Estella "craisin" T.'s Profile

I admit it. I'm addicted to Penelope's. Partner and I go to this place at least twice a week now. We just LOOOVEEE the company of Tung and Johnny!

I knew they were creative geniuses when I came in one night and asked them if they happened to have ice cream. They didn't have ice cream but they whipped up this SUPER delicious drink that really tasted like a slushy ice cream! z-o-m-g.

Oh, the E&C is pretty amazing too. Whoever invented that (and named it) is a genius....

And get their steak sandwich.

Frequency: Once (8/1/09)
Tourist-worthy: Not sure yet

Ordered:
- Deluxe Sashimi Dinner (came with miso soup and salad)
- Spicy Scallop Roll
- Tori Karage
- Miso Gindara (black cod)

Let me just say, the lady (co-owner?) here was so extremely nice and more importantly: she taught us a lot about the fish we were eating.  I'm kind of a sashimi n00b so my partner asked her what kind of fish we were eating. She ended up teaching us about the fish, the best order to eat the various sashimi, and what to taste for! Wow! This was exactly what I wanted to learn to educate my palette.

The fish itself was incredibly fresh, and I tried Ocean Trout for the first time!

This isn't your place for Americanized special rolls, but I'll definitely be coming back for my sashimi fix!

For the fish quality and just for the (co-owner) lady alone, the cost of our meal was definitely worth it.

NOTE: No internal restroom--I think you need to get a key to go to one around the corner of the restaurant.

Frequency: Very Often (10+ times)
Tourist-worthy: Only if they've never had pho or haven't had it in a long time

Default:
- Tai (Rare steak)

It's all about their broth. I don't know what it is that they put into it but I always come back for more!

Endearingly called "the one with the green awning" or "the one with the weird parking lot," this is definitely my go-to pho place in Oakland. Though the prices went up a little bit last year, none of the other pho places makes their broth the same way.

Another plus is that they have lots of tables and I rarely have to wait for a seat.

Frequency: A few times (2-5 times)
Tourist-worthy: Yes

Default:
- Black pork belly

Honey Pig's Korean bbq is different from any I've ever experienced. I usually don't crave kbbq too much, but Honey Pig put it on a different level!

The experience, food, and service has been great the few times I've gone, and has EASILY become a restaurant staple for me anytime I go visit Socal.

The workers are really nice and help you out with your foods if you have no idea what you're doing (aka me).

BBQ meat comes with kimchi, lots of veggies, soups, an AWESOME meat dip sauce (sugar with oil and pepper? and something else?), fried rice near the end of the meal, lettuce and garlic for you to wrap your meats, and small rice paper wraps too!

Frequency: Often (5-10 times)
Tourist-worthy: Yes

Default:
- Pan fried buns (Cantonese: sahn geen bao)

The pan fried buns are the ONLY thing I get here--and I come down from Oakland JUST for these guys. There's just no other place around here that has mastered the Shanghainese pan fried buns like they have.

Shanghainese pan fried buns are usually wayyy too dry and the buns are usually too thick to enjoy--you might have seen them at dimsum restaurants.  Kang Kang Food Court's baos are NOT like that. Their buns are thinner and fried to a crisp. Inside, you can actually taste and drink the soup (like you would for the more popular Shanghainese dumplings).

Each order comes with 8 buns. Thin and crispy on the outside, filled with extremely delicious soup inside with a ball of meat in the center. Be careful, it's HOT!

NOT SURE HOW TO EAT THE BUNS?
Using the provided spoon and chopsticks, here's how my Shanghainese roommate used to instruct us:

1. Make an insertion -- take a small bite to let the hot air out;

2. Suck -- out the yummy soup juices;

3. Bite -- eat the bun with the meat filling!

Use the vinegar+ginger dip that the restaurant provides, too. Feel free to use your spoon to pour some into the bun after you've gotten it open. mmmm!

Frequency: Often (5-10 times)
Tourist-worthy: Big YES!

Default:
- Cheese rolls
- Potato balls
- A randomly chosen item--all are superb!!

I used to go to school at UCLA and would trek out here just for their fresh cheese rolls. There's NOTHING like a fresh Porto's cheese roll! The breading is so incredibly soft and delicate (yet crispy!) and the cheese is a nice, light cream filling. Even when brought back up to the Bay the next few days, these cheese rolls' are still incomparable. But please do yourself a favor and eat these FRESH!

I admit that I didn't know about the potato balls until my latest LA trip. These little guys are AMAZING!! Lightly fried ball of mashed potatoes, stuffed with GROUND BEEF. My dream come. true.

On my last trip, I also tried 2 of their sandwiches: the grilled chicken and cuban sandwich. The bread was perfect: crispy on the outside, super soft on the inside.

BOTTOM LINE:
I'm convinced that Porto's is one of the few restaurants where ANY and EVERYTHING you get is PERFECT. They're masters at bread-making and baking. They've got it down, and know exactly what they're doing. And they do it right!

Frequency: Once (4/25/09)
Tourist-worthy: Not sure yet

My friends and I went to Rose's for brunch a few weekends back. I ordered:

French Toast ($9.50) w/ Strawberries and cream -- mmmm! I can still remember the taste! Very sweet, and actually was more of a dessert-esque dish for me than an brunch plate. It was then awesome to have such a great treat so early in the day! ;D

Smoked Salmon Pizza ($16) w/ Creme Fraiche & Scrambled Eggs -- a thin crust pizza with scrambled egg plopped in the middle. Don't forget to spread the eggs around your slice so you get some in every bite with the smoked salmon!

