SFO Marriott

1800 Old Bayshore Highway * Burlingame, CA

So, after a week of training and meetings at the SFO Marriott, i decided to talk about the food per a suggestion from my co-worker. The photos are not going to be great b/c they were taken on by phone, but they'll have to do.

I only captured two meals, but overall, the food was pretty good for hotel catered to 150+ people. the only exception would be the sandwiches, they could have been a bit more interesting. each day was a diff't theme buffet for lunch; breakfast was consistently your typical continental; the one night we had dinner was a pretty good variety...

Italian-Themed Lunch
On the second day, there was an Italian themed lunch with tomato/mozerrela salad, pasta, roasted veggies...


papa al pomodoro soup
creamy tomato based soup with a wheat ciabatta roll

This was a highlight of the week. well seasoned. good consistency. a friend of mine said "I'd totally pay $41 for another bowl of soup."



cappuccino bandecake
Cappuccino mousse on chocolate cake

This was interesting...from the picture it doesn't look very appetizing. even as we were trying this it didn't look appetizing. but it was surprisingly decent. the mousse was a pretty strong espresso taste. i liked the consistency of the cake.

Asian-Themed Lunch

Paul's Gourmet Chinese Plate
Chicken Potstickers, Veggie Eggroll, beef with peppers in a black bean sauce, Jasmine Rice, Lychee from Asian Fruit Salad

As the meals were all setup buffet style, Paul's plate was able to showcase almost all of the items served that day for lunch. The potstickers tasted like linglings from costco to me, the skin was alittle bit too hard| eggrolls were pretty good. however based on talking to others, it seems like they may have been inconsistent. some found it to be too salty, while others did not | black bean beef was also alittle inconsistent in terms of the degree of cooked-ness of the meat. however, i thought for a catered event and the amount of food in each tray, there was a consistent flavor and the bell peppers were good | Jasmine rice is rice, nothing special |the asian fruit salad was interesting, it had lychee, pineapple, melon, strawberry in a mint marinade.


Overall, I thought the food was better than some of the other hotel-banquet/catered events I had been to...though still not the best food I've ever had...

(if you were there, i would love to hear your feedback..on the food)

paws: 3

Koi Garden

4288 Dublin Blvd * Dublin, CA

For Mother's Day we went to Koi in Dublin. We've frequented this place a few times now, but i have yet to get pictures until this time. Because it was Mother's Day, in order to get reservations we had to pre-order our menu from a selection of banquet meals. My mom picked (cheaper) one for the "kids" table and another (classy) one for the adults. I will be focusing on the kid's tabble as I did not see what the elders had.


Whole Steamed Shrimp
Whole steamed shrimp with a soy sauce dipper

My family orders this all the time. when the shrimp are fresh, this is the best way to enjoy this scrumptious dish. to taste the sweetness of the shrimp, forego the sauce. this is a dish that must be eaten hot or warm, not cold. eating this cold, you'll taste the fishy/seafoody-ness of the shrimp.


Cold Plate Appetizer
a mixture of 6 different appetizers: jellyfish, bbq pork, clam, seaweed, chicken, bean curd

This is another one of those dishes that most Chinese Seafood restaurants will serve up. Nothing out of the ordinary here.


Scallop & Water Chestnut Stir-Fry
Scallop, water chestnut, chinese broccoli, carrots

This dish is pretty unique to Koi. I've had a few variations of the scallop stir-fry. The portion size of this is pretty large, we had a lot leftover. A little bit on the oily side, but still a well executed dish.


Deep Fried Egglant & Shrimp
Eggplant stuff with shrimp paste, topped with sweet mayo and shredded dried pork

This was a first for me. The eggplant was cooked to a good tenderness, a good amount of batter, and the topping was perfect for balancing the flavors.


Steamed Lotus Bun
sweet lotus paste stuffed inside a steamed bun

This is another standard dessert item on a banquet menu. The bun is supposed to be in the shape of a chinese peach. this is almost always eaten during birthday celebrations, there is some significance in the chinese culture to eat this.

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Overall, this was a good meal. There was way more food than i photographed (sorry, recurring theme). I would recommend koi to someone who knows what they are ordering, as the menu may be a little bit hard to navigate, even with all the pictures. However, if you don't know the style and cooking techniques, you could be thrown for a loop. There are also many off-menu items.

Ray's Sushi

888 A St. * Hayward, CA

I really enjoy the food from this place. it may not be SUPER authentic, but it is fresh, good quality, and yummy. I must apologize that i did not take as many photos as i had wished. we just had too much good food.

We went here as a group of 16. a family friend was treating everyone out to dinner. we frequent this place a lot, in small and large groups.

The owner, Ray, put together a set meal for the 11 adults. ($50/person). the kids ordered off the menu, as they don't eat much.


Sushi Boat.
A variety of raw fish and seafood: salmon.tuna.hamachi.uni.fish roe.lobster.squid.hirame.saba.and the list goes on...

There was so much sashimi on that boat, I didn't even know where to start. Everything was fresh. I am not a huge fan of the uni (sea urchin). the lobster i like. the hamachi is good. Ray's tends to cut their sashimi pieces a little thicker than elsewhere, which is a no-no in Japanese cooking. however, many like it bc they feel they are gettin more for their $$.


closer look at the contents of the boat.


Uni, Sea Urchin


Broiled Lobster

They are very resourceful with their food. this was the shell/head of the lobster that was served in the sashimi. they add some seasonings and mayo and placed it in the broiler. I didn't actually try this, but on previous ocassions it has been good.


Stone-cooked Filet Mignon

The stone was heated to a high temperature then brought out with the steak on a separate plate. the waiteress/waiter then proceeded to cook the meat at our table. this is the remanants.


Cut Sushi Rolls
a variety of rolls

Sorry, by the time i remembered to take photos, this was pretty much gobbled up. what is shown in the picture is about 1/4(?) of the sushi that was on the plate. we had a soft shell crab roll, two baked rolls, and the two "veggie" rolls. Their rolls are good, no skimping on the fillings.


These were all the photos that I remembered to take that night. we also had a broiled hamachi head, fish cake soup, scallops, and of course green tea&red bean ice cream.

If you are looking for a Japanese restaurant and are in the area, i would definately check out Rays. Come prepared for a line. You may think that Hayward would not offer good sushi, but don't judge a book by its covers.

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?)