Burma Superstar

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http://www.burmasuperstar.com/

Craving something different and I had always heard rave reviews about a place called Burma Superstar but the wait is always really long at the restaurant itself. My co-worker suggested to do take-out since it takes only 15-20 minutes so conveniently their menu is online and I was able to order and when Ron came to pick me up from work, we went straight to the restaurant to pick-up. I was surprised when it was ready so quickly, less than 15 minutes after I ordered.

We tried their famous tea leaf salad. Lots of ingredients with a bit tangy and bitter dressing. I liked the peanuts, sesame seeds, and fried garlic. I wasn’t as impressed as I thought I’d be but maybe it tastes better freshly prepared in the restaurant.

Next dish was nan pia dok: coconut curry flat noodles with chicken. It needed a bit more spice and had probably cooled down too much once we started eating so the sauce was thick and wouldn’t coat the noodles easily.

Lastly, we ordered their string beans and fiery tofu with chicken dishes. The string beans were good but a small portion. The “fiery” tofu wasn’t very fiery.

So perhaps it must be much better in the restaurant since I didn’t really enjoy the take-out. All this cost $42 which seems a bit expensive for the portion size. With so many more places to try, not sure when we’ll be back to try it again.

Burma Superstar
309 Clement Street
(between 4th and 5th Ave)

Good Eats in San Gabriel

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One of the things we’ve been looking forward to during this trip was for the good food. We started out the morning and one of Ron’s favorite places for Taiwanese breakfast called Yung Ho Restaurant but unfortunately were a bit disappointed because it wasn’t the same as when we’d been a few years ago.

We ordered the cold soy milk, this was still nice and fresh and creamy.

The egg crepe tasted fine except they used to serve sauce with it but no more. When Ron asked for sauce, they gave us soy paste. The egg may have been a tad overcooked.

We ordered the ba wan (a meat pie) where the outside is a glutinous chewy shell. It was weird because it was flat on a plate and the sauce was thick and looks unappetizing. Usually there’s more bamboo shoots and more meat inside. This is usually my favorite thing for Taiwanese breakfast so I was disappointed.

Lastly, stinky tofu. Nicely fried but the picked vegetables on the side were overly pickled, limp, and sour. Usually it’s more crisp and has a spicy kick. The sauce was strange too, Ron complained it seemed like it had fermented beans in it and no garlic like it’s supposed to.

We were glad to be going somewhere else for lunch. We will likely not go back to Yung Ho again.

We met up with our friend Tiff and her friend just a few blocks away at Liang’s Kitchen, tucked away in the corner of a plaza. This meal was so much better. We shared a plate of pickled cucumbers, I loved these.

Ron had the minced meat with preserved vegetables over rice.

The other girls ordered the beef stew over noodles. I almost wanted this too. I had a small taste and it was pretty yummy.

I ordered a dry noodle dish, with pork and preserved vegetables. Their noodles are the dao xiao mian (knife cute noodles) so have a great chewy texture and varied widths and lengths. The toppings were a bit oily but also very yummy. I know I’m going to crave these noodles…

Afterwards, we had dessert in the same plaza at Pa Pa Walk for their mango shaved ice. A good size for 3 to 4 people after eating a good sized meal. Mangoes were really sweet, ice a little coarse but the sweetened condensed milk helped with the consistency.

Our first visit to our friend Tiff since she moved to Lancaster.

After lunch, we debated on driving back to San Francisco but I wanted to stay to have dinner first. So we ended up doing some shopping then went to see Ice Age 3. I love Scrat, he’s hilarious. Thumbs up for the movie but thumbs down for the $11 ticket.

We met up with our friend Will for dinner. He recommended this place called Indian Restaurant for Taiwanese bar food. We showed up around 6:30pm and were able to get a table right away. It was good thing we came early because it had a long wait by the time we finished dinner. The restaurant itself is a bit weird considering the sign outside is a picture of an American Indian and inside is sort of like an Asian Hooters but the food made up for it.

I ordered a passion fruit juice, it was a bit sweet.

We ordered a few small dishes like these grilled duck tongues. A weird poultry part but good.

Delicious fatty pork… it’s hard to resist eating the fat along with the pork but at our age, we shouldn’t be eating all the fat so we ate the meat around it.

Stinky tofu, the picked vegetables and sauce so much better than this morning.

Grilled chicken wings, meat a bit bland, needed some sort of dipping sauce.

Three cup chicken, very good, loved the basil.

After dinner, one more stop, Yogurt Land for dessert. My first experience of make your own yogurt. They have like 10 flavors of frozen yogurt and you add your own toppings then you pay by ounce. Very refreshing and perfect way to end our LA trip.

I have to work in the morning but thank goodness for Ron to be able to drive all the way home.

