Thasevi Food "Famous Jalan Kayu Prata Restaurant"

This is probably the best known roti prata place in Singapore (237 Jalan Kayu, 6481-1537), and they are not ashamed to boast about it: "Best Awarded Roti Prata in Singapore" "Established Roti Prata Since 1960" "Roti Prata Available All the Time" "One & Only in Singapore, No Other Branch" (which is ironic, considering its competitor next door says something to the effect of "the best crispy prata, the one and only" - or something like that).

I liked it better than the Thomson Road place (which also likes to claim that they are the best). The egg/cheese prata is about the same, the curry is a bit bland, and the beehoon goreng (is this what "Singapore Noodle" is based on??) were only so-so, but the cheese paper prata (that big roll you see in the photo) is amazingly thin, crunchy and tasty - it almost tastes like a giant Cheez-it. The brownish mutton (kambing) soup is also pretty darned good here - full of a hearty and spicy taste. Awesome.

The service sucks though - don't come here in a hurry because it will take you forever to get through the crowds to your food. I'd like to try the next door neighbors since I'm sure they are faster but taste just as good. After all, all of these guys are the "one and only," right?

Mos Burger

This is a Japanese version of hamburgers, and was quite nasty the first time I had it. So my expectations were quite low today, and fortunately it did turn out a little better than I thought: the hot dog had quite a snappy casing, the curry croquette burger was OK (the Japanese rock at croquettes), and the iced peach tea was ever tarty. But the chili was still a bit localized, and the portions were very small. It's definitely nowhere near Pink's. I'm still gonna try to avoid this place if I can. If you do come here, don't expect American hamburgers by any means. It's more like Japanese food forced into hamburger shapes (as evidenced by the unagi rice burger).

SQ Raffles Class - Nancy Oakes

Nancy Oakes is known for Boulevard in San Francisco, which I've never been to before. If this morning's meal is any indication of the food there, then I'll definitely want to head there next time I'm in the Bay Area. Her exclusive creation today was the "grilled beef mignon and Portobello mushroom" and I must say it was pretty darned good (much better than the previous meal).

The photo here looks a bit nasty with those white spots, but I think those were "foam" from the butter (or was it oil?) that was drizzled all over the meat. Use your imagination though - that oil made it really good and rich. The mushroom further complemented that very well. Mmm...quite tasty. I wish more chichi places would keep things simple like Nancy did here.

Quite nice. I'm gonna try to hit Boulevard next time I'm in SF. I know it's been a top-rated Zagat place for a long time now.

SQ Raffles Class Dinner - Alfred Portale (again)

Looks like Gotham Bar & Grill's Alfred Portale is the featured chef again on Singapore Airlines tonight. First off was "Maine lobster with olives and mesclun served with pesto-sundried tomato dressing," which looked pretty darned impressive with its whole lobster claw. But taste-wise, I wasn't a huge fan, partially because I am not a huge lobster fan, but also because the dressing was very bland.



The main course was a "Pan-fried Muscovy duck breast with jus, wild rice stew with shiitake mushroom, dried cranberry and walnut," which I also wasn't a huge fan of. I love duck, but I could hardly taste the duck in this (it tasted more like chicken). I also hate walnuts. I've realized that chichi food like this is always interesting as the chef is trying to show off at how he can use a variety of unconventional ingredients in a creative manner (and respectfully so), but this more often than not also creates a taste that could be better done with traditional ingredients (like Thomas Keller's "World's Greatest Sandwich" featuring simply bacon, eggs, and cheese - but prepared in a different manner). I haven't been too impressed with Mr. Portale's food on this trip, admittedly. I probably won't go out of my way to hit the Gotham Bar & Grill in NY then, although hopefully the food on the ground there is better than it is here in mid-air.



Finally, this has nothing to do with food, but I found it interesting to see this map on the in-flight display screen since it's not a perspective of the world that one commonly sees. The view out of the window was even more interesting as one could see the cracks and textures in the North Pole ocean ice 35,000 feet below.

The Salt Lick, Austin, TX

I remember my first time to Austin, hearing on the plane that the best BBQ in Austin is at the Salt Lick, and making the long 1 hour drive out into the middle of nowhere (and getting lost, mind you) before finding indeed one of the best BBQ's I'd ever had. Fortunately, we didn't have to make that trek this time, as there is also an outlet conveniently at the airport. I was definitely going to stop here on my way out.

And just as I had remembered it, the Salt Lick was pretty good. I got the brisket and sausage platter, and I definitely like the sauce here better than at Rudy's, which I think uses too much black pepper. Admittedly, the meat quality was a bit better at Rudy's (especially the sausages), but it's not like the Salt Lick was bad either. Actually, the thing that amazed me at the Salt Lick was the cole slaw, which is not the creamy type that I like, but is seasoned with celery seeds, which furnishes a very delicate taste. What surprised me even more was the potato salad, which I originally thought was an apple cobbler of sorts until I tasted it, and it also featured the celery seeds. The beans were a bit boring though (I was hoping for little niblets of pork or bacon in it), but certainly not bad.

This airport outlet had a couple differences from the real location. As mentioned above, the airport outlet offers the regular Salt Lick BBQ sauce, which in and of itself, is pretty good. Strangely though, they didn't offer their alternate habanero-based Lauren's Sauce, which I was quite disappointed in. The saving grace was the fact that they did sell bottles of the spicy sauce as souvenirs, so I just bought a full bottle, opened it on the spot, and poured it on top of the regular sauce, which I'll now bring home with me too (and use on the plane? ha ha). The other interesting difference was that this outlet served beer, whereas the original location was in a dry county, thus forcing everyone to haul in coolers of beer themselves. Finally, I think I remember that the original location is all-you-can eat. This place only gave me a platter for $10.

Anyway, I still think that the Salt Lick beats Rudy's - mainly due to the sauces and the sides. Maybe one could buy the Rudy's meat and pour the Salt Lick's sauce on it (especially since I heard that Rudy's is actually sold at a gas station, kinda like the BBQ place on Old Oakland Road across from San Jose Municipal Golf Course). I really don't like Rudy's sauce.

Dan McKlusky's Steakhouse, Austin, TX

Can't go to Texas without getting some steak, right? I had the sirloin at this place (301 East 6th Street, 512-473-8924), and it was done very well - tasty with good quality meat. The mashed potatoes had a nice garlic taste too. All in all, it was great square meal, with a big fresh salad bowl to start, and a cheesecake to finish. Don't forget the Texan Shiner Bock!

