Saturday, August 18, 2012

Summer Olympics


Hosted by J & A.

Celebrating the London Summer Olympics.

"the cold war" cocktail
amuse buche of "olympic" tea sandwiches
Welsh Rarebit appetizer
Yorkshire Pudding with Smoked Trout Salad
Moussaka
Trio of olympic puddings

Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Portland

Le Pigeon **** - delicious, interesting combinations, great service.

Biwa ****
Smoked shrimp - salty but very smokey and large
Agedashi Tofu - o.k. I'd prefer more bonito, though it was a decent rendition
Saba Shioyaki - nicely done two pieces a good deal
Ramen - broth was a bit underseasoned and not as rich as I like. Noodles were nice and springy.
Smoked Pork Shoulder - o.k. tender, probably a bit to strong for the ramen
ume soda - strong tastes, good when diluted with a bit of water
Prices were very fair.


Nong's **** - delicious chicken, just how I remembered it.

Barista ****- serving Coava espresso - good.

Coava **** - jogged here almost everyday.

Wildwood ****
Pea tendrils w Chicken confit and castelveltrano olives - pea tendrils were pretty woody but the chicken confit was good.

Potato gnocchi w morels thyme and cream - delicate gnocchi but the cream sauce was a bit underseasoned.

Seared Halibut w fennel, grapefruit -excellent sear and sauce to compliment, loved the brightness of the fennel slaw against the sauce

Almond tart w apricot and vanilla ice cream - good tart pastry but the top was a bit too tart and the ice cream not the best

Screen Door ****
I would never put up with a one hour wait in SF, but its ok when you are enjoying Portland's beautiful summer weather. The portions are humongous. Chicken and sweet potato waffle is three giant pieces of chicken and a big waffle. Not much sweet potato flavor from the waffle, the fried chicken is very crispy peppery and moist.

The fried chicken biscuit sandwich was awesome, great FC, w sausage gravy, big chunks of sausage in a peppery gravy. Cheddar cheese grits also good. 
Best fried chicken filet I've had and I still think about that deliciously peppery gravy whenever I have biscuits and gravy.

Tasty & Sons ***- breakfast - Burmese Red pork stew with a sunny side up egg over rice - o.k. the stew is delicious if a bit sweet for my tastes. A filling breakfast. I'd like to try some more dishes here, but the wait is long. I notice that many seats are left open and the tables aren't set up very quickly -- I could not tell if it was due to an understaffed FOTH or intentional pacing for the kitchen to handle all the orders.

Grilled Cheese Bus **- Jalapeno popper grilled cheese - jalapeno, cream cheese, colby cheddar w/ tortilla chips, really nicely grilled not greasy at all. I was pleasantly surprised.

Oven & Shaker - Margherita pizza crust is not crispy or blistered or seasoned, tomato sauce bland and lacking acidity, cheese unremarkable. Service good.

Tabor - schnitzelwich - good sandwich and very friendly service - though not particularly remarkable.

Stumptown on 3rd Ave - good cap

Clyde Common
Truffled popcorn - very salty but I liked it
Snap peas green beans and potato a nice French salad
Fideos in squid ink, interesting full of squid and squid ink, the noodles themselves were like mini elbow macaroni tubes. I was the only one that liked it.
Roasted halibut, good though not remarkable.
Braised pork belly with cheese grits, very nice juicy pork and good char liked the grits.
Braised farro
, I liked it but it was heavy and no one else did.

Papa Hayden  - dessert place, interesting offerings - liked the raspberry tart with whipped chocolate cream base.

Salt & Straw - tried a variety of flavors.  It's high quality, but everything sweeter than I prefer.

Saturday, June 9, 2012

Izakaya Sozai ***

Shishito peppers sauteed with garlic very nice. Tonkotsu ramen excellent soup, slightly underseasoned for me, but I'm a saltaholic. Good egg. Chicken skin yakitori very nice, strong sauce with a nice punch.

Friday, June 8, 2012

Mission Bowling Club ***

Vegan burger and regular burger as good as I remembered them. Good home fries. Fried chicken very crispy, but just o.k. nice cocktails.

Sunday, May 27, 2012

Austria!
















