Wadaya

We weren't going to eat out the night before our flight, but alas, one last meal before leaving the Bay Area!  We met up with one our cousins for some Mazemen at Wadaya.  For those who are unfamiliar, Mazemen is soupless ramen with an array of toppings.  But similar to other spots like this, Wadaya also has the traditional soup ramen as well.  We got that as well as some other things they had.

Those other things included the Chicken Karaage.  I wasn't sold on the sauce on the chicken as I prefer it to be plain (well, with some marinade though) and then dip it into the mayo.  With that being said, the chicken was juicy with a crispy exterior.  It was rather mild-tasting, so I guess the sweet sauce was somewhat necessary. 

Going with a few more appies, we also had the Ikageso or deep-fried squid tentacles as well as the Takoyaki.  Those squid tentacles were juicy and plump with a tender bounciness.  Medium thickness on the batter, which was thin in some spots but a bit heavy in others.  Nicely seasoned though.  The takoyaki were fluffy and light with some pieces of chewy octopus on the inside.

Onto the Mazeman, where Viv went with the baseline in the Tokyo consisting of spicy minced pork, poached egg, scallions, chives, minced garlic, fish umami and seaweed flakes.  This was very similar to Kokoro Tokyo Mazesoba (which is a chain out of Japan).  When mixed together, the chewy noodles took all of the flavours and textures of the ingredients. Hence, there was spice, umami, brininess and brightness.  The egg yolk helped bind everything together with silkiness.  We also had the Curry which was similar to the Tokyo except it replaced the chives with kale and added curry powder.  Naturally, this had an earthier and slightly spicier flavor profile while the firm kale added another layer of texture.

The most interesting bowl was the Cheese Mazesoba with melted Monterey Jack.  All of the other ingredients were basically the same as the Tokyo.  Hence, the umaminess and also the brightness was all present.  With the addition of cheese, there was a heaviness to the noodles as well as the usual butteriness.  Some tang was there and it helped mute the spice from the pork.

For myself, I went totally opposite of everyone else with the California Tonkotsu.  In comparison to the many bowls of tonkotsu ramen I've had around the world, this was pretty competent.  I found the chicken and pork broth to be silky from the collagen and fat while not overly salty.  The noodles were firm while the chashu was a little too fatty, but was tender.  Egg was custardy in the middle and nicely seasoned.

Finally, we ended off with some desserts including the Yuzu Cheesecake and both of the Vanilla and Boba Mochi Ice Cream.  Although looking a bit stiff, the cheesecake was decently creamy and smooth.  It had a nice floral tang to it.  The mochi ice cream was pretty typical with the outside being chewy mochi with ice cream in the middle.  In the end, we were satisfied with our meal at Wadaya.  It isn't going to set the culinary world on fire, but the food is solid and well-priced.  Great for a casual meal with family and/or friends.

The Good:

- Solid eats

- Well-priced

- Service was efficient

The Bad:

- Appies were fine but not the highlight

Mayflower

The first thing that comes to mind when I hear "Mayflower" in the Bay Area is "meh".  But hang on there.  This is not the Mayflower we have come to know in the past.  It is not affiliated with the one remaining location of the original Mayflower in Milpitas.  In fact, this one in Dublin boasts authentic Hong Kong-style cuisine which fuses traditional Cantonese cuisine with Western cooking techniques.  My uncle insisted that this one is far and away better than the original Mayflower.

The place has plenty of parking and also a decently-sized and well-appointed dining room.  We began with their Roasted Duck and it was pretty legit.  With a beautiful lacquered appearance, the skin was also properly rendered where it was crispy.  Nice roasted flavor and a bit of sweetness (from the maltose).  The meat was tender and juicy while properly seasoned (essence of star anise).

Of course we got a few orders of the Ha Gau (Steamed Shrimp Dumplings) as they make or break a Dim Sum service.  I'm glad to report these were quite good.  The medium-thick dumpling wrapper had some elasticity and stayed intact even after I picked them up.  The shrimp filling had that classic bounce texture with measured sweetness and aromatics from the sesame oil.

