New Hottest Pepper in the world!!!!!

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

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

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

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

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

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."

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

Mayflower

428 Barber Lane

Milpitas, CA‎

(408) 922-2700

vs

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

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

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

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