annachan
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Posts posted by annachan
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Don't have much experience with this to offer anything helpful. Maybe try posting on the Chinese forum and see if you get some more response. Good luck.
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I've seen them at Sur La Table over here in the Bay Area. I would imagine it's available at your local Sur La Table or online. Silver is also available. I haven't done a price comparison so I don't know if the prices are good or not.
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But with a HKD 650 per dinner budget and on a business trip, it looks like Rick is looking for some 5 star restaurants with top notch service, wine and the whole nine yard.
HK$650 is actually not a whole lot of money for dinner. At 5 star places, HK $650 may not even get you an entree. My parents have spent more than that getting a stem fish (less than 2 lbs) and they said it was a great deal! To me, it's ridiculous.
So, be mindful of where you're going Rick. It's easier to go over your budget than you think.
But look on the bright side, HK$650 can definitely get you street food for a week!
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We actually had some interesting compound butter at a restaurant last night. One was with dried herbs, but I couldn't make out what exactly. The other ones were salmon and tangerine, both quite tasty.
A roasted garlic one would be good. Caramelized onion, shallot, chives, thyme, olives and green onion would be good ingredients, too.
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For some reason their chow fun has a very distinct 'smoky' flavor that I don't find anywhere else. And it is not just because of high heat cooking or dark sesame oil. It has a very very distinct smoky flavor.
Is there any standard ingredient or technique to get that?
That's very interesting. As far as I know, the smoky flavor of chow fun is related to "wok-chi", the high heat of the wok. If that isn't it, is there any way you can contact the restaurant and find out how they get the smoky flavor? I'm definitely interested in knowing.
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There's siliconevalley.citysearch.com, and a limited amount of information on sfgate.com.
Another option is to post on either here or on chowhound to get restaurant recommendations.
Good luck!
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Thanks for all the great pics and info. Neither the Slanted Door or the Carnelian Room are on my "good" list. IMHO, the food is average, prices high and very much of a tourist trap for me.
I'll be in Oakland tomorrow so I may stop by at the Epicurious Garden and check out Taste. The frites looks great!
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I don't get to pick and try many restaurants when in Hong Kong since we end up having most meals w/ friends and family who pick the restaurants. When we do get some "free time", we often eat around where we stay, which has been at Causeway Bay the past few times. We end up having street food lots of time, which is really our favorites. From hot waffles w/ peanut butter, condense milk and sugar to fish ball skewers to fried vegetables and dumplings to egg custard tarts, just to name a few. There are enough varieties that you can certainly make a meal out of them. One thing to be mindful of street food is that only go to places that looks very busy and a high turnover. Also, you should skip it if you have a sensitive stomach.
Other than street food, there are also many bakeries around, even inside the department stores. The bake goods are generally good and there are lots sweet and savory choices.
Here's one restuarant I've been going to since I was little (20+ years ago), and the last time I was there was a few years ago. I really do like the food there. As far as I know, the food is authentic. Also, the prices are very good.
Indonesian Restaurant
G/F, 28 Leighton Road
Causeway Bay
Tel 2577 9981
In Kowloon, there's a restaurant call Spring Deer that has great Peking duck and other Northern Chinese dishes. It used to be really famous, even major celebraties would wait for tables there. Since then, the owners has immigrated to the US and now the workers own the place. I haven't been there in a few years so I can't tell you about the quality now. But it was one of our favorites and we spent many celebrations there. As for prices, there are high end items there such as shark fin soup, but there are also decent price dishes.
One thing to keep in mind, go to places where you see lots of people in there. High turnover often speaks to good quality food. Also, I would stay away from raw seafood such as sushi when in Hong Kong, unless you go to high end restaurants.
Have a lot of fun in HK and good eating!
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Neat. I like wontons. I wrap them a little bit differently. Instead of smushing the top in like a siu mai, I fold it in half into a triangle, and then connect the two corners, similar to a tortellini.
That's what I've done, too. Or fold in half to a rectangle, pull the tails together, and make a nurses cap. OR using a wooden depressor, put the mix on the depressor, put the wonton over it and pull the whole thing off, squeezing the filling in.
But, it looks like hzrt's method looks nice and quick. I'm going to give that way a try.
