Despite being sick, I ventured out to meet the birthday boy at this very well-regarded ramen house. It's in San Mateo and the line was pretty long. In addition, you can't be seated unless your whole party is present. So... having a notoriously late person in the group... eh.
The lady allowed us to tell her our orders first despite his not being there, (well technically we started telling her our order before she found out he wasn't there) and she tells us that they are now out of miso flavor. My favorite! I order the soy sauce flavor instead.
As we wait for late guy, we are told that they are now also out of soy sauce flavor, the waitress lady tells us she save our group the 4 we order though with a little smile. When the line dies down, and we are looking longingly at the food, she lets us get seated without late guy. That's nice of her.
I'm told that's how they do it in Japan.
The food come out after a while, and it looked and smelled amazing, with the butter floating on top. The noodles were firm, the broth was heavenly, so rich! There was meat, I also had mushrooms, the seaweed was flavored. And this isn't even the most popular dish. I was very very impressed with this place. The pork flavored broth was also very tastey. :)
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Friday, January 1, 2010
Digs in Berkeley, CA
So, for the New Years Eve, I did one of my favorite things, eat at an awesome restaurant. And that is exactly what this was. The location is a little hard to find, I knew where it was from eyeing it from afar for 2 years.
Finally, a friend had a coupon and took us all out. The menu is small only 5 entries and a couple appetizers and desserts. The menu was not the same as the one posted on their website. When I called for reservations, I found that the place only opened a couple days a week. No big deal, I left a message and a phone number and they set (and later reset my reservation with no problems).
We arrived at the restaurant, and were very impressed with the ambiance. It was dim and cozy. The place was definitely smaller than I had expected, but it was beautiful, it had brick on the wall and curtains and candles. I imagine this would be a great place for a date. The waiter helped us to our table which was already prepared for the five of us. He seemed extremely knowledgeable, friendly and most of all, seemed to really enjoy working there. He had good recommendations regarding the menu. As a group, we ordered every entree and quite a few of the appetizers. I got to sample everything! I can't recall what everything was called, but here goes:
On the menu:
1. Carrot soup: had coconut undertones with crispy fried leek on top, was creamy and smooth and very big proportions too! Good for all three of us who ended up sharing it.
2. Crab stuffed Pequillo peppers: WOW, too amazing for words, at 10 bucks, this dish was not a huge portion (2 peppers and salad) but it was so good, I think I could have eaten many more. The flavor was rich, and blended together so well!
3. duck leg confit: The duck leg was a very nice savory dish, piled on a bed of polenta which rested on some sauteed greens of some sort. The duck itself was great, but not terrible special, besides the fact that it literally fell off the bone and was juicy and tender. But when you ate it together with their creamy polenta and flavorful greens, you can tell that this chef really knows what she is doing.
4. risotto cake: stuffed with mozzarella cheese. This cake was creamy and was a good take on risotto. I liked the slightly crispy edges. Yum.
5. catfish: I did not get a good taste of this, but the person who ordered it seemed to like it a lot.
5. leg of lamb: Since I do not usually enjoy lamb, I did not order this, but I tasted and tasted it again off my friend's plate. This dish was de-lish! The lamb had been slowly braised for hours, it was so tender and juicy. It wasn't that it was not gamey, I knew I was tasting lamb, but somehow, this restaurant made the taste of lamb be something I wanted to stuff into my face, rather than spit out. I was so impressed. The lamb rested on a bed of dino kale, chorizo cooked with these Flagulan beans. The beans were small and creamy, wow. It was the best lamb dish I think I have ever had. I highly highly recommend this place .
Finally, a friend had a coupon and took us all out. The menu is small only 5 entries and a couple appetizers and desserts. The menu was not the same as the one posted on their website. When I called for reservations, I found that the place only opened a couple days a week. No big deal, I left a message and a phone number and they set (and later reset my reservation with no problems).
We arrived at the restaurant, and were very impressed with the ambiance. It was dim and cozy. The place was definitely smaller than I had expected, but it was beautiful, it had brick on the wall and curtains and candles. I imagine this would be a great place for a date. The waiter helped us to our table which was already prepared for the five of us. He seemed extremely knowledgeable, friendly and most of all, seemed to really enjoy working there. He had good recommendations regarding the menu. As a group, we ordered every entree and quite a few of the appetizers. I got to sample everything! I can't recall what everything was called, but here goes:
On the menu:
1. Carrot soup: had coconut undertones with crispy fried leek on top, was creamy and smooth and very big proportions too! Good for all three of us who ended up sharing it.
2. Crab stuffed Pequillo peppers: WOW, too amazing for words, at 10 bucks, this dish was not a huge portion (2 peppers and salad) but it was so good, I think I could have eaten many more. The flavor was rich, and blended together so well!
3. duck leg confit: The duck leg was a very nice savory dish, piled on a bed of polenta which rested on some sauteed greens of some sort. The duck itself was great, but not terrible special, besides the fact that it literally fell off the bone and was juicy and tender. But when you ate it together with their creamy polenta and flavorful greens, you can tell that this chef really knows what she is doing.
4. risotto cake: stuffed with mozzarella cheese. This cake was creamy and was a good take on risotto. I liked the slightly crispy edges. Yum.
5. catfish: I did not get a good taste of this, but the person who ordered it seemed to like it a lot.
5. leg of lamb: Since I do not usually enjoy lamb, I did not order this, but I tasted and tasted it again off my friend's plate. This dish was de-lish! The lamb had been slowly braised for hours, it was so tender and juicy. It wasn't that it was not gamey, I knew I was tasting lamb, but somehow, this restaurant made the taste of lamb be something I wanted to stuff into my face, rather than spit out. I was so impressed. The lamb rested on a bed of dino kale, chorizo cooked with these Flagulan beans. The beans were small and creamy, wow. It was the best lamb dish I think I have ever had. I highly highly recommend this place .
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