Rudy's BBQ, Austin, TX

Their slogan is "The Worst Bar-B-Q in Texas," and many folks in Austin consider this place to be one of the best. It's not bad (quality meats, nice burnt texture), but I think I still prefer the Salt Lick better due to its sauces. This place is too reliant on black pepper, in my opinion. My memory of the Salt Lick is admittedly a bit faded after 5 years, but I'll get a chance to reverify that when I head out of Austin airport tomorrow (they opened a stand there so that one doesn't have to drive an hour out into the boonies anymore).

Breakfast tacos in Texas

Leave it to Texan companies to serve catered breakfast tacos at a corporate event. I've never really liked "breakfast burritos" before, but these were darned good. Bacon, eggs, shredded cheese, salsa, and jalapeno, and wrapped into one convenient soft carrying case. It doesn't look great in this photo, but it sure was tasty (how could one go wrong with bacon and cheese??). I went back for seconds.

Nolan Ryan's Tender Aged Beef

Awesome. I smelled this stuff on the fire while going to our seats at Dell Diamond (a minor league baseball stadium in Round Rock) and I knew I had to run over there later to grab a bite. And I didn't regret it in the least. I had the sausage on a stick, and it was everything I wanted and more: spicy, greasy (oozing out creating translucency in the paper as a result), and with a decent casing for snappiness. I am still getting cravings for the spicy grease. My only regret now is not having gone back to get the much larger sirloin on a stick. But yeah, this was simply awesome (think: a hot and spicy Slim Jim on steroids). Grab some if you come to Texas. Looks like you can mail order it too.

Taco Shack, Austin, TX

I was still hungry after that smaller-than-expected enchilada, so I made a quick stop at Taco Shack, which has several locations across Austin. It claimed to be "Austin Homegrown since 1996," so I figured this was something unique to take advantage of. I grabbed a cheap chalupa and bean & cheese taco.

I'd hate to keep complaining, but these were a bore to me too (yawn!). Again, nothing stood out. I would have prefered more kick, be it manifested in the form of grease, spices, salsa, ingredients, or anything else. But it was rather mundane. OK, I'll admit that the bean & cheese taco, which they billed as simple yet refreshingly good, did indeed feature a nice clean and fresh taste. And the chalupa, which was more like a tostada, was at what I would consider to be more of "acceptable goodness," for lack of a better phrase. But it didn't wow me either. I'd eat it again, and may even get cravings from time to time, but given the choice, I'd much rather prefer Roberto's in San Diego.

Las Manitas Avenue Cafe, Austin, TX

Looking for something local to eat in Texas, it came down to either BBQ, steak, or Mexican. Knowing that I already have the first two lined up for later in the week, I opted for Mexican. I heard about this "hole in the wall" down the street (211 Congress Ave, 512-472-9357). I opted for the cheese enchiladas de michoacan, which supposedly had a spicy sauce. But it wasn't spicy at all, and was a bit of a disappointment in that the sauce had little carrot slices in it (I hate cooked carrots). Actually, the cheese was still tasty, and I loved the rice and beans. The service was also decently fast (apparently the place used to cater to construction workers who needed to eat in a jiffy). But the food lacked punch...was it the Tex-Mex localization? I felt that I could get better Mexican food in California (I was also suprised at how small the portions were - aren't we in Texas??).

It sure was packed though - even by 11:30, the lunch crowd was piling in. And it looks like this places closes early - like 4PM, so don't make it a dinner place. In fact, it looks like I may have simply ordered the wrong thing; there are accolades hanging from the wall for the migas, apparently a Tex-Mex omlette of sorts from their big breakfast menu (they open at 7 AM). Too bad I won't have time this week to come here for breakfast, although I wish I could. In fact, there were so many food places that looked good in this area (apparently Iron Works is a good BBQ place - and I even passed by what looked like the fanciest Mongolian BBQ place I'd ever seen too). It's a shame that I won't have more time here.

Rio Douro Cafe, Newark Airport

Cool. I've never really had Portuguese food before, so I jumped on this at first sight. I don't think it was too authentic though as I didn't see any of that bacalhau salted cod on the menu, but nonetheless, I ordered the so-called Portuguese Delight, featuring cubes of pork and clams in a garlic, white wine, and coriander sauce with rice.

It wasn't bad, but the potato wedges on the sides didn't exactly evoke much confidence in the authenticity of the place. It was also interesting to see paella on the menu - isn't that supposed to be Spanish, or does Portugal have it too? I wouldn't mind going to Portugal one of these days, although I'll probably pass on all those innards that are usually featured in Portuguese cuisine. Well, in the meantime, here was an American version, at an airport, of all places.

2nd Ave Deli, East Village, NY

The 2nd Ave Deli (at 10th St) is a great place. How can one come to NY and not hit a deli? After perusing a very long menu, I finally settled on a simple hot corned beef sandwich on rye bread, and it was great. The meat was full of flavor, crumbling in texture, and dangling out of my sandwich in a big heaping. This is the way deli sandwiches should be (which is why I was shocked at how thin the sandwiches were at Steeple's Deli in Singapore).



The pickles were of course awesome too: they provided a variety, including the standard kosher dill variety, a much greener-looking half-sour variety, and even pickled green tomatoes. Cole slaw was also provided, although this was in more of a vinaigrette style, rather than the creamy mayonnaise style that I'm accustomed to. Not bad, but I think I like the creamy kind better. Regardless, these accompaniments (plus the deli mustard) all help to cut through the fat taste of the beef.

Anyway, 2nd Ave Deli is a great spot. My neighbors were eating pastrami that looked really good too. Too bad my belly was full from the pizza and hot dog earlier. I'd like to come back here again and order the corned beef and cabbage one of these days.

Gray's Papaya, NYC

This is another NY institution, with several locations. Apparently they started out serving papaya juice, and hence the name. But they eventually got their reputation from the hot dogs, which are a dirt cheap $0.95. I'm told that their dogs are custom made for them, which they grill tons at a time and makes for quite a sight.



I was never a big fan of NY hot dogs though (especially because of that red onion slop), as I prefer Chicago hot dogs instead (although without the relish). Actually, my choice is still reserved for Pink's in LA - as well as the little Mexican street stands that sell bacon-wrapped hot dogs with grilled onions...YUM.

Nonetheless, Gray's today was pretty good - the meat was tasty yet lean, and I didn't get the red onions on it (the sauerkraut was still good). The grilling is also a nice touch. I definitely don't mind eating it again.

Joe's Pizza, Greenwich Village, NYC

This stand-up pizza place (6th Ave and Bleeker) place boasts of rave reviews, ranging from Zagat Survey to Ben Affleck's testimonial about this being the best pizza he's ever had in NYC. It was apparently even the setting for a scene in Tobey Maguire's Spiderman movie. Actually, because of this, I was a bit worried that the place was getting too overhyped. I wasn't too encouraged by the look of the pizza and mushrooms when it was brought out to me either.

