Ssam Bar (Momofuku)
As far as I’m concerned, NYC is pretty much my home away from home when it comes to woes of my stomach. This city always offers us so much and even after a hard hit to the locals here the past week and still in a tough spot for many.
Despite all the mounting reasons why it would be better for a postponement of a department training, we continued. To make the best I could for my time in the city, I still tried to give my business to the proprietors of the city. This evening, a group of 8 hungry, hungry hippos (yes, it’s a MEGA version of the game) made its way down to East Village for Ssam Bar.
The last time I was at this Momofuku establishment was back in March, but it left a specific memory for myself – we need more people to eat! Last time, it was only my friend KF and myself. We did our fair share of sampling David Chang’s signature dishes, plus staff favorites. This time, we had more than enough mouths to sample even more!
shanghai noodle – chanterelles, hearts of palm, trout roe
This was a cold, small dish of noodles that was dressed in what seemed like some sort of sesame sauce. The roe added the little salt and the hearts of palm seem to freshen up my bite. It was good, but not stellar.
crispy pig ear ssäm – yuzu kosho, umezuki, thai basil
Wow….the pig ear was fried super crispy and seasoned so well that I thought I was eating chips! If you weren’t told you were eating pig ears, you could easily pass this for fried jerky. Yums!
honeycrisp apple kimchi – maple labne, jowl bacon, arugula
This pretty much explains itself: kimchi-ed apples with bacon and arugula. This is served with a maple yogurt that cuts the pickled apples. The reason I ordered this dish for the table was because I remember this dish being the big surprise from my first visit. It was unexpected in how much I liked it!
steamed buns – pork belly, hoisin, cucumbers, scallions
bbq bun – crispy pork belly, coleslaw, smoked mayo
lobster sandwich – sour cream crisps, iceberg lettuce
Yes…we had a LOT of the bun appetizers (actually we ordered all of them). Everyone was floored at how good the steamed and bbq buns were. Seems like the consensus at the table was that the bbq buns were the favorite of them all. I personally had a gripe this time about the steam buns – the bread itself was too dry and just made me sad! The buns used for the bbq version were nice and soft and fluffy. Why?!?! As for the lobster roll…it’s nothing special at all. I would suggest skipping this one and go else where if the craving is lobster roll.
roasted quail – pineapple, spaghetti squash, vadouvan
I didn’t get to try the quail itself, but my colleagues seem to really like it. One even said, “I wasn’t expecting anything and it is better than I thought it would be.” I did try the spaghetti squash that was coated with what tasted like curry and it was good.
spicy pork sausage & rice cakes – chinese broccoli, sichuan peppercorn
This was the dish that I would say, should be the signature entree of the restaurant. It was just as good as the first time – spicy, tangy, savory, cripsy, chewy, meaty, crunchy. There is no way I was going to split one order with 7 other people, so I insisted on ordering 2 of them! Everyone was loving this dish as well and diving into them.
charred spanish octopus – pine nuts, celery, black olive
O.M.G…this dish was MY highlight of the evening. During my first visit, KF and I saw people ordering the octopus and it looked soooo good. That’s why this time, I was determined to get it!! Gee willikers batman! That is a darn good plate of octopus!! I mean…it was cooked perfectly that this was one of two times I’ve ever had octopus in my life when it was NOT chewy (like rubber). One thing I did have an issue with this was that it was overly salted. Other than that, give. me. MOAR!!!!
After two visits during different times of the year, I found Ssam Bar to be addicting and consistent (more or less….fix that dry bun issue!). The staff is attentive but not overly bearing and even took the time to talk to one of our colleagues because she wanted to modify an overly strong drink. Would I be back? Heck. YES.
Ssam Bar | momofuku
207 Second Avenue
New York, NY 10003
What a slacker I am…(and NOLA – Pt. Deux!)
Now that I have time again in my life, I find that I am slacking off on things! I have to exert extra effort to do things and that kind of enthusiasm quickly declines after one day. Allie of Hyperbole and a Half did a wonderful illustration that pretty much depicts this…in comic form actually!
Over the weekend, I attempted to organize my memory card’s ridiculous crap-load of pictures and realized, “Sh*t! How did I let it get this bad?? I haven’t even uploaded minuscule percentage of it for my friends!” Because some of the pictures actually have people in them! And it’s not just food! They know that it takes me forever to upload pictures for them, but because they love me (I hope), they allow for me to continue on with my ways. However, this weekend was to make up for it! For almost a year’s worth of photos, I planned on organizing, backing up, and uploading them for all to see!
…………….yea that didn’t happen. *sigh*
AND to add salt to the wound – I am falling behind on my weekly posts! *double sigh*
Well I did promise myself and you, that I would tell the rest of my New Orleans Adventure! Here goes!
NOLA – Part Deux!
Cafe Beignet
So as you can see…my first official NOLA beignets were NOT from the famous Cafe Du Monde. I was tired, and still reeling from the whole event of the previous night (see Part 1), so I was in NO mood to stand in line for a beignet. Hence, this little cafe on Bourbon Street was our savior – Cafe Beignet.
Now, I had enough sense in me to know NOT to eat only sweets (and nothing else) as a meal. That is why you see an order of jambalaya and a shrimp po-boy. They were mostly to coat CP’s and my stomachs before the main attraction…
The FRESH beignets! Oh man…even though our actual food was sitting there, I dug into one of these puppies immediately. And honestly, it was good…yet at the end of the day – they are powdered doughnuts. Don’t get me wrong! I have nothing against it! Or hate it!!! I loved every bite of it, that I came back with CP the following day for another round. However, for me…it wasn’t something that made me go: this is genius! It’s simple, done well, tastes good…there’s nothing wrong with that at all.
Commander’s Palace
That evening was done in high style and tradition. CP had made dinner plans for our last evening in NOLA. He wanted to keep it as a surprise from me (which is a hard thing to do!) and I must say, he did extraordinarily!
Warm Garlic Bread to start
Gumbo du Jour (Tasso and shrimp)
Pecan Crusted Gulf Fish
Seared Sea Scallops (my fave)
Simple scoop of vanilla ice cream for CP
Creole Bread Pudding Soufflé (and that whiskey sauce was NOT kidding around!)
Just all around amazing restaurant. Sitting in the main dining room on the first floor, you can feel the history. That place has seen it’s fair share of faces, lived through disasters, survived through wars, and still manages to show up every night with its bells and whistles on. I loved Commander’s Palace and I would come back again. Although it isn’t cheap, it’s worth every penny for the experience and great food.
So going from the blazer type restaurant, to the down to the basics simple but still delicious, the following day…
Gumbo Shop
This was our last official meal of New Orleans and we wanted something simple, but still good. The Gumbo Shop delivered us just that:
(left to right) Crawfish Étouffée, Jambalaya, & Shrimp Creole
(left to right) Red Beans & Rice, Jambalaya, & Shrimp Creole
Simple, delicious, and warmed our stomachs to a state of blissful contentment. What more do you need?
So that wraps it up for CP’s and my first trip to the Big Easy. There were extreme highs and extreme lows in this trip, and not for the reasons most people associate this town with. Our time there was short lived, but the memories of the sounds, smells, and sights are forever with us. New Orleans…you are one H*LL of a city! As they say, “Laissez les bons temps rouler!
Cafe Beignet
311 Bourbon Street
334-B Royal Street
Commander’s Palace
1403 Washington Avenue
New Orleans, LA 70130
Gumbo Shop
630 Saint Peter St, New Orleans, LA 70116″
Trip to New Orleans
I think there has been enough time since we came back from New Orleans that I can look at my pictures again. A little more than a week ago, CP and I headed off to New Orleans for the Bowl game. We had our hopes high and we were excited for not only our first visit to this infamous city, but for the game. Let’s just say…it still hurts to think about the game itself.
