tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10893687737095316692024-03-08T08:34:24.199-08:00Candid FoodEvery piece of food has something to say.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger34125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1089368773709531669.post-40243302707252888032011-07-07T00:25:00.001-07:002011-07-07T00:29:09.942-07:00Spring Wave: Braised Pork with Deep Fried Stewed EggsI didn't have anything to do for lunch on Independence Day. When my friend Christine texted me that morning to see what I was doing before the BBQ I had at my friend's place later in the evening, I decided to hang out with her. Of course our definition of hanging out in San Gabriel is basically eat.<br />
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Spring Wave had a new owner, who was a friend of her boss. Christine had to pick up a to-go order for her boss, so we decided we may as well eat there out of convenience.<br />
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The owner happened to be in today because she forgot it was a holiday and was understaffed. She was kind to give us suggestions to eat. She eventually recommended me to try the Braised Pork with Deep Fried Stewed Eggs. This was a very Shanghainese dish, which I don't eat on a regular basis unlike my friend. So I said why not, let's give it a go.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; clear: both; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WwDtee23JEk/ThPySYd7acI/AAAAAAAAB20/_IlRPlkbC0E/s1600/braised-pork-and-deep-fried-boiled-egg.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #de1c1d; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: underline;"><img border="0" height="178" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WwDtee23JEk/ThPySYd7acI/AAAAAAAAB20/_IlRPlkbC0E/s320/braised-pork-and-deep-fried-boiled-egg.JPG" style="cursor: move; float: left; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 15px;" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; clear: both; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><i style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">(Braised Pork with Deep Fried Stewed Eggs - $9.95)</i></div><br />
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The pork was fatty pork, beautifully marinated and braised. Each piece was diced into small square chunks and the five layers of color of the pork were very clearly defined. The sauce as sweet. The little bits of chive garnishing gave what would be an all brown dish some brightness and color. The stewed eggs were deep fried and covered with the same sauce.<br />
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I'm not a big fan of sweet entrees, but fortunately the braised pork was well marinated and not overtly sweet. When eaten with white rice, the pork had just the right amount of flavors and a good balance between the fat and the meat. Certainly this is not the healthiest dish around, but it was the forth of July, and my system deserved a bit of indulgence.<br />
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I was good to only eat a few pieces of the pork since I knew I had a BBQ coming at night. I also only ate one egg since egg yolks are so high in cholesterol. The eggs had a slightly chewy skin from having been deep fried then braised with sauce. The marinate did penetrate the egg lightly and reached into the whites and even the yolk. I personally like my eggs just a tad bit more flavored on the inside, but the heavy sauce on the outside more than compensated in flavor for the inside.<br />
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It's really a dish I wouldn't mind having again, but only on special occasions if I happened to be around here. In the end there's no avoiding the fact that this is a heart attack on a plate. So once<strike style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">in a full moon</strike> a year, it's ok to indulge into so much fat and cholesterol.<br />
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Posted from my <a href="http://tastesgv.blogspot.com/">Taste SGV</a> BlogUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1089368773709531669.post-24220315640421076782011-05-19T01:01:00.000-07:002011-05-19T01:01:27.664-07:00An Institution Known As Sam WooFor as long as I have been living in San Gabriel, Sam Woo was here. It was never one of my favorite, but I never disliked anything they made. Perhaps it was the long lines from the hordes of people that hovers around the restaurant almost all the time, or perhaps it's the tight space the tables and chairs occupy. A few years back, maybe even more then ten years ago or so, Sam Woo opened a second store near my home. This one was far less crowded then the original. Somehow it also feels just a bit less desirable than the original.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-sL8Pg_yyb2w/TYFZCsRx3AI/AAAAAAAAB1Y/t_frDQxpsCs/s1600/duck-and-wonton-noodles.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-sL8Pg_yyb2w/TYFZCsRx3AI/AAAAAAAAB1Y/t_frDQxpsCs/s320/duck-and-wonton-noodles.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(Wonton and Duck Egg Noodle Soup)</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>Sam Woo to me is synonymous to wontons. If anything, I must give them credit to make the most authentic Hong Kong style wontons with a special dried fish ingredient. Without those itty bitty dried fish (daai dei jyu 大地魚) the wontons are just a clump of meat.<br />
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Of course Sam Woo also has one of the best siu lap (roasted poutry) around, as that really is their specialty. Their ducks are especially well made, nicely seasoned and perfectly roasted. The only problem is their soup and noodle tends to be a little bit on the salty side, especially when the already intensely flavored ducks are added.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-o6_bfUHYbME/TYFZIo4hTwI/AAAAAAAAB1c/InkVX2-XxAE/s1600/jelly-fish-with-shredded-pork.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-o6_bfUHYbME/TYFZIo4hTwI/AAAAAAAAB1c/InkVX2-XxAE/s320/jelly-fish-with-shredded-pork.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(Triple Shreds)</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>I don't actually remember the name for this dish at Sam Woo, at least not the English name. I don't recall there was actually an English name since it was on one of their special menus. It was my father who decided to order something different today. There were shreds of pork and veggies and seafood in a very nicely blended flavor that was very palatable when eaten with some rice. I'm a rice person, I eat everything with rice. The better the food is, the faster the rice goes in my family.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-mPISVnluUT4/TYFZOFj27KI/AAAAAAAAB1g/K-Np5jJ-Ldc/s1600/lemon-iced-tea.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-mPISVnluUT4/TYFZOFj27KI/AAAAAAAAB1g/K-Np5jJ-Ldc/s320/lemon-iced-tea.JPG" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(Lemon Iced Tea)</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>The Lemon Iced Tea in Sam Woo is definitely not up to par compared to most Cantonese cafes, mostly because Sam Woo really isn't a Cantonese cafe. It does have its own unique, but still rather light flavor. If you ended up ordering it with sugar, they tend to be over-the-top sweet, where it's almost like drinking syrup water. So I have to opt for the sugarless, which is actually what I prefer these days anyways. They have their own house blend of tea which I personally find not strong enough.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-GNvIosGhX_g/TYFZU_FlJyI/AAAAAAAAB1k/uTEmlsyk6Jg/s1600/satay-beef-rice.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-GNvIosGhX_g/TYFZU_FlJyI/AAAAAAAAB1k/uTEmlsyk6Jg/s320/satay-beef-rice.JPG" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(Pineapple Satay Beef with Rice)</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>I love Satay. I love Pineapple. Put the two together, it really should be my favorite dish. I just don't remember to order it as much as I like it, and I do like Sam Woo's version of this flavorful dish. The pineapple really contrast with the satay, giving it a nice sweetness to the saltiness. The bell peppers accentuate the sweetness even more while the satay really brings out the beef. Over rice, it's heaven.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-v5GuXnUzCL0/TYFZabAkO2I/AAAAAAAAB1o/heB3JX7pLAY/s1600/soup.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-v5GuXnUzCL0/TYFZabAkO2I/AAAAAAAAB1o/heB3JX7pLAY/s320/soup.JPG" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(Dried Vegetable Soup)</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>I'm not a big fan of Sam Woo for some odd reason. I think it's really the environment. I just don't feel relaxed. I feel rushed, and I sense the disconnect with the waiters. It almost reminds me of a street side restaurant in Hong Kong where I would literally sit down for ten minutes to gobble down a bowl of noodles and then be on my way. That really isn't what I'm looking for in a restaurant and I certainly don't want to dine at one that makes me feel this way. I suppose I could always just come back to Sam Woo for take out whenever I don't feel like cooking, and go elsewhere for a more laid back dinning experience.<br />
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xyzUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1089368773709531669.post-37943309522225710912011-03-17T19:44:00.000-07:002011-03-17T19:44:58.949-07:00An Alternative Hong Kong KitchenI have eaten my fair share of Hong Kong style cuisine. If there was such a thing as being a professional consumer of Hong Kong style cuisine, I would be it. But Hong Kong Kitchen in San Gabriel showed me there can still be some things up their sleeves that I have yet to try.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-md0DVevd9G4/TV2BItG65JI/AAAAAAAAB0s/f0sXHO5l1NA/s1600/zai-lo-mei-vegetarian.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-md0DVevd9G4/TV2BItG65JI/AAAAAAAAB0s/f0sXHO5l1NA/s320/zai-lo-mei-vegetarian.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(Vegetarian Jai Lo Mei Sampler)</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>Their signature dish Jai Lo Mei. I know it's nothing new, and that many Buddhist restaurants have served this dish for many years. But I rarely actually frequent those restaurants since my family's not Buddhist. Nevertheless, eating these marinated tofu skin was of a different, but appealing experience.<br />
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They came in four different flavors including tomato, curry and two others that I can't remember anymore. They were very juicy and each one had a distinct flavor. There were three of us so it was the perfect number since there were three of each flavor. Normally I get annoyed with restaurants serving three servings on a plate. I mean you have most of your tables seating four people, but you serve three on a plate. Those restaurants are just trying to force us to get another order, which would result in two left overs. Never mind that, today it did work out in our favor.<br />
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None of the flavors were actually very strong, just enough to be distinguishable, since the tofu skins themselves have a subtle taste to it. They were served slightly warm.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kiek39WhpAY/TV2ArjLlJ7I/AAAAAAAAB0c/YOhaaf0XATI/s1600/baked-pork-chop-rice.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kiek39WhpAY/TV2ArjLlJ7I/AAAAAAAAB0c/YOhaaf0XATI/s320/baked-pork-chop-rice.JPG" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(Baked Pork Chop Rice)</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>I'm a big fan of baked pork chop rice. They are generally served in a tomato paste over the pork chop and the rice. The pork chop themselves were actually really good. They were soft and easy to chew and very flavorful. The tomato sauce was ever so slightly on the sour side, but still a very good one. They used egg fried rice as the rice underneath, which gave the whole dish a wonderful aroma and the rice a nice grainy texture.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8OsnbuwtZgo/TV2AzF65akI/AAAAAAAAB0g/gOwleOd8NjU/s1600/dao-mui.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8OsnbuwtZgo/TV2AzF65akI/AAAAAAAAB0g/gOwleOd8NjU/s320/dao-mui.JPG" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(Stir Fried Vegetable)</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>I can't remember the English name of this vegetable. I have issues with names of vegetables because I learned half of them in Chinese and the other half in English. It's a bit problematic. For the longest time I thought the Chinese name for spinach is the Chinese name for broccoli. Never mind that though. This was a standard fried large dao miu. I would translate it to bean sprout, but I think that's wrong. It was slightly oily, but not to the point of being overbearing. It's good to have some veggies in my system these days.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yUcNgJ0dM8c/TV2A6g9r4nI/AAAAAAAAB0k/WKT_b3muhGk/s1600/dumplings.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yUcNgJ0dM8c/TV2A6g9r4nI/AAAAAAAAB0k/WKT_b3muhGk/s320/dumplings.JPG" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(Fried Dumplings)</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>I have to say I hate dumplings that are soaking in sauce. I don't like heavy sause, and I don't like heavy sour sauce. This dish was free, as a gift for spending twenty dollars today. But still, I am not a big fan of dumplings soaking in sauce. I want to taste the juice of the meat, and I prefer that restaurants let me decide how much of that sweet and sour sauce I want on my dumpling and not have that decision be made for me by them. Please, give me the sauce on the side next time. I'm a grown man. I know how to handle my sauces with care. Less is more. I do have to give them a little credit, the sauce wasn't completely unbearable. It was slightly over-powering, but given the fact that the dumplings were soaked in them, I was still able to taste the natural flavors of the insides of the dumplings.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-j5ciFwiQcz0/TV2BCYVFkLI/AAAAAAAAB0o/QRz2YnXCuxg/s1600/pumpkin-fried-rice.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-j5ciFwiQcz0/TV2BCYVFkLI/AAAAAAAAB0o/QRz2YnXCuxg/s320/pumpkin-fried-rice.JPG" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(Pumpkin Fried Rice)</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">I been to Hong Kong kitchen a few times before and I remember having a fried rice with pumpkin in it. I thought it was the pumpkin fried rice, but I think it was a different dish. I think it was the mixed grain pumpkin fried rice that I was thinking about. This pumpkin fried rice was your normal fried rice with some pumpkin in it. I'm not thrilled about the taste of this dish, as it was slightly on the bland side. But combined with the heavily sauced dumplings and the baked pork chop rice, this was a nice lighter and slightly healthier dish.</div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><br />
</div>Hong Kong kitchen is a departure from the standard Cantonese cafes in the area and is definitely a great alternative whenever I'm sick of having Cantonese cafes (which is hard for me to be). There are definitely some unique dishes here that's worth coming to you won't find anywhere else.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1089368773709531669.post-87336058740853733842011-03-16T01:30:00.000-07:002011-03-16T01:30:22.067-07:00Papa Walk Has More Than Shaved IceI have been to Papa Walk a few times before. I've always loved their shaved ice as dessert. But this time I ended up going for the actual meal. I did crave for their shaved ice, but since there were only two of us, we didn't order it. I had been eating a lot recently and I wanted to cut down a little.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MHrg0MLOEBQ/TV1_uyXn7uI/AAAAAAAAB0I/doxzRHScHOQ/s1600/beef-brisket-noodles.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MHrg0MLOEBQ/TV1_uyXn7uI/AAAAAAAAB0I/doxzRHScHOQ/s320/beef-brisket-noodles.JPG" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(Beef With Spinach Noodle Soup)</i></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-H99-Mi2VB_M/TV2AD6LIvmI/AAAAAAAAB0U/gRTdPf903Qc/s1600/spinach-noodles.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-H99-Mi2VB_M/TV2AD6LIvmI/AAAAAAAAB0U/gRTdPf903Qc/s320/spinach-noodles.JPG" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(Spinach Noodle)</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
I had tried a few of the Taiwanese dishes Papa Walk offered on their menu before. This time my dad went for the Taiwanese beef stew noodles, which contained spinach noodle instead of egg noodles. The soup was not overly heavy, which is to my liking. I don't like my food to be way too heavy and very often Taiwanese soups can be like that. The noodles were firm and chewy and was flavorful. Spinach noodles are supposedly healthier for you. I did enjoy them whether or not they are healthier for me. In fact I think I do prefer them over egg noodles, which I never liked to begin with.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jyFhAIp3rOw/TV1_2AtLONI/AAAAAAAAB0M/GTpszApEmZg/s1600/black-pepper-beef.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jyFhAIp3rOw/TV1_2AtLONI/AAAAAAAAB0M/GTpszApEmZg/s320/black-pepper-beef.JPG" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(Sizzling Beef with Rice)</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AHYY5WYJn4A/TV1_8DYuVzI/AAAAAAAAB0Q/6bbhrc5A1CU/s1600/rice-platter.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AHYY5WYJn4A/TV1_8DYuVzI/AAAAAAAAB0Q/6bbhrc5A1CU/s320/rice-platter.JPG" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(Rice & Veggies for the Sizzling Beef)</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>The sizzling beef however was a bit too oily and slightly sweet for my taste. I'm not a big fan of Taiwanese food mostly because of the enormous amounts of sugar they tend to use in their foods. It does taste good, there's no doubt, but then what food wouldn't taste good with excess amounts of oil and sugar in them. It was definitely not the healthiest thing I could have eaten. Once in a while I suppose is acceptable.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MtV_1IK3XJA/TV2ALHx70gI/AAAAAAAAB0Y/JCk9zP7AMBo/s1600/tea.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MtV_1IK3XJA/TV2ALHx70gI/AAAAAAAAB0Y/JCk9zP7AMBo/s320/tea.JPG" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(Tin Tea Pot)</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>I am old school when it comes to tea. Something about tea being served in these tin canisters just hits the right spot. I suppose a lot of this is just childhood nostalgia. Nevertheless the old school tea, despite it being very generic and boring tea, gives Papa Walk a street side dining feel indoors.<br />
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Papa Walk is hidden behind the stairways inside the Hilton Plaza. It's a bit hard to find if one wasn't really looking for it. But it has built its reputation mainly on their dessert. But the true gem of this place is really the fact that I felt slightly transported away from the cold hard feel of metropolitan Los Angeles, and back to a simpler times on the streets of Taiwan.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1089368773709531669.post-91133920620018846902011-02-15T16:53:00.000-08:002011-02-15T16:53:11.348-08:00Crazy Toppings With Crazy Pricing At Mulberry Street PizzeriaNew York or Chicago?<br />
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I had seen all those Travel Channel shows debating the merits of each style. Up until now, I hadn't given much of any thought since I never had real authentic New York or Chicago pizza. So when my friends suggested that we check out Mulberry Street Pizzeria, I jumped on this chance to try some supposedly very good New York style thin crust pizzas.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VF8MiGBXaII/TVWzvM1WWfI/AAAAAAAABz0/ENkf664g2yg/s1600/IMG_2374.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VF8MiGBXaII/TVWzvM1WWfI/AAAAAAAABz0/ENkf664g2yg/s320/IMG_2374.JPG" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(Lemon Iced Tea)</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>Like most of my meals, I had a cup of lemon iced tea to go with my food. Mulberry Street's tea was just your standard teabag type brew. There really wasn't anything special about it. It was at least flavorful and not watery and that's pretty much all I can ask for. There really wasn't any expectation there.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bvSf8F32UKM/TVWz0VyM4_I/AAAAAAAABz4/Z2CFQLYmAhE/s1600/IMG_2380.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bvSf8F32UKM/TVWz0VyM4_I/AAAAAAAABz4/Z2CFQLYmAhE/s320/IMG_2380.JPG" width="306" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(Half Eggplant Parmesan & White Spinach Pizza)</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>We had a pretty large group so we were able to share three pizzas with six different toppings, which gave me a great idea of what all the different toppings tasted like. I don't know too much about how authentic is this thin crust. A few of my friends started talking about whether they preferred thin crust or deep dish. A few of them had been to New York or lived in Chicago and know them first hand. I think I had come to the conclusion that sometimes I would like a soggy deep dish, while other times I would prefer a crunchy thin crust.<br />
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Mulberry Street's pizzas although are thin crust, are not very crunchy. It's closer to the chewy side. I don't have too much problems with it, I just would rather it be a little crunchier. The edges of the pizza were crunchy while the center was doughy. In fact I almost would prefer the flatbreads at Westside Tavern, which in essence is a thin crust pizza with a different name. Those were crunchy all the way through.<br />
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The toppings however I did enjoy tremendously. The eggplant tomato side of the pizza was excellent. I almost forgot that I was eating eggplant at all. They were very thinly sliced which was complimentary to the thin crust. The spinach white was good too, but personally I'm not a huge cheese person. The flavors were very strong inside my mouth making the pizza very juicy.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-orSKoZOHMqM/TVWz44TfpTI/AAAAAAAABz8/jpSTTqjINmI/s1600/IMG_2382.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-orSKoZOHMqM/TVWz44TfpTI/AAAAAAAABz8/jpSTTqjINmI/s320/IMG_2382.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(Half Pepperoni, Half Hawaiian Pizza)</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>The pepperoni was pretty much a pepperoni pizza. I don't think I would ever pay over twenty dollars for this pepperoni pizza. It may be on a thin crust, but it's not so amazing that I would pay this much more for it when I would be happy enough with a cheaper version. Perhaps I just don't care for pepperoni to begin with.<br />
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I love pineapples so I wanted to order the Hawaiian style. I suppose this is definitely not authentic to New York pizza since pineapple isn't a readily available ingredient up in the northeast. Just like the pepperoni, it wasn't something I would pay that much money for again. It was good, just not impressive for the cost.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WqUBQRRndQI/TVWz9he-6fI/AAAAAAAAB0A/6FTAEYIg8FA/s1600/IMG_2383.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WqUBQRRndQI/TVWz9he-6fI/AAAAAAAAB0A/6FTAEYIg8FA/s320/IMG_2383.JPG" width="319" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(Half Lasagna, Half Tomato & Artichoke Pizza)</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>We were still hungry after two pizzas so we ordered a third one to finish off lunch. The lasagna pizza really did taste like lasagna spread over the pizza dough. It kind of played tricks on my taste buds, confusing me with whether I was really eating a pizza or lasagna. I thought this was actually a very pleasant and fun experience on a subconscious level. I really did in fact enough this one, even though it wasn't the tastiest of the six toppings I had. It was the most interesting mentally speaking. I would go with the eggplant as the best flavored of the six.<br />
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The tomato and artichoke topping didn't do it for me. The artichoke was just too clunky for this pizza. It was hard to eat the artichoke with the pizza. When that big chunk of vegetable entered my mouth, it overwhelmed everything else. I felt like I was just chewing on a giant piece of artichoke rather than eating an artichoke pizza like the way the eggplant one was made. It was just too much.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1OT7BSUj4-E/TVW0EjjnxeI/AAAAAAAAB0E/QcbKLzCMlRo/s1600/IMG_2386.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1OT7BSUj4-E/TVW0EjjnxeI/AAAAAAAAB0E/QcbKLzCMlRo/s320/IMG_2386.JPG" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(Hello Kitty Exhaust Pipe)</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I think the only pizza I would ever pay this much money for back at Mulberry would be their eggplant. I did find some of their more interestingly toppings titillating to my tongue. It was a good novel experience, but not good enough to warrant the cost of a repeat experience for the most part. The crust of the pizza wasn't crispy enough for me. To top it off, it was a thirty-five minute drive for me. I would much rather go elsewhere for flatbread or thin crust type pizzas.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Lunch this day did end with me seeing a Hello Kitty exhaust pipe in the car parked in front of my car. An interesting sight after an interesting hour of pizza and friends.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1089368773709531669.post-25151039775541088472011-02-11T13:54:00.000-08:002011-02-11T13:54:49.431-08:00I'm Not Blind at Green IslandOne of my biggest pet peeves when it comes to restaurants is how they could serve the same thing at the same table at the same time but the two are not the same. I usually get pretty annoyed when I see another table get the same thing but their portion is bigger or better looking etc. But when it's for the same table, that's when it's beyond apprehension.<br />
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I was out with a new friend a couple weeks ago to the new Green Island at the new Atlantic Plaza in Monterey Park. I had enjoyed Green Island in Temple City before and was expecting to enjoy this new one. I did hear some mixed reviews on the quality of this place. One of the complaint before was that it was too salty. Nevertheless I wanted to give this a shot, mainly also because my new friend lived close to the new plaza.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3Wo9x5e0q-o/TVRhniyedxI/AAAAAAAABzQ/c9xxTnTCkQ8/s1600/IMG_2359.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3Wo9x5e0q-o/TVRhniyedxI/AAAAAAAABzQ/c9xxTnTCkQ8/s320/IMG_2359.JPG" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(Lemon Iced Tea Sans Sugar - First Order)</i></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-87SCTEmiWqM/TVRhsm2nwpI/AAAAAAAABzU/Tox0JFTW6f4/s1600/IMG_2360.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-87SCTEmiWqM/TVRhsm2nwpI/AAAAAAAABzU/Tox0JFTW6f4/s320/IMG_2360.JPG" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(Lemon Iced Tea Sans Sugar - Second Order)</i></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-B04iaJviJ3A/TVRhzKUB_UI/AAAAAAAABzY/2BotTaVJPmg/s1600/IMG_2361.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-B04iaJviJ3A/TVRhzKUB_UI/AAAAAAAABzY/2BotTaVJPmg/s320/IMG_2361.JPG" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(Lemon Iced Tea With Sugar)</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>As per usual, I ordered my cup of lemon iced tea sans sugar while my friend ordered it with sugar. When our drinks arrived, my cup of lemon iced tea looked significantly lighter in color than my friend's cup. I was already weary about the taste of it. When I took a sip of my tea, it was tasteless. It was basically brown water with lemon in it. There was absolutely no taste of tea in the drink. Generally I would probably just ignore it and drink what they gave me and be done with it. But since my friend's cup of tea was much darker, I didn't even need to taste his cup and knew I just got the bad brew at the end of a cycle. So I asked the waiter if they could get me another cup that actually had tea flavor, pointing to the fact that my friend's drink was significantly darker than mine.<br />
