ChewChew's Profile
Woodchuck BBQ, New in Redwood City
I hear ya Sushi Monster but for $14 you're getting a very meaty rib that will leave you happily full. it's not inexpensive but I feel like we got fair value in return. I'm guessing that you probably get a10 or so ounces of meat or perhaps more. Not a Louisville Slugger but it's pretty hefty and hangs off the plate when it comes out.
Woodchuck BBQ, New in Redwood City
The hot one. But that's usually my bias. The sweet was just too sweet for me.
Woodchuck BBQ, New in Redwood City
We gave Woodchuck a try tonight. Barely half-full at about 7:00pm. I had the beef rib, basically a 10-inch long rib with a healthy-sized chunk of tender beef barely attached. Cooked nicely to fork-tender but missing some smoke for me. The beans spiked with burnt ends was a nice accompaniment and the slaw provided some much-needed acid to cut through all of the beefy goodness. I finished my portion, barely.
E had the brisket which was well-cooked but dried out on the plate and the baby backs which were, again, tender and falling off the bone but a tad on the dry side. They offer 5 sauces including a too-sweet sugar sauce, a spicy mustard, bourbon sauce, and the bourbon sauce spiked with habaneros and Thai chiles.
Overall this was good barbecue. I've had much better in other parts of the country but to have this available close by is nice. We will likely return.
Cafe Yulong in Mountain View is closing
Bummer. When I lived in Los Altos this place was in my regular rotation. Loved the dumplings and everything was always flavorful and carefully prepared. Nice people, too. We went back last week after easily a three-year hiatus and now I'm really glad we did. So long, Yulong.
Review: State Bird Provisions
Not really sure this place lived up to some of the hype it’s getting. I found most of the offerings bland, and one-note. Here’s what we had.
Oysters on the halfshell: These were fresh and served at the right temperature but on the small side. Not bad and a nice way to start.
Fluke tartar with quinoa with bonito rosemary: The most successful dish of the night for me. Everything was in balance. Crunchy, flavorful and harmonious.
Potato chips with steelhead caviar: Also yummy.
Avocado, guancale and pomelo: Eh. This was served cold which I suppose makes sense given the avocado but the guancale was sliced paper thin and lost its wonderfully chewy, fatty texture.
And served cold it left an unpleasant fatty sheen on my tongue. I think prosciutto would have worked better here.
Duck neck dumplings in Sauerjus: Just ok. The duck was underseasoned and was almost indistinguishable from the pastry texture-wise. Tasted clumpy and bland. The sauerjus didn’t really wake things up.
Kimchi pork belly with tofu and clams: Again, unsuccessful. The kimchi broth wasn’t spicy enough, the clams seemed thrown on like an afterthought. The tofu was bland and didn’t pick up any of the kimchi sauce. The pork belly was right on but the dish didn’t come together at all.
Sourdough, Sauerkraut, Pecorino and Riccota pancakes: Missed the mark for me. These were silver-dollar size and golden brown but had a weird sour, creamy profile. Needed something to brighten them up.
CA state bird with provisions: Not bad. Fried quail over braised onions with a yuzu-like sauce. My issue was that my piece of quail was sitting right on top of the sauce so the bottom of my quail became mushy. Better to serve this sauce on the side so it doesn’t get the crispy bird soggy. This dish really summed up the experience, a bunch of dishes with promise that just miss.
Beef cheek salad with radishes and bone marrow: Ok. The cheeks were perfectly cooked, the radishes were very fresh but the marrow was served as a sauce with an unappealing milky appearance and thin texture. Didn’t add a thing to the dish.
Desserts were pretty good with a fresh-baked poppyseed profiterole (that really wasn’t a profiterole), more like a light muffin paired with curd and berries and a chocolate sesame crunch with a cocoa and clementine jam.
The atmosphere was not so good. It’s a small space and got extremely loud when full. There were also a pair of toddlers running around which added to the noise. We had high hopes but our experience was no better than average and we will not be in any hurry to return. To us many of the dishes felt like bunch of good ingredients looking for a common theme. The dim-sum concept is cool and we really wanted to like this place but it seemed like the chef was relying on his list of ingredients and the novelty of non-Asian dim sum to drown out what were, for the most part, uninspired combinations.
Wing Wednesday chowdown at Sneaky BBQ / Rebel bar
The wings were the highlight for me at Sneaky's. They were meaty, crispy, and juicy. None of the sauces did much for me. The bleu cheese was the perfect accompaniment. Order them plain and just dip away. The 'cue was solid but not worth a special trip. I liked the pulled pork; plenty moist and flavorful and the pork belly was as decadent as you might expect. A few bites was plenty. The collards were noteworthy, cooked down to tender but not over-done.
