Peter Yee's Profile
"Restaurants" Database To Be Eliminated
I'm disappointed to see Chow making this move. I actually like the feature and consider it one of the few useful upgrades in the current Chowhound.
Mamie Nova
They are available from The Gourmet Corner in San Mateo, CA but not for online ordering, I'm afraid. I spoke with the owner of the shop and he believes he is the only one importing them into the US. Here they go for $5.99 for a pair of yogurts.
Santa Clara/Sunnyvale/mountain view recs - good stuff at low prices
I'm a fan of Taqueria La Bamba's carnitas and have been for more than 20 years. They now have 3 locations in Mountain View so you don't have to deal with the original and it's dearth of seats at lunch time. The carnitas are tossed on the griddle before being added to whatever you've ordered (I like them in the tacos, burritos, and on top of nachos), so they come have a crisped exterior that I like better than moist carnitas that are swimming in juices. Pretty much old school, so don't expect to find innovative burritos. I've had Korean burritos from the BBQ Kalbi truck when it parks in Mountain View (had been Thursday nights near Books Inc., I don't know what it is now).
Great sandwiches? I like the ones I've gotten from the Eat on Monday food truck when it's in town. Pork belly is particularly good, so are the braised short rib sandwiches. A wee bit further afield, I had the torta cubana at El Gallo Giro in San Jose and really enjoyed it. Not a traditional cubano in that it has breaded beef, pork leg, and head cheese in addition to the ham, pickles, and cheese, but really tasty. I'm sure the mayo they smeared on the bread before throwing it on the griddle didn't hurt!
My family like Pho Vi Hoa in Los Altos (El Camino and San Antonio, so nearly in Mountain View). Pretty traditional stuff, but we find the flavor of the broth just that much better than most of the others we've had in Mountain View.
Can't say anything about coffee places. I avoid that brew like the plague unless I'm truly desperate from caffeine. ;-)
Salad's? I'm not saying you'll like this, but the only place I can think of for make your own is Fresh Choice on El Camino in the San Antonio Shopping Center.
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La Bamba
2058 Old Middlefield Way, Mountain View, CA 94043
El Gallo Giro
1720 Story Rd, San Jose, CA 95122
Eat on Monday Food Truck
I finally tried the calamari taco during last Thursday's mini truck meet up in Mountain View (behind the old Weinerschnitzel location). I agree, I can see why it sells out too, although I still prefer their pork belly tacos or sandwiches.
I also tracked them down in Sunnyvale on Wednesday and had an excellent blue cheese hamburger. I love blue cheese on my hamburgers but a lot of restaurants use timid blue cheeses or skimp on the cheese. Eat on Monday's was just right. Plenty of blue cheese flavor that balanced the beef patty nicely. My son, Andrew, had the pork belly sandwich and raved about it.
I'm glad to see the south bay food truck scene nicely. Speaking of which, does anyone know what happened to Moxsie's Street Eats Friday truck events? Their Google calendar hasn't been updated in months. :-(
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Weinerschnitzel
14260 San Pablo Ave, San Pablo, CA 94806
Eat on Monday Food Truck
I tried Eat on Monday again at today's Edgewood Eats event. This time they were serving "Asian Tacos". Offerings were braised beef shank, shredded pork belly, fried chicken, calamari, and shrimp. While I really enjoyed all 3 tacos, I liked the beef so much that I had to go back for another couple more. The tacos were served with small lime wedges and cucumber florets (cooked). Cilantro and onion added to the flavor of the beef taco which was also described as having an au jus sauce. Really outstanding. The pork belly(with a spicy hoisin orange sauce) was a close second, while the chicken with its spicy glaze (almost reminded me of an Asian buffalo wings preparation) ran third. To finish things off, I tried out the "fried milk" dessert. This was a custard that was battered and deep fried. An order was 3 cubes topped with Scharffen Berger dark chocolate.
While I was there, the pork belly and calamari sold out. My neighbor was just a little slow in ordering the calamari and missed out, but at least he was able to duplicate my initial order. Eat on Monday seemed to be doing pretty good business and unlike many of the trucks they were well-organized and used plastic number cards to connect diners with their orders when the orders were ready. I probably had to wait 5 minutes for each of my orders.
Now, back to my regularly scheduled diet!
