Pasta? / King of Thai

Davis, CA

Three friends and I headed up to Davis today for Picnic Day at UC Davis. Picnic Day at UCD is billed as the largest student-run event in the US and yeah, it's huge with a gazillion things going on. It's an open house event for the community, students, prospective students, and alums. As an undergrad, I went out early and stayed late watching the Battle of the Bands. I will always regret not taking the opportunity to trip the Stanford tree and send it rolling down the hill near Spafford Lake. Le sigh.

Favorite Picnic Day Activities:
1) Chemistry Magic Show (finally got tickets this year!)
2) Parade
3) Music all over campus
4) Free plants to grow at home
5) Food science club's food samples, taste tests, and free ice cream
6) The Doxie Derby (Dachschunds racing each other...they're like me, with short lil legs)
7) Miscellaneous critter events

As much as I like supporting the student organizations, none of the food really appealed to me this year. Last year, my friend and I headed to Hibachi where we found Korean choices along side the usual teriyaki bowls. A very kind Korean lady (new!) asked us how we liked our food - it was really good and she was a total sweetheart. We headed off to downtown Davis to find some grub as we left SF around 7:45am. Yikes!

As with the campus, downtown Davis has changed quite a bit since I attended there a whopping coupla years ago. ;)
1) No more Tecate Grill (formely known as Chico's)
2) No more Tapioca Express (drama with stabbing and the like...eek!)
3) Completed Chen Building by the Amtrak Station
4) Another all you can eat sushi place (Jusco) across from Fuji's on G Street.
5) Fancy clothing boutiques everywhere
6) A Korean restaurant (Manna) which I hear was not very good :(
7) 2K Thai
8) Another Vietnamese place on G St.

Even with the new abundance of Asian restaurants, we didn't want to eat Asian food so good and cheap back home. One of my college faves, Fuji's (yeah, Asian), was booked solid. Damn kids knowing the $10 all you can eat special...just wanted to relive those days of somewhat-decent sushi binging. :P Plus, I wanted to see my friend K (aka loco moco) make the owners cry with his vacuum cleaner appetite and early 20-something metabolism. :)

We ended up at Pasta? on the corner of 2nd and G St. Pasta Q, Pasta? Not sure which is correct. Pasta? is a mini-chain with branches in Fremont, Mountain View, and Palo Alto. I'd been wanting to try this place since friends have told me it was pretty good and modestly priced. See, with Picnic Day, you can't be sure where the crowds are. We were lucky to enter Pasta? at around noon and find it nearly empty.



W selected the portobello panini (chicken, portobello mushrooms, greens, on ciabatta, $7.50), L chose the penne norcina (penne with Italian sausage, mushrooms, peas, in cream sauce, $8.75), K decided on the penne all'arrabbiata (penne with garlic, parsley, with spicy tomato sauce, $7.95), and I ordered the spaghetti tarantina (spaghetti with mussels, calamari, garlic, in a spicy tomato sauce, $8.95).

Portobello Panini:

Penne Norcina:

Penne all'Arrabbiata:

Penne Tarantina:

Mmm...I like my pasta rather undercooked. Heck, even slightly less cooked than al dente. The Pasta Q chefs hit the spot for me. The spaghetti noodles were extra toothsome, just the way I love it. Towards the end of lunch, the noodles absorbed the mussel juices and became nicely al dente. The calamari rings were very tender - no chewiness at all. The spicy tomato sauce could have used a smidge more spice for my taste but was very good. Mine looked like a thinner version of the arrabbiata sauce on K's penne. Now, the best part were the mussels...


The pretty generous serving of 6-7 juicy mussels made this dish shine. These fat bivalves were fresh and full of briny flavor. The excess juices from the mussels mixed into the pasta and sauce and added a sea note to the entire dish. The serving was perfect for my appetite (hungry) and I sopped up the sauce with slices of bread.



_________________________________________________________________

San Francisco, CA

Braving the horrendous traffic in the MacArthur Maze, we bid K farewell as he had other engagements. W, L, and I headed over to the Richmond district for dinner. We walked into King of Thai (the original one of this local chain) and were ravenous. Being stuck in traffic made us rather cranky and hungry.

Starvin' like Marvins, W ordered the Guay Tiew Lord ($6.75), L had the Guay Tiew Talay ($5.95), and I had the golden pumpkin red curry with chicken, a house special ($6.95). W and I also had Thai iced teas and L had the Thai iced coffee ($1.75 each).

