elainew's Profile
Macarons - Any new places?
I haven't had a chance to try it myself, but Moos Cakes is a new place in Fremont and has macarons. The limited reviews on Yelp seems favorable.
http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/fKZxPYp2ffNMOrR2f56BNw?select=exTJ9jWIIPuqqcyIqt0rkg
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Moos Cakes
39947 Mission Blvd, Fremont, CA 94539
Why do I pay 45 cents a day for a shot of soy milk?
Not sure where you're getting your coffee, but if you're a Starbucks fan (I'm not), you can get free soy after 5 drink purchases (green level) using their rewards card.
https://www.starbucks.com/card/rewards/gold
Need a Ice Cream Truck to come to my event!!! Help!
We did an ice cream social a few years ago and went with Kicks in San Jose. There website (http://www.cookiesandicecream.com/) is not accessible right now, but their twitter site indicates they are active:
http://twitter.com/getsomekicks
Eat Real Fest, Oakland, August 28-30
It's definitely in the 90's, but it's not too bad in the shade. I just got back from the festival and it was not too crowded. I was even able to find free parking. I think the heat scared off most people. The lines were not too long and I didn't wait more than 5 minutes for anything. There were so many trucks to choose from, it was hard to decide. I do have to see the best deal was the $5 mini lobster roll from Sam's Chowder Mobile.
Great carrot cake, east bay?
Sweet Adeline has the best carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. It always get compliments, even from non-carrot cake lovers.
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Sweet Adeline
3350 Adeline St, Berkeley, CA
Laksa Special at Kopitiam
Kopitiam in Lafayette is featuring Laksa as their special this weekend. I was there for lunch yesterday and had the best bowl of laksa there. It was a very rich broth flavored with coconut milk and curry, but the shrimpiness of the base was also evident. The dish was served with short round rice noodles, along with bean sprouts, tofu puffs, fish cake, shrimp, chicken and half a hard boiled egg.
Kopitiam has rotating specials on weekends every month of so. You can get on their mailing list to find out when they have each special. They do make it in limited quantities, but you can call ahead to confirm and reserve a bowl.
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Kopitiam Restaurant
3647 Mt Diablo Blvd, Lafayette, CA 94549
Tu Tai 2- Decent Pho in Alameda
Tu Tai 2 opened up approximately two weeks ago on Webster in Alameda, replacing the former Cafe Le. I have had the chance to go there twice now and both times, the food has been good. I have been searching for a decent Pho place in Alameda for a while and have been mostly disappointed. I was very excited when I found out a new place was opening up. The first time I was there, I tried the combination beef noodle soup (Pho Dac Biet). The broth was tasty and flavorful and the noodles were cooked well. It's not as good as the San Jose places, but does the job when I'm having a Pho craving.
The second time I tried their Thin Vermicelli Patties with Fried Shrimp Cake (Banh Hoi Cha Tom Chien). I never had this dish before and really enjoyed it. The vermicelli patties were made of thin vermicelli noodles shaped in small bite size patties and were slightly toasted dry. This allows for the patty to retain it's shape when dipped into the fish sauce. They shrimp cake and noodles were served with plenty of lettuce for wrapping, and pickeled daikon and carrots, cucumber, mint and cilantro.
The menu has over 100 items and plenty of choices. In addition to the standard pho and bun dishes, they also have some family style dishes (which I have yet to try). Although this is not the best Vietnamese place out there, it certainly is one of the better options if you want to eat in Alameda. I'm glad that there's finally a decent Pho place in Alameda. Its definitely better than Mint Leaf or Dragon Rouge.
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Tu Tai 2
1531 Webster St, Alameda, CA 94501
Top Burmese Restos in the Bay Area?
That's why I love the one in Alameda. Same food, but almost never a wait.
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Burma Superstar
1345 Park Street, Alameda, CA
Paulette Macarons (Hayes Valley), SF - anyone try it yet?
OMG, you just made my day! I love Paulette's when I lived in LA. It's one of my favorites. I loved their Caramel and Praline flavors. I guess they are now seasonal flavors according to the website. I was not a fan of their fruit flavors since the filling was too jelly-like for me. I like my macaron filling to be more creamy, like ganache. I'm going to have to head over and try the Hayes Valley store and try it out.
http://www.paulettemacarons.com/macarons.html
Latest Feedback on Chinese Wedding Banquet Locations
We had our wedding banquet at ABC in Foster City in November and it was perfect. We originally thought we would have over 220ppl, so this was one of the few places that we liked that could accommadate. We ended up having only 17 tables and it wasn't a problem for them to give us the entire back room. We choose the most expensive menu ($688) and it was well worth it. All our guest really enjoyed the food and complemented on it. It also helped that we started going there regularly before the banquet to get to know the waitstaff. Because of this, our service was impecable. They also waived the corkage fee for us. Another plus is that parking is not a problem since they are located in a strip mall.
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ABC Sea Food Restaurant
973 E Hillsdale Blvd, Foster City, CA 94404
Where to find Airwaves gum
Does anyone know of a local place that sells Wrigley's Airwaves gum? It's a menthol gum sold in Europe and Asia. Has anyone seen it at a store that imports British items? I've looked at a bunch of Asian grocery stores and have not seen it. I've found a few places online, but I would rather save on the shipping charge if possible.
If the only place is online, has anyone shopped at www.jollygrub.com or www.britishdelights.com ?
Oliveto's Truffle Dinners
It's been a busy week for me, but I want to report back on my dinner a few days ago. My husband and I had:
1)Poached, salted farm egg
2) Fried pigeon stuffed with black truffle
3) Sugar pie pumpkin sformatino
4)Kabocha squash Gnocch
5)Agnolotti dal plin
6) Petrale sole with wild mushrooms
The highlight was really the gnocchi. I have always been a fan of Oliveto's fresh pastas and this was no exception. The bay scallops were large and very sweet. It was great without the truffles and even better with.
