What's in a name?

According to The SF Chronicle, Fondue Fusion has become Ray's Hot Pot. This would have been a great place to go during the past cold spell!

I've been in the area, just in a bit of overwhelm between big projects at work, and the holiday season. I will be back as I can.

New kid on the block

In the space that I believe last housed Mezzo Mezzo in San Rafael, a new place has opened, Savory Orient. I enjoyed lunch there a few days ago. The waiter told me that Savory Orient aims to bring us good tastes from many countries in Asia. The menu had things from Thailand, Japan, China and Malaysia that I could see immediately.

The lunch items come first with a salad. It was cool and fresh and served elegantly. In fact the whole space was quite elegant, and there was a big buddha sitting in the restaurant with us.

I loved the Fresh Spring Wraps which were indeed fresh and served artfully in a glass. There was a good amount of iceburg lettuce inside which gave it some extra snap.

I ordered off the specials menu for my entree, which was Drunken Noodles. The drunken noodles consisted of hokkien noodles with prawns, scallops, bok choy, red bell peppers, mushrooms, basil (tomatoes) in a spicy Thai basil sauce. I put tomatoes in () since these were listed on the menu, but not in the dish. This was a fusion dish with a very Thai flavored treatment of Chinese noodles. These egg noodles orginated in the Fujian Province of China and are popular in Singapore and Malaysia. These were served beautifully and spiced just right.

This is a place that emphasizes presentation and taste rather than family-sized large portions. The service was prompt and friendly.

Restaurant Inspection Results

Critical: 1

Noncritical: 0

Last inspected: 8/12/2009

Find address/phone number/directions on Anna's Map.

Double Header!

Keeping my eye on the old Samurai building in Sausalito, I noticed not one, but TWO notices. Hmm.. it was something I just had to check out.

The door on the left had a notice for "La Hacienda", a brew pub.

The second sign said "Taste of the Himalayas". Oh, cool! I'll be keeping my eye out for both of these to open!

Big box, good value

It's been awhile since I visited The Cheesecake Factory in Corte Madera. It's a big box corporate type place, however they've been in business 30 years for a reason. They provide consistently good food at a reasonable price, along with good service and nice ambiance. It's no wonder there is usually a line.

I had the 'lunch' sized Beer-Battered Fish & Chips. The Icelandic cod are hand battered on site, and it seemed like a dinner portion to me. I couldn't finish it. There were a lot fries and some tasty rainbow like cole slaw. With its extensive menu, The Cheesecake Factory is a good choice when you have a large crowd that can't agree on a single cuisine.

Restaurant Inspection Results
Critical: 0
Noncritical: 4
Last inspected: 12/1/2008

Find address/phone number/directions on Anna's Map.

Change in Novato

At some point it appears that Panda's Buffet slipped out of Novato.

And Buffet Buffet has taken the same space. The sign highlights that it offers Chinese, Japanese and Korean cuisine. I'll have to try it out one day soon.

In other news, Anna's Cool Finds and the "A Taste of Terroir" event were mentioned in Wednesday's Marin IJ in Tidbits! I was surprised and flattered to receive an email from the IJ asking some background questions. I wrote an essay, and true to good reporters, she picked out the heart of the matter in a perfect summary. I've also found myself having to go find those "Oishinbo" manga she mentioned!

Asia's Fondue - Hot Pot cooking

Fondue Fusion has opened. Dad and I stopped by for an early dinner there a few evenings ago. We were the only customers at that hour (when they opened) and the place was immaculate and nicely decorated. Our waitress was very pleasant and helped us or offered to, every step of the way.

Although Fondue Fusion doesn't carry ice tea, they have a selection of sodas, so we had Diet Cokes served up in pretty glasses.

The menu and fresh sheet are 100% choices for what to put in the pot! So we ordered a variety of reasonably priced options, and then quickly the sauces, a special house sauce (ginger, garlic onions...) and hoinsin came out. The house sauce is really to thick to 'dip' things in, but it is delicious spread on the top!

Not long after the hot pot with a vegetarian broth came out and was put on the electric burner in the middle of the table. The bubbling broth contained pieces of tofu, garlic and onions.

Then the ingredient dishes followed quickly. The first was one of the fresh sheet, Shrimp Shumai. However, once we had them steaming on our plates, we found that these are shrimp and PORK shumai, so if you have a dietary concern, be sure to inquire about the dishes before ordering, as the menu appears to be abbreviated. That said, these were tasty.