Guay Tiew Lord:


Guay Tiew Talay:


Golden pumpkin curry with chicken:


The pumpkin curry was delicious and really hit the spot. Outside of pie, I've acquired a taste for pumpkin only in the past few years. The green and orange pumpkin was tender and sweet without being mushy. I usually don't like coconut curries, but this version was not overly rich. The sauce was a tad thin for my taste but rice soaked up the curry nicely. There wasn't any heat detectable to me, so I helped myself to the red chili sauce and the thin green sauce. Yum...I needed that extra kick.

Delicious dinner with friends...what more can a girl ask for? :)

Hing Lung

San Francisco, CA

My cousin hosted a going away dinner for my aunts and uncle from New York and Vancouver on Tuesday night. A simple, not-fancy, decent grub kind of affair, not a show-off dealio. He selected his usual place - New Hing Lung on Noriega in the Sunset. I've been to this restaurant for dim sum (okay) and dinner (okay) - decent neighborhood Cantonese place with decent prices. Funny, I hadn't realized how much his family visits this restaurants until I heard the manager familiarly refer to his family as the "squab-eating family." LOL...XD. His two sons really LOVE squab.

My cousin had pre-ordered the menu so we could be eating almost as soon as we were seated. Fourteen of us were seated pretty comfortably around one very large table. We started out with a "laang poon" or cold appetizer platter. Slices of tender beef, pork "bologna" slices with that ring of fat/tendon/gelatin-stuff, and tofu skin accompanied the pickled daikon and carrots and long strands of sesame-oil coated jellyfish. The platter of squab followed as soon as the cold platter had been dropped off at our table.



Sorry for the lack of the photo clarity on the photos. The lazy susan was going round and round and I didn't want to use flash. I was only able to capture my plate of food since everyone had dug into the appetizer already. That beautiful flower was made from dyed, extra-thin slices of daikon and held together by toothpicks. The daikon and carrots were nicely sweet, tangy, and crunchy. The pork loaf was the generic store-bought stuff which was okay but had that bleh super-processed taste. The beef muscle (?) slices had nice pieces of tooth-bouncy tendon distributed throughout the meat, lending a nice textural contrast I like about this meat. The jellyfish was a bit oily for my taste and rather mild with the seasonings. I like my jellyfish strands with more heat and a bit more snap. I liked the "fu pei guern" or tofu-skin roll quite a bit. I must have gotten a plainer piece since others said the filling was overly salty.

The squabs were a fried a little too much for my taste, but still yielded tender breast meat and crunchy bones. My method:
1) Rip off drumsticks and thighs. Set aside.
2) Rips off wings. Set aside.
3) Remove breast meat into two even sections with skin intact. Set aside.
4) Pick carcass clean of meat.
5) Crunch on wings if crispy enough. If not, daintily remove remaining meat from wings with teeth.
6) Eat the smaller or less tasty looking breast.
7) Eat the remaning breast.
8) Eat the smaller or less tasty looking drumstick.
9) Savor the best morsel for last: the better looking or meatier drumstick.

I'm a dark meat gal. And a drumstick gal. ^^ I can see why my cousin's kids come here for the squab - really nice crispy skin.



Walnut prawns were the next dish to be served. The thin and sweet mayonnaise glaze gently enrobed the expertly fried shrimp. The candied walnuts were tasty, but the restaurant could have been more generous with the nuts - there were probably about 10 whole walnuts on the platter. Though the serving was not as crazy large as at Tai Wu/Hong Kong Seafood Restaurant, I thought this was an appropriately sized portion.

Following the shark's fin soup (decent rendition) was the scallops with broccoli.


Snowy scallops stir-fried with garlic, yellow chives, and carved carrots were served on a thick bed of perfectly tender-crisp broccoli. In addition to the usual carrot flowers and butterfly shapes, there were miniature lobster-shaped carrot slices! The tender scallops were covered in a slightly overstarched garlicky sauce which detracted from the dish. Sadness. I do like when restaurants don't overcook their broccoli though.


Next up was the Peking Duck. The buns were fresh and fluffy, but rather greasy. I was not fond of the preparation of the duck - the skin was not separated from the duck and the pieces of skin were cut unevenly. The duck was too dry, but the skin remained rather crispy.


The abalone, mushroom, and mustard green dish was next. I had less of a problem with this dish as my cousin had made it clear that it did include mushrooms. Though executed as well as Tai Wu, I preferred Tai Wu's version as the mustard greens were smaller and sweeter. Hing Lung's mustard greens were very sweet, but rather large and unwieldy to eat.


Now, the next dish was easily my favorite of the night (and a must-order): crispy-fried whole chicken with toasted garlic. Similar to the banquet staple of crispy-fried chicken (za zee gai) with shrimp chips, this version was covered with a handful of toasted garlic. The breast stayed unbelievably moist (salt injected?) and juicy. Each skin-shattering bite gives into sweet, succulent chicken balanced with the toasty, pungent garlic. Very very delicious...

