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.

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.

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.