Oct 10

Tai Kee Won Ton – San Jose

375 Saratoga Ave
Unit H – J
San Jose, CA 95129

Rating: ★★★☆☆ 

Located down Saratoga Ave just south of Stevens Creek Blvd, Tai Kee Won Ton serves up a variety of Taiwanese dishes. There was plenty of room in the restaurant when we arrived on late Saturday afternoon. The atmosphere was not very welcoming, but not rude either. The menu choices are a bit limited, but stays true to Taiwanese cuisine.

Today, we ordered the Taiwanese wonton noodle soup, green onion pancake, and the stewed pork rice combination. Prices for all the dishes was acceptable, but I would say $1-2 overpriced. Compared to traditional Chinese wonton soup, the Taiwanese version has a lot more toppings including ground meat. The wontons themselves look and taste homemade since the wrapping is very soft and smooth. I just wished that there was more meat inside the wontons, although the bowl did come with a fair number of wontons. I was not a fan of the dried shrimp bits in my soup though. The green onion pancake was quite dense and lacked flavor. This pancake did not match up at all to the one I had tried in LA at Mandarin Noodle House. After eating a few pieces, I didn’t want to eat it at all. The stewed pork rice combination looked very appetizing especially with its own side of wonton soup. The broccoli was cooked well, not too hard and not too soft. The hard boiled egg was cooked right with a cooked filling. The rice had sauce from the stewed pork, which gave it flavor, but was quite oily especially when you get to the bottom. The stewed pork itself was very tender and had a good savory flavor, but there was a large amount of fat attached. I understand stewed pork has fat, but there was definitely more fat than meat, which was not as appetizing.

Overall, the meal was fulfilling, but disappointing too. Tai Kee Won Ton surely lives up to its name for their great tasting Won Ton, but they lacked on their side dish of green onion pancake and stewed pork. If I was given the opportunity to come back, I probably won’t because I’ll just wait for another trip down to so-Cal to get something better. Now, I can see why the restaurant was not seated to the brim and the staff just sits and wait. If you are looking for good Taiwanese wonton soup, then Tai Kee will serve its purpose, but I don’t suggest coming here for anything else.

Sep 21

El Super Taco

6200 Mack Rd
Ste B
Sacramento, CA 95857

Rating: ★★★★☆ 

There are tons of Mexican restaurants in the Sacramento area. El Super Taco serves up a variety of standard Mexican dishes. The location on Mack road is clean, friendly, and has plenty of parking.

Today, we ordered the Carnitas Torta and a ham breakfast burrito. The Carnitas (pork) Torta arrived sliced on a plate. The bread was toasty and had beans on the sides of the bread to preserve the crispiness. The highlight of the torta was the pork. The pork was seasoned well and had a bit of crispiness. The torta as a whole tasted really good with the pork, beans, and vegetables. The breakfast burrito arrived piping hot. The filling included potatoes, cheese, ham, and eggs. I ordered mines sans beans. The eggs tasted delicious and the ham went will with the perfectly cooked potatoes. There wasn’t much flavor in the burrito as a whole, but it still tasted really good.

Overall, El Super Taco serves up some great Mexican Food. You can expect to have your order delivered fresh to your table. If you are looking for good Mexican food in South Sacramento, head to El Super Taco.

Sep 20

The Cheesecake Factory – Part 3

1771 Arden Way
Sacramento, CA 95815

Rating: ★★★★☆ 

We decided to order something different on this visit to the Cheesecake Factory. Today, we ordered the Buffalo Wings, Chicken Chipotle Pasta, and the Filet Mignon. In the beginning of the meal, we were provided with the standard complimentary bread with butter along with the strawberry lemonade I ordered. The bread tasted good as always, but was not as fresh as I would like. The strawberry lemonade tasted sweet and sour and was very flavorful. The buffalo wings were pretty large in size, and the buffalo sauce was quite spicy and plentiful. The appetizer actually included quite a few wings. The chicken chipotle pasta had various vegetables and crunchy stuff mixed in with quite a few chunks of chicken. The sauce was very flavorful and you can pick up on the smoky notes as well as a bit of spiciness. The filet mignon was served with a dish of fries with onion rings on top. The fries were very fresh and tasted great. The filet mignon tasted ok, but was cooked past my requested level of medium. You can taste the meat pretty well, and for being pretty dry, it was still tender. The sauce they used was quite salty. In the future, I know not to order the filet.

Overall, The Cheesecake Factory provides great service with an array of food choices. Today’s meal was a bit skewed with the disappointing filet mignon. If you’re looking for a good place to have dinner, the Cheesecake Factory is still a good choice.

Sep 19

Salju Dessert – Alhambra

35 W Valley Blvd
Ste B
Alhambra, CA 91801

Rating: ★★★★★ 

Salju Dessert serves up authentic shaved ice. When I say shaved ice, I mean taking blocks of flavored ice and shaving it down to fluffy melty goodness. You get a choice of two sized, plenty of flavors, some syrup, and add-ins.

Today, we got the medium strawberry snow with strawberry syrup and strawberry/banana/orange toppings. The size of the dessert was fairly large. You can watch the staff grind the ice as you wait. As I took the first spoonful of the snowy concoction, I felt the soft ice quickly melt with strawberry flavors. The ice is surprisingly flavorful, and all of the toppings are fresh.

Overall, I highly recommend this place. If you never tried this type of shaved ice before, you need to give it a try. There are so many combinations available so you will have many varieties to try.

Sep 18

Mandarin Noodle House – Monterey Park

701 W Garvey Ave
Monterey Park, CA 91754

Rating: ★★★★½ 

You will be able to eat fresh handmade noodles at this establishment, although, it will cost a buck something extra. This location is known for a few things including their pot stickers and beef noodle soup.

Today, I tried a variety of different foods that I have never tried. First, the handmade pot stickers were very delicious. There was a lot of flavor and the casing is crispy. There is not as much filling compared to Ling Lings, but the filling that is there is delicious. The next thing that came out was the beef roll. This interesting dish has beef, greens, and green onions wrapped in a flour shell. I did not care too much for the vegetables, but the crust and meat tasted really good. The next items that came was the onion pancake. This is very crispy compared to a Korean pancake. This onion pancake had a lot of flavor, but was too oniony for me. I tasted the bean and meat dry noodles, and felt that it tasted really good and different. The highlight of the meal was the beef noodle soup. The broth was super flavorful, and the handmade noodles were delicious. All of the beef was tender and easy to eat. I did not need to add any other seasoning to the broth because it was pre-seasoned.

Overall, you must visit Mandarin Noodle House and try their Beef Noodle soup and pot stickers! Not only does the food taste good and fresh, but also having homemade noodles is really cool. By visiting this restaurant, you get to try Mandarin and Taiwanese cuisine.

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