Elsie Hui – Page 41 – Calgary Travel Foodie

November 23, 2014

Pho Ao Sen – Oakland, California

We went for some Vietnamese while our visit to California and met up our family Pho Ao Sen and it’s located right on 12th Street. This restaurant is so busy and they have parking both beside the restaurant and across the street.

We started with the standard, some salad roll, which they call Goi Cuon- Spring Rolls, which looks really impressive! The taste was quite amazing as well, even their dipping sauce was pretty unique and very delicious! These huge salad rolls were stuffed with both shrimp and pork, and the standard stuff like vermicelli, mint, bean sprouts and lettuce.

We also got another standard appetizer, the Cha Gio- Egg Rolls which was the crispy/fried version of the Vietnamese Spring Roll. They call it an egg roll here, which is quite different from a Chinese Egg Roll, but a lot of people use these terms interchangeable. These Egg Rolls was a mixture of ground pork, shrimp, vegetables, cellophane noodles, and wrapped then fried to perfection. It was actually really tasty without the dipping sauce!

I was still fighting the tail end of my cold on this day, so I ordered a nice hot bowl of Pho Gai which is their Chicken pho. The bowl of noodles was huge and there was a huge amount of chicken. The broth was tasty!

Then, my husband ordered the Beef Stew soup, what they call Pho Hoac Mi Bo Kho which was really fragrant and flavourful. The soup was really quite thick though, it was unique and very different from the ones we have here! This bowl of soup and tons of everything which made it extraordinary delicious!

Overall, this place was pretty amazing! No wonder it’s a favourite of so many people! I’m sure we will be back some day!

Pho Ao Sen

1139 E. 12th Street
Oakland, CA
(510) 835-5588

November 17, 2014

Lungomare – Oakland, California

We decided to take a walk in and around Jack London Square where we decided we wanted to sit down and have an early lunch. We walked into Lungomare as there was a lot of people sitting on the patio – and we wanted to be there as well.

I really wanted a Hot Tea and they have a nice assortment of teas to choose from. They give you a nice tea pot for you to steep the tea to your liking. I got their Breakfast Blend which is pretty standard – but I was looking for something basic on this morning.

I ordered their Bagel Sandwich which was a bagel with house smoked salmon, eggs over well, cream cheese and other various toppings with a bed of potatoes on the side. It was really good and the house smoked salmon was fantastic! They do a lot of in house smoking according to the menu and I’m sure they’re all very tasty!

My husband got their Shrimp & Grits which was really seasoned quite well. The shrimp was huge and very tasty – excellent texture and cooked to perfection. He got a side of their house smoked bacon and that was magnificent! It was really nice, the texture was fantastic and it wasn’t overly salty!

Overall, we had a fantastic experience here and would return as service, atmosphere and food was all very good and memorable.

Lungomare – Jack London Square

One Broadway
Oakland, CA
(510) 444-7171

November 16, 2014

Saigon Seafood Harbor – Richmond, California

We went to celebrate family members birthday and they choose to go to Saigon Seafood Harbor as they’re regulars there – always good food and service at a great rate. I’ve been here a few times for dim sum and dinner before as well and we never have a complaint.

We decided to order their special, a 10-course meal for 10 people. It started with an order of Jelly fish, Seaweed, Octopus, Beef shank and Chicken which is a great take on your traditional cold starters! We really enjoyed the octopus and I’ve always loved Jelly fish!

Afterwards, an order of soup came and they split it up into individual bowls ahead of time to save some space, which was pretty brilliant! We had the Crab Meat & Fish Maw Soup 蟹肉魚肚羹 which was tasty and pretty standard at the same time.

In no order that the dishes came (as some of them came all at the same time), we enjoyed tons of good food where all the plates was something special! There was an order of Braised Cod fish with Roasted pork & Tofu 紅燒斑腩煲 in a clay pot. This was without a doubt one of my favourites as seafood (fish) is something I always crave when I’m away from home!

One of my husbands favourite of the evening was their Honey Glazed Walnut Prawns 蜜桃蝦球 which was giant shrimp deep fried and glazed with some glazed walnuts on the side. I’m sure together, we finished this plate – leaving only a little for the rest of the family!