Twin lobsters stir-fried in an onion, ginger, and garlic sauce were the next course.


Not the clearest of pictures (don't mind the ghosty hand), but the lobsters were a teensy bit overcooked. I'm always happy to eat this dish with family as I am not so embarrassed to use my hands, crack every single piece of shell with my teeth, and suck juices out of the shell. Generally, very tasty.


Whole steamed fish was course number 10. I love whole steamed fish with aromatics and light soy sauce. The flesh was sweet and tender, though I prefer it a bit less cooked for maximum tenderness.

Now usually, I think banquets tend to conclude with some sort of fried rice or noodles, but noooo, my cousin had MORE entrees in store. O_o (I was stuffed at this point.) Salt and pepper fried shrimp and sweet and sour spareribs.



I can't comment too much about these two dishes as I did not taste them. The spareribs did have that cloying sweet smell though. Yuck. We concluded the meal with a bowl of sweet tapioca and taro soup.

I have to give props to the manager as he made sure the dishes came out at a leisurely pace, unlike so many other Chinese restaurants as this is not a fine point. He also kindly provided us with a 32 oz+ styrofoam container of extra sweet soup for my grandma! That was very very kind and generous of him - we had simply asked for a styrofoam coffee cup and a lid for one serving of leftover soup. That alone gives a huge thumbs up to the care of this restaurant.

To be honest, though the food was not presented as beautifully or faux upscale as Tai Wu, I enjoyed this more basic meal much more than the Tai Wu meal a few weeks back. Less pretension, decently decorated surroundings, kind manager = more enjoyment. I thought the food was as good if not more tasty than at Tai Wu, though the latter restaurant has the edge in Walnut Prawns.

Cherry Blossom Festival - Japantown

San Francisco, CA


Braving the weather and determined to eat myself silly, I made my way down to Cherry Blossom Festival in Japantown this rainy morning. The wet weather drove me indoors into the Kintetsu Mall. I arrived around 9:45am - well before the food booths on Webster St. started up (11am) but May's Coffee Shop was feeding plenty of hungry customers at this relatively early hour. This small restaurant is stuffed inside the Kintetsu Mall, directly across from the Sanrio store. They serve what appears to be basic American food mixed with some Japanese and Hawaiian specials. The biggest draw to this shop for me would be the taiyaki, or red bean paste filled cakes shaped like a sea bream (tai). I have had both crispy and flabby cakes at this shop but I had good timing this time as a girl behind the counter was making fresh taiyaki. I promptly ordered 1 red bean filled taiyaki ($1.25) and 1 onigiri with umeboshi ($1). I hadn't had breakfast but didn't want to stuff myself before heading to support the non-profit groups at the food fair. ;)



The photo above is the aftermath of my first chomp. :) The crispy exterior yielded to a fluffy interior stuffed with a piping hot azuki bean paste. The taiyaki maker was extremely generous with the filling (woo hoo!) as each bite contained a good amount of bean paste, from "head" to "tail." May's Coffee Shop also have taiyaki with a chocolate or chocolate-banana filling as well, but I think those are $1.75. I'd definitely recommend getting a taiyaki if you see people behind the window making fresh ones because they are excellent when piping hot and pretty blah when warm or cold and soggy.

I watched the SF Taiko Dojo members practice for a while before meeting up my friend L. We wandered around Kintetsu Mall killing time before the booths opened. We stopped off at Nippon Ya, a modern-looking store filled with beautifully wrapped Japanese gifts. I really wish they had samples since sometimes the prettiest packaged food doesn't contain yummy tasting food. The prices seem reasonable for thank-you gifts ($7-20). I picked up a little yellow cartoony good luck (for wealth) fish since I thought it was just too adorable ($6.25).

L and I headed out to the food fair to find that the clouds had momentarily scattered and we had blue skies and sun! Sun!!! I made a beeline to the the takoyaki stand for some hot octopus + flour balls off the grill. After being nearly trampled by a gaggle of squawking teenagers, my evil stare scattered some lollygaggers (or so I'd like to think) and I made my way to the front. I promptly asked for an order of 6 takoyaki balls for $2.50.


These flour balls, made from octopus, flour, pickled ginger, and other stuff, don't actually taste like octopus. The first time I had these, I had expected an octopus-paste ball, similar to Chinese fish balls. Nope. Instead, these are somewhat airy and hollow batter balls in which the primary flavoring is from the okonomiyaki sauce slathered on top. The okonomiyaki sauce is a sweet sauce reminiscent to me of a thin hoisin/oyster sauce hybrid. The Worcestershire sauce in okonomiyaki sauce would explain the seafood-y aspect of the sauce. Personally, I thought think the sauce is a bit overwhelming, but since the balls don't taste like much, I guess that'd be okay. I'm really just fascinated with the texture of these balls.

