Xiang Xiang Noodle in El Sobrante

Lamb Soup with Shaved Noodle, Quail Egg, Lamb, Cilantro, Tofu, Seaweed, Scallion, Bok Choy. (1/28/18). Deep umami flavor in the lamb broth. Superb.

Once again, we got Minced Pork & Eggplant Noodles, shaved noodles, lightly sauced. The abundance of garlic & pork, with red bells, eggplant, scallion and chile made it taste a bit like pizza. Best thing on the menu we've tried. Great on a cold day.

Traffic home was typically slow for Friday afternoon (8/25/17). I suggested we stop here again, so we did. Below, you can see the chef working the shaved noodle station for our order.

Mixed Mushroom.

Seafood Shaved Noodle. Shrimp, scallops, & calamari.

Shaved noodles have a wonderful hearty texture, with rough edges that soak in the broth. Any shaved noodle dish at Xiang Xiang is good. Generous portions and inexpensive. We could only eat half.

Above: the mushroom shaved noodle dish, which has a few types of seaweed too. The flavor is at once very inviting, wholesome, like a home-cooked meal, but then the mix of mushrooms and seaweed is sort of exotic. Both dishes had plenty of ginger, and a broth that tasted like it is made in-house. I'm sure it is, you can see the big pots on the stove back in the back.

Shaanxi cuisine is one of the lesser known of Chinese regional cuisines around the Bay Area, but we've had great examples of it from Seattle to Los Angeles, even in the Contra Costa County town of Pittsburg. As Bay Area Gourmand & Chronicler Luke Tsai writes, "Shaanxi cooking is famous for its wide variety of noodles, generous amounts of lamb and pork, and bold sour and spicy elements." A few months ago, after eating at the nearby Sue's Kitchen, we saw a sign in an empty storefront that Xiang Xiang Noodle was coming. At last, they have opened.

Minced Pork & Eggplant Noodles, a Sauced Noodles dish using Shaved Noodles. Soft and luxurious, with a deep umami meat-based sauce (pork based, judging from the flavor), and served with cilantro garnish. Sublime.

Beef Fried Noodle, again using Shaved Noodle, with onions, scallions and cabbage.

Chile Oil was the perfect condiment for this dish.

The man we presume is the head chef (the oldest person there), is stirring shaved noodles boiling in a wok. To his right is the slicer that portions out the shaved noodles directly into the boiling water.

The rest of the open kitchen: in the foreground and near the woks are condiments, vegetables and ingredients for making sauces. Over to the far left are large pots of stock, slowly simmering.

My guess, judging from the excellence of the two dishes we tried today, is that the chef (and possibly others) is an immigrant with many years of experience cooking and serving Shaanxi cuisine. 

Xiang Xiang Noodle

454D Appian Way

El Sobrante, CA

(510) 275-3474

(510) 275-9245

Gangnam Tofu: Korean Cuisine in El Cerrito

Above and below: Banchan from our 2nd visit to Gangnam Tofu, October 2018. Even we were getting stuff, we had seconds on several of these superb banchan.

Soon Doo Boo Combination: Beef, Shrimp, Clam, Tofu and Egg stew. Note the freshly cracked egg in the boiling hot stew (above); then below, the mixed stew spooned over rice, a hearty umami combo.

O Zing Eor Bokkum, or Stir Fried Squid with Vegetables in a red chillie sauce, one of my favorite things to get, and this version is cooked to perfection.

Banchan at Gangnam Tofu, clockwise from top, ending in the middle: seaweed salad, kim chee, potatoes, sliced marinated fish cake, japchae, pickled sprouts, and finally chile pickled daikon. And some white rice to the side. The flavors were fresh, deep and rich. July 2017.

Fish cake Banchan. 

O-Zing-Eur- Bokkum--stir-fried squid w/vegetables (mostly scallion) in a red chilli sauce. Squid cooked perfectly, the chilli sauce deep and balanced. This might be the best Korean food I've ever had. 

Closeups of the fabulous banchan: seaweed salad, kim chee and daikon.