But alas, it was indeed pretty darned good. The thin crispy crust is the best part, but the sauce also has a really solid taste with just the right amount of garlic and cheese. Not too greasy either, but still full of flavor.

Is it the best pizza that I've had? That's debatable. But this is pretty darned good, and is quintessential NY pizza, which of course is worlds better than that thick-crusted Chicago stuff - ugh!

SQ Raffles Class dinner - Gordon Ramsay

Not long after that lunch came dinner, this time designed by London's Gordon Ramsay. This was quite nice. We started with several little tasty hors d'oeuvres, such as the "creamed boursin cheese in choux bun," "Chinese-style minced pigeon hoisin mini tart," and "prawn and avocado maki." The boursin cheese was of course my favorite. And how come I keep getting repeats of last night's Sun meal today? (i.e., avocado in sushi?) Strange.



Anyway, next up was the "orzo roasted vegetable salad with marinated lobster." Lobster again? The rice (actually, it's rice-shaped pasta, right?) in this salad was pretty good, and I guess I didn't mind the lobster that much. I'm certainly not complaining about anything.



Then came the main event, which was "sauteed chicken in red wine sauce with confit of lemon slices, fricassee of peas, mushrooms, and potatoes." I normally don't order chicken (cue Anthony Bourdain: "chicken is for people who don't know what they want to eat"), but this was Ramsay's exclusive creation for SQ, so I went ahead with it.

It was tender and moist, and went well with the potatoes. But nothing really stood out...at least, until I paired it with the lemon slices (reminds me of eating lemon chicken tagine in Morocco). The bitter tartness did bring out a different dimension to it. Too bad I didn't realize that until I had nearly finished the meal.

Finally, I finished the meal with a strong and suprisingly crumbly Surprise Bay cheddar, as well as a very light pandan coconut panna cotta custard. Gotta love SQ business class. This 18 hour non-stop flight to NY is certainly none too painful.

SQ Raffles Class lunch - Alfred Portale

Alfred Portale of NY's Gotham Bar & Grill fame designed today's business class lunch on Singapore Airlines, which has its so-called World Goumet Cuisine International Culinary Panel. Aside from this, SQ of course also started with its standard satay, which I've always found to taste pretty darned good and authentic to local street vendors in Singapore. The little onion cuts on a toothpick have always been amusing to me too.



Actually, of the four-course meal, I only ate one item that was actually his, which was the "French duck foie gras and confit with mizuna salad." Just as with yesterday's foie gras sushi at Sun, this foie gras had a great rich taste that stole the show. The confit was a little less fatty than I would have thought, but still OK.



The other items I had, however, were not his, mainly because I had pre-ordered SQ's Book the Cook service, where you can get an even wider selection of dishes, as long as you order 24 hours in advance. So I got the obligatory lobster thermidor. Actually, I don't even like lobster too much (to me, it has always been just one overgrown - and thus, too tough - shrimp), but I got it again just for the sheer novelty factor of being able to eat lobster on an airplane. It was better than I was expecting - solid chunks of lobster tail in a creamy sauce, with tomatoes and saffron rice to boot (my addition of butter and salt helped it).

I'm glad I ordered this, as the other selections just didn't seem too exciting fettucine, Chinese braised duck, Indonesian fish assam surani, or the Portale-exclusive simmered beef rib in rich broth, which my neighbor ordered, and didn't look bad, but wasn't what I wanted...I wonder how it tasted though. Finally, to close it off, I opted for a simple banana. So there was not much of a guest chef presence this time, but stay tuned for the next meal.

SQ SilverKris Lounge, Changi Airport, Singapore

Gotta love SQ Raffles Class, especially with the very spacious SilverKris Lounge, which they explicity separate from the "rest of the Star Alliance Gold" peeps (although that new lounge has gotten really nice too). Today's spread wasn't anything great though. They were serving fishball noodle, which was OK, but definitely not as good as the hawker centers - no ground pork, fried pork lard, etc. Nonetheless, it was a nice bowl to get before boarding the plane.

Japanese Dining Sun, CHIJMES, Singapore

This place opened in Singapore not long ago - it's apparently from the Suntory beverage people (hence the name) who have opened such successful places in Japan (yes, the same Suntory from Bill Murray's "for relaxing times, make it Suntory time" line in Lost in Translation). A bit hard to find given it's on the second floor of CHIJMES (30 Victoria Street #02-01, 6336-3166), but once you get up there, it's an obvious modern-minimalist decor with an open kitchen.



It's basically modern Japanese, as is evident from the softshell crab and avocado roll (with mayo drizzled across), as well as the signature Sun salad, which is tossed at your table with touches like almond flakes and corn. Both were decently good, although not anything particularly outstanding (I've lived in California long enough to get really indundated with avocado in a sushi roll!).



Similarly, the kushi butakuni (breaded deep fried chunks of pork on a skewer) and the ton toro yaki (grilled pork slices) weren't bad, but weren't anything to write home about either.



One thing that did stick out quite a bit was the gyu saikoro steak, which were little chunks of beef grilled with garlic. Not bad - it's like the gariku suteki at Tanto in San Jose (although Tanto uses more butter, which I obviously like more). This little plate is also available in a much more expensive S$75 (US$45) Australian wagyu beef option, although the cheaper S$22 (US$13) Australian sirloin is still really good. The sesame sauce, watercress, and grilled daikon are also nice touches, if a bit tasteless. (Gotta love the croutons sucking up the butter and garlic at the bottom though!)

Another thing that stood out was the aburi foie gras, or seared foie gras sushi with a little bit of sauce and a little asparagus on top (sorry - I was so excited to eat this that I forgot to take a picture). I would come back just for this, although foie gras will always taste nice and rich no matter how it's served though, I guess.

They also had a hamo shabu special, or raw pike for you to cook yourself in a bubbling pot of vinegar-based broth. Actually, the vinegar taste was hardly present. Not bad, although nothing I'll be craving for either.

Last, but not least, came the goma (black sesame) pudding. It was rich in cream flavor but not sweet at all - so much that all you really taste is sesame and cream. Pretty good if you like a pure sesame taste, but don't get it if you want something sweet (which I usually don't want anyway).

The prices at this place vary quite a bit - they actually advertise really cheap dishes downstairs at only about S$15 (US$8) or so. While you probably can get a cheap meal here, it's more likely that you'll opt for the much more extravagant beef, fish, or lobster, which will change your bill dramatically considering many of those are S$50-$75 (US$30-45) a pop, and yet still small in portions. We kept ordering more and more dishes after realizing that we were still hungry, and the bill showed it as a result. Honestly, I'm not much for this modern Japanese stuff - I still prefer more traditional tastes. So I doubt I'll want to come here much often again, although I certainly won't resist if someone twists my arm (especially since they are opening a new spot at Wheelock Place soon). Maybe I'll try the little pots of kamameshi next time - that appeared to be a specialty of the house.

