My Bday: SushiMaru

For my 24th birthday I wanted sushi, so guess where Jeremy took me... SUSHI!  I had heard that Sushi Maru, which used to be in Sunnyvale but is now in Milpitas, is pretty good.  I had to try it out myself, so that was where we went!  I read that they have sushi boats, which I'm typically skeptical of since they float around for who knows how long waiting to be taken by someone.  To their benefit though, the items actually looked rather fresh, except for the fried items which I would never get off the boat.  I didn't end up getting anything off the boats, but I saw them add a number of items as well, so I would've chosen those- maybe next time :)

What I DID have, was the sushi dinner.  I got some of my favorite nigiris like aji, hamachi, salmon, and tuna among others.  I was actually quite impressed with their California roll, as was Jeremy, because it wasn't too mayonaise-y which I hate.  I believe they also use actual crab instead of imitation crab which makes it taste better.  I enjoyed all the pieces of sushi in my meal... gosh I love sushi.  I also made Jeremy try some of my raw fish.  He had eaten them before but just wanted to share some sushi love with him :)  I also liked their miso soup that came with the dinner.  I can't pinpoint exactly what I liked about it, but it had enough miso flavor balanced with some seaweed and tofu pieces.  There were a few pieces of salad that looked kinda sketchy to me, as in a bit brown, but nothing detrimental to my health at all.  

Jeremy got the katsu curry and enjoyed it.  He really liked the pickled daikon that was served along with it too.  Of course I sampled a little bit of the tonkatsu as well as the curry and must say I enjoyed the bite as well.  Jeremy is a big fan of curry, and a big eater, but he didn't quite finish all of it.  He finishes mine though as he pointed out, so mine must be better :P

Overall a pleasant experience and I would definitely recommend it to friends as well as go back again for some more sushi!  Thanks Jeremy for my bday dinner.

Another thanks to my roomie Christina for getting me a delicious Cookies N Cream Ice Cream Cake- what a way to finish the night!  I had Carvell ice cream cake at work because my lovely coworkers had gotten me a cake as well, but hey if you can't splurge on dessert on your birthday, when can you??  I love birthdays- until next year!

Brenda's Bday

Happy Birthday Brenda!  For those that don't know, Brenda is my best friend from high school that lives up in SF.  I decided that I don't see her or Erika hardly often enough even though I always try to get up there more often... so since all of us are september babies, I decided I have no excuse this time to not go at least for dinner!  We met up at Cha Cha Cha's, which is a Cuban tapas restaurant, in the Haight because it was right by the bar they were going to celebrate further with a group later tonight. 

The sangria we got to drink to kick off the night/dinner was quite delicious.  It didn't have too much alcohol and I didn't drink too much since I was driving, but I enjoyed what I had- the fruit in there was good too soaked in the wine and juice!  

As for food dishes, we got 4 dishes: a creamy shrimp dish that had a hint of spiciness to it, fried plantains with black beans, BBQ chicken quesadilla with guacamole and salsa, and a mixed greens salad.  All the dishes were quite delicious!  The shrimp was good, especially as you dipped the bread in the creamy sauce and munched away.  I'm really glad we had salad to even things out, especially since I've been feeling vegetable deficient from eating out so much lately.  I must say my favorite though was the fried plantains.  There were crispy parts that I love, and a perfect ripeness and sweetness to the plantains. It's a small side dish but yet can be a dessert too!

Brenda, happy birthday and I'm really glad I got to see you on your birthday!  Thanks for all the laughs & good times over the years and may 25 be a great year!!  I love you and love that you're a part of my life. I can't be thankful enough for friends like you and Erika who I may not talk to for long periods of time but feel comfortable like nothing has changed when we get together... I'm saying it again but we need to get together more often!!

Gombei San Jose

Fine dining club strikes again! My two wonderful, food-loving roommates Angela & Christina and I went on another adventure to try a restaurant that none of us had ever been to called Gombei in San Jose. They apparently have 3 stores now, in Menlo Park and Santa Clara, but San Jose Japantown was the first one. It is definitely a good sign when the people you talk to on the phone and that greet you are actually Japanese!

We went into the place knowing that it is technically not a FINE dining restaurant because the food there is more of a set dinner and more of a home cooked feel than like a 4-course, high class meal. I do like the fine dining experiences every now and then, of course, but the home cooked, good bang for your buck places are more my style! We ended up getting 3 "set" meals and split them all. Each set came with veggie sides (kiriboshi daikon and stewed greens), really well cooked white rice and miso soup. I highly recommend looking at the white board of specials because they all looked quite good. We got three sets off the specials board:

1) Sashimi set which came with tuna sashimi and hiyayakko (cold tofu)

2) Broiled yellow tail with yuzu and salmon creamy croquette set also came with salad

3) Salted and broiled hamachi-kama served with Agedashi Tofu.

They were all very satisfying, but we all particularly liked the veggie side dishes that came with each set- thankfully we each got one! I especially liked the kiriboshi daikon, which is not surprising since I love when my Mom makes it! I also liked the hamachi-kama and yellow tail with yuzu, even though I didn't really taste the yuzu too much, both piled with daikon oroshi. I LOVE daikon oroshi. Nothing tastes as good as oily and lightly salted broiled fish with a squirt of citrus and refreshing grated daikon... YUM. I wasn't particularly impressed with the creamy croquette or the agedashi tofu. Not that I drank the tofu broth, but it was quite strong in saltiness. The tuna was good but apparently women aren't supposed to eat too much tuna as we discussed in the car ride over... that is very sad news and I might be in trouble if that really causes issues since I grew up on fish and love maguro/tuna!

I think the only disappointment for us was that Gombei doesn't offer dessert. We sat and drank tea for a bit since it wasn't too crowded on a Thursday night, but I do wish they had dessert. To satisfy Christina's and my craving for something sweet, we went to... McDonald's for soft serve ice cream cones- what an interesting twist of events for our "Fine" Dining Club dinner. That's why I love my roomies- spontaneity and appreciation for good food regardless of cost! Gombei was definitely fiiiiiiiine food- we'd all go back again any time :D