Zorba's Mediterranean Cafe & Grill--Fremont (Mediterranean cuisine)

I've been eyeing this place for several months now, since they are in the same complex as the salon I go to. I was finally able to try it today and I was not disappointed. It's quite a large space with flat-screen TVs with the game on and beer on tap. I was impressed to see Speakeasy on tap (one of my favorite breweries). They also have quite a variety of items on their menu, including, not only falafel and lamb shawurma, but also burgers, paninis and salads. Located at 46505 Mission Blvd. in South Fremont, apparently this establishment has been in business for over 35 years. How I never noticed them before is beyond me.

I tried the Lamb Gyro and the Falafel Wrap; both with lightly toasted lavosh bread and both were as enormous as they were delicious.

The Lamb Gyro had real chunks of lamb pieces rather than strips of compressed ground lamb with maybe some other things in there; which I am not a fan of. The meat was very well grilled with all the fixins' such as tzatziki sauce (which they call "Greek" sauce), fresh tomatoes, onions and cabbage.

The Falafel Wrap had nicely prepared falafels inside. They were crisp on the outside and soft and moist on the inside. Also with tzatziki sauce, tomatoes, onions and cabbage. Delicious!

I will definitely be coming back. Their burgers sound good and it seems like a nice place to hang out on a sunday to watch the game and drink some good brews.

Eat Real Festival--Oakland 2012 (gourmet street food event)

Another successful event at Jack London Square in Oakland. This is becoming a street food event that I will look forward to every year. I love the way the organizers incorporate other activities like this year's "Meatopia", where you buy a ticket and get to eat as much meat as you want. Not sure if that's really for me, but I do love the variety of all the trucks and booths with wonderful offerings. I went twice this year so I could taste as much as I could. Here are my top picks for this year.

Tru Gourmet Dim Sum
http://www.trugourmet.com/menu.html
I have to start off giving props to my Chinese food makers. I love dim sum and finding really good dim sum is not as easy as it may seem, given how many dim sum restaurants there are. This place also uses organic ingredients, which is not typical. I was amazed at how fresh every ingredient was. It's difficult to keep the skins of each piece moist without drying them out and they did a fantastic job of that.



Sea scallop dumpling and Sui Mai (pork & shrimp)

El Sur
Empanadas Artesanales
http://www.elsursf.com/
I do love a good empanada and El Sur makes great fillings and crusts. Flaky on the outside and oh-so-savory-delicious on the inside. I also thought the vintage 1970 Citroen H-van from France was a really nice way to deliver their food.


Pollo Saltado (chicken, onion, tomato, olives) & Parisien (country ham, prosciutto, 5 cheeses, chives)

Saruno Burger
Japanese style burgers
http://www.sarunoburger.com/
I've never heard of or seen this truck before and I was pleasantly surprised. I wasn't expecting much, but the flavor combinations of their Tsukune Slider was really tasty. It was a chicken burger made from organic chicken thigh, shiitake mushrooms and edamame that was very moist and flavorful. Thumbs up!

Belcampo Meat Co.

Butcher shop meats

http://www.belcampomeatco.com/

This brand spanking new company just opened up in the States this year and will also be sustainably raising meat with farms in Belize and Uruguay concurrently. They're bringing back the butcher shop experience of yester-year and after eating some of their offerings, I must say, they do it well. I couldn't believe how tender that meat was.



Grilled Lamb with grains, aromatic herbs and hot sauce.



Milk Poached Veal with young carrots, greens, meat broth (so tasty) and wild sage.



Good Foods Catering
Urban Style Barbeque
I couldn't find a web site for them, so I don't know where they're based out of, but I did enjoy them at this event. They offer some good slow cooked food. Below is their pork belly slider. That was a very tender piece of pork belly with a nice mildly sweet bbq sauce.