We made a circuit around all of the food stands to scope out what was being offered. The usual suspects are around but I was happy to see my alma mater repped though they were serving garlic fries. Er, okay, no fries for mah belly today. We looped all the way back to the imagawayaki stand. Outside the booth, a man cajoled folks into visiting their stand. I, for one, need to convincing for these babies. :) These guys are my favorite snack at the Cherry Blossom Festival (2 for $3). I bought two, one each for me and L.

*CHOMP*

I'm not really sure of the differences between an imagawayaki and an obanyaki. Best of LA's blog has a nice description of these guys. Like the taiyaki, I love them hot out of the pan. The Konko Church of SF seems to run this booth year after year and they churn out some mighty tasty piping-hot imagawayaki. I love watching the people in the booths cook batter in 3-4" diameter pans, spoon more azuki bean filling on the top of one cake, then flip a second cake on top of the filling, crusty side up. The result: two fluffy and tender thick pancakes/waffles hugging a sweet bean filling. This was so hot, that after my first chomp, both the imagawayaki and my mouth were spouting out steam. :D Yum yum yum! The two of us also picked up some basic sushi from the very nice ladies at a stand (forgot where they are from) for $5.


Just a simple mix of inari-zushi (deep fried tofu pockets), California roll, and futomaki. I had spied the ladies making these fresh in the back and figured, what the hey. Gee, I seem to visit the same vendors again and again! We brought these goodies back to Peace Plaza to watch the announcement of the Cherry Blossom Queen and her court and the taiko drumming. I ate a piece of CA roll (pretty okay) and one of the inari-zushis and was full. Dang, all those sweet red bean paste desserts took up so much space in my tummy. :P I took the rest of these home, as well as some squid and freshly grilled salmon from Nijiya market.

I also managed to stuff a Teriburger in mah belly ($4). I couldn't resist the smell of burgers on a grill and I've always wondered why this stand was so popular. Ah, a hot, charcoal grilled beef patty with Teriyaki sauce, onions, slices of tomato, and lettuce makes this a familiar treat with a small twist. *burp* Excuse me!

Dang, that was the end of the tummy stuffing for today...too much rice! Haha...there's always next weekend. ;)

Grand Century Mall / Dakao / Kee Wah

San Jose, CA

A week later and I was back at the Grand Century Mall (Story Rd. @ McLaughlin Rd.) with my mom and 2 elderly aunts in tow. Visiting Aunt from NY was very excited when I told her I tried to purchase some orchids for her as a going-away gift but I didn't know which ones would fare well there. Our first stop was to Phương Nam Plants right next to the main entrance of the mall. Oh my, were my aunties happy! The two of them happily investigated every plant for sale with NY Auntie grinning broadly from ear to ear. She couldn't decide on which of 2 orchids she had wanted so I decided to just purchase both for her for a mere $40. I had purchased a small orchid for $12 and the kind ladies threw in a small Phalaenopsis as well. :)

After stowing our floral beauties in the car, we headed to the food court for a light brunch/lunch. I got my aunts settled at a table with a cup of sugarcane juice with kumquat ($3) from Nuoc Mia (? the juice place next to the banh xeo stand with the sugarcane press). Both aunts remarked at how clean and refreshing the juice was and why oh why are they so lucky to be tasting so many things at an advanced age. :) Mom headed to the vegetarian place anchoring one end of the food court strip next to Pho Thien Long. I headed directly to Bánh Xèo Ðinh Công Tráng for their bánh xèo ($6).

My first encounter with bánh xèo was from this exact stand about 2 years ago. My mom and I were dazzled by the array of food choices and were unsure where to start. We cruised from one end of the food court to the other unsure of what to order until we saw the line of people waiting rather impatiently to order. The brusque cashier at the time efficiently rang the bell while simultaneously calling out order numbers in Vietnamese. Hey, if this many Vietnamese people are waiting for this dish and so many people are eating it at the many tables, it can't be bad! We queued up to order and about 10 minutes later, our crispy rice flour crepe arrived with a forest of greens. (My mom salivates at the thought of the ginormous plate of greens from this stand.) This yellow tumeric-tinged rice and coconut milk crepe and stuffed with bean sprouts, mung beans, shell-on shrimp, and thin slices of tender pork, we weren't sure how to tackle the dish until we sneakily observed other patrons wrapping pieces of the crepe with either lettuce or mustard greens plus mint, Thai basil, sawtooth herb, purple shiso, or whatnot dunked in nước chấm. Oh my...what a taste delight! The sweet, fresh, savory, rich flavors entwined with the tender lettuce, crispy crepe, crunchy shrimp, and tender pork. YUM!



