Fantasy Restaurant: Hong Kong Style BBQ in Petaluma

Roast Duck Lunch Special at Fantasy Restaurant in Petaluma.

A friend of ours, one of his colleagues told him that he'd discovered this gem of a restaurant in Petaluma, saying he missed all the great Chinese food he used to get when he lived in Los Angeles. Robin and her sister Amber checked it out recently, and since Robin had business today in Petaluma, we thought we'd stop by for lunch. 

Walk in and you can see the selection of BBQ meats hanging, just inside the door of an inocuous-looking building.

Here's their lobster tank. They've got some upscale features on the menu, including some pricey & famous North Bay wines. The menu seems to be a combination of Chinese classics, with some  American-style Chinese dishes.

Above and below: their Roast Duck Lunch special. Every aspect is perfectly done. Plus the duck itself is specially sourced from a farm near Los Angeles. They say it's bigger and leaner than the ducks you typically find at Chinese restaurants in the Bay Area. It was absolutely delicious, and the side vegetables were perfectly cooked and sauced.

I thought it would be a good idea to also order a Chinese classic dish to complement the duck, so we ordered Mapo Tofu with Ground Pork. Soft tofu liberally sprinkled with scallions, red chilies and spices in a rich sauce that taste of pork, perhaps a touch of black vinegar and soy sauce. 

Notice the puffy pieces of ground pork, Robin likened them to clouds--they reflected the puffy nature of the soft tofu. 

This is, without a doubt, the best Chinese restaurant we know of in the North Bay--you'd have to go all the way to Concord or Walnut Creek, or Clement Street in San Francisco to find a Chinese restaurant of this calibre.

Fantasy Restaurant

707-658-1866

1520 E. Washington Street

Petaluma, CA 94954

Closed Tuesdays

@fantasypetaluma on Facebook

Tai Pan--Dim Sum in Palo Alto

Pea Shoot Dumpling with Prawns.

Shiitake Dumpling.

Shrimp Dumpling (Har Gow).

Spinach Seafood Dumpling.

Tai Pan

Hong Kong Cuisine

560 Waverly

Palo Alto, CA

650-329-9168

Huangcheng Noodle House--in Oakland's Chinatown

Pork Noodle Soup (Oct 2018).

Pork Rib Soup.

Wood Ear Mushroom Salad.

Great new Chinese restaurant in Oakland's Chinatown you gotta check out, specializing in Shanxi-style knife-shaved noodles. First up, though, above is the vat of Chinese Kim Chi you can help yourself to, once you place your order. This stuff is an excellent palate-cleanser and appetizer.

Pork Noodle soup--ground pork with peanuts & baby bok choy in a rich sauce. Very wholesome umami spicy flavor, and quite filling. Pretty sure we couldn't finish these soups, because they are filling. Knife-shaved noodles are thicker than most noodles, and absorb rich sauces.

Beef Sirloin Noodle, with scallion, baby bok choy & boiled egg. Not quite as spicy as the pork, but plenty of meaty rich flavor.

And finally the Wood Ear Mushroom salas, with onion and a sauce I would guess using just a touch of sesame oil, soy sauce and black rice vinegar. Nice light contrast to the very rich knife-shaved noodle soups.

Huangcheng Noodle House

734 Webster, Oakland

702-481-3124

Tacos Y Pupusas La Benidicion--Central American cuisine in Vallejo

Most of the food truck scene in the Bay Area is pretty lackluster compared to what I'm used to in Austin, TX, but it largely depends on where you are. There's a lot more regulation in SF, but mostly the real estate market is so insane that it's prohibitive to a small business model that's supposed to be as cheap as it gets. 

Pupusas at La Benedicion in Vallejo.

As far as taco trucks go, there are indeed some great ones, but they're all in poor/working class neighborhoods, or they're parked close to where workers can get to them. Gradually I'll try to profile them all. There's a number of good ones in Vallejo, and La Benedicion is the best one I've encountered recently.

Tacos at La Benedicion. Straightforward versions of Asada, Pastor & Carnitas. Meat tastes good, tortillas mass-made or store-bought.

Pupusa Chicharon. Pupusas are what you wanna get here. I'm sure their other stuff is good and worth getting, but these pupusas are far better than any I've ever had before. Everything fresh, great flavor.

