Tani's Kitchen

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I've eaten at almost all the known Japanese curry spots in the city:  Muracci's (see post HERE), Volcano curry (see post HERE),Kare-Ken (see post HERE), and Delica with Muracci's being my absolute favorite.  Tani's Kitchen is a favorite amongst people living on the outer areas of the city so I had to check it out to complete my list.   First of all, this place is very, very small and very, very popular.  Its best to order to go, but even then the wait time is quite long.  

Besides the curries and donburis, the tamago is a must order item.  Totally hype worthy, these fluffy tamagos are some of the best I've had in the city.  I never used to give this sushi a second look, but after a trip to Japan, it opened my eyes to how amazingly delicious tamago can be if done right.  Soft with a creamy and spongy texture, this egg sushi oozes just the right amount of sweetness.

Its hard to say why people like the curry from this place, especially when there are some good spots to choose from.  The karaage (fried chicken) was burnt and I actually stopped eating it halfway, which is a rarity for me when it comes to fried food.  The curry was just your standard Japanese box curry with an absence of vegetables, but made much too salty.  No heat either. 

One look at the tonkatsu curry I hoped that the extra dark crust was only aesthetically burnt looking, but it was hard and dry.  The meat inside was dry and overcooked.  The curry only added to the saltiness of the dish. There was a noticeable absence of the red pickle ( fukujinzuke).

Address:               Tani's Kitchen
                              32 Park Plz Dr.
                              Daly City, CA 
 

Type:                     Japanese

Popular chomps:   tamago sushi
                               spicy hamburger steak
                               karaage curry
                               chicken karaage donburi

Chomp worthy:      tamago sushi

House of Silvanas

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I rarely ever go to Daly City, but I came a picture of these macaron looking cookies and they looked interesting enough to venture out there.  It's a little tricky to get here.  The deserted looking plaza where this bakery is looking like you need to enter into the plaza (with Ling Nam) in it, but its not.  You actually have to go up a little futher into another plaza and follow the swirling street into the correct plaza.  Confusing, but thats Daly City for you.   
House of Silvanas are actually a chain from the Philippines with a couple locations in Southern California and the Daly City being the only Northern California location.

From top left (clockwise):  chocolate, mocha, strawberry, mango, original, ube (purple yam), buko-pandan (young coconut).  At first glance, silvanas look very similar to macaron, but they are very different.  First of all, they are stored in the freezer and served chilled.  The cookies are cashew meringues with buttercream sandwiched between the wafers.  The cookies are they dusted/rolled in cookie crumbs.  The texture takes a little getting used to since I've never tasted a cookie like that. Upon first bite, you get a sense of chilliness and you can probably get a small chewy bite in before the meringue wafer melts/disappears in your mouth.  You are left with a sweet aftertaste that is slightly salty.  It can be pretty addicting.  An assorted box ($13) comes with two of each flavor.  Personally I liked the strawberry flavor.  It reminded me of the Nesquick strawberry flavor.

A glance inside the ube flavored silvanas you can see the light fluffy texture of the meringue wafer and the thin layer of buttercream. 

Address:                     House of Silvanas

                                           2055 Gellert Blvd.

                                           Ste 3

                                           Daly City, CA

Type:                             Filipino/bakery

Popular chomps: silvanas
                                            sans rival
                                            ensaimada

Chomp worthy:      silvanas