Chowdown Report: Crab•Crab•Crab + Duck Dinner at Yum’s Bistro in Fremont
A special thanks to Melanie for organizing the dinner. It was great getting together with like-minded 'hounds for a crab feast.
Of the three crab preparations, my favorite was the soy sauce/garlic marinade. It bordered just on the edge of being too salty but had me licking at the leftover shell shards to get the last of the sauce off of it. Salt and garlic just push the right buttons with me. The clay pot preparation of crab was new to me and while good, it didn't best the simplicity of the soy sauce/garlic. I did enjoy the chili crab as well, but having recently had the similar chili crab in Singapore (with deep fried, not steamed mantou), I was disappointed that it wasn't the same. (I'm completing ignoring that the crabs in Singapore are a different variety.) I'm not complaining mind you, and Fremont is a whole lot easier to get to than Singapore.
The soup that kicked off the meal was spectacular. The flavors of the ingredients melded beautifully. Normally, dried scallops and I do not get along. In this preparation, the briny scallop flavor had mellowed from the long simmer and disappeared into the delicate soup. I think I could have drunk just the broth and been more than satisfied.
The duck was great, being mostly boneless and filled with a well-balanced melange of ingredients. Were I not on a diet, I would have chowing down on a lot more of this dish.
All in all, it was a wonderful dinner and celebration with Melanie. I was privileged to take part!
tikka bytes? Anyone know anything about this truck/caterer?
Looks like they are regulars at Edgewood Eats as they were there again tonight. Since I'm really supposed to be dieting, I only got the newly announced "Fire Burrito". It came in a red tortilla (you want a naan, get the naanwich instead) and was veggies, biryani rice, chicken, and a nice fiery sauce. The sauce wasn't really one of those painful sauces that leaves you wishing an endless glass of milk, but it did have nice burn to it that makes salivate just thinking of it. Now that Edgewood Eats is going weekly, I'm going to have to be careful about my diet!
Cheese Classes and/or Tours
I took an introductory cheese course there, before they moved locations, I think. I really enjoyed the informative explanations of the cheeses. I've still got my class notes from the dozen or so cheeses we tried. Sure, I could probably just read about the cheeses online, but I found my instructors approachable and knowledgeable. Some of the advanced courses sell out quickly, so it's probably a good idea to get on their mailing list so you know when the next season of courses become available.
Curry Dive Report: Chowdown at Juhu Beach Club in San Francisco
I'm with pane on this one. The beef sandwich was spectacular. Melt in your mouth soft. Were I not supposed to be dieting, I would have ordered one to go!
The char on the chicken didn't bother me and it worked well in both the sandwich and special salad.
Since I got to the restaurant early, I tried one of the chai chocolate chip cookie. It would have been a very good rendition of the cookie were it without the chai, but with the chai there was a subtle, exotic flavor that made it a nice respite from the usual ones. Even better yet, mine was fresh and warm from the oven!
The location doesn't seem conducive to walk-by traffic, but I easily found a shaded, free parking spot across the street from Costco, so I'm sure I'll be back, despite the weekday drive from Silicon Valley.
Jamaican food, Korean barbeque, and Local/organic Food
I can't comment on Jamaican food in SF proper, but Back A Yard (Menlo Park) and Coconuts (Palo Alto) both get my vote. Coconuts is the upscale sister to Back A Yard, so if price is major consideration, you'll do fine at Back A Yard.
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Back A Yard Caribbean American Grill
1189 Willow Rd, Menlo Park, CA 94025
Coconuts
642 Ramona Street, Palo Alto, CA 94301
Recs for Mountain View dinner under $40/head?
Thanks for the Napoletana Pizzeria recommendation. I didn't know something had taken Cafe Mazeh's place. Sounds like we might actually have interesting pizza in Mountain View!
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Napoletana Pizzeria
1910 W El Camino Real, Mountain View, CA 94040
Recs for Mountain View dinner under $40/head?
I try not to think of it as traditional Thai food and then I am just fine. :-)
Recs for Mountain View dinner under $40/head?
Shana Thai (Moffett Blvd.) can be done for under $40/head if you don't go overboard with appetizers and desserts. You'll get a modern take on Thai food.