Good people-watching with a typically eclectic SF crowd. Thanks hounds for a fun meal.
Chowdown at El Hueco Peruvian Restaurant in Redwood City
They were de-boned thighs. Very yummy.
Dong Bei Mama Chowdown
Twenty hounds hit the Richmond for a Dong Bei feast. I found a parking spot right around the corner on the first pass - good omen.
Our table had:
Assorted Cold Dishes
Sliced Beef Pancake - we had to get this after seeing it delivered to another table. Pan fried pancake stuffed with meat. Crunchy, savory and very yummy
Spicy Crispy Pork Intestine - seemed like a straightforward Sichuan preparation. Good heat and the intestines were cooked nicely
Braised Pork w/ Yam Noodles and Corn Cake - very good. In fact, you could stick with the soups here and be very happy. Golf ball size corn cakes and a nice, rich broth.
Dong Bei Pork Liver - not so great. The sauce had too much starch and the liver didn't excite
Bean Sheets with Noodles in Special Sauce - Interesting due to its surprising heat. We puzzled over the heat source for a while. Chili oil? Cayenne?
Bean Noodle w/ Sour Cabbage and Pork - came to the table late. Just out of the kitchen it was too sour for me. Once it cooled down the vinegar mellowed and the richness of the pork came through better. Eyes closed this could have been served at a German restaurant
Bamboo skin with Okra - Good texture on the okra. Liked this
Simmered Lamb - another good hot pot selection. Rich lamb broth with plenty of tender chunks of lamb. Chinese dates, too.
Chicken & Mushroom Hot Pot - very good. Probably my fave of the night. Tender chicken, mushrooms, and a broth that got more intense as it sat. Yum.
We paid $18 per person for all of the above - a great value. Would I drive out of my way to eat here? No, but if you stick with the soups/hot pots you'll be very happy. Another fun night with the hounds.
-----
Dong Bei Mama
4737 Geary Blvd, San Francisco, CA 94118
Benu 02-26-11
$160/pp for 15 or so courses. Another $110/pp if you want wine pairings.
Benu 02-26-11
We did the tasting menu recently and enjoyed it but there is a certain lack of soul which permeated the entire experience. Best thing I ate all night was a monkfish liver torchon with turnip, apple, and brioche. Another highlight was a piece of pork belly, topped with cabbage, fermented red pepper and an oyster. Fatty, briny, earthy, and spicy. Impressive. A faux 'shark fin' broth spiked with crab and ham floating over a firmly packed black truffle custard. And a great braised piece of beef rib with pear, endive, dates and watercress. Passion-driven precision seems to be the kitchen's style. And it's as precise as can be. Just wanted some loose ends. Benu's food says, 'we're here to meet your very high expectations and can successfully pull off the French Laundry style with Asian-oriented ingredients.' Mission accomplished but nothing more.
-----
The French Laundry
6640 Washington Street, Yountville, CA 94599
Benu
22 Hawthorne St, San Francisco, CA 94103
Looking for good NY type calzone
The best I've had in the Bay Area can be found at Lucia's on Woodside Rd. in Redwood City. They're loaded with meat, cheese and veg and are built for two. Be sure to ask them to make it 'well done' to get the crunchy, blistered crust which, for me, makes a calzone. Otherwise, you may get a too-doughy crust.
Chowdown at El Hueco Peruvian Restaurant in Redwood City
This was a wonderful meal. Jaime's style of cooking seems simple and straightforward but with every bite you get more depth and complexity. Highlights for me were the Ocopa, spiked with the huacatay herb, a new flavor for me, close to cilantro but not really. The beef hearts may have been the best I've ever had anywhere, perfect texturally and smoky from the grill. For mains, the quinoto was a star. Another seemingly simple dish but subtly complex once you dig in. The nutty grains married well with the intense vegetable flavors. Even the fried rice sparkled with deep, intense flavor. The Carapulcra with its deep meaty flavor was classic Peruvian comfort food all the way.
For dessert, the Picarones, dubbed Peruvian beignets by the hounds, were over the top, accompanied by a great cinnamon, orange peel sauce.
What a great addition to the RWC dining scene. Jaime's food is soulful, honest, with terrific depth of flavor. Worth the trip from anywhere on the Peninsula
Thank you Melanie for the delicious bottle of Zin and to the rest of the hounds for a fun dining experience.
