Falafel's Drive-In

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The line for Falafel's Drive In is ridiculous, but it does move fast.  Also, it doesn't help that it was featured on Food Network's Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives. 

A lot of people like the falafels here, but I don't think they are that great.  They are more like falafel 101.  They are dry, hard, and tasteless.  Another popular item here is the hot sauce, but I'd pass on that too.  The sauces here tend to be watery and runny.  That being said, the only thing I come back for here (and brave the line) is the banana milkshake.  It's not exactly creamy with an ice cream texture, more like somewhat icey, but the flavor is hardcore banana.  Almost, like a real banana just got smushed into your cup. 

Address:                 Falafel's Drive In
                              2301 Stevens Creek Blvd.
                              San Jose, CA

Type:                      Middle Eastern

Popular chomps:      banana shake
                               pita chips
                               falafel wraps with hot sauce
                               gyros

Chomp worthy:        banana shake

Naked Lunch

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The final bites of foie are quickly approaching.  I've been meaning to get the foie sandwich at Naked Lunch for some time now, but the countdown till July 1 has really pushed me to finally eat it.  Located next to Txoko on Broadway, this small lunchtime eatery is only open Tuesday through Saturday and is CASH ONLY.  Their signature foie gras and duck proscuitto sandwich is popular and often sells out! 

 Their menu changes daily, but their foie gras sandwich is a staple menu item - at least until the ban.

A bonus foie dish since the upcoming ban is approaching quick.  I've never seen more than one foie dish on the menu here.  So it was double my luck when I saw the housemade donut and seared foie with a banana brulee and bourbon maple glaze.  Each item eaten separately wasn't too different than what I've eaten in the past, but eating the items together gave a delicious combination of sweet, salty, and savory. 

I admit I was a little skeptical when I first saw it was a sandwich consisting of foie gras AND duck prosciutto.  Salt attack was the first thing that crossed my mind, but I was pleasantly surprised that the thin layers of foie were so well balanced with the duck proscuitto.  The tomato and lettuce gave a refreshing aftertaste to each savory bite.  Especially loved the duck prosciutto.  Full of flavor and the perfect amount of saltiness and texture.  Only gripe about the sandwich was keeping the foie and the proscuitto inside the sandwich.  Both kept slipping around, causing me to rearrange the sandwich after every couple bites. 

Address:                        Naked Lunch

                                              504 Broadway

                                              San Francisco, CA

           

Type:                                sandwiches

Popular chomps:  foie gras and duck prosciutto sandwich
                                             cinnamon sweet tea

Chomp worthy:      foie gras and duck prosciutto sandwich
                                             seared foie and housemade donut        

Okina Sushi

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Okina Sushi is a hidden gem in the Richmond district of San Francisco.  This tiny sushi restaurant is only open for dinner Thurs - Saturday.  The sushi here is super fresh and reminds of being in Japan.  Okina keeps it simple and sticks to the basics with mostly nigiri and a small selection of basic rolls.

The place only has a couple tables and seats at the bar so I suggest calling to make reservations.  I love how the sushi is made super fast with precision.  The pricing here is really affordable and I helped myself to almost all the nigiris on the menu for around $80.     

The sushi menu.

The rolls.

The ginger and wasabi along with some small shreds of daikon radish are placed on the counter.

The maguro was one of the nigiris included in the omakase.  I'm not ususally a fan of maguro, but it was fresh and better than what I've had in the city.

The hamachi here is buttery delicious.

The very light tasting kampachi has a small shiso leaf that gives it a peppery kick.

The hirame also had a small shiso leaf for a nice fresh flavor.

The toro wasn't as fatty as I usually see it, but it was still delicious.

No ammonia smell or taste here.  The uni's custardy texture and taste are key indicators of how fresh it is.

I always order tamago in hopes of something similar to the warm tamago I've had the pleasure of tasting in Tokyo.  The tamago here is soft and eggy.  Delicious.

Surprisingly, they don't have sake (salmon) here, but they do offer a smoked salmon nigiri.  Lightly smoked and salty, it's a nice alternative.

They don't fry the heads here, but the amaebi is still slimy and sweet.

The scallop here was good, but not one of the stars of this meal.

I love the chewy texture of ika.  The ika here was crunchy with a sweet aftertaste.

Shreds of finely, sweet, fresh crab meat made this nigiri a nice change from the usual fake stick of crab meat  usually found in most sushi restaurants.

Uni-Tama.  I only order this when I know the uni is fresh and its very fresh here.  Uni topped with a quail egg gives this a fresh taste.

I don't usually eat much unagi, but the unagi here is tender and delicious.  They prep it fresh upon order. Also, no surprising tiny bones!

    

Address:                 Okina Sushi
                                 776 Arguello Blvd.
                                San Francisco, CA
    

Type:                       Japanese/sushi

Popular chomps:        omakase

Chomp worthy:           omakase

Tamarine

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I'm not usually a fan of paying big bucks for Asian food, but I'll have to admit that Tamarine is pretty good.  Although, its best reserved for those nice expensed dinners.  It's actually the same owners as Vung Tau in San Jose, where they offer similar dishes for a much cheaper price.  That being said, it is downtown Palo Alto. 