Hosted by Diane & Harlan

wiener schnitzel with a side of erdäpfelsalat and grüner salat
wine: 2009 FX Pichler Loibner Burgstall Federspiel Riesling

linzer torte
wine: 2009 Husch La Ribera Vineyards Mendocino Muscat Canelli


salzburger nockerl
wine: 2010 Navarro Late Harvest Anderson Valley Gewürztraminer

sachertorte
wine: 2010 Husch Late Harvest Anderson Valley Gewürztraminer

Thursday, May 24, 2012

NYC

BROOKLYN

Lucali Pizza **** nice place very cozy. Neopolitan style nice tomato sauce, more cheese than I'm used to, but still good. I'd return. Go at 5:30 to put your name in then have a few drinks at Bar Bruno.

Culture ****- nice pure yogurt flavor, added honey and almonds.


Maison Premiere ***- oyster happy hour, great place nice cocktails, would return and sit in the outdoor patio.

Buttermilk Channel ***- fried pork chop and cheddar waffle, delicious pc, waffles were ok, but pc needed seasoning.


Scratch Bread ***- great bf in a cup, Anson Mills grits w a soft cooked egg bacon and a jalapeño pesto, excellent. Also got a some Parma Bread, shortbread and a tamale to try.


Franny's ***- peas and house made ricotta, trotter and tongue terrine nice, striped shrimp w chili garlic and lemon head on and delicious, chittara w bottarga great, malfade w bass very nice use of the whey from their house made ricotta, herb zeppole well fried and seasoned very good, clam pie had some sort of cream on it, I thought it was tasty!

Ample Hills **- cool place with interesting flavors executed in a traditional American IC style. I had the chocolate pb and pretzel flavor, nice on the sweet side, but liked the salt from the pretzels.

Brooklyn Larder - sister to Franny's, boutique grocery got some mortadella and napoletana salumi for the plane as well as the pistachio cake.

Isa **- Very comfortable hip environs. Interesting food combinations such as strawberries and scallop. The food was well executed and unusual. The housemade bread and the steak tartar was particularly good. I also liked the broth with foie gras.

Sottocasa *- pizza, crust was chewy and lacking flavor, thought the salciccia sausage was good and the tomato sauce appropriately bright and tangy. The pies with more toppings were the better ones.

Dough - interesting varieties of raised doughnuts. Cafe au lait, cheesecake, hibiscus, blood orange, lemon poppy.


Coney Island - wonder wheel and free fall. Nathan's dog w chili and cheese, horribly salty. Thought Totonno's was closed, but it's there!

Olea - ok bfast good coffee. Greek yogurt w granola looked good.


MANHATTAN

Cocoron ****- soba - stamina dipping a meaty broth with pork and bonito labor a slice of pork and a chicken tsukune excellent broth. Also tried the house made tofu, very nice, and the daikon salad, refreshing, though not out of the ordinary. Tried R's pork and kimchi soup, delicious, but drowned out the taste of the buckwheat in the noodles.

Shanghai Cafe Deluxe ***- good crab and pork xlb filling, the skins a little thick, but good texture. I thought the soup and the filling of the rather large xlb were worth the visit. The tofu knots with red braised pork, was just ok, as was the hot pepper beef strips with dried tofu. Service was fast, I'd come back for the xlb.


Don Antonio ***- pistachio pest and sausage pizza. Nice whey crust puffy cornice pizza. Liked the flavors.

Annisa ***- fluke crudo loved this with nice hits of salt, razor clam ceviche great flavors pop fresh crunchy, Foie Gras soup dumplings. Little dumplings topped with Foie, very strong umami flavor, the skins thick enough to stand up to the bold flavors. Makerel w korean pepper paste, the mak was fresh and didn't have the fishy taste, the red pepper paste was a bit strong and needed to be cut a little. Frog legs with lobster was delicious, crispy light and had a wonderful sauce over grits and grilled okra - nice treatment of okra.

Minetta ***- black label burger delicious, lots of good fries, great service. Nice coconut layer cake.

Kin Shop ***- crispy pork belly and fried oyster salad excellent, liked the fried broccoli but not much Chinese sausage, duck larb good, spicy well balanced. Cilantro nam prik condiment good, Roti good. Duck breast decent but tiny portion. Jungle curry w skate and calamari very good, tender almost crab like skate, balanced spicy curry. Sesame squid soup, liked it a lot despite its saltiness, soft shell crab also excellent fried and fresh - excellent, coconut cake excellent, moist, array of sorbets: lychee, calamansi, mango all good, of ready to melt.

