Myung Dong Tofu Cabin

Myung Dong Tofu Cabin
1484 Halford Ave
Santa Clara, CA 95051
(408) 246-1484

Marina Shopping complex:
2968 S Norfolk Street
San Mateo, CA 94403
(650) 525-1484
www.tofucabin.com

Vitals:
Casual
Kid friendly

When most people say “let’s go eat Korean food”, it usually conjures up images of Korean bbq in my mind. But, sometimes it conjures up images of Korean tofu (Soon Doo Boo or Sundubu), which is a spicy stew that made with soft tofu and can be mixed with different meats ($8.99 for seafood, combination of beef and seafood or beef). I don’t find Korean tofu an accessible dish. It is a spicy (it can be made mild, medium or spicy) stew that is boiling when it arrives at the table and a raw egg is provided so that you can cook it in the boiling stew, but when I need crave something that will warm me to the core, I usually turn to this dish. A bowl of rice is provided and from what I’ve been told, the way to eat this is to scoop a bit of rice in your spoon and then dip it in the stew and pick up a bit of the meat and soft tofu. That being said, I have to say that the tofu at Myung Dong is not that great and it’s only average at best. It’s fine, but for a place that is named for a particular dish, then I expect it to be really good, if not great. The tofu stew seemed a bit watered down to me and it did not have much flavor. If you want good Soon Doo Boo then head to SGD Tofu House, Gaesung or even Manna Tofu House.

One of the reasons why I like going to Korean restaurants is that before your order arrives at your table, a wide variety of Korean appetizers (banchan) are set before you. There is the standard kimchi (fermented, spicy pickled napa cabbage or other vegetable), and an assortment of other vegetables, such as bean sprouts and spinach, and sometimes chapjae is provided (stir fried sweet potato starch noodles with vegetables).

The main reason I come here is because rice dishes are actually pretty good, specifically the Dol Sot Bi Bim Bab ($11.99 - beef, vegetables and egg over rice served in a hot stone pot and pictured below on the left). I guess I could go with the standard Bi Bim Bab ($9.99), but I like the stone pot. It arrives hot from the oven and once I mix the egg and put in the spicy sauce, I like to spread the rice inside the pot so that it can crisp up some of the rice a bit. It’s a nice little treat when I’m nearing the end of my meal. The seafood Bi Bim Bab is average ($14.99, and pictured below on the right). It’s a bit pricey and doesn’t have much of a variety of seafood (mainly squid tentacles) and you can’t really choose how much spicy sauce you want as it comes with the sauce already incorporated into the dish.

Bool Go Gi (broiled marinated beef) is also ok here. The meat comes in a sizzling hot plate and it is well marinated and is flavorful, if a bit greasy.

While the portions are enough to fill most people and if not, then the banchan will probably put you over the top. If you want some more variety, then I would definitely try the Hae Mool Pa Jun (Seafood pancake). It's not like the pancakes served in American restaurants, but looks like a seafood omelette, but yummier (it's make mostly with eggs, flour, seafood and some green onions).

It's not a cheap place to get a bite to eat, but it is different and does provide a different set of tastes, textures and flavors than what I'm used to.

Saratoga Chocolates

Saratoga Chocolates
14572 Big Basin Way
Saratoga, California 95057
(408) 872-1431
www.saratogachocolates.com

Vitals:
Sun-Mon: 11-5
Tues-Thurs: 11-7
Fri: 11-8

I’m not a chocolate connoisseur and I’ll certainly never turn down a piece of See’s chocolate, but there is something about finding a local artisanal chocolatier that makes exceptional chocolates. I stumbled upon this place while walking through Saratoga’s downtown. It’s a really quaint place that has small town charm and it’s a perfect launch pad to explore the Santa Cruz mountains. After you take a hike in Big Basin State Park (wonderful park filled with redwood trees) or Castle Rock State Park, take a stroll around downtown and reward yourself by sampling some delicious bites of pure chocolate bliss.

From talking to the employees, I found out that the chocolates are handmade confections that are made with local ingredients and contain no preservatives. The offerings are innovative and the end results are amazing. Sometimes, I had to literally sit back and enjoy and just let the flavors meld together.

Pictured above are notable chocolates: a salted caramel, a dark chocolate caramel, a ganache filled dark chocolate flavored with Earl Grey tea and a chili spiced ganache filled chocolate. The salted caramel was interesting and the caramel was not too sweet and wasn’t overpowered by the salt (I’ve had salted caramel desserts before and they were too salty – almost distracting). Sometimes I get a tea flavored chocolate and I can’t taste any tea flavor, not so with this one. Earl Grey has a distinct flavor (it’s a black tea that is flavored with essential oil from the rind of the bergamot orange) and this unique flavor showed through and blended well with the sumptuous dark chocolate ganache. The chili spiced chocolate reminds me of spiced hot chocolates I’ve had before. I could taste the heat from the chili and there also seemed to be a hint of cinnamon. I thought that it would be strange to have something that is meant to be sweet spiced up, but it worked. Everything here is good and I’m definitely looking to my next trip there. Each chocolate was about $1.75 each. A bit pricey, but worth every penny.

What to Eat, Part III

I don't know about you, but whenever I've finished a meal, I'm already thinking of the next one.

What I eat for lunch depends on what I ate for breakfast. If I've had a heavy breakfast, then I'll get a light meal, but if I've had the standard cereal with milk, then anything goes.

Lunch is the perfect meal. It helps break up the day when I'm at work and provides a much need respite from the daily grind. I can relax (unless I'm working through lunch) and just take a moment to just enjoy my meal. Sometimes it is hard to decide what to eat - and I just think, what do I feel like? First I think of a genre, and then I break it down. Hmmm, do I want Asian, American, Mexican, Indian, Greek, Italian or Middle Eastern. If I want Asian, do I want Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean or Japanese? If I want Japanese food, do I want Shabu Shabu or sushi; if I want to eat Mexican, do I want burritos, tacos or salads; if I want American, do I want hamburgers, salads or sandwiches? The choices are endless sometimes.

If I want a light meal, then I usually go for either sushi or a salad. If I want something more substantial then either Indian (a lot of Indian restaurants serve meals buffet style during the lunch hour) or Mexican will usually hit the spot and of course all of these choices depend on what I "feel" like eating.

