Friday After Thanksgiving Day
Breakfast with Brenda
Our lovely roommate, B, decided she wants to make egg scramble for us using the left-over ham and some red onion. Wow! This is a first. Chhimi had been teasing her for over a year to ask her to cook for us (really, we were just teasing...) but Brenda cracked 5 eggs and mixed in some egg beater...and cooked up a very delicious egg scramble. Chhimi, of course, offered some of his favorite Indian Naan (flat-bread) to go with it instead of regular toast. It was a lovely Friday brunch for all of us, which included walking down Brenda's memory lane of her hay days as a 'red head' :-).
Costco Relay
By the time we headed out of the house, it was past 12:00pm but Chhimi had to run to Costco and grab his Compact Flash since it was on a 2-day sale. He explained that it was important to have as much memory as possible for our Paris / London trip coming in December. Suuuuure! Well, we had to go to one Costco near our home and then had to go to another because apparently the discount was one per household :-P Hah! We found a loop hole!
Embarcadero
We arrived in the city and went all the way to the pier as our 1st stop. The Embarcadero Ferry Terminal is our new found favorite hang-out for people watching, scenic picture-taking, and just plain strolling around. We parked our car on the street meter and took a risk of it being towed away since it had a sign stating: Tow-Away between 3:00pm - 7:00pm. Yikes! But everybody was doing it...so we followed!
We strolled in to see all the neat little shops they had at the Ferry Terminal, including a mushroom shop selling chanterelle mushrooms @ 12.50/lb and Truffles @ $277.50 /OZ. Oh my goodness! They're just fungus...but apparently it is expensive fungus! There was a Chinese Tea House with chinese rosewood furniture, an apocathary table filled with tea leaves with lots of people enjoying tea. There was also a Caviar shop where the bar was filled with people drinking beer and enjoying various caviar delicacies! Yuck to me but Yummy to Chhimi.
Picture Taking Time: Chhimi and I strolled across the street to the Embarcadero shopping area which also had a 'Kristi Yamaguchi Ice Skating Rink' in front. It was very picturesque because in the forefront you have the ice skating rink and in the background you have the Embarcardero Clock Tower and in the far back, you have the Bay Bridge. Very nice for a winter photo.
Crepes and More: As the late afternoon rolled upon us, our stomachs were growling for more tasty morsels called food. Any kind of food. We found a Crepe & Curry shop in the area and our eyes immediately brighted up. I ordered a splendid Banana & Nutella Crepe while Chhimi ordered a Tom Kha Gai (Thai hot and sour coconut chicken soup). It was Mmmm Good! I'd go back there again but Chhimi says he may not....he's the picky one :-P
Meeting New Friends
After walking some time, we decided to head to the Metreon to take some more pictures of the city and I was about to blow off my friend's invitation to try out a fusion restaurant BUT it so happened that the restaraunt was near the Metreon. Sigh! So city-picture taking was placed on hold since I'd hate to de-commit myself from a committment, especially with my buddy. Chhimi and I "hiked" 4-5 blocks and ended up Roy's restaurant.
The group was over 20+ people. Wow! Sooo many new people to meet, just like a small Chinese banquet! Chhimi and I were the only ones from Sacramento area but were greeted warmly no matter what. Miss Lisa, Shirley's cousin, did the honors by shooting out all the names...it was hard to remember ...then Shirley and Thomas came in...awww our buddies that invited us OR we are crashing their party :-) hehehe
So on our table, we had Lisa and 3 couples: Me & Chhimi (married for the longest); Willa & Ming (newlyweds - July '04); and Shirley & Thomas (dating). The whole night...my funky hubby has been trying to scared off the boys into marriage-hood. Thank goodness everybody took it "well", at least at the table :-). It included things that guys should never do...including with a conversation on shopping lingerie...Eek! Then I got to chat a little with Monica, since she was on the other table, another friend of Shirley's from high school (almost everybody went to Lolle's but never hung out together in high school...only afterwards...interesting!)
I love meeting new people, especially, in the city so it was great to meet a bunch of down-to-earth peeps. Thanks Shirley for letting us force ourselves into your city-life ;-) Muahahaha!
Food Critique @ Roy's (visit www.chhimi.com for more critique from my hubby)
Roy's is supposedly this awesome and amazing Hawaiian Fusion cuisine. Chhimi and I looked on the web site...and we were looking forward to it. Although it is definitely expensive, we thought maybe it'll be worth it since this owner have been on Food Network.
AMBIANCE:
Lights were dimmed to give an intimate feeling. Our big group was seated in a little room upstairs also the bathroom path for the restaurant so we saw strangers walking in and out of our party. So it was not as intimate as Chhimi and I would've liked. The restaurant wasn't crowded or full from what I saw for a 7:30pm sitting.
SERVICE:
Our server was wonderful. She was very friendly. It was going to be Willa's birthday in 2 days so I asked whether Roy's had something special for a birthday girl...she said absolutely! Later on, she brought out a small dessert sampler and our group sang 'Happy Birthday' to Willa :-).
FOOD:
Chhimi and I've dined in various fancy restaurants before so it wasn't really anything new. The more hype there is on a restaurant, the more our expectations were. The layout of the food was nice and eye-pleasing including their choices on plates. It complimented the entree and sauces well. However, the taste was alright.
APPETIZER
Chhimi ordered from the prix-fixed menu with a set appetizer, an entree, and a dessert. The Appetizer wasn't too bad, it was actually yummy for me but definitely light on the quantity (1 potsticker, 1 shrimp, and 1 small back-rib). I guess that's my Chinese expectation coming out, everything should come in Two's...not 1.
ENTREES
He ordered the Mahi Mahi with Lobster Butter Sauce. It wasn't bad but the quantity was small for us. I was impressed with the fish (even though it is bland) but it didn't smell fishy and the sauce was really the highlight.
I ordered the the Pork Tenderloin (medium-well). I'm not sure HOW long it has been sitting on the heat lamp because by the time it reached me, it was well-done with little or no sauce. So it turned out to be Dry & Bland. Holiday stuffing came with it but nothing sooo spatacular that I couldn't get from Stove Top Stuffing?!
DESSERT
Chocolate Souffle a la mode is out of this world. Omg! I loved it! Chhimi and I shared his dessert and it was very very yummy! Vanilla Ice Cream melting by the hot chocolate souffle drizzled in raspberry sauce. Very delicious! We finished that one up quick! Quantity was just right for 2 people, a little too much for 1, I think cuz Chocolate was heavy!
OVERALL:
Eat dinner somewhere else and go to Roy's for the Chocolate Souffle!
Seriously, I would've preferred our usual Thai Noodle or even Pucinni restaurant near Union Square.