Koja Kitchen
Reinvented Japanese-Korean food
http://kojakitchen.com/
This is the only truck I've seen that actually posts their menus on flat screen TVs. Very techno-savvy. Excellent food as well. Their Kamikaze Fries were topped with minced Korean BBQ beef, kimchi, green onions and drizzled with their signature sauce and Japanese mayo. Yum. Their homemade chocolate mochi in their Mochimisu was a delightful dessert. Not too sweet but oh-so-satisfying.

Kamikaze Fries

 

Mochimisu (their version of a Tiramisu)

The Whole Beast
Nothing goes to waste
http://www.thewholebeast.com/
I love the concept of eating the whole animal. My family has been doing it for decades and why not? If you're going to kill and eat something, use the whole thing. That's how one can really show respect for the life of an animal. The way they cooked the animal was spot on as well. Tender and full of flavor.



Lamb Gyro (an amazing combination of flavors)

Lamb Poutine (braised lamb in a superb gravy atop crisp fries)

4505 Meats
Producers of Porcine Pleasures
http://www.4505meats.com/
I'm liking the revival of old-school butchery, where it's seen as a fine craft that takes years to perfect. I definitely appreciate it. This company has not disappointed me yet. They had a special dish at this event, and it was appropriately named Fat Bastard. Housed between a thick, buttery toasted English muffin was honey mustard ranch, chicharrones, pickled jalapenos, greens, aged Gruyere, a wonderfully flavored and juicy pork & beer sausage, and homemade sauerkraut. A bit messy, but absolutely worth it.

Fat Bastard

Chimichurri Fries (super crispy fries with a nice spicy chimichurri sauce)

Another Eat Real Festival has come and gone and all I'm left with are my photos and my memories. I look forward to next year!

Playa del Carmen, Mexico (various eateries)

I just got back from Mexico this past week. It was a nice relaxing vacation with hot, humid weather, scattered showers and a cool lightning storm one night. The resort I stayed in had excellent food, but it wasn't real Mexico, so I'm not even going to mention the food I had there. Although if you want to live in the lap of luxury for your next Mexico vacation, feel free to visit the Mayan Palace in Riviera Maya. http://www.mayanpalace.com/resorts/riviera-maya

Playa del Carmen is about 15 miles South of Cancun and it was a quaint little town with some really good food for those interested in the non-touristy stuff. In case you are in the area, I would highly recommend these locations. Keep in mind that they may not speak English, so brush up on your Spanish.

Mi Abuelita, Pozoleria
Ave. 30 entre 20 y 22, Col. Gonzalo Guerrero
This was a small place near the Mega (Mexico's Wal-Mart). They specialize in pozole (stew) but everything we had there was incredibly delicious. It tasted like home cooking. We actually went there two times, hence, pictures of many dishes.

This is the Pozole de Puerco (pork stew). It was very hearty with tender pieces of pork, hominy and various other bits of yummyness that I could not name. The soup was tomato based, full of flavor and very savory. The condiments that they serve with every bowl of pozole is also pictured below. It included totopos (tortilla chips), limes, lettuce, radishes and dried chillies.





The Chilaquiles de Pollo (day old chips tossed in a green salsa and topped with chicken, cheese and avocado) was also hearty and filling. The green salsa wasn't spicy and the chicken was tender. It was well balanced with an excellent chips-salsa-chicken-cheese ratio.

Horchata is a Mexican rice drink made by blending cooked rice, sugar, milk, some cinnamon and then straining the chunks out. It was refreshing and not too sweet. The Consome de Pollo Mi Abuelita (house chicken tortilla soup) was A+. I love good broths and this one tasted like chicken bones were cooked in it for three days. It was light but full of flavor, the chicken was tender, it had just the right amount of melted cheese, fresh avocado and the chips on the bottom were still a bit crunchy.

Enchiladas Verdes. This was the Enchiladas with chicken. It had a hefty portion of lettuce on top but it went very well with the green sauce and Mexican creme.

Pancita (pig stomache). This was a dish for the more adventurous types. I love innards and this one must have been slow cooked for hours. It was so tender and soft. It didn't have any chewiness or sponginess to it and the tomato-based broth was spicy and very satisfying.

