freiheit's Profile
Tanqueray #10 Gin — Thoughts?
Citadelle and Magellan I've had and like both. Up with a twist (no vermouth) is my favorite with these.
But I definitely like Junipero and Hendrick's, though. For different reasons.
Singapore Food of Love and Joy (Santa Rosa)
This past saturday I got fried rice. Brown, since I'm into that kind of thing; but they had white, too. She asked if I was vegetarian and since I'm not, added scrambled egg and chicken. And (after asking), some hot sauce from a little jar.
I also got a pumpkin cake. ingredients listed were pumpkin and rice flour. She explained that it's similar to a common dim-sum item (with radish, I think she'd said), but that since pumpkin is more flavorful, she could make it without using MSG. This also got some of the hot sauce added. And a little scrambled egg on the side.
The fried rice was good.
The pumpkin cake was super-yummy, though. Savory, not very sweet. Really good with the hot sauce on top.
I didn't ask if the hot sauce was homemade, but it was good. Slightly smokey.
We also asked if she was going to open a restaurant. Apparently she's interested, but her husband is opposed. She does do catering, however.
The House of Korean BBQ - Cotati/RP - brief report
I figured out later that they do have kimchee; it depends on what you order. Just one little dish of it, though; no variety.
Got the kimchee stew (sorry, forgot the proper name) last time I was there. Tasty. Meat (pork, I think), chunks of tofu, and kimchee; all tasting like kimchee, of course. A little spicy. Very hot! I think the bowl was in the oven before they poured some stew in, because it was bubbling furiously around the edges when it was delivered. Requires a lot of blowing on the spoon.
Singapore Food of Love and Joy (Santa Rosa)
We almost slept in too much, too. :) Didn't try the chili sauce, but I'll be sure to next time.
Singapore Food of Love and Joy (Santa Rosa)
I was at the Santa Rosa farmer's market a week ago and today.
A week ago, got the teriyaki chicken w/brown rice. She warned me that the brown rice wasn't like normal rice. This was good, but I think I was wanting a bit more somehow... The chicken itself was very nicely cooked; I think leg meat that was tender enough to pull apart with the little plastic fork.
This week I got the chicken satay. This is made with almonds and cashews instead of peanuts. She said something about it being a no-peanuts recipe because a lot of people are allergic to peanuts. The dish itself was quite tasty. Lots of nutty sauce on top of tender chicken; lightly spicy, creamy sauce (coconut milk, not dairy); identifiable chunks of the two nuts.
I'll definitely be trying other things from there if she keeps going to the farmers market.
Khoom Lanna (Santa Rosa)
Thai ice coffee: too sweet, I thought. Not enough of that strong almost-espresso taste. Might be to some people's taste, and was still a pleasant enough beverage that helped cut the spiciness of the other dishes. I missed the strong coffee flavor I was hoping for, though.
Salmon rolls (off the specials menu): boring. The salmon didn't have much salmon flavor; I'm guessing a combination of farmed fish and steaming. Totally agree that they needed something.
Tamarind fish: good. The description made me expect a tamarind sauce of some sort on top; something sweet and sour, basically. It was actually steamed fish with an array of different veggies. Pleasantly spicy, chunks of ginger, various veggies, a couple different kinds of mushroom.
I'd noticed on the menu that they had jasmine rice, brown rice and sticky rice available. Sticky rice is very traditional, but rarely on the menu as anything other than a dessert, so I ordered some. Would've been better if I'd gotten it with something grilled or BBQed, so that I could've used hunks of the sticky rice to pick up my entree. Still, a nice alternative to the other rices. Showed up in a special basket.
Service: good. The waiter was friendly and helpful. Food arrived quickly. It was kind of a slow day, so that might've helped.
Overall a decent Thai restaurant, but nothing to go out of my way for. With their convenient railroad-square location I'm sure I'll be back again.
The House of Korean BBQ - Cotati/RP - brief report
I'd noticed signs a month or two ago for a new Korean restaurant opening up in the shopping center across the street from Sonoma State University's main entrance; in the exact spot once occupied by an ill-fated Coldstone. I believe they opened about a week ago and I tried them out for lunch today with a co-worker.