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So they took my drink back and brought me a new one also without sugar. This second cup was a lot darker than the first one. In fact it was even darker than my friend's cup and was very strong in tea flavor, to my liking. It was night and day. That second cup was definitely one of those early brews from a new batch. All of this led me to think how could a restaurant be so inconsistent with one of their most standard drink? Lemon iced tea is a stable to cafes, whether Cantonese or Taiwanese. Yet they can be so inconsistent that they can serve the same table three cups of tea in one sitting that had significant difference in color. A good cup of tea is a must for all cafes in this day and age, and to be this careless about it just showed how badly the drink bar is managed quite often at these restaurants.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dfAQGi8gGyo/TVRh531IFlI/AAAAAAAABzc/tgYO7JVlM2U/s1600/IMG_2362.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dfAQGi8gGyo/TVRh531IFlI/AAAAAAAABzc/tgYO7JVlM2U/s320/IMG_2362.JPG" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(Pork and Cabbage in a Stone Pot)</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>Besides the drink fiasco, we ordered two dishes. I had tried quite a bit of the food at the original location in Temple City. The flavors here seems to be quite consistent with the flavors at the other restaurant. A bit sweet and a bit oily. At least they were consistent with the actual food, a good sign that they really made sure the new chefs learned how to cook it the way they originally had it.<br />
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The Pork and Cabbage in a Stone Pot was rich in flavor. The marinate sauce penetrated into the pork itself as well as the cabbage. The heated stone pot kept the dish warm for a good while. Of course towards the end, the sauce became a bit heavy since they tend to sink to the bottom soaking whatever's left. There really wasn't all that much that could have been done about it. It was a bit on the oily and greasy side similar to what's found at the original restaurant. I didn't think it was actually necessary for it to be as oily as they made it in order to keep it attractive and tasty. I needed to start remembering to request restaurants to make my food with less oil, less sugar and no msg.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hfYQ1l2Tl2s/TVRiAk8oy7I/AAAAAAAABzg/1ltKUynsICs/s1600/IMG_2363.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hfYQ1l2Tl2s/TVRiAk8oy7I/AAAAAAAABzg/1ltKUynsICs/s320/IMG_2363.JPG" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(Eel Fried Rice - Serving)</i></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BGnw0zdXXfk/TVRiVb9HPQI/AAAAAAAABzs/2q-aCSwwwy8/s1600/IMG_2366.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BGnw0zdXXfk/TVRiVb9HPQI/AAAAAAAABzs/2q-aCSwwwy8/s320/IMG_2366.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(Eel Fried Rice)</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>The Eel Fried Rice was served in their metal sizzling plates held inside a wooden frame. Green Island was the first restaurant around the San Gabriel Valley that I had seen using this, though a few other restaurants had recently picked it up too. The Eel Fried Rice was tossed in front of us by the waiter. It really made no difference to me whether it was tossed on the spot or in the kitchen. It wasn't like Benihana where there was a lot of showmanship. There weren't a whole lot of flair and wasn't all that interesting to watch. It also didn't make the food taste any better as far as I can tell. I suppose it did change the beat of the dinning experience. Instead of the food being just tossed onto my table like at so many Chinese restaurants, the waiter was forced to actually spend a few seconds there serving. The actual fried rice was actually quite good and wasn't oily like the other dish. I could use a tad bit more eel in the dish. Still, it did make for a good balance between this dish and the oily pork and cabbage.<br />
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Despite the drink fiasco, the food was good and enjoyable. The environment was bright and clean, which I hope they can maintain after a year or two. The wait staff was actually very friendly compared to many other Asian restaurants around the area. Though like most other Asian restaurants where we don't have a specific waiter assigned to our table, they actually had a few waiters and waitresses roaming around the restaurant just to check up on the customers. I had been so used to seeing the wait staff standing in the corner watching TV, or hiding in the back to avoid going outside to work, this was actually refreshing. It was actually not difficult to find a waiter to ask for something. I almost missed having to eye down a waiter, then hunt them down to get a refill or something. This was definitely one of the better wait staff around, even better than the staff they had over at the original. Kudos to the manager of this restaurant.<br />
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So yes, I would definitely come back to Green Island simply because the waiters and waitresses were nice. But I am not blind and I do expect them to be way more consistent with their drinks in the future, at the very least in looks. However as long as there is a good staff to help me remedy the problems, I don't mind being served a drink that I had to ask for a replacement. I rather this than the other way around.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1089368773709531669.post-25720776052798744472011-02-10T14:04:00.000-08:002011-02-10T14:04:54.129-08:00I Can't Smell the Tofu at Young Dong TofuSomewhere along my life, I started to fall in love with tofu. All those childhood myths where we grow up to find things previously disgusting to us enjoyable are true. I love my tofu, whether firm or silky. Needless to say Korean tofu houses are on my frequently visited list of places to eat. Young Dong Tofu happened to be very close to my house, and it also happened to be pretty good.<br />
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On this day, I was originally going to just stay home and eat. But my vegetarian friend Ko was in the mood for some Korean tofu. Apparently everyone else she normally goes to eat tofu with is sick of eating tofu except me. So I happily obliged. Like most Korean tofu houses in the area, the menu's on the disposable paper placemats. We just split a combination order of BBQ Beef with Mushroom tofu.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TVHk7HfdUfI/AAAAAAAABy0/ZBOZCB-hjvo/s1600/kimchi-octopus.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TVHk7HfdUfI/AAAAAAAABy0/ZBOZCB-hjvo/s320/kimchi-octopus.JPG" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(Kimchi Octopus)</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>A huge part of my love for Korean tofu houses are their side dishes. No other cuisines would just throw a bunch of small little places of goodies on your table for no additional charge. Young Dong gave us their kimchi octopus, kimchi cucumbers, kimchi cabbage, sprouts, seaweed and green bean pancakes for free. I generally avoid the spicy stuff except the octopus tentacles. Something about those mushy and chewy strands of tentacles overcomes my fear of spiciness. Truth be told, the kimchi actually isn't overly spicy at Young Dong. A few small bites were actually manageable for me. Young dong mixes some vegetable strands along with the octopus.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TVHlCc7Q2OI/AAAAAAAABy4/NOGbGDy7xPM/s1600/kimchi-pickles.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TVHlCc7Q2OI/AAAAAAAABy4/NOGbGDy7xPM/s320/kimchi-pickles.JPG" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(Kimchi Cucumbers)</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Since I knew I was going to blog about this outing, I decided to at least take a sample of the other kimchi dishes on the table. The spiciness was again very tolerable if I only ate one or two. The cucumber slices were crunchy and fresh. The spiciness does actually help bring out the sweetness of the cucumber. I can see why people would love this. I just can't eat too much of it. I am very glad to have given this a try, cause I would actually take a slice or two from now on whenever I revisit Young Dong.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TVHlI_lKlMI/AAAAAAAABy8/G-zx7y173Zk/s1600/kimchi.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TVHlI_lKlMI/AAAAAAAABy8/G-zx7y173Zk/s320/kimchi.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(Kimchi Cabbage)</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div>I have never been a fan of kimchi cabbage. Unlike the cucumber, the spiciness doesn't bring out anything from within the cabbage. It's just plain spicy with a little crunch. It's just really not my thing. I suppose if all I had was this plate of kimchi cabbage, I would still be able to eat it. But every time I see something this red, it brings back memories of my younger days where my friends brought me to these super spicy restaurants where eating was just painful.</div><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TVHk0EWSHRI/AAAAAAAAByw/agmXBKbMAa4/s1600/green-bean-pancake.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TVHk0EWSHRI/AAAAAAAAByw/agmXBKbMAa4/s320/green-bean-pancake.JPG" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(Green Bean Pancakes)</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>I have always been a fan of the green bean pancakes. Generally speaking they are just slightly crispier than a western breakfast pancake. But today's green bean pancake was way more crunchier than usual which I found way more appealing. The crunchiness almost functioned like it was some dough goo that has been battered on the outside and deep fried. I don't think the pancake was deep fried, only pan fried with enough oil to make it a little crispier and crunchier than usual.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TVHlb2bJDVI/AAAAAAAABzI/YDG0GfdZIPA/s1600/seaweed.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TVHlb2bJDVI/AAAAAAAABzI/YDG0GfdZIPA/s320/seaweed.JPG" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(Seaweed)</i></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TVHlihD3OUI/AAAAAAAABzM/_My0V9Jiww8/s1600/sprouts.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TVHlihD3OUI/AAAAAAAABzM/_My0V9Jiww8/s320/sprouts.JPG" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(Sprouts)</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>I should come as no surprise that I love the seaweed and the sprouts. After all these are the two dishes that actually are not spicy. I do however much prefer the sprouts than the seaweed. Most Korean tofu houses' seaweeds that I had sampled tend to be too sweet. Young Dong's aren't overtly sweet, but it's there. Since the last couple of years I started becoming weary of all things sweet, I found it more and more difficult to eat a ton of seaweed. So I much rather chomp down on the sprouts.<br />
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I could just eat this dish of sprouts all day long. I can't recall one time where I didn't have to ask for more. It's fresh and crunchy yet still cooked in a broth thoroughly. It's light in flavor, chilled and easy to eat in bulk. If my meal just ended here, I would be one hundred percent satisfied. Fine, I'm over-exaggerating. The point is I just love the way Young Dong cooked their sprouts. I just need to figure out what they actually did so I can do it at home.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TVHlVcbiM8I/AAAAAAAABzE/dyXlM0vLW4Y/s320/rice.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="239" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(Stone Bowl Rice)</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>Young Dong like most Korean tofu houses around Los Angeles serve their rice in traditional stone bowls. The only problem with stone bowls in general that I have often experienced is peeling off the burnt rice sticking to the bowl. I enjoy a little bit of that every time, but it's always unpredictable how easy or difficult it would be to get the rice off. If only there was an iPhone app that would scan the bowl and tell me where the weak point of the rice sticking to the bowl is. Then life would be easy. Where is that easy button when I really need it.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TVHlVcbiM8I/AAAAAAAABzE/dyXlM0vLW4Y/s1600/rice.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TVHlPbNplnI/AAAAAAAABzA/9_fbNnqI4mc/s1600/mushroom-tofu.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TVHlPbNplnI/AAAAAAAABzA/9_fbNnqI4mc/s320/mushroom-tofu.JPG" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(Mushroom Tofu - Mild Spiciness)</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div>Finally the main course came. We've been having a great time with great conversation so far over the condiments. There is a raw egg we were given to crack and put right into the boiling bowl of tofu. This kept the egg from being overcooked if it was placed earlier. The egg whites blend very well with the tofu and I usually forget that there was an egg inside until I reached the egg yolk which I have never been a fan of. I am also a fan of mushrooms, but I have never found the mushrooms inside the mushroom tofu satisfying. This is mostly because there just isn't enough to really share. I don't mean this one time, I just mean in general. I need a lot of mushrooms to satisfy my taste buds. A few strands of golden needle mushrooms just won't cut it. That aside, the mild spiciness for the silky tofu was just perfect for me.</div><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TVHktCFn1UI/AAAAAAAABys/4OpUP3-w864/s1600/bbq-beef.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TVHktCFn1UI/AAAAAAAABys/4OpUP3-w864/s320/bbq-beef.JPG" style="cursor: move;" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px; padding-top: 4px; text-align: center;"><i>(BBQ Beef)<br />
</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>"Beef, it's what for dinner." Or lunch in this case. Every time I see a sizzling plate, I will always go back to my childhood memory of eating a sizzling plate steak in a specific restaurant in Hong Kong. I was infatuated. Though that novelty has long worn off, somewhere deep inside the child is still there ooo-ing and ahh-ing over the sound of steaming hot food.<br />
<br />
I generally would choose the BBQ beef over the beef ribs. Most of this was just laziness, while the rest was not wanting to deal with the ligaments that's more difficult to chew and digest. The BBQ beef today was like it always had been, a little sweet, flavorful and juicy. There were plenty of onions to flavor the meat and the rest augmented the dish in presentation and taste. The beef itself was tender and easy to eat. It's definitely one of my favorite dishes of sliced beef from any restaurant.<br />
<br />
I do love tofu, but I can't resist having the rest of the offerings at Young Dong. It's not because the tofu there isn't good. It's because everything else there is also good. I couldn't stop eating the sprouts and the other condiments. The aroma of the BBQ beef doesn't help the case for the tofu. No matter how amazingly silky their tofu is, it's not going to win my nose over given what else is on the table. The only time I had ever smelled tofu enough to be lured to it is when it's firm, well-marinated and grilled. Even then it's the sauce that I'm smelling, not the tofu. There's just nothing I can do about it when I can't smell the tofu because everything else smells so much stronger. Our sense of smell is far stronger and addictive than our sense of sight. It's also why in the back of my mind, I never thought of tofu houses as tofu houses, but Korean BBQ joints that also serves tofu.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1089368773709531669.post-67826965567959672792011-02-07T18:52:00.000-08:002011-02-07T18:52:29.076-08:00Guppy House with Guppy ShowmanshipIt isn't everyday where I venture down to Irvine to have a meal. It is even rarely that I would have Asian food so far south. But this last Wednesday afternoon, I happened to have a little bit of free time, so I hoped onto my car with a friend and went down to the OC to meet up with a third friend and had a little mini OC adventure.<br />
<br />
We started off the afternoon actually exploring the various parts of the OC. We ventured off to the Korean Friendship Bell down in San Pedro. Following we stopped by Long Beach and spent a little time on the boardwalk. We then stopped by Signal Hill to see the lights of greater Los Angeles. Finally we ended up in Irvine in the plaza where <a href="http://www.myguppyteahouse.com/">Guppy House</a> was at. There were plenty of other restaurants to choose from ranging from a Thai restaurant, to a Korean tofu house, to a Chinese seafood palace, and even the famous 85c bakery.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TU2O-WcUclI/AAAAAAAAByk/WiAi1Juq04M/s1600/pineapple-fried-rice.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TU2O-WcUclI/AAAAAAAAByk/WiAi1Juq04M/s320/pineapple-fried-rice.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(Pineapple Fried Rice)</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Immediately after walking into the room, I knew exactly what I wanted. Nearly every other table had an order of their pineapple fried rice. The fried rice is fried with ham, pineapple, peas, corn and carrots with pork sung and raisins on top. The whole thing is served on half of a pineapple shell. The presentation alone sells this dish easily. It just looks like it's a lot of work and very elaborately made. But the truth is it's just decently fried rice served in a pineapple shell. The fried rice was flavorful and the sweetness of the pineapple did come through. The raisins after mixing it into the rice gave it a little bit of a surprising contrast in the rice. But the pork sung just didn't go well with the rest of it. The pork sung never really blended into the rice. Whenever it entered my mouth, it was distinct and distracting from the rest of the blend. This had a lot to do with the fact that pork sung is just too dry to blend in a dry plate of fried rice. Perhaps it's just because I'm more used to eating pork sung with congee.</div><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TU2O3FvmtiI/AAAAAAAAByg/4gx9a-0Lmu4/s1600/kimchi-dumplings.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TU2O3FvmtiI/AAAAAAAAByg/4gx9a-0Lmu4/s320/kimchi-dumplings.JPG" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(Kimchi Dumplings)</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>The kimchi dumplings came after the fried rice. I suppose the fried rice is so popular that they have it all ready and made and just a matter of plating. So it took nearly no time at all to get to our table. The dumplings came with two different sauces, a sweetened soy sauce and a vinger sauce. The word kimchi in the name may be a little misleading since these are not fermented at all. It really is just normal Taiwanese cabbage dumplings. Kimchi by definition is fermented vegetables and the vegetables inside are not fermented at all. I did actually liked the texture of the dumplings. The skin was nice and soft at the correct thickness. It held the dumpling in place when it's picked up by a chopstick while after entering mouth, it didn't feel like I was eating flour. The balance between the cabbage and the pork was also very good. I always hate dumpling houses that jam pack their dumpling with meat. It too hard and too heavy to eat. These were very well done. The two flavors of dipping sauces was a bonus, giving my taste buds a little bit of contrast between each dumpling.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TU2PFVGtIBI/AAAAAAAAByo/tbqi8QIefkM/s1600/sweet-and-sour-popcorn-chicken.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TU2PFVGtIBI/AAAAAAAAByo/tbqi8QIefkM/s320/sweet-and-sour-popcorn-chicken.JPG" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(Sweet And Sour Popcorn Chicken)</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>Finally the sweet and sour popcorn chicken arrived at our table after most of the other dishes were devoured. I suppose one should never expect a Chinese restaurant to actually serve an appetizer in the beginning of a course. It's servered whenever it's ready to be served is really the trademark of every Chinese restaurant. I have yet to dine at a Chinese restaurant where appetizers and entree were served in order except during a formal banquet. As my mother always say, it all ends up blended up in our stomach anyways.<br />
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The sweet and sour popcorn chicken were pretty standard for a Taiwanese joint. The chicken and the batter didn't particularly stand out to me. I've had plenty of better popcorn chicken in my life all around the San Gabriel Valley. The sauce however did make this one stand out just a tad bit. It was a bit more sweet than sour, which I have come to expect when it comes to Taiwanese dishes. They tend to be on the sugary side. I have to watch out for diabetes since it runs in my family so I tend think negatively on sugary foods. But once in a while, I do indulge myself on a deep fried sweet and sour indulgence lik this sweet and sour popcorn chicken.<br />
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Guppy House is pretty clean for the most part, after they wiped the dirty chair that I pointed out. The foods were mediocre but we were hungry. The presentation of the food was clean and crisp and I can't complain. I just wonder where do they get all those half pineapple shells. Somewhere in the back of my mind I wonder if they recycle them. I certainly hope not. I have really no reason to suspect something like that, but I've seen some horrific things in my past what some Chinese restaurants would do to save money. Nonetheless I doubt I will ever revisit Guppy House only because it's way too far from where I live, and not good enough for me to ever warrant that drive. I really have no real reason to visit that plaza, maybe except for 85c bakery. But if I did live closer, I may come back once in a while for a little bit of that pineapple fried rice without the pork sung.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1089368773709531669.post-1823393364858272022011-02-04T19:15:00.000-08:002011-02-07T18:54:24.057-08:00Baccali Cafe & Rotisserie: An Appetizing Appetizer-Entree.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I know I go to a lot of Cantonese cafes. I eat, sleep and breath in the aura of this part of my own culture. So it shouldn't come as a surprise that I have yet another post on another cafe. Though Baccali is for the most part a Cantonese cafe, it does emphasize itself on its rotisserie as well as bring in some non-standard Cantonese Cafe dishes to its tables.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">My friend and I got a little hungry and decided to grab a bite to eat. We have already went to a bunch of the other cafes around town and Baccali was one of the few remaining that we have yet dined together at. So we decided it may be time to just drop by. The interior of the restaurant is open with a high ceiling. It was more like a little lodge cabin than a restaurant in its decor, which is rare for a cafe. It was mainly because a long time ago it was some sort of American restaurant before the Asian takeover of the valley.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TT89vjhPVoI/AAAAAAAAByQ/vfHfgiMlEfM/s1600/cajun-style-rotisserie-chicken.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TT89vjhPVoI/AAAAAAAAByQ/vfHfgiMlEfM/s320/cajun-style-rotisserie-chicken.jpg" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(Half Rotisserie Chicken - Cajun Style)</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>Baccali specializes in making rotisserie chicken, and is probably one of the best cafes in the San Gabriel Valley to get rotisserie chicken. Personally it's not something I would eat all the time, but once in a while, if a friend orders it, I would nibble off a few bites off their plate. That's exactly what I did on this occasion.<br />
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The chicken was tender and flavorful, but hardly cajun. It's completely expected since cafes tend to mainstream their foods for the taste buds of the general Chinese eater. Not too strong in spices, but flavorful with a nice aroma to the food. Having had authentic cajun food from New Orleans and its surrounding areas, this Cajun style chicken barely had anything that remotely tasted cajun. It was only slightly more spiced up than their normal rotisserie chicken. Nevertheless the chicken was still well made and made for a good meal at a very good price.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TT89yuxKoFI/AAAAAAAAByU/pdUnfdwXbBI/s1600/curry-deep-fried-chicken-wings.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TT89yuxKoFI/AAAAAAAAByU/pdUnfdwXbBI/s320/curry-deep-fried-chicken-wings.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(Curry Deep Fried Chicken Wings)</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>It almost seems like a completely opposite concept of serving something simultaneously deep fried and with a curry sauce. But I definitely enjoyed this combination very much. Something about having that nice juicy and slightly spicy curry sauce smothered over a crunchy deep fried chicken wing that just hits the spot. Of course this is hardly a healthy meal being wings have a ton of skin and fat. The curry wasn't oily which was a plus, but it was still quite heavy and stomach warming.<br />