Next came the fried tofu puffs and rice noodles (background).

We also ordered an assorted vegetables plate. There was a variety of interesting mushrooms and greens as well as taro slices included in the plate.

The oysters were so fresh they were just shucked before arriving at our table!

And finally arriving were the bean threads (mung), which have a nice texture and virtually no calories by themselves.

As you simmer ingredients in the pot, the broth becomes more flavorful. It may not be the custom for hot pots, but it would have been nice to have spoons to enjoy some of the broth with. In Japan, these kinds of dishes are served with empty bowl, we had saucers. I don't know the custom for this particular kind of Asian Hot Pot, but with such drippy ingredients I found myself wishing for bowls as the sauces started getting soupy and sloppy. However, the dish was light yet filling and the flavor was delicious. There is not currently a dessert menu, but it is being created. It is naturally low fat and wonderful for a cool evening. This restaurant is a great addition to the Marin dining scene.

Restaurant Inspection Results
Critical: 2
Noncritical: 2
Last inspected: 12/22/2008

Fabulous Fresno Asian Street Bistro

When driving far from home, a good meal along the way makes the travel much better don't you think? Doing a little research on Yelp, Dai Bai Dang in Fresno seemed to be a likely spot to try while speeding towards Visalia.

Dai Bai Dang posts its menu in a large lighted box so you can check it out before committing. It also had a lot of pleasant outdoor seating, and people watching opportunities as the River Park Center seemed to be a happening place.

Luckily the person I was traveling with has a similar taste in food. The Peppered Ahi came out first, and although it wasn't very peppery, it was delicious.

Closely on its heels was the rest of the food, including this Japanese Eggplant which may well be the best stir fried eggplant dish I've ever had. It was really the star of the meal.

We also ordered a seasonal menu item, the Siam Shrimp, which was good, but the fried won tons were rather cold, and the spicing could have been kicked up a bit. Still, I thoroughly enjoyed it, and kept adding more to my plate! The bed of enoki mushrooms in the middle was a nice touch.

Last, but not least, were the Spicy Dan Dan Noodles, which were very nice. And they were very accommodating about substituting tofu pieces for the minced chicken and it all blended very well. Taking the whole experience in, the themed decor, the good service of the staff and the tasty food, I could understand why the California Restaurant Association voted it the "Best Asian Restaurant". I would definitely stop here again when I pass near Fresno.

Dessert First. Well I didn't have this Chocolate Lava Cake with Blood Orange Sorbet first, but if I'd have known, I would have been tempted. Lucky for me, Sachiko and I had just enough room after our feast at Betelnut to share this.

Actually we started with the 5-Spice Edamame. These were nicely spiced and garlicy. This promised good things to come.

Yes, this is Yuppified Asian Fusion, but what a fun atmosphere, and the flavors were good. A nice place to meet people, and to eye them too... and why not over something called "Happy Buddha Dumplings?" These were great vegetarian bites that included corn, tofu, fried shallots and kaiware sprouts.

And a couple of nice drinks like "Pink Lotus" and "Green Tea Lemonade" (with a kick) made the food glide down and the sights glide by. But my eyes stayed glued to the awesome Green Papaya Salad which included (besides green papaya) shrimp, grapefruit, herbs and "nuoc cham". These flavors blended into a beautiful crispness that I could go back for.

Another thing I'd go back for is the Firecracker Shrimp. These are also 5-spiced and come with a very smooth sambal dipping sauce. I don't know what is in the sambal, but I could dip everything into it, it's so nearly irresistable.

Then there was the Indonesian Mee Goreng with chicken, shrimp, tofu, cabbage and spicy soy. This was good, but a little less inspired than some of the other dishes we sampled. It made a nice foil though to the other flavors.

If you are looking for a fun atmosphere - warm, happy, bustling, and inobtrusive and good service, and some fun flavors with drinks, this is a nice place to stop. However, reservations are recommended as there was a large crowd waiting in the lobby even on a weeknight!

Daughter's Night Out. Every Thursday evening a companion comes to watch after my father and I have a carefree night out. I thought about going further afield last night, but traffic on 101N was particularly noxious, even later in the evening. So I decided to try a place in my backyard that I've been wanting to visit for awhile, Ora. It was the perfect choice.

