I’d had one too many days of Thanksgiving ham, potatoes, and creamed corn (no bird this year) and wanted something totally different.
How about seafood?
I’ve been wanting to try the Old Port Lobster Shack in Redwood City, anyway. And a couple of friends originally from New England had mentioned it wasn’t bad for this part of the country. So we loaded up the kid and headed over.
It’s an ‘order at the counter’ kinda joint, so it’s a good takeout option if that’s what you’re looking for. We ordered ourselves a side salad, a bowl of New England clam chowder, steamed littleneck clams, and the sauteed shrimp plate.
My chowder was good. Very creamy. Almost a little TOO much cream. It seemed to almost override the seafood flavor. Just a tad less would’ve done the chowder a lot of good.
Then I had my steamed clams. The flavor of the white wine, garlic, fennel seed, parsley and other seasonings were strong. The clams, themselves, were impressive. Meaty, big, juicy and delish. But again, they were a little heavy handed with the seasonings and salt. I would’ve loved a little more allowance to let the clams’ natural flavors come through.
My husband says his shrimp dish was clean and flavored well. The shrimp were fresh and plump. But the blueberry cole slaw was just plain weird. It was obvious they were trying too hard and it didn’t work. His salad, however, was pretty standard and the elements were all very fresh and melded together well.
I was impressed with the service and the quality and freshness of food. Big plus for being a family friendly joint that doesn’t compromise on food quality.
However, they really need to tone down the extras and let the seafood’s natural flavors shine through. A place like this needs to stick to the basics and do them well. Good quality seafood is already so flavorful that they do a big disservice to themselves by adding things it doesn’t need.
I was lucky enough to attend the inaugural Foodbuzz Blogger Festival in San Francisco this past weekend. What a crazy 48 hours! Free artisanal gourmet meals, the freshest ingredients, superior wines, specialty food purveyors, endless freebies, and most of all, amazing people!
We feasted and grazed from so many vendors, including chicharrones from 4505 Meats, neapolitan-style pies being made on the spot from Pizza Politana’s mobile wood-fire oven, cupcakes from Mission Minis, and fresh-shucked oysters from Hog Island Oyster Company.
But two vendors stood out from the crowd. I mean REALLY stood out.
The folks at Roli Roti are genius. Their porchetta sandwich is just culinary genius! Now I know why people line up at the Ferry Building Farmers Market on Thursdays for 30-45 minutes just for one of these babies. It’s a rotisserie pork loin stuffed with pork belly (!) and herbs. Decadent, right? But it’s also got pieces of the pork’s crispy skin for texture. Wait, there’s more! They take the bread and use it to sop up the meat’s juices on their cutting board! They top it off with a wonderful onion marmalade and curly watercress. This is not a greasy, sloppy mess. It’s about as perfect as a delectable sandwich can get.
Tacos Peralta (342 E. Hillsdale, San Mateo) – There are mediocre items on the menu that I’ve tried (the carne asada and pastor meats, in particular). And I’ve heard only lukewarm reviews about their burritos, though I can’t vouch for that, myself. But fortunately, there are some excellent items, including the torta (nicely toasted bread and a good amount of meat and fillings), super quesadilla (great flavorful beans and cheese), and the carnitas tacos (well seasoned moist pork, fresh onions and cilantro, and great with a squeeze of lime juice). And I love their hot sauce. It strangely reminds me of the taco sauce I used to get on taco day in elementary school. I don’t know if that’s a complement or an insult, but I used to go nuts for the stuff.
Curry Up Now
I’m so happy to say that this food truck exceeded my expectations. Everything we had was flat out fantastic! The food is a mixture of authentic Indian dishes with Mexican touches. Between myself and my other two diners, we had the Butter Chicken special, Tandoori Chicken “Taco”, Kathi Roll, Tikki Masala Chicken “Burrito”, and the Skirt Steak “Torta” sandwich. All the items were absolutely delicious with the perfect amount of spice that added flavor, depth, and character, not just heat. All the flavors just sang and melded together so well. It was just about the best Indian meal I’d ever had. 
The highlights were the Kathi Roll (so delicate in it’s mixture of special ingredients and sauce), the Tikki Masala Chicken “Burrito” (perfect amount of saucy flavorful chicken with special rice wrapped in parantha bread), and the Skirt Steak “Torta” (yummy special sauce again, and they did NOT skimp on the quality and amount of beef here!).
Virgo in Wonderland 
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