Hypertaster

Chevy's Three course meal deal

2011-01-16T19:36:00.000-08:00

Hello Everyone,

Chevy is currently running a promotion for a 3 course meal deal.

For $11.99, you get to choose

course 1)

Soup or Salad

Course 2)

Choose between selected entrees

Course 3)

Desert: Either deep fried ice cream or Flan

Overall not a better deal. Not as great as the Chili's 2 for twenty but pretty decent.

Better than Applebee's 2 for twenty.

New Hottest Pepper in the world!!!!!

2010-12-03T23:25:00.000-08:00

The legendary ghost pepper or Bhut Jolokia has been dethroned by another pepper.

Unthinkable as it may be that something else can even hotter.

All hail to the new king!!!!

The new top pepper is.....the Naga Viper.

It was made by a British man. Yes that right, a British man in Britain.

He did some cross breeding and experimented.

Supposedly made by combing the three hottest peppers known to man including the Bhut Jolokia.

The most recent measurement on the scovia scoville scalek puts it in the 1,300,000.

Thats about 300,000 more than the Bhut Jolokia or ghost pepper.

So all you dare devils out there. Have at it. I'll be watching and laughing.

Phils BBQ

2010-09-13T20:50:00.000-07:00

Phils BBQ

3750 Sports Arena Blvd
San Diego, CA 92110

Phone: 619 226-6333

As one of the primer BBQ places in the San Diego area, I had to try it when I was down there. There is a perpetual line outside that can wrap around the building. They are it seems that they bought out most of the plaza.

As you enter the building you are greeted and directed to the menu. Then you have to get a table, which can be a bit of trick as the place seems to be pack. We were recommended we had to try out the beef ribs. So we decided to get a little bit of everything from BBQ beef ribs to BBQ chicken. I believe it was the combo pack with some sides included. The smell is intoxicating as you hungrily wait for your food.

The baby back ribs and the chicken was okay, but to be honest, I didn't that it blew my mind.

The included sides were okay, with nothing that really stands out. The beef ribs on the other hand was quite good. It was soft and tender with just the right amount of smoke. The only knock I would give is that some of the ribs were a bit overdone and dried out. The sauce was sweet and savory. I could see why the place was so popular. The service is mainly self service but some people do come around asking if you need anything.

Now some of you maybe wondering if this is the best BBQ I've eaten, sadly I would say no.

The Willow BBQ is slightly better as I like the sauce with the onion bits more. My brother in law agreed that the Willow BBQ had a better sauce, though he did prefer Phils for the soft meat.

Food : 3 1/2 stars

Service: NA

Price: Average

Overall : 3 1/2 stars.

Coming up

2010-07-22T20:39:00.000-07:00

Just to let you know, we are not dead.

Here is a small list of what is coming up, and what I've been working on.

Phil's Ribs (yes, the world famous one in San Diego) review.

Current Foodie Shows

Where to go for Culinary Education.

Weird Foods

2010-05-27T21:34:00.000-07:00

I'm back from vacation which means, like last year, I have many different foodie topic to share with you.

First I want to start a post of weird things I've tasted. It is not necessary gross or taste terrible, but it will be about food I usually do not run into.

Let's start off this post with something I just tried while on vacation. We were at Legoland in

California, when I was walking by a food stand. Nothing unusual about the stand at first. It was selling fries. But as I walked closer I see that they were selling apple fries. Yes, that's right apple fries. It looked like they had a nice crunchy crust and were served with a dollop of vanilla cream. The fries were also sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. You would think that it would taste sweet and like an apple pie. You would be wrong. It tasted so so sour. To the point that it was almost inedible. Perhaps they should fix their recipe. Perhaps a different type of apple.

This goes to show that once again, don't judge a book by it's cover.

A Glimpse into Another World

2010-04-21T11:55:00.001-07:00

What you see infront of you is the menu from one of the top restaurants in the world, Fat Duck.

For more information please read the 10 restaurants to try before you die post. Even though they have dropped from number one recently as the powerhouse restaurants , they still are still ranked top 10 in the world.

My sister in-law went to visit jolly old England and was gracious enough to bring back a menu for me. As you can see the menu comes in a sealed envelope with a wax seal. She tells me the prices are actually reasonable but can get out of hand if you decided to have wine pairings with each course. The menu is a set selection but appears to change with the seasons, and availability of ingredients. When she went their were two set courses to choose from.

Believed it or not, my sister in-law actually did not like all of the courses. She stated the food was probably above her understanding or taste. She not the type of person that enjoys Foie Gras. She thought they used too many foams in their dishes. The one course she was most impressed was the sound of the sea. It was a seafood dished served with a mp3 player that played the sounds of the oceans while you eat.

Someday, perhaps someday, I'll will be able to give you a true review. Till then here is a small glimpse into another culinary world.

Sorry, about not posting lately

2010-04-21T11:53:00.000-07:00

I've been busy with work and home life.

But hopefully I can provide regular updates again.

I'll post something new this week, something special.

Chili's "Fresh Pairings."

2010-03-18T21:39:00.000-07:00

This is a PSA for all you bargain hunters out there.

Chili's is currently running a promotion called "Fresh Pairings"

You get to choose one appetizer and one select entree for 9.99.

This is almost as good as the 2 for 20 deal they had. Instead of a desert, you get another

appetizer.

I had one of their new pulled pork sandwich while, my wife had their half rack of ribs.

We both split a chips and salsa and some southwestern egg rolls.

So don't missed out, like the 2 for 20, it won't last long.

May Flower vs May Flower

2010-02-27T22:23:00.001-08:00

Mayflower

428 Barber Lane

Milpitas, CA‎

(408) 922-2700

Mayflower

222 Great Mall Dr

Milpitas, CA‎

(408) 935-6999‎

‎

Now for those of you that live near Milpitas, Ca, there are two very restaurants own by the same chain. What is weird is that they're relative closes to each other. One is located in the Ranch 99 shopping plaza, while the other is located near the Greatmall. Both serve the same type of family style chinese food. Both serve dim sum and both are equally popular. However there are subtle differences between then. LET THE BATTLE BEGIN!!

1) Parking.

This was an easy win the the Greatmall Mayflower. With ample parking, only during the busiest of holidays will you have trouble. You may have to walk a bit, but parking is never a problem. The Ranch 99 plaza Mayflower always have parking problems. The trouble is not only do you have to compete other restauranteurs for parking, you also have to compete with Ranch 99 shoppers for parking. Plus you have a small parking spaces which will lead to frustration and many ding doors.

Winner: GreatMall Mayflower

2) Service.

This one is a wash. Both are typical chinese restaurants which means there are never enough servers for the amount of people. You'll have to tackle somebody to get attention.

Winner: Tie

3) Menu.

You would think that being the same chain means they have exactly the same menu. Actually there are subtle differences. The Ranch 99 Mayflower generally have a greater selection of Dim Sum. Being the larger of the two restaurants this isn't too surprise. However for dinner time, the Ranch 99 Mayflower also has set dinners for family. Infact, right now they are offering two set dinners. Both allows you to select 4 dishes from a predefined menu and also a peking duck. The only difference is one menu gives you shark fin soup will the other does not. The menu with the shark fin is 99 dollars with the menu without is 79 dollars, a pretty good bargain. Not having set menu's really hurt the Greatmall Mayflower.

Winner: Ranch 99 Mayflower.

4) Food:

Okay, okay, this part is pretty subjective. But I have eaten both restaurants many times, that I can there is a bit of a difference. The food tastes the same mostly, but over time, I have come to conclude that the Ranch 99 Mayflower has a ever so slight edge. There food tend to have a deeper richness and seem to be seasoned a bit better.

Here are some gratuitous food pictures since this is a food blog after all.

Winner: Ranch 99 Mayflower.

Overall Winner: By winning the most categories, I will have to give it to the Ranch 99 Mayflower. So there you have it, if you have the choice, I suggest going to the Ranch 99 Mayflower provided that you are willing to put up with parking.

Left Bank Steak

2010-02-18T19:38:00.001-08:00

400 South Winchester Boulevard

San Jose, CA 95100

(408) 984-3500

LB Steak or Left Bank Steak is located on the very end of the Santana Row Shopping Strip. I have passed by it a couple of times and was curious to try it out. Finally my wife and I had a night without the kids, so we jumped at the chance to try out a new restaurant. There was little wait and we were seated promptly.

There was a bread server that ask you to choose between a variety of breads. I like this option and it provides a nice touch of class to the restaurant. I choose the olive bread and overall I like that it was hot and had nice deep bitter olive flavor.

After looking over the menu, we decided to go with our server's recommendation. We tried the scallop for appetizer, my wife elected to try the quail with wrapped bacon, and I had the braised short rib.

The scallop was first to come out and it looked fantastic. However we were a bit disappointed that there lack that crisp seared that all good scallop needs. It was slightly undercooked which meant that the full flavor of the scallop was lacking. We did like the truffle and garlic butter that accompanied the dish.

My wife's quail came out next. The other bacon was nicely crisp, but for some reason the bacon flavor didn't quite transfer over to the quail meat as you expect. It was a bit bland. This is one time that adding bacon didn't help.

My braised short rib was better. It had a nice red wine reduction and the meat was nice a tender. The softness of the meat and nice portion really hit the spot with me. I also loved the fact that they served it in the pot that the rib was braised in. I really had hoped to have order steak in a steak house, but I just wasn't feeling like steak tonight. Perhaps next time.

The service was decent for a packed night. We had our drinks refilled quite a bit, but we were left alone for stretches at a time. Overall for the fact that every seat was taken, I would say service was adequate.

Food: 3 stars

Service: 3 1/2 stars

Overall: 3 1/2 stars

Iphone Apps for a Foodies

2010-01-26T00:30:00.000-08:00

There are tons of apps in the Apple Iphone app store. You can anything from apps to count your calories to counting your weight. There are even apps to help you organize your recipes. However out of all the apps I've had try two I think really stand out to help make a foodie's life more easy.

Both of the my favorite food apps are free, so go ahead and grab them from the app store.

The first is the Yelp app. Nice little app that can search any restaurants reviews and can even locate restaurants in your area. There's even a augment reality mode that so far is more of a gimmick than something really useful.

Pros: Easy to use, lots of restaurants. Lots of reviews

Cons: Some of the reviews are a bit....well, suspect. And a consensus reviews isn't always the best review.

The second app is Epicurious. This is a recipe app that you can search for any dish. The one thing that separates this from others is the wonderful pictures some of the recipes. It's on par with some of the nicer cook books.

Pros: Easy to search for, lots of recipes. Pictures are top notch.

Cons: Requires the internet connection, and some recipes are a bit tough.

Sushipedia:

An encyclopedia for sushi lovers.

A sushi app that explains and describes the different types of sushi in the world.

Nice pictures, and can do multiple types of searches, even ones just based on ingredients.

Pros: Free and has a great variety of sushi.

Cons: it's only about sushi.
So far I think these are top apps for foodie so far. If I find others that are good and free, I'll update this post.

Kappou Gomi

2010-01-12T21:42:00.000-08:00

Kappou Gomi

5524 Geary Boulevard
San Francisco, CA 94121
(415) 221-5353

Kappou Gomi is a small family neighborhood style Japanese restaurant that is a bit different from your usual Sushi bar restaurant. This is every bit as authentic as you can get. The restaurant is pretty small so it is not for those that are claustrophobic.

My wife and I came during a very busy night and we had to sit at the bar. We look over the menu and was surprised to see the nice variety of Japanese cuisine. We ordered the jelly fish, the duck with green onion, and the braised pork belly. The waitress took our order, but due to the fact that the restaurant was pack the kitchen became overwhelmed. We had to wait for some time before our orders came.

We liked the jelly fish quite a bit. We had many Chinese version before, but tasted a bit different. It had a a nice sesame and peanut sauce. The jelly retained it's nice crunched.

The duck was decent but it lack that nice seared I was hoping for from. It was seasoned nicely, and was tender. The side of bean sprouts was decent as well. It tasted like a nice home made duck.

Lastly the braised pork belly came. It was nice and tender. The fat and meat only required a fork to cut. The sauce was a deep flavored soy. Overall the food was like eating at a Japanese home. The food was cooked with great care and love.

The service was decent consider the restaurant was slammed. We did have to wait for a long time. They did asked how we were doing from time to time, but we were left alone for stretches at a time. The only thing I could fault was that the serving sizes were a bit small, our my appetite was too big. Either way we left not being full.

Final Thoughts: Like eating good home cooked Japanese food.

Food: 3 1/2 stars
Price: Above Average
Service: 3 stars
Overall 3 stars

Tomato Thyme

2009-12-30T22:31:00.001-08:00

Happy New Year!!

Let's start out the new year in our usual style, a restaurant review.

Tomato Thyme

1560 Hamilton Avenue

San Jose, CA 95125-4539

(408) 723-7333

Tomato Thyme is a chain restaurant that has a home town cafe feel to it. They serve Italian style meals with seasonal specials. My wife works close by and often go there for lunch. It was my first time going there for dinner.

We were promptly greeted and seated. There are dinner tables in the front of the restaurant and a bar at the back. The waitress brought out some warm bread and we ordered some calamari for appetizer. We weren't particularly hungry so we decided to split a main course and share a dessert. We ordered a strip steak with demi glace and a molten chocolate cake.

There was a bit of wait for our food, but it did come out piping hot. The calamari had a nice crisp and we like the chucks of garlic throughout. The garlic gave it a nice flavor throughout. The side of marina sauce complemented the dish well.

The server split our main course in the back which was a nice touch. The demi glace gave the steak a nice richness. The side of steamed vegetables and wild mushroom risotto were perfect companions to our steak. We ordered medium well, since my wife does not like raw meat. The steak was perfectly done, and not too tough.

