the Hungry Hippo

Chouquet's (Pacific Heights SF)

2009-08-21T00:03:00.001-07:00

Almost fantastic French fare

We came to Chouquet's for a Dine About Town dinner in late May or so. Though none of us had ever heard about this place, we were won over by how cute the name "Chouquet's" sounded. Note: To a girl, it's perfectly rational to make decisions based on the measure of adorableness of the thing or place in question.

From left to right: amuse bouche of asparagus soup, smoked trout salad, salmon carpaccio (?), grilled ahi, gnocchi with vegetables, chocolate cake

I was pleased to receive the complimentary asparagus soup at the beginning of the meal because free food is always delicious in my book (except airplane food which is only arguably free and vile in any case). The soup was fairly tasty but not particularly notable. For appetizer, I ordered the smoked trout salad, which was actually quite fantastic. There was a suprising number of ingredients in the salad. Besides smoked trout, it also featured watercress, pepitas, carrots, onion, mustard seed, among a couple of other things, and a nice hint of acidity. The overall mixture was refreshing and hearty too! My friend who had the salmon had good things to say about that too.

Our entrees took quite a bit of time to appear. I suppose it was okay because we had all felt sort of full after the appetizers. My grilled ahi tuna had a nice texture and was paired nicely with the accompanying salad. My only complaint is that that the salad was a bit too acidic and tasted too much like the smoked trout salad of my previous course.

Dessert, which is usually the happiest portion of the meal, was unexpectedly sad in this instance. Well, not entirely. Sure, my chocolate cake was pretty delicious. But 1) dessert took forever and a half to arrive and 2) my friend's creme brulee was sort of a disaster in that it had totally not set and was basically a custard soup bouying a thin film of bruleed sugar. After a valiant effort to eat the creme brulee soup, my friend asked if it could be sent back and deducted from the check. The hostess then begrudgingly offered to replace it with the chocolate cake. Not that the replacement chocolate cake wasn't tasty, but due to how long the entire meal took, we were literally the last remaining customers in the restaurant when said cake was done.

Even though the food was fairly good, the snob in me feels that the slow service and dessert debacle warrant a couple of demerits from my overall judgment of Chouquet's. My advice for future visitors: arrive early and refrain from getting the creme brulee.

Spencer on the Go (SOMA SF)

2009-08-19T20:09:00.000-07:00

An awkward marriage of fast food and high aspirations

I have a lot of things to say of Spencer on the Go and some of it is actually related to the food. Spencer on the Go is a new-ish food cart started by the chef of the restaurant Chez Spencer. Now, I've never been to Chez Spencer but the 4 stars and $$$$ on Yelps tells me that it's a delicious and classy joint of some kind. One would then think that bringing such delicious foods to the streets (literally) would be a delightful combination of tastiness, affordability, and convenience. Not so much, as it turns out.

From left to right: the "scene" at the food cart, mushroom something, frog legs, escargot puff, skate cheeks

The cart had started serving at 6pm and when I had arrived at 6:30pm, there was already a decent number of people hovering in the area. As I learned later, the crowd was not only the result of anticipation but also the looong wait in between ordering and receiving the food. We ended up waiting a good 45 minutes for our tasty, French morsels. I say "morsels" because each plate was only tapas-sized and could not have individually filled anyone up. Each dish costed around $6-12, which was also not unlike how much a plate of tapas would cost. So if cheapness and fast service are what you expect from a food cart, you will probably be disappointed here.

Nevertheless, there were still a few bright spots from my one-time experience at Spencer on the Go. First, the people who ran the operation obviously took the project very seriously. Peeking inside the cart, I could see 3 chefs in snazzy white coats manning their respective stations, as if they were in a real kitchen. Second, the food was actually very good. Had you not known that it was served from a truck inside a parking lot, you might have thought the food was taken from an actual restaurant. Finally, it was a good concept of taking gourmet cuisine out of the stuffiness of a restaurant and into a cheap eats context. But alas, Spencer on the Go will need to work on the quality of its execution to meet the caliber of the concept.

The House (North Beach SF)

2009-01-01T14:18:00.000-08:00

A seabass that is (en)dangerously delicious.

I was skeptical when I first about The House, an Asian fusion restaurant restaurant located in the Little Italy area of San Francisco. But I was appeased by its unusually high, 4.5 star rating on Yelp, our modern day, democratic voice against those f@#$%$! restaurants with even so much as less than flattering lighting.

From left to right: view of SF in North Beach, fried calamari, grilled sea bass, ribeye over garlic mashed potatoes

I threw that picture of SF in just to show you the heights that we climbed for a good meal. Impressed? Naturally. But I digress. The fried calamari appetizer was actually not very memorable. I mean, we ate all of it, sure, but it could have been crispier and coated in more savory batter. I had a bite of my friend's ribeye, and it was juicy and well-seasoned. The mashed potatoes were also tasty, as well as artfully presented. I ordered the grilled sea bass, which was (as the title has already given away) mah-velous (or "marvelous," for you, non-blue blood philistines). It was cooked just enough so that you could taste the smoky, grilled flavor on the outside of the fish, while the middle featured flesh so fatty and tender that it melted in your mouth. Mmm. Too bad the Chilean sea bass is endangered. That's why I will make a personal pledge to eat less Chilean sea bass. But only if the Chilean see bass promises to be less delicious.

Butterfly (Embarcadero SF)

2008-12-30T19:52:00.000-08:00

A fabulous Dine About Town lunch deal.

I came to Butterfly last January during Dine About Town in San Francisco. Dine About Town is a glorious time when various restaurants feature $22 prix-fixe lunch and $35 prix-fixe dinner menus. You're not really saving all that much money but let's just pretend that we are. The best part about selecting a prix-fixe menu is committing to overeating: who can deny dessert after a full meal when you're already paying for it?

From left to right: calamari appetizer, red snapper with tumeric and basil, lettuce and vermicelli noodles, chocolate lava cake and coffee ice cream

Butterfly is a Vietnamese fusion restaurant. While I'm not usually crazy about Asian "fusion" cuisine, I thoroughly enjoyed this meal. Firstly, my calamari appetizer was huge, which was already a plus in my book. Not only was the calamari overflowing from the boat shaped dishware, it was actually very tasty and extremely filling. Nevertheless, I pressed on with the next course. For entree, I selected the red snapper with tumeric. The fish and vermicelli noodles were to be wrapped in lettuce and then dipped in sauce. The combination of tumeric and basil flavored the snapper very nicely. Overall, this main course scored well in taste, texture and portion size. Lastly, I chose the chocolate cake dessert. I am a sucker for chocolate desserts and will, without fail, find the chocolate option in every dessert menu and inevitably select that one. If I am sharing a dessert with other people, then I usually put on an air of disinterest at the selection, as if I am easy going and just coo' with whatevs. But as soon as anyone shows even a modicum of interest towards the "chocolate ______", then I immediately second that choice and reveal my true self from my thinly veiled charade. So basically, I like the chocolate. And I liked this chocolate cake too, especially because I had it all to myself. Together with the coffee ice cream, it was more than enough food, which is just how I like it.

Range (Mission SF)

2008-12-30T17:05:00.000-08:00

What do I expect from one Michelin star? EVERYTHING.

Perhaps that I explained my inevitable dissappointment. I'd had been wanting to visit Range for a long time, after hearing that it had received a Michelin star but still had entrees priced at around $20.

