Old Fisherman's Grotto

All fishermen's wharves seem to offer some sort of seafood or other, but Monterey Bay fisherman's wharf fully embraces clam chowder. As you walk down the wharf, restaurants hand out samples of their steaming clam chowder - perfect for a chilly walk down and for whetting growing appetites.

On a visit with the family, we decided to take a meal in Old Fisherman's Grotto - partly because they billed themselves as having the best chowder, partly because the place looked cute and cozy, but mostly because they handed out a nice sample cut AND a free appetizer coupon at the door.

We ordered the calamari using the free coupon. No picture to be found because it was standard. Luckily, the clam chowder breadbowl was good: salty, rich, and deserving of their title. (My mother thought it was a tad salty, but as an abuser of the salt shaker, I quite enjoyed it.)

We got a prawn salad that had a spring mix, pickled asparagus spears, and blue cheese. Despite not being a salads person, I really enjoyed this.

We got a seafood pasta, which was extremely disappointingly salty and watery.

We also got two half crabs - one simply steamed, and the other with garlic butter. Standard and fairly fresh crab, although the garlic butter was very weakly flavored.

Old Fisherman's Grotto has hits and misses, though definitely try the chowder. (In case you go with family... it also has a well stocked bar... if that helps your family trips.) It's not a place you would head to just for the food, but for a leisurely and comfortable meal while visiting Monterey Bay, it's a friendly place to stop by and relax for a meal.

Old Fisherman's Grotto
Old Fisherman's Grotto Yelp
Monterey, CA

Kyusu Burmese Cuisine

Apparently, San Jose had its own restaurant week - as I was alerted the day before, as NN needed someone to round out a food outing to Kyusu Burmese Cuisine. I was game, as I had never had Burmese food before!

For restaurant week, there was a set three-course meal for two people. Everyone started off with a tea leaf salad.

The salad comes with your choice of cabbage or lettuce, and is mixed in front of you with your preference for amount of spicy pepper flakes. The taste is terrific: tangy from the tea leaves, nice spice, and lots of textures. 

For the second course, you can choose two entrees from a list of three. My meal date SY and I chose the chicken curry. It tastes very similar to a mild Indian curry.

It comes with your choice of either rice or (I think it's called) roti - we chose the roti based on our waitress' recommendation, and it was nice. 

Both SY and our dining partners NN and AC picked "Kauk Swe Thoke" as our second course - a cold noodle dish that has a rich sauce and slightly spicy. 

NN and AC chose the "Shan Style Fish and Herbs" as their second dish: a claypot with fish and veggies. The fish was tender and there was a lot of flavor.

Finally, dessert is "Sanyinmakin" with ice cream. They described it as Burmese style baked cake, but to me it had the consistency and texture more of custard or mochi. A bit sweet by itself already, but goes well with cold vanilla ice cream.

Overall, I greatly enjoyed the meal, especially the tea leaf salad. Aside from the salad and dessert, the main dishes seem like a mix of Chinese and Indian food - which makes sense, judging from the geographic locale of Burma. I'd like to give their normal menu a try and see what else Burmese cuisine has to offer.

For those of you averse to cilantro though, beware: cilantro is a big part of many of the dishes! (Go thank SY for the heads up, as she had to forlornly pick out the cilantro piece by piece first.)

Kyusu Burmese Cuisine
Kyusu Burmese Cuisine Yelp
San Jose, CA

Oryza

I was invited to "brunch" - I suspect that was a shifty ploy by KT and SP to get me to get somewhere before noon on a Saturday - but it was a great choice despite being decidedly just a lunch. Oryza is located on the edge of the Valley Fair Westfield mall in San Jose and seem to be going the semi-upscale Asian Fusion lounge route that's popular.

We started off with endless mimosas for some at our table, and a watermelon tea for me. The watermelon tea was more like a thin watermelon juice, and quite refreshing.

I thought the pad thai was mediocre and could do with a bit more flavor, and no different from a pad thai found in any random Thai joint.