The molten chocolate cake was decent. It had a nice fudge in the middle and scoops of ice cream on the side. I found the chocolate to be a bit too bitter for my taste, but my wife loved it. The ice cream on the side was a nice break from the bitterness of the chocolate. The fudge in the middle was bitter chocolate as well.

The service was adequate, though we did have to wait a bit for our food, even though the restaurant was not busy at the time. Most of our request were handle quickly.

Final Thoughts: Good italian style food in a friendly environment.

Food: 3 1/2 stars

Service: 3 1/2 stars

Price: Above average

Overal: 3 1/2 stars

Stop and enjoy the little things.

2009-12-17T14:25:00.000-08:00

This is the time of year when our stress reaches its' yearly high. We have so many things to worry about. We have bills, christmas shopping, the cold weather. So of us unfortunately have it extra hard this year with the down economy. Well, just remember sometimes you just have to stop and smell the roses. In my case, its' stop and enjoy the little things. Even if it is only for a few minutes from your hectic schedule, if you just enjoy something small, it will provide an incredible boost to your sanity. I find that in my case, my little something is Dave and Busters Donut holes. It comes in a nice variety, and with two sauces. A tangy raspberry sauce and a nice bitter chocolate sauce. Probably one of my favorite guilty pleasures. For those 30 minutes I'm enjoying those donut holes, the world stops. I don't notice anything around, and my worries are put on hold. So go find yourself a little something to enjoy and have the world stop for a few moments.

The Art of Dim Sum

2009-12-04T22:10:00.000-08:00

This is more of a guide to help the uninitiated get the grasp of the intricacies of eating Dim Sum.
First a little background. Dim Sum in Cantonese means touching the heart. So in a way you are touching the heart when you eat. It is immensely popular, especially in Canton region. This practice originated from China as a way for people to socialize and enjoy each others company. People would often sit for extended periods of time sipping tea and discussing the latest news.

Now you must be aware that Dim Sum can be quite adventurous. Beaware that there may dishes that may seem bizzare to you.

First, you must decided which restaurant you want to eat at. There are many social outlets like yelp that can help you get started. However once you tried a few restaurants you'll develop your own favorites. Dim Sum can be a bit dividing since often most some restaurants can serve different styles. My personal favorite is Koi Palace for Dim Sum, but we'll get to that someday.
Now, once you know which restaurant to try, you can see if they take phone in reservations or have give out numbers by phone. The most popular Dim Sum places can have waits up to several hours long. See the photo below. One way to ensure a table is to get there early before the restaurant opens, especially on Holidays.

Upon getting your table, the server will ask what type of tea that you want. There are different types of flavor. You can even order combination. My dad likes a combination of chrysanthemum and olong, or chrysanthemum and red tea. When dining by myself, I generally prefer just chrysanthemum by itself. It is a lite and refreshing tea and goes well with some of the heavy foods of Dim Sum.

Next we will discuss some of the etiquette involved in Dim Sum. When the tea arrives, it is generally polite to serve others first. Never just pour tea to yourself only. Always serve others before yourself. Generally go from oldest to youngest, then yourself. When someone else is pouring tea to you, the receiver generally thank the pourer. Older Chinese individuals can be seen rolling the index and middle finger in a C shape and tapping the table several times. This is old time way of saying thank you. You'll still see this from time to time if you pay attention closely. Just remember others before yourself and you'll be fine with the etiquette.

Now we can get to the food. There are two ways to get the food. Most modern Dim Sum restaurants give you a sheet with a list of food. You would mark which dish you want and how many. Do not worry about the names, often there are often english translations. There are different tiers to the pricing. So pay attention. Dim Sum can be both affordable and quite expensive. The "special" tier tend to be most expensive, so limit how many of those you get. The "small" tier is the cheapest and usually ranges only a few dollars per dish.

The second way is that the food is brought out by carts or servers. And they would announce the type of food they have, usually in Cantonese. If you do not understand it, ask them to show you the food and then point to the ones you want to try. However there is no pricing guide with this and you'll only find out what tier the food is by where the stamp the server put on your bill. There are several draw backs to this method. One, is that some of the more popular dishes often sells out, sometimes before it reaches your table. Another is that sometimes some of the restaurants best dishes are only found on these carts or servers, so you'll have to keep a sharp eye for the dishes you want.

Here is a tip for you. Sometimes you'll see the desert on these carts. If you are at all interested in these dessert, I often get it early and just set it aside. Why? Well, some the desserts often sell out or are offered at select times. By securing the popular dessert early, you won't have to worry about it latter or try to track it down latter. One of my favorite desserts is mango pudding. Some restaurants makes the pudding quite flagarant with real pieces of mango. Others make it from a powder and you'll know if it is good from the first few bites.

There are several food that people always get at Dim Sum. Ha Goi and Shu Mi, you'll often find at all the Dim Sum tables. Ha Goi is more commonly known as shrimp dumpling and Shui Mi is the pork dumpling. Both of these are steamed items. Here is another tip, eat the steamed items as soon as they are served. The are usually steamed on the carts and once they leave the carts they can get cold rather quickly. Other steamed items that are quite popular are the steamed pork ribs. For those that are more adventurous, there are the Phoenix claw, otherwise known as chicken feet.

Buns and pastry are often steamed as well. Different fillings can range from egg custards to BBQ pork.

Some of dishes can be served with dipping sauce. Like the shanghai dumplings, often served with a sour vinegar sauce. You don't have to ask for the sauce, the server will know which sauce is served with which dish.

Fried foods often are served on a separate cart. It can be either savory or sweet. There also can be different fillings in them as well. Always ask the server if you are not sure what filling are in the item if you are not sure.

There are some specialized carts that carry specialized dishes. There are some carts that carry con gee or the cow stomachs. Some carts even pan fried certain foods right infront of you. For instance, one of our family favorites is the pan fried chive and shrimp dumplings. Some of the better restaurants fry it infront of you and gives the outside a nice crisp.

If these dishes aren't filling. You can order noodles to fill those eager tummies. Some of the noodles be spicy. You can also order different vegetable dishes ranging from stuff egg plants, mushrooms, and Chinese broccoli.

Dim Sum for me is for a way for trying something new. Everytime I go, I always have to try something new. Take for instance, my last outing. They offered a Chinese Buffalo wings. Well having just read the name alone, I must give it a try. It turned out to be just fried chicken wings. It was okay, but I was glad I tried it. There are some food, that are even too much for me. Take the Duran Dumpling. Yes, Duran. The stinking fruit in dumpling form. I could not bare to eat it. I ordered, but I couldn't put it in my mouth. My mom loved it though. I have eaten Duran in the past, and the memory apparently still lingers.

Now, remember when I said earlier that certain restaurants are known for certain things. Do your research. Like for instance the Hong Kong Lounge was known for their Baked BBQ pork bun. It had a crispy outer shell with a sweet BBQ pork filling. It was quite popular, and like all popular dishes in a Dim Sum restaurants, it goes quickly.

Now that you know a bit of Dim Sum. Go out and give it a try. Be adventurous and be mindful of the price. Above all, just have fun with your family and friends.

The Ban Hammer

2009-12-01T23:23:00.000-08:00

I got asked the other day why there are no more advertisements on my blog anymore.

In the interest of full disclosure, I just want to tell you want happened to them.

With Google ads, when I first signed up, I didn't really read the terms of service. Like all males, I just put up the blog and wrote and did anything I want. I had posted in every article "click and check out my sponsors." And I even wrote on my Facebook click and check out my sponsors. Well unfortunately someone did....too many times. I got an email telling me that my site was a danger to Google's clients due to suspicious activity and I got banned. I had install Google analytics on this site and they were right. There was an unusual high spike in activity when I didn't put up any new content. Then I went and read the terms of service and it was in plain as day, you cannot say anything like "click on my sponsors, or check out my sponsors." I know this is a bit counter intuitive since in most things in real life, if you get a sponsor you would want people to go support your sponsors. Well in the Internet, the rules are a bit different. Yes you want people to go to your sponsors, but no, you cannot say it. I actually had other sponsors look at my site with those "check out my sponsor" messages and they were okay with them, so I didn't think anything of it. Google had every right to ban me. I broke the terms of service, plain and simple. I had to scour all my old post to remove any of the offending messages. I even appeal my ban, but didn't get a response. I have no illusions that my ban will be reversed.

I love Google, I think everything they do is a great benefit and use many of their products. Infact, this very blog is hosted by Google for free. They provide the tech and back in support for free as well. You cannot ask anymore of Google. I was just glad they didn't ban my site or gmail.

I did not get ban by Widget Bucks. It was simply that this blog did not generate the type of traffic on a consistent basis for them, so they were just going to suspend my account. I do get the occasion spike in traffic on something I write but those are few and far in between. Well, I felt if they are going the suspend my account why would I give them free hits then. So I decided to remove all their advertisement from this site. There were other sponsors I signed up with and I toyed with them a bit. But some of their ads were too big and took too much time to load. Others were just plain annoying. Some played background music, or open annoying pop ups. I was not happy with most I tried.

I know this was a bummer of a topic, but there is a bright side. Atleast, for those loyal readers, and I know there are, because I have Google analytics, this blog will be ad free and less clutter. So cheer up and go eat something!

Charlie's Cheesecake

2009-11-25T19:56:00.000-08:00

1179 Redmond Ave
San Jose, CA 95120-2749
(408) 268-4555

Charlie's Cheesecake is San Jose's own little delights. These can be found at Costco of all places. That's where I picked up a box for about 12 bucks in the frozen food section. You can also get it directly from Charlie's Cheesecake. The frozen ones has to be defrost about 5 to 15 minutes at room temperature before eating. My brother in law actually likes them frozen.

The cheesecakes comes in variety of flavors, and in the Costco box, you get to try most of them. So far, my favorite is the Key Lime. Most of the cakes are nice and soft. More importantly the cakes are sweet but not too sweet. If the cheesecakes are too sweet, you can't really eat too many.

So go out there people and support your local cheesecake proprietor.

Too many disappointing shows.

2009-11-21T10:41:00.000-08:00

So far there has been too many disappointing cooking shows lately. I am disappointed at the Next Iron Chef particularly. The challenges are uninspired and I can not connect with any of the contestants. I particularly find the judges to be quite irritating. Sometimes they say things for the sake of being snarky.

Most of the new cooking shows on the food network as been a bit boring as well. I don't find Guy's Big Bite interesting or any of the slew of new female hosts innovative. Guy has some personalities but the others are very very dry.

Andrew's Weird World doesn't seem to interest me as much since the emphasizes as been taken off of food.

Here's hoping that next season will be better. Hopefully they will bring back Top Chef Masters.

Penang Village

2009-11-11T21:38:00.001-08:00

1290 Coleman Ave
Santa Clara, CA 95050

(408) 980-0668

Penang Village is a Malaysian restaurant in Santa Clara, is off of the Coleman street. I have actually driven by the place several time and is curious about the place. The facade looks old and a bit like some of the restaurants I've tried in Thailand. I actually like this look, it gives the restaurant character. Inside you'll find the same motif, as the same rusted old restaurant look permeates everything. I went during lunch time and it wasn't busy at all. There was a sign that stated that the restaurant lost its' liquor license. Not exactly the initial impression I was looking for. There were a few people scattered about, but no where what I was expecting during the lunch time rush. It took a few minute for someone to seat me.

Malaysian cuisine is a mix of different cultures in Asia. The menu reflects that, and you can find Thai inspired dishes to Indian influences. After looking at the menu, I decided to try the Roti and the Indian fried noodle.

The Roti came out first and I thought it looked a bit limped. Unfortunately it was. Instead of the crisp outside with the soft inside that we all know and love. The whole thing was a soggy mess. It seemed as if they just defrosted it from a package. The curry sauce that was served on the side was lifeless and a tasteless.

Next came the Indian noodles. The flavor was actually not bad. I actually liked it. It tasted like Pad Thai but not sour. There were some vegetables sprinkling throughout, but they were all wilted. At that point, I pretty much came to the conclusion that they were not using fresh ingredients. My suspicion was confirmed when on my way out, another patron complained that their fish was not fresh.

Service was pretty much non-existent. I hardly saw my server at all, and there wasn't that many patrons in the restaurant at the time. She seemed to be more concerned with a table for four and ignored me since I was by myself.

Final Thoughts: It seems that the best years has long past this restaurant.

Food: 1 1/2 stars
Service: 1 1/2 stars
Overall: 1 1/2 stars.

Hot Peppers

2009-11-02T08:18:00.000-08:00

I was eating lunch the other day and was overhearing a conversation about peppers between two ladies. One of them said, "Habaneros are the hottest peppers in the world." This took me back a bit as I know this is not true. Sure Habaneros are spicy but the definitely are not the hottest in the world. I actually have tried Habaneros before and they are quite spicy. I remember sweating and wishing for a gallon of milk

To know what is consider the hottest pepper in the world, we must know about the capsaicin and the Scoville Scale. Capsaicin is what makes the pepper spicy. It has a very high affinity to lock onto you taste buds and won't let go. This is the reason why water won't help you if you happen to bite into a pepper. In fact it may make it worst, as it'll spread the capsaicin to the unaffected parts of your tongue. The only refuge is a fatty glass of milk where the fat will block some of the capsaicin from binding.

To measure the amount of capsaicin in the old days, the you take a pepper and dilute it with sugar water till it was no longer spicy. These days it's a bit more scientific. They actually can measure the concentration of capsaicin. The Scoville Scale is always given as a range, since many factors can affect the amount of capsaicin in a pepper. Weather, soil, and other variables can play a part on how spicy a pepper is.