Lunch and dinner are similar meals to me. But, for some reason, dinner is seen as a more "formal" meal. Lunch is supposed to be just a means to obtain sustenance, but dinner is, I guess for many people, a time to sit down and reconnect with family (assuming you have a family) or friends. I actually enjoy cooking for dinner - I like knowing what goes into the dish, and the feeling of providing food (and a little bit of love) to my family gives me a sense of satisfaction. I go into a "zen" state whenever I start to prepare a meal - cutting up vegetables or meat makes me concentrate on the task at hand and while cooking I zone everything out. There isn't much opportunity for me to be creative in my job and cooking provides this outlet. I can try different recipes and experiment once I have the basics down. And once everything is ready, we can all sit down and eat and unwind.

What to Eat, Part II

Each weekend starts off with a choice.

Breakfast

I'm usually a cereal and milk kind of person, but sometimes I want to have a hot meal. If I want something salty, I usually want to go get dim sum or even a traditional mandarin breakfast. Dim sum is usually more of a brunch type meal where small servings of dishes are served with tea. The dishes can be sweet, salty or savory, and can made of different meats like shrimp, pork, chicken or beef. Since the dishes are small you can order a bunch of dishes and try them out (if you are not familiar with the dishes that are available). At most restaurants, waitresses push around carts that contain a variety of dishes and they are used to lifting up the tops of the bamboo steamers to give you a peek. There is one cart that serves the more popular dishes like the Har Gow (shrimp dumpling that is pictured below on the top right) and the Cha Su Bow (barbequed pork bun).




I like to take my time whenever I go to dim sum, but I do feel some pressure sometimes to eat quickly and leave (obviously, the more turnover, the more profit the restaurant makes). It's nice to just sit back and relax and eat to my heart's content. The little packages of savory meats dipped in my soy sauce satiates and warms up my soul. Sometimes, I'll even be adventurous and order the tripe (pictured above on the top left), but the usual suspects like the bean curd sheets with pork (pictured above on the bottom right) and the chive and shrimp dumplings are always ordered.

If I'm in the mood for some comfort food, nothing is like the rice porridge (rice with pork and some thousand year old egg, a preseved egg). I have to say that not every place makes this well (as if there were a standard). I have to say that Loon Wah's porridge is the best I've had so far. They give you a big bowl and it's salty enough with a slight taste of the preserved egg and Dynasty's porridge is the worst because the porridge there is watery and doesn't have much flavor. Overall, my favorite places to eat dim sum in the South Bay are Joy Luck Place (Cupertino), Loon Wah (Cupertino), Dynasty Seafood (Cupertino) and Pan Tao (Sunnyvale). If you are up for an adventure, then Koi Palace in Daly City has some of the best dim sum around.

Taiwanese or Mandarin breakfast is a different animal. You usually start with a hot bowl of sweet or salty soy bean milk (Dou Jiang). I usually prefer the sweet variety because the salty one is an acquired taste (it's made of soy bean milk with bits of you tiaos and pickled vegetables - most people also put in some vinegar in the milk to make the milk curdle). Traditionally, you eat you tiaos (like long doughnuts, but these are crispy, chewy and more oily, which is an apt description as it literally means "grease stick") with the soy bean milk. You can also order a variety of dishes with your breakfast and I usually try to order the deep fried taro (usually served with some sweet and sour sauce), the fried radish or turnip cake (squares of soft and mushy rice cake mixed with turnip), and a green onion pancake (flatbread with bits of green onion). If I want something more salty, I'll also order Xiao Long Baos (steamed soupy pork dumplings - see my review of Hu Chiang Dumpling House) or some Bao Zi, or steamed buns (buns filled with chicken or pork. The buns themselves are not sweet like the ones served at dim sum). My favorite place to eat Taiwanese or Mandarin breakfast is at Hunan Home (Mountain View).

If I'm not in the mood for any Chinese type dishes, there are the usual standbys that serve American breakfast. I love eating a combination of sweet and salty in a meal. Pancakes or French Toast with banana or blueberries with a side of bacon and eggs and washed down with a good ol' cup of joe or freshly squeezed orange juice is just heaven. I really like the Original Pancake House when I want good pancakes (with a name like that it has to be). It's almost old school. The coffee is served with some real cream and they serve whipped butter and not margarine. I wouldn't go there for the omelettes, they are interesting but not particularly good in my opinion. It's hard to find a good breakfast place, but my favorite places are Stacks (Campbell), Sonoma Chicken Coop (Campbell) and the Original Pancake House (Cupertino and Los Altos).

Of course, if I'm not in the mood for a heavy meal, a quick jaunt down to Noah's Bagels and an order of a toasted sesame bagel with lox, tomatoes and capers and a cup of coffee will do just fine.

What to Eat, Part I

Hmmm, what do I feel like eating today.

Luckily, because I live in the San Francisco Bay Area, which has a diverse population, I can usually find something that will satisfy any craving that I have. Indian food? Sure, there are North Indian and South Indian restaurants, bakeries and stores. Chinese food? I can find restaurants serving foods from its many regions and find most of the ingredients at huge supermarkets, such as Ranch 99 or Lion. Recently, there has been a trend towards Southeast Asian food. While Thai food has always been popular, restaurants serving Vietnamese, Singaporean and Malaysian food are cropping up.

I don't have a sophisticated palate and I don't consider myself a food snob, but I do appreciate food that opens up ideas on the different ways certain food can be used and excites my senses. For instance, who knew that the avocado could be used in so many ways? Before, the avocado was mainly used for making guacamole, but then I found out that in Southeast Asia (such as in the Philippines and Vietnam), it is eaten as a dessert and is sometimes used to make a smoothie.




What a rather strange way to use avocado, I initially thought, but I couldn't deny how good it tasted. The avocado is mixed with condensed milk and perhaps some ice and topped with some whipped cream. It wasn't on the menu, but Vietnamese restaurants have it when avocados are in season. The taste was sweet with a slight hint of avocado, the texture was smooth and it left my palate clean.

Not usually adventurous when eating foods (I do have an aversion to eating internal organs, but make a few exceptions) and I don't trust when people say, "don't worry about what it is, just taste it" (only to find out that I had eat some sort of intestine), but I love exploring how different regions cook and eat their foods and the reasons why food is cooked in a certain way.