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The steamed vegetables were lightly flavored. The zucchini slices were fresh very crunchy to my liking. Different cafes serve different vegetables as their side dishes and this is one of my preferred vegetables. It actually feels like I'm eating vegetables rather than just two slices of broccoli with some peas. Sometimes I'm stuck with baby corn which I find a bit too hard to be served steamed. But this dish was great. It did feel more like an appetizer rather than an actual meal, but since I wasn't overly hungry, combined with the rice, it was enough to fill me up.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TT891NyPYPI/AAAAAAAAByY/tJLRpsUgmnw/s1600/lemon-iced-tea.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TT891NyPYPI/AAAAAAAAByY/tJLRpsUgmnw/s320/lemon-iced-tea.jpg" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(Lemon <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i>Iced </i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i>Tea)</i></span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It wouldn't be a trip to a Cantonese cafe without my glass of iced lemon tea. There really isn't all that much special about this one here at Baccali. I think the most important thing is that it actually has tea flavor and tasted more than just water. It wasn't especially rich or bland. It was your ordinary glass of iced lemon tea that was cold and refreshing.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Baccali isn't my favorite cafe of all time, but it makes for a nice break away from my usual joints on occasion. They have some slightly unique dishes like beef stroganov that isn't commonly found in this area. I had that before and it was decent. I don't know enough about Russian foods to know the authenticity of the dish, but my guess is that it's not. The environment does make for a nicer date joint or just an outing with friends. Parking isn't a complete nightmare, though it is still small. I wouldn't make a trip out to Alhambra just for their chicken if I lived more than thirty minutes away. But to swing by once in a while if you happened to be nearby will turn up a few nice dishes of food on my table.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1089368773709531669.post-9116264453491324592011-02-02T01:12:00.000-08:002011-02-02T01:19:34.251-08:00Relax, Kick Back, It's China Bistro<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I was snowboarding with my friend George up at Mountain High this Monday morning. Since we both had rather flexible schedules, we would always go early morning on a weekday to avoid the crowd but still get back in time in the afternoon to get some work done the rest of the day. Usually we would grab some food at a fastfood joint and be done with lunch. But that day we decided to grab a bite at a cafe instead; we ended up at China Bistro.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This place over ten years ago used to be a MacDonald's that moved down the street. Since then it had changed hands a couple of times and now it had become China Bistro, a Cantonese cafe that served only the Chinese foods but with the western influenced drinks. This day I actually opted out of my usual lemon iced tea and just had water, I had no idea what actually came over me.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TT89izaQMoI/AAAAAAAAByE/ghCj_AnQbJk/s1600/beef-chow-fun.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TT89izaQMoI/AAAAAAAAByE/ghCj_AnQbJk/s320/beef-chow-fun.jpg" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(Dry Beef Chow Fun)</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>George ordered the dry beef chow fun, a pretty standard dish in case if you missed my many other posts on this dish. China bistro's dry beef chow fun is pretty well made. The chow fun didn't stick together and were evenly seasoned. There were ample amount of beef along with onions, sprouts and chives. It was certainly better then the ones I had over at U2 recently too, which drove me nuts if you read the other <a href="http://www.candidfood.com/2011/01/sheeshits-u2-again.html">post</a>. But no matter how good dry beef chow fun is made, I don't care for it. It probably had a lot to do with the fact that my parents love this dish and eats it all the time. But I personally preferred the wet style than the dry when it comes to chow fun. In fact I much preferred it in soup found more commonly in Chiu Chow style cuisine, though I much preferred the thin version than the thick ones.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TT89lsJR-tI/AAAAAAAAByI/eK8v_aiLZ2c/s1600/pot-roast-rice.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TT89lsJR-tI/AAAAAAAAByI/eK8v_aiLZ2c/s320/pot-roast-rice.jpg" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(Beef Stew over Rice)</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>For me I ordered a beef stew over rice instead. I generally would order the beef stew over vermicelli wraps in a clay pot here at China bistro, which is one of my favorite things to eat. That day I really just felt like having a bit of rice instead. The dish was not very well plated, with sauce dripped on the side of the plate. The beef felt like it was just thrown on top with absolutely no consideration at all on presentation. I never really expected much in presentation at a cafe, but this felt as crude as street vendor food in Hong Kong. It was a bit crude even for my taste.<br />
<br />
However the taste did make up for it a little and I cleaned my plate. Perhaps I was just hungry from the morning workout. The beef was very juicy and well marinated. It was spot on in terms of the thickness of the sauce. Served over rice, it was less heavy than its vermicelli wrap clay pot counterpart. The little bit of vegetables, as little as I was given, was at least a bit of fiber I desperately needed.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TT89n7wofSI/AAAAAAAAByM/l5UqUdgK6jU/s1600/stir-fried-chicken-and-vegetables.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TT89n7wofSI/AAAAAAAAByM/l5UqUdgK6jU/s320/stir-fried-chicken-and-vegetables.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(Chicken With Vegetables)</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">George ordered an additional dish, not because he was that hungry from snowboarding, but mostly to take home as dinner. For less then $7 a dish, it's certainly a cheap and tasty dinner that could easily be heated up at home either with a microwave or reheating it on the stovetop. He wanted a little bit of vegetables in the second dish and ordered the Chicken with Vegetables. We actually didn't realize the vegetable was broccoli, which I actually liked. It just wasn't what I was thinking when I hear vegetables. But when the plate arrived, I remembered that I actually ordered it before and it was broccoli at that time. The problem was broccoli during the last time I had it was out of season and was really bitter. This batch was normal and edible.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The chicken was perfectly made in this dish. It was cooked just right giving it a nice spongy quality that was juicy and chewy; not one piece was stringy. The sauce wasn't overpowering which allowed the meat and the vegetables to speak through. The little bits of mushrooms balanced off the texture giving that added sponginess to the dish.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I do frequent China Bistro every so often, and generally order their lemon iced tea. In fact I was just there today again with another friend with a tall class of tea. The food is generally consistent in its quality, which is harder to find around here sometimes then one would imagine. Though the food has never been spectacular or well presented, it has always been reliable and decent. I wouldn't expect more than some alright food with a nice environment to sit in for an hour or two. It is a great way to just kick back on a small budget after a morning of intense exercise and long drive.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1089368773709531669.post-35394844549296698042011-01-29T10:24:00.000-08:002011-01-29T10:24:23.804-08:00What's up with all the island restaurants? Revisiting Gourmet Island<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">A friend of mine did a project a year ago that consisted of taking pictures of food from a bunch of restaurants down Valley Blvd. in the San Gabriel Valley. While she was doing her research, she discovered the enormous amount of restaurants being named with the word Garden and Happy. Lately I discovered a few places being named with the word island. I initially thought it was a Taiwanese thing to do since Taiwan is an island. But then when I discovered Gourmet Island, I couldn't figure out what island had to do with their Chiu Chow style cuisine.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I personally have a Chiu Chow heritage. I am seven-eighth Chiu Chow and one-eighth Hakka. I'm no stranger to Chiu Chow style foods. Gourmet Island had a barely adequate selection of authentic fChiu Chow foods, mixed with some other general Asian style foods. I had been here once previously and enjoyed the foods a little bit. The last time I visited there I experienced a major issue; the taro mud dessert was spoiled. My family loves taro mud, a quintessential Chiu Chow dessert. It's only offered at a very few of the Chiu Chow seafood restaurants around town, and only a few make them well. Generally they are served with a sweet wet dressing with lotus seeds and cloud ears. The mud paste itself like most Chinese desserts should be lightly sweetened. It's actually hard and takes a lot of work to make taro mud and so we always get it whenever we visit a Chiu Chow style restaurant. But since we had a bad experience with it the first time around, we opted out of it the second time around.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Nevertheless my family and I decided to return to this place to check out more of what they had to offer. We do generally give restaurants revisits if it's decent enough, if only to give ourselves a variety. The rest of the original dinner was enjoyable so we didn't want to let one spoiled dish ruin the restaurant.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TT88BjBOwJI/AAAAAAAABxw/Ni5_E2RBauk/s1600/beef-stew-soup.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TT88BjBOwJI/AAAAAAAABxw/Ni5_E2RBauk/s320/beef-stew-soup.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(Beef Stew with Light Broth)</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>We love a good beef stew. Most people are familiar with the Taiwanese version of beef stew, which has a heavy dark colored soup base. It's extremely rich and generally served with noodles. Sometimes beef stew is served dry over rich or in curry. But if you are in for a slightly lighter in flavors version of beef stew, I would recommend the Beef Stew with Light Broth. This dish is actually commonly found in a lot of Cantonese restaurants around town.<br />
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The beef this night was cooked thoroughly to a very nice and soft texture. The soup was very flavorful with a fair amount of spices. The black pepper really added a little sting to the soup. This was also a great way to save some money by not having to order an actual soup. It was kept hot the entire time with a little fire from a small portable stove that came with the dish. It was a bit strong in the beginning so we had to turn it down to keep the water from being boiled off and evaporate. It was certainly a juicy and delicious dish. The truth is all it took to make this dish good was time and enough spices. It's very hard to get it wrong.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TT88HBoR1HI/AAAAAAAABx4/8CbF6vGp2Vg/s1600/fried-rice.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TT88HBoR1HI/AAAAAAAABx4/8CbF6vGp2Vg/s320/fried-rice.jpg" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(Fried Rice)</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>A lot of restaurants in the San Gabriel Valley recently had been doing promotions by giving away free food. Gourmet Island gave away a free plate of fried rice served in their sizzling plate. I believe Green Island was the first restaurant around the area that started using this wooden framed metal sizzling plate to serve their fried rice. It's a great way to keep the food continuously warm. However the rice tonight was a bit bland and I wouldn't order it if it wasn't free. Even as a free dish, it wasn't all that interesting to eat. It was basically a filler, a replacement for just plain steamed rice.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TT88Ju3nUcI/AAAAAAAABx8/gcAprvNty8o/s1600/jelly-fish-roast-pig.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TT88Ju3nUcI/AAAAAAAABx8/gcAprvNty8o/s320/jelly-fish-roast-pig.jpg" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(Combination Appetizer: Roasted Suckling Pig, Fun Tai and Jelly Fish)</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>This was the best dish of the night. Although it's an appetizer, I never really think appetizer meant much in Chinese food except during banquets. Ultimately for most meals, things are all served and eaten together. The roasted suckling pig skin was perfectly crunchy while the meat was flavorful and retained some juiciness. The jelly fish was well marinated without it being overly sauteed. The Fun Tai was fine, but I suppose it's just a cold cut so it's hard to go wrong and hard to be impressive.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TT88NbrWOWI/AAAAAAAAByA/S8uWyiMWw4c/s1600/string-beans.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TT88NbrWOWI/AAAAAAAAByA/S8uWyiMWw4c/s320/string-beans.jpg" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(Stir Fried String Beans)</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I am a big fan of string beans, and stir fried string beans generally is among my favorite. I did find their string beans a bit on the oily side despite being flavorful. I seem to be coming across more and more oily string beans. I really prefer them to be less oily and drier. The garlic also wasn't as strong as I prefer and I generally like it with just a bit of stir fried ground beef in the dish which this was lacking. It would had given it that little bite to the dish that pulls out the crunch in the string beans. It wasn't my favorite version of string beans, but it filled my stomach with enough flavor that neither impressed me nor disgusted me.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TT88ErScHzI/AAAAAAAABx0/oILBAcu5C2s/s1600/dessert.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TT88ErScHzI/AAAAAAAABx0/oILBAcu5C2s/s320/dessert.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="239" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">The meal was finished off with a sweet soup free of charge. We didn't order the taro mud fearing it may turn out sour again. The sweet soup had some water chestnuts, lotus seeds and an assortment of other goodies inside. However it was way too sweet for my entire family. I never understood why any restaurant would inject their desserts that full of sugar. Fortunately most drinks in the San Gabriel Valley can now be ordered with half sugar or no sugar. But unfortunately the same cannot be said about the desserts. My mother has diabetes and both my brother and I are extremely weary about this since it seems to run on my mother side of the family. So we all basically took a couple sips and decided it was probably best not to finish it. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Gourmet Island was a nice break from some of our usual joints. It wasn't amazingly prepared but it was still good enough to visit once in a while, very long while. Personally if I were to pick a Chiu Chow restaurant of my choosing, it would be Seafood Village. Their food is much more true to the Chiu Chow culinary style with a few more selections of ethnic dishes. Gourmet Island seemed to be a Cantonese restaurant with a few specifically Chiu Chow dishes added onto the menu.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">By the way, Chiu Chow isn't located on any form or Island. It's not even on or near a peninsula.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1089368773709531669.post-42947262678876495382011-01-21T18:59:00.000-08:002011-01-21T18:59:28.140-08:00Sheesh...It's U2 Again?I am a Cantonese Cafe addict; that is my comfort food. I can grab a menu from any Cantonese cafes and just order down the menu from breakfast to dinner. So it's important for me to have that one go-to restaurant whenever I want this stuff. Actually I have like five go-to restaurants when it comes to Cantonese cafes, alternating depending on the deals and quality they currently have. The thing about Cantonese cafes in Los Angeles, more like in the San Gabriel Valley is that the consistency of quality is, well, inconsistent. One day I may find a certain restaurant to be my favorite because the portions are great, the quality is good and the price is cheap. The next month suddenly without warning, they would either jack up the price, or decrease the portion size, or the quality deteriorated. I am then forced to go with one of my five other main choices or even the half a dozen other second choices.<br />
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Right now, my Cantonese cafe of choice is <a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/u2-cafe-alhambra">U2 Cafe</a>.<br />
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It's actually my entire family's Cantonese cafe of choice. Just within the first two weeks alone this year, I had already visited the cafe three times; this post is a compilation of the different visits. The other ones on my current list are JR Cafe, Face Cafe and Garden Cafe. I do have a few other ones I occasionally visit, but these are the ones I most frequent.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TTFWPV7hhMI/AAAAAAAABxU/6nPD3KAXEfE/s1600/minstrone.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TTFWPV7hhMI/AAAAAAAABxU/6nPD3KAXEfE/s320/minstrone.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></a></div></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px; padding-top: 4px; text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><i>(U2 Cafe - Lor Sung Soup</i><i>)</i></div></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TTFWNyBotGI/AAAAAAAABxI/X4EBDhDnqvs/s1600/cod-cream-chowder.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TTFWNyBotGI/AAAAAAAABxI/X4EBDhDnqvs/s320/cod-cream-chowder.jpg" width="320" /></a></div></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px; padding-top: 4px; text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><i>(U2 Cafe - Cod Cream Chowder)</i></div></td></tr>
</tbody></table>In order to be a true Cantonese Cafe, the menu must be long and includes a few stable Cantonese dishes as well as some "Cantonese-ized" western dishes. It also wouldn't be a Cantonese cafe if you are not immediately served one of two soups: Lor Sung soup, a Cantonese style minestrone, and some form of cream chowder. The minestrone is the absolute essential for any Cantonese cafe, while some restaurants also serve a Chinese soup as an alternative in place of the cream chowder. U2 serve various versions of their cream chowders, sometimes it's a cod based chowder while other times it's a corn and ham based chowder. There really isn't anything fancy about this chowder. I would certainly not claim this to be anywhere near the best cream chowder I had in my life. But it certainly still hits the spot. Having cod in place of corn and ham gives the soup a bit more substance and just hits the comfort spot in my stomach. It certainly hits my mother's comfort spot. In fact for some odd reason, she chooses to come back to U2 Cafe mainly for the cream soup. I think it's most because of the fact that most other cafes have opted to replace the cream soup with a Chinese soup which she never cared for.<br />
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The Lor Sung however is my preferred soup. It is a tomato based soup with lots of vegetables and beef inside. My Dad knows how to make this really well, but we generally don't make it since it's usually made in a huge quantity. The soup served at U2 is average. Fortunately I have yet to taste it to be too salty, though sometimes it can border being too sour from the tomato sauce they use. The consistency does waiver in Cantonese cafes; it's in its nature.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TTFWO5nxlFI/AAAAAAAABxQ/mJzedBBh8xU/s1600/lemon-iced-tea.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TTFWO5nxlFI/AAAAAAAABxQ/mJzedBBh8xU/s320/lemon-iced-tea.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></a></div></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px; padding-top: 4px; text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><i>(U2 Cafe - Lemon Iced Tea)</i></div></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TTFWPjkCqkI/AAAAAAAABxY/ohKVEUZ4U0I/s1600/red-bean-ice.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TTFWPjkCqkI/AAAAAAAABxY/ohKVEUZ4U0I/s320/red-bean-ice.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></a></div></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px; padding-top: 4px; text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><i>(U2 Cafe - Red Bean Ice)</i></div></td></tr>
</tbody></table>Drinks came with the lunch special at U2 cafe, which is one of the big pluses. I have to get my drink fix at these cafes. U2 charges an extra 75 cents for the cold version of their free drinks, which is coffee or tea. Tea includes both lemon iced tea as well as milk tea, both of which are refillable. There's a little history behind this when all the Cantonese cafes in the area picked up this trait during the 1990's. I used to be a major milk tea drinker, but I have come to the conclusion because of the inconsistency of the quality of the tea, it is impossible to reliably get a good cup of milk tea. I like my milk tea to be very rich in tea flavor ala the Hong Kong style. There were periods of time when JR Cafe and other nearby cafes served a milk tea that's dark enough, but they fluctuate based on client feedback. That's the reason why Cantonese cafes are all average, they listen to their customers. Sometimes a restaurant just have to stick to their guns on what they believe is good instead of just constantly try to cater to the masses.<br />
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Generally speaking I order lemon iced tea with no sugar. It's been a little over two years since I started to decrease and remove sugar from most of my drinks. Most Cantonese cafe are realizing the trend for lower sugar so they usually put a different colored straw into the cup. At U2 I still had to remind them at every refill. Initially I started off with half sugar, which gradually became sugar on the side so I have control. Finally I took the plunge to no sugar for my lemon iced tea and relied purely on the juice from the lemon to sweeten the tea. On occasion we may end up ordering a red bean ice, which is pretty much the only other drink I would order from a Cantonese cafe. Generally speaking the other drinks aren't the best quality around, since their drink bars are generally staffed with waiters who were given a crash course in mixology. I basically only trust drinking their milk tea or their lemon iced tea.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TTFWR-W7BsI/AAAAAAAABxo/1qh8WsHsVfY/s1600/singaporean-fried-rice-noodle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TTFWR-W7BsI/AAAAAAAABxo/1qh8WsHsVfY/s320/singaporean-fried-rice-noodle.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></a></div></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px; padding-top: 4px; text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><i>(U2 Cafe - Singaporean Fried Rice Noodles)</i></div></td></tr>
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I'm a huge fan of rice noodles, and the Singaporean fried rice noodle is a must order on my list at any Cantonese cafes. Of course I can't be ordering this dish every single time since I do enjoy various other dishes. The Singaporean fried rice noodle is curry based and can be semi-spicy depending on who's making it. It is fried with shrimp, sprouts, chasu and green onions, along with the occasional bell peppers and even chilly peppers. U2's version today was on the slightly spicier side where I almost had a little difficulty eating. They added a bit too much chilly peppers in it for my taste. Still I love the dish more then I hate how they can just ruin it by changing the spiciness of it.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TTFWRKlF1vI/AAAAAAAABxg/kUXCxScKyYY/s1600/seafood-chow-fun-overcooked.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TTFWRKlF1vI/AAAAAAAABxg/kUXCxScKyYY/s320/seafood-chow-fun-overcooked.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></a></div></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px; padding-top: 4px; text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><i>(U2 Cafe - Seafood Chow Fun - Burnt)</i></div></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TTFWRWVHdoI/AAAAAAAABxk/XulD1jzh1qo/s1600/seafood-chow-fun-rotten-shrimp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TTFWRWVHdoI/AAAAAAAABxk/XulD1jzh1qo/s320/seafood-chow-fun-rotten-shrimp.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></a></div></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px; padding-top: 4px; text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><i>(U2 Cafe - Seafood Chow Fun with Bad Shrimps)</i></div></td></tr>
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">The other staple of my Cantonese cafe diet is the beef chow fun. There's two different ways to get chow fun; wet style, where the chow much is white and the sauce is a liquid paste, or the dry style, where the chow fun is dark brown in color from the soy sauce and the sauce is cooked into the noodles. I generally order the dry style mainly because my parents prefer eating this. We generally order the beef version, but we do occasionally try out the seafood or other versions of the chow fun.</div><br />
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We ordered the beef version at one of the meals, but this time my parents opted to go for the seafood version instead. Unfortunately today was just not U2's day. The first plate they served us was burnt. I could smell and taste the burnt in the chow fun and it is no good. We told the waitress who knows us pretty well since we've been coming back so often. She was very friendly and took it back for us to remake. A short while later, she brought back out a second plate of it. It wasn't burnt, but the shrimp were bad. It boggled our minds since the shrimp in the Singaporean rice noodles were not bad, and I would assume, correctly so when we asked the waitress about it, that they were from the same batch of shrimps. Our only answer is that the shrimp on the bottom of the batch went bad while the top were still good most likely because the refrigerator was not at the correct temperature. I hope for their sake no one from the health department is reading this. The waitress was kind enough to offer to take it back again, but we decided to just pick out the shrimp and eat the rest. It was too much trouble by then.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TTFWMj0EJuI/AAAAAAAABw8/0Tin850chZ8/s1600/beef-chow-fun.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TTFWMj0EJuI/AAAAAAAABw8/0Tin850chZ8/s320/beef-chow-fun.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></a></div></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px; padding-top: 4px; text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><i>(U2 Cafe - Black Pepper Beef Udon)</i></div></td></tr>
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A good alternative to the beef chow fun, especially for me since I don't really like chow fun, is their black pepper beef udon. Again this plate can be ordered with seafood in place of the beef, which is true for half the dishes on the menu. A lot of Chinese food is simply replace one main ingredient with another and you got yourself another dish. This was actually ordered at a different meal here at U2 a week prior to the burnt chow fun/spoiled shrimp experience. For me the flavor to the dish was good. I could use a little bit more black pepper. The main thing I miss is a sizzling plate to serve it on. Many other Cantonese cafes serve this dish on a hot sizzling plate, which I had always been infatuated with as a child. If you do bring a child, just make sure the plate is kept far out of their reach, cause it is extremely hot.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TTFWLx-GKhI/AAAAAAAABw4/46c8KQiCmzM/s1600/baked-pork-chop-rice.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TTFWLx-GKhI/AAAAAAAABw4/46c8KQiCmzM/s320/baked-pork-chop-rice.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></a></div></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px; padding-top: 4px; text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><i>(U2 Cafe - Baked Pork Chop Rice)</i></div></td></tr>