Greens this time included mustard leaves, lettuce leaves, rau diep ca or "fish mint", mint, and purple shiso. I like how the greens are different each time I visit this stand - they serve whatever is the freshest! My two aunts were as confused as my mom and I were the first time we saw this dish. I had told them the crepe had no egg and that the yellow color was from a component of curry powder. They misunderstood me and avoided the dish until I came back from getting a sugarcane juice for myself since they expected the dish to be spicy like curry. :) Oops! The bánh xèo was not really their thing and neither was anything containing fish sauce. No biggie...not everyone likes fish sauce. I was hoping the bánh xèo would be ever so much more crispy though in reality, it was plenty crunchy. It was as good as always but I have one quibble: they've deshelled the shrimp!!! :( I was so sad to see this as this stand really knew how to fry the shell-on shrimp so that the shrimp was perfectly cooked inside the very crispy shell. *sigh*


Mom ordered two "safer" dishes from the vegetarian stand. One was a vegetarian bánh cuõn stuffed with wood ear fungus, rehydrated shittake mushrooms, and bits of vegetarian "bologna" then topped with a vegetarian egg roll, cilantro, fried tofu, and pink half-circles of the vegetarian "bologna." The other was a soup with lai fun noodles (akin to spaghetti but made with rice flour) and various types of tofu (not shown). Shown above on the upper right is a plate of cabbage, bean sprouts, cucumbers, jalapeno, and something brown and curly (something with lotus?) that I realized belatedly that probably went with the noodle soup. :P D'oh! All of us were highly impressed with the dishes from this stand. Aunt in SF remarked that bánh cuõn looked like thinner version of Chinese cherng fun (thick rice noodle stuffed or studded with meat or shrimp). After hearing my coworker pronounce bánh cuõn in Vietnamese, I thought it sounded similar to "fun goun" in Cantonese (noodle + roll). Aha! This freshly made bánh cuõn had a very thin, strong, elastic, translucent wrapper. Both aunts loved the texture of the bánh cuõn as well as the mushroom-y flavor. Personally, I thought the rehydrated shittake mushroom yielded an overpowering aroma in the filling. The noodle soup had a light tomato flavor as well as something very savory that added depth to the broth. If it weren't vegetarian, I would think it was shrimp paste. I didn't get more than a mouthful of this dish but I thought it was a winner. I'd bet the lemon and cabbage garnish would brighten up the soup. Next time...



_____________________________________________________________________

Milpitas, CA

Dakao Sandwiches

Both aunties checked out the Great Mall for random kitchen supplies and dishes. Mom and I were ready for a snack afterwards so I guided the group to Dakao Sandwiches II in Milpitas on S. Abel near Calaveras Blvd. Mom and I had been to the first Dakao location in San Jose and thought the sandwiches were decent. Not mindblowing, but good. I ordered a combination pork as well as a meatball (xiu mai) sandwich ($1.75 each) and an iced coffee for my mom ($1.75). According to my mom, the coffee was inferior to Lee's Sandwiches version as it was not strong enough for her liking and had large ice cubes instead of crushed ice (to facilitate faster condensed milk dilution).

I took a bite out of the meatball sandwich and thought, "Ah, this is what a Vietnamese xiu mai sandwich should taste like." The tender but solid-enough meatball looked like an Asian version (less grainy, more smooth looking) and came in a very light tomato-based sauce on a French roll. I have to give massive credit to Dakao for their sandwich fixins' - they are one of the rare places to have ALL of the veggie condiments that I look for! What I search high and low for is: thin slice of cucumber, tart and crunchy pickled carrot and daikon, thin slivers of onion, light fresh mayo, sprigs of cilantro (though I pick them out), and thin slices of spicy jalapeno. I'd have to give Dakao's xiu mai bánh mì the edge over Huong Lan's version because Huong Lan's meatball was more like a thick meat paste. Not a bad meat paste, but not a meatball.

Dakao also has "premium" sandwiches such as roasted chicken or grilled pork for a whopping $2. :) So many sandwiches, so little time.

I was also impressed with the inexpensive rice plates and menu selections. I pointed out #17 to my mom: a huge rice plate with egg loaf/cake, grilled pork, and shredded pork ($4.75) which is my brother's favorite Vietnamese rice plate. I must head back for some of Dakao's non-sandwich items!

