Category Archives: Project 365

Chocolate fondant – Bisou

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Project 365: Day 18

Happy birthday to me! Had a great gym workout in the morning then went to Bisou for a birthday brunch with Silverfox, T-Head and RSL. Apparently they told the waiter that it was my birthday so they brought out this cake at the end of the meal and sang Happy Birthday REALLY loudly, lol! I was actually surprised and kind of embarrassed (in a good way).

That place was rocking despite the very wet weather. There was another large birthday party in there. We had reservations but the people around us were quoted a 1.5 hour wait, geez! Bisou is quite the popular brunch place. I guess everybody loves bottomless mimosas!

Afterward, we went and had drinks at The Lookout, then we met more friends at Badlands followed by Toad Hall. It was a great birthday and a lot of my friends came out to celebrate. I drank plenty but I’m happy to say that I didn’t have a hang over! Perhaps the after-bar meal at La Zapata helped out, hehe.

Chocolate fondant Bisou

Rich souffle-like chocolate cake with a molten chocolate center. Served with vanilla ice cream. $8
Bisou, San Francisco

This chocolate fondant was delicious! Maybe things taste better when it’s your birthday. It was so warm and rich and the perfect with the vanilla ice cream. Thanks guys for a great birthday brunch! Too bad the 49’ers lost their game for a chance to play in the Super Bowl. 😦

Bottomless mimosa Bisou

Bottomless mimosa. $10

Japanese deer tartare – Benu

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Project 365: Day 17

Had a busy day-before-my-birthday day! Woke up with my lovey, stayed in bed and randomly caught a Streetfighter movie on TV (Legend of Chun Li or something like that, lol), went to the gym, got my hair did, had lunch downtown, picked up my wool and seersucker blazers from the tailor, did computer stuff, then had an AMAZING birthday dinner at Benu!

The dinner had 17 courses and lasted 3.5 hours! That’s pretty good if you ask me. I once had a pre fixe dinner in the Jewel Box at Mistral Kitchen in Seattle that lasted almost 4 hours, too. I honestly LOVE long dinners. They’re super relaxing and the food is almost always spectacular at these nice establishments. I thoroughly enjoyed this year’s birthday dinner. The food was SO delicious and the service was impeccable. (Anybody want to hit up French Laundry next?)

Afterward went to the Castro for some drinks but I didn’t last very long. I was SO frickin’ full and could barely move.

Can’t wait for brunch with T-Head and RSL tomorrow, then getting trashed with even more friends at Badlands!

Japanese deer tartare Benu

Served with artichoke mayonnaise and walnut bread. Pre fixe dinner $180
Benu, San Francisco

When I saw this dish on the menu, I was very intrigued. I’ve had venison before, but never as a tartare. The deer had a surprisingly clean flavor. I expected it be very gamey, dark and tough, but it tasted pretty neutral. Most of the flavor from this dish came from the artichoke mayonnaise, walnut bread, and whatever the freeze dried crumbles were on the plate.

Japanese deer tartare Benu

All the plates duirng dinner were beautiful! They were small poritons, but after 17 courses I was stuffed. The plates looked simple at a glanced but they had a lot of different components.

I’ll post the rest of the dishes soon!

Walnut bread Benu

Walnut bread. Even the bread was fantastic!

Dom Perignon champagne 1993

Moet e Chandon a Epernay, Champagne, Cuvee Dom Perignon, 1993. $40 corkage
Silverfox had this bottle of champagne laying around and he decided to pop the cork for my birthday dinner, aww! That’s a good thing because Benu had bottles of Dom Perignon 1996 and 1995 for $750 and $957, respectively. Ouch! We got away with only paying corkage.

Dom Perignon champagne 1993

The boxed bottle of champagne is just asking to be opened!

Corey Lee signed menu

Menu signed by chef Corey Lee. This was a cute surprise at the end of the meal. We had menus at our table the entire time to keep up with what we were eating, but those were taken away at the end and replaced with a couple signed menus.

Lobster roll – We’re On A Roll

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Project 365: Day 16

It started raining last night and has continued raining today! Not very hard though, more like a sprinkle. I’m from Seattle, I’m used to the real stuff!

Today is the eve of my Birthday Weekend! Yay!!! So for lunch I decided to treat myself to a lobster roll from We’re On a Roll. It’s a food stand in front of New England Lobster Company. I needed a little pick-me-from to combat the gloomy weather. It IS almost my birthday, you know. Hehe! This is the first time I’ve been to this stand, but I’m so glad they’re here. There’s nothing else nearby except fast food joint and mediocre sandwich shops. It’s nice to have a nicer alternative.

