Whew. Thanks for checking! I better go get my fix while I can! ;-)

My notes:

A2: The sliced beef was only mildly spicy, a comment I could make on almost every dish. The beef stomach was a nice contrast to the plain sliced beef.

A4: The sliced pork was all right, but didn't do much for me. Perhaps I was looking for a bit more bite to it.

A7: The shredded potato with chili didn't have much chili to it, but that was fine. Instead the freshness of the lightly sauteed bell peppers and perfectly cooked potatoes came through.

A-2: I didn't really find much to appreciate in the potstickers. They differed from the usual by being just a bit spicy in the meat and came with a dipping sauce that also added some spicy and a lot of salt.

B2: The mapo tofu redeemed the spicy side of things. Creamy tofu, nice numbing hot sauce.

B-3: the dan dan mian wasn't not my favorite preparation of this dish. Thankfully, it wasn't smothered in peanut sauce like I've seen at some other places, but it was a bit acidic.

B-4: this was a nicely refreshing change when it came, since the noodles and chicken contrasted with the spicy/hot other dishes.

C20: while the menu would make you think that this was a super spicy dish, the battered pork chop chunks weren't really. You had to dig into the onions and bell peppers that came with the dish to hit the chili peppers that were hiding.

D3: Good job on the beans, although we weren't sure what the dark flecks were -- couldn't have been the garlic.

C26: I don't think we ever figured out what was really meant by ferns. There weren't fiddleheads in the dish. More like slightly thick pine needles with a bit of crispness and chew to them.

C12: we had planned to get a spicy fish dish, but this non-spicy one turned out to be fine. Plenty of properly cooked fish chunks and veggies.

A5: Nothing special in my book. The "jello" (agar) is just a conveyance for the sauce which was similar to the sliced beef and sliced pork preparations.

A-5: we were mostly too full by the time these came out. The menu says $2 each, but an order seems to be 2 of them. I managed to talk the waiter into giving us 3 cakes (bing) for $6, but as it turns out, we could have gone with just 2 cakes. A nice crisp outside with a subtle pumpkin flavor gives way to a chewy inside with a red bean filling.

My thanks as well to Melanie for organizing the trip and to Arlene for organizing the dishes ordered and taking the pictures. It was a good time and a welcome respite from the heat.

Uh, oh, now you've got me worried. I think the last Tong Kee was located next door to House of Silvanas. If that's gone, no more great vegetable beef stew chow fun to be had. :-(

I walked through downtown a couple of nights ago and noticed that both Asian Box and KPop have ABC notices in their windows indicating upcoming change of ownership. I'm not sure what that says for the longevity. When I did try KPop, the TVs were blaring the eponymous KPop videos.

The menu does say "RoastShop Thousand Island dressing".

http://roastshop.com/menu/Roast-Shop-...

I can only hope that means it exceeds the usual Kraft Foods, but you'll have to decide if the name alone condemns it.

As for The Kitchen Table, I just found it a bit pricey for what I got. That's been the case for some other kosher restaurants I've sampled. It seemed busy the few times I went, so it may very well have been a rent problem. Castro Street seems to be getting packed with going concerns again, with store fronts that were closed for years getting renovations recently.

I'm amazed. The three of us who partook of the pastrami sandwich didn't find it alarmingly salty at all. I wonder if some batches were overbrined or covered in a really salty rub. In any case, that's really disappointing to hear. For the price, you wouldn't want to be rolling the dice about whether you're going over your sodium limit for the day. I think I'll stick with the veggie roast sandwich if I'm ever back there.

I have a video (461 MB total, but it streams to QuickTime) of the chef serving up the pig.

http://server.houseofyee.com/videos/w...

If you look carefully, as he gets towards the tail end, you can see the steam escaping from under the skin. Speaking of which, we had them take some of the skin back to the oven to crisp it up as it did not retain its crispiness for very long. That may be, in part, because they poured some olive oil over the plates of meat and skin, but I'm not sure. Chinatown roast (suckling) pigs certainly seem to have crisper skin.

I particularly enjoyed both the Little Gems salad and the spinach dish. The bonet reminded me of a chocolatey flan, although the brittle sprinkled on top added a nice crunchy texture that really made that dessert. Some folks tried the vanilla cake and added some of the pig jus that was served with the pig. They reported that non-standard combination to be pretty good.

A big thanks to Ashwin for organizing this chowdown.

PS The attached photos are our little friend and the bonet.

I finally made it back when they had meats on hand. (I called ahead to confirm!) Tried both the pastrami and the corned beef. I agree, the rye just doesn't have much rye flavor. I keep wondering if they're giving me the white bread despite my request for the rye!

As for the pastrami, my son had a half of it and thought it was just juicy enough. I didn't find it dry, but it wasn't as juicy as that I enjoyed at Katz's (NYC). It didn't strike my as too salty -- I actually found it just right when combined with the mustard option. The corned beef, on the other hand, seemed bland. It was much moister than the pastrami and came apart when pulled, while the pastrami was stringier and pulled apart under protest. The corned beef does come with sauerkraut and Thousand Islands dressing, so it doesn't really suffer from a lack of flavor. Now, if only I could get it grilled, with swiss cheese, on real rye. :-)

Since we were a party of three, we also ordered the veggie roast sandwich again and that went over well with the Weight Watchers in the party.

Which version of the pork belly did you enjoy? There seem to be grilled and stewed varieties.

From experience, I can tell you the Ghost Chicken (which they call the Devil's Chicken) is really painful. That's coming from someone who still craves the burn of the "Prince of Wales" habanero burgers. My son and I didn't bother to finish it, but did take the leftovers home. Since I went there specifically for that dish, I couldn't tell you a thing about the rest of the menu, but I'd certainly consider giving other dishes a try just for what they are.

