Eat Around the World - Germany

It had been months since Jason and I went out for an 'exotic' meal at an ethnic restaurant (mostly due to the fact that there were only about ten foods that actually sounded edible to me for a 3 month period - thank you pregnancy). But, come May, I was starting to feel much more like myself, so we planned a day date to the city and decided to hit up an ethnic restaurant while we were out there.

I have been having mini-cravings for sausage, so we decided to do a German restaurant. Neither one of us have smart phones (keeping it real, folks), so we brought my iPad with us and were going to figure out the restaurant once we got into the city. Unfortunatley, my iPad was not getting good service, so we went to the Hyatt, pretended to be out-of-towners staying at the hotel, and asked the front desk for a good German restaurant. They highly recommended Suppenküche in Hayes Valley (Yelp review here). 

We were welcomed by a huge crowd and an hour wait, which is always a good sign. The restaurant totally reminded me of Germany: it was loud, crowded, and had a bunch of large tables where you sat with others (do not go here on a first date...no privacy and you can barely have a conversation due to the noise).

I enjoyed an entertaining visit to the bathrooms while we waited. This gave me a good laugh.

Once we were seated at our table (with two other random couples), we enjoyed looking at the menu. I got a kick out of the beer menu, which reminded me of my trip to Oktoberfest in Germany. The guy at the bar behind us was actually drinking one of the boot beers, and we had a great time cheering him on and watching him finish his TWO liters of beer.

 

I settled for the 1-liter.

 

Just-kidding. No drinking for this pregnant lady...this was circa Oktoberfest 2006.

For dinner, I ordered the bratwurst.

  

It was almost as good as the real-deal out of Germany! (Again, circa Oktoberfest 2006).

Jason ordered the wiener schnitzel. 

Both were quite tasty, but neither compared to the apple turnover we had for dessert. Yum!

 

Overall, I would give the restaurant a 9 out of 10. I mostly rate it down because of the ambiance, but I guess it gives you a good flavor for German culture :)

SF Tourist

I love San Francisco. I would not want to live there, but I love going into the city. On Father's Day weekend, my parents, sister, and I went to the Farmer's Market at the Ferry Building. It was so fun! The weather was gorgeous, and it was great to walk around, sample yummy food, and enjoy the hustle and bustle. Jason was at a Dodger's game (boo) that day with his dad, so I've been wanting to go back with him for quite a while. Our weekends have been so busy though with bridal showers, bachelorette parties, weddings, family gatherings, or grad school for Jason, so we haven't had a free Saturday in forever. This past Saturday was one of the first free Saturdays we've had in months...and the last we'll have for weeks, so we wanted to make the best of it. Plus, Jason is in between terms for grad school, so he didn't have any homework to do this weekend. Yay!

A few weeks ago we marked October 22nd as our fun day. We planned to go into the city and just explore. I, of course, had a few things on the agenda: Farmer's Market, Coffee Bean, Gott's for lunch, Land's End Trail...Well, we got all of that in, plus more. The weather was on our side...October is definitely the city's summer. Such a pretty day.
We sampled lots of yummy goodies at the Farmer's Market and enjoyed great burgers and sweet potato fries at Gott's for lunch.

Jason works for Ross Corporate, and they just opened a store at Fisherman's Wharf, so we did a little store visit there.
We then played SF tourist and started driving...drove through North Beach, then down Union Street (so cute), down to Crissy Field, then through the Presidio to the Land's End Trail.

Jason proposed on the Land's End Trail, but it was crummy weather that day, so we were excited to walk the trail on a clear day with a perfect view of the Golden Gate Bridge.

And, a day in the city wouldn't be complete without a stop at Coffee Bean and a stroll through Pac Heights. We had such a fun day exploring and enjoying the beautiful San Francisco weather!

Eat Around the World - Chile

Last weekend we had our first 'eat around the world' experience with some friends! We actually have friends that are as adventurous as we are when it comes to trying crazy cuisines!