Instead, I’ll focus on telling you about the food we had. Shall we start?
Cajun Cabin
Our first stop was off of Bourbon Street. CP and I had been traveling practically all day and we hadn’t gotten lunch thus, we were famished. This dinner was a little later than we would have liked because we wanted to go to the “pep rally” for the Bowl game! Hence, we practically walked into the first decent looking place off the street.
CP and I both wanted Jambalaya and Red Beans n’ Rice. Hence, I suggested we both order each and split our dishes, welcoming us to this great city. Though the restaurant isn’t the well-known type and those that get hyped up, but it was delicious. Both dishes were flavorful and made you wanted to lick the plates clean. Also, the Red Beans n’ Rice at the Cajun Cabin was my favorite from the entire trip.
Nola
The next morning, we had a late start and went to one of Emeril Lagasse’s restaurants – Nola, for lunch!
The space was modern industrial and gorgeous, with an open kitchen and woodfire oven where they made their pizza appetizer. However, we weren’t here for the pizzas…
To start – warm herbed roll and bell pepper cornbread, served with room temperature butter. This was a great start!
CP and I both had the gumbo of the day as our appetizers. It was pretty chilly outside and this warmed us right up. The gumbo that day was andouille and smoked pork. I could use some right now!
Our entrees: Grilled Atlantic Salmon with black bean-sweet corn succotash, chimichurri butter sauce and tomatillo salsa (top), was CP’s choice. My entree was the Shrimp & Grits – grilled green onions, smoked cheddar grits, apple smoked bacon, crimini mushrooms and red chili-abita butter sauce.
The salmon was cooked wonderfully to the point where even I liked it! Cooked salmon is not my choice of fish most of the time (unless it is sashimi grade) since it tends to be a little “fish” for me. However, Nola’s was just perfect and we both loved it. The shrimps in my dish were huge and perfectly sauteed, keeping its juicy and tenderness.
You see that? You see it?! ‘Cuz I did!!! Pumpkin Bread Pudding!!!!
Mmmm…this bread pudding, though small, was packed with the flavors of the season! It was moist, spiced, warm, and melts in your mouth. The gingerbread-molasses ice cream that was paired with it, complemented it so well. Oh man…so good!
After our lunch, we walked along the river walk, did some shopping, and made our way to Mardi Gras World! We took the tour of their warehouse, looking at all the floats that had been used and will be used for Mardi Gras parades!
As part of the tour, they also serve you some King Cake!
Unfortunately, neither CP nor I got the baby so we were not royalty after all :(. Oh well, still had a delicious piece of cinnamon swirl pastry.
After the tour, CP and I just walked more around town sightseeing, before going back to the hotel to rest up for the game! Now…just looking through a few pictures, I feel immense sadness still, but I must continue!
The Mercedes-Benz Superdome is truly an amazing venue. The place was enormous and just trying to imagine the conditions of the place during Katrina…it was hard. Anyway because I had to give the food vendors a little nod because they didn’t just serve the standard stadium fare:
Food choices included Jambalaya with hush puppies (which were dry as rocks…sadly) and alligator sausage with some remoulade sauce. The best of the two?…Alligator Sausage by a LONG shot! However, to make it better – ditch the cold bun and mix with the rice…perfection.
After the game…CP needed some more food…as part of our “drown out the sorrows and frustration”. Therefore, we found ourselves in a quite little bar at the end of the hub of downtown – Coop’s Place.
Simple order of Red Beans n’ Rice with smoked sausage, plus a side order of fries. Worst plate of food from our trip. The beans were cold and tasteless. However, we were both so tired and dejected that I didn’t even bother voicing the fact it was cold. Saving grace – sausage was good and the fries were good too.
That is part one of New Orleans, part deux will be later this week! :).
Cajun Cabin
503 Bourbon St.
New Orleans, LA 70195
NOLA Restaurant
534 St Louis St
New Orleans, LA 70130
Coop’s Place
1109 Decatur St
New Orleans, LA 70116
Del Mar’s Gourmet Food Truck Festival
The Del Mar Fairgrounds was the host of the first ever Gourmet Food Truck Festival. It was a gorgeous day out and perfect for gorging ourselves with amazing food. Now as I seat here after some “down” time, I am going through all my pictures and reminiscing about the eat-a-thon with my friend, LA.
We arrived at the fairgrounds with a tentative game plan: hit as many trucks as we could, and share everything we get. Oh look! This sign told us where our adventure would begin…
To kick off the eating, we started at Dogzilla:
To wet our appetites, we started with the Yakisoba Dog ($6) – a spicy hot link topped with stir-fried Yakisoba noodles with cabbage, bean sprouts, and green onions, Okonomi sauce, red ginger, finished off with Ao-Nori. I was excited to try this because it was everything I love, in a bun! And not just any bun, but a sweet Hawaiian bun.
The sausage gave the meal the spicy kick I prefer my meals to have. With the lack of Sriracha and only ketchup, the sausage provided that spiciness that made my tongue happy! The yakisoba was good, slightly sweet and salty, and the sweet bun helped wrapped everything for mobility. I think this was one of the best starter for this food adventure!
Next…Great Balls on Tires:
Specializing in well…great balls! Of meat :). While waiting in line, we talked with two fellow foodies and had a great conversation with them! As LA said, I make friends where ever I go and you know what? Food always tastes better with great company! 🙂 Also, during our conversation, LA came up with a perfect phrase that even our new friends found to be quite amusing, and reflected myself perfectly – “food stalker”. There needs some definition to go with this new phrase….here’s a shot: a food stalker is one who stares at others, known and unknown, solely to drool/obsess/investigate food that is not at one’s own plate. Who will ask many questions to inquire about the food item being consumed and occasionally proceed to request for some.
Maybe that’s what a food stalker is? If anyone has a better definition, send it to me! For now, under this definition, I am a bona fide food stalker extraordinaire!
This bona fide food stalker and her accomplice went for an order of the Ballywood and Buffalo Balls (respectively and $6 per item). The Ballywood was garam masala chicken balls, topped with coconut madras curry, crispy fired onions, and served with saffron basmati rice with tomato and cilantro chutneys. The Buffalo Balls were buffalo style chicken ball, mac & cheese, blue cheese dressing, and served with celery and carrot.
The meatballs were amazingly juicy and tender – both of them! The curry was not spicy (how I like mine), but rather on the sweet side. However, it was flavor packed and I couldn’t help but lap it all up (my half) along with the somehow decently cooked basmati rice! The buffalo sauce on the other hand was not spicy, and was sweet with a bit of vinegar tang. Again, not my usual go-to flavor combo, but the meatball itself was so good, plus when I took a bite with the mac & cheese (with panko bread crumbs at top!!!), it made for a great bite! Overall – this red, black, and white truck satisfied me and LA.
Next stop – the Tornado Potato:
We went for the “Tornado” with cajun seasoning. As you can see, it’s a towering spiral of a whole potato on a stick! LA and I had this at the County Fair this year, but we both wanted a fried potato item so we went with this place! We both agreed that the potato should be sliced thinner to get that crispiness of a chip on the exterior, while remaining fluffy inside like a fry. It was still tasty and we both love our potato treat!
Having had so many savory items, plus with the sun baring down on us for sometime now, we both needed a cool off and something sweet. The answer to our prayers?
Longboard’s Ice Cream:
The recipe of this truck is simple: pick your ice cream flavor on a stick, then your chocolate coating choice (milk or dark) and finally your topping to coat the whole thing.
