crimson's Profile
Taco Truck that starts with "D"?
I've been trying to tackle taco trucks in alphabetical order, but I've been stuck at "D". I've driven around but to no avail. Anyone know of any? I've been trying to keep it in the east bay but since I'm at a loss, I'll travel to get over the "D".
On a side note, while searching for that elusive "D" truck, I was driving past a church in Fruitvale on 36th? and a block away from International, where I saw in a parking lot, a line of people waiting for something cooking out of a makeshift cart/kitchen. It definitely sparked my interest. Anyone know about it?
Thanks in advance.
crimson out.
Sura in Temescal (on Telegraph)
Sura is currently my favorite Korean restaurant in the east bay right now. They have been consistently good, the service is friendly, the decor is more upscale than most Korean restaurants. They have lunch specials that are much cheaper than their dinner menu equivalent so lunch is a great deal. Things to have are the baby octopus mixed rice in a stone pot. Similar to dol sot bibimbap, but less veggies and spicy octopus. Very similar is the fish roe mixed rice in stone pot. You get 4 different varieties of fish roe, beautifully presented. Finally the BBQ there is different than most, with a more ginger-like finish than the sweeter, typical BBQ. When ordering chicken, you can ask for regular BBQ chicken or spicy BBQ chicken, which doesn't seem to be on the menu.
Bagan - Burmese in Alameda
Went there last night. Great tea leaf salad and samosa soup. great food without the wait (for now). Added a little more info in the Places area.
Strange, weird or hidden places to eat in the Eastbay?
My wife swears by the pancakes at La Pinata 2 on Park Ave. in Alameda.
Chili Mac
I've been craving a good chli mac and it's one of those items that people are familiar with but rarely see it on a menu. The version that I am most familiar with is chili over macaroni, but the other day I had lunch at the Monclair Golf Shop and they had chili mac as a special, but instead of macaroni, they used penne pasta. It was delicious but I haven't see it on their daily special since.
I have heard from friend from St. Louis that their version of chili mac is chili over spaghetti.
Anyways, if you are at the montclair golf shop and they have chili mac, you're in luck.
Anyone know where else I can find this elusive dish?
crimson.
Pacific Catch and iPhones
I guess that makes more sense that they had gotten permission beforehand. My friend always calls for takeout and the last time the person answered immediately that they do not have any iPhones.
Pacific Catch and iPhones
If anyone has caught the latest iPhone add about wanting sea food and up comes Pacific Catch, please note that they do not have iPhones there. A friend regularly goes there to pick up food and they have been inundated with people calling their number asking for an iPhone. It seems that they were not alerted that their restaurant would be featured in an ad.
BTW. Their sweet potato fries are delicious and I was pleasantly surprised with their ahi tune poke salad. There were lots of things that I wanted to try out so I'll be back again to try some of them.
This is the Pacific Catch on Chestnut and not in Marin.
crimson out.
Where to Find Hite 'Pitcher' - Restaurants and Markets in SF
you can most definitely find them at your regular korean market. They also have the same size for OB beer as well. Try along Geary in the richmond district. I think I saw them at the korean market across from the fillmore as well.
Lee's BBQ vs. Ohgane or . . .?
The restaurant that took it's place is now a tofu place. I think it is the same owners as before but slightly different menu. I regretfully have to say that the food was subpar and the atmosphere was thoroughly depressing.
Ratatouille
Hope you enjoy the movie.
If anyone's interested there is a podcast specifically on the food portion of the making of the film.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysHaeG1-qfA
Don Day Korean Restaurant in Oakland?
I saw an ad in the Korean paper for a new place called Don Day Restaurant on 346 14st. Oakland.
It looks to be a pork specialty place with not only Korean Bacon, but it has black pig, wine pork, bean curd pork, and spicy steamed beef ribs.
Anyone been?
I plan on going real soon to check it out.
crimson out.
Myozen in Emeryville
Quick FYI that a new sushi place has opened up in Emeryville on the corner of 40th Ave. and San Pablo called Myozen.
I seems to be run by the same people who own Drunken Fish in Oakland. The major difference is that there is tons of space with lots of tables and it is a kaiden sushi place (conveyor belt sushi). The quality seems to be the same as Drunken Fish. Mediocre quality but affordable prices. Good news is that they have the sashimi salad (or hewdupbap).
crimson out.
