1309 Florin Road, Suite F. Sacramento, CA 95831. (916) 421-4259.

Is there anything better than holding a piping hot bao on a cold day? It’s like a mini-hand heater and a tasty, toasty treat all wrapped up into one. I recently introduced the kidlets to bao. When I brought a box home for Sunday breakfast, the little scallywags gave me the stinkeye. “What is this blob of dough you’re handing me?” I’m sure their suspicious little minds were thinking, “Is it full of something disgusting? Anchovies? Natto? Liver?”  When I described it as being a Chinese Hot Pocket (work with me here, they’re kids) and stuffed full of BBQ pork, they let down their guard and took one. Kidlet #2, Mr. Picky Picky, even liked it!

If you’re unfamiliar with bao, they are steamed or baked buns stuffed with a variety of yummy fillings like – cha siu pork, Chinese sausage (lap cheong), coconut custard, egg and mung bean, black sesame paste or pickled, spicy veggies.  The steamed bao are a pillowy white and a bit chewy. The baked ones are breadier, with a shiny glaze.

Baked Bao

For the past year or so, my favorite place to buy bao in Sacramento is at a little hole in the wall shoppe called ABC Bakery in the Pocket/Greenhaven (although Lam Kwong Market downtown is a close second).  ABC Bakery is located off Florin Road in the “Old” Bel Air shopping center. (If you’re looking directly at Bel-Air, it’s along the right side, around the corner of the building.)  It’s a very small store and there’s almost always a line. Items  run out quick- so get there early if you want the best availability. On a recent Sunday, I got there around 9am and bought some of their baked cha siu pork bao, curry chicken bao and a few hot dog bao (slices of hot dog and green onions mixed in with the dough). I'll be honest, I do normally like a little more meat in my bao than what ABC does but I like the fact that everything there is freshly made.  On my last visit, I also picked up some shrimp dumplings which were quite delicious. The egg tarts here (I wish I knew their recipe for their wonderful flaky crust) and (seasonal) moon cakes have also been really good during past visits.

Shrimp Dumplings

Some people I know have bitched about the customer service at ABC citing that’s it’s very abrasive but everyone I've encountered there has always been polite. They aren't usually Chatty Kathys but then again they’re trying to keep the line moving. Here’s a tip, look at the menu and know what you want before you get to the front of the line. That'll keep you from catching flack from the staff as well as the patrons behind you. ☺

If you've ever spent any time wandering around the produce section of an Asian supermarket, you've probably run across these:



The ziziphus jujube goes by many names- but most commonly it's called a red date, Chinese date or jujube. It's part of the Buckthorn botanical family and has been cultivated by the Chinese for over 4,000 years. In ancient times, it was classified as one of the five celebrated fruits of China along with peach, plum, chestnut, and apricot.  



Jujubes are a smooth, oval-shaped edible drupe with a small stone in the center. The outer layer is a bit of a pale yellow-green color and the Styrofoam-like white flesh tastes like a bland apple. Most cultures put jujubes out in the sun to dry out and as they mature they turn a golden brown and take on a sweeter taste. Eventually they take on a red color and wrinkle up like old man testicles. The fruit is used to make a multitude of items- jams, tea, wine, lozenges, a variety of desserts and even jujube butter. (Also jujubes make a great substitute for dates in recipes.) The fruit and seeds are also used in Korean and Chinese medicine to alleviate stress, help with insomnia, lower blood pressure and to help treat colds, flus and sore throats. Jujubes contain twenty times more Vitamin C than any other citrus fruit. 



Jujube Tea

Ingredients

8 cups water
15-20 dried jujubes, cut in half and seed removed
1/2 cup fresh ginger, peeled and sliced
1/4 cup fresh mint, sliced
4 tablespoons honey (optional)

Instructions

1. Wash your dried jujubes in cold water. Discard the water.
2. Place 8 cups of water into your pot. Add in jujubes and ginger. Bring to a boil then lower to a simmer.
3. Simmer for 20 minutes. Add honey and mint. Simmer for 5 more minutes.
4. Remove from heat. Allow to steep for a few more minutes.
5. Strain. Keep the liquid and discard the solids.
6. Serve hot or chilled.