I know I'm being picky when I say that the tobiko on top of the Siu Mai (Steamed Pork & Shrimp Dumplings) were cooked.  For me, they are much more aesthetically-pleasing when it is added after the dumplings are steamed.  Despite its appearance, these were fine.  The pork was processed enough to not be chewy and of course have a good rebound texture.  Dumplings were juicy and had a nice burst of sweet savoriness.  I enjoyed that that there was no big chunks of fat or gristle to be found.

Although serviceable, I wasn't overly impressed with the Foong Jau (Steamed Chicken Feet) though.  As you can see, the skin was falling off the bone and was far too soft.  Normal preparation for this dish involves deep-frying the feet and then braising them.  Yep, they braised these too long so that the cartilage and fat were melting.  Despite tasting great with an impactful black bean flavor tempered by sweetness, this was a goopy mess.

On the other hand, the Seen Jook Gewn (Steamed Bean Curd Skin Rolls) was on point.  With a good mix of tender pork, bamboo shoots and wood ear, the textures were varied and had a great mouth-feel.  Seasoning was perfect too as it was flavorful without being salty (I dip in in Worcestershire sauce though).  The deep fried bean curd skin had that desired bite and chewiness while still being tender.  Best of all, there wasn't a bunch of moisture or goopy sauce, which helped keep the integrity of the bean curd skin.

Arriving as a really large portion, the Cheun Fun (Rice Noodle Roll with enoki, pea shoots and beef) was really good.  Sure, this was a more deluxe version of the basic ones, but it was totally worth the money.  It was chock full of crunchy pea shoots, tender mushrooms and equally tender nuggets of beef.  The rice noodle itself had elasticity and did not break despite being rather thin.

For our one deep-fried item, we had the Haam Sui Gock (Deep Fried Glutinous Dumpling with pork).  This was excellent featuring a super thin layer of glutinous rice.  It was fried until golden brown where it was uniformly super crunchy.  Inside, there was a good amount of tender ground pork, shiitake, cilantro and green onion mixed in a starch-thickened sauce.

If you read this blog frequently, you'll know that one of my favorite Dim Sum dishes is the XO Loh Bak Goh (XO Daikon Radish Cake).  Yah, of course we ordered it!  Good choice as it was exactly how I like it.  The cubes were a bit on the larger side and hence were a bit softer after the deep-fry.  The outside was crispy and not overly greasy.  Nice toss in XO sauce which added some spicy brininess.

You don't think I would forget about the offal right?  This time around, we had the Ngau Pak Yiep (Steamed Bible Tripe).  These were tender enough to chew while still retaining a bite.  Intermingled within, the julienned carrots, green onion and ginger provided the classic flavors of this dish.  We had sweetness, sharpness and brightness to go with the saltiness.

Now if you look at the cut-up Ngau Yook (Beef Meatballs), you will notice the pink color of the meat.  That is due to the use of baking soda in the marination process.  The meat is also seasoned and whipped until it is almost fluffy and plenty bouncy.  This was definitely the case here, yet, I felt that it lacked any real meat texture.  Nothing wrong with that if that is what you prefer, but for me, some bits of meatiness would've been better.  Otherwise, a tender and well-seasoned beef meatball with just enough green onion for effect.

Possibly one of the best dishes we had was the Pai Gwut (Steamed Pork Spareribs with black bean sauce).  Most of the pieces were rib portions that weren't fatty.  Hence, we mostly got tender meat that had the requisite bounce texture.  Furthermore, the seasoning was on point with a good balance of savory, sweet, garlicky and a touch of spice.

One of the most interesting dishes we had was the Scallops, Clams and Fish Maw with Papaya.  Since the scallops were barely-cooked through, they were buttery and tender.  The natural sweetness came through and in turn, flavored the broth.  The addition of papaya provided an extra layer of sweetness and the typical papaya funkiness at the end.

