven, so of course i ordered one of those. the muffin would have been good, but ordinary if it was cold. however, fresh out of the oven it was extraordinary -- crunchy on the outside, warm and moist on the inside. yum.

como esta taqueria

palo alto, ca

website

we were exploring our new neighborhood and were thrilled to find a taqueria hiding next to walgreen's. looked like a popular neighborhood spot with a colorful chalk menu and outdoor seating. what is interesting for this hole-in-the-wall spot is that they really care about the quality of the ingredients and they offer various healthy options (whole wheat tortilla, low carb burrito, etc.)

of course, we didn't actually choose any of the healthy options. derek ordered the tortilla soup and a carne asada burrito (both decent). i ordered what is possibly one of the best vegetarian burritos i've ever had - the chile relleno burrito. delicious - the chile was stuffed with gooey cheese and covered in an eggy batter. refried beans, rice, and lettuce were added, then wrapped in an soft, chewy tortilla. top it all off with some of their excellent housemade salsas and it is vegetarian perfection.