Category Archives: Asian

Asian Pearl

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http://www.yelp.com/biz/asian-pearl-fremont

We met up with my parents for dinner in Fremont. They wanted to try this new restaurant that just opened in Fremont called Asian Pearl. There is also a branch in Millbrae if you don’t want to drive all the way to Fremont but it’s probably not as large as the one in Fremont.

It’s in this huge strip mall near Auto Mall Parkway and right across the street from Costco. Next door to the restaurant is this furniture store that almost takes up one square block! The restaurant itself has high ceilings and is very spacious. There are also some private rooms, which is where we got seated. If you don’t want to end up waiting forever for dinner, MAKE A RESERVATION. My parents did a good job with that.

Our reservation was at 7:30 and we were seated within 10 minutes. The waitstaff was very courteous and friendly although a bit slow in the beginning with coming to take our order.

Their menu has a yellow/red theme. Lots of good photos.

We ordered the set meal for 4 persons, for $188. We paid a bit extra since we had 5 people.

Our first course was the meat platter with duck tongues, beef, chicken wings, and fried tofu. The tofu was the best part, crispy fried skin and soft silken tofu in the center.

Our next course was a special dish of chicken with geoduck. The geoduck was tossed with wasabi, red onions, ginger, and cilantro… oh so spicy but oh so good!

We had shark fin soup.

Romaine lettuce hearts sauteed with tofu skin and barely cooked garlic. The garlic was spicy!

A steamed black bass.

Stir fried foie gras with a variety of mushrooms and green beans. We’ve never had Chinese style foie gras so I didn’t know what to expect but it tasted pretty good, it was a bit charred on the outside but not the melt in your mouth type of texture.

Tofu medallions and scallops topped with pumpkin sauce and fish roe. You could hardly taste the pumpkin flavor of the sauce but the fish roe was there and the scallops were really fresh.

Our last main dish was the foie gras fried rice. A bit dry for my liking but the small pieces of foie gras really gave it something extra.

Last but not least, mango pudding!

They also served us red bean soup to end the meal. Needless to say, we were ready to roll home. Again just to mention, the waiters were very attentive and kept on coming by to check on how things were and appreciated our compliments by always saying thank you.

If you’re looking for a place for a Chinese wedding banquet or to hold a company dinner, I think this place has nice facilities and would be able to do a good job.

I’m not sure if we’d ever drive all the way out there again but never say never… sounds like their dim sum is good too.

Asian Pearl
43635 Boscell Road
Fremont, CA
510-979-1368

Andy’s Excellent Chinese Cuisine

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http://www.yelp.com/biz/a…e-san-francisco

Ron and I didn’t feel like making dinner tonight so decided to order food for delivery. When I checked the mail today there was a flyer for Andy’s Excellent Chinese Cuisine, free delivery for $10 minimum order and if you order $25 or more, you can get free egg fried rice, vegetable chow mein, OR one egg roll. So we figured we’d try it.

We ordered Kung Pao Chicken ($7.95) (but got Kung Pao Shrimp instead)

Salted fish and diced chicken fried rice ($6.95)

Sauteed broccoli in garlic sauce ($6.95)

To top off our order over $25, Ron ordered a TsingTao beer ($3.50)

We got the free vegetable chow mein:

They delivered in about 45 minutes as promised. Likely because we’re not that far from their actual restaurant.

The chow mein was a bit bland, needs some sort of sauce. But overall, pretty standard Chinese food, the kung pao isn’t as spicy as we would have liked.

We paid $27.50 but I have no idea how they came to that number because however I add tax, it doesn’t work our exactly. I guess they did not charge us for the shrimp, which is $1 more than the chicken.

Looking forward to the weekend so we can go somewhere nice for dinner…

Watched an interesting show tonight on FOX: Kitchen Nightmares with Gordon Ramsay. If you were a fan of Hell’s Kitchen, then I think you’d enjoy this show.

Andy’s Excellent Chinese Cuisine
1358 Ninth Avenue (between Irving & Judah)
(415) 661-1803 or (415) 661-1804

Spices II on 6th Avene & Clement

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http://www.eatspices.com/

Today I went to go get my dad’s iPhone screen fixed. He has cracked the screen a few times so that the “touch” no longer works. I made an appointment with an Apple store “genius” to see if they could replace it. I was a bit disappointed because I wanted to see how it was done… instead, they just give you a new phone! If the phone is no longer under warranty, it costs $200+ to replace the phone but I guess it’s cheaper than buying a completely new phone off-contract.