HC de Monterrey
Across the street from the Mega
The tag line of this place is "El sabor de la buena carne." Which means "A taste of good meat." And it was. This was a light meal, so we only ordered a plate of beef tacos. But the beef was perfectly grilled with a nice bit of char on the outside and tender and juicy on the inside.

They served the tacos with a variety of condiments. Above was their mild red salsa and below was their spicy green salsa. In the states it's opposite. Green is mild and red can be spicy. I thought that was interesting.

Taqarias El Sabrocito del Fogon
Across the street from the Mega (next door to HC de Monterrey)
This restaurant looked the same as HC de Monterrey but it had more than just meat. They had a variety of items, and everything we had was delicious.

These were all the condiments that came with our meal. Pickled cactus, (cactus can be a bit slimy but this one was good and a bit crunchy) limes, radishes, cucumber, pico de gallo, totopos, green salsa and red salsa.

White bean soup appetizer. It had melted cheese floating in the tomato-based broth, which was interesting. Very simple and good with chips.

Chicken fajitas. Something that's familiar but presented in a different way. This one included two whole stalks of nicely grilled green onion and also came with a tiny baked potato. The chicken was very tender and moist.

Three combination meats with chorizo, beef and pork. This was a winner. Served with melted cheese on top and plenty of warm corn tortillas. With the three different meats and all the different condiments, each taco I made was different and delicious. The garnish was the grilled pork bone. Great for knawing to continue enjoying that char flavor.

La Bamba Jarocha
En 30 Ave. Calle 22
This restaurant specializes in seafood and I'd say was my favorite restaurant during the whole trip. No one spoke any English here but I was able to make due with my limited Spanish. Sometimes when traveling, I'll also just pick something without really knowing what it is and see what I get. I've never been disappointed.

Their Horchata had a bit more cinnamon. It was a bit lighter than at Mi Abuelita and very refreshing.

The Ceviche de Camaron (shrimp ceviche) was super fresh. I liked how they also topped it with sliced cucumbers and sliced jalapenos.

The fish, veracruz style, was a dish I just picked without fully knowing exactly what I was going to get. It was a nice surprise. The enormous piece of fish was so tender, buttery and flaky. The sauce that came with it was tomato based and chock full of veggies. The side of mashed potatoes had no lumps and was very buttery and delicious. The little slice of plantain was a nice touch too.

This was the Pulpos a la Plancha (octopus). It was perfectly grilled, with a nice char and not chewy or rubbery at all. Very tender and it tasted like it was seasoned with just ocean water; it was so fresh. I used as many Spanish adjectives as I knew to express my gratitude to the waitress for such a wonderful meal. I think she understood.

Ah Cacao, Chocolate Cafe
Corner of Ave. Constituyentes and 10th Ave.
A very hip and modern cafe with excellent service and free wi-fi with a purchase. After a few days of being unplugged, the boyfriend wanted to check his email. No free wi-fi at the resort so we were going to find the Starbucks on the very touristy 5th Ave., (shudder). Being someone who doesn't even go to Starbucks in America, and wanting to spend my pesos at a Mexican place while in Mexico, I was on the lookout for other options. I spotted some locals on ipads at this place and asked if they had wi-fi and they did.

Since this place was only a few blocks from the touristy area, there was a mix of tourists and locals. Not being coffee drinkers, we ordered a chocolate milkshake and a chocolate frappe. Both were really creamy, chocolaty and lightly sweet. A nice treat while deleting hundreds of junk emails from my inbox. I also ended up buying most of my souvenirs here (edible souvenirs are the best). They had a nice selection of dark, milk and white chocolate bars (which didn't last through the trip), cocoa powder, and even chocolate lotion and shampoo.

Back in the states I'm craving that octopus I had at La Bamba Jarocha. I find eating local foods one of the best reasons to travel. I'm sure I will try to recreate something in my own kitchen. We'll see what happens.