The office also surprised me with a birthday cake from Suzanne’s Cake & Pastry in Millbrae. And I have to admit that I was truly surprised – I wasn’t expecting it. That was super sweet!

Lobster roll We're On A Roll

Cooked lobster stuffed in a warm split-top, buttered roll, topped with chopped red onions, celery and bell peppers. Served with homemade coleslaw and Tim’s Cascade poato chips. $15.50
We’re On A Roll, South San Francisco CA

At first I thought that this was a little overpriced. That’s a lot for lunch in South San Francisco! But you do get the side of coleslaw and chips, and there’s a lot of delicious lobster in that roll! They have the chopped vegetables in front of their lunch trailer so you can add as much or as little as you like.

Lobster roll We're On A Roll

They also have picnic tables nearby where you can eat your delicious roll, but since it was raining I ate mine in the car. Yum! I’d go back.

Polar Classics black cherry We're On A Roll

Polar Classics black cherry flavored soda. Free with your first checkin on Yelp!

Smoked salmon frittata – La Boulange de Noe

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Project 365: Day 15

These days before my birthday weekend are DRAGGING by! It’s painful, hehe.

Omg! Hubbs and I booked our flights to Dublin and London last night! I’m SO excited. We’re meeting Kryan and D-Dubbs in Ireland to celebrate Kry’s birthday, then heading to London to visit our friend D. Did I mention how excited it am?!?! The airfare did cost a pretty penny so I’m feeling a bit poor right now. Not the way to be when you have dinner at Benu coming up. Lol! So I’m gonna have a pretty busy Spring in terms of travel. I have a Caribbean cruise, a Europe trip, Las Vegas trip, and a possible trip to Ohio for a friend’s birthday. This is the most I’ll be travelling in a while! Heck yeah!

Smoked salmon quiche La Boulange de Noe

Egg frittata with asparagus, potatoes and tomatoes with smoked salmon and lemon wedge on top. Served with creme fraiche, mixed greens and toast. $6.75
La Boulange de Noe, San Francisco

I stopped by La Boulange on the way home from the gym this morning and ordered what I thought was going to be a small snack because I was starving yet again. It ended up being an entire plate of food which I couldn’t finish. Gotta love breakfast at La Boulange though! The food is consistently good and super cheap. You get all this for $6.75! The frittata was a little overdone but it still tasted great. It was filled with lots of vegetables and topped with plenty of smoked salmon. The salad was good but overdressed.

Pork, seafood and mushroom tofu soup – Mom’s Tofu House

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Project 365: Day 14

Yet another excruciatingly cold day in San Francisco! Those of you in places where is actually gets below 30 degrees F are probably scoffing at me, but we San Franciscans aren’t used to a lot of super cold days in a row. My workout was much more productive today. I’m always super hungry still though.

So a group of us went to Mom’s Tofu House as an early birthday celebration. I haven’t been to a tofu house since my Berkeley days. Everyone else had the sizzling stone pot rice, but I opted for the tofu soup. When at a tofu house…! We arrived just in time to beat the lunch crowd, heck yeah!

One of the ladies was so cute. I was taking a photo of Papa Chang’s food so I had it in front of me. Then one waitress brought out my soup and I told her to put it in the middle of the table so I can finish taking the pic. I think the head waitress thought we were confused so she came over and took Papa Chang’s food away from me, placed it in front of him, and said “This is HIS!” We started laughing!

Pork, seafood and mushroom tofu soup Mom's Tofu House

Soft tofu stew served in hot stone pot with pork, calamari, mussels, clams and fish (? it’s kinda hard to make everything out) and mushrooms. Served with raw egg and rice. $9.99
Mom’s Tofu House, South San Francisco CA

This thing came out super HOT! The soup was steamed and bubbling when it arrived at the table. I ordered it spicy and it was SO delicious! I’m glad that I got the combination because it was fun to see everything in the soup with every spoonful. The flavors were great and it seemed spicier at first because the soup was so hot, but as it cooled down you could start comfortably tasting all the yummy flavors of the stew. Nommy noms!

Raw egg Mom's Tofu House

Raw egg. They bring the egg out while you’re eating the ban chan, and when the tofu soup arrives the waitress cracks the egg into the soup. Yum!

Steamed rice Mom's Tofu House

Steamed rice. I was very good with my attempted healthy eating, and I only had about a quarter of the rice!

Bowl with steamed rice Mom's Tofu House

Bowl with steamed rice.

Rum raisin & Coconut macarons – La Boulange de Noe

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Project 365: Day 13

Had a pretty tough time at the gym this morning. I felt really tired and weak. The 4 days off in Palm Springs without exercise really made a difference. I still tried to be productive though. I was STARVING after the gym so I made a quick grocery run at Whole Foods and grabbed a couple macaron flavors I haven’t tried yet from La Boulange.