 The salt & pepper calamari is lightly battered so the crust isn't too crispy.  Tender, but has a good chewiness from the calamari.  I like how the salt & pepper seasoning wasn't too salty, which is usually the case with salt & pepper Asian dishes.  The cilantro dipping sauce was a little too light and sweet for my taste.  I would have preferred something with more kick or spiciness.
 

 I've always been a fan of roti canai (aka roti cane, roti prata).  Its a popular dish found in Malaysian restaurants made of Indian flatbread (roti) served with a curry dipping sauce.  They call this dish banh mi roti at Tamarine.  The roti here is slightly crispy and flaky on the outside with a fluffy warm insides.  It's perfect for ripping apart and dipping into the coconut curry sauce.
 

Giant jumbo prawns flashed fried in a tamarine sauce on top a massive amount of fried rice noodles.  The prawns were huge and tender, but I wasn't a fan of the sauce - too much tamarine flavor. 

Lemongrass and seared garlic sea bass served with a mango and cilantro noodle salad.  At first it looked like the seabass was too seared, but as you flake off the layers of fish, you can see its perfectly cooked.  I didn't really taste much lemongrass, possibly overpowered by the garlic.  Not a fan of the salad, it was bland and didn't seem like it went with the fish.

I'm Asian and I paid $8.50 for this single serving of rice.  It somewhat goes against everything I've been raise on, but I cannot resist runny eggs.  It's probably true that I could make this at home, it's still delicious here.  The waiters really insist on mixing this dish for you here, but I love to do that myself.  There perfectly runny egg mixes deliciously well with the sweet soy sauce and fluffy rice.  Total comfort food.

Address:                  Tamarine
                               546 University Ave
                               Palo Alto, CA

Type:                      Vietnamese

Popular chomps:      shaking beef
                               clay pot cod
                               empress rice
                               banh mi roti
                               lemongrass seabass
                               tamarine prawns

Chomp worthy:         lemongrass seabass
                               empress rice
                               banh mi roti        

Akiba

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I LOVE honey toast!  After having my first encounter with this delightful Asian dessert at Ichiza in Las Vegas (see post HERE), I've been hoping that it would make an appearance in the Bay Area.  Finally after many years of waiting, it appeared on the dessert menu at Akiba in the Richmond district of San Francisco.

Akiba serves up some crepes and other savory dishes, but most of the people come here for their honey box (toast).

The menu is a little hard to decipher since there are no pictures.  They offer two styles of honey boxes:  a soft and regular.  The soft, according to the waitress, is not as toasted.

I decided to try a spam musubi since the toasting of the honey box takes some time.  The spam musubi here is really amateur.  Its just a slice of spam on top of some plain rice.  No flavor or toasting at all! 

Finally for the Shibuya style honey box.  It comes with a choice of two scoops of gelato.  I chose strawberry and vanilla.  This was new to me since the one I had at Ichiza only had vanilla ice cream and no fruit topping.  As much as wanted to like this dessert so I didn't have to fly all the way to Vegas to satisfy my craving, it wasn't good at all.  First of all, the bread isn't hot or toasted well.  Most of the outside of the bread is quite soft.  Since the bread isn't that hot, the gelato doesn't really melt into the bread.  Also, there is hardly any honey in the dessert.  It's really lacking that sticky sweetness from the honey drizzle. 

 

Another difference between this and the honey toast in Ichiza is the inside.  At Akiba, they cut up the bread into jenga type pieces and at Ichiza they just cut it into quarters.  I prefer the Ichiza way so the ice cream/gelato melts into the crevices of the bread.  A little disappointed, but I guess this might acutally force me make my own honey box.

Address:                          Akiba
                                                3141 Clement St.
                                                San Francisco, CA

Type:                                  Asian/dessert

Popular chomps:    Shibuya style honey box

Chomp worthy:          nothing    

Nem Nuong Ninh Hoa

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Sometimes it can be so unfair that Northern California lacks really good Asian food.  Especially Vietnamese food.  While I do have my favorite Vietnamese spots in the Bay Area, the variety of dishes are limited in Northern California, especially in Hue cuisine.

One of my favorite Hue dishes is bánh bèo.  Literally translating to mean "water fern cake", these small dishes are steamed rice cakes ( or rice pancakes) topped with shallots, dried shrimp, and a "crouton".  A spoonful of fish sauce is usually added to the rice cake and then scooped out with a spoon and slurped.  Its common to find the bánh bèo already taken out of its dish, but I prefer it served like this.  The bánh bèo is nicely steamed.  The "crouton" and the fish sauce adds a nice salty taste to the chewy rice cake.  This dish is extremely popular here and you can definitely put away a lot of these. 

I love the bun bo hue here.  It's the perfect balance of spicy and sour.  The noodles are chewy and fresh.  The cubes of pork blood and slices of pork are tender. It's possibly one of the best bowls of bun bo hue that I've had.   

