Happy New Years from Taipei!
|
Saying you have the best ribs in San Jose is almost the same as making the statement that you have the best cheesesteak or deep-dish pizza in San Jose. You probably would scoff because the city isn’t known for these culinary contributions. Why eat ribs or cheesesteak in SJ when you know there’s much better in Memphis or Philly? Because we can’t all afford a $250 flight to eat the best ribs out there! We’re not all investment bankers with food cravings like a pregnant woman. Well, fear not, regular folk. Just because it’s the best only in this humble city, doesn’t mean it’s not good. It can still be very good… nay, awesome. It still means plenty when I say that Henry’s has some of the best ribs in the South Bay and one of the few charmingly unique eating experiences left in the area.
Henry’s is an eating institution in San Jose. Located next door to HP Pavilion, it’s a sporting fan’s HQ for beer and ribs when the Sharks are playing. Even on an off-night, the bar area is filled with patrons, most of whom are waiting for tables inside. You’ll have to be aware of their procedure for table calling. When you come in, there is a box of numbers at the end of the bar. Grab one of those, and just like at a deli, they will call out numbers one at a time. Once your number is called, they will take your order for those in your party, so take a look at the menu and figure out what you want beforehand. After that, they’ll call your name when your table is ready and food will be served up very quickly after.
Definitely recommend the half rack of ribs (or full if you’re sharing). They’re smoked to perfection–bones come clean out of the tender meat. They’re smoked slowly under a low heat for a long time and then cooked to order in their brick oven before you’re even seated. While the meat’s really good, it can be overshadowed by their baked potato. The seasoned butter that goes inside it is YUM. People also say good things about their pre-meal garlic bread as well.
Their other offerings include steaks, prime rib, beef ribs, and salmon. Tasted the salmon and thought it was just all right. For my money, I’d rather go with the BBQ ribs every time. Of course, I have to mention that Man V. Food featured this place in their San Jose episode. To see what Adam Richman said about this place, look on Henry’s website for the video. For a noteworthy dining experience in Downtown San Jose, you really should check out Henry’s Hi-Life and have a taste of their “world famous” ribs. Henry’s Hi-Life A while ago, I discovered that the best remedy for a hangover was a nice, large, warm bowl of good pho. My previous best remedies included mashed potatoes and gravy and the spiciest bowl of gumbo I could get my hands on, but now for me, there’s nothing that beats a good bowl of pho. Why? Maybe it’s the noodles soaking up those toxins, the flavorful broth reminding your tongue what things tasted like before tequila, or maybe it’s the msg putting your body into a euphoric comatose state. Whatever the case, it just gets the jackhammer inside my skull to stop for a while. This past weekend, I had a friend in need after a night of hard partying in Hollywood. He looked pretty bad in the morning, so being the helpful friend that I am, I took him out east to “Where the Asian things are” for some delicious pho at Golden Deli. About five bites in, he already started to look much better.