"Kyushu Jyangara Ramen" at Tampopo, Singapore

What a disappointment. I got so excited at the thought that a local Japanese shop at Liang Court was offering "Kyushu Jyangara Ramen," named after what I (and many others) believe to be one of the greatest ramen shops ever (just look at the long lines outside each shop in Tokyo). So I headed down to this spot, expecting the usual thick, salty, greasy, and wonderfully fatty concotion known simply as Jyangara.

Oh man, did this thing suck. One could tell right away that it was a cheap knock-off: no thick broth, no alternating fat-pork slices, no big chunks of ingredients levitating out of the ramen. Horrible! The only thing that made this thing remotely similar to the Real McCoy was the scoop of spicy mentaiko fish eggs. It had the pork-bone-stewed-til-its-milky-white tonkotsu broth, but it was so runny that it was nowhere near the excessively salty and fatty concoction that you get at the real Jyangara in Tokyo. Argh! At the end of the day, the most that they can stake claim to is that it *is* Kyushu ramen (with the mentaiko and tonkotsu), but that's about it. How dare they drag Jyangara's name in it and try to pass it off as Jyangara's! I wonder if Jyangara even knows about this. Wow. I'm probably not ordering this from here again.

To be fair, it was actually still good in its own right, and certainly wasn't bad. But it just wasn't Jyangara. They never should have set that expectation to begin with (the shoddy service today didn't exactly make me happier either). Actually, some of their other ramen is OK (they specialize in Sapporo ramen instead), and I would indeed come back. Just not for this rubbish they call "Kyushu Jyangara"!

It's a bit funny that this shop is called Tampopo too. I guess they have no qualms with stealing other names.

Kueh Tu-tu

This is a cool little local sweet that can be bought off the streets of Chinatown. The guy in the stand is wrapping gula melaka (coconut brown sugar) in flour and steaming it quickly in this metal steaming contraption, with banana leaf cutouts to keep them from sticking to each other. It's pretty good if you like coconut. Get five for S$2 (US$1.20) yourself off Smith Street, not far from Erich's Wuerstelstand.

Xiao Ping Steam Pot Buffet, Temple Street

Wow - this is the third Sichuan Hot Pot place within a one block radius in Chinatown (57 Temple Street, Singapore, 6226-0889). It looked very spartan at first glance, especially with the "whispering" proprietor. But this place turned out to be the best - or at least, most consistent - of the three. The ingredients were relatively good: big frozen tofu pieces, full slices of meat, little dumplings, etc. They didn't have sa cha sauce (the mainland Chinese owner even said, "no, we don't have that Taiwanese stuff"), but his own little mixture was pretty good. He took a lot of pride in his special sausages (an extra charge, by the way) that he said that one couldn't get in Singapore - though they just tasted like hot dogs (still good though). The broth wasn't super spicy (we had to have him add more chili peppers), but it was tasty (and with a subtle numbing affect), and the light broth fortunately didn't have any ginseng in it.

Actually, nothing really stood out here, but that's a good thing. The other two places stood out, but for mixed reasons (for instance, Chuan Jiang Hao Zi had great homemade noodles but nasty ginseng soup and tiny meat slices, while Chong Qing Di Yi Jia Lao had a huge spread and good broth, but wasn't the best maintained). So I'd definitely choose to come here again rather than the other two - it's a consistent experience, even if it's not spectacular (it's still decently good).

The Roti Prata House, Upper Thomson Road

Roti prata is an interesting Singaporean modification of two Indian flatbreads, roti and parahta, intended for dipping in leftover curry. That may sound nasty, but it's actually a great little grease bomb perfect for post-drinking episodes. Roti prata goes beyond just the bread and into cool things like cheese prata, which, if done correctly, can get to a crispy greasy pizza-like taste embedded in the bread (sans tomato sauce of source).

This eponymously named place (246 M Upper Thomson Road, Singapore, 6459-5260) has endorsements plastered all over it: "Recommended by The New Paper," "The Best Crispy Prata," etc, but I was a bit let down. It wasn't all that crispy, and the cheese prata lacked cheese taste. The teh halia pulled ginger tea sucked too - it was weak in taste and had cooled off too much. Well, the prata wasn't bad, but it wasn't great - I still prefer the (admittedly-overhyped) Jalan Kayu establishments instead.

The one thing that did stand out for me was the mutton soup, which has an unattractive green-grey color, but tastes amazing with a spicy and robust taste and yet a very thin consistency. If I come back here (which is likely considering that it's 24 hours), then it will be primarily for the mutton soup. The roti prata will only be an afterthought.

High Street Tai Wah Pork Noodle, Singapore

This place is awesome. I've gotten a bit tired of some types of hawker food, but one of the few things that I will still eat is bak chor mee, or minced pork noodle. To be even more specific, I will only eat Tai Wah's bak chor mee, since all other vendors taste too boring. Tai Wah's ingredients (fried pork lard niblets, ground pork plus pork slices, tasty meatballs, vinegar, and dried salted fish) make this place a standout.

You get all sorts of different tastes and textures in one amazing bowl: greasy, spicy, sour, hearty, and even a nice clean broth to wash it all down. (Those of you from San Jose will note that this beats the pants of Tung Kee Noodle, which in and of itself is already pretty darned good.) I usually get the dry mee pok (it's flat like linguini) version, and I order the not-obvious S$6 (US$3.50) size, which effectively means "extra large." But beware that they will include sliced liver (yuck!) if you don't speak up, so be sure to tell them ahead of time if you have an aversion to pork liver like I do. Other sizes, noodle, and soup options are available at your choosing.



As a testament to how good this place is, the Marina location usually has a line even at odd non-eating hours like 3PM. (I guess the original location was at High Street, and hence the name?) I come to the Bestway location instead at about 2PM to beat the crowds. It looks like they opened another location in Chinatown now.

Chuan Jiang Hao Zi Steamboat Restaurant

On Smith Street, across from Hometown Restaurant, lies this Sichuan hotpot (not Singaporean steamboat) establishment. More upscale than another hotpot competitor down the street, this place serves you dishes (rather than you walking up to the fridge) in much nicer decor, although they still only charge S$20 (US$13) for all you can eat. The food quality is slightly better too, with good tasting beef slices and a cleaner, more elegant spicy broth.

So why don't I think I will return? For one thing, the beef slices are so small (not much bigger than blinis) that it's too easy to lose all your slices in the broth. You can imagine how frustrating this gets when you are hungry. The clear broth in the middle also features a ginseng flavor, which I absolutely despise (it tastes like dirt to me, literally). Finally, their condiments are too basic (mainland style), without my favorite Taiwanese sa cha sauce.