From left to right: pureed cauliflower soup, goat cheese ravioli, skate wing, braised beef cheeks, vegetable soup with white beans, chocolate crepe with grapefruit and a scoop of red pepper ice cream

I asked the waitress why the restaurant was named "Range" and she responded that it was because there was a range theme throughout every part of the restaurant; the kitchen had a range of stations, there was a range of seating arrangements...etc. Mind blowing, right?

Anyway, on to the food: I ordered the skate because it sounded like an unusual kind of fish. As it turns out, the skate looks like a stingray. The skate wing had an interesting texture: something between that of a white fish and chicken, and stringy in nature. My skate was pretty good, although a bit too salty.

For dessert, we shared the chocolate crepes. The grapefruit, crepes and ice cream were all independently delicious but really had no business sharing the same plate. In summary, besides using fresh and high quality ingredients, the food at Range did not seem particularly special. Maybe we went on an off day? Maybe we ordered the wrong things? But mostly I blame the Michelin-ness for distorting my impression of a perfectly fine restaurant, just because it wasn't the best I ever had.

Aloe (NYC)

2008-12-30T16:17:00.001-08:00

A relative bargain in the East Village.

I found Aloe on Yelp, where it appeared to be a little known but well liked restaurant in its neighborhood. The prices were also reasonable, with entrees hovering around $20. The building of the restaurant looked no different than the residential houses that it was sandwiched between. It's quaint exterior added to Aloe's "well kept secret" appeal.

From left to right: fried calamari appetizer, vegetable pasta, duck confit salad, goosefish (?) on orzo salad, duck breast on waffle

I had the goosefish (actually, it was something other than goosefish but the name was equally hilarious) entree. The upshot of the dish was the preparation of the fish: seared lightly on one side and fully cooked throughout, but not overdone. I'd never had goosefish before and I found the texture, which was rough and chicken-like, to be kind of odd. I was trying to be adventurous but truthfully, I doubt I will order goosefish again. The downside of the dish was the orzo, which was cold (intentionally) and mixed with pickled vegetables. I didn't like the orzo salad very much because it just tasted tangy and cold and its pairing with the warm fish seemed strange.

I really did like the fried calamari, which was sweet, sour and crispy all at once. There was even a touch of heat from the red pepper. My friend also said that the duck breast with waffle was very good so I would recommend that dish and the calamari for future visitors. And not so much the goosefish.

Chikalicious (NYC)

2008-12-29T01:20:00.000-08:00

Dessert is all you want and all you shall have.

Chikalicious serves only dessert*, which seems so simple but yet is completely ingenius. *I think they also serve sandwiches and other junk but I like to block that fact out as to preserve my respect for the purity of this establishment.

The restaurant is very petite and consists of a small bar area, the center of which contains the chefs, and a small row of seating. You can either order a la carte or choose their 3 course prix-fixe menu. The $12 prix-fixe consists of a small amuse bouche, an "entree", and a small dessert. Keep in mind that all 3 "courses" are just desserts of varying sizes. Your only choice in the prix-fixe is the entree, so each member of our party ordered something different.

From left to right: (I've forgotten the actual, fancy names of the dishes so I will just make names up based on what I vaguely remember and what they look like from the pictures): amuse bouche of lemon sorbet in pool of lemony milk, chocolate and coconut sorbet with cubes of gelatin, mango sorbet with creme fraiche, corn ice cream in cherry sauce with slice of lemon cake, a "dance of fruits" or something

Each dish was very refreshing in both appearance and taste. We all laughed at the "dance of fruits" name but when it was brought out, the plate was actually so beautiful that we were all jealous for not ordering it in the first place.

The desserts were incredibly creative and the flavors were all complementary to one another. You should definitely try Chikalicious if you're ever in New York City. It will at least satisfy your curosity, if not your hunger.

Ubuntu (Napa)

2008-12-28T01:03:00.000-08:00

I thought I was a vegetarian until I had to be one.

Well, for one meal really, because frankly, I was at a vegetarian restaurant. Ubuntu is a much touted vegetarian restaurant in downtown Napa, that I'd visited over the summer. Technically, Ubuntu is also a yoga studio, which is just adds another "wtf"-esque quality to the restaurant, in addition to the enigmatic name. Alas, I have no comments for the yoga part of the establishment, as I was only there for dinner. (And no, you cannot order yoga instructions on the side, or as a separate course. Believe me, I tried. Ok no I didn't.)

The restaurant is run by a husband/wife team. The husband is the main chef while the wife is the pastry chef. Judging by our satisfaction with the meal, I would say that the wife wears the pants in that relationship. Although that is probably an unwarranted stretch just from the fact that we liked the desserts far more than the rest of the dinner.

From left to right: polenta fries, corn grits, fried egg, pudding cake, corn flakes in sweet milk, chocolate ganache

One hiccup during the meal was when the waitress brought a different entree than the one that my friend had ordered. We were pretty certain that my friend did not order a bowl of pureed orangeness but the waitress tried to convince us otherwise. She could not, and it was awkward. But in the end, Mindy got her corn grits and all was right with the world. Except for my fried egg dish. It was literally one hardboiled egg that was deep fried, surrounded by little scoops of potato salad. It was interesting looking but did not exactly fill me up. Also, it wasn't very flavorful, which was unfortunate. Nevertheless, I was told that corn grits were actually pretty good and substantial.

The desserts were very good, all three of them. The chocolate dish was especially decadent thanks to the globs of ganache. I almost couldn't eat all of it. But with a little help, I was able to consume every last bit of sweetness. I was also compelled by the need to fill the void in my stomach left by my actual dinner.

I would say that Ubuntu is worth a visit. Even if the entrees leave you wanting, at least it'll give you a good excuse to order dessert, which is not to be missed.

Foreign Cinema (Mission SF)

2008-12-28T00:38:00.000-08:00

I love me a good french toast and some well-lighted spaces.

What struck me the most about Foreign Cinema was the arrangement of the restaurant. Half the seating is outside and the other half is indoors. The remarkable thing was that even the indoor seats received a healthy amount of natural light, which made the restaurant just a nice place to sit at (with the vines crawling up the brick walls and the little fireplace that probably does not light).

But of course, no one goes to a restaurant to just sit (and no restaurant will let you sit for free either) so let's get down to what really matters, le food. I was there for brunch a few months ago and was very impressed with the menu. The dishes were as seasonal as brunch items can be (different lettuce for different seasons?) and tasted as lovely as they looked.

From left to right: baguette french toast with figs, baguette french toast with strawberries, fried egg with balsamic vinegar on salad and eggs benedict on radicchio (?)

I ordered the french toast with strawberries and they were supremely good. I was a little wary of the baguette bread, honestly, because I was afraid that the holes in the bread would mean less french toast (I am a fatty, what did you expect?). But my fears were allayed when I discovered that the bread holes were filled with rich, custardy batter. The dish was definitely a bit heavenly. Wait, I meant heavy. Actually, I mean both those things. Conclusion: french toast at Foreign Cinema is very enjoyable, especially on a nice sunny day.

2223 Market (Castro SF)

2008-12-28T00:18:00.000-08:00

$12 Tuesdays are Fantastic.

Especially if you have no school and work and can pretty much schedule your time around meal deals in the middle of the week. Or, in my case, have too much time in between finals and need to eat something else besides canned soup. Even if it's premium Campbell's.

2223 Market features hearty American cuisine, done up with nice organic ingredients as to not offend San Franciscan sensibilities. I'd gone to 2223 Market for brunch a couple times before but never for Tuesday dinners. I'm happy to report that the $12 dinner specials on Tuesday are actually a tasty and good value.