Our friends, Brandon and Mary, actually found this restaurant themselves. We were super excited for Chilean food because it wasn't a cuisine we had on our list to try.

The restaurant was called Valparaiso (Yelp review here) and was in Berkeley (like most of the restaurants we have been to).
Right away, I loved the ambiance of the restaurant. It was probably one of the best that we've experience (Jason had to tell me to put my camera away).
Jason and I split two entrees. One was Pollo Bahia:boneless chicken thigh sautéed in coconut milk, tomatoes, onion, bell peppers, and white wine. Served with rice and black beans. This was extremely flavorful!
The other entree was Chorrillana: fried potatoes (french fries) tossed with onion, eggs, and beef sautéed in red wine. It actually tastes much better than it looks! It was kinda like an egg scramble...with french fries :)
We also got a side of fried plaintans, which were so good...(even though they look a little 'interesting')!
The four of us shared two desserts: Torta Milhoja (a Chilean specialty pastry layered with walnuts and caramel milk) and Nino Envuelto (a Chilean pancake stuffed with manjar -caramel milk). Both were very good, but the winner goes to the Torta Milhoja. Delicious!

All in all, we had a great time. Loved the ambiance and the food was good. I wouldn't say that the food is great though...giving the restaurant a 7 out of 10.

Eat Around the World - Indonesia

It had been over a month since we had tried a new ethnic cuisine, so last Friday we set out to explore a new country. We didn't really have anything in mind specifically, but we were thinking Asian. Both of us wanted Mongolian barbeque, but we weren't able to find a restaurant that looked really good.

We ended up deciding on Indonesian and headed to Jayakarta Restaurant in Berkeley (Yelp review here). The restaurant was really crowded, and we were excited for some new flavors.

We ordered four entrees, all of which were very different. For noodles, we ordered mie tek-tek: egg noodles sauteed with fried eggs, strips of chicken, vegetables, and spicy sauce. This was by far our favorite! So flavorful!

A yelp review we read said that the satays were good, so we ordered the assorted sate with chicken, pork, beef, and shrimp. They are basically like kabobs with a peanut sauce on the meat. These were probably my second favorite item.

For one of our main dishes we went the chicken route and ordered ayam panggang bumbu rujak. Say what? According to the menu, this is barbequed chicken marinated in their special gravy of peanut and coconut milk sauce. This item was almost too flavorful for me - too strong. I felt like I was eating potpourri. Also, the chicken was not boneless, so it was kinda a pain to eat over rice.

Lastly, we ordered babat goreng kecap: beef deep fried and crispy, then sauteed in sweet soy sauce. This was a big disappointment. When we read deep fried and crispy, we thought there would still be some beef left. Wrong. The beef had been fried to crispy strips of...crispy strips. There was literally no meat left.

All in all, we gave the restaurant a seven (good). It was not amazing, but we enjoyed most of what we ate and would go back. The noodles by far blew everything else out of the water!

Eat Around the World - Burma

Over a year ago, Jason and I headed out to Alameda for an evening out. Neither one of us had really been to Alameda, and we had heard that it was a cute little town. Someone had recommended an Italian restaurant to eat at, but we wanted to walk the town before dinner. As we were walking around, we stumbled across Burma Superstar! (Yelp Review here) and saw a big crowd hanging around outside the restaurant. We took mental note of the restaurant, so when we came back a few months later, we were all excited to try Burmese food. However, the wait was super long...and we were hungry, so we settled for a restaurant serving New Zealand cuisine.

We were determined to make it back to Alameda though so we could eat at Burmese Superstar. Well, it took us a year to get back there, but in May of 2011, we had our first taste of Burmese food, and it did not disappoint! On our first visit, we ordered their signature salad: the tea leaf salad filled with "urmese tea leaves, tomatoes, lettuce, dried shrimp (or vegetarian), fried garlic, sesame seeds, peanuts, and split yellow peas.” They bring out the salad with all the ingredients separated and then mix it together at your table. Delicious!