But not all is lost. Their homemade noodles are pretty good, especially in the spicy broth. The quality of the ingredients and spicy broth are better than the lady down the street. And I sure don't mind the fresh fruit juices that - amusingly - they get from their next door neighbor. This place is good to try for these reasons alone. And if I'm ever forced to come back, I'll be sure to stay away from the ginseng broth.

Philly's Flavors, Millenia Walk, Singapore

This place has decently good Philly cheesesteaks, considering it's in Singapore. It's got smaller portions than in the US though.

I usually opt for the grilled mushroom option, plus cheese fries. But be sure to ask for the "sauce" on the side - I'm not sure why they would put marinara sauce on it to begin with, but anyway...

Indonesian ("bundut"?) oxtail soup

Wow, I just keep get proven wrong about Indonesian food. Today for lunch, I had another tasty (and non-sweet) meal. Billed on the menu of the Taming Sari restaurant (at the Turi Resort) as "often imitated but never replicated," this oxtail soup was savory and light. A very refreshing and satisfying light broth with tender to the bone oxtail meat and some kind of fried crackers on top. Add some lime again for taste, and eat with rice and little pickles. It was surprisingly good.

I've also got a newfound appreciation for the chili sauce in Indonesia. It's not always the sweet sauce that I hate. They also have plain chili with no sugar at all. Maybe there is just a little lime juice, but that's it. There isn't even any garlic in it, which one would imagine to be a requisite ingredient in chili sauce, but its absence actually produces a clean and fresh taste too. I wouldn't mind this from time to time, and for that matter, I won't be as opposed to eating Indonesian food from now on. At least, for the clear light soups.

Ruman Makan, Batam, Indonesia

WOW. After all this whining about how I much I don't like food in Indonesia, I was completely blown away tonight. This was impressively good food. I guess it was more Chinese than Indonesian, but you can't quite get this in China.

At first glance, it seemed like a seafood place typical of the region: on a pier jetting out into the sea, fluorescent lighting overhead, stray cats at your feet, tanks of fresh fish, and little sinks for hand washing that empty straight into the seawater below. But every dish that arrived continued to impress. The fried rice and ho fun were very tasty (pork lard? - no, this is a Muslim country), as were the standard issue veggies and even the sotong (pseudo fried calamari) featured a nice salt and pepper combination in the batter. Even the pineapple at the end of the meal was amazingly sweet (ripe to the point of translucency).

One pleasant treat was the gong gong, which looked like little conch shells (and I always thought a conch was a huge shell that one blew into, like in Lord of the Flies). Use a toothpick to reach into the shell and pull all the meat out of the shell in one go. It sounds a bit nasty, but just dip it into a little local fermented sambal belachan chili sauce, and it makes for a pretty impressively good morsel.

The highlight of the meal though was definitely the very humbly and straightforwardly named "BBQ Fish." Ingeniously simple, it features a fish in between two banana leaves, grilled on a fire. The leaves keep the fish moist and provide an outstanding smoky flame broiled taste that pervades the fish. There are no marinades or sauces here; just the "fish on a flame" taste. I'm surprised that I haven't seen this way of preparation before. I couldn't stop eating this stuff.

If there were anything to complain about, it would be that the chili crab was a bit too sweet, and the pepper crab was prepared with way too much garlic. At one point, I even found that I was ingesting more garlic than crab. Although this place uses smaller local crabs with a thinner shell and sweeter meat than Singapore's big Sri Lankan crabs, the garlic unfortunately overpowers that great natural taste. Then again, I guess anything with garlic will still taste good. (Someone once mentioned to me that "if you put enough butter and garlic on something, even snails will taste good.")

To cinch this amazing meal, we turned out to pay only US$9 a head. Wow. Do come here if you head to Batam. It's located in Batu Besar, and the phone number is (0778)761180.

Bintang beer from Indonesia

The label says "best enjoyed with friends."

Nasty shit. 'nuff said.

Indonesian satay

This is interesting. Satay in Indonesia is a bit different than in Singapore and Malaysia. Instead of the peanut sauce and onions on the side, they douse it all on top, with chili and oil too. It was actually decently tasty, but my gripe is that it was more so because of the condiments rather than a good job of roasting little skewered meats on a fire.

Donat Kentang (Indonesian donuts)

For some reason, donuts are one piece of American gluttony that has been picked up in Southeast Asia, and they will usually fry them in front of you with only some powdered sugar to taste. I've had some in Malaysia that were pretty good. This lady was frying some up at a Hypermart (like Wal-Mart) and I had to get a taste.

It sucked. Not only did the grease have no taste (I guess they can't really use pork lard in a Muslim country like Indonesia), but the sugar had a strange aftertaste, as if it were saccharin. I'll stick to Krispy Kreme instead, thank you. Although, at only 1500 Rupiah (US$0.15), it's not exactly a huge loss either.



On a side note, this sign was kinda funny to me. It looks like it's for a cup of corn or something. I hope it's not pronounced the way it looks.

Soto Ayam, Batam, Indonesia

I don't really like Indonesian food as it's usually too sweet (and without pork). But one of the few things I will eat is soto ayam, a shredded chicken and rice noodle soup that can be pretty commonly eaten off the street. I had a pretty good one in Jakarta once, so much that the lady didn't understand when I tried to explain that I wanted another one (she didn't speak English).

Anyway, here on a neighboring island of Singapore for the weekend, I got a bowl, with rice, as apparently it is a typical but optional accompaniment (plus the portions here are really small). It was a bit boring until I remembered five minutes later that one of the magical condiments off the street was a big bucket of lime wedges. But even after squeezing in a couple slices, this indoor food court vendor still paled in comparison to the street.

I'm still not a big fan of Indonesian food. I have good memories of a pretty good rijsttafel in Amsterdam (little sampling plates of spicy Indonesian food kept warm for their Dutch colonists on heated racks), as well as a relieving soto ayam after cold hard rains (and after getting really tired of one week of non-stop pickled herring in Finland), but otherwise, I'll probably give Indonesian food a pass when given a choice.

Wings and Pizza at Ice Cold Beer, Singapore

This place is a post-work drinking hangout with - as you guessed, Ice Cold Beer (pretty cheap too - for Singapore, anyway). But believe it or not: the bar food stands out here, and is rather unique. The chicken wings are prepared with some sort of mild shrimp paste and Chinese wine in the batter, which produces a really nice taste when deep fried in grease. We'll come here and clear dozens of wings on their own.