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Occasionally I would opt out of something Chinese and go with something more western. Most often I would order a chicken, steak or pork chop with black pepper, mushroom, garlic or onion sauce. In fact I just had that on Martin Luther King Jr. day when I went back to U2 but forgot to take a picture. The one thing I absolutely would recommend anyone to try at U2 is their pork chop and their chicken steak. That is the true gem of this restaurant. There are three dishes that I would order for the pork chop. One, the chicken and pork chop steak combination with the sauce of your choice. Two, the pork chop over rice noodle soup that is generally served at afternoon tea time between 3pm to 5pm. Three, the baked pork chop rice.<br />
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The pork chop I believe were briefly deep fried and then baked over fried rice with a rich tomato sauce with just a little bit of cheese. They do not overload the dish with cheese since cheese isn't all too popular in the Asian population. But the little bit of cheddar then use does give it that added flavor that's needed to balance the tomato sauce. The pork chops are slightly crispy but still juicy and never over cooked. I have never had an overcooked pork chop at U2 cafe, and I think they do pork chops better then any of the other cafes around. It's also nice that they use fried rice instead of steamed rice as the base. It added to the flavors of the dish tremendously. This is one of the best made dish at U2.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TTFWQkGj86I/AAAAAAAABxc/reqPs21OP_o/s1600/salty-fish-chicken-fried-rice.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TTFWQkGj86I/AAAAAAAABxc/reqPs21OP_o/s320/salty-fish-chicken-fried-rice.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></a></div></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px; padding-top: 4px; text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><i>(U2 Cafe - Salty Fish and Chicken Fried Rice)</i></div></td></tr>
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Speaking of fried rice, the salty fish and chicken fried rice is one of my family's favorite. It's generally the dish we order when we can't decide what we want. That's the problem with have hundreds of items on a menu. This time they did this dish correctly. I was actually able to smell the salty fish when it came out and I could definitely taste it. The salty fish adds an edge to the flavor of the dish more than salt would do. It's almost likely having that grainy little bites of salt without being overwhelmed by the saltiness of the salt. It was one of those rare times where the dish was actually semi-well made. It wasn't the best though I have ever had. The salty fish was still in very small chunks, which mostly is because they can be a little more costly than other ingredients.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TTFWNN-pmfI/AAAAAAAABxA/p8YSH4VKGkY/s1600/chicken-salad.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TTFWNN-pmfI/AAAAAAAABxA/p8YSH4VKGkY/s320/chicken-salad.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(U2 Cafe - Chicken Salad)</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>I'm not a big fan of salads at any Cantonese cafes, and I would never deliberately order a salad from there. Yet here's a picture of an actual salad at U2. It turns out that U2 is having a nice promotion where if we spend over twenty dollars before tax, we would get a free chicken salad. If we spent over thirty dollars before tax, we would get a free soy sauce chicken. It's actually not that easy to spend over thirty dollars with a party of three people at U2. Most dishes cost between five dollars to eight dollars. Even with the added 75 cents for a cold drink, it generally would not put your bill over thirty dollars before tax. Now with a free salad, it's really a great deal.<br />
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The salad really is nothing special as far as salad goes. But for a salad at a Cantonese cafe, it's better than your normal cut. Most salads at a Cantonese cafe uses iceberg lettuce. I always wonder if they actually ever visited a supermarket sometimes and saw that there are other vegetables aside from this dreadful one. But nonetheless it is what makes it Cantonese. They added a little bit of cucumbers and tomatoes to enhance the flavor, which is more rare than you would think for a Cantonese restaurant. I had once ordered a salad which I had to pay for with purely iceberg lettuce at a Cantonese cafe. The chicken however was very well made. I believe they make it the same way they make the chicken steak, briefly deep fried and well seasoned. That made the salad actually worthwhile, and one of the better salads I had at a Cantonese cafe. But if you are looking for good salads to eat, I suggest you go elsewhere. You won't find it in most Chinese restaurants.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TTFWSabXSNI/AAAAAAAABxs/_6vHqKyaeB0/s1600/soy-sauce-chicken.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TTFWSabXSNI/AAAAAAAABxs/_6vHqKyaeB0/s320/soy-sauce-chicken.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></a></div></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px; padding-top: 4px; text-align: center;"><div style="font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><i>(U2 Cafe - Soy Sauce Chicken)</i></div></td></tr>
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">We got the soy sauce chicken at a different meal where we had four people. That would take us over thirty dollars. U2 has a decent Siu Lap (roasted poutry and pork) department. In fact they have a section of their restaurant devoted to that, which increases their quality. In fact most other Cantonese cafes tends to be weak on this. Generally I would go to Sam Woo for good Siu Lap. The soy sauce chicken at U2 was juicy enough, though a few of their thicker pieces were bordering dry. It was free so I'm not complaining. The ginger oil sauce however could use a little work. It was not strong enough and could use a bit more ginger.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TTFWOd6uEhI/AAAAAAAABxM/9YZlZw7cKlI/s1600/duck-wonton-noodle-soup.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TTFWOd6uEhI/AAAAAAAABxM/9YZlZw7cKlI/s320/duck-wonton-noodle-soup.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(U2 Cafe - Duck and Wonton Noodle Soup)</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>Their duck from their Siu Lap section is generally well made. In the soup, the duck then really becomes juicy and wet and easily palatable. The wonton however wasn't my favorite, but then most restaurant's wonton is missing the one key ingredient Dai Dei Ju. So far I believe only Sam Woo makes their wonton with that fish, without which it just taste like a ball of pork meat with very little flavor. The shrimp helps with giving it a little contrast in texture, but Dai Dei Ju is want gives it a kick. The egg noodles today was decent. It had a little spring to it, but not enough for me to be wowed. Beside, I'm not a big fan of egg noodle to begin with.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TTFWNjqRYfI/AAAAAAAABxE/UGjc1Nl-wdU/s1600/chinese-condiments.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TTFWNjqRYfI/AAAAAAAABxE/UGjc1Nl-wdU/s320/chinese-condiments.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></a></div></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px; padding-top: 4px; text-align: center;"><div style="font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><i>(U2 Cafe - Chinese Condiments)</i></div></td></tr>
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Despite having a lot of issues with the consistency of the food, I still return. It's just because I'm an addict for Cantonese Cafe. I'm actually addicted to the environment. It's easy to visit with a friend, order some food and a bottomless cup of ice tea, and spend a good two or three hours chatting without any pressure or discomfort. Sitting at a Starbucks for hours going through two or three cups of coffee would easily cost ten dollars. With that same amount of money, I could get decent drinks for the afternoon and some good chow to go with it.<br />
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I'm sure I will fluctuate again in the future between which Cantonese cafe I would go to as my primary hub. One thing for sure I would never quit Cantonese cafe as my comfort food cafe.<br />
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</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1089368773709531669.post-27530029658417567472011-01-14T18:06:00.000-08:002011-01-14T18:06:05.367-08:00Legendary Hainan Chicken: Not So Legendary at Savoy KitchenI had heard about Savoy Kitchen for a very long time. I had passed by Savoy Kitchen many times. My hairstylist place was only two stores over. But I had yet to step foot inside this tiny little corner cafe in the middle of busy Alhambra until two Sundays ago with my friend Kenneth. Yes I'm still catching up with my blog, the San Francisco and Napa trip took a while to finish writing. Kenneth had actually been there before and he enjoyed it the last few times he was there. The place was known for its Hainan Chicken, so I already knew what I was going to order before even stepping foot inside the door.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TTDzIfiDozI/AAAAAAAABww/XX4_QzPQc9s/s1600/hainan-chicken-savoy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TTDzIfiDozI/AAAAAAAABww/XX4_QzPQc9s/s320/hainan-chicken-savoy.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(Savoy Kitchen - Hainan Chicken)</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>There was a little sign-in sheet at the door. Their indoor seating accommodated only fifteen or so people. They also had a few tables and chairs on the outside next to the cafe that sat an additional fifteen to twenty people. It was a small but cozy joint bustling with a hipper and younger crowd. We waited for about ten minutes before a table was ready for us.<br />
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We sat at the counter of the restaurant ready to order some food. I took a quick glance over the menu in case if I wanted to change my mind. I didn't; I still ended up ordering their Hainan Chicken. I was generally a fan of this dish if it's done well, but sadly only a few places did this well. Fortunately Savoy Kitchen did it pretty well; unfortunately it wasn't as good as the hype around it made it seemed. I honestly preferred the chicken at Cafe Spot down the street over Savoy's, but I did like Savoy's rice over any other place I had before.<br />
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Hainan Chicken is basically a steamed chicken that's chopped up and served. The juices from the chicken is then added to the rice during the steaming process so that the rice is chicken flavored, and not with MSG either. It also comes with a ginger and chive oil dipping sauce on the side for the chicken. Savoy took this one step further and served the dish with an additional spicy version of the ginger sauce as well as a dark soy sauce. It's always nice to have a choice; I tried all three. The soy sauce was too strong and distracted me from the actual taste of the chicken, which really shouldn't need a distraction; more on this later. Both of the ginger sauces were well made and were true to what they were supposed to be. The taste of the ginger and chives were not masked with an overt amount of salt which some restaurants end up doing.<br />
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The rice to the Hainan Chicken at Savoy was extremely well made. They were one of the few restaurants around that actually used the fresh juices from the Chicken and steamed the rice with them. The rice were extremely flavorful unlike other places that simply either poured on the juices afterwards or didn't even bother doing that, but serve you an MSG based chicken soup instead; that always drove me nuts. What I sort of missed and was looking for were a little bit of preserved vegetables somewhere on the plate. It was a pretty meaty, carby and oily dish. It would be nice to even have a hint of fiber somewhere just to make me feel a little better. I suppose it was not always absolutely necessary to add that to a Hainan Chicken dish.<br />
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If I judged this dish by everything surrounding the chicken, it was definitely hands down one of the best Hainan Chicken around LA, minus my Dad making it at home. But I can't possibly judge the Hainan Chicken without putting a lot of weight on the Chicken itself. The Chicken was only good, no where near as good as how everyone else made it sound like. With steamed chicken, most restaurants overcook them and they become dry. The few descent restaurants manage to get the dark meat to stay juicy while the white meat is generally dry. The good restaurants get the dark meat right and it's a hit or miss with the white meat. The greatest ones get it all perfect. The one I had from Savoy landed in the good restaurant zone. Most of the slices were juicy and tender, but the thicker white meats from certain parts of the chicken were a bit on the drier side. In fact, even the upper wing of the chicken was ever so slightly overcooked for a Hainan chicken.<br />
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I suppose without the hype, I would have thought this to be a pretty good Hainan chicken, but I was definitely expecting more. I wanted perfection or near that and Savoy didn't come close enough. It was only good. Perhaps the one I got was below their usual quality, but that's their problem. I had high demands for my chicken and I hated dry chicken. If I wanted a dry piece of chicken, I would go to El Pollo Loco. This is Savoy, and they were supposed to have the best Hainan Chicken around. I think they understood how to make good Hainan Chicken, I just didn't think they have it down cold to the point that every chicken would turn out perfect. To their defense, cooking chicken perfectly is way harder to do than cooking beef or pork. In the end, I much prefer the chicken at Cafe Spot only because I have yet to eat an overcooked chicken there. But I did enjoy tremendously the rice at Savoy, and would enjoy their chicken more because it's slightly lighter in flavor than Cafe Spot if it wasn't overcooked. I just can't have it all.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TTDzI-hfrRI/AAAAAAAABw0/X_fHPDPp4bE/s1600/iced-lemon-tea-savoy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TTDzI-hfrRI/AAAAAAAABw0/X_fHPDPp4bE/s320/iced-lemon-tea-savoy.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(Savoy Kitchen - Lemon Iced Tea)</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>I also ordered my usual drink, lemon iced tea sans sugar. Savoy served them in medium sized plastic cups. The environmental side of me was screaming "waste," while the consumer side of me was screaming "I can take it to go afterwards." They do free refills which is standard now for both lemon iced tea and milk tea in the San Gabriel Valley for most Cantonese style cafes. There's a history behind this and how this came about mostly during the 1990's which I actually lived through here in the valley. Basically because of the highly competitive nature of the Cantonese cafes of that time, in order to draw more customers, a few of the more established Cantonese cafes began serving free refills on lemon iced tea and milk tea, which were and still are the two most popular drinks at all the cafes. It made sense since even if a customer drank three or four refills, it would only have amounted to a few pennies to a dime or so in extra cost. But the customers were happier and more willing to return as a result. When this first started, we the customers had to ask every time we ordered whether they had free refills. But eventually every restaurant picked it up or at least noted it in their menu which drinks had free refills and which didn't. For American restaurants this may seem trivial, but if you visit Cantonese cafes in Hong Kong or even in New York, they may not necessarily have free refills.<br />
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The tea brew at Savoy was good and had some descent tea flavors. I was annoyed that I didn't get a spoon to crunch up the lemon. I had to use my straw to draw out the lemon flavors. It was your average drinkable lemon iced tea. Not too shabby but not memorable either. It's hard to make a cup of lemon iced tea memorable. However when it comes to milk tea, that's a different story and warrants a different post.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TTDzH14rN3I/AAAAAAAABws/RiNy5J9q1Wc/s1600/curry-chicken-savoy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TTDzH14rN3I/AAAAAAAABws/RiNy5J9q1Wc/s320/curry-chicken-savoy.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(Savoy Kitchen - Curry Chicken With Rice)</i></td></tr>
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">My friend Kenneth decided to order the curry chicken with rice. I took the liberty to take a picture and had a little taste of the dish. The curry was mildly spicy which was pretty standard at Cantonese Cafes. Once in a while I would run across a really spicy plate of curry rice, but most restaurants knew not to scare off their customers like that. The curry was also very flavorful and the chicken was just shy of being overcooked. They were mostly cut in long shreds rather than in chunks. It's much easier to overcook shreds than chunks when it comes to curry, but Savoy did a good job with this.</div><br />
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It's nice to finally say I know what Savoy's Hainan chicken tasted like and to know that it wasn't as good as everyone said. But I will probably give it a second try in the future before completely writing it off, but it will be way down the line in the future when some other friend of mine insist that we go again. Personally I don't care for the restaurant mainly because I didn't like the ambience. I wasn't comfortable; I felt like I had absolutely no personal space and all I was doing was being jammed inside a tiny room to pick at some food. At least it only took a few minutes for my food to come out; I suppose that is to be expected for Hainan Chicken. I can't expect them to steam the chicken on the order. I would starve before I get any food in me.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1089368773709531669.post-67962183470754117132011-01-13T15:30:00.000-08:002011-01-13T15:30:59.605-08:00Riesling, riesling, where for art thou my riesling? - 2010 San Francisco & Napa Trip Day 3 - The Wine<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><i>Continued from...</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><i><a href="http://www.candidfood.com/2011/01/king-of-thai-noodle-house-2010-san.html">I Am The King Of Thai - 2010 San Francisco & Napa Trip Day 1</a></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><i><a href="http://www.candidfood.com/2011/01/fortunate-pilgrimage-2010-san-francisco.html">A Fortunate Pilgrimage - 2010 San Francisco & Napa Trip Day 2 Part I</a></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><i><a href="http://www.candidfood.com/2011/01/its-small-small-world-2010-san.html">It's a Small Small World - 2010 San Francisco & Napa Trip Day 2 Part II</a></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i><a href="http://www.candidfood.com/2011/01/burger-to-die-for-2010-san-francisco.html">Burger To Die For - 2010 San Francisco & Napa Trip Day 3 - The Food</a></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Finally, without further ado, I present to you the wines of my trip.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Alright, I lied, with a little ado first. I have to first make the disclaimer that I know very little about wine. Wine is a PhD in its own right, and I have only scratched the corner of the surface. What better way to get better educated than to visit wine central of California, Napa Valley.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TS1aNhmGMXI/AAAAAAAABwA/IXa28y_eAwo/s1600/sparlking-tasting.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TS1aNhmGMXI/AAAAAAAABwA/IXa28y_eAwo/s320/sparlking-tasting.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(Domaine Carneros - Sparkling Wine Samplers)</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;">I had learned that wine is best if I started off light with sparklings and whites and move towards the more powerful reds. There was certainly no better way to get a day of wine tasting going then to start at Domaine Carneros who specialized in sparkling wines. I suppose if I were to drink before noon, I should at least go with something that is legitimately served before noon on occasion.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TS1aLTqkE0I/AAAAAAAABvw/bQyT9NDgN1Q/s1600/domaine-carneros.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TS1aLTqkE0I/AAAAAAAABvw/bQyT9NDgN1Q/s320/domaine-carneros.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px; padding-top: 4px; text-align: center;"><i>(Domaine Carneros)</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;">Domaine Carneros' main building sat atop of a small hill to the southwest of Napa City. We took the beautiful and scenic Old Napa Valley road, which prepared us for a beautiful morning. When we arrived, we were told that if we wanted to enjoy the wine tasting, all we had to do was sit at a table and a waiter or waitress would come and serve us. We grabbed a table outside overlooking the vineyard and shortly after a friendly waitress came to give us a run down of the menu.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TS1aJyX_KsI/AAAAAAAABvo/boqx_yvdGFU/s1600/domaine-carneros-menu.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TS1aJyX_KsI/AAAAAAAABvo/boqx_yvdGFU/s320/domaine-carneros-menu.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(Domaine Carneros - Menu)</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">There were three samplers on the menu, which I already knew having done my research online. There were a sparkling wine sampler serving three sparkling wines, a red wine sample serving three red wines and a grande taste sampler that served two sparkling wines and two red wines. We only ordered the sparkling wine sampler since that was their specialty, and we wanted to pace ourself for the day.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TS1aJMavKqI/AAAAAAAABvk/e96_C5S4bU4/s1600/domain-carneros-sparking-wines.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TS1aJMavKqI/AAAAAAAABvk/e96_C5S4bU4/s320/domain-carneros-sparking-wines.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(Domaine Carneros - Sparkling Wine Sampler)</i></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TS1aKQpbSKI/AAAAAAAABvs/wBnjR6Xg7vk/s1600/domaine-carneros-sparkling.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TS1aKQpbSKI/AAAAAAAABvs/wBnjR6Xg7vk/s320/domaine-carneros-sparkling.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(Domaine Carneros - 2006 Vermeil Demi-Sec)</i></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TS1aIS2oB0I/AAAAAAAABvg/3a_Qy-rWGng/s1600/dc-pastries.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TS1aIS2oB0I/AAAAAAAABvg/3a_Qy-rWGng/s320/dc-pastries.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px; padding-top: 4px; text-align: center;"><i>(Domaine Carneros - European Pastries)</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>For fifteen dollars, we got three wines that fell between $30 to $60 a bottle. Looking back at this, it was kind of a rip-off. The wines that were served were not overly expensive and most other places would serve five or more. The fifteen dollars really went towards the atmosphere and the service we got. It was a lovely morning and sipping sparkling wine overlooking fields of green was probably a much more pleasant way to sample the wines than to stand indoors around a counter. To add to the ambiance, we ordered a set of four European patries that went along with the sparkling wines. The three wines were all mostly dry blends of pinot and chardonnay. I personally did not like chardonnay. In fact it was because of chardonnay why it took me this many years to even get into wine.<br />
<div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">The first bottle was the 2006 Vintage Brut Cuvee, which I found a little disgusting, mainly because I could really taste the typical chardonnay taste which I hated. For me, chardonnay generally hit me really strong in the front and it can taste a bit more like alcohol than wine. The second bottle was the 2006 Brut Rose, which was a tad bit more enjoyable for me. Even though it was still a chardonnay and pinot blend, because it touched the skin of the pinot, the nasty taste of alcohol of the chardonnay was somewhat masked. Finally the 2006 Vermeil Demi-Sec was slightly, and I mean ever so slightly sweeter than the other two, which probably helped in masking that chardonnay flavor that I didn't like, making this one more enjoyable than the other.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">I personally didn't end up buying any of the sparkling wines here despite originally considering it. None of the sparkling wines impressed me enough for me to warrant spending over thirty dollars on them. I did however help my friend pick up a bottle of their pinot noir having overheard the table next to me praise the wine. My friend gave me some money and asked me to surprise her.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TS1aO1ka9CI/AAAAAAAABwI/ThB0ri2Tc0I/s1600/v-sattui-fountain.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TS1aO1ka9CI/AAAAAAAABwI/ThB0ri2Tc0I/s320/v-sattui-fountain.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(V. Sattui Winery - Fountain)</i></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TS1aQgwknwI/AAAAAAAABwU/l8nuupNF7Cs/s1600/v-sattui-winery.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TS1aQgwknwI/AAAAAAAABwU/l8nuupNF7Cs/s320/v-sattui-winery.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(V. Sattui Winery - Picnic Area)</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>We moved up from Napa City to St. Helena for the next winery. This was suggested by a friend of mine on Facebook. A week or so prior to the trip, I posted on my Facebook wall for suggestions of wineries I should attend and this one popped out mostly because the tasting was very cheap. They had a classic wine tasting of five wines for $5 and a premium tasting of five wines for $10.<br />
<div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">Having just been to Domaine Carneros, I thought it was just a slow season so I wasn't expecting a lot of people. In fact Domaine Carneros was so slow that it turned my travel buddy off from wine tasting. As we pulled into the parking lot, we discovered it to be vibrant. This place was definitely happening. I suppose it's the low cost of the tasting that attracted so many people; it attracted me and I ended up buying a ton of wine from here as did my friend. I walked up to an open spot at the counter and an ultra-friendly woman who was in charge of that corner greeted me and asked me what I would like. I told her I knew very little about wine. The only thing I knew was that I liked Rieslings. Other than that, I was willing to try a few other things.</div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">She was super friendly and nice. She offered me tasting from mostly the classic menu with a couple from the premium menu for the classic price. Actually by the end of it, she served me six wines and didn't charge me anything. This was before I actually ended up buying near seventy dollars of wine from her. I actually went back and bought even more later but she was no longer there. She had me taste the different Rieslings that V. Sattui had to offer and I discovered the bottle that I wanted; 2009 Anderson Valley White Riesling. This bottle was full of fruitiness and had a wonderful ting to the front of my teeth. It was bright and brilliant and I can see myself drinking this with all kinds of foods. In fact I loved it so much I'm planning on ordering a few more bottles soon. The other Rieslings were basically too sweet for my taste. I had outgrown sweet wines having been influenced by my friend Ko, and now I'm liking drier whites. She promised me I'll eventually move up to reds. I almost dread that, knowing that she was probably right.</div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TS1aP14Zu-I/AAAAAAAABwQ/u7CnDopwEO4/s1600/v-sattui-vineyard.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TS1aP14Zu-I/AAAAAAAABwQ/u7CnDopwEO4/s320/v-sattui-vineyard.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(V. Sattui Winery - Vineyard)</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div>Outside the buildings were the vineyards. Just like all the other vineyards in Napa at this time of the year, they were all brown and leafless, awaiting for the next season to come. I suppose this is why most people come in the summer and the fall to see the grapes rip and the fields green. Winter though has its charm and the nostalgia brings forth a soothing ambiance that called out to me to enjoy some wine while wanting to cuddle up with a loved one.<br />