Totto Ramen **- arrived for lunch on a rainy weekday to find at 20 person line for this little place. The host was very nice though. I squeezed in without much of a wait and tried their patient ramen w a boiled egg and spicy bamboo shoots. The broth is chicken based and appropriately milky colored. It was nice, not as rich as pork based ramen, very clean flavor, no seafood or hints of other additives. The noodles were the thin hakata style, nothing remarkable.  The egg was well executed with a gelatinous yolk and the spicy bamboo shoots were coated in red pepper nice when added to the ramen.

Soba Nippon **- Soba salad w chicken, chix was dry I prefer the traditional soba.

Parm - dry chicken parm sandwich, rather bland and unremarkable. The cheese was fresh though. Service at the counter was unfortunate, as I listened to the person behind the counter (who appeared to be a manager) talking rather loudly to the server about his disdain for the customers. Such a shame as I loved dinner at Torissi last time I was in town.


Chikalicious - green tea shave ice, sweeter than I remember, but I finished the whole thing.


Charles' Pan Fried Chicken - use the M10 and M60. Chicken is super simple and delicious reminded me of the chix I got when traveling in the South. Candied yams pretty sweet almost dessert like. The Mac n cheese was good typical, black eyed peas ok. The thing is the chix.

Thursday, May 10, 2012

Boot & Shoe Service ***

In order of preference:

Boudin Blanc
Pasta
Toast w ricotta and fava beans
Pizza w sausage, panna and hot peppers
Dessert with a chocolate sauce Asparagus w beets

Grand Ave, Oakland

Monday, April 30, 2012

CHAMPA GARDEN ***

Champa Sampler - toasted rice, spring roll, sausage, romaine with basil and parsley. Loved this. 8th. Ave Oakland.

Sunday, April 22, 2012

D.I.Y. Southern Comfort

Hosted by HM & B. 

Fried chicken, collard greens, lemon chess pie 


Dishes inspired from the American South that include at least one "made-from-scratch" ingredient that you usually buy from the store. 

Hush Puppies & Corn Bread with homemade cornmeal 

Bacon-y Coleslaw with homemade bacon 

Skillet Fried Chicken with homemade buttermilk 

Biscuits with homemade baking powder 

Green Peas in Cream with homemade butter 

Homemade Hot Sauce 

Fried Okra 

Collard Greens with homemade lemon and duck confit 

Hard Lemonade with homegrown lemons 

Lemon Chess Pie with homemade butter 

Mint Julep Ice Cream

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

NOPA **'

Dinner w J&A, and M's first restaurant dinner.  Excellent service from hosts & servers.

Warm Marinated Olives - o.k. good sized serving.
Fish Soup - nice light.
*Manila Clams, Green Garlic Cream, Tasso Ham and Grilled Bread - good flavors, well balanced, the ham was particularly tasty.

*Fried Asparagus and Romesco  - simple but very good.  The fried coating was crispy and not greasy while the asparagus inside was perfectly cooked.

*Moroccan Vegetable Tagine, Almonds and Lemon Yogurt - my favorite of the night, which was a surprise to me.

Housemade Pappardelle, Nine Hour Bolognese, Spinach and Parmesan  - average at best.  The pasta was a bit clunky, the texture was a bit tough and the pasta itself doesn't have much flavor.  At least they didn't err on the overcooked too soft side.  Compared to the quality of the pastas at Italian specialists this dish fell flat for us.  The meat in the bolognese had the proper long cooked consistency, but the sauce needed something to punch it up, either more acid or a hint of spice.

Grilled Broccoli, Lemon, Anchovy and Breadcrumbs  - o.k.


Monday, April 16, 2012

Kokkari ***

Great dinner at Kokkari.  I hadn't been in several years and the place hasn't lost a step.  From most to least favored:

Arnisia Paidakia -  lamb chops grilled with a lemon-oregano vinaigrette. Nice char and smokiness. My favorite.
Gigantes - giant beans with tomato and feta.
Tzatziki with housemade grilled pita - the fresh pita here is delicious.
Octapodaki tou Yiorgou- grilled octopus with lemon, oregano & olive oil. 

Average:
Horiatiki - classic Greek salad.
Baklava - the baklava was fine, but the praline ice cream was just sweet and flat.
Moussaka - the spicing of the lamb had too much cinnamon or nutmeg to my tastes.

Sunday, April 15, 2012

Yummy Yummy **

Sate Beef Noodle Soup with Egg Noodles #8 (ordered spicy) - I loved the tender meat and strong sate flavor. 

