This post is for you, Karrie!

After you mentioned clam chowder at well-known Pismo Beach eatery, Splash Cafe, I remembered that I failed to mention that we had dinner there last night during our pit stop in this small beach town in my previous post.

Well, after hearing so much about Splash Cafe and reading all the reviews on Yelp, we knew we had to taste their clam chowder in a bread bowl.  My friends and the Boyfriend really loved it, but I found it a bit too thick and buttery rich for my taste.  But don’t take my word for it - I think clam chowder is traditionally supposed to be this way, no?

And in the spirit of overly caloric food, we also ordered fish tacos and chili cheese fries (my total diet buster).  The fish taco was a little dry but the piece of battered cod was definitely a whole and healthy portion.  As for the fries, I don’t think there’s any way you can possibly screw it up - between the four of us, we devoured every bite!

All in all, I can see how this little cafe is so popular among locals and tourists, alike.  It’s no nonsense, with quick and easy food made to order and it’s completely satisfying.

Next time I’m in Pismo Beach, I’m sure my friends will lure us back to Splash Cafe - and that’s okay with me

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Last night, the Boyfriend and I ventured out for Korean barbecue at a new spot - something we’d never done before without our Korean friends.

My uncle had recommended a couple of restaurants on Garden Grove Blvd. (or mini Koreatown in this city, if you will).  We stopped by Shik Do Rak and found ourselves sitting in front of a menu where we had no clue what to order.

But never fear, the servers were really great, surprising spoke English and helped us out with what the regulars usually get - a complete combo meal for two with thin slices of beef and cubes of short ribs, along with mushrooms and onions, some sort of spicy soup and all the sides that you normally see while eating Korean fare - kimchi, pickled cucumbers, daikon, and some flat tofu-like item that’s supposedly a fish cake from reading the reviews on Yelp.  Doesn’t matter, I loved it because the sides are my favorite part!

One thing I didn’t love was the price.  Our dinner for two set us back about $60 after tax and tip.  While the beef was good, and enough to fill us both up, they were a bit stingy considering this should have fed 2-3 people.  I don’t have a huge appetite and I can only imagine if we had a 3rd person with us that it would leave us wanting more.  I also wished that they had pre-marinated the beef a little bit.  My favorite part about Korean BBQ are all the yummy spices!

All in all, it was a good dinner - but would we go here again?  I think we’ll try our hand at a couple more places before we venture to Shik Do Rak again.  Korean BBQ seems to be plentiful in this neighborhood for sure.

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Ever since I’ve been unemployed, I’ve been kind of sitting on my arse and snacking way too much, mostly because I’m looking for something to do.  What’s worse is it’s holiday season and I won’t can’t say no to all food and all the trimmings.

Right now I’m down in Orange County and my aunt is out of town, so there’s no one to cook.  You would think that this would help me eat less but all I want to do is go to the grocery store and buy junk to eat for the next 10 days because no one will know 

Well guys, you’re gonna be proud!  I just got back from the grocery store but instead of all that bad-for-me food to snack on, I picked up a few of my favorite fresh fruits and brought them home to make fruit salad.

Those of you who know me will know that I’m kind of obsessed with my favorite quarterback, Peyton Manning.  Finding inspiration in one of his many endorsements this season, I remembered this hilarious Mastercard commercial and decided on the fruit salad.

This was so easy to put together (took me less than 15 minutes to cut everything up) and is so much healthier for me to snack on at 10pm when I’m drooling over what the Top Chefs are making.

There are no rules to fruit salad, just pick your favorites so there’s no excuse not to finish every last bite and enjoy some healthy eating in between those decadent holiday treats!

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I love cooking and everything about it.  The Boyfriend and I always say that when we move into our own house we’d have a huge kitchen with all the fun appliances and tools for cooking we could ever ask for.

So even though I can’t take advantage of Macy’s Friends & Family discount of up to 20% for my home this year, a girl can always dream right?  Here are my favorite kitchen tools that you might want to put on your wish list or give as a gift to the favorite folks in your life:

Every kitchen needs the basics, so why not start off your collection with this OXO Good Grips 10-Piece Everyday Kitchen Tool Set ($60 US on sale) complete with items you use in everyday cooking in a concise caddy to keep it all together.

The Boyfriend is always talking about getting a good set of knives for the kitchen and I just spotted this set at a great value! J.A. Henckels International EverSharp 13-Piece Cutlery Set is a huge bargain at $60 US on sale right now - if we were to get each knife individually, it would cost over $200!

All year long during the holidays I love to bake cupcakes and decorating them for Valentine’s Day, Halloween, Christmas, you name it.  This Martha Stewart Collection 5-Piece Cake and Carrier ($39.99 US) lets me bake a ton at a time and tote them around to the office or to holiday parties in a cinch.

Macy’s Friends & Family Event starts tomorrow December 10th and goes through December 15th so you’ll tons of time to shop til you drop!

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On Wednesday the Boyfriend and I went out for a fun dinner at Circa in San Francisco to celebrate our anniversary.

