Trill's Profile
Chowish souveniers from Taiwan?
I'm mulling the same myself since I'm leaving Taipei soon. Currently on my list are
1) vinegar - many varieties of vinegar are available here including pineapple, rice or pine-infused vinegars. For me I'll be taking a bottle of good plum vinegar to go
2) condensed soy-sauce - you can buy this stuff in the US but the ones sold here are less salty and more subtle in flavor. for serious soy-sauce junkies only
3) petit teacakes from a shop like Kuo Yuan Yi (http://www.kuos.com) - again I like the plum flavored ones
4) vegetarian meat jerky - these are so addictive!! the texture/flavor can be better than meat jerkies depending on the brand
and that's it...happy shopping!
Gochi – Japanese fusion tapas/Izakaya
hi Melanie
thx for the recs - was eyeing the pizzas on the menu, but went with a more traditional group so skipped them this time. Definitely planning on trying those later :)
Mole Report – Coyoacan Café, San Jose
Vive Sol in Mountain View? do you have the address?
had a great mole poblano burrito at La Costena in Mountain View a few weeks ago...
Mole Report – Coyoacan Café, San Jose
thx Peter! will definitely check this out.
Except Ramen Halu, it seemed like most of the restaurants in that plaza are empty in the evenings. The Thai restaurant next to Coyoacan was completely empty as well. We overheard one of the customers asking the server when the restaurant does the most business and she replied breakfast/brunch. Wonder if anyone's stopped in for breakfast/if different items are avaialble
Gochi – Japanese fusion tapas/Izakaya
Gochi’s menu is quite big so we picked most of our orders based on recs from the board. Here are some thoughts from tonight's dinner
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1) Duck Tataki – seared duck with yuzu dressing. Melts in your mouth awesome. Will definitely get this again
2) ShiroMaguro Tataki – reminiscent of the tombo prep at Akane. Akane’s version used to be significantly better than Gochi’s but on our last visit(2 weeks) ago it was only average
3) Nasu Hasamiage – rich, textured, flavorful. A hit with egg-plant and fried-food lovers
4) Saba Oshisushi – pressed sushi with saba/mackerel. This dish came out after the duck tataki and paled in comparison. Seemed rather blend/flat – maybe an off day?
5) Beef and Kimchee Claypot – crispy. The beef and kimchee flavors blended quite well
6) Gindara Shioyaki – the fish was cooked nicely – not too hard/and just buttery enough, but something was lacking in this dish that we couldn’t pinpoint. Maybe our tastebuds had been overwhelmed by this point?
7) Curry Potato Puffs(2 orders of 3) – fried pefectly – light, non-greasy and accompanied by a sweet soy-sauce based gravy + awesome mustard.
8) Green Tea Cream Puff (with cream and red bean fillings) – this was probably the best dessert of the night, the puff pastry and its fillings provided nice texture contrast
9) Mango Mousse – smooth and rich. Not very mango-y though
10) Green Tea Ice Cream with Red beans – big serving of ice cream drizzled with sweet red beans
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The total came to 30 dollars per person with 11 tapas and non-alcoholic beverages. Thanks to the reviews of the hounds, half of the stuff we ordered was simply outstanding! The menu is huge and can be a bit uneven - would love to see more people post about this place and the items they’ve tried. We’ll definitely be going back
Mole Report – Coyoacan Café, San Jose
The NYTimes had a small review of Coyoacan Café’s mole, so we stopped by for dinner last weekend. The café is in the same nondescript strip as Ramen Halu and was completely empty around 8pm on a Saturday night, although a couple of tables and take-out orders trickled in after us.
First we were served a big bowl of chips that came with some tomato-based salsa – I like spicy food but this salsa was packed with numbing heat – almost wanted to ask for a cup of milk to put out the fires in our mouths!