Introducing some veggies into this meal, we had the Stir-Fried Gai Lan with fried fish cakes.  As you can see, the wok hei (wok's breath) was pretty apparent with a certain amount of smokiness and caramelization.  With no pools of moisture on the bottom of the plate, the seasoning stayed on the gai lan.  This meant the flavors were apparent and impactful.

We ended the meal with a few things including the Mango Pudding dressed with evaporated milk.  This was pretty typical with lightly sweet and mildly-flavored mango gelatin.  I've never been a fan of the evaporated milk on top and I generally omit it.  Overall, the food at this Mayflower is solid and generally well-executed.  Service is friendly and attentive while the dining space is inviting.  Just don't confuse it with the other Mayflower, which is nothing like this.

The Good:

- Solid eats

- Good service

- Nice dining space

The Bad:

- If you don't have a reservation or know someone, it is quite the wait

Chongqing Noodle

Needing to get a quick lunch before we headed out for the day, we made the short drive to Chongqing Noodle closeby to the nearly-deserted Newpark Mall.  For those who are unaware, Chongqing Noodles is a popular dish from, well, Chongqing in China.  For me at least, there aren't many places to get this dish in Vancouver, B.C., but it is nice to see there is a restaurant dedicated to it down here in the Bay Area.

Before we got to the noodles, we had a couple of cold dishes to whet our palats.  The first was the Spicy Cucumbers which were devoid of their skin.  That made for a muted crunch, yet at the same time, the marinade penetrated into each piece more effectively.  Hence, there was noted spice and some tanginess.  I would've liked a bit more salt though.

I was so delighted to see Spicy Beef Tripe on the menu and yep, that was a no-brainer to order it.  Consisting of thin slices, the honeycomb tripe was tender, yet still maintained a soft chewiness.  To me, this is the ideal texture for this type of tripe.  There was textural contrast from the crunchy celery and added aroma from the cilantro.  Unlike the cucumbers, this was more savory and spicy.

Here we are with the Chongqing Noodles.  The most distinguishing feature of these noodles is the inclusion of tender yellow peas.  For this version, they were served whole rather than being smashed.  We also found some the usual minced pork as well.  When combined with the chewy white noodles, this bowl had numbing spice and nuttiness.  Some creaminess was provided by the soft peas.

We also had another bowl of noodles in the Stewed Pig's Feet Soup Noodles.  Cooked until the skin was soft and gelatinous while the fat being rendered, the pig's feet also featured melt-in-my-mouth meat.  These were flavorful on their own, but the mildly spicy broth helped things along with some nuttiness to go with the heat.  Noodles were al dente and stood up to the broth.

Lastly, we went for the Vegetarian Buns.  These featured a fluffy bun that was fairly thin.  Hence, there was a wealth of tender, yet not mushy, greens in the middle.  They were seasoned just right to provide enough flavor for the entire bao.  Overall, the food at Chongqing Noodle was solid and reasonably-priced.  People were nice there and the portion sizes were generous too.

The Good:

- Solid eats

- Well-portioned

- Nice people

The Bad:

- Limited menu

Suspiro

It is no secret that my uncle loves Chinese food.  Although he dabbles in other cuisines, Chinese is his go to whenever we meet up when we are in the Bay Area.  Since I wanted to treat him back for dinner, it was up to me to decide on the place this time around.  Originally, we were going quite off-the-board by choosing Texas Roadhouse.  LOL.  Yah, we quickly changed gears and headed to Santana Row for some Peruvian tapas at Suspiro.  Coincidentally, we found some discounted gift cards while shopping at Costco from inKind.  Score!

One of the biggest draws for establishments located in Santana Row is convenience.  This comes in the form of free parking for the first 2 hours and easy access to all the restaurants.  Onto our meal, we started with the Ceviche de Atún.  This was a fairly large portion where the cubes of tuna were of a decent size and meaty.  As you can see, the plate had plenty of the leche de tigre which was tangy, briny and a bit spicy.  Although I appreciated the bright flavors and the nuttiness from the peanuts and sesame seeds, the other components partially obscured the delicate tuna.

