Dim Sum Coconut Jelly

Posted on March 23, 2013 by bayareafoodie

coconut jellies

Have you been to a dim sum restaurant and tried the coconut jelly dessert from the cart? Well, if you have and you liked it …try this recipe. Who would have guessed Tyler Florence would have featured it on his TV show.

As usual the video and the recipe posted on the Food network site were not exactly the same. I chose wrong and decided to follow the written word… I have a feeling I should have gone with Tyler. In the end everything turned out fine but I had to cut the tops off all my jellies. For some unknown reason there was a layer of clear sugar water covering the top.

Recipe link
Tyler’s Ultimate

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Filed under: Dessert / Baked Goods, RECIPES | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Heaven’s Dog

Posted on May 12, 2011 by bayareafoodie


A friend from LA was in town for business and staying near the Moscone center. I needed to find a place to go for dinner and drinks on a Friday night near by with only a few days notice. Heaven’s dog was one of the few restaurants I could make a reservation before 9pm and I had read that they were known for their cocktails and our friend is all about getting her drink on. I figured a Charles Phan spot had to be a safe option. He is the chef behind the famed Slanted door.

I gotta say I wasn’t impressed with the location. SOMA is not the nicest area. We had a hard time finding the restaurant as it is small with minimal signage. Inside it was modern, dimly lit, decorated in vibrant orange and brown colors and the walls were covered in cute paintings of dogs.

They serve Chinese food here unlike the Vietnamese at Slanted door. Since they had a good selection of dim sum items and apps we decided to order a bunch and share.

What we got:

shanghai dumplings – good but I’ve had better
salt & pepper local squid – delish…favorite of the night
stuffed sweet peppers w/crab, shrimp, shallots – nothing special
braised pork belly in clam shell bun – yum… we had to get a 2nd order
black pepper flat iron steak, red onions, bell pepper – tasty but not as good as the Slanted door shaking beef
shumai pork, shrimp and shiitake dumplings – a little dry
wild mushrooms w/ noodles – oh so good
lemon tart – nice… I was hoping for a more Asian inspired dessert but this is all they had

As for the drinks they were a hit with our friend. I thought my 2 rum cocktails (Savannah Planters Punch/Bumble Bee) tasted too similar. I actually preferred the wine Mike ordered. All in all it was a fun night. We hung out for over 2 hours and were not rushed. The environment is very chill. This would be the perfect spot to get a bite & a drink after work, before a show or late night.

Note: park at the SOMA grand parking garage next door. They validate!

Rating:

Website: http://www.heavensdog.com/main/HD.html

Heaven's Dog on Urbanspoon

Filed under: Northern CA, PLACES TO EAT/DRINK, San Francisco | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Dim Sum Charlie’s Napa

Posted on November 18, 2010 by bayareafoodie


I don’t know if I have mentioned this but we are making wine at Crushpad which means we spent most of the month of October in Napa sorting, punching and pressing our Pinot Noir grapes. I will tell you more about that experience in another post. On one of our many weekends we decided to check out Dim Sum Charlie’s dim sum truck for lunch. I had read about it on twitter. The airstream is located right around the corner from Oxbow market, basically in the backyard of someone’s home (I assume Charlie :smile:)

When we arrived we grabbed a pen and the menu and marked the items we wanted to order as you would in any typical dim sum establishment. We opted for the honey baked bbq pork buns, white fluffy pork buns, stiiiicky rice, pork sui mai dumplings and the ten dolla make you holla dumpling combo (7 different items). The staff was friendly and happy to serve and everything tasted as it should. My only gripe would be the price. It is really expensive. The average price is $6.85 for 4 dumplings. I thought Sino at Santana Row was the most high-end dim sum at $3.25-4.25 but it’s dirt cheap in comparison. You would think they would be able to keep the cost down since they have no real overhead.

Verdict: You gotta give it a try. It’s something different in Napa.

Note: all seating is outside so if it’s raining and cold dress accordingly. It is also surrounded by construction so beware of loud noises even on the weekend.

Website: http://www.dimsumcharlies.com/

Filed under: Napa Valley, Northern CA, PLACES TO EAT/DRINK | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Sino

Posted on September 21, 2008 by bayareafoodie


My office is walking distance to Santana Row so I have lunch there often. In the last 2.5 years I have never had the urge to go to Sino, the row’s version of a Chinese restaurant. I thought no way could this hip joint serve up some authentic eats.

Mike and I finally decided to give it a try. I was unsure about our decision as our leggy blond modelesque waitress took our drink order and Bobby Brown blared over the sound system. Along with the menu we were given a piece of paper with a list of dim sum items and one of those mini-golf pencils. We filled out the form and waited to see what would happen. One dish after the next was placed in front of us and to my surprise they were good. I have worked for Asian run companies for the past 8 years so I have had my share of dim sum and this really stood up. They didn’t try to do anything fancy to the dishes. They were prepared, portioned and presented just like any other Chinese establishment would. The one thing I missed was the rolling carts but getting my food served at well-timed intervals and pipin’ hot was a trade I’ll happily accept. You would think this place was insanely expensive but for 6 dishes we were only out $25 and we were stuffed. What a pleasant discovery…

Website: http://www.sinorestaurant.com/

Sino Restaurant and Lounge on Urbanspoon

Filed under: San Jose, Silicon Valley (all cities) | Tagged: , , , , , | Leave a comment »

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