What Did We Eat?

Great Deal at Sizzler

Joe and I are going to Sizzler for dinner tonight (this is our 3rd time within the month).  They have this awesome deal --- $9.99 gives you a 6-oz steak, rice or potato, bread, and all-you-can-eat salad, soups, hot appetizers, and desserts.  Stay tuned...  Joe said he is hungry.  Well, now, I am too!

       

Oh my god, we ate so much (or at least I did!).  I ordered the steak dinner while Joe ordered the salmon dinner.  With the dinners, we also got unlimited salad, soups, and appetizers.  The appetizers include pasta, fried chicken and taco with all the trimmings.  Joe first took a bowl of vegetable soup and some pasta.  I got myself some chowder and a huge plate of salad.  Then came our dinner entrees.  Joe's salmon came with rice and my steak came with a baked potato.  My steak was too well done as I wanted it medium rare.  So we sent it back and they corrected it (the second steak was much better).  So how much did I eat?  Let me see...

- a huge plate of salad (yes, I finished the whole thing)
- a bowl of chowder
- two slices of bread (I ate Joe's share)
- a bit of baked potato
- my whole steak (of course)
- 2.5 big glasses of iced tea (refill and refill)
- oh, and ice cream (hehe...)
- Well...this time I didn't eat the appetizers.  Usually I would grab some pasta too.

Mama's Curry

Last night, Joe and I had dinner at the new Mama's Curry Restaurant in San Jose.  It's an Indian fast food place.  The minute you walk in, you will smell the curries and spices.  

We got the "rice + curry" combo - with chicken tikki masala, chicken curry, vegetable curry and yellow rice.  We also ordered a side of garlic naan bread.  The garlic naan was excellent but I think the garlic naan is best to be eaten alone, meaning, do not eat it with the curries (because if you do, you won't really taste the garlic).  If you like to eat the naan with the sauces, then you might as well just order a plain naan.  The entree portions were huge, but we felt that we didn't get enough rice to go with all these sauces.  We didn't finish our entrees so we packed them home for leftover, but we will have to buy more rice later.  :)

French Silk Pie from Baker's Square Restaurant

  One of my all-time favorite desserts is the French Silk Pie from Baker's Square.  There are many chocolate mousse pies out there that look like the French Silk Pie but none of them tasted as good.  

Sadly, I noticed there are less and less Baker's Square Restaurants around town now.  The one we like to go to was in Milpitas but it was closed for quite a while.  Then we found one in Redwood City but now that one is closed too!  This one in the picture is in San Bruno but the location is not convenient for us.  I hope they don't keep closing those Baker's Square Restaurants...

Banana Island Singapore/Malaysia/Thai Restaurant

    

Yesterday we had lunch with Joe's mom at the Banana Island restaurant in Daly City.   You probably remembered that a couple weeks ago, I had lunch with my coworkers at the Banana Leaf restaurant in Milpitas.  This one in Daly City is called "Banana Island", not to be confused with "Banana Leaf".  If you ask me, I think the food at Banana Island is better.  They are not as popular (crowded) as Banana Leaf probably because of its location.  Banana Island's location is a bit tricky, it is in Daly City and behind a large parking building.  So it is not easy to find.  But if you can find the restaurant, you are in for a treat.  The restaurant is never overly-crowded or noisy.  The decor is nice and the food is tasty. 

In the middle of the restaurant, you will see a station where a cook is constantly making "Roti Canal", the very popular "paper-thin" Indian pancake, served with a coconut-based curry sauce.  In addition to Roti Canal (Note: In some restaurants, it is called "Roti Prata"), we also ordered the satay chicken, served with peanut sauce.  The restaurant offers satay beef or chicken, we would recommend the chicken because we think the chicken satay is more tender than the beef.  The peanut sauce is excellent.  Joe's mom even asked for an extra bowl of the peanut sauce to take home. 

We had the pineapple fried rice, and I love the fact that there were chunks of fresh pineapples in it.  We also had the "Chow Kueh Teow", which is Malaysian stir-fried flat noodles with shrimps, squid, bean sprouts, eggs, soy sauce and chili paste.  In addition, we also ordered the "sizzling tofu".  For dessert, we had the "Roti Kaya", which really is "Roti Canal stuffed with sweet, coconut kaya sauce".   Banana Island has a pretty extensive menu.  If you are in the Daly City area, do go and give it a try. 

Roux Louisiana Kitchen in Santana Row

  

Friday night, Joe suggested dinner at Roux.  It was our first time there.  Except from the fact that we knew it is a New Orleans style restaurant, we didn't really know what to expect.  Turned out, the food was just ok (and definitely over-priced) but it was quite a nice place to hang out and people watch, especially on a busy Friday night.  There is a full bar in the middle of the restaurant, with comfortable chairs and sofas scattered around it.  Right by the front entrance, there was a live band playing cool music.  Patrons were lounging, drinking, chatting... Joe and I went up to the hostess desk and saw a box of colorful beaded necklaces.  Joe took a couple of those necklaces, not for us to wear but saving them to give to a friend's 3-year-old daughter.

   

After checking in with the hostess, we were led to the dining room area.  Upon being seated, one of the wait staff presented us with some corn breads. I ate one right away, it was quite good.  Then we ordered two kinds of soup and a basket of hushpuppies to share.  One soup was the gumbo and the other was the crawfish.  The crawfish one was a bit too salty.  We preferred the gumbo better.  But to us, the gumbo was nothing compared to the real thing in New Orleans.  For entrees, I ordered the crab cakes and Joe ordered the jambalaya.  Again I felt the food was too salty.  We didn't finish the crab cakes or the jambalaya because we wanted to save room for dessert.  What's a "Louisiana dinner" without beignets?  So we ordered those for dessert and we did finish them. :)  Is Roux a fun place to go? Yes.  Is it worth going back?  For us, probably not, because the food was not outstanding for the price they charge.

