I didn't see it at the Hayward Costco when I went a couple of days ago. Don't they usually have it after Thanksgiving and before Christmas?

Yes, he was really interested in AQ, but it was way out of the price range.

Thanks so much, pauliface, for the caveats. Sausage Factory sounds like a great neighborhood place, like you suggest - I'll have to check it out sometime when I have a hankering for some old-school American-Italian comfort food. I'll be sure to pass them along and see what kind of vibe my friend wants. The decision isn't ultimately up to me. I'm just on a reconnaissance mission here.

Thanks again for all the feedback! Montara is a bit out of the way. I've sent along the other suggestions. Sausage Factory is an intriguing option. I've never been there; my friend (after realizing the impossibility of finding a place that meets all the originally given criteria) wondered if there was a place like Buca di Beppo, but better. Perhaps Sausage Factory fits the bil.

I had also floated the idea of a cocktail reception previously, but he nixed he idea.

Thanks for the replies so far. I'm also assuming Alfred's won't open for such a small group, but I'll pass on the info nonetheless. Mill Valley might also be a bit too far, since most people are going to be coming from the South Bay, so the limits would probably be SF, Peninsula, and perhaps Berkeley/parts of Oakland/Alameda. I'm thinking that although private dining room would be preferrable, private-ish area would work in a pinch. I'll also pass on the info about Alioto's.

A good friend is coming back in town to propose to his girlfriend and is looking for a venue to hold a small (10-12 persons) engagement party. His initial specifications were: restaurant with a private dining room, great food (preferably Italian or steak), with a view, in SF proper... and range of $30-50pp (lower side of that scale preferred). Given those parameters, I told him how very skeptical I was that it could be done. So he's willing to budge on the view and the restaurant being in SF proper. Can anyone suggest a restaurant with a private dining area and great food on a Sunday evening in that price range? He's quickly running out of time to come up with something.

Thanks for the advice. When I stopped in at Wing Lee, they didn't have any on display - and with the long line, I didn't get a chance to ask if they regularly have them or if they had any baking. I ended up getting some at Red A Bakery - they had the curry beef turnovers and bbq pork puffs. We've liked the egg custard tarts from there in the past. I haven't tried any of the curry turnovers of bbq pork puffs, so I can't give an account of how good they really are. But I will note that they looked better than the ones across the street at Clement Bakery.

My uncle who lives in an area with no good dim sum or Chinese bakeries has requested some Chinese curry beef turnovers, bbq pork puffs, and chicken pies (the puff pastry turnover kind). Where's a good takeout bakery place to get them, preferably on Clement or Irving or somewhere in Richmond/Sunset districts with easy parking? They don't have to be the best ever (he'll probably appreciate anything since he hasn't had them in so long), but nonetheless where can I find some solid renditions?

They're definitely a recent thing. I've never tried them, but from what I understand, it has a mochi-like skin and the fillings aren't the traditional fillings - I've seen mango, durian, strawberry, etc.

Just got back from Marina Foods in Fremont - they had mooncakes from the big HK and Macau bakeries available - Maxim, Garden, Choi Heong Yuen, Wing Wah, St. Honore... I'm probably forgetting some. Also their snow-skin mooncakes were from Maxim.

The only frozen mooncakes I've seen at 99 Ranch are the snowy mooncakes or snow-skin mooncakes; I haven't seen the traditional mooncakes in the frozen section at 99 Ranch.

Not RWC proper, but how about The Refuge in San Carlos? The few times I've been there, I've seen lots of kids in high chairs.

What kind of custard buns are you looking for? The pineapple custard buns? Steamed custard buns? Plain old baked buns with custard? Chinese cocktail buns?

They're not huge... maybe golf ball sized?

If you're looking for the fried sesame balls (jin dui) with red bean paste inside, Dragon BBQ Express in Fremont makes great ones - especially when they're fresh out of the fryer. I believe they're 5/$1.

I'm actually quite surprised that you mentioned BK Bistro - I've been there a few times for dim sum, and have always thought it was sub-par. When you described it as "pricey Chowhound favorite", perhaps you meant instead Yums Bistro?

I do, however, love Dragon BBQ Express for their cheap and humble steam-tray items (love their salt and pepper fish and salt and pepper chicken) and their roast duck has wonderful flavor. I no longer feel the urgent need to cross the bay and go to Cheung Hing.

I went on Day 1 just to look around, and it was a mad house. I'll return to do some actual shopping in a few weeks. I was interested in the tilapia fillets, until I saw that they were from China.

They had bing cherries on sale for $.99 at the 99 Ranch in Newark and north Fremont, and also at the newly opened Sunflower Market in Fremont.

Just for clarification (and unfortunately I don't have any recipes... but perhaps someone out there does), are you looking for the standard black milk tea from bubble tea shops? It's an entirely different animal from HK style milk tea - probably different tea leaves. Perhaps someone from Taiwan or more familiar with Taiwanese style milk teas can enlighten us. And have you tried using powdered coffee-mate creamer? I've seen lots and lots of bubble tea shops use the powdered stuff as opposed to real cream or milk.

We've really enjoyed Tyler Florence's /Start Fresh/ cookbook. The kids really enjoyed the butternut squash mac and cheese, roasted banana and blueberry puree, among other recipes. The one miss that was in there, though, was the lasagna.