The other star of this pub is the "No. 5 Pizza" (from its next door partner at 5 Emerald Hill). Probably one of the thinnest and crispiest crusts you'll ever have (it's like a thin cracker), it features pepperoni and jalapeno. Yum.

If you come to Ice Cold, get a dozen wings, a No. 5 pizza, and happy hour suds. It's a great thing to hit your belly after a long week at work. (But stay away from that San Mig Light - nasty!)

Ajisen Ramen: Redeemed!

Wow this was a pleasant surprise. This place was always a disappointment in the past, but I recently saw an advertisement that I couldn't resist: the addition of "ton toro ramen" to the menu, with thinly sliced pieces of pork floating on top. Given my poor experiences with this place's food before, I had a bad feeling that I was setting myself up for a disaster.

Boy, was I proven wrong. Even before taking a taste, it looked from the appearance that it was going to be good. The pork was so thinly sliced and grilled that it was crispy and savory, almost like bacon or carnitas with all the great taste of crispy pork fat. Yum. The bonus is that it sits in a pork bone-based milky white tonkotsu broth, which is my favorite kind.

The noodles were admittedly still a bit boring though (despite their claim of the two layer noodle), and the gyoza sucked as usual too: too much stuffing and too limp. And service was even worse as they didn't even realize that they forgot my mochi ice cream dessert until I pointed it out to them (and it's not the first time either).

Actually, now that I look at it, I guess nothing has really improved about this place, except for the new ton toro. How the heck did this place get to be supposedly one of the most popular ramen chains in Japan? Who knows, but I'm sure it's not because of the nasty volcano ramen. Maybe it's the ton toro. Fortunately it looks like they serve it on the side too, in case you don't like the noodles.

So what's my advice? Come here only for the ton toro, and don't veer off onto nasty crap like the volcano ramen. And do try to avoid the Bugis branch as the service here is horrible (either that, or come here and get grilled ton toro on the side and bring it over to neighboring Tinun for some tom yum ramen!).

Hiyashi Ramen, Noodle Shop Ken

This is cold hiyashi ramen, the way it should be, with finely prepared and well arranged egg, cucumber, and pork slices, plus the ever critical sesame sauce and mustard for extra punch. Don't go to neighboring Ohsho for this; come to Noodle Shop Ken.

Na Na Homemade Curry, Amara Hotel

This is a very unique curry - not quite Indian, not quite Japanese, and definitely not quite English. I guess it's Chinese curry, if there were such a thing. It may not look like much, but it's rich in taste and yet thin in texture (rather than a thick heavy goo). It's spicy too, without any nasty tinges of sweetness. Most importantly, they provide lots of bread and rice for you to dunk into. It's pretty darned good and filling - I like the stewed potatoes in the curry too.

Tinun, Parco Bugis Junction, Singapore

This is another great example of great Japanese localization. This chain, billed as "Tokyo Tom Yam," is basically Thai food from Japan...or at least, bowls of ramen, but with tom yam soup instead. I really like it - they do a good job of keeping the punch of Thai spices, while putting it in a nice bowl of ramen.

Actually, the original store in Singapore was back at Plaza Singapura. But that one has closed down, and that one was a better in that they had a lot more menu items, including not only several kinds of Japanese alcohol, but more importantly, a great chicken rice with a yummy spicy Thai sauce that kicked the pants off of Singapore Chicken Rice. The staff tells me that it's the same owner as before, but I'm not so sure that's true as the menu is obviously different, the portions seem smaller, and even the name now has a peculiar "The Noodle Gallery" byline tagged to it. Don't get me wrong - the new one is still good (get the Tom Yum Ramen), but it's too bad that I can't get the old chicken rice anymore.

Soup Restaurant, Paragon, Singapore

The strange and miselading name is probably the result of some Chinese translation, as this is a Chinese restaurant, not a soup kitchen. But the signature dish, the samsui chicken, is pretty darned good. It's hard to tell from the picture, but the meat (boneless, thank God!) is juicy and tender. Take a piece of chicken, some cucumber slices, a bit of the ginger sauce, and wrap it all in a lettuce leaf, making a light and healthy meal, even though there is quite a bit of oil dripping from the ginger sauce.



We ordered the set meal, so it also came with their soup of the day, which was a pork and winter melon soup - good if you like the melon flesh stewed so long that it softens to a pulp like I do. The fish was prepared with only a light soy sauce and scallions to complement; something I enjoyed too. The veggies can be stir fried with sambal sauce, but I've become increasingly turned off by this fermented-shrimp concoction, so the odor of this today was a bit appalling to me.

I'm not a big fan of those boiled peanuts either. I think it's nasty all soft and moist like that - I still prefer the roasted variety. The dessert, a white fungus and ginko nut thing in a light sugary water, was rather tasteless, but apparently that's the way it's supposed to taste. It's not something that I'll get cravings for. But all in all, the samsui chicken was worth coming back for. Again, it was only a light tasting meal...just what was needed today.

1827, The Arts House, Singapore

Billed as Thai food at the old Parliament building, the food was actually pretty tasty: starting with the home-cured salmon with spicy pomelo salad with lemon and coriander, we then moved on to the chicken coconut cream soup with galangal. The main courses were the 1827 signature grilled chicken with herbs, tomato, and cucumber served with Jasmine steamed rice, as well as the roasted rack of lamb with shallot and holly basil and tamarind sauce. This was finally closed off with the pandan tiramisu with sesame seed biscuit and banana-cinnamon fritter with ice cream and gula melaka. The chicken in particular was surprisingly tender and tasty, and the banana fritter and ice cream was rich but with only a light sweet taste. In fact, almost everything was pretty good - it was more of a Thai fusion than anything, but still good. Food-wise, my only gripe was that the salmon was of pretty low quality, considering the poor texture and taste of it. Maybe they were trying to save a few bucks.

Beyond this though, Oh God were the portions small and the service slower than a snail's pace. The service was so slow that I worry that the only reason I thought the food was good was because I was SO DARNED HUNGRY!

We came for a private event, but I'm not coming back for a normal night until someone tells me that the service and portions have improved. Now I have to find somewhere else to eat in order to get full.

Hachi-Manya at the Carlton Hotel, Singapore

This place started out on the right foot, with some yummy fried river shrimp (smaller than normal shrimp...more bite-size...just a couple inches long) with salt and lemon, with a potato chip-like taste (grease and salt). Eat it all - heads, shell, and antennae, but be careful not to choke on any of the limbs. This reminds me of those great little live sawagani crabs fried in salt and oil at Tanto, a great izakaya back in San Jose that was better than many izakaya in Japan. Actually, they also had a great potato mentaiko at Tanto, and similarly, Hachi-Manya had a great one too, with a hearty burnt cheese taste and hardly any fishiness from the mentaiko.