For our entrees we ordered garlic noodles, pork curry with potatoes, and the fiery beef. The fiery beef (pictured below) was by far the best entree we ordered. Don't let the tofu freak you out (or order it without), but I don't even remember the tofu.

After our first week of being back at school, Jason and I wanted to treat ourselves to a meal out. We talked about going somewhere, and in my head I was thinking Burma Superstar...and then Jason suggested it. I love it when that happens...we are finding stuff like this happening more and more often. The two really do become one upon being wed!

So last Friday we headed back out to Alameda for take two of Burmese food. We made sure that we didn't get any repeat items from our first go. Instead of the tea leaf salad we got the rainbow salad: 22 ingredients, including four kinds of noodles, crispy fried garlic, diced potatoes, tofu, dried shrimp, fried onions, green papaya, roasted chilies, crushed yellow beans, cilantro, won ton chips, cabbage and a tamarind dressing.

As our server said, every bite tastes a little different, and she sure was right! Our entrees were sesame beef (strips of beef lightly fried with a sweet and tangy sauce. Topped with sesame seeds) and spicy & crispy chicken (deep fried chicken breast in a sweet, tangy, and spicy sauce with chili and garlic...and they don't go easy on the garlic!).

Sesame Beef (Above)
Spicy & Crispy Chicken (Below)

Winner of the night was the sesame beef. Delicious! We can't wait to go back (we were already talking about what our visit #3 picks will be). We give Burma Superstar a 10 out of 10!

Eat Around the World - Poland

On Saturday, Jason and I went to a Polish restaurant in Walnut Creek called Chopin Cafe & Restaurant (click here for the Yelp review). We're all about trying to find places with good reviews, but you often have to go into San Francisco to get some of the better ones, but we were excited when Chopin Cafe & Restaurant came up.

Again, like a lot of these places, the outside was nothing grand and looked more like a coffee shop or small cafe (which I guess it technically is a cafe). I was even more surprised when I walked in and saw how small it was. A handful of tables to sit two people, and then a few more of those squished together to hold up to four. When a party of seven came in shortly after us, they practically had to turn the restaurant upside down to accommodate them. The entire restaurant held probably 30 people, and boy did they quickly occupy all of those seats. This place was hopping, which is always a good sign!

We read on Yelp that the herring was amazing for an appetizer. To be honest, I didn't even know what herring was and didn't read the description on the menu, but just let Jason go ahead and order it since we both had read that it was good. So, I must say I was quite surprised to see raw fish come out all fancied up with tomatoes, pickles, and onions.

Jason took a bite before I was able to, and the first thing he said was, "You're not going to like this." I am a huge texture person, and he said that it was even a bit difficult for him. I am trying to be braver and bolder though, so I made myself try it. I had a piece and wow - it was not good. I mean, it's raw fish. It was slimy, mushy, and so odd tasting (and odd is my polite way of saying nasty). I wouldn't attribute this to the restaurant, I'm pretty sure this is just what herring tastes like no matter where you get it. (Upon trying it, I went back and read the reviews on yelp about the herring, and most of them agreed with my description - guess we read the wrong review...)

For our entrees we wanted to make sure we went classic Polish. Entree number 1 was pierogi, which are stuffed dumplings. We had half ours filled with potato and cheese, while the other half was beef. They were then topped with caramelized onions.

The dumplings were great, especially with the caramelized onions (however, expect to burp them up for the rest of your evening...not fun). They were extremely flavorful, but also very heavy. Two or three of them about did me in. I'm not a huge ground beef fan though, so I liked the potato and cheese better than the beef.

Entree number 2 (which Jason ate 95% of) was Beef Roulade - rolled slices of tender beef stuffed with onions and peppers with gravy and potato dumplings on the side. Huge portion size!

Jason was in love with this entree. The beef was so tender and extremely flavorful. Again, I'm particular about my beef, so the slow-cooked way is not my favorite. The potato dumplings and gravy were delicious, and I might even say I liked the plain potato dumplings the best.

