Food | fabliss - Part 35

Burma Superstar | Oakland, CA

since we have been planning this trip to norcal for quite some time now (go lions) we had a list of restaurants we absolutely had to eat! burma superstar was one of them (thanks tiffany!). it has three locations: san francisco (the original one), oakland and alameda. given our schedule, we went to the oakland location.

this is what we came for: rainbow salad (actually, it was recommended that we get the tea leaf salad. we were conflicted so got the rainbow salad this time and will have to try the tea leaf salad next time!) – salad made with 22 different ingredients. Four types of noodles, green papaya, tofu, onions, dried shrimp, and a tamarind dressing. so the waitress will walk you through each ingredient…

then he/she will prepare it for you (aka toss it for you).

and then…tada! uh-mazing. its everything you want a salad to be – light and refreshing. and! i really enjoyed the tamarind dressing. (just thinking about it makes me hungry) side note: apparently this salad and the tea leaf salad was featured on the food network: diners, drive-ins & dives. other things we ordered:

fiery beef – spicy (not but not too spicy). loved it. flavor is awesome.
beef curry (burmese style) – loved this as well.
duck garlic noodles – duck was delicious but the truth is…after eating fiery beef and beef curry, both of which are an explosion of flavor…these garlic noodles didnt have quite the punch. but i still enjoyed it.

food: excellent. you must go here. (rainbow salad. rainbow salad)
ambiance: cute. clean, simple modern.
service: good and helpful. when they bring out the rainbow salad with 22 ingredients, they go through all the ingredients!
overall: i will be back to eat you, burma superstar.

Burma Superstar
4721 Telegraph Ave
(between 47th St & 48th St)
Oakland, CA 94609
Neighborhoods: Temescal, North Oakland

By vivilinh | September 23rd, 2012 | California, Food, Restaurants, San Francisco / Oakland, Travel | 4 Comments

900 Grayson | Berkeley, CA

we’re back from the bay area! for this special weekend, we went up north to see the lions vs. niners game in san francisco with a few friends. road trip? norcal? friends? 2 days of eating and drinking? detroit vs sf? best weekend ever?! first stop (literally first stop after a 5.5 hour drive, which started at 2:30am) was 900 grayson in oakland/berkeley. kyle and i fell in love with this place last time we visited the bay (thank you stell and p for introducing us) and have been talking about it non-stop since then. SO we decided to spread the love to LB and B. 8am. we were the first few people to get there. this place is normally packed with an average wait of 30 -60 minutes for a group.

we ordered the “demon lover” – fried chicken on top of a delicious waffle, topped with amazing gravy. the best chicken and waffles ever (and this is coming from a group of people from LA who have roscoe’s chicken and waffles). since we had a whole agenda planned with regards to food, we decided to split one order per two people. this was a mistake because we immediately wanted more.

this is the dish i look forward to when i come to the bay and would highly recommend it. a few tips: (i) the restaurant’s policy is that they will not seat you if your whole party isnt present. (ii) expect long lines during the weekend (esp brunch)…but it is absolutely worth it. (iii) try their homemade hot sauce…its uber tasty!

900 Grayson
900 Grayson St
(between 7th St & 8th St)
Berkeley, CA 94710
Neighborhood: West Berkeley

By vivilinh | September 17th, 2012 | California, Food, Restaurants, San Francisco / Oakland, Travel | 5 Comments

BCD Tofu House | Koreatown, Los Angeles

thursday night ktown adventure! this has been what we have done the past two weeks…i’m pretty much calling it our new tradition, replacing (temporarily) our hot dog thursdays! thanks to e & c, we went to BCD tofu house (did you know that in korean, “tofu” is pronounced “dooboo”?) anyway, we absolutely loved it at BCD.

food: banchan – great as always. my favorite is the fish cake! kimchi was also delicious and garlic-y. some other side dishes included pickles in water, a fish (one for everyone), raw squid, and kimchi-like peppers.

tofu soup (“soon tofu” or “soon doo-boo”) was awesome! if you have never been to a korean tofu house, they come in little (freaking hot-as-heck) clay pots! warning: if you get your soup spicy, you will not only be dealing with the scorching heat from the soup, but your mouth will also be on fire. expect some sweat and tears, my friend. here is what we ordered:

me: dumpling soon doo-boo
kyle: spicy pork bulgogi combo with the seafood soon doo-boo
e: kimchi soon tofu (see e, i’m using it interchangeably, like a g)
c: original soon tofu

service: nicest ladies ever! i’m not going to lie, it could have been because i was testing out my korean with them and i think it rocked their world. i kid. but really, so nice, attentive, polite. we love good service! since this place is open 24 hours, i wonder if the services is excellent all throughout the day? my instincts say yes!
location: ample parking. i’m told they just remodeled. it looks great. clean.
verdict: so freaking great. granted, we ate it while it was 90 degrees outside with flash flood warnings, still awesome. for $9 dollars, its a lot of food. i do note that kyle got the combo which was $15 and that was just way too much food. next time, he would only get the tofu soup. we both fell in love with this place.

BCD Tofu House
3575 Wilshire Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90010
Neighborhood: Koreatown

By vivilinh | August 31st, 2012 | Food, Restaurants | 0 Comments

Baby Blues BBQ | West Hollywood, CA

this is a series i wanted to call “hey, you have some bbq sauce on your face” however, i decided it was mean to post pictures of our friends as they chowed down on this bbq.

so we have been on this best bbq in los angeles hunt for the past few months. a month ago we went to gus’ in pasadena and to our disappointment, it was subpar. nothing was hot, the bbq sauce wasnt my favorite, the cornbread wasnt great and the ice cream had freezer burn. but that is a whole other story. we then decided to try baby blues bbq in hollywood since we have heard so much about it! we were reading all these reviews about the place prior to meeting up with friends so we were expecting long lines. to our surprise, we didn’t have to wait at all…and on a friday night! score!

the food: the bbq was good…but i was expecting better? i did appreciate the variety of bbq to try. i’m a big fan of sweet bbq sauce and this one is pretty good. i had the pork ribs, which fell off the bone (which is love about ribs. i know that some people feel differently about this)…but something was missing. the sides were ehh. i wasnt a big fan of the coleslaw or the bread. sad, i know.

my husband had the burger (i know). he said it was okay. not the best he’s had but he didnt feel like ribs. everyone else generally enjoyed their meal.

dessert: banana bread pudding. YUMM. a small cup of deliciousness.

would i go back? i’m on the fence about this one. the ambience is fun and loud…parking…not so fun.

Baby Blues BBQ
7953 Santa Monica Blvd
West Hollywood, CA 90046
Neighborhood: West Hollywood

By vivilinh | August 27th, 2012 | Food, Restaurants | 3 Comments

Lure Fish House | Camarillo, CA

kyle found this gem of a place when he played golf with his pops a month ago. he had the fish and chips and fell in love…so we had to add it to our list of must eats! double plus is that it is near the camarillo outlets! we had the: