Bowl'd in Albany

Hadn't been to Bowl'd in a while, but seemed like the perfect thing during the extreme heat today (9/1/2017) in the Bay Area.

My Cold Spicy Pork Belly Bibimbop before I added chile sauce to it and mixed it all up. I just love Korean food. We were there during the slow time around 4. Kitchen crew was seen probably chopping up kim chee or other great banchan dishes, which they no doubt make from scratch here, which is way more profitable and better. 

Robin's Cold Chicken Bibimbop.

Jap Chae. No wonder we were so full!

Look at all that glorious banchan. I so revere banchan that I've resolved never to try to make it myself, because really I should only let the experts make it. One day, I'd love to go some place like Seoul to discover countless other types of banchan I don't know about, using vegetables from land & sea I don't know about. 

OK, so I've been back to Bowl'd at least 4 other times since the first visit, documented below. This time we got some new stuff.

Robin ordered these freaking great seaweed wrapped rice balls.

And a huge Ahi Poke Salad. She wanted the mayo to taste different, but the bit that I tried I thought was quite delicious.

Are you kidding me? You're offering me a bit of your seaweed rice ball? Hell, yeah!

OK, so here's my food. First the deeply soulful Radish Soup.

Usually I get the cold Bibimbop, and I tried the hot once, but I decided to get the "Sizzling Works" again. Wow! I prefer this now--I got it with the Spicy Pork & Mixed Grains. The Grains got a nice char on them rendering the rice mix all crunch--nice texture! Mixed it up with some generous squirts of the chile sauce.

Banchan rocks!

My favorite Banchan: chile-soaked daikon!!! YES!

All done.

This is the best Korean cuisine I've ever had. 

But, first, a little story about my history with Korean food. Which began in Austin, Texas, way back in the 80s, when Reagan was still in the White House. Some friends took me to eat sushi for the first time which was simultaneously my first experience with Korean cuisine, at a restaurant called Korea House, near the Village Cinema, which back then was in North Austin, now Central Austin.

I was absolutely floored by both cuisines. Later, I ate at two much better sushi restaurants, both closed down now (Azuma on 183, and Kyoto in downtown Austin). The joke circulating back then was that the freshest grade fish went to Kyoto on the first day, Azuma on the second day, and Korea House on the third day.

But those jokes didn't stop me from returning to Korea House, or trying other Korean restaurants. I've been to many, and I've never been to one that wasn't great, but Bowl'd is on a whole 'nuther level. 

Every single vegetable, grain and protein you see above was superb. As soon as Jeff finished taking photos, I started tasting everything individually. I've never had Kim Chee that was anywhere close to the Kim Chee served at Bowl'd. That's also the best Tofu dish I've ever had (though I've had a few that were close)--essentially just Tofu marinated in chili sauce, identical to the Daikon in chili, except the textures are so different. Speaking of textures, one little bowl sported white jelly portions soaked in sesame oil, a flavor that stood out, yet complemented the array.

My friend Jeff and I got the same thing--a Bibimbop Bowl with grilled pork and mixed grains--only he got the hot bowl, and I got the cold. I started tasting all the individual ingredients in the bowl, and then realized I forgot to mix everything up, and add the chili and soy sauce like you're supposed to! Frankly, I would enjoy this dish either way, everything was just top notch. I'm getting hungry writing about it, even though it's too early to be thinking about lunch.

One of the best aspects of Bowl'd is the fact you have the option of the mixed grains: barley, sweet brown rice, wild sweet rice, wild red rice and wild black rice. For someone like me, keen on whole grains, this is just perfect. As a matter of fact, there's many reasons why Korean cuisine is the perfect cuisine for my diet, aside from Bowl'd being the best version I've had. There's so many vegetables perfectly prepared, including plenty of leafy greens (in addition to the Kim Chee, there's also several kinds of seaweed), and several foods that are fermented and pickled, both good for your health. I bet the other protein options are as delicious as the pork, too. And yet, this is a cuisine that is varied, brilliant, and celebratory: this is not the culinary equivalent of a puritan hairshirt.

A warning: I know most of my friends are chili fiends like Jeff and I are. But be careful with the chili sauce--I put way too much on mine, which was fine, but it would have been wiser to add a little bit at a time, until I got it to the level I wanted.


bowldsolano.com

Terrapin Creek Cafe in Bodega Bay

I spent my weekend in Western Sonoma County with really good friends. On Saturday afternoon we hiked on the rugged coast where 40 mph winds are constantly buffeting you. The walk wasn't long in terms of distance, but walking on the loose sand is quite a workout, and being in such an extreme, primal and beautiful milieu both energized me and wore me out at the same time. We really worked up quite the appetite.