Then came a dish with some fish and bok choy. We’re not sure what it’s called, but the fish was cooked really tenderly. We assume it was cod as it was a nice white fish, mild in flavour.

Some greens came too, there was a plate of Green beans with Spicy Pork and it was really good. It was spicier than expected but delicious and addicting from the flavours.

Another dish of greens came out which was Sauteed Sugar Snap Peas and it was sauteed with garlic and scallops. It was pretty tasty and the food was really fresh.

A neat thing that came was their Peking Duck and we loved the wraps it came with. It’s very different from the style we’re use to with the thin pancakes – but these you can stuff a lot of duck into and it absorbs the flavours. It was a little strange that there was bones once in awhile, but it must be their style.

From there, we got our Fried Rice which they splited into individual bowls again to save space. I always love fried rice, so this one was pretty good!

The last course was the dessert, where we didn’t actually eat their Red Bean Soup as we showed up with a birthday cake instead. Our overall experience here was excellent. The food was fantastic, the portions was huge and the price, I was told was really a good deal for what we got.

Saigon Seafood Harbor – El Cerrito

3150 Pierce St
Richmond, CA
(510) 559-9388

November 16, 2014November 16, 2014

Ole’s Waffle Shop – Alameda, California

We have been going to Ole’s Waffle Shop for many years now and the place is always packed. I love this place as it not only had the best breakfast food, it’s in an old fashioned style diner with the long bar, swivel seats and booths! Located right on Park Street, you won’t miss it at all as there’s always a line and street parking.

Once we sat down, we ordered their fresh squeed orange juice which is one of my favourites. They have really good orange juice as there is a juice extractor. Plain and simple, really fresh and tasty!

I ordered their Waffle Combo which comes with a waffle, eggs and I ordered mine with a sausage patty. It was the perfect amount of food and everything tasted so delicious. They even warmed up the syrup which was really a nice treat as no other waffle/pancake place has ever done that!

My husband ordered his favourite, the Corn Beef Hash thinking there was hash browns in with the corn beef hash, but it was more just flat grilled corned beef, no has.. and we got grits on the side. It was still really good although not what either of us was expecting.

Overall, this waffle shop has been a favourite of ours for many years and we will always continue to go here. It’s close and convenient and delicious. The staff is always friendly even though they’re really busy!

Ole’s Waffle Shop

1507 Park St
Alameda, CA
(510) 522-8108

November 16, 2014November 16, 2014

Suzu Japanese Noodle House – San Francisco, California

This one evening, we didn’t know where to go for dinner. We were on the San Francisco side as we were doing some sigh seeing, so we decided we would go for Japantown for some ramen for dinner and we ended up finding Suzu Japanese Noodle House inside a little mall. The place was little and packed so make sure you have some patience if you want to try them – it’s worth it!

We started with an order of Gyoza as well all know, I love dumplings. They pan fried the dumplings here really nicely and the pork inside was really well seasoned. It was a thin skin and delicious!

I ordered their Cha Shu Ramen with Shoyu flavour soup and it was actually really delicious! The broth was excellent and the cha shu was tender, juicy and flavourful! The texture of the ramen was really nice and the noodles were really fresh!

We saw a news article outside the window of this restaurant where someone was showcasing their Suzu Ramen so my husband got that! It was quite different as it had karaage, fried gyoza and corn in his soup. His soup was miso flavoured and that was super tasty as well. We didn’t like the fried gyozas nearly as much as the pan fried ones that we got as an appetizer but the noodles are as tasty as it looks!

We also ordered a bowl of Kakuni Ramen with shoya flavour – which was their braised pork belly. It looked and smelled delicious and it was eaten completely withouth a word! So, it was awesome!

Overall, we loved our experience here. We all thought it was worth the wait and we know we could be back! The prices were reasonable, the service was quick and friendly and most importantly, the food was so good!

Suzu Japanese Noodle House

1825 Post St
San Francisco, CA
(415) 346-5083