Coffee Time at Cocola

Yesterday after lunch, Joe and I met up with some friends at the Cocola.  Cocola is a tiny pastry/coffee/sandwich place located right in the middle of the Santana Row main street.

Joe ordered a cup of black coffee and I ordered a cup of cappuccino.  I am not a coffee lover but once in a while, I would like to enjoy some cappuccino (especially when the weather is cold - and it was cold yesterday!).  My cappuccino was exactly how I like it, it was not overly bitter and the froth was thick, smooth and creamy.  Joe bought us a piece of permanganate/chocolate mousse cake to share.  I am usually not a mousse cake lover either but this piece was not bad.  Although I could not really taste the permanganate, the chocolate mousse at the bottom of the cake and the hazelnut bits inside the cake made it taste yummy.  Joe and I split the cake in half.  It was just right to go with my cappuccino.

Pasta Lunch at the Maggiano's

Maggiano's is a super popular Italian restaurant at the Santana Row, CA.  Joe and I went there yesterday (Sunday) at ~2:00pm for a late lunch and the place was still packed with customers.  We had to wait for 10 minutes for a table.  Since we were short on time (we had to meet up with some friends at 3:00pm), we just decided to order something very simple.

First, we had a side salad to share.  Then, I had the spaghetti with tomato sauce and Joe had the linguine with clams in tomato sauce.  Two things I liked about the entrees - 1) the pasta came out piping hot, and 2) the portion was very generous (they were "half orders" but the portion was huge).  However, there was a mix-up on Joe's order.  He wanted the tomato sauce, but his entree first came out with the white sauce.  Joe had to send it back.  We supposed the kitchen staff just added the tomato sauce to the original dish.  My spaghetti tasted just ok, nothing spectacular.  I didn't really care for the soft pasta texture or the fact that my spaghetti was "drowning" in the sauce.  Oh well, we were hungry and we were pressed for time.  So, we just ate the food and then rushed to our next appointment... : )

Team Lunch at Banana Leaf

Last Friday I had a team lunch with my coworkers at the Banana Leaf Restaurant in Milpitas, CA.  Banana Leaf specializes in Malaysian and Thai cuisine.  The restaurant is always incredibly busy for both lunch and dinner, so be prepared to be asked to wait for a table (we had to wait for a about 30 minutes for our table).  They do take reservations if your party is five people or more.

 

Since there were 7 of us, we were able to order multiple different items to share.  Upon being seated, each of us was served with a bowl of tom yum soup, which is a spicy and sour Thai soup with a fairly strong taste of lemon grass.  Then we ordered some appetizers.  First one was Prata, which according to their menu, is "multi-layered home made Indian bread dipped in curry sauce".  Second one was the Roti Telur, which was the same thing as Roti Prata, except it was Indian bread with egg.  The texture of the two Roti was very different.  I like the Roti Prata better as it was crispy.  Our third appetizer was the "Gado-Gado", a funny name which stands for "assorted vegetables, fried prawn's cake & tofu with peanut sauce".  It was kind of a refreshing salad.  I like the peanut sauce a lot. 

 

 

 

For entrees, the two "must-have" items that I would recommend would be the "Mango Chicken" or "Mango Prawns" and the "Sizzling Chicken".  The mango chicken or prawns are served in mango shells with a slightly spicy mango sauce.  The sauce is definitely very flavorful. The sizzling chicken also has a somewhat creamy sauce, which I think, really goes well with white rice.  In addition, we also tried the Rendang Beef (not pictured), Utama Basil Chicken (not pictured), and the pineapple rice, which is "fried rice with pineapple bits, cashews, shrimps, chicken & peas stuffed in a pineapple".  

Oh, one more thing.  Last Friday was my birthday.  One of my coworkers told the waiter and the team surprised me with a dessert and a birthday song!  hehe... :)

What am I drinking recently?

One of my friends (hi Angela!), who follows my blog on a daily basis, recently told me that she wants me to blog more often.  She is right.  I have been "forgetting" to bring my camera with me to restaurants lately, so I have not been blogging too frequently.  Whoops.  Tonight I have decided to talk about what I have been drinking... : )

From left to right...

1) Yakult - I grew up drinking this stuff when I was in Hong Kong!  It's a Japanese health drink.  This little bottle contains 8 billion probiotics and it's supposed to keep your body in balance.  I simply love the taste of it.  And every time I drink it, it brings back good memories about Hong Kong.  Joe got me this drink from one of the 99 Chinese markets.

2. Melon Soda - I first learned about this soda when I was a college student in Hawaii.  The melon taste is sooo refreshing and it's definitely not too sweet.  This soda cannot be found in general supermarkets.  Joe and I found this one from a Japanese/Korean supermarket in Cupertino.

3. Sunkist Float Drink - We bought this one from the supermarket close by our house.  I always like the orange-cream popsicles; so when I saw this new drink, I just had to try it.  Turned out, it was just so-so for me.  It just does not taste as good when it is made into a drink.  I will go back to the popsicles.

4. My other friend (hi Katherine!) is a distributor for the Mona Vie acai drinks.  She gave me two bottles to sample.  Acai is a berry found only in the Amazon and it is rich in antioxidants (Translation: anti-aging).   Since I don't like to eat fruits, this drink probably is a good thing for me.  Katherine told me to drink 2oz in the morning and another 2oz at night.  I really follow her instructions - see the measuring cup next to the bottle?