Monday, December 8, 2008

Yakiniku Hiroshi

So I've been stalling to post about this place because every time I look at the pics to post my mouth and body yearn to eat it again. If you're staying in Waikiki, you DEFINITELY need to hit this spot. A bit pricey but worth every penny.

A Korean style BBQ restaurant done the Japanese way. The Korean part: order your desired cuts of meat and cook it on the grill in front of you. The Japanese part: you pay for all the additional fixins such as rice, kimchee, and salad.  The other special Japanese component of this restaurant is the quality of the beef. By far the best beef I've had in the United States. The beef is fresh, never frozen USDA prime. I didn't know US beef could be so marbled; I thought that only existed in Japan.

For dinner they offer two chef's dinner which includes various cuts of meet and some fixins for a set price. We chose the cheaper (if you can really call it that) dinner. I should have wrote down all the cuts but I was starving and had a cranky baby who wanted nothing to do with this yakiniku house. But I think I recall most of the reasons why we picked our dinner besides the price: beef tongue, rib eye, kalbi short rib, Hiroshi's salad, kimchee, daikon kimchee, namul, rice and dessert.  Honestly, I think I recalled the full dinner (see mommy-hood doesn't kill all your brain cells). The set dinner cost us $50 per person, which was a really good deal considering that price included tax and tip, and there was no way we could get all those cuts and the sides for that price a la carte.  

Our meal was orgasmic. Since enjoying Kobe beef in Kobe, Japan, I have not enjoyed beef this much. It made me appreciate why I'm not a vegetarian and why I could never be one. The meat had enough fat for it's juicy goodness to be enjoyed even if you over cooked it (easy to do with a toddler). My baby is not too fond of beef but she got one taste and the whole restaurant could hear her say, "MORE pulease!" Maybe that's why I was still hungry. I believe there were two dipping sauces which is more than a Korean joint. One was a ponzu type and the other I think was a ginger based sauce. Both sauces were good but I love ponzu. Hiroshi's salad was good and refreshing but the portion was only enough for one person so the salad didn't make it past the first cut of beef which was the tongue. OK, I know, you're thinking GROSS, but seriously the Japanese know how to cook and use beef tongue to where you would never know you were eating it unless you were told or are familiar with it. Seriously, don't knock it till you try it.

For a Japanese restaurant, the namul and kimchee were not bad. They even served us kim (toasted seaweed) which my daughter enjoyed. Back to the beef, I was gobbling and enjoying this stuff so much that I hardly touched my rice and was seriously contemplating ordering another dinner and throwing our budget out to sea. The beef was seasoned with salt and after grilling it however you like, you put this hot piece of juicy meat in your mouth and lead your taste buds to ecstasy. Each bite releases more juice and some delicious fat. It's so tender you're teeth hardly have to work then you swallow and let your tummy enjoy a bit of what your mouth just did.

Hiroshi also serves other items to be grilled that I've never had grilled before. Ddeok was a pleasant and tasty surprise. The kabocha was good too. After the beef love making, we were served a dessert mochi ice cream and homemade candy wafers. I didn't think anything could properly conclude this meal but those wafers were DANG good. It was a thin crisp of toffee with various nuts. They sell them for a hefty price tag and I so wanted them but hubby said no, they're too expensive, which they were. A small bag of maybe 6 pieces (about the size of a nilla wafer but square) cost $12. I wish money grew on trees so I could eat as decadently to my mouth's content. They give you a small bottle of water on your way out which was a nice and memorable ending to our fabulous meal.

Side dishes: kimchee & daikon kimchee

Beautiful rib eye & kalbii seasoned with salt. Check out the marbling!

They had high tech grills that sucked up the smoke pronto.

Yakiniku Hiroshi
339 Royal Hawaiian Ave.
Honolulu, HI 96815
808-923-0060
http://www.yakinikuhiroshi.net/flash.htm

YUM Meter: *** (off the charts yummy!)