The udon here was supposed to be a special handmade sanuki udon, but I couldn't tell the difference. It wasn't bad (I liked the hot niku udon's savory beef slices as well as the cold wakame seaweed infused noodles), but it was not mind-blowing either (maybe my expectations were too high?). The same goes with the ochazuke I got at the end. If I come back, it will be for the other dishes, not necessarily the udon. The udon wasn't bad by any means (it was actually pretty good), but I just think that my expectations got out of hand.

Ohsho, Cuppage Plaza, Singapore

I still think it's amazing that the Japanese can take all these foreign dishes - Chinese, in this case - and make a completely better version of it (curry being another great example). I remember once being taken to a Chinese place in Tokyo by a Japanese friend, sighing that I didn't go all the way to Japan just to get Chinese food, but having gone home sincerely impressed. It wasn't Chinese food for sure, but rather Japanese food with a Chinese influence that stood very well in its own right.

Wow. While other cultures' localization efforts completely ruin food (think: Taiwan), the Japanese excel at it. (Mos Burger is the only exception of one thing that was clobbered horrendously.) Chahan seriously has to be the best fried rice I've ever had. I don't know what it is that makes the difference, but I suspect that pork lard has a lot to do with it.

This place, conveniently open late, is a chain of ramen shops from Japan. It's got great chahan and gyoza (probably the best in Singapore), but the ramen's broth lacks punch. Today I opted for a cold hiyashi ramen in the hopes of avoiding that, and it was the most crudely prepared hiyashi ramen that I've ever had - pretty disappointing (thick slices, lack of mustard, etc.). If you want ramen, stay away from this place and go to Noodle Shop Ken in the next building. But ironically, that place isn't that great at chahan and gyoza, so come here to Ohsho instead if that's what you want. I suppose you could have the best of both worlds by walking from one place to the next.

A Hereford Beefstouw

Wow - this was thoroughly impressive and a definite surprise. I'd seen this place at HK airport many times and was always intrigued, but never actually went there. Today, I finally did, and I was blown away by it.

It appears to be a Danish steak restaurant, with most locations in Denmark, with the one strange exception in Hong Kong. I had the chopped sirloin steak ("best quality chopped beef, grilled to a crisp and juicy steak"), which was basically hamburger steak, and it was juicy and nicely grilled. The taste was a bit leaner than other hamburger steaks that I've had (like the grease bombs at the Pantry in downtown LA, or Original Joe's in San Jose), but they had some Bernaise butter melting on top to help. They offered mustard to complement the meat (must be a Scandinavian thing?), although I ended up using their table salt, which - this will sound weird - was the most amazing salt I've ever tasted. Of course, salt is just salt, but this salt was flaked to the point that it was "crispy," which created a taste and texture that I was not expecting and completely blown away. Wow.

Add to that a nice baked potato with meticulously prepared chive and bacon toppings...and even the bread was very airy and light (but I do miss sourdough after leaving San Francisco). Don't forget the cool decor with napkins hanging by the legs of the table. And yes, that is a Shirley Temple in the picture - I got nostalgic.

I would go to HK airport just for this place alone. Wow was I suprised. I'm disappointed that I hadn't discovered this place earlier. For those travellers in a rush, they want you to "enjoy any 200 gr of steak within 20 minutes. The time for your meal is guaranteed." I'm definitely coming back - screw the meal on the airplane!

Mak's Noodle (again), HK

I love this place. Wow. Back in just two days, I got a craving for these noodles. This time, I started with the dry version, where the soup is separate, and the noodles have little red shrimp eggs sprinkled on top (it almost looks like really big grains of paprika or chili powder or something). The shrimp eggs add a really nice taste and texture.

But I was still hungry, so I also ordered the obligatory wanton mee. At that point, I realized that the noodles taste better in the soup (more fat flavor). But it was still good in a dry version.

Actually, I was so hungry that I ended up ordering four plates in the end. Apparently the restaurant's name has a playful pun in it regarding the small portions: one of the Chinese words can also be read to say "not large." They say that they keep the bowls small so that the noodles don't overexpand with all the soup, but I dunno if that's really the truth since there is still soup in the small bowls. Either way, I know my routine now - get both the dry and soup versions in one go for a full meal. Yum.

Nang Kee Restaurant, New Territories, HK

We travelled the distance for this place - all for roasted goose, a necessary food item in Hong Kong. This place, way out in the boonies, is supposed to be one of the best places in Hong Kong to get goose (in fact, the entire area is surrounded by goose restaurants). We started with some salted prawns, which tasted amazingly like potato chips due to the crispy greasy salty nature of the shells (combined with a few shreds of fresh chili peppers.) A great way to start the meal.



Next came the signature goose, which lived up to its name. Full of tasty fat underneath the skin, the goose went down very smoothly (although with a bit of guilt at eating all that dripping fat of course). We got in a discussion about the difference between ducks and geese (apparently geese have that knob on their bill, and have a juicier meat). I prefer duck instead, which is not completely dribbling in fat, and has a nice crispy skin. But the goose was still undoubtedly good. (At least the grease isn't as bad as that pork lard rice I was taken to in Kowloon City, where one scoops a dallop of coagulated pork lard on steaming hot rice to melt it, with soy sauce to taste.)



Finally, we went around the corner and down the street to Lucky Dessert, a place that apparently is quite famous in HK for its desserts and has long lines forming at its newer location in Causeway Bay. We avoided the signature durian pancakes (I don't dislike durian, but I won't proactively go eat it either), and opted instead of the similarly-well-known mango grapefruit dessert, which tasted just like it sounded. A separate coconut shaving and glutinous rice-wrapped mango was also quite good. Although I don't think I can eat Hong Kong food and fatty goose all the time, this is a good place to come to for a quintessential taste of HK.

Breakfast off the streets of HK

Here is dim sum off the streets of HK. I had chong fun (made from rice) and shu mai, all for only HK$11 (US$1.40). The shu mai was tasty, but the chong fun was disappointingly bland, even with the sauce all over it. Maybe tomorrow I'll ask for whatever is in those brown slops of goop in the other bins.

This was just some random place outside of the Wan Chai MTR station (O'Brien at Johnston). I think I remember these types of street guys all over Wan Chai.

Beef Ho Fun, Hong Kong

One of my favorite Cantonese dishes is Dry Sauteed Beef Ho Fun, a tasty greasy concoction of stir fried thick rice noodles, bean sprouts, and tender beef. It's fairly common (both in the US and in HK), but I made the effort to go to this particular place as it was particulary good (read: greasy). It was recommended to me by a cab driver one late night in HK (tip: always ask taxi drivers in a foreign city where they go for the best food - they will always know the late night kick-ass dives at the dirt cheap prices). I honestly don't know the name of the place since it's in Chinese, but it's in Wan Chai (188 Johnston Road, between Wan Chai Road and Hennessy Road), and it's open until 3AM, I think, so it's perfect for a post-drinking grease bomb.