Here is the list of the most common peppers you'll probably encounter, with some notable exceptions.

Bell peppers usually have a Scoville Unit of 0. That's right the sweet bell pepper is not spicy of at all. Although some people like my wife, may still claim it too spicy for her.

Ancho peppers, that you often find in recipes for the background flavor of heat is rated 1000 to 2000. These numbers may seem high but it gets more ridiculous.

Anaheim peppers that you'll also find in a lot of recipes are rated 500 to 2500.

Jalapeno peppers that you'll find everywhere is rated as 2500 to 8000. The weird part is that as a kid, I used to remember Jalapenos being much hotter. But either my taste buds has become resistant to capsaicin or they have breed the jalapenos to be a bit more tame.

Now, from this point forward, these peppers are what really can burn your tongue.

Cayenne peppers are rated as 30,000 to 50,000. Cayenne can be found in some recipes

Thai Peppers which can be found in most Thai and Asian restaurants are rated as 50,000 to 100,000. That's why sometimes if you're not careful, and you accidentally bite into a hidden one of this small peppers, it feels like a nuclear bomb went off in your mouth.

Habanero can be from 100,000 to 300,000. Pretty hot, and this is probably the most spicy pepper you'll find commonly everywhere. Another common hot pepper is the Scotch Bonet pepper which actually looks like the Habanero. It also has similar Scoville Range.

Lastly, the king of them all.

The Naga Jolokia also known as the Ghost Pepper. This bad boy has a Scoville Range of 800,000 to over 1,000,000. Let's put that into perspective. That's 125 times more potent than a Jalapeno and roughly 10 tens more spicy than a Habanero. To know the devastating effect of eating a Ghost Pepper, I suggest that you watch Man versus Food. Adam the host, had to go up against the Ghost Pepper a couple of times, and let's just say that tears are quite common in these encounters.

Follow this link and you'll see the the ghost pepper in all it's glory:

Youtube Video

There are actually hotter compounds out there, but I wouldn't worry about it since, you won't eat them and they are not technically peppers.

For a more complete Scoville Scale of all the peppers check out this site

uhotstuff.com.

Now that you're an expert in Peppers, go out and educate people.

Chili's 2 for 20 bucks, It's Back

2009-10-23T22:13:00.000-07:00

I happy to report that Chili's 2 for 20 bucks is back.

Once again this is a great deal for those that missed it.

I'm told this time they will have it till the end of November.

What you get is an appetizer, 2 entrees, and 1 dessert.

This is from a pre selected menu. Though I must say that it has most of the things people love, especially the BBQ ribs.

This a is a deal that cannot be beat.

Even after taxes and tip you'll probably pay less than 26 bucks. Depends if you get drinks or not.

Hypertaster recommendations for what to get.

For appetizer : The skillet queso. It is basically chips and salsa but they also add a skillet with melted cheese and some little cubes of beef. Like having two dips.

For entrees: Memphis dry rub ribs for one entree. The dry rub isn't bad.

Honey BBQ ribs for the other entree. A nice complement to the Memphis dry rub.

Note: The default side is french fries, and that is what they will serve you. You have to request a different side if you don't want french fries. I prefer their mashed potatoes and gravy, myself.

Dessert: White Chocolate Molten Cake. This has a cake topped with ice cream and melted white chocolate in the middle. One the side is a nice raspberry sauce. I like this to the plain molten chocolate, because it has the raspberry sauce that gives it a nice fruit kick to balance out the chocolate.

So hurry up this time and get going. This is actually cheaper than cooking at home.

Darda Seafood Restaurant

2009-10-19T09:48:00.000-07:00

296 Barber Ct

Milpitas, CA 95035-7915

(408) 433-5199

One of the more popular restaurant in the Ranch 99 shopping plaza in Milpitas is Darda Seafood restaurant. Come any night at dinner time and the place is always packed. There is usually a line and you'll probably have to wait for your number to be called.

We were aching for some Chinese food, but we wanted to try something different. So we decided to try out the restaurant that is so popular. I would say Darda's cuisine is more of Taiwanese. The difference is that Taiwanese tend to like the sauces a bit spicy and saltier than typical Chinese dishes. I thought it was a nice change of pace from the usual Chinese food we order.

We order the jellyfish to compared it to what we usually taste at Dim Sum. The jellyfish was decent the marinade they use was made with more sesame oil. This made the dish more fragrant than tradition jellyfish. It was also a bit more salty as well.

Next we order the walnut shrimp. Traditionally one of my wife's' favorite dish. Darda's version was a bit different. The mayonnaise was more tangy than what we were used to. The walnuts also were not as crispy as well. Overall, my wife did enjoy it. She said it was a nice change of pace.

We ordered some spicy dried garlic spare ribs. It was more like beef chops than ribs. The garlic was nice, but it was a bit too spicy for some of my other family members. I thought it wasn't bad, but do get a hot if you eat too much of it.

Next came our seafood clay pot. I originally wanted to order the braised lamp clay pot, but the waitress talked me out of it. I was a bit disappointed when it came out. It really tasted like other clay pots I tried. It wasn't anything special. I think it wouldn't been better served if we had ordered the lamb.

The last dish was pretty good. It was duck with green onions. The onion was mild in flavor and not overpowering. The duck and onions were cut into strips which made it easier to grab and eat.

The service was typical Chinese fair. You'll get service only if you can track it down. Having a busy restaurant means that service will suffer. All popular Chinese restaurants will be like this.

Overall: A nice change of pace from the typical Chinese fair.

Food: 3 stars

Service: 2 stars

Price: Above Average for Chinese food.

Overall: 3 stars.

10 Restaurants to try before you DIE!!

2009-10-11T20:06:00.000-07:00

I had a thought the other day, when someone mentioned to me what restaurants I still have yet to try but would love to. I then started thinking of the ultimate restaurants one should try before they die. That way your life would not be wasted. I decided to keep the list to just 10 restaurants, and I will not give them any number. That way you would not think one restaurant would be consider better than another. I even mixed up the original order I had these restaurants, so don't think that the first or last restaurants are the best. They are all good for their own reasons, as you shall see.

Jean Georges in New York.

1 Central Park W

New York, NY 10023-7703

(212) 299-3900

This 3 star Michelin restaurant is an institution in New York. I had friends that went there raving about it. Often many restaurants in New York aspire to be the next Jean Georges. Of course when you are on top, all others will be gunning for you.

The Fat Duck in London

High Street

Bray

Berkshire

SL6 2AQ

Reservations : +44 (0) 1628 580 333

This restaurant was originally only a 1 star Michelin restaurant, but in latter years achieve 3 star status. Fat Duck is also consistently voted in the top 10 of the best 50 restaurants in the world. In fact, it was voted the best restaurant in the world a couple of times. Having winning numerous awards, it is no wonder that that you must try this restaurant before you die.

Peter Luger Steakhouse in New York

Brooklyn, NY

Peter Luger, Inc.

178 Broadway

Brooklyn, N.Y. 11211

Reservations:

718-387-7400

Consider by many to be the mecca for steaks. Peter Luger has built a reputation as big as their steaks. Famous for their porterhouse, this is one place that all steak lovers must go at least once in their lifetime. There is a reason that Peter Luger on accept their own credit cards, and people are willing to put up with it.

The French Laundry in Napa Valley

6640 Washington St

Yountville, CA 94599-1301

(707) 944-2380

*also takes reservations with OpenTable

The French Laundry in Napa Valley north of San Francisco. A 3 star Michelin restaurant founded by the legendary Thomas Keller, The French Laundry has taste and sophistication unrivaled anywhere. Having access to the fresh local ingredients and incredible wine, this combination can't be beat.

Joel Robuchon in Las Vegas (MGM Casino)

MGM Grand

3799 Las Vegas Blvd S

Las Vegas, NV 89109

(702) 891-7925

Joel Robuchon in Las Vegas is one of the few 3 stars Michelin in the United States. Located in a city known for it's flash and tons of celebrity chef restaurants, none can touch Joel Robuchon. Joel Robuchon was awarded chef of the century in france. Quite an honor. Someday I hope to try his legendary tasting menu, some of which consist of 16 courses. I'll probably have to sell one of my kidneys to afford it though. I actually tried to get a reservation last time I was in Vegas but was turned away. Perhaps next time.

El Bulli in Spain.

en Cala Montjoi

Roses, Girona, 17480

Tel. +34 972 15 04 57

Voted the best restaurant in the world in 2009. This restaurant is the leader in culinary gastronomy. They make food taste and look like nothing you can imagine. Culinary works of arts so good, that makes other 3 star Michelin restaurants look like 1 stars.

Gordon Ramsay in London

68 Royal Hospital Road, London SW3 4HP

020 7352 4441

Having watched many Gordon Ramsay TV shows for years, I always wondered what his food would taste like. And I choose the restaurant that bears his name. This restaurant is no slouch since it is a 3 star Michelin restaurant. Must try the food behind the man once in your lifetime.

Ithaa in Hilton Conrad Maldives Rangali Island

Rangali Island

Rangali Island, Maldives 2034

1-800-CONRADS (266-7237)

This is one restaurant where the scenery will surely surpass the food. This is the the worlds one and only underwater restaurant. We are not talking about just underwater scenery, the whole restaurant is underwater. Located off of a natural coral reef, you'll be surrounded by fish and natural wild life. If you want to go try it, you better hurry, not only is seating limited, but the restaurant only last about 10 years.

Lung King Heen in Hong Kong

8 Finance Street

Central, Hong Kong

852-3196-8880

One of the few 3 star Michelin Asian restaurants, I often wonder what high class Chinese food would taste like. I have eaten Chinese food all my life. So I wonder if this restaurant will meet my expectations. Located in the Four Season Hotel, the views of surrounding Hong Kong is nothing short of breath taking

Nobu in New York

105 Hudson Street

New York, NY 10013

Tel: 212.219.0500

Fax: 212.219.1441

E-mail: newyork@noburestaurants.com

This restaurant used to be in the Michelin guide, but others have since replaced it. However, I still picture this restaurant as quintessential fusion restaurant of east mets west. Sorta like my personality, where you take old school Asian fundamentals and giving them a fresh western twist.

I will probably keep this list updated and replace restaurants as I see fit. But if you have experienced any of these restaurants already, then you may already have a fuller life than me.

The Next Iron Chef, Season 2

2009-10-04T23:25:00.000-07:00

And so it begins.

The Next Iron Chef has started. I'll try to keep this post updated.

Episode one.

We meet the contestants. Most of the chefs we have seen as challengers from previous episodes. I think most of them were winners in the past.

The first elimination challenge was to be fearless. I must say most of the ingredients were consider delicacies in Chinese cuisine. I for one pretty much have tried most of those ingredients. Some I love, some not so much. The chicken feet, ducks tongue, jelly fish, sea cucumber, stinky tofu, and cockscomb can be found in some of the more popular Dim Sum restaurants. Goes to show that Chinese will get anything, and I mean anything.

The Durian fruit is one thing I probably would not be able to eat. I have tried it, and I just cannot get past the smell. It actually has a creamy texture once you bite into it. But the smell is like rotten onions or garbage. My mother and some of my friends love the smell and taste. But it is just not for me.

I thought most of the chefs did a great job of working with unfamiliar ingredients.

Unfortunately chef Eric Greenspan was given the axe for his lackluster performance with grasshoppers. I kinda agree with the judges that he did not use the ingredient to it's full potential.

So if the next episodes have challenges as interesting as the first one, we'll have an interesting season. Early favorites to win, my opinion only, chef Jose Graces and Seamus Mullen. Dark horse to win may be Amanda Freitag, she could surprise us.

Episode 2:

In this episode, the chefs had to re-interpret a classical dish. We have seen this challenge before in countless cooking shows, most recently in Top Chef Masters. Most of the chefs did deconstructions of dishes. Only chef Mullen actually re-invented the dish. I thought he did a brilliant job of making a classic Italian Puttanesca, a hearty noodle dish, into a salad with zucchini.

Chef Smith had to redo seafood bouillabaisse. She cook the seafood separately and make the soup base as a sauce. I thought the idea of deconstruction was sound, but unfortunately, her execution was not up to par as the others. So she was shown the early exit.

Episode 3: In this episode, the last remaining eight chefs, had to go try out Asian cuisine. They then had to re-invent the flavors they try into an american package. I thought that most of the chefs were just making the same dishes they knew and just through in some asian ingredients. Not that really wowed me.

While chef Mullen won again, chef Farmerie take on Asian Dumplings fell flat. I thought he really didn't do that bad, but we'll never know since we can't taste any of the dishes. I thought the judging were consistent, though judge Jeffrey Steingarten is a bit erratic. Some times they would say a dish taste great yet not conform to the task.

Episode 4:

For some reason this episode gave all the chefs problems. In this challenge, the chefs not only have to cook the food but also shop for its ingredients. They were given 90 minutes and and also have to make the dish to bring out the best flavor out of tamarind. The dish has to also have a Mexican flare. Chef Metah once again tried his luck with the ice cream machine. This time it worked and he won the challenge.

Chef Crenn was the loser of this challenge, though everyone probably wasn't surprise as she was on the bottom of the challenges for most of this season. You can tell that as each show progress the chefs has become more and more competitive. In the coming episodes, looks like they will travel to another country like last season. Next episode will have a double elimination.

After watching this for a while, I must say, I'm a bit disappointed with this season. Most of the challenges were not exiciting, and I never really connected with any of the contestants. The last two chefs standing are Chef Metah, and Chef Graces. We'll have to wait and see if any of them are up to stuff.