My choice: coconut ice cream, dipped in dark chocolate and topped with half graham cracker crumbs, and half rainbow sprinkles. I loved the idea of how this worked and I loved the freshly dipped items, but my only issue was that ice cream bar on the stick was too icy. It must be from keeping the ice cream frozen in order to dip them, so I can understand yet it did bother me a little. However, it was still quite enjoyable! Oh! And since I forgot to take an individual pic of LA’s pop, she chose: pistachio ice cream, dipped in dark chocolate, and covered with rainbow sprinkles. According to LA, the pistachio ice cream was only ok and didn’t have enough pistachio flavor to it.
After our pops, we decided to sit and rest for a bit, to let all the food mix in our stomachs and begin to really process it. That was when the food coma started creeping in! Oh man…I knew from there, it was only going to go downhill. However, after sitting, then walking, and watching a race, we dove back into the crowds (which only grew even larger at that point). I met up with a couple of friends and a colleague, watched what they ate and decided I had to make one more last haul!
Hence, LA and I made our way to Tapa Boy:
I ordered the Pork Longanisa Bowl with garlic fried rice (sinangag), an egg, and a side of papaya relish (atsara) with tomato and cucumber. Man…when they say garlic rice…boy, oh, boy…did they really mean it! The rice was packed with garlic and I loved it! Their longanisa was sweet, which surprised me a little because I was expecting something spicy (are you noticing a trend here?…because I am). The meat was super tender and yield to a plastic fork with ease, so it was still quite good. Though it didn’t blow my mind away.
To end a long day, though I didn’t have any…a friend bought herself a decked out waffle from Waffles de Liege:
This here is a liege waffle with chocolate drizzle, almonds, and topped with a giant scope of Fosselman’s English toffee nut ice cream. I only had the ice cream and it was amazing! My friend “Channy” dove into this with a huge smile on her face. Judging from her expression, I think she liked it ;).
Well my friends, that was my first ever Gourmet Food Truck Festival! I can’t wait for the next one, but until then…I am going to start having to find these food trucks around town for lunch! Bon appetit my fellow food stalkers!
For more information on the food trucks visited: DogzillaGreat Balls on Tires
Tornado Potato
Long Boards Ice Cream
Tapa Boy
Waffles de Liege
Returning to NYC
My first time in New York was a complete culture shock and I just didn’t have enough time to do everything a tourist does in the city, PLUS touring all the eateries. However, my second trip to the city was just one of two things to do: go to work and eat. Guess what I liked doing more?
I must say though, one down side for a foodie in such a huge city with so many options for meals and snacks, is the hard question: what should I eat?!
So again…I will let my pictures do all the talking :):
Momofuku: má pêche
15 west 56th street
new york, ny 10019
summer rolls – pork/ shrimp/ tofu, lettuce, daikon, peanut
broccoli with red miso and sesame
noodles with pork belly and fried pig skin
Locanda Verde
377 Greenwich Street
New York, NY 10013
Blue Crab Crostini with jalapeno and tomato
Pappardelle with lamb bolognese, ricotta and mint
Roasted Sea Scallops with sicilian cauliflower and citrus
Gelato: Chocolate, Cardamom, and Buttermilk
Soto
357 6th Ave
New York, NY 10079
Tuna Tartare
Salmon and Tuna Nigiri
Uni and Unagi Nigiri
Scallop with Shiso Leaf Roll
Rice To Riches
37 Spring Street
New York, NY 10012
Inside the rice pudding bar!
Tiramisu Rice Pudding
luent in French w. Toasted Coconut & Graham Cracker bits
Morimoto
88 10th Avenue
New York, NY 10011
Toro Tartare with osetra caviar, sour cream, wasabi, dashi-soy
kakuni (ten hour braised pork) with congee cooked with soy-scallion jus made from the braising liquids
Grom
International locations and limited locations within US
Pistachio Gelato
Wafels & Dinges Truck (and Mini too)
Various locations in Manhattan (dependent on day and time)
Leige Wafel with Nutella
Tasty Dumpling Inc
54 Mulberry St # E
New York, NY 10013
Dumplings: Pork & Chives; Pork & Cabbage
It was a whirl wind of a week of training and food! My favorites this time?…
- Locanda Verde – this restaurant really surprised me by the quality of food and the simple, yet dazzling flavors. This restaurant will be a must visit here on out whenever I find myself in the City!
- Rice to Riches – I now understand all the rave about this place…it’s freaking delicious (and I used to make rice pudding by the quarts).
- Morimoto – the toro tartare of course…the congee that came with the braised pork was soaked with pork goodness, amazing.
- Tasty Dumplings – um…duh, dumpling filling were great, but needed more to the ratio of wrapper. Also, their dumpling wrapping was too thick in my opinion.
I will be back New York! I love you and the whole city’s talent for creating some of the best morsels!
Chicago – Again and again
The past two weeks I have been on travel for training and have been getting as much as I could in every aspect: knowledge, networking, and most of all – FOOD.
Last week, I was back in the great city of Chicago and this time, I was actually in the city versus my first trip to the Second City where I was mostly there to sleep. Granted, it helped that my fellow colleagues all wanted to go out each night to get the most we could together.
However, when I first arrived in the city on Sunday night I was on my own since I had yet to know who was in town. I quickly checked in and headed straight out to take the metro to my first food destination: Blue 13.
I found this restaurant from researching online and had great ratings, along with fabulous raves from foodies like myself. When I arrived, it was quaint little restaurant with a warm overall feel to it in its minimalist interior design. As far as I could tell, there was only one server and one host who bus tables when it became busier through the night.
To begin the meal, I ordered a simple Mixed Green salad:
The salad of mixed greens, shaved carrots, and radish tossed with Dijon vinaigrette and topped with a generous amount of pecorino. A great, refreshing start to the meal. There is little for me to say about the salad other than it was a great salad. Plus, the fresh, hot bread that came out along with olive oil to dip in made a delish start to the meal.
For my entrée, as I was dining for one, I ordered the highly recommended “3 Birds” Lobster Pizza:
I know what you’re thinking already. Yes, I did know I was ordering a thin crust pizza in the city known for deep dish. However, if you come here, I am going to echo what I had found during my online research – this is a must have dish.
The crust was charred perfectly and thin so that you would have to do the fold right down the middle to make sure everything stayed on. This is a white pie with a roasted garlic puree base, caramelized onions, chunks of lobster, and manchego cheese to hold it all together with a sprinkling of herbs. This pizza has the sweetness that reminds you of a cheesy, yummy, lobster bisque. It all balances so well together that I couldn’t stop eating it. I pushed myself beyond the point of bursting because it was that delicious. However, I sadly left behind two slices that were stripped of their lobster pieces because my stomach said, “Please…no more!!”
Despite my comatose state at that moment, I still ordered a dessert because how can I call this meal completed until I did?! So of the 3 dessert choices, this was the one that perked my interest: Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Waffle.
Understand that I had no more intention of stuffing myself, but when I saw “candied bacon” I knew I had to try it. What came out was a waffle, drizzled with chocolate sauce, topped with candied bacon and hazelnut, and paired with butter pecan ice cream.
First off – the candied bacon was the best part of the dessert. You’re wondering what did it taste like right? Just imagine breakfast, where you have a side of bacon with your pancake/waffle, and the maple syrup drips over to the bacon. It was sticky, sweet, crispy, and salty. The waffle did not have chocolate chips and needed more peanut butter. Overall, I would suggest you skip this dessert, try a different one, or just order yourself another lobster pizza.
This is the type of restaurant you go to with friends to just catch up, share some good food, and enjoy the evening. The two servers were great and attentive, but when it got a little busier by the time I had finished my meal, the lack of staff was apparent. Still, friendly service and great food is the equation for a satisfied customer who will return.