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</div></div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TS1aOJLecgI/AAAAAAAABwE/KIxcGIyFgcY/s1600/v-sattui-brut.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TS1aOJLecgI/AAAAAAAABwE/KIxcGIyFgcY/s320/v-sattui-brut.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(V. Sattui Winery - 2007 Prestige Cuvee Brut)</i></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TS1aPZOrATI/AAAAAAAABwM/lZMqEuc-1Eo/s1600/v-sattui-rieslings.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TS1aPZOrATI/AAAAAAAABwM/lZMqEuc-1Eo/s320/v-sattui-rieslings.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(V. Sattui Winery - 2009 <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i>Anderson Valley </i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i>White Riesling)</i></span></i></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TS1aRJILCkI/AAAAAAAABwY/8UhIKl6dudk/s1600/v-sattui-wines.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TS1aRJILCkI/AAAAAAAABwY/8UhIKl6dudk/s320/v-sattui-wines.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(V. Sattui Wines)</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>Ultimately I left V. Sattui with a bottle of that 2009 white riesling for myself and a bottle of their 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon for my friend. I didn't actually try this one myself, but the woman who served me said this was the bottle she would just crack open and relax the night to and forget the world. The way she described the bottle and her entire demeanor and personality reminded me of my friend who asked me to get her a few bottles, so I figure it must be right for her. Though when I told the woman that my friend gave me very vague guidelines and a "surprise me" instruction, she used a word to describe my friend that I best not repeat here. Later that day I did return to pick up another bottle of their sparkling wine as my travel buddy wanted to grab a few more bottles for her family.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TS1aFgQW1BI/AAAAAAAABvU/VgFeWJFOWR8/s1600/chateau-montelena-pond.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TS1aFgQW1BI/AAAAAAAABvU/VgFeWJFOWR8/s320/chateau-montelena-pond.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(Chateau Montelena - Garden Gazebo)</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div></div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">The final stop for the day was Chateau Montelena. The day really flew on by and we were hitting the chateau near its closing time. This was on my list because it was the famous winery that won the famed French competition and made famous again through the movie <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Bottle-Shock-Alan-Rickman/dp/B001LPWGBY?ie=UTF8&tag=pakw-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Bottleshock</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=pakw-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B001LPWGBY" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" />. I definitely wanted to see what the fuzz was all about and perhaps try their world famous chardonnay.</div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TS1aHYq8qfI/AAAAAAAABvc/GzL_hocDMY8/s1600/chateau-montelena-tasting.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TS1aHYq8qfI/AAAAAAAABvc/GzL_hocDMY8/s320/chateau-montelena-tasting.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(Chateau Montelena - Wine Tasting)</i></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TS1aDHD3wAI/AAAAAAAABvE/e_l5TtxcnFc/s1600/chateau-montelena-chardannay.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TS1aDHD3wAI/AAAAAAAABvE/e_l5TtxcnFc/s320/chateau-montelena-chardannay.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(Chateau Montelena - Award Winning Chardonnay)</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>As luck would have it, their wine tasting menu for the day started off with their famous $50 bottle Chardonnay that won the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Judgment-Paris-California-Historic-Revolutionized/dp/0743247515?ie=UTF8&tag=pakw-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">historic 1976 Paris Tasting</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=pakw-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0743247515" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" />. As you already know, I detest Chardonnay with my whole being. But I suppose I can't write off Chardonnay completely without trying the bottle that is supposed to be the very best in the world, so perfect that the original is still preserved in the Smithsonian. To my pleasant delight, I actually enjoyed this bottle of Chardonnay. It actually didn't taste like rubbing alcohol inside my mouth. It certainly had a little butteriness to it as the flavor of the fruit spread over my tongue. I couldn't believe it, I was actually enjoying a glass of Chardonnay for the first time in my life. It was actually good enough to drink. But then would I ever buy this bottle in my life, probably not. It was a good bottle of Chardonnay, but it was still Chardonnay and it isn't my preferred white wine. For $50, I could get two really awesome bottles of Rieslings which I much prefer.<br />
<div><br />
</div><div>Next on their menu were their Zinfindel and their low end Cabernet Sauvignon. I was not a fan of zinfindel and this bottle did not change my mind. I just never understood zinfindel; I am literally confused whenever I drink it. I was not sure what it was that I was drinking. It didn't feel like a red wine, nor a white one. It didn't burst with flavors nor did it taste like alcohol. I just couldn't make sense of it, and this bottle still didn't make sense to me. The Cabernet Sauvignon however did make sense. The flavors of the fruit was definitely in the wine and I can easily feel how at ease that bottle can put people to. That was definitely on my to get list for my friend.<br />
<div><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TS1aDubhN5I/AAAAAAAABvI/Lp_cgKOAJbY/s1600/chateau-montelena-estate-cab-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TS1aDubhN5I/AAAAAAAABvI/Lp_cgKOAJbY/s320/chateau-montelena-estate-cab-2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(Chateau Montelena - 2006 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon)</i></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TS1aEWQzj4I/AAAAAAAABvM/GBQG2aG12qs/s1600/chateau-montelena-estate-cab.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TS1aEWQzj4I/AAAAAAAABvM/GBQG2aG12qs/s320/chateau-montelena-estate-cab.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(Chateau Montelena - 2004 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon)</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Finally the two big ones were their 2006 and 2004 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon, each with a price tag of $135 and $145 respectively. For a $20 wine tasting price tag, this was definitely a bargain. The combined full bottle values of the wines that I sampled that afternoon was near $500 compared to the measly $150 at Domaine Carneros. To top it off, they waived the tasting fee if I bought over $100 worth of wine, which I did.<br />
<br />
This tasting of the two Estate Cabs was the first time in my life where I could finally tell what an open flavor versus a closed flavor tasted like. The only way to learn the difference really was to try the two bottles back to back. There was just no way to really describe what it was that the wine was doing inside my mouth, and I won't even try. All I knew was that both bottles were full of the same flavors except the flavors in the 2004 bottle blossomed inside my mouth more than the 2006 bottle. I can only imagine what these two bottles would taste like in ten more years time.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TS1aFD3KEkI/AAAAAAAABvQ/hv0bZl4aqjs/s1600/chateau-montelena-estate-vineyard.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TS1aFD3KEkI/AAAAAAAABvQ/hv0bZl4aqjs/s320/chateau-montelena-estate-vineyard.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(Chateau Montelena - Vineyard)</i></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TS1aCnHTpDI/AAAAAAAABvA/6Y5nbDfImRE/s1600/chateau-montelena-box.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TS1aCnHTpDI/AAAAAAAABvA/6Y5nbDfImRE/s320/chateau-montelena-box.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(Chateau Montelena - Wine Purchases)</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">I ended up buying a bottle of their 2006 vintage Riesling since I wasn't a red wine drinker, at least not yet. I just wanted to give their riesling a try. I was told that since it was a 2006 bottle, it would be a slightly sweeter. I bought the Chardonnay and the non-estate Cabernet Sauvignon for my friend who wanted to be surprised. Don't asked to be surprised if you don't really want to be surprised was my motto. Well I figured if there was one bottle of Chardonnay to try, this would probably be the one.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TS1aGZxbLeI/AAAAAAAABvY/IFWmVK2NCvI/s1600/chateau-montelena-rieslings.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TS1aGZxbLeI/AAAAAAAABvY/IFWmVK2NCvI/s320/chateau-montelena-rieslings.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(Chateau Montelena - 2006 Riesling)</i></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TS1aMVcWhLI/AAAAAAAABv4/tdNLlkwU5FQ/s1600/rieslings.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TS1aMVcWhLI/AAAAAAAABv4/tdNLlkwU5FQ/s320/rieslings.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(My Rieslings)</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TS1aAtQaCOI/AAAAAAAABu0/S8eFfQaZ9vs/s1600/7bottles-wine.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TS1aAtQaCOI/AAAAAAAABu0/S8eFfQaZ9vs/s320/7bottles-wine.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(Seven Wines)</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="text-align: left;">I learned a tremendous amount about wine, but I learned even more about how much I don't know about wine. It really was an impossible task to learn the in's and out's of wine without living on a winery or being inside a cellar. There was just so much out there, good and bad, that it was really a lifetime of work. In the end none of that mattered. The most important part of it all was learning about which wines I liked and which ones to avoid.<br />
<br />
This trip up north was probably the most productive of all the trips I had ever taken there. I was able to get a good sense of what San Francisco was and I learned a ton about wine in Napa. It had a ton of food from various cultures, and the world that the food encompassed were revealed. Focusing a trip around the real foods of the destinations can really show me what the place is all about. It was reflective of the people's willingness to put up with a long wait for a table in the freezing cold in the morning simply to have forty-five minutes to an hour of stomach warming happiness. It revealed insights on the lives of the local people and their travels and returns as they divulged their stories to a waitress pouring hot coffee. It showed me that whether in Napa or in Los Angeles, a good bottle of cabernet sauvignon is used in the same way after a long day of work or an intense final exam. Though the foods we eat may be different, we are all essentially the same because we must eat, and we all eat for the same reasons; we eat to live.</div></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1089368773709531669.post-85015798342966134192011-01-11T21:15:00.000-08:002011-01-13T15:32:12.505-08:00Burger To Die For - 2010 San Francisco & Napa Trip Day 3 - The Food<div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><i>Continued from...</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><i><a href="http://www.candidfood.com/2011/01/king-of-thai-noodle-house-2010-san.html">I Am The King Of Thai - 2010 San Francisco & Napa Trip Day 1</a></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><i><a href="http://www.candidfood.com/2011/01/fortunate-pilgrimage-2010-san-francisco.html">A Fortunate Pilgrimage - 2010 San Francisco & Napa Trip Day 2 Part I</a></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><i><a href="http://www.candidfood.com/2011/01/its-small-small-world-2010-san.html">It's a Small Small World - 2010 San Francisco & Napa Trip Day 2 Part II</a></i></div><br />
I had heard the name Napa for a very long time. I had envisioned in my mind a peaceful and secluded paradise a little ways north of the bustling city of San Francisco. I didn't start enjoying wine until last year on a train ride on Amtrak's Coastal Starlight from Seattle to Los Angeles. I knew only the basic names and understanding of wines and had been to one wine tasting trip prior in my life. I never thought I would visit Napa since I wasn't much of a wine person, but this year I finally made the journey.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TSzhmcGiXGI/AAAAAAAABuY/KhOLKYSOsbg/s1600/napa-roadside.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TSzhmcGiXGI/AAAAAAAABuY/KhOLKYSOsbg/s320/napa-roadside.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(Napa Valley)</i></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TSzhjX6CW3I/AAAAAAAABuE/Pv6T0-qTTow/s1600/gaia-hotel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TSzhjX6CW3I/AAAAAAAABuE/Pv6T0-qTTow/s320/gaia-hotel.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(Gaia Hotel & Spa)</i></td></tr>
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Napa was beautiful, though busier than I imagined even for the winter time. Perhaps I was disillusioned by movies like <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Bottle-Shock-Alan-Rickman/dp/B001LPWGBY?ie=UTF8&tag=pakw-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">bottleshock</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=pakw-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B001LPWGBY" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" /> which my friend Kenneth made me watch before going. It did give me some names of wineries to visit during this trip. To avoid the high price tags of the hotels in Napa city and St. Helena, we ended up at Gaia Hotel and Spa Resort down in American Canyon. It really wasn't a problem since there weren't too much traffic during the winter season. Gaia Hotel was also a fully environmentally sustainable hotel in Napa which made me feel good booking the place. They named each room after something different from nature, though the interior I suppose were all the same as far as I can tell. Fortunately there wasn't a wall full of grasshoppers nailed to the walls inside.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TSzhp7uoSMI/AAAAAAAABus/azPudXhZ294/s1600/smaller-portions-butter-cream.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TSzhp7uoSMI/AAAAAAAABus/azPudXhZ294/s320/smaller-portions-butter-cream.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(Harassing the cook will definitely result in smaller portions)</i></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TSzhi6CDYWI/AAAAAAAABuA/XHpET0aWBxo/s1600/butter-cream-kitchen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TSzhi6CDYWI/AAAAAAAABuA/XHpET0aWBxo/s320/butter-cream-kitchen.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px; padding-top: 4px; text-align: center;"><i>(Butter Cream Bakery and Diner's Kitchen)</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="text-align: left;">With a full day's worth of wine drinking, I made sure we had a hearty breakfast before gulping down alcohol. We ended up at the <a href="http://www.buttercreambakery.com/">Butter Cream Bakery and Diner</a> in Napa City. It was an authentic 50's diner where a lot of the locals ate. I was certainly out of place carrying my huge Canon camera bag around with me. The dinning area was small and accommodated around twenty to thirty people along with another fifteen or so at the counter by the cooking stations. We opted for the counter since I always preferred the atypical dinning experience, where we got to watch the cooks in action making our breakfasts.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TSzhh4hjcrI/AAAAAAAABt8/a0w_msuRRXc/s1600/butter-cream-breakfast.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TSzhh4hjcrI/AAAAAAAABt8/a0w_msuRRXc/s320/butter-cream-breakfast.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(Butter Cream Bakery and Diner - Small Breakfast)</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>We both ended up ordering the small breakfast which included eggs, toasts, hash browns and a choice of ham, sausage or bacon. I never liked bacon and I am generally weary of sausages as they can be either really good or really nasty. I made the safe choice for ham with my eggs scrambled. The grill was in full view from where I was sitting. I was able to see how everything was cooked. The toasts were put through the toaster twice to brown them. The hash browns were cooked in mass and thrown in practically every other plate that was being served. The meat were cooked to order, as were the eggs. I had serious issues with the eggs as I had already blogged about in my earlier post <a href="http://www.candidfood.com/2010/12/chopped-up-omelets-are-not-scrambled.html">Chopped Up Omelets Are Not Scrambled Eggs!!!</a> Scrambled eggs are to be scramble both before and during the cooking process.<br />
<div><br />
</div><div>Aside from the badly made scrambled eggs, the rest of the breakfast were good and hearty. It had the taste of traditional Americana in them. The ham was slightly burned and not overly salty, which is a good sign. The hash brown had a crispy top with a mushy middle which was very enjoyable. In the end, diner food is just that, diner food. Very few diners actually stand out in my book; I absolutely love some of the dishes at <a href="http://www.dineronmainrestaurant.net/">Diner on Main</a> in Alhambra if you are in that area. The atmosphere here was the real deal. An older couple who sat next to me were long time customers of the diner, and the waitress had a small catching up session with them on their winter trip to Montana. I was hoping for that kind of treatment but I found myself feeling more like an outsider as the waitress paid very little attention to me or my needs. I blame my <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Canon-Deluxe-Backpack-200EG-Cameras/dp/B00009R6TA?ie=UTF8&tag=pakw-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Canon camera bag.</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=pakw-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B00009R6TA" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" /><br />
<div><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TSzhngyNS6I/AAAAAAAABug/qCMvj6vB5qs/s1600/oxbow-public-market.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TSzhngyNS6I/AAAAAAAABug/qCMvj6vB5qs/s320/oxbow-public-market.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(Oxbrow Public Market)</i></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TSzhnPpbUkI/AAAAAAAABuc/6myWRtrZRv8/s1600/olive-oil.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TSzhnPpbUkI/AAAAAAAABuc/6myWRtrZRv8/s320/olive-oil.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(Oxbrow Public Market - Olive Oil Shop)</i></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TSzhqq5NQwI/AAAAAAAABuw/89_2_RmvSkU/s1600/tea-oxbow-public+market.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TSzhqq5NQwI/AAAAAAAABuw/89_2_RmvSkU/s320/tea-oxbow-public+market.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(Oxbrow Public Market - Tea Shop)</i></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TSzhl4nPbLI/AAAAAAAABuU/GJXLysST7eo/s1600/live-crab-oxbow-public-market.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TSzhl4nPbLI/AAAAAAAABuU/GJXLysST7eo/s320/live-crab-oxbow-public-market.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(Oxbrow Public Market - Live Seafood Shop)</i></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TSzhpQK2xBI/AAAAAAAABuo/IktZEyAi6dQ/s1600/pica-pica.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TSzhpQK2xBI/AAAAAAAABuo/IktZEyAi6dQ/s320/pica-pica.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(Oxbrow Public Market - Pica Pica Maize Kitchen)</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">After breakfast our first winery stop was for the sparkling wines at Domaine Carneros, which I'll review in a separate post. After some lovely European pastries and elegant sparkling wines to kick off the morning, we stopped by the Oxbrow Public Market to pick up lunch. It does seem like all I did was eat and drink during this trip; that is really all I did. I couldn't pass by an opportunity to check out a public market. For me, it gives me a sense of the people in the city and what their taste buds are saying. There were a good variety of foods and other shops in the market. It was also very nice to see the existence of a tea shop in the market, though it was a bit dead. I am a big fan of tea and I personally do not drink coffee; I do eat some coffee products on occasion.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TSzhoN44MKI/AAAAAAAABuk/AzgzAxkDwks/s1600/pica-pica-catira-arepa.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TSzhoN44MKI/AAAAAAAABuk/AzgzAxkDwks/s320/pica-pica-catira-arepa.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(Pica Pica Maize Kitchen - Arepa <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i>Catira</i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i>)</i></span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">After circling the market, which was rather small, I decided on <a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/pica-pica-maize-kitchen-napa-2">Pica Pica Maize Kitchen</a>, which actually was one of the two choices for lunch based on yelp reviews. The other was <a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/gotts-roadside-napa">Gott's Roadside Napa</a> next door to the market. It was a bit difficult to figure out what to order out of the menu at Pica Pica as I'm not very familiar with Venezuelan cuisine. They did have the ingredients written out next to each name so I picked it based on what kinds of meat and assortments I wanted. I ended up with an Arepa Catira, which was sauteed chicken in their signature sofrito with cheddar cheese in a grilled corn bread. The market was full and there weren't any open tables, so we took our food to Fuller Park which was a few blocks away from the market. Personally it was more enjoyable sitting outdoors under a few trees in a quiet park eating the food than it was with people criss-crossing everywhere in a stuffy room.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">The Arepa Catira was descent. I found the arepa to be too hard and rough against the meat and the cheese. The chicken and the cheese were well marinated and were tasty on their own, though there were just a bit too much cheese and not enough chicken. When they were bitten along with the bread, the thick texture of the bread destroyed whatever balance that was left and all I could feel in my mouth was the thick corn bread. Personally I almost wanted to pour out the insides and eat it alone with less cheese, and occasionally take small bites into the arepa to balance out the chicken and cheese. If it wasn't because of the soothing atmosphere of a green park, this would had been a mediocre meal at best.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TSzhk62RR6I/AAAAAAAABuM/CIE2tHKLjw4/s1600/gotts-daily-special.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TSzhk62RR6I/AAAAAAAABuM/CIE2tHKLjw4/s320/gotts-daily-special.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(Gott's Roadside's Daily Special)</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">That afternoon we visited two other wineries, V. Sattui and Chateau Montelena, both of which were superb in their own right which I'll go into details in the next post. After a whole day's worth of wine and food, we stopped by Gott's Roadside up in St. Helena right on highway 29. I was so glad that I saw the place on my way up to Chateau Montelena, this place was amazing.</div><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TSzhkPpQBCI/AAAAAAAABuI/zuRDZ9YCjlw/s1600/gotts-burger.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TSzhkPpQBCI/AAAAAAAABuI/zuRDZ9YCjlw/s320/gotts-burger.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(Gott's Roadside - Wisconsin Sourdough)</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>As soon as I stepped foot in front of the counter of <a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/gotts-roadside-saint-helena">Gott's Roadside</a>, I knew I was definitely in Napa Valley when I saw one of the specials for the day was Pillar Rock's Cabernet Sauvignon. Leave it to Napa to serve wine as a daily special next to a Chicken Tortilla soup and a Dulce de Leche Shake. I had enough wine for the day though so I only ordered the Wisconsin Sourdough. I saw on the menu that it had both mushrooms and in a sourdough and I didn't have to think twice. I'm a burger person and I make my own burgers from scratch with my own recipe, but this was seriously one of the best burgers I had ever had.<br />
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Unlike the Menage A Trios from Ike's, <a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/gotts-roadside-saint-helena">Gott's Roadside's</a> Wisconsin Sourdough's flavors were all distinct and coherent. Though my intent was to take the burger back to the hotel to eat, I took a few bites before heading off. When the burger first entered my mouth, I could taste the juiciness of the medium cooked beef, the aroma and the sweetness from the mushrooms, the chewiness of the bacon, the tangy BBQ sauce on top distinct from the creamy mayo, and the cheddar, all squeezed between two crunchy sourdough bread slices. They all then blended inside my mouth forming one coherent divine burger taste that cried out to me to eat me and eat me now. I had to resist the urge to eat it all right there since it was still a bit early for dinner. It was just convenient for us to grab the dinner right then.<br />
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I also got to try some of their sweet potato fries that my friend ordered. I personally don't care for sweet potato, though I would eat it when the opportunity presented itself. I took a few pieces and they were delicious if you like sweet potatoes. They were fresh, well cut and the flavors of the sweet potato was definitely there.<br />
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Most people would opt for a nice sit down restaurant while eating in Napa. But we weren't really super hungry and my friend really didn't eat much to begin with. So it's certainly possible to find some good joints to get your taste buds all fired up in Napa. If you are ever in the valley, just be certain to stop by Gott's Roadside and give their burgers a shot. If you are a fan of red wines, be sure to grab a bottle while sinking your teeth into some of the best burgers money can buy.<br />