At home, I prefer to fold it into rectangles and then make the cap (Shanghainese style). My aunt usually make hers the triangle method (not sure where that originate from). Even though I grew up in Hong Kong and is used to having the smushed top (Cantonese style) wonton when out, I don't like making them at home. The reason is that I find the smushed part of the wonton tends to be thick with dough and are at times undercook. Also, you can get more stuffing into the Shanghainese style fold. So, I use the same stuffing for Cantonese wonton and just fold it my way. It takes a little more time but I'm so use to the fold that I can make them pretty quickly.
BTW, Ah Leung, thanks so much for another wonderful post with awesome pics!
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Thanks for everyone's suggestion. Due to our schedule, we weren't able to dine anywhere we had to drive to. I'll definitely keep those off-site suggestions in mind for another time.
We did make it to the Napa Rose. The food was good, excellent if you compare it to other places at Disneyland. The service was far from polish. We walked in without reservations to see if we can get a table. Four people at the desk all acted like they didn't know what to do. One of them finally struggled to let us know they can seat us in 30 minutes. She made it sound like that was a very big deal. I just told her that we'll just get a drink at the bar. After getting a table at the bar area, it took 15 minutes to get our wine and a cocktail after we order. When the hostess took us to our table, she stopped half way and just handed us to the waiter to seat us, which I've never experienced at other restaurants. The waiter was very nice but he definitely need to fine tune his skills. We didn't order wine at the table yet he never removed the wine glasses, not even when we put them to the side.
On the next night, I found the restaurant that I'll definitely return to next time, the Vineyard Room at California Adventure. The prices are similar to Napa Rose, but the food was better and service was excellent.
I've also had disasters at both the Jazz Kitchen and the express cafe next door the last time and this time. I'll give Catal a try when I get a chance.
Again, thank you all!
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Heading down to Anaheim tomorrow and will be staying across the street from Disenyland. Like to get some solid food suggestions over there. We'll be spending a lot of time at Disneyland, so would like to dine closed by. We'll have a car but prefer places within a few miles and not having to go on the freeway.
As for cuisince, prices, etc., we're not picky. Just want good food.
TIA
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Thanks for the tip. I've been looking for dog-friendly places to bring our baby girl to since we got her several weeks ago. We'll definitely have to bring her there, maybe even meet our friends with their dog there.
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Lactose intolerance was the old wive's tale reason (what I heard) as to why not a lot of Chinese people eat cheese or drink milk. Same reason why Chinese people usually drink soy milk etc. Now whether this has any factual basis I don't know, but I find it a reasonable explaination.
I wouldn't call lactose intolerant an old wives tale. If something makes you sick, you'll most likely want to avoid it or develop an aversion to it. If cheese makes 90+% of another population sick, I can bet that cheese wouldn't be very popular with that population as well.
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I would stay away from baking anything, unless you know for sure that there is a reliable oven available to you....
Also, do some research in seeing what type of dishes/ingredients your grandmother likes and what she can't stand. If she's very particular about what she likes, you may consider doing some Chinese/Western fusion type dishes. My grandmother from Hong Kong is currently staying with us and cooking for her isn't easy....
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I've always loved cheese, but definitely not as big a fan as my dad, he eats cheese of any kind. As far as I can remember, all my family members (the ones who I know) ate cheese. I think the main factors that my family enjoys cheese has to do with us not being lactose intolerant and we're generally adventurous eaters.
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Most of the restaurants in the Union Square area are very "basic" or somewhat upscale. Budgetwise, you'll probably fit into one of the basic, mostly ethnic, restaurants. I like Sakana Grill or Sanraku for Japanese (they both serve sushi as well as cooked items), or Ar Roi for Thai. There are also some cafes, like Cafe de la Presse or Le Central, where you should be ok at $30 a head.
Yeah, Union Square is tough. Either high end or tourist type places. One place that may actually work for you is the restaurant inside Nordstrom in the San Francisco Shopping Center. It's across Market street from Parc 55. The atmosphere is causal and prices are decent for the quality of food. You'll get the basic like steak and seafood. $30 should be plenty.
I've also had a decent meal over at Sears Fine Food. It's famous for the Swedish pancakes, which is served all day. Other than the pancakes, it has the usual like fish and chips and steak. It's nothing spectacular but you'll be able to make your budget.
