kairo's Profile
Fresh mangosteens spotted in the Portola [SF]
New May Wah on Clement has them in a similar bag. Except it's 7.99 per bag, not by the pound. Haven't tried them though.
Looking for Sunnyside Dairy lactose-free whole milk
Thanks for the tip. And yes, the copious amounts of butter surely aren't helping anything digestively speaking.
Looking for Sunnyside Dairy lactose-free whole milk
Interesting. Do you think that the lactase treatment of the milk is a more fool-proof method than simply taking the pill? I think I just assumed it was roughly the same concept.
I just know that the pills only seem to work 70% of the time for me. Also it seems that when I've had food, for example mashed potatoes, made with lactaid milk, that I've still had lactose related issues.
That is good to know about the Sunnyside whole milk.
Looking for Sunnyside Dairy lactose-free whole milk
Just for general info: There isn't really any "lactose free" milk. The brands of milk that claim this actually just include the lactaise enzyme with the milk; so for all intents and purposes it really is the same as taking a lactaid pill with your glass of milk. Took be forever to figure this out, and it explained why food made with "lactose free" milk didn't always "work" for my stomach. Almost better off with goat milk. And to the OPer if you are looking for whole milk, goat milk's rich consistency might suit the purpose....
Best Teriyaki in SF?
I was actually just wondering the same thing myself. There has to be somewhere that stands out. I feel like everything I've ever had tastes pretty much the same. Based on name alone, I was going to try Noriega Teriyaki House.... but that might not be the right logic.
And how come the spell check wants to change "Teriyaki" into "Sukiyaki". I believe the former is much more common.
Fermented Fish Soup @ Bun Mam Soc Trang in Oakland
There were some definite chunks of funky fish in my soup that day. Nice soft fresh pieces, then strangely chewy pieces. At least I hope that is what it was. Good all the same.
Fermented Fish Soup @ Bun Mam Soc Trang in Oakland
last time I saw the pennywort juice at Lee's it wasn't the bright bright green I'm used to. Closer to the brownish color that canned pennywort juice has. I wasn't sure if it was a different recipe, or just older.
Fermented Fish Soup @ Bun Mam Soc Trang in Oakland
Happened to be in this particularly colorful part of Oakland on Saturday and picked this Vietnamese joint from reviews on yelp that mentioned Fermented Fish Soup.
Having never had nor heard of this soup I figured I should give it a try.
The soup was excellent. Full of thinly sliced pork belly, some crispy (well not really anymore) pork skin, and what seemed to be a mix of fermented and fresh fish. (maybe the fresh parts were just less fermented tasting). The broth was a bit fishy, a bit fermented tasting, but also relatively sweet. Definitely a unique flavor, and not at all off-putting. If you like fish sauce than you've had stronger fermented flavors. Noodles were thicker bun bo hue style noodles, not thin vermicelli.
Apparently you can ask for shrimp paste if things aren't pungent enough for you.
My wife had a combo rice plate with shrimp cake, egg loaf, and bbq pork with broken rice. Outstanding all around.
They have fun drinks that are harder to find. This is the only other place I know of besides Little Vietnam Cafe on 6th ave (SF) that has those unlabeled fresh pennywort juice bottles. They also have the soymilk ones which are great as well.
On weekends they give free dessert, which that day was a coconut milk, seaweed, mung bean and tapioca noodle mixture. pretty darn great and not as overly sweet as some of those desserts can be.
They used to have sandwiches, which is the only other reference on chowhounds, but they no longer make them from what I can tell.
Sorry no pictures, but you can find them on yelp anyway.
The fish soup is their name-sake dish, and also seemingly most popular. A group of middle aged Vietnamese ladies all came in and gobbled up 4 bowls of it in about 5 minutes. Oh, you can get it with or without the pork. I personally would pick the one with pork...
Cash only. Super super nice waitress. Clean. Funky neighborhood for those that are concerned about that kind of thing. Next door to a fried fish joint.
They seem to be open 830 to 6.. (closed today, Monday the 23rd for the new year)
Bun Mam Soc Trang
1326 E 18th St
(between 13th Ave & Solano Way)
Oakland, CA 94606
What's the word on Kirimachi Ramen on Broadway?
I found the tonkatsu ramen to taste very fishy. It was not the usual milky white color... definitely clearer. No one else has mentioned it tasting fishy.... so maybe it was a fluke.
Noodles were good and chewy. Egg was good. The cha-sui had a particularly good flavor.
Yunnan Eats (report)
Ah. I had forgotten about the Baba in Dali. I loved that stuff. I remember having it from 2 different vendors and one from an old lady being considerably better.
Dog and cheese? The cheese part is what's throwing me. Was that in old town Lijiang or the new town area?
I spent New Years even in lijiang and had a really great meal right at the entrance to old town. It was a "locals or chinese tourist" place that grilled things. They had an array of 20+ items to choose from. It was very surreal watching new years celebrations on a tiny tv while eating spicy lamb skewers.
The coals used as space heaters are great. We stayed in a hotel in Yangshuo and their top floor restaurant had no windows. it was in the low 30's when we ate. At least our legs were warm!
