Thursday Farmer’s Market

Just another day at the Ferry Building's farmer's market.

Bruce enjoyed <a href="http://wwww.roliroti.com” target=”_blank”>Roli Roti's amazing porchetta sandwich for the first time, while I filled my tummy with Namu's okonomiyaki.

Today's short, considering I've talked about these two already. So, read about my first Roli Roti experience and also a few posts about Namu if you missed it.

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Most Processed Dinner

I tend to have random cravings for Kraft mac 'n cheese. Which is ironic, considering I don't like anything too cheesy. I probably like Kraft's because it's not as gooey and creamy as the real thing. It seems to have the right balance of cheese flavor, even if it's in an artificial, neon color.

Unfortunately, there was nothing in the fridge to make this dinner green and healthy. The freezer only had tofu corn dogs from Trader Joe's.

As if this dinner wasn't luxurious enough, I enjoyed my meal with a $5 bottle of wine, Gato Negro. :)

One year ago: Beef + Potatoes

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Salted Caramel Ice Cream

After dinner, Kate, Tony and I headed over to Bi-Rite to enjoy some local, organic ice cream.

I got a scoop of salted caramel ice cream. Rich, creamy, salty yet sweet ice cream. Drool.

One year ago: Sandwich Again?

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Dinner in Union Square

Kate and I went to dinner at John’s Grill in Union Square. I’ve never been here before, so I was excited to try something new; especially in Union Square, considering there aren’t that many good places to eat in the area (suggestions?).

The interior is dark, sophisticated and looked unchanged for many years (the restaurant is one of San Francisco’s oldest establishments). Many framed pictures of famous celebrities and politicians flank the dark oak walls.

I wasn’t sure what to order, until I saw the words, “featured in Gourmet magazine” above chicken Jerusalem. I figured if this was good enough for Gourmet, it would be good enough for me. The grilled chicken breast came with a pile of sautéed artichokes and mushrooms and drenched with a creamy white wine sauce. At first, my chicken was under cooked, but the waiter graciously brought me another plate without any fuss.

The chicken was tender and satisfying with the sauce. There was definitely a ton of butter in that dish. Upon first bite, I could taste the butter melting in my mouth. It tasted so good to dip bread into the sauce. You can’t be counting calories here, especially with the generous portions.

Kate ordered the jumbo prawns dijonnaise, which also had a thick, rich, buttery sauce. There were hints of wine, garlic dijon cream and mushrooms.

Overall, John’s Grill is decent. But considering how much the entrées are (chicken – $20, prawns – $23), it’s not worth its value. It was a good meal, but nothing spectacular.

Thank you Kate! :)

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Delica

I was craving for some curry, but didn't want to go all the way to Murraci's for lunch. I was feeling kind of lazy too, so I didn't want to travel far, but wanted something different than Gap's seventh floor cafeteria.

I walked around the Ferry Building and stopped at Delica, a sleek, modern, Japanese delicatessen. I've always wanted to try this place, but never did because it's pricey. I saw a little sign promoting their mushroom curry and figured I'd suck it up and try it, plus, I was craving curry and this would hopefully satisfy my cravings.

Delicious! Well, first of all, the presentation of this entire delicatessen is unbelievable. I wish I took pictures (next time!), but everything is gorgeous (when is Japanese food never beautifully presented?). Every single piece of vegetable, meat and fish was perfectly cut and artfully placed.

My round plastic bowl was filled with white rice, with mushroom curry on the side and fried chips of lotus root sprinkled on top. The curry was good, but I'd prefer Murraci's (more flavor). I liked the lotus root with the curry combination, it gave the meal a nice, crunchy texture.

I'm so glad I tried Delica and would love to go back and try more things.

One year ago: The Go-to Place: Kinder's

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Tuk Tuk Thai

Jason and I went to Tuk Tuk Thai in Berkeley for dinner. We weren't too hungry, so we ordered tod mun and guey teaw ta lay.

Tod mun (not pictured) is a deep fried fish cakes. It came with pickled cucumbers and peanut sauce. It was ok. Basil were in the fish cakes and I thought they overpowered the flavor.

To share, we had the guey teaw ta lay, combination noodle soup. The transparent noodles were delicious and the soup had a ton of ingredients – egg, vegetables, shrimp, sliced chicken and most interestingly, snow fungus. I haven't eaten this in so long. My mom always had snow fungus in her soups and I loved them. The texture is jelly-like, but soft and slightly crunchy.

