cerealpancakes's Profile
Our Anniversary -- Union Square Area and Not the Cheesecake Factory :)
I'm probably late to the party, but I recommend North Beach! These are spots that I always hit up whenever I head into the Union Square/North Beach area, without fail, everytime I'm in SF.
Breakfast/Early Dinner - Caffe Puccini. Great coffee, a locals place where writers and conversationalists often nurse their just-said coffee, and large portions of pasta. I remember enjoying their papardelle with rabbit ragu, and while I often ate their vegetarian sandwich for breakfast, their omelettes looked very tempting as well.
Bakery - Stella's Pastry. Outstanding sacripantini (only bakery I found that has this) as well as decadent chocolate hazelnut cake/everything else is amazing. The chocolate hazelnut always gets my soft spot, because it's like a cracked-out version of a Ferraro Rocher.
Lunch: There is a seafood spot called Sotto Mare, that's located next to Goldenboy Pizza. Cioppino is great and shareable for two, and they have plentiful oysters.
All the businesses are family-run, and I see very old patrons regularly at all three spots.
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Caffe Puccini
411 Columbus Ave, San Francisco, CA 94133
Sotto Mare
552 Green St, San Francisco, CA 94133
What's your favorite thing to dip french fries in?
I've had fantastic horseradish and wasabi mayo dips before.
Hand Made Premium Pork Noodle at Ajisen Ramen in Fremont
They changed owners, so the quality is really good from what it used to be. Melanie tried Ajisen at a very good time. That tender rib ramen really is something else, with huge chunks of soft tendon and collagen and great meat.
A Semi- Scientific Survey Of Oreo Cookies
(1) How do you eat Oreo cookies? With my hands!
(a) Do you take regular consecutive bites until the cookie is finished? Yes or No? (Yes)
(b) Do you twist the two cookies apart? Yes or No? (Sometimes yes, sometimes no)
(i) If yes, What do you eat next : The cookie without the cream, saving the cookie with
the cream for last
(2) After twisting the two cookies apart do you eat the cream filling next without eating the
two cookies until the cream is gone? No
(3) Do you eat your Oreos with a glass of cold milk? (b) sometimes
(4) How old are you? 16
(5) Are you (b) female
(6) Do you usually buy your Oreos regular size or double cream center? Regular size
(7) How many years have you been eating Oreo cookies? 5 years, on and off
(8) Is your present method of eating Oreos new or have you always eaten them this way? Always
(9) How many Oreo cookies do you usually eat at one time? (i) less than six
(10) After how many cookies do you feel guilty? 2-3
(11) Do you eat your Oreos differently when you are alone than when you are among
friends? Yes
(12) Is there another cookie that you prefer to Oreos? If yes, please name. Nope!
Forte Frozen Yogurt, Merced
47 cents an ounce?! What kind of college student can afford that! The average price in the Bay Area is 35 cents an ounce.
Great idea, but I'd take a less decorated establishment for a much cheaper frozen yogurt. With these prices, it seems like they're just exploiting the fact that there is no competition for a cheaper yogurt...
Best Chinese, not dim sum, in entire Bay Area
My vote for one of the best Sichuan places in the Bay Area is Little Sichuan, in Newark, CA. It has received a lot of very favorable reviews, and now I'm adding mine to the mix. Their crispy fried pork (gan bian zhu rou) and Chongqing spicy chicken (dried fried chicken wings with Sichuan peppercorn and chilis) are superlatory, along with their Xinjiang cumin lamb. I also like their water-boiled beef. Rice is also good, with satisfying tea.
The service is great, the lady in glasses is very sweet and welcoming. Good, mellow place to take company or friends for a real conversation.
Link to the blog post below:
http://www.chow.com/san_francisco_bay_area_digest/6257
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Little Sichuan
35233 Newark Blvd Ste F, Newark, CA 94560
Cilantro - Love it or Hate it?
It could also have to do with the freshness of cilantro. At my local Asian market, I always see miraculously tender and sweet cilantro leaves that people buy the bunch, but outside at some restaurants, I see some really old, rough cilantro that tastes incredibly sour and bad. And I love cilantro! It might have to do with the general quality and how prevalent it is in some areas.
Fun birthday dinner for a teen?
If she watches Gossip Girl, the Butter restaurant would be a hilarious choice. Not sure if it's within the /person pricing though...
Favorite recipes for pig's feet?
My mom likes to cook it in any way that befits stew meat with tendons. Sometimes she does a kind of cabbage soup with peppercorns and other types of good stewing veggies, and it creates a light broth with the hearty pig's feet. Other times she cooks it with soy sauce, black vinegar, star anise, peppercorns, and a few other seasonings. All cooking times range about an hour or more. Those are considered the "hot preparations."
I also like to eat the cold preparations, where it's the soy sauce + etc stewing, except you only cook it for 30 minutes then let it sit in the liquid. Refrigerate the foot in plastic wrap, take it out when it's cooled down, let it sit to room temperature, then chomp on the yummy mixture of gelatin, tendons, and meat.
Burmese-Chinese Restaurant (that's the name), Fremont report w/ pics
Nice to hear a review of this place - been here a few times.
I remember ordering the smoked duck, which was rather meaty, tender, and not over-smoked. They also had a fish dish that was poached with flavored water and oil that had a very good texture, but it might be too light for some palates. I did notice a good-looking specialty chicken dish that they had on the menu (the picture with the red and green flecks of vegetables on top). However, the waiter said that it was unavailable at that time.
I hope they introduce more Burmese food though - the $5 lunch menu (not the restaurant menu) is pretty standard Chinese take-out fare, and not in any way uniquely Burmese. I agree about the tea though - very fragrant and nice.