Krung Thai

Krung Thai
580 S. Winchester Blvd
San Jose, CA 95128
(408) 248-3435
www.newkrungthai.com

Vitals:
M-F: 11 am - 3 pm, 5 pm - 10 pm
Sat-Sun: 12 pm - 10 pm
kid friendly
Reservations accepted for groups of 6 or more

Thai food is one of my favorite cuisines and after taking a Thai cooking class and traveling through Thailand, I’m become more critical of the dishes that are served at Thai restaurants. That being said, this restaurant serves some pretty authentic Thai food and has a extensive menu that will satisfy most tastes. New Krung Thai is a sister restaurant to the older restaurant down the street, but I prefer this location as it is nicely decorate, newer and seems cleaner. There is one large dining hall, which can get pretty noisy at night so I wouldn't recommend this place if you're looking for a quiet place to have an intimate conversation.

The Tom Yum Goong soup here disappointed me (ranges from $8.95 for the small to $17.95 for the extra large). Tom Yum soup is a hot and sour traditional soup that is found all over Thailand. Sweet, salty, sour and spicy tastes are all balanced in this aromatic soup. Generally, the stock is made from shrimp shells and lemongrass, shrimp paste provides the sweetness, fish sauce provides the saltiness, lime and tamarind provide the sourness and Thai chilis provide the spicy taste. The soup at Krung Thai didn’t have the right balance of sweet, sour, spicy and salty. It was a bit bland and definitely too sour. It basically tasted like lemongrass soup with some lime. Pieces of lemongrass floated in the soup (which should have been strained out). I want authentic darn it and I’ll keep searching until I find a perfect bowl of Tom Yum Goong soup.

The Tod Mun (fish cakes) is a good appetizer ($7.95). The fish cakes are patties of ground fish mixed with green onions and other spices and is served with a dipping sauce that is sweet and sour sauce with cucumbers and chilis. The fish is deep fried and has a slight saltiness and chewiness that is balanced by the sweet and sour sauce. The appetizers are generally around $7.95 and are good as well, such as the Satay (chicken, beef or pork) or the Angel Wings.

The curries here are adequate ($10.95 for the chicken, pork or beef, and $12.95 with prawns). Thai curries are generally made with coconut milk, which made the curries a bit sweet and cuts the spiciness of the curry paste. The Penang Fish Curry (red curry with basa) was particularly good, but any of the curries are good. However, the curries could use more vegetables and/or meat.

My favorite dishes are the ones with basil and chili (Pad Gra-Paw) ($8.95 for chicken, beef or pork, $9.95 for calamari and $12.95 for prawns). In particular, the squid with basil and chili is good as the squid is not too chewy and the sauce nicely complements the blandness of the squid. The flavors are strong and complex with the combinations of garlic, fish sauce, pepper and basil.

If you’re in the mood for noodles, the Pad Thai ($9.95) and the Pad See Ew ($8.95 with chicken, beef or pork and $9.95 with prawns) noodles are good. The Pad Thai noodles were slightly chewy and firm and was is covered in a savory somewhat sweet sauce and comes with tofu, meat (such as shrimp), bean sprouts and crushed peanuts. I really like that they make the Pad Thai the traditional way (it doesn’t look like they use ketchup when making the sauce). The Pad See Ew noodles are good as well. The rice noodles are soft and covered in a slightly sweet black soy sauce and mixed with vegetables and choice of meat.

When in season, try to save some room for the dessert made of mangoes with sticky rice. I think that this is one of the more perfect desserts in terms of texture and taste. The glutinous rice complements the texture of the mangoes and the sweetness of the mangoes mixes well with the sweet coconut flavor in the sticky rice.

Tomatina

Tomatina
3127 Mission College Blvd
Santa Clara, CA 95054
Phone: (408) 654-9000
Fax: 408 654-9009
www.tomatina.com

Vitals:
Mon-Thurs: 11 am - 10 pm
Sat: 11:30 am - 11:00 pm
Sun: 11:30 am - 10 pm
Good for groups
kid-friendly

Tomatina is named after the festival in the village of Bunol, Spain, where for one day each year, there is a town food fight using ripe tomatoes. Tomatina is a casual pizza joint that serves some good thin crust pizza (although the pizza crust reminds me of naan bread, which is fine by me), which is baked in a brick oven that makes the crust bubble up and crispy. I really like this place as the food is good, cheap and it's a convenient place to go to before you check out a movie.

Starters are pretty standard, garlic rolls, bruschetta and soups (which generally range from $3.50-$8.50). They also serve pan-roasted mussels, which are particular good. The mussels are fresh and the sauce is made of garlic, white wine, some spices and tomato sauce. I don’t know what they put in that sauce but it’s delicious (I even like to dip my bread in the sauce).

Interestingly, they also serve piadines (pronounced like “pee-ah-dee-nees”), which is essentially a flatbread topped with your choice of salad that you fold in two and eat like a huge taco (generally run around $9-$10). When I first ordered one, I couldn’t imagine how anyone could finish the whole thing (they are pretty large), but once you start eating one, you can’t stop and lo and behold, you are left with an empty plate and a full stomach. My favorite piadines are the caprese (the bread has a slight drizzle of pesto and it's made with romaine lettuce, roasted tomatoes, fresh mozarella, parmesan and topped with a balsamic vinaigrette dressing, but instead of romaine lettuce I ask for baby spinach) and the chicken (the bread is spread with some garlic paste and it's made with baby spinach, roasted red peppers, mozzarella and parmesan cheese and topped with a citrus vinaigrette) .

I’m not a pizza aficionado, but the pizzas here are pretty good as well but the pizzas are a bit on the small side. My husband and I can easily finish a medium sized pizza (although I’m sure we could do some damage on large pizzas as well). Pizzas range from $11-$24, but personal pizza starts at $8. My favorite pizza here is the “Spicy” Three Cheese pizza. It’s a simple pizza that packs a lot of flavor in each bite - it’s made of a blend of feta, fontina, parmesan and mozzarella, with pieces of proscuitto, roasted garlic paste, peppercinis, onions and fresh parsley. The blend of cheeses is decadent and provides a good salty base that nicely complements (and doesn’t overpower) the pieces of proscuitto and is highlighted by the spicy kick provided by the peppercinis. I’m not a big fan of the parsley, so I just pick those out. I have to stop talking about this pizza…. The Pesto Chicken is also good, which is made of tomato sauce, mozzarella and parmesan cheese , with pieces of roasted chicken, roasted red peppers and drizzled with a sun dried tomato and basil pesto sauce.