Thanks for bringing back the memories.
Clay Pot Rice and Double Boiled Soup at Best Taste in Oakland
Have you been to Taishan Cafe on Clement (at 12th). I'm wondering how the clay pots compare. Taishan has a double boiled chicken ginseng soup as well.. but definitely not for $1.99.
I'm a big fan of the soup with the crunch rice (though I usually take it to go and eat it the next day as rice soup).
Souffles Cafe, new HK-style dessert cafe opens in Chinatown
I was thinking more of the traditional Hong Kong dessert cafe stuff like Do Fu Fa and Green Bean Soup and Tong Yuen... stuff like that. There are 4 in the Richmond and 2? in the Sunset, but I don't know of any in any other parts of town.
Souffles Cafe, new HK-style dessert cafe opens in Chinatown
I've been thinking about this for a while... Is this the first HK dessert cafe in Chinatown? The only other's I know of are in the Richmond or Sunset. I know I'll be there to see how there sesame paste is.
XLB and Salty Sticky Rice Rolls at Ice House on Noriega.
what's his blog address? I only see his old one that hasn't been updated in months.
thanks!
"Old Wife Cakes" (Lao Po Bing) at Kee Wah Bakery
Have you had the ones at Sheng Kee on Irving? I know it's a chain but they make my favorite version of these in SF. They are less dense by far then every other version I've had in town.
A lady in Hong Kong told me not to eat too many because they are made with lard. Do you think they use lard in bay area bakeries?
HONG KONG - Where is the best place for cheung fun and congee?
Wow. I think this might be the first time someone has taken up my recommendation in HK. And to boot it sounds like you read my openrice review! (howardtaft)
Did the Congee taste sweet at all to you? I noticed other openrice reviews seemed to disagree.
HONG KONG - Where is the best place for cheung fun and congee?
That's really interesting. I just kind of took it for granted as being the norm. That is very true about the steamed buns. Maybe people will start experimenting more with those now.
I never thought about it, but I never saw fish in cheung fun in any of the bigger sit-down dim sum places I went to in Hong Kong. I usually had other people do the ordering due to my non-existent language skills. The old-fashioned cart places I never really got any cheung fun.
Yank Sing is out of my price range. I associate with with white people on business lunches. Speaking of cheung fun, they don't even have them.
Ton Kiang. I would go with my mother some times, but the menu always seemed very limited, and I could get more options and a lower price next door at Golden River.
Koi Palace I still have never been to. That still seems to be a go-to place for many bay area people.
I have been going to Mayflower a lot lately. Which is related to Hong Kong Flower lounge also in the peninsula.
There is also a relatively new place, Hong Kong Lounge (also on Geary near tong kiang) that is extremely popular. I went for a while, but the lines are ridiculous on the weekends (and there is a line 7 days a week, even in the rain).
HONG KONG - Where is the best place for cheung fun and congee?
That is odd. I assumed it was a common ingredient. Any dim sum restaurant in San Francisco has it. The one at that shop in Hong Kong that seemed really odd had duck and fish in the same roll.
One of my favorites in SF is the kind with the 'donut' but then that is stuffed with fish cake. Now that was genius!
HONG KONG - Where is the best place for cheung fun and congee?
my favorite place for Cheung Fun when I lived in Kowloon:
http://www.openrice.com/english/restaurant/sr2.htm?shopid=10816
They are not opened during breakfast. It's a late night only place. I think around 6pm til 2am. Apparently closed Sunday and Wednesday.
They had the best fish cheung fun I've ever had. Everything is made to order.
Boy I wish they had that "English info" option on Open rice when I was there. I spent hours using google translate and a dictionary to plan my meals.
S.F.'s Five Happiness...new owner? Changed menu?
I just eat out 100% of the time, and lived around the corner.
I believe you can get the lions head in soup. There are a couple of untranslated items on that pink page and I think I remember one being the soup version of lions head.
Dong Bei Mama : Formerly Panda Country Kitchen.
No real need for being able to read Chinese here. There are a few odd translations, (1 item said 3 kinds of yam, yet had no yam at all. they have since corrected that) The cold plates are pretty clear, ( I ordered the duck roll, it just says Duck Roll) and if there are any questions you can go up and look at them. Just a couple of items with less descriptive names. like Dong Bei Pork, but the Chinese characters don't help with any explanation.
I believe they have 2 or 3 items listed on a dry erase board in the front, Chinese only.
And they are the same owners as San Dong House.... I asked the owner when I noticed the same waitress from over there. The owner is super nice. He said they are going to revamp San Dong House as well... he admitted the quality had gone down hill.
S.F.'s Five Happiness...new owner? Changed menu?
Ooh, I love the "chicken roll". Got it about a dozen times, but one time it had almost no meat and tasted of "breading". Very odd. I actually like that weird sauce they give with it, but I can totally see it as a love/hate kind of thing.