We weren’t looking for anything frou frou so we were excited to grub on favorite American classics, prepared with a contemporary twist.  The menu had so many yummy sounding options that we decided to have our dinner tapas-style and order a bunch of small plates to share instead of full entrees.

First to come out of the kitchen were these cute Maine Lobster Corndogs with a mustard beurre blanc.  For me the batter was way to sweet and I was a tad disappointed that it was literally a batter piece of lobster.  I think I would have enjoyed it more if it were a hearty lobster-style sausage or something.  The beurre blanc on the other hand was delicioius!!  I’d love some of that every day to use as a dipping sauce.

We also had a Tropical Snapper Ceviche served in a crisp tortilla cup with fine dices of mango, pineapple, and peppers accompanied by warm house tortilla chips.  This dish was also a little too sweet for my liking but served as a lighter option to snack on in between the other richer dishes.

One thing I was really looking forward to were the Angus Sliders with Black Truffle and Brie.  But when we got there the menu had changed slightly to include Bacon & Cheddar-stuffed Angus Sliders, instead.  Nonetheless, we couldn’t resist anything stuffed with bacon and order those as well.  While they were delicious, I feel like they were mini burgers I could have made at home.  Tip to the restaurant: make your own buns.  They’d seem more authentic that way.

And finally for my two favorite dishes of the evening: Smoky Tomato Soup with Grilled Cheese Bites and Lobster & White Truffle Mac n Cheese.

The soup was a tad on the smoky side but had lots of yummy tomato flavor to make up for it.  My favorite part was dipping the crispy, cheesy grilled bites into it.. it’s enough to make you feel like a kid again!

The ooey gooey mac and cheese was my absolute favorite of the night.  Made with shell pasta with generous chunks of lobster, topped with crunchy bread crumbs and then baked to perfection, I had to try really hard not to wolf the dish down in three spoonfuls, LOL.  Even the Boyfriend liked it and he’s not even a mac and cheese fan!

Now what anniversary dinner would be complete without dessert?  We stayed true to the evening and ordered the Dessert Sampler.  Why else?  So we could try a little bit of everything, of course!  We had (from L to R) Pumpkin Cheesecake, Espresso Creme Brulee, Black and White Bread Pudding topped with vanilla gelato, and Brioche Doughnut Holes served with whipped cream and a rich chocolate sauce.

My absolute favorite was the bread pudding, not too sweet and the perfect balance between warm and cold gelato.  Yum!  The Boyfriend also finished off the creme brulee before we headed home for the evening.

Overall, the food wasn’t mind-blowing, but everything was done with lots of fun and taste.  I think this will be a fun happy hour spot with my friends in the lounge area.  More mac and cheese, please!

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Last week for the Boyfriend’s birthday dinner with his family, I bought him this Tiramisu cake from Whole Foods.  It was light yet creamy and delicious!

Now I have a craving, but not for a full slice like this, but for a single bite - a petit four that Whole Foods carries in San Francisco.  It’s got a chocolate covered coffee bean on top that makes it a hit with every morsel. Maybe I can steal a trip downtown to get one, or four.

Do you have any dessert cravings today?

Every time I go down to Orange County I always mean to stop by Hu Tieu Thanh Xuan, a Vietnamese restaurant that specializes in these yummy clear glass noodles, also known as hu tieu dai.

But for some reason I always miss it and end up somewhere else.  To make up for it, the Boyfriend and I have grubbed here three times already in the past month that I’ve been down in my old hometown.  And every time I order their special Hu Tieu Thanh Xuan Dac Biet (combination style, with the soup on the side).

My combination bowl comes with shrimp, pork slices, a quail egg and crab claw atop a mound of glass noodles and served with a side of the house broth and some sort of tomato concoction.

I like to eat this dish by pouring the tomato sauce into my bowl and mixing it up with all the noodles, meat and veggies.  Squeeze a little lime over it and I start chowing down, with a couple of spoonfuls of soup in between.  This dish is one of my favorites and I’m so glad the restaurant is still around after all these years (thanks Mom for taking me here as a kid!)

The Boyfriend likes to order Mi Hoanh Thanh, or egg noodles with won tons.   This big bowl is just about as common as Vietnamese pho and is just as hearty with pork slices and garnished with scallions and cilantro .

The best thing about this dish is are the homemade won tons and excellent broth.  In my opinion, lots of Vietnamese soups are inconsistent in taste at some places but at this broth recipe is consistent and tastes the same every time.

For my last lunch in Orange County before I drive back up to San Francisco tomorrow, this is what I ate today; what did you grub on?

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Last Thursday I met up with my friend Mary for lunch near the office where we both used to work together.  It amazed me that even in two short years since I’ve worked there, the surrounding neighborhood in this SOMA district has changed so much.

Our lunch destination of choice is a new food and wine bar called South.  When I used to work here, it was called Choppers, a salad and sandwich joint.  As I sat there catching up with Mary, we mustered to ourselves what a little remodeling can do to a hole in the wall, LOL.

