A HODGE PODGE OF BITES

All of the things we ate below aren't worth their own posts (not that they weren't good, but most were snacks), so I've combined it all into a mini hodge podge post. The first one I'll start off with is pizza at Arizmendi. There are a lot of co-ops in Berkeley. We like going to this one co-op cheese store and bought our bikes at a co-op bike shop. It's a big thing here in the Bay Area. Another well known co-op is a bakery called Arizmendi. Much like Cheese Board Pizza, Arizmendi makes a single type of veggie pizza every day. They even have a pizza calendar on their website. The day we went, we go to try the Roasted Carrots, Arugula, Roasted Garlic, Three Cheese, Cherry-Balsamic Vinaigrette pizza.

I figured with so many ingredients that there'd be no way to tell the difference between each one. But this pizza proved me wrong. Here's a pic of the pizza:

It's kinda hard to see the carrots, which were shredded pretty thinly, but you could really taste the vinegar and cheeses. I thought the pizza was actually very nice. My only complaint was the fact that the crust was very very chewy. But I wouldn't mind going back to try a few other types of pizza.

Next up, the Solano Avenue Stroll. The Solano Ave Stroll is this neighborhood event that takes place once a year. There are tons of people who go and vendors setup their booths all along Solano Ave. Tom really didn't want to go. He hates crowds. But I love food booths. So I forced him to go along. As walked along the crowded streets, we soon realized that the food vendors weren't concentrated in one area - they'd been spread out between all the other vendors. This kinda sucked, because you can't check out all the booths at once and decide what you want. After seeing about 3 food booths, we ran into us with stuff that actually interested us AND the line was pretty short.

So below you'll see what we got:

Ok, at the bottom of the pic, you can see a corn dog. But the great thing about living in northern CA is that they offered turkey or veggie dogs. We both opted for the turkey. Since the batter was homemade, you could actually see the cornmeal in the batter and it was pretty tasty (too bad they were so busy they couldn't refill the ketchup.)

At the top of the pic is something less identifiable and rather strange - it's garlic fries topped with crab aioli (the white stuff) and crab (the pink stuff). Ok ok , it sounds strange, and I wasn't going to order it, but Tom wanted to try it. And to be honest, it wasn't that bad. Those garlic fries were really the best part - probably some of the best garlic fries we've had here. Tom felt that there was too much aioli (he was right) and really wasn't a fan of it period. But overall, I found this to be surprisingly good. Too bad we were so stuffed that we were too full to try stuff from the other stalls.

And finally, a cheap Thai restaurant on the Berkeley campus called Tuk Tuk Thai. We had dropped my car off at the repair shop and decided to stop here for lunch. They had pretty cheap lunch specials, which ended up not being all that bad. Here's my tom yum soup below:

And my chicken with basil and noodles. It came with a summer roll on the side. The food was decent enough, and the generous portion meant that I was able to take the left overs home. Overall, not a bad meal.

And that's my list of bites in the East Bay.

VENTURING OUT

As you all know, Tom and I have a favorite Thai restaurant that we always go to - we visit almost 2-3 times a month. (And we just saw the owner at our local farmer's market, which is always a nice thing to see) But there are a number of Thai restaurants in the area, and after some debating, we finally decided to venture out and try a new place, one that we'd heard was pretty good, called Sweet Basil.

The restaurant is rather oddly shaped. we entered through what appeared to be the main entrance- which was a rather small room with only 12 tables and a kitchen, but there appeared to be another larger dining room outside, which was filled with a private party. We were seated right away (the dining room we were in was kinda empty) and we started to peruse the menu. There was a lot of stuff that you'd see at any typical Thai restaurant - this one just seemed a little fancier and slightly pricier.

Tom and I decided to share a few appetizers, and then ordered a few entrees. We started off with these summer rolls stuffed with veggies and tofu. There were pretty good (though not nearly as good as the summer rolls they occasionally have at Sabuy Sabuy).

Next we shared some mushroom skewers. They had a choice of different skewers, but we wanted some veggies and got the mushrooms one. At $3/ea, I was hoping for some mushrooms that were more exotic than white button mushrooms (even some mini portobellos would've been nice) , so I'd say these were just ok.

And I also ordered a bowl of Tom Yum soup. Tom says that whenever I don't like something at a restaurant, I always say that I can make a better version of it at home, and I could've made a better version of this soup.

Behind my soup, you'll see a dish of fried squid that Tom is still complaining about, even weeks after we had this meal. This was their famous crispy fried squid, which Tom expected to be your normal fried squid, but it turns out the batter on it was sweet- they had put sugar it it. And that made it taste really really strange. He's still saying "You don't put sugar on squid".

After this I had Pad Kee Mow as my entree, and it was pretty decent, but nothing special. And Tom doesn't even remember what he had as an entree. Overall, our dinner wasn't horrible, it was pretty average. And maybe it wouldn't have been as bad if we didn't know that we could've gone to a fantastic Thai meal just 1/2 mile away. Personally, I think people are still eating at Sweet Basil because they have yet to discover the greatness of Sabuy Sabuy 2.