No matter what state of mind you are in when you sit down at the Golden Deli, you will have your taste buds dancing to the tune of their noodle soup. So far, this is the best bowl of pho I’ve had in Los Angeles–and quite possibly anywhere in California for that matter. The broth they use to cook your raw meats in is unbelievably flavorful and needs no addition of condiments. A shame really, because I love making a happy face with the hoisin and sriracha sauces. A friend introduced it to me about a year back and I’ve tried to fit a trip out at least once a month to fill my pho cravings. It’s got 4 stars and 300+ reviews on Yelp, so you know that the web-savvy foodies approve (for whatever that’s worth to you). One of the best comments I’ve seen is “If I were baptized in a bowl of their #1, I would [surely] go to heaven.” You might think that’s blasphemous, but that’s only because you haven’t tried it yet. If you come, expect a wait and a very casual setting. Once you do get a seat (much quicker if you avoid busy hours), you’ll likely feel rushed by how quickly they want to take your order, have you pay your bill, and turn the table over. It’s not unusual to get the bill placed on the side of your table only five minutes after you’ve gotten your food, and if you don’t have your cash out, they will actually slide the bill closer to you whenever they walk by–just in case you didn’t notice it the first time. This very casual, to-the-point environment is hardly a deterrent from enjoying your bowl of pho. I’m just warning you not to bring a date that you would like to have a nice, long meal with. If the wait is too much, there is the lesser known Vietnam House across the street that is their sister restaurant. Word is the food is the same over there with less rush. You can find both restaurants on Las Tunas in San Gabriel, just west of Mission. Go and eat here. I’m not pho-king around. Golden Deli Vietnamese Restaurant 815 W Las Tunas Dr Face it, we all make mistakes in life. It happens. We make bad decisions that come out of not knowing enough of a situation, or we make poor use of the information that we do have. Such decisions are made nearly every day in life. Some of them are fixable, such as returning that shirt that has a missing button. Some are no big deal, like buying a carton of milk when you already had one in the fridge. And then there are some irreversible ones that can make a big difference in your lives. Somewhere in the magnitude of “I passed on Cornell and NYU because my high school sweetheart only got into schools on the west coast and I wanted us to stay together.” My advice on those would be to try to just laugh it off if you can. I don’t like making mistakes with my food. I mean, what can you do? You ordered it (and most likely already ate half of it) before the disappointment sinks in. Most won’t ask for a refund unless it’s for a better reason than ‘I just didn’t like it.’ So you just endure the last half, pay up, and get on with the rest of your life. It’s an imperfect transaction. You don’t know what your dish will taste like until after you’ve ordered it and made a promise to pay for the service. In reality, ordering the wrong dish isn’t a big deal. You got the sustenance your body needed and, in less than a day, it’ll run its course through your body anyway. The disappointment will not last long (unless it gives you food poisoning). I may feel like I made the wrong decisions that night, but luckily I went with eight other friends to Campanile for their DineLA dinner and they made some very good ones. It should be worth noting that I went against the waiter’s recommendations on every dish, which may be of some useful information in the future. So, I’ll do something different and talk about what they had instead.
Here is the waiter’s recommended starter: Poached Egg with Porcini Mushroom Cream and White Truffle Oil. I think it just looks glorious, and they pile on the thinly sliced truffles too, which gives it that incredible flavor in every tiny bite. Alas, I went with another dish because I didn’t want to spring for the cash upgrade (too broke from Grace and XIV… those tiny upgrades have a knack for adding up). However, if I were to go back again soon, this would be the first dish I’d be ordering.
I liked my neighbor’s pork loin dish better than my own, although it needed the creme fraiche to compensate for some dryness in my opinion. Still, I liked the value and sides more than my mussels dish. I went seafood just cause I hadn’t seen too much shellfish entrees on all the DineLA spots that I’ve encountered this month.
Regrettably unfocused pic of the Bread Pudding. All but two people at the table went with the waiter’s recommended dessert dish, which was definitely pretty good. Maybe not the best bread pudding I’ve had, but very close. I just wanted to strike a different chord than the rest of the group and went with ice cream. Mango and vanilla iced cream with biscotti, no less. But not much more than ice cream you can have just about anyday.
Here’s the trio of dishes I ordered. I think my camera also was disappointed and didn’t figure to focus correctly. The soup was a bit too creamy and I think I could only down about half of it, but it made for a really good dip with all the free La Brea Bakery bread that was coming to us. The mussels were just okay to me, and again, made for a nice dip for the free bread. Still, it was a fantastic place to get dinner with a good group of friends. Chef and owner Mark Peel really did a fantastic job with the venue. When you step in, you’ll spot a fountain and very tall skylit ceilings inside the converted indoor foyer. There’s also very spacious rooms in the back for hosting larger parties. Service was also fantastic as well. We happily spent two hours having a fun-filled dinner. Thank goodness for friends and sharing.