The broth of the soup was strong and slightly sour (most likely from fish sauce, popular in Thai cuisine). I think I would have enjoyed this even more if it was in a clear, chicken broth. There were already a lot of ingredients in the soup and a clear broth would have highlighted the flavors.

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High School Friends

Awhile back, I went to Sideboard with a couple of high school friends to catch up. I've never been to this cute cafe in downtown Danville before, but it's interior is very cozy and warm. It's the type of cafe I'd want to go every day just to relax and enjoy a cup of coffee or small snack.

I ordered a grapefruit, beet, fennel and pomegranate salad with a lemon vinaigrette. I had requested no cheese, but they must have not heard me. I don't remember the name of the cheese, but it was some sort of pungent blue cheese that was too strong for my taste. Other than the cheese, the salad was good and fresh. I especially enjoyed the beets and pomegranate. I tend to not like grapefruit because of its tartness, but the ones in my salad were sweet, with only minor hints of tart.

I really enjoyed Sideboard, its ambiance and seeing old friends. I would definitely go back again if I'm in the neighborhood.

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Happy Friday!

Can't beat a Friday lunch at Taylor's Refresher with their chicken club – swiss cheese, bacon, lettuce, tomato and pesto mayonnaise on grilled sourdough. Oh yes, and chili cheese fries. :)

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Bringing Back Memories

A long, long time ago, my family and I would go to Sizzler on San Pablo Avenue in Albany. Known for its large salad bar, this restaurant chain was a special treat for us.

A little less than twenty years later, I went back to this same exact Sizzler for dinner.

The setup is exactly the same as I remembered – a large menu along the walls awaits you, order at the counter and seat yourself at a table. There's a large salad bar in the middle of the restaurant, but you can also order dishes cooked from the kitchen.

I ordered the dish I always got when I was younger, Malibu chicken aka chicken Cordon Bleu and the all-you-can-eat salad buffet (at the time, they were running a $9.99 entrée and free salad bar promotion). The salad bar is quite bare in options (when I was a kid, the options seemed endless), but I opted with an imitation crab salad and some greens.

When my entrée came, it was exactly as I remembered – a thin slice of chicken and ham, mayo ("special sauce") and a slice of swiss cheese melted on top. The meal tasted like it was one of those frozen entrées you get at the grocery store. Even the cheese toast, my once favorite, has diminished its quality.

Jason ordered some popcorn shrimp that came with fries and cheese toast. One color plate – yellow and fried. :X

And lastly, for dessert, the frozen yogurt machine is a must.

I didn't expect an outstanding meal at Sizzler. I was being nostalgic, but it's funny how I used to think this was good. Living in San Francisco and just generally, growing up and trying new things/cusines, have developed and expanded my taste buds. Who knew I'd be eating dragon fruit?

I don't think I'd go back to Sizzler again. I think I wanted to go to this exact location one last time to see it through "grown up eyes" and to go back to my roots.

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Spices!

The boys have been talking about Spices 3 forever…. I was dying to try this infamous restaurant that served niu rou mein, a popular Taiwanese spicy beef noodle dish.

I ordered the special noodle dish and I was pretty happy. I didn't even break a sweat, considering it's suppose to be quite hot. I think my tolerance for heat grew exponentially the past several years. I used to always order mild or not spicy dishes. The broth was rich, full of MSG, but not a surprise, so I didn't drink too much of it. The beef tendons were tender and the noodles chewy. It's definitely a lot better than my last experience.

Jason ordered another popular dish, pork chop rice that came with pickled mustard greens, bok choy and a tea egg. Not bad and quite filling for a reasonable price.

One very interesting dish we also ordered was stinky tofu. I remember as a kid, I'd walk by a certain restaurant in San Francisco Chinatown, smell the strong stench and gasp for fresh air. Stinky tofu smells like really old gym socks that's been sitting in the laundry basket for way too long and started to grow a fungus. It stinks that bad.

As soon as it was near our table, the sour smell filled the air. I've never tried it because I couldn't even get pass the smell, but I was determined to try it. The stinky tofu was actually not that bad. It's basically fried fermented tofu, but once you take a bite of it, the smell goes away (or maybe you just get used to it) and the taste is slightly sour. Tried it once and moving on to other things. haha.

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