I had written off YY before due to a lackluster Bun Bo Hue, but this was such a great showing, I might have to come back and give the BBH another shot.

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Yum's Bistro **

Lunch
Salt & Pepper Pork - o.k.
Mock Goose - good wine flavored sauce.

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

De Afghan Kabob House **'

Fremont

Lamb Chop is the way to go lovely charred fat and meat.  My favorite so far.

Sunday, April 8, 2012

Greek Easter Dinner

Dierwolf


Hummus, baba ghanoush, tabbouleh and bread
Greek salad
Roast leg of lamb with yukon gold potatoes
Spring vegetable saute 
Assortment of greek pastries, yogurt with honey, fresh fruit and dates

Queens Louisiana Po Boy Cafe **

Oyster Po-Boy - nice authentic bread and flavor.
Gumbo - could be spicier and less greasy, but I liked it.

Saturday, April 7, 2012

Plow **

The highlight here is the breakfast potatoes, they also serve Nueskes Bacon.
Tea Smoked Chicken Salad - pretty good.
Pricey menu, but good service.

Friday, April 6, 2012

Little Beijing *'

On Noreiga

Green Onion Pancake - thick layered and crispy.
Dan Dan Noodles - lots of peanut sauce not much meat, I prefer the one at Z&Y because it's a little less saucey and more flavorful.

All the other tables had pot stickers and fried chicken wings.  The menu also had water boiled beef, something I might try next time.  It seems like a hangout for Chinese students from SF State.

Thursday, April 5, 2012

Homemade Bacon

I'm still working on my smoking technique.

Smoked Second Batch

SLIDES OF THE WORK IN PROGRESS

Sunday, April 1, 2012

Ice Cream Bar *'

The soda fountain is the way to go.  Nice neighborhood atmosphere.

Root Beer Float - the root beer in this float is delicious, loved the anisey sassafras flavor, the marshemellow on top is a nice touch, but the marshmellow itself isn't the best I've had.  The ice cream here is on the sweet side.  It's not bad but not something I'd seek out.

Classic Wild Cherry Phosphate - refreshing with a nice tart sour cherry flavor.

Ice Cream Sundae - o.k., the composition of chocolate, nuts and whipped cream is nice, but the ice cream is a bit on the sweet side and the chocolate sauce lacks body and salt.

Coconut Lychee Sorbet - good.

Saturday, March 31, 2012

Hong Kong Lounge II **'

No wait at 10:30 and service was better than original location.

Shrimp Dumplings
Fried Tofu Skin Roll
Sticky Rice in Lotus Leaves - a very good rendition
Salted Pork Porridge - o.k.
Noodles with Clam and Crab Paste - was a bit disappointing, the ramen noodles in the dish mediocre.
Chive Dumplings - translucent gummy skin, not my favorite

Friday, March 30, 2012

Toyose **'

Kimchi Fried Rice - excellent rendition, perfect seasoning and the egg yolk dripping over it added the right amount of substance to it.

Hae Mul Pajeon - chock full of seafood and nicely fried.

Yogurt Soju - a little weak alcohol wise, but good flavor

Seafood Jige - a variety of seafood in a spicy stew, the fish meat added flavor to the soup, but the meat itself was a bit mealy.

Fried Chicken - o.k. nicely seasoned, but needs sauce or something to finish it.

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

B Side BBQ **

Beans - tasty, nice acid balance
Dark & Stormy - Ribs great, with or without sauce
Coleslaw - good
Cornbread - good
Brisket - smoky but dry, the tomato based side sauce not to my taste
Smoked Sausage - good, not special
Friendly staff

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

De Afghan Kabob House **'

Fremont


Tekka & Chapli Kabobs - tekka was excellent tender beef with nice smoke and char from the grill. Chapli is the ground beef patty mixed with spices and green onions and crisped up on the flat top.  The ratio of green onion to meat was a little too much green onion for my tastes, but I liked their general approach.  The rice is very good and the little side salad of potato in a vinaigrette was a nice foil to the rich meat.

Thursday, March 22, 2012

State Bird Provisions **'

halibut tartare & quinoa w/ bonito rosemary - nice way to start, enjoyed the nutty flavor of the quinoa, but the tartare itself didn't have any distinct flavors.

sourdough, sauerkraut, pecorino & ricotta pancake - ok, light.

