Chef Yuyu Za Zang

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http://www.yelp.com/biz/yuyu-za-zang-oakland

I was in Oakland working so had the opportunity to go to one of my favorite places for lunch. I remember it as being called Chef Yu but upon searching for it, it’s actually called Yuyu Za Zang. Parking is kind of hard in the area, especially when there is a funeral nearby, and today there seemed to be cops out in full force so even parking meter parking makes you anxious that your time will expire. If you live in the area, it’s probably great for take out.

Ron and I had lunch together so we ordered two dishes. This is the original za zang noodles.

This was a little bit plain, I think I prefer the other one, I think called “gan za zang” which has other things in it. The spicy soup noodles are really good though, it’ll make you cry with happiness. Their noodles are fresh, chewy, and not too thick.

Ron ordered the fried chicken, much better than Za Zang Noodles in SF because it’s made with a lot less breading so you taste more chicken. The sauce isn’t as vinegared so you can still breathe in while eating (have you ever tried to inhale strongly vinegared food while it’s still steaming hot?).

The deep fried stuff comes a bit slower so if you’re in a rush, this might not be the best place to have lunch. I had an hour lunch and we had to rush to eat to get back in time.

Your meal is served with the pickled yellow turnip, raw onions, and bean paste. Rice is separate. They serve tea or water.

They also have Chinese food which I haven’t had a chance to try yet. I like the noodles too much, can’t wait for the next time I get to work in Oakland 🙂

Yuyu Za Zang
3919 Telegraph Avenue (between 39th and 40th St)

Mother’s Day

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We went to Dublin to have Mother’s Day dim sum and tried some interesting dishes.

Here is a taro bun with salted duck egg. Just the right amount of sweetness and saltiness and the bread so fresh and delicious.

This is a breaded fish wrapped in noodles. This is a version of zha liang except stuffed with fish. This has to be eaten really hot or else the breading gets soggy. Great with the sweet soy sauce provided.

After lunch, I went to my parents’ house to do laundry. I really really really miss having our own washer and dryer. It was so nice to use theirs, they just seem so much stronger than the ones in our apartment, the clothes come out cleaner and the dryer works so much better.

While washing and drying, I played with Happy. She loves her Loofa dogs. She chews on the squeaker until she gets it out then removes all the stuffing while she’s at it. She is very happy, so cute!

Here she looks like an evil dog…

Next time I go to Pet Food Express I’ll have to get her more of these Loofa dogs, in the 2 years my parents have had Happy, she’s gone through at least 10 of them…

Taiwanese American Cultural Festival

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http://www.sftafest.org/

It was a beautiful day in San Francisco today so Ron and I enjoyed the afternoon in Union Square for the Taiwanese American Cultural Festival.

Clear blue skies (there was a lady singing on stage but she’s hidden by the podium).

We enjoyed a bit of lunch. Homemade ba-wan.

and Chinese tamale, had lots of peanuts, chestnuts, pork, and mushrooms.

There was an owner and his dog enjoying the warmth and music but the dog was sitting in a funny position…

We stayed to watch the children of the Fremont Taiwan School perform some cultural dances. They were very cute.

It was a very nice warm afternoon. I’m glad the sun is back. I’m glad we went to Costco this morning too, now I have food for breakfast and lunch for the next few weeks!

DOSA on Fillmore

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http://www.dosasf.com/df_index.html

After a really long week of work for both of us, Vicki and I decided to meet up to vent and enjoy a good meal. I made a reservation on Opentable at DOSA on Fillmore. The only reservation times they had were for 5:45pm and 9:30pm for a party of 2. Not sure if this is the regular thing but possibly all the reservations were already taken up. So I chose the 5:45pm reservation.

Vicki kindly came to pick me up from work and we headed to the restaurant. We were lucky to find street parking right around the corner.

As we walked into the restaurant, I noticed the super high ceilings and the restaurant had really cool lampshades and very calming color. It was early so the restaurant wasn’t bustling yet but by the time we left around 8pm, it was starting to get crowded with people waiting and also a bit noisy, difficult to talk even at a table for two. We were seated upstairs immediately upon our arrival and it was nice to be seated near the windows to enjoy the seldom sunshine of San Francisco.

The menu looked delicious and we could have ordered everything but settled on three dishes.

Prelude to the meal were these fried thin cracker-like things which had caraway seeds. Very appetizing although maybe a bit oily if you eat too much.

We shared a bottle of wine as recommended by our server that would go well with our duck dish. This is an Italian wine and I must say, it was surprisingly smooth and easy to drink (I’m not very good at drinking red wine…).

We actually ordered the Bhel Puri which was supposed to be a diced green mango salad but I think the waitress didn’t hear me correctly so we got this organic green salad with mangoes and goat cheese instead. I didn’t realize it until we got the bill that it was the wrong salad. We were probably too hungry to notice. The goat cheese surprisingly was very yummy, smooth and creamy.

A token picture of myself. Vicki asked me why I’m never in my pictures? Usually because no one offers to take one for me… so thanks V!

This is the Paper Masala Dosa served with Indian potatoes, sambar (a spicy lentil soup) and tomato chutney & fresh coconut chutney. This is almost a meal in itself! It was so good though, we kept on munching on it even though we knew we needed to save room for our second course. (This is on the list of 100 Things to try before you die.)

Last entree, duck spinach masala & paneer with lemon rice. We each had a bit of rice, a duck leg, and some cheese and that was it. I really liked their paneer, it had some texture (not too hard and not too soft) but the duck for me was only okay. The rice was really good. We asked them to pack the rest but when we left, they didn’t bring it to our table so dunno where it went 🙁

After all that rich food, we wanted to have something sweet. Today my extra stomach for dessert was in full force… so we ordered the Sweet Pongal, rice pudding with raw sugar cane juice and cardamom cream plus some nuts and fruits mixed in. Oh so good! I love cardamom cream. I made cardamom whipped cream once for a dessert and it was oh so good.

Needless to say, we were stuffed and happy (the wine helped with that). I’m sorry to the waitstaff if I under-tipped, I tried to do the 10%+5% of the bill but was in a rush so might not have added correctly, I like it when restaurants have the suggested tip amounts on the bottom of the check so dorks like me don’t have that problem. Or Ron suggests I should just get an iPhone and get the application to go along with it.

I’d definitely go back again, I think Ron would enjoy it too. I’d highly recommend making a reservation on Opentable so you don’t have to wait!

DOSA on Fillmore
1700 Fillmore (at Post St)