Chowdown Report: Sumiya in Santa Clara
Overall I was unimpressed with the offerings at Sumiya. Most of our selections were under-seasoned and lacked that charred, charcoal taste that can make this style of food so wonderful. Only when we ordered a handful of dishes toward the end of the meal was the seasoning correct and the flavors popped which made our many first round selections seem even less interesting by comparision. There was some good stuff, however. I enjoyed the burdock root with its hard texture and the grilled rice balls had a wonderful smoky char. One of the more interesting bites was the octopus salsa that accompanied the fried chicken skin. The gizzards also stood out for me. Not really sure I would return here unless I was in the neighborhood but, as usual, it's always fun to dine with the hounds.
Buenos Aires meeting of chowhounds
Hello: My wife and I (two San Francisco chowhounds) will be in Buenos Aires from 14 November through 19 November. We plan on trying many of the places recommended on this board but we're wondering if any local porteno chowhounds (or others who happen to be in town) would be interested in meeting up and exploring the food scene. If this sounds good, please reply or email me directly at drmarclevine@yahoo.com. Looking forward to your replies.
Marc
Outstanding in the Field
For us it was a 'do once and only once' kind of experience. It's fun to literally sit in the middle of a dusty field on rickety chairs at a ridiculously long table and break bread with an eclectic group of foodies but that's what you're paying for. The food isn't the highlight. We enjoyed our evening but at $200/person it just doesn't seem worth another go.
Recs for NASA/Clear Lake area
Hello hounds: I'm a CA chowhound coming to NASA for business later in the month looking to sample any and all good local dinner fare. BBQ, po' boys, seafood are all fine as long as they're locally inspired and non-chain. Thanks in advance for your recs.
Marc
Guan Dong House
The corn cakes are served along the edges of the wok. You get six or seven of them but, beware, they really fill you up. By themselves there's nothing much to them but ripped in half or into smaller chunks and stirred into the broth they add much depth. Or you can just dunk them.
Guan Dong House
The corn cake dishes at Guan Dong House are wonderful. The chicken variety is my favorite. Seems more like a fall/winter meal with the huge wok full of simmering chicken, mushrooms and other veggies in a beautiful, thick broth. The longer it sits the more intense the broth gets. And the corn cakes are perfect for sopping up the sauce. It's plenty for two people though we always overdo it and order one more thing anyway.
Szechuan Era, Cupertino
I've had good experiences at Szechuan Era and it's in our regular rotation. Maybe I've been lucky but the Spicy Boiled Beef has been killer - great heat, tender beef and tons of sauteed garlic. We always have the sesame pancake too - wonderfully crispy and toasty. The tripe hot pot is also very good. It's a huge menu so plenty left to explore.
Sichuan Chowdown Report: Chili Garden in Milpitas
Overall this was a consistently good, but not great, meal. First off, there wasn't enough heat. I'm fairly certain they didn't dumb it down for us so perhaps they just don't go full throttle with the chili peppers. I didn't sweat at all - bummer.
I loved the pigs ear for its perfect texture and the couple beef was interesting and one of the more spicy concoctions.
The leg of lamb with cumin was disappointing only because my piece of lamb was tough - needed another hour or so of low heat. The vetegable/cumin mixture was easily the most flavorful thing I tried all day, with loads of peppercorns. I bit into a few with the predictable tongue-numbing effect.
The water-boiled beef was standard - the texture seemed right but it wasn't hot enough.
The green onion pancake was of the thick variety where my style runs to the thin. It was doughy inside and got gloopy sopping up the sauces.
Fun dining with the hounds as always but I doubt this place would merit a drive over from the Peninsula.
Chowdown Report: Little Sichuan
Six hungry hounds gathered on a warm night for some hot food at Little Sichuan in San Mateo. We ordered the dinner for six at $88 and added a few dishes to make sure we completely overwhelmed ourselves in terms of volume.
Overall, it was a fine meal with some huge hits and some big misses as well.
Here’s what we had:
Appetizers:
Spicy Jelly Fish – easily a highlight. It’s all about texture with jellyfish and this was bright and springy, with a great spicy sauce full of Szechuan peppercorns. Sublime.
Cold Spiced Beef – thin slices of beef shank cooked with five-spice. Looked a bit lonely on the plate. Needed something....