* You can also make this recipe in a slow cooker for a longer steep.
* If you want to change up the flavor, you can substitute some cinnamon sticks for the fresh mint.

I went with two friends and we all had a great time. I plan to use my new dumpling making skills to make a few batches of dumplings to celebrate the Chinese New Year.

If you're interested in learning how to make your own dumplings, check out the Confucius Institute's webpage:
http://confucius.ucdavis.edu/programsevents/index.html

All the dumpling classes for this quarter are full at this time, but you can get on their mailing list so that you know when registration opens up for next quarter. The Confucius Institute also offers workshops on tea and paper-cutting, as well as language classes.

I love Sundays! They always feel so lazy and decadent after a busy Friday and Saturday. Last night, Mr.S. and I had a date night and went to the Crest to see my all-time favorite comedian, Margaret Cho. I've seen her a ton of times over the years (going as far back as when she used to headline at the Punchline) and last night she didn't disappoint. She even played the guitar and sang a hilarious song called, "Fat P*ssy." Mr.S. had never seen her live before and he thoroughly enjoyed her show.


Afterwards, we grabbed a late night bite at Broderick (man, that place never disappoints!) and went to bed pretty late. So when this morning rolled around, I was tired and didn't want to get out of bed or change from my PJs. I stayed in them until almost 11am. Can you say L-A-Z-Y? ☺ I did eventually get dressed because I was meeting a friend at Old Soul at 40 Acres for some coffee and a bite. Grabbing good coffee always motivates me to get off my bum.

Anyhow since I was tired and staying at the cottage tonight, I wanted to make something super simple (I hate doing dishes). I originally found this recipe on a food blog (the name eludes me at the moment) but that blogger had adapted it from a Martha Stewart recipe. I've made the Martha version several times since I stumbled upon it, changing bits and pieces here and there as I went along to accommodate my own personal taste. I've finally reached a point where I'm done tinkering with it. It's a great quick meal for those nights you're dining solo and want to be able to make something on auto-pilot. I have also made this dish for Mr.S. (who at times can be a finicky eater) and he really likes it. What's also great about this dish is that you can pair it with quinoa, brown rice, farro or even noodles. You can also add additional veggies to make it more nutritious- I've added onions, red bell pepper, scallions, carrots and even steamed broccoli to the mix depending on my mood. It's a very versatile dish. (I may even make it for the kidlets soon and just leave out the red pepper.)

Spicy Cashew Chicken

Ingredients

1.5 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breast tenders, cut into 1-inch bite-sized cubes (boneless, skinless chicken thighs work well too)
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 tablespoons of peanut oil
6 cloves of fresh garlic, minced
1-inch piece of peeled ginger, grated
1/2 to 1 tsp of red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons of unseasoned rice wine vinegar
3 tablespoons of hoisin
1 tablespoon of low-sodium soy sauce
2 teaspoons of brown sugar (optional)
1/2 cup chicken stock (or water)
a couple of light shakes of Chinese black vinegar (available at most Asian grocery stores)
1/2 cup sugar snap peas
salt and pepper, to taste
3/4 cup of roasted cashews (you can roast themselves if you wish, just buy unsalted raw cashews to do so)
couple of shakes of toasted sesame oil


Instructions

1. In a bowl, toss chicken cubes with cornstarch and a pinch or two of fresh ground pepper. Make sure the bits are evenly coated. (Alternate method: You can  put the cornstarch and pepper in a Ziploc bag, add the chicken and shake it up.) The cornstarch coating will make your chicken tender and keep it moist.

