Cryo Cream

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Nitrogen based ice cream has been made all the rage in San Francisco by Smitten (see post HERE).  Finally, this cool concept has trickled down to the Peninsula.  Similar to Smitten, Cyro Cream uses nitrogen to whip up made to order ice cream.  Right in the middle of downtown Burlingame on a hot day, I was a little surprised there wasn't a line out the door. 

The flavors seem to change daily.  The two that I had hoped to taste - Elvis and cereal milk weren't available so I had to go with some more traditional flavors.

First of all, the texture of the ice cream is really smooth.  Almost too smooth for me, it reminded me of the texture of frozen yogurt.  Also, their ice cream melts really fast.  The flavors here are really sweet and leaves a weird aftertaste.  While I know I'm a little spoiled with TCHO chocolate flavors in the city, this chocolate was too artificially tasting. 

Salted caramel is such a common sight these days, but its really hard to get a good tasting one.  This one was too sweet and didn't have that salty bite I associate with a good tasting salted caramel.  Best thing here was the cool color changing spoons.

   

Address:                     Cryo Cream
                                  240 Park Blvd
                                  Burlingame, CA 
 

Type:                          ice cream/dessert

Popular chomps:       elvis
                                salted caramel
                                cereal milk

Chomp worthy:         nothing      

Rotten City Pizza

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San Francisco needs more slice houses.  In the meantime, I've been heading to the East Bay to grab slices.  The level of pizza in the East Bay never ceases to surprise me.  Rotten City Pizza has to be probably the on my top 5 best slices in the Bay Area with my obvious number 1 Berkley's Gioia's (see post HERE).

This bare bones slice house showcases whats its all about - the slices. 

The slices here are ultra thin, wide (foldable, if that's your thing), a little greasy (not a bad thing), and just delicious in every way.  While the mushroom pizza doesn't over throne Gioia's Fungi, the slice is certainly satisfying.  The porchetta pizza toppings are a little hard to distinguish, but its topped with slices of pork belly, ricotta, salsa verde, and parmigiano.  The salsa verde gives this slice a surprising kick.  I thought this slice would be my sure winner here, but even though it was good, it was probably my least favorite of the four.

The cheese slice here has all the right things going for it - a good cheese flavor with just the right bout of stringiness.  On the bianco verde slice, a pesto swirl decorated the slice in a artistic circular fashion.  The sprinkle of chili flakes gave it a nice spicy touch.

Address:                   Rotten City Pizza
                                   6613 Hollis St.
                                   Emeryville, CA

Type:                          pizza

Popular chomps:      porchetta
                                    pesto
                                    spinach
                                     meatball sub

Chomp worthy:         cheese
                                     pesto
                                     mushroom     

20th Century Cafe

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20th Century Cafe is a new addition to Hayes Valley.  The space is gorgeous.  Its light and airy and you don't notice the craziness of the cars rushing down Gough Street.  The vintage charm of this place almost makes you wish they served afternoon tea here, but unfortunately, they don't.

Instead Michelle Polzine (former pastry chef from Range), makes the cutest, delicate pastries.

At $3 each, the potato knish is a little on the small side, but its warm flaky shell is utter deliciousness.  Thin layers surround a creamy potato filling.

Not your usual chocolate chip cookies, the cookie here is thin and crisp with just a touch of sea salt on top.

I've never been obsessive over honey or honey type food dishes, but the Russian honey cake here is fantastic.  I couldn't help, but admire all the work that went into this multilayer cake.  Layers of cream and cake are so well balance you get a moist sponginess along with a light honey taste.

In San Francisco, its always interesting to see what unique flavors are the newest rage.  Here its the peach leaf ice cream.  The taste is creamy with a sweetness that resembles pistachio, but if you concentrate really hard you can taste a young leaf of peach tree sprig.

     

Address:                  20th Century Cafe
                                 198 Gough St.
                                 San Francisco, CA 
 

Type:                        American

Popular chomps:      peach leaf ice cream
                                  honey cake
                                  chocolate chip cookie
                                  potato knish  

Chomp worthy:         potato knish
                                  honey cake    

Kaka Udon Kitchen

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The name of this restaurant is sort of hilarious, but the thing that drew me here was the freshly made udon noodles.  After having some phenomenal handmade udon noodles in LA's Marugame Monzo (see post HERE), I was pretty excited to see something like that pop up in the city.

Unfortunately, the restaurant doesn't center itself around a udon making show like at Marugame Monzo, but the small area in the front of the restaurant did look like legit noodle making was done there.  I did find it little worrisome that the whole time I was eating there that no noodles were being made.

Besides noodles, they have various side dishes that you can order to eat with your udon.  The tempura shrimp look good, but tasted off.  The shrimp didn't taste very fresh and didn't seem to be fried well.

Same goes for the tonkatsu.  Looks good, but the taste was pretty bad. 

Croquettes are usually some of my favorite items to eat.  They are often made in house with a creamy center and a nicely fried exterior.  I doubt they make theirs in house since they taste pretty generic and artificial.  I suggest not ordering anything fried here since all the fried items I ordered were pretty terrible.

