A Day in the Life: South Bay Edition

A lot of my friends live in the south bay and have been talking up a few places. It was just a matter of time before they let me in on their recent finds....

Korean bakery - what?? I didn't know such things existed. Paris Baguette is like a Guppy's/85 Degrees but Korean-owned although you wouldn't be able to tell. They have a lot of modern/westernized Asian pastries, some more traditional Korean buns, and of course, shaved ice. There isn't any point of reference in the photo, but our "mini" size could feed like 5 people.

A green tea cream cheese pastry, and a pastry filled with sweet potato mochi (very interesting and unexpected, texture-wise)

There's also an older Chinese man who sells roasted sweet potatoes in the same Korean plaza. Brings me back to China! Too bad it's freaking hot, or else I would've gotten some.

And then there's Mama Chen! Apparently this is the place to be for Taiwanese cuisine, and you can tell how popular it is by the availability of their dishes. Even at 7pm, they had run out of cucumbers and beef noodle soup. I will just have to go back another time! Mama Chen is also sporting a new 'do, much more chic than her previous stylish perm.

A glutinous rice bun filled with meat and stuff, doused in ketchup sauce. A little too chewy for my taste, but interesting (I can see why Cynthia likes this stuff). Lo mien, refreshing cold noodles with a touch of sesame oil.

Pork chops, flavorful and tender. Taiwanese sausage is much sweeter than its Canto counterpart, and Jess had to get popcorn chicken in the foreground

Ketchup fried rice with an omelet on top. Tofu skin filled with meat and onion, then deep fried (served with ketchup sauce of course).

We capped the day with some "roti" bread from Honeyberry, this yogurt shop that also sells other random sweets. Roti bread has absolutely no relation to the flaky, fried roti of southeast Asian cuisine. It's pretty much a Chinese pineapple bun, but the draw is that it comes in different flavors (plain which is mocha-ish, butter, and green tea) and they warm it up so it's nice and toasty right out of the oven. Really nothing special, but the craze is really impressive in itself.

Thus concludes my south bay day. It was really like being in a foreign land.

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In the Sun

The weather has been amazing (ie, 60F+) which makes me want to wear pretty dresses and just listen to fluffy music all day. One can dream!

Raisin scone, soda bread, and brown bread from John Campbell's in honor of St Patty's
While their scones are much lauded across the city, I think they're rubbery. Their breads however are powerfully addicting.

"Tammy's banh bap" (aka tamale), shrimp "cupcakes" at Tarmarine, for an eventful birthday evening

Fried mac n cheese and a pork confit sandwich from 4505. So unnecessary and kind of disgusting (the mac n cheese).

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Pre-Thanksgiving

November is always insanely busy, even before Thanksgiving. This year... bachelorette in Napa, 24 hrs in LA, Mike's birthday + his family visit, lots of potlucks, Mom's birthday, my birthday!

Dinner at Redd: not as amazing as I thought it would be, but it was a solid meal

San Tung and Zuni - SF classics

Dishdash lamb marinated in yogurt... amazing and much tastier than 53rd+6th halal cart; Citizen Cake pudding pop... chocolate overpowers all other flavors

Other things...
Savory bread pudding
Zankou chicken
Soup galore: butternut, split pea w/ ham, lentils + chard
Hobees

Tanto

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Rumpus!

Empanadas from El Porteno while waiting for wild things (chicken and cheese were our favorites)

Tanto, a nontraditional izakaya (I prefer Oyaji): simmered sea urchin w/ egg, roasted rice balls w/ roe

Chili/slaw burger at Five; bad choice of platter.


PI flood relief: Brazilian coconut stew that tasted like Thai curry, chicken + waffles from Little Skillet (I don't know what spices they used, but combined with the syrup, I swear this tasted like peanut butter).


Brisket from Bakesale Betty (pre-stuffed with chips), view of the bay

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Catching Up

Here's a list of places I've gone to in the last few months but just haven't gotten around to posting about.

- Red Crane
- Beretta
- Q
- Spruce
- Fresca
- Koi palace
- Umbria
- Lobster shack
- House of Prime Rib

Brief "reviews" after the jump! (Useless yelp-style?)

Beretta: Italian in the Mission
Like SPQR, this new restaurant got a "blow job" by Michael Bauer (my old pastry chef's exact words). And just like SPQR, this Italian joint was just OK for me. I definitely enjoyed my meal there... but it was also quite forgettable. Pizzas are aiight, apps are decent, drinks are whatevs.