CA State Bird - Fried squab, excellent crunch perfectly cooked moist tender meat.  Not gamey.

potato chips & dip - crispy, not greasy, enjoyed the creamy dip

hass avocado with scallop, squid and mussel ‘salsa’ - tortilla chips with whipped guac and a salsa of scallops, clams and squid; the seafood was tender and the sauce well balanced.

red trout with kishus, hazelnuts and garum brown butter - well seasoned crispy skin - a highlight for me.

duck liver mousse with almond biscuit - a favorite, loved the rich creamy mouse and the brioche-like biscuits.

duck neck dumplings in sourjus
- I like the acidic broth but the dumplings were unremarkable.

green garlic bread with burrata - Nice housemade burrata, but wasn't a fan of the prep with the bread because it was a bit soggy.

cast iron asparagus, lentils & sunchokes
- roasted asparagus with lentils, liked that the asparagus kept is fresh crunch and the lentils made it more substantial without the usual treatment of drenching them in fat.

kimchi pork belly with manila clams and tofu - I like the broth in this dish, the rest of it was o.k.

beef short rib ‘salad’, radishes & bone marrow - nice, tender chunks of braised rib, the salad had an appropriately zingy shallot? vinaigrette. And miner's lettuce to HM's delight.

tofu, yuba, shimeji mushroom & white miso
- a mix of tofu ingredients in a light well balanced creamy miso vinaigrette.  Perhaps because I'm used to being punched with miso flavored sauces, I was impressed with the lightless and delicacy of its use in this dish.

milk chocolate sesame crunch, clementine-cocoa jam - loved the combo of sesame with chocolate.

turkish coffee ‘ice cream’ sandwich, hazelnut streusel
- excellent.

‘world peace’ peanut muscovado milk
- ok not much essence of muscovado.

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Dumpling Kitchen **

XLB had very thin skins, though the bundles were not as neatly made as those at YS.  The filling had a decent amount of soup, but was lacking seasoning.  I was pleased with the skins even though a few of them broke when lifting them from the steamer.  I much prefer for them to err on the side of being too thin rather than too thick.

Pork Dumplings in Hot Oil - the hot oil is not spicy as I would like, but I though the dumplings skin had good flavor and texture and I loved the chinese chive filling.

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

De Afghan Kabob House **

 FREMONT

Kochaka Bolani - grilled stuffed flatbread, spicy and good.

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Sneaky's BBQ *

Wednesday Wing Night - double the wings for the price - tried the original and the spicy bbq sauce w/ the wings. Prefer the spicy.  Wings were o.k.

Beef Brisket - parts were excellent, the bark was well seasoned and had good smoke, the interior was moist but a bit too soft so somewhat overcooked for my tastes.

Monday, February 27, 2012

Delfina **'

Revisiting after almost a decade, so I went with the items I enjoyed before.  They were as good as I remembered.
Squid salad - excellent beans perfectly balanced with the acid in the sauce and good quality greens
Trippa alla Fiorentina - a little sweeter than I remembered, but delicious nonetheless.
Friendly Service and good value.

Saturday, February 25, 2012

Plow **

Eggs Benedict nice hollandaise excellent potatoes, the place is crowded and prices are high.  Friendly neighborhood restaurant styleservice, I'd be interested in trying the pancakes.

Friday, February 24, 2012

Lers Ros***

Two different lunches, one at the Tenderloin location and the other in Hayes Valley. 

Stir Fried Crispy Pork Belly- delicious.
Duck Larb - excellent.
Papaya Salad - good.
Crispy Pork Ribs -  o.k. a bit tough.
Pan fried trout - o.k.
Beef ooan dish - too spicy and meat somewhat tough.
Spinach w bean sauce - fine.
Seafood green curry - fine.

I'll definitely return to explore more of the menu..

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Una Pizza Napoletana **

I had a craving for pizza and didn't want to wait, so we headed to UPN.  Still no red pepper oil or red pepper. Margherita had a nice sauce with a good bit of bright acidity from fresh sauce.  The Illaria had good smoked mozz, this is the pizza I'd get again.  All in all is a great example of the traditional Neopolitan style - wet and thin. Though I appreciate the flavorful crust on the UPN pies, I prefer the NY Neopolitan style with the crisped and charred crust.

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

AQ*'

Beautiful setting, good service.  Food is artfully presented but it looks better than it tastes.  We had about twelve items off the menu.  The appetizer special of pastramied lamb heart was tender, though it didn't quite work in a pool of broth.  The venison tartare was nice, but the rest of the starters were forgettable -- even the crab dish was a miss for me. 