Oh, I also got a side of Niman Ranch Bacon ($5.50) -- very crispy and not oily.

I'm definitely interested in going back again to try out more of their breakfast/brunch plates, specifically their Breakfast Pizza! Sounds yummy!

Frequency: Once
Tourist-worthy: Not sure yet

I just went to Tamarindo last Thursday night with my partner.

We ordered 5 dishes:
- Guacamole Con Totopo
- Mulitas
- Tacos Camaron
- Cochinita Pibil
- Arroz con Leche

Guacamole Con Totopos ($8) -- Fresh avocado, tomatoes, onions, lime, cilantro & chips. The guacamole was super fresh (and I think this ended up being really filling, despite the thin dish they serve it on).

Mulitas ($9) -- Sirloin steak, melted jack cheese, guacamole & salsa fresca, between two handmade corn tortillas. Man, this was DELICIOUS! Really juicy and crispy--my favorite textures!

Tacos Camaron ($8) -- Two crispy tacos with sautéed prawns, rajas, jack cheese, romaine lettuce, guacamole & salsa fresca. There was a really delicious, fresh taste when I first bit into the tacos. There's a very subtle sauce they used for the shrimp, but after a few bites, I couldn't really taste it anymore. The shrimps were very fresh--in Cantonese, they were very soong (Sorry! Don't know the English equivalent!). The taco shells were pretty awesome--homemade, and very crispy fresh. But overall, I thought these were only alright.

Cochinita Pibil ($21) -- Pork marinated in achiote adobe sauce, steamed in banana leaves, garnished w/ marinated red onions, served with white rice and homemade corn tortillas. This pork meat was SO soft, tender, and succulent! With a little splash of lime, it gave the pork an extra kick. Unfortunately, when I asked the server how much this special dish cost, she said it was $13. So when the bill came, I was a little shocked by the price of the dish. (It was her first time doing the dinner shift, so it was cool.) If it were $13, I would have said it was worth it. But for $21, I think this is pretty pricey although filling and yummy.

Arroz con Leche ($7) -- Mexican rice pudding. Not really my kind of dessert, but wasn't too bad. I was too full by dessert!

OVERALL THOUGHTS:
Tamarindo's food was really yummy, and I liked that most of the dishes came in small, appetizer-size portions. We ordered based off of dishes folks recommended here on Yelp, and even our server said we ordered all the right things for our first time. Everything was fresh and prepared really well!

Unfortunately, this ended up being a little too pricey for me (probably the Cochinita Pibil pushed our bill over).

Frequency: Very Often
Tourist-worthy: Yes! Especially those that don't get Mexican food much.

Default:
- Spicy Pork Tacos (or sometimes the non-spicy ones)
- Always with side of: radishes, carrots, and green salsa (must ask for all of these)

Alright. Let's be straight forward about this one. I love the truck. I don't know what the heck they use to marinate their spicy pork and other meats, but this stuff is like crack. (Not that I've tried crack before.)  Juicy, tasty, and probably not in any way healthy. mmmmm! And you'll be thinking about it again tomorrow and the next day.

$1.25? $1.50 for a taco? Can't remember... whatever. Worth it. It really doesn't matter and I just pay for whatever they tell me without questions.

This is my go-to truck because it's in neutral territory. Yes, it's weird that it's strangely hooked up to some shack via a hose. Yes, we sometimes have to park in the "No Parking Anytime - Tow Away Zone" area solely for the purpose of getting a few tacos. Again, worth it.

I also recommend their steak tacos, and the spicy pork/steak burritos too. It's their meat. It's all in their delicious meat.

Oh, don't even try to save the food for later. The weird radioactive orange marinade they use just doesn't turn out right when you try to reheat it. You'll just have to man-up and just finish all the food you unexpectedly over-ordered!

Frequency: Very Often
Tourist-worthy: Not particularly special enough

Default:
These dish names are translated to the best of my ability!
- Thai-style clay pot fried rice (Thai-sik bo jai fahn) -- May not be on menu!
- Pork, snow cabbage noodle soup (suut-choy yook see tong mein)
- Sticky rice roll (chee fahn)
- Salty or sweet soy milk (dow jeurng)
- Shanghainese thick chow mein (seurng-hoy cho chow mein)

My family and I have come to this restaurant, Bak Hei, for years. This has definitely become a staple restaurant for me. They're consistent, delicious, and always hits the spot.

(Unfortunately?) I always order in Cantonese, so I'm unsure of the experience of ordering in English-only. Hopefully, I translated the name of these dishes correctly!

A few years ago, my mom discovered the non-menu-listed Thai-style clay pot fried rice (Thai-sik bo jai fahn). I ALWAYS get this every time I go to Bak Hei. It's like fried rice but with awesome bonuses: chicken, beef, and thin cellophane/clear noodles (fun see).

The pork snow cabbage noodle soup (suut-choy yook see tong mein) is second best to mom's home version ;) Just add some red vinegar in there and it'll warm you up!

This is also the place where I go for Shanghainese noodles. Their Shanghainese thick chow mein (seurng-hoy cho chow mein) is a little oily, but it's very tasty and not your typical chow mein noodles.

Bak Hei is also one of those few places that have the Shanghainese fried rice cake noodles (chow neen go), the big oval-shaped noodles. Oily, but very yummy.