Sunday, July 16, 2006
$1 Boba!
It's true. Right next to the cluster of Asian restaurants on Durant, are two competing boba stores that have bargained their boba down to $.49! Ah yes, but the catch is that with tax it comes to $.64. And if you want pearl's it becomes $1.19. But, it's such a deal! You can get either the regular milk tea or Jasmine green tea. And it's good too. I guess it's not that hard to make Pearl Milk Tea in the first place, though.
Thai Basil
2519 Durant Ave, Berkeley, CA
I was at Berkeley this Saturday for a meeting and grabbed lunch in the infamous Asian ghetto (Lee calls it a Grotto) where there's a small cluster of Vietnamese, Chinese, Japanese, Thai, and boba restaurants. Thai Basil was the one I checked out today and I was quite impressed. I ordered the Pad Thai, a traditional favorite at Thai restaurants, but for a price of $6.30 with tax and a more than ample plate of noodles, chicken, egg, bean sprouts, and prawns, it was definitely worth every cent. The food is cooked fresh and unlike most restaurants in Berkeley that take only cash, Thai Basil takes credit card! The menu is cheap but the portions and quality of food is excellent. I caught sign of a bunch of "Best of Berkeley" awards posted on the door, and the food certainly confirmed that. We ate there for lunch and it was packed by the time we left; always a sign of a good restaurant. It's not the most romantic place to eat, but if you're on a budget or looking for something quick to grab, Thai Basil is you place.
I was at Berkeley this Saturday for a meeting and grabbed lunch in the infamous Asian ghetto (Lee calls it a Grotto) where there's a small cluster of Vietnamese, Chinese, Japanese, Thai, and boba restaurants. Thai Basil was the one I checked out today and I was quite impressed. I ordered the Pad Thai, a traditional favorite at Thai restaurants, but for a price of $6.30 with tax and a more than ample plate of noodles, chicken, egg, bean sprouts, and prawns, it was definitely worth every cent. The food is cooked fresh and unlike most restaurants in Berkeley that take only cash, Thai Basil takes credit card! The menu is cheap but the portions and quality of food is excellent. I caught sign of a bunch of "Best of Berkeley" awards posted on the door, and the food certainly confirmed that. We ate there for lunch and it was packed by the time we left; always a sign of a good restaurant. It's not the most romantic place to eat, but if you're on a budget or looking for something quick to grab, Thai Basil is you place.
Monday, July 10, 2006
1221
[exerpt from an email I wrote Reid]
I went out with Jon to dinner tonight. So first we were set on this one restaurant called 1221 that was in all the guidebooks. It's on the other side of town, and it took us both quite a bit of time to find the place. It's this very suspect spot that's in almost a back alley with a unprofessional-looking entrance, but I'm sure it was the spot we were looking for because everyone inside was either white or with someone white. Sadly we were turned away bc we hadn't made a reservation ahead of time, even though most of the tables were empty! Agh, I had no idea so many restaurants in Shanghai these days need a reservation. That seems very unchinese. Anyways, I took Jon to my favorite japanese restaurant and we stuffed ourselves silly there. By the end, we were looking at the tables on both sides of us, and one had delicious smells of shabu-shabu meating wafting at us, and the other table was happily slurping on udon noodles. Both looked incredibly tempting but by then we were on the verge of bursting. Jon was very conscientious; he ate all the chicken and steak pieces even though we had ordered too much and didn't want them anymore. Man, he's a restauranteur's dream.
Bottomline: Although we never had the chance to try it, 1221 is likely not good judging by the lack of local Chinese customers, the three customers who were there at peak dining hours, and the fact that they were all tourists who were lured there (as we were) by guide book dining suggestions.
