McCallum House

While we were in Albion, we had brunch at McCallum House. It's located at 45020 Albion Street in Mendocino. Brunch ends at 11 am on the weekends.

Lupe's Breakfast Burrito--$14. It's filled with scrambled eggs, sausage, white cheddar, roasted red bell peppers, cilantro, sour cream in a hand rolled tortilla with guacamole and salsa. Served with house fried. This was actually quite good.

2017 11 26

Ledford House

Another dinner at Ledford House, located at 3000 Hwy 1 in Albion.

Baked Oysters--6 for $14. This is like a clams casino except with oysters--delicious!

Pasta--$18. Cavatappi with mushrooms.

Mussels Provencal--$19.

2017 11 25

Biryani & Kababs

Another dinner at Biryani & Kababs, located at 897 E. El Camino Real in Sunnyvale.

Butter Chicken--$6.99

Goat Dum Biryani--$11.99

2017 11 22

Monti's Rotisserie

Monti's Rotisserie is located at 714 Village Ct. in the Montgomery Village Shopping Center.

Tequila Moonrise--$11. This is so good. Tequila, Compari, Grapefruit & Lime.

Truffle Fries--$9. Not enough truffle flavor.

Beet Salad--$10. Very small portion.

Warm Spinach Salad with Rock Shrimp, Bacon, Goat Cheese, Dates, Almonds--$16. This could serve as an entree.

Mushroom Pizza--$15. This was meh.

Sole Almondine--$22. French Green Beans, Fingerling Potatoes, Radish, Caper Brown Butter. This is so good.

Scallops--$22. Caramelized cauliflower, capers, cilantro, lemon-hazelnut butter. This is also very good.

I generally like starters better than entrees but the opposite was true at Monti's The entrees were far better than the starters.

2017 11 21

Simply Vietnam

Surprisingly Simply Vietnam didn't burn in the Santa Rosa Firestorm. Trader's Joe next to it is still cleaning up.

Simply Vietnam is a fast-food Vietnamese place. It's located at 3381 Cleveland Avenue.

BBQ Pork Spring Rolls--$6.75. Great peanut sauce but I prefer the shrimp and pork spring rolls.

Beef Combination Pho--$10. Steak, meatball, brisket, flank steak, fatty brisket. Good broth but too much meat.

2017 11 20

Ledford House

Another meal at the Ledford House, located at 3000 Hwy 1 in Albion.

Bistro dinner--3 courses for $30. First course was Mixed Greens with Dijon Vinaigrette.

2nd course was Duck Leg Confit with Lentils.

3rd course was Apple Tarte Tatin.

Soupe d'Poisson--$12. This soup is so good. It tastes just like the fish soup in Corsica.

Mussels Provencal--$20. Mussels steamed in wine, served in containers just like the ones used in France. The French break the mussels apart and use one side of the shell to scoop out the mussel from the other side.

2017 11 19

Kong Tofu

Kong Tofu is located at 19626 Stevens Creek Blvd. in Cupertino. It's my favorite Korean tofu restaurant.

The banchans are great. My favorites are the chap chae (glass noodles) and fishcake.

Clam Soft Tofu Stew--$11.99. I get mine mild and that's spicy enough for me.

2017 11 18

Ariake Sushi

Ariake Sushi is located at 1008 D Blossom Hill Road in San Jose.

It has boats. Pick the sushi you want and your plates are counted at the end to calculate your bill.

The Tobiko in the center is on a green plate--$3.55. The Unagi and Tekka Maki are on tan plates--$3.95 each.

2017 11 18

Southland Flavor Cafe

Another dinner at Southland Flavor Cafe, 10825 N. Wolfe Rd, Suite 220 in Cupertino.

Simmered Pig Ear--$6.25

Sweet Rice Stuffed Chitterling--$5.75

Deep Fried Tofu--$6.25

Sauteed Pea Sprout--$10.25

Chicken Rice Noodles--$8.25

2017 11 17

Rancho Mendoza

There's a grocery store in Santa Rosa that has a Mexican taqueria within. Rancho Mendoza is located at I201 Piner Rd. and 640 Sebastopol Rd. in Santa Rosa.

On the weekends, they have menudo for $9.99. It's not very good. Just soup and tripe and nothing else and the soup is not very flavorful.

They do have good street tacos for $1.75 each. I do like the lengua (tongue) and beef steak.

2017 11 12

Ledford House

Another dinner at Ledford House, located at 3000 North Hwy 1 in Albion, CA.

