Sunday, 15 July 2012
Wiener Mobile
Random Wiener Mobile spotted at Pacific Grove, looks pretty posh inside! Nevertheless still hilarious
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Lappert's Ice cream shop (Pacific Grove)
Walked into this shop for some ice-cream, and what a surprise! The owner appears to be some hyper-hippie, and the entire shop was plastered with LPs by the Beatles, Bob Dylan, Elvis, etc. The flavors were pretty unusual too -- guava with cheesecake?! I had a relatively normal praline pecan and it was pretty good. Quite an interesting find in a small seaside town.
Wednesday, 11 July 2012
Pacific Thai Cuisine (Pacific Grove)
I came here for the second time this trip, for lunch and ordered their lunch special of thai basil fried rice. It was pretty good I must say. The rice was flavorful enough with the many basil leaves they fried into the rice, and the pork went quite well with the flavors. There was a good proportion of vegetables as well, so at least there was some balance. The portions were big enough for me to be satisfied and left enough for a big lunch tomorrow. I also liked the Tom Kha soup that came with the lunch special, which was sour and spicy enough with a hint of coconut milk.
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Tuesday, 10 July 2012
Crystal Fish (Pacific Grove)
What I learnt this trip is to not place so much trust in Yelp reviews, especially in touristy areas. A bunch of us came here for lunch yesterday, seeing that it was 4* on Yelp, and were pretty disappointed.
We all ordered lunch specials -- most people ordered nigiri lunch (5 pc nigiri, 6 california rolls), and I ordered the bento with tempura and sashimi. About my dish first: the portions looked hearty, but the quality was only ok. I liked the salad but it was pretty much soy sauce and sesame, so nothing much could go wrong there. The tempura was ok -- the breading was slightly thick, and the eggplant was so thin I couldn't tell what was eggplant or breading. The shrimp and carrot were good though, but I was really looking forward to sweet potato, which was absent (!!). The sashimi (1pc salmon, 2pc tuna, 2pc yellowtail) was relatively fresh, but the cut wasn't great, since the only salmon piece I had was full of tendons and I had to turn it over in my mouth to chew on it, something I rarely have to do with fresh fish. Another sign was my friend's salmon nigiri falling apart from the fat/tendons, so I'm not too sure about the cut.... The rice in the bento was a little hard too, hmm =/
It was a reasonable deal for a $9 bento box though I wouldn't recommend it for someone who's looking for good seafood next to the ocean.
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We all ordered lunch specials -- most people ordered nigiri lunch (5 pc nigiri, 6 california rolls), and I ordered the bento with tempura and sashimi. About my dish first: the portions looked hearty, but the quality was only ok. I liked the salad but it was pretty much soy sauce and sesame, so nothing much could go wrong there. The tempura was ok -- the breading was slightly thick, and the eggplant was so thin I couldn't tell what was eggplant or breading. The shrimp and carrot were good though, but I was really looking forward to sweet potato, which was absent (!!). The sashimi (1pc salmon, 2pc tuna, 2pc yellowtail) was relatively fresh, but the cut wasn't great, since the only salmon piece I had was full of tendons and I had to turn it over in my mouth to chew on it, something I rarely have to do with fresh fish. Another sign was my friend's salmon nigiri falling apart from the fat/tendons, so I'm not too sure about the cut.... The rice in the bento was a little hard too, hmm =/
It was a reasonable deal for a $9 bento box though I wouldn't recommend it for someone who's looking for good seafood next to the ocean.
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Sunday, 8 July 2012
Max's Grill (Pacific Grove)
came here for dinner with a friend today after seeing that it was 4 stars on yelp, but it was only ok.
We both ordered the 3-course dinner for $25 each, and I chose crab cakes, sand dabs with white wine cream sauce, and vanilla ice-cream with chocolate sauce.
I wasn't sure if the crab cake was fresh enough, but it definitely didn't taste as great as what I've had before in the Bay Area/San Francisco. Now that I think about it, I don't even remember tasting crab! It was also too salty... I actually had to squeeze on some lemon to muffle the salt and enhance the other flavors of the crab, something that I never do!
The grilled sand dabs were nice, and were slightly different from what I had at Vivolo's, although the texture was consistently soft. The cream sauce went well with the fish, but the saffron rice was a little dry, and could use some extra sauce. I did like the asparagus a lot though.
The ice-cream was good, but how wrong can you go with that?
All being said, I'm not sure if I will return.
We both ordered the 3-course dinner for $25 each, and I chose crab cakes, sand dabs with white wine cream sauce, and vanilla ice-cream with chocolate sauce.
I wasn't sure if the crab cake was fresh enough, but it definitely didn't taste as great as what I've had before in the Bay Area/San Francisco. Now that I think about it, I don't even remember tasting crab! It was also too salty... I actually had to squeeze on some lemon to muffle the salt and enhance the other flavors of the crab, something that I never do!
The grilled sand dabs were nice, and were slightly different from what I had at Vivolo's, although the texture was consistently soft. The cream sauce went well with the fish, but the saffron rice was a little dry, and could use some extra sauce. I did like the asparagus a lot though.
The ice-cream was good, but how wrong can you go with that?
All being said, I'm not sure if I will return.
209 Forest Ave
Pacific Grove, CA 93950
Saturday, 7 July 2012
Sushi Tomi (Mountain View)
We came here for sushi today! We ordered tonkatsu (came with miso soup, salad and rice), and special sashimi (3 pc tuna, salmon, yellowtail, white fish, and 2 pc toro). Everything was delicious!
The sesame salad dressing was light and brought out the freshness of the lettuce. The tonkatsu wasn't oily and the breading was just the right thickness. The price of $15.90 for this dinner set was reasonable for the two pieces of pork cutlet.
The sashimi was also fresh, the fish having the right texture. The toro was nice too. The only fish we didn't like was the white fish (no idea what it was), which had lots of fibers and was chewy, with a fishy aftertaste. The only other issue I found with the sashimi was the lemon slice they placed between some pieces, such that I couldn't really taste the fish besides the lemon. Something that I don't really like about sushi places in general.
All being said, we do like this restaurant!
www.sushitomi.com/
The sesame salad dressing was light and brought out the freshness of the lettuce. The tonkatsu wasn't oily and the breading was just the right thickness. The price of $15.90 for this dinner set was reasonable for the two pieces of pork cutlet.
The sashimi was also fresh, the fish having the right texture. The toro was nice too. The only fish we didn't like was the white fish (no idea what it was), which had lots of fibers and was chewy, with a fishy aftertaste. The only other issue I found with the sashimi was the lemon slice they placed between some pieces, such that I couldn't really taste the fish besides the lemon. Something that I don't really like about sushi places in general.
All being said, we do like this restaurant!
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| The boyfriend was quite liberal with the tonkatsu sauce! Check out the two big chunks of pork cutlet |
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| Nice tendons in the pork |
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| Thick sashimi cuts |
635 West Dana Street
Mountain View, CA 94041
(650) 968-3227
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