Spicy Shrimp Tacos with Mango Salsa (Recipe)

How I love shrimp...let me count the ways. My latest experimentation resulted in two very happy stomachs. Rather than regular corn or flour tortillas, I opted for lettuce. I've also been on a bit of a spicy kick lately and worked that into the recipe as well. Here's what I did.

I started off making a spicy rice pilaf. I don't really want to call it Spanish rice, although that was the original starting point. I poured about 1 tbsp. olive oil into a medium pot, the one I normally use to cook rice. I put it over medium heat and added 1 cup of white rice and toasted it, stirring constantly, until they were no longer opaque, brightly white and exhibiting a nutty aroma. I then added 1 1/3 cup chicken stock, 2 tbsp. fresh lime juice, 1 tsp. harrisa, 1/2 tsp. garlic powder, 1/2 tsp. onion powder, 1/2 tsp. coriander, 1/2 tsp. sugar, 1/2 tsp. ground ginger, 1/2 tsp. paprika, 1/2 tsp. salt, 1/2 tsp. pepper. Once the stock started bubbling, I turned the heat to low, put the cover on and cooked the rice for 20 minutes. Then I took the rice off the heat, leaving the lid on, and set it aside.

While the rice was cooking, I took about 1 pound of jumbo (20-25 size) shrimp and peeled, deveined, rinsed and patted them dry. I put them in a bowl and added 3 tbsp. good tequila, 3 tbsp. fresh lime juice, 1 tsp. chili flakes, 1/2 tsp. garlic powder, 1/2 tsp. onion powder, 1/2 tsp. sugar, 1/2 tsp. ground ginger, 1/2 tsp. paprika, 1/2 tsp. salt, 1/2 tsp. pepper and tossed them with my hand to coat. I set that aside while I prepared the salsa.

Into a medium sized bowl I added 1 diced ripe mango, 1 diced roma tomato, 2 finely diced Serrano peppers (I removed the seeds), 1 tbsp. fresh lime juice and a small handful of roughly chopped fresh cilantro and mixed with a spoon.

Once all that was done, I poured all the contents of the shrimp bowl into a medium saute pan over medium heat and cooked them until they were no longer opaque and the liquid reduced about 1/3. Then it was time to assemble and eat.

I took the leaves of a baby romaine lettuce (although I'm sure any other lettuce would work as well), and layered rice, shrimp and mango salsa. The end result had a spicy kick with the cool crunch of the lettuce, the snap of the shrimp and the sweetness of the mangoes. Needless to say, it was delicious. All that work and it was gone in maybe 10 minutes!

Darda--Newark (Chinese Muslim cuisine)

Living more than 20 miles from Oakland Chinatown, good Chinese food is not necessarily at my fingertips. Since I am Chinese, I'm a bit snooty about what kind of Chinese food I want to eat. There are many Chinese food joints in the Fremont area, but not all are created equal. It also makes me sad to realize so many people still don't know what real Chinese food is. It doesn't help that Chinese fast food is so popular and everywhere. But Panda Express is not Chinese food. Orange chicken is not Chinese food.

If you are interested in eating real Chinese food, a good rule of thumb is, if you can't pronounce the name of the restaurant, and there are only Chinese people eating in it, then that's probably real Chinese food they are serving. If you don't know what to order, there is no shame in looking around and pointing to other people's dishes. Here is one gem of a place with some super delicious and authentic Chinese food. But if you are not that adventurous, they have Orange chicken as well.

Darda, located at 34755 Ardenwood Blvd in Newark, is a Muslim Chinese restaurant. One might raise an eyebrow at the mention of Muslim Chinese. Basically, many people from Northern China, near Mongolia, are Muslim. The main difference in the food, is they don't eat pork and their specialty is hand-made noodles. Yum.

During this particular visit, we started off with the Sesame Bread with Green Onion (thin). A thicker version is available as well and is equally scrumptious. The one thing I love about this bread is it's a bit crisp on the outside and soft and chewy and the inside. The cooked green onion gives it a nice savory sweetness and the toasted sesame seeds give it a nutty aroma.