Young Bamboo with Sweet Red Peppers – fresh-tasting but ultimately lost in the chili storm
Smoked Pressed Tofu Strips – standard smoked tofu but the sauce was delicious
Spicy Szechuan Cold Noodles – tasted fresh, the texture was right but I think others liked this more
Szechuan Salty Pickle Fish Soup – Excellent. A wonderful sour/salty flavor made this stand out. The fish chunks started to break up and thickened the soup. Would order this again.
Main Dishes
Kung Pao Chicken – unremarkable. Not hot, not really flavorful. Avoid.
Dong Po Pork – yes!! This was a whole pork trotter served on the bone in a wonderful anise broth. Loved this. The broth was more pungent than previous Shanghai version I’ve had and it served as a nice break from all of the chilis.
Sizzling Rice Dried Squid – for me the worst dish of the night. The squid was cut oddly and tasted a bit dated. A plain, boring brown sauce. Avoid.
Spicy Shredded “Fish Flavored” Pork – this got better as I ate more. Very vinegary, in fact vinegar was all I tasted when it was piping hot. As it cooled down it came into balance.
Whole Fish in Spicy Bean Curd Sauce – this was only ok for me and didn’t stand out from other similar dishes I’ve had.
Steamed Powdery Tender Beef – I really wanted to like this more than I did. The beef wasn’t close to tender and my pieces had more bone than beef. The “powder” treatment was interesting texturally but couldn’t make up for the tired beef chunks.
Xin Jiang Stir-Fried Roasted Lamb with Cumin Powder – oh my god! This was a revelation and maybe the best Chinese dish of any variety I’ve had all year. Garlic, peppers, onions, and chilis all roasted down to an almost a hash-like consistency, tender lamb slices and a heavy shot of cumin. Eyes closed you may have thought it was a Mexican preparation. Wouldn’t be bad with fresh tortillas. Not a bit gritty despite all of the powder. Couldn’t stop eating this. Inspired.
Spicy Boiled Tender Beef – not good at all. How could they blow such a classic dish? One-dimensional – just heat. Tasted like beef plunked down into a thin spicy broth. No sautéed garlic. Oh, the disappointment.
For dessert – mochi filled with read bean paste and oranges
All of the above plus a round of beers, rice, tax, and tip came to $24/pp. – a tremendous value.
Thanks to Melanie for organizing and, as usual, it was a pleasure to dine with my fellow hounds.
Fishmonger in San Carlos/RWC/Menlo?
Need a quality fishmonger close to home. Any recs?
Ame?
DeeGlaze and I went to Ame last weekend and enjoyed a wonderfully prepared and tasty meal but left scratching our heads. We ordered a la carte and began with the cuttlefish with uni, ikura - wonderful - and the hamachi carpaccio - also wonderful. The beautiful, soft Japanese flavors lingered on our palates. Yum. But then came the more French-style preparations like foie gras with a duck-confit filled crepe and octopus slices in a parsley, garlic and butter sauce. Both very yummy but way out of context with our first course. Then more French stuff, like beef cheeks with crispy sweetbreads. Again, well-prepared (except I tasted the batter more than the sweetbreads) but more contextual weirdness. DeeGlaze stayed with the Japanese theme and did better with their signature black cod. I'm all for ying/yang but my experience was muddled, as if my taste buds weren't sure where I was. Of course Ame is not to blame here - I made my choices - but I'd recommend sticking with one theme, probably the Japanese.
Don't miss the pistachio/green tea affogato for dessert. Two scoops of dense pistachio ice cream with plently of candied nuts bathed in warm, dark, deep green tea. Like having a forest in your mouth. Absolutely great.
Jeanty @ Jack's: recent impressions?
Had a business lunch there during the holidays and it was as good as ever. The lamb daube is sublime.
Cafe Brioche, Palo Alto
Very disappointed on a recent visit. This was always a nice mid-week place for us - a place to grab some quick cassoulet, coq au vin or just some sauteed chicken livers on a bed of greens. No more. Not sure if it's a new chef but the food is now sub-par. The sauces are thin and uninteresting with little attention to detail. Just plain boring. And the place was completely over-run with small children using the dining room as a playground. Many near-misses with the wait staff. Not the vibe we wanted. Avoid.
Review: Mantra Palo Alto
What to do in Palo Alto on a Wednesday night? I know, Indian fusion.
White tablecloth ambience with the "mixer" crowd at the bar. I resisted the temptation to don a name tag while we waited to be seated.
For starters - Paneer marinated in chili and cumin, stuffed with green peas paired with a shot of avocado, cucumber, mint and garlic soup. This basically tasted like paneer and the more lively ingredients were muted by the cheese instead of brightening it. Not bad but not something I'd order again. The shot was kind of cool but tasted flat.