I'll start breaking down bánh mì with Dakao. Will review combination pork if it doesn't get eaten before I get to it. :P

Bread: (7.75/10) - The ding on the sandwich. Not the freshest, crispiest roll ever but still good. Hey, they open at 6am, I'll give em credit for that.
Meat: (9/10) - Swathed with a splash of light tomato-based sauce, good consistency, actually a meatball (sliced in half).
Condiments: (9/10) - The minor anal preference quibble: I like a thicker chop for a crisper pickled daikon/carrot.
Total: (8.58/10) - Yeah, it's a bit low but I'll have another go when the rolls are fresher.




_____________________________________________________________________

Kee Wah

Mom mentioned to NY Aunt that California was home to the only five outlets of Kee Wah, the famed HK bakery chain. Both Northern California outlets are in Milpitas, one of which, was on our way home to SF. We stopped off at the Milpitas Square location for some goodies. (Psst: Cafe Ophelia still has $1 boba milk tea and honey green tea. Not as good as Sweetheart Cafe or Fantasia, but cheap and refreshing.)

Aunt from NY happily recounted her Kee Wah in HK memories and was delighted to pick some bridal cakes home to NY. She said at least she didn't need to fly to Asia to get another taste of their baked goods. ;) I picked up one of my favorite items from Kee Wah - the preserved egg pastry ($2.50). While it is at least twice as expensive as the Chinatown versions, this version is at least twice as good. A light, not-too-greasy, thin, flaky pastry with an egg wash enrobes a whole preserved egg. Most Chinatown versions have either half of one or less and has a greasier pastry crust. The preserved/thousand-year-old duck egg (in Cantonese, pei dan) has a pleasant springiness through the yolk. Red slivers of sweet ginger nestles the egg. According to the little sign on the tray of "pei dan sou," there's bean paste in the concoction, though I don't know exactly where.

Will show a cross-section of this acquired delicacy if I get to have a taste myself. :P

Taqueria Tres Amigos

San Mateo, CA

As the designated chauffeur for my dad and my spry 82 year-old aunt, we made a pit stop for a late lunch/early dinner in San Mateo. My dad's too funny...he won't freely admit he likes something but he drops hints. Today, the hints were for burritos or Mexican food and we were near Burrito Alley in San Mateo. We decided to try a taqueria we had not tried before, but one that was relatively clean and with options for a non-spicy food eater. As this was my aunt's first time for Mexican food, we chose Taqueria Tres Amigos since I heard good things about their chicken.

The three of us entered the restaurant and noted the very large dining room filled with Latino families watching a soccer game on 2 TVs. Good sign, methinks. I grabbed a copy of the nicely printed colorful menu for easier reading while my dad and aunt found seats. Dad selected the grilled chicken breast special plate ($5.50), aunt selected the "La Parillada #1" special plate ($8.25), and I ordered 3 tacos (al pastor, carne asada, and pollo asado, $1.95 each) plus a medium agua fresca ($1.65). The agua fresca fountains are located to the left of the register with a choice of pineapple, cantaloupe, strawberry, horchata, and tamarind. I opted for the cantaloupe and think I made the right choice. Light and cantaloupey and not too sweet. (I sampled the strawberry and pineapple later and yeesh...sugar overload.)

We helped ourselves to the thick, crispy chips and the assortment of 5-6 salsas plus pickled jalapenos and carrots, radishes, and limes. My easy fave was one of the red salsas (not shown) - nice amount of heat! The pico de gallo packed a punch as well.



Our entrees arrived a few minutes later.

The chicken plate:



Wow, this was some excellent chicken boob! Pounded to ~0.5 inch thickness and marinated then grilled, the meat was succulent. Far from being the sad, dried out chicken boobs from other places. Super tasty...I would definitely order this again. Dad had enough tortillas for at least 8 or 9 tacos.

The "La Parillada #2":



After some quick Googling, I found out that parrillada is a mixed plate of sorts. This plate had 3 slices of steak, Spanish rice, refried beans, a slice of tomato, shredded iceberg lettuce, sausage or hash, 2 slices of bacon, a mini quesadilla, and 2 quarter-wedges of avocado. Good grief...this plate was ginormous!!! When this plate arrived, we thought, we should have ordered 2 special plates for the 3 of us. The bacon looked like the supermarket variety and the steak was a bit dried out and tough. My aunt really loved the refried beans since they were creamy and flavorful. She remarked, "Those beans were really really good! Smooth as mashed potatoes!" She was a bit puzzled with the quesadilla; she had thought the quesadilla looked like an egg over easy. =) I have to admit, the slight grilling of the small flour tortilla did contribute to the eggy look. She was so puzzled as to what what the floppy dough was until I explained that cheese was melted into the folded flour "pancake" (in Mandarin, bing). She did like the soft texture of the quesadilla and used some of it to scoop up the Spanish rice.