The Agnolotti was also great. This dish was the best accompaniment for the truffles. This was my first time having fresh truffles. I enjoyed the flavor, but was expecting it to be more intense and better than the truffle oils I have had in the past.
The sugar pie was also delicious It was very bold in flavor and did not need any truffle addition. I was a little disappointed with the sole. It really did not have enough wild mushrooms to make it stand out. The hazelnut oil was a little too sweet and did not go well with the addition of the fresh truffles.
Overall, the dinner was great, but I wish there was more of an emphasis on the truffles and mushrooms. I was disappointed to not see any candy cap mushrooms on the dessert menu.
Oliveto's Truffle Dinners
Oliveto has begun their annual truffle dinners. Did anyone got a chance to try it last night? I have a reservation for later this week and would love to get some feedback before I go.
Below is this year's menu:
http://www.oliveto.com/dinnermenu.pdf
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Oliveto Cafe
5655 College Ave., Oakland, CA 94618
Pyung Chang Update
I was just there last night and there were no signs of remodeling.
Black Sesame Ice Cream & Olive Oil Cake
Unfortunately, Green Tea Terrace has been closed on Westwood.
Late night dining in West LA
Upstairs 2 is open till 11pm on Fridays and Saturdays, You can even get 1000pts on open table for a late reservation.
First time at The French Laundry
I was just there two weeks ago for my first time and had a wonderful experience. The only thing that would have made it better was that near the end of the meal, I saw several tables get what looked to be a fried donut. When our table did not get this dish near the end of the meal, I asked our server what that dish was. He told me that you have to request it (coffee and donuts) when you first get there. It's sort of an off menu item that is available without an extra charge.
Also, be prepared for a long meal. We were there for lunch and it lasted 3.5 hrs. Some of the menu items are great for sharing (eg, the foie gras terrine). Don't hesitate to ask your server for their opinion. The beef special for that evening was a really, really good seared Wagyu beef. At a $100 supplement, I was a little hesitant to order it. But the server said that it was about 4 ounces and enough to share. It was ridiculously good and well worth it.
Lastly, remember to enjoy your meal!
Who offers the best Fried Pork Chop in the LA & OC vicinity?
I love the pork chop rice at Old country cafe. It's also a great deal since you get an egg, mince pork, pickled veggies and rice with it for less than $5.
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Old Country Cafe
2 E Valley Blvd, Alhambra, CA 91801
Lunch near Barrington/Wilshire
Amadine is great for solo diners.
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Amandine Patissiere
12225 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90025
Pho or Vietnamese Sandwiches on the West Side?
You can try Pho 99 on Wilshire. The basics are pretty good, but with higher Westside prices. They have both Pho as well as sandwiches. If you're only looking for Pho, there's also Le Saigon on Santa Monica Blvd.
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Pho 99
11819 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90025
Le Saigon
11611 Santa Monica Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90025
Asian-Style Crab in SF?
New Hoi Fai in Milbrae does a great cold crab and I think it was only $13, a great deal. I think you might have to ahead to order it though.
A Tale of Two Peking Duck Dinners
If you want authentic peking duck, go to Great China in Berkeley. IMO, it's the best duck in the bay area.
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Great China Restaurant
2115 Kittredge St, Berkeley, CA 94704
Source for macarons (not macaroons) online or close to Austin?
The Tea Room near Napa is sells them and ship to anywhere. I know they have good chocolates, but never tried their macarons. They state that they are imported from France.
http://tea-room.stores.yahoo.net/frma.html
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Tea Room
110 Mezzetta Ct Ste A, American Canyon, CA 94503
Top Notch Dim Sum?
They have this at Peony's in Oakland Chinatown. However, they are hit or miss. Sometimes, they're full of the oozy goodness that is expected. But othertimes, it's over cooked and becomes a solid paste instead of being runny.
Williams-Sonoma $6.50 cupcake and other food items
Has anyone tried the Hazelnut croissants? How do they compare with the Chocolate. Can the croissants be individually thawed and prepared or do you have to make the whole batch?
ISO Cany Cap Mushroom
Canyd caps were available at the Far West Fungi at the Ferry Building Thanksgiving weekend, so they should still be available. I had a cheesecake made from them and it was so delicious.
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Far West Fungi
1 Ferry Bldg # 34, San Francisco, CA
Tamale Festival 11/09 - 11/11
I went today with some friends around 2:30pm. The lines were pretty long, so we split up. When we got to the front of the line at Mama's, they said that the tamales would be a 30 min. wait. We opted for some frozen ones to take home instead, some cheese, veggie and pork. My friends did a little bit better at another stand (I didn't get their name). But they only had two options, chicken and pork. We got 3 each for $10, which was a good deal. However, they had run out of all the other flavors, even frozen ones. The tamales were very tasty, but didn't seem like anything special, and not really worth the long line. After waiting in line for more than half an hour, we decided it was not worth it to stand in line again. There were already some stands that had completely run out of tamales. There were not as many tamales vendors as I had expected. We left after just a little over an hour.
If you plan to go tomorrow, I would suggest you head out early.
Is Midori the only AYCE sushi in LA area?
There's a Japanese place on Wilshire in West LA that has a banner for All you can Eat. Does anyone know which restaurant I'm talking about and have tried it? It's maybe half way between UCLA and the beach.
New Champion in AYCE sushi: Fuzen
I believe it's called OTOM
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Otom Restaurant
3936 Sepulveda Blvd, Culver City, CA 90230
