Beef noodles at Queen House

I really have a high standard where beef noodles are concerned--I'm actually Taiwanese, not just born to Taiwanese parents and went to Taipei once for Loveboat--so almost all beef noodles in America have been disappointing :/ However, the one at Queen House is not bad at all! The broth is really nice and rich, the beef is tender, and the noodles are the perfect, dense texture.

So much fat!

However,  the broth is not very clear. I feel like it was a bit of a rushed job. Even though the flavor is really beefy and savory, they really should've strained it. You cook the broth for a pretty long time, so bits of green onion, fat, and other solids from the braising liquid become mushy and cloud the broth. All the particles make the soup really sticky :(

So much grease!

Although this dish is not perfect, this is as close as I've gotten in America. I have to stop having expectations--then I'll never be disappointed!

Queen House
273 Castro Street

Sushi omakase at Sushi Tomi

Tuesday was Chinese Valentine's Day, so my boyfriend took me out for fancy sushi!

Our appetizer was beef tataki--kind of like a seared beef sashimi--with red onions. The beef was very, very tender, but because it's half seared and half raw, it can get a little gamey. The red onions were probably run under hot water, because it was very mild. The beef comes with a yuzu-shoyu type sauce, which I wish the onions were dressed in, because they felt a little "separated" from the rest of the dish. But, overall, the dish was very well-balanced and was acidic enough to still be light.

We ordered the sushi omakase, which is a chef's selection of onigiri. The only other sushi omakase I've had was at Sushi Sam's in San Mateo, so that's what I'm comparing it to.

We got a good mix of fatty and lean fish, like toro (fatty tuna), salmon, shrimp, and uni (sea urchin). However, I wish our server had told us what each fish was, because there are only a few that we could recognize.

At Sushi Sam's, all the sushi is already seasoned and "done" for you--for example, some of the fatty fish comes with yuzu rice--and they ask you to not eat it with additional soy sauce and wasabi, which prevents you from ruining the flavor of the fish with the wrong seasoning. At Tomi, on the other hand, all the fish just comes with plain sushi rice and wasabi, so you season it to your taste--which I think some people would like, because a complaint I've heard about Sushi Sam's is that it's not customizable. My one big fault with Tomi's onigiri, however, is that they put a decent chunk of too-fresh wasabi between the rice and the fish. I can handle some wasabi, but this came out of my nose and ruined a few pieces of fish for me. I ended up having to pinch off the wasabi before eating the sushi.

I think it's also notable that at least three pieces of fish were very fishy, which made it almost inedible for my boyfriend (which means I got more--yay :)

Overall, Tomi has great stuff, but just for personal preference, I like Sushi Sam's better. Both sushi omakase sets are about the same price, so it really depends on whether you want sushi that's tailored for each kind of fish (Sushi Sam's) or simple, customizable onigiri (Tomi).

Sushi Tomi
635 W Dana St
http://www.sushitomi.com/

Double lunch day: Pho Garden and Asian Box

I wanted both pho and Asian Box for lunch, so I decided not to choose. (My boyfriend asked me what I had for lunch, and I asked him not to call me fat).

My first stop was Pho Garden. Look how beautiful the vegetables are! When I get pho in New York, the basil is always rotten, the lime is dry, and they only give me two bean sprouts.

The broth is a little bland, but it's nothing that can't be fixed with a little lime and hoisin sauce. Apparently, Pho Garden is the home of the "Pho Challenge"; two pounds of meat and two pounds of pho, which can be yours for free if you finish it (if not, it costs $25).

A lot of Chipotle-inspired restaurants have been popping up--like Asian Box. You choose from carbs like rice and rice noodles, proteins like beef, chicken, shrimp, and tofu, and various toppings. Like Chipotle, the price is determined by your protein and other add-ons.

I got rice noodles, shrimp, all the toppings, and the Hot Box It sauce (a strong hot sauce). The shrimp is tossed in lime and basil, which I really like! It's not too firm, and has a lot of flavor. Unlike Chipotle, though, Asian Box's bowl just feels more like a salad--it's very light, but not filling (maybe because of all the raw vegetables). However, they do have a lot of great elements; I highly recommend the shrimp, pork (which is like chasiu pork), crispy shallots, and rice noodles--and the Hot Box It sauce if you can take it.

Pho Garden
246 Castro Street, Mountain View
http://phogardensf.com/page.php?Page=home

Asian Box
142 Castro Street, Mountain View
http://asianboxpaloalto.com/