It’s been super cold in San Francisco since I’ve been back. I was freezing on the way to the gym and had to wear a scarf. Although it was super cold, the light on our balcony was bright and made for these great pics. I’m gonna be taking plenty of morning food pics since I’m back to working nights.

Rum raisin & Coconut macarons La Boulange de Noe

I liked both of these flavors, but the coconut really knocked my socks off! It had great flavor and the texture from the coconut bits was fun. Although I like the rum raisin, I couldn’t have told you the flavor without knowing prior. It was a good, but indistinguishable.  $1.50 each
La Boulange de Noe, San Francisco

Rum raisin La Boulange de Noe

Rum rasisin macaron.

Coconut macaron La Boulange de Noe

Coconut macaron.

Barbacoa burrito bowl – Chipotle Mexican Grill

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Project 365: Day 12

Omg! It was SO hard waking up this morning. We were on the road by 4:50 AM and I drove the entire way. It took almost 7 hours! Silverfox was feeling sick so I took on the driving duties. He deserved to sleep during the car ride. The toughest part of the drive was the 210. It was so dark and foggy. It took a lot of concentration not to fall asleep behind the wheel. Once we passed Santa Clarita, it got brighter so it was a breeze from there on. We made one stop at Kettleman City for gas and a Starbucks run. I also grabbed this burrito bowl at Chipotle in Millbrae before Silverfox dropped me off at work.

It’s a holiday, but the workload seemed normal. I guess we have a lot of work that hasn’t been assigned yet (not gonna name names, argh!) so this coming week is gonna be fun! Not. I am excited to hit the gym tomorrow morning!

Barbacoa burrito bowl Chipotle Mexican Grill

Spicy, shredded beef, slowly braised for hours in a blend of chipotle pepper adobo, cumin, cloves, garlic and oregano until tender and moist. With cilantro-lime brown rice, black beans, hot salsa, corn salsa, cheese, sour cream and lettuce. $6.50
Chipotle Mexican Grill, Millbrae CA

Standard Chipotle fare – barbacoa is my favorite here. Didn’t quite hit the spot but the large Diet Coke helped. Oh well, it was quick and on the way to work so I’m not gonna complain.

Chilaquiles with scrambled eggs – Cheeky’s

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Project 365: Day 11

Ok, so I’ve failed! I didn’t get this post out yesterday, but you know what? I’m still gonna move forward with my Project 365. We ended up partying a little too hard at Toucan’s last night so I completely forgot to post this, but I’ve noticed that some people post on a weekly basis. At least I’m only a day late.

We had a pretty full day yesterday. Had brunch at Cheeky’s, then went shopping at the Cabazon outlets (bought a couple cute t-shirts), had tacos at Crazy Coyote tacos, then happy hour drinks and food at The Tropicale, then more drinks and played trivia at Toucan’s. The last couple times I’ve been at Toucan’s, I’ve run into old friends. Previously it was old Seattle friends who now live in Los Angeles, and last night I ran into MT from San Francisco. Fun! He seemed very happy!

Palm Springs weekends always fly by way too quickly!  😦

Chilaquiles with scrambled eggs Cheeky's

Fried tortilla chips in a sauce made with homemade chorizo, tomatillo, sliced red onions, queso fresco and cilantro. $10. Scrambled eggs $2 extra.
Cheeky’s, Palm Springs CA

Cheeky’s is currently my favorite brunch spot in Palm Springs. Next time we’re down, we’re gonna try Jake’s next door. I must say that I’m not very impressed with the overall food scene in Palm Springs, but the food at Cheeky’s is consistently good. The service is friendly and there’s always great people watching. And I LOVE their bacon flight (post to come). The chilaquiles were pretty good. I liked the chorizo and the tomatillo was a nice surprise. I’m used to chilaquiles having a red sauce. Overall, the plate was bright and fresh. Just want I needed after the previous day’s debacle at Pinocchio. My only complaint is that some of the tortilla chips were very over-fried.

Water Cheeky's

Water.

Hawaiian burger – Pinocchio In The Desert

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Project 365: Day 10

I had a hard time sleeping last night, not sure why. I even had a nightmare where a snake tried biting me. Odd, huh?

Silverfox and I had a late brunch at one of our usual Palm Springs breakfast joints, Pinocchio In The Desert. Unfortunately, we were SO disappointed. Maybe it was the overcast weather, but everything at this place seemed off.  I’ve always known that you don’t really go to Pinocchio for the food, but the atmosphere is usually really fun so you don’t notice that the food isn’t all that great.

Today, we both noticed that the food was really crappy. That and the bottomless mimosas gave me a headache and knocked me out for the afternoon.