Pacific Catch

2009-09-28T22:20:00.000-07:00

Pacific Catch
1200 9th Ave
San Francisco, CA 94122-2307
(415) 504-6905

My family and I was visiting the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco one fine Saturday. We had planned on eating lunch there. However, an untimely fire alarm forced everyone to evacuate the building. Needless to say, our lunch time plans had to be change. Luckily for us, there is no shortage of restaurants in San Francisco, especially around 9th Ave in the Sunset District.

We just decided to go to the first restaurant that we saw. Pacific Catch is right at the exit of Golden Gate Park. I would say it is more of a fusion type of restaurant that borrows from Asian flavors. We ordered some fish sticks and chicken strips for the kids. For myself, I ordered the Cabo Calamari, and Thai skirt steak salad.

The chicken strips and fish sticks were okay. I didn't particularly like coating. It was neither crisp or thin. The inside tasted better. We did like the side sweet potato fries that came with the chicken strips. It was sweet and rather tasty.

The calamari was pretty good. They even included some deep friend lemon slices that were a first for me. The calamari were nicely deep fried with a light flaky crust. The sauce on the side was a nice creamy chipotle type of sauce that really accented the dishes nicely.

The Thai skirt steak salad was okay. The meat was sweet, it tasted sweet. The salad itself tasted more like a Vietnamese Salad. There was suppose to be a chili lemon dressing, but it seem to have gotten lost in translation. Either it was very light and not much of it. The vegetable parts of the salad screamed for more acidity. Without it, it tasted pretty bland.

Our service was adequate, though they did not expected the sudden rush of customer from the exiled Academy of Science crowd. We were checked up on a couple of times, but most of the time we were left to ourselves. Our drinks were not refilled for some time. But I could not complain much since it looked like other tables had it worse than ours.

Final thoughts: A nice twist on some traditional asian flavors, but some dishes needed to be worked on more.

Food: 3 1/2 stars

Service: 3 Stars

Price: Above Average

Overall: 3 1/4 stars

Aqui

2009-09-20T22:26:00.000-07:00

5679 Snell Ave

San Jose, CA

95123

Phone: (408) 362-3456

We stopped by Aqui after picking attending my first parent teacher conference for my son's preschool. I've always seen the signs and was curious to try out "cal-mex" as they called it.

Inside you'll find a more southwestern decor. It is more of a self serve restaurant. If you ever been to Sonoma Chicken Coup, they you'll know what to do. You order you dish and then wait till your order is called or buzzed (with the pager they give you).

On the menu you'll find the typical Mexican dishes but with a bit of California fusion flare. For example, I had the teriyaki beef burrito. You'll find a couple of other twist to other dishes. There are daily specials, and you should be aware of them.

I ordered the guacamole with chips as an appetizer. It was somewhat bland. It tasted fresh, and the chips had a nice crisp. The guacamole was creamy enough. But somehow it just came off flat. In fact, you'll see this as a repeating pattern.

My wife ordered some chicken tacos. It wasn't bad. She said it tasted fresh, yet once again the dish came out a bit bland.

I ordered the teriyaki beef burrito. It came with an accompanying cole slaw and chips. I like the fact that there was a salsa bar with different types of salsa for the chips you get. The cole slaw as crisp and fresh, though it did lack any distinctive flavor. The burrito was fresh. The meat inside was sweet and there was plenty of rice. However if you were to bite into the burrito all the flavors seemed to just wash each other out, and you lose any kind of dominant flavor.

Final Thoughts: Everything tasted fresh, but they need to work on their seasoning.

Food: 2 1/2 stars

Service: NA

Price: Average

Overall: 2 1/2 stars

Applebee's 2 for 20.

2009-09-18T08:47:00.000-07:00

Applebee's is currently offering 2 for 20 bucks special for those that missed the Chili's 2 for 20 special. You get 1 appetizer which is a standard size and 2 entrees. The selection menu for the special is a bit limited. It is no where near as good as the Chili's special. In fact the Chili's special even threw in a full size desert. Applebee's special is okay, but after looking over the menu we selected 1/2 rack of ribs each, and so spinach dip. The food was okay, on par with Chili's. I wish the menu for the special had a greater selection. These 2 for 20 specials is quite popular. There was a bit of wait before we were seated. Overall, the special at Applebee's will save you a few bucks. Too bad the 2 for 20 at Chili's is over.

Sweet Passions Cupcakes vs. Kara's Cupcakes

2009-09-10T20:52:00.000-07:00

Cupcakes by Sweet Passions Bakery

@ Valley Fair Mall

2855 Stevens Creek Blvd

San Jose, CA 95050

Kara's Cupcakes

3055 Olin Avenue, Suite 1010
San Jose, California 95128
P 408 260-2222
F 408 260-2227

Since I just tried Kara's Cupcakes, I think I would match it up against Sweet Passions' Cupcakes.

We'll judge both on the following criterias: Presentation, Taste, Selection, Value.

Presentation: I say it is a tie. Both cupcakes looks appealing and quite appetizing. Kara's cupcakes are smaller and look cuter, but Sweet Passions' cupcakes larger form appeals to some. I think Kara's looks a bit more professional, but my wife prefers the look of Sweet Passions. Therefore this one is a wash.

Taste: Both my wife and I agree, that for taste we had to judge similar cupcakes. Both have a lemon type of cupcake, we'll judge base on that. Both cupcakes has a fruity filling in the middle and both has a sweet frosting on top. The frosting on Kara's is more sweet, but I find I like the semi sweet frosting of Sweet Passions better. The cake in Kara's was a bit more dry, and both my wife and I love the moistness Sweet Passions. The filling was a bit better in Kara, it tasted like a lemon curd, with a decent sour punch. However, overall, I would have to give it to Sweet Passions due to moistness and not so sweet frosting.

Selection: Right now sweet Passions has about 4 to 5 types of cupcakes, but Kara's has well over 10. Kara also changes their selection regularly. There is something for everyone at Kara's and I'm told some of their seasonal cupcakes are pretty good. Perhaps, this category will be more of a contest once sweet passions expand their selection. This category is easily won by Kara's.

Value: Both cupcakes are around 3 and a half dollars. However, Kara's Cupcakes are significantly smaller than Sweet Passions. Infact, I would say that Sweet Passions are almost twice the size. Therefore you get more bang for your buck at Sweet Passions.

Winner: Sweet Passions. By winning 2 out of the four categories, I had to give it to Sweet Passions. Perhaps, I'll visit this contest again in the future, since I love cupcakes.

Roux Louisiana Kitchen

2009-09-06T23:00:00.000-07:00

Roux Louisiana Kitchen

3055 Olin Avenue

San Jose, CA 95128

408-249-8000

My wife and I decided to hit trendy Santana Row for another night out. We decided to try Roux Louisiana Kitchen for dinner. Upon entering, the restaurant, you'll see a bright color interior with fanciful decorations. Think of the old french quarter in New Orleans, and you'll get an idea. We were seated quickly, there was not a crowd when we went.

After glancing at the menu, we decided upon the crab cakes, Hush Puppies, Filet Mignon, and blackened catfish. We weren't really going to have two appetizers, but upon seeing everyone else ordering the Hush Puppies, my wife had to try it.

The crab cakes were okay, it was a pretty solid, but it had quite a bit of filler. There was a strong taste of bay seasoning, which drowned out the crab flavor. The salad that accompanied it was decent. It tasted fresh and had a nice vinaigrette that had a decent amount of acidity

The Hush Puppies was a okay, but I didn't see why everyone was ordering it. It had a nice taste, but was a bit on the dense side. The accompanied tartar sauce, I thought did not match well with the Puppies. It really need a sauce more on the sweeter side.

The corn bread that was provided was really good. It was sweet, soft and moist. They also served it with a sweet butter spread. A nice touch since the sweetness of the butter stands up well to the sweetness of the corn bread.

The Filet Mignon was served with demi-glace and fried oysters. The fried oysters was pretty good. It added a nice change of texture to the dish. The steak itself was good, I ordered my medium well, since I knew it was gonna to be served with the sauce. The sauce itself was okay, but it lack the strong flavorful punch I was looking for. Other than that the dish overall was good.

My wife's blackened catfish was pretty good. It was well seasoned and had a nice robust flavor. If you never had blackened food before, think of it as a spicy rub. The spice turns to a rich dark color upon cooking, and does not mean your dish is burnt or over cooked.

The fish itself was soft and moist, and the accompanying potatoes matched well with it.

Service was decent. We were checked up upon frequently and had our drinks refilled often. We only had to track down our server a couple of times. There wasn't much of a crowd at the time, so this was to be expected.

Final Thoughts: A nice place to grab some southern cuisine

Food: 3 1/2 Stars

Service: 3 1/2 stars

Price: High

Overall : 3 1/2 stars

The Art of TakeOut.

2009-09-03T21:04:00.000-07:00

A relative brought home some take out the other night. It was some grilled meat with some rice.

By the time we got to eat it, the meat and rice were dried out. No amount of sauce was gonna bring back those dishes to life. So this got me thinking. What would constitute a good takeout dish. You have to take certain things into consideration.

1) Time. You have to go get it, bring it home, and plus you may not eat it right away. So will the dish be cold or hot. Do you need to reheat it? How much time is actually pretty essential. Say a salad not eaten right away will be mushy and stale. Sauces will become dried out. Meat will dry out. I suggest you get dishes that will not be affected by time that much. Stews for example can be easily reheated and be just as good. Some noodle dishes that is already soaked with sauces can stand up to time. Just don't get crunchy noodles, they will always fail.

2) Moisture. Pipping hot dishes will give out lots of steam. When trapped in a confine space like take out boxes, this will causes the dish to become soggy. You can alleviate this problem by ensuring that proper ventilation, in the packaging. However, be careful, too much ventilation will dry out the dish and makes it cold faster.

3) Temperature. What if you do not have the time to reheat or can not reheat at where you are at. Will that affected the dish? Some dish taste terrible cold, for example most fish dishes taste fishy after time. If you are getting a salad, you just have to worry about soggy vegetables. Keep the salad dressing separate can take care of that problem.

4) Reheating. Will the dish stand up to reheating? Some dishes cannot be reheated. I've tried some that make the sauce separate and was quite unappealing.

Then you may ask, what examples are there for a good takeout dish?

Well, I'll give you two. The first is Chili's ribs. They are not temperature sensitive, but when you reheat just don't reheat too long, that will dry time out. They are usually quite moist so you don't have to worry about moisture.

The second dish is what I consider an artful takeout. Lobster Noodles from the New Sam Kee Restaurant by my house. Most of their Chinese dishes is okay, but they have a Lobster Noodle dish that is perfect for take out. When you get it it is wrap in saran wrap to retain the moisture. This always retains the heat as well. Now, the noodle is given time to actually soak up that great sauce. So in a way the dish actually taste better than it would be at the restaurant. They give you plenty of lobsters and it is quite filling for a single person. I usually have to share this with my wife. It isn't cheap, but we not talking about simple chow mien here are we?

So just take some of these points as consideration and you'll have some decent takeout, and not that cold dried out mess you are use to.

Left Bank

2009-08-30T20:45:00.001-07:00

Left Bank

377 Santana Row # 1100
San Jose, CA 95128-2058
(408) 984-3500

I've been to Left Bank on multiple occasions. I must admit it is a hit or miss with me on this restaurant. Sometimes I'm blown away and other times, I'm left disappointed.

After a hard days work, my wife and I decided to unwind at Santana Row. After walking among the plethora of restaurants, we decided to go with Left Bank.

The place was packed, but we were seated right away. After skimming over the menu we decided to start with the Ahi Tuna tartar. My wife would have the steak and fries and I had the duck served two ways.

Our server quickly took our order and brought over some bread. They actually brought over two batches. The first batch was room temperature and we quickly devoured it since we were so hungry. The second batch was better, it was still hot, like it just left the oven. The butter was okay, but it was a bit hard, which made for spreading a bit difficult.

Our Ahi Tuna was brought pretty quickly. It appeared nice, but it was quite bland. There was little to no seasoning. We were a bit disappointed. Perhaps they thought the small amount of olive oil would provide the flavoring. The tuna itself was okay, but it lack the fatty buttery taste of a good tuna. The micro salad was okay, it had a bit of a peppery kick to it.

My wife's steak was okay, though it was a bit small. The meat was tender, but once again was a bit bland. The fries was decent. If you ever had McDonald's french fries, this was similar. This is not to knock that the fries were bad. In fact a freshly made McDonald's french fries are some of the best. My wife remarked that I had made better steaks at home. After taking a few bites from her dish, I tended to agree. The side carrots were decent, they were both soft and sweet.

My duck was better. The leg was served confit style, while the breast was roasted. There was a sweet apricot salad in the middle. I often like fresh fruit with the main dish, it makes the whole dish more fresh and appealing. The duck itself tasted okay, but it lack that signature bold flavor that would have put it over the top. The dish felt almost there, but seem to lack that one thing or ingredient.

Service on the whole was good. We were catered upon and had our drinks refilled without asking. Even though the place was busy, we never felt neglected.

Final Thoughts: It was a miss this time.

Food: 3 stars

Service: 4 stars

Price: Above Average

Overall: 3 1/2 stars

Chili's 2 for 20 bucks

2009-08-27T21:58:00.000-07:00

This is more of a public service announcement than anything else, we'll do a full review of Chili's another time

Right now Chili is offering a really good deal.

There is a select menu where you can get an appetizer, two entrees, and a dessert for 20 dollars.

That is a pretty good deal. The portions are decent with only a slight cut back from the regular menu, but hardly noticeable.

I suggest you take advantage of it while the deal last.

I already been there twice since they started and still think it's a great deal.

