One Letter Change

CJ's became DJ's in the not too distant past, and this was the first time I went since the ownership change. I remember doing a double-take and questioning my sanity the first time I passed the new sign. I also sat on their back patio for the first time, lovely!

I had a lunch special, which included hot and sour soup. Seemed good for hot and sour.

And the Mongolian scallops were to die for! Crisp on the outside and moist on the inside with some spice! Green onions and a crisp noodle bed added to the taste adventure. It came with a pretty fried won ton skin, rice, and a refreshing cabbage salad underneath the won ton. All this, and a very friendly owner. Good lunch and recommendable.

Previously reviewed:
May 5, 2007 (as CJ Chinese Cuisine)

B Star gets A Star

Last week my friend Sachiko and I decided to go to Burma Superstar, only to find that it is closed on Tuesdays. However, just a block or so away is its little sister - B Star, and it was open. Both are on Clement Street in San Francisco.

And now I'm going to tell you what a nut I am. The photos turned out horribly. It was a bit too dim, and the shots were dark and blurry :-(. So what did I do? I took Dad the very next day for dinner there, and ordered EXACTLY the same menu. Those photos turned out much better, and we were in a better lighted area of the restaurant. So we had cooling honey iced teas, and started with Kabocha Croquettes. You can guess that all the food was great, or I wouldn't have ordered the exact same thing the next day!

The Tea Leaf Salad is over the top. The tea leaves are from a green tea imported from China, and the salad also includes romaine lettuce, ginger, garlic, peanuts, sunflower and sesame seeds and tomatoes. And I could have swore that there were some crunchy deep fried yellow peas in it too.

Thai Salmon Green Curry Pot Pie was up next, which consisted of strips of salmon and veggie green curry with a scallion and sesame puff pastry. We had jasmine rice as a side instead of the salad since we had the Tea Leaf Salad. It was not only visually appealing, but delicious.

And for a refreshing finale, we had ginger ice cream covered with fresh berries. A very smooth yet spicy finish, and a perfect end. I could come here often without tiring I'm sure.

Family Style Pizza and Pasta House

This place often gets overlooked, but Dario's Pizza and Pasta has some good values hidden away inside. And the woman who served us was a real gem -- hope she's appreciated.

Every day they have a special, and we happened to show up on a Tuesday, when it's all you can eat spaghetti. The specials all have a choice of soup or garden salad included. But first, a large loaf of freshly baked bread is served with butter. It is hot and delicious!

Dad ordered his spaghetti with the garden salad with Blue Cheese dressing on the side. It was so large, he took more than half of it home.

I ordered the minestrone, forgetting that I don't particularly like their rendition of it. It tastes rather green, like green olives. Not only that but it was COLD. I was not sure I wanted to say anything since I hardly wanted a warm bowl of it once I remembered its style. But I thought it would be kinder to mention it so they could turn up the heat for the next guest. So I told the waitress about the temperature and said I didn't want it replaced. She was so apologetic and insisted on bringing me a to-go box of a lovely salad matching Dad's.

Dad couldn't believe the heaping portion of spaghetti that came his way, in fact eventually made three meals of it. He said it was great.

I received a football sized calzone of mozzarella, mushrooms, black olives, and spinach (subbing for the meatballs.) It was piping hot and tasted great... and I could've made three meals of it as well, but tossed the remainder after meal two. If you are looking for gargantuan goodness, or have a football team to feed, this is the spot!

Previously reviewed:
March 8, 2007

Happy Spirit

I have to say I found Maya Azul Mariscos on Bellam Road in San Rafael just brimming with happiness and good spirit from the time I walked in the door. The menu offerings were fairly standard, but the cheerful service was over the top.

The interior was brightly colored, and you felt as though you entered a permanent festival. And there was a fish tank build into the center wall no less! And these were happy fish, not fish-that-are-about-to-be-eaten fish.

Dad tried the chicken enchilada plate, which he said was good, but too much volume to eat with refried beans, salad and rice accompanying the enchiladas.