One of the other keys to making this work is the Cantonese chili sauce, which is actually composed of just dried chili pepper flakes in a red oil rather than a "sauce." This is one of my favorites, and it seems to be common around Hong Kong, but I have not been able find it very frequently outside of HK (or Cantonese places in California).

I'm also a bit amused by the "lemon tea" that is commonly served in HK, which is a very strongly brewed Lipton tea combined with four slices of lemon. The lemon fragrance is so overdominating that the rind makes the tea very bitter (you're supposed to add sugar, but I don't), but I still kinda like it as it goes well with the noodles.

Again, you can get this Beef Ho Fun practically anywhere in HK for probably just the same quality, if not better (in fact, there is a place in Tsim Sha Tsui that I also like going to when I stay on the Kowloon side), but this place is really good too, so I like coming here when I can. Get a guilty greasy serving yourself for HK$35 (US$4.50).

Mak's Noodle, Hong Kong

This place on Wellington Street in HK literally has the best noodles I've had anywhere, Italian or Asian. These egg noodles in the wanton mee are so simple, yet so incredible. The noodles could stand on their own without the soup, wantons, chives, etc (that's how good they are), but as an added bonus, you also get a great tasting soup, fresh shrimp wantons (none of that minced meat crap - we're talking about one whole shrimp and nothing else wrapped in a wanton skin) and some chives for extra flavor. It's heaven in a little bowl - amazing. And for only HK$25 (US$3.20). Granted, you'll never get full off of such a tiny little bowl, but it makes a great little snack.

This place was apparently named in Time Magazine's 1997 HK handover issue as one of the top three "hole in the walls" in HK. And it is so incredible that I make sure that this is always the first place I go to in HK, like I did when I got off the plane today. Just be sure to get there early 'cuz they close at 8PM (and it was abnormally empty inside today - maybe because it's in the middle of the financial district when no one was working on a Sunday?).

UAL Biz Class lunch

Today's UAL Biz Class meal slipped a bit from the start: "shrimp and parma ham with cocktail sauce and fresh lemon." The shrimp had literally dried out to the point where it had started peeling. This didn't affect the ham much, but it still didn't taste right.



Moving to the main course, the "crispy pan-fried halibut with sweet chili sauce, sugar snap peas with carrots and steamed rice" was a bit misleading. The "crispy" halibut was crispy as a result of deep frying bread crumbs, and the sweet chili sauce was more like a tomato sauce (certainly not spicy) - in an ugly tin foil container, no less. Still, it was actually pretty good - the fish was decently fresh (impressive considering it is airplane food!), and the rice was OK with a little bit of self-added butter (thank the bread plate) and salt. The peas were a bit tough, but the wine, Bouchard Macon Lugny Saint Pierre 2003 Maconnais, still went well with the meal. Finally, Eli's Creme Caramel cheesecake for dessert was a nice rich treat to close it off.

Buffalo Wings at Lori's Diner, SFO

What a total disappointment. I was at SFO's International Terminal yesterday and happened to smell some buffalo wing sauce emanating from the back of the Discovery Store (some employee apparently was eating his lunch). So I had to find out which place was selling them nearby. I found Lori's Diner, which has spots all over SF, and got the buffalo wings - with a bit of hesitation, I might add, as my gut was telling me otherwise.

I should have trusted my gut. This has to be one of the worst sets of buffalo wings that I've ever had. Tiny soggy wings with too much meat and not enough skin - and the sauce wasn't even mixed in (it probably wouldn't work too well if it were soggy). In fact, the sauce was freezing cold - clearly a result of sitting in the refrigerator next to the Best Foods Blue Cheese dressing packets. Ugh!

Why is it so darned hard to find good buffalo wings?? I don't think most places understand that it's the greasy fried skin (and sauce) that makes it what it is. Buffalo Wings are *not* a meal, so we don't want to actually eat the meat - just the skin! Seriously, 9 times out of 10, an order of buffalo wings turns out to be a total dud. Maybe I should go to Buffalo, NY one of these days.



On a separate note, I thought it was rather amusing that Fung Lum had a booth located next to it. Those of you who grew up in the South Bay will instantly hear the voice in the back of your head, "Fung Lum...on Baaaascom Avenue. What was that? Baaaaascom Avenue." Ha ha.

Next stop: from mid-air, on the way to Hong Kong. Wonton mee...mmmm...

The Fish Market, Palo Alto, CA

This place rocks. I think this is one of the places (aside from Crab Cooker in Newport Beach) that got me hooked on American seafood. The menu here is so exhaustive that I want to order everything on it, but lately I've been settling on the skewered shrimp and bacon (mmm - what a great combination). Add to this potatoes au gratin, cole slaw, New England clam chowder, fresh lemonade, and sourdough bread and butter. Wow. I'm salivating already just writing this. Too bad they weren't stocking artichoke today though (one thing I definitely can't get in Singapore).

This place has expanded beyond the original Palo Alto location and has become what could admittedly be called a chain restaurant (and I know people that hate this place). But this place has always had a soft spot in my heart.

Niman Ranch burgers

My first experience with Niman Ranch meats was at a burger shop in the alleyway of SF's Financial District (I can't remember the name of the place anymore - this was about 5 years ago), and I recently found a shop at SFO's International Terminal, Burger Joint (just outside immigration, so you don't need a boarding pass to get in), that also carries Niman. (Actually, I think I recall that the MacArthur Park restaurants also carried them.)

Niman is a local SF Bay Area-based ranch that refuses to use hormones or antibiotics on their cows. The result is a very lean yet still very tasty burger. The leanness can potentially create a slightly dry patty (not as much fat or grease to ooze from it), but it's still tasty when grilled on a flame, and is certainly very healthy.

This is the real definition of a burger: start with top quality meat, and add fresh slices of tomato, onion, lettuce, and lots of mayo, mustard, and of course, thick fries. If you're headed out of the country via SFO, stop by the Burger Joint in the south end of the International Terminal.

Pho Bac So 1, San Jose

This is a pho shop that we'd never been to before, but we stopped here out of pure convenience as it was near the San Jose airport. And it turned out to be pretty good: a thin broth but still tasty with lots of fresh ingredients. The soda chanh was also fresh. The only disappointment was the lack of Vietnamese sandwiches, which was very surprising considering it has a bakery called "Chez Croissant" occupying part of the place, as if it were part of the French influence supplying pate and baguette.

Anyway, this place is pretty good. I'll try to keep it in mind next time I'm near San Jose airport. And they are open early for breakfast.