From left to right: spicy pulled pork on top of a papusa ($12), mussels and clams on a bed of polenta ($12), vegetable rissotto ($12), brownie with a scoop of peppermint ice cream ($9).

All the entrees were delicious (especially considering the price), although the dessert did seem expensive in comparison. But you can't always win (because you must always order dessert). So all in all, I would definitely go back, awkward finals schedule, or not.

Movie Review: Ratatouille

2007-06-30T23:51:00.000-07:00

This is will be a very boring critique as I pretty much have no qualms about this movie and will just sing its praises for the remainder of this post.

Friday was the opening of the latest Pixar/Disney project: Ratatouille. Not since the days of Finding Nemo could we expect a quality computer animated film as Hollywood continues to personify every animal (eg. penguin/moose/bear/penguin...again? C'mon!) without giving much effort to storyline. Nevertheless, with the release of this movie it looks like things are turning for the better. The premise of Ratatouille is that a epicurean rat, Remy, tries to pursue his love for cooking in a reputable Paris restaurant while trying to overcoming his inherent rat-ness.

On the surface, I'll admit that the film isn't easily differentiable from the slew of aforementioned CGI movies with cute animal characters. Look closer and you'll find that the midas touch of the Pixar team is its meticulous attentiveness to detail and the dynamic orchestration of the story-telling. In the beginning of the movie, you watch Remy become inspired by a chanterelle mushroom/cheese combination and it's immediately apparent that the food is not just a prop in the story but the inspiration for it. True to his gastronomic tendencies, Remy is a bit of a snob who tries to talk his fellow rats out of eating garbage. His character is very well crafted, indeed. The animation is also Pixar's finest! Each little rat hair is depicted with extreme precision and the collective movement of the fur is very believable.

Basically, Ratatouille is an excellent movie with enough elements to satisfy any adult, child, food snob or animation zealot. Huzzah!

Rating: 10/10 (Just when you thought I couldn't grade any higher)

Reading: Garlic and Sapphires

2007-04-11T02:05:00.000-07:00

The book Garlic and Sapphires by Ruth Reichl was first recommended to me by my foodie friend Cynthia (www.cynaswirl.com). Ruth Reichl was once a food critic for LA Weekly and LA Times before she was wooed over to the New York Times. Ms. Reichl's tenure at the NY Times was the timeframe of the book's content.

Many out there may not sympathize with this particular cause but food critics have it hard. If not properly conducted in a discreet enough manner as to enjoy a meal completely unrecognized, a food critic can become overwhelmed with overtly friendly service, barraged with the finest dishes prepared with the kitchen's most quality ingredients and dare I say, even forced to eat for free. The only word I can think of for this kind of victimization is heinous. What about you? But all sarcasm aside, food criticism may not be the most important type of work but clearly, I love it.

It took me a while to decide whether and why I was compelled to finish this book. On one hand, I felt that Ms. Reichl took food writing a bit too seriously. Sure, I can understand her suggested issues of journalism politics. Especially at a paper as venerable NY Times, she a painted a picture of a somewhat conservative office culture and uptight editors. But when she wrote about picking low-key but quality ethnic restaurants to review as almost a form of advocacy for diversity (as compared to the bias towards traditional French-fare of the previous critic), I thought it a bit too righteous. Anyway, her stories revolve around her disguising herself in various costumes to avoid being recognized as the NYT food critic and also the personas she found herself taking on while incognito. The more she tries to be someone else, the more she realizes she is only accentuating a part of her she never knew about herself. (That sounded like a terrible movie promo but it's basically true).

Overall, the stories aren't nearly as cheesy as I made them sound and in fact, Ms. Reichl's description of food was so divine that I'm atttempted to ask if any real food can even taste as good as she made them sound. She would often write about the sensations of eating a certain dish with near odes of poetry and it's pretty clear that if food criticism can be considered a real career, she is a master of the art.

Rating: 9/10

PS. Dear reader(s), thank you for checking the blog! I apologize for my super slow frequency in posting but graduation is just around the corner and I will have nothing better to do in my life than write in this. Woohoo!

Restaurant Review: Chapeau!

2007-04-02T23:13:00.000-07:00

Borrowing the excuse of visiting SF, I researched restaurants in the area. After a brief browsing, I came across Chapeau!, a quaint French restaurant in the Richmond District. I took particular notice to the restaurant because of their early bird special, which is a 3-course meal for $25.50 from 5pm to 6pm on weekdays. We arrived exactly at 5pm, only to find that the staff was still finishing setup. It was a little awkward to find the restaurant in mid preparation but it wasn't long before we were seated and merrily on our way to eating.

The first item was a complimentry cream of cauliflower soup topped with truffle oil. Before being told what it was, I wasn't quite certain what the flavor was. All I could have detected was the strong taste of cream. This was also my first encounter with truffle oil. Truffle oil is suppose embody the same aroma as the highly prized (and not to mention, uber expensive) fungi. Sadly, my pedestrian tastebuds did not react any differently to the gourmet ingredient than it would have to say, canola. But I enjoyed the dish nonetheless, especially with their homemade baguettes!

My first course was the duo of salmon, which was an elegant display of smoked salmon wrapped around cubes of salmon tartare and finally topped with thin potato waffles. The dish was not large but quite filling. Now here is a dish that looks good and delivers in taste! My mom had the mescun salad was also pleasant (though not nearly as fancy looking, in my opinion).

My main entree was bass atop pureed potatoes. Again, the presentation was superb! The portions were also commendable. The fish was rich, flaky and crispy on the edges. The potatoes puree was basically very fine mashed potatoes but the little moat of onion sauce around it reminded you that this was a classier cousin to the American-stick-your-ribs-type counterpart. My dad ordered the pork loin, which I did not try but he commented that it was delicious and generous in size.

Finally for dessert, we had their homemade portiferolles, napoleon with basil sauce and trio of sorbet. The portiferolles were terrific! The homemade pate a chaux contained scoops of vanilla bean gelato from the local Ciao Bella brand. The napoleon was an interesting combination of fresh fruit and an unusually flavored syrup. I enjoyed my order the lemon, pear and raspberry cabernet sorbets very much. My favorite of the three was probably the cabernet, which was heavy on the fruit flavor and only suggestive of the alcohol.

Service was very friendly throughout the entire evening and it's worthwhile to point that the restaurant owner even personally greeted each table. Not long after we walked out the door, he rushed out also to thank us for visiting. Adorable!

Chapeau! is a charming and upscale neighborhood restaurant and I would love to revisit one day.

Rating: 9.8/10 (Fabulous!)

Chapeau!
1408 Clement St
San Francisco, CA 94118

Restaurant Review: Dong Ting Chun

2007-03-31T09:29:00.000-07:00

Admittedly, our original plan was to have dim sum that Sunday morning. But sadly, Sam Woo was closed for renovation so we found ourselves searching for another restaurant in the large Ranch 99 plaza in San Gabriel. In the end, Dong Ting Chun was our lunch spot of choice.

Dong Ting Chun specialized in the style of cooking from the Hunan province in China. Characteristics of such cuisine are bold spicy flavors and the usage of smoking/curing ingredients. Hunan cuisine also commonly utilizes humble, "peasant" ingredients like common meats and vegetables. And humans. Haha gross, just kidding! Though, they did make the unfortunate mistake of mistyping "Human" in place of "Hunan" on the menu. Addtional misfortune since the modified noun was "Ham" of all things.

