Tomatoes, Pancakes, Rootbeer, Mexican Food, Yogurt

A day late, but pictures from yesterday!

Vine-ripened tomatoes, which I picked myself from my aunty's garden.

Homemade banana pancakes.

Missing here is the attempt at French Press Peet's coffee for me and my new
friend Joseph. But it's for the best because the grounds were too fine and
slipped too much through the filter. :-\

Sebastien's rootbeer--his drink of choice, as the rest of us slurped pumpkin
ale.

Mexican food from Andale in Palo Alto! For myself, a combination fajita
plate. For Josh, the mesquite vegetarian burrito (which they forgot was a
new addition on the menu and accidentally brought out chicken--Josh showed
the manager that the dish was on the menu).

And yogurt from Fraiche! Pasteurized right in the store.


Andale Mexican Restaurant
www.andalemexican.com
209 University Ave
Palo Alto, CA 94301
(650) 323-2939

Fraiche Yogurt
www.fraicheyogurt.com
644 Emerson, Suite 110
Palo Alto, CA 94301
(650) 566-0055

Mountain View, Sonja & Hong Kong Café!

I got to meet Sonja today in Mountain View!

And I nearly missed the Caltrain. I had never walked from my aunty's house
to the station, so I had to sprint at some points, messenger bag flying
behind me. I used a $10 bill to buy my $2.25 fare, and the change came out
all in loose change! I was fumbling with all those coins as the train
pulled in.

Anyway, Mountain View has an amazing collection of restaurants. The Asian
restaurants are especially fine. Northern Chinese, Hong Kong-ese, Ramen,
Korean, dim sum...nom nom nom.

Today we walked around a bit and then went to Sonja's favorite, Hong Kong
Bistro. Sonja is FROM Hong Kong, so she knows it's legit. She babbled away
with the waitress in Cantonese.

Our two selections were great:

- Singapore Chow Funn
- Ham and Turkey Tomato Sauce Rice

My favorite was the rice!

Price: Under $10

Hong Kong Bistro
147 Castro St
Mountain View, CA 94041
(650) 968-8938

 

Look, you can see the train came two minutes late! It was supposed to come at 11:02. I was lucky!!

Il Fornaio

The pictures are awfully dark tonight, but that's because I was at some
dim-lit Italian restaurant. It's called Il Fornaio, a place that used to be
quite trendy among the Silicon Valley elite about 10 or 20 years ago.

Now it's a place with pretty good pizza.

Chefs bake pizza in the Italian style--thin, chewy crust. The picture you
see here is the pizza margherita, my cousin's choice. I got the homemade
fettuccine alla bolognese. The noodles were eggy and al dente.

My aunty and uncle ordered a very nice bottle of white wine, a vermentino,
which my aunty says originates from Sardinia. It's dry, light and only
slightly woody. I liked it. I got a shot of the label, so you get try it,
too.

I also took pictures of their fresh baked bread (delicious with their house olive oil and balsamic vinegar) and calamari.

Price range: $15-25

Il Fornaio
520 Cowper St
Palo Alto, CA 94301
(650) 853-3888
http://www.ilfornaio.com/

Stay tuned for tomorrow: Mountain View adventures!

Bento Box @ Sushi House

Ah yes, a yakiniku short ribs bento box from Sushi House in Palo Alto! It's
$13 for the whole box.

The beef was a tad dry, but the miso soup was tasty. I really like the
variety, though. The tofu is apparently organic. Hard to beat the Japanese
food in Hawaii, but I don't mind Sushi House starting the Mainland
explorations.
Sushi House
158 Town and Country Village
Palo Alto
www.sushihousepaloalto.com
650.321.3453
Monday - Saturday: 11 am - 2:30 pm, 4:30 pm - 8 pm