Blue 13
416 W Ontario St
Chicago, IL 60654-5714
The following night, after our first day of training, a group of us went out to grab dinner at The Publican where if it oinks, it will end up cooked at this restaurant. I loved the open space design which was to resemble a barn. To add to that, their booth seating had little doors to encapsulate diners as if they were in a pig stall. The rest of the restaurant was set up with communal tables where you could be sitting next to a complete stranger on one side and your friend on the other.
We went family style and ordered various dishes off the menu to share. I’ll let the pictures do most of the talking, with a few inserts by me, so enough grazing through the pictures!
Beets with Clementine segments and yogurt – this was my favorite side that we had ordered that night. Sweet and tart, great palate cleanser.
Charcuterie plate: pork pie, trotter-foie gras terrine, head cheese, milano, morteau sausage, pickles & mustards
Turnips with rosemary
Cajun Shrimp with Grits – the grits had soaked up all the Cajun spices and shrimp juices.
Fried Smelt with mustard greens and raw onions
Country Ribs with mustard greens & grilled red onions
Sweetbread with sweet potatoes, black trumpets & green garlic-watercress pesto
Pork Belly with fresh chickpeas and stuffing – decadent and you feel so guilty for eating this fatty yet delicious piece of the pig. (*gurgling sound*)
Lamb Sausage with lentils, mint, meyer lemon & yogurt – I love lamb…I love sausage…I loved, LOVED this dish. The mint and yogurt balanced out the gamey flavor of the sausage and the casing had a great snap to the bite.
Yams
Frites
Apple & Rhubarb Crumble with crème – heaven in one’s mouth.
Waffle with pear butter & plum marmalade – highly suggest that you do not waste your time with this one. It was nothing special at all.
Dark chocolate tart with vanilla ice cream – a darker heaven in one’s mouth. Then again I am the biggest fan of dark chocolate, so if you don’t like dark chocolate (WHAT’S WRONG WITH YOU?!) then this is definitely not for you.
The Publican also has a wide beer and wine selection, as well as servers who are willing to mix you up a great cocktail if you desire it. The restaurant has a fun atmosphere especially for big groups. Just make sure you don’t have any vegetarians in the group otherwise they will most likely go hungry.
The Publican
837 W Fulton Market
Chicago, IL 60607
On our last night in the city, our dining group only grew to an even larger number than the previous night. This time around, upon my insistence on move to more ethnic flavors, we decided upon a restaurant that has several locations throughout the country, but still supposedly made great food. That night…we our taste buds did the samba at SUSHISAMBA!
Once again, we ate family style and tried a little bit of everything.
Edamame organic soybean, sea salt, lime
Tiger shrimp tempura
Salmon sashimi seviche marinated in mizuna, aji amarillo, and orange
This dish was the sunshine of my night (wait…um…yea, I’ll still stand by my description)! It was fresh, bright, sweet, spicy, turns your life around because it was just that amazing. It would even put a smile to the worst Debby Downer that you know! (Unless he/she doesn’t like fish…but even then! This dish may convert him/her!)
Yellowtail sashimi seviche marinated in ginger, garlic, and soy
Tuna sashimi seviche marinated in coconut, lime, and serrano chilies
Of the 3 seviches we ordered that night, this was the most disappointing for me. It didn’t have the vibrant flavors of the salmon nor yellowtail seviches. 😦 However, our fish adventures had just started because out came our platter of various sushi rolls:
(Going from left to right): Spicy Tuna; Bobo - brazil seared kobe beef, avocado, kaiware, shiso, red onion, chimichurri ponzu; Unagi tamago - freshwater eel, zuke tuna, cucumber, tempura flake, wasabi crema;Rainbow dragon - freshwater eel, red bell pepper, cucumber, mango, avocado
Charcoal roasted mussels garlic, white wine, Peruvian chili
Unfortunately, the mussels did not taste fresh (consistently) and so we asked for them to return it and traded for:
Spicy Popcorn Shrimp – sweet and spicy, fried tempura shrimp.
We also ordered the churrasco “supreme” (aka meatfest) with: rio grande grilled hanger steak, ribeye, pork tenderloin, chorizo and linguica. This was served with sides of white rice, black beans, collard greens, and farofa. Additionally, various dipping sauces including malagueta pepper oil and chimichurri:
Meat-palooza!
The Miso-marinated Chilean sea bass roasted organic vegetables is one of those dishes that I still think about. This is the perfect example of a perfectly cooked fish that is so smooth, so fresh, so buttery, so fracking delish that I gurgle as I giggle with giddy.
Whole crispy red snapper spicy red curry sauce, scallion, ginger, coconut rice – the rice was good! The fish staring at me…not so much.
Side of Peruvian corn – it’s like hominy; I wasn’t much of a fan.
And of course, we had to have desserts. Note the plural form of that: desserts. We really went all out for dessert and there were no regrets what-so-ever afterwards because they were all delicioso!
Coco duo: Brazilian dark and white chocolate custard, chocolate pearls, praline
Peruvian hot chocolate served with traditional churros
Rosca: housemade doughnuts, vanilla glaze, chocolate hazelnut sauce
Warm chocolate banana cake maple butter, banana chip, vanilla rum ice cream
Cassava carrot cake brown butter ice cream, cinnamon cream, rainbow carrot chip, orange reduction
Carmen Miranda: seasonal fresh fruit, pop rocks, lemon sorvete…sorry, no pictures for this one :(. I can describe to you what it was: a bowl of fresh berries that included strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, and blackberries, with a sprinkle of pink pop rocks (not enough apparently since the tasters didn’t feel the effects of it) and a scoop of lemon sorbet.
I don’t know which one I liked more, but I did know I had a taste of everything and there wasn’t one that I didn’t like! Even though it is not a local restaurant, this place has a fun atmosphere and serves stellar food with great service. SUSHISAMBA…I think you will have to be part of my favorite small, national chain! One note though: of all the food we ate, it unanimous that the “sushi” part of the restaurant was something that fell short on with the exception of the “seviche.”
SUSHISAMBA
Several locations in the US
Thank you Chicago for showing me yet another good time! 🙂
Continuation of Valentine’s Weekend
To continue and wrap up the last segment of the Valentine’s Day weekend with CP, on the morning of the end of our weekend in Vegas, I had planned for us to go to my new favorite restaurant in Vegas: MoZen Bistro.
The restaurant is tucked in the elegant Mandarin Oriental Hotel and getting there was a little bit a discovery. However, since I have been to the restaurant it was not so hard to get to the second time around :). CP on the other hand thought it was quite hilarious on: 1. how hard it was to get to the restaurant (unlike other restaurants in Vegas) and 2. the door men and women were wearing full coats and top hats. Anyways…on to the food!
It was Sunday early afternoon when we arrived at the restaurant at 11:30am, which is actually my standard lunch hour anyway, so it was perfect! I had read about their brunch menu and wasn’t sure what to expect exactly:
“Chef Rawat has prepared internationally inspired dishes that include a variety of limitless passed items as well as your selection of a main course and a full dessert and cheese buffet to finish.”
So I was wondering what I would really get…turns out: it was a buffet style for appetizers, first course(s), main course is menu ordered, and buffet style again for dessert. It was definitely unique and once I saw the layout, I was excited! I wish I had taken a picture of the layout, but I can recall it by memory.
Starting from the left and moving to the right as it wraps around restaurant: a fresh sushi station with pre-cut rolls made in small batches (2-4 rolls at a time) and cut to order sashimi. Next to that, was the salad and antipasto station with a wide selections of cold cuts, grilled vegetables, salads, and cheese. Following that was a table of fresh fruit from melons, pineapples, mix of berries. Last but not least, was a table spread of cold breakfast items such as pastries, cereals, yogurt, and such. Finally, the dessert station was actually off to another side of the restaurant that wasn’t as apparent since it was tucked away in a corner. However, you can never hide desserts from me!