Hong Kong Lounge (Dinner)

2009-08-23T22:11:00.000-07:00

Hong Kong Lounge

5322 Geary Boulevard

San Francisco, CA

94121

415-668-8836

I have been to this restaurant many times in the past. It has changed hands many times. Some of you may know this as Hong Kong Flower Lounge or Parc Hong Kong. Now this restaurant has be renovated and under new ownership. It is simply called Hong Kong Lounge. It is experiencing some rejuvenation with the local crowd lately and now as become a favorite of the locals. A pretty neat trick actually when you think of all the good chinese restaurants in San Francisco. I took my family there for my father's birthday, because they were raving about it. It is so popular now, that most days, they require a reservation or else you probably won't get a table. I had my sister to thank that we were able to get a table that night. The interior has be redone and I would say in a more modern chinese style. After looking over their menu, my father elected to pick one of their set dinner menu. This like you'll see in most chinese restaurants, the food is served in courses and family style.

The first course was the cold cut combo. I must say I was impressed with this dish. The jelly fish and octopus had nice flavor. It had that hint of sesame oil that makes it so flagrant. The two types of pork were some of the best I've eaten in this style. The roast pork had a very nice crispy skin while the BBQ pork was nice and tender.

Next came the shark fin soup. For those that don't know, shark fin really has no flavor. The soup's flavor comes the rich soup base. Hong Kong Lounge had a nice flavor and with a hint of chinese brandy. It added another dimension to the flavor.

The crab claws were next. They tasted like most crab claws you get at your typical chinese restaurant. I've never been a big fan of crab claws. You mainly only taste the shrimp paste surrounding the claws. The texture of these are more fluffy than the usual, so I was impressed nevertheless.

Next course was the scallop and sweet pea. There were appears some clams mixed in as well. The dish was okay. It had nice fresh flavor for the scallop and clams. The peas were sweet, but overall I wasn't too impressed. This dish is often served in every chinese family menu I've had. It just taste so familiar to me, that's all. The addition of yellow chives was a nice touch though.

Next course was the chinese greens with mushroom. Another stable of chinese family dinners. What the restaurant did different for this course was to add dried scallops to the sauce. It made the sauce more rich. Though to be honest, not my favorite dish of the night. I'm not much of a vegetable kinda of guy.

The next course is usually my favorite where ever I go. Peking duck is often found everywhere. I actually tried real Peking Duck in China. I found I like the San Francisco Variant much better. The real Peking Duck is served with thin flour sheets, I prefer the fluffy buns better.

You eat it by sandwiching the crispy duck skin in between the buns and adding scallion and hoisin sauce. Really a tasty dish if done right. Hong Kong Lounge did the wise thing of not changing a good dish. It was prepared well and the skin was thin and crispy.

Our server brought out our fish of the night. I don't remember or could recognized the type of fish. It was a bony white fish, but the sauce was very good. It was a sweetened royal soy sauce. Matched very well with the fresh fish. Some restaurants cannot do the sauce right, but Hong Kong Lounge was very well done.

The lobster dish of the night was pretty good. It was prepared with a lighter sauce than most restaurants. This let really let you taste the fresh lobster. The sauce did not overpower it at all. I thought this was a nice touch by the chef.

Usually at the end of a chinese meal, you'll be served with fried rice. The fried rice that came with our meal was very deeply flavored. This was the type of rice that had chinese bacon in it. It made the rice very rich in flavor. Though it probably wasn't good for my cholesterol.

My father really liked the rice, since it was done in his favorite style.

The service was adequate. Though some times we were left alone for quite sometime as the restaurant filled up. As the restaurant becomes completely pack, expect to see your servers only when the food comes. This is quite typical in chinese restaurants especially the popular ones.

Now all this good food does come with a price. But as they say, you get what you paid for.

Final Thoughts: Nice to see a restaurant turned things around so nicely

Food: 4 stars

Service: 3 stars

Price: High

Overall: 4 stars

Congrats to Rick Bayless on being Top Chef Masters

2009-08-20T19:49:00.000-07:00

Top Chef Masters

Hypertaster just want to congratulate Rick Bayless on becoming Top Chef Master. Although we were routing for Anita Lo or Hubert Keller, we have to admit that Rick Bayless was the most consistent of all the contestants. I believe he was always in the number 1 or 2 in all the events. That is truly remarkable considering all the talent that was on the show. We even witness him cooking outside of what he was known for. A couple of times he did not cook Mexican food, yet still came close to winning. Therefore we must tip our hats off to Rick Bayless, you certainly deserved the title.

Sweet Passions Bakery....Cupcakes

2009-08-16T21:58:00.000-07:00

Westfield Valleyfair Mall.

San Jose, CA

(in front of Restoration Hardware)

Sweet Passions Bakery do have a home store, but we are talking about their kiosk infront of Restoration Hardware in the Valleyfair Mall. They mainly only sell their cupcakes there. Now we all heard of Sprinkles and other brand name cupcakes, but they mainly fail to impress me. Often their cupcakes are a bit dry and their cream is either too sweet or too creamy.

Sweet Passions cupcakes comes in 4 flavors right now. Red Velvet, Lemon, Carrot and Plain. I tried three of them. Only the Red Velvet eludes me. So far my favorite is the Lemon. All their cupcakes comes with a fruit or jelly filling. I like the fact that their cream is not too sweet. The cupcakes themselves have nice flavor and they all seem to be perfectly moist. We went there a couple of times, one time they even sold out. So their popularity seems to be growing.

They charge 3.50 per cupcake, but there is also a 4 dollar pack that is just 4 really small mini cakes. I say the prices is fair, the cupcakes are fairly large and I do like their moist clean flavors.

Final thoughts: A breath of fresh air in the world of cupcakes

Taste: 4 stars

Service: NA

Price: Fair

Overall: 4 stars

Final Thoughts:

Blue Rock BBQ

2009-08-13T20:36:00.000-07:00

3001 Meridian Avenue
San Jose, CA 95124
(408) 978-2583

Blue Rock BBQ located in the small shopping outlet on Meridian Avenue, serves some authentic neighborhood BBQ. You can smell the BBQ once you leave your car. Once you walk in the decor is more modern that you were lead to believe. There are menus hanging on the wall. Mainly its BBQ and the many side dishes you can have.

I ordered the BBQ baby back ribs, dry style. You can order it wet with the BBQ sauce, but the sauce is at every dinning table and you can add as much as you want. I also ordered two sides, which were the potato salad and cole slaw.

The ribs itself was a bit of a disappointment. I guess the seasoning or dry rub was not to my liking. I'm more used to a sweet and smokey type of rub. I actually prefer the Memphis Dry Rub from Chili's over this dry rub. I liked the two sides, they both tasted fresh and homemade.

After getting over my disappointment with the ribs, I tried the Tennessee Pulled Pork Sandwich. To my surprise this was really good. The sauce was there only in a thin layer. The meat was well seasoned and had a good depth of flavor. The buns were even toasted which added a crispness to the sandwich.

For dessert, we tried the lemon bar. This was not bad, it was sweet and sour. It had a nice crust on the bottom, but it was a bit hard. Made it hard to cut or break. Though a bit of warning that this lemon bar is not for those on a diet. You can taste the richness and butter throughout.

Service is mainly self service, though they do bring you your order.

Final Thoughts: Go for the Tennessee Pulled Pork Sandwich, you won't be disappointed.

Food: 3 stars

Service: NA

Price: Average

Overall: 3 stars

Ginger Cafe

2009-08-09T22:45:00.000-07:00

8657 San Ysidro Ave
Gilroy, CA 95020
(408) 847-2625

The Ginger Cafe is located in the Gilroy shopping outlets. For a while it was the only asian eatery in the area. Now there are other choices such as King Egg Roll and Tung Ke. However this is still probably my go to place when I'm down there looking for bargains. I must warn you ahead of time that the prices are high for asian food, however, I can not fault them for their portions or their flavor.

My wife and I came pretty close to dinner time. The decor is modern asian, and I wish some of my other favorite Chinese restaurants were as clean as them. We were seated promptly, since the place was pretty empty. After skimming over the menu, we selected some favorites and something new. We always order the Fongsa Soft Shell Crab, and XO fried rice. We also decided to try their Twice Cooked Pork Tenderloin.

The first to come out is the XO fried rice. This is a mildly spicy fried rice dish that has a mix of seafood. I like this dish since it has more of a robust flavor compared to other fried rice dishes I tried. It can be best described as a salt spicy seafood fried rice. Though spicy is really only a hint of heat. My wife who hates heat can eat it with no problem. The portion is big and you'll be filled just eating this rice dish. I advise anyone not to order white rice, since this is more than enough.

Next came the Twice Cooked Tenderloin. This was not a bad dish. It was fried with cabbage with a spicy wine sauce. The sauce is strong and provides a nice contrast to the soft pork tenderloin. Once again the portion is big but so was the price. The cabbage was cooked nicely and provided a nice canvas for the pork and sauce to play with.

Lastly was the Fongsa Soft Shell Crab. This is probably one of their signature dishes. My wife likes this dish since she loves crab. She also like the fact that the soft shell provides a no mess and no fuss eating. The dish is make with panco bread crumbs with curry powder. The dish is a dry but the peppers and curry really accent the crab well. The curry is not over powering but provides a good foundation flavor. The panco bread crumbs accents this dish well and provides a bit of sophistication.

The service was adequate. There were plenty of wait staff and the restaurant was not busy at the time. All our needs were met and our waters were never empty.

Final Thoughts: If you can stomach the prices, then you'll enjoy the food.

Food: 3 1/2 Stars

Service: 3 1/2 Stars

Price: High

Overall: 3 1/2 Stars.

A Cut Above

2009-08-06T23:00:00.000-07:00

Cuts of Steak

I was enjoying a really good piece of steak the other day. Then I remember the time when my friend ordered a skirt steak and didn't know how to eat it properly. He asked me what generally should he order for a steak that would pretty much guarantee a steak with good flavor and tenderness. This was a bit of a loaded question, since we would have to example the merits and faults of the different cuts of steaks

There are also different grades of steak, but if you're going to a half way decent steak house, it'll most likely be prime, so I wouldn't worry about it too much.

For a more comprehensive list of steaks, I suggest you check out wikipedia.

Types of Steaks

Generally rule is if the meat is part of the cow where there's a lot of movement, it tends to be more tough. Cuts from the middle section of the cow tends to have less movement and exercise, so they'll be more tender.

I'll just go over the most popular cuts that you'll see in a restaurant, which are: rib eye, T-bone, strip steak, skirt steak and Filet Mignon.

The strip steak is the most common steak you'll see in a restaurant. You'll probably know it has the New York strip. This a decent cut of steak, but most restaurants cut this strip down to a rather thin portion. Which means that the steak tends to be over done and dry out. I do not recommend ordering the strip steak well done, you'll be left of a dry out piece of beef jerky.

The T-bone is another popular cut. You'll also know it by the larger variant called the Porterhouse. These are larger cuts and tend to be the most expensive on the menus of fine steak houses. The T-bone cuts actually have different cuts of meat in them, so that you'll actually get to try out 2 cuts of steaks for the price of one. You'll find the strip steak on one side and tenderloin on the other. They are more forgiving in cooking, so even a mediocre restaurant can cook it. The bone tend to protect the meat from overcooking. I would order this if I'm really really hungry.

The Filet Mignon often gets all the press. I actually don't prefer it at all. Sure it is the most tender cut, since it comes from a muscle that the cow hardly use. But it lacks fat, which we should all know by now fat is flavor. You may have a tender cut of beef, but it certainly is not the most flavorful. That's why you'll find it wrap in bacon in most steak houses. They want to infuse artificial flavor. Price per pound is usually the most expensive. I say stay away from this cut. It's just full of hype but lacks the substance.

Skirt steak is sometimes listed. However be careful when ordering this cut. Why? Well, like my friend who didn't know how the eat it. If you cut the steak the wrong way, it can be quite tough. You have to cut across the grain, and in a diagonal pattern to be edible. This cut actually has quite a bit of flavor, but I recommend reserving this for dishes like fajitas.

The last cut is what Hypertaster recommends if you're not sure what to eat. The rib eye cut has a nice balance of fat to muscle ratio. That means you'll get nice flavor and get enough bang for the buck. It is also tend be a thicker cut, so it's also more forgiving for those inexperience chefs out there. This cut can cook anyway you want. You can order this well done, though for the foodie in me, I tend to never order a steak well done. You can not go wrong with ordering a rib eye.

For a good steak, knowing the cuts is essential. There are other factors, like seasoning, amount of aging, the chef. However, those are usually out of your hands. If you are wondering about steak sauce, well, let me say a well cooked piece of steak does not need steak sauce.

Now that you learn the basic cuts, you'll shouldn't be afraid when you're at a steak house not knowing what to order.

Why FIsh Sauce?

2009-08-01T21:57:00.000-07:00

Why Fish Sauce?

Today's topic is something that as perplex me, ever since I met my wife. She's Vietnamese and something that she loves to do as well as everyone else in her culture, is to dump everything into fish sauce. If you have not had fish sauce before, its a briny sweet sauce that may or may not contain hot peppers. It is made from fermented bony fish.

This sauce is often accompanied every dish that is served in a Vietnamese restaurant, whether it is a rice dish or their famous pho noodle soup. Most often I see it served especially with fried foods. Even before tasting the food to sample the inherent flavors, I see my wife and her family at times simply dip the food into the fish sauce automatically. This seems a bit foolish to me, as it compares to those that like to salt all their food before tasting. I often do not dip my food into the fish sauce and in turn get stares from my fellow diners. I like to taste the individual flavors before they get drowned out in the briny sweet liquid.

