Category Archives: foOod!

Indian Dinner @ Clay Oven…mMmMm

OK, after a long day of running around, packing and unpacking, all of us were starvin’ marvins. None of us had lunch and we just wanted to eat anything. I suggested Indian since I know my sister and John like it, so we went into downtown San Mateo looking for a place.

We had an idea in mind, but I couldn’t remember the name of the restaurant or specific location. It was off El Camino Real somewhere and I read great reviews about it off Yelp!  Anyway, we passed by Clay Oven on 3rd Ave and decided to just park and eat there. We’ll try that other indian restaurant next time when we know exactly where it’s located.

We were seated pretty quickly, but then again, there weren’t many people eating at 6pm :)

Service was good, though. The waiter was helpful in describing and recommending dishes, he and other staff checked on us every 20 minutes or so and they kept our waters full pretty often, too.

We ordered chicken wings for appetizer, butter chicken (chicken makhni), lamb something (can’t remember), a veggie/cauliflower dish (aloo gobhi),  and two kinds of nan – jalapeno nan and garlic nan.

Verdict? It was good. I’d definitely go back when I’m craving for indian food.

My top favs were chicken wings, butter chicken and their nan.

I loved their chicken wings, but then again, I LOVE chicken wings. hehe. It was very flavorful and juicy. Wings were served on a sizzling hot plate, which made it more appetizing since they were kept warm. I think there was about 7 wings on there.

The butter chicken had a great saucy flavor that was rich and full of different kinds of spices. I cleaned that dish up good…

Nan = mMm mMm good. I usually don’t eat starchy foods like rice and bread much, but I really liked their nan and ate several pieces. The jalepeno nan was a bit thicker I think due to the jalepeno chunks. Still good though, imo. Garlic nan was soft and garlic covered.

Lamb… hmm, I’ve never been a big fan of lamb, so I don’t think I’ll give a fair review of this dish. The meat was gamey, which I don’t like. Sauce was cool. Not my favorite though. It reminded me of light tomato sauce. Don’t get me wrong, I still ate it :P

Veggie dish… that was alright, too. Cauliflower was a bit too mushy for me and flavor was much lighter than what I was craving for. I wouldn’t mind getting it again, however I’ll probably try another veggie dish next time.

Price? Hmm, not sure how this compares to other Indian restaurants since I rarely eat Indian food, but our bill came out to be around $61. I guess it’s fair for 3 main dishes, 1 appetizer, rice and 3 orders of nan.

When our bill came out, I wanted to take a picture of it so I could remember how much it cost and what we ordered. The host/greeter/possibly owner? saw me and came over to our table.

Host: You can’t take pictures of the bill.

Me: No way, serious? You’re kidding, right?

Host: No, you can take pictures of the food, menu, restaurant, but not the bill.

Me: *woah*

Me: Really? Why?

Host: You can’t take pictures of the bill. Sorry.

Me: *puzzled* OK. *why?* *put my sister’s camera away*

I’ve been kinda yelled at many times for taking pictures of things, but being told to not take a picture of our restaurant bill was a first! I asked why, but he didn’t give an explanation. It’s his restaurant, so I know he didn’t need to give a reason if he didn’t want to. Oh well. Weird…

Pasta Primavera – San Mateo

Dinner tonight @ Pasta Primavera (PP) in San Mateo off 4th Avenue was good. I’ve been to the Walnut Creek one at least 3-4 times already, so I already had an idea of what to expect.

I personally like the San Mateo Pasta Primavera over the Walnut Creek Pasta Primavera. Even though it’s the same restaurant, there are slight differences to each…

  • PP in San Mateo has better dipping sauce. — You can taste the sun dried tomatoes, spices and oil in this dip, which is very tasty. I don’t know what’s in the Walnut Creek dipping sauce…I can’t tell.
  • PP in San Mateo has better service. — Our waitress was friendly, attentive and quick. My first 3 experiences in Walnut Creek were bad. Food was good, but service sucked most of the time. It sucked because I kept on getting the same waitress, who sucked at waitressing :P . She messed up on our order and the order for the table next to us. She never offered us parmegian cheese or fresh ground pepper for our soups and meals – I saw all the other waitresses do this for their tables. And she never checked on us to see if we needed anything or how we were doing – no refills on water, nothing!
  • PP in Walnut Creek makes Shrimp and Scallops Carmen better. — I can’t figure out why, but Shrimp and Scallops Carmen dish tastes better at the Walnut Creek location. However, it doesn’t taste that much better. I’ll go to San Mateo over Walnut Creek any day.