They offer a 3-course Bistro dinner nightly for $30. Tonight's salad was Greens with Persimmons, Asian Pears and Pomegranate.

The entree was Braised Duck Leg with French Lentils.

Dessert was Chocolate Pot de Creme.

We also ordered Baked Oysters--6 for $14. These were delicious with a bacon stuffing.

Soupe d'Poisson--$12. A very rich fish soup. Delicious.

The pasta of the night was Cavatappi with Italian Sausage and Roasted Red Pepper Cream--$18. They need to work on their pasta.

2017 11 11

Pullman Kitchen

Pullman Kitchen is located at 205 5th Street in Santa Rosa.

Ahi Poke--$17.95. Yellowfin tuna, pine nuts, sesame seeds, wonton and pickled ginger. This was good but a small portion for the price.

Sweet Potato & Black Bean Quesadilla--$10. I wasn't a fan of this.

JT's Fish Taco--$16. Cornmeal crusted rockfish, chipotle aioli, avocado, cabbage slaw. This was pretty good and a pretty filling portion.

2017 11 08

Saigon Bistro

Saigon Bistro is a pho place in Windsor. It's located at 610 McClelland Drive.

Medium Combination Pho--$9.95. Rare steak, tripe, well done brisket, fat brisket and meatballs. It's on the pricey side but the broth is very flavorful.

2017 11 07 & 11 29

Biryani & Kababs

Biryani & Kababs is located at 829 E. El Camino Real in Sunnyvale. It's in a strip mall. You can order for pickup or have dinner at one of the few tables onsite. Don't expect anything fancy but the food is good.

Goat Curry--$7.99. It's available only Fri-Sun.

Butter Chicken--$6.99

Garlic Naan--$1.50.

Goat Dum Biryani--$11.99.

2017 10 27

Lamb Stifado

I was so impressed with the Lamb Stifado we had at Jigar Wines that I created my own.

Lamb Stifado

2 Tbs olive oil
1 1/2 lb lamb stew meat--dried and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 Tbs caster sugar
1 onion, chopped
1 shallot, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup red wine
1 14.5 oz can Swanson low-salt chicken broth
1 14.5 oz can chopped tomatoes
2 Tbs tomato paste
2 oz red wine vinegar
1 Bay leaf
2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp Allspice
3 whole cloves
1 cinnamon stick (or 1 tsp ground cinnamon)
1 cup orzo
Lemon wedge
Parsley
Crumbled feta cheese

In an Instant Pot on Saute mode, heat the olive oil on high. Salt the lamb, sprinkle sugar over top and add to the pot. Saute until browned. Don't crowd the pot.

Remove lamb and liquid from the pot and add the onion, shallot and garlic cloves. Add the red wine and scrape bits from the bottom. Add the remaining ingredients (including the lamb liquid) except the  orzo, lemon, parsley and feta cheese. Cancel the sauté and put on stew mode for 45 minutes.

After the Instant Pot has turned off, add the orzo and cook on Saute mode for 10 minutes. Stir often so the orzo doesn't stick to the bottom.

Before serving, squeeze a little lemon and add parsley and crumbled feta cheese.



2018 01 14

Winter Wineland, Part 2

On Day 2, we started in Forestville and visited a few wineries we hadn't been to before.

First stop was Wine Guerilla. They had a nice tasting room with a turn table and you could choose your own LPs. They had nice zinfandels but no food pairing.

Just a block away was Jigar Wines. They served a nice Pinot with a lamb stifado, prepared by Hazel (the restaurant). This was an amazing dish--loved the cinnamon flavor and rich stew.

Across the street was Joseph Jewell Wines.

They had a great Beef Bourguignon served with Earl Grey Mashed Potatoes, catered by Epicurean Escape. It was paired with their cabernet.

Our next stop was MacPhail, in the Barlow.

I loved their etched magnum bottle.

They paired their 2014 Vagon Rouge Pinot Noir with a blood orange chocolate, which was delicious. The chocolate was prepared by CocoTutti Chocolatier.

Just a block away was Friedeman Wines, in the same location where La Follette used to be. They had some nice Pinots as well.

From the Barlow, we went to Carol Shelton. I love their Wild Thing Zinfandel and it paired well with the Chili they served.

Our final stop of the day was Inspiration Wines. I was so wined out from the 2 days of tasting, I couldn't taste any more. Our group liked the sins.

2018 01 14