I'm also a big fan of the hunnan ham dish from that pink menu, as well as the soybean and bean curd sheets dish (#1 i believe) that I mentioned earlier. And the lions head is particularly good here. I've had it at as many places as I can find it, and this is one of the better ones. Shanghai Dumpling King's version seemed to go a bit downhill. And sunny shanghai in san bruno, who I love, have a lesser version. (I really don't like bok choi, so that is part of the problem with Sunny Shanghai's). SDK's sometimes is tough... which i think would happen from pre-cooking and reheating.
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Shanghai Dumpling King
3319 Balboa St, San Francisco, CA 94121
Sunny Shanghai
189 El Camino Real, San Bruno, CA 94066
Dong Bei Mama : Formerly Panda Country Kitchen.
Thanks for the review and pictures.
Your pork belly cabbage pot looks a lot different. Ours was a dark rich broth, and long thick chewy noodles. The pork belly was in larger chunks.
The fried intestines look crazy. i've never seen them so dark.
Dong Bei Mama : Formerly Panda Country Kitchen.
I am not entirely sure, but the way the (i assume) owner worded it, it sounded like a replacement chef. I can't imagine they would be able to afford 2 "chefs"... he mentioned they had just been breaking even before.
I don't think this guy will disappoint.
I noticed when the staff was eating, some of their rice bowls had big spoonfuls of szechuan peppercorns.
Dong Bei Mama : Formerly Panda Country Kitchen.
The owners of Panda Country Kitchen have a new chef and a new name..
The menu has been re-worked significantly as they brought in a chef from a small penninsula Dong Bei style restaurant. (Owner wouldn't say the name).
Looks like the new info isn't on yelp yet, and their old website is still up.
Huge selection of appetizers and cold dishes. They still retain a page for szechuan dishes.
Hopefully someone with pictures will post a better write-up soon!
We had:
"Duck Roll". This is a cold dish of duck meat that is rolled around sweet sausage, and separately egg yolk. It is then sliced thin, so each bite has duck and egg yolk, or duck and sausage.
Braised pork with yam noodle and corn cake.
This is a small wok like pot on a hot pot. (the owner said "like in the military"). It was a rich soup with cabbage, pork belly and thick chewy yam noodles. The corn cakes are like american dinner rolls crossed with cornbread.
Dry cooked green beans. A solid version of this ever present dish. really blistered. and no oil on the plate.
Cumin Lamb Ribs. We really liked these, but they may be too sweet for some people. not spicy at all. I loved the flavor. and the fat melted in the mouth yet they had crispy outsides.
Can't wait to go back, but first we have to finish the leftovers.
2 ladies near us had between 6 and 8 dishes... they seemed super excited about the food.
A group of mandarin speaking college kids had a table of all szechuan dishes. they looked really good, but I just can't handle the spice personally.
If someone doesn't beat me too it, i'll try and scan the menu at work tomorrow.
I want them to do better business than they did as panda country.... because this is some unusual stuff they have going on.
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Panda Country Kitchen
4737 Geary Blvd, San Francisco, CA 94118
Rhea's Deli
I just have to give a "shout out" to the BBQ Vegetarian Chicken Sandwich. Now that is a messy sandwich, the pieces of fake chicken don't stay in the roll. And the "coleslaw" (pretty much just shredded mixed cabbage/carrot thankfully) gets everywhere.
I love it.
The katsu is great too.
Please don't let this place turn into Ike's Place. They do good business, and one weekends around 1 or so the wait can be 45 minutes.... but so far I can call in a sandwich, get there 10 minutes later and it's ready, unlike Ike's got to be.
Thinking of S&T Hong Kong Seafood on Noriega
Just discovered this place recently. Doesn't seem to be a "destination" place.
I've enjoyed it both times in the last few weeks. Pretty sure I remember seeing a good amount of offal selections, definitely more than most dim sum places i've been to in the city.
The fans on the wall made me feel like i was back in HK. The prices are more on par with Hong Kong Lounge, but as my older neighbor pointed out, without the table clothes.
The fish tanks are cleaner than many seafood restaurants i've been in. The water is flowing strong enough that the fish swim.
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Hong Kong Lounge
5322 Geary Boulevard, San Francisco, CA 94121
ISO Chinese restaurant I can bring my own fish:
I should just ask the folks at Taishan. They are really nice to me there. I just don't want to offend anyone by asking for a preparation that isn't on their menu.
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Taishan Cafe
4401 Cabrillo St, San Francisco, CA 94121
ISO Chinese restaurant I can bring my own fish:
They have eel, but it is the skinny tiny little eels. (Which is another question; Where do they get those? I can't imagine they are fresh) The eel i'm wanting is the full sized eel, that would be turned into unagi at a sushi joint, but in this case is cut across the bone, so that you have the spine in the middle of the circle. Lers Ros serves this kind.
ISO Chinese restaurant I can bring my own fish:
I am looking to see if this is a feasible option:
I am really craving this Eel dish I had in Hong Kong. It is in a steamed, leaf lined basket with eel, cut in thick pieces, in a plum sauce. I was hoping that if I brought a fresh eel into a restaurant that already made steamed baskets like this (Taishan Cafe on Clement?) that for a price (and contacting them ahead of time of course), they might be able to make this dish. I have no idea how to make the dish let alone prep an eel.
Does this sound like something that might work?