2. In a large non-stick skillet or wok over medium-high heat , heat up your oil until it's really hot. Toss in your chicken, stirring occasionally so that all sides of the chicken cubes get cooked. (Don't crowd the pieces, you want it to sear evenly.) When done, remove chicken and set aside in a bowl.

3. In the same skillet you were using, add the garlic, ginger and red pepper flakes. Stir and cook for about 1-2 minutes. Then add back in the cooked chicken.

4. Add the rice wine vinegar, hoisin, soy sauce, brown sugar, chicken stock and few shakes of Chinese black vinegar. Stir everything together so that the flavors can meld. Bring to a nice simmer and let the ingredients cook together for 2-3 minutes. Add in your sugar snap peas. Taste the sauce, add some salt and pepper if you wish.

5. Toss in the roasted cashews. Give the dishes a shake or two of sesame oil. Mix everything well.

6. Serve hot over your favorite side- rice, quinoa, farro, noodles, etc..

4406 Del Rio Road, Sacramento, CA 95822. (916) 457-8818





My dad left Tuesday morning and I'll admit I'm a bit blue about it. We had a great time during the week he was here, puttering about town. Since he loves Chinese food, we popped over to South Land Park and visited Macau Cafe on Monday for lunch. Macau Cafe offers both Chinese and Portuguese dishes so I figured it would be a good bet that he could find something he'd like there. I hadn't been there in quite awhile so I crossed my fingers and hoped that the food there was still good. I had forgotten about the Sunflower Market opening up in the same shopping plaza; but luckily, parking was still plentiful. The interior of the Macau Cafe had changed very little since my last visit- casual, clean atmosphere, walls covered in colorful photographs of their food and an entirely Asian clientele (always a good sign). My Pops and I were sat immediately at a large table to the right, next to a man happily gnawing his way through a plate of whole crab in chili sauce. The table was nice and roomy but it made it a bit difficult to chat. (At some points during our lunch I felt like we were like the two guys from the Muppets yelling at each other across the table.) We were each handed a large book-like menu. Pops was pretty impressed that such a little restaurant had such an extensive menu. There had to be over 200 dishes in the book. It took awhile for us to look over the vast array of offerings. Their menu ranges from authentic dishes to the more mainstream. Congee, Portuguese style curry, stir-fried frog with bitter melon, lobster e-fu noodles, pan fried duck bills, goose intestines in black bean sauce and Macau style crispy pig knuckles are just a few of the more exotic dishes offered at the Macau Cafe. If you tend to be a bit of a timid eater though, don't let those dishes scare you off; they do offer an array of clay pot, soup and noodle dishes as well.

The last time I was there, I decided to try the steamed flounder along with a plate of pan-fried turnip cakes in XO sauce. The flounder was perfectly cooked and took center stage- it softly flaked away from the bones as we jabbed our chopsticks into the flesh. The fish was moist and tender with a nice, robust ginger flavor. The turnip cakes on the other hand, fell flat. The cakes were soggy and luke-warm and the sauce lacked any sort of flavor. This visit though, I was craving some clams. I ordered the clams in black bean sauce and my Pops went with the shrimp in lobster sauce. Our waitress brought out my dish first and I knew immediately that she had misunderstood my order. I had wanted the clams in black bean sauce entree but she had mistakenly ordered me the clams in black bean sauce over chow fun, which was one of the day's specials. Instead of sending it back, I decided to go with it- especially since the chow fun noodles looked quite appetizing. My Pop's food hadn't come out yet but he encouraged me to start eating, so I did. Halfway through eating my lunch I stopped, as I noticed he still hadn't received his food. It took about a good, long 15 minutes after my order came out for his to arrive at the table and I think that was only because I sat there staring at the waitress until she acknowledged that the food was going to be coming out (easing my fears that she had forgotten to put in his order). I resumed eating once his dish hit the table but was a little perturbed as my food had cooled down considerably by then. Service throughout our meal was spotty but the portions and quality of the food didn't disappoint. The servings are generous (we had leftovers to bring home) and both of us enjoyed our orders. My dish had about 10-12 clams nestled on top of a hearty serving of stir-fried chow fun noodles. There was just enough black bean sauce and onion slices to add flavor but not so much so that it overwhelmed the dish.