Edit: I looked up campanile in the dictionary, and it means “Bell Tower” in Italian. Makes sense now, because when I hear the word Campanile, I immediately think of Berkeley’s Sather Tower (aka “The Campanile”) that towers over the campus. 624 S La Brea Ave
I know I have at least one reader out there who will probably see the title of this entry and say “it’s about damn time you ate at Langer’s!” Yes, for any sammich lover out there, Langer’s has got to be first or near first on the list of must eat sandwiches in Los Angeles. After a year and a half in LA, I finally went. And it’s all true, you have to have a sandwich here before you leave LA. This would make even my sandwich-unliking friend Amy’s belly rumble in eager anticipation, I’m sure. It took me way too long to come here, I soon discovered after my first bite into the Number 19 Sandwich. After coming here with my friend PJ, I took one bite and exclaimed a big “WOW” out loud. Everything that’s been written about this sandwich on Yelp and other blogs is so true that I don’t even know what to add. I can only say that I had just an amazing experience as everyone else.
Pictured above is the #88: Hot Corned Beef and Sauerkraut on Rye. Your basic Reuben sandwich in classic deli glory. It’s a bit too sour for my taste, but I can’t take anything away from the meat. It is piping hot, tender, salty, and as delicious as any I’ve had yet. It was a very good sandwich, but I think me and PJ were both in agreement that this next sandwich was clearly better:
The #19 up close. Say hello. It’s one heck of a sandwich. Soft and juicy slices of hot pastrami and sweet coleslaw separated by swiss cheese and sandwiched in rye bread. Add in a spread of Russian dressing and served with a pickle. Coleslaw is already one of my favorite things in the world, so having it served up in a sandwich is a new and very welcome surprise to me. It also serves the purpose of sweetening up the sandwich, because where I felt the Reuben got too salty and sour, this combination meets a very healthy (or, is it unhealthy?) balance between salty and sweet. It also does nothing to take away from the glory of the delicious pastrami. Every deli earns its stars from the quality of its pastrami, and Langer’s wins enough from me to make up its own constellation. The sandwich will set you back about $14, but you will not be asking for your money back. The big reason why some people seem to avoid Langer’s is the sketchy neighborhood that surrounds it. I’m sure when the restaurant was founded, they expected it to be a perfect spot in the corner of a large park in the middle of town, but then the surroundings happened to change in a different direction. Nonetheless, I love that the deli looks like it hasn’t changed since WWII.
It’s such an LA institution that they’ve actually dedicated the intersection of 7th and Alvarado as Langer’s Square. How awesome is that? If you’re a fan of pastrami sandwiches, then you have to come to Langer’s Deli and try the #19. Note: Validated parking lot is one block east at Westlake & 7th (they also offer curb service). Langer’s closes at 4:30pm, but you wouldn’t really want to be in the area after dark, most likely. I’ve been offered fake IDs and drugs by various strangers the couple times I’ve been by the park. LA’s restaurant week has arrived. Two weeks of restaurant specials, actually, from Oct 4-9 and Oct 11-16. Book your reservations now! I’m going to eat at Kendall’s Brasserie in Downtown and Craft in Century City. Hopefully eating at Grace Restaurant or BLT Steak, as well. If only I didn’t have class three nights a week, I would be able to fit in more… It used to be that when I thought of Soap Box Derbies, I think of a boy and his pops building something out of scrap metal and discarded bicycle tires in their garage. Then I watched Cool Runnings and the idea of making a push car totally caught me for a few weeks. Well, this weekend, another evolution of the soap box occurred in Downtown LA. Sponsored by Red Bull, the 2009 LA Soap Box Race inspired the likes of half-baked college students, fire fighters, young professionals, and plenty of strange characters to take to the hill in the most creative soap boxes they could build.
It’s hard to describe this scene to those that weren’t there. I’ve never seen the streets of Downtown so alive and buzzing with people. Turns out people will come from all over the county for a free event. There literally was nowhere to walk on Grand or 5th street throughout the duration of the race, and some people turned out at 10am, 3 hours before the race, to secure a prime location. I lived half a block away from the starting line, so I stayed in my room until 1am thinking I could get a good spot still, but boy was I wrong.