Perhaps it a cultural thing that I'm missing. Our perhaps everyone else is insane. Either case I just don't get it. I can see why you would put it with some foods. It does provide a bit of background flavor to most things, but somethings it can be a bit overpowering. Vietnamese cuisine is a mixture of French, Chinese and other Asian influences, yet this fish sauce thing is uniquely their own.

Perhaps someone in the audience can enlighten me. Once I figure out this love of fish sauce, perhaps I can turn my attention their their love of mint.

The Most Entertaining Iron Chef

2009-07-28T23:27:00.000-07:00

Iron Chef, Masaharu Morimoto.

Well, before we get back to some regular reviews, lets talk about one of my favorite TV shows, which is Iron Chef. There are two versions, the original Japanese version and the New American Iron Chef.

The original Japanese Iron Chef was the stuff of legends. This was the standard from which all other shows are compared two. It basically set off the trend of competitive cooking. I remember the first time I watched it. It was a battle of shrimp and I kept asking my friends what the hell are they doing. There the show sets off the premise of secret ingredients, different style of cooking and weird english translations. All this under the time constraint of 1 hour. It was fascinating to watch them make gourmet meals out of the most bizarre ingredients.

After the original Japanese show retired and went off the air, the American versions has sprung forth and taken the baton. Like the Japanese versions, there are different styles of cooking mixed in with the secret ingredient. So far they have enlisted chefs Bobby Flay, Mario Batali, Masaharu Morimoto, Cat Cora and Michael Simon to be Iron Chef. Out of those thee one I find the most entertaining to watch is Masaharu Morimoto.

Now I'm not saying he is the best Iron Chef. That will depend on their win loss records. But I'm saying he is probably the most entertaining to watch. The reason is that you never quite know what he is going to do. He is perhaps the most unpredictable out of all the Iron Chefs. He is not afraid to take chances, and he absolutely believe in his own convections, even if he has to lose points with the judges. Often times he'll make something raw with the secret ingredient, I just know that the western palates of the judges would not appreciate it. Yet I think secretly he doesn't really care. He'll make what is exciting to him. How can anyone forget some of his foolish fish deserts, or the time he made noodles out of fish.

That kind of craziness not only serves to inspire younger chefs, but also teaches one of the limitless boundary that food can present. We just have to throw out our preconceived notion of what is acceptable food. Therefore, Hypertaster salutes Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto for his fearlessness, and hope that he will continue to delight us with his culinary inventions.

Special shout out to my friend Tung, who was able to score me an autograph menu from his restaurant in Philadelphia.

Foodie guide to "Day out with Thomas" in Felton

2009-07-25T23:12:00.000-07:00

Day out with Thomas

Roaring Camp Railroads

Felton, CA 95018

(831) 335-4484

I have two young boys and one thing they absolutely adore Thomas the Tank Engine. Every year they would bring out a life-size replica out and for an abhorrent fee, allow you to ride with Thomas for a very quick ride. I usually implore my wife to skip the ride, but she feels it is more important for the boys to get the full experiences. Out of protest, I elect to skip the ride and stay behind. So what does one do while waiting for the others to get back from their trip to nowhere? That's right I go straight to the BBQ pit and food vendors to sample the available edible goodies.

Now there are some warnings which I must impart. First the cooks are from the local high school, so don't expect award winning techniques here. Last year they over cooked my chicken. This year it was actually not bad. So it is a crap shoot on whether your food will be cooked to order. Also, the prices for food is pretty much the standard gouging you would expect. For example a small can of soda, cost 2.50.

The first thing I tried was the sonora pork sandwich. With a name like that I was hoping for something new and great. It wasn't bad, but it was basically shredded pork with a bit of BBQ sauce. It tasted pretty much like a Sloppy Joe expect with shredded pork. They did give a generous helping of pork though.

Next, I tried the BBQ beef ribs. Last year it was okay. This year, it was seasoned well, but it practically screams for some BBQ sauce. If it had just a bit of sweet BBQ sauce then it would have been perfect. It needed that counter balance of sweetness for the salty seasoning they had.

My wife had the 1/2 chicken with the beans. The beans tasted like some of the can beans I had and was quite bland. The chicken was not bad. It was seasoned well, and this year, they didn't over cooked it. It was tender and still juicy. My son enjoyed his chicken quite a bit. The corn on the cob was my wife's favorite. It was sweet, and steaming hot. She actually went back to order a few more.

Since I wasn't filled from my beef ribs, I ordered the hamburger. It tasted like the type of hamburger you get from the cafeteria in high school. But like I said, it was high school kids cooking, so it shouldn't have come as a surprise.

Upon walking around, it can get somewhat tiring and hot. I recommended that you try the snow cone. It was actually refreshing and you can get it in multiple of flavors. You can eat the ice while it's still have the flavoring, or wait till it melted a bit and drink it through the straw. Perfect for just lazy strolling through the hordes of kids running around.

Overall, I would say that "A day out with Thomas" is more suited for my kids. But the food was okay as long as you don't expect too much out of it. You can always bring in your own snacks and food, which we did for our kids. But it is much easier just to buy food there, especially the ice cream and cold foods.

Road Foods

2009-07-22T13:02:00.000-07:00

I have made many trips up and down the I-5 over the years. Most recently was a trip to Disneyland with my family. This was one of the few times, I decided to take the path less travel when it came to my dining experiences.

Often, I am guilty like the rest of you of just going with the old stand by. Burgers and fast food chains that follow you where ever you go.

I'm not saying that this is a totally bad thing, since often the familiarity provides the most comfort. But what I am saying is sometimes we need to go beyond our comfort. Sometimes you may surprise yourself with something quite unexpected. On this trip, this happened a couple of times. First on the way down to L.A., I was surprised by the Willow Ranch BBQ. A really good BBQ in the middle of nowhere. It was quite by accident that we found it, and once we tasted the food, we knew we were in foodie heaven.

Even in L.A. we made detours just the get out of the ordinary. Like when we found Joe's Ice Cream stand. A popular hangout place in Orange County for some late night sweet cravings.

There is something to be said of the adventurous spirit needed to out of your comfort zone. I know of people that for some reason or another, refuses to trying anything new at all. On trips they would go to the same stops, order the same food and have the same exact experiences each time. I was once like that. I like knowing what I was getting myself into. But as I'm getting older, I realized that to not willing to try something new, I'm depriving myself of unexpected treasures that life has set out for each of us.

Some times it may not go our way, (see my Song Long review), but at least I can say I was not afraid to try it. On road trips, especially, we can get out of our daily ruts. Try something new and report to the world what we found.

There were still some stops which I was looking forward to trying but we never quite reach them. Split Pea Anderson is suppose to have some of the best split pea soup around. There were many fruits stands to probably sell the fresh fruit and vegetables you can get anywhere. Unique restaurants that can be found no where else. I'm actually looking forward to my next road trip. It's like an unopened present. You don't know what is in it, but you look forward to opening it.

Harris Ranch

2009-07-18T14:47:00.001-07:00

Harris Ranch Inn & Restaurant
24505 West Dorris Avenue
Coalinga, CA. 93210
1-800-942-2333

Sorry for the tardy update, but I have not been home for a few days.

Harris Ranch is located almost exactly in between San Francisco and Los Angeles if you take the I-5. This is the place if you remember right where you see and smell massive amounts of cows. Upon pulling up to the restaurant you'll realize that it's actually pretty big. There is a small gift shop where you can purchase some souvenirs and some decent bake goods.

We stopped there on our return trip home from Disneyland. It's actually a decent place to stop, rest and refuel your car. On one side of the bridge you have your typical fast food. The other side you have mainly just Harris Ranch. I've often driven past several times but never stopped to eat at Harris Ranch.

There are actually two restaurants, one for family dinning and another for a more older crowd. Since I had my child with me, we selected the family dinning one, which is called Harris Ranch Kitchen. The decor is what you would expect to find from any ranch style restaurant. There are the usually cowboy, and farm motif on the walls and the tables.

Since we just stopped by for lunch we ordered light. My wife ordered the Caesar Salad again, but this time the salad included slice sirloin. I ordered prime rib open face sandwich with ranch beans. I know what you are thinking, you probably are wondering why did I go to a steakhouse and not order any steak? Well, we just came back from vacation and we were really just looking something not too heavy.

My prime rib sandwich was okay. It was soft and tender, though I did find it a bit bland. It was a generous portion and it came with some onion strings. I guess either my taste buds were overused on this trip or the seasoning wasn't just right. I ranch beans was only okay also, they did not compare to the ones we had at the Willow Ranch BBQ (see Willow Ranch BBQ review).

My wife's salad was pretty good. The steak was well seasoned and cooked properly. It was tender and soft, which match well with the salad, which was fresh and crispy. The dressing was nice and not over powering. One of the few times I wish I had order what my wife had instead of my dish. For lunch, I would say that that dish is pretty perfect. Gives you a refreshing lunch, but still had some protein.

After our lunch, I really wished I had tried some steak and some BBQ to really give a a good review. But alas, our time was short and our stomach was full. I may review this restaurant again in the future, but we'll see.

The service was adequate. We were served pretty quickly and they did check in on us from time to time.

Final Thoughts: Good place to stop and stretch the legs after a long drive.

Food: 3 stars
Service: 3 1/2 stars
Price: Above Average
Overall: 3 stars

Seafood Cove

2009-07-15T21:00:00.000-07:00

8547 Westminster Ave
Garden Grove, CA 92844
(714) 895-7964

After sampling a few of the restaurants in and around Disneyland, it was nice to get out and try a different style of restaurant in the Orange county area. I talked with some friends while was down there, and my good friend (I'll call her Thu) recommended Seafood Cove in Garden Grove.
I was a bit leery of recent recommendations (see my review of Song Long), but I trust her, since she has lived there all her life.

There was no wait and we were seated immediately. After perusing the menu, we settled on a fixed family still meal. Be warned in Asian cuisine, family style involves lots of dishes coming at you, so prepared to see lots of food.

The first course was sour soup. No, not hot and sour soup, but sour soup. It is an distinctly Vietnamese, and I must say I usually.....hate it! Why? Well, my mother in law orders this all the time. Usually there are some variant, often you see it serve with fish, or shrimp. My main complaint about this dish is that the flavor lacks depth. You only taste sour, and that's it. Now imagine drinking a bowl of sour liquid. Not very appetizing is it. Well, the sour soup served at Seafood Cove, just changed my overall impression of this dish. I actually liked it. There is the sourness, but this soup actually has some flavor depth. There is an underlying rich broth, that you can taste. They also made it more spicy than the usual sour soup I usually try. The spiciness hits you in the back of your throat and gives it a bit of lingering hotness. My only dislike was the fact that they used imitation crab meat.

The next dish was a cubed steak. It was seared and cut into tiny cubes, like little bits of heaven. This dish shows why Seafood Cove differs from other Asian restaurant. There is the usually soy and salty flavors that you usually taste, but then there was another underlying flavor. And that flavor was....butter. Yes, butter in Asian cooking. I found that by adding butter to the dish, it added another dimension, that I just never tasted before. I liked the newness, though my wife complained the meat was a bit tough.

The pea shoots came out next. It is a dish you often see at many Chinese restaurant. It tasted fresh, and was not over cooked. There were bits of fried garlic through out. This tasted like others I had, so Seafood Cove did not do anything new here.

My friend that had eaten there before suggested they had a dish that was similar to the Dry Fried Chicken (see Sang Tung review). He did not remember what it was at the time, though afterward he said it was the kung pao squid. We asked the server, and she said it was the kung pao chicken. It was okay, but it was not on the same level as Dry Fried Chicken. It was sweet and a bit spicy, but it lacked the crispy texture of Dry Fried Chicken.

Part of the set menu was the crispy flounder. This is also another dish that you find in most Chinese restaurant. This was prepared nicely, with two sauces. There was the usual sweetened soy sauce and there was a new red sauce, which I don't usually see. I didn't care for the red sauce too much, it was tangy with a bit of hotness. The fish itself was fine, with flaky flesh and crisp skin.

My wife particularly liked the crab. It was the common dungeness crab you often find everywhere. It had a oyster sauce based, but once again, there was the hidden layer of butter flavor underneath. It definitely made the sauce more rich than what it was. I liked the fact that they chopped the crab into more friendly bite size pieces. It made of easier eating, since crab is usually a bit hard to handle to eat properly.

We also tried another familiar dish which is the salt and peppery shrimp. This is a dish where they coat the shrimp in batter and then deep fry it. After which they pan fry it with onion, salt and peppers. It was pretty tasty, but after you've eaten it a million times it can be a bit underwhelming.

Lastly, we ended our meal with a typical Chinese dessert, tapioca. This tapioca was pretty good. It was not too sweet and it was actually quite fragrant. I would've have eaten more, but I already had so much food that day.

Service was okay, though a couple of times, the language barrier prevented me from getting what I really wanted. There was another dessert at another table, but my server could not understand what I was talking about.

Final Thoughts: Something new in Chinese cuisine.

Food: 4 stars
Service: 2 1/2 stars
Price: Average
Overall: 3 1/2 stars

Catal Restaurant and Uva Bar

2009-07-13T23:50:00.000-07:00

1580 S Disneyland Dr # 103
Anaheim, CA 92802-2294
(714) 774-4442

Catal is a spanish cuisine restaurant located in the heart of Downtown Disneyland. There is a Uva bar outside, and don't ask me what is an Uva bar because I do not really know and I forgot to ask. The restaurant is actually located upstairs and provides a nice view of the surrounding shops and other restaurants.

