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What I Ate: March 14, 2009 (Acapulco, Coi)

Posted 15 March, 2009 at 2:48am by Michael Chu
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Tina and I ate at Acapulco near our house for a relatively quick lunch. Tina ordered her favorite: Tortilla Soup.
Acapulco - Tortilla Soup

I ordered the Shrimp Enchiladas.
Acapulco - Shrimp Enchiladas

For dinner, we continued our tour of fine dining in the Bay Area with a trip up to San Francisco where we dined at Coi (pronounced "kwa"). The dinner we had at Coi is quite likely the best fine dining Tina and I have ever had. (The only other contender would be Uchi in Austin, Texas). We had the Full Menu (the normal tasting menu is 11 courses, but we requested all 15). Here's a list of what we ate (and a sampling of the photographs). Again, a full article will eventually appear on Cooking For Engineers. (I had a lot of difficulty photographing many of the dishes because they were served in bowls which requires my camera to clear the lip of the bowl and still have enough distance to focus. Many of these had to be handheld which meant that the colors would not be as vivid since I had to crank up the sensitivity of the sensor. I'm going to have to figure out a way to get the camera into a suitable position and angle for food served in bowls. Also, the first few courses arrived while the sun was still up. The mixed lighting made the colors hard to correct for in the incandescent restaurant lighting.)

The bread and butter are made in-house. The butter was churned from Straus cream.

Our meal started with what they called milk & honey. A ball (I think it was milk skin) filled with a liquid that tasted like milk and honey). What a way to start the meal!
Coi - Milk & Honey
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What I Ate: March 14, 2009 (Acapulco, Coi)

What I Ate: March 13, 2009 (San Tung Chinese Restaurant)

Posted 14 March, 2009 at 12:02am by Michael Chu
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The Daves took me to San Tung Chinese Restaurant (1031 Irving St, San Francisco, CA‎ - (415) 242-0828) in the Sunset neighborhood of San Francisco. Dave Lu had been telling me about their fried chicken wings for a while, so we made a special trip out to make sure I had a chance to taste it. Dave ordered a bunch of food and we ate them as they arrived. Everything we had was prepared very well - definitely well above average and worth eating.

The first dish was Mu Shu Pork, which is something I haven't had in quite some time.
San Tung Chinese Restaurant - Mu Shu Pork

Next, the pork dumplings arrived. The dumplings were good, but not exceptional. I think it's the only dish I wouldn't order again (instead, I would try the Shrimp and Leek Dumplings which Papa recommended).
San Tung Chinese Restaurant - Steamed Dumplings
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What I Ate: March 13, 2009 (San Tung Chinese Restaurant)

What I Ate: March 12, 2009 (Lee's Kitchen, Won Ton House)

Posted 12 March, 2009 at 11:39pm by Michael Chu
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Harold and I decided to try a place that I had heard about that was supposed to have excellent fried chicken wings - Lee's Kitchen (2527 El Camino Real, Santa Clara, CA‎ - (408) 247-8662). It's a tiny shack on the side of the road (we missed it several times while driving past) and we wouldn't have spotted it if it wasn't for Harold wanting to see if Wienerschnitzel still had their Polish Sausages.
Lee’s Kitchen

I thought there wouldn't be any seats, but there are three small tables in the "restaurant". We ordered the Fried Chicken Wings (because that's why we went there).
Lee’s Kitchen - Fried Chicken Wings

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What I Ate: March 12, 2009 (Lee's Kitchen, Won Ton House)

What I Ate: March 11, 2009 (In-N-Out)

Posted 12 March, 2009 at 12:31am by Michael Chu
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I cooked up a quick breakfast/lunch - two fried eggs set over some pasta (with a little pasta water as sauce).
Eggs and Pasta

For dinner, I got myself a Double Double from In-N-Out Burger (which I won't be able to get once I move to Austin next month).
In-N-Out - Double Double

What I Ate: March 10, 2009 (South Beach Cafe)

Posted 10 March, 2009 at 11:40pm by Michael Chu
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Dave Lu and I grabbed some food over at South Beach Cafe (800 Embarcadero St, San Francisco, CA‎ - (415) 974-1115‎) today. He got a pizza, but I thought I'd try something I hadn't had before. I picked up a tasty Pollo Sandwich which has chicken breast, tomatoes, and melted brie (you can get Gorgonzola cheese instead).
South Beach Cafe - Pollo Sandwich