All in San Gabriel, CA:

Yung Ho Restaurant
533 W Valley Blvd

Liang’s Kitchen
227 W Valley Blvd

Pa Pa Walk
227 W Valley Blvd Ste 148-B

Indian Restaurant
633 S San Gabriel Blvd Ste 105

Wedding in Southern California

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We had an early start, leaving San Francisco at 5:30am to head to West Covina for our friends’ wedding. Ron did all the driving so that I could sleep on the way. We made good time and arrived in Arcadia around 10:30am to get some lunch. We ended up eating a bit later after waiting for some friends to meet up with us at Din Tai Fung.

We had a quick lunch of their famous dumplings:

Minced meat noodles with edamame:

Chinese tamale:

We went to the original restaurant in Arcadia (they have a 2nd store very close by) but it’s still not the same as in Taiwan.

We headed to the wedding ceremony in West Covina and although lovely, it was very long. It was our first time to a Catholic wedding that was in Vietnamese (and English). The church was decorated beautifully with these huge flower arrangements.

The bride and her dad walking up the aisle.

The smiling newly married couple.

Joshua & Phil after the ceremony.

After the two hour ceremony, Ron and I went to check in to our hotel and we both had a nap before heading to the reception in Garden Grove.

The reception was held at a hotel but it was catered by a Chinese restaurant, a first for us, this is apparently common in the OC, the hotel doesn’t require you to use their in-house catering. The reception was exceptionally large, 500-550 people, and 8 courses + wedding cake.

We were at lucky table 28.

First course: roasted chicken and shrimp salad. We all loved this salad, very refreshing and a nice creamy dressing with a little spicy kick at the end.

Second course: Shark’s Fin Crabmeat Soup.

Third course: Candied Walnut Shrimps & Shrimp Balls.

Fourth course: Assorted Meat Stuffed Duck (we weren’t sure what the “assorted” meats were…)

Fifth course: Furiwa House Special Lobster.

Sixth course: Lotus Leaf Fried Rice.

Seventh course: Hot and Sour Fish Fillet.

The last course was a plate of seasonal fruits and then we had a strawberry filled wedding cake.

It was fun to catch up with our UOP classmates and a beautiful wedding. It was one of the most unique weddings I’ve been to. For one, the size. For another, the entertainment. They had a magic show in the middle of the reception where the magician pulled out white doves, bunnies, and chickens. Also, the emcee for the wedding spoke four languages: Vietnamese, English, Mandarin, & Cantonese. They had special guest singers and and instead of just playing plain music throughout the reception, they had music videos playing on the big screens. Overall, it was pretty cool. Oh, and we were lucky, Ron ended up winning the floral centerpiece… although we have no idea what to do with it.

This is Lynne and we will be going back to LA for her wedding in September.

Looking forward to tomorrow for the good eats.

Din Tai Fung
1108 South Baldwin Ave
Arcadia, CA

Misu – so much better

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Although not a very flattering picture of me, but Ron caught this photo when he came home to find me napping… with Misu also snuggling in.

He’s still looking a bit skinny with his shaved tummy but he is putting on some weight and eating and drinking all by himself. He still loves to sit in our laps but he doesn’t look sickly anymore and he’s actually a bit more playful than before he was sick. Probably with less the weight, he’s able to move around easier to chase the laser pointer.

We’re still not sure what the stress trigger was that made him suddenly stop eating and drinking but I hope it doesn’t happen ever again.

Nordstrom Cafe Bistro

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http://www.yelp.com/biz/n…o-san-francisco

Had a good day shopping with V today. Lots of sales going on for the holiday weekend. Added a few cute dresses to my wardrobe that I am looking forward to wearing soon. After a full afternoon of shopping, we stopped by Nordstrom Cafe Bistro for dinner. Surprisingly a very cute and quiet little cafe with a nice San Francisco view especially on this clear day.

We ordered the French Onion Soup. We were actually disappointed because they ran out of calamari. It was a bit too cheesy and a bit oily but the bread in the soup with the broth was yummy.

For main entrees, we shared the nicoise salad with salmon. This was quite filling in itself as it had roasted potatoes, boiled eggs, tomatoes, green beans, olives, the salmon plus lettuce and a nice tangy vinagrette. We were pretty full after the soup and just eating this.

Lastly, the ratatouille chicken pizza. I only had one slice and there was a bit too much bread, not enough topping. Plus the middle a bit soggy due to the sauce so a bit hard to eat with your hands, more of a fork and knife kind of pizza until you get to the outer crust.

Including two iced teas, our bill came to $38 and we still had 3/4 of the pizza to take home in a doggy bag. Not sure what was so filling but we left satisfied (except upset about no calamari).

Nordstrom Cafe Bistro
865 Market Street
Level N4 (I think)