Pastas are adequate, but not memorable (prices range from $9-$11). Can’t say when I’ve ever been impressed by a pasta dish. I’ll keep searching for that perfect plate.

This is one of my favorite cheap South Bay Eats!!!!

Layang Layang

Layang Layang
1480 South De Anza Blvd.
San Jose, California 95129
(408) 777-8897

Vitals:
Monday: closed
Tues-Fri: 11am-3 pm, 5 - 9:30 pm
Sat: 11 am - 10 pm
Sun: 11 am - 9:30 pm
kid friendly
good for small groups

It looks like a hole in the wall, a small building on a busy street near a freeway, surrounded by other stores that sell industrial supplies (its right next to Kelly Moore), but surprisingly, the inside is an oasis, a tropical setting that is warmly and richly colored with fake tall palm trees that sets you at ease the instant you walk in. The waiters are friendly and helpful and seem to be very eager to please. While the portions are slightly on the small side, the flavors were great and made up for the lack in portion size.

The menu is informative with pictures of popular dishes. If you're not familiar with Malaysian dishes, it gives you an idea of what to expect. The inside cover of the menu also features the top twenty dishes. The ingredients used are fresh and the flavors are strong, yet subtle. While they mainly feature Malay dishes, the menu also includes popular dishes from Thailand.

Favorites here include the following: for an appetizer or salad, start with the roti canai (indian flatbread with a side of curry sauce) and the green papaya salad. Satay chicken is also pretty good, especially when it is dipped in the sweet, slightly salty peanut sauce.

If you've never had green papaya salad, it's not what you expect (I expected pieces of ripe papaya). The slivered pieces of unripe papaya (hence, the "green" part) are slightly crunchy and on their own don't have much flavor except for the sauce that accompanies the salad. The salad is refreshing and light and the salad dressing is a slightly sweet and sour fish sauce.

For the main course, choose from the many seafood choices, such as Sarang Seafood (fried taro nest with seafood), Ikan Bakar (grilled striped bass wrapped in banana leaf), or try Beef or Chicken Randang (Beef or Chicken covered in a thick curry sauce). The Sarang Seafood is a mix of seafood (shrimp, scallops and squid) and vegetables that are covered in a savory brown sauce and nestled in a fried taro root bowl. The taro root is crispy on the outside and warm and soft on the inside and the sweetness of the taro root is enhanced by the saltiness of the brown sauce. The seafood portion is quite small, but the variety is good.

If you want a vegetables dish, try the KangKung Belacan (Ong Choi sauteed in shrimp paste) or String Beans or Eggplant. If you want a starchy dish, try the noodle dishes such as the Chow Kueh Teow (spicy fried rice noodle with shrimp, squid and bean sprouts) or the Pad Thai (somewhat sweet and salty noodles with tofu, shrimp and bean sprouts).

The tofu dishes are also notable here as they are homemade, fresh and very silky. The Sizzling Princess Tofu dish is one of my favorites.

If you want to have a soup, I would probably skip the Seafood Tom Yam Soup. I'm pretty picky whenever I order this soup, and their version is too sour and somewhat bland at the same time. I haven't tried the other soups, but perhaps I was turned off by how they made this soup.

Layang Layang is a member of restaurant.com, and you can buy gift certificates to Layang Layang for a discount. For instance, you can buy a $10 gift certificate for $3 or a $25 gift certificate for $10 (sometimes if you look online you can get these even cheaper by using another coupon!). The gift certificates may only be used for dinner/dine-in and requires a minimum purchase (for instance, to use the $25 gift certificate you need to purchase at least $50 worth of food (excluding alcohol and gratuity of 18%)).

Enjoy!

Sonoma Chicken Coop

Sonoma Chicken Coop
200 E. Campbell Avenue
Campbell, California 95003
(408) 866-2699
www.sonomachickencoop.com

Vitals:
M-Thu: 9am – 10 pm
Fri-Sat: 9 am – 11 pm
Sun: 10 am – 10 pm
Kid friendly
Good for groups

“Casual Excellence” is their motto. This casual restaurant serves a range of food, but mostly American fare. You begin by looking over their pretty extensive menu, then order at the counter. You will be given a number and a buzzer, and then you can look for an open table. Once your order is ready, they will call it over the speaker system and your buzzer will buzz and then you can pick up your order at the pick up counter. This place is good for groups as they have a large upstairs area that can accommodate a lot of people.

If you don’t mind not having service, then you will be treated with some good food at very reasonable prices. I usually come here for brunch when Stacks down the street is crowded as the brunch is pretty good and they have a good selection of brunch-type foods.

The Coop Basics, Scrambles and French Toast are good choices. Favorites include Chorizo, Eggs & Tortillas (pictured below) and the Spinach & Mushroom Scramble. There is a fair amount of chorizo in the eggs, so the scramble is meaty, fatty but not greasy. The French Toast is also good as it is grilled in butter.

If you’re here for lunch or dinner, try the Roasted Chicken. You get a choice of sauces and I generally prefer the warm Lemon Vinaigrette (pictured below) or the Booster BBQ. The Lemon Vinaigrette is a bit on the oily side and the capers do tend to overpower the subtle lemon flavor of the bird, but it is still tasty. The BBQ sauce is sweet, but not overly sweet, and it complements the tenderness of the chicken. I like that you get a choice of a side with your chicken (below is the side of pasta with pesto sauce, which was somewhat bland). I would skip the pasta and pizza dishes, which are just average.

Try to save room for dessert. I enjoy the dark chocolate fondue the most. There is a good selection of fruits, pound cake, cookies and marshmallows to dip into the thick dark chocolate. Yummmmm…….Of course, this doesn’t even compare to La Fondue, but who could?

Fall and Comfort Foods

It's Fall. There's something about Fall. The sun sets earlier and rises later, and there is a certain chill in the air. The leaves start to change color and fall off the trees. The tress are left standing naked with twisted branches and try to retain some modesty against an overcast sky.

Granted, the seasons are not as dramatic in California, and I shouldn't complain because I don't have to deal with the snow storms or icy conditions, but there is a certain nostalgia that I feel whenever Fall comes around. I start to think about the long Summer days and the feeling of freedom whenever I was outside, where the air was full of life and longing and I was happily walking around drenched in the sunlight. Then the rain starts and the twilightish light casts a long shadow on everything. I say a long goodbye to heirloom tomatoes and summer fruits like peaches, strawberries, nectarines and plums.

