Archipelago

(1107 Howard Ave*Burlingame, CA)
For AL's birthday we heaced to Archipelago for dinner. (now that we're getting older, our celebrations are increasing in $$) Archipelago is a fusion restaurant mixing Filipino foods with french and other european influences. The head chef, chef Alain, is a cordon bleu professor who previously worked at French Laundry as a chef and head cheese selector.

There were 15 of us. a relatively large group for a restaurant their size. This was my 2nd time at the restaurant. a relatively good experience.



Quartet of Hot/Cold Oysters.
2 hot & 2 cold oysters. one with lemongrass vinaigrette. one panko fried with banana sauce. one with rhubarb reduction. one with chinese mustard.

This came recommended on Yelp and by the waitress. we ordered a few to share around the table. I thought this was a pretty interesting dish. The temperature was alittle weird and I wasn't sure which one was cooked vs raw. I am a fan of these little oysters though. esp, lil raw oysters (yum!).



Lamb Rack
roasted lamb. roasted veggies. layered "scalloped" potato.

EL ordered this lamb. i'm not a big lamb fan, but it looked like it was done fairly well. looked juicy. not much for me to say..



Grilled Kurobuta Pork Chop
Grilled pork chop. black rice. caramelized endives with other veggies.

I ordered the pork chop as it was recommended by the waitress. it was pretty good. good portion size. juicy. the black rice was a nice touch, as I've been eating primarily this 10 grain rice at home. it was a little bit too greasy for me though.

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I don't have pictures, but DK ordered a grilled whole bonzini (Mediterranean fish) which was very juicy and perfectly cooked. The grilled chicken was a little disappointing, not much food on the plate.

The cocktails were pretty good. I had the pineapple basil. (i LOVE basil cocktails).

Dessert was yum. their caramel apples are ingenius. lil melon-balled apples coated with warm caramel and 3 diff't toppings to dip into (peanuts, marshmallows, and dark chocolate bits) SOOOOO GOOD! The creme brulee duo is good as well with a hazelnut one and a vietnamese coffee one.

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and I leave you with a random photo. that i thought was pretty cool. taken by DK

(hmm...whose girly lychee-tini is that?)

Food Foundation

I thought it was appropriate for my first official post to give a glimpse into the food I grew up with. This is my kind of comfort-homestyle cookin' - mama's food.



One of my mom's signature dishes "luu nieo ro", sauced beef shank, and "luu nieo jing", sauced beef tendon. She has this sauce recipe which she's perfected over the years. This sauce can be used to simmer and injects intense flavor to a variety of foods (bean curd, beef, tofu, egg, etc).




Dinner will usually include at least one stir-fried vegetable. Recently we have been eating alot more veggies, which may not seem evident in this post. I'm not sure what exactly this veggie is, it is some Chinese vegetable bought at the Chinese market.



This is catfish steamed with soy sauce, garlic, green onions, and a touch of oil. Catfish is a good "boneless" fish and when steamed right has a good semi-oily texture. I am not a big fan of the skin, however some find it tasty with an interesting texture.



Sea Cucumber. Probably one of the more interesting foods out there. They come in diff't types of textures and degree of crunchiness. This one was more on the soft side. Simmered in a sauce made with garlic, green onions, stock, and soy sauce. The sauce is great over rice or in a bowl of noodles.



The claypot holds some delicious braised pork ribs. That is one of my favorite foods. The meat is braised for an hour or so..and the meat just falls right off the bone. The green stuff in the front of the picture is preserved pickled lettuce stir-fried with some garlic; it adds alot of kick with just a tiny amount.

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These next few pictures are kind of random ones from this past weekend...
Went to Japantown in SF for their annual Cherry Blossom Festival. There was a booth there called "Flying Pigs". They had these adorable wood pig hanging decals.



This is the bottom of the particular hanging pig

This is the top of the hanging pig


Go A's!! :D

Welcome..

Welcome to my new blog. Here I will share with you the foods I have been eating and cooking; along with drinks that i am consuming.

Come back soon and check this out!



ps. it is very hard to come up with a good blog address these days..back in the day, everything was available..

Restaurants Reviewed

A list of the restaurants reviewed in this blog: (Alpha order_

Archipelago Rating: 3.5 paws
Blowfish Sushi to Die For Rating: 3.5 paws
Bouchon Bistro Rating: 4 paws
Ella's Restaurant Rating: 3 paws
E'Tutto Qua Rating: 4 paws
Hard Knox Cafe Rating: 3.5 paws
House of Prime Rib Rating: 4 paws
Koi Garden Rating: 4 paws
Marriott SFO Rating: 3 paws
Ming's Coffee Shop Rating: 3 paws
Ray's Sushi Rating: 4 paws

Ratings are based off my expectations for a restaurant of the caliber and its reputation. Ratings are for specific to the visit in review. Scale of 1 (lowest) to 5 (highest)