For dinner, I heated up the leftovers we had from Amber India. (Tina had some more pasta with meat sauce.)
Amber India Leftovers

What I Ate: March 9, 2009 (Chaat Cafe)

Posted 10 March, 2009 at 12:41am by Michael Chu
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Papa and I walked over to Chaat Cafe (320 3rd St, San Francisco, CA‎ - (415) 979-9946‎) where we got Chicken Wraps (chicken and cucumbers wrapped in naan). Because we took a few minutes to walk back from Chaat Cafe, the wraps cooled a little and the naan was a little chewy. The chicken was well salted, but not as flavorful as I had hoped.
Chaat Cafe - Chicken Wrap

For dinner, Tina heated up some Trader Joe's Joe's O's which we shared.
Trader Joe’s Joe’s O’s

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What I Ate: March 9, 2009 (Chaat Cafe)

What I Ate: March 8, 2009 (Dynasty Chinese Seafood)

Posted 9 March, 2009 at 12:42am by Michael Chu
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For lunch, Tina wanted the Hot Pastrami Sandwich available at the Fry's Electronics cafe and that sounded pretty good to me.
Fry’s Electronics - Hot Pastrami sandwich

We met up with a couple friends, Dave Weldon and Dave Menestrina, for dinner. Originally, we had chosen to go to Truya Sushi but they were closed on Sundays. We then decided to head over to Dynasty Chinese Seafood Restaurant (10123 N Wolfe Rd, Cupertino, CA‎ - (408) 996-1680‎). Tina and I both wanted fish so Tina picked out a steamed fish head dish. The meat from the head of a steamed fish is cut up and served in a tasty spicy sauce.
Dynasty Chinese Seafood - Steamed Fish Head

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What I Ate: March 8, 2009 (Dynasty Chinese Seafood)

What I Ate: March 7, 2009 (Parcel 104)

Posted 8 March, 2009 at 1:30pm by Michael Chu
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I made some spicy ramen with egg for lunch.
Ramen

For dinner, Tina and I attended an invitation only dinner at Parcel 104 called "Pastry Chef Goes Savory" featuring the cuisine of Parcel 104's Pastry Chef, Carlos Sanchez. Carlos has been with Parcel 104 for 8 years (ever since he helped open the restaurant) and once a year he prepares an entire dinner. This year's dinner was excellent. (Click here to read about our previous dinner at Parcel 104.)

Breadsticks and dill muffins were brought to our table. One stick was plain/salted, the other was a cheese stick. The dill muffin was soft and fluffy with an incredibly good buttery flavor that worked well with the dill.
Parcel 104 - Bread

The first of six courses was the sonoma foie gras kumquat fruit, sausalito watercress, raisin batard bread. The salty and intense foie gras worked really well with the sweet and sour kumquat. I really liked this appetizer, and it might be one of the best ways I've had foie gras. In this preparation, I was able to adjust (without even thinking about it) the amount of foie, citrus, watercress, and bread to have together so it tastes best to me.
Parcel 104 - Sonoma Foie Gras
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What I Ate: March 7, 2009 (Parcel 104)

What I Ate: March 6, 2009

Posted 7 March, 2009 at 4:45am by Michael Chu
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I had a Trader Joe's Chicken Chile Verde Burrito for lunch.
Trader Joe’s Chicken Chile Verde Burrito

In the evening, we went to see Watchmen (3.75/5.0) in the theater. I squatted in our seats while Tina went to get dinner for us. She came back with a foot long Subway Oven Roasted Chicken Breast Sandwich which we split. Unfortunately, it was so dark, I couldn't take a picture.

What I Ate: March 5, 2009 (Crossroads Cafe, Amber India)

Posted 6 March, 2009 at 12:35am by Michael Chu
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I grabbed a BLT with Avocado sandwich from Crossroads Cafe (699 Delancey St, San Francisco, CA‎ - (415) 836-5624‎) for lunch.
Crossroads Cafe - BLT Sandwich with Avocado

For dinner, we met up with Cliff and Connie at Amber India Restaurant. We started with an order of Vegetable Samosa.
Amber India - Vegetable Samosa

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What I Ate: March 5, 2009 (Crossroads Cafe, Amber India)

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