John’s Seafood Primavera was really good. So good that I wanted to trade my dish for his. Seafood Primavera is definitely recommended.

Shanghai Dumpling Shop…

Skipped out on free pizza to eat with John and Patrick @ Shanghai Dumpling Shop for lunch – a very wise decision :)

I was surprised to see the wide variety they offered on their menu. John and Patrick have been there before, so I ate whatever they wanted to pick out.

What we got:

  • 2 orders of dumplings
  • 1 dish of fried noodles with fried sparerib
  • 1 red bean pastry – very dessert like

Verdict?

Food is good and I’ll definitely come back.

I really liked all 3 dishes. Dumplings were flavorful and actually had broth inside (I’ve had a bad experience @ dim sum where we ordered shanghai dumplings and they were dry as hell). Noodles were a bit on the greasy side, but that’s nothing unusual. It was flavorful as well and so were the spareribs.

Red bean dessert is something really I like, but I’m not sure how many others would agree. I’ll order this dish the next time I go. I’d only recommend it if you like red bean or asian puff-like pastries that have red bean.

Cost of food was fair. For all 3 of us, total came out to about $11 per person. I think it’s safe to say we all left with satisfied stomachs for the price.

Thanks to the guys for introducing me to Shanghai Dumpling Shop!!! :)

In-n-Out…

Today’s lunch was @ In-N-Out with dingbo and sven. Out of all the times I’ve been there, I’ve never taken a picture of the food (at least I can’t remember if I did). I thought In-N-Out was so overrated when I first had their burger 6 years ago. Wow, 6 years ago.

in-N-out cheeseburger + fries

in-N-out cheeseburger + fries

Anyways, it’s really good. Even better, it’s cheap AND good! The only downside is how crowded the place can get and you may have no where to sit.

and a little insider joke for myself that I won’t describe in detail here… car ride back talking about smokin’ and hand. oh man… good times!

double dose of sushi and catching up…

Twice today I had sushi. Twice today I met up with people who I haven’t seen in a while. And twice today I had a great time. Reminder for myself, bring cupcakes next time!

It was nice to have 2 breaks from my current thoughts.

I was able to spend time with an old colleague and catch up with what he’s been up to and how he and his family are doing. Stopped by his place to see his wife and kids. Wow, the kids have grown so much! The older one talks now and the younger one now walks. My-oh-my, how time flies. The kids are adorable…

Met up with another friend for dinner at Hiro Sushi in San Bruno since BJ’s had an hour + wait. Good food and good company always make good times. I particularly remember an example we talked about regarding executives and grammer. Ohboy, the exception was hilarious. Oh Amos, how we still make fun of thee and ye stupidity.

Enjoyed a couple of slices of black forest cake and then called it a night. I’m sure another we’ll meet up again soon. Now it’s time for bed…

Kinaree Thai Bistro…

We’ve heard so much hype about Pink’s hotdogs that we decided to have lunch there after leaving Hermosa.

Well, we didn’t. We drove past Pink’s and saw the queue. The last person in line was near the back of the shack. :P John and I were not in the mood to stand and wait that long for a hot dog.

So John kept driving straight down the road. At this point we didn’t know where to eat. Then John spots a thai restaurant on the left and made our lunch decision right there – Kinaree Thai Bistro.

Verdict?

I really liked Kinaree and would love to go back when I’m in L.A. The food and service reminded me of Thai Nakorn in San Bruno, which is one of my favorite Thai restaurants in the bay. It has a homey feel because it seems like you’re being served by family members of the restaurant.

Food – Food was good! Reasonable portions and great for family style eating.

  • Choo chee red curry was my favorite out of the three with it’s variety of seafood and flavorful sauce. This dish goes great with white rice.
  • Pad See Yew with tofu was good too. I asked them for soft tofu, and they were able to slightly fry the exterior while leaving the inside still soft – yum! I only wished they had more scrambled eggs in the dish, but that’s easy to ask for for next time.
  • Tom Yum soup was normal. Not the best ever, yet I’d order it again.

