Dim Sum

So one of the perks of living in a predominately Asian community is that all of the foods that I grew up with and are used to and, dare I say, actually crave sometimes... is right around the corner. No, seriously. Right around the corner. Like yesterday - after the hubster's little incident on Wednesday morning, he decided to call in sick since he still wasn't feeling quite himself. He slept until about 11.

When he was up and ready, we decided to go out to eat. Driving down Bolsa Avenue, aka Little Saigon, the hubster suggested we go to the Asian Garden Mall and eat at the food court (tons of "authentic food" at better-than-restaurant prices). As I turn into the parking lot, I look to my left (to check for cars and pedestrians) and see Seafood Cove. Then I look at the clock. 12:30pm. Then I say, "I haven't had dim sum in a long time" and promptly make a u-turn and drive across the street.

It used to be Dragon Phoenix restaurant, sitting on the second story of the buildings facing the Asian Garden Mall, but recently (about a year ago or so) the owner decided to retire and sold the restaurant to the Seafood Cove people, who fixed up the place a little bit and who, I've noticed, also changed some of the dim sum dishes too.

Now, for those who know me, you probably wonder, what in the world would I be doing at a seafood restaurant? Well. First and foremost, it's a chinese restaurant. Granted most people come for the seafood, but I still like most everything else. And I definitely don't feel deprived. And something about dim sum makes me happy. Something about the food coming to you and seeing it before ordering it (and getting it on the spot), even though I usually end up getting pretty much the same items anyway.

Today we got five dishes, which, surprisingly we didn't finish and needed to package some to go.

From top center (aka 12 0'clock) clockwise: chicken feet (for the hubster only!), steamed rice rolls filled with BBQ pork (one of my staples at dim sum), pork dumplings (steamed in a little aluminum foil pan because it contains broth like the famed Din Tai Fung dumplings - these are kind of comparable, except the dough is thicker), a flakey pastry roll filled with BBQ pork, and steamed tripe. Total bill: about $15.

(if the dishes look half-eaten, it's because they are :) )

I am a happy camper.

A hankerin' for Meat.

The other night, the hubster came home and asked what I wanted for dinner. I was actually quite hungry and thought and thought and thought and suddenly I told him, I feel like having Korean food. Specifically, this lunch I used to get at the now-closed mom & pop type hole-in-the-wall Korean restaurant in Santa Ana called Seoul House.

Their lunch was great. I would always get the combo lunch, which would be fried rice (think Korean fried rice with the thicker, stickier rice mixed with carrots and peas), bbq beef (it was called BBQ beef, but to me it was a little bit bland shredded beef, but went well with the dish) and one slice of char-grilled short ribs. And then she'd throw in three small containers: one of kim chi, one of pickled cucumbers and one of pickled shredded daikon, and a can of Coke. All for $5. I never was able to finish the whole thing. Even at my hungriest.

But too bad they are no longer there, so we decided to go to BCD Tofu House which was just a flew blocks from us. I felt like having kim chi tofu soup. But once inside we sat there and looked at the prices and figured with what we were going to order, the dinner would have been about $30 for the both of us, not including tax and tip. So the hubster said, "For that price, I'd really prefer to go to Shik Do Rak, plus I like their food better."

So I said, Okay. I like going there too, but since I haven't been liking meat as much as I used to, I feel reluctant to go there. Like going to a buffet but not being that hungry - know what I mean? It almost feels like a waste. But by this time, I was feeling quite ravenous. And they were just across the street.

Welcome to Shik Do Rak! I never, ever, ever leave this place feeling hungry - in fact most of the time I am left sitting there thinking... OMG did I really eat that much? But I don't pain for too long.

So basically, this is the type of restaurant where you order the meat and it comes to your table raw so that you can grill it tabletop as you please. And it comes with a ton of little sides to make your meatfest as tasty as possible.

We ended up ordering the All-You-Can-Eat meats, which is $17/person, and chose the beef, the marinated beef and the pork belly. I completely passed on the chicken. Now if that seems excessive, it came out at the same price as ordering a plate of something specific, so why not get a little variety?

The sides that comes with everything include the little 2-part dipping tray of chili on one side, and salt with sesame oil on the other (I love dipping the meats in the sesame oil). To wrap your meats, there are small squares of rice paper sheets (not the kind for spring rolls, more like big rice noodles) and large round thin slices of pickled daikon (love this too). There is a bowl of shredded lettuce, a bowl of traditional napa cabbage kim chi, some fishy doughy thing, cooked bean sprouts, pickled cucumbers, shredded pickled daikon... oh man, what else? And the best thing is, if you run out, they come around with their cart and refill on everything you want.

And the topper is... when you're done, you pick up a little cup of frozen yogurt on your way out. It "cleanses the palette" and you know what? I think it makes you feel less painfully full.

Yum!

Bay Area weekend

Over the weekend (well, from Thursday - Monday) I had the opportunity to head up north to Berkeley and spend some time with Linda who is in her last year of Law School up there. While there for my mini getaway, we definitely indulged. How so? Let me count the ways... (in a slightly blurry and dark way since these photos are from my phone...)