OUR FAVORITE RESTAURANT AROUND (SO FAR)

Before Tom left for Boston we had discussed the places that he was planning on eating. After living a combined 22 years in Boston, we certainly have our favorites that we miss. But after spending a few months living out here, we also have found some favorites that we couldn't find in Boston. For example, Gioia's pizza, you couldn't get a slice like that in Boston, even though it was just 4 hours from NY. And Thai food. We have a lot of places to choose from, but our favorite is called Sabuy Sabuy 2.

Now Sabuy Sabuy is one of those little restaurants that you drive by all the time and wonder, who eats there? (kinda like Family Restaurant in Brookline) And I never would have checked this place out had my co-worker not told me about it. He lives right behind the restaurant and goes there like once a week. (I think we go about twice a month- and it's the place we like to take our out of town guests, so don't be surprised if you're visiting and we end up here for dinner). So we've eaten there quite a few times, but I never got around to blogging about it.

So the owner now recognizes us. He's there all the time taking orders and he's super friendly. Sometimes he'll suggest dishes that you should try, but we pretty much know what we like at this point. This day, I felt like trying something lighter. I had never had their green papaya salad and so I ordered that. Here's it is below.

I must admit, it wasn't my favorite dish that I've had there. The papaya felt kinda soggy, and not as crisp and clean as some other places where I've had it. It also wasn't spicy enough (though I'm sure they would've made it spicier had I asked. The next dish we had I didn't even take a picture of because I was too busy gobbling it up- they have fantastic soft tofu that they'll make into a soup for you, and it's something I always order because the tofu is so soft and delicious. Below is another one of my favorite dishes- spicy chicken wings, which are deep fried chicken wings served in a spicy sweet sauce and topped with one of my favorite things in the world- deep friend basil. mmmmmmmmmmm.

That was everything that I'd ordered, since I was in a light eating mood. But Tom also got an entree- a medium spicy version of pad thai.

Now at this place, when you order something medium, it means it'll be pretty damn spicy. I don't even want to imagine what spicy is like. I had a few bites of this before my tummy ending up saying no more! But other dishes that I've ordered and enjoyed include the green curry and the fried whole fish.

To finish off the owner always brings us a free dish of ice cream. It's homemade and a good way to cool the mouth off from all the spicy food. Overall, this is really our favorite restaurant around, so we hope you enjoy it when we take you during your next visit.

DUK BUA, COOLIDGE CORNER

I'll spare you all my feeble attempts at coming up with a title for this post. A few weeks ago I finally decided to check out Duk Bua, which is located just north of Coolidge Corner. (and right next door to Shabu Village, which I blogged about previously). Looking at the pics on their website right now is making me really hungry. I should eat my lunch. Anyway, Leah had recommended Duk Bua as a great place to grab cheap Thai food. Apparently it used to be a Thai grocery store that happened to have a small food counter, but it later expanded into a full blown restaurant. (There is an area where you can still purchase a small number of Thai groceries).

The setting is super casual and they serve drinks in little mason jars that have handles. And you could tell that the entire place was filled with locals. We were seated very quickly and given 2 massive menus. (oh and they were so helpful by giving us the picture menu. I just love the picture menus cause i find them hilarious. They're ostensibly for those non-natives who just have no idea what to order).

Tom was super hungry that day. So he ordered a bunch of food. (And let me start off by apologizing for the crappiness of these pics now that I'm looking at them). He started with the chicken satayWhich was a very generous portion. And I do love the peanut sauce. I just found the meat a little dry (but they did use all white meat after all)

He also ordered these fish cakes.
I think the fish cakes at Khao Sarn are much better. These were again, a bit dry, and a little bland. But still pretty good.

And lastly, he got a noodle dish. Which looked great. Actually, I kinda wish I had ordered it.Meawhile, I got a Masaman curry with duck. I was in a duck kind of mood. And I always get this curry from Brown Sugar.It was actually pretty good. Filled with veggies. Though I must say, I think I like the stuff at Brown Sugar more. And a large portion too. (I ended up taking most of it home) The prices here were all pretty reasonable. Less than Brown Sugar, but more than Roh Dee. And the experience there pretty much falls in the middle too. Not as super casual as Roh Dee, but the service isn't as nice as it is at Brown Sugar either. Perfect for a casual meal out, especially if you want to sit down and have a pleasant meal. However, for my money, I think I'll continue visiting Roh Dee for my Thai food cravings. If only either location had parking...

Big Ed's Birthday Dinner at Khao Sarn

For big ed's bday last sunday, he decided that he wanted to have dinner at khao sarn, which is super convenient because our friend, am's, family owns the place. we often go here if we have a huge group of ppl cause am takes care of us, so it's almost like being at your friend's house for dinner.

On this night, Am did all the ordering, as usual. And she ordered a ton of dishes (which was good since we had like 20 ppl at dinner, big ed's a popular guy) so for this post, I'm just gonna stick up all the pics I have and describe what we got, even though i didn't photograph everything. Here it goes.