South Food & Wine Bar is influenced by the land Down Under with the owners and famed chefs coming from Australia and New Zealand.  I was completely intrigued since I’ve never had this type of “southern” cuisine before.

As I waited for Mary to arrive, I quietly checked out the extensive wine list.  It’s not catagorized by grapes, but rather by mood - feeling Sparkly, Spicy, or Lively?  You’ll find something for any occasion.  I personally think this is a nice way to introduce wine newbies like myself without the intimidation of having to understand a merlot vs. cabernet.  I don’t really know, I just know they taste different. 

By this time, I heard a loud voice walk through the door and squeal, “Lilan!”  Now, we could sit down and go over the food menu.

I choose the Korobuta Pork Sandwich with sweet onions, cranberry compote, and a mini “rocket” salad with apple slices and goat cheese.  This was certainly a hearty sandwich; I only finished half.  But that’s not to say that I might have eaten the whole thing anyway if it weren’t for the compote.  There was too much of it and made the sandwich too sweet for me to want to finish my plate.

Mary had the BBQ Chicken Breast Salad with butter lettuce, tossed with blue cheese tarragon dressing.  She had it was really yummy but to me it looked over dressed by far.  You can’t really go wrong with blue cheese though.  I wouldn’t have complained, ha!

It was a really nice lunch with great service; I think I might have to take the Boyfriend here for dinner sometime to get the full effect of this new SOMA hotspot.

South Food & Wine Bar is located at 330 Townsend Street #101 at 4th Street if you’re in the Bay Area and want to check it out.  If you’re an out of towner, you can still sample South by way of wine.  They have a Wine Club if you’re a grape connoisseur.

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I’ve always been kind of against frozen yogurt.  For me, if I’m going to eat something sweet, I might as well eat ice cream (since it’s a rare indulgence for me).

However, on this day in Hollywood, it was so hot and I was in total dire need of something really cold to eat or drink.  We were with some friends, one of which really wanted some frozen yogurt right across the street from the Mann Theatre.  I agreed to go with her, only to watch her get her scoop and not really for me to eat.

The longer she stood in like sampling yogurt flavors and making yummy noises, I totally gave in - okay lady, I’ll take a small raspberry pomegranate frozen yogurt, or Fro-Yo, as the trendy So Cal folks like to call it.

Then she hit me with a curve ball and asked what toppings I wanted.  I was about to say no when I looked over at my friend with mochi, strawberries and Oreo cookies on hers.  So I told the girl, “I’d like strawberries please.”  She then hit me with another unexpected, “and..”

Oh my, I get to choose more?  “Yea..” she says, with an underlying “duh..” in there somewhere.

I ended up getting pineapples and kiwi atop my raspberry pomegranate frozen treat.

Let me just tell you, I ate the entire thing like there was no tomorrow!  Granted I shared some with the Boyfriend but I could have inhaled that entire thing by myself!  I don’t know if it was the heat or what, but it was the best thing I’d eaten in a long time.

And to make things even better, frozen yogurt is actually good for you and with fruit toppings there is absolutely nothing in it to make you feel guilty.

So while I still haven’t gotten in the swing of things with my diet, now I know that whenever I want a treat to eat, I can run to my nearest fro-yo shop to satisfy my cravings.  And they’re not hard to find either because this trend is popping up everywhere!  I even noticed a couple of new Tutti Frutti shops in San Francisco since I’ve been back!

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Right after wine tasting at Ponte Family Winery, we went right next door to South Coast Winery Resort & Spa for a late lunch.

This winery is pretty big as it boosts a few banquet rooms, a spa, two restaurants and a tasting room.  It didn’t have the same quaint feeling like Ponte Family Winery did, but it might be a nice place to stay if you were looking for an ultra luxe weekend away.

Since we were low on time but wanted to check out the food, we only spent an hour there to grab a bite to eat before heading home.  As Napa Valley is well-known for its food as well as wine, we wondered - does Temecula Valley Wine Country’s dishes compare?

We sat down in the patio of the Vineyard Rose restaurant and checked out the menu.  There wasn’t anything that really stood out so we opted for regular lunch fare - sandwiches and pizza.

I had the Rosemary Grilled Chicken sandwich with basil pesto, jack cheese, crispy onions and vine tomatoes on Ciabatta.  It was par - an overall nice tasting sandwich although a little stingy on the chicken and overly generous on the bread (not in a good way).  I was also hoping for crispier onions but I won’t complain - anything deep fried can’t be bad right?

The Boyfriend will eat anything with meat on it and the Pizza Chianti seemed to be just the dish to satisfy him.  This thin crust pizza was topped with Italian sausage, pepperoni, Canadian bacon, and ground beef.  It looked really delicious when it came out and I enjoyed it.  However I think for him, it wasn’t as hearty as he had hoped it would be.

I think that Temecula’s fine dining scene has a little ways to go before it can rival Napa but it’s definitely a nice change from the many, many chain restaurants that are seemingly never-ending in the area.

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