East Bay ChowDinner Report - Kang Tong Degi
Thank you everyone for showing up and having a great time through the chaos. A few fellow chowhounders met up at Kang Tong Degi, a non descript Korean bar/eatery known as a pojangmacha. Although we were supposed to get the larger table to fit 14 people, a party of 20 usurped the table, so we had to get very comfortable with one significantly smaller.
Overall the experience was great, although frenzied. The service was adequate but with 2 large parties and only 1 waiter, at times a little trying.
We started off with the regular dinner special of the Korean bacon, beef tenderloin, beef sirloin, and beef prime cut grilled. The highlight of the whole dinner I think was definitely the Korean bacon. It was best eaten still soft and not crispy unlike American bacon. You can either dip it into two sauces, a sesame seed oil and salt mixture or a spicy almost salsa like mixture, or you can wrap it in small flat noodles with kochujang (bean paste). The different beef cuts were indistinguishable to each other.
Here is a quick lowdown of the other dishes that was ordered.
Al Tang (Fish Egg Soup) - I didn't really have much of this though the broth seemed to be fairly tasty.
Duk Bokki (spicy rice cake) - This is a pojangmacha staple. Again, I didn't have much of this so someone else please lay in.
Nakji Bokkum (spicy fried octopus) - Didn't have any of this.
Tak Dong Chib (chicken gizzards) - slightly chewy but also crunchy at the same time. I didn't think it had much flavor but it wasn't bad either.
Chok Bal (Pork hocks) - Again, not my favorite. I don't have much of a comment for this.
Bundaegi (Spicy Chrysalis Soup) - Definitely the most interesting dish of the evening. It was the undeveloped butterfly larvae in a soup. Someone described it as eating very musty sleeping bag. It definitely is an acquired taste to like this dish.
On the drink side we had beer, regular soju, yogurt soju (delicious but dangerous), bek seju (oak wine), and Bokbunja (raspberry wine).
Again, the highlight was the atmosphere, the bacon, and the people. The lowlight was the Chrysalis soup and the logistics of serving 14 people in a table for 10.
Total price came out to $23 a person.
Here are some pics of the place.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/hoonhkim/sets/72157594304760280/
Kang Tong Degi
3702 Telegraph Ave.
Oakland, CA
Lee's BBQ vs. Ohgane or . . .?
I went yesterday for lunch and the panchan is indeed very good. The cucumber kimchee is quite delicious with a strong but not overpowering vinegar taste. Other panchan included: kimchee, soy marinated cucumbers, shredded potatoes, fish cake, bean sprouts, and kim chee stems.
You also usually get a green onion pancake for free as a starter.
Lee's BBQ vs. Ohgane or . . .?
Ogane or Lee's is definitely according to your preference.
In terms of BBQ, I think that Samwon Galbi is better than both. I haven't tried a lot of Ogane's dishes but for the most part nothing really stood out and all the dishes were fine. The decor is much better at Ogane than Lee's but the service was spotty. The BBQ is good though not great. Ogane is like a Korean restaurant I would take someone who never had Korean food before to slowly introduce them to it.
Lee's doesn't have at your table BBQ, but that isn't their strong suite anyways, although their spicy chicken is pretty tasty and surprisingly pretty tender. I think Lee's has an overall advantage in terms of general dishes and I enjoy their Haejangkook over all the other Korean joints (hangover stew with beef, veggies, and coagulated blood).
I do not prefer Koryo although the last time I was there their Spicy fish stew was really good, although the fish was a little lacking.
One place that is always consistent is Seoul Gomtang. If you go get the Chadolbeagi Gomtang, thin slices of beef in a bone marrow soup with noodles. Their radish kimchee used to be better but is it still better than other restaurants in the area. hope this helps.
crimson.
Chowdown lunch report - Sam's Restaurant in downtown Oakland
I went to a chowdown lunch today and met some very nice people. Thank you Joel for the wine and Marc for getting everyone together. We had the banquet meal which included many items. Here is my quick summary. I'm sorry that the food descriptions are not that great since I didn't see the menu. Better descriptions to come and let me know if I have forgotten anything.
Fish Maw soup - light and delicate with a great texture on the fish maw. It was not too bland and had just enough salt for my taste. Joel was right. The fish maw is the swim bladder.
Scallops - nothing really special about the scallops. They were prepared nice and had a good overall balance.
Crab - The flavor was wonderful with specs of garlic crusted over the shell, but the crab meat was a little too mushy for my taste.
Fish - had a slight gingery taste and good overall flavor. I though it was just a tad too oily but I did like the tenderness of the fish.