Here is our colorful array of dishes:

Top row first, left to right: stir-fried beef, roasted fatty pork, steamed tofu, seaweed salad (?), farmer chicken, and vegetable medley.

Perhaps it's been too long since the meal to recall the details but I do remember liking everything. The tofu may have been a little bland, which was in stark contrast to the flavorful yet slightly greasy vegetable stir fry. The chicken was supposed to be the highlight as the waitress pointed out that it was a popular item on the menu. I did enjoy the chicken, which was stewed carefully in its own juices. The meat was mostly from parts of chicken that are not commonly featured in Western dishes, such as the neck and other sinewy parts I cannot quickly locate on a chicken anatomy. I also liked the roasted pork, though I couldn't help but avoid the blantant chunks of fat.

I guess I will end this post now since I have nothing left to say about the food, partially because of my faded memory and partially because there is nothing spectacular left to point out. But yes, I would revisit Dong Ting Chun...someday.

Price: $9 average a dish

Rating: 8.5/10 (Pretty good...I think?)

Dong Ting Chun
140 W. San Gabriel Ave., No. 206
San Gabriel, CA

Restaurant Review: Osteria La Buca

2007-03-23T01:39:00.001-07:00

I have eaten at way too many places to not have posted for this long. Nevertheless, school has its way of getting in my food-related indulgences.

So about a month ago, I went to Osteria La Buca, a tiny but well-liked Italian restaurant on Melrose. The first time we went, we came without a reservation and was surprised to find that the 20 people (or so) seating could not accommodate our impromptu dining. The initial rejection only made me more determined to eventually return successfully. Hence on my next attempt, I called a week or so in advance to secure places. The voice on the other end of the phone was super Italian sounding, which I took as a good sign.

The area of the restaurant can pretty much be compared to the size of one's living room. This even includes the counter space, mind you. What limited wall space that was available, was adorned with black and white photos, altogether giving the eatery a quaint, hole-in-the-wall atmosphere. However, I was a little disappointed when the waiter asked if we wanted "LA river water", as to insinuate that free water was nearly a sewer equivalent fluid.

The entrees on the menu were divided between pastas and pizzas. For the fresh pastas, you first choose the type of pasta (the width of the noodles which ranges from linguine to pappardelle) and then a sauce, which determines the price. Here are the pastas we ordered:

From left to right: tagilatelle with fume, tagliatelle with vodka sauce, pappardelle with fume sauce and trenette with arrabiatta sauce. We also ordered a pizza with broccoli and chicken, but it wasn't particularly remarkable so hence the lack of photo. I had the vodka sauce pasta, which I thought was fantastic. The sauce was very good--creamy, savory but not too rich. The highlight was certainly the pasta noodles. Unlike dried store bought pasta, this counterpart was thinner and consequently covered more fully in sauce. Mmm. Though I didn't try all the pastas, everyone did seem content with their selections. For dessert, we succumbed to ordering th classic tiramisu:

The cake was very good. The taste of espresso was very bold, a plus in my book. Also, the ratio of the cream to cake was just right. We thoroughly enjoyed this treat--only to later find that it carried the unfortunate price of $9.

Finally, I can check Osteria la Buca off my "to eat" list! The pasta was truly first rate. Good, home made Italian need not be presently fancifully to be delicious, as this restaurant has shown. However, for as small as la Buca was, it was not as humble as it could have been. I will also mention that they only gave us half a loaf of bread for 7 people to share (which is hardly generous if you ask me). Will I go back? Perhaps, but not often.

Price: $14 a person for entree alone

Rating: 8.8/10 (Barilla ain't got nothing on fresh pasta)

Osteria la Buca
5210 1/2 Melrose ave.
Hollywood, CA 90038

Restaurant Review: Hop Li

2007-02-27T01:04:00.000-08:00

It was Chinese New Year Day and to celebrate in the only way I know how to, I ate. Originally, we had plans to drive over to San Gabriel/Monterey Park but laziness got the better of us and our only criterion for a restaurant was proximity. Jessi used her sharp Citysearch skills and found Hop Li in the area.

When we first stepped into the establishment, we all habored doubts about the authenticity of a Chinese restauranted located in a very non-Asianified (commercially speaking but population is another story) area that is West LA. However, as soon as I heard the harsh sounding exchanges in Cantonese, I knew my fears were unfounded. For Chinese New Year's, the restaurant didn't seem very full at all and we were seated right away.

The menu was pretty decent. We weren't looking for any particular dishes so we were content with the generic selection. We ordered the following:

From left to right: (the ubiquitous) hot and sour soup, pan fried beef noodles, Buddha's delight (aka veggie stirfry), prawns and green beans, and variety pot ..thing (ok I've clearly forgotten the name).

Everything was pretty tasty, in short. I don't know if there was any outstanding aspects but the prawns were certainly very tender (which is good). I liked all the medley of vegetables and the fried green beans too.

All in all, I would definitely go back to Hop Li's, not just because it's close but because it's Chinese food done right (enough)!

Price: $10 average for a dish

Rating: 9/10 (The Chineseness in me revels)

Hop Li
10974 W Pico Blvd (Cross Street: Greenfield Avenue)
Los Angeles, CA

Restaurant Review: Cafe Orleans at Disneyland

2007-02-20T02:05:00.000-08:00

Remember when you thought that Disneyland was the greatest place on earth and that everything in that park was wonderous beyond words? I do. Yes, I remember last Saturday well.

Before I go into the actual details of the restaurant, let me talk, nay, complain a little about the economy of visiting the Happiest Place on Earth. First of all, tickets are now a steep $60 if you're over 10 years old and only $10 cheaper for children between 3 to 9. Secondly, it is almost humanly impossible to spend a whole day at the park without giving in to buying at least of their food items from a cart. $3 a churro, $4 a cup of frozen lemonade--resistance is futile. Personally, I was suckered into buying a $3.75 Mickey shaped ice cream sandwich. (The weather was especially warm when we went). Must we become fat and poor at once?! With all that said, the ice cream was actually fan-fricking-tastic. Had I been younger and more naive, I would have hesitated at the idea of biting into Mickey Mouse's head. But now that I am older and less compassionate to adorable icons, I had no problem consuming Mickey's sweet, chocolatey face. Mmm icon.

For dinner, we ate in the New Orleans region at Cafe Orleans. Congruent with the rest of the theme of the park, the restaurant was very family friendly. Many a times I have wished that I could still order the kid's meals for their creative names, various side dishes and naturally, the toys. Sadly, this was not a day that I indulged in childish whims. Here is the adult foods we ordered:

From left to right: chicken caesar salad, crab salad roll and grilled prawn salad. I ordered the crab salad roll, which was actually quite good. Maybe it wasn't original but there was plenty of avocado to keep me happy. (Plus I was also famished from all the rigorous dodging of baby strollers throughout the day.) Jason had the chicken salad and I think he liked it all right. I've never been a huge fan of salads that you have to cut up yourself but I suppose the preserved whole leaves of romaine give a touch of class...somehow. The prawn salad, however, left something to be desired. There were only 4 shrimpy looking prawns, artfully (to someone's discretion) stabbed onto two small heads of iceberg lettuce. Oh and there was also a ribbon of prosciutto on the plate, laid out with a few halves of cherry tomatoes. Although I didn't taste the dish, I would have to give the creator points for effort but it's hard to avoid the fact that there just wasn't much to eat! Kinda interesting looking but tragically meager is my judgment on the shrimp salad.