Once again we were pressed for time, due to the fact we wanted to catch the Electrical Parade in California Adventures. We were seated quickly and some warm bread with butter was brought to us. The server quickly took our order, but from that point on, we had to wait.

We order some sashimi, a Caesar salad, and for the first time my wife ordered the same entree as me, which was the Spanish Paella.

The sashimi was fresh and had a nice crushed herb oil with it. I believe the fish was hamachi but I could be wrong. The flesh was firm and was not fishy at all, but it did lack some fatness that would have made it a bit more rich. It was a nice choice to start of the dinner since, it was not too heavy of an appetizer. The crushed herb oil surrounding it was a good accompaniment since it gave the fish some extra flavor that it lacked.

Once again, my wife had to order her favorite Ceasar Salad. The dressing was fresh and it was stated on the menu that it was made in house. It definitely tasted freshly made. The salad itself was crunchy and matched well with the garlic croutons. It was a decent salad, though after tasting so many Ceasar Salad on this trip, they all seem to be about the same. Not one really stands out in my mind.

Our main course took some time to get to us, but it was well worth the wait. The official name listed on the menu was Paella a la Valencia. It had shrimp, clams, mussels, chicken, chorizo (type of spanish sausage) and scallops. It was made the traditional way in a cast iron pan. The rice was flavored with saffron that gave it that underlying flavor. The only slight disappointment was that usually the Paella would have a crust on the bottom of the pan, and these did not. The flavor though could not be beat. When you mix in all the ingredients together it provided a symphony of flavor that was well harmonized together. It provided 3 of the most key elements of a great dish. The presentation was outstanding, the flavor was top notch, and it was even a generous portion. I was so full, due to the fact I could not stop eating it, and had to finish every last bite. The portion was a bit too big for my wife, but she did manage to finish more than half of hers.

One a side note, I was able to taste my child's chicken potpie dish while he wasn't looking, and it was pretty good. It had a nice soupy base and the puffy pastry they used on top was a nice touch.

The service was acceptable overall. We were seated quickly, and most of our request were handle quickly. The food did take a bit to get to us, even thought he restaurant was not packed at the time.

Food: 4 stars

Service: 3 1/2 Stars

Price: Above average

Overall: 3 3/4 stars

Blue Bayou Restaurant

2009-07-12T00:00:00.000-07:00

Among the many different types of themed restaurants in Disneyland, one of the more unique ones is the Blue Bayou Restaurant. What makes it so special? Well unlike the many food stalls you'll find (see my guide on dinning in Disneyland), this is an actual restaurant. Also, this restaurant is incorporated as part of the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction. Yes, as you ride out of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride, you'll see diners on pier, and what appears to be decent food. This is the restaurant that you see. However, I do have to suggest you either make a reservation or go early. The reason for this, is that the ambiance is great, but if you don't get some of the lake side seats, you'll won't see anything and the experience won't be as much as it could be. This is probably one of those once in a lifetime experiences. Be warned though, the prices is higher than average and even quite a bit higher than the surrounding restaurants.

We were greeted at the door, where they take the number of seats and then the server leads you to your table. The ambiance is dark and it's actually quite hard to see. I'm sorry for the poor photos, but the lighting is not exactly what I called the best. I ordered some braised ribs and my wife ordered the crab cakes. I suggest you also ask to see the souvenir cup. It either has the glow in the dark Tinker Bell or Lightning McQueen. Since my young son was an avid Cars fan, we ordered the Lightning McQueen cup. These cups are something you will not find anywhere else in the park, and I've looked. It really it's just a LED clip that glowed, but cool never the less.

My wife's crab cakes were decent. They were not exactly what I would call jumbo crab cakes. They were rolled into the standard size crab cakes, and was fried. I did not taste it unfortunately, so I can't really comment on the taste. There were only a few of them, so I felt bad if I were to pillaged them while my wife was not looking, though the thought did cross my mind.

My braised ribs were actually quite flavorful. It was very robust with the wine reduction. Since the meat was braised, they were fork tender. Braising the meat means slowly cooking it over time. If done properly, the meat comes out perfect tender and of course very juicy. I really did not need a knife, since it just fell apart at the slightest touch. It was a pleasant surprise that I did not expect to find. Actual decent food inside Disneyland Park.

The server ask if we were interested in a dessert. I asked what they had, and he responded "we have something special." Well, that something special turned out to be a special pirate ship ice cream. The bottom was a warm cookie dough, the body was a vanilla ice cream, and there was a edible mast sticking out of the ice cream. The mast may be edible, but the server told us not to eat it, since it does not taste very good. I was happy just to take his word for it. There was a warm chocolate and caramel sauce really just put it over the top.

The service was decent but we were left a lone for some time. The food did take a bit to get to us. I think we were just unlucky to have our order come in exactly the same time as the other people, since we came in as the restaurant just opened. We did have to request refill on our drinks a couple of time. Overall I say, the service was just acceptable, not great, but acceptable.

Final Thoughts: Decent food, great ambiance, but high price.

Food: 3 1/2 stars

Service 3 Stars

Price: High

Overall: 3 stars

Morton's Steakhouse

2009-07-07T21:56:00.001-07:00

1895 S Harbor Blvd
Anaheim, CA 92802-3509
(714) 621-0101

Sometimes you know you are being a bit too excessive. You are bordering on being a bit too self indulgent. But during those times you must say to yourself, "I deserve it!" I knew that by going to Morton's Steakhouse, that I was going to blow my vacation budget. I knew that the bill was going to be astronomically high. But it was a chance I was not going to pass up.

The restaurant was literally only a block away from our hotel on South Harbor Blvd in Anaheim. There was another steak house closer called Chris Ruth's Steakhouse, but we made the extra effort in going to Morton's. Although we were not dressed for the occasion, the hostess did not mind. All she requested was that I remove my cap in the main dinning room, to which I was happy to oblige. Inside, you'll find a very old time rustic decor that screams out that they take their food very seriously. Most of the patrons were smartly dressed which made us feel a bit under dressed. The main dinning room was pack, and plenty of servers with their hustle and flow provided a great ambiance.

The servers provide a show before they take your order, which included the different cuts of steak. They tell you specifics, like how long they aged their meats, what sauces are with what dish, and any dessert that require pre-ordering due to the cooking time. All the servers were very knowledgeable and we found them to quite friendly. After the presentation, we decided to start with a lobster bisque, a Jumbo Shrimp Alexander for my wife, chicago style bone in rib eye for myself. We also pre-order the Raspberry Souffle so that we could end our meal with even more decadency. The sides were extra, but we ordered some hash browns and steamed vegetables, because eating nothing but meat would have been a bit too self indulgent.

The bread that most restaurant starts out with is usually pretty forgettable, but not Morton's. The bring out a onion round loaf. If you never had one, it's like eating a big onion bun that you find in bakery stores. The crust is crisp and the inside tender. With the accompanied soft butter, I could have just eaten that by itself for the the whole meal.

Our soup came out first, it was the very rich lobster bisque. My wife thought it was way too rich, but I suspect that she does not understand what a bisque is. I tasted it, and it was fine to me. The rich buttery silky smooth soup with the lobster flavor as the background. I think my wife expected more of a lobster chowder.

The shrimp for my wife's Jumbo Shrimp Alexander were truly huge. Usually when people claim jumbo they really just mean large. Most shrimp are not big enough to be consider an entree by themselves, but the ones we got were. They were coated with some seasoned bread crumbs and served with a white creamy sauce on the bottom. The shrimp tasted fresh and was seasoned nicely. I'm not a big shrimp fan, often I find them very boring, but these shrimp definitely woke me up a bit. The picture do not really convey the how big these shrimps were.

The star of the night was definitely my rib eye. I often choose rib eye due to the fact that the cut has great marbling. Morton is more known for their porterhouse cut, but there was no way my wife and I could've finish a steak that size. Now when Morton's ask you how you want your steak done, you better know for sure. When they tell you that they can prepare exactly the way you want it, they mean it. If you say medium well, with a slick just a hint of pink throughout, that's exactly the steak you'll get. I requested medium rare, and it was exactly the way I want it. My steak had a good charred crispy steak and the more center you cut the more rare it got. The outside was seasoned perfectly. The meat was aged which means they let it sit, usually for time time in a dry cool cellar. This allows the meat to become way more flavorful and way more tender. The side order of hash browns unfortunately was a bit too crispy and over done. The server noted it and took it off our bill.

We ended our meal with the raspberry souffle. It was presented as usually with the top overflowing it's container, but quickly deflated as it was cut into. The raspberry flavor was very mild and nice. The souffle was nice and smooth and not too eggy. There was no sauce served with it, but they did scope a rich heavy cream next to it. It was a nice contrast of the light souffle and heaviest of the cream. My wife, who is not a souffle fan, even said it tasted pretty good.

Our servers were excellent. We did not have to request for refills of our water. They even bought out a live lobster to show and entertain our small child. Everything was handle quickly and professionally. Plus the fact they were are very knowledgeable was a bonus.

Final thoughts: Well worth the price of admission.

Food: 4 1/2 stars

Service: 4 1/2 stars

Price: Very high to Astronomical

Overall 4 1/2 stars

Song Long

2009-07-05T13:24:00.000-07:00

9361 Bolsa Ave
Ste 108
Westminster, CA 92683

(714) 775-3724

While we down in Orange county, my mother in-law insisted that we had to go to Song Long. Apparently this place was highly recommended by her family and friends. Song Long was actually a bit hard to find. We had to travel down the length of Bolsa Ave only to find it tucked away in a small plaza. When you walk in you will find baked goods on racks near the door with seating in the rear. The decor is like most Vietnamese family restaurants you find, with just the bare minimum required. Do not expect to find table coverings here.

We were seated promptly since there was no wait. The menu selection was large compared to other Vietnamese restaurants we've been to. We ordered some appetizers, a grilled pork chop for myself and a seafood noodle soup for my wife. The others in my party mainly ordered about the same thing.

The first appetizer that came out was the Vietnamese egg rolls. These were like traditional egg rolls except the filling was with Vietnamese meat and vegetables. The skin was crispy and the flavoring was nice. I did not try the fish sauce, since I'm not a big fan of fish sauce, though my wife says it was okay. Unfortunately, our meal went down hill from there.

Next came the puff pastry which is called pate choud. Essentially this was a puffy pastry that is filled with seasoned meat, usually a liver pate or ground meat of some kind. The pastry itself was not prepared well at all. It was soggy and the pate inside was way too livery. There was a hint of sour smell as well. The server took back our order and apologized for it. I suspected that this pate choud was way past its' expiration date.

My grilled pork chop came out next. It was sweet like most Vietnamese grilled meat. However, it was a bit dry and tough. I was a bit disappointed by this, since most of the Vietnamese restaurants I go to, this was my standby dish. The accompany egg meat loaf was better. The rice was a bit on the hard side. Some one else in my party had rice that was rock hard. This could be either due to two things. One, it could be day old rice. The second which seem more plausible to me, is that the rice was undercooked. That's why my rice was only a bit hard while my other party member was rock hard.

My wife's seafood noodle soup was a complete disaster. It looked good, but tasted completely bland. It was as if someone took the standard soup broth and decided to pour some extra cups of water to dilute it. Most of the seafood was okay, though I was disappointed that they used imitation crab meat. Not a major offensive since I'm beginning to see imitation crab meat more and more in Vietnamese cooking.

The service was okay, they took our complaints seriously. They apologized for the pate choud. I wish I could say something more positive, but I can not.

Final Thoughts: Song Long should change their name to so long, because I will not be back.

Food: 1/2 star

Service: 2 star

Price: Average

Overall: 1/2 star

Naples

2009-07-03T20:38:00.000-07:00

1550 S Disneyland Dr
Anaheim, CA 92802-2322
(714) 776-6200

We were in Downtown Disneyland for the first full day to grab something to eat while waiting for our parade to start in California Adventures. We decided upon Naples due to the fact that the could seat us right away. The restaurant is more of an modern Italian restaurant with modern furnishings.

We decided to seat outside for two reasons. First there were seats available and we could be seated right away. Second, it was not hot but actually quite pleasant to sit outside for our dinner. Although we were seated right away, we were in between shift changes, and our initial server had to leave. We had to wait a bit before our second server came and took our order.

We finally decided on calamari, Caesar salad, Ahi Tuna salad and a thin crust pizza. The pizza was topped with sausage, onions and roasted red peppers. We had a small group of people so we needed the extra servings. Unfortunately our server mistook our Ahi Tuna salad to replace our pasta order instead of an addition, otherwise we would have had more variety.

The calamari was prepared properly. It had a thin seasoned crust. The dipping sauces was good, though not spectacular. The marinara sauce had a good tomato base, while the garlic mayonnaise provided a good counter balance.

The Caesar Salad was pretty fresh. The dressing tasted homemade and the lettuce had a good crisp. The croutons were decent with a good crunch. I was glad that the portion size was big that it feed my whole party.

The thin crust pizza was also decent. It had a nice cheesy flavor with the sausage providing the bulk of the meat flavor. The crust though could have been more crisp, it should not flop as much as it did. Fortunately it too was a decent size.

Lastly, the Ahi tuna salad came last. It was prepared nicely with a nice herb crust and a raw center. The herb crust was surprisingly flagrant, almost flowery. The only draw back that it was quite pricey and yet the portion was really quite small. The tomato and cucumber salad that accompanied it was pretty good. It provided a nice freshness to the dish.

Service was okay, given that fact that the place was pack and we had to switch servers. We did have a bit of a wait time for refills of our water. We were left to ourselves a lot and it took awhile to get our check back.

Final Thoughts: The food was okay, but unfortunately nothing memorable.