For Mexican, my favorite is still Taqueria La Bamba (Old Middlefield Road or Castro St.; I go to the former). I love their carnitas and you can also go El Salvadorean with pupusas if you prefer. Castro Street location is better if you prefer sitting at tables, although I think both locations require ordering at the counter. You should be able to eat well for $10/head.
Despite living in Mountain View, I don't generally eat there for some odd reason. Could be that I'm mostly burned out on most of the restaurants near me.
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La Bamba
2058 Old Middlefield Way, Mountain View, CA 94043
Shana Thai Restaurant
311 Moffett Blvd, Mountain View, CA 94043
Eat on Monday Food Truck
I just tried out the relatively new (2 weeks old) "Eat on Monday" food truck while it was parked outside of Yahoo's Sunnyvale campus. Last week they were serving unusual hot dogs and sandwiches according to their website (http://eatonmonday.com/). This week, it appears to be Chinese steamed bun sandwiches. Think Peking duck buns, but larger. I tried all four of the meat options (and passed on the seitan). I had:
1) Chinois duck a l'orange: tea smoked duck (yum!) with a spicy orange sauce (not particularly spicy at that). I really liked the duck, but then again, I'm a sucker for tasty duck preparations.
2) Simple belly: 5 spice pork belly with Peking duck accompaniments. A nice swap for the traditional duck and not too fatty either.
3) Spicy pepper pork: reminded me a Chinese stir fry but served in a bun. Came with tofu, veggies, and a bit of jalapenos. Can be had without the pork so there's another vegetarian option beyond the seitan.
4) Buns de mongol: Mongolian beef in a bun. Really not spicy though. I probably should have doctored it with the hot sauce they offer since I'm used to Mongolian beef with the dried pepper pods. The beef was dark and had a nice beefy flavor to it.
I also had an order of 3 potstickers ($2) which were all right, but I'd recommend sticking with the sandwiches which are the highlights. The bun sandwiches were $8 for 2 which seemed a little steep, but I'm getting used to such prices after having eaten at the Moxsie Street Eats event a few times. Speaking of which, Eat on Monday will be at Moxsie on the 11th. The fact that I may be out of town that was the impetus for me to try Eat on Monday today.
For those of you who prefer a sit-down atmosphere, they also offer food at Cafe Yulong on Mondays. Apparently, Cafe Yulong is closed that day, but they are able to use the facility to offer their wares then and they've been doing so for about a year. Not being a Cafe Yulong fan, I never noticed but it is an interesting option to the usual food truck venues.
I sure wish I had taken some photos of what I had to eat, but I forgot. I plead that it was lunchtime and I was hungry. Next time, I'll have to remember Melanie's fine examples and at least whip out my iPhone!
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Cafe Yulong
743 W Dana St, Mountain View, CA 94041
tikka bytes? Anyone know anything about this truck/caterer?
I tried them when they were at Edgewood Eats a couple of weeks back. Had a tasty lamb over rice and a mango lassi. I liked what had a lot and would have hit them up again at Moxsie were I actually in town. Next time, I'll try the filling in what I recall was described as a cross between a samosa and chimichanga.
Chowdown Report: Chinese New Year Banquet at Yum’s Bistro
Yes, it seemed to be the salty egg preparation.
I'm so glad my parents refrained from making the oyster/moss/scallops dish. I think I would have dreaded New Year's if I knew that was coming. I'm afraid the flavor can be a bit overwhelming!
Chowdown Report: Chinese New Year Banquet at Yum’s Bistro
A big thank you to Melanie for organizing the dinner. I had a great time and enjoyed trying yet another place I've not been to. I'm going to be taking my family to try the place as I found enough well-prepared dishes to make it worth the drive.
From the cold dish, I enjoyed the jellyfish with its strong sesame oil flavor (my favorite flavor for instant ramen or anything that looks like noodles, it seems), the char siu (so nicely not looking like it was swimming in FDC Red #5), and the tofu skins (great, subtle smoke taste that wasn't to the point of being bitter).
Like Jefferson, I found the bacon wrapped shrimp paste to be a novel preparation. Yum's used a good bacon that wasn't overwhelmingly salty. I tried it both with and without the mayo but I'd skip the mayo in the future -- anything with bacon is pretty good by itself in my book.