I went out with Jon to dinner tonight. So first we were set on this one restaurant called 1221 that was in all the guidebooks. It's on the other side of town, and it took us both quite a bit of time to find the place. It's this very suspect spot that's in almost a back alley with a unprofessional-looking entrance, but I'm sure it was the spot we were looking for because everyone inside was either white or with someone white. Sadly we were turned away bc we hadn't made a reservation ahead of time, even though most of the tables were empty! Agh, I had no idea so many restaurants in Shanghai these days need a reservation. That seems very unchinese. Anyways, I took Jon to my favorite japanese restaurant and we stuffed ourselves silly there. By the end, we were looking at the tables on both sides of us, and one had delicious smells of shabu-shabu meating wafting at us, and the other table was happily slurping on udon noodles. Both looked incredibly tempting but by then we were on the verge of bursting. Jon was very conscientious; he ate all the chicken and steak pieces even though we had ordered too much and didn't want them anymore. Man, he's a restauranteur's dream.
Bottomline: Although we never had the chance to try it, 1221 is likely not good judging by the lack of local Chinese customers, the three customers who were there at peak dining hours, and the fact that they were all tourists who were lured there (as we were) by guide book dining suggestions.
Chatea
Red bean shaved ice
Address: all the trendy shopping areas
Price: 29 RMB
Chatea is a chain restaurant in Shanghai that I have mixed feelings about. I've come here once for dim sum and was not at all impressed. In addition, their service is fairly inattentive and all of their restaurants have a trend of being very dark almost to the point of feeling cavernous. However, they make fantastic cold drinks (albeit pricey ones), and featured here, the best red bean shaved ice concoction that I've had in Shanghai. This shaved ice is huge! About a foot tall. And it's incredibly flavorful compared to other ones that I've tried. Some people might wince at the 29 yuan price for a cold snack, but it's meant to be shared by two or three people. I tried to finish one by myself, and got 3/4 down before I had to admit defeat.
Address: all the trendy shopping areas
Price: 29 RMB
Chatea is a chain restaurant in Shanghai that I have mixed feelings about. I've come here once for dim sum and was not at all impressed. In addition, their service is fairly inattentive and all of their restaurants have a trend of being very dark almost to the point of feeling cavernous. However, they make fantastic cold drinks (albeit pricey ones), and featured here, the best red bean shaved ice concoction that I've had in Shanghai. This shaved ice is huge! About a foot tall. And it's incredibly flavorful compared to other ones that I've tried. Some people might wince at the 29 yuan price for a cold snack, but it's meant to be shared by two or three people. I tried to finish one by myself, and got 3/4 down before I had to admit defeat.
Home cooking!
I do miss going out to eat with Reid who not only likes food almost as much as I do but he also gets excited about writing these reviews and reminds me to do them.
After three weeks in Shanghai now, it's starting to get a little boring enjoying food by myself. That's why I'm very happy I live with a host family. They're absolutely wonderful people who invite me to dinner every night. And I do join them every now and then; it's a relief to not always ponder where I'm going to go for my next meal. It's nice to eat at a family table again. Usually my host grandma makes four dishes plus a soup. And invariably it's something delicious that I will never be able find in restaurants.
[Tomato and egg soup, green peas, bitter melon with pork, braised short ribs, a vegetable that I've never heard of before, and edamame beans with dried fish]
Hehe every night, I can always expect my host mom to come into my room and hand me a plate of fruit too. Oh I'm getting too spoiled here.
After three weeks in Shanghai now, it's starting to get a little boring enjoying food by myself. That's why I'm very happy I live with a host family. They're absolutely wonderful people who invite me to dinner every night. And I do join them every now and then; it's a relief to not always ponder where I'm going to go for my next meal. It's nice to eat at a family table again. Usually my host grandma makes four dishes plus a soup. And invariably it's something delicious that I will never be able find in restaurants.
[Tomato and egg soup, green peas, bitter melon with pork, braised short ribs, a vegetable that I've never heard of before, and edamame beans with dried fish]
Hehe every night, I can always expect my host mom to come into my room and hand me a plate of fruit too. Oh I'm getting too spoiled here.