Monday, December 1, 2008

Ono Hawaiian Foods

OK so November was a bust for blogging but definitely not for eating. My family went on a vacation to Oahu in November and Hawaii has some good eats. First YUM-O spot hit was Ono Hawaiian Foods. A girlfriend and I stumbled on this place the very first time I visited Hawaii back in '98. We were drawn to hole in the wall eateries which are hard to find along the Waikiki beach with all the beach front hotels. This state treasure is a quaint little hole in the wall that serves up Hawaiian dishes like kalua pig, lau lau, chicken long rice, haupia, etc. I stop by here every time I'm fortunate enough to visit Oahu. This post is a little light on the pics because I was too hungry to snap pictures before I devoured my meal which consisted of: chicken long rice (pictured below), pipikaula (Hawaiian dried beef), lomi salmon, poi, and haupia. I really need to stop blogging on an empty stomach during my lunch hour. 

Chicken Long Rice Plate $12
My chicken long rice was as good as I remembered but everything else didn't live up to my previous visits. Not even the haupia which is my FAVE. Everything was over salted and my haupia lacked coconut flavor, actually it lacked flavor period. Maybe it's because I ate a haupia malasada from Leonard's right before we sat down to eat. Or maybe it was just a fluke night. 

Ono Hawaiian Foods
726 Kapahulu Ave.
Honolulu, HI 96816
(808) 737-2275
www.geocities.com/napavalley/9874

YUM Meter: * (but usually ***)

Friday, October 31, 2008

Hunan Chinese Restaurant

Fresno Chinese food is not the kind of Chinese food you can get in more metropolitan areas, which is a shame because there's a lot more to Chinese food than westernized chow mein and chicken salad. Hunan's was another international student recommendation. Actually it was more like a Chinese following. Students and tourists from China would make Hunan's a destination to visit (usually before or after Yosemite). Why? Because of the famous chef & owner of Hunan, Zhongyi Liu. I didn't, couldn't believe such a famous chef resided in Fresno. It must be a myth or Chinese wives' tale. NOPE, its true. We have this hidden gem of yummy right here in the Central Valley. We're so lucky! 

So we ordered to go from this place when we were living on the NW side of town and then when we moved NE Fresno, just a hop, skip and a jump away from Hunan's; we forgot about it. Maybe the stress of a move or having a baby had something to do with it or maybe it's Hunan's unfortunate location. It's literally tucked away behind several stores at the Cedar Tree Village shopping center. I only remembered it because I was on a Chinese food kick and hating almost everywhere I ate and a fellow mommy asked me where I liked Chinese food in town and a light bulb turned back on - HUNAN's.

Chef Liu has catered his menu to this town slightly with his own original twist. For example the chicken salad is not the horrific lettuce with old fried chicken and won tons drenched in an oily sweet sesame dressing, it's shredded chicken in a sweet, pungent bean sauce on a light bed of lettuce. It's so simple but the intricacies of the sauce will blow you away. There was a recent article in the Bee about Hunan's so it's been pretty packed lately. We went the Saturday after the article and it was an hour wait. Fortunately a large reunion was leaving so our wait was cut considerably.

Potstickers $6.45
Look at the way the oil from the pan-fried, hand made won ton skin glistens from my flash. I'm a sucker for hand made won ton skins so upon my first bite, I was a goner. There are no soy sauce bottles on the table, no these dumplings are accompanied with fermented soy bean in a light chili oil. I had enjoyed the potstickers earlier that week for lunch so I had my heart set on Bao Tse (steamed bun filled with honey pork, I think) but they were sold out again. Darn it! I will try you Bao Tse before I die.

Sizzling Rice Soup $6.95
This is the way sizzling rice soup is done. Fresh cut vegetables (maybe not the bamboo, peas and water chestnuts), nice sized pieces of chicken and shrimp, and most importantly not laden with oil, just oil from the deep fried rice.

