Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Mountain View Rotary Club Crab Feed--Mountain View, CA


Last weekend we went to a crab feed at the Mountain View Buddhist Temple, organized by the Mountain View Rotary Club. Though it was advised that tickets be purchased ahead of time, we showed up at the door and got in without a problem.

The crab was good! The only flavoring, though, was cocktail sauce served to the tables. Not all parts of the crab (especially the claws) were consistently cracked, so I often had to resort using my teeth (ouch). The boys loved the penne pasta. The nut bread was good and I couldn't get enough of their salad with candied pecans.

Adults were $50 per head and the kids were $25 each. Expensive? Yes, but this is a fund raiser. Included in the admission were: tea, coffee. Costing extra were other drinks such as water, soda and root beer floats.

The live music, featuring electric guitar and sax, was loud but enjoyable.





Thursday, January 23, 2014

Justin's Restaurant--Santa Clara, CA

An equipment supplier representative I work with was gracious enough to take me to Justin's, where I had a bacon, brie and caramelized onion stuffed buffalo burger.
The burger came hot and the brie really stood out. I ordered it medium and it was cooked as such. To be honest, though, I couldn't really tell the difference between buffalo and a good beef burger. Also, though I could have had the burger grilled or broiled, I chose pan fried and didn't really pick up that nuance either.

What I did notice, however, was the sweet potato fries were most certainly sweet but limp. It had the consistency of microwaved fries rather than something fresh from the fryer. Moreover, although the server was peppy and stopped by to ask how things were many times, nobody stopped by to fill our glasses. Our bread came in cute little pots; I would have liked to have been asked if I wanted more, though.

Justin's Restaurant
1285 Homestead Rd.
Santa Clara, CA 95050
(408) 638-5300
www.chefjustinperez.com

Thursday, January 16, 2014

Remy's Noodle Palace--City of Industry, CA


 
Wanting to do some mini-golfing at SpeedZone during our recent trip to LA, we stopped by at the nearby Remy's Noodle Palace in the City of Industry.



We started things off with what I thought were the two best dishes: minced pork with rice and minced braised pork with rice. Both were hearty and seasoned well.


We got Tyler a bowl of beef noodle soup with hopes of satisfy his craving. However, he didn't like the flavor of the soup and he left a lot behind (unusual for him). The soup came loaded with beef, though, and it was tender.

The fried dumplings as served

The onion pancake and dumplings (for which Remy's is known) were salty. I liked the texture of the dumplings, though, with the crisp underside and the soft, velvety skin on top.
 
The softer flip side of the dumplings

Remy's Noodle Palace
18211 E Gale Ave.
City of Industry, CA 91748
(626) 965-2887
Menu below:
 




Wednesday, January 8, 2014

New House of Korea

Last week we dropped by New House of Korea with Jenny's parents to take advantage of their $9.99 all-you-can-eat deal. And, what a deal it is! Despite the thrashing this restaurant has taken on the internet (largely criticism of the service), this is an amazing value.

Beef brisket
There are a number of menu choices available. The more expensive you go, the more exclusive the meat selection. The bottom rung is the $9.99 "Galaxy A" menu, which for us was more than adequate.


And, about that service? Yes, it was fair at best, but our server did all that we asked her too. There were simply too many people for the number of servers in an obvious effort to keep costs down. The only issue I had was that when I asked for four steamed eggs for six of us, the server insisted that we have only two. The steamed egg turned out to be my favorite of a few options that were quite good. Jenny liked the marinated meats the best.

Steamed egg: My favorite dish of the night. You really can't miss with anything on the menu, though.

I'd love to go back the next time I'm in LA. The value can't be topped (easy for me to say, as Jenny's dad picked up the check) and that BBQ smell that, to the annoyance of many, gets in your clothes? I love it!







































New House of Korea
18981 E Colima Rd.
Rowland Heights, CA 91748
(626) 810-5121