We did have a great dinner at Johannes though. You can read my diatribe about dark restaurants in my previous entry. I HATE DARK RESTAURANTS! So annoying.

Otherwise, had a lazy day. Did some clothes shopping and ran some errands. A nice vacay day if you ask me. Just wish the food had been better.

Hawaiian burger Pinocchio In The Desert

Half pound burger on a whole wheat bun, pineapple, teriyaki sauce, lettuce, sliced tomato, pickles, caramalized onions, swiss cheese and cole slaw. $10.95
Pinocchio In The Desert, Palm Springs CA

I guess this tasted ok, but how can you really go wrong with a burger drenched in teriyaki sauce with pineapples! Hawaiian burgers have always been a favorite of mine, but the beef patty on this burger was a bit of a throw away. Sad.

Bottomless mimosas

Bottomless champagne $3.95 per glass, orange juice carafe $3.95. This gave me a headache this time around.

General Tso’s chicken – Tung Sing Restaurant

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Project 365: Day 8

I was walking home from the gym and was SO frickin’ hungry! Actually, I was hungry the entire afternoon. I think I’ve been working out too much and not eating enough calories, which is surprising since I eat like a pig! That’s why I ducked into Tung Sing on the way home and grabbed a small order of General Tso’s chicken and a BBQ pork baked bun.

Now it’s time to do some laundry, clean my room, and pack for a road trip to Palm Springs with Silverfox! We leave early tomorrow morning and I can’t wait! It’ll be nice to be in warmer weather and do absolutely nothing. Just a lot of relaxing and drinking poolside. Ahhhh!

General Tso's chicken Tung Sing Restaurant

Breaded and deep fried chicken pieces in a special garlicky sauce with chopped onions and green bell peppers. Small $2.99
Tung Sing Restaurant, San Francisco

I was actually disappointed by this dish – a bit of a surprise considering how much I love General Tso’s chicken. I liked that it was super saucy, sticky and sweet but I think the quality of the food has gone downhill at Tung Sing. Even the pork bun was blah. I’ll admit that it helped ease my hungry, but I wish the chicken wasn’t so hard and over fried.

Salumi, cheese and tapenade

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Project 365: Day 7

Omg! I am SO tired. I biked almost 15 miles to work this morning even though my legs were still tired from squats a couple days ago. Then Rapunzel, Papa Chang and I took a 30-minute bike ride before lunch. And then I biked to Bart after work and back home from the Bart station near my house. I was so hungry all day because I burned so many calories from biking. Maybe I’m over doing it on the exercise. I keep thinking, “Cruise, cruise, cruise!” I even had a dream about the cruise last night!

I’ve got to say that taking the midday ride was really fun and beautiful! It was nice to get out of the office, get some exercise and enjoy the outdoors. I love being outside and I’m glad that some of my coworkers do too!

Salumi cheese and tapenade

Prosciutto, salame al tartufo, taleggio cheese, reblochon prefere de fromi cheese, mixed olive tapenade, fig and olive tapenade, multiseed flatbread.

After I had an early dinner, I was still super hungry so I made myself a nice snack plate to munch on while catching up on DVR. I love truffle flavored salami – I bought these from Whole Foods. Actually, everything on this plate is from Whole Foods, lol!

Banh hoi with grilled prawns and pork – Hometown Noodle 2

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Project 365: Day 6

Went to try this Vietnamese restaurant for lunch because this was the last day of their Grand Opening special. Free soda and 20% off the entire bill. Heck yeah! I guess this is their second location – the original restaurant is down in Redwood City. The food was pretty good and the lady was super nice, but a little slow and forgetful.

Can’t wait to bike to work tomorrow! I love the early morning cardio. My legs are still a little sore from squats at the gym yesterday. Rapunzel, Papa Chang and I are also gonna go for a quick ride during our lunch break. We’re gonna rule the road, lol!

Banh hoi with grilled prawns and pork Hometown Noodle 2

Banh hoi tom heo nuong. “Banh Hoi” is made by packing thin rice noodles together tightly into patties, then cut into squares. Banh hoi is combined with mint leaves, lettuce, cucumber, carrot, radish, cilantro, green onions, and ground peanuts. Served with house special fish sauce. $9.95
Hometown Noodle 2, San Bruno CA

This was very tasty, but you really can’t go wrong with Vietnamese food – the flavors are bright and refreshing. Both the pork and prawns were tender and flavorful. I really like the compressed vermicelli noodles! I don’t think I’ve had them like that before. I made one lettuce roll, but it was too messy so I ended up just dumping the fish sauce (and some chili oil) over the whole plate and using chopsticks to eat everything. I’m a simple man!