I had a veggie burrito plate that included black beans, rice and salad as well. It was a generous portion of food at a reasonable price point. We just took doggie bags home. This is a great place near the Canal District for a casual and happy bite.

Wood burning oven crackles the crust

It's been a long time since I visited Vasco so it was time for an update. The comfortable interior is still the same, and the service this time around was fabulous. There was a comfortable buzz rather than loud echoes this time around, which works better for my father with his hearing aids.

Dad and I started with some colorful vegetables which had been cornmeal battered and flash fried, accompanied by some smooth aoli. The crunch of the cornmeal was a welcome texture contrasted with the usual wheat based types, and I don't think it absorbs as much oil. It's a nice choice for an appetizer.

With the wonderful summer weather, we thought salads would be a refreshing next course, so Dad enjoyed a mixed green salad.

While I enjoyed the asparagus salad which had tender grilled asparagus with roasted red peppers and a thin shaving of Parmesan. This was colorful and delicious too.

And we can't say enough good things about this rustic vegetarian pizza, cooked in the wood burning oven. The crackly crust was fabulous paired with thickly sliced eggplant, red onion, mushrooms, sweet red peppers and juicy tomatoes. It had just a smattering of mozzarella to set it off. We had a great meal and a great time at Vasco's!

Previously reviewed:
June 30, 2005

Vegetarian at Grilled Meat House

I'd noticed Juban for sometime at the street level of the Kinokuniya Building in San Francisco's Japantown. And on that shopping day, it seemed like the time to visit. I had some trepidations, having been newly reminded to eat simply and vegetarian by my Ayurvedic doctor...

However, there was something called a Tofu Sukiyaki Bento on the menu, and it looked pretty good! Slabs of fresh tofu with vegetables simmered in sukiyaki sauce smelled SO good and so it tasted. The clear soup with spinach and bean sprouts was also tasty, and I ate a little bit of the kim chee. Honestly this yakiniku house, ostensibly Japanese, had a decided Korean tinge. But I enjoy Korean too. It's clean, pleasant and the service is prompt as well.

Get them while they last!

"Everyone" has been raving about Blue Moon Organic strawberries. I had to get my hands on a box before yet ANOTHER person asked me if I'd tried them.

Yep, these are tasty alright! Small local sweeties which won't be around for long! I'd hurry and get a box if you like old-fashioned local berry taste! I got mine at Whole Foods.

Meet the farmer


And Anamika of The Sugarcrafter kindly awarded me the "You Make My Day Award" which promptly made MY day.

And here are the rules: “Give the award to up to 10 people whose blogs bring you happiness and inspiration and make you feel so happy about blogland! Beware! You may get the award several times!”

And here are some of the blogs whose writers "Make My Day" (not in any particular order):

I'm Mad and I Eat
Feeding My Enthusiasms
Becks & Posh
Zoomie Station
Pluto Demoted
Kalyn's Kitchen
Blue Lotus
The Ethicurean
Albion Cooks
Bunrabs (Daily Feed)

and WHERE is this place?

I've heard about a place called Ming's in Tiburon over the years, but never had actually seen it. Thought it may have closed. But peering through a walkway in the Boardwalk Shopping Center finally scored it!

So Dad & I tried it one recent evening. It seemed to be filled with families with young children. Noisy but happy. We started with Prawns and Asparagus which delightfully included some colorful carrots and was stir fried with a black bean sauce. It was very good.

We also had Orange Scallops which were divine. A slightly sweet orange sauce over battered and fried tender scallops.

The foil to all this was the Vegetable Fried Rice which was full of veggies. Ming's is a comfortable, casual place with friendly service and standard, yet good Chinese food in generous portion. And it is definitely kid-friendly.

Tried and True

Max's Cafe in Corte Madera has recently rolled back breakfast time to an hour earlier, so you can enjoy a big Max's breakfast 7 days a week from 7 a.m.

