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: 

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: ***

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

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   

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

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: **

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

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: ***

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: *

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: ***