There was plenty of macaroni that Friday. It was definitely saucy, but not at all soupy. It was also very orangy in color unlike your photo. My only complaint is that I couldn't manage to get the top to brown in my oven. It reheated great though. The other side I have liked there was the dirty rice, which did taste of chicken livers.

Perhaps as with most home-style cooks, the dishes vary from day to day. Their hours are inconvenient for me, but I should try to get there more often.

Would that be between Adeline and Sacramento, near Sweet Adelines?

If you want you some good creole food, try T. C.'s Fried Chicken. I had their gumbo this week and it was spicy and very meaty with tiny shrimp, a nubbin of crab, much sausage and lots of chicken. The mac and cheese was the best I recall having in a restaurant. Very cheesy and very creamy. A very satisfying $6 meal! The dougnnut holes were good too.

Anybody have any recommendations for an easy lunch in either of these two burghs?

Aren't there Filipino restaurants in Daly City near the Cow Palace? I thought there was Filipino community down there and years ago there was a restaurant right across the street from the Cow.

I did go to one place which is on the Embarcadero down towards the ballpark. I assume it is authentic because I attended the wake for a Filipino friend put on by his family there. I think they just served the usual suspects, but I recall the adobo being very good.

Also there seems to be a Filipino community in Hercules/Pinole. There was a place on San Pablo Ave in downtown Pinole and another in a shopping mall that is anchored by a Lucky's? in Hercules. There's a McDonald's at the head of the mall.

I was heartened today to see one of those small bulldozers and a big truck begin the actual demollition of part of the building on the new site. The construction seems to have begun in earnest.

I loved those Sun Wah Kuh apple pies. The crust was kind of dry and mealy (in a very good way) and the apples were very sweet. Didn't the boxes have green Chinese writing on the boxtop?

Haven't been to the restaurant proper in at least five years, but I stop at Greens to Go at least a few times each year for lunch. Their to-go salads are consistently good and their chocolate desserts are excellent. I look forward to any events at Fort Mason because I also get to lunch at Greens.

If it's the same truck, I tried it once around lunchtime on a Sunday and was not impressed. Certainly not up to the standards of El Novillo. LIkely I had carnitas or carne asada.

Taco trucks in Berkeley? Is this the same truck that sometimes is set up on Hearst below 4th?

I'll be up there on Saturday. In an area of industrial parks?

It's been years, but the only place I recall eating in Benecia was the Benecia Hotel.

Me too. They recognize me when I go in and I imagine they would make me freshly cooked falafels, if I asked. I like the falafel enough that I never order anything else.

One difference since I returned from my Maoz sojourn is that the middle-aged woman who used to be in charge has been replaced by the younger man who I think used to be the cook. I have noticed no difference in the quality.

You should have gone to Alice's Restaurant :)

What makes you say that Sunrise has gone downhill? I was a regular there for a while, then switched to Maoz because of convenience and the toppings bar. Now back to Sunrise. I haven't found falafel that I like any better and especially like the pickled vegetables and hot sauce. I tried Turkish Kitchen on Tele, but I like Sunrise better, especially right out of the cooker.

LPC is fine, in fact more than fine. You might try the vermicelli bowl with imperial rolls, the chicken curry (so good with rice), the claypot rice, the LPC combo of a shrimp skewer, fried chicken wings, imperial roll, pork skewer, red rice and vegetables. Far better than any other nearby option. Not a fan of the pho or the banh mi, but the staff is friendly, the ceilings high with lots of light and the price is right. I usually eat lunch there twice a week.

I think the only place open on campus for dinner might be the Men's Faculty Club which is near the top of campus.

Do you know the Coffee Bar or Mirtille? Would they be more for takeout? Mirtille is on McAllister near the foot of Leavenworth. The Coffee Bar on Bryant is not that far from the original Patisserie Phillippe cafe.

Since Patisserie Phillippe is now closed, that is a great tip. I have been so missing his pear frangipane and palmiers. According to his website, his pastries are available at 6 other venues including Coffee Bars on Montgomery and Bryant and Mirtille on McAllister.

Would Lil' Skillet be any closer than Farmer Brown?

I'll be Walnut Creek this weekend. How is the parking near Lottie's?

Not to worry. It's half a block from my office. I was just walking past on a return trip from visiting Ici and Cheeseboard in N Berkeley.

I peeked into the windows and it looks like they have a lot of work yet to do.

Signs in windows today say they plan to open April 16, 5:30 pm.

Cafe Rouge makes their own jerky too. You can buy it at the meat counter.

In a pinch there is always the AB cafeteria. Their soups are pretty good and you can make yourself a sandwich just like you were at home. I went to the dentist last Thursday and ran in there and got a big plate of spaghetti with meat sauce just like mom used to make.

You have probably already been to Whole Foods and there is always The Smokehouse. There is an Ethiopian place near Alcatraz whose name I have forgotten, but the food is good. You could walk down to Shattuck and Ashby. There is a nouveau bbq place down there that some here like.

I was in the City last Saturday and ended up eating lunch at the Roli-Roti truck at the Ferry Plaza Market. They are now making much more porchetta so they don't run out (at least by 1:30). Lots of other options. Thought about having crab cakes at the Hayes St. B&G stand.

Up California, Tadich is nice for lunch and if you're sentimental for a workday financial district rice plate, B&M Mei Sing will fill that bill.

Headed to another food desert this weekend. Any recommendations near Amoeba? I asked this question when the Red Vic closed a few years back and ended up eating in the Tloin afterwards. Is Tacqueria Balazo still there and good?

You could try doubling the chocolate in your brownies. I once had such double chocolate delights from the bakery that became Tartine in SF. They were kind of molten and pudding-like and barely set, but as intense as any chocolate dessert I ever had.

No sinister Oriental plot here. I am ABC, but can't read the "secret" menu either.

Confucius say because they are cooking in more than one style, you can ask for your dish to prepared in a specific style. I always ask for my chicken curry to be made Great China style and after reading about Hyperbowler's mapo tofu, I asked for it Sichaun style and got it as he described: slightly mouth numbing with black bean goodness and topped with sliced leeks. I had previously had the Cantonese "regular" style and it was not at all exciting. Do have to say that I still prefer Great China's prep: kind of smoky with black fungus.

I read some of the previous posts. I will be attending a conference at the Francis Marion Hotel, but would like to eat at some places which I think are out of Charleston proper: Dave's Carryout, SeeWee, Page's Okra Grill, Village Bakery, Hominy Grill, etc. Would it be practical to take cabs or buses to these places and Mt. Pleasant? Or would I need to rent a car? I should be in your fair city for most of a week.

Not sure on the sourcing, but I had the same impression. I believe that the carton had Chinese characters on it. I have seen people eating it there.

Agreed. A co-worker is a friend of owner Paul Wing? and he told me that their best customers are students from HK and Taiwan that come in and order huge ala carte meals and never take the left overs. They, evidently, requested the yogurt. Not sure if it is even cow's milk yogurt. I should try it as a digestif to my curry chicken, more spicy.

International but not European, but Mandarin Garden carries some Chinese yogurts at the request of their Hong Kong/Taiwan clientele.