Service – Very casual and comfortable dining, and they were very good on service. Quick, attentive and checked on us in case we needed something.

Price – Reasonable. All 3 dishes cost ~$30 without tip and we had a lot of leftovers. 2 dishes would’ve been enough for us to be full and happy with dinner.

Definitely recommended.

Tonight I fly back to SF… bye bye, L.A.

Sprinkles and the rest of the day…

My pictures show a timeline of what happened the rest of the day after Terrace Cafe.

  1. Sprinkles – Cupcake place. Dude, what’s up with all these boutique cupcake places? Is this a new fad or is it just me that’s not into it? The line was long as hell. I don’t get it. Verdict? Overrated. I thought the cake part was too dry for my preference. If I had a can of Reddiwhip it would’ve tasted so much better.
  2. Rodeo Drive – Sprinkles is right by Rodeo, so we took a quick stroll down and I got to see some nice red eye candy.
  3. Kitson – This one was for Linda. While waiting, I had some eye candy that kept me occupied – I think she was Brazilian. maDd cute.
  4. Urth Cafe – Supposedly it’s a posh cafe. We went there so the girls could pick up some coffee beans to bring back home. Eye candy appears again while I’m waiting around – a shiny red Ferrari F50 parallel parks across the street. The couple gets out of the car and go into Urth. Wow. The guy’s gf/wife was pretty hot too. What money can buy… haha!
  5. Blue Balls on Melrose – need I say more? hehe, JK. We went down Melrose to do some vintage shopping.
  6. Dinner time in Ktown – Skipped out on our reservations @ Geisha and hopped into some restaurant b/c the food smelled good and it had outdoor dining. Bad choice. Food was bland and service did not speak English. Will not eat in Ktown again for a while…

Got home around 8 and called it a night. Tomorrow the girls fly back to Texas. I’m gonna miss them :(

Terrace Cafe @ Venice Beach

I love having brunch at Terrace Cafe in Venice Beach. At Terrace Cafe, you can order mimosas and eat breakfast entrees until 2:30pm. Sitting outside is a great way to people watch while you eat, but the downside is that only groups of 4 or less are allowed. Dining inside is cool too. It’s a bit more private since pedestrians can’t stare at your food as they pass, and the cafe has skylights that naturally brightens up the interior.

Food is good – how can any restaurant mess up scrambled eggs and toast?! I’m just happy they’re willing to serve breakfast after 10:30 :)

After brunch we all walked along the boardwalk to soak up the sun’s rays and get some vitamin D. Next stop, Sprinkles.

oh no sacramone!

homemade hot pot dinner

homemade hot pot dinner

Didn’t get much sleep last night and today was quite hectic. Had an appointment that was a bit of a drive away this morning and the meeting ran longer than expected. Fortunately, my girlfriend invited me over to hang out and have hotpot dinner – a great way to spend quality time with a friend, have good food, fun and relax for the rest of the day.

Hotpot was very good. We all ate until our tummies were about to burst and then we moved on to the watermelon. thanks for having me over, babes :)

After dinner, we chilled out on the couches watching the olympics, criticizing how some members of the Chinese women’s gymnastics team look way too young to be 16 and watching Phelps win his 10th gold medal in the men’s relay – “‘cmon, you can do it! finish in under 7 mins!!! almost there…woohooo! we won, we won!”

All was great up until Sacramone fell off the balance beam – dOh! that was painful to see…not because of the medal, but just thinking of how she’s feeling right now. i feel so bad for her! her eyes were filling with tears after her routine was done… aww :( that hurts… really really hurts.

midnight came and I left to go home…here I am and it’s time for bed.

Goodnight yall…

ugh, no more breakfasts…

ok, this is a reminder to myself to never eat breakfast again unless i’m on a vacation and can walk around afterwards.

for most, i’m assuming, breakfast is the most important meal of the day. it supposedly jump starts the brain and provides a good burst of energy…

totally opposite for me.

friday mornings my company provides a very nice selection of breakfast and, on this particular morning, i decided to have something for breakfast. bad idea. right now i’m feeling sluggish, bloated, heavy and slow. it takes so much more energy for my body to digest breakfast that my thinking is impaired. all blood flow is going to the stomach – ack! i’m ready for a nap, and it’s not even 10am.

never again…ugh.