Mua--Oakland (American, with other influences, cuisine)

I've already been to Mua Bar & Restaurant twice in one month. It has such a fun and eccentric atmosphere. First, the place is huge; able to seat 500 guests. The space used to be an auto body shop and it took several years to convert it into it's current restaurant. There are many types of local artwork hung up all over the walls, including some very artful nude photography. The decor is all over the place in terms of style with a deer head in one spot and a punching bag in another. Definitely a place to come hang out with open-minded people who also appreciate amazing food.

Web site: http://www.muaoakland.com/

The name has Bar & Restaurant after it and I would put an emphasis on "Bar". There are two bars; one downstairs and one upstairs. Both are fully stocked with a wide variety of high-end locally distilled and other spirits, including my favorite, Hangar One Vodkas. They also have an awe-inspiring selection of bourbons and whiskeys, which I'm also acquiring a taste for. Over my two visits, here's what I enjoyed.

Ginger Julep (left): Bulleit bourbon, mint, ginger puree, lime, ginger beer. Tangy and sweet with the wonderful aroma and taste of mint. Their drinks are deceiving in that they come in a small glass, they taste amazing so you don't think there's much alcohol in there, but they pack quite a punch.

Billy Jean (right): Hennessy, St. Germain, lemon, sparkling wine. It's amazing how they can mix things that don't seem as though would go together, but it all works. This was very refreshing; like a grown up lemonade.

Lamb cheeks: Braised until falling apart tender and topped with tender parsnips. The sauce tasted like a very nice reduction of red wine, balsamic, sugar and other ingredients that I couldn't figure out. Very nice.

Beef Bone Marrow: Topped with garlic and herbs and served with thin, toasted slices of a very nutty, hearty bread. This was a very generous portion of marrow. Each cavernous bone was filled with the soft, creamy marrow that went excellent with the herbs and garlic. Probably an acquired taste for some, but if you want to try it, Mua is a good place to do that.

Vegetable Ragout: couscous, kale pesto, (wild rice, green lentil, kale, carrot, yellow squash, shiitake mushroom, vegetable broth). If I was a vegetarian, I would come to this restaurant a lot because their vegetarian dishes are phenomenal. Even though I am not a vegetarian, I'm more than happy to order their vegetarian dishes for this same reason. This dish was so savory, it was hard to belief there was no meat of any kind in it. Fantastic textures, everything was fresh and full of flavor.

Blackened Catfish: Served with dirty rice and aioli. I don't know what they put in their dirty rice, but I could've eaten that by itself. They must have had all kinds of little pieces of innards and broth cooked in that rice; it was so full of flavor, while also not overwhelming the taste of the fish. The fish was also expertly prepared. Cooked until just done, it was flaky and encrusted with spices that enticed me to eat the whole thing. Even though it was blackened, it had no burned taste, just a nice char flavor.

Tagine: Moroccan braised lamb shank cooked till falling off the bone and served with vegetables and couscous. This was the star of the show. It was so delicate, I have no idea how they got it out of the pot and onto a plate. I've had excellent lamb before, and this one is up there with some of the best lamb I've eaten. So tender, so moist, so succulent, so wonderful.

I was too stuffed to try dessert, but all the more reason to have to come back again. If you're in the mood for an excellent meal and you want to have the option to choose from what seems like over 12 different bourbons, brave the potential parking headache and visit Mua.

Slider Bar--Palo Alto (American cuisine)

I was recently reminded of this place in Palo Alto when I read in an article that another location is opening in San Francisco. So I made the effort to go and I was very happy I did. Located at 324 University Ave. in Palo Alto, Slider Bar has 19 different types of sliders to choose from. I love this concept. Who doesn't like burgers? And at Slider Bar, you don't have to choose just one huge burger, you can taste as many little ones as you like. Every single one of those little darlings was juicy, tasty and delicious. I will keep coming back until I've tried all 19... at least twice.

For more info, visit: http://sliderbarcafe.com/

I started out with a glass of Delirium Tremens (on the left), a golden ale brewed with three types of yeast. It was very crisp and refreshing with just the right amount of hoppiness. I thought this would pair well with any type of burger I ordered. The other beer (on the right) is a Kristallweissbier, a mild German brew. All their beers can be ordered by a taste (four ounces), a glass or a pitcher. They also have a nice selection of wines.

