Saw this sign a few days ago. Anyone familiar with tamashii ramen?

Bread workshop on university @ acton - also available at Berkeley Bowl.

Looks like a new Indonesian restaurant is coming up on Kearney a few doors from Baladie. Does anyone have any information - what, when, etc. assuming it's a restaurant.

As a former Malayan (or Malaysia as she is now known) I can categorically deny the existence of Malaya Paste as a dish. Belachan is in fact a fermented shrimp paste with quite a bit of funk and considered an essential ingredient in Malaysia. I believe it translates loosely to "Malay paste" in Cantonese. It is still a condiment/flavoring though and used in many stir-fry dishes as in "Belachan Ong Choy", curries and the quintessential Sambal Belachan, akin to ketchup and a must-have on many Malaysian tables.
I agree Happy Valley is a great value with adequate dimsum.

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Happy Valley Restaurant
400 E 12th St, Oakland, CA

Does anyone know where to get freshly grated coconut in the east bay - preferably around Berkeley/Oakland? I tried to do it myself once with a fresh coconut from Berkeley Bowl and it was extremely tough without the right tools - i.e. an Asian style coconut grater. I hear I can pick one of those at Kamei on Clement but I would rather get the coconut grated on demand - tall order I know.

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Berkeley Bowl
2020 Oregon St, Berkeley, CA 94703

Early August according to the Ajisen website. Can't wait.

Those of you who are familiar with Wally's Cafe will be glad to know that Ms. Wally now has her own restaurant on San Pablo and 45th, next to the nail store. We saw the grand opening sign while driving along San Pablo to Los Cantaros last evening, pulled into the CVS parking lot and walked across the street to the cafe. We were greeted warmly by the Wally family who invited us to help ourselves to the spread, delicious Chicken shwerma, fattoush, a ground lamb/beef dish (sorry forgot the name of it!), baklava, crepes, hummus, etc. It was all good and we plan to be back for the regular menu. Seems like the restaurant will be more of a creperie than a Mediterranean.

Hey Rob - let's see. A year and a half later, I still don't have it quite right yet. Yimster claims to have done it to perfection so I will have to invite him over one of these days and have a chicken cook-off...and you'll be the judge of course.

First time (?) wine sale till Feb 3rd. I got 5 bottles on the recommendation of wine guy (wish I had asked his name)
Arnold Palmer chardonnay 2004 - 5.99
l'emissaire sauvignon blanc & chardonnay 2004 - 3.99
satyricon viognier 2005 - 599
Seven peaks pinot noir 2005- 5.99

Not a bad haul at 20% off. Hope it all pans out.

Has anyone tried stollen from sterntaler bakery in San Carlos? I've been reading such good things about it, if you're into stollen, that is.

http://www.sterntalerbakery.com/conte...

Funny you noticed this too. First time I tried this dish I thought the same. In fact i told them that if the noodles were a little fatter (about udon size) and firmer, I could almost pretend I was eating laksa from my little corner of Malaysia up above Penang. I should probably get the broth to go, add some tamarind, get some fat rice noodles, voila...laksa...

More pictures.

Enjoyed almost all the dishes, in particular the squash, which I believe was angled loofah or chinese okra. My family cooked it a lot when I was growing up and it brought back a lot of fond memories. I should probably start cooking it again at home - not sure why I havent. I thought the tofu in claypot was excellent as well. I probably would not order the honey ham again, it was interesting but the piece I had was rather tough and totally overwhelmed the tiny piece of bread that came with it. Took a whole bunch of pictures but posting one for now of the tofu and the loofah to the right of it. Great company as well. Thanks for organizing.

I work in that neighborhood as well and have yet to hit Mekong. Tend to gravitate to the tried and true (turtle tower, bodega, lee sandwiches, saigon). A co-worker (who is Thai) tells me he really likes their rendition of papaya salad so it is definitely on my list. let me know if you plan on a chowhound lunch.

Thanks yimster for your comments. Here's my take on the food and service. I try to avoid restaurants right after a positive review is published but I had already picked the date prior and did not really want to reschedule. My first visit was actually two weeks after it opened - and the place was a zoo. Restaurant was packed and there was just one server scrambling to have everyone taken care of. Even so, food took a long time to arrive, sometimes the wrong dish! So this was a bit of an improvement really.

I liked the roti canai - much truer version of it instead of the thin crispy style found elsewhere in the bay area. Unfortunately, the dipping curry sauce did not satisfy, it was loaded with lentils and lacked intensity.

Chicken satay was just okay - I thought it could have used a little more oomph in its level of spicyness. The char kueh teow was a bit of a letdown. It looked so unexpected I had to ask the server if they had brought the right dish! It was a little darker than usual - which is ok really given that it was supposed to be Singapore style (per the menu) rather than Penang. What really threw me was the liberal use of egg noodle in additon to the rice noodle. That and the dark soy made it a totally different dish altogether. The sambal okra had a lovely smoky flavor, typical of a really good sambal sauce, although I would have preferred it cooked a little longer. No sliminess at all, so that was good. Beef rendang was quite delicious, cooked slowly till fall apart tender. I thought the sauce, though very good, could have been better with a touch of kaffir lime leaf. Certainly a much better version than Nonya Bistro in Milpitas. I thought the Hainanese chicken rice was a little better on my first visit, but definitely one of the best you can get in the Bay Area. Both the chicken rice and coconut rice seemed to be "healthier" versions of the real thing - with reduced chicken fat & coconut milk. Probably a good thing with all that rich food that we had.