The ceviche we had chosen was one of five on the menu.  Right above it, we found three choices for empanadas.  We opted for the Empanada de Carne.  This was quite good where the pastry was crispy and nicely browned.  Inside, there was a wealth of tender shredded beef which was natural tasting.  On the side, the huancaina sauce added some spice and tang to the dish.

Onto our next dish, we had the Croquetas de Jamón.  This could be had as a 4 piece or a 6 piece.  Since we had 5 people, we got the latter.  These  spheres were fried until golden and crispy.  Inside, it was more meaty than creamy since there was a good amount of Iberian ham inside.  Flavors were rather mild but the ham did provide a rich muted saltiness.  There was a bit of aioli on top adding creamy garlickiness.

Underneath all that manchego cheese sauce, the Berenjena y Salsa featured whole roasted eggplant.  The eggplant was tender, but a little bland.  I guess the generous amount of manchego cheese sauce did help providing nuttiness and savouriness.  The small streak of huancaina added some spice.

Whenever I see Patatas Bravas on the menu, it is a given I'll order it.  This particular version (which is a Spanish dish) was pretty solid.  The cubes of potato were medium in size sporting crispy exterior.  As a result of being a bit larger, the potato pieces were soft and fluffy in the middle.  I liked how there was just enough brava sauce and aioli on the outside for effect without drowning the potatoes.

Another classic Spanish tapas offering is the Tortilla de Patatas.  It consists of an omelette with potato and caramelized onion.   As much as the outside looked a bit overdone, the inside was still somewhat eggy and almost creamy.  The layered potatoes were tender but still had some texture while the onions added sweetness.

We ended up with the Ensalada de Betabel, which was a beet salad atop yogurt.  The assorted roasted beets were tender while varying in range of sweetness and earthiness.  These were tossed in a citrus vinaigrette which provided brightness and the silkiness of EVOO.  In addition to the tangy and thick yogurt underneath, we found sweet orange segments and crunchy crostinis.

Another classic Spanish tapas is the Pan con Tomate.  This version sat atop a thin slice of toasted focaccia.  Personally, I would've liked to see a thicker cut as this became more of a cracker and didn't hold up to the tomato as well.  Tangy and slightly sweet, the tomato was bright and enough to have in every bite.  

If you've noticed so far, the portion sizes have been rather large and un-tapas like.  Well, that continued with the generous portion of Pulpo Asado con Patatas.  If you couldn't tell from the picture, this was grilled octopus with potatoes.  Even though the octopus was tender with pleasant bite, I would've liked to see more charring and smokiness.  It was decently seasoned though and accented by pimenton aioli which helped add some smoky sweetness.

For our big meat dish, we had the Ribeye Tacu Tacu.  We asked for the steak to be prepared medium-rare and it was closer to medium.  It was still tender though, but it may have needed to be rested longer.  Nice seared on it though and there was enough char and seasoning.  As its name suggested, there was a side of tacu tacu (crispy rice & bean cake).  It was firmly crunchy with a nutty flavor.

The grand finale was of course, the Paella de Mariscos.  The thin layer of bomba rice had somewhat of a socarrat on the bottom.  There was enough seafood in the form of mussels, shrimp and squid rings.  They were cooked in intervals so that nothing was overdone.  Of course, we found dollops of aioli as well.  The result was a decent paella with chewy rice that was a touch salty but fragrant and briny.

We ended with a Flan Clásico with chantilly cream.  Well, this wasn't the prettiest flan we've ever seen, but it did eat decently.  I found it to be rich and creamy with the aromatics from the caramel.  It wasn't overly sweet and was a nice end to the meal.  Overall, I thought this was a good meal, but not great.  Obviously, this place is for the masses and does its job well.  I found the tapas to be rather large in size and although that makes it a better value, it makes it difficult for a smaller group to share a larger variety of dishes.

The Good:

- Decent tapas

- Attentive service

- Free parking

The Bad:

- Maybe the portions are too big?

Tram Cream Coffee 5

After constant urging from my cousin, we finally relented and visited Tram Cream Coffee 5 in Newark (California).  This is one of their newest locations and it happened to be conveniently located near our hotel.  As their name suggests, they specialize in cream coffee, specifically Vietnamese cream coffee.  We did 2 visits to the place in order to get a decent variety.