With so many choices, I had to be really discerning. For my first plate…
Almond Croissant, Spicy Tuna Roll, and Seaweed Salad. I know, I know…Why did you get an almond croissant with sushi!? Ok, look…I LOVE almond croissants and I could NOT resist when I walked by. I had to get one, but rest assure…I did not mix the 2 together while chewing :).
The tuna was so fresh, nice and spicy to the way I like it and the sushi rice was perfect. The salad was a nice crisp, refreshing palate cleanser for me and I moved on to the croissant. My, my, my…so fabulous! The pastry was flaky and crunched each time I bit into it. Inside was the ever delicious almond paste to add to the decadence of this pastry.
I also got myself a plate of yellowtail and salmon sashimi. My only complaint with the fish was that I could tell it was fresh, but it was TOO cold. Sashimi should be chilled, but this was TOO cold and it made me a little sad because I really liked it and the temperature just ruined it for me. Still…I enjoyed this little plate of fish goodness.
OH! By the way, part of the brunch experience of MoZen includes random little “additions” to the meal that comes as little taster dishes. They were all different and I’ll just let the pictures do the talking!
Caprese Salad Bite
Shrimp Cocktail with Thai Chili Cocktail Sauce
Har-Gow (Shrimp Dumpling)
Ceviche
There was also steamed mussels and fresh oysters. Insane right?! And this was just additional dishes that acted like bread and butter that would be passed at other restaurants. MoZen really knows how to make their diners feel like they’re a million bucks without necessarily spending a million bucks! Love, LOVE it!
I could not leave without trying a few more items:
This was a mini cinnamon bun lollipop with edible gold leaf! In the background is a mini mason jar with plain yogurt and fresh berries. I did not particularly like either of the two taste-wise, but I do like the presentation.
Moving onto CP and my main entrees:
Not a surprise right? Especially if you know me or have been reading my rants – the Pan seared scallops with tapioca pudding, fried buttermilk chicken liver, bacon & poultry jus. I was very hesitant on the chicken liver because I have had chicken liver in this rice dish my mom used to make for us during the winter, and I did not like it. However, once again by battering and deep frying will always make everything taste 10x better! I really loved the liver surprisingly. The scallops were seasoned just right (unlike the over salted ones I had the following day at Mister A’s), but it was over cooked. If only I could take the seasoning of these scallops, with the scallops from Mister A’s, I then would have the PERFECT scallop! Still the dish was really enjoyable with the tapioca pudding, which made the dish fun to eat even more.
CP went with the following:
The Tekka Don – Marinated big eye tuna on a bed of warm Japanese rice with nori, served with miso soup. Basically, the marinated tuna was like poke-style marinade, but sashimi sliced. CP had a dried out, sore throat so this was perfect for him. He lapped up both bowls and loved every bite of it. I smiled as I watched him go at the food, reminding me of how his enthusiasm for food has grown so much in the last 3+ years we’ve known each other.
However, the one food group that I have still yet to fully bring CP over is…DESSERTS!
Coffee Creme Brulee
Strawberry Panna Cotta
Housemade Marshmellow with Berries
Chocolate Cherry Bread Pudding
I tried 4 of the multiple options which also included cheesecakes, mini cupcakes, etc. My favorite: the INTENSE coffee infused creme brulee!
All in all, this restaurant has done me well again! I’ve been here for dinner and now brunch and both times were amazing. Thank you to the cooking and waiting staff for an great afternoon and delicious food!
MoZen Bistro
3752 Las Vegas Blvd. South
Las Vegas, NV 89158
Revisit to Las Vegas
No, I did not go to Vegas again. However, during Valentines Day weekend, I was up there with CP and naturally, there was good food to be had!
During my short time with my LV colleagues, I’ve grown close with some of them and they’ve become yet another extended family of mine. So when CP and I were up there, I met up with a friend and her husband for dinner. Being that the newest hot spot to be at on the strip is the chic Cosmopolitan, JP and CG both suggested we try Jaleo. It was a Spanish Tapas restaurant and apparently very popular currently, which was quite apparent. The restaurant was PACKED. Even with reservations, we still had to wait at least 25 minutes while they went to get the table “ready”.
Once we were seated, I had time to look around and I really liked the simple, clean lines of the restaurant. Just the way I would like my restaurant to be designed. Now…on to the menu! (I’ll let the pictures do the talking…with the occasional insert by moi)
A toast to start with sparkling wine sangria! My favorite part? The fruit after it’s been soaking in all the wine! ;)…
Nicely toasted, crusty bread to hold the sweet tomato spread, drizzled with olive oil. Such a simple creation…yet so very declicious.
Our order of the manchego cheese! Yum Yum!
Chorizo wrapped with potato. When we read that…we all wondered what we would really get, but our curiosity was part of the fun! And to add to the fun, it came in a miniature fry basket. Turns out (as you can see), they are mini chorizo sausages, wrapped with a thin potato shaving that was almost like a chip. It had a nice spicy kick and we gobbled these right up!
The grilled skirt steak. Again…will have to defer to my friends and CP’s opinion on this one: 3 standing ovations! And underneath the steak were roasted peppers which I did try and the flavors from the steak were soaked up into the pepper. Let’s just say I could’ve eaten a plate of that roasted red pepper.
The garlic shrimp were by far…one of the BEST dish from that night. All 4 of us could NOT get enough of this dish. Just look at it. Beautifully butterflied shrimps that have been cooked with olive oil and garlic and it felt like…that was about it! They weren’t sauteed…more like poached or even…ceviched (is that even a term? Eh….who really cares? It was DAMN good! So good, that we had to get a second order!
Thinly sliced fluke cooked in hot oil, drizzled with a basil oil. It was my least favorite dish just because I did not enjoy the taste of fluke. However, since I had never tried it before and when JP/CG suggested it, I wanted to try. Will I get it again? No. Would they? Yes. So it really depends if you like fluke.
And our grand finale, the paella of the evening: Lobster Paella! And they weren’t joking around with their special because a whole lobster came out, sitting on top of our paella. Quite frankly…I’ve had much better paella. It was slightly disappointing because we had to wait so long for our order and when it came….it fell to meet our expectations.
I had a great evening with my friends and CP. Would I choose to come back to Jaleo? Yes! However, I would know what NOT to order during my future visits. And I must say….DAMN this place was opulence to the max! This hotel so expansive and extravagant…that I could understand how the first investors went bankrupt from this project. However, the end product was a gorgeous hotel.
Jaleo – The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas
3708 Las Vegas Blvd South
Las Vegas, NV 89109
San Diego Restaurant Week Recap
As many of you may have known, San Diego hosted it’s 7th Restaurant Week and this year, more than half of the participating restaurants extended their RW into the following week. This gave restaurants more opportunities to introduce themselves to new audiences and thus, creating a bigger fan base. Some may like RW, while others do not and I think (which I have felt myself as well) it is due to the fact that for regulars, their restaurants are suddenly overtaken by new customers who ware clamoring for the pre-fix menu. What you have to realize is this kind of exposure for restaurants is a great way to build up their client base. We must not be selfish because we all want our favorite restaurants to survive one of the toughest and cut throat industries.
I participated in 2 RW menus for restaurants I had been wanting to visit for the longest time: Nobu San Diego and Cucina Urbana.
Both restaurants are very different in nature, but both were exquisite in food and service. There is a reason why Nobu is so highly regarded and why locals cannot get enough of Cucina Urbana. Nobu is sleek, chic, and hip. Cucina Urbana is rustic, homey, and modern. Either one can do no wrong and lived up to what I had expected when I stepped foot in each.