It's probably worth calling ahead to see what they have. I went there today and was told they were out of corned beef, brisket, and pastrami. Meaning that all they had were the meatballs, chicken, and veggies. They weren't expecting to get meat delivered from their supplier until Wednesday. I'm assuming they mean the raw meat supplier since they do, as you note, claim to prepare their meats in-house, but the way I told about the anomalous situation didn't make that clear.

That said, I opted for the veggie roast sandwich. I normally do not like eggplant, but this sandwich was delicious. It was served piping hot and comes (like all sandwiches) on your choice of rye or white roll. Quite filling, even 3 hours later. Oh, another thing they didn't have -- bottled waters. They list both flat and sparkling, but had neither. They do offer tap water from a self-service dispenser in the dining room, so it wasn't a problem.

I'll go back after I call them first and confirm that they their cured meats available.

That seems like quite a different dish in your picture. Yes, the shrimp were nicely translucent. Are these different interpretations of the same dish??

It seems to be less busy there at lunch earlier in the week. I took my son there for lunch on Tuesday and it never got packed. Then again, I find that true of many restaurants.

Andrew had the pork katsu curry (medium) and I had the omelet curry (also medium) both with brown rice. Plenty enough for both of us to leave the place satiated and contented.

I can report that the camarones aguachile are perfectly pleasant. They're served differently from most seafood "cocktails" that I've had at places in Redwood City. As you can see in the attached photo, the dozen plus shrimp are butterflied and served on a bed of sliced cucumber sitting in a chile/lemon juice broth with onion strings. I was queried when I ordered whether I understood that the dish was very spicy. I said that was fine, but when I went to taste it, I didn't find it particularly spicy. Perhaps they "dumbed" it down for my gringo taste buds. It was spicier than your typical ceviche/seafood cocktail, but nothing that caused pain. The only thing you can't see in the picture is the tomato slice that sat on top, which held the pair of large toothpicks with which the dish is eaten. I ate that before I remembered to take a picture!

I also tried a carnitas regular taco. It was pretty small with two small tortillas, cilantro, onion, and salsa. Fine, but I prefer La Bamba's.

Melanie Wong organized a scouting trip to Marcella's Lasagneria in the Dogpatch just off 22nd Street. (Thank you, Melanie!) Five hungry hounds met there today for lunch to sample their wares. The restaurant is named for Chef Massimo's daughter and is a family business. Currently it's open weekdays for lunch. Chef Massimo spent a fair amount of time talking with our little group, explaining his culinary background and food philosophy. We were able to eat in the quiet upstairs room and were apparently the first group to do so. Seating is available downstairs and on the side walk. All seating is white metal two-tops with metal chairs.

We decided to try every lasagna available along with a couple of slices of pizza. In particular order, we had the butternut squash, bolognese, wild mushroom, spicy eggplant, and spinach lasagne. The pizza slices we ordered were the Margherita and the Mediterranea. As I didn't have much of either pizza, I'll mostly withhold comments, but my thoughts on each lasagna follows:

Butternut squash - pretty subtle and not overly sweet. Perhaps too subtle as I didn't really get much of the butternut squash taste from the dish. It's not spiced liked baked butternut squash might be, so it's somewhat subdued.

Bolognese - this lasagna should be available most days while the others will rotate. Chef Massimo makes a particularly thin lasagna noodle in house and this lasagna really shows it off beautifully. He claims the thinness of the noodle comes down to a special pasta machine and his technique. The noodles aren't heavy in gluten either, so the cut nicely and you get many layers. The sauce itself was well-balanced and not highly acidic. It's also not too heavy on the beef. Portions for this and the other lasagne were about 14 ounces and represent 1/6 of a pan.

Wild mushroom - this was the clear winner in my book. The earthy wild mushroom flavor shown through fetchingly. I'd order a pan of this any day! :-) The red wine sauce complemented the mushrooms perfectly. I've got to stop thinking about this one, otherwise I'll start drooling on my keyboard.

Spicy Sicilian eggplant - I will willingly admit that I'm not an eggplant fan. I hate it in moussaka. In this preparation, it was delightful. I'd rate this one my second favorite, surprising myself. It was not too spicy and it wasn't too "eggplanty". Like every lasagna here, the named filling is mixed with bechamel and sauce in each layer and the whole is also topped with the unadulterated filling for each identification and an extra zing.

Spinach - the lasagna was covered in a mellow green layer of pureed spinach filling. From the look of it, I initially thought it was a basil pesto, which I would have really loved. That's all right, however, as the spinach (and ricotta cheese) shown through nicely. The spinach had a bright, natural cooked spinach flavor. I'd rate this one my third favorite.

As for the pizza, well the lasagna's the thing. I mostly ate thin pieces made mostly of crust owing to my poor abilities at dividing the rectangular slices into fifths. The crust is not too chewy and sort of "bready", but it's not baked in a wood-fired oven for 90 seconds either. We did try to get a slice of the white pie, the Rustica Bianca, but it was sold out.

We didn't have the opportunity to try any of the hot or cold sandwiches offered, but I'd certainly like to. I'm definitely going back to try out other lasagnas as they make it into the rotation. Initially, Chef Massimo had planned on having only two lasagne available per day, but he determined that that made it difficult for customers to try different ones, so he'll usually have bolognese and a selection of others available daily. Marcella's also offers soups, but again, we didn't get to try any of those. They supply Whole Foods and Molly Stones with those soups as well, so it should be relatively easy to get them even when the restaurant is closed.

All in all, a splendid time eating was had. I'll leave it to my fellow hounds to add their comments below.

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.

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.

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

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

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!

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!

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!

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.

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.

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

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

I try not to think of it as traditional Thai food and then I am just fine. :-)

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

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

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.