Tres tacos:


Clockwise from top: carne asada, pollo asado, al pastor. The carne asada was very juicy with a very meaty flavor. The meat came in a small dice, but large enough to have something to chew on. The thin corn tortillas were grilled and a bit on the oily side. The pollo asado, possibly the same chicken as the chicken breast plate, shone in by itself. In a taco, the chopped pieces of grilled chicken was lost in the onions, cilantro, and salsa. The al pastor was a teensy bit on the greasy side and had an okay marinade.

Breakdown:
Carne asada: 8/10 - Excellent rendition of carne asada. Juicy and flavorful, but will need additional testing to bump up the score. =)
Pollo asado: 7/10 - Disappointed by the grilled chicken. Excellent version on the plate lunch did not equate to an excellent taco.
Al pastor: 7.5/10 - Okay version with an okay marinade. Tasty, but far from the best.
Tortilla: 7.5/10 - Grilled, oily, and on the dry side. I prefer a slightly thicker, fluffier corn tortilla for tacos.

Vietnamese Eats

San Jose, CA

A group of coworkers and I decided to make a jaunt down to San Jose for Vietnamese eats. We had been trying set this mini girls' trip for ages, but due to V's wedding and H1's kid stuff, it had been nearly impossible to set up. Lo and behold, we all were free today, April 8th, to be THE day to head out. A testosterone free day. A rain-free day. Yay!

After packing up the ladies in the noodleslinger-mobile, we zipped down to San Jose in record time due to the lack of traffic on 101 on Saturday. Exiting on Tully Road east, we headed to the Lion Plaza at the corner of Tully and King. We lucked into a primo spot right in front of the C & D (er, something like that) snack shop. After perusing the fresh fruit and the orchids available, our bellies sounded a hunger call so we headed into the food court. Tucked into the northeast corner of the complex, next door to Anh Hong, the food court contains 6 or 7 stall/vendors selling cháo (Vietnamese style rice porridge/congee), desserts, Huế specialties (like bánh xèo), rice plates, phở, smoothies, steamed buns, bánh cuốn, and Chinese/Vietnamese items. This noodleslinger, who apparently hasn't been eating many noodles lately, always heads straight to Tay Ho Quan for bánh cuốn (second stand on the left from the entrance). Our Vietnamese co-worker/guide, V, apparently comes here often for bánh cuốn. I'm glad they've simplified their dishes for quick ordering and displayed plastic-wrapped examples.


Shown above is combo #8 from Tay Ho Quan ($6.xx). H1, I, and V all had this same combination which included (clockwise, from left) the shrimp cracker thing, a yam fritter, a fried bread ball with shelled and unshelled mung beans, side condiments of blanched bean sprouts, cucumbers, and cilantro, chả giò (fried spring roll), a container of a spicy nước chấm, about 8 bánh cuốn (half with shrimp), and (not shown) deep fried shallots or onions and fancy pork slices.


Shown above is my combo #2 ($7.34 total) which substitued the fried shrimp thingy with shrimp paste on sugarcane (hiding under the fancy pork slices and fried bread). H2 had a #10 which looked an awful lot like my dish. Anyway, all of these combos are a bargain, as I cannot finish even half of the dish. Hint: ask for it to go but heated so that your leftovers are easily packable. Luckily for our group, V is Vietnamese and can convey the heating part to the ladies. When I ask for it to go, it's usually unheated.

The fried bread ball slices were breadier than usual this time. I always thought it was some sort of lentil/mung bean fritter but this time, the slices were chewier. If it weren't deep fried, I'd eat a gazillion of these suckers. I really really love bánh cuốn and didn't know how great they were until I had fresh ones. I love the savory pork, wood ear, garlic, fish sauce, and pepper filling and the tender rice-based wrapper. My friends and I all had some burst bánh cuốn but hey, all is still good if I can eat the filling. I do prefer a thinner, more delicate rice-flour roll, but these are sturdier.

Almost stuffed to the gills, we decided to check out the desserts booth (2nd on the right from the entrance). I'd been bugging V to help decipher some of the desserts, though I had a whole bunch of them figured out. I'm normally not an Asian dessert fan, but since V was there, I picked up a small container of coconutty cakes bathed in coconut cream sauce. The cake by itself is a kinda spongey, kinda chewy, not-too-sweet, possibly steamed dessert.