Given the confusion over Panang vs Penang - I figured I should weigh in here and explain that they are not the same thing. There is no such thing as Penang catfish - the island of Penang in Malaysia is well-known for its food and has many signature dishes like Char Kueh Teow, lobak, laksa, etc. Panang-style curry is really Thai and has very little to do with Malaysia as far as I am aware. I thought perhaps it was named for Penang as the two countries are right next to each other and have very similar cuisines. Does anyone else know about the origins of panang?

If you can make it all the way out to Old Town Singapore Cafe at the new Ulferts Center in Dublin, I dare say that it is about as authentic (whatever that means) as you can get in the Bay Area. If you're looking specifically for good Singaporean, I would definitely stay away from Indonesian restaurants. They might be neighbors but the food is quite different. Even those with the same names - like achar & rendang. Granted there are always regional differences as in Malaysia, where East Coast rendang is going to quite different from the west coast version. My other favorites for decent Malaysian food are Banyan Garden in Union City. I hear Banana Leaf in Milpitas is also very good. It all depends on what dishes you are looking for as the menu is generally very broad and various items tend to be hit or miss. That's why people in the know tend to ask about specific items like Hainanese Chicken rice, char kuay teow, nasi lemak, Asam laksa, etc. I can definitely recommend OTSC for the chicken rice - have yet to try the noodle dishes.

We did have a chowhound lunch at Nyonya Bistro in September. Here's a link to the report.
http://www.chowhound.com/topics/324853

Finally made it to Rosamunde yesterday as a quintessential prelude to a beer at the Toronado next door. Grill Guy was very friendly and accommodating (for here or next door?) - giving us a taste of his spicy olive/pepper relish. Asked him about hamburger Tuesdays and got quite an earful! It seems they are planning to stop doing that again because it gets way too crowded and a hassle. "It's not rocket science - I just add salt & pepper." I had a beer sausage - grilled to perfection, perhaps a tad too spicy for my taste. However, it paired extremely well with the 3 fresh hop beers at the T. My favorite was the 21st st. from Sierra Nevada - really nice grassy aroma - almost like a NZ sauvignon blanc. Also had Moonlight Greenbud #2 & Pizza Port Springtide. I won't go into any details in case I get a gentle reminder to post in the beer forum! Just one note though, beer came in 6 oz sizes - wish they offered that all the time!

I did a cursory search and did not find any recent references to char siu sightings. Does anyone have a favorite neighborhood chinese deli with excellent char siu by the pound? Oakland Chinatown (Yung Kee, Gold Medal??) is closest to me but am willing to travel for a worthy product.

Anything with a huge dose of Cascade hops will do it for me. I just love that floral nose. Although not an IPA, Speakeasy Prohibition used to be a favorite of mine, but it does develop an off flavor as one of the posters pointed out. I used to wonder what it was! Now I only get it on tap. Racer 5 and Ross are two other favorites. Really hard to get in six-packs though.

Hey thanks for the tip on Prima and the link to the Hainanese chicken rice recipe. It sounds very similar to Violet Oon's recipe on the FoodTV website. I do agree with Rob on the chicken rice at Langkawi but wouldnt rule it out based on one or two dishes. I thought the Char Kueh Teow was very good as well. I am not sure it is fair to say that Hainanese chicken rice is not a Malaysian dish and by extension only a Singaporean will get it right. I've had my fair share of excellent chicken rice in KL & Ipoh. You are certainly right that it is difficult to find really good chicken rice here in the Bay Area (can't wait for Old Town Singapore Cafe to open in November!) I remember the best version I had in terms of both chicken and rice was Raffles Cafe in Fremont. I was quite crestfallen when they closed and has apparently not reopened. Hey, Rob - I promise one of these days we will get together and have a chicken rice cooking session! In the meantime, I have to make a few dry runs and try to get it perfect.

I was with the group of six from several weeks ago and tried some of the same dishes. Will definitely try lemper when I go again this weekend, with yet another group! This is my take on the dishes we had:
Gado Gado - excellent rendition.
Acar Kunyit (Kuning?) - I knew this was a different from Malaysian acar but we got it anyway. Rather simple vinegary sauce but refreshing.
Ayam Kalasan - BBQ chicken marinated in gula melaka, etc. flavorful and tender
Beef Rendang - rich and tasty but a little salty for my taste
Mie Goreng - After tasting so many dishes, it was hard to tell if this was really good or just okay! Would have to order it again solo.
Terung Belado - Not as good as Belachan eggplant at Nyonya Bistro since it lacks the aromatic belachan flavor but still pretty good
Oseng Tempe - wasn't sure what to expect but was pleasantly surprised.
Lontong Cap Goh Mei - This was a little different than expected. Sauce was way too rich and since it came at the end, was a little heavy. Expecting a very light curry broth as is typical in Singapore. Would be a good dish on its own - or they could just lighten the broth!
Shld ask them about the chap goh Mei part of it..

