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!