Elephant Bar Restaurant
When it first opened 3+ years ago, it used to be pretty great and full of flavor for a chain restaurant - the jambalaya was nice and really spicy for someone like me who thrives on Sichuan-style food, the garlic bread was garlicky and toasted to a crisp, etc etc. Now I'd have to be convinced to go there...the location in Fremont makes great grilled shrimp that had a good texture and flavor, but it's not worth going by itself for.
Being exposed to back when it was good just makes it harder to go back now..
Sweetened Condensed Milk! If that didn't scare you...
I like replacing the sugar/cream part in flourless chocolate mousse cakes with sweetened condensed milk, to make a much more moister, denser, and softer cake. This came to me out of necessity, after running out of sugar and cream! I suggest Vietnamese condensed milk instead of the regular Nestle stuff, if you can get your hands on it.
There's also that Vietnamese hot/iced coffee, where you add in condensed milk instead of the regular milk/cream/sugar.
doctoring ramen soup
When eating Shin Ramen, I always add boiled quail eggs or thinly sliced pieces of side pork that has been boiled with scallions and peppercorns.
What do Chowhounds do for a living (besides eat of course)?
I'm currently a sophomore in high school in the East Bay, CA. Being raised by parents who immigrated over here from China to start an IT consultant business, I always ate well because my mom was fearless to try out new places, although now she's letting me have the responsibility to search them out :D It also didn't hurt that I would often tag along on client dinners when I was little and eat out extremely often, whether it was in China or just somewhere in the Bay Area.
When I go to good restaurants with my friends for special occasions, they often ask me how to eat something or whether this sounds good - must be a product of the random food rants I have! I also pack my own boxed lunches to school, which I have to guard, and make dinner when I'm not busy studying. I am not squeamish or averse to trying anything new, so that leads to some fun discoveries, like peanut buttery-tasting cicadas in China.
Cleaning a Watermelon - Why didn't I think of this?
You can also cut the watermelon into regular eating slices, rind and all, then cut the slice down vertically into three pieces then cut horizontally into appropriate size cubes. Discard the rind when done, or rub over your face as sort of a skin cleansing/exfoliator - remember to wash it off. I find cutting the rind by itself unnecessarily messy, so I figured out that way as a substitute.
My mom gets driven absolutely nuts when my brother digs into a watermelon with a spoon - it's bizarre to see a hollowed out watermelon in the fridge!
Ideas for lots of rosemary
I've heard of just quartering new potatoes and tossing them with salt, pepper, olive oil, garlic, and rosemary and then bake - looks like nice winter comfort food. I also totally agree with the rosemary bush, my street has rows planted for decoration!
Earliest food memory?
As a baby, I remember staring cross-eyed into a spoonful of mashed sweet potatoes. I didn't give the spoon back to my mom though, because I wanted the full mouth experience :D
Living in my old house though, my mom used to make fried eggs with slightly runny yolks, and top it off with soy sauce. Then later for dinner that night, she'd boil broccoli and stand the fuzzy bright green tops upside down in soy sauce. I think I got tired of eating those by the time we moved into our new one. I was sorely disappointed when my white friends wrinkled their noses and went ewww at my food memories in elementary school though.
Chains that are good
I rather like Elephant Bar, for the friendly atmosphere and interesting choice of decor, along with a good selection of menu items. I can actually find appetizers that I like instead of just being forced to choose entrees with garguantuan portions - the waiters in my location (Fremont, CA) also happen to be very friendly and have no qualms with splitting entrees or any other such difficulty. I think it's only focused on California and some other nearby states?
Which healthy substitutes actually taste better to you?
I prefer drinking aloe vera juice that's slightly sweetened with honey, or just water. If you really need to drink soda, you might as well just get carbonated water or mix that with something sweet, but I don't even find that appealing.
Yays and nays from Trader Joe's, lately [OLD]
My mom and I went browsing in the frozen food section - with all of the chocolate:
YAY:
Chocolate lava cakes - a little sweet for someone that cuts the sugar in baking recipes by half, but they are a great treat. If you feel like eating some but not the entire thing, it's a great thing to share with another person :D
NAY:
Chocolate ice cream bonbons - too salty without enough sweet, and my mom and I both felt queasy from it. Not sure if it was because of the product or if something got into it. Ended up melting it into the disposal with hot water.
Handmade Chocolate Ganache Torte - You might as well just peel off the ganache part and eat it, because that was the only delectable part of it. As a whole, the cake was just an okay, but it was disappointing cutting into a dry cake and not very flavorful filling, especially after the description sounding so great.
Are Chinese Restaurants the most intimidating ethnic establishments?
Like I said, must've been an off-color stereotype or a joke. I have several Japanese friends and I've never seen them stab at anything with chopsticks. My apologies.
Are Chinese Restaurants the most intimidating ethnic establishments?
Don't feel so bad - speaking as a Chinese person with a few relatives and quite a few Asian friends, a lot of them still struggle to use it properly.
Their mistakes often are like:
-holding it properly, but their hands are turned over in a way that it seems rather useless.
-crossing them, so that the bottom parts of them literally crossover each other and makes it impossible to pick up anything that way - I used to do that!
- Standing chopsticks up in a rice bowl - only a little, little sister of my friend did that, but it's extremely disrespectful since you only do that at death rituals.
- Stabbing at things with chopsticks. I've heard of frustrated Japanese people doing that, considering that their chopsticks are pointier and more suited for that and maybe only as an off-color joke, but a Chinese person would never do that. The chopsticks aren't suited for it anyway, since they're blunt. I got reprimanded for doing that when I couldn't handle chopsticks well and stabbed my dumplings.
The only real way for me to learn was to go "Use your chopsticks correctly or STARVE!" when I was 10, but reading from your struggles, I don't think that would work as well for you. It's respectful to at least try in restaurants, so don't worry too much.