Of course fries were in order and I didn't hesitate to get a side of Sweet Potato Fries with Honey Mustard and Parmesan Peppercorn Ranch sauces (they have 12 different sauces to choose from). All the fries (four different options) are Belgian style, which means they are fried twice. Once at a lower temperature and once at a higher temperature. This ensures the inside is soft and moist while the outside is nice and crisp.

Club Med. Made with a ground lamb, beef, garlic & ginger patty, crumbled feta cheese, olives, artichokes, tomato, pickled onions, and garlic sauce on a multigrain bun. Even though this was a lamb and beef combo patty, the flavor of the lamb was the star.

Please & Q's. Housemade pulled pork, barbeque sauce, pickled onions, and cole slaw on a white bun. The pork was tender and they really piled it on that little bun!

American Pride: Who doesn't like a good ol' classic burger with beef, bacon, cheddar cheese, lettuce, tomato, pickled onions and mayo on a white bun? Not me. They had nice thick slices of bacon.

Fatty Patty. Kobe beef. 'Nuf said. Okay, I'll say more. Kobe beef is one of my favorite types of beef since the meat is so juicy, moist, tender and full of beefy flavor. Actually, if I was a cow that lived a life full of massages, awesome grass and beer, I'd be happy to sacrifice myself for someone's burger. I also added egg (it's scrambled rather than fried) and cheddar cheese for this particular slider.

Pickled Pink. This patty is made with ground shrimp, chili and ginger and served with pickled onions, cilantro & lime mayo, and arugula. I love shrimp, and this wasn't a patty that had all sorts of non-shrimp filler. Excellent.

Magic Mushroom. For the mushroom lover. Rather than meat, this slider had balsamic-marinated portobello mushrooms, picked onions, swiss cheese, arugula, and lemon mayo on a multigrain bun.

All Slider Bar's ingredients are housemade, fresh, high-quality and sustainable, which makes me feel good about supporting them. They also serve salads, soup, milk shakes and chicken wings, which I will definitely keep in mind for next time.

Bar Tartine--San Francisco (Modern Eastern European-influenced cuisine)

In spite of fleet week and a music festival and one or two games going on in the city this past weekend, I still went there just for dinner. Luckily, the 16th Street BART station wasn't too far from Bar Tartine, located at 561 Valencia Street in San Francisco. I was glad I went though, because everything I had there was presented in a way that I would not and could not have imagined...in a good way. For a look at their menu, here is their web site.
http://www.bartartine.com/

I've heard of Bar Tartine's sandwich shop before, Tartine, and thought this was the place where I would get some awesome grilled cheese sandwiches and pickles. Not so. Here is what I ate.

I started off with a very nice glass of Chardonnay from Anderson Valley. It was mild, light and went down very easily with my Smoked Onion Goat Cheese. The goat cheese also came with fried kale, fried shallots and sprouted rye bread. The goat cheese was very creamy (and covered with a green powder-like food that I did not recognize) and mild and paired very well with the kale and onions. A very nice start.

The next appetizer was the most surprising. I never thought I would be so impressed with a Beet Salad. This had various lettuces, chives, fresh dill and a sprinkling of blue cheese. It had a beet puree on the bottom, was delicately dressed with a sweet vinaigrette and it blew my mind. I could've just had two of those for dinner and called it a day.

For my entree I had the Nokedli, which are cheese dumplings. Another item that wasn't even close to what I was picturing in my mind. This was fresh cheese that was pan fried until golden brown on the outside and served with lobster mushrooms, cabbage and fresh dill in a very savory cream sauce. I also added Bottarga, which is a Scandinavian caviar. The bottarga added a briny saltiness that went very well with this mild cheese.

Dessert was also beautifully presented. A simple sounding Chocolate & Hazelnut Ice Cream Sandwich came looking like a work of art. This also had candied sweet potatoes, which were interesting, as well as a pear cream and burnt sugar. Everything was mildy sweet and was a nice ending to a fantastic meal.

I definitely want to try their sandwich shop, located at 600 Guerrero Street, for some amazing-sounding sandwiches and baked goods. Stay tuned.

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.