Pupusa Loroco. Each pupusa comes with salsa (a vinegary chilie sauce, not that spicy) and some lightly marinated cabbage & carrots reminiscent of Escabeche. I've never had Loroco before, it's a green vegetable native to Central America, tastes a bit like squash, with nutty overtones. Excellent vegetarian option.

The Benedicion truck isn't there every day of the week, and there's some construction happening on the lot they're on now (Sept. 2018), but there is plenty of free parking nearby, and a bench to sit on while you eat.

Tacos Y Pupusas La Benidicion

2707 Sonoma Blvd.

Vallejo, CA 94590

707-980-3563

Suruki's Japanese Cuisine in Vallejo

Suruki’s Sushi & Teriyaki Grill

Gateway Plaza

145 Plaza Drive #201

Vallejo, CA 94591

707-557-2236

Price: $$

Suruki’s is mostly about sushi rolls, nigiri, sashimi, teriyaki, noodle soups & more. It’s a small place, and everything’s made by hand to order. There’s a lot of standard combinations here, like California Rolls & Unagi rolls and nigiri. On weekdays they have specials worth taking advantage of, and I particularly enjoy their Temaki, or Hand Rolls, their Monday special. The sushi rice has the perfect texture—the rice is slightly bulbous and not dried out. It’s almost meaty in terms of texture, and has that discernible rice vinegar flavor, but certainly not overwhelming.

We got Ahi Poke Hand rolls recently,  with a cluster accent of sunflower sprouts and seaweed salad—a great combination. But topped, in my humble opinion, by arguably the best hand roll I’ve ever had, using Grilled Salmon Skin. I have friends who don’t like Salmon skin (even when it’s cooked!) and would throw it away for sea gulls to fight over. They don’t do that when I’m around. Because that Omega-rich salmon fat is one of the best things you can eat, and delicious when grilled to a turn. 

Chennai Grill in Sunnyvale, CA

Friday night (8/24/18) dinner at Chennai Grill, in Sunnyvale. This place is right up there with all the other exalted Chettinad/South Indian restaurants we've been discovering, most of which are in the South Bay (with the exception of Amrutha in Fair Oaks). Pictured here is Vijayawada Special Mutton Biryani and Goat Pepper Masala. Back right is a bowl of delicious Rasam. 

One thing all these really great Indian restaurants have in common? They don't ask how spicy you want it. How does this translate if you are new to this cuisine? It's going to be very spicy, but not quite to the level of very incendiary Indian Spicy. I asked for that once, and had to get a Mango Lassi on the double!

But Chennai Grill is nowhere near that, though still quite spicy.

AhiPoki in San Francisco

Superb Poke bowl place in a strip mall south of Outer Sunset, near the Zoo in San Francisco. Extremely fresh produce and seafood. More Hawaiian-style poke than most new poke bowl restaurants we've encountered recently. Reasonably priced by SF standards. 

Only issue is they only apparently have hard plastic to-go containers, despite the fact there's about 20-30 seats for eating your poke bowl there. Surprising they don't have something more sustainable.

AhiPoki

1511 Sloat Blvd

San Francisco, CA 94132

415-702-6454

True Symmetry Brewing in Suisun City

Great brewpub in Suisun City, arguably the best one I've experienced on the West Coast. Above: In the rounded glass, True Symmetry's Monk Of The Marsh, a Belgian Dubbel--very balanced, slightly sweet, nice crisp hops, and full malty ale counterpoint. In the foreground: Kolsch with Fresh Raspberry, on cask.

Also had a taste of their new Trippel, which I'll get next time I go! Without a doubt, the best Belgian-style ales I've had in America.

Above and below, Sam's 34 Stout. Above with First Crack Coffee, a coffee stout with a very intense coffee tang to it. Below Sam's 34 Stout Nitro, a straightforward toasty Stout with a dry, clean finish. Highly recommended.

Check out True Symmetry's limited hours--Friday-Sundays. There are several superb restaurants nearby, including Lime Leaf, one of the best Thai/Lao restaurants in the Bay Area, and plenty of free parking. Dogs are ok, and sometimes True Symmetry has special events, check their site or Facebook Page for more details.

True Symmetry Brewing

316 Marina Center, Suisun City, CA 94585

707-202-6000

www.truesymmetry.beer