The Red Bull peeps quoted that over 100,000 people showed up to the streets. I didn’t believe it at first, but looking at this picture again, it doesn’t seem all that unrealistic. This many people on the streets probably could occupy the entire Coliseum. The race course began on top of Bunker Hill at Grand and 4th, snaking it’s way down Grand, turning at the intersection of 5th and Grand, and continuing down 5th street until the conclusion at Olive street. During the course of the race, the drivers would have to maneuver a serpentine path down the hill, tackle a high speed banked 90 degree turn, and land two jumps off one foot tall ramps. Points were awarded on creativity, driving skill, and crowd pleasure. Frankly, if you made it down the hill in one piece, I would declare you a winner, but everyone wants to see a show. They want to see some crashes! Speeds of 45 mph were reached by some cars, and brutal face-dives into gravel and haystacks were witnessed. There was something to see for everyone.
So it’s really all about the soap boxes that were built, and there were some really creative ones. There was a Baywatch (“Babe Watch”) themed group that drove a lifeguard tower down the course, bananas that rode a banana hammock, and Marty McFly went Back to the Future. As you see here, there was a group driving a stripper pole, but unfortunately I was busy getting food so I didn’t see whether actual people were dancing on the way down. That would be cool though. Some frats and engineering clubs from all the local universities were represented here. You could tell which carts were designed by frats and which ones were designed by engineers pretty easily. The latter’s, of course, didn’t fall apart before the first turn. The eternal debate between USC and UCLA wasn’t settled on the streets today. They both crashed and burned, but I love the post Washington-defeat taunting that UCLA threw on prior to the race. Oh and I learned that UCLA really means University of Caucasians Lost among Asians. Clever. I would say half the competitors never made it to the finish line in one piece. Those that did deserve a gold star, because that is not an easy track to complete. I held my breath every time I saw a car attempt to scale the banked wall.
My fave of the bunch has to be the Spaceballs group. They had the best opening skit highlighted by a ring-saber battle between Lord Helmet and Bill Pullman. All the characters, other than Yogurt, were in attendance. And the winnebago actually survived the course with a very admirable time. Easily the crowd favorite of the day. Okay, next year, I’ll definitely be back. Hell, I might even assemble a team! This looks like fun. Once in a while when a Yelper, blogger, or even an average Joe comes across a truly hidden culinary gem, they find themselves conflicted. Do I share this great find with the rest of the undeserving world or keep it to myself in an effort to preserve the secret? There’s already a long enough line, let’s keep it at a limit after all. I don’t want to have to wait an hour next time I come to eat at MY place. But… I guess if I never shared anything with you, I’d have nothing to write about. Plus it’s not like I had to dance my way across a minefield to find out about this place. Somebody else told me about this place and brought me here this weekend, so here I am continuing the chain of knowledge. If the picture below intrigues you, continue on reading.
Does this have your attention? This is the Palace Pan Roast at the Oyster Bar in Palace Station Casino. And it is one big heaping bowl of delicious creole broiled goodness – shrimp, crab meat, and sausages mixed together in a flavorful stock of creamy, spicy tomato stew. All of this is also made live, right in front of the patron, at one of the best kept secrets in Vegas. Don’t you want to just dive right in? Hold up, let’s first talk about where this oyster bar is and how I ended up here.
Let’s break it down. Oysters – slimy little crustaceans that taste of salty ocean water when raw. Bar – the reason why I’m in this mess in the first place. No. Eff that.  Everybody knows you always double down on eleven. It's money, baby! But, the members of our group had been convinced by Steve Last-Name-Unknown on the trip up that this place was worth every penny and every minute of waiting, so I rolled out of bed and got dressed for our culinary adventure. Check that – I mean undressed, since I’m sleeping in a gray dress shirt that smells like perfume and tequila. This oyster bar is found inside the Palace Station Hotel & Casino. If you’ve never been to Palace Station, it’s probably because there’s literally dozens of better places to stay and over a hundred better things to do than to gamble at a kind of casino where you’re likely to see the boys from Swingers doubling down (see right if this reference escapes you). Not a whole lot going on here other than quite possibly the best pan roasts on this side of the Louisiana Purchase. It’s a small trek from the strip, just on the other side of I-15 on Sahara Boulevard. Once you get there, you’ll find that it’s the equivalent of a hole-in-the-wall (or the opposite, since it actually comes out of the wall). If not for the glorious smell coming from the bar or the long line that builds, you probably would walk right past it like any other casino-side bar. My friends, if you do, you will be missing out on something great (I’m assuming, of course, that you actually are my friend and that you’re strolling casually through this off-strip casino for a reason other than eating here). http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/a5/Swingers_Promo_Still.png
When you get to the casino floor, look for the long line and this awning below over the bar.