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<i>Continue reading at...</i><br />
<i><a href="http://www.candidfood.com/2011/01/riesling-riesling-where-for-art-thou-my.html">Riesling, riesling, where for art thou my riesling? - 2010 San Francisco & Napa Trip Day 3 - The Wine</a></i></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1089368773709531669.post-15036356294384995212011-01-11T00:21:00.000-08:002011-01-13T15:32:27.621-08:00It's a Small Small World - 2010 San Francisco & Napa Trip Day 2 Part II<div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><i>Continued from...</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><i><a href="http://www.candidfood.com/2011/01/king-of-thai-noodle-house-2010-san.html">I Am The King Of Thai - 2010 San Francisco & Napa Trip Day 1</a></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><i><a href="http://www.candidfood.com/2011/01/fortunate-pilgrimage-2010-san-francisco.html">A Fortunate Pilgrimage - 2010 San Francisco & Napa Trip Day 2 Part I</a></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TSjI8jpYWdI/AAAAAAAABtk/DhN3I1f0UYg/s1600/quicklys-san-francisco.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TSjI8jpYWdI/AAAAAAAABtk/DhN3I1f0UYg/s320/quicklys-san-francisco.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(Quickly's in San Francisco)</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">After the morning's pilgrimage to <a href="http://www.sanfranciscochinatown.com/attractions/ggfortunecookie.html">Golden Gate Fortune Cookies</a>, we headed over to the other side of town to <a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/swan-oyster-depot-san-francisco">Swan Oyster Depot</a>. It was a long hike, combined with the hills of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Lonely-Planet-Francisco-City-Guide/dp/1741791685?ie=UTF8&tag=pakw-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">San Francisco</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=pakw-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=1741791685" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" />, my friend was having a little trouble pushing through. There were small restaurants everywhere and I wanted to walk into every one of them just to give it a try. But I stayed my course, pushing pass even familiar joints like Quickly's and their seductive <a href="http://www.candidfood.com/2010/12/mountain-high-rip-off-chowder-bread.html">boba milk tea</a>, and finally made it to Swan Oyster Depot.</div><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TSl7BQzZUqI/AAAAAAAABt4/lNKsU5foIg0/s1600/swan-oyster-outside.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TSl7BQzZUqI/AAAAAAAABt4/lNKsU5foIg0/s320/swan-oyster-outside.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(Swan Oyster Depot in San Francisco)</i></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TSjI-WxC_3I/AAAAAAAABtw/rRmQjLNjB0Y/s1600/swan-oyster-seaffod.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TSjI-WxC_3I/AAAAAAAABtw/rRmQjLNjB0Y/s320/swan-oyster-seaffod.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(Swan Oyster Depot - Seafood Window)</i></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TSjI_GAuBsI/AAAAAAAABt0/HLhXGLbkhZ0/s1600/swan-oyster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TSjI_GAuBsI/AAAAAAAABt0/HLhXGLbkhZ0/s320/swan-oyster.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(Swan Oyster Depot Counter Seating Only)</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>My original intention was to get one bowl of clam chowder and then head off to Tu Lan. But there was a line in front of Swan Oyster. It wasn't a long line; there were only around ten people ahead of me. But the joint was literally a hole in the wall. There were only counter seating and the whole place accommodated around twenty seated customers at a time. Needless to say a short line of around ten people turned into nearly a forty minutes wait. My friend whose allergy was acting up decided she wasn't going to eat any seafood. Since the line was so long, she went off on her own to find something else to eat.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TSjI99ID80I/AAAAAAAABts/x7AwJgpZgwE/s1600/swan-oyster-friends.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TSjI99ID80I/AAAAAAAABts/x7AwJgpZgwE/s320/swan-oyster-friends.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></a></div></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px; padding-top: 4px; text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><i>(Swan Oyster Depot - Bumping Into Friends)</i></div></td></tr>
</tbody></table>It turned out to be a very small world. For forty minutes, I was standing behind a couple one of whom turned out to be an old college friend of mine: Mieko. It turned out that she was in town visiting relatives and this was their must-do restaurant. Upon their recommendation, I decided to order more than just the clam chowder and give the other seafood a try. Also this happened to be the only photo I took of myself during this whole trip.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TSjI69vAE8I/AAAAAAAABtY/Np6GWEym3Os/s1600/clam-chowder-swan-oyster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TSjI69vAE8I/AAAAAAAABtY/Np6GWEym3Os/s320/clam-chowder-swan-oyster.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(Swan Oyster Depot - Clam Chowder)</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I am a big, no, colossal fan of clam chowder. I have had my fair share of clam chowder from all sorts of places I have traveled to. During my past visits to San Francisco, I had been suckered to the tourist traps of Fisherman warf. This time I was expecting something amazing. My reaction to Swan Oyster Depot's clam chowder was mixed. I was slightly prepared for this since I read a few reviews warning about the thickness of the chowder. It really isn't a chowder per se; it is far too liquidy to be be called such. It was more like a clam soup with similar ingredients as a clam chowder without the thickness. In fact it is closer to a Manhattan clam chowder in texture than a New England clam chowder. I personally prefer New England clam chowder, but to each his own. Let's just say this would never work inside a bread bowl.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The thickness aside, the soup was definitely not your cut-of-the-line clam chowder. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Progresso-Traditional-England-Chowder-18-5-Ounce/dp/B00434J53M?ie=UTF8&tag=pakw-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Progresso's</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=pakw-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B00434J53M" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" /> and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Campbells-Manhattan-Clam-Chowder-10-75-Ounce/dp/B000H136HG?ie=UTF8&tag=pakw-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank"></a><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Campbells-Chunky-England-Chowder-10-75-Ounce/dp/B000V6HQPA?ie=UTF8&tag=pakw-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Campbells'</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=pakw-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B000V6HQPA" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" /><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=pakw-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B000H136HG" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" /> got nothing on this soup. The freshness of the clams came through the soup at an instant. Unlike most clam chowder where I would have to look for the clam and to very carefully find the clam flavor in the chowder, this one hits me in the face full force. There was no guessing that this was made with real clams. The rest of the ingredients almost became insignificant as they simply were there to fill up the texture of the rest of the soup.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TSjI9OTJqpI/AAAAAAAABto/J-WgFRnHBtE/s1600/seafood-combo-cocktail.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TSjI9OTJqpI/AAAAAAAABto/J-WgFRnHBtE/s320/seafood-combo-cocktail.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(Swan Oyster Depot - Seafood Cocktail)</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>Every waiter at Swan Oyster were also food preps; they personally plated all the foods in full view of the customers. My friend and her husband ordered their usual, the seafood salad. The portions were definitely generous and it looked very fresh. But I wanted the dish that would allow me to try as many different things in the restaurant as possible, and not end up with a giant hole in my wallet. The combination cocktail did the job. It had a raw oyster, crab meat, a large shrimp and small shrimps inside the cocktail glass and cost just shy of ten dollars. This was the perfect way to sample a chunk of what Swan Oyster Depot had to offer.<br />
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<div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">I had very high standard for raw oysters, extremely high, despite only having ate my first one on a half shell one year ago; that was at Galveston in Texas. I didn't count having raw oyster shots since the alcohol drowns out a lot of the normal issues associated with raw oysters. I had been plagued all my life with stories from my parents about how awful raw oysters are, and how they had to spit it out when they were treated to free oyster at a rich friend's banquet many years ago. But when I ate the raw oysters at Galveston, it was absolutely divine. It was as if I ate a bubble of fresh water that bursted with flavors inside my mouth. Ever since, no other oyster had even come close. Swan Oyster Depot was as close as I had gotten since then. It had a burst of freshness upon entering my mouth, but there was still a hint of the nasty aftertaste that most raw oysters had when it's not at its freshest. I think the oysters at Swan Oyster Depot, or at least the one I had, was just past its freshness by perhaps a day or so. Sadly to say I would most likely never order that from Swan Oyster Depot again; let's just say my stomach cast the decisive vote later that afternoon.</div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">However the rest of the cocktail was good. The crab meat and shrimps were all fresh. The cocktail sauce didn't completely over power the seafood, allowing the original flavors of the meat to still come through. This was definitely a higher grade than some of the trash served on the streets of Fisherman warf. But it also wasn't the best seafood I ever had. I doubt I would want to wait for forty-five minutes to have Swan Oyster again, but it may be something to grab to-go if I happened to be in the area and wanted a nice quick bite of some fresh seafood; all except for the oysters.</div><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TSjI7tvaO7I/AAAAAAAABtc/ABHCK6P2PK4/s1600/ike-menage-a-trois.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TSjI7tvaO7I/AAAAAAAABtc/ABHCK6P2PK4/s320/ike-menage-a-trois.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"><i>(Ike's at Lime - Menage A Trois)</i></span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>I was prepped for Ike's after Swan Oyster Depot. I kept myself in check most of the day and made certain I didn't over eat. I managed to hike with my friend from our hotel all the way down market street to Ike's in the Castro district; it took a toll on my friend. I was ready to chomp down on a sandwich at Ike's. But little did I know there's an insanely long wait for it. Upon arrival, I approached the cashier by the door to place an order. Apparently I couldn't actually order until I first placed my name inside Lime Lounge on the "list." I got my name placed and it was over twenty minutes before I was able to place my actual order.<br />
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I asked the cashier what was the one sandwich I must have at Ike's since this is most likely the only time I would ever get to eat here. I had a feeling it was either going to be the Menage A Trois as so many have suggested on yelp or the Superman as my friend suggested. The cashier did recommend the Menage A Trois and that is exactly what I ordered. I asked him approximately how long it would take for my order to be ready. He told me it would be around forty-five minutes before I would be able to get it. I was free to roam about and return later. Apparently experienced customers knew that they could place an order on the phone bypassing the twenty minutes wait to place an order and then simply arrive to pick up their orders later. I found this extremely annoying for someone like me who had to wait nearly half an hour to place my order because I was dumb enough to actually stop by. This made absolutely no sense to me and basically turned me off from ever wanting to step foot back into Ike's.<br />
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Nevertheless knowing I had forty-five minutes to kill, and my friend was exhausted from the walk, I walked back to the hotel alone to pick up the car and return to Ike's to pick up the sandwich so that I could take it with me to Napa. It took slightly over half an hour for me to get back to my hotel and another fifteen minutes to get my car out and back over to Ike's. To my surprise my sandwich was still not ready. It took another five minutes or so for my order to finally come out of the back kitchen. I had never waited an hour and fifteen minutes for one single sandwich in my life. This better be the best sandwich I had ever tasted.<br />
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The Menage A Trios was good, but absolutely not worth the hour and fifteen minutes wait. I had a small portion of my sandwich as soon as I got it in my hands to make sure I got to try it at its freshest. I knew it was a sweet sandwich as many yelpers have reviewed it to be. It wasn't the sweetness that actually bothered me though, it was the fact that it tasted more like an orgy rather than a menage a trois. All the flavors were in a big giant jumble with one another and nothing was distinct from one another. Sure it was bursting like an orgy of flavors, but it was a mess. The sandwich was a mess. The honey, honey mustard and the BBQ sauce all fused into one sweet sauce that buried the fused flavors of the pepper jack, swiss and smoked gouda cheese as well as the chicken. Though it was good, it certain wasn't the best sandwich I ever had. In fact the Wisconsin Sourdough burger I got at Gott's Roadside the next day in St. Helena was far superior to Ike's messy orgy of a sandwich. I'll be talking about that one soon.<br />
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So the question is would I order the menage a trois again? The short answer is no. It was a good sandwich and if it didn't have a one hour and fifteen minute wait and preferential treatment for phone orders to deal with, I wouldn't mind having it ever now and then. I think if I ever returned to San Francisco and whomever I'm with absolutely wanted to try this place, I would still be willing to place a phone order and pick it up when it's ready. But since I'm so turned off by their unfair policy towards newcomers, I am not inclined to revisit this place by myself. It wasn't <i>that</i> good.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TSjI8BRqvCI/AAAAAAAABtg/QWejvp-6s9g/s1600/painted-ladies.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TSjI8BRqvCI/AAAAAAAABtg/QWejvp-6s9g/s320/painted-ladies.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></a></div></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px; padding-top: 4px; text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><i>(Painted Ladies in San Francisco)</i></div></td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">Ike's at Lime was my final stop in San Francisco and for the night. We were now ready to head off to Gaia Hotel and Spa Resort in Napa via the Golden Gate route. It was a beautiful day and I had a fantastic adventure in San Francisco. I was now ready for a change of scenery, a relaxed pace, and of course, some amazing wine.</div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><br />
<i>Continue reading at...</i></div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><i><a href="http://www.candidfood.com/2011/01/burger-to-die-for-2010-san-francisco.html">Burger To Die For - 2010 San Francisco & Napa Trip Day 3 - The Food</a></i><br />
<i><a href="http://www.candidfood.com/2011/01/riesling-riesling-where-for-art-thou-my.html">Riesling, riesling, where for art thou my riesling? - 2010 San Francisco & Napa Trip Day 3 - The Wine</a></i></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1089368773709531669.post-51869173158124628942011-01-08T12:23:00.000-08:002011-01-13T15:32:43.245-08:00A Fortunate Pilgrimage - 2010 San Francisco & Napa Trip Day 2 Part I<span id="goog_1110119386"></span><span id="goog_1110119387"></span><br />
<div><i>Continued from...</i><br />
<i><a href="http://www.candidfood.com/2011/01/king-of-thai-noodle-house-2010-san.html">I Am The King Of Thai - 2010 San Francisco & Napa Trip Day 1</a></i><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TSUwUbidoWI/AAAAAAAABs4/2W35N3UwybM/s1600/san-fran-street.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TSUwUbidoWI/AAAAAAAABs4/2W35N3UwybM/s320/san-fran-street.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></a></div></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px; padding-top: 4px; text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><i>(San Francisco Market Street)</i></div></td></tr>
</tbody></table>My full day in San Francisco consisted mostly of exploring the various neighborhoods by foot in San Francisco and eating. I was prepared for an entire day of walking from weekly hikes I recently had been taking up to <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Pasadena-railway-health-pleasure-resort/dp/B003TFDUZK?ie=UTF8&tag=pakw-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Echo Mountain</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=pakw-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B003TFDUZK" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" />. Having lived in Los Angeles for most of my life, it's sometimes easy to forget how much a feel of a city I could get from walking instead of driving. Compared to a passive ride on the passenger seat in my friend's car the night before, I was able to let the lay of the land be better be ingrained into my brain.</div><div><br />
</div><div>The Adante served a free continental breakfast along with the hotel stay. Generally I have very low expectations when it came to free hotel breakfast, but I decided to at least check it out before writing it off. The continental breakfast turned out to be just as I expected, but with even less choices. It was simply an offering of a couple types of muffins, toasts and bananas accompanied by hot chocolate, coffee and an assortment of teas. I understood keeping cost low, but to only have one type of fruit was a bit perplexing. It wouldn't had strained their budget if they got a few less bananas and replaced them with apples. I decided to completely opt out of the hotel breakfast. It was pointless to travel all the way to San Francisco just to have muffins and bananas.</div><div><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TSUwXW4ENcI/AAAAAAAABtM/gfwCHGcJNAw/s1600/sears-fine-food.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TSUwXW4ENcI/AAAAAAAABtM/gfwCHGcJNAw/s320/sears-fine-food.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(Sears Fine Food Zagat Rated)</i></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TSUwYWo_ekI/AAAAAAAABtQ/9Kymb8kvI7M/s1600/sears-fine-foods-swedish-pancakes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TSUwYWo_ekI/AAAAAAAABtQ/9Kymb8kvI7M/s320/sears-fine-foods-swedish-pancakes.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(Sears Fine Food - Swedish Pancakes)</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table></div><div>The Adante was only three blocks west of Union Square in San Francisco. Sears Fine Food was one block north of Union Square so it was perfect for us to grab breakfast there. My friend Kenneth back in Los Angeles suggested that we check this out because of the high number of reviews and ratings on yelp. When we reached Sears Fine Food, there was a line already formed outside the door. I'm not a big fan of lines so we decided to buy the food to go and eat it at Union Square instead. I normally don't eat breakfast so it wouldn't had been a heavy meal. I only wanted to try out their Swedish pancakes. My travel buddy ordered an oatmeal because she did eat the free breakfast at the hotel.<br />
<br />
</div><div>It took approximately twenty minutes for our order to be completed. We took our food down to Union Square and found a table to eat. The Square was relatively empty since it was only ten in the morning. The ice skating ring in the center only opened a few minutes prior. The Swedish pancakes were smaller than I expected. There were around fifteen little discs inside the box accompanied with slightly warm and melted butter and syrup. It turned out to be very convenient to eat at the square as finger food as well as to share. I picked up each small disc, dipped it into the butter and then into the syrup. Since I was outside on a cold morning, the temperature of the food dropped rather quickly so there really wasn't a chance to savor the food as I would inside the restaurant. But sitting outside had its perks. It was open and bright. The air was still fresh from having just been through a storm; the rain did wash out a good amount of the pollution in the air. It was a very relaxing way to start a long day of exploring San Francisco.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TSUwSB-JHxI/AAAAAAAABss/4KWgCUmyp-0/s1600/donuts.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TSUwSB-JHxI/AAAAAAAABss/4KWgCUmyp-0/s320/donuts.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(Organic Donuts)</i></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TSUwTsaKBoI/AAAAAAAABs0/GC1l5BtUpno/s1600/nuts.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TSUwTsaKBoI/AAAAAAAABs0/GC1l5BtUpno/s320/nuts.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(San Francisco Ferry Building Marketplace)</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">After breakfast, we walked down market street to the ferry building. I visited the ferry building during my last visit to San Francisco and had lunch there with a friend. It hasn't changed much. The market there were filled with healthy choices and unique food items such as head cheese and organic donuts. I was very tempted to get some food, but I knew I had to pace myself or I would end up over eating. I only ended up having a little bit of samples of the almond brittle from G. L. Alfieri. The brittle were not overly sweet which I liked. I always feel a little bad trying out samples without buying. I knew it's a marketing ploy to get you to feel exactly that, but I simply couldn't help but to feel the urge of making a purchase if it is actually a descent product. Fortunately I am disciplined enough to not allow myself to give into my urge to do so; well at least my wallet behaved.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TSUwWLe_VsI/AAAAAAAABtE/Vty5ViISjTU/s1600/san-francisco-chinatown-street.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TSUwWLe_VsI/AAAAAAAABtE/Vty5ViISjTU/s320/san-francisco-chinatown-street.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(San Francisco Chinatown)</i></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TSUwViTl6zI/AAAAAAAABtA/5T-_QMAazo4/s1600/san-francisco-chinatown-alley.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TSUwViTl6zI/AAAAAAAABtA/5T-_QMAazo4/s320/san-francisco-chinatown-alley.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(San Francisco Chinatown Alleyway - Ross St.)</i></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TSUwW-L9tvI/AAAAAAAABtI/_spGqF8PBkg/s1600/san-francisco-chinatown.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TSUwW-L9tvI/AAAAAAAABtI/_spGqF8PBkg/s320/san-francisco-chinatown.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(San Francisco Chinatown Fire Escape)</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>After leaving the Ferry Building, we began our pilgrimage to San Francisco Chinatown's <a href="http://www.sanfranciscochinatown.com/attractions/ggfortunecookie.html">Golden Gate Fortune Cookies</a>. Alright, it wasn't really a pilgrimage, but it almost felt that way going up the hills of Chinatown and then to a hard to find back alley. San Francisco's Chinatown was one of my favorite Chinatowns that I have ever visited. It's bustling and the hills made it more interesting to explore. The store was located at Ross Alley wide enough to fit one car through at a time. The store front was very easy to miss and in fact, we passed by it initially and ended up at the other side of the alley without being able to locate the store. For a brief moment I thought I was lost. Nevertheless we turned around and finally located the small door to the small fortune cookie factory.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><br />
<div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TSUx1iysc3I/AAAAAAAABtU/rEZx9IHg_Rk/s1600/golden-gate-fortune-cookie-worker.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TSUx1iysc3I/AAAAAAAABtU/rEZx9IHg_Rk/s320/golden-gate-fortune-cookie-worker.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(Golden Gate Fortune Cookies Worker)</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>As soon as we stepped foot into the store, we could smell the aroma of the fortune cookies, and it smelled wonderful. Within a few steps upon entering the store, you could see three Chinese women sitting at work stations making fortune cookies. There was a charge of fifty cents to take a photo of the workers making the fortune cookies. It was similar to what I had seen on the Travel Channel before. This company had been in San Francisco since 1962. An older man greeted all the visitors, promoting the store to us in English and Chinese. He continuously boasted about how people from all around the country and the world would come to his store to buy fortune cookies. Then he handed my friend and I a golden coin fresh out of the assembly line to try. A golden coin is simply a fortune cookie without having been bent into the shape of a fortune cookie and stuffed with a fortune inside. It was still warm from the assembly line and it was definitely tasty.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TSUwS0klbmI/AAAAAAAABsw/DM2h-mV-gWo/s1600/fortune-cookie-coin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TSUwS0klbmI/AAAAAAAABsw/DM2h-mV-gWo/s320/fortune-cookie-coin.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(Golden Gate Fortune Cookies - Golden Coin)</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">The circular discs were crunchy and warm and had a slight tangy aftertaste that I had never experienced eating a fortune cookie. In fact that slight aftertaste was extremely hard to detect when I ate the same cookies a day later. The freshness and the warmth amplified the aroma of the cookie. I ended up buying two bags of mixed flavor fortune cookies; regular and chocolate, along with a bag of cow's ears which are salty flavor cookies. The fortune cookies were all very delicious and the cow's ears were wonderfully made. The crunchiness lasted as long as the cookies were contained in sealed bags. As a bonus, the man who packed our purchases threw in a stash of free golden coins into our bags for us to snack on throughout the day. The only drawback to the cookies were the limited variety of rather generic fortunes inside them. But I did get a kick out of knowing that a new relationship would soon blossom in my life, which did actually come true. But another fortune said an investment in something with four wheels would soon be fun to make did not realize. Which one would I have rather come true; only time could tell.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TSUwVLKxeHI/AAAAAAAABs8/b-AQJnSB088/s1600/san-francisco-cable-car.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TSUwVLKxeHI/AAAAAAAABs8/b-AQJnSB088/s320/san-francisco-cable-car.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(Hills of San Francisco)</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div>While exiting the fortune cookie store, there were loads of tourists who just arrived into the store. It was definitely a well known secret. For all intensive purpose it had the making of a pilgrimage. There was a journey up a hill and into a small narrow passageway. It was tiring and easy to get lost. There was an old, though I'm not certain whether he was wise, man. There were fortunes told by the female oracles making the cookies. There were foods to be shared and bread, well cookies, to be broken. Finally we left the journey with things to bring back to where we came from to share the wealth. It was certainly a fun journey for the morning of my full day in San Francisco.<br />