Fall is the beginning of a hibernation period for me. I want to eat comfort foods. I want to hole up in my home and either make a big batch of chili or some lasagna or snuggle up under a blanket on the couch with a large bowl of macaroni and cheese and not leave my little cave.

I can't complain too much though. It is the start of the holiday season. Thanksgiving. Christmas. Occasions that center around family, friends and food. There is a reunion of sorts as family members that were gone on vacation are now back in town. My husband comes from a large family and I look forward to indulging in most of my favorite comfort foods during these large family-centered occasions - turkey with gravy and cranberry sauce, prime rib, mashed potatoes and desserts galore. Sometimes there are other dishes such as bahn cuon (rice noodles stuffed with meat), egg rolls and Vietnamese curries. There is enough variety to appeal to even the pickiest of eaters and certainly enough food for all. It's like going to any banquet, you have to pace yourself, just so that you can have a taste of everything. Then, you can go back for seconds for your favorites.

There is one good reason to look forward to Fall though and that is, the beginning of DUNGENESS CRAB SEASON! Generally, the season starts sometime around Thanksgiving. We have a tradition of going to the docks in Half Moon Bay and buy crabs directly from the boats. Half Moon Bay is a beautiful area and it reminds me how lucky I am to be living here. The smell of the ocean and the wind invigorates me a bit and I like the process of selecting my crabs and knowing that they are fresh from the ocean. I find that the crabs have much more tomalley (the yellowish green runny material in the body cavity, which is the liver) than the ones I buy at the supermarket. Although the taste of tomalley is a bit strong by itself, it adds a great flavor to the crab meat, or to any rice dish. Unfortunately, with the oil spill, this may temper my enthusiasm for buying crab, but I don't think that the oil spill will affect the areas where the crab fishermen harvest the crab.

I prefer my crab plain. It's so easy: step 1 - just pop the crabs in a steamer and let them steam for about 20 minutes and they're done, step 2 - cover the table with old newspaper and put a set of nut crackers or crab tools at each setting and put an empty bowl for all of the shells in the middle, and step 3 - dig in! Just to provide some balance, I make some white rice and some veggies.

What can be better than this?

Lee's Sandwiches

Lees Sandwiches
Multiple locations

Cupertino (20363 Stevens Creek Blvd, Cupertino - (408) 446-5030)
Sunnyvale (939 W El Camino Real, Sunnyvale - (408) 774-0595)
San Jose: (260 E Santa Clara St, San Jose - (408) 286-8808)

The McDonalds of Vietnamese sandwich places and they have expanded aggressively. Vietnamese sandwiches (bahn mi) are made from French bread and filled with different types of meat (usually pork), cilantro, pickled carrots and radishes, some chilis and mayonnaise.

The bread here is soft on the inside but the outside is fairly tough and chewy. Many options are available, such as the combination with different types of pork (such as cha lua, a type of pate of pork steamed in a banana leaf), or you can choose different sandwiches made with grilled pork, barbecue pork and chicken. There are so many different sandwiches here that you can usually find something to your liking. If you’re not in the mood for a Vietnamese sandwich, then they have other more American style sandwiches.

For the price, you can’t beat Lee’s. This is a good cheap Southbay eat. You can walk away with a decent sized Vietnamese sandwich for around $3 (around $4 for the American style sandwiches). Although these sandwiches are not as authentic or tasty than the sandwiches at Huong Lan Sandwich in San Jose or Saigon Sandwich in San Francisco, they are adequate. I can’t make it to these other places often as they are out of the way, so I have to settle for Lee’s Sandwiches to satisfy my bahn mi cravings since they have multiple locations throughout the South Bay.

Maybe I'm being picky but the surrounding seem a bit sterile to me. Sure, there is a clearly defined area to stand in line and the bright lights and open kitchen assure the customer that the place is clean, but I'm used to the hustle and bustle of a typical Vietnamese sandwich shop. Sure, there is a typical efficiency and a gentle push out of the door, but the sterility of the environment was a bit jarring. This nagging feeling disappears once I bite into my bahn mi and chomp down on a chili. Yum.

La Patisserie

La Patisserie
19758 Stevens Creek Blvd.
Cupertino, California 95014
408.446.4744
www.lapatisserie.net/

Vitals:
hours: Tues.-Fri. 7am-6:30pm, Sat. 7am-6pm, Sun. 8:30am-1pm

Simply put, this French bakery has delicious desserts that are presented beautifully. It’s tucked away in the Marketplace strip mall, but definitely seek out this gem. The number of cakes, cookies, pastries, tarts, packages of delectable delights is overwhelming, but with a will and a way and a willing stomach, I did somehow find the resolve to try most of the desserts here.

I think that I’ve found the perfect chocolate cake. For a chocoholic, it’s a feat that is hard to meet. Most chocolate cakes are either too sweet and don’t have enough of a chocolate taste or the chocolate is too bitter and doesn’t have enough sweetness and richness. The chocolate truffle torte… my newest obsession, my decadent, rich, gastronomic wonder. This torte is a chocolate cake with a truffle filling and covered in a dark chocolate ganache. Mind you, you have to really really like chocolate to have this cake, especially dark chocolate - it’s just pure, unadulterated chocolate. The chocolate is slightly bittersweet with different layers of spongy but light cake and thick truffle filling. Before, Prolific Oven’s chocolate cake was my favorite, but this one is the new gold standard. I love that you can get an individual portion of this torte or order a larger cake for a larger party.

Other favorites here include the fruit tart, apple tart, cheesecakes, cookies, éclairs…oh, everything that I’ve tried so far has been outstanding. While the crust of the fruit tart can be somewhat hard at times and is not as flaky as I would normally like (the last one that I had was slightly underbaked), it does have a rich buttery taste, the custard is thick, creamy, sweet, but not too sweet and had a slight eggy taste, and the seasonal fruit on top is fresh and glistens with a thin glaze. I can at least justify getting this dessert so that I can meet my fruit quota for the day. Oh, maybe I can throw in getting a bit of calcium from the milk in the custard?

Cheesecakes here are rich and sweet and has a thick custard like taste. While not as soft as cheesecakes at the Cheesecake Factory, they are still a decadent dessert and my body just sings at that first taste.