The sign out front offered 2 or 3 lunch special combos. I believe my co-worker got the Chicken BBQ w/tempura combo. They also had the same combo with BBQ pork on the specials board, as well as some kind of sauteed vegetable dish.
I ordered the dolsot bibimbap with pork; a hot stone bowl with rice, some different shredded veggies, some pieces of BBQ pork and a sunny-side-up egg on top. My dish showed up a few minutes before my co-worker's, but that was okay, since I wanted to let the sizzling noises stop and the rice to develop that crunchy crust I know this dish should have. A small dish of a red sauce showed up; might've been sriracha.
The food was good, but I think needs some work. Everything was properly cooked and looked quite nice, but blander than I thought it should be; even with the sauce added in. A generous splash of sesame oil would've gone a long way, I think. Portions were generous.
But worst of all: no banchan! None at all! No kimchee, no nothing! I didn't look at the menu afterwards; it's entirely possible that I could've gotten some banchan by ordering it, but I'd kind of expected some to just show up with the meal so hadn't thought to order it.
Summary: I'll try them again sometime, but I'll make sure to check for banchan and ask about it if I don't see it on the menu.
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The House of Korean BBQ
1712 East Cotati Ave, Cotati, CA
Chowdown at Taco Max (Report)
Fava bean soup: definitely good. Better with a little bit of the hot sauce added. Earthy, layered with flavors... I could be happy with just a big bowl of this for dinner on a cold rainy night.
Ceviche: good. Didn't seem like anything too special, but I enjoyed it. Maybe too many things in it? fish, jicama, red onion, chilis, lime juice... the lettuce didn't add much.
Cesar Salad: surprised me. The cheese was something crumbly. A queso anejo I assume... Kind of vinegary... Okay. Definitely a bit different than a standard Cesar salad.
Tostada: At the upper limits of my personal tolerance for spiciness, especially since the only beverage was water. The spice totally overpowered everything else, except a hint of earthiness from the beans and the crunch underneath it all. I don't care much for mushrooms, though, so the overpowering spiciness hiding all the mushroominess of this dish probably helped me to enjoy it more.
Green Mole with Duck: Amazing. wonderful. astounding. I often find duck to be a bit too greasy, but here the grease from the duck blended right into the sauce perfectly. Flavorful sauce and flavorful meat paired wonderfully together. Wow. The black beans were great, too; tasted like there was something else going on (lard or chicken broth), but asked the chef and he said it was just beans, epazote and water. Handmade tortilla was a great touch, too; buttery and delicious; almost like unstuffed flatter pupasas. All together: amazing in ways I can't figure out how to describe. My portion had a bit of backbone that I found myself carefully picking every last scrap of meat out of and trying to lick clean.
Fish: ehh. The two veggies I could identify were squash of some kind (light green zucchini?) and garlic. The fish seemed kinda bland.
Plum Tamale: okay. I might've liked it more with a different fruit. (not a big stone fruit fan).
The Hot Chocolate was great. Very chocolatey. Just a hint of sweet. Like a foamey version of a top-notch chocolate bar.
Chocolateninja and I talked to the chef afterwards. She'd recognized him from the Santa Rosa wednesday night market from when he'd helped out at a booth selling El Salvadoran food. It sounded like he was responsible for the amazing salvadoran style tamales we got from there.
Sebastopol Notes
Sushi Tozai is okay. I know some people that really love them. It's no Cafe Japan, though. :) Been a few years since I was there.
Brunch at Mosaic in Forestville?
The French Garden in Sebastopol is definitely worth trying out for brunch in the Sebastopol/Forestville area. Been there for dinner a couple times (expensive but good) and brunch once. I think I like Willowood more, but they've got plenty of variety on their brunch menu and it was pretty reasonably priced for what you got. (around $10-$15 for an entree, I think).
It's located where Marty's Top O' The Hill used to be.
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French Garden
8050 Bodega Avenue, Sebastopol, CA 95472
Mai restaurant Sonoma County
I've been there several times for lunch. First time was within a month of them opening and service was disorganized and slow, but they gave us a free appetizer to help make up for it. The service has improved since, but can still be a bit slow if they're busy (which they often are at lunchtime. I don't remember which item now, but I recall one of my coworkers being told they didn't want to order a specific item since they'd just run out and it would take a while to make it.