Nobu – San Diego (Hard Rock Hotel)
The appetizer to start the night off was the Salmon Tataki Salad. Lightly seared salmon sashimi was accompanied by shaved root vegetables, with cilantro dressing. Usually I am not a big fan of seared sashimi because I think it takes away from the beauty of the fish, but in this case, I found the sear to be perfect. The center was still beautifully fresh and melted on my tongue.
For our entrees, CP and I each ordered something different and split it:
The Artic Char with with Jalapeno Cauliflower was pan-seared so the outer skin was crisped up and then roasted. The skin did get charred a little too much but it did not effect the fish itself thankfully. The char was tender and delicious. The jalapeno cauliflower was so good that I could eat a bowl of it on its own!
Nobu’s take on Fish n’ Chips made me want to eat more fish…mostly because they used Chilean sea bass. I want to talk to whoever came up with this idea of battering and deep frying sea bass! Granted, it was delicious with a slightly thicker tempura batter, but why would you deep fry a beautiful fish like sea bass?! I love sea bass…like it is my TOP fish choice and I would never, EVER think of deep frying it. It feels just wrong…but yet…it did taste oh so heavenly…I was torn! The chips were a little limpy and sad, but that honey anti-cucho sauce was so good that I just wanted to dip everything in it!
Each entree came with a Spicy Tuna roll. My only grip about this was that the menu promised me spicy yellowtail (which is my favorite fish for sushi), but instead tuna came. I love tuna and everything, but my hopes were up and then shot back down.
However, nothing shot me down as quickly as the dessert…
Nobu’s best-seller and customer favorite dessert: the Bento Box. This is a Araguani 72% chocolate fondant cake, with a sesame crisp and green tea matcha gelato. First off…I know that the Valrhona Araguani dark chocolate is one of the best to use for a deep, dark, bittersweet chocolate and my chocolate preference leans on the dark side. However, this cake was just….terrible. First off, I think the chef forgot the sugar all together. It was bland and bitter, which I could not even tell if it was from the dark chocolate or it was burnt because it actually tasted burnt to me. This made me really sad because I always look forward to desserts! Sigh…thank goodness the green tea gelato saved the night! It was smooth, light, and packed with matcha awesomeness! (By the way…do YOU see any sesame crisp?…no? neither did I..until I finished my gelato and found this semi-clear sugar-like crisp. I’m guessing that’s the sesame crisp?)
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed my meal at Nobu. The restaurant is definitely one of those “hip”, “mod”, “the cool place to be”. The music was loud, the customers were more or less inebriated, but the service was friendly and attentive. Will I be back for more? Heck Yes! (Will I be having the Bento Box again?…not in this lifetime or next!)
Cucina Urbana
Another night, another meal! CP’s chopped house salad really was chopped and tossed! It was medley of soppresata (salami), pepperoni, olive, red onion, tomato, asiago, pepperoncini, and some lettuce. Not sure if I’d really would call this a “salad” in my terms, but it was delicious bowl of chopped meats and vegetables (mostly the former). It was all tossed in a vinaigrette that was sweet but had a little bit to it too.
My first course choice was the roasted baby beet and orange salad was divine! Light, summery salad with lots of color and it was simply fun and smart. The baby beets were tender and delicious with the cashews. I think my favorite part were the scoops of ‘yo-goat’…or basically, goat’s milk yogurt. Goat cheese is my absolute favorite cheese in the whole, wide world! However, I’ve never had goat’s milk yogurt! Just imagine goat cheese…but SOFTER! HEAVEN!!!
We went with the pizza pre-fix menu so CP went to where his Italian heart will always be: a red pie with pepperoni and fennel sausage. The nice charred underskirt of the baked dough held the sweet red sauce, with house-made mozzarella and the meat. CP gave 2 thumbs up to the wood fire oven pizza and proceeded to consume the whole thing.
I HAD to try their signature pizza with guanciale (pork belly!!! Get in MY belly!!), fingerling potato, brie, bésciamela, and 2 fresh cracked eggs! O.M.G…Ok…how should I start? This was like…a ridiculously indulgent breakfast-like pizza. The pork belly melted and flavored the pizza. The saltiness of the pork melded well with the salty brie and then when you broke the yolk of the egg and let it spread through the pizza. It’s just an indescribable experience! Then to top off this amazing pie was a spicy chili sauce the waiter brought over and let me in on the fact that it is the perfect pairing. My gosh…was he right! The chili sauce elevated the pizza to 10 times higher and for once, I truly could taste the spice. Oh lordy….*drooling at the thought*
The pear crisp with mascarpone gelato was not all that impressive but still good none-the-less. In comparison though…
The chocolate budino with chocolate chantilly and salted chocolate biscuit….CHOCOLATE ORGASMIC PSYCHEDELIC EXTRAVAGANZA! “Wow” would be an understatement. Let me help put this in context….I had already had 2 full courses which did include a sizable pizza…and the fact that I could still taste and have my mind be blown away by this budino….yes, it was just that good! Budino is Italian for pudding and that’s just what it was: a dark chocolate pudding. Thick and unadulterated chocolate pudding that was intense in flavor. Perfectly balanced, just sweet enough, but still a dark chocolate pudding. The chantilly helped lightened up a bite if you were (like me) already feeling like you’re at your breaking point in your stomach. The salted chocolate cookie was good, but I found myself not wanting it because it got in my way of the budino.
I love Cucina Urbana for it’s rustic, no frills, yet still very much stylish atmosphere. They present food as it is and let’s the food’s own brilliance shine through. All the chef does is perhaps polish it up and gives its a nice pep talk before it makes its debut on your table. Wonderful experience.
I must say that this year’s RW did not fail to impress me. The number of restaurants now participating in this event has seem to grow with each passing year. This shows that restaurants now understand the power of this well sponsored and advertised event is to their advantage. I have also noticed that a lot of restaurants continue to promote the pre-fixed menus (yay!) for both the cost-conscious consumers and encourages regulars to try something new at their old haunt. A good addition to a restaurant’s recipe for a long life in a world where only the best of best can shine through the decades.
Nobu (in Hard Rock Hotel)
207 5th Avenue
San Diego, CA 92101
(619) 814-4124
Cucina Urbana
505 Laurel Street
San Diego, CA 92101
(619) 239-2222
Carb Fest in San Francisco
The best way to sum up my weekend up in San Francisco would be: “Carb overload” and “House”. I can probably guess that the first phrase shouldn’t need too much explanation, but the second one would need some background.
Before heading out to San Francisco, I naturally did my research to find myself some new places to eat because after going to San Francisco so many times, I realized that I had barely scratched the surface. I had two days there and I was promising myself that I would try at least ONE new place each day. The Saturday morning and afternoon was mine to use, as I was meeting up with CP and his dad that evening for dinner. CP already expressed his desire to go back to Delfina Pizzeria in the Mission. I was fine with that, but I always have an itch to try new places whenever I go out traveling.
Thus, I found myself wandering the city in morning after a light and quick complimentary breakfast at the hotel. (I needed my intake of fruits for the day!) Taking the BART all the way to the Embarcadero, I walked to the Ferry Building where the hustle and bustle of the Saturday Farmer’s Market was in full swing. My goodness…I had never seen such a busy Farmer’s Market and I really wished I had a fridge at that point. There was so many goodies to buy, but alas…my stomach says nay and I had nowhere to put it L. After my walk around the market, I walked up the Embarcadero and up to North Beach.
The walk was not as long as I thought it would be, but I was getting parched and growing hungrier. I had found a little hole in the wall place I read up online and was wondering if I would ever find it. Finally, my GPS on my iPhone told me I was getting close and ran straight into it!
The House
To be honest, I would have never thought to look into this restaurant had I not previously done my research. It was off to the side from the main street and was very unassuming , small, and in a neighborhood that is primarily Italian, I would never thought to go here for Asian Fusion.