Since hand-made noodles are their specialty, I had to try it. I'm also a noodle lover (I think I've mentioned that in previous posts). Below is their Ox Tail Noodle Soup. The noodles are hand cut so they're not equal in size. Some are thicker than others, which gives you a lot of variety in textures. Some strands can be softer than others, but all is wonderful. The ox tails were tender, and the broth was beefy and satisfying.

For the more adventurous types, the Beef & Ox-tendon with Brown Sauce is a great choice. I love tendon (cartilage). It has a chewy, gelatin-like texture that I find very pleasing. It also tastes like whatever sauce you cook it in so it's very versatile. This dish is one of my favorites anywhere as far as tendon goes. The tendon didn't have any hard bits in it and the beef was very tender.

For veggie lovers, the sauteed Snow Pea shoots is excellent. This particular dish was ordered off the menu (yes, you can do that at real Chinese restaurants). We just asked what fresh vegetables they had that day and this was what they offered. These shoots were lightly cooked with garlic. Still crunchy but also tender, this was one of those really simple but really wonderful dishes.

Pictured below is a partially eaten portion of the Hot Spicy Fish. This is probably one of the most well-prepared fish dishes I've ever had. There is some work involved to get to the fish but it's worth it. The dish comes to the table covered with chili peppers and chili oil. You have to use a ladle to scoop off the peppers and the chili oil. Then what's left is perfectly tender and seasoned fish with an amazing broth. Yes, it is spicy, but the heat does not overpower the flavor. A great way to enjoy the broth is to dip your Sesame Green Onion Bread into the broth or mix it into some steamed rice.

So if you're around the Newark area and you want to try something wonderful, that also happens to be Chinese, feel free to stop by Darda.

Talenti Gelato

I find gelato much more enjoyable than ice cream, in general, since it has a higher fat content. If I'm going to indulge, I want something that's worth the extra indulgence. This is a brand of gelato that I discovered just a few weeks ago that I've become a huge fan of. It is so rich and creamy that I had to write about it. There are many flavors to choose from, but the one below is my favorite. Each flavor tastes exactly as it should without being too sweet or overpowering and without that processed aftertaste.

I see them on sale at Raley's and at a few other grocery stores. If you like gelato, or have yet to try it, I would highly recommend checking this one out.

Nordstrom Cafe Bistro--San Jose (American cuisine)

After a long morning of shopping with some friends, some good food was in order. Who would have thought a really good restaurant would be in a mall. At 2400 Forest Avenue, in the Valley Fair Mall in San Jose, at the back of the Nordstrom Department store is a delightful little cafe.

The way it works is this: you pick up a menu that's right outside the front entrance, figure out what you want, enter, order and pay at the counter and then get seated. Then you get the surprise of your life with incredibly fresh and well-prepared dishes.

First was a Nicoise Salad with Salmon. The salmon was well prepared and seasoned with herbs and dijon. The greens were fresh and it was lightly dressed with a dijon balsamic vinaigrette. Very nice.

Next was the Braised Short Rib Pappardelle. The short ribs were slow-cooked and they were very tender and moist. The red wine tomato sauce was not overwhelming and the spinach and creamy goat cheese finished it off perfectly. Very enjoyable.

We also tried the Rustic Vegetable & Three Cheese Pizza. Baked in a brick oven, the crust was thin and crisp with that nice clay-cooked aroma. Topped with artichokes, baby spinach, mushrooms, fresh mozzarella, aged provolone, parmesan cheese, and fresh basil, this was a hearty, satisfying pizza.

Since bread pudding is one of my favorite types of desserts, I had to try it. It came warm with a nice toasty exterior with a soft, but not mushy interior. Served with a raspberry sauce, vanilla sauce, fresh cream, and white chocolate shavings, this was a very nice ending to a very good meal.

The service, as well as the decor, was elegant. I would highly recommend skipping the fast food when shopping at this mall and go straight for this hidden gem.