Perci N.'s Profile

Cheap. Fast. Good.

UPS is none of these.

UPS is always the last to deliver each day. They're the only ones with shipping problems. They're the only ones with damaged boxes. They don't ring the doorbell. They don't close the gate when they leave. They don't remember you, even when you see the same driver every week.

Yet Another Frogurt Shop!

This time, a block away from the downtown San Mateo movie theater, across the street from Draeger's. Look for the OMG-bright-orange color scheme. Can't miss it.

Stopped by Everday Beijing for lunch with Koyubi (didja check out my ROTD for the place? ;) and on the way back to work, we noticed the new shop. Yes, they're open, even though it doesn't look it -- they just opened today. =)

Self-serve frozen yogurt from five soft serve machines, with 10 flavors, at $0.35 cents per ounce.

The flavors:
-vanilla
-chocolate
-guava
-lemon creme
-banana
-original tart
-lychee
-orange

Sorry kids, I can only remember those -- yeah, I need to practice more on those Lametendo DS Brain Games... Surprisingly, no tart green tea on the menu, like Pinkberry -- also unlike PB, they post the nutritional info on the wall (70 calories for 4 ounces of their original nonfat yogurt). They say they intend to rotate the flavors. Tamarind? Er...

Surprisingly, I liked it. Great consistency, best "original tart" I've tasted from a Korean zombie frogurt shack -- not too tart. The lychee is actually tarter (and tastier). Their vanilla frogurt gives soft serve ice cream a run for the money.

Toppings-wise, you've got two clean carts full of assorted junk food. I prefer the fresh cut fruit over the kiddie cereals and candies, but you can find both here. And yes, PB junkies, they have fresh mochi -- though the fresh longans, lychee jelly, and mango jelly are *so* much better.

My only ding is the price. 35 cents an ounce? You would think that's cheap, ya? Well, they only have one size container, and if you top it off, you're easily looking at $8 for frogurt. And you're going to wanna top it off, cos it's human nature. Smart on their side, but coming from a big guy, I'd say fill it up only half way and you'd still be full. (Relatively speaking, my absolute fav ice cream is still only like $3 per half gallon, and I only need a small bowl of the stuff...)

I'll add this place to my short list of places I'd drag the Yelpettes to, after dinner. They're open till 11pm.

"The best Chinese in Podunk!"

Er, yeah... According to Yelpers at least, Fu Lam is supposedly the best Cantonese around, but that's apparently not saying very much...

I came in with ten this weekend for an early after grad dinner. We were quickly seated in their cramped ~80-seat restaurant that was zoned for 66.

We ordered around a dozen dishes, varying from Whitey lemon chicken and honey walnut prawns to steamed whole fish and bamboo membrane stir fry. The service was very slow -- they're understaffed, out front and in the kitchen. Serving size was noticeably small. They apparently specialize in seafood -- the few dishes actually worth eating happened to be seafood (salted pepper squid, jellyfish appetizer), but other seafood dishes like the ginger scallion crab were bad (the worst dish of them all), and most of the dishes were just disappointing. (If you're looking for Whitey Chinese, this place delivers on par with Panda Express, that's for sure.)

It goes without saying that places like San Francisco or Los Angeles have better Cantonese. If you must have Cantonese, I'd recommend driving another twenty minutes north to Daly City for Koi Palace. Otherwise, try out the other types of Chinese ( or better yet, Japanese or Korean) in the area.  I think all the four and five star reviews of this place are from people who just really don't get around much. At best, it's just comparable to a cheap two star dive in San Francisco, less than an hour drive away.

Kukje is like the anti-Asian market. Unlike most Asian markets, which have a myriad of food from different nations, Kukje only has Korean food, which has a heavy overlap with Japanese food. Chinese bok choy is so ubiquitous, one could find it at Trader Joe's or Safeway -- but not here. One will find, however, lots and lots of garlic. Considering how much garlic Koreans consume, one would imagine they sell some decent garlic. Surprisingly, the garlic here isn't fresh at all. On close inspection, you'll easily find that a lot of the garlic has already started to grow mold -- especially the peeled ones in tubs. The produce section is extremely limited -- one will surprisingly find a wider selection of portable grills here than leafy greens. Hell, they don't even offer basic staples like fresh chicken. The only chicken they sell is frozen drumsticks, frozen wings, and some very scary unrefrigerated chicken thighs that have been marinating in the open air forever.

Do not touch the seafood, especially the thawed "fresh" shrimp. Virtually all shrimp in the US is frozen at the farm. If it's thawed, it's already starting to go bad. Kukje's shrimp sit out all day, and by the afternoon, they've started to turn colors and smell foul. Basic rule: if fish smells fishy, it's rotting. Don't believe me? Go walk up to the shrimp here and take a whiff.

I might go here for the dried Japanese goods and basic Asian pantry stuff like soy sauce or rice, when I can't be bothered to look for parking in the Ranch 99 center nearby. I'm never touching the meat and seafood here ever again. Last time I did, I was sick for two days.

P.S. Someone needs to tell the management here to hire a nanny, instead of letting their kids run around the store all day, and dear gods, at least a single person who knows proper English. Kukje's signs would make them an all-star on http://Engrish.com.