The mains were better, a duck wih some geleed beet and a crispy skin, a trout with a nice sauce, and a braised short rib served without its brasing liquid were all quite good. 

Dessert of caramel popcorn over a cake and a chocolate chiboust was fine.  For this style of food, I much prefer Plum, Commonwealth, or Commis.  I would not return but I do think it would be a good place for a business dinner or some occasion when the setting is more important than the food.

Wise Sons Deli **'

Wanted to try some pastrami, but they were sold out of almost everything.

Burger - very good bun and I loved the pastrami mixed into the burger, it added a smokiness that is even better than bacon. Also enjoyed the pickles - everything is housemade.  The potato salad and chicken soup were o.k.

Friday, February 17, 2012

Bar Tartine **'

Langos - delicious fried bread with yogurt and fennel fronds. I'd come back just for this.

Romanesco pickle - yes.

Pig ear terrine - spicy, well balanced with radish and greens and acid.

Brussel Sprouts - nice good, very interesting, not just the usual fried brussels, fragrant and had a bit of sweetness.

Fried Oysters - good fry, juicy.

Nikolakis - cheese dumplings - disappointing, a bit gummy and the creamy sauce had a sweetness that I didn't like.

Fisherman's stew - spicy savory very nice if a bit overseasoned.

Chocolate Torte - chocolate with a merenge and a tart creamy topping. O.k.

Chicken Paprikas - not very strong paprika flavor - tender chicken - but flavors were somewhat muted. It was not at all like chicken I had in Budapest,a bit more refined. I wouldn't get this again.

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Izakaya Yuzuki **'

Tasted about 80% of the menu.  Favorites were the crab sunumono and the kaki age (fried shrimp).  Other dishes also good, like the chicken wing skewer and the fresh tofu.

Sunday, February 5, 2012

Momofuku Bo Ssam

Bo Ssam Skin
Copyright 2012 PDemoreuille


More Photos

Menu

Korean Seaweed Soup

Momofuku's Bo Ssam - the skin is basically pig candy - I could not stop eating it and thought about it for a few days afterward.

Mochi-covered fresh strawberries - all handmade from scratch, soft delicate mochi skin covering red bean and a fresh strawberry.  So light I ate two.  Great presentation and it tasted as good as it looked.


Mochi Covered Strawberry
Copyright 2012 PDemoreuille

Saturday, February 4, 2012

Nojo **'

Hiza - chicken knuckle, salt, lemon great texture and flavor - I'd come back for this.

Skin, matcha salt lemon - great flavors.

Pork skewer -  what you expect, juicy.

Monkey face eel agedashi - nicely fried, if a bit chewy eel, in a wonderful broth, well balanced.

Well executed food with a lot of finesse in the flavor compositions.

Friday, February 3, 2012

Ragazza **

Amatriciana Pizza - good flavors, very acidic tomato sauce pairs perfectly with the rich pancetta, cheese and egg. Nicely blistered cornice and very thin in the middle. Good pizza

Ricotta w pork sugo - decent cavatelli and pork sugo

Arugula Salad - ok

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Old Mandarin Islamic ***'

In order of preference:

Water Boiled Beef
Water Boiled Fish
Sour Sliced Fish in Warm Pot
West Lake Lamb Dumpling
Three Flavor Dumpling
Extremely Hot Peppers
Parsley Tofu
Hot Braised Beef Tendon
Mandarin Lamb


Skip:
Mongolian Tofu
Stirred Potato w Chili
Beef Pancake
Green Onion Pancake

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Starbelly **'

The food has improved, I've had lunch here many times over the last year. Comfortable place, good service, and their bacon is excellent.

Chicken Liver Pate Plate
Pizza Margherita

Porchetta Sandwich
Burger
Spaghetti w/ Bacon
- can be hit or miss depending on whether the pasta is overcooked.

Sunday, January 15, 2012

Z&Y Restaurant **

Mushroom dish - written in Chinese on the table top menu, served in a metal pan on a table top flame. Full of umami flavor. Excellent.

Couples Delight - beef, tripe and tendon super spicy - very good cold starter

Dan Dan Noodles - pretty good, suprisingly strong peanut flavor despite not looking that way.

Fish in Pepper Oil - water boiled fish - o.k., probably try the chicken with peppers next time.

Mapo Tofu - the dim sum size is still quite large. o.k.

Hot and Sour Soup - not bad, more salty than I prefer.

Sunday, January 8, 2012