Thursday: I arrived at around 5:30pm to Linda's apt where I definitely smelled bacon. What a welcome! About an hour later, we sat down to "dinner":

Yes, exactly! Clockwise from top: fresh mashed potatoes (boiled potatoes mashed with butter and some sour cream - there was no milk - with salt and pepper) topped with sour cream, chives and crumpled bacon (kind of like a baked potato I suppose); next: frozen tater tots baked till crispy and golden in the oven and also topped with sour cream, chives and bacon; next: mac and cheese (classic Kraft from the blue box) made with just butter, no milk, so it was thick and then baked in the oven again with some extra shredded cheese and bread crumbs; next: bacon-wrapped asparagus, baked in the oven; next: some corn to round out the meal. Indulgent? Yes. Yummy? Definitely.

Friday: We had a slightly late start so had some yummy leftovers for breakfast/lunch, then headed into San Francisco for the day (of which I will discuss over here when I get to it probably tomorrow)... by the time we were on our way back home, we were starving. And what should we both see before crossing back across the Bay Bridge? A giant McDonald's billboard for a Big Mac combo. So that's all we could think about for the next 20 minutes. And then pulled into the drive-thru to pick up our dinner :)

Saturday: We had a slightly earlier start, so after heading back into SF, we had breakfast/lunch at Wipeout Bar & Grill at Pier 39. I really wanted fries. Again. Because I hadn't had enough of potato products yet? I guess not. I ended up ordering the breakfast sandwich (sorry I didn't get a photo, but it was two eggs - I asked for mine over well - with bacon, lettuce and tomato on white toast... kind of like a BLT with eggs... of which I ended up eating one egg before pulling the other out) with a side of breakfast potatoes. It was pretty good. Especially after I pulled out the egg. :) After that, Linda picked up a waffle ice cream cone from Dreyer's, but there was no way I was having dairy before hitting up Alcatraz despite how delicious the freshly made waffle cones smelled.

Later that evening, we headed over to Ghirardelli Square and ate at Lori's Diner where I ordered the popcorn chicken with a side of fries and a cup of coleslaw. Again, sorry for lack of a photo - it didn't look very appetizing at first, but the popcorn chicken was so insanely crispy and crunchy (I'm assuming from over-cooking and time under a lamp, but the extreme crunch was completely welcomed) and the fries were so-so. My surprise was how much I liked the coleslaw - there was definitely the taste (and feeling) of horseradish in there and I rather enjoyed it.

Before heading back to the car, I had to stop at the Ghirardelli store and pick something up, of course! Since I can pick up chocolate anywhere, including at Target, I opted to get a drink... but what. Oh. Oh my - of course. The "Decadent Drinking Chocolate with Biscotti". It was 4.95 but whatever, I wanted it. Even though I'm not a fan of chocolate. And especially dark chocolate (of which this drink is made from). But you know... it was definitely worth a try and definitely decadent and definitely on my list of 'things I wouldn't think I'd like but totally do'.

At this point, we were back at Linda's apt and I had already started drinking this decadent chocolate drink. What was it like? It was like drinking a cup of melted dark chocolate, with a slightly thicker consistency than a chocolate fountain. And I liked it. Of course it took me the rest of the night to finish half.

Sunday was a lazy day. It had rained in the morning and was drizzly for nearly the entire day. I finished the remaining half of that chocolate decadence (why do I want another one right now?) and then munched on Chips Ahoy cookies and Lay's potato chips for most of the day as we lounged around the apartment. Finally needing some air, we took off for dinner, walking several blocks to Jupiter's. Oh how I miss just heading out the door and walking places because it's that close and convenient! Jupiter's was a really cool looking/feeling place, kind of dark inside where everything was in a dark wood - the floor, the walls, the tables, the chairs, the wall-lined benches... kind of a beer place (but neither of us ordered beer) with specialty in individual pizzas.

Yum! I ordered the 9" Xanthia Pizza (9.50), which starts with the olive oil handmade crust topped with thinly sliced Yukon gold potatoes, bacon, garlic, mozzarella and ricotta cheese, crushed red peppers and fresh herbs (like rosemary). The white dots are dollops of ricotta cheese... but the white in the very center was the bite I took before taking the photo. I just had to. It was so good. I had two slices and then just ate the topping off the remainder of the pizza :)

And then later that night we had mint-and-chip ice cream sandwiches.

Monday we got up early and packed the car. I was taking Linda back down to OC with me since she had a week-long "Fall Break" from school. On the way home down the long, long I-5 drive, we stopped for gas and breakfast/lunch at Andersen's Pea Soup (or is it Pea Soup Andersen's?) where I ordered, naturally, a bowl of their famous Pea Soup. And, why not - a side of hash browns.

The soup was good, not too salty, but I have to say... the hash browns were great! It was a bit on the not-so-hot side, but the taste more than made up the lack of temp. It tasted like butter. Really. I could go for another order right about now as well.