Tavola Aperta at Plaza Singapura in Singapore

This place is kinda interesting in that it's a large and rather upscale-looking venue in a crowded mall where rent can't be cheap (68 Orchard Road #01-60), and yet they are able to keep pasta prices below S$20 (US$16). It's run by someone who spent time working for a famous pasta chef in Los Angeles, and I liked what I had above, especially with its surprisingly potent black pepper. It was better than than a lot of the other low-cost pasta places around.

Anchor Oyster Bar in San Francisco, California

You know that you're going to like a place when you want to order nearly everything on the menu (579 Castro Street, 415-431-3990). I ultimately settled for that local petrale sole above, along with an order of steamed clams. And I ended up, well, happy as a clam.

The fish was deliciously done in a lemon beurre blanc and featured not just capers, but also rice with crispy bits on the side. I wiped that plate clean with a couple orders of sourdough bread and was happy with some steamed clams as well as local wine. They had artichoke on the list of specials today but sold out just before I put in my order.

It turns out that this place is actually a Michelin Bib Gourmand, and is known for its cioppino. But to me it was just one of those local seafood places that I've always had a soft spot for. It's a bit like Swan Oyster Depot but taken up a notch in terms of preparation.

Outta Sight Pizza in San Francisco, California

This place consistently came up on the number of lists about being one of the best pizza places in town (422 Larkin Street, 415-829-3108). It's a New York-style place where they sell by the slice. The crust was super thin but still had a lot of texture and moisture. And they used quality ingredients on top, particularly for a number of rather creative-looking specials. I wanted to try more, but didn't have the time nor stomach space for it.

Pinecrest Diner in San Francisco, California

I'll admit that I didn't really need this meal. But I needed to go out, and this old school place on the corner looked like it had some character (405 Geary Street, 415-885-6407).

The menu featured your classic greasy spoon items, including a patty melt that looked rather promising. But I grabbed the lightest thing available, which was this plate with these thick strips of bacon. The hashbrowns weren't as crispy as I thought they would be, and it needed salt too.

I ultimately cleared the whole plate and some slices of rye bread thanks to a good dose of Tabasco sauce. It was fun just to sit at the counter and watch the activity in the kitchen.

Otra in San Francisco's Lower Haight

This is apparently quite a popular place in the lower Haight, so I popped in for a quick bite (682 Haight Street, 415-500-2774). The ingredients were all good, including the quality of the beef and tortillas above, both of which were very delicate. But the seasoning was so delicate that it needed more salt (I ended up licking my margarita rim). Oddly, they couldn't do micheladas, and the tacos took forever to come out of the kitchen.

Tropisueno in San Francisco, California

As much as I wanted to hop down to the Mission District for a burrito tonight, I was dead tired and just went for a place nearby, even if it was in the commercialized area near the convention center (75 Yerba Buena Lane, 415-985-2264). I got this pozole, which oddly came with huge chunks of pork inside while lacking limes, cilantro, and onions for garnish. But at least the pork was tender and there was a citrusy slaw that was kinda nice, along with a sesame chili oil. In retrospect, there were a lot of other things that I could have ordered instead.

Douglass Saloon in Columbia, California

Haven't done a $100 burger trip in a while. This time, we headed up to a small town in the Sierra Nevada foothills that is walkable from the town's little airport. The wooden downtown looks like it's straight out of a country western movie, inclusive of an opportunity to pan for gold. Despite it seemingly being constructed for tourists, it's apparently a real gold rush town preserved in a historic park.

There were multiple saloons around; we stopped into this one (22718 Main Street, 209-288-2382) for their homemade sarsaparilla, which is a predecessor to root beer and apparently leverages the bottles that they make here. But it just tasted like root beer, and the wild cherry flavor came from a Torani syrup bottle. I am not entirely sure about their homemade pitch, but at least it was refreshing on a hot day like today.

Tleaf Green Burmese Kitchen in San Jose, California

I was not expecting to eat Burmese food in San Jose, but there have been a few places popping up in the area, with this one done up in a bright fast-casual salad counter with ordering kiosks (5353 Almaden Expressway #40A). They also had cooked food in a Panda Express-like spread for creating combo plates.

My selection above was chicken kebat, which was both minty and earthy, and rather tender too. That was paired with some "Burmese noodles" done in a curry-like seasoning, which I believe is called kauswe kyaw. Unfortunately, they were sitting around for a while and were served at room temperature.

Perhaps more interesting then was their signature Tea Leaf Salad, which was lahpet thoke but with romaine lettuce instead of cabbage, tossed in a pureed tea leaf dressing with cherry tomatoes and even jalapenos. They even had plastic gloves for you to mix it by hand in the traditional way if you wanted to.

BJ's Restaurant & Brewhouse in California

The last time I went to a BJ's was decades ago. It's such a big generic chain now that I never had much interest in going again. But today we went for the bar, and I only now realized that they have a half-decent selection of beers available, both in-house and from local breweries. I was happy about that.

I can't say that I liked the food that much though. That was supposed to be their weekend prime rib above, but they threw it on the griddle or something, turning it into a tough steak. I guess it was my fault for requesting a medium; presumably they wouldn't do that if I had asked for medium rare.

Anyway, it was dry and not worth finishing. At least I gobbled up their wedge salad, and I have to admit that I liked their super sweet "Pizookie" cookie dessert, even if it was such a sugar bomb that I really should have stopped after just a few bites.

True Food Kitchen from Phoenix, Arizona

I had never heard of this restaurant before, but it's from Phoenix and has expanded to a number of outlets featuring big open kitchens. As the name suggests, it's focused on ingredient quality, which gave me hope despite what otherwise looked like a forgettable menu. The good thing was that it mostly delivered, as that Chinese chicken salad featured a ginger-centric dressing that was refreshingly perky rather than sweet. Sure, those huge chunks of breast meat were a bit of a turnoff (it felt like I was being force-fed tasteless protein), but at least it wasn't as dry as it could have been. And the selection of zero-proof cocktails was just what I needed today too.

The Tacos Molina Truck off Blossom Hill Road

The Tucanazo truck is no longer in the O'Reilly Auto Parts parking lot. But another truck is parked on Gallup Drive right next to it. And this was just the post-drinking top-up that I needed tonight, with the tripe done nice and crispy and worth going back for. I also need to remember to get a couple of those bean taquitos on the side too, as they provided a comfortingly rich gooeyness to go with it. Best of all, it was fun to sit on plastic stools and eat off the rear bumper of the truck. I left with a big smile on my face.

Oak & Rye in Los Gatos, California

This place is a lot of fun (303 North Santa Cruz Avenue, 408-395-4441). It's a pizza place run by former Batali and Roberta's alumni, and the dough was surprisingly chewy and moist, so much that it was reminiscent of mochi. I liked it a lot, especially since they knew exactly what they were doing with the toppings. The pies were edgy yet balanced, and got a fun assist from a number of whiskey-based cocktails (hence where the name comes from). The service was good, the prices were reasonable, and the venue in downtown Los Gatos was cute. I'd be happy to come back here again.