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.

De Afghanan Kabob House in Fremont, California

We were up in Fremont today, where there happens to be an Afghan community and a Little Kabul neighborhood. And the smoky aromas coming out of this quaint little place smelled amazing (37405 Fremont Boulevard, 510-745-9599).

This shop is known for that chaplee kabob above, which was not only spicy but surprisingly salty, in a good way. That gigantic bolani flatbread behind it was pretty cool too; it was stuffed with potatoes and leeks and served with yogurt and cilantro chutney.

I was quite happy with it all; I also had a doogh drink that was filled with so much cucumber that I couldn't finish. It was reminiscent of my favorite Persian food but supercharged. That's quite the opposite of how Bar-B-Q Tonight positioned its Afghani kebab as "non-spicy," although I guess that's relative to Pakistani cuisine.

Pacific Catch Westcoast Fish House in California

This Northen California chain is originally from San Francisco, but it looks like one of those touristy spots in Hawaii. That includes not just the light and breezy decor but also the composition of the menu, which includes everything from sushi to tacos, not to mention a number of items with a mango salsa of some kind. I was rather discouraged as a result, especially since it wasn't cheap either. Fortunately, the poke in that "Guaca-Poke" above at least carried a good sesame oil fragrance, and the chips were nice and thick too. Still, it was ultimately just guacamole and chips that got topped with poke, and I don't need to go back.

Ocean Avenue from Erik's Delicafe in Northern California

A cold sandwich sounded nice for dinner given the blazing hot weather in the Valley today. So we stopped at an outlet of Erik's Delicafe, where I saw a sign for this "Ocean Avenue" sandwich, which was named after the street in Santa Cruz. It turned out to be just a tuna fish sandwich though, with the taste of the mayonnaise dominating so much that one really couldn't taste the sprouts and such. I should've stuck to my usual roast beef.

"Maxwell Street Hawker Inspired" Chicken Rice on United Airlines

That looks rather sad above, but the name drew a smile from me when I saw it on the United Polaris in-flight menu out of Singapore today, as it was clearly a reference to Tian Tian. It was oddly served hot though, as it was heated in the galley ovens, while the rice was heavily accentuated with lemongrass instead of garlic. There was no dark soy sauce, ginger, nor chili sauce available, although at least that square salt and pepper shaker had some cayenne pepper in there. They had laksa available as one of the midflight snacks available as well, but I didn't try it.

Sushiro's Tamakue Grouper from Japan

I didn't realize this until after I ate it, but Sushiro's parent company worked with a supplier in Japan many years ago that crossed two different types of grouper, one of which is a very tasty but slow growing one. Their faster-breeding hybrid is an effort to bring that fatty taste to the masses at a low price, and it is on the list of specials at Sushiro Singapore now. The texture was firm, but admittedly the taste wasn't as pronounced as I had expected. Apparently it is supposed to be aged in order to get more character out of it, and I don't think Sushiro did that.

Balestier Bak Kut Teh in Singapore

Balestier Road is known for bak kut teh shops, like Founder in particular. Out of sheer convenience though, I went to another one just one block down (365 Balestier Road). I regretted getting these meatballs, as they were not the super firm and bouncy kind that I thought I was getting. Instead, these had a soft homemade feel with bits of crunchy tendon in there. The soup was OK and was certainly much better than that Old Tiong Bahru place on Sixth Avenue. But next time I'll go to Founder, or at least better optimize my order by getting actual ribs rather than meatballs.

Epilogue: BTW, I just realized that I might have been to this shop twenty years ago, especially since I likewise noticed a very mild herbal tinge in the broth this morning.

The Chicken Bihari Boti from Kebabchi

To be honest, I am not entirely sure if this is the Chicken Bihari Boti from Kebabchi. I ordered that, but the waiter who delivered it said that it was Chicken Tikka Boti. Apparently the former uses mustard oil instead of a yogurt marinade and thus has a sharp smokiness to it. Based on that, this should have been the former. I was happy with it either way.

Flying Out of Bangkok on Thai Airways

One of the things that I've always liked about flying out of Bangkok was the free massages in the Thai Airways lounge. But it seems like that has long since disappeared; that might have even been at the old Don Mueang airport, which really goes to show you how infrequent these Bangkok trips are for me. It's too bad that the lounge doesn't have it anymore either way.



The Thai Airways lounge at Suvarnabhumi has other surprises though, not only in how looooooong the lounge stretches in both directions down the terminal, but also in the array of food stations in both directions. That included not just soup noodles and pad thai cooked to order above, but also desserts and snacks like that these banana sticky rice dumplings. None if it is worth saving stomach space for, but it was interesting to see how much effort they made, including some celebrity chef visits scheduled too.



To that end, the in-flight economy class meal today featured Thipsamai-branded pad thai, along with a lemongrass-based salad and even a coconut dessert, which was a nice surprise. If I get a flight out of the new satellite terminal again, then I'll need to stop at Ginger Farm Kitchen, as it's a Bib Gourmand from Chiang Mai.