Butter Cream Prawns $13.95
This was a recommendation from a lady who was also waiting to be seated. The name says it all. It's buttery, creamy and extremely sweet. I was expecting walnut shrimp but this was initially way too sweet and kind of a disappointment until I had a prawn with a bite of strawberry. This took it to a whole 'nother level. The strawberries subdued the saccharine punch and enhanced the rich creamy flavor. If you're with a kid, definitely order extra strawberries so you can truly enjoy this dish.  

The chef also has a secret menu for his staff and special banquets where his culinary prowess truly shines. I have to get myself to one of these banquets. 

Hunan Chinese Restaurant
6716 N. Cedar #104 (behind the Dollar Tree)
Fresno, CA 93710
(559) 297-0336
thehunanrestaurant.com

YUM Meter: ***

Friday, October 24, 2008

Masala Indian Cuisine & Cafe

My husband works with a lot of international students. This is advantageous for a foodie with an international palate. It serves me well to find the famous Chinese chef in town that all the Chinese students and tourists know about and make it a point to visit. Who better to critique Indonesian food than someone who has grown up with it their entire life. Thankfully the students find the good or decent ethnic eats in town and my hubby passes along the information. Recently there has been a wave of students from India. Lucky for me it's one of my favorite, if not favorite, cuisines. My love affair with Indian food was not love at first taste. No, not at all. I knew nothing about it but was up for any epicurean adventure in high school. I went to place called Clay Oven I think in SW Fresno. I don't think it's there anymore...I don't know, I haven't been to that part of town in a while. I ordered Palak Paneer because I like spinach. The server delivered a dish of dark green goop (that looked like poop-sorry, I couldn't resist). In high school I was not fond of cooked vegetables especially unrecognizable vegetables. I asked the server for a fork and took 3 good spoonfuls and couldn't take in anymore. I was raised to finish my plate clean so that's why I forced 3 spoonfuls and not just one. Oh the lack of texture, the unusual spices, oh and some weird spongy thing (which later I found out to be cheese). The horror! I didn't touch or even consider Indian food for several years. In college I had a couple of Indian girlfriends that kindly showed me the light. They took me to an Indian buffet. I highly recommend Indian buffets, especially if you have no idea what to order or even what it is you're ordering. A good buffet will have a nice assortment of dishes for a very reasonable price (little to no commitment necessary for each dish).

Masala's was a recommendation from a student when it first opened a couple of years ago. Nice, clean ambience with friendly service and good food. I loved that you could order dishes and determine the spice level because I like it HOT and their hot lived up to my taste buds. But it was pricey for Indian food. Maybe because it's in the new shopping center in the new part of town. We still went back despite the price tag. What I longed to try was their buffet. Buffets are not only good if you're new to Indian food but they're also great if you're already familiar with what you like because you get multiple dishes for what you would normally pay for just one. It's a food bargain. Mmm...Masala's buffet lived up to what I imagined it would. They offered pakora, basmati rice, chicken tikka masala, aloo gobi, tandoori chicken, dal tadka, lamb ball curry, raita, gulab jamun, and some salad items. I enjoyed most of the items. The pakora had little to no vegetables, it was mainly tasteless, greasy batter. I've never been fond of tandoori chicken (too dry in my opinion) so I never waste valuable stomach space on that dish. I'm not a fan of lamb but the curry it was in was good. I'm glad I never paid for dessert on my previous excursions here because the gulab jamun was mediocre. All the other items I've enjoyed here in the past and enjoyed them at the buffet. I could live w/o the chicken in the tikka masala; just imagine a spiced tomato curry laden with butter - drool. If you like cauliflower cooked a little over al dente with turmeric, you'll like aloo gobi. Too bad Masala is getting rid of their lunch buffet starting 10/27/08. They're going for a California fusion lunch. Maybe to compete with North India Bar & Grill.