Overall, I was glad we decided to lunch at Macau Cafe. The Pops enjoyed his meal and said it was one of the best Chinese meals he'd eaten since leaving New York (high praise indeed!). Definitely, keeping it on the "must return" list.

If you follow my blog's Facebook page, you've probably seen me post a status every so often to the effect of baking/making/cooking while singing along to Mamma Mia. It's one of my favorite musical soundtracks and is such a fun one to belt out while in the kitchen. Well, last night I got to get my ABBA on at the Community Center Theatre and see Mamma Mia live for a second time (the first time was a few years ago). This production was just as great as the first one and restored my faith in the musical (I was a bit brokenhearted after that craptastic film version with Streep came out). Anyhow, I'm looking forward to gettin' down to some more, "Dancing Queen," and "SOS" while making another batch of these ginger-shrimp potstickers. The first batch were so dang good (we paired it up with some Trader Joe's peanut satay sauce), they were scarfed up in a blink of an eye!

(This would be a good recipe to make a double or even triple batch of...you can freeze them and cook as needed.)


Ginger-Shrimp Potstickers (recipe from Cooking Light, March 2008)

Ingredients

Pot stickers:

3/4 cup shredded green cabbage

1/3 cup chopped green onions

1/4 cup matchstick-cut carrots

2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce

2 teaspoons minced peeled fresh ginger

1 teaspoon dark sesame oil

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 pound cooked peeled small shrimp

Dash of hot sauce

24 wonton wrappers (fresh or store-bought)

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1 tablespoon canola oil, divided

1 cup water, divided


Instructions

1. To prepare pot stickers, combine first 10 ingredients in a food processor; pulse 4 times or until coarsely chopped. Working with 1 wonton wrapper at a time (cover remaining wrappers with a damp towel to prevent drying), spoon about 1 1/2 teaspoons shrimp mixture into center of each wrapper. Moisten edges of dough with water; bring 2 opposite corners to center, pinching points to seal. Bring remaining 2 corners to center, pinching points to seal. Pinch 4 edges together to seal. (I used a gyoza press instead. You can buy these for under $2 at most Asian markets.) Place pot stickers on a large baking sheet sprinkled with cornstarch.

2. Heat 1 1/2 teaspoons canola oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add 12 pot stickers to pan; cook 2 minutes or until bottoms are golden brown. Slowly add 1/2 cup water to pan; cover and cook 4 minutes. Uncover and cook 3 minutes or until liquid evaporates. Repeat procedure with remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons canola oil, 12 pot stickers, and 1/2 cup water.

3. Serve hot with favorite dipping sauce.

So, recently I bought a pound of fresh stir fry noodles on my excursion to the Mei Mei Noodle Factory. I couldn't wait to cook them up in some sort of tasty noodle creation. After some hemming and hawing, I decided to take one of my favorite recipes from the book, "Noodles Every Day," for gai-lan (Chinese broccoli) and beef noodle stir fry and vegetarianize it a bit by subbing in some oyster mushrooms for the beef. I figured with the oyster mushrooms' firm, meaty texture I could marinate them just like I usually do with the beef. Bingo! It worked like a charm and tasted delicious.

