Tuesday, September 26, 2006


Eric's Tsing Tao. A new Chinese restaurant has opened in San Rafael, Eric's Tsing Tao or Tsing Tao Eric's - it was hard to deciper the order from the various renditions. I was half-searching for a restaurant which may have a dish using dill, but once I saw the photo of the Strawberry Crushed Ice with Ice Cream, my fate was sealed. It looked nearly identical to a Japanese dessert that I enjoyed many years ago. So in I went. Since there were no 'plates' suited to a single diner, I determined that I would just have to order what I wanted and take some home for a later meal.



Eric's is a simple menu, for example there was only one choice of fried rice on the menu "Eric's". It was quite tasty with a mix of chicken, beef and pork with egg and onion.



I ordered chicken asparagus as the main dish, it was very fresh, but the sauce (with a black bean note) was a little more sharp tasting than I prefer.


Finally, the reason I chose Eric's Tsing Tao -- the dessert. There was an article on the window outside touting "Taiwanese Street Food" and this selection was on the menu below the glass which I assumed was that theme. Basically this dish consists of a mound of freshly crushed ice, with strawberries, ice cream and sweetened condensed milk on top. This mimics the dessert I was so fond of in Japan, the difference being that in Japan it's usually served in a footed clear glass bowl that's deeper and it's more round and pointy with artistic flair. Eric's rendition also had some kind of other syrup in the base once you dug in a bit, a nice taste, but I couldn't identify it.

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