Tuesday, July 04, 2006
Misc. Shanghai Yummies
Mango and Taro Ice Cream Scoops
Address: Inside Raffles Shopping Mall, Ren Min Guang Chang
Price: 5 RMB
Chocaccino
Address: TZG office
Price: 0
Bento Lunch- Pepper spareribs over rice + soup
Address: Free Delivery!
Price: 12 RMB
Banana Chocholate Crepe
Address: Basement of Trust-Mart, my neighborhood supermarket
Price: 12 RMB
Din Tai Feng
After hearing how sad Reid feels about Manz dining, I feel rather evil posting up pictures of all the food I've been eating, but since our only reader seems to want pictures, up they go! I have been getting much odd looks from neighboring diners who are wondering who is that girl eating and taking pictures by herself, so I hope the efforts are appreciated.
Din Tai Feng
Address: Xin Tian Di, the very back building, second floor
Price: ooh quite pricey- 100 rmb at the very least
This restaurant is part of a chain in Taiwan but it's been much touted in the NYTimes and other news sources as being a completely undiluted source of tasty xiao long bao. Its location in Xin Tian Di is beautiful and spotless, and the service is one of the finest I've had in China. I felt so at home and comfortable here, and best of all the xiao long bao were just as good as people said, the best I've had in Shanghai so far. However, the other foods- the meat buns, and the drunken chicken in wine sauce-- were only ok and the prices did raise my eyebrows a bit. So I had a very "jia chang fan" or a comfort food meal for a rather expenisve price in China, but again, the restaurant won me over into believing that you pay for what you get, and that includes the setting and the service.
Din Tai Feng
Address: Xin Tian Di, the very back building, second floor
Price: ooh quite pricey- 100 rmb at the very least
This restaurant is part of a chain in Taiwan but it's been much touted in the NYTimes and other news sources as being a completely undiluted source of tasty xiao long bao. Its location in Xin Tian Di is beautiful and spotless, and the service is one of the finest I've had in China. I felt so at home and comfortable here, and best of all the xiao long bao were just as good as people said, the best I've had in Shanghai so far. However, the other foods- the meat buns, and the drunken chicken in wine sauce-- were only ok and the prices did raise my eyebrows a bit. So I had a very "jia chang fan" or a comfort food meal for a rather expenisve price in China, but again, the restaurant won me over into believing that you pay for what you get, and that includes the setting and the service.
On the homefront at Stanford...
Things have been quite tame at Stanford, since I've been just saving money and twiddling my thumbs, waiting for Jenny to come home before we can go on our food adventures together. I don't know about you, but reading about Jenny's experiences in China is sure making me jealous, because Manzanita Dining is certainly not as appealing. Excitement ensued yesterday for me when we got Cinnamon Toast Crunch for cereal! Yeah, I had two bowls of that for dinner, because nothing else was good.
Sigh.
Sigh.
Independence Day Pride
MSN's Top 10 American Foods
This article makes me feel so happy to be an American. Oh I forgot how wonderful American cuisine could be! Happy Independence Day!
This article makes me feel so happy to be an American. Oh I forgot how wonderful American cuisine could be! Happy Independence Day!
Monday, July 03, 2006
Happy sushi hangover
Kisshin Restaurant
Address: 1168 Nanjing Xi Lu, 2nd floor of mall
Price: 158 yuan
Hmm I've noticed that all the recent for the past couple of weeks have been mine. Reid's been very bad, or very good however you might see it, about going out to resturants. On the Shanghai front here, I'm reeling from a sushi hangover. I got the all-you-can-order deal from Kisshin, this sushi restaurant I've been planning to go to ever since I stepped foot on Shanghai soil, and last night, I finally couldn't wait anymore for someone to go with me and charged in there myself.
It was amazing! Two hours of all the handrolls, sashimi, shrimp tempura, teppan steak, grilled unagi, egg custard, gyozas, plum wine that I could eat. They were all wonderfully prepared and I definitely had my fill of all. My bottomless capacity for salmon, unagi, and uni seems to have finally been filled. The service was also nice and fast. The place is located next to my workplace...dangerous, oh so very dangerous.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)