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

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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

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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

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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.

main street coffee

redwood city, ca

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now that derek and i live in california, we've become very familiar with the DMV. there's no DMV in palo alto, where we actually live, so we've made a couple of trips up to redwood city to visit the lovely DMV office there. since we had an early morning appointment, we decided to get some breakfast after the DMV but before heading into the office. derek did some yelp searching and found main street coffee, just off of main street in redwood city.

cute little coffee shop with some surprisingly substantial breakfasts. i had the yellow cornmeal buttermilk pancakes with a side of eggs. delicious. great coffee too. tons of baked goods, bagels, and other breakfast treats but we stuck with the griddled goods. will definitely have to come back to this coffee shop next time we have to go to the DMV.

imperial garden seafood restaurant

kent, wa

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derek's parents took us to dim sum in kent on our way to the sea-tac airport. imperial garden is one of my favorite dim sum places in the seattle area. it's a little bit of a drive from seattle, so we rarely go. but it's fresh, quality, and great variety. in addition to the standard dim sum fare, we ordered lobster over noodles.

the waiter plucked a giant lobster from the tank, brought it over to us to get our approval, and then off to the kitchen to meet its demise. shortly thereafter, we received the pictured plate. lobster was delicious, but i'm not very good at getting the meat out. which generally means entertainment for everyone as they watch me crack the poor lobster into bits and fling chunks of meat all over the table and myself. after a while, i just stuck with the noodles.

howie's artisan pizza

palo alto, ca

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finally, good thin-crust pizza! town & country village is a very posh strip mall (somewhere along the lines of seattle's u-village) with some excellent eats, like calafia. howie's serves a really good neapolitan style pizza. neapolitan means a thin, bendable, crust, hopefully with just the right amount of char and chew. i could have used a little bit more char on our pizza, but it's probably best to minimize the carcinogens.

howie's also has an excellent wine list with helpful descriptions of their wine. i'm really getting the hang of this wine + pizza thing. pictured are the spicy meatballs, which were good, but not actually spicy. do people in the south bay have an aversion of spice? i'm not sure what's going on here. i may have to start storing hot sauce in my purse.

sancho's taqueria

palo alto, ca

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derek loves this place. his favorite is the chimichanga, a giant deep-fried burrito. i'm less than thrilled about the cuisine. the salsas are out of this world fantastic, but i don't think a place should have to rely on condiments for flavor. the tortilla soup is a giant bowl of thick tomato sauce. the enchiladas are covered in a bland red sauce with bland refried beans.

it's incongruous that a place with a moustached skeleton in a sombrero as its logo has bland food. sigh. but it's close by, quick, not too expensive, and derek loves, so we've gone here a few times. i'm sure you're sensing a theme in my blog posts lately. geographical limitations. time constraints. going to the places with just decent food because of convenience. toto, we're not in manhattan anymore.

renzo

palo alto, ca

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i love linguine con vongole. i don't normally eat clams, but for some reason i love the scent of the sea that the clams add to this pasta dish. being doused in wine and butter probably doesn't hurt either. i don't make this dish at home. i'm not ready to confront live seafood or acknowledge the amount of butter that is required in this dish, so i prefer to order it from restaurants. one of my favorite things about renzo is the atmosphere. its not crowded, but the chatter from the bar keeps the dining room buzzing with a quiet energy. service is a little odd (a little over-the-top with the random italian words - bella, really?) and they can be a little pushy about getting the bill up to increase their tips. but i find that being polite and friendly when refusing can go a long way.

we've been here so many times already, i've figured out the tricks to getting a great meal. first of all, order alcohol. it makes you happy, it makes the waiter happy, which will improve the quality of the service. there's some strong drinks from the bar and that's always a lot of fun. second - get fresh dinner rolls. when the rolls are cold, they get a little mealy. when the rolls are overbaked, they're hard as rocks. (derek actually tried to crack one open by banging it against the table). but once when we got a fresh batch of steaming dinner rolls and they were perfect. third - know what to order. get the calamari. get the salads. get the pasta. linguine con vongole is great, but inconsistent. some days amazing, some days just good. both better than me cooking at home, though. solid food, easygoing atmosphere, reasonable prices. walking distance from the apartment. i think we're going to become regulars here.