Falafel Drive-In

I just love Falafel Drive-In in San Jose. It's located at 2301 Stevens Creek Blvd.

Large Falafel Sandwich--$7. The falafel here is the best I've had. Moist inside, crispy outside and full of flavor.

Baba Ghanouj with Pita--$6.75. Loved the smokiness of the eggplant. This is so good.

2019 11 09

Village Pizzeria

During the Santa Rosa fire this year, we evacuated to Lake Tahoe. We were starving after the long drive and found lunch at Village Pizzeria, located at 11329 Deerfield Dr. I was not impressed.

House Salad--$5.50. Romaine, Roma tomatoes, mozzarella and garlic croutons. The honey dijon dressing was good but the rest of the salad was ordinary.

Meatball Sandwich--$9.95. Meatballs, ricotta, green peppers and marinara sauce. The meatballs were just okay.

Ciao Pizza--$7.75. Fresh spinach, tomatoes and garlic. There was way too much garlic on this pizza and they were the pre-crushed ones in a jar. Yuck!

2019 10 28

Ohana Hawaiian BBQ

Ohana Hawaiian BBQ is located at 2150 Santa Rosa Ave, next to Trader Joe's.

Kalua Pork with Cabbage--$9.55. The pork is smoky and I like it with the cabbage. Fools you into thinking you're actually eating something healthy. The mac salad is very tasty.

Hawaiian BBQ Chicken--$8.75. Marinated in a special sauce and grilled. This had a nice flavor and was moist.

2019 10 26

Tov Tofu

I've been looking for a Korean tofu place in Santa Rosa and found Tov Tofu, located at 1169 Yulupa Ave.

Seafood Soft Tofu Soup--$14.50. Shrimp, clam & mussels with mushroom. The tofu was soft but not as tasty as Kong Tofu in Cupertino. The banchans were also not as good. In a pinch though, Tov Tofu will do.

2019 10 15

Final Words on Romania

We were pleasantly surprised by Romania. It was easy to drive around, it was a very inexpensive country, and we loved the wine. The weather was fabulous--not too hot and not too cold. We met only with a little rain traveling in mid September. The bonus was we didn't see any mosquitoes!

Turkish Airlines' business class is a great experience. If you get a chance, definitely give it a try. The Polaris Lounge in SFO and the Business Class lounge in Istanbul were amazing and the service on board was great.

This was all we took for a 2-week trip in early fall.

Three pairs of shoes were sufficient--sandals, walking shoes and hiking shoes. A fancier pair of shoes for the Artist might have been nice but it was not necessary.

2019 09 28

Bucharest Airport and the Flight Home on Turkish Business Class

We took Bus 783 back to the airport.

We passed by numerous monuments, including the Arcul de Triumf, a large arch located in northern Bucharest. It was inaugurated in 1936 and is a smaller version of Paris' Arc de Triomphe.

Wings, the Anti-Communist Battle Monument, sits in front of the Free Press.

We flew business class on Turkish Airlines and had access to the Business Class lounge. At Otopeni, there was only 1 lounge serving all the airlines and this was laughable.

This was the food available. The croissant was dry. Very disappointing. Certainly not like SFO United Polaris or Istanbul Turkish Lounge. It was a quiet lounge but then again, the whole airport was quiet.

We ended up grabbing a snack at La Sarmale, which had typical Romanian cuisine. The sarmale (cabbage roll) was not cheap by Romanian standards--18.99 lei ($4.44) and was just okay. A little too mushy and too salty.

Our seats were comfortable and we had a lot of room. Not the fancy pods in some planes but I liked that I sat next to my travel companion and there was lots of storage space without using the overhead bins.

On our short hop from Otopeni Bucharest to Istanbul, we were served freshly squeezed orange juice, fresh fruit & homemade yogurt, homemade red chili pepper jam from Alacati, Trabzon countryside butter, green olives from Bodrum, "Menemen" (scrambled eggs with tomatoes and green peppers in a traditional casserole), regional Turkish cheeses (aged Kasar from Kars, thyme infused Ezine from Canakkale and burgu from Usak, smoked salmon and selection of croissant and danishes. I had to eat fast to finish my meal before our 1 hour 25 min flight landed.

Welcome homemade raspberry lemonade.

Gourmet nuts and champagne followed.

Canapes were presented before the appetizer trolley was wheeled out. The lamb on the right was delicious!

Appetizers included Creamy Roasted Red Pepper Soup with Pesto & Parmesan; Bocconcini, Arugula & Cherry Tomatoes; Roasted Red Pepper Hummus; Saksuka (cooked in olive oil) Eggplant in Tomato Sauce; Marinated Seafood Salad; Smoked Salmon. All were delicious!

One of the options for the main was Steak & Salad with Grilled Tomato Carpacchio and Fresh Arugula. The stead was good but not as flavorful as the one I had on the outbound flight from SFO.

The other main option was Sea Bass en Papilotte, Julienne Vegetables and Roasted Red Pepper. The fish was very tender and had good flavor.

I was stuffed by the time the Dessert Trolley was wheeled out but I had to try the Chocolate Ball with Mango Ice Cream and the Semolina Dessert. Both were good.

My husband ordered the Chocolate Ball and a wedge of cheese.

Before we landed, we were served Mozzarella & Tomato Salad, Garden Fresh Salad, Traditional Dolma Varieties (minced beef stuffed vine leaves and zucchini) and Karniyarik (eggplant with minced beef), tomato sauce and yogurt. Dessert was chocolate mousse.

I highly recommend flying business class on Turkish Airlines. You will be spoiled.

2019 09 28

Evening in Bucharest

After dinner at The Artist and the Water Show in Piata Unirii, we found dessert at Xclusive Grill & Crepes. It's located at Str. Lipscani 36.

Papanasi--20 lei ($4.67). I will miss this dessert of fried dough, yogurt and homemade jam.

2019 09 27