Home Cooking

The other day I decided to cook okonomiyaki and hanpen cheese.  Okonomiyaki is a real Japanese dish, a savoury pancake usually with seafood, or bacon-like things, smeared with Japanese mayo, okonomiyaki sauce (whatever that is) and fish flakes on top.  I bought the flour from the Japanese supermarket Nijiya, and all I had to do was to add cabbage, egg and water and mix it together and fry it!  Not bad, quite delicious!  I'm not sure if hanpen cheese is a real Japanese dish, but they have it at my favourite joint in LA, Furaibo.  Hanpen is a mix of fish and tofu, like a tofu fishcake.  You slice the hanpen, take a slice of cheese and insert it in the cavity, wrap with seaweed, batter with panko, and VOILA!  Hanpen cheese!  Furaibo's was much better, though Lingon said he liked mine better, but I think that is because it was not as deep fried.  Haha!

Izakaya Mai, San Mateo

So it turns out all the ramen places in San Mateo area closed on Tuesdays.  We tried to go to Santa Ramen, but when I arrived it looked strangely quiet.  Googled Dojo and Ramen Parlor, all closed.  So off to downtown San Mateo we went.

I chose Izakaya Mai as I felt like having a don.  Unagi, I initially thought, but I could just go to Nijiya to pick up an unagi, drizzle a ton of sauce all over it, and make my own rice.  Ended up getting the salmon and tuna don, no idea why because I could do the same thing.  The raw fish was decent, nothing special.  There was this weird gooey thing with a quail egg in it.  I think it made me sick.  I did some Googling and found that it was probably mountain radish.  It was disgusting.  Well, that serves me right for not doing proper Yelp research because someone else complained about that weird goo thing too!  I would not come back here unless I had to, it's cheap-ish enough for raw fish that I would go, but I could get the same at the Japanese supermarket.

Ice Cream Bar, SF

This is my second time at Ice Cream Bar.  We decided to go for a late night date, and this has got to be my favourite ice cream place in the city.  Last time we were there, we got a strawberry shortcake with basil ice cream (I think), and a brownie sundae.  So amazing.  This time I wanted something different (typical me), and Yelp really recommended the KELLER’S FARM (Cornmeal shortbread, creme fraiche and morello cherry ice creams, cherry sauce and rosemary syrup), so that is what I got!  Well, I really loved the cornmeal shortbread, the creme fraiche ice cream was great, but I wouldn't say I loved cherry though for cherry ice cream it was good. Overall very pleased.

Lingon got the SUMMER IN SIAM (Cold-brewed Bicycle coffee, sweetened condensed milk, egg, salt) which tasted just like a coffee drink.  Super boring yawn but he liked it.

I would go back here anytime.  My favourite is the basil ice cream.  I think their flavours are very unique.  I suppose some would say that about Humphry Slocombe, for which I have about $130 of store credit, but for some reason the Ice Cream Bar flavours appeal more to me.  Please visit!

PayPal App Discount, SF

I should have probably written this when I found out about it, but I was lazy.  Two weeks ago when Lingon and I went for Free Waffle Wednesdays, which by the way is amazing, Lingon picked up a flyer from someone about downloading the PayPal app.  From now till (sadly) Wednesday (which is in 2 days time) one can get discounts from various merchants, between $5 and 10, by paying using the PayPal app.

I feel like since I have benefited greatly from this, I should really write a short thing about the app.  It's not bad, I've asked the various merchants if they liked it, and everyone seems positive to somewhat positive on it.  One merchant said that customers seemed to have difficulty at times locating their venue.  There are a couple of ways to use it.  You can either log-in or check-in to the venue when you are there, and after you have ordered tell them you will pay by PayPal.  As long as you are logged in to that venue properly, they will be able to find you and charge your PayPal account, which is either linked to your PayPal balance or credit card.  The other way is to order beforehand, which only works for some venues with their menu online.  I think they use Eat24 to populate and order.  Once you have ordered, they will charge your method of payment and let you know the time frame to pick your food up.  I think you can also order delivery using this method.

Pros of the app - say I'm going running, which is not an infrequent occurrence, I don't have to bring my credit card or cash with me.  Or if I get robbed and the robber lets me keep my phone, I won't go hungry.  Cons - sometimes I can't find certain merchants, like that one merchant griped about above.  Also, I'm sort of a bit anti-apps/technology, so I think this just adds another layer of confusion and complication to life.  I recommend it for people who like technology, but otherwise find pulling my credit card out of my wallet a rather simple task and personally prefer doing it.