The "kimchi bacon" is basically kimchi fried rice with bacon and your choice of another meat- I chose beef. Quite good!

The seared ahi salad had pieces of gorgeously seared salmon in a nice tangy vinaigrette. Using  edamame base was a nice touch, though some green leaves could have added a little more texture.

"Sweet Chicken" was good and has nice spicy kick to balance the sweetness, but too salty.

The seafood noodles were slightly disappointing and unexcitinig in flavor. No comment on the seafood itself though as I didn't taste.

And lastly, the garlic noodles were amazing. Very flavorful!

Overall, Oryza seems like a hit and miss place with the food - a Fusion Roulette of extremely delicious or mediocre. The atmosphere is quite nice and the servers were great, serving our table with humor and jest even as some of our mimosa-ed up tablemates made some... distinctly mimosa-influenced messes. I actually really enjoyed myself and the food here, and think it's a great hangout. It should have a more lounge-like atmosphere at night or happy hour, so I might stop by sometime then to try it out then update this post.

Oryza

Oryza Yelp

San Jose, CA

Loving Hut Milpitas

What do you think when you hear vegan restaurant? If you're a meats afficionado like me who has spent some time around Berkeley, it's possible you'll think "kale hell topped with self righteousness and flaxseed." - because that's what came to my mind when it was suggested to me by my coworker BQ that we eat vegan for lunch. Vegan?! Me?! Please, learn to tell better jokes...

But to my surprise, Loving Hut in Milpitas turned out to be a gem. Loving Hut is actually a chain but each Loving Hut location has its own specialized (but apparently mostly Asian inspired) menu. The Milpitas location has both Asian and western foods, and the Chinese dishes were our focus. They have vegetable only dishes and also several vegan versions of traditionally meat-centered dishes using "soy protein."

Szechuan eggplant, a dish seen in normal Chinese restaurants too. Eggplant is nicely cooked, though it could be spicier.

Mongolian Delight - I guess a vegetarian version of Mongolian Beef, very tasty and the soy product used has great texture.

Szechuan Strips is their soy protein in a slightly spicy sauce. I thought it was too mild to be considered Szechuan flavor (spicy to tears or bust!) but it was quite flavorful.

"Clay Pot Sensation" is a faux-fish dish. The picture doesn't look too impressive but the seaweed wrapped soy actually tastes like a delicious, Asian style clay pot fish dish.

"Divine Light" is soy protein with peppers, sprinkled with brewer's yeast. Unlike the other dishes, this did not have a sauce - still tasty, but the soy protein is a bit dry.

This is quite likely one of my favorite lunch places - fast, delicious, guilt free (hey, I might have had heavy cream in my coffee and a donut this morning, but at least I'm being healthy for lunch, right?) and so delicious even the most dedicated carnivore would forget they're in a vegan restaurant...

... except for maybe when they see a cheesy front wall plastered with pictures as kind of a (possibly unintentionally funny) shrine to veggie celebs. One of my faves and I'll continue to update as I make my way down the menu.

Loving Hut (Milpitas)

Loving Hut Yelp

Milpitas, CA

Gochi

FT and I went to another Japanese Tapas place in Cupertino (what is it with Cupertino and Japanese tapas?) for a special occasion and massively pigged out.

My favorite of the night was also presented at the start of the night: hamachi carpaccio. Despite being called a carpaccio, the fish was slightly cooked, possibly due to a hot drizzle of oil. The ponzu and the jalapenos sauce were a great kick but still mild enough to let the yellowtail show its fresh flavor - absolutely delicious!

We asked our waiter for a pork recommendation and got a pork belly. This was really thin sliced chasiu with a heaping of spring onions. Very nice, though a typical kind of taste profile.

Yaki onigiri (roasted rice ball) with ume (plum) and tuna. Very crispy, though it's hard to eat the topping and bite through the crunch at the same time.