Now it was time to take a hike over the remaining hills to Swan Oyster Depot on the other side.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><i>Continue reading at...</i></div></div><i><a href="http://www.candidfood.com/2011/01/its-small-small-world-2010-san.html">It's a Small Small World - 2010 San Francisco & Napa Trip Day 2 Part II</a></i><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; color: #0000ee; font-style: italic;"><a href="http://www.candidfood.com/2011/01/burger-to-die-for-2010-san-francisco.html">Burger To Die For - 2010 San Francisco & Napa Trip Day 3 - The Food</a></span><br />
<i><a href="http://www.candidfood.com/2011/01/riesling-riesling-where-for-art-thou-my.html">Riesling, riesling, where for art thou my riesling? - 2010 San Francisco & Napa Trip Day 3 - The Wine</a></i></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1089368773709531669.post-60236330209321412162011-01-04T18:02:00.000-08:002011-01-13T15:32:56.023-08:00I Am The King Of Thai - 2010 San Francisco & Napa Trip Day 1<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I travel to eat. Of course I travel also to see new places and experience new things. But the local food scene is what I am ultimately interested in. The heart of any culture is in its cuisine, and eating what the locals eat gives me a glimpse into the way the people live in any particular community. It's hard as a tourist to find the real local spots. Having <a href="http://www.yelp.com/">yelp</a> is definitely a plus in our day and age, but with so many places it can be challenging to narrow your choices down to the five or so places you have time and stomach for.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">For someone who have been to San Francisco a few times in my life, I really didn't know much about the city. All the previous times I went I fell victim to the tourist traps of Fisherman warf. This time I was determined to get a real sense of what San Francisco is truly about. As I was planning the entire trip, I posted to my thirteen hundred Facebook friends for possible suggestions for places to dine at and things to do up north. I had also enlisted my nearby friend Kenneth, since he had lived shortly up in San Francisco before, for his opinions and suggestions of possible restaurants to check out. Ultimately I was fortunate enough to have a friend currently living in San Francisco who loves food, to take me to one of his favorite spots as well as a quick tour of San Francisco.</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TSPFv7EifGI/AAAAAAAABsk/5iWQ5_RA-O8/s1600/adante-hotel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TSPFv7EifGI/AAAAAAAABsk/5iWQ5_RA-O8/s320/adante-hotel.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>(Adante Hotel)</i></div><br />
It was a rainy night when I arrived to San Francisco with my travel buddy. I originally wanted to drive up highway 1 along the coast and visit jade cove and other coastal towns along the way. But I scraped that idea when I saw the weather forecast that it would be raining up north by the late afternoon and into the night. It was a bit risky to take the Pacific Coast Highway up north as the roads may end up being extremely congested because of the rain. Instead we opted to go up the 5 Freeway, cut across on the 152 to the 101 and head into San Francisco from the south. I also wanted to avoid the toll bridge during rush hour.<br />
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I made Vietnamese spring rolls for the road trip. They were the same as the ones I had at my family's <a href="http://www.candidfood.com/2010/12/christmas-day-dinner-extravaganza.html">Christmas day dinner</a>. This time I wrapped them myself with the same ingredients as the ones my aunt made. My wrapping skill was a hit or miss; I definitely can use some practice. A few turned out nice while the others barely stayed intact. I will spare myself the embarrassment of posting pictures of them here. Nevertheless these vietnamese spring rolls made for a good lunch on a road trip. They were light and didn't stink up the car, though the rice noodle did put me in a slight food coma immediately afterwards. I was able to switch off and let my travel buddy take over the drive for an hour or so.<br />
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We arrived at our hotel the Adante Hotel, which was a few blocks west of Union Square at the border of Tenderloin. Because of the location, the hotel was very reasonably priced. There was really no problems with the neighborhood at the hotel as long as we didn't venture too far west in the middle of the night. My friend Dave came by at 730pm to pick us up and take us dinner. The spring rolls were a good snack on the trip, but I was ready to have a real meal on this cold and wet night. I told Dave I wanted to check out a low brow dive joint, a place where the locals would eat. He ended up taking us to a local popular chain of Thai restaurants, <a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/king-of-thai-noodle-house-san-francisco-3">King Of Thai Noodle House</a>.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TSO_pf82QnI/AAAAAAAABsY/Q_E1bw9A3qg/s1600/king-of-thai-beef-noodle-soup.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TSO_pf82QnI/AAAAAAAABsY/Q_E1bw9A3qg/s320/king-of-thai-beef-noodle-soup.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><i>(Combination Beef Noodle Soup)</i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;">The noodle house was south of market street near Powell. It was a happening place despite the rain. We parked a block away from the restaurant on the street and ran in the rain over to the entrance. The restaurant was mostly full. There was a table by the door but we opted out of that one and waited a few minutes for another one that was further inside. I detest sitting by the door, especially on a cold, rainy night. Dave told me he used to eat at this chain nearly every day a few years ago. Supposedly there was a rift in the family and some of the members went down the street and opened another Thai restaurant. I wasn't able to confirm this story, but I still enjoyed a good old fashion restaurant drama before a good hearty meal.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;">The menu was rather basic. I suppose I have been spoiled by the enormous amount of choices from restaurants in Los Angeles. Nevertheless I asked Dave for suggestions based on what he normally eats. I wanted to eat like the locals, so why not ask the local what he eats here and order that. He ordered the combination beef noodle soup and I followed suite.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><i><br />
</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;">I don't recall ever having a noodle soup at a Thai restaurant. It's not the first thing that pops into my mind when I think of Thai cuisine. I normally would order either some form of curry over rice, a pad thai or some sort of dry noodles, or even a tom yum soup. In terms of south east Asian cuisine, like most people I think of Vietnamese Pho when I think about noodle soup. I didn't quite know what to expect in terms of flavor from a Thai noodle soup.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;">The menu said the soup was a little spicy. I am always weary of spiciness; I have a rather low tolerance of spice. My friend reassured me that the noodles are not spicy at all. I was still weary of the soup since my friend had a high tolerance of spice, but I went for it nevertheless. The soup turned out to be barely spicy but extremely flavorful. It was a rich, dark, beef broth that almost tasted like a good bowl of Taiwanese beef noodle soup. We ordered the rice noodle, but apparently they changed their rice noodles a year ago from the thin version to pho noodles.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;">That aside the beef stew was very tender and melted in my mouth. The beef slices were thicker than the Vietnamese style which I prefer in my noodle soup. It's very easy to over cook the beef in a noodle soup because the broth continues to cook the beef after plating. Their beef was just bordering well done so it was still acceptable in terms of texture for me.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><i><br />
</i></div><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TSO_qOHkiqI/AAAAAAAABsc/TMunxWPqBks/s1600/king-of-thai-veggie-rice.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TSO_qOHkiqI/AAAAAAAABsc/TMunxWPqBks/s320/king-of-thai-veggie-rice.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><i>(Vegetables Over Rice)</i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>My travel buddy ordered vegetables over rice since she wanted to eat something lighter. I took a bite of her veggies and thought the dish was pretty flavorful. On one hand I do enjoy the rich flavors of the sauce that the vegetables were stir fried in, but at the same time I almost miss the original flavor of the vegetables. I generally prefer my vegetables to retain their original natural flavors. Once in a while, a heavily sauced vegetable dish is still nice over a bit of rice.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TSPCAnLzvTI/AAAAAAAABsg/9dImtWxipWk/s1600/san-francisco-twin-peak.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TSPCAnLzvTI/AAAAAAAABsg/9dImtWxipWk/s320/san-francisco-twin-peak.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><i>(On Top Of Twin Peak in San Francisco on a Rainy Night)</i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>After dinner Dave gave us a quick driving tour of the city. We ended up on top of Twin Peak with a night view despite the rain. Having had a crash course on the neighborhoods of San Francisco, I had a slightly better feeling for the city. I was ready to go to bed and hit the city head on the next day.<br />
<br />
<i>Continue reading at:</i><br />
<i><a href="http://www.candidfood.com/2011/01/fortunate-pilgrimage-2010-san-francisco.html">A Fortunate Pilgrimage - 2010 San Francisco & Napa Trip Day 2 Part I</a></i><br />
<i><a href="http://www.candidfood.com/2011/01/its-small-small-world-2010-san.html">It's a Small Small World - 2010 San Francisco & Napa Trip Day 2 Part II</a></i><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0000ee; font-style: italic;"><a href="http://www.candidfood.com/2011/01/burger-to-die-for-2010-san-francisco.html">Burger To Die For - 2010 San Francisco & Napa Trip Day 3 - The Food</a></span><br />
<i><a href="http://www.candidfood.com/2011/01/riesling-riesling-where-for-art-thou-my.html">Riesling, riesling, where for art thou my riesling? - 2010 San Francisco & Napa Trip Day 3 - The Wine</a></i>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1089368773709531669.post-39059006551475582912011-01-03T15:11:00.000-08:002011-01-03T15:20:10.131-08:00Scavenger Hunt Potluck - Part II<div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;">The entrees began to arrive at around 7pm. It worked itself out as the appetizers ended up arriving earlier than the entrees, though the people who brought the entree didn't get the appetizers at their freshest. I suppose they have no one to blame but themselves. I got there at 6pm and we waited a little while before we started to actually dine.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TSARMZ7WPAI/AAAAAAAABrY/YR-rq1vKP98/s1600/houston-hawaiian-rib-eye.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TSARMZ7WPAI/AAAAAAAABrY/YR-rq1vKP98/s320/houston-hawaiian-rib-eye.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><i>(<a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/houstons-pasadena">Houston's</a> - Hawaiian Ribeye)</i></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TSARM-x3i8I/AAAAAAAABrc/Bp3kWHTULlU/s1600/houston-stuffed-potatoes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TSARM-x3i8I/AAAAAAAABrc/Bp3kWHTULlU/s320/houston-stuffed-potatoes.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><i>(<a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/houstons-pasadena">Houston's</a> - Stuffed Potato)</i></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">It's been a while since I had dined at <i><a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/houstons-pasadena">Houston's</a></i> steak house. Ironically there is one very close to my brother's new home. I remembered <i><a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/houstons-pasadena">Houston's</a></i> as a very good steak house, much better than Outback and slightly more expensive. The Hawaiian Ribeye was perfect today. Three guests brought three pieces, two at medium and one at medium well. They were actually family so they went together. It also worked itself out as the guests who preferred their steaks at more well done got the slices closer to the edges of the steak while the guests who preferred their steaks medium got the slices from the middle. I ended up being the one to cut up the steak into thin slices. It was definitely beneficial to have one person cut all the steaks to make sure everyone got a chance to get a taste. We had enough food to fill everyone's stomachs, but it could have been very easy for guests to unknowingly cut up too much of one dish and ending up with not everyone having a chance to taste all the foods.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">The steaks were very tender. Even though it was a Hawaiian style steak, it didn't taste Hawaiian. There was only a hint of sweetness to it to help enhance the meat. I personally like Hawaiian style foods, but too often restaurants overly sweeten the food to make it hawaiian, covering any other flavors in the meat or whatever else it's flavoring. Houston's did a fine job in keeping the flavoring under control and letting the meat still speak on their own. The stuffed potato were stuffed with a ton of sour cream, butter, cheese, chives and bacon. It could easily be someone's entire meal all on its own. Fortunately we had plenty of people to split them up.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TSARNmcCVCI/AAAAAAAABrg/Kw06xMN6bPg/s1600/lawrys-prime-rib-cut.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TSARNmcCVCI/AAAAAAAABrg/Kw06xMN6bPg/s320/lawrys-prime-rib-cut.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><i>(<a href="http://www.lawrysonline.com/theprimerib_beverlyhills_gen_info.asp">Lawry's The Prime Rib Beverly Hills</a> - Prime Rib Slices)</i></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TSAROC53TxI/AAAAAAAABrk/0gKn87Fg7UQ/s1600/lawrys-prime-rib.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TSAROC53TxI/AAAAAAAABrk/0gKn87Fg7UQ/s320/lawrys-prime-rib.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><i>(<a href="http://www.lawrysonline.com/theprimerib_beverlyhills_gen_info.asp">Lawry's The Prime Rib Beverly Hills</a> - Prime Rib Half Rack)</i></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">The highlight of the entire night was the half rack of prime rib from Lawry's The Prime Rib at Beverly Hills. This was actually something that had to be ordered at least 48 hours in advance and cost $150. One of our friend George was in charge of ordering and making the trip to Beverly Hills to pick up the rack. He was also in charge of collecting all the money from the people who decided to chip in on the food. Most of the guests had already rolled in and we were all waiting for the Prime Rib. He finally arrived at the party at around 745pm. Apparently Lawry's had an issue and George had to wait for an hour to get the half rack. Lawry's ended up giving him ten percent off, which amounted to no tax for his trouble.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">The half rack was beautiful and it was a perfect centerpiece to a holiday birthday party. I again ended up being the cutter. I just felt like doing it that night. Usually our friend Tim would be the one who ends up doing all the cutting and serving. He was there, and he was glad I ended up doing it that night. I actually really enjoy cutting into that half rack. It isn't everyday that I get to slice prime rib from a half rack. Again the edge of the sides were slightly more well done than the middle, so those who preferred well done meat got the edges while those who preferred their meat more red ate the middle. Lawry's prime rib was perfect. Since we bought the prime rib ala cart, we didn't get any au jus. I didn't miss it though. I thought the prime rib was so juicy and flavorful that no other enhancement was necessary. I'm also one of those foodies who likes my food taste like the food themselves and not be smothered in juice, sauce and everything else and completely overpowering the main ingredient.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TSARRIHe4lI/AAAAAAAABr0/pKFvuAptN6Q/s1600/tofu.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TSARRIHe4lI/AAAAAAAABr0/pKFvuAptN6Q/s320/tofu.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><i>(Tofu Squares)</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TSARPzaOEfI/AAAAAAAABrs/t7o6ZNhBEYg/s1600/portos-cheese-rolls.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TSARPzaOEfI/AAAAAAAABrs/t7o6ZNhBEYg/s320/portos-cheese-rolls.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><i>(<a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/portos-bakery-burbank">Porto's Bakery</a> - Cheese Rolls)</i></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">We also had some vegetarians who were there and Christine kept that in mind. One of the vegetarians brought some tofu which I don't remember where they were from since it wasn't on the list along with cheese rolls from Porto's Bakery. The tofu was spongy and had a good flavor to it. It's really amazing how vegetables could be made to mimic meat like products. Of course it's never the same, but it was still delicious and enjoyable.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Porto's cheese rolls were also a fantastic addition to the meal. It almost functioned as the dinner bun of the night since we didn't really have bread. We had a couple slices from Blair's, but that was no where near enough for the whole group. These cheese rolls had a bit of sugar on top with cheese melted into the rolls inside. It was flaky and crunchy. Combined with the cheese the rolls were just simply delicious. Porto's is definitely one of my favorite bakeries in the area. After this, dinner buns just seem so blahsay.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TSARLKNnOzI/AAAAAAAABrQ/LAe3l2rjObo/s1600/cheesecake-factory-godiva-chocolate-cheesecake.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TSARLKNnOzI/AAAAAAAABrQ/LAe3l2rjObo/s320/cheesecake-factory-godiva-chocolate-cheesecake.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><i>(Cheesecake Factory - Godiva Chocolate Cheesecake)</i></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">No birthday party is complete without a cake. Christine ordered a Godiva chocolate cheesecake from Cheesecake Factory. With all the planning, no one actually brought candles. I suppose we could blame it on the ones who bought the cake, but then to their defense, they didn't realize that it was the actual birthday cake. Instead we used fake battery operated candles and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Apple-iPhone-Black-Smartphone-16GB/dp/B0041E16RC?ie=UTF8&tag=pakw-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">iPhone</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=pakw-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B0041E16RC" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" /> candles from the iTunes app store. They didn't work very well but it's the thought that counts.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">The cake itself was very chocolately, very rich. By that time of the night everyone was stuffed. Though many of us were chocolate lovers, it was very hard for us to devour even half of a slice of this uber rich cheesecake.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">The night was fun and everyone enjoyed the wide variety of food. It's hard to go wrong with such a fun selection of food and a beautiful half rack of prime rib as the centerpiece. It was for the most part a fair way to get together where everyone shared the expense. Of course inevitably a few people managed to get into the party without actually bringing anything or paying for any of the foods. It happens. People take advantage of things and bend the rules for themselves with the notion of it really doesn't matter. I suppose we just can't get too worked up over something like that. We just have to brush it off and move on. We ended up playing <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Hasbro-Games-Monopoly-Deal-Card/dp/B001FPQ5Y4?ie=UTF8&tag=pakw-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Monopoly Deal</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=pakw-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B001FPQ5Y4" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" /> and singing karaoke for the rest of the night. In fact four of us ended up staying with Christine till 8am in the morning playing <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Hasbro-Games-Monopoly-Deal-Card/dp/B001FPQ5Y4?ie=UTF8&tag=pakw-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Monopoly Deal</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=pakw-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B001FPQ5Y4" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" /> where she managed to not win a single game in seven hours. It was that addicting.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Next time if you are in charge of planning a get together with a group of people, it may be time for you to give scavenger hunt potluck a try. Most potlucks ends up with people not wanting to bring meat dishes while expecting others to bring them. They end up going for a salad that's cheaper or a simple plain desert from a local supermarket. But if you want to have some serious foods and also help alleviate the burden of your guests trying to figure out what to bring, try actually writing the specific dishes to get. It will give them something to do before the party and the party will be guaranteed to be filled with actually good foods. You just need to do a little bit of research on what you want on the menu beforehand.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Read <a href="http://candidfood.blogspot.com/2011/01/scavenger-hunt-potluck-part-i.html">Part I</a>...</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1089368773709531669.post-60173549907359848732011-01-03T14:15:00.000-08:002011-01-03T15:17:15.716-08:00Scavenger Hunt Potluck - Part I<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It's not often that I could talk about dishes from multiple restaurants in one sitting, especially if these restaurants span the radius of twenty plus miles. Last Sunday night was one of my best friend Christine's big birthday bash. She had contemplated for a while where she would be dining with all her friends that night. But because there were over twenty guests many of which are rolling in at different times of the night, it was difficult for her to find a restaurant to accommodate the situation. Instead she decided to have each of her guest in leu of bringing a present, to bring a specific dish from a specific restaurant and have a potluck at her house instead. Well some of us brought a present anyways. She provided the drinks including alcohol and the utensils.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TSJYz_sZqMI/AAAAAAAABsA/y1O3iAtKOHw/s1600/spring-roll-in-sauce.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TSJYz_sZqMI/AAAAAAAABsA/y1O3iAtKOHw/s320/spring-roll-in-sauce.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>(</i><i><a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/brodard-restaurant-garden-grove#query:bordard">Brodard Restaurant</a> - Pork Spring Rolls In Dipping Sauce)</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">A little over a week before the party, she sent out a rather comprehensive list of a wide variety of dishes she wanted to have for the night. Thematically speaking the dishes didn't link together in the traditional sense. It was her birthday so the theme was literally anything the birthday girl wanted. It turned out to be a rather festive and fun way to have a dinning experience.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TSARO2YZleI/AAAAAAAABro/XjkgfW2nLlw/s1600/lunas-stuffed-mushroooms.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TSARO2YZleI/AAAAAAAABro/XjkgfW2nLlw/s320/lunas-stuffed-mushroooms.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TSARO2YZleI/AAAAAAAABro/XjkgfW2nLlw/s1600/lunas-stuffed-mushroooms.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><i>(<a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/lunas-restaurant-san-gabriel">Lunas Restaurant</a> - Stuffed Mushrooms)</i> </div><div><br />
</div><div>The guests rolled in at various hours of the night mostly between 6pm and 8pm. Being one of her best friends, I was among first to arrive. I signed up for a dish that was local to where I live since I didn't want to drive somewhere far to pick up food and then return. <a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/lunas-restaurant-san-gabriel">Lunas Restaurant</a> in San Gabriel was the closest restaurant to my home, and the item desired was the stuffed mushroom appetizer.</div><div><br />
</div><div>I called in and placed my order ahead of time. In fact I called in a week ago to make sure they were open on the 26th and also to confirm the price for the dish. Christine tried to get all the dishes to be around $25 so that we would all spend about the same amount. But of course nothing in life is truly fair. My mushrooms were slightly over $30. Nevertheless I told the woman on the phone that I would pick up the order in thirty minutes. I was on time. Being an actor had made me punctual for the most part. When I arrived thirty minutes after the call, the woman on the phone was there at the podium and my order was ready. It's always great to have my orders ready on time. The woman, who was probably the owner, was happy that I was right on time to pick it up and pay for it.</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TSIqWIGNCtI/AAAAAAAABr8/Egf6eBKfeFI/s1600/to-go-boxes.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TSIqWIGNCtI/AAAAAAAABr8/Egf6eBKfeFI/s320/to-go-boxes.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>(To Go Boxes)</i></div><br />
We decided to put all the food onto nice serving plates. The key to making a potluck buffet look, feel and taste less like a potluck was to have the food served on fine china. It instantly made the meal felt more elegant and expensive. The food were not the cheapest around to begin with, so eating them out of the box would simply have cheapen the experience and do the food injustice.<br />