The iced coffee with condensed milk (Cafe Sua Da?) is extra good. Better than the other places I've tried in Santa Rosa and RP/Cotati. Probably about equal with the same at Pho Phu Quoc (PPQ) in SF. A lot stronger (but not bitter) than what you usually get. Something I'd only get when it's okay to be up past midnight. When I ordered it the woman who brought it (I think one of the owners) cautioned me to sip it, since it was much stronger tasting than american coffee that us americans gulp.
One item I've never seen on another vietnamese restaurant menu: spring rolls with chinese sausage (Bo Bia). These are good. Full of (smoked?) porky goodness contrasted nicely with the other ingredients. Anybody know if these are more of a northern vietnamese style item?
Other than that, I think I've had a pho, another soup (Hu Tieu), a vermicelli bowl (bun) and a rice plate (Com Suon, Bi, Trung). The pho and the vermicelli bowl I remember being pretty typical (but well done). The soups come in two sizes; get the small unless you're a starving teenager with a bottomless stomach; the small is a full meal and the large is almost twice that size. The other soup had a different kind of noodle that kind of absorbed the flavors of the soup more... The rice plate was listed as something like "pork and fried egg", but actually had a thin pork chop and some shredded BBQ pork and was surprisingly good.
The fish sauce (nuoc mam) based dipping sauce tends to be a little weak, but a little more straight fish sauce from the container on the table fixes that right up. I really like fish sauce, though, so maybe it's just me that thinks it's a little weak.
Since I've only been there for lunch I haven't tried any of the desserts, but looking at the menu now I really want to try the Banh Gan (Egg Coconut Steamed Cake) sometime.
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Mai Vietnamese Cuisine
8492 Gravenstein Hwy, Cotati, CA 94931
Oaxacan Restaurant found! Cotati / Rohnert Park
Just got back from lunch there with a few co-workers. I'm pretty sure we'll have to go back again. I have to try a couple more moles and the Tlayudas. Location is where the old Thai Orchid used to be.
I'll start with the bad parts, but overall I'd say we had a positive experience and will have to return sometime.
Cons: bland refried beans. factory-tasting tortillas. slow.
Beans: somehow just bland... They had some cheese (queso anejo?) sprinkled on top, but were just kinda bland and lacking...
Tortillas: not bad. I just really like it when the place makes their own, these tasted more like what you get in a plastic bag at the grocery store...
Slow: I think total time was an hour and fifteen minutes from when we walked in until we paid and walked out. Most of that was waiting for the food... I noticed a number of people showing up to pick up orders they'd called in for takeout, making me think they're normally a bit slow. Other than us and the takeout there was a family that I think may have ordered one of everything (plates of food just kept coming for them).
Started us with chips and salsa. Chips were hot; probably just out of the frier. Salsa was a little bit different but nothing special (not bad, either).
I got chicken mole rojo. Tasty. Hard to describe the taste... sweet, a little spicy... complicated flavor... I really don't know what a mole rojo is supposed to taste like, but I liked this one. Beans and tortillas improved greatly with generous application of mole rojo. Horchata was tasty; sweet, cinammon, probably pretty typical for horchata.
One coworker got a "Burrito Oaxaquena" -- basically a super burrito smothered in mole (he went with rojo, but mole negro was also available). I gather he liked it, but felt there should've been some lettuce in there.
Another coworker got a tasajo platter. Same rice, beans and tortillas with as my dish. Thin cuts of meat, possibly grilled... Not much description, but apparently it was tasty.
Last coworker got chilaquiles con huevos. I didn't get a good look, but sure sounded like he liked them. I think he was hoping for scrambled eggs and got fried eggs instead, but made do just fine.
The proprietor (?) didn't seem to speak english particularly well, but was friendly and helpful (if a little slow with the service at times). I don't consider that particularly a negative, except that none of us really speak spanish.
Barbacoa de Borrego - Cotati
I love the Mole Verde at La Familia. Sort of nutty (from the pumpkin seeds?) a little bit spicy, thick enough to really coat the meat well so that it's easy to scoop up plenty of sauce into a tortilla...
Whenever we go in there for lunch during the week the place is pretty empty though; maybe us and one other group in the whole place.
A lot of the special items they only do friday nights and/or on the weekends, so I've never had a chance to try the Pozole, for instance.
Everything else I've had there was good, too...