Lunch Buffet $9.99

Masala Indian Cuisine & Cafe
7735 N. Blackstone Ave., Suite 105
Fresno, CA 93720
(559) 431-0060
masalafresno.com

YUM Meter: **

Thursday, October 2, 2008

The Corner Cafe

Continuing my search for a good sandwich lead me to The Corner Cafe. Another location I heard good things about but this time I kept my expectations low. I ordered the specialty sandwich: Corner Club-three toasted slices of potato bread with generous portions of roast beef, turkey and bacon with mayonnaise, lettuce and tomato. Served with fries. I thought what a good price advertised on their website $6.95. Alas when I went to pick up my food, I was slapped with the real price of $7.95. Eight bucks for a sandwich at a local little hole in the wall!! Outrageous! The sandwich was good (needed more mayo, I'm a heavy mayo gal) despite the price but I could get a club just as good (if not a little better) from Claim Jumpers. Mmm...I'm craving a club now.

Corner Club $7.95

The Corner Cafe
361 Pollasky Ave.
Clovis, CA 93612
(559) 298-7173
www.cloviscornercafe.com 

Yum Meter: **

New York Family Deli

I heard the sandwiches here were great and it had a sweet story. The story as I know it is the deli was opened by a firefighter who survived 9/11. I was on a sandwich kick and wanted to check it out and support a hero. I was overwhelmed by all the choices so in a rush I ordered the first two specialty sandwiches (one for my husband; I'm not that piggy!). #1 Brooklyn-capicolla, prosciutto, pepperoni, provolone cheese and wax peppers. #2 Bronx-genoa salami, capicolla, prosciutto and provolone cheese. Typing it out, the sandwiches are really similar. Both were awful. The worst proscuitto I've ever had; neither sweet nor salty. Just felt like chewing on pink, flavorless fat. I actually took the prosciutto out of my sandwich. The rest of the sandwich was dry and salty. Maybe that's how they like it in NY but that's not how I like my sandwiches.

Bronx $7.59
The looks of this picture are so deceiving.

New York Family Deli
1305 N. Willow Ave. #190
Clovis, CA 93611
(559) 324-9400
*Free Delivery with $25 minimum 

Yum Meter:

Friday, September 26, 2008

Shanghai Chinese Cuisine, LLC

Shanghai gets rave reviews by almost everyone I've conversed with in Fresno. I vaguely remember trying it way back in high school and I think I enjoyed it. That was before I learned about the vastness of Chinese cuisine in college. I didn't know Asian food could be Americanized. That was foolish of me, if Mexican food could be Americanized to the degree of Taco Bell, how far off could Panda Express be. Chinese restaurants in Fresno are predominately Americanized. There are a few gems in town but Shanghai is not one of them. My hubby wanted to taste for himself what all the buzz was about so we went to dinner as a family and ordered the Shanghai Imperial Dinner which comes with the following for $14.99 per person, minimum of 2 orders.

Sizzling Rice Soup
Sodium and grease laden water with no fresh ingredients. High blood pressure in a bowl.

Chinese Chicken Salad
If this is on the menu and it's authenticity you're after, hit the door. There's absolutely nothing authentic about Chinese chicken salad. This one was a platter of iceberg lettuce with some old fried chicken (probably fried 2+ days ago) and fried won ton skins drizzled in a sweet & tangy (in all the wrong places) dressing.

Sweet & Pungent Shrimp
Nothing sweet about this dish. Pungent=acutely distressing.

Pork Dumplings
The filling is a big glob of unseasoned pork wrapped in a flavorless won ton with no special dipping. I enjoy the variety Costco carries (Ling Ling) over these. The only time I eat the Costco variety is when it's a sample and I'm so starving I eat any and all samples. 

Veggie Platter
YAY! Some fresh vegetable for my baby to enjoy. Assorted vegetables stir fried with corn starched soy sauce.

Sizzling Beef Platter
This platter comes sizzling to the table is not bad tasting if you don't mind beef pseudo tenderized in corn starch. I mind. The same sauce used in the veggie platter, just a bit more salt. The food here is a lot like Joy Luck in Riverpark on Blackstone. I wonder if it's the same owner or management??? All in all I was very disappointed wasting my time, money, stomach space and taste buds here. Maybe we ordered the wrong things? I won't be returning any time soon to find out.