I admit, I liked the dessert, even though I'm not a huge coconut cream fan. Rich, but not really sweet-sweet. The toasted sesame seeds sprinked on top added a toasty, savory dimension to the dessert.



I also picked up some desserts for my family since they really like these types of chewy dessert things. Most of these have mung beans and some rice-flour or tapioca-starch based layer, akin to mochi but less chewy and more tender. I too amused by the striped layers! The second photo, the bánh dậu xanh lá dứa, are like tiny coconut covered softer, squishier mochi stuffed with a slightly sweetened mung bean (?) based filling. Rather cute and tasty! Also received grandma's thumbs-up! The singly wrapped green and yellow guy in the top photo has a nice sweetened mung bean filling surrounded by the green jelly-ish/starchy exterior that suspends slivers of coconut meat. My 98-year old grandma can loves those guys...I forget what they are called for the moment (3 for $1.20). If you squeeze them, they feel like those souvenirs found at museums that you can't quite hang onto.These are bigger than the Mai's Bakery ones available at various Asian stores in the Bay Area and fresher, IMO. I had a bad experience with moldy Mai's Bakery goods as a kid and have never touched any of their desserts again. Partial reason why I dislike many Asian desserts. =(


On our way out, I stopped off at C & K (?) for their summer rolls, or gỏi cuốn. Summer rolls, sometimes called spring rolls, are veggies, bean sprouts, rice vermicelli, and possibly meat wrapped in thin rice paper. These are the ubiquitous ones that make it onto Pan-Asian or fusion or chain restaurants. In front of the store are plant sellers and fruit sellers. I personally like this store's gỏi cuốn since they are huge and cheap ($3 for a 3 pack) and they sometimes they have the combo variety (1 shrimp, 1 egg, 1 pork shred). I was out of luck for the combo pack but I picked up the shrimp one instead. I like their shrimp gỏi cuốn since again, they are huge and contain a good ratio of rice vermicelli, thinly sliced cooked pork, 4 shrimp halves, lettuce, bean sprouts, mint, sometimes Thai basil, and sometimes lemony mint. These were packed up with a generous container of hoisin and peanut based sauce. I usually find this store's gỏi cuốn flavorful enough without dipping sauce. If I do dip, I prefer nước chấm over this peanut/hoisin stuff.

We packed into the noodleslinger-mobile again, exited the Lion Plaza, turned right, flipped a U, and zoomed over to Huong Lan Sandwiches. Both V and I really like their cheapo sandwiches made on fresh little baguettes baked with hints of rice flour for extra crunchiness. My favorite here is the #1 combination with pâté, headcheese, and ham for $1.75. All sandwiches include mayo, cilantro, onions, jalapenos, cucumber, and pickled carrot and daikon. I decided to also try the meatball sandwich since I've been curious about it ($1.75). Honestly, I'm not a fan of chicken sandwiches here, either shredded or grilled - pork is where it's at (grilled or mystery variety). And the fish cake sandwich ($2) - my friend L swears by em.

I'd saved this sandwich for my dinner. The roll held up pretty well through heat and my trunk. =P The meatball did not hold onto its shape, but I had not expected it to be like an Italian meatball. It had become a spiced pork patty/spread. I really did like the sweet and savory seasonings in the pork, but a slightly firmer meatball would have been better for texture. And woo hoo...nice spicy jalapenos! The pickles and condiments were wonderfully sweet, spicy, tender-crunchy complements to the sandwich. Would I order it again? Sure, maybe this was a fluke...an oddly addicting fluke.

I haven't eaten the combo pork sandwich yet, but it never disappoints. Okay, the slight disappointment would be from unspicy jalapenos, but that's hit or miss. Huong Lan's combo pork is my gold standard for combo pork. It replaced Little Paris, my first bánh mì experience as a child. Cam Huong in Oakland is my gold standard for roasted/grilled chicken bánh mì. I haven't tried the other Huong Lan branches except for the Milpitas branch and I can say, the original San Jose location handily beats the Milpitas branch in terms of sandwich quality and price as well as prepackaged food items such as papaya salad with beef jerky, lotus root salad, and assorted rice plates. The sandwiches at the Milpitas ones are okay, but there's something about the San Jose sandwich makers...they have some secret sauce or something.

We also made a pit stop at the Grand Century Mall on Story at McLaughlin. V and H2 picked up goodies from the dried snack store while me, I, H1, and V also picked up fresh sugarcane + kumquat juice at one of the stalls in the mall.

Good times with good food with good friends. A wonderful day...=D

[Edit 04/09/06]: Grandma got curious and took a chunk out of the combo pork sandwich. Thank goodness she didn't get a bite of the very spicy jalapeno...whew! Here's a cross section: