Selby’s again.
I love being here and getting myself into a zone. They treat me well and give me free stuff. The food is very good but not Michelin star level for me. I feel bad for saying that.
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Third or fourth time at Sirene. Place was packed Friday circa 8pm.
Went there because I wanted to drink some nice old red wine but the list online was out of date and the only one left was a 14.5% Mourvedre, blech no thanks.
Got a lovely old Riesling instead.
Still wish they’d drop the salt on the crust.
Abalone was a great little snack.
Mussels were tiny but delicious. Surprisingly spicy broth.
Was too full to eat more than a slice of shrimp-chorizo-broccoli pizza.
Chartreuse ice cream was great.
I guess they comped the fries because I didn’t eat many and gave the rest to the people sitting next to me at the bar. Nice touch.
2 Likes
First time back to 54 Mint in over ten years. They’ve rebranded themselves 54 Mint Cucina Romana, since the current chef is Roman. I was craving carbonara so that worked. Same group has Montesacro in SF, Walnut Creek, and Brooklyn.
Watermelon panzanella: great alternative to the usual tomato version.
Misticanza: really nice salad.
Rigatoni alla carbonara: only the standard classic ingredients, excellent. Personally I prefer the texture of commercial rigatoni to this house-extruded version, but it’s great anyway. Next time I’ll ask for double the guanciale and split one order. This time we took half the pasta home and will reheat it with some Fatted Calf guanciale.
Scottadito. Classic.
Coda alla vaccinara, ditto though I would have liked more celery (don’t always get that in Rome, either).
Simple, not very sweet pannacotta with real 20-year-old aceto balsamico, excellent.
Nice atmosphere, friendly service, great place if you’re craving Roman cuisine.
1 Like
Vik’s for the first time in a while. Seemed pretty quiet but it was around 1:45 so maybe after the lunch rush.
Cholle bhature, good but I’m sad they no longer have paratha.
Lamb special, good.
Uttapam, something seemed wrong, undercooked?
4 Likes
Protégé
I’ve come to appreciate this restaurant. The food is good! It’s not incredible, but it’s well prepared, with a fair amount of creativity; comfortable and right. Every time I go here I leave happier. The staff seem happy. Some have been there for several years, which is a good sign. Thank you! This restaurant gets my vote for best restaurant in Palo Alto / Menlo Park
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Forgot to take a photo but the burger at Mua is still first-rate. Better than the last one I had at Zut.
Triple Rock closing in December. Owners retiring.
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Eylan
Objectively: The execution isn’t on par with top restaurants. The branzino skin is not quite crispy enough, the flesh not quite juicy enough.
Subjectively: This food is fucking delicious! This restaurant rules.
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https://www.instagram.com/is_it_snackbar/
Is It Snackbar aka Yakitori Popup at Punchdown Oakland last night. Really good skewers (two hearts, chicken skin, soft cartilage, and shitake, $24) and crunchy rice ball ($8). One of the guys told me they have lots of other chicken parts if you ask for them, looking forward to that next time.
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Zareen’s (Palo Alto)
Would be good for LA but it’s not on par with many other Indian restaurants I’ve tried in the Bay Area. It does, however, deliver past 11 pm so I probably will order again one day.
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Desi Bazar Desi (Sunnyvale)
This restaurant’s Bengali menu with dishes overlapping those at Aladin in LA caught my attention. I prefer the versions at Aladin.
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I regularly get chan pad poo (spicy Dungeness noodles) delivered from Chai Thai in Berkeley. Choosing the spicy option they have serious heat but the flavor is balanced. Huge portion, easily four meals for me. The dish has almost no veg so I like to mix in some sauteed cabbage or bean sprouts.
Holders House / Sarah Kirnon is doing a pop-up residency at Gold Palm (old Flora space) this month, Wednesdays through Saturdays.
Khaar (Sunnyvale - NE Indian)
This new, upscale, popular restaurant was my first encounter with NE Indian cuisine, which really is several distinct cuisines, like Assam and Naga. The food tasted unique — not North Indian, Burmese, Tibetan, or a fusion thereof. It was all tasty and well prepared. I absolutely plan to return!
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What dishes are these and how do they differ in terms of flavor compared to dishes from other parts of India?
One dish was Naga chili fish. Nagaland is a state bordering Myanmar. Ninety percent of the people are Christian, predominantly Baptist. The official language is English, though the people also speak several local languages and a creole mix called Nagamese. The dish tasted more Hunan than anything (chilis and tangy fermented bean flavor). It had little resemblance to anything I think of as Indian food.
Another dish was Assamese black sesame chicken. This was bone-in chicken in a thick black sesame gravy. It was more Indian-ish in that one could call it a “curry,” but it didn’t taste like any Indian dish I’m familiar with. It came with short grain rice steamed in a banana leaf.
Another dish was stir fried vegetables. I would have guessed Tibetan.
Another dish was black sesame cheesecake, an unbaked cheesecake made from doi (Assam yogurt).
3 Likes
Moonwake (San Jose)
Wow I got lucky, my assistant miscalendared my meeting so I had two hours to spare and I randomly found this AWESOME coffee place. The space is good not amazing, but the coffee - wow! So elegant and classy. At the highest end of coffees I’ve tasted. Way better than all the other coffee I’ve tasted in Silicon Valley, which has all been bullshit.
2 Likes