We had planned on getting blintzes for dessert (with raspberry and whipped cream), but we were way too stuffed from the hearty Polish meal.

However, our server did give us a free piece of pineapple cake to take home (which I am eating right now as I write this...of course with some Open Nature's vanilla bean ice cream...yummy). Some people have complained about the service at Chopin, but we had no complaints. It is a family run restaurant, and there was one server for the entire night. He did such a great job considering the crowd. He was a great host and very friendly. There was a 3-year-old girl at the table next to us, and he was so sweet to her, calling her princess all night.

Overall, we gave the restaurant a 7.5 - rating it as good. I think I'm just not into the hearty cuisine that the Polish eat, so it lowered my rating a bit. Plus the herring was a huge mistake that somewhat tainted the experience. I would definitely recommend this restaurant if you like this sort of food, though. Plus, they serve breakfast Friday - Sunday, which looks quite good.

Eat Around the World - Turkey

While our summer kick-off event was trying Brazilian cuisine, our end of summer splurge was a Giant's game in San Francisco, followed by some Turkish food! (Unfortunately, the Giants got spanked by the Pirates, 2-9. Painful). Nonetheless, we still had a great time (I got to see the Giants play...and Jason got to see the Giants lose. Dodger fan...).

Since we were in the city for the day, we wanted to take advantage of the wide variety of cuisines offered in San Francisco. We took BART into the city, so we wanted to find something within walking distance from the park. We were originally thinking Russian food, but nothing was close by (we really want to color in Russia on our map - huge country!) We then thought maybe German, but we wanted to eat a sausage at the game, and we figured German food for dinner after would be overkill. After doing some research on Yelp, we found a review for a Turkish restaurant, and everyone said it was great. It was only about 2.5 miles from the park, so we figured we'd give it a go!

Conveniently, half-way there, we walked by Coffee Bean for 'happy hour' and then did some shopping around Union Square.

After our coffee and shopping fix, we made the trek up Geary into the Tenderlion area of San Francisco and arrived at A La Turca Restaurant (click here for Yelp review).

While it sure didn't look too promising from the outside, things got better upon entering. It was really cute inside, with a mural on one of the side walls and rock all along the back wall.

For an appetizer we ordered Ispanakli Borek. Say what? Basically it is pastry dough filled with spinach and feta cheese. The pastry dough was crispy and flaky - melted in your mouth.

For the main course, I ordered flat bread grilled and filled with chicken, feta, mozzarella, and bell peppers. (I am notorious for ordering the 'safest' item on the menu, and afterwards told Jason he needs to start ordering for me because I 'chicken' out every time and end up ordering something with chicken in it). It came out looking like a quesadilla. It was really good, but rich (which I am also notorious for ordering). Probably would order something different next time.

Jason always goes for the boldest item on the menu...with the most meat in it. Jason order the Combo Donor (donor is Turkish for gyro meat). It came with chicken, beef, and lamb gyro meat, salad, and rice. The meat was so flavorful, with tons of spices and seasoning. I wish I got something with more spunk to it since it tasted so good.

We were so full after our meal that we didn't have room for dessert. We decided to get something go to and were going to order their baklava, but our server talked us into getting kadayif, which is their shredded phyllo dough with pistachios.

They looked really yummy, but we were both a little disappointed when we went to eat them the next day. Both of us took one bit, looked at each other, and agreed that it wasn't worth eating the rest. We then resorted to our summer dessert...Open Nature's Vanilla Bean Ice Cream (found at Safeway...seriously, the best vanilla ice cream from the carton) with mashed up blackberries. We are loving this dessert...and eat it almost every night!

Overall, we gave A La Turca an 8 out of 10. Our appetizer was for sure a 10, along with Jason's meal, but I would rate mine a little lower, along with our disappointing dessert. If you're looking to try Turkish food, we recommend A La Turca.