We ordered risotto stuffed squid mostly for the novelty factor. It was tasty though much heavier than I expected.

Garlic steak? This was tasty and tender, but, as FT shrugs, "nothing super special."

Chazuke is rice in dashi soup. I personally prefer to take my rice dry or in nice yaki onigiri form, but FT enjoyed it as a light ending to the meal.  

Lastly, a green tea creme brulee. Nice and crispy.

Overall, Gochi was delicious! For it's portions, it trends of the pricier side, but it's worth it for a treat. We saw others digging into huge portions of their clay pot rice, which we unfortunately didn't have the stomachs for anymore. The ambiance is nice, and the place was packed on a weekday, so reservations are a good idea. Highly recommended for a small splurge if you're in the south bay area! 

Gochi Japanese Fusion Tapas

Gochi Japanese Fusion Tapas Yelp

Cupertino, CA

Jones

A group of friends and I stopped by Jones in the Tenderloin for a late dinner in the middle of a night of drinks. The inside tables were full, but we took a table in the (mostly) empty outside patio area.

There's a multipage drinks menu with some tasty mixed drinks, but we focused on their one page dinner menu.

Braised rabbit and pappardelle- this sounded interesting but turned out a bit bland. When shredded, the rabbit tasted like a bland shredded chicken.

Roasted Coho salmon with black risotto and kale - the salmon was a bit dry. I actually liked the risotto though, and there were good flavors. 

Crab cakes - I didn't get to taste the crabcakes, but they seemed alright.

Truffle fries - nicely done.

I personally liked the flavor of the roasted cauliflower (lots olive oil and capers!) but a bit too mushy. Wealso had the spaghetti bologness, which was bland. So bland it didn't even deserve a photo. 

Some in our party got a ginger mixed drink from their long drink menu, which was tasty. However, most of the food was unexciting and bland. When we left it was still quiet, especially for a Saturday night, but the outdoor area is very nice. A nice place to chill with drinks with a lovely outdoor area, but there's better options in the area if you're looking for dinner.

Jones
San Francisco, CA
Jones Yelp

Crown and Crumpet (Ghiradelli Square)

Afternoon tea is something I picked up while studying abroad in Hong Kong and since then have always wished would gain popularity here in the states. Who doesn't get that 3pm slump, and just have a quick cup of coffee and some stale snacks to tide them over until dinner? Now, imagine that instead you can go and have legitimate sandwiches and sweets and teas... yum.

Crown and Crumpet is located in lovely Ghiradelli Square in a small corner shop (until May 2013). This is the tea party of every big girl's little girl dream: vintage furniture, pink and white floor tiles, decorations of pink and florals and kitschy designs covering every inch of the cozy and adorable room.

AW and I took a girls day out to come here, and ordered the set tea for two. It comes with two pots of tea. We chose a black tea and a green tea, and though I can't remember which ones we chose (there's a large section), both were quite delicious.

The food is brought to you on a three tiered serving tray.

You get, per person: 4 half sandwiches, two scones, one crumpet, and four desserts.

I believe the selection varies day by day. We had a salmon/cream cheese, egg, an unidentified one in the back that I don't recall, and a curried sandwich which I found interesting but AW didn't like that much. 

Each person gets one plain and one chocolate chip scone as well. I liked the crumpets the best (so soft... so fluffy), and hence did not get a close up photograph. Clotted cream went lovely on allof these!

The desserts, however pretty, tasted only mediocre though.

It was a fun two hours sipping tea and nibbling finger foods. You can order additional items, but we found that this tray was way more than enough for two people. At $26 per person the food is, admittedly, not spectacular, but we enjoyed ourselves and had a great time. This is not the kind of place you'd go for great food, but more a good place to hang out and catch up with people in a fun atmosphere.

I saw that Crown and Crumpet is moving to a downtown location in May 2013, and I'll be interested to possibly try them again after the move.

Crown and Crumpet
San Francisco, CA
Crown and Crumpet Yelp