Dim Sum at Koi Palace in Dublin?

We've been to the Refuge a few times, and I've always seen toddlers in high chairs there. We've never taken our two little ones to the Refuge, but that's mostly because the Refuge was our date-night getaway place. We wouldn't hesitate to bring our kids there.

I've seen the plain folded buns (peking duck style) in the refrigerated case next to the noodles at 99 Ranch.

Sure, it's probably not worth driving out of the way for (especially if you have good noodle soups in your area). But if you're in the area and have a hankering for noodle soups or other "comfort" goodies, it's a safe bet.

We went for dinner today, and we'll most likely be back. The prices were reasonable, staff was friendly, and the food was good. When we arrived at around 5 or so, we were the only ones there, but people trickled in throughout the evening.

It's set up like a fast-food type restaurant; you order and pay at the counter, you seat yourself, and they'll call out your number to pick up your food when it's ready. There are lots of four-seater tables that you can move around for larger parties and one larger round table. Two high chairs. A couple of TV's mounted on the walls. One men's bathroom and one women's bathroom in the back. Staff speaks perfect English and are happy to answer your questions about the menu. Also noticed them speaking Cantonese to some of the customers. There's also an open kitchen so you can watch the chef prepare your food in front of you. There's also a soda fountain serving Pepsi products with unlimited refills. Both the open kitchen and the soda are rare in Chinese-ish restaurants, and the soda will definitely keep the soda-fiend in me coming back. Sometimes I want both Chinese food and unlimited soda, and it's rare to find that combination. But I digress...

The main thing on the menu is noodle soup. For $7.59, you choose the noodle and the topping. They have 5 types of noodles available - ho fun, kwai tiu (rice fettuccine), won ton noodles, yi mien ("thick ramen"), and rice vermicelli. Toppings available include ground pork, thin sliced pork, bean sprouts, pork kidney, fish balls, chicken, bbq pork, shrimp, fried fish cake, and "I want everything". I don't know how many toppings you can choose per bowl of noodle soup without an upcharge, since nobody in our party actually ordered from the "noodle bar". They also have some appetizers on the menu like potstickers, chicken wings, etc.

They had dinner specials available - from the dinner specials menu, our party ended up ordering roast duck won ton noodle soup, salt and pepper porkchops, and roast duck chow mein. We also ordered the potstickers. The dinner specials around $8-10 and include a soda - it was a pretty good deal, since the portions were very generous.

I ordered the roast duck won ton noodle soup. -Don't expect a HK style won ton noodle soup. The broth is very different - distinctively chickeny and not seafoody like a HK style broth. Yet it was still very good. (A couple hours later, I'm still a bit thirsty - unsure if it's an MSG effect or because I'm starting to catch a cold, which is what inspired my noodle soup outing in the first place.) The egg noodles were perfectly al dente, and the won tons were very very good. Not the huge golf ball sized ones, but a good size, filled with whole shrimp. Some of the best won tons I've had in the Fremont area. There were around 5 or 6 in the bowl. There were around 6 pieces of roast duck - good flavor, very moist, and a decent amount of meat. I'd definitely order it again.

The roast duck chow mein was pretty good - thick noodles with a generous portion of sliced roast duck. Husband thought the flavor was good, but remarked that it was very greasy and heavy.

Salt and pepper pork chops - very very generous portion of pork (we're talking entree sized portion here, instead of rice plate portion) and comes with a bowl of rice. I only had a couple bites, but it was pretty good. The batter wasn't too heavy, and the pork was moist and flavorful. Would definitely order again.

Potstickers - they were of the deep-fried variety, very large, filled with pork-cabbage mixture. I thought they were unremarkable; the 3 year old in the group who loves potstickers of all sorts ate them up.

The dinner special menu featured other rice plate-y items like (if memory serves me correctly) peking spareribs, lemon chicken, walnut prawns, roast duck fried rice, chicken chow mein/fried rice, etc. They also have some vegetarian options, but I forget what they are.

They have a noodle bowl challenge - though they haven't received the actual bowls yet, they said it's a 23" bowl filled with 2 lbs of meat, 2 lbs of noodles. If you eat all the meat and noodles and also drink all the soup, you get it for free. Otherwise it's $20.

The price is right, the food is good, we'll definitely be back.

+1 for Scolari's.

Thanks for the rec! I've been told that every tourist needs to go to TPK at least once to try the wings in Swiss sauce and the souffle, so I'll be glad to comply.

Hi Hounds - we're goinig on a 11-night trip to HK in a few days, at which point I'm hoping to go back and introduce the husband and kids to the childhood favorites I had when I used to visit HK as a kid. One thing on the list is steak on sizzling platter with black pepper sauce - you know, where the make a show of pouring the sauce on the sizzling platter and kids freak out about getting burned. I know that Boston's is famous for theirs, but are there any other recommendations? Relatively kid-friendly is a major plus, as we'll have a 3-year-old and a baby in tow. We're staying in Causeway Bay, but as long as the restaurant is easily accessible via MTR, we're open to going whereever.

I've seen beef tongue at some Costcos.

How about the Penzey's store in Menlo Park...?