The two entrees we ordered were the Pollo en Mole and the Shrimp in Garlic Sauce. The Shrimp entrée was flavorful and really garlicky, with quite a few (5-7?) large shrimps. Better than the version at Fiesta del Mar in Mountain View yet not super special. As for the mole(chocolate-based-poblano?) – it had a dense, deep flavor with no hint of
bitterness. Not the most sublime mole, but finally a mole with some depth! probably the best I’ve come upon in a while. If anyone knows of something better/comparable in the Bay Area I’d love to check it out. Btw I have not been to Tepa Sahuayo in Watsonville – anyone know if they have mole negro Oaxaqueno there?
Our entrees came with corn or flour tourtillas, rice and beans. Each was around $10 after tax. Service was warm and friendly.
Coyoacan Café,
375 Saratoga Avenue, San Jose
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-biased list of places serving addictive mole-
Guelaguetza’s Mole Negro and Mole Rojo (LA) – this is a chain and they sell the mole
sauce in jars to-go.
Fonda el Refugio’s Mole Rojo and Mole Verde with Pumpkin seeds(Mexico City)
Monte Alban Mole Rojo (LA)
Shanghai Family Restaurant (Mountain View)
hi Melanie! thanks for posting about this place, it's smack in my neighborhood so I should really check it out :) what kind of dishes did you see/did you try anything else last weekend?
will update this thread once I've checked the place out, hopefully asap
Sketch Ice Cream Cake! (with pics)
ohmyGOD this looks incredible!! Sketch is awesome for paying attention to the texture of the cake as as the flavor and form, this cake looks so dreamy!
btw, is this cake on the regular menu or is it seasonal? now I know what I want for my birthday in 3 weeks!
Lunch at Cafe Brioche - Palo Alto
really? my boyfriend and I have been going to Cafe Brioche for dinner for the last couple of years. It's not the most consistent restaurant, but the moules-frites (mussels w/fries) and duck breast with peppercorn or cherry sauce are usually good bets. The chocolate fondant is great if they have it
Cafe Brioche isn't the greatest restaurant, but they have French bistro style food at a reasonable price, and that makes my bf happy and homesick each time. it's a nice little spot on the Peninsula that saves us from driving to SF for French chow all the time
Chowing Down on Bengali Homecooking at Cafe Dhaka
the pic of the sign looks great against the clear sky - I didn't notice the sky was this blue last night!!
Chowing Down on Bengali Homecooking at Cafe Dhaka
oh yeah I loved those Moglai Porota bites, they beat the average scallion pancake by much in my book! The fluffy crust coupled with a fragrantly oozy eggy center was great, I'll go back for that one alone
I liked the flavorings of the seafood/meat dishes, although the mutton rejala was on the tough side(though still very good). Thanks to Melanie and everyone else for an awesome chowdown!
J's Pots of Soul
thx for the report, the place sounds really interesting - mind sharing the address?
Fresh Lychees @ Asia Mart in Santa Rosa
yes, some farmers have been growing lychees AND longans in Florida(and also somewhere in California last I heard, dunno if this is true) for about 10 years. I haven't had Florida lychees lately - I bought some in Chicago a few years ago and they were okay, I'm hopeful that they'll get better as the farmers get more used to cultivating them.
I've been buying fresh lychees from Marina in Cupertino for several weeks - these are mostly green with a red tinge and fairly small cores. plump juicy and addictive
San Jose & South Bay Bakeries? - Dick's, Peter's, Wilson's, Aki's, etc
drove by Aki's twice in the last few months - wanted to stop by but saw long lines out the door each time :)
Palo Alto dinner around $20/entree
ummm...Cafe Brioche has duck with peppercorn sauce and mussels & fries for under 20 dollars. btw, if you want to be in Downtown Palo Alto Taipan (new restaurant) might be a good choice for $20/entree - the ambience is quite nice and they have lots of small appetizer plates that are easy to share
What's the BEST Restaurant in the Santa Clara/Mountain View area?