Q: Diner/Comfort Food in Inner Richmond
Slightly upscale diner food - add blue cheese to the burger and it's not even close to the Spotted Pig's, but it's still satisfying. Eat all the accompanying garlic fries and you'll definitely pass out. Definitely a must if you like tater tots.

Spruce: Contemporary American Fine Dining in Laurel Heights
Really upscale for the neighborhood - who would've known! Very pricey for what it was. Had the charcuterie, fries, lobster, some kind of med fish, and palmiers for dessert. Those heart-shaped cookies should NOT be on the menu. They have a side-bakery so I don't see the point in wasting a menu spot with those. We only got them because we didn't realize what they were. Doh!

Fresca: Peruvian in Lower Pac Heights (there are other locations too)
Why did I eat Peruvian right after coming back from Peru? Honestly, I didn't know until I got there. My friend invited me to join her double date (5th wheel!) and I just went in blind. I like Limon better, but honestly... it's hard for me to even think of spending $35 on a meal that would be less than $5 in Peru!

Red Crane: Japanese Asian Fusion in Cupertino
Despite its identity crisis of a location, this restaurant actually has very very good food. Although the sashimi plate (pictured to the right) looks very impressive, it isn't worth it. However, every single other dish we got was fantastic. The only drawback is the location - very Asian suburbia....

Koi palace: Dim Sum in Daly City
If you want to know where all the Chinese people eat, wake up at 9am to get here by 10am on a Saturday morning.

Umbria: Italian in SOMA
bsze wanted to bid SF adieu by going to Baron Davis's favorite restaurant. Olive Garden anyone?

Lobster shack: Seafood in North Beach
$20 sandwiches? (pictured at the top) They do leave you pretty comatose. They actually weren't very big, but they were generous with the lobster meat. I don't think I like lobster enough to justify the cost though.

House of Prime Rib: MEAT in Nob Hill
Four years ago HOPR used to be $30 total... those were they days.

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Uncle Frank's BBQ

2135 Old Middlefield Way (at N Rengstorff)
(650) 964-4476

BBQ in Mountain View

Went here for my brother-in-law's birthday dinner since he's a Texan and wanted some meat. I was really confused at first because the building is shared with a Mexican bar which is where the entrance is... but once I got to the back, I felt like I had walked into what I imagine the South to be like! (I wouldn't know though). It almost feels like you're at picnic tables, just indoors.

The food was pretty decent - cheap and large portions. We had ribs, chicken, sausage links, creamed corn, collard greens, black eyed peas, baked beans, cornbread, potato salad, and cole slaw. The corn got a lot of kick from jalapenos, and the baked beans tasted like they were cooked in pork fat (that's a good thing). The ribs were pretty decent (but like most - dry without ladling the sauce on), and I ate like five pieces of cornbread (very moist and right out of the oven). Everything else was forgettable. I felt bad for the one vegetarian there. Hopefully he ate beforehand!

The staff is friendly - they were stressed out at first and it showed (we had a party of 25 that kept asking for more and more water... it was a hot day!), but towards the end they warmed up to us and even initiated the Happy Birthday song. I was particularly enlisted to cut and serve the pie by one of the women who said I needed to eat more (even though I had already been stuffing my face).

Fun and cheap! You will get full.

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TOP 5 ramen joints if you're an old man (or not)

guest contributor: ze faja

Santa – try the stew pork and the chicken is really good too. Tofu is so-so. Long wait. Wear sneakers so you can sprint to the head of the wait line from your car and keep an eye on competing sprinters (in other cars) in case they jump the gun!

Maruichi – good set lunch which comes with California roll and gyoza. Noodle bowl comes with half an egg.

Ringer Hut – their Nagasaki Champon noodle is pretty tasty and you can order the set lunch A, which includes a small dish of fried rice. A good size and nice place with plenty of space.

Mifune – in J-Town upstairs. Offer large variety of set lunch options and you can choose ramen or udon. Kathy was not a fan of this place.

Suzu – in J-Town downstairs. Small place and normally crowded.

** I've witnessed the Santa Ramen madness and it's pretty ridiculous. If no one's lined up before it's opened, that means everyone is waiting in their cars hawking the other parked cars. Intense! I would've also added Ryowa in both Berkeley and Mountain View. -kathy

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