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I was wondering if we could revive this topic... If anyone can share experiences bringing children to non-chain places in the SF, I would love to hear it.
What great places have you tried with kids?
Chouchou in Forest Hill is actually great for kids. Kids are always around during brunch and sometimes at dinner. We actually saw an infant there during New Year's Eve dinner. That's why we picked Chouchou for my husband's birthday, so we can be inclusive of our friends' kids.
Many of the casual restaurants are kid friendly, it's the fine dining places that are more restricted. One thing to consdier is the food. Though many restaurant welcome kids, the menus may not be suitable for the picky eaters.
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We were there several years ago and really didn't care to go back. One of the problem is that my dad is very much a traditionalist when it comes to Chinese food. So, when he couldn't really find any Nanking specialties at the House of Nanking, he was very disappointed. He actually asked the owner what style (what province) of food he specialized in and the owner's answer was "his style". I remember ordering the "ant climbing on tree" dish and was not happy. I understand that the chef may want to make the dish his own, but I would imagine that he would try to make a dish that somewhat resembles its name. Instead, I got a dish with minced meat and vegetables in a pool of sauce on the bottom of the dish and topped with tiny pieces of broken fried rice noodle. Nothing looked like ant or tree....
Anyway, we went there because it's supposed to be a very good cheap eats place. I didn't find it to be cheap, even thought the taste of the food was decent.
I'm glad somebody has a much better experience than I did.
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This is by no mean a list of the "Top 5" restaurants in San Francisco/Bay Area, just a list of restaurants that I've enjoyed the food and service each and every time I've been there.
Jardiniere
Boulevard
Postrio
Chouchou
La Toque (Youthville - wine country)
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I'm looking for a nice heavy one , preferably round, that isn't overpriced.
It won't get used much so paying a lot is silly. I have an old rectangular cast iron one with a wooden handle. Can't put it in the dishwasher. It's impossible to clean. And I don't want to bother covering it with foil each time. Too lazy.
It looks so nasty I wouldn't even scrape my shoe on it.
Well, if you want a cheap press, you can always wrap a brick in several layers of foil.
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My dad spent a good part of his childhood in Shanghai and he's totally into raw garlic, especially when it comes to dumplings. He'll peel a bowl of raw garlic and eat them w/ the dumplings. I love garlic, oven using a bulb (or two) when making a meal. But eating cloves of raw garlic is a little too much for me....
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My grandma used to make savory oatmeal for us for breakfast It was a quick subsitute for Chinese porridge. Because she made it for us before school, she often used quick oat to cut down on the cooking time. She would put the oat in cold water and then put in on the stove. When it came to a boil, she would put in either seasoned (soy sauce, sugar, cornstarch and oil) ground or sliced beef (again, for the quick cooking time) and continue to cook for a few more minutes. It's still my favorite type of oatmeal till this day.
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I've been using Chinese takeout boxes for my holiday candies for the past few years. What has worked best in those boxes in the past are the almond toffees and chocolate covered honeycombs.
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I just love the 72%. I was worry that it would be too acidic, as some dark chocolates are. But the person at the shop gave me a sample and it has a very nice flavor. I used it for my holiday candies this year and everyone loved it.
San Francisco food help for Montrealers
in California: Dining
Posted
She can definitely call and see if she can get on a waitlist for French Laundry. The more flexible she is, the better her chances. If she has no luck with French Laundry, try La Toque. I really enjoyed my meal there. I read on chowhound that some people enjoyed their experience at La Toque more than French Laundry.
In SF, I'm a fan of Boulevard and Jardinere for the more expensive meals. For cheaper meals, I like:
Golden Mandalay - Southeast Asian
Old Mandarin Islamic and Oriental Seafood Restaurant - Chinese
Chouchou - French Bistro food
Tangarine - Pan-Asian fusion
Taraval Okazu Ya - Japanese
Los Flamingos - Cuban/Mexican
Hard Knox Cafe - Soul Food
Old Port Lobster Shack (Redwood City) - New England style seafood
Amber India (Mountain View) and Roti (SF) - Indian
A good place for her to sample different things is the Ferry Building and Epicurious Garden (Berkeley).