Gai-Lan and Oyster Mushroom Noodle Stir Fry (adapted from, "Noodles Every Day," by Corinne Trang)

Ingredients

3 tablespoons soy sauce

3 tablespoons oyster sauce

3 tablespoons Shaoxing wine or sake

1 tablespoon sugar

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1 teaspoon dark sesame oil

6 oz. oyster mushrooms,stemmed

1 pound fresh noodles

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

3 large garlic cloves, crushed and finely chopped

1.25 cups vegetable stock

1 pound gai lan (Chinese broccoli), cut into bite-size pieces

Freshly ground black pepper


Instructions

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together 1 tablespoon each soy sauce, oyster sauce and sake (or Shaoxing wine). Add the sugar and continue to whisk until completely dissolved. Stir in the cornstarch and continue stirring until smooth. Add the sesame oil and oyster mushrooms, and mix well. Marinate for 20 minutes. Drain and discard the excess marinade.

2. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Cook the noodles until 1 minute shy of done and drain. (We'll finish cooking the noodles at the end.)

3. Heat 1 tablespoon of the vegetable oil in a skillet or wok over high heat and stir-fry the garlic until fragrant, about 10 seconds. Add the mushrooms and stir-fry until tender, 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer to a plate. Add the remaining tablespoon of oil and when hot, add the gai lan, stir frying so that the oil coats the gai lan. Pour in the 1/4 cup of the stock, turn the heat to medium-low and cover with a tight fitting lid. Cook the gai lan until tender, 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer the gai-lan to the same plate.

4. Add the remaining cup of stock and the remaining 2 tablespoons each of soy sauce, oyster sauce, and rice wine to the same skillet and bring to a boil over high heat.

5. Add the noodles and cook until the liquid has almost completely evaporated, leaving the noodles lightly moistened, 2 to 3 minutes. Return the gai lan and mushrooms to the skillet and toss to mix the ingredients thoroughly. Season with pepper to taste and serve.

Some of my guy friends are amazing cooks, some have completed culinary school, some even cook professionally and well...some of my other guy friends microwave daily and are known on a first name basis at their neighborhood Chinese takeout joint. When I suggest that they tag along with me to the farmers' market, I can see the sweat start to bead up on their forehead and a look of panic start to wash over their face. They get that deer in the headlights look and start hightailing it for the nearest exit. So this recipe is for you, dude friends- it's simple, it's really quick and doesn't involve any fancy French words. You can whip it up in mere minutes and return to the safety of your man cave before anyone assaults you with words like locavore, food revolution or Richard Blais.

Ma Po Tofu

Ingredients

1/2 lb. ground pork

1 package Ma Po sauce

1 block silken firm or extra-firm tofu, drained, cut into 2cm cubes

3 scallions, chopped (whites & greens)

1 garlic clove, minced

1 teaspoon chili oil or sriracha (optional)

1 tablespoon oil


Instructions

- Heat a tbsp of cooking oil in a wok under medium high heat. Add ground pork, cook until it's browned.

- Reduce heat to medium-low. Add sauce, tofu and scallions. (Add chili oil or sriracha at this point, if you wish.) Stir-fry, blend well.

- Serve with steamed rice.

Yesterday kicked off the first day (of fifteen) for the Chinese New Year. To celebrate the Year of the Rabbit, I thought it would be fun to cook Mr. S. a Chinese inspired dish for dinner last night...I decided to go with this Chinese 'No Clay Pot'  Chicken with Soy and Ginger, which had just won the Best Healthy Casseroles Contest recently on Apartment Therapy. It's a simple dish but quite hearty and aromatic The kitchen smelled so delish during the preparation that Mr. S. kept wandering in, wanting to "help." I did tinker with the recipe a tiny bit so if you want the original version, you can find it here: The Kitchn. Anyhow the end result was a flavorful, versatile rice dish that can be eaten alone or used as a main dish (pair it with some yummy veggies like sauteed gai-lan) or as a side dish (would work well with some roasted duck).