As to the question of whether I would go back to Cafe Orleans, I would answer that there are many more mediocre and overpriced restaurants to try before I would return. Although, if find yourself hungry in New Orleans, Disneyland, there is no better place to be than Cafe Orleans.

Rating: 7/10 (Theme parks are surprisingly not epicurean hotspots)

Cafe Orleans (Disneyland)
Anaheim, CA

Restaurant Review: Lemon Moon

2007-02-20T01:22:00.000-08:00

In a plaza seemingly containing only office buildings resides Lemon Moon, a quaint breakfast/lunch restaurant. If you're down with name dropping, the eatery was founded by Josiah Citrin and Raphael Lunetta, respectives owners of Melisse and Jiraffe, two much fancier restaurants located around LA.

In its location, Lemon Moon almost looks (and perhaps acts) like a high-class cafeteria to the surrounding office workers, as there were plenty of customers in ties and other business attire. The inside of the restaurant was spacious and there was even a back patio to sit in.

Now, ze food:

3 types of salads: a) corn, mango and shrimp ceviche b) 5 spice chicken c) cubed polenta and mushroom (left) and pulled pork sandwich (right)

I got the salad combo to get a taste of the various flavors Lemon Moon had to offer. You could choose 1, 2 or 3 salads at once among a selection of 15 or so types. The three salads were more than enough for a person's meal, I thought. Now about each of the salads: a) corn/mango/shrimp: delicious! The corn was uncooked and sweet and crunchy. The mangoes were more rare but a fine addition. Shrimp seemed like nothing more than chewy protein but it certainly did make the dish more substantial. All three ingredients were blended with a strong lime flavor, which was very bold, indeed. b) 5 spice chicken: Very good. This salad was obviously concocted with Asian influences, though I don't know which specifically. I also forget the name of the brown vegetable but it has the consistency of bamboo, which I likey. The salad was sort of sweet with a hint of spiciness. c) polenta cubes: Hm. I see lots of recipes with polenta but I've never really tried it before (unless you count the time where I ate a congealed yellow mass from the dorm dining hall). The polenta here was smothered in a goat cheese (I think), which provided most of the flavor. Unfortunately, I was not a huge fan of these dense blocks. I am not sure how one can crave a chunk of cornmeal so tightly compacted. But that is just me. Maybe if the polenta were paired with something very savory. Maybe. Anyway, the pulled pork sandwich was very good. The meat was juicy and tasty. The bun was airy and lightly toasted in a most awesome of ways.

Lemon Moon: a semi-yuppie lunch joint started by chefs of really expensive restaurants- the result? Creative dishes and overall, a very pleasant dining experience. I'll be back, fo' serious.

Rating: 9/10 (Watch out Whole Foods)

Lemon Moon
12200 W. Olympic Blvd
Los Angeles, CA

Homemade: Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

2007-02-07T15:48:00.000-08:00

It's no surprise that every dessert I've made recently contains chocolate. Perhaps it's because of those chocolate cookbooks I received as gifts that have inspired me so. Or the fact that I still have 2 pounds of chocolate left from my overzealous chocolate-shopping over winter break.

Anyhoo, I found the recipe for Chocolate Crinkle Cookies at the Joy of Baking website. I was pretty much sold on just the name alone.

Making the cookies was a pretty straightforward procedure: melt chocolate, beat eggs, combine everything together. The only trick was to refrigerate the dough for at least one hour so that it would be firm enough to scoop up and roll into ball shapes. Once the chocolate dough balls are formed, simply roll them in powdered sugar and bake for 12 minutes or so, at 325 degrees.

The results? Well you can see for yourself in the photo. Erm, not exactly the little snowballs with crackles of chocolate as I had envisioned. They actually resembled more like dried earth covered with a slight dusting of talcum powder. I attribute this to the fact that I did not roll the cookies in enough sugar powder before baking them. The taste? They were okay. I cut back on the sugar a bit in the batter and that could have altered the desired texture and flavor. For some reason, the cookies were actually quite fluffy and almost cake-like. I was expecting more chew in my mind.

Overall, the cookies were decent. They did not satiate a strong craving for a chocolatey dessert and the texture was softer than expected. Nevertheless, I ate them all so I guess that still counts for something.

Recipe Rating: 6.5/10 (Cutting back on sugar? I must be crazy)

[EDIT: I've lowered the rating on the recipe after reading Surafel's comment...and plus I feel like I need to readjust my rating system to make full use of the 1 to 10 scale]

Reading: "Unhappy Meals" article

2007-02-02T02:44:00.001-08:00

Recently, the NY Times featured the article "Unhappy Meals", written by Michael Pollan, a professor of journalism at UC Berkeley and author of the book The Omnivore's Dilemma (has anyone read this yet?). It's a pretty interesting piece on the idea of "nutritionism" and how it's taken over our country and molded the way we perceive food--as reduced components of fiber/vitamins/etc that we ingest to cater to specific health advantages. In this notion of eating processed foods with engineered "benefits", we fail to eat just natural foods with no flashy labels touting their health boons. The article points out that studies of diet and health are often flawed in their nature since scientists are forced to study individual components of a food and track their effects when in reality, one component simply cannot paint a full picture of the complex processes inside our bodies. Hence, purported positive consequences of a certain chemical may not perform in reality as claimed by studies. Another interesting point is that large studies of diet habits are sometimes performed via questionnaires, which inevitably risk the chance of people lying their asses off. The thought that a large-scale, biological research effort can derive its results solely from surveys is pretty disconcerting.

So what is the solution to our reliancy on processed foods? The articles suggests eating lots of vegetables and foods in their natural form. The more a food product claims to be healthy, the more doubtful one should be of its validity.

I highly recommend at least reading part of the article for yourself (since it is a bit long). Meanwhile, all this mention of whole foods and returning to nature leads me to think that if I want to extend my life, I should probably just live in a bed of vegetation and also eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Post-graduation trip to the Amazon rainforest, anyone?

Homemade: Chocolate Stout Cake (aka Beer cake)

2007-01-30T01:01:00.000-08:00

In honor of Christina's birthday, I felt compelled to make a cake that would bring together things we both loved: stout beer (think Guinness) and chocolate. (Note: I heart chocolate but I have yet to form strong opinions about beer.) I found a recipe at www.epicurious.com with fork ratings that were through the roof. In summary, the recipe called for stout, flour (duh), eggs, butter, cocoa powder, baking power, sour cream and sugar. The creation process was pretty simple: 1) mix 2) bake. The cake itself didn't contain a super strong beer flavor but the presence of the added alcohol was noticeable in the aftertaste. The chocolate factor in the cake alone was also moderate (read: not enough for my tastes). Perhaps cocoa powder on its own just isn't potent enough!

Fortunately, the recipe also called for chocolate ganache icing, for which I was more than willing to accomodate. In case you did not know already, chocolate ganache is just melted chocolate thinned out with heavy cream. The cake with ganache was quite good in the end. Maybe it wasn't even the cake. Maybe ganache is just the secret weapon to making anything delicious. All I know is that anything I bake in the future will probably be dipped or thickly encrusted in this glossy goodness. Viva ganache!

Cake rating: 8.5/10 (Not bad, not bad at all)

Ganache rating: 10/10! (My life is now complete)

Restaurant Review: Beacon

2007-01-27T19:01:00.000-08:00

A combination of my food blog browsing and a mention by Ravi led me to become interested in Beacon, a "pan-Asian" restaurant in downtown Culver City. (Might I add how many good food places there are in Culver City!)