Xanh Restaurant

Xanh Restaurant
185 Castro Street
Mountain View, California 94041
(650) 964-1888
www.xanhrestaurant.com

Vitals:
credit card accepted
fine dining, not kid friendly
hours: open 7 days a week
11:30 a.m.-2ish, 5 pm to close (closed for lunch Sat. and Sun)
price: $9-$30
reservations recommended

This is a relatively new Vietnamese restaurant that opened in downtown Mountain View. The inside is very modern but retains an Asian touch. The food here is good, but if you’re looking for authentic Vietnamese cuisine, then perhaps this isn’t the place for you. Even the menu states that it is Vietnamese food adapted to a modern aesthetic. It's clear that the ingredients are really fresh and the dishes are presented well. I went there to celebrate an occasion and while it's not necessarily a cheap eat, it's still a good restaurant that I can recommend.



I was worried that this would be like a fancy restaurant where the portions are small. I was pleasantly surprised when our papaya salad ($10) came out. It was larger than I expected. Papaya salad was made from shreds of green papaya mixed with carrots and some poached shrimp. This was not a traditional papaya salad as it was missing the beef jerky and liver, but since I’m not a big fan of the liver (it’s an acquired taste) I liked this version. The nuoc mam was provided on the side, and we were also given a spoon of chili sauce so that we could make the nuoc mam as spicy as we wanted. Nuoc mam is a dressing that is used with the salad and mainly consists of fish sauce*, some sugar and lime juice. The nuoc mam was very sweet, almost too sweet and it needed more acid or lime juice. Overall, the salad was well presented and pretty tasty too.

There are different variations of rolls, from vegetarian rolls and traditional rolls with shrimp and pork to more creative rolls with different ingredients. The rolls seemed small and overpriced.

Favorites here include the calamari and the shaking beef. The calamari ($10) was soft and not too chewy and had a thin crust with a touch of curry powder and pepper that was spicy enough to give it a certain kick. The calamari also came with some fried chilies and onion. A chili infused mayonnaise sauce was provided as a dipping sauce.

Shaking beef is one of my favorite dishes whenever I go to a Vietnamese restaurant, and I generally judge Vietnamese restaurants based on how well they make this dish. Shaking beef is usually a fillet of beef that is marinated in garlic, fish sauce, sugar and oil and then seared to retain the moisture, but is served rare. The beef came on a bed of green salad and it was soft and tender and coated with a sauce that was salty with a hint of sweetness. Again, the flavors were more mild than what I'm generally used to, but this version was fine. It was one of the more expensive items that we ordered, this is the small order ($18), which was large enough (the large is $22).

I was too stuffed to try the desserts, which is a crying shame as the desserts look soooo good. It's hard to save room for dessert when the food in front of you is so yummy. Someday, maybe I'll have the resolve to save just a tiny bit of room to justify ordering a dessert.

While this place isn't a cheap south bay eat, it is still a good eat.

* Fish sauce is like soy sauce to Chinese cooks. It is an ingredient that is used in many Vietnamese dishes (as well as in Thai, Laos, Philippines and other Southeast Asian regions). Fish sauce is made from fermented fish and is used to add some saltiness to dishes.

Fantasia Coffee & Tea

Fantasia Coffee & Tea
Cupertino Village
10933 N Wolfe Rd # 120
Cupertino, CA 95014
(408) 865-1689

Vitals:
Weekdays: 9 am to 9 pm
Weekends: 9am to 10 pm

This is a place that is famous for its milk tea with pearls (boba). There are different types of tea that is available but try the standard milk tea with pearls, which is sweetened black tea with milk and dark gummy balls made of tapioca (which may be made from yam), called "pearls" or "boba". The pearls are quite large and you need to drink the tea with a wide straw. I like Fantasia because the tea is actually brewed (as opposed to some other places that use powder) so that you can actually taste the tea and they don't overly sweeten the tea. Some find the presence of boba strange, especially in a drink, but I like the chewiness and sweetness of the pearls.

There are other types of drinks with tea or fruit so you can easily find something that suits your taste or cravings. They also serve shaved ice, and while the options are somewhat limited, the standards such as red bean are available. The shaved ice is decent, not as fluffy as some other places, but it will do the trick.

It's also a good place to hang out as there are tables and chairs outside in the large patio and free wifi is available.

Sheng Kee Bakery

Sheng Kee Bakery
Cupertino Village
10961 North Wolfe Road
Cupertino, California 95014
(408) 865-6000

The smell of butter wafts from this establishment and entices me to come inside. Inside, you are greeted with an assortment of breads, buns and pastries. Take a tray and just start picking through the buns and pastries, which range from the salty variety (green onion and pork sung) to the sweet (coconut and/or almond paste). The offerings here are pretty cheap (ranging from $0.90 to $2.00). You can get the usual breads such as white and wheat here, but try to coconut or the raisin breads. One of my favorite buns here is the green onion and pork sung bun as the slight sweetness of the bread contrasts nicely with the salty green onion and pork sung. The coconut buns are good too as I can taste some sweet coconut in each bite of this sticky bun.

You can also order cakes here as well. I generally prefer cakes from Asian bakeries as the frosting is made of real buttercream and the cake is spongy, light and isn’t too sweet.

There is one thing that you can find here that you don’t find in your usual bakery and that is, in the warming oven, they have a variety of savory tarts or popovers. Whenever I’m in the mood for a good salty snack, I head over to this bakery and order the popover with curry beef. The warm, buttery and flaky crust has a nice crunch and inside is filled with beef with some curry sauce. I can easily have a couple of these and be satisfied.

Guan Dong Restaurant

Guan Dong Restaurant

Cupertino Village
10851 N Wolfe Rd
Cupertino, California 95014
(408) 253-3398

Vitals:
cash only
prices: $4-10
opens late (around 12)
kid friendly/good for groups

This is a Chinese restaurant serving Northern Chinese cuisine that deserves its place amongst the many Chinese restaurants in the Village. The cuisine has been influenced by its surrounding areas (Russia, Korea, Mongolia and China) as there is a good mix of flavors and different meats than what is typically seen (such as lamb).

The prices are pretty cheap and the portions are generous. There is a certain advantage to going with a person that speaks Chinese as the waiters can give recommendations on what the most popular dishes are or can give you an idea of what dishes complement each other.

Dishes that I’ve tried have been pretty good. The Guan Dong tofu was a memorable dish. The tofu was silky and firm and had pieces of tender pork and green peppers and it was covered with a black bean sauce that wasn’t overpowering. We also tried the steamed flounder, which was was soft and garnished with curls of green onion. The fish didn’t taste fishy, so I know it was fresh.