There are encouragements to eat all around, so if you're dieting - beware!

Dad's fancy was the Ham and Four Cheese Omelet with Hash Browns. There was nothing skimpy about this huge fluffy omelet with chunky slices of ham tucked throughout the center.

I remembered Jan's Eggs as being delicious and healthy. Made with all egg whites, it's not noticeable with the spinach, sweet onions and mushrooms scrambled in delicately. The portion was not lacking either.

The waiter warned us that the biscuits were still baking, and it would be a 10 minute wait if we wanted those as opposed to regular toast. Well, having had these before, we felt it well worth the wait. And it was. Large and fluffy they paired so well with a little butter melting into the center and some strawberry jam slathered on top. Max's has one of the best breakfasts in Marin, and for us it's a 'splurge' to go there with those large portions awaiting.

Previously reviewed:
October 23, 2006

The birthday cake

Actually Jonathon's 51st Birthday party. When I asked what I could bring he suggested the cake -- oh my! I don't think I'd baked a real cake in years... So I rifled through my old 3 x 5s that were in my mother's recipe box to come up with one. More about that later. Jonathon's birthday, celebrated with a casual barbecue with the usual suspects was the place to be yesterday afternoon.

There were quite a range of ages, from these green apple tossing kids, to my 87 year old Dad.

And even the dogs were invited. My photos of them were such a blur as they ran in such circles around themselves and children that this one of Cassidy was the only clear one. Banjo and Sharkey were also there.

The interior table was laden with a lovely selection of salads and the fixins for the salmon or boca burgers.

Gary brought some fresh oysters for an on-the-half-shell style, but was convinced by others that it was best to mitigate the risks by grilling. And they were delicious, as were the salmon or boca burgers and first sweet corn of the season.

And the watermelon seemed to mark the start of summer as well.

And on to the birthday cake. I found an old recipe that my mother made frequently when I was about 7-8, that she'd gotten from a woman who grew up with my brother like a sister, Barbara. I once tried to make it when I was 17 and in Japan. And it may have been a successful attempt had it not been attempted in a rather deep casserole pan in a microwave oven.

It was rather an adventure getting the ingredients for it, as when I arrived at the store and looked at the recipe, it called for a "#2 can of fruit cocktail". The store staff hadn't a clue either as they gave me a 15 oz can for it. I later found that it is 20 oz, and in most stores, all that is available are 15 or 30 oz cans. I added 5 oz of water to the 15 oz cans to good effect. (You use all the liquid from the can of fruit cocktail as well). I also used 5 oz of canned milk for the icing, as the small tins come in 5 oz rather than 4 oz (1/2 cup) size these days. (You can click on the image for a larger image of the recipe).

Since there were going to be quite a few people at the party, I doubled the recipe and poured the batter into the pans. There is a great advantage in baking cakes, the house smelled so good, even after returning several hours later. Not to mention my car since I transported them over still hot from the oven.

These look a little dry, but once you pour the piping hot liquid icing over the top, the cake is quite moist. The party was fun, and the cake was a success (whew!).

Convenient and consistent

Chain yes, and consistently good food and value too. I have liked California Pizza Kitchen for a long time. In fact since it came to my neighborhood when I lived in Northern Virginia. And that was in the 80s.

Dad and I had 'linner' there a few days ago. Starting with their ever-tasty Dakota Smashed Pea and Barley Soup.

Next trying their light and crunchy Miso Salad. This is a new fav. Imagine the fiber and enzyme punch of shredded Napa cabbage with fresh avocado, julienne cucumbers, daikon, edamame, carrots, red cabbage, green onions, cilantro, crispy rice noodles and crispy wontons tossed in a Miso dressing.

We then went on to an old standard, Wild Mushroom Pizza with Cremini, Shiitake, Portobello and white mushrooms, Fontina and Mozzarella cheeses with a wild mushroom pesto. Garnished with chopped Italian parsley. Good food, good values here!