August Foodgrams

August is over…summer is almost over…school is about to begin. Summer goes by faster every year, I swear. Sigh…at least August was a good month for food! Heck, every month is good food-wise. Excited to share with ya’ll some of my favorites from the past few weeks. Hope you guys enjoy!

1. Anatolian Kitchen (Palo Alto): Solid Mediterranean place in Palo Alto. I ordered the lamb saute. First thing I noticed when it came out was how beautifully the food was presented.  I figured it probably wouldn’t taste as good as it looked…but it did! The lamb was tender and seasoned very well. The tomatoes accompanying the dish were cooked perfectly and added so much flavor to the dish. And they gave just the right amount of rice. Loved this dish! Prices here are reasonable and the servers are all extremely friendly.

2. Gott’s Roadside (SF): This was my first time eating at the Ferry Building, and Gott’s was not a bad way to start. Lines here get ridiculously long during peak lunch hours, but just come before noon and you’ll be fine. They have a great variety of choices on their menu. You’ll find burgers, sandwiches, salads, tacos, fries, fish n chips, etc. They have a great outdoor seating area, and there’s often live music playing nearby. Great vibe! As for food, I got the Texas Burger (without jalapenos), and it was delicious! Loved the avocado and cheese combination, and the meat was cooked perfectly as well. Also got a side of garlic fries, and they were amazing!! Lots of good garlic flavor and the texture of the fries was perfect.

3. Santo Market (San Jose): Came here to try the poke and their mochi, and I was very impressed by both! The poke here is very simple–only two flavors (spicy/non-spicy). Each poke plate comes with rice on one side and two scoops of poke on the other. The fish and rice are separated, which I personally like because they serve the rice hot and you don’t want the fish warming up over the rice. I decided to try one of each flavor. Both were delicious! The spicy one actually packs quite a kick. The fish was super fresh and the sauces weren’t at all overwhelming. As for the mochi–also super yummy! The mochi come two in a pack, and they’re pretty big! There is a strawberry and red bean filling inside each. Not too sweet, as the slight tang from the strawberry mixes very well with the sweetness of the red bean. Texture of the mochi was fantastic.

4. Hard Knox Cafe (SF): I decided it was about time I tried chicken n waffles…so that’s what I ordered. Prices from a first glance may seem high, but when you look at the size of the portions, it’s quite a good deal. My friend and I actually split a single order of the chicken n waffles. It comes with 3 (large) pieces of deep-fried chicken. And a pretty big waffle. They start you off with cornbread and butter before your food comes out, so that was nice. The cornbread was delicious!! The butter went so well with it and the flavor/texture was perfect. I wolfed that thing down in like 20 seconds. The chicken n waffles did not disappoint!! The chicken was fried perfectly!! Just the right amount of batter, and the chicken itself was so moist and tender. With so much flavor!! And unlike most fried things, the chicken here for some reason didn’t feel as heavy. My stomach felt fine afterwards (and it usually is pretty sensitive to fried stuff) and I probably could have ordered another one. I wasn’t a huge fan of the waffle…the texture was a bit soggy. But whatever, the chicken was amazing.

5. Antoine’s Cookie Shop (San Mateo): This place is such a gem. So happy I finally got to try the cookies here. They’re incredible!! I tried the chocolate chip flavor as well as the cookies n crème flavor. Both were delicious. The texture of the cookies was absolutely perfect. Soft on the inside, with an ever-so-slight crisp. The cookies were just the right level of sweetness as well. The chocolate chip cookie was very interesting–it was almost like a cookie sandwich but they somehow manage to keep the cookie relatively thin. The middle of the cookie (literally going across the whole cookie) is a molten layer of semi-sweet chocolate. The chocolate chip cookies were actually fresh out of the oven when I got there, and omg they were so good. The cookies n crème one was also pretty good. Lots of oreo particles…so it just tasted like a glorified mashup of oreos and cookies. That texture though…I really don’t know how they do it! Across the board, the texture is definitely what stood out to me most. Prices are $1.50 a cookie, which is kind of pricey in my opinion, but still totally worth it.

6. House of Prime Rib (SF): Finally got to try this place. Doesn’t quite compare to Lawrys in LA, but it’s probably the best prime rib in NorCal. Portions are massive. Each cut of prime rib comes with salad (delicious), creamed spinach (which you can swap out for creamed corn), mashed/baked potato, and Yorkshire bread pudding. The flavor of the meat is fantastic and the au jus complements it so well. Definitely try to make reservations if you can. If not, then your best bet is to come super early and hope to get a seat at the bar.

7. Bamboo Asia (SF): Such a great concept! This place is like 3 restaurants in one. You walk inside and it’s pretty much like a food court. There are 3 different stations: India, Japan, and Vietnam. Each station serves is own unique menu. Prices are pretty similar across all three. I ended up at the Japan station because their bowls reminded me so much of poke bowls! And I’ve been on a hunt for a decent poke place in the area. The ordering style is very similar. You choose your base, 3 veggies, and 2 protein. I went with white rice, seaweed salad, tamago, avocado (SO HAPPY THEY DON’T CHARGE EXTRA), tuna, and Hamachi. You then choose your sauce and toppings. I really enjoyed my bowl! At $11 something, it’s a super good value–especially for the amount of food that you get.

8. Ramen Parlor (San Mateo): This is probably my favorite ramen in NorCal. Not really your traditional style of ramen, but delicious nonetheless. The lobster broth is fantastic, and a mild spice level adds the perfect amount of kick. The noodles have just the right texture, and the soft shell crab that accompanies the ramen is to die for. The soft boiled egg is pretty good too. The line here gets super long…so try to get here 20 min before they open, or be prepared to wait.

9. Capelo’s BBQ (Redwood City): Delicious! I tried Capelo’s at an Off the Grid event (food trucks), and I was pleasantly surprised! I’m not that big of a fan of BBQ, but the meat from Capelo’s is cooked super well. And they have amazing sauces to go along with it. Great selection of sides…I decided to go with mac n cheese and potato salad–both were delicious! Portions are very generous and prices are very reasonable! That flavor in the meat though….so good!! Highly recommend.

The end!! Hope you guys enjoyed my 9 picks from the month of August. If any of you have any recommendations around NorCal, I’d love to hear from you! Always looking for new places to try 🙂

XOXO,