Shanghai Chinese Cuisine, LLC
4011 N. Blackstone Ave.
Fresno, CA 93726
(559) 221-0227

YUM Meter: 

Friday, September 12, 2008

Dog House Grill

Before moving back to Fresno I went to a Gwen Stefani concert at the Save Mart Center and thought what an unfortunate name for a restaurant.  Now that I live here, the name totally makes sense...Fresno State Bulldogs-duh! Being across the street from the university is not the only reason the lines are out the door during the lunch and dinner hours, it's the food.  My first trip here was with my husband when I was fat, pregnant and craving a hot dog.  Their hot dogs are sliced down the middle, grilled and dressed to perfection hoagie style.  If you don't like your dogs with ALL the fixins, you better stick to the kid hot dog.  I would have continued to order the hot dog if I didn't notice 85% of the other customers were ordering or devouring the tri-tip steak sandwich.  I'm not a big BBQ person, but I had to try it for myself. The hoopla surrounding this place and this sandwich are well deserved. Generous serving of grilled tri-tip cooked medium well with a thick, sweet BBQ sauce smothered on a garlic butter toasted french roll. I'm hungry just writing about it.  If you're with your buds share a basket of fries, there's plenty of fried skinny potatoes doused in seasoned salt to go around.  If your willing to spend a little more $$ get the basket of rings, they're pricey so I've only mooched from a co-worker but they were all that fried onions dipped in batter could and should be. I'm not a person who can get full off of lettuce but the steak cobb salad comes pretty close.  It's a traditional cobb salad with chopped tri-tip ends thrown in. My dressing of choice with this salad is a combo of ranch and the bbq sauce. 

Tri-Tip Steak Sandwich $7.99
The only miss from the menu was the pig sandwich, shredded pork with bbq sauce. It was way too sweet. It was like eating candied pork-yuck. I couldn't even finish the sandwich. Sometimes the snot in me turns my nose up to corn fed beef, wishing I had the funds to fly to Japan whenever I wanted to eat some oishii Kobe beef, then reality hits and I suck up the nastiness of American beef and enjoy Dog House Grill's finest.

Dog House Grill
2789 E. Shaw Ave.
Fresno, CA 93710
(559) 294-9920
sorry no call ins

Yum Meter: ***

Friday, August 15, 2008

Gaesung

I go to San Jose several times a year to get my fix on some Vietnamese food and visit friends. When I'm there for an extended time, I long for a taste of home and so does my baby: Korean food.  I found this restaurant in the bay area when I was really craving some soon du bu.  What a good find.

Panchan   $Free with meal
Photobucket
Korean side dishes starting with top left going clockwise: marinated shredded beef (tasted like juicy, tender beef jerky), spicy pickled radish (my baby and my personal favorite), kimchee (spicy pickled Chinese cabbage), bean sprouts (lightly steamed sprouts seasoned with sesame oil, salt, sesame seeds), kelp salad (seasoned thinly cut kelp)

Bin Dae Duk    $11.50 approximately   
Photobucket
Bin Dae Duk: mung bean pancake with seafood, vegetables and topped with bacon. It was OK, probably wouldn't order it again

Mushroom Soon Du Bu   $9.50 approximately for lunch
Photobucket
The main dish, Soon Du Bu: a hot pot of soft tofu with your choice of meat, veggies and spice level.  They always give you a raw egg on the side that you could add.  As you can see I chose to add it.  Mmm...more protein.  I ordered the mushroom soon du bu mild (because I was sharing this with my baby, otherwise I would order it medium to spicy).  I don't know if it's because I've ordered it mild the two times I've been here but the soon du bu tastes really refreshing (I know, odd choice of word for a hot pot).  I could taste all the subtle flavors of the broth and ingredients.  My baby and I throughly enjoy this place.  Their side dishes and soon du bu are good.  My girlfriend ordered Mool Naeng Myun and the Bin Dae Duk which she enjoyed but I have had much better.  Gaesung House of Tofu is a tofu house so I would stick to the soon dubu for a sure thing.