As an aside, you can tell that it is indeed heading towards winter fast as the darkness is palpable suddenly significantly earlier. So again it will be the season for rather dark outside photos when I cover a dinner, an example being the one above.

I was immediately greeted with a very genuine welcome that made me feel warm as I entered the door. I noticed the warm decor and intimate feeling. I barely sat when a cone of fresh, just out of the fryer bread was popped onto my table. It didn't look like it would photograph well in the cone in the romantically dim light so I moved a couple of the hot and fragrant morsels onto the pretty green glass plate for this photo op. These were reminiscent of beignets, without the sugar coating.

Although my friendly server recommended the Green Papaya and Apple Salad as his personal favorite, I decided to stick with my first impulse, the Jicama and Red Grapefruit Slaw. Especially since I ordered a main course on the heavier side. It was simply delightful. It had tofu and bits of cilantro and red cabbage as well. It had a light dressing and had that characteristic jicama crunch.

For the main dish, I tried the Shaking Beef, caramelized onions, watercress salad, and sake soy vinaigrette. It also had a salt and spices on the side with a squeeze of lime for dipping. That added an interesting dimension which took the dish to a new level of complexity. The beef itself was tender with a definite taste of quality.

The menu had a choice of white rice, brown rice or black rice as an accompaniment. Well if brown rice is good, wouldn't black rice be even better? Well as far as taste goes, it has my vote! I was afraid that this may be some version of a wild rice where the grains would be hard. Not so at all. It was soft, and flavored with oyster sauce and other well-melded ingredients. It came covered in a leaf, and steaming hot.

I really wasn't planning on desert, but when I saw that there was rose water in the panna cotta, and I've had a weakness for things made with rose water lately, I had to order the Striped Red Raspberry and Rose Water Panna Cotta. It consisted of raspberry & rose water gelee, sugar coated lime zest, and wild berry salad. Wonderful.

Using some Amazon terminology, if you like E&O Trading, then you will also enjoy Ora. Ora in comparison is more intimate, romantic and has a warm ambiance. There are also silent movies playing on the wall that have been chosen in a way to be Asian artful (at least while I was there.). A good date night place!

Modern Fusion. Dad and I stopped by E & O Trading Company the other day for an Asian fusion lunch. I've been here several times before, but to my surprise, even though I posted about it in 2005 and 2006, I have not done a full review with food photos. I've consistently enjoyed good service and good food here.

We started with some fresh Indonesian Corn Fritters which are made from the freshes sweet corn, shaved off the cob just before cooking.

We then moved on to the E & O Platter, with its succulent pieces of meat, seafood, and portabello mushroom perfectly marinated, cooked and skewered. Hoisin, Peanut and honey mustard dipping sauces were perfect accompaniments.

The last of our savory dishes was the Asian Chicken-Mint Salad. So light, so refreshing!

Dad wanted to hear about the desserts, and chose the Pineapple Upside down cake with vanilla ice cream. I took a bite too, and it simply melted in the mouth. This is an old favorite of ours in Larkspur and we'll certainly be visiting again, with or without camera.

Pan Asian in San Anselmo. Dad and I stopped at May Lee's Asian Bistro for dinner one evening. We were entice by the "Asian Bistro" part of the sign, and wondered what surprises it may bring. Brightly colored, with friendly prompt service it brought the following dishes.

The Canton Ha Gow Dumplings were hot, fresh and delicious. You can see the steam rising! I tried to order sushi as an appetizer, but was told that 'no one eats sushi in the cold, we only have sushi during the summer'!

Next up was their Combo Fried Rice, this was great.

The Sizzling Salmon and Asparagus was exceptional!

The only misstep was the Singapore Curry Rice Vermacelli. It was, well, awful. It tasted like someone dropped the curry powder bottle in it and didn't stir it up. Dusty powder grains were distinguishable, clinging to the noodles and the dish tasted rather of concentrated curry powder, strong and grainy even though powder-like.

In general this was bright, cheery and the menu was pan-Asian with Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese and Thai dishes represented on the menu. The proprietor said that his customers usually order Chinese despite the variety. It was good, other than the noodles just mentioned. There are two other locations in Marin, which only serve a Chinese/Japanese menu, in Mill Valley and Novato called simply "May Lee's".