The interior was small, but they efficiently use every space possible. I loved the clean interior with its simple decorations. I felt very much at home when I stepped in. When I saw how big the place was, I immediately understood why online reviewers highly recommended in getting a reservation here as it got crowded real fast for dinner.
I had just arrived possibly a minute before they opened up shop at 11:30am. The waitress had to ask the back kitchen if they were open (aka ready for customers) and once she got the ok, I was seated by the window table. Naturally as you can see from my picture, getting seated was NOT an issue. I think this place would do better lunches during the weekdays and all around great dinner services. However, I had the restaurant all to myself on this Saturday afternoon.
The waitress came with the menu and I already knew what I wanted to try: The house made wasabi noodles. You had the choice of grilled pork or salmon. I wasn’t feeling like seafood that day, so I opted for the pork, along with a nice tall glass of lychee black tea.
When the plate came out, I was so excited! It smelled so good and I was literally drooling in anticipation. Here’s a nice up close shot of the beauty:
Starting from the bottom up: a nice sizable portion of wasabi noodles was the foundation, followed by a pile of julienned cucumber that nestled the grilled pork, and to top it all off was The House’s kimchi.
The noodles were cooked al dente and had nice pull and chew to it. However, I couldn’t quite get the “wasabi” in it which may be more subtle than in your face so the dark soy sauce covered the flavor. Nevertheless, the noodles were absolutely delicious. The cucumber I believe was to cool off the effects of spiciness, but since he dish wasn’t spicy (to my standards) it gave the dish a nice refreshing crunch. Now the pork was something left to be desired. It was just grilled pork, with no marinade, and was the saddest part of the whole thing. My advice to the cooks at The House: MARINADE YOUR PORK!!!! You have such great flavors going on here and then when you get to the pork, it’s pure disappointment. Truth be told, I had to stop myself and realize that all the other components were there to make up for it. The kimchi on top was not quite the traditional kimchi, with the spices and vinegar content toned down, and in addition to the napa cabbage, there was also red cabbage which gave the dish a nice “POP” in color.
Speaking of “color”, let’s just say my meal had a little “colorful” side to it as well. During my meal, a man in a long, gray coat was walking up the sidewalk by the restaurant. He stopped briefly by the window and then turned to me, made some random hand gestures and faces. Then he reaches into his jacket to pull out a “skin” mag to show me. I just turned away and the waitress only had a little apologetic smile and shrugs her shoulders. I’m guessing that they’ve seen their share of crazies walking about in front of their restaurant.
Overall, I would definitely order this dish again but I think maybe next time I’ll try it with the salmon. The House is now on my rotation list for San Francisco!
Whenever I am up in San Francisco, I try to meet up with my cousin who lives and works up there. I turn to her whenever I am in the area and need my Chinese food fix! Funny thing is, although she lives in San Francisco, she actually rarely eats Chinese food. It’s just strange how when you’ve grown up eating Chinese food so much that when you are an adult and are able to make your own meal decisions, it becomes rarer for you to choose to eat the food you grew up with. At least that’s how it is for my cousin and I, but we will both get our cravings every now and then.
My cousin gave me 2 options on where we could go get our Chinese food fix: either to a restaurant she had taken me to before, or trying a new one. Now can anybody guess which one I chose? J
Shanghai House
My cousin had found this place also online and was concerned that there may be a long line since the restaurant was really small (do you notice a trend to places I eat?…) and that it was a Sunday, which is the typical day when Chinese families go out and have dim sum. We kept our hopes high and when we drove by the restaurant, it was not crowded at all. Score!!
We got to our seats and were presented the menu and a hot pot of tea…so far good. There were 2 other tables with families eating and everything on their tables looked delicious! My cousin and I were both so torn because we wanted EVERYTHING on the menu! Our family had trained us both to be eaters and to never turn down food. Yet, we both knew that would be impossible to order everything that we wanted. Don’t get me wrong; between the 2 of us, we can do a lot of damage at a dinner table as evidenced by our eventual spread:
Oh this glorious spread was the BEST (Asian) meal I’ve had since…a very long time? Let me guide you through our smorgasbord (starting from the far left):
Green Scallion Pancakes: these little babies were pan fried to perfection. Nice, crispy outside with the soft, chewy interior. This is the only time when I can say I really, REALLY enjoy scallions. I absolutely hate scallions as I have bad food associations from my childhood, but presented in this form, I will gobble it right up!
Xiao Long Bao: ok, hands down. I don’t care what I’ve said before on my site, but these…THESE little white, carb based, explosions of flavors were out of this world. I had to stop myself from jumping up and down and running all around when I bit into one. The skins of the bao was thin, not too doughy, but held together real nicely while it was steamed and as I cautiously picked them up with my chopsticks and spoon. Perfect vehicle in holding the magic within, while giving away with the softest bite…I want to find the person who made these and take him/her home with me. The inside was well balanced with just the right amount of pork and soup. I slurped shamelessly with each first bite and happily reached for more.
As I have grown older, I found myself loving these little buns more and more. I don’t quite know why I never really appreciated them when I was younger, but then again I was a misguided child. So many years…v_v
Soup noodles with pickled vegetables and pork: I must thank my cousin for getting me into this dish. It’s a great, light noodle dish to balance out any meals. When you have a table full of heavily flavored dishes and fried items, this soup noodle acts a great palate cleanser. The flavors are simple, clean, and by no means flavorless. The noodles were soft, but not mushy and worked perfectly with the crispy bean sprouts and pickled muster greens.
Shanghai style noodles: going from clean flavors, back to the heavy and in your face flavors. The noodles were the big, thick ones that are more suitable for stir fried dishes, which was a little too soft in my opinion. However, the massive amount of napa cabbage helped balance it out. The strips of pork were tender and were NOT bland thank goodness. The dish was really delicious, but it is definitely one of those dishes that stick to the ribs. This was a nice throwback to my childhood.
Back before I ate everything under the sun, I was a meats and potatoes gal. No, really…no joke! I would not touch any seafood, anything green (unless they were the green gummi bears or jolly ranchers), and I limited my animal proteins to only chicken and pork. Everything else, you can forget it! I would rather starve (as a form of protest) then eat anything that fell into one of those 3 categories. So back when I visited my uncles’ restaurant (one of which was this cousin’s dad), I would always order a giant plate of the Shanghai style noodles without the cabbage (or at least pick them out slowly). I literally grew up on this dish and now when I think back on it, it wasn’t uncommon to polish off one of these plates by myself along with couple small bowls of other forms of noodles.
I guess there are some things that one never grows out of no matter how much you change over the years. For me, my love of noodles will never be stamped out of me and this weekend just goes to show me that. I am definitely a more conscious eater, but I realized that if I don’t enjoy what I eat, what’s the point of eating then?!
Houses of awesome noodles:
The House
1230 Grant Ave
San Francisco, CA 94133
Shanghai House
3641 Balboa St.
San Francisco, CA 94121
Eating around…Part III: Unassuming Jewels
Know the feeling when you find something wonderful that has been under your nose the entire time? The feeling of, “Why haven’t I ever noticed this before?!” or “I can’t believe I didn’t try or come sooner!”
When you have one of these moments, you feel as though you’ve just discovered a precious treasure that you don’t ever want to let go. That’s how I feel about a few things in my life lately. Being that this is the last of the 3 part posts of my eating adventures in San Diego, I feel that the one constant theme is just that – finding a precious treasure that I do not want to let go ever and wish to share the wealth with as many people who will listen (even if it means having more crowds to battle with).