Better was the Shrimp Vinhaleaux. Three large shrimp marinated in cinnamon and chili, roasted perfectly, sitting atop a small salad of pickled onions, fennel and peppers. This was very good. The pickled veggies cut the charred spices and each bite was bright and deep. I wanted to snag the entire third shrimp for myself but shared, hesitantly.
One main was Prosciutto-wrapped halibut with cilantro pesto topped with a "garam" chocolate sauce. These bundles had a nice flavor combination (the pesto and the prosciutto were really good together) but the fish was slightly overcooked and there wasn't nearly enough sauce on the plate.
The mixed tandoori grill (with lamb, chicken, shrimp, and sea bass) was great. Everything was cooked perfectly and well-spiced. The cherry and date chutney was extremely flavorful but, again, I would have liked more of it on the plate.
For dessert we tried Jasmine tea soup with a chocolate 'bombe' topped with candied fennel and crushed macadamias. Yes!!!! Why the chocolate and jasmine tea worked together I have no idea but it did - wonderfully. We finished every drop.
The food, plus one beer and a glass of wine came to $103 before tip. A bit pricey but we felt like we got good value in return. There are dozens of places to get good Indian food of many styles in the South Bay and this take on it - upscale, California-style - worked well enough. Worth a try.
Singapore Hawker Centers - need recs
Thanks so much for these replies. I promise a full report upon my return. Cheers and happy new year.
Singapore Hawker Centers - need recs
Hello all: I'm a San Francisco 'hound visiting Singapore for the first time on business at the end of January. After reading your posts on this board it's clear that I'll be spending much of the free time I have in the hawker centers sampling as much as I can.
My client is located on Phillip St. near Raffles Interchange (according to my map) so I'd imagine my hotel will be close by. What hawker centers should I visit? I'm public transportation- friendly and would happily venture to other neighborhoods to find places high on the variety and authenticity scales. What shouldn't I miss?
Also, I'll have a free evening on Thursday, February 1st so if any local chowhounds want to connect for a chowdown, perhaps we can arrange something.
Thanks in advance for your recs.
Marc
Shanghai East chowdown report
Eleven hungry hounds braved rush-hour traffic to meet up for some Shanghai-style food in San Mateo. DeeGlaze and I have been coming here fairly regularly and it was high time we turned loose the hounds on the extensive menu. We chose a banquet menu with numerous substitutions and additions. We ate:
Xiao Long Bao (2 orders)
Combination Appetizers
Preserved Pork and Bamboo Soup
Shanghai Sauteed Prawns
Fish Filet with Wine Sauce
Combination Wild Rice Shoot (Water Root Vegetable)
Shanghai Chow Mein
Tofu Sheets with Soybeans
Chicken and Chestnut Claypot
Braised Pork Knuckle
Braised Fish Tail with Red Sauce
Bean Curd Shoots with Ham (Yangzhou Gan Si)
Pea Shoots with Garlic
Lionshead Meatballs with Cellophane Noodles in Claypot Soup
Shanghai-Flavor Rice cake with Ji Cai
Dessert - Rice Balls in Wine Soup
Overall, this was a delicious meal. The food was carefully prepared and the portion sizes were quite generous. Some highlights for me were the braised fish tails, cooked to spot-on doneness paired with an intense, dark, rich sauce. Melt in your mouth goodness. The fish filets in wine sauce were great too with flaky, perfectly cooked fish in a wonderfully balanced sauce with just the right amount of wine flavor. I went back for more and more of this. The Lionshead soup is the ultimate comfort food. The light and airy meatballs, split with a spoon, infuse and deepen an amazing anise broth. I get this every time and never tire of it. The rice cakes with ji cai were notable for their perfect texture. Toothsome but not gummy. And, yes, the XLBs were very good. If we're nit-picking, the skins were perhaps a bit too thick, but only by a little and the healthy dose of soup inside brought it all together. The only misses of the evening for me were the braised pork knuckle and chicken and chestnut clay pot. Though the knuckle was slow-cooked to fall-off-the-bone doneness, the sauce was rather thin and uninteresting. Same deal with the chicken and chestnuts - the chicken was well cooked but the chestnuts lacked flavor and the sauce added little.
And as always, another highlight was the company - a great mix of old and new faces. Thanks for a fun evening.
Shanghai East Restaurant
105 W. 25th Ave. San Mateo
(650) 522.9098