Food: 3 stars

Service: 3 stars

Price: High

Overall: 3 stars

Jazz Kitchen

2009-07-01T19:18:00.001-07:00

1590 South Disneyland Drive
Downtown Disney District
Anaheim, California 92802

714-776-5200

Jazz Kitchen is located in the new downtown Disneyland area of the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim. It is basically one of the many themed restaurants in that area. Jazz Kitchen is made to look like the one of the buildings French Quarter in New Orleans. The food fits this motif, as it's mainly southern Louisiana-style cuisine.

We went right before lunch and there was no line, so we were promptly seated. We ordered the appetizer sampler, the french onion soup and the jambalaya. We also had to ordered the bread pudding since, that was their claim to fame. You have to order that ahead of time due to the preparation time involved.

The appetizer sampler is definitely recommended since it gives you a wide slice of their cuisine. The pulled pork sliders were a nice touch and the BBQ flavor was not bad. The coconut shrimp was sweet and tangy. I found the chicken rolls adequate but not spectacular. The calamari was okay, but the crust was a bit heavy. I'm used to the more thin but crispy style, though they were seasoned nicely. There were dipping sauces that complimented the appetizers.

My wife did not particularly enjoyed her onion soup mainly because she was not used to the texture. It is not your typical thin watery onion soup. This one is blended with beans to make the soup more thick and hearty. I actually liked the soup myself, since it was a fresh take on onion soup that was different from what I've tasted. There is no cheesy crouton, but some hard seasoned croutons that accompanied the soup.

My jambalaya was actually not bad. I liked the fact that the noodles tasted fresh, and not like the pre-made ones you usually get. The sauce was nice with a hint of delayed heat. The portion was actually decent size and I was surprised on how much noodles you actually get. For lunch I would say it was a good choice, since it tasted so fresh.

Now, for their signature dish which is actually a dessert. The bread pudding was something my whole family enjoyed. It comes out looking like a souffle, but once you tasted the sweet outer crust you know it's not a souffle. They even serve it souffle style with the server cutting the middle portion and pouring the white and dark chocolate sauces in the middle. This is recommended since the bread is a bit hard. The sauces softens the bread and makes the inside a gooey chocolate heaven. My wife who usually not a dessert fan actually enjoyed the bread pudding. Now, this dessert is not what I would call a lite dessert, infact it will sit with you for awhile. Do not say I did not warn you. You could get full just eating the bread pudding.

Since there was not that many people around, the service was adequate. We got all of our food in a timely manner and our drinks were refilled as requested.

Final thoughts: Must try the bread pudding.

Food: 3 1/2 stars
Service: 3 stars
Price: Slight above average
Overall : 3 1/2

Agio

2009-06-29T23:20:00.000-07:00

Double Tree Hotel

2085 S. Harbor Blvd.

Anaheim, California 92802
Tel: 1-714-750-3000

When we finally arrived at our hotel near Disneyland, we were a bit pressed for time. We decided just to dine at the restaurant in our hotel to save time on our first night there. We stayed at the Double Tree hotel and inside was Agio. I actually like the name Agio, and thought it was strong with good character. Inside was clean and immaculate with a post modern twist on Italian.

I was not particularly hungry due to the fact I ate a big lunch (see our review on Willow Ranch BBQ), but I did order some clam chowder anyway. My wife order the roasted chicken with steam vegetables. We also ordered some calamari for appetizer since I wasn't ordering any entree. The waitress gave us some bread to start, and it was not bad, and there was a nice herbal flavor baked in.

Next came our appetizer which was the calamari. It was prepared nicely with a crispy outside. I particularly liked the marina sauce that came with it. There was garlic mayo sauce served with it and that was pleasantly good as well. Though I must admit I was used to getting a bigger serving size for a calamari appetizer.

Next came my bowl of clam chowder. It was okay. Though not spectacular. I can tell that it is not made fresh on the premises. It had the taste of the same can soup or the same take out soup you get at certain restaurants. If Agio wants to be seen as more of an upscale restaurant it needs to make their soup fresh in house. If it is made fresh, then they really need to alter that recipe.

My wife's roasted chicken was a bit of a let down. It lack that really crispy skin of a well made roasted chicken. There was some Au Jus, but that just made the chicken more soggy than anything else. The Au Jus did not really add anything extra to the flavor at all. The mashed potatoes was okay, and so were the steam vegetables.

The service was okay. It seems to match the quality of the food. It was adequate except you were expecting more. The restaurant was pretty barren at the time, with maybe only 2 to 3 other tables occupied. You would expect us the get more of a personalized attention, but alas we were mainly left to ourselves. Everything from the decor, menu items and the way the personnel was dressed, screamed that this restaurant was meant for something more. However, something went wrong somewhere and it just sits now on just settling for mediocrity.

Final Thoughts: The food and service does not justify the asking price.

Food: 2 1/2 stars

service: 3 stars

Price: high

Overall: 2 1/2 stars

A Foodie's Guide to Disneyland

2009-06-26T22:52:00.000-07:00

I went to Disneyland for my vacation. I must say I had as much fun as my 3 year old that I went with. I learned some things the hard way, talked with people while waiting in line, and just plain experimented to get the best experiences. Although I was there for a few days, I'll write this guide in two parts. First part as if you are short on time, maybe only spending 1 day there. Second part is as if you have several days to spend.

Let's lay down some ground rules before we start this discussion.

1) You are in Disneyland, you will have to pay through the nose for everything. It's a fact, deal with it. I don't want to hear anyone crying about the prices latter on.

2) You will probably have to wait in line for everything, including food.

3) There will be crowds of people no matter where you go.

Once you accept these facts, you'll enjoy Disneyland a lot more.

Before we get to the foodie section, here are some general tips I learned from talking with people and past experiences to Disneyland.

1) Drink lots of water. Very very important. Keep Hydrated. I know water is expense in Disneyland, but money in your pocket is worthless when you have fainted from dehydration.

2) Sun block and big brim hats. Very easy to get sunburn in Disneyland.

3) You can bring snacks for your young kids into Disneyland. Bring Snacks and milk in a cooler if you have to. Most of the snacks in Disneyland are not what I consider healthy. The only healthy food I found is some fresh fruit which cost a lot.

4) If you have young kids and are staying for a few days, stay in a hotel close to the park. It may be a bit more expensive, but well worth it when your kid (or mother in law) is cranky needing a nap.

5) If you see a split in the line for a ride, always go left. Why? Well because most people are right handed and will tend to favor that direction. I tried this rule and generally it saves me a few minutes.

6) Use the Fast Pass system as much as you can. Essentially this is a system where you get a time ticket to come back to the ride during a specific time. This allows you to ride another ride or go get some food.

7) Go early. Yes, I know, it is hard to wake up sometimes but getting there before the park opens makes a world of difference. There is minimal wait as soon as the park opens for the most popular rides. The wait time for popular rides can easily exceed 1 hour.

8) Go for the most popular ride first. When the park opens, I found the average wait time for even the most popular ride is only 10 minutes or less. This is compared over 1 hour wait later on in the day.

9) Stay late. The park closes at 12 mid-night during the summer months. Usually after the last fireworks show or last show of the night, most people (especially ones with kids) makes a mad dash for the door. This leaves the wait the for rides back to minimal wait. I was able to ride some of the rides with no wait time around 11 P.M. California Adventures closes at 10 P.M. and the popular rides are crowded all the way till then, so no advantage there.

Part 1: For the time constraint.

Okay, now to the food. Imagine if you will, you are only at Disneyland for one day, that means you want to ride all the rides, and see as many of the big shows as you can. However, you also need to eat, after all you are human, I'm assuming. What do you do? If you eat, that means you'll lose out in the rides. Trust me, there are lines everywhere in Disneyland, even for food.

Here is what you do.

There are certain types of food, which I will deem "Line Friendly." What is Line Friendly? Well that is for food you can eat with while walking to and from rides, while waiting in line, or waiting for a show to start. I has to experiment and tried each one to see how Line Friendly each food is.

First we have breakfast. Remember, we have this prime time to ride most rides. What do you need to eat to take advantage of this? I give you the breakfast burrito. It is a nice package of egg, potatoes and sausage wrapped up in one neat little package. You can stop and eat breakfast at one of the restaurants, but then you'll end up waiting extremely long for your ride. Not recommended. Keep a bottle water near you at all times and you're set to squeeze 3 or 4 rides before lunch. Yes the breakfast burrito is Line Friendly.

Next we'll look at lunch. We have several choices. First we have the usually hot dog. You would think this is Line Friendly. But alas, no. The toppings feel all over the place and even on the spiffy new Disneyland shirt I just bought. And despite it's appearance, you actually need two hands to eat it properly. Therefore, I would deem this not Line Friendly. Just for your info, I bought the hot link with BBQ sauce. It did have a nice spice and hotness but the sauce and onions easily fell off.

Now, I know if the hot dog is not Line Friendly, what can you eat that is both meaty and satisfying. Well, I have your solution in the form of the ever popular Turkey Leg. Yes, this is one monstrous leg that takes multiple people to eat. You can eat it with just one hand. You do have to deal with some of the juices and some of the tendons. However, if you start at it at the beginning of the line, hopefully you'll finish it by the front of the line. It is one of the few "bargains" in Disneyland. The hot dog is 8 bucks, while the Turkey Leg is 7 dollars. It had a slightly smokey flavor. I found the Turkey Leg more satisfying and more Line Friendly than the hot dog.

Well, what if you are not into big O chunks of Turkey Leg? I give you the chimichanga. It is a deep friend burrito with beans and ground beef. Though it is a bit dry, but the inside is well seasoned. It is Line Friendly since it is another one handed food. However, you may have to pay the price later on due to the beans inside.

Now what if you have a sweet tooth? Well there are candy apples but they are not found everywhere in the park, and you are not about to walk across the park just for a bit of dessert. There is another Line Friendly dessert and that is the famous Churro. Yes, this bit of fried dough is tasty, sweet and easily handle with one hand. You can munch on it walking from ride to ride. And it is found everywhere in the park.

Another candidate for a sweet treat is the Fried Fritters that they sell in Adventure land. I would not recommend it for several reason. The main reason is that it just doesn't taste as good as the Churro. Another reason is that it is only found in one place and the is in Adventure Land. So it isn't Line Friendly if you have to run across the park just to get it. For those that never had a Fried Fritter, its a bit hard on the outside with a soft and chewy center. My fritters were not has hot as I would like them to be.

Part 2: For those who has a bit more time.

Now a lot of you will use your Fast Past to ride extra rides, but as I found out sometimes it doesn't always work out. You may have use the Fast Past on one ride but you find yourself in a different part of the park of in another park altogether. I spoke to some people in line with me and they agree that a lot of times they end up wasting their Fast Past. Why? Well for one, they usually give you a time of about one and half hours to return to the ride. But a lot of rides the wait time could exceed one hour. By the time you get back you'll probably miss your alloted time. This happened a few times to the people I spoke with in line. So I decided to use my Fast Past time to get food instead. It works out better for me. I'm not trap in some line and I can rush back to the ride for the Fast Past.

Now for some of you that have a bit more time on their hands and can afford to actually sit down and eat. There are several themed restaurants located throughout the part. There are also outside stalls which you can just grab some food and eat out in the open.

If you elect to eat at some of the themed restaurants, prepare to pay a bit of a premium. You pay extra for the ambiance. See my review for the Blue Bayou later on for one of these themed restaurants.

Here's a bit of advice, if they have a special souvenir cup on the menu, always ask what it is. Sometimes you can get something really cool, that can not be found anywhere else in the park, like this glow in the dark Lightning McQueen racing cup.

More than likely you'll line up and grab some food from one of the many food vendors in the park. Do not worry, I got you covered.

There are the usually hamburgers and hot dogs. Those can be found in most places, and prices range for 6 dollars to 8 dollars. What I suggest is that if you are within range of some of the more signature stalls in that particular area try it out. For example in Adventure land you can grab some gumbo and clam chowder. The gumbo is decent with a bit of linger spiciness to it.

The clam chowder was okay, but it tasted like the ones you buy in a can.

In California Adventures, you can grab some ribs, but for 3 pieces of ribs, it cost about 16 dollars. The ribs were okay, but not great, and the cole slaw was bland. I would not go there for the ribs.

My recommendation is to go the Boudin Bakery where they have a tour and a cafe. There you can grab a decent clam chowder and some salad. I recommend the San Francisco Shrimp Louie Salad in a bread bowl. The dressing is nice and they give you lots of shrimp. Salads are always refreshing especially for the hot southern California weather. The bread bowl was nice, but I had to dig out the salad and put onto a plate for easier eating or else you'll eat all the shrimp without ever touching the salad.

Here's another neat advice. For California Adventures, there are two parades that run through the day. The Pixar and Electrical Parade. Both of these parade routes run through a food stall called Pizza Ow Mow Wow. You can go into the stall and buy some food and sit close parade route. There wasn't many people there, so you pretty much have an unimpeded view of both parades.

Now that you had eaten your way through the whole day, then you have to end it with something sweet and decadent. There is an ice cream parlor in Disneyland on main street that serves some wonderful sundays. There is a line especially late at night when everyone seems to want ice cream. Another good bit of advice is that bring some bottle water with you. The ice cream is think and sweet and you will need to cleanse your palate. By cleansing your palate every few bites, your ice will taste as sweet from the first bite till the last.

There you have it, a guide to enjoy eating and playing better in Disneyland. I hope you find it useful but above all else, have fun.

Update: We took a poll to see what most of you would do for food in Disneyland if you were short on time. Majority of you agree with me that eating in line is your best option. Though I am surprised that 3 of you did not like Disneyland altogether.