The veggies with scallops and preserved duck exceeded my expectations. The duck really brought the dish to life. Probably because it reminds me of bacon, I suppose. ;-)
Loved the rice-stuffed chicken. That looks like a lot of work to make since the meat is completely removed. Thanks for the substitution, Melanie! Not that I know what Yum's concubine chicken is like, but I can't imagine it beating this dish.
The kabocha with the lobster was perfect. I could eat a plate of that by itself, I think, but I'm glad I showed some restraint. There was more than enough to eat and I don't think anyone left the restaurant hungry.
The whole steamed striped bass was perfectly fresh, with no hint of old fish odor to it.
All in all an excellent time chowing down. Gong xi fa cai!
Commis -- Piedmont Ave. (Oakland)
I ate there on the 16th and a photographer from the New York Times was taking pictures at the time. So, perhaps Commis will be getting some more (hopefully positive) press soon.
My party of 4 loved the meal. While my son agreed with Bauer about the silverware, I found it easy to balance my knife on my plate without problem. And when you're concentrating on the food, little things like balancing silverware don't seem to matter. If you are concentrating on the food. I have to wonder what Bauer was paying attention to.
Chowdown: Mao Family Cooking, San Mateo
A group of seven hounds were lucky enough to enjoy a chowdown organized by the gracious Victoria Liang at The Noodle Shop/Mao Family Cooking in San Mateo this evening. Despite miserable traffic, we were able to get together and try a variety of dishes favored by the late Chairman.
For appetizers, we ordered crushed garlic cucumber (to counteract the heat of some of the other dishes), husband & wife, five spice beef shank, Szechwan-style cold jelly, and sliced seaweed. The husband & wife and the five spice beef do not appear on the menu but are posted on the wall along with many other specials. Unfortunately, while most items on the wall comes with translations, the husband & wife and five spice beef do not. If you want them, you'll either need a Chinese speaker or a waiter who understands English. Since all of the ordering and conversation with the waiter was done in Mandarin, I don't know if ours actually spoke English. The crowd in the place was decidedly Chinese for the most part. Lambert explained that husband & wife was tendon and shank, so named because they are connected to each other. The sliced seaweed was on the house and came along with the other cold appetizers.
Among the many courses we ordered were the Hunan spicy chili pepper fish head (ordered early because of the amount of time it takes to prepare), fish with leek dumplings (strong of chives and light on the fish), braised bacon cut pork with mantou [steamed buns] (Chairman Mao's favorite dish, which is described on the cover of the menu), Mao's duck casserole (really more like a soup than an American casserole, although it was served in a claypot), tongxin cai (hmm, tube vegetable?), dry chili fried chicken wings (with Sichuan peppercorns), and numbing spicy pork kidneys (the menu says numbling(!), but it wasn't). That was quite a few dishes for our merry band, but we acquitted ourselves admirably and had few leftovers.
My favorites were the braised bacon cut pork (naturallyl) which was utterly succulent and flavorful and the kidney which was just amazing. So many times, I've had the braised pork and the meat is overcooked, super sweet, super salty, or some other "superlative". This one was just right, particularly when a piece was placed in a split mantou and consumed almost like a sandwich. The kidney didn't have that strong kidney taste that I associate with many preparations and while it was served with a lot of sliced jalapenos, it wasn't overly spicy for those who might not appreciate that sort of thing. In fact, the restaurant is quite accommodating for customers who prefer to vary the spice level. The kidney meat was tender as can be.
All told, with tax and tip, we each ended up spending $20. For the generous portions and delightful food with a group of like-minded hounds, how can you go wrong at that price?
And since Romolo's on 37th Avenue got a jump on Halloween, I brought over some of their seasonal witches' finger cookies (think finger-shaped cookie with a red-dyed almond fingernail). Turns out I didn't really need to bring dessert as the restaurant also gave us a warm cloud ear soup and sliced honeydew and orange.
Seoul on Wheels is back
I ate twice from the truck in 2007 when I was in San Francisco for meetings. Enjoyed it both times and had nothing like your experience. I guess I'll find out tomorrow how it is now.
Seoul on Wheels is back
Yay! I love her lunch boxes, although Emeryville is a bit far to go for lunch (I now work in Santa Clara).