Chicken - the skin was moist and the chicken was cooked just right. It had a juiciness that is rare in most chinese places. The sauce that it came with complimented the chicken really well.
Duck with Taro in Hot Pot - I really enjoyed the duck and although I am not a fan of taro it was actually quite good. I didn't have much of the sauce but overall a good dish.
Vegetables with preserved egg - the preserved egg added a nice flavor to the vegetables.
Vegetables with garlic - generic rendition of this dish. nothing bad about it but nothing special either.
Squab - everyone's least favorite. It was a little bland, though I did like the crispiness of the skin. Other than not nothing special.
All in all, all the dishes were very good and no one left with an empty stomach. The highlights for me would be the chicken and the duck. My least favorite would be the squab and the fish.
Gordon took most of the photos although there are some more that I took here.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/hoonhkim/sets/72157594224376461/
I've also posted this on my little food blog here.
http://dinearoundtown.typepad.com/weblog/
Hoon aka crimson.
Chow 'Round CineArts in West Portal?
Not really for dinner, but I'd have it anytime, Sub Center in West Portal has fantastic sandwiches. Get the atomic!
Recs in Japan Center or the area
Ino sushi in Japan Town center.
Won Mi BBQ by the Fillmore on Fillmore and Geary (for late night Korean) Get the sea bass spicy stew!
And not too far away is Quince on Octavia and Bush.
Farmer Joe's in Oakland
I stopped by the new Farmer Joe's in Oakland on Fruitvale and MacArthur and was pleasantly surprised. Just wanted to drop by a quick report.
There is a vast supply of fresh produce both regular and organic that you can choose from. The quality of the fruits and vegetables seem to be good and fresh. There was lots more than just the run of the mill Safeway selection such as morel mushrooms and such. They also have an olive oil bar, which was closed by the time I got there. It is a large size grocery so they have household items as well such as detergent and such. Their international section was a little small, though they do have a very small British food section. There is a fresh meat counter that feature Niman Ranch beef, but a very small seafood selection. You can also pick up sushi and burritos (I'll have to try the burritos out later).
All in all it was a mix of Trader Joe's meets Peidmont Grocery with good prices. Even though it was crowded, the lines went by quickly. The parking lot is a little congested, but we shall see after all the opening excitement dies down. I wonder how the original Farmer Joe's location will fare since this one is just down a few blocks from it. Time will tell, but it's great to have more quality groceries available in Oakland.
crimson out.
Kilohana in Emeryville now open
The portions are not HUGE, but also not small. Each dish seems to fill a styrofoam take out box. The loco moco had two patties and two large scoops of rice with two eggs. However, the other factor for Hawaiian food is that it is affordable. I find Kilohana, just a little overpriced, but I'd gladly pay a litle more for quality over quantity.
Pastrami & Reuben Sandwiches in SF
I found that Tommy's Pastrami was really dry. Good thing they gave a side of Au Jus to moisten it up. It does satisfy if you are in a pinch late at night however.
Kilohana in Emeryville now open
The second location of Kilohana is now open in Emeryville, next to the IHOP on San Pablo across from the Oaks Card Club. Their sister location is in San Ramon. They have daily specials and all the usual Hawaiian specialties.
I've only had the Loco Moco, but the food tastes good, there is pleny of seating, and the it only being open for a few days, the food was prepared quickly. The patties were a little over cooked, but the gravy had good flavor and the eggs were prepared how I wanted them. Things look optimistic with this new Hawaiian place. My only gripe is that instead of the traditional mac salad, they have potato salad.
I have noticed a string of Hawaiian food places popping up all over the place. Seems like L&L is creeping up in a bunch of places. I have yet to try the Alameda location, but the downtown one is pretty good. There is also a new place opening up in Berkeley on San Pablo and Gilman.
crimson out.
Best Korean in SF?
I haven't been there in a long time, but from what I heard they are still good, try Han Il Kwan on Balboa and 19th. Brothers is till good for BBQ if you don't mind the wait. Good luck
crimson out.
Pastrami & Reuben Sandwiches in SF
Moishe's Pippic has a decent Pastrami Sandwich if you are looking for a Chicago style sandwich(although never been to or being familiar with the Chicago style, I cannot vouch for it's authenticity). I did run into two friend who are from Chicago eating there, though they had the hot dogs.
crimson
Fried Chicken in San Francisco
A Louisiana Fried Chicken opened up on 6th and Market. I'm not sure how it compares to the Oakland location.
crimson
