Today we had lunch at King of Dumpling on Taraval in San Francisco. It was my first time going to this place. I’ve been meaning to try it since there is always a long line out the door. The place is tiny. It only holds about 6 tables.

We ordered Xiao Long Bao (soup dumpling), Won Ton Noodle Soup, Onion Pancake and Chicken Chow Mein

The soup dumpling was the best I’ve ever had. It is a dumpling but inside of it is a meat mixture and some soup. The best way to eat it is with a spoon. When you take a bite out of it the soup explodes onto the spoon. It is absolutely delicious.

The Won Ton Noodle soup was above average.

The onion pancake was also the best I’ve ever had. It was super light and crispy.

The chow mein was average but decent.

My daughter asked for some steamed rice and the waiter told her she didn’t need it. It pissed her off but I thought it was pretty funny. They brought her some anyway.

With a Tsingtao beer and 2 Thai iced teas the total bill came to $30.

Last week I was visiting Washington D.C. on business. I was staying in a neighborhood called Dupont Circle .The people I was with seemed to be connoisseurs of fine food and they wanted to try this French Bistro down the street from the hotel called Bistro Du Coin. Sampling local restaurants is one of my favorite things to do so I was happy to tag along. We got to this place around 7pm and there was a line out the door. We put our names on the list and stood around with the rest of the crowd of hipsters, groovers and food snobs for about 45 minutes. While we waited in line, I passed the time by reading the Yelp reviews. The general concensus from most of the reviews was that the Mussels and the Cassoulet were the best things on the menu so by the time we finally got seated, I was ready to order.

I ordered the

Cassoulet du Bistrotier

White bean stew with sausage, pork, lamb and duck Confit  – $19.50

and

Moules provençales a la facon Hiba
Steamed Mussels in white wine with tomatoes, thyme and garlic – $8.95

Both dishes were quite good. The mussels could have been a little more salty. This was the first time I’ve ever had a Cassoulet. It was super rich and even though I tried my best, I couldn’t finish it. Unlike the mussels, this was a little too salty but it was still delicious. The over saltiness actually made the 2 Stellas on draft go down better. I think I’m gonna try to cook this dish at home.

I would definitely come back to this place (I almost did for lunch on my last day) but if there was a line like last time, I wouldn’t wait.

Since I’ve gotten the new responsibilities at work, I’ve had almost no time to cook dinner so I’ve been bringing home takeout. A few days ago, I went to a place called Queen’s Louisiana Po Boy Cafe. It has 4 stars on Yelp so I was really looking forward to trying it, since Cajun food is on of my favorites. I picked up 2 twelve inch Catfish Po Boys, 2 large gumbos, an order of hush puppies and an order of sweet potato fries.  Total cost including tip- $60. Not cheap.

Hush puppies were ok. I’ve made better at home. The catfish po boys were delicious but they were pretty stingy on the fish. Hardly any there!

The sweet potato fries were lame. They were covered in cinnamon and none of us liked the flavor. I make sweet potato fries at home and they are much better.

The Gumbo was delicious. It is made with a dark roux, which according to all of the cookbooks I’ve read, is the secret to a good gumbo. You make the roux dark by cooking it carefully for a long time. My only complaint was that the liquid was not thick enough. There was one order that we didnt’ finish so I ate it the next morning. It was much much better the next day. The liquid thickened up in the fridge and it tasted fantastic.

I would go back again but I don’t recommend getting it to go. I think it would be much better there when it comes right off the stove. One other plus about the place was that they served Abita Beer from Louisiana.

On Monday night in Las Vegas we ate at a place called M & M Soul Food Cafe. I had read great reviews about this place and southern food is one of my favorites so I was looking forward to trying it. We walked into the place and were greeted my a really nice girl named Jerria and a huge security guard. We were the only white people in the place but still felt really welcomed by everyone there. Jerria took our order and then brought some corn bread pancakes to the table. These things were fantastic. I’ve never had cornbread served this way. The owner told us they discovered this method by accident when their oven stopped working so they poured the batter on the grill. I’m gonna start making my cornbread this way from now on I think.

For dinner we had:
Smothered chicken with cornbread stuffing and Mac & Cheese.
Fried catfish with collard greens, fried okra and red beans and rice.
Sweet iced tea.

If I lived in Las Vegas I’d be eating here at least once a week. The food was fantastic and the prices were reasonable. The service was also great. Everyone there seemed to love their job and care about making the best food possible.

If you are ever in the Las Vegas area I highly recommend this place.

Last night in Las Vegas I went to Hot n Juicy Crawfish in the Asian part of town. This place was on Man vs. Food and is kind of similar to SJ Crawfish in San Francisco. I got there at around 6pm and it was packed. I had 2 lbs of crawfish with the Hot n Juicy sauce medium spice. It came with a potato and corn. I ordered a half dozen sausage and an extra corn. We also got an order of sweet potato fries. It was really good but the waiter thought I was a girl then screwed my order up. I’ll forgive him since the food tasted so good.

On Friday I went to a book sale down the block from Mevio at the Chronicle Books offices. Everything in the place was 65% off. I picked up this cookbook called Cooking Up a Storm: Recipes Lost and Found from The Times-Picayune of New Orleans. I haven’t cooked anything from it yet but I can’t wait to start.