Afterwards, Ron and I went to find somewhere to eat. Although we live around lots of difference restaurants, we always have trouble choosing a place. We ended up on Clement St. and decided to try Spices II on 6th Avenue. Our friends had mentioned this place before and said it was good so we thought we’d check it out.

We ordered the Numbing Spicy Cucumbers. I’ve been looking for a place that serves this type of cucumbers the way I like them (my favorite place is Sho Mi in Stockton, CA). This was almost what I wanted except that the cucumbers were a bit soft but the spice was good.

From 09-09-2008 Spices II on Clement Ave

Numbing Spicy Mandarin Noodle (I think). The egg noodles were chewy and the sauce not all that spicy but was an okay dish.

From 09-09-2008 Spices II on Clement Ave

Stir fried potato strips. Ron mistakenly ate the green pepper thinking it was a bell pepper and he almost choked! It was spicy. The dish was a bit weird though, sort of like stir fried hash browns instead of fried. The spice numbed your tongue and lips for a while but then suddenly goes away.

From 09-09-2008 Spices II on Clement Ave

Three spiced chicken. We saw the table near us having this dish and were wondering what it was because it looked good. By chance we ordered the three spiced chicken and it turned out to be the same dish. The chicken was really crispy and it was filled with hot peppers and was very yummy.

From 09-09-2008 Spices II on Clement Ave

Needless to say, we were stuffed. We didn’t realize how big the portions were so we ordered way too much so we have leftovers for the next day. Surprisingly, the spice wasn’t overpowering and it disappeared pretty quickly after we stopped eating.

I don’t know if it’s good or bad that this place is close to where we live. I predict we may be visiting this place more often to try other dishes.

Spices II
291 6th Avenue & Clement
San Francisco, CA

Zazang Noodles on Geary

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http://www.yelp.com/biz/z…e-san-francisco

Tonight we were craving some noodles so went to Zazang Noodles on Geary. My friends at Kaiser took me out to lunch here the last time I was back in the US. The spicy seafood noodles disappointed me but the “za zang mien” was pretty good so I wanted to go back and try it.

We ordered the regular za zang noodles which were delicious.

From 09-08-2008 ZaZang Noodle on Geary Blvd

Also, we tried the spicy za zang noodles where they serve the sauce separately so you mix in your own amount. They also serve it with the pickled turnip, onions, and bean sauce. This was even better than the original za zang noodles.

From 09-08-2008 ZaZang Noodle on Geary Blvd

We also decided to try the chap chae which had meat and green bell peppers and onions. A bit peppery but in a good way.

From 09-08-2008 ZaZang Noodle on Geary Blvd

This is the best tasting za zang noodles we’ve had in the bay area.

Zazang Noodle
2340 Geary Blvd
San Francisco

Ping Pong Playa, Philz Coffee, and Golden Star Vietnamese

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We went to see this totally hilarious movie called “Ping Pong Playa”. It is playing at the Sony Metreon. The movie pokes fun about some part of Chinese culture and it’s a bit corny, but very funny. The actors tried to speak “Chinglish” and although it was a bit forced, it was still pretty hilarious. I’d recommend checking it out, but maybe when it’s available on DVD.

Afterwards we went to this fantastic coffee place near AT&T Park/SoMa called Philz Coffee. They blend their own coffee beans and they grind the coffee to order. I love dark roasted coffees and their “Ether” blend is a dream. The barista added the milk and sugar to the coffee as well and it was the perfect amount. I could have had another cup but I want to sleep tonight! It’s strong stuff! I hope I can visit there again… or if I can’t, apparently you can purchase their coffee beans online and have them delivered. I think Peet’s may lose my business soon…

We skipped lunch so we went to have early dinner at Golden Star Vietnamese nearby Chinatown. I had a noodle soup that I haven’t had for a long time: Bun bo Hue. I always know of it as a spicy beef, pork blood, noodle soup. I know pork blood sounds gross but it’s really good in the soup. This version wasn’t spicy enough for me though. When I was living in Stockton, there’s one Vietnamese place that makes it so spicy that you cry while eating, just the way I like it! I can’t believe I’m going to say that I want to go back to Stockton… but that place also has really good lemon grass chicken, too bad I can’t remember the name of the restaurant…

From 09-07-2008 Golden Star Vietnamese
From 09-07-2008 Golden Star Vietnamese