You pick your own soups.  This one is the soy sauce broth, which wasn't too bad.  It came with heaps of fresh vegetables and mushrooms.  The only big disappointment were the noodles.  They didn't have a chewy texture and reminded me of the store bought udon noodles at Ranch 99.

The spicy beef udon had a milky color that reminded me of ramen.  Flavorwise, I was surprised by how good it was.  Its by no means an exceptional bowl of noodles, but if they would just get their noodles chewier then I wouldn't mind stopping in to try other flavors.

Address:                Kaka Udon Kitchen

                               1535 Franklin St
                               San Francisco, CA
 

Type:                      Japanese

Popular chomps:    curry udon
                                spicy beef udon
                                seafood udon
                                miso udon
                                pork udon
 

Chomp worthy:       spicy beef udon
                                soy sauce udon      

Stan's Donut Shop

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Stan's Donut Shop is one of those old school institutions.  A well known hidden gem, I've been told many times about how great the glazed donuts are, but their operating hours (6a-3p) always made it difficult for me to stop by when I was craving a donut.

The donuts are handrolled, fried, and then drizzled with sugar all in front of your eyes.  They are sold almost as fast as they are made so by the time you get to the front of the line its possible that the freshly fried donut you wanted was sold out.

Yup, that's the line.  I haven't lined up for a donut since the opening of Krispy Kreme.  Most people end up buying a dozen or more, but if you wanted to bypass the line you can sit at the counter and order up some donuts and coffee to eat there.

Besides donuts Stan's also sells sandwiches, but majority of the people come here for the donuts.

The cinnamon roll is ginormous!  Fresh out of the fryer, I had to get my hands on one of these donuts.  I wasn't really crazy about this one.  I prefer my donuts more fluffy on the inside.

There's one special donut of the day.  Today's was the lemon curd cake donut.  Normally, I don't get cake donuts, but I had to get a trifecta combination after waiting in that line.  Probably the least favorite of all three donuts.  While the cake donut had a nice density to it, the flavor wasn't nearly tart or lemony enough.

It's all about the glazed donuts here.  I was pretty upset to know that by the time I got to the front of the line the tray full of perfectly formed glazed donuts were all gone.  Luckily, there was a oddly shaped one left in the display case.  A little deformed and tainted with a bit of sprinkles and powdered sugar from its neighbors, it was better than nothing.  It really is a great donut.  A thin crust encases the lightest, fluffiest inside in this delicious donut.

      

Address:                  Stan's Donut Shop
                                 2628 Homestead Rd.
                                 Santa Clara, CA
 

Type:                        donuts/dessert

Popular chomps:      glazed donuts
                                  cinnamon bun
                                  cake donuts
                                 

Chomp worthy:         glazed donuts       

B Street & Vine

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B Street & Vine is a cute little place for some wine and small bites.  It's all about the bruschetta here, which I've been saying wrong apparently all my life.  Its bru-ske-ta.  Bruschetta is an antipasto made of toasted (grilled) bread with various toppings.  There's a wide variety of bruschetta choices to pick from.  For $12 you get 4 slices and the slices are a fairly good size.  Each slice is cut into 4 pieces so its totally shareable. 

Right to left: salami, feta, and pesto; prosciutto with figs and mascarpone; spicy hummus with avocado and tomato; smoked salmon, chives, capers and mascarpone.  Obviously, its not hard to make these, but its fun to try all the combinations of meats and cheeses.  My favorites from this plate were the spicy hummus and the smoked salmon.  The spicy wasn't spicy at all, but it had a nice flavor to it.  And of course, you can never go wrong with smoked salmon.

Right to left: herbed artichoke and sun dried tomatoes; mango and avocado; fresh mozzarella with tomato, basil and dressing; brie with apples and spicy pecans.  The best from this plate were definitely the brie and apples (always a winning combination) and the fresh mozzarella with tomato.  I really wanted to love the avocado and mango, but it was way too sweet for my taste.

   

Address:                 B Street & Vine
                                320 S B St.
                                San Mateo, CA
 

Type:                       American

Popular chomps:     bruschetta

Chomp worthy:       smoked salmon bruschetta
                                 apple brie bruschetta     

Sno-Zen Shaved Snow & Dessert Cafe

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Shaved snow!  This was one of my favorite Asian desserts and I'm super glad that its finally made its way to the Peninsula/South Bay area.  After having a decent amount of shaved snow, I think I'm qualified to distinguish good shaved snow.  Not all shaved snow are made equal!  The common gold standard is LA's Class 302 (see post HERE), but I thought that it was a little watery for my taste.  Most of the ones in the Bay Area having either been lacking flavor or have a weird consistency.  I finally found the best shaved snow in the Bay Area - Sno-Zen!   

The snow ice here satisfies all the checkboxes to perfect snow ice.  Creamy texture, perfect layers, and bold flavors.  The peanut butter flavor isn't something I would normally get, but its definitely my favorite.  A strong sweet peanut taste that makes you want to lick the whole plate. 

Strawberry is a common flavor in these dessert cafes, but this strawberry flavor actually tastes like strawberry not the artificial flavoring. 