Even before stepping into the restaurant, I was won over by the free parking spot I found right in front of the store. I know parking has nothing to do with eating but free AND available parking spots are just so rare in these areas that I had give someone credit for it. Anyway, we were seated outside in the back patio (which we can do in LA during this dead of winter season). The menu featured an array of Asian cuisine. Since it was during the lunch hour, there was a good selection of wraps and noodles. Small dishes like edamame and rolls were available for both lunch and dinner.

Here is what we ordered:

From left to right: Beacon roll (cucumber slices wrapped around smoked salmon, crab and avocado), miso cod, bento box (which containted the cod as well as chicken and tuna), seafood curry and avocado salad.

The avocado salad consisted of an entired avocado sliced and placed in a bed of Japanese herbs. The dressing was made with a soy sauce base, which gave a clear reminder of the restaurant's Asian influences. All in all, it was a pretty refreshing salad. I had to order the Beacon roll for at least asthetic purposes but it proved itself in taste as well. The bento box was a pretty good deal. For $15, it featured 3 kinds of meat (cod, chicken and tuna) prepared in 3 different ways! Albeit, the portions were pretty tiny but the variety made up for the lack of bulk. The curry was tasty too thanks to the fresh seafood ingredients (crab, shrimp, mussel (?) and swordfish).

Beacon is a lovely cafe, in short. Sure the food is "fusion" (fusion (n.): ethnic food made for people of other ethnicities) but the fare is well prepared and worth a try!

Price: $ 11 (average lunch entree)

Rating: 9/10 (delicious)

Beacon
3280 Helms Ave
Los Angeles, California

Restaurant Review: Le Village Buffet at Paris Hotel

2007-01-23T01:28:00.000-08:00

How could I go to Vegas and not go to a buffet? Why, that would be ridonkulous! With only one meal allotted to gratuitous feasting, we decided to go to the Le Village buffet at Paris. We narrowed down the difficult selection with all the rave reviews we had heard from our friends about that particular restaurant. Let me just say now that the praise was indeed warranted.

The decor was that of a fair weathered day in a French village. It was completely adorable except that the entire waitstaff was forced to dress in village-people costumes, which was milding amusing for everyone but the people donning the suits. The food was mostly French-themed (surprise!) and much of it contained meat, and tasty meat at that. Seafood dishes were aplenty too-crab, shrimp, salmon...etc. The salad bar was complete with many grilled vegetables in stock. There is not much to say but endless deliciousness. For me, the highlight was definitely the dessert selection. Firstly, the crepe station was too awesome for words. Kristen and I ordered up the classic Nutella/banana combination and even for two people the crepe seemed too large. The dessert station was also amazing and I will just let the following photos speak for themsevles:

mmmmm. I can't say any of the sweets stood out in particular but they were certainly all fabulous and if I hadn't been so greedy in eating everything else, I probably could have actually finished even one of them.

Price: $25 (Saturday night dinner)

Rating: 9.4/10 (delicious)

Le Village
Paris Hotel
Las Vegas, Nevada
(I am getting a little lazy with the addresses)

Restaurant Review: Fabiolus Cafe

2007-01-18T01:41:00.000-08:00

So far I have pretty much rated every restaurant I've written about with exuberants statements of love (which were all genuine) but to the credit of my critical side, here is a restaurant that I didn't wholeheartedly adore. It's called The Fabiolus Cafe and first of all, with a name like that, you best be fabulous or just sort of vain. You can already guess that I'm leaning towards the latter. Originally, we were hoping to go to Osteria La Buca, a cute little Italian restaurant across the street but sadly, it was filled up and we had no reservations. Hence, Fabiolus was the next best thing in the area. In contrast to the previous restaurant, seating was no problem here. Apparently, Fabiolus Cafe is a bit of a small chain, with one location on Melrose (that we visited) and another on Sunset. Interestingly enough, even though the restaurant did not yet have a liquor license, their placemats were printed with all the regions of Italy and the respectives wines they produce.

Fooood:

Left to right: spicy tomato sauce/eggplant/smoked mozarella, sundried tomato gnocchi, and vegetable risotto.
Aruna and I shared the pasta and risotto, while Cindy had the gnocchi. The eggplant pasta was quite good actually. The gnocchi was a success too- soft on the inside and smothered in sundried flavor on the exterior. However, the lowpoint came from the risotti. I have no qualms about the vegetables and of which there were plenty. But the rice, which were soggy on the outside and dried and rigid on the inside, supplied the bulk of the disappointment. I did attempt the rice numerous times but each time I was defeated but the roughness of the texture. Ultimately, I ate all the vegetables and left most of the dish with the grains of undecisive mushiness.

So I guess the food wasn't terrible but any means, but from my single experience I wouldn't recommend the vegetable risotto is all.

PS. The bread was crunchy and fun to eat.

Price: $12 (plate of pasta)

Rating: 6.8/10 (I could eat this again)

The Fabiolus Cafe
5255 Melrose Ave
Hollywood, CA

Restaurant Review: Fritto Misto

2007-01-18T00:59:00.000-08:00

Anuj had mentioned Fritto Misto some time ago in all sorts of praises and such. Being someone who loves hype almost as much as food, I felt obliged to go. The restaurant's building was fairly low-key. The inside, however, was bustling. Several guests were in line to be seated and the wait staff was in constant motion through the maze of little tables. The restaurant wasn't big but every space was used to its maximum potential.

From just the smell alone, I knew the food was going to be some kind of good:

From top to bottom rows, left to right: lobster ravioli, pesto chicken ravioli, black linguine and salmon, fritto misto, and spicy chicken ravioli.
We started with the fritto misto, was was essentially a melange of vegetables and seafood dipped in batter and fried to a state of indescribable deliciousness (okay I may be exaggerating but fried goods overtake my senses like no other!). Yet, the items were not overcooked and the dipping sauces were excellent accompaniments. I tried a small piece of the lobster ravioli and it tasted like the lobster was fresh out of the ocean (I'm sorry if you love animals and this imagery just makes you sad and hateful towards us who eat all of God's creatures). The other two chicken raviolis were hearty and satisfying as well. Now I will discuss the black linguine. Anuj and I decided to share this dish, which was a special that night, because neither of us could resist the prospect of salmon and fresh tomato dressing. Did I mention that the noodles were black? Yes, I was most intrigued! (Wow, I really need to curb the enthusiasm). Honestly, the noodles tasted no different than any other pasta but their color certainly lended a kind of unexpected contrast to the presentation. To unravel the mystery (if this is one for you), the noodles were colored with squid ink. Ingenious, I say. Overall, the black linguine was wonderful and the fresh basil/tomato combination continues to blow my mind.

Fritto Misto, we shall meet again.

Price: $13 (average price for plate of pasta)

Rating: 9.5/10 (delicious+)

Fritto Misto
601 Colorado Ave
Santa Monica, CA

Restaurant Review: Pizzeria Mozza

2007-01-15T23:04:00.000-08:00

If you are familiar with the food blog network in the greater LA region (which, since you have a life, I can assume you are not), you would know that Mozza is all the rage in the category of new restaurants. Naturally, we had to find out for ourselves what the hype was all about. Mozza is founded by Nancy Silverton (who co-founded La Brea bakery) and Mario Batali (who wears hideous orange clogs and oozes smug every he goes, and maybe talent too). The famous restauranteurs behind the establishment could be one reason as to why Mozza was filled to capacity (albeit small as it was) at 3pm on a Monday afternoon. Nancy Silverton, herself, was actually on site and moving about in the area behind the counter where the pizza ovens were located. I could not see what she was up to but even if all she did was eat the leftover pizza toppings, I think we were all impressed by just the presence of a celebrity store owner.

