Chow Lists

• 1. Taste Good Beijing Cuisine

  76 S Abel St, Milpitas, CA 95035

  The chef from Beijing makes Jia Muo (meat stuffed hard pancakes). The flavor of the meat is spot on - lots of cumin, cilantro, and spicy peppper. One bite gave you lots to chew on. Beijing style snacks are available on weekends.

• 2. Komala Vilas

  1020 E El Camino Real, Sunnyvale, CA 94087

  Closed Tuesday. Wed-Mon Breakfast 8:30 am till 11:30 am Lunch 11:30 am till 2:30 pm Dinner 5:30 pm till 9:30 pm <br><br> Pongal is a delightful south indian porridge. Komala Vilas in Sunnyvale is open for breakfast and has pongal, dosa, vada Ven Pongol is more of a tamil khichidi than a porridge. Its very good and buttery. Chakkarai (sugar) pongal is more of a sweet, and not as good. Pongal is coming up on the 13th-15th (i think) so if anyone likes pongal, they should look for it around then <br><br> Traditional Tamil lunches (like Kalyana sappadu style) served at lunch. Plates are re-filled by servers

• 3. El Gallo Giro

  1720 Story Rd, San Jose, CA 95122

  Southern California chain with a restaurant and bakery. Carnitas is a specialty

• 4. El Oaxaqueno

  300 E William St, San Jose, CA 95112

  Sells tlayudas ($1 each) and other oaxacan groceries

• 5. Gulzaar

  1880 W San Carlos St, San Jose, CA

  There are 4 manakesh on the menu - flat breads served hot out of a stone oven. The Zaatar one ($2.95) is covered in thyme and sesame seeds. It's a very strong and distinct taste. I like it a lot but a little goes a long way. The Lentil Soup ($4.25 regular/$5.95 large) is the best I've ever had in my life. The owner includes a little cilantro and a tiny bit of fried onion (I think that's what it is) on top. On another visit we had the actual Chicken Biryani. I don't remember how it was different but I remember that we declared that the Chicken Tikka was better so we've ordered that ever since Recommendations for your first visit: I recommend the Zaatar (or another flat bread), Lentil Soup (large), and Chicken Tikka Plate (order spicy).

• 6. Tofu Tofu

  572 E El, Camino Real Sunnyvale, CA

  Soondubu is such a simple recipe, basically an anchovy broth and gochucaru (red pepper flakes), with silky soft tofu and your choice of protein. My favorite versions come with little bits of onion and zucchini for complexity, as well as slices of jalapeno for added kick. <br><br> From my experience, the variation in recipes come from the amount of red pepper flakes that's added, as well as how good their stock is, and stock to me is very important. The reason I like when places use fresh jalapenos is that they don't overload on the red pepper flakes, which are really only medium spicy, and tend to overwhelm the flavor of the delicate anchovy broth, and stew as a whole. <br><br> Here, they offer beef, pork, seafood or oyster as your protein choices, and I went with pork on my first go. The cast iron pot arrived at the table bubbling hot, perfect to poach the egg whole. I knew when I saw the bits of zucchini and onion, as well three slices of jalapeno in the broth, that it was gonna be a treat. The "spicy" broth was perfectly balanced, none of the flavors overwhelmed the other, just a harmonious stew with a well made stock base. The pork slices were tender, cut from the belly I believe, with a decent portion, enough to fill me up by the end. <br><br> Six little tasty plates of panchan included spicy fishcakes, spicy sprouts and regular sprouts, cabbage kimchi, cucumber kimchi, and marinated potatoes.

• 7. Sogo Tofu

  1610 S De Anza Blvd, San Jose, CA

• 8. El Habanero

  3132 Williams Rd, San Jose, CA 95117

  It's a Cuban place with some Mexican dishes thrown in. He erred, ordering the chicken breast by mistake instead of the pork, but he said his friend's ropa vieja was pretty good and the folks running it are very friendly. He'd go back to try the Cuban sandwich. It's in the same center as Grocery Outlet, but kind of hidden, so look for it.

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