Under the section entitled "Guan Dong Specials" are dishes with corn cakes. The corn cake dishes come in a wok that hold an impressive amount of food. We ordered the chicken with mushroom. The chicken was stewed in an aromatic sauce made with soy sauce and ginger that had just a hint of anise, which made the chicken soft and flavorful, but I could do without the corn cakes, which were hard and bland and the noodles, which were mushy.

The mongolian beef is another memorable dish. The beef is tender and had a great peppery taste that was complemented by the copious amounts of green onion and onion.

Generally, the food here is tasty but on the oily side. The lines tend to be pretty long, so either come early or later to beat the crowds. You can’t beat the price here. For our table of six, we were able to go away stuffed for $47 without tip ($7.83 each). Just be prepared to be packed in like sardines. Sometimes I felt as though I couldn't move otherwise I'd hit the person behind me with my chair or arm or leg, or any other appendage.

There is a bit of inconsistency here though, and there were certainly dishes that didn't impress, such as General Chicken (I think that this is supposed to be General Tso's Chicken). The pieces of chicken was covered in a thick sweet and sour sauce that made the pieces of breaded chicken soggy. Also, the breading on the chicken was so thick that the pieces of chicken were barely noticeable.

Joy Luck Place

Joy Luck Place
Cupertino Village
10911 N. Wolfe Road
North Wolfe Road, Cupertino, California 95014
(408) 255-6988

Vitals:
credit card accepted
good for groups
kid friendly
M-F: 11 am-2:30 pm and 5:30 pm-9:00 pm
Sat-Sun/holidays: 10 am-2:30 pm and 5:30 pm-10 pm

Restaurant serving Cantonese fare and some of the best dim sum around. Dim sum is a breakfast or brunch type meal in which you eat a range of small dishes with tea. If you come for dim sum, come either early (before 11 a.m. or after the lunch hour), otherwise there is a long wait. It’s best to go with a larger group so that you can sample a lot of different dishes.

What is nice about this place is that many waiters walk around with carts filled with different items and you can flag down any of them to take a peek at their fare. Don’t worry if you don’t speak Chinese, the servers are more than happy to lift the covers of the little bamboo steamers to show you what is inside. You won’t get a detailed description of what is in a particular dumpling (general statements such as “shrimp and pork” or just “shrimp and vegetables”), but the portions are small enough that you can indulge and try many different things. Hopefully, you’ll remember what you liked AND what it looked like. It's easy to lose track of how many dishes you eat as the waiters are very proficient at taking away the steamers. Depending on the size of the dish, the dishes range from $3-6 each, but be careful of the dishes on the special cart (with the roast duck and other specialties such as seaweed salad), those dishes can be pretty expensive.

The following are some favorites:

• shrimp dumplings (har gow)
• pork and shrimp dumplings (sui mai)
• congee (rice porridge with pork and preserved egg)
• fried taro dumpling with meat filling
• barbecue pork buns (cha su bao)
• lotus leaf rice – glutinous rice with pieces of pork
• steamed Chinese broccoli
• fried dumpling with chives
• spare ribs with black bean sauce
• doughnuts
  

For the adventurous, try the chicken's feet. As long as you don't mind eating something that actually looks like their feet and the pieces of cartilage and bones, the feet have this amazing flavor.

At night Joy Luck serves traditional dishes that are delicious, but the dishes are a bit on the pricey side. I would rather go to Joy Luck for the dim sum than for dinner as there are cheaper options in the complex.

HC Dumpling House

Hu Chiang Dumpling House - CLOSED
Cupertino Village
10877 North Wolfe Road
Cupertino, CA 95014
(408) 873-4813

Vitals:
closed Tuesday
kid friendly
accepts credit cards
price: $6-15

If you’ve ever had Shanghi steamed dumpling (xiao long bao), then this place makes some of the best that I’ve found in my many years of searching. If you haven’t had these, then you have to try them at least once and you’ll be in for a treat.
Generally, xiao long bao is made as follows:

• the wrapping is a thin skin made of unleavened flour
• the stuffing in a traditional dumpling is made of fatty pork, but you can find combinations of pork and some other meat or vegetable
• a small amount of chopped pig skin or gelatin may be wrapped within the meat stuffing in order to get a soupy consistency
• steamed in small bamboo containers

The place is generally packed so either come early or late otherwise you’ll be waiting for a while. They will ask you at the front whether you’d be willing to share a large table with another party, and generally I’m so hungry that I don’t mind sitting across some stranger as I’m usually stuffing my face as fast I can with the delicious steamed dumplings.

The best way to eat the dumplings is to pick one up as gently as possible so that you don’t break the thin skin and then place it in one of the wide spoons provided. I like to dip my dumpling first in the black vinegar and put some slivers of ginger on top. Since the dumplings are scalding hot when they arrive at the table, for the first dumpling, I test the temperature by biting the skin so that some of the juice comes out and then slurp the entire dumpling into my mouth. Utter bliss. Sometimes I’m impatient and end up burning my mouth (but it’s almost worth it). After the dumplings have cooled a bit, I’ll just slurp the entire dumping into my mouth. I think the reason why so many people are passionate about xiao long baos is that it is such a decadent food in a neat little package. The skin is thin but is slightly chewy, the meat melts in your mouth and you get a squirt of the soup or juice that has a delicious and salty richness. I’d try the traditional dumplings first, but the other varieties are also noteworthy. The pork and crab dumplings are also really good as are the shrimp and loofah dumplings (both pictured below, the shrimp dumplings are in the back of the picture). What’s nice is that you get 8 dumplings (my dining companion took one of the dumplings before I could take a picture) per order, and when I order several types of dumpling, it's enough to share and satisfy my dumpling cravings.

Other than the dumplings, which should the centerpiece of your meal (otherwise, why else are you going to a dumpling house?) there are a few other good dishes. The beef roll is good as an appetizer. The bread surrounding the beef is chewy but not too tough and it’s a nice complement to the beef. If you’re in the mood for something spicy, the spicy chicken in the cold dishes/appetizer section is also pretty good. I also like to order some veggies with my meal, so I generally order the sautéed vegetables (either spinach, broccoli or other seasonal vegetable) or the eggplant with basil. The eggplant comes in a hotpot and the eggplant isn’t too mushy, but is covered with a strong soy basil sauce that is salty and slightly sweet at the same time. The dish may be a bit strong, but I love the combination of flavors.

