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