Many people started with drinks. Here's pretty one. It's lychee juice. And tasted like lychees. Sweet and refreshing. yummy.

Then we started with two appetizters. The one below is a spinach leaf(i think) and it's topped with toasted coconut, dried shrimp, peanuts, lime and i don't know what else. you top it with with sweet syrupy brown stuff. also very tasty.


This was the second appetizer. i think am called it a khao sarn platter. or i could just be making it up. but there are skewer of beef and chicken satay (i love peanut sauce, it's my favorite), spring rolls, fried shrimp and crab rangoon type things all served with different dipping sauces.

Here's the pad thai:

A steamed fish:
This is the salmon mousse. it's one of my favorite things at khao sarn. It's like salmon with coconut milk and red curry and i don't know what else. I think it's steamed in a bamboo leaf. at any rate, it comes out sweet, spicy and really good on rice.
This is a ground chicken dish. I don't know what goes into it, but i did eat it.
And here's one of the coolest dish presentations of the night, a seafood curry served in a coconut shell. It's got lots of scallop and squid too.

All great dishes with beautiful presentation. We all ate a ton and i got so distracted by the desserts of mango and sticky rice that i forgot to photograph them. ah well. This place is especially great if you have a big group cause you can do like we did, order a ton of dishes and share them. Then you get to try a little bit of everything. Or just make friends with an owner and have them order for you. I found that this is one of the best ways to eat. Get working on it.

Quest Fulfilled!

Yes, it was a long tough battle, but finally, i have achieved success. Leah and i were able to get our $1 cones at Baskin robbins last night. But before i tell you about that, allow me to review the place we went to for dinner, Roh Dee 2 on Peterborough St.

So I love the restaurant row on Peterborough street. It's a grouping of 6-7 different resturants, all with different cuisines. There's a thai place, an italian place, a mexican place, an american place and there used to be a chinese place that's now closed. The thing that they have in common is that all of them serve pretty excellent food at very decent prices. and it's close to work and home. also, it's great to visit in warm weather cause you can sit on their benches outdoors and if you and your companions can't agree on one cuisine, you can order from all different places and still sit together. I frequent el pelon, the mexican place, i occasionally get delivery from umi, the japanese place and last night, we went to roh dee 2, the thai place, for dinner. Now, knowing that I was gonna go to peterborough street for dinner, i scraped together all the quarters i had in my apt yesterday morning and came up with $7. Including the extra $3 that i found on my nightstand, I had a total of $10 to spend on food yesterday. (so i'm gonna be like rachel ray on her show $40 a day, except i've only got $10)

Early in the morning, I spent $1.50 on a coke. so breakfast was $1.50. I ate cheezits and a salad that i brought from home for lunch. Katie suggested that I crumble the cheezits on top of my salad like they were croutons, claiming it'd be "cheez-tastic" but i voted that one down. Cheezits just don't belong on salads. lunch $0. That left me $8.50 for dinner.

Leah picked me up for dinner and we headed over to peterborough. i was in the mood for some thai, so we visited roh dee 2. now, for those unfamiliar with roh dee, the original one is actually located over in brookline on beacon and summit ave. that one is super small, with like 3 tables. the one in fenway is much bigger. but both are the same in concept. super casual thai food, cooked up real fast and real cheap, with no frills. you bus your own tables and get your own water. After perusing the funny faded pictures of dishes (helpful for those unfamiliar with thai dishes, hilarious for everyone else), i picked the pan fried noodles with duck. Leah got the pad see eew with chicken with a side of fried spring rolls. Total cost $7. Leaving me $1.50.

So here's the pic from dinner. I've stated before in this blog that one of the hardest things for me is remembering to take my camera and then remembering to take pictures before i gobble down my food. well yesterday, i actually remembered my camera and i stopped leah in the middle of eating saying "wait! i gotta take a pic for the blog". i whip out my cam, snap a pic of leah's plate, get ready to take a pic of my plate, and of course, the battery dies. Damn it! it's always something. At any rate, my dinner looked very similar to leahs, except mine had darker chunks of meat since i was eating duck, rather than chicken.

As you can see, the portions are very generous and both of us ended taking our left overs home. yummy. a little greasy, but sometimes, you're in the mood for grease. post dinner, we were off to the baskin robbins. so we walked to the baskin robbins at st. mary's and as we perused the ice cream selection, the ice cream guy was very helpful in pointing out that it was $1 cone day (like duh! why do you think i'm standing there). i got a very generous scoop of rocky road ice cream while leah got a not as generous scoop of mint chocolate chip. leah said it was karma since 2 weeks ago, i went to baskin robbins and got the world's smallest ice cream cone. no kidding it was like a quarter of the regular size. it was like the first time scooping ice cream for the girl serving me. ask leah, she was there. anyway, cost $1.04. leaving me with $.46 that i dropped into the red cross hurricane relief fund. and then we sat outdoors, watching ppl walk by while enjoying the still warm october evening and licking our ice cream cones. See, i came in under budget, and you thought that was impossible in boston.