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The mushrooms came with rice, chips and salsa. The drawback to this kind of potluck was that the foods weren't at their hottest when they were served since there was a lag time for takeout. Despite that, the mushrooms were still very appetizing at room temperature. The portion at Lunas was generous; three orders were enough to appease the entire group. The mushrooms were creamy, juicy and popping with flavors. It certainly would have been better if they were hotter, but that's the tradeoff in having a potluck style buffet with foods from across the county and beyond.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TSARLxNh5UI/AAAAAAAABrU/g12mj4_Do5I/s1600/cpk-spinach-dip-hummus.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TSARLxNh5UI/AAAAAAAABrU/g12mj4_Do5I/s320/cpk-spinach-dip-hummus.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><i>(California Pizza Kitchen - Spinach Artichoke Dip & Hummus)</i></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><br />
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It was still early so only a few other dishes had arrived, among them were the spinach and artichoke dip and hummus and pita bread from California Pizza Kitchen. Christine actually only asked for the spinach and artichoke dip so the hummus was actually a bonus, and a delightful one. Personally I much prefer hummus and pita over chips with spinach and artichoke dip. Especially in a potluck situation, hummus is great at room temperature; I prefer really hot spinach and artichoke dip. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't bad at room temperature, I just have a strong preference on the temperature on this dip. Generally when I eat this at a restaurant, I loose interest after the first ten minutes once the dip is no longer hot. The pita bread was also nice and soft and was just the perfect carbs to have at a mostly carb-less potluck.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TSARQc-It7I/AAAAAAAABrw/QMTa7mq3Jc8/s1600/ruen-pair-papaya-salad.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TSARQc-It7I/AAAAAAAABrw/QMTa7mq3Jc8/s320/ruen-pair-papaya-salad.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><i>(<a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/ruen-pair-restaurant-los-angeles">Ruen Pair Restaurant</a> - House Special Raw Blue Crab Papaya Salad)</i></div><div><i><br />
</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">Next was an amazing house special raw blue crab papaya salad from Ruen Pair Restaurant in Hollywood. I had actually never heard of this Thai restaurant. But then there were so many amazing little places in Los Angeles, it wasn't a surprise that I didn't know. The salad was provided in a few separate boxes to keep the salad from getting soggy, so we had to toss it ourselves. This dish was beautifully balanced. It actually has been a very long time since I had blue crab as it's not readily available at most local markets in Los Angeles. I much prefer blue crabs then dungeon crab. But this was the first time I had them raw and they were devine. The meat just melted in my mouth as it was sucked out of the shell. The sweetness of the crab mixed elegantly with the lightly spiced papaya salad, a perfect combination.</div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TSARKmneflI/AAAAAAAABrM/QTsLomJ1CXk/s1600/brodard-pork-spring-rolls.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TSARKmneflI/AAAAAAAABrM/QTsLomJ1CXk/s320/brodard-pork-spring-rolls.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><i>(<a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/brodard-restaurant-garden-grove#query:bordard">Brodard Restaurant</a> - Pork Spring Rolls)</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TSARJ0FhbWI/AAAAAAAABrI/W1s9OdOCE8E/s1600/brodard-pork-spring-rolls-dip.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TSARJ0FhbWI/AAAAAAAABrI/W1s9OdOCE8E/s320/brodard-pork-spring-rolls-dip.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>(<a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/brodard-restaurant-garden-grove#query:bordard">Brodard Restaurant</a> - Pork Spring Rolls Dip)</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">The last couple of weeks, I've had a ton of spring rolls at various parties. I am a big fan of spring rolls and I can eat a ton of them in one night. They were generally light and leaned on the healthier side of the food spectrum. Of course I refrained myself from gorging down spring rolls at this party because I wanted to eat everything else. I was just happy to be having spring rolls from a restaurant I had never tried. I was told beforehand that the spring rolls from Brodard Restaurant were the best. After trying them, these spring rolls were the best only because the sauce was amazing. The spring rolls themselves were good and well made but not the best if they stood alone.<br />
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Although it may not be the most environmentally friendly practice to wrap each individual spring roll in plastic wrap, it was necessary to keep the rolls from sticking to one another. The rolls were wrapped with pork and crispy egg roll skin inside along with a few other condiments. Personally I much prefer rice noodle and shrimp in my rolls, but these were still very delicious. The sauce was what made the big difference. It was a lightly sweetened tomato based medium thick sauce with egg flowers in it. When the rolls were smothered with the sauce, the complexity between the juicy sauce, the elastic tapioca skin, the chewy pork and the crunchy egg roll skin made a beautiful little symphony of textures inside my mouth. These were definitely fantastically fun spring rolls to have at a party.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TSARJeO8qLI/AAAAAAAABrE/1mA7JfU5nww/s1600/blairs-truffled-mac-cheese.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TSARJeO8qLI/AAAAAAAABrE/1mA7JfU5nww/s320/blairs-truffled-mac-cheese.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><i>(<a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/blairs-restaurant-los-angeles">Blair's Restaurant</a> - Truffled Mac & Cheese)</i></div><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TSARImaxp7I/AAAAAAAABrA/EAXtN8kyujI/s1600/blairs-bread.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TSARImaxp7I/AAAAAAAABrA/EAXtN8kyujI/s320/blairs-bread.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
<i>(<a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/blairs-restaurant-los-angeles">Blair's Restaurant</a> - Bread and Butter)</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: -webkit-auto;">The final piece to the appetizer menu of the evening was the truffled mac and cheese from Blair's Restaurant. The portion was very small so I tried not to take too much and give everyone else a chance to try it. When the box with the mac and cheese was first opened, the aroma of the truffles came whooshing out. That by itself was well worth the money. Of course as the mac and cheese sat and cooled down, it was hard to smell the fragrant of the truffles. That is really the only reason to get this dish, without which it's just good mac and cheese. But good mac and cheese is still just mac and cheese. The truth is if you can't smell the truffles anymore, it's not much of a party.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: -webkit-auto;">Continue to <a href="http://candidfood.blogspot.com/2011/01/scavenger-hunt-potluck-part-ii.html">Part II</a>...</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1089368773709531669.post-34848442439859953052011-01-03T01:35:00.000-08:002011-01-03T01:38:25.294-08:00China: One Billion Foodie<div style="text-align: left;">Since I've been blogging, I started going through <a href="http://hulu.com/">hulu.com</a> to find some good cooking shows to watch. I stumbled across the show Gourmet's Diary of a Foodie and the first episode was on China. I really related to this video and thought I would share it here with my fellow foodies. I guess I was born into a culture of foodies.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><object height="288" width="512"><param name="movie" value="http://www.hulu.com/embed/tIwf0XqZSHJVzf6FBQJx2w"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.hulu.com/embed/tIwf0XqZSHJVzf6FBQJx2w" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="512" height="288" allowFullScreen="true"></embed></object></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TSGYWt_7qJI/AAAAAAAABr4/4IBoQsp6gfA/s1600/foodie-crossing-close-up.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TSGYWt_7qJI/AAAAAAAABr4/4IBoQsp6gfA/s1600/foodie-crossing-close-up.jpeg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1089368773709531669.post-52352867216158950762011-01-01T00:00:00.000-08:002011-01-01T00:00:15.024-08:00Happy New Year! A Taste Of My San Francisco & Napa TripHere's a little taste of some of the things I ate in San Francisco. Have a fantastic and happy New Year! Cheers to 2011!!!<span id="goog_1100357461"></span><span id="goog_1100357462"></span><br />
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</div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TR6mm1ZfVVI/AAAAAAAABq0/Ur-ZoGMW_VA/s1600/seafood-combo-cocktail.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TR6mm1ZfVVI/AAAAAAAABq0/Ur-ZoGMW_VA/s320/seafood-combo-cocktail.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><i>(Seafood Combination Cocktail From Swan Oyster Depot)</i></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TR6mlffLx8I/AAAAAAAABqs/a9T5-b78x_k/s1600/dc-pastries.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TR6mlffLx8I/AAAAAAAABqs/a9T5-b78x_k/s320/dc-pastries.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>(European Pastries From Domaine Carneros)</i></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TR6mmeZRc9I/AAAAAAAABqw/gK5J25HjJ5A/s1600/gotts-burger.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TR6mmeZRc9I/AAAAAAAABqw/gK5J25HjJ5A/s320/gotts-burger.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>(Wisconsin Sourdough From Gott's Roadside)</i></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TR6nfw1FD-I/AAAAAAAABq8/ZgjJNLRj0Kk/s1600/chateau-montelena-estate-cab.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TR6nfw1FD-I/AAAAAAAABq8/ZgjJNLRj0Kk/s320/chateau-montelena-estate-cab.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>(Cabernet Sauvignon Estate 2006 From Chateau Montelena)</i></div><div><br />
</div><div>Be sure to visit back soon and read all about all the different things I ate and drank on this fantastic four days trip.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1089368773709531669.post-14197623383572501772010-12-31T17:26:00.000-08:002010-12-31T17:29:30.744-08:00Chopped Up Omelets Are Not Scrambled Eggs!!!I just got home from my trip up to San Francisco and Napa in time for New Years Eve. I had a lot of really good food during this trip that I will definitely be blogging about for the next week. But there is one thing I just wanted to get off my chest before the year's over. For some reason the people up in Napa Valley thinks chopping up an omelet equals scrambled eggs.<br />
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At first I thought it was just this one place, but apparently it's a common occurrence. I suppose I can't say it's exclusive to Napa as I have experienced it elsewhere before. It just became very apparent to me how some restaurants end up serving chopped up omelets as scrambled eggs while on this trip.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TR6Ag_52ouI/AAAAAAAABqg/IOcOap6eWO0/s1600/butter-cream-scrambled-eggs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TR6Ag_52ouI/AAAAAAAABqg/IOcOap6eWO0/s320/butter-cream-scrambled-eggs.jpg" width="239" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>(Butter Cream Bakery & Diner Small Breakfast)</i></div><br />
On Wednesday morning, I went to a popular local breakfast eatery called Butter Cream Bakery & Diner. I'll actually blog more in depth about the rest of the experience in a different blog. As a part of my breakfast, they served scrambled eggs. I sat at the counter so I had a wonderful view of the part of the kitchen that was a part of the dinning area. I saw the way they cooked the ham, the toast, the hash brown and yes of course, my scrambled eggs. Basically they poured the battered eggs onto the hot plate. They let the egg completely harden and then chopped it up and served it as scrambled eggs. That is just plain wrong.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TR6Byjd9wKI/AAAAAAAABqk/VoxgvP2ZUsg/s1600/butter-cream-kitchen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TR6Byjd9wKI/AAAAAAAABqk/VoxgvP2ZUsg/s320/butter-cream-kitchen.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>(Butter Cream Bakery & Diner Kitchen)</i></div><br />
Needless to say I was a bit unsatisfied with my scrambled eggs that first morning in Napa. I like my eggs really scrambled. If I wanted an omelet, I would have ordered that and chop it up myself. I wouldn't have needed them to scramble it. So this morning, I went to the hotel restaurant where I stayed at since they gave me a $10 gift certificate. I ordered another meal that came with scrambled eggs. Again my eggs were served in that say manner, chopped up omelet served as scrambled eggs.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TR6B7vddwgI/AAAAAAAABqo/B8OQydfEZhg/s1600/gaia-restaurant-scrambled-eggs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TR6B7vddwgI/AAAAAAAABqo/B8OQydfEZhg/s320/gaia-restaurant-scrambled-eggs.jpg" width="239" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>(Gaia Restaurant Buckwheat Pancake Sandwich)</i></div><br />
Scrambled eggs is supposed to be scrambled while it's cooking. If you don't scramble the eggs while it's cooking, it taste like a chopped up omelet. There's a huge difference. Real scrambled eggs should be soft and fluffy. You can't just cook the eggs as a sheet, chop it up and expect it to turn out good. I petition that all restaurants must rename their scrambled eggs to chopped omelet if they do not actually scramble their eggs during the cooking process.<br />
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Happy New Year!!! A good scrambled 2011 to you all!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1089368773709531669.post-24567007030252161042010-12-29T21:13:00.000-08:002010-12-29T21:13:45.235-08:00Old Country Cafe Isn't So OldI have been church hopping on Sundays for a few months, but the last couple of weeks, I have been returning to a couple of churches some of my family attends just to be in familiar settings during this Christmas season. Last Sunday I went to my brother's church Chinese Mission Bible Church in Alhambra. Generally after church I would eat out with my brother and his wife, but this past Sunday his wife was busy and so it was just my brother. He suggested that we go to <a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/old-country-cafe-alhambra">Old Country Cafe</a> in Alhambra.<br />
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After so many years here in the San Gabriel Valley I am always surprised to discover some new hole in the wall places. There are just so many and some of them can be quite good. Where we ended up eating at was quite delicious. The draw back was that since it was a little chilly on Sunday, the place wasn't heated and a tad bit cold for my liking.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TRfr34x1RJI/AAAAAAAABqI/C-iXyWXKeSQ/s1600/old-country-cafe-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TRfr34x1RJI/AAAAAAAABqI/C-iXyWXKeSQ/s320/old-country-cafe-2.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><i>(Old Country Cafe)</i></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TRfr4QkArFI/AAAAAAAABqM/zgjsLqbqzQI/s1600/old-country-cafe.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TRfr4QkArFI/AAAAAAAABqM/zgjsLqbqzQI/s320/old-country-cafe.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><i>(<a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&tag=pakw-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&search-alias=aps&field-keywords=Japanese%20Comic%20Books" target="_blank">Japanese Comic Books</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=pakw-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" /> For Patrons)</i></div><br />
The place was actually split into two rooms. The main room had two large tables and a bar while the small room had a few other tables with huge shelves of Japanese comic books free to check out while inside the restaurant. The place really isn't very nice despite their attempt to be hip. The furnitures were a bit run down and in desperate need for an upgrade. The positive was that the place was clean, especially for a hole in the wall type restaurant. I didn't feel completely disgusted touching the furnitures and that's all I can ask for.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TRfr2ICErzI/AAAAAAAABp8/CvAAV6idBIs/s1600/boba-milk-green-tea.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TRfr2ICErzI/AAAAAAAABp8/CvAAV6idBIs/s320/boba-milk-green-tea.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>(Boba Milk Green Tea)</i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0000ee;"><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; color: #0000ee;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TRfr41-gdTI/AAAAAAAABqQ/6kM2VRJDqZ0/s320/papaya-milk.jpg" width="320" /></span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>(Papaya Milk)</i></div><br />
My brother ordered the boba milk green tea. I personally don't like milk green tea. It just taste too watery for me. If I add milk to tea, it has to be black tea. But some people like that so I'm not going to judge. I decided to order a papaya milk instead. It's been a while since I've had one, and it's actually a childhood favorite of mine. Papaya milk is an exclusively Taiwanese drink. It's actually quite simple in concept, blend papaya with milk and you have papaya milk. This was just that and it was a great and healthy drink.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TRfr3f-TXCI/AAAAAAAABqE/k2hMyspzabM/s1600/minced-beef-a-choy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TRfr3f-TXCI/AAAAAAAABqE/k2hMyspzabM/s320/minced-beef-a-choy.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><i>(Minced Beef Over Taiwanese Lettuce "A" Choy)</i></div><div><br />
</div><div>To my surprise, my brother ordered a minced beef over Taiwanese lettuce, which is also known as "A" choy. It's similar to romain lettuce but has a slightly hint of bitter quality to it. The dish was well made with a small amount of oil. The lettuce still had a little crunch to it while the minced beef was marinated on the lighter side. I actually prefer them lighter. I find too many Taiwanese restaurants smothering their minced beef with so much sauce that it drowns out every last bit of beef flavor. This was a balanced little appetizer dish for the upcoming main dish.</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TRfr2gFT9OI/AAAAAAAABqA/F12Ca-yNTZc/s1600/fried-chicken-rice.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TRfr2gFT9OI/AAAAAAAABqA/F12Ca-yNTZc/s320/fried-chicken-rice.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>(Deep Fried Chicken Rice)</i></div><br />
On the recommendation of my brother, I ordered the deep fried chicken rice. My brother actually ordered the same. It's the dish he always gets when he dines at this little joint. I've had a few other Taiwanese style deep fried chicken and pork. This one beats them all. The crust was almost flaky. Too often the crust of these fried chicken or pork are so hard it's a little too crunchy. But this was just right. It almost melted into the chicken when I bit into them. Of course there was still enough of a crunch to it to remind you that it's still a deep fried dish. Fortunately it didn't retain too much oil making the dish much easier on the stomach.<br />
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The dish had some mixed Taiwanese style veggies and half of a marinated egg. They were all done pretty well, but they weren't the best I've had. The sour veggie was slightly too sour and the other one could use just a little more flavor. The egg though was well marinated and flavorful.<br />
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This joint is definitely worth revisiting just for their deep fried chicken rice. My brother is actually right, for a change. Alright, he has been right on many occasions and this is definitely one of them. I highly recommend if you are in Alhambra and in the mood of something deep fried without feeling like you just drank a gallon of oil, Old Country Cafe is definitely a place worth checking out.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1089368773709531669.post-31364444103282782342010-12-28T23:34:00.000-08:002010-12-28T23:34:25.865-08:00Homemade Chocolate Dipped Fruits<div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Last week I started making a few batches of chocolate dipped fruits. I wanted to do a little post specifically on them.<br />
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I'm all about giving things a try. One of my best friend this Christmas received a batch of chocolate dipped chilled dried mangos from a friend of his and said they were fantastic. So I immediately went out to make a batch of this for someone I was dating. The things I would do for my dates. Truth be told I would do this for any friend if they happened to be there and they are willing to be my guine pig.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TRb0p6qD-5I/AAAAAAAABpA/Q2aJclOME1M/s1600/chocolate+dipped+frozen+apples+and+bananas.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TRb0p6qD-5I/AAAAAAAABpA/Q2aJclOME1M/s320/chocolate+dipped+frozen+apples+and+bananas.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><i>(Chocolate Dipped Frozen Bananas and Apples)</i></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><br />
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I figured it would be pretty simple, just like chocolate dipped strawberries that I already know how to make. My chocolate dipped creations aren't as fancy as the ones you can by at the store yet, but I plan on getting them better looking as I do this more. But even without all the fancy stuff, these little creations are easy to make and turns out to be quite delicious.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TRreHzlJkUI/AAAAAAAABqU/AQexd8RGwIg/s1600/chilled-dried-mango.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TRreHzlJkUI/AAAAAAAABqU/AQexd8RGwIg/s320/chilled-dried-mango.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>(Chilled Dried Mangos)</i></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TRreKQKq7ZI/AAAAAAAABqY/J-Niqf5a0gk/s1600/chocolate-72.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TRreKQKq7ZI/AAAAAAAABqY/J-Niqf5a0gk/s320/chocolate-72.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>(Melted 72% Dark Chocolate)</i></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TRreX5ckKRI/AAAAAAAABqc/_FLZtP93RG0/s1600/chocolated-dipped-dried-mangos.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TRreX5ckKRI/AAAAAAAABqc/_FLZtP93RG0/s320/chocolated-dipped-dried-mangos.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>(Chocolate Dipped Chilled Dried Mangos)</i></div></div><br />
My first batch were chocolate dipped chilled dried mangos. I kept them simple without adding walnuts or pecans. I plan on using those in the future. But even without the little crunch, these chocolate dipped creations make for a surprisingly tasty treat. The chilly gave the chocolate a little bit of a sting, intensifying the bitterness of the chocolate. I used a 72% dark chocolate from Trader Joes. It's their store brand called Pound Plus. I actually only used about half of it on this batch and used the rest on the next batch two days later.<br />
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I melted the chocolate by steaming in a small pot over a boiling wok of hot water. I find steaming them the most effective way to melt chocolate without burning them either by directly placing them on an open fire or inside a microwave. The chocolate melted in a very consistent manner and I didn't have to stir at all and worry about burning it. Just remember not to cover the pot to avoid water from being mixed in the water.<br />
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After melting the chocolate, it was just a matter of dipping the mangos in the chocolate and taking them out, placing them on parchment paper to let dry. I experimented by dipping them in a little bit of sipping chocolate. I think next time I would sprinkle them on instead of dipping. It didn't quite work out the way I thought it would. But it still tasted pretty good.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TRb0pXx68_I/AAAAAAAABo8/I1biyXIAfwE/s1600/chocolate+dipped+bananas.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TRb0pXx68_I/AAAAAAAABo8/I1biyXIAfwE/s320/chocolate+dipped+bananas.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><i>(Chocolate Dipped Frozen Bananas)</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TRb0qksrLSI/AAAAAAAABpE/yL_dV_W3Jk0/s1600/chocolate-dipped-bananas-drying.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TRb0qksrLSI/AAAAAAAABpE/yL_dV_W3Jk0/s320/chocolate-dipped-bananas-drying.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><i>(Chocolate Dipped Frozen Bananas Drying)</i></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TRb0sjgbqpI/AAAAAAAABpU/qZNas4bDeek/s1600/frozen+chocolate+dipped+bananas.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LVOj7UYJqgo/TRb0sjgbqpI/AAAAAAAABpU/qZNas4bDeek/s320/frozen+chocolate+dipped+bananas.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>(Chocolate Dipped Frozen Bananas)</i></div><br />
I made the dried mangos on December 23. On December 25, I had the big family dinner. I went snowboarding in the morning. I wasn't planning on making anything. But when I got home, I felt like I should make a contribution to the dinner aside from the the bottle of Riesling I got. So I decided to make some chocolate dipped fruits. We didn't have any more chilled dried mangos and Trader Joes was closed on Christmas Day. All I had were a couple of bananas and apples at home. So I decided to cut up the bananas into smaller chunks and dip them in chocolate. I figured since they sell chocolate dipped frozen bananas at the beach, so they must be good. I actually have never had one in my life. I did also dip a banana while making the mango batch and it tasted pretty good. So I decided to give it a shot.<br />
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I melted the chocolate the same way by steaming. I actually used leftover chocolate that was already melted during the first batch but I kept it in the pot and set it aside afterwards. The chocolate was still perfect after this second remelting. It was mixed with the remaining bar of chocolate I had and the consistency of the chocolate was great.<br />
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I dipped each piece of banana and apple slices inside the chocolate and then picked it out with a toothpick. I deliberately poked the toothpick on the top of the banana which resulted in a little dimple. It was actually quite cute. I left them on a parchment paper to solidify for about an hour. After the chocolate hardened, I placed the pieces on a plate and then placed it in the freezer to freeze them. I served them about four hours later.<br />
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Frozen chocolate dipped fruits are really easy to make and much healthier than other frozen treats. The frozen banana tasted almost like frozen ice cream balls while the frozen apples tasted like a frozen icicle. Personally I think these are much better and healthier alternatives than having actual ice cream and icicles. I am definitely going to be doing a lot more dipping in the future. Next time though I will start decorating the chocolate with nuts and white chocolate swirls to "fancify" them.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0