Above and below, their signature dish, the Gangnam Chicken. This heaping pile of fried chicken with  their special sauce (probably plum) is only a half order. The chicken was so moist and tender, even the white meat, that we were left wondering  how they did it. My mother and Nana's "secret" was soaking the chicken in buttermilk for 1-2 days. No pronounced flavor here in the meat of the chicken (other than the delicious chicken and the crust & sauce, of course), so perhaps egg whites? We're not sure. Great result. By the way this is a very sticky dish so you might ask the waiters for extra napkins.

Great value for the money, nice portions, exquisite cuisine. Free parking.

Gangnam Tofu

111740 San Pablo

El Cerrito, CA

510-778-1144

Aung MayLiKa Burmese Cuisine in Benicia

Here are shots from our dinner last night (3/14/18)--we learned that AungMayLiKa is opening a sister restaurant in Pleasant Hill. Each time we visit, we feel like they're upping their game. Above, from left counterclockwise: Coconut Rice, MayLika's Chili with Lamb, and Tea Leaf Salad.

Coconut Rice.

Tea Leaf Salad.

MayLika Chili Lamb.

Above and below: Shrimp Eggplant.

Here we are, January 2018, our first visit to Aung MayLiKa since July 2017. First up, Salt and Pepper Calamari, topped with scallions and jalapeno, and served with a fish sauce.

Traditional Red Curry, Biryani Rice, and House Burmese Milk Tea.

Closeup of the Traditional Red Curry, Lamb version. Rich umami red curry, ample meat portions, a few potatoes, the best thing I've ever had here, and close to rivalling the best curries I've had in the Bay Area, such as that at Mirchi, the great Indian restaurant in Benicia. Nice spice array, and perfectly done medium spicy.

Biryani Rice.

Tea Leaf Salad premixed above, well-tossed below. Up there with the other great Burmese Tea Leaf Salads, the tea leaf itself has a savory complexity reminding one of blue cheese. 

Tea Leaf Salad as good as any I've ever had. Classic assemblage with tea leaf, lemon juice, tomato, peanuts and more atop mixed greens.

And then mixed up. Perfect summer dish. I can't think of another dish quite like this.

Above and below, spicy rice noodle with shrimp. Fantastic.

Paratha with Lamb Curry. Paratha is a fluffy flatbread. Like everything else, a joy both with contrasting textures and the highly attenuated and sophisticated spice, here with a Lamb Curry. These dishes all had a lot of flavors and textures to love.

Aung MayLiKa Burmese Cuisine 

836 Southampton Rd, Benicia, CA 

(707) 361-5675

Book Club of California

Yesterday I cataloged something published by the Book Club of California, and while searching the internet to ascertain valuation, I came across references to their library, at 312 Sutter, being open to the general public. My old buddy Nicholas Yeager suggested I check it out sometime when I moved back out here four years ago, and ain't it funny how time slips away?

On display now through the end of this month is The Working Library: Clifford Burke and Fine Printing, an exhibition I can't recommend high enough for anyone interested in the Book Arts or Bay Area fine printing. I was already familiar with Burke and I've cataloged some items he's published and printed via his Cranium Press. In fact, the exhibit (and other things I saw at the BCC) is practically a tour of my own personal history with the Book Arts. Above left, for example, Dard Hunter's essential tome, Papermaking, was one of the first books I investigated when my interest in the world of fine printing and paper was first piqued many years ago at the Harry Ransom Center in Austin, Texas.

Printing as a Performing Art, Ruth Teiser, with a quote about ink on the exhibit label.

Absolutely beautiful stuff--the exhibit unfolds Burke's development as a printer and publisher, especially for poetry, using traditional aesthetics, rather than what had been more common in the Bay Area following the Beats.

I saw several examples of works I've cataloged, as well as works former co-workers cataloged. Pretty sure my friend Jeff Jackson cataloged that one.

Such a small world. References to Peter Howard & Serendipity Books throughout, and here's someone who's work I've definitely cataloged (Lew Welch), from material we got from Serendipity.

Roxburghe Club of San Francisco. I've cataloged plenty of stuff from them.

Oyez Press--Robert Hawley's imprint, I definitely have worked with & cataloged some Charles Olson material.

The legendary & awe-inspiring Grabhorn Press, of course. I've cataloged some books and ephemera from them.

And finally, some Fine Binding. Next time I'm there, I'm going to have to look at that Raoul Dufy.