To get a baseline, I had to order the Cream Coffee from their signature series.  This particular cup was a small and believe me, that was more than enough for me.  That Vietnamese coffee was predictably strong, intense and rich.  It wasn't as bitter as other versions I've had while it did have a slight chocolaty finish.  Of course the coffee was balanced off by sweetness provided by the cream.  Naturally, it diluted the strength of the coffee with the cream itself too.

We also had something from their Creamliner series in the Sesame Cream Coffee.  In addition to the sesame cream, we found Vietnamese coffee and also whole milk.  This itself made the coffee less of the focal point.  Rather, we got the full brunt of the nutty and aromatic black sesame (when mixed that is) and also the cool creaminess of the milk.  Coffee only added a bit of aroma to the drink.

On another visit, we had the Tiramisu from their signature series.  Of all the ones we tried, this was probably the sweetest of the bunch.  Due to the sweet cream, it more than balanced off the strong Vietnamese coffee.  I'm not sure if I necessarily got Tiramisu vibes from this drink.  However, it was creamy and sweet, which is great for those who want less bitter coffee notes.

The best drink in my opinion was the Creamy Hanoi from the signature series.  This was super creamy and with the addition of egg cream, it was richer and thicker.  I thought this was the best balance of the rich coffee and cream.  With some grass jelly, this added another layer of texture and a different bitterness.  In general, the drinks at Tram are solid and there are plenty of options.  Lots of locations for you to check them out!

The Good:

- Vietnamese coffee is impactful without being overly strong

- Lots of options including more coffee-forward to more creamy drinks

- Lots of locations

The Bad:

- Can be a bit sweet

Phở Kim Long

"Let's go to the Pho place with the lineup!" exclaimed my uncle.  "Oh Phở Hanoi?" I replied.  No, he wasn't referring to the social media darling in San Jose.  Rather, he was going ol' skool with Pho Kim Long.  They have recently renovated, so it isn't dumpy anymore.  It is actually quite nice, at least inside that is.  Sure, the lineup is still there, but is the food still solid?  One cannot argue that it isn't good value, but the food has to stand on its own too.  So we did have to lineup and yes, it was difficult to get a parking spot in the crazy parking lot.

Once seated, the service was hurried and efficient.  We ended getting a Salad Roll to start and although it wasn't the biggest, we found it fresh and carefully prepared.  It was wound up tightly enough that things were falling all over the place, but not so it was dense either.  Inside, I liked that they added basil as it was herbaceous.  The noodles were firm but not hard while the shrimp had a nice meatiness.  The thin layer of pork was tender too.

Next, we added sides of Grilled Honey Garlic Pork Chop and Short Ribs as well.  These were really good since they were marinated and it penetrated throughout the meat.  Hence, there was enough seasoning that they were a bit salty and sweet.  Nice caramelization and smokiness from the grill.  Best of all, due to the marinade, the meats were tender and especially in the case of the short ribs, it was buttery with a tender chew.

For the soup noodle portion of the meal, Viv went for the Phở Sườn Bò while my uncle had the Tô Xe Lửa.  As you can see, they didn't skimp on the meat.  For the beef bone, it was super tender and fatty while the sliced brisket in my uncle's bowl was tender.  The beef bone broth itself was meaty and flavorful, but maybe there was a decent amount of MSG.  Overall, a decent bowl of Phở though.

For myself, I went for the Bún Bò Huế and I thought it was tasty.  The broth was briny and a bit spicy.  Sure, there was probably MSG in it, but I found it tasty and not overly salty.  The ingredients were legit with pork knuckle and pork blood along with the ham and sliced shank.  Came with all the condiments (except for banana blossoms) but would've preferred lime over lemon.  Overall, the food at Phở Kim Long is good and served in large portions.

The Good:

- Large portions

- Reasonable prices

- Generally good food

The Bad:

- Good but not great

- Parking lot is a disaster