Find a spot in line and wait. At 3pm, the line is about half an hour plus. It’s likely more during lunch and dinner hours. Trust me, it’s worth an hour even. While we waited in line, I probably made three trips to the bathroom. A friend of mine played some slots, and walked away from his machine. The very next lady went up to the machine and got triple blazing sevens and won herself the $1022 jackpot. That stings. So does my tummy. Hopefully we’ll get to eat soon to make it everything feel better.
After waiting, we grabbed two vacating seats so that the first couple could at least put all the orders in for the group while we waited. We decided on the pan roast, oysters, clam chowder, and steamed clams. I’m sure if I were 100%, I would have contributed an extra dish or two, but I was content with just nibbling for now. There’s only 18 seats, and unfortunately, no to-go orders are honored if you’re not sitting down. It’s a very simple operation here. Almost everything is cooked right in front of you by one or two cooks. All the pots are steam powered too, perfect for boiling pots of yummy roasts and stews in a hurry.
I chose not to partake in the oysters, but I heard they were good enough that my friends wished they had gotten the full dozen. They looked fresh and delicious enough for me to have next time.
Here is the plate of steamed little neck clams. I definitely pigged out on these. They were steamed to perfection and served in a delicious broth of white wine, butter, and herbs. Thank you very much for the free bread too. I used it to soak up this juice and the clam chowder. Hopefully when it enters my stomach, it will do the same to some of that grey goose from last night.
I want one of these in my future kitchen. One guy was able to handle 6 of these, all cooking a variety of different seafoods and stews. He made the cleanup look super easy too, just pull on the handle and everything comes right out.
The clam chowder (NE styled above) was creamy and full of delicious clams. I needed some to coat and soothe my empty belly. They also offer an $17 Alaskan chowder on the menu. It contains clams, crabs, and shrimp, prepared either Manhattan or NE style. It sounds delicious. Maybe next time.
Here is the Palace Pan Roast again. You can have a pan roast with oysters, lobster, crab, clams, whatever. All served with a side of rice, which makes it a very comforting hangover dish. The menu also offers other creole stew favorites, such as jambalaya, etouffee, and bouillabaise. This is definitely getting added to my list of re-dos in Vegas. It should be on yours too. Don’t say I’ve never done anything for you. Oyster Bar at Palace Station PS. I’ve discovered a closer equivalent in Southern California. Maybe I’ll share it with you too, one day.
Unfortunately, this has been the view from my downtown balcony for the past week. This photo was taken last Saturday morning at the beginning of the fire, when the smoke was at 20,000 feet up in the air and only 5% contained (according to KROQ). It’s grown a lot over the last week, but current reports are that it’s being pushed back gradually. My friend in Altadena mentioned that 2 blocks from his house has been evacuated already, but he hasn’t been notified of any evacuations for his place. At night I can see the actual fire blazing on the ridge. Makes it look like a volcano going off in the distance. I’m getting out of town this weekend, but I wish the best to all those who are fighting the fires and anybody who has been affected by it.
|
||
|
Copyright © 2010 My Weekend Passport - All Rights Reserved |
||
I should start with the pretext that I was very hungover after a night I will lovingly remember as “the night of the blue drink I do not recall chugging.” At around 3 in the afternoon, this was the first thing of the day that I was putting into my mouth, and I still had no appetite for food. When someone tells you that you’re going to the Oyster Bar, those are two words you do NOT want to associate with your stomach.
Recent Comments