I am with problem child on ordering Thai food at a Malaysian restaurant. I remember ordering Pineapple Fried Rice once at Banyan Garden, mainly because someone raved about it. I decided right then I would stop ordering Thai dishes unless I was in a Thai restaurant. I guess Malaysian restaurants feel they have a offer Thai dishes because there was a time when Malaysian food was new and Thai was more familiar to diners. I wish they would just focus on tried and true Malaysian dishes and not try to offer everything under the South east Asian sun. I suggest you try the Belachan Eggplant next time you go - I remember it was particularly good last time I was there. Also very good at Nyonya Bistro.

Six chowhounds showed up at Nonya Bistro on a nice sunny day in Milpitas. Company was delightful as always. We had the following dishes and tab came to $15 each, which I thought was fairly good value.

Roti Canai – Indian bread in the classic Bay Area style, flaky and folded over. Served with a tasty curry, good but a little inferior to the version at Banyan Garden in Union City.
Char kueh teow – I thought this had a really good flavor. Noodles were not clumped together – a problem I sometimes find with pan-fried kueh teow if you use the wrong kind.
Lamb Rendang - This dish I would not order again. The sauce looked and tasted like it was made with a curry powder (big no-no when you’re making rendang) and not a very good one at that. It also had okra, green beans and cauliflower which really makes it a totally different dish.
Sarang seafood – I thought this dish was interesting although the taro root “nest” did not have a really good taste or consistency – did they really use taro powder? I probably would not order it again.
Eggplant Malaysian – Big slices of Chinese eggplant cooked in a aromatic paste with a hint of belacan (fermented shrimp paste– like stinky tofu!), dried shrimp, garlic and possibly shallots. I would definitely order this again.
Hainanese Chicken – I thought this was decent although I would liked a little more meat on the bones! The ginger chili sauce was quite good although I’ve always felt that it is hard to mess up on the sauce!
Mango prawn - This isn’t really a traditional Malaysian dish but I had a really good version of it at Banana Leaf, and had it recently at Champa Garden so I thought it would be interesting to compare. Sauce had the right amount of tanginess and heat – if anything the portion was a bit too small and the mango needed to be a little bit bigger as well rather than julienne strips.
Chicken Rice & Coconut Rice – I thought they did a really poor job here. Both were dry and a little al dente. The former needed more chicken fat and the latter more coconut milk. Or maybe they did not use good jasmine rice! No hint of pandan in either. Could it be day old?
Bubor Cha Cha – this was on the house – a popular tea-time item in Malaysia. Pieces of taro and sweet potato swimming in a light coconut broth. I happen to like this a lot – just brings back all those warm memories of lazy Sunday afternoons and a simmering pot of coconut-y goodness..

Personally, I would have picked a different name for the restaurant rather than Nonya – though few in the Bay Area would appreciate the difference. There weren’t any items on the menu that I could consider to be classic Nonya dishes – Inche Kabin, Curry Kapitan, Otak Otak to name a few. Apparently all the cooks are from Ipoh, a Malaysian town known for really good regional food, but definitely not nonya! I think it is challenging to offer all the traditional Malaysian dishes and to make a decent job of all of them.

As an aside, a few of us are planning a scouting trip to a new Indonesian restaurant (the former Indonesia of SF) in Berkeley on University and will report back!

Try Soluna on Macalister & Larkin. I think it's about 2-3 blocks away and quite manageable. All the other recs are good too although I don't consider Absinthe or Hayes St. to be moderately priced at dinner time.

Did anyone read the recent article (link below) about ales made from freshly-picked hops. Really piqued my interest but have no idea where they would serve this. Available mostly on tap but breweries are starting to bottle. Guy at Ledger's said maybe Barclays.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06237/...

The bun the OP is describing sounds an awful lot like Bun Cha Hanoi, a different animal from regular Bun Cha Thit Neo. Bodega Bistro has a great version - only on the regular menu, not the lunch menu also which features the regular South Vietnamese style Grilled Pork. Turtle Tower a few doors away does a decent job as well.

I find frozen pandan leaves perfectly adequate - available in the frozen section at 99 Ranch and just about every Asian supermarket. Keeps in the freezer just about forever too.

Farmer's Daughter Brentwood had boxes and boxes of them last weekend - u-pick as well. They were $1.49 I think. Dwelley's had a hydrid Blenheim that was also very delicious. I was hoping to find them at the Jack London sunday market but no sightings yet. oh for the good old days when I used them to get boxes of them off the back of a truck for about 50 cents a lb. They were slightly over-ripe but great for jam... Anyone seen over-ripe ones this season for a bargain? Also on the subject of apricots (or do I have to start a new thread?) got some Black Velvet ones at Safeway yesterday and they were fabulous. They are a cross between a plum and apricot but can't figure out if they are the same thing as a plumcot or pluot or aprium, which I gather has to do with the dominance of one variety or the other.