The interior of the restaurant, as I mentioned before, was small in floor space but comparatively large in the vertical sense. The high ceilings only further added to the high-end-take-on-low-end-food ambience. To offset the snottiness a bit, each placemat was different and each had a different print of something causal, like comics or diagrams of common Italian gestures.

And now, food:

From first row, left to right: salumi salumi and chilies pizza, squash blossoms and burrata pizza (looking a bit charred), egg, anchovies and radicchio pizza, fennel sausage pizza and prisciutto di parma pizza.

So I guess the main point of interest is: how good can pizza get? I mean most people at least like pizza so the question is not a matter of if Mozza pizza is good to eat but rather if there is enough value in eating a $15 pizza, however unusual the toppings are. And to that end, I say the Mozza pizza is an excellent experience though it does not shame me into never eating cheaper Italian food again. In fact, the Domino's three pizzas for $5 each deal is pretty hard to top. Though Mozza's pizza crust was deliciously chewy and the tomato sauces were full of flavor. I'd never had squash blossoms before but they added a welcomed texture. The burrata (cheese made from mozzarella and cream) was soft and melty in a pleasant sort of way.

All in all, I really did like Mozza. Comfortable atmosphere plus good Italian food is a winning combination. But if I just wanted pizza, I would probably choose a more affordable place with no need to call ahead for reservations.

Price: ~$20 (just pizza + tax and tip)

Rating: 9.2/10 (delicious)

Pizzeria Mozza
641 N. Highland Ave
Los Angeles, CA

Homemade: Vegan Chocolate Cake

2007-01-10T00:05:00.000-08:00

Have you ever wondered if rich and moist chocolate cake could be made without inherent evils like butter? Embracing the hippie-eat-organic culture of Berkeley, William and I braved the creation of a vegan chocolate cake. He found a recipe online that promised such a moist cake sans eggs and butter. In their place, the recipe called for egg substitute and apple sauce. The assembly of the cake was not particularly challenging, unless you consider throwing stuff in a bowl and mixing it a mental workout.

Three minutes of rigorous mixing and 50 minutes of baking at 325 degrees, our low-fat, cow-byproduct-free cake was ready. Before I go into the taste aspect, let me tell you that the cake was indeed moist. And from sheer appearance, you could not tell it contained no dairy. But oh the taste. I don't even know how to describe it! It was sweet for one but not derivative of the bittersweet flavor of chocolate that one would expect. The combination of the apple sauce in the addition to the egg substitute (that was mostly water, soy and plum concentrate?!?!) lended the cake to take on a most unnatural sweetness that was reminiscint of fruit (shockingly). After several bites of the cake, the taste began to grow on me but in no way did I ever believe that I was eating a chocolate cake. I guess the cake simply wasn't satisfying. Perhaps it's because I missed the fat too much. Regardless of how many calories a non-vegan chocolate cake may contain (and I don't want to know), at least you know the guilt is accompanied by a scrumptious and satiating bite of chocolatey goodness.

Lesson learned: Vegan food is not real food (to me).

Recipe rating: 4/10 (I've made a huge mistake) <--(non-vegan) brownie points if you get this reference

Restaurant Review: Ramblas Tapas

2007-01-09T23:20:00.000-08:00

In yet another effort to leave San Jose, we headed to the Mission District of

SF. In an area dense with Mexican food and other ethnic eats, we randomly chose to eat at Ramblas, a Spanish tapas restaurant.

The interior was pleasant and the walls were adorned with art by Spanish artists. Or at least just Picasso--that much I did recognize. Before ordering any food, we celebrated the Spanish culture by ordering a large pitcher of sangria. I have never been to Spain before, but I imagine the sangria just flows like water over there.

And now, the food:

From left to right: wild mushroom paella with sage and butternut squash, fried potatoes w/spicy sauce and Spanish tortilla.

The potatoes were fried to a good crispness and the accompanying sauce was contained a good amount of savoriness/hotness. The Spanish tortilla was stuffed with potatoes and tasted very good as well, though I don't remember the flavor. Finally, the piece de resistance of the meal was no doubt the mushroom paella. Firstly, the rice was just right. Next, the sage and squash served as wonderful additions--sage infused a delicious aroma and the squash added a nice hearty texture. Mmm. I could eat me some of that paella right now.

As tapas often are, those at Ramblas were tasty but petite. Nevertheless, I wouldn't hesitate to go back again.

Price: ~$17 (+tip and tax and Sangria!)

Rating: 9.5/10 (delicious+)

Ramblas Tapas
557 Valencia St.
San Francisco, CA

Restaurant Review: Chez Panisse

2007-01-01T23:21:00.000-08:00

Chez Panisse. If you are a foodie then this name might probably register with you pretty quickly. Whatever the case is, Chez Panisse is a prominent restaurant in Berkeley that was started by Alice Waters, the so-called mother of Californian cuisine. Several well established chefs have once served in the illustrious kitchen of Chez Panisse, which just goes to show you that the landmark restaurant is an ideal starting point for a fruitful career in the food industry (read: cha-ching!).

Liz K. called to make reservations exactly one month before the date of our much anticipated dinner. Seating is very limited in the almost cottage-like structure of the restaurant and spots are known to fill up fast. To guesstimate, I would say that the maximum capacity of the dining is no more than 40 seats! We sat close to the open kitchen that displayed the dedicated staff in their snug workplace. The combination of the restaurant's construction, atmosphere and lighting created a warm, homey environment--as if you were in fact not dining out but eating a home-cooked meal at your aunt Mabel's country cottage. That is if aunt Mabel also charged you $$$$ for her nightly prix-fixe menu. Yes the meal was not cheap to say the least, so you could imagine my pre-dinner fasting and grand expectations for the food.

To enhance the eating experience (like the bill needs further inflation!), we ordered some wine. I only mention this because we were all amused by the description of the pinot noir given by the server, which included words like "flovuhry" and "urrthy" and "long feeneesh". I should note that he was French and I just wanted to type those words as I phonetically heard them.

On with the food:

From left to right, top row first: savoy cabbage wrapped around some rice concoction (Anuj's vegetarian entree in place of the chicken), poached chicken, smoked trout salad, dungeness crab pasta, and chocolate dessert. My favorite dish was definitely the pasta. Few simple foods are better than fresh pasta and the addition of the crab meat was a fine supplement in both texture and taste. The lemon sauce was refreshing to boot. Our only complaint was the slight bitter taste that came from the presence of lemon pith. To be perfectly frank, as much as I enjoyed the chicken entree, I felt that it could have been more flavorful. Returning to the principle of cooking only with the freshest ingredients in season, the restaurant was in no violation of the rule for preparing the chicken for the way it did. I guess I would have just preferred the dish to be bolder in various ways. The dessert was a classic chocolate souffle served with a scoop of ice cream. The cake was cooked to the perfect degree of doneness (set on the outside and soft within) but the outstanding factor came from the cherry ice cream. After eating the largest pieces of the dessert, I was tempted to hold the plate to my face and lick it to a complete finish. But I resisted. Because I am a lady, godammit.