Mango is another very popular flavor (its often sold out!).  Delicious and so fun to eat.  I always like to decorate my snow ice with condensed milk and fresh fruits.

Unlike most shaved snow spots, Sno-Zen has a seasonal special flavors that I've never seen before.  The avocado flavor is creamy and tastes just like avocado.  It was hard to pick a topping that matched the avocado flavor, but I loved the crunchy almond slivers and chewy mochi balls.  And of course, condensed milk.

Address:                        Sno-Zen Shaved Snow & Dessert Cafe
                                       2101 Shower Dr.
                                       Mountain View, CA
 

Type:                             dessert

Popular chomps:           mango
                                      strawberry 

                                      taro                                     

Chomp worthy:             mango
                                      strawberry
                                      avocado
                                      peanut butter   

Slicer Pizzeria

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It feels like the East Bay is always opening another pizza place.  Slicer is brought to us by the same owners of Pizzaiolo and Boot and Shoe (see post HERE).

A yummy selection of slices with super fresh ingredients.  The slices are different than Pizzaiolo with a flatter, but still flavorful crust.

There a lot of fresh watermelons and melons on the counter when you walk in so its a no brainer to order an aqua fresca here.  The watermelon is refreshing and sweet. 

A good nibble on the crust showed that this slice is definitely noshable.  A good combination of crispiness along with the right amount of chewiness made this crust delicious.  The sausage slice was topped with housemade sausage, peppers, and red onions.  Yum!

The eggplant slice had a small sprinkling of mint.  I would have never thought to put mint on a pizza, but it was welcome fresh taste.  You can never go wrong with a plain slice of cheese pizza.  At Slicer, its pretty delicious and satisfying.

    

Address:                    Slicer Pizzeria
                                   4395 Piedmont Ave
                                   Unit A
                                   Oakland, CA
 

Type:                          pizza

Popular chomps:        panna cotta
                                   agua fresca 

                                   cheese pizza

Chomp worthy:          agua fresca
                                   cheese pizza
                                   sausage pizza
                                   eggplant pizza       

Bakery Mexico

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Bakery Mexico gets straight to the point.  It's a Mexican bakery.  The cakes and pastries are extremely popular here.

Lines here are a regular sight.  Most people are lining up for cakes, tortas, or both.

Lots of tortas (sandwiches) to choose from!

I was pretty excited to see torta de tamale (tamale sandwich) as one of the specials.  I had been trying to hunt one of these down forever.  I'm not quite sure what I was expecting knowing full well tamales have a good amount of masa, but it tastes like what it sounds like.  A tamale between some bread.  The meat is a little on the skimpy side, but the masa has a good amount of fluffiness to it.  Definitely would have helped to add some sauce or more meat.  A fun find.   

I will always have a special place in my heart for the cubano (niurka) torta at La Casita Chilanga (see post HERE), but the cubano at Bakery Mexico is a close runner up. 

Possibly the prettiest torta I've seen.  Layer and layers of fatty, delicious meats and other good stuff.  Egg, hot dogs, ham, beef, and avocado make up all the fixins'.  Its delicious without being overly oily.  The bread, however, could be better.

Address:                 Mexico Bakery
                                2811 Story Rd
                                San Jose, CA
 

Type:                       Mexican

Popular chomps:     cubano
                                 milenasa
                                 carne asada torta
                                 cakes  

Chomp worthy:        cubano   

Nuoc Mia Vien Dong 2

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Nuoc Mia Vien Dong will probably be known as the thick green waffle place to me from now on because I'll never be able to remember the name or pronounce it correctly.  I often pick up a Vietnamese green waffle for a quick snack at the Century Mall in San Jose when I'm in the area, but now I can go across the street and pick up an even better one!

These Vietnamese waffles (bánh kẹp lá dứa) aren't like regular waffles.  The standard one is green in color and coconut flavor (pandan).  Here the waffles come in 4 flavors: taro, pandan, strawberry, and durian.  Each waffle is made to order and they are fantastic.  Probably the best pandan waffle I've ever had.  The chewiness of the waffle reminds me of one of my favorite Hong Kong street snacks (eggettes).  They have a soft chewy inside with a slightly crispy exterior.  The batter here is especially delicious because it has bits of coconuts mixed in.

Check out the fluffy, sponginess of the waffle with shreds of coconut.

Another great item they have here is sugarcane juice.  Plus they make it fresh, which is a must!  Even better here, is their flavored sugarcane juice, which was a first for me, as I usually drink mine plain over ice.  They offer two flavors: strawberry and kumquat.  Being strawberry season (sort of), I went with the strawberry sugarcane juice.  Refreshing and sweet, it was a nice thirst quencher on a hot day.

    

Address:                 Nuoc Mia Vien Dong 2
                                979 Story Rd
                                Ste 7096
                                San Jose, CA
 

Type:                       Vietnamese

Popular chomps:      pandan waffle
                                 taro waffle
                                 durian waffle
                                 strawberry sugarcane juice

Chomp worthy:        pandan waffle
                                 strawberry sugarcane juice