My friends Guy and Cori took me to one of the best restaurants I've ever had the pleasure to experience: Terrapin Creek. Everything we had was magnificent. Slow, seasonal, locally sourced food. 

The bread and olive oil at the start was amazing--the locally sourced olive oil tasted like Spring itself, almost like wheat grass. A very distinctive olive oil. The bread was amazing--sourdough and seeded breads. 

I started off with an Arugula Salad with Roasted Filberts and Black Trumpet Mushrooms which was just unspeakably exquisite. Guy's appetizer was Hamachi (Yellowtail) in an herb reduction, and Cori had fantastic Caesar Salad. Which might not sound impressive. Sure, you can get a Caesar Salad almost anywhere. But the key here is the quality and freshness of the ingredients. Romaine lettuce that tasted fresh picked, with flavor, crispness, and integrity. I've never had better Hamachi, Arugula or Black Trumpet Mushrooms. And I've eaten a fair amount of the latter two that I have picked myself.

My entree was Sonoma Liberty Duck breast with jus, Black Forbidden Rice and greens, Cori had a Halibut dish that was mouth-melting, and Guy had a pasta with asparagus and house made sausage that was incredibly delicious and triumphant in its simplicity. The pasta and sausage dish was the best of the three, though all three entrees were superb. This was sausage on another level: great tasting meat with spices that tasted freshly roasted and ground.

For the first time in ages I ordered a dessert--I had a lemon tart cheesecake, Guy had this decadent chocolate pudding, and Cori had the best carrot cake I've ever tasted.  So was the voluptuous white wine Guy ordered. 

Here's the mark of a great restaurant. It's one thing to make and serve great food. It's quite another thing when the owners are there too, smiling, unstressed, and the employees not only don't look panicked, but they are practically blissful in their happiness to serve you. Now THAT'S the way it should be. There's nothing that puts me off my dining experience more than restaurant employees acting like they're oppressed. When I left, I gave the entire staff a standing ovation. Bravo!http://www.terrapincreekcafe.com/

El Nopal

El Nopal: it's my old neighborhood Mexican restaurant, serving mostly enchiladas, tamales, flautas and the like. The first time I went there I had a pork tamale that was quite good.

The place has a homey feel, very chill. The service is professional yet relaxed; and the food is dependably good. I asked for the best dish in the house and here's what I got:

I could have just gotten a Chili Relleno plate, but I wanted a little more, so I got the Chili Relleno with Beef Enchilada. El Nopal uses an Anaheim Pepper, not a Poblano! Which makes this a very distinctive stuffed chili, or relleno.

The beef enchilada was quite outstanding too--the little beef cubes reminded me of Carne Guisada. Note the red sauce swimming around the plate in the final photo of the sequence. The flavor was a savory almost fruity mix of beef juice and chili. The beans and rice were spot-on as well, pintos refried in manteca (pork fat), and the spanish rice with a subtle hint of mild chili.

And you can't beat the price. $4.75 lunch specials.

El Nopal: 406 Virginia St, Vallejo · (707) 557-0456.

Vallejo

City Park. Said to be the oldest municipal park west of the Mississippi. The fact the sky turned fuchsia on this shot is purely accidental.

Three shots from the pier within minutes of each other. First a view of the marina, and the two bridges crossing the Napa River in the distance. Next a shot of the cathedral-like building on Mare Island where submarines were built during World War II. Finally, abandoned cranes silhouetted in the sunset.

 Virginia Street.

Temple Art Lofts.

 Heritage District.

Famed architect Julia Morgan designed this house.

Pink.

 Lincoln Elementary.

Farmer's Market at UN Plaza, SF Civic Center

Had some time to kill Wednesday before work and really needed some veggies, so I thought I'd check out this Farmer's Market not too far away. It was misty and foggy as I approached the city, and as soon as I arrived it had turned into light rain. Note the umbrellas.

Just like any Farmer's Market around, there's a mix of seasonal produce and prepared foods. But this FM has a lot more selection than most. Only the one at the Embarcadero is has more variety--but the prices at the UN Plaza FM are the best I've seen anywhere in the Bay Area.

Here's a few things I don't see around much. Dates still on the stem.

Blood limes and other uncommon citrus. The folks at this stall hail from Fresno.

Best of all was the fishmonger. Last in setting up, there was a small crowd waiting for them to unload.

Those were the first fish they laid out. Here's what it looked like a few minutes later once all the tables seafood was displayed.

For more info: http://www.hocfarmersmarket.org/