I spent the past week or so trying out different places, using my discount.  Here are quick sort of reviews or discussions (sorry no pictures).
1)  Delica - this is one of my favourite casual eateries, though a bit expensive.  Located in the Ferry Building, very convenient.  I usually get some kind of Japanese curry, the roast beef sushi or agedashi tofu, and I like all of these.  Recently I discovered the ginger beef bowl and crab croquette, and those are yummy too.  They also have noodles, but last time I got tempura soba I found it rather unimpressive.
2)  Fuel Cafe - this is the cafe located inside the Equinox gym on Pine Street in the financial district.  We got the salmon burrito, twice.  It was a large burrito, both Lingon and I shared it, and it was delicious.
3)  Dinosaurs - funny name for a Vietnamese sandwich place.  We first found this place through Groupon and it sells cheap yummy Vietnamese bahn mi sandwiches (we have tried the meatball sandwich and the special sandwich with pork and pate) and shrimp and pork spring rolls.  Good and cheap.  The vegetables in the sandwich are super fresh.  The spring rolls are really fat, and they give you three and it costs $6.25.  The peanut sauce that comes with the spring rolls is one of the best.  The only other peanut sauce that might be able to compare is Out the Door, but those spring rolls are expensive, I think around $10 after tax and healthy SF charge, and only 2 spring rolls.
4)  Creperie Saint-Germain - I've been to the 2nd Street location a long time ago where I enjoyed a savoury crepe.  This time I went to the newer one in 555 California.  Got me a bechamel chicken crepe (Sauteed Mushrooms, Tomato, Spinach, Swiss Cheese).  Delicious.  The crepe was a bit dry, but I attributed it to being buckwheat.  I still have one more coupon and am contemplating a sweet one some time...
5)  CREAM - got lucky and passed here in San Mateo.  Salted caramel ice cream was yummy, and had an oatmeal cookie and white chocolate chip macademia cookie, though did not make into an ice cream sandwich because I wanted to eat in a civilized fashion.  The cookies were good, but I think I was spoiled by Diddy Riese in LA, so maybe B+.  Also, they were kind of soft cookies, which makes me wonder how on earth one would make an ice cream sandwich out of that.  Wouldn't everything just flop over and leak?  Yucks.
6)  Thrive  and Project Juice - I really like juices but they are so expensive.  Even with the discount they were between $4-5.50.  Glad we got this coupon and got to try the yummy juices, but would probably not buy at full price.
7)  Sunrise Deli - went to the one on Belden and Pine, and ordered the vegetarian plate (Tabouli, Babaghanuj, Hummus, Tahini, Tomato and Cucumber Salad, with Falafel and Dolma, served with pita bread).  Everything was actually pretty good when fresh, but had leftovers and wasn't so good.
8)  Onigilly - love onigiri and this is really innovative.  Glad they opened up a brick and mortar store.  I got the spicy cod roe and beef, and they were both really good.  However, kind of expensive for what they are.  Around $3-4 each after tax depending on the filling.  I actually have a picture of this!

9)  Muracci's - I LOVE Muracci's!  Normally I get some kind of katsu curry, but since Lingon was eating this with me we got the beef and the beef itself was just so so, but the curry was as usual spot on!
10)  Bun Mee - after my Dinosaurs (see above) spring roll binge, I felt like having some spring rolls without having to drive.  Got the summer rolls from Bun Mee, which after tax cost $8.25, a whopping $2 more for only 2 rolls and mediocre peanut sauce.  Worst buy.  Place was crowded though, so maybe I had ordered the wrong thing.
11)  Chubby Noodle - read an article about the new joint in the Marina, so it had already been on my radar.  Preferred the menu at the old joint which was inside the pub, super random location.  We ordered the garlic noodles, steamed chicken buns and kung pao chicken wings.  Noodles were very very good, I would do this again with or without a coupon.  Steamed chicken buns were more like pan fried dumplings, the skin was very thick, the filling was not very good, this was a bust.  Chicken wings were pretty good.

So that concludes my PayPal escapade for the week.  I have 2.5 more days, we shall see what will come!

Pabu, SF

Let me be very upfront, I'm not a fan of Michael Mina restaurants.  I actually really like his lobster pot pie, but that ridiculous price tag just does not warrant a second try.  Everything else is just so so or not good.  Sadly we live in the building above one of his restaurants RN74 and I would say avoid it if possible.

His Japanese restaurants at 101 California, Pabu (izakaya) and Ramen Bar ('nuff said) just opened earlier this week.  We managed to get a reservation at Pabu on the official opening night, so that was kind of exciting.  Off we went.