I know this is a food blog, but let me diverge temporarily to something not food related yet on the same theme. It’s been over a month since I’ve been with CP and it’s funny…he was always in front of me, yet we both didn’t know what the other was thinking or feeling or even if we were available! We worked together, talked together, walked together, stressed together, and ranted and complained to one another for 5 months. Even before THAT, we had vague memories of seeing one another around campus and during group exams on a few occasions. But it wasn’t until the summer rolled around that we finally got the time and opportunity to see where *this* would lead. Now I find myself thinking, “I found this wonderful treasure that has been in front of me all this time and…” Well words cannot describe the feelings I that are inside me but they are wonderful.
On the other hand, words can describe yet another treasure I was introduced to by my sweetie! On the morning of the Padres vs. Giants game, CP wanted to surprise me before we went and all he said was to not eat anything in the morning. I love surprises and so I was excited! We got to La Jolla, parked and walked in the back, neighborhood streets to arrive in front of a bustling little “cottage.”
It was probably before 10 am when we arrived and there was already a line waiting for the chance to sit and dine with all The Cottage had to offer its Sunday patrons. There have been numerous times that I walked by the Cottage in the past, but I never tried it. Yes, I thought about it and have heard good things about it, but I so rarely go out for breakfast. I tend to keep it simple when it comes to breakfast with either some sort of fruit, yogurt, or sometimes even a quick pastry. However, I do like having the occasional pancake or french toast to mix up the routine a bit.
Pancakes are one of those things that I just never make at home even though it’s not that hard. That is why it’s usually what I get when I do go out for breakfast. So guess what I got that morning?…
Pancakes! And since I wanted feel healthy about it, I ordered the Oatmeal Pancakes with blueberries (extra). CP and I have the same love for anything blueberry! Thus, it was no surprise he ordered the Buttermilk Pancakes with blueberries.
The only way you could tell our pancakes apart was that his were a light, golden yellow color; whereas mines were a dark brownish color. Even the plating was the same: berry sauce squiggles, a slice of strawberry and two orange quarters. Simple presentation for a simple dish but man…both pancakes were suberb! Light and fluffy and loaded with blueberries.
My oatmeal pancake tasted nutty from the use of whole wheat flour and oats. CP’s pancakes had the rich buttermilk taste that I love just as much, but my guilty conscience would not let me get away with anything other than something somewhat healthy.
The three discs of homey-goodness stayed with us well into the afternoon. CP also had a side order of bacon with his meal because he had to satisfy his craving for bacon. I got to admit, it did smell darn good as the plate sat between our mains. Although I didn’t have any, my sweetie said they were cooked just the way he likes them and it fulfilled his need for pork…mmm.
From a morning jewel, this night time jewel has been up and around for some time since 2000. I forget where I even first heard of the place, but when it came to finding a place for a special dinner, it was one that came to mind almost immediately. I didn’t want to do Italian, too cliché. I didn’t want to do American, too plain. I wanted something different and flavors that I had hope that my sweetie would like, but never tried before. So when I read up on Parallel33, I made my decision.
[Note: due to some technical difficulties, the pictures from here on will be not of good quality. I apologize for it and for not doing these dishes justice…I will have to replace my camera asap.]
First off, I actually drove by the restaurant twice and had to make two U-turns before we found it. It had been right there, in front of us, yet we both kept missing it. However, the blame is really mine since CP didn’t know where I had planned on taking him so he couldn’t help. In the end, we found the little restaurant and found parking relatively fast afterwards! Even with the little bump in the road in the beginning of our evening, finding parking in Hillcrest/Mission Hills on two consecutive nights without too much trouble, I had high hopes….and Parallel33 didn’t fail to deliver.
We arrived half an hour early for my 8pm reservation, however the host was very nice and promptly seated us in the little alcove that connects the lobby/bar to the main dining area. I would have loved to sit in the main area, but the alcove was just as nice. Our server was very tentative, energetic (in a good way) and we received excellent service throughout our entire meal.
We started off the night with an appetizer:
The Ahi Poke with Asian Pear and Mango, two kinds of seaweed, a spicy wasabi dressing, and green tobiko all on top of a fried wonton skin. We first tried the poke and it was all very clean flavors and fresh. However, this dish didn’t come alive until you eat it whole – all the components together. It was only then did we both go: WOW.
The fresh tuna melded with the crisp pear and sweet mango was given a crunchy, salty texture from the wonton skin and seaweed. I’m not sure if what I tasted was suppose to be the spicy wasabi dressing, but there was definitely a slight spice when I ate it whole but it didn’t remind me of wasabi at all. Either way, this appetizer is worth trying if you ever visit.
Our entrees arrived not too long after we polished off the appetizers. I was torn between three dishes. It was hard to choose since everything sounded so good especially when our server described the special for the night. She did a fantastic selling job, but in the end I went ahead and got something that I have been wanting for sometime:
Pan Seared Coriander Crusted Scallops, Purple Sticky Rice, Asparagus, Roasted Kabocha and Cashew Nut Spicy Kung Pao
Man oh man! Where do I start…How about the main star? This dish came with four giant scallops that had been encrusted entirely with coriander and seared perfectly. The scallops remained very tender, not chewy at all which is the problem I run into when I have scallops. Nope, these babies were soft and gave way easily when bitten into, and the flavors!
First off, the scallop themselves were sweet, but then you also have the coriander to give you the first *POW*! Mixing with the natural sweetness of the scallops, the coriander added a spicy kick with a touch of citrus! This complemented well with the “kung pao” sauce that gave the second *POW*! It was spicy to the point (for me) that it wasn’t burning off my tongue, but enough so I could feel the heat.
The purple sticky rice made me think of some sort of Korean wild rice, if there is such a thing. It was sticky like Korean rice; however it was much nuttier and even heartier. It was great with the sauce! Sadly though, I wasn’t able to finish all of it but I made sure to get all the rice at the bottom that was soaked with the sauce. CP had some of my rice and fell in love with it! He even helped me polish off a good portion of it in the end, so not much went to waste.
CP is a huge fan of fish and Halibut is his favorite so when he saw it on the menu, he was pretty much set on what he was going to have:
Pan Seared Alaskan Halibut, Israeli Cous Cous, Indian Curry spiced Tomatoes, Mustard Greens, Roasted Bell Pepper Lemongrass Sambal
I think my favorite thing about this dish was the color of the sauce and the sauce itself! It is Parallel’s modern take on the traditional Southeast Asian sambal. Using bell peppers instead of chili peppers, so it was not hot but slightly sweet. There was some tang to it that I think accompanied the halibut wonderfully! Speaking of which, the halibut was cooked perfectly too. It was flaky, tender and no trace of fishiness at all. CP loved his entree and was literally mopping his plate clean (along with mine).
I think that our entrees really reflected the owners and chef’s idea and inspiration behind the restaurant. According to its website, the restaurant is located on the 33rd parallel and its food and architecture is inspired by all the countries that sit along the same parallel. Japan, China, India, the Middle East, and Morocco are all represented in their menu as well as the decor. Just between CP’s and my entrees, we were able to get a little bit of all these countries! And quite frankly, I find this idea ingenious! Rather than just saying your cuisine is “fusion,” you are sticking with a very specific yet broad theme. There’s so much that one can work with when it comes to the food from these countries – whether in ingredients or flavors. Parallel 33 will definitely be one of my jewels of San Diego.
So with that, I leave you with this: Go out there and explore! If you are a San Diegan, native or implant or even just a visiting San Diegan, there is so much out there to be discovered! Be curious! Be daring! Be adventurous! Don’t let the unknown deter you away from seeking out new places because you never know what treasures you will find.
The Cottage 7702 Fay AveLa Jolla, CA 92037 (858) 454-8409 Parallel 33 741 W. Washington St. San Diego, CA 92103 (619) 260-0033
May-chan
Delighted Palate 