Recommendations:

• traditional Shanghai steamed dumplings
• steamed dumpling with crab meat paste
• shrimp and loofah dumplings
• eggplant with basil
• green beans with pancake

Dishes that didn’t impress:

• vegetarian dumpling with mushroom. The texture was a bit strange and the dumplings didn’t have much flavor.
• rice cake. People either love or hate this dish. I found that the pieces of rice cake were chewy and hard and the sauce didn’t have any flavor (other than a bit of saltiness). I guess the texture just turned me off a bit.
• green onion pancake. The pancake was thin, tough and dry and didn’t have much of a green onion taste. I’m used to the ones that are toasted on the outside and the inside is soft and chewy and there is a slightly salty green onion flavor in each bite. Sadly disappointed with this dish.

Tip – if you pay in cash you may get an additional 5% discount.

Cupertino Village

There are a lot of good places to eat in Cupertino, but I’ll focus on certain types of food first. If you want a fix of Asian food, then I’d head to Cupertino Village on the corner of Homestead and Wolfe Road. There are so many different restaurants there, but Chinese restaurants definitely dominate. What’s nice about that is that there are restaurants that represent different regions of China (how annoying would it be if all of the restaurants focused on one region? However, if all focused on Sichuan fare, I wouldn't mind that much, but but you do need a little variety).

While there are a lot of good, cheap eats in this Village, and while the sheer number of choices can be overwhelming at times, have no fear, because you will have a handy little guide to help you choose among the many restaurants that are there. I will post on some of my favorites in a bit.

Pho Little Saigon

Pho Little Saigon
855 E. Homestead Road
Sunnyvale, California 94087
(408) 245-5570

Vitals:
open 10 am to 9 am daily
cash only
kid friendly
price: $5-10


Across the street from Ranch 99, Pho Little Saigon is a no frills Vietnamese restaurant that serves some authentic pho.

What is pho? It's a traditional Vietnamese noodle soup dish. Pho is generally served in a large bowl and consists of white rice noodles in a clear and fragrant beef broth with different and thin cuts of meat on top (the picture above shows cuts of Tai or rare steak on top). Generally, you can choose what types of meat you'd like to have with your pho:

• Tai - rare steak
• Nam - brisket
• Chin - lean brisket
• Sac - tripe
• Gan - tendon

Generally, if you go to a restaurant that is named for a particular dish, you should try the specialty. I like this place because where else can you get a filling meal for $5.25 (small) or $6.25 (large). Trust me, you should try the small first as their portions are very generous (the bowls are huge!).

The menu lists a bunch of different combinations, but you don't need to stick with any of them. You can create your own combination and Tai Chin is my favorite combination. I love the broth, it has a complexity of flavors, but they do seem to use MSG. I've been to some places where the cinnamon or anise flavors were overpowering, but at Pho Little Saigon, the flavors meld together well and there is a certain richness to the broth. I do have to say that there may be issues with consistency sometimes. The broth is not always the same and sometimes it is too salty (maybe it's the soup from the bottom of a pot?). Along with the pho, you are provided a plate of bean sprouts, chiles, thai basil, some other herbs and slices of lime. Tip - in order to keep the broth warm, ask for cooked sprouts.

Some people tend to put the hoisin sauce and pepper sauce right into the soup. I like my pho plain, but like to mix the sauces on the side in order to dip pieces of beef.

When I'm not in the mood for beef pho, the chicken pho is ok, but it almost tastes like chicken broth with noodles.

The other dishes, such as the bun or the rice dishes, are average. If you need something to accompany the pho, then I'd suggest the egg rolls, which add a different crunchy texture that contrasts nicely with the soupy chewy noodles.

The Rules

1. No sponsors. I will not accept any free meals in order to ensure an unbiased opinion.

2. Personal experience. I will only post reviews of restaurants where I have dined.

3. Second chances. If I have a negative experience, I will at least try the place again before I post a negative opinion unless of course, my experience is so horrendous that no human being should be subjected to it again.

Should there be any other rules?

Oh yes, geography. While I will focus on the South Bay, I may post reviews on restaurants in surrounding areas, such as the Peninsula. There may be a few other exceptions whenever I have an outstanding meal outside of this area. Who can resist? There are so many good restaurants afoot!

Eating my way through the South Bay

I want to create a community where we can all share our experiences with good food. Our common ground can be as simple as that – good food. Sometimes I feel like we’re so busy with our lives that we’ve become disconnected with each other. Please share your experiences, your secret spots, and your favorite restaurants and dishes.

Although there are other sites out there that have reviews and recommendations, they only seem to focus on eats in big cities. I want to focus on one area and find those gems that lie hidden in the South Bay. So let's all eat, drink and be merry in the South Bay!

Cheap Eats

Life is food or food is life. Is there anything else in which you can indulge all (or most) of your five senses?

Sight - the visual spectacle of a plate of food, the colors contrasts in all its glistening, smoking or steaming glory as it arrives at the table adds to the anticipation of devouring its contents.

Hearing - most food doesn't make a sound, but I do get a little excited when a plate of sizzling beef arrives. Actually, chewing does make a sound (thankfully not heard by others around me), and then I become more aware of my act of eating.

Touch - Whether I'm picking up a fried piece of chicken or eating some lettuce cup with minced chicken or tofu, or even using utensils, once I put any food in my mouth, I am acutely aware of the texture of the food. I love using my hands and the act of putting food to mouth. When I get that first bite of the fried chicken, I get a sense of satisfaction once I tear through the crispy chicken skin and sink my teeth into the warm and succulent meat that oozes with some oil and chicken fat.

Smell - As the smell of the food wafts into my nostrils, the pungent, sweet or sour smells prepare me for what is to come. Sometimes, I think that I can even smell the spiciness of the Kung Pao Chicken or Jambalaya.

Taste - I love it when something hits my palate all at once. Generally, there are four tastes: sweet, salty, sour and bitter. Thai food, in my experience, has a way of combining most of the tastes (sweet, salty and sour) all at once.

I take no greater pleasure in eating good food, and I especially relish having good food at a good price. We're so busy nowadays to really sit down and savor each morsel that passes our lips. Although fast food does satisfy our need for nourishment and we do need to take advantage of the convenience now and then, what I'm thinking about is our need to really connect with our senses again and start enjoying one of the basics in our daily life.

There are few passions in life - and food is one of mine.