All in all, I can see all the reasons for why Chez Panisse is as highly acllaimed as it is. As Liz mentioned, you can tell that the food was prepared by people who really love to cook because you can taste it in the dishes. I could not ask for a lovelier meal in a cozier location, really I can't. But sadly, I do not think I can afford the price of eating in such luxury often. So for that reason, I may not return to the restaurant anytime soon.

Rating: 9.2/10 (delicious +)

Chez Panisse
1517 Shattuck Avenue
Berkeley, California 94709

Homemade: Molten cake

2006-12-29T09:16:00.000-08:00

My first stab at a recipe from the book The Essence of Chocolate (as so kindly bestowed upon me by Jason) was the molten cake. From its description, the cake sounded like a version of the warm brownie/chocolate cake-with-the-soft-center-paired-with-ice-cream dish usually found on the dessert menu of so many restaurants. Original? Probably not. Amazing? Always!

Similar to several other chocolate cake recipes I've seen, the molten cake only required: chocolate (70% cocoa), butter, sugar, eggs and just the tiniest bit of flour. It's a little frightening to think that the cake is basically melted chocolate and butter, but what would life be like if we had self-control?

The preparation was surprisingly simple: you first melt the chocolate and then basically combine it with everything else, mix it all together and finally bake the batter in little ramekins at 400 degrees for 10 minutes. The result is a warm and gooey cake, bittersweet and strong in chocolate flavor. Fabulous!

Rating of recipe: 9.7/10 (heavenly)

Restaurant Review: Boulettes Larder

2006-12-29T00:04:00.000-08:00

I cannot lie. Winter break is here and gluttony is in the air. Well actually winter break is half way over and the gluttony is now perfected to an art. Whatever the case is, here is another restaurant review.

Cindy and Mel came up to San Jose (pronounced "hO-sey" as Cindy so perfected) last week to visit. After taking 30 minutes to show them around our 'hood, Jessi and I brought them to a better
place, a place called San Francisco. We took the BART to the Embarcardero station, which is situated in the financial district of the city and more importantly, next to the Ferry Building, a mecca for foodies everywhere.

This was a first visit to the Ferry Building for all of us and we were astounded by the great number of specialty food stores offering high end chocolates, cheeses, olive oils and various other delectables. We perused around a bit and finally decided on the restaurant Boulettes Larder for lunch.

Though every restaurant in the building looked fantastic, we finally settled on Boulettes because of the enticing aroma wafting from their open kitchen (see right). The whole of their restaurant consisted of a fully-staffed kitchen and a long adjacent table for guests. Eating at the long table was practically like eating in someone's home, where all the preparations were done just mere feet away from you! Or so I imagine. We actually sat just outside the restaurant at a table of four, which was still very good. Boulettes (meaning "little bowls"--awww) practices the philosophy of cooking with the freshest produce in season and (taken straight from their menu) "the ingredients [they] source are grown with principles that are respectful of taste, the environment and social justice." Wow. And we thought we were just getting lunch. (...Little did we know of the socioeconomic ramifications of our appetite!)

From left to right, top row first: romaine lettuce with radish salad, fennel asian pear and avocado salad, Acme bread (the La Brea counterpart in Norcal), and pulled pork sandwich. I ordered the pulled pork sandwich despite my usual aversion for pork. Instead of barbecue sauce (mmm), the meat was marinated in the restaurant's signature "pimenton de la vera", which I think, was a salt rub of some kind. In any event, the pork was tender, smoky and thoroughly tasty. I was immediated converted to a fan. All the other dishes we ordered were fresh and full of flavor. Social justice never tasted so good!

I would definitely go to Boulettes again--perhaps for brunch, since it is said to be very popular. Or again for lunch since their menu changes daily.

Price: ~$14 a dish (w/o tax and tip)

Rating: 9/10 (delicious)

Boulettes Larder
1 Ferry Building Marketplace
San Francisco, CA 94111

Restaurant Review: Nook

2006-12-27T11:33:00.000-08:00

Cindy and I had visited Nook for the first time over the summer. As the name of the restaurant implies, it's location is literally tucked away in the corner of a plaza. Sandwiched between a carpet store and a cell phone store (I think), you would have never guessed that a restaurant of moderately chic decor resides in the same neighborhood. I say "moderately chic" because the interior sports the modern wood-and-metal design yet the ambience gives no discriminating airs.

My apartmentmates and I arrive for our 6:30pm reservation were promptly seated. Nook remains to be a small restaurant and we were able to snatch one (the better, I say) of only two booths. Remembering how good the food was from the summer, Cindy and I had recommended to the other two flatmates that Nook be the place of our end-of-fall-quarter-"suck it, finals!" dinner celebration. I was excited to try the fall menu and pretty much knew what I was going to order from a study of the menu days before. Yes days.

From left to right, starting from the first row: crab cake appetizer, chicken paillard (paillard means something that is pounded flat), gulf shrimp and sausage, pork chop and finally artic char (a type of fish). I ordered the artic char, a fish that I had never seen nor tasted before (I was going to post a picture of the fish but decided not to after seeing how unremarkable it looked on google images). Anyway, it was panfried and served on a pool of Tabasco butter. The char had a flakey texture and tasted like a combination of salmon and a white fish (let's say mahi mahi for fun). Tabasco butter gave a nice kick in the flavor and the overall preparation was very satisfying. Everyone in the party was stuffed by their generously-sized entrees. We bitched and moaned about feeling too full for a bit. Then naturally, we proceeded to order dessert--their chocolate/banana bread pudding. Dessert was excellent. I'm not normally a big fan of bread pudding because of its sheer density but I was a fan of this one. Maybe it's something about melted chocolate that just makes everything it touches amazing.

Overall, I highly recommend Nook for their cozy atmosphere, reasonable prices, and large portions.

Price: ~$25 (+tax, for entree only)

Rating: 9.5/10 (delicious +)

Nook
11628 Santa Monica Blvd #9
Los Angeles, CA 90025

Restaurant Review: Tender Greens

2006-12-18T23:24:00.001-08:00

There was a time when I couldn't deem a salad as a complete meal. Now, after being brainwashed Whole Foods-style, I embrace a simple dish of uncooked vegetables. Not to mention, I am fairly closed minded to most meats and am pretty much a pseudo-vegetarian (read: picky and annoying eater). Anyway, sharing my love for leaves and food aversions (albeit substantiated by actual food allergies), Ashley joined me at Tender Greens in downtown Culver City.

Situated next to Ford's Filling Station (new "gastropub" owned by Harrison's Ford son. i didn't know he had a son either!) Tender Greens is largely an outdoor establishment. The menu is simple and mostly consists of a list of popular salads with occasional variations on the original recipes. I order the Nicoise salad (as shown on left, doi) which has seared ahi tuna, tomatoes, red lettuce, fingerling potatoes, olives and the smallest eggs I've ever seen (quail? maybe) tossed in a Dijon mustard vinagrette. The taste was definitely refreshing and completely reliant on the freshness of the ingredients. Ashley and I both agreed that the tuna was cooked well as you could taste the grilled flavor and light seasoning.

The service was super nice to boot. Ashley's napkin fell and a waiter quickly asked if she wanted another without either of us gasping and raising hands to our forehands in the exaggerated fashion of Victorian ladies. Ok, with the sarcasm removed from that last sentence, service was indeed very pleasant and helpful.

Price: ~$11 (+tax)

Rating: 8.7/10 (delicious)

Tender Greens
9523 Culver Boulevard
Culver City California 90232