Tofu Cabin off Halford and El Camino(in the same plaza as the Burger King) - it's the next intersection after to Lawrence/El Camino
I usually get the seafood soondubu(soft, silky tofu in red broth) as spicy as possible. Imho the bibimbap is better and crunchier than the one at Korea House, although the dishes at Korea House are in general too bland for me so I might be biased :)
Shanghai Family Restaurant (Mountain View)
is this the restaurant in the same complex as the Hobees off Renstorff/Central? There was a nice report back when it first opened a year or so ago, but the signage outside the restaurant changed and I wondered if the original owners had moved on & the food had changed.
what are your favorite dishes here? tia
What's the BEST Restaurant in the Santa Clara/Mountain View area?
yeah, it's true there aren't many "sublime" restaurants in this section of the bay, but depending on the kind of cuisine you're interested in there are relatively good eats
Porthos is spot-on on the ramen front -
Ryowa is solid, but if you're willing to trek out to West San Jose Ramen Halu has more subtle flavors/interesting ramen texture. Santa and Himwari in San Mateo are both good bets
for Sushi, Tomi in MV, Sushiya in Palo Alto and Akane in Los Altos are solid/decent. If you go to Akane try the shiro maguro or tombo tataki - the white tuna is excellent. if you want to go farther lots of people on the boards prefer Kitsho in Cupertino
for French/bistro, Cafe Brioche on California(Palo Alto) is a good bet on most days. For a good french style patisserie try Fleur de Cocoa in Los Gatos
for Persian, Chelokababi has good kebabs (off Wolfe and El Camino in Santa Clara/Sunnyvale?)
for Italian, the small Italian restaurant next to Max's in the Stanford Shopping Center is surprisingly consistent/good in their grilled items. sorry can't remember the name
for Cantonese/Chinese food, I had a fairly good experience at Taipan Palo Alto recently. haven't gone for repeat visits yet though so can't vouch for the consistency of the restaurant/
I don't eat that much Indian food so if anyone else can elaborate on Amber India in MV or Santana Row(San Jose) that'd be great
have fun exploring!
Trill
Persian Kabobs at Chatnoga in Santa Clara - other recs on El Camino in Santa Clara?
I'd imagine so. Chelokababi has formal dining rooms, rugs, table settings, etc. Their appetizer platter is quite nice with the exception of the dolmas. The rose syrup dessert was also nice the one time I had it
Dakao sandwiches/other goodies
do you remember the name of the rice paper rolls? is this the same as the rice paper spring rolls in Vietnamese restaurants? tia!
Dakao sandwiches/other goodies
potato fritters?! I will have to try those! You know, there are so many things at Dakao, most of the times I don't know what to try and just stare...luckily the rice balls are located directly next to the cash register so I don't have to think ;)
some other things I've tried at Dakao are the sweet red bean mochi (another bakery makes it and sells it to Dakao), and the fried/breaded shrimps from the cooked food counter. They were both okay - can't remember much about them except that the price was really really cheap.
Dakao sandwiches/other goodies
The Vietnamese baguette sandwiches here are all in the 1.75-2 dollarish range. Good bargain price-wise but I was not impressed the first few times I stopped by; the bread to filling ratio was too skewed in the baguette's favor and the flavoring was so-so.
but then I saw Alice Patis & Carb Lover's posts on Dakao, and decided to ask for extra vegetables to go along with my roast chicken sandwich. It was just my luck that the lady making the sandwiches asked if I wanted chilis in my sandwich. Bingo!! the crunch of the vegetables and the just-spicy enough chilis make these $2 sandwiches way too addictive.
I also picked up one of the Dakao goodies by the cash register - this was a rice ball looking thing that's composed of three layers - sticky rice on the outside, a layer of mildly sweet green mochi in the middle, and a savory/lightly spicy meat filling in the center. The flavor pairing is interesting, but what's really cool about this ball o'carb is the texture of its three layers - so very chewy for only $1
http://www.flickr.com/photos/juicymoosy/174882658/
Columbus Avenue Boulangerie now open.
has anyone tried the croissants from Tartine, Bay Bread, AND Delessio's on Market recently? my boyfriend was really addicted to the ones from Delessio's and thought them better than Bay Bread's but we've never gotten the ones at Tartine