Here is what we ordered and my takes:
1)  Happy Spoon - uni, ikura, tobiko, ponzu crème fraîche.  Decadent and heart-attack worthy, loved it, ingredients were good, combination was great.
2)  Yuzu Kanpachi - yuzukosho ponzu, pine nuts, fried shallots.  Not bad, didn't taste the yuzu too much though.
3)  Robatayaki - we got meatballs, chicken tail and pork belly.  The table loved the meatballs, not me though.  The rest were so so.
4)  Shabu shabu Japanese A5 beef - miyazaki prefecture, enoki, mizuna, ponzu.  At $32/oz, and we ordered 3oz, we got 6 small pieces of beef wrapped enoki.  It was good, not phenomenal, but for the price tag, I'd rather go to Nijiya and get my own beef and wrap it myself and create a shabu pot.  This was a total bust.  The shabu broth was not very flavourful, some of the ingredients were unique but by no means spectacular, and the pot itself was just cumbersome and felt like it was going to fall off the burner.  I give this a negative 10 out of 10 for poor value, annoying, and lack of fabulousness.  We did get a bowl of noodles in broth with the ponzu and peanut shabu sauce doused in it and that was delicious.  But that probably cost the kitchen all of $2 max.
5)  Negitoro roll - bluefin fatty tuna, scallion.  Waste of money, not that great.
6)  Crispy flounder - gomoku gohan, ponzu, lemon.  Kind of tempura style with shaved daikon provided for the dipping sauce.  Didn't think the breading was particularly yummy, but at least it wasn't a thick gross coat of it.  Nicely battered and fried and with the sauce it was OK.

We passed on dessert for lack of innovation or excitement.

Overall will say Michael Mina to me is still a bust.  Food was good, but not special, and the price tag is largely due to is big famous name.

I had blazed through probably the past 5 reviews so I could write this one on time, coz I was actually rather excited about a Michael Mina Japanese restaurant, so that was good motivation, but I'm sad I could not give a happier review.

Lime Tree, SF

To satisfy a craving for Singapore food, off the three musketeers went to Lime Tree.  These are our stories.

We ordered the murtabak and satay for starters.  Not that it was fabulous or anything, but the murtabak was probably the best murtabak I've had in the Bay Area.  I guess that's me assessing the quality of Bay Area Singaporean/Malaysian cuisine...  The satay was inedible.  The meat had some weird sour taste.  Lingon and the Dawg said it was fine to them though.  I guess I have a preconceived motion of what these foods are supposed to taste like, and when they are different, it is simply unacceptable.  :-(

For starters, we got the nasi goreng, laksa and mie tek tek.  Strangely enough I was the one who ordered the mie tek tek.  It's not something I have ever heard of before I went to some Indonesian in Berkeley with my friend the Penguin.  But the menu seemed rather limited, the Dawg was going to order laksa, and somehow I felt like that was the only thing I could order.  They all tasted fine, and I would rank in order of best to least best, laksa (I can't personally order this anywhere in the US because I can make it out of a packet), nasi goreng and mie tek tek.  The mie tek tek chicken had that same weird sour taste, so I could not eat that.  None of the dishes were stellar, and sadly I will not be coming back.

Starbelly Patio Picnic Pig Dinner, SF

Last month (wow, I can't believe it is already July!) we went to StarBelly's Patio Picnic Tuesday with the pig dinner.  They do this patio picnic every summer on a Tuesday out in their picnic.  This year they had people buy tickets on Sosh at $39 a piece.  It's not the prepayment that bothered me, but Sosh itself.  It is an app that forces you to log in with your Facebook, so they have all this information about you.  Thankfully Tutu had this app, so I used his!  :-)

This year, the pig looked very small.  Upon further inspection of the menu, it said "piglet".  Shouldn't the event be called "roasted piglet" instead of pig then?  Anyhow, I don't think there was a shortage of food, but I remember when we went 2 years ago the pig was much larger.  The sides they had were elote asado, grilled summer squash, apple and celery slaw and sweet bread rolls.  The dessert was apricot and black berry cobbler.

So here's my assessment.

1)  The pig - the crispy skin and fatty bits were super delicious.  The meat I did not find quite as tasty.  Overall I was very disappointed.  Maybe I was romanticizing the previous experience, but the pig then was perfect.  Ah my mouth is watering thinking about that pig from 2 years ago.  How sad.  Lol.
2)  I really liked a couple of the sides, mainly the elote and slaw.  The squash was just squash, and there was a pasta salad which again was just a pasta salad.  The bread rolls were amazing but they tasted just like Hawaiian rolls, and one can get them at any supermarket.
3)  The cobbler was extremely disappointing.  A watery gooey mess.  And the crust of the cobbler (is it called crust?) was like eating rocks.

I think this concept is really fun.  However I would try something else - the fried chicken maybe?  But $39 for fried chicken is really too much.  The other option is ribs which I don't love.  So, maybe a pass.  Sigh.  I will miss that patio.