Noodles Fresh in El Cerrito

Four photos from a recent visit. Above: a regional Green Tea, with an incredible depth and complexity.

Jiangxi Noodle Salad.

New Lamb dish, essentially spiced tender lamb sauteed with onion, petter and cabbage. Outstanding dish.

BBQ Pork. Tender & perfectly cooked. Pickled cabbage and carrot at left a suitable complement.

Sichuan Dan-Dan Noodles.

Had no idea this place existed, even though my commute takes me right past it (or a few blocks east or west) almost every day. This is one of the top tier Chinese restaurants in the Bay Area.

In addition to being a superb restaurant, Noodles Fresh also has a top-notch selection of teas. Here, you can see we're letting our Green Tea steep. 

Chile oil.

Garlic Cucumbers. Perfect prelude, especially when doused with Chile Oil.

Sichuan Dan-Dan Noodles: ramen wheat noodle, ground pork, Sichuan chili sauce, peanut, sesame, bok choy, scallion, bean sprout. Here's how it's served, but best to mix it up, as you can see below.

The Sichuan chili sauce tingled tongues and lips, as we wondered how the ground pork was not greasy and had such a nice chewey texture.

Xinjiang Lamb. Rice noodle, lamb, ginger, daikon, goji berry, scallion & cilantro, according to the menu. I believe there were some other ingredients, like Star Anise or other five spice blend usual suspects? The broth was like spun gold, with the sweet tangy essence of Chinese aromatics and the solid umami of the lamb. Everthing was so perfect and exalted.

http://www.noodlesfresh.com

Cha-Am Thai Cuisine in Vallejo

Update: Cha Am in Vallejo now permanently closed.

Ped Yang, or Roasted Duck.

Been here one other time, we thought it was pretty good, but this time we were much more impressed.

Yum Gung Cha-Am. A grilled prawn salad with chopped coconut, cashew, mint, coriander, lemongrass and a chili-lime dressing. Very refreshing salad.

Ped Yang (Roasted Duck) with a Chinese Five Spice Powder flavor on the skin. Perfect.

Pad Kee Mao--sauteed shrimp with chopped chicken breast, chili garlic sauce, thai basil and wide noodle. Vegetables include baby corn, green beans, peas, carrots.

MSSF Annual Fungus Fair 2016

A few highlights from the San Francisco Mushroom Fair.

Some great specimens on display at this year's mushroom festival. I particularly like the puffballs in my final shot.

Taquerias Mercy Pupuseria in Vallejo

That's by far the best Pupusa I've ever had. Made from scratch, no doubt.

Place here in the neighborhood that I've never tried, but I'm generally not that keen on Salvadoran & Guatamalan cuisine, too starchy and bland for my taste. Near Marin & Tennessee in Vallejo.

Decided to go with Plato Tipico 1. Con Jarritos Naranja.

Empanada with beef, pork and cheese empanadas, & fried yuca with chicharons. And what's in that styrofoam cup?

Slightly pickled carrot, onion and cabbage, sort of like Escabeche. Nice!

OK, so here's the deal. The Pupusas here are amazing. Home cooking style. Looking forward to trying the Nopales and Zucchini versions.

Noodle 21 in San Pablo

Gai-Lan with Beef. Basically a variant of Beef with Broccoli, but using Gai-Lan. Superb version, Gai Lan cooked just right, beef tender, great flavor. Served with wide flat noodles with some nice char on them.

This place is hitting on all cylinders. Dumplings in Chili Oil.

And for the Coup De Grace, Smoked Chicken, similar to Tea Smoked Duck. One of the most exalted chicken dishes we've had. Don't forget the mild chile relish, and there's some great spicy chiles in oil on the table

Hyderabad Biryani in San Ramon

Great place in San Ramon we've been hearing about. Suddenly, it seems like a lot of the great cuisine is showing up in the Bay Area suburbs like Concord, Walnut Creek, Danville, San Ramon, Fremont, Milpitas and elsewhere.

I should have gotten a closeup of that Naan, all glistening with butter (probably Ghee).

Raita on the right, on the left the most amazing spicy Dal I've ever consumed, exploding with ginger and spices!

Tender, succulent Goat Curry, extremely spicy. We noticed they didn't ask us how spicy we wanted our food, which to me I take as a sign of respect which goes both ways. I'm guessing this restaurant has enough happy customers that they don't have to worry about a few spice-challenged punters.

Mango Lassi. Exceptional ending to a meal.

Mutton Biryani. Guess what this lucky bastard's having for lunch tomorrow?

Okra. Fabulously spicy and over the top. This is the best Indian food we've ever had.

http://hyderabadbiryanihouseca.com