Chinese No 'Clay Pot' Chicken Casserole

serves 6

Ingredients

1/4 cup soy sauce

1 1/2 teaspoons sugar

2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil

2 teaspoons cornstarch

1 tablespoon shiro miso paste

2 boneless chicken breasts, about 1 pound, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

3 scallions, roughly chopped, plus extra to serve

3 garlic cloves, minced

1-inch piece fresh ginger, roughly grated

2 ounces good Italian salami, cut into 1/4-inch cubes

10 ounces fresh shiitake mushrooms, caps thinly sliced

1 tablespoon canola or peanut oil

2 cups Chinese long grain rice (* I would not try and sub in a different type of rice as it could get mushy)

1 teaspoon salt

4 cups vegetable stock


Instructions

1. Heat the oven to 350°F.

2. Whisk together the soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil, and cornstarch in a medium bowl.

3. Stir in the chicken, scallions, garlic, ginger and miso paste and toss so that they are coated thoroughly with the liquid.

4. Place this mixture in the refrigerator and let marinate for at least 15 minutes while you cook the mushrooms.

5. Place an oven-safe pan, like a 3-quart Dutch oven, over medium high heat on the stove.

6. When it is hot, add the sausage and turn the heat down to medium-low.

7. Let the sausage slowly release its fat. When the bottom of the pot is slick with the sausage fat, add the mushrooms.

8. Turn the heat back up to medium high heat and let the mushrooms cook, without stirring them, for 5 minutes. Flip them over and cook for another 3 minutes.

9. Add 1 tablespoon oil to the pot, and sauté the rice briefly to develop some toasty flavor (you don’t want to brown the rice here, just sauté it for 1 minute or so), then add the salt and the chicken mixture from the fridge.

10. Pour in the stock. Bring to a boil.

11. Turn off the heat, cover with a lid or with foil and bake for 45 minutes. Make sure to taste the rice for doneness before taking it out of the oven. Let stand 5 minutes, covered, before serving.

12. Stir up the rice before serving, as the chicken and mushrooms will have risen to the top during baking (see photo below). Stir thoroughly so that they are incorporated throughout the rice.

I was perusing through the farmers' market recently and had to do a double take. At the table where I usually buy my Chinese Long Beans (aka Yardlong Beans) there was something amiss. I inched closer to get a good look and next to the green Chinese Long Beans were a few bundles of  beans…similar in length and texture but a vivid purple in color. Curious, I asked the young girl behind the table, “Are these beans supposed to be purple? Is there a difference in flavor?” She confessed that she had never eaten them before and was just helping out at the table for the day.  So I figured for $1 a bundle, I’d give these Barney looking beans a shot.

For those of you unfamiliar with Chinese Long Beans, they are much longer (on average 12"-30" in length), wrinklier and a bit chewier then your run-of-the-mill green beans. As for the purple beans, you can prepare them the same way you would the green Chinese Long Beans. My favorite method is to stir fry them.

Just in case you were curious as to how the beans look in comparison I found a pic online with the two varieties of beans side by side.

5829 Stockton Blvd, Sacramento, CA 95824. (916) 456-8888

"Eenie, meenie, minie, moe..." There's something about dim sum that brings out the kid in me. Maybe its the dizzying array of delicious dishes to choose from as they whiz by on pushcarts or maybe it's that the purchases are tabulated on miniature golf-like scorecards? Regardless, I always look forward to when my friend Judy visits from Fresno and takes me out for some dim sum.