Here is the description from the Chronicle Books Website:

Cooking Up a Storm

After Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, thousands of people lost their keepsakes and family treasures forever. As residents started to rebuild their lives, The Times-Picayune of New Orleans became a post-hurricane swapping place for old recipes that were washed away in the storm. The newspaper has compiled 250 of these delicious, authentic recipes along with the stories about how they came to be and who created them. Cooking Up a Storm includes the very best of classic and contemporary New Orleans cuisine, from seafood and meat to desserts and cocktails. But it also tells the story, recipe by recipe, of one of the great food cities in the world, and the determination of its citizens to preserve and safeguard their culinary legacy.
Marcelle Bienvenu writes the popular “Cooking Creole” column for The Times-Picayune of New Orleans, and has collaborated with Chef Emeril Lagasse on several of his cookbooks. She lives in St. Martinville, Louisiana.

Judy Walker is the food editor of The Times-Picayune of New Orleans. She is the author or co-author of five cookbooks on the food of the Southwest.

My favorite Chinese takeout in San Francisco is Cheung Hing on Noriega St. If you are in the city and craving some fantastic roast duck or BBQ pork you should definitely stop in here. They have the best roast duck that I’ve had in San Francisco and are known for their BBQ meats. I’ve never been here when there wasn’t a line out the door. The woman at the counter always greets me with a smile and makes me skip to the head of the line. Last night I picked up some beef and stringbeans (best in town), some sort of fish plate that is fantastic, roast duck, five spice chicken, BBQ pork, combination fried rice and steamed rice. This is more than a family of 4 can eat in 2 sittings.

Support my sponsors and I get a kickback!

Adam and Eve 50% off Sex Toys, vibrators, adult products and more.
4Inkjets.com 10% off any order and free shipping on orders over $50. 1800 Pet Meds- Save 10% plus free shipping
IX Web Hosting Save 25% on web hosting
Finish Line Athletic Wear 15% off any order $60 or more
GoDaddy Coupons – Great savings on domains.
Budget rental Coupons – Car rental discounts
Eastbay Coupons – 15% – 20% off
Footlocker Coupons – 15% off any order
eMusic free trial – 2 weeks, 35 free songs!
Zazzle – Custom Clothing, Skateboards and MORE!
Angie’s List’ – 25% OFF
Match.com – 25% OFF Find your match or just get laid
Mozy Save money on online backup made easy with my exclusive mozy promotional codes
Zazzle.com Custom Pro Keds, Rock t shirts and more for 10% off and free shipping!

Last night The Butlers played with RATT at The Oakland Metro. It was a fun show.

Before we played we went down the street to a Japanese restaurant called Ginza. The food was decent and the service was excellent. There were 7 of us and the owner let us split the bill into separate checks.

She gave us all complimentary miso soup. It was obviously the instant kind but for free it was fine.

Below is some sort of Gyoza. It was decent. There was more in the basket but it got eaten before I could snap a pic.This is a hamachi hand roll. It was excellent.

Note: These pics are all yellow thanks to the new iphone 4 crappy quality of indoor shots.

The owner also gave us complimentary mussels with some sort of cheese sauce. I liked them but most of the table was afraid to eat them.

I also ordered chicken udon. It was average. I wouldn’t get this next time. My total bill was $17.20 including a Sapporo beer.

After a long week of work one of my favorite things to do is go to SJ Crawfish on Irving Street. I always order the same thing -  2 pounds of crawfish with mild plus seasoning, 2 corn, 2 sausages and a Corona beer.

This place used to be called CoCo’s and was owned by 2 super hot Chinese girls.The service was always ok but they blasted bad music on the stereo and the bathrooms were disgusting. There were tons of Yelp reviews about it.

Coco sold the place to a Vietnamese guy and he’s trying to turn business around. The crawfish is fresher now and the service is much better. The bathrooms are a little better but can still be dirty at times and the bad music is gone.

Crawfish is one of those things I eat that always gives me a food high.

Other than Louisiana, the best place I’ve been to so far for crawfish is in Las Vegas called Hot n Juicy Crawfish

Another place I frequent often in Japantown is a place called Tanpopo. I found out about this place from a Japanese friend of mine named Sonoo. I asked what the best Japanese noodle place was in the City and she immediately said Tanpopo. They specialize in ramen soup. They also have a ton of sake choices. I always get the same thing when I go here.

Karamiso Ramen, which is spicy miso flavor soup with boiled bean sprouts and sliced chashu pork. It is a huge bowl and really spicy. I am sweating bullets by the time I’m done eating it but it is delicious. It costs $8.50.

For appetizer I get Rebanira itame, which is sauteed beef liver & vegetables but since I didn’t have my glasses, I accidentally ordered Reba Karaage, which is deep fried beef liver. I was bummed out at first but it was actually very good. Cost – $5.50

I had a large bottle of Asahi beer to drink.

I left here tonight with a food high. Just enough beer to give me a slight buzz and just enough food to be quite full but not in a food coma.

Tanpopo on Yelp

Total cost: $21.90