A small plate of herbs, lime wedges, and bean sprouts for your bun bo hue.  I usually only add mint leaves to mine.

The signature dish here is nem nuong cuon (grilled pork spring rolls), which is noted in the restaurant name.  One of the best things about the roll-your-own spring roll here is their bánh tráng cuốn (rice paper wrappers).  They are soft, but thick enough that they don't rip.  Just dip in the hot water till pliable and then start filling up it up with your favorite ingredients.

An assortment of veggies and herbs along with beansprouts and cucumbers for adding some crunch and freshness to your rolls.

The bánh hỏi doesn't come with the dat biet (special combination),but its a nice option when making your rolls.  Bánh hỏi are thin vermicelli rice noodles that are interwoven to create thin sheets and then topped with dried shimp and green onions.  You can eat it plain or add it your rolls, which gives it a spongy texture.

The special combination comes with the nem nuong (grilled pork meatball), thin crispy eggrolls with dried shrimp, nem chua (fermented/cured pork), and nem cap (banana leaf wrapped pork).  The nem nuong here is tender and flavorful with a slightly grilled tasted.  My favorite is the crispy eggrolls, which I call "crispies". 

Rolling these things take practice.  This one isn't my doing (it's done by a pro, mine are usually sloppy looking), but it's definitely a work of art!  Check out that technique!  The trick is the inital tuck under.

Everyone is Southern California debates whether Nem Nuong Ninh Hoa is better than Brodard's.  One of the famous arguments involves whose orange sauce is better.  I haven't gotten the chance to eat at Broadard's (yet) so I can't pick a side.  The dipping sauce for the nem neuong cuon is thick and a little sweet.  Some people think the sauce here "magical", but its not Earth shattering to me.  The sweet sauce goes nicely with the fresh veggies and meat in the rolls.   

It's important to get some fresh veggies, some meat, and a crispy roll for a mixture of different tastes and textures in each bite.

Address:                       Nem Nuong Ninh Hoa

                                             9016 Mission Dr.

                                             Rosemead, CA

Type:                               Vietnamese

Popular chomps:  bun bo hue
                                             banh beo
                                             nem nuong

Chomp worthy:    bun bo hue
                                            banh beo
                                            nem nuong

Animal

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Animal has no sign outside their restaurant.  The only indication is a "435" on an all black storefront.  With its creative menu feature offal dishes, Animal has been on my must try list for some time now.  Its best to come with a group of three or four people so you can try more of the dishes. 

The shrimp & rabbit sausage spring roll was really light tasting and refreshing, but nothing special.  The green curry sauce was probably the best thing on the plate.

 Hidden under this runny fried egg are slices of fried pig ears.  Since I've had the pig ears at Delfina a number of times, I was able to compare this dish to it.  The preparation was very similar - slices of fried pig ears flavored with lime and chili.  At Delfina, the lime and chili oil are added to taste versus here, which were already added to the dish.  Lots of lime made this dish a little too tart.  I loved the idea of the runny egg, but it could have been a little more runny, possibly with maybe one more egg.

The last time I had poutine was at The Beast and the Hare (see post HERE).  The oxtail gravy with chunks of tender meat was melt in your mouth delicious.  There were sprinklings of cheddar cheese, but it wasn't melted in, which I found to be odd.  The only gripe about this dish were the fries were super hard!  Probably double fried to insure there was no soggy fries from the poutine gravy, but my teeth actually hurt from eating them.

 I had to get my last bites of foie in before the cutoff date in July so I ordered two of the three foie gras menu items of the night.  A foie gras loco moco was comfort food to the next level.  Rice topped with a beef patty, spam, foie gras, and a fried quail egg sitting in the perfect mixture of soy sauce and sriacha.  Rich and fatty, but delicious.  The only wish I had was that the spam be fried up so the edges are crispy. 

Animal seems to love to add an extra oomph to dishes already known for their richness.  The foie gras, biscuits, and maple sausage gravy is a prime example.  Two bites gives you enough of the full flavor impact of this dish.

The theme of Animal seems to be salty and savory because even the ending dessert seemed to end on a salty note.  A "chocolate crunch bar" with salt and pepper ice cream.  The generous sprinkling of bacon bits gave the dessert its crunchy texture.  Having had a not so pleasant palatte experience with Humphrey Slocomb's Salt and Pepper Ice cream in the past, I was a little hesitant on facing it again with this dessert, but the saltiness of the dessert works well with the ice cream.  Not necessarily a dessert I'll be dreaming about, but the taste is interesting.

     

Address:                       Animal
                                             435 N. Fairfax Ave.
                                             Los Angeles, CA

Type:                               American


Popular chomps:  foie gras loco moco
                                              foie gras terrine
                                              bacon chocolate crunch bar
                                              hamachi tostada
                                              ox tail poutine
                                              tandoori octopus
                                              pig ear
                                              pork belly sliders
                                              bone marrow

 
Chomp worthy:      foie gras loco moco