Our last visit to King's was on a hectic Saturday and despite the restaurant appearing to be quite busy we were seated right away at a roomy table. Tea was served immediately and we were in business. I'm fairly new to the dim sum game but Judy's an old pro and I love to hear her order various goodies in Chinese. Like a busy fish market, fingers are pointed, orders called out and heaps of small bamboo baskets are placed on our table to be sorted out later. Somehow we usually we end up with enough to feed a small country rather than six adults and two small children. This last dim sum expedition was no different. The steamed gai lan drizzled with oyster sauce was cooked to perfection, the yeung ngai gwa (eggplant with shrimp paste) made me call out for seconds and my new favorite-- jellyfish salad was crisp with a slightly spicy aftertaste, reminiscent of kimchi. Yum! We also ordered the standard dim sum fare- steamed shrimp crepes, fung jeow (chicken feet--don't knock it until you try it with some sriracha),congee (rice porridge), yeung tseng gwa (green peppers stuffed with shrimp paste), char siu bao (BBQ pork buns), pork shu mai, har gau (shrimp dumplings), wu tow goh (taro cake), steamed meatballs and spareribs. Everything was piping hot and fresh. My friend's young daughter took a special liking to opening up the lomai gai, which resembled a Christmas gift (lomai gai is a glutinous rice mixed with pork, wrapped in a lotus leaf) so we ended up with several orders of it, all of which were consumed. My only disappointment was the xiaolongbao (soup dumplings) which were served without the requisite spoon and ginger/vinegar sauce.


As for King Palace itself, it's a bit tired and worn looking from the outside but nothing a little "rouge and lipstick," wouldn't fix. The dining room is clean, quite large and a bit over-decorated in gold and lucky red, but it does lend to a festive atmosphere once you get accustomed to it. Most tables are round making it easy for large groups to share their bounty as it spins around and around. I found the prices to be reasonable (I think the most expensive dish we had was around $3.00!). Also, even though many of the staff members did not speak a lot of English, they were friendly and eager to help during our visit --empty dishes were cleared quickly and my water was consistently refilled. Halfway through our meal, the manager (owner?) came over and chatted a bit which I thought was a personable touch.


I heard somewhere once that the Cantonese phrase "dim sum" loosely translates to mean, "touch the heart." After my visit to King Palace, I think they should change the meaning to also mean, "expands the stomach." I'll definitely be back for more dim sum. With no long wait, ample parking and good food ... I think New Canton's got some stiff competition.

3005 Freeport Blvd # B, Sacramento, CA 95818, (916) 448-3988

The Yummy Guide has that cute frou-frou feel of a teenage girl's room. It has X-mas sparkly lights dangling from the ceiling, sunny yellow tabletops and various posters and whiteboards tacked up on the wall. It has such a cheerful vibe that I felt that I should have liked it more than I did.


When you walk in there are several dry-erase board menus written in Chinese on the walls, but don't flip as they have a laminated english menu that they'll hand you. The menu consists of pages and pages of various small dishes running the gamut from spaghetti to intestines to a whole page of appetizers ending with the words "balls." The one that struck my fancy was the "shrimp pumpling," soup. It just sounded too cute to pass up and a good dish to help remedy my recent cold. Alisha and I both opted to check that out along with the salt/pepper tofu and the sesame dumplings. I wasn't crazy about the sesame dumplings, which resembled heated mochi with a peanut buttery black paste inside but the salt/pepper tofu was pretty good. It consisted of fried sugar-cubed sized tofu mixed with scallions and jalapenos slices. An interesting combination, but it worked. I also ordered some strawberry juice, which turned out to be delicious! My other dining companion, Josh, decided to indulge in a spaghetti dish with a meat and cheese sauce. He was kind enough to let me sample the fried rice and hot buns that he got. I really like the buns, which were crispy on the outside and soft and warm on the inside, the accompanying sugary dipping sauce made me lick my lips. It'd make a great breakfast snack, especially if coupled with coffee.

Our waitress, an older lady with a friendly smile, gave us ample time to review the lengthy menu and fielded our questions with ease. I think she got a little distracted by the Asian soap operas on the TV because after waiting awhile we had to ask a nearby waitress for some boxes and the check.

Overall, I think the Yummy Guide is a pretty cool place to check out. It's the perfect spot to hit after a late night of drinking as it's open late and is very cheap. Prices run the range of $3.99-$6.99. You could go back fifty times and still not try all the dishes on the menu, it's that extensive. There are also several dessert choices (like egg puffs and jellies), but we didn't have any room left in our tummies. Maybe next visit.