She's also supposed to be participating in the Eat Real Festival August 29-30, 2009 for those who can't make it to the East Bay except on weekends.
http://www.eatrealfest.com/streeteats
Made in France/Village Imports original owners new store...Gourmet Corner
He claims that he is probably the only one the in the US to carry Mamie Nova yogurt. I bought some today and he noted that Le Village does not carry them anymore -- too much trouble. The Milk Pail in Mountain View also carries them, but they get them from Gourmet Corner. $7.29 for the pair at the Milk Pail and I bought the only two I found there on Sunday.
Prices were better at Le Village but availability was limited to the open warehouse sales. And darn you Robert, there were very few yogurts left when I got there today. :-) Not to worry another shipment is due to arrive by air soon. I love the coconut flavor along with the poire William (not sure if that's still made).
Crane Melon Barn - eats, farmstands on way to Santa Rosa?
Weird. The last time I had called them, they said they wouldn't be open until October. Had me thinking the season was going to late. Sounds like they may have had a production lull.
Crane Melon Barn - eats, farmstands on way to Santa Rosa?
I called today and the recording said that they would open "this Saturday". Not exactly informative as to whether that was yesterday or the upcoming Saturday.
Lunch at Nha Hang Saigon Seafood Restaurant aka Saigon Vien Dong - San Jose
An excellent lunch indeed. Melanie had described having the #23 at another location that had very chewy noodles and I had hoped these would be as well. Alas, the noodles were ordinary and I wasn't overly impressed by the whole dish (dry or wet).
I did very enjoy the #12 and the #4. The sizzingly goat meat was simply prepared but tasty without having an "old" goat taste to it. I didn't sample the quail, but that's a personal choice -- too much work for too little meat!
Thank you, Melanie, for organizing the lunch. Well worth the 13 mile bike ride to get there.
Half Moon Bay
It's the the 3-0 Cafe and you don't have to pass any security (there is none at HMB Airport anyhow) to get into it. The parking lot is right off the highway. The fence is on the other side of the restaurant and keeps the restaurant separate from the airplanes. The restaurant is named for the primary runway at HMB, which is oriented to 300 degrees. Pilots always drop the last zero from the runway heading and hence the cafe's name.
SJ MERC Editorial:All food lovers should have choice of where they eat tacos
A follow-up story appeared in yesterday's SJ Mercury News giving more depth to the story than found in the editorial. That article can be found here:
http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_6230772?nclick_check=1
I have to agree with the point that going to a restaurant and eating from a taco truck mostly appeal to different groups. Personally, I like the choice of either having a meal in minutes or sitting down in the restaurant when I want to take a load off. But in Salinas, it's the taco trucks that shine above the restaurants. They're good enough to lure me into flying into Salinas just for lunch!
Chowdown: Sigoljip Korean BBQ and Real Ice Cream (Santa Clara)
I'm going to agree with Melanie that the Yook Hwe was my favorite for the evening. Despite having the usual misgivings about eating raw meat and eggs, I thought the combination was very good. Originally as I mixed the dish (it comes in layers), I thought it was daikon on the bottom, but Melanie delighted noted she was tasting sweet pear, not daikon. The combination just worked for me and fortunately the meat and eggs were fresh and clean, so there will no ill effects from eating them.
The Duck bok ki wasn't terribly interesting. The sauce wasn't particular spicy or complex and only had bland rice "cigars" and fish balls to cover. I'd skip the dish next time.
Both BBQ dishes (pork and short ribs) were good. The short ribs had the good grace not to be overly chewy, but had a great caramelized taste where they had been in contact with the hot iron plate on which they were served. Now, I do prefer to grill my meat over a brazier with wood charcoal in it, but this wasn't a bad substitute for a restaurant that doesn't have smoke hoods over the tables.
I was pleased to try out Real Ice Cream for the first time. In my gluttony, I tried the mango kulfi and the gulkhand. The kulfi was tasty, although I prefer mango ice cream, but the gulkhand a wonderful rose aroma that was topped off by a generous quantity of rose petals throughout the ice cream.
Thank you, Melanie for hosting a lovely chowdown.
Carnitas
As are those at the Mountain View La Bamba. I like that they toss them on the grill so that you get crispy bits as well as juicy bits. Some places just chop up watery pork and toss it in the taco. Caramelization is such a nice thing.
Dago Mary's, Hunters Point Shipyard, report
I called. They tell me they are only going to open for dinner Friday night.