Gaesung House of Tofu
2089 El Camino Real
Santa Clara, CA 95050
(408) 248-TOFU (8638) 

Yum Meter: **

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Portola Cafe

I love the Monterey Bay Aquarium! Now there's even more to love, Portola Cafe. The aquarium itself is no longer the only draw.  This yummy cafe & restaurant is ingenious; feeding hungry aquarium visitors quality food for a decent price. Can't wait to go back.

California Club $7.95
Photobucket
My hubby and baby enjoyed this delicious sandwich. I ordered clam chowder for my little one but she wanted nothing to do with the soup once dad came to the table with this.  We ate in the cafeteria side of the restaurant.  They had different areas: grill for hamburgers & fresh fish, soups & salads, pizza, beverages and sandwiches cooked to order.  Despite being so crowded you could barely stand in line, the crowd and wait were well worth it.  The clam chowder was cooked with bacon and really good but the sandwich by far stood out. You could skip the garlic fries, those were not worth the long wait at the grill.  Among the bevy of beverages, they offer Clover brand milk, which in my opinion is the best tasting and my baby agrees.  So next time you head to the aquarium, take some time to enjoy the Pacific ocean views while grubbing on some fine food at Portola Cafe.

Portola Cafe & Restaurant
Monterey Bay Aquarium
886 Cannery Row
Monterey, CA 93940
(831) 648-4870

YUM Meter: ***

Friday, July 25, 2008

Tacos Marquitos

When I first walked in and saw the pictures of the food on the wall, I got really excited because they carry things I don't normally see in Mexican restaurants. They offer corundas, tacos de papa (or as I refer to them papa tacos), enchilada Michoacan, pambazo and pozole just to name a few.  

The Gamma Burrito $4.25
Handmade flour tortilla

Carne asada, french fries, lettuce, tomato and sour cream. Looks really good but I thought the carne asada was too salty.
 
Corundas $6.50
This was my first time trying corundas.  I was not impressed.  The masa was too salty.  At least the castillo de puerco that accompanied the masa was good.

Pina (Large 44oz) $1.85
You can rarely go wrong with pina.

Oddly they keep the salsa behind the register.  I asked for spicy. It had heat but lacked flavor. It was too bad the food didn't live up the the pictures on the restaurant wall.  I mean even these pictures look pretty tasty but unfortunately these dishes looked better than they tasted.

Tacos Marquitos (Barstow & Cedar)
1772 E. Barstow
Fresno, CA 93710
559-447-5569 

YUM Meter: *

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Don Pepe Taqueria

Don Pepe's just opened a second location across the street from my work.  Yah for me, boo for my waist line and wallet.

Carne Asada Taco & Al Pastor Taco $1.85 each
The tacos usually come with whole pinto beans in them but I always request "no beans."  Don't really dig beans in my taco.  As you can see, they don't go skimpy on the meat.

Chicken Enchilada Plate $6.50
In all the years I've been coming here, I just now tried these fabulous enchiladas. Corn tortilla is filled w/just cheese and then they top it with the meat of your choice, tomatoes, onions, crema and queso fresco. They also give you a side of crema.  The sauce has spice which I like but it's not spicy. I always think you can tell a good Mexican restaurant by the simple things such as salsa, rice & beans.  I really like Don Pepe's rice and beans, they're flavorful but provide a nice neutral taste to a spiced dish. I also like their salsa verde which I'm normally not a fan.

Don Pepe Taqueria (Woodrow & Shaw)
4950 N. Woodrow Ave., Suite 101
Fresno, CA 93726
(559) 292-3188

OG location 
4582 N. Blackstone Ave. (Blackstone & Gettysburg)
Fresno, CA 93726
(559) 224-1431

YUM Meter: ***