Aloooooha!

We’re back… at least 5 lbs. heavier!!  Food in Hawaii is just SO GOOD.  I’ll be posting lots in the days to come.  For now, I will leave you with this.

This was the first time that I ever ate fresh papaya (with lemon juice).  Yum!!

Whole Foods

I don’t believe I’ve ever actually grocery shopped at Whole Foods although I thoroughly enjoy walking around and looking at everything.  Jill took me to the new Whole Foods in El Segundo a few months back and after that, I took Boyfriend AND my parents to do a walk-through on two different occasions.

I have eaten dinner at Whole Foods once.  The food looked unbelievably good not to try it.

I started out with one of my favorite soups, French Onion.  It was oh-so-cheesy and scrumptious!

Boyfriend and I shared a Ceasar salad.  It had a little too much parmesan cheese for my liking but I kept telling myself, “It’s okay because it’s ‘organic.'”

I went with a French Dip sandwich and fries for dinner.  Hmm, I’m noticing a faux “French” theme. : )  I’m actually quite partial to McDonald’s fries and thought these were just alright.

I believe Boyfriend went with a turkey burger.  This was his attempt at being healthy.  All in all, it was a great meal and we ended up stuffed but I’m not so sure if we’d go back again.  I’d LOVE to try out the awesome looking salad bars or the other food sections at Whole Foods next time.   We managed to squeeze in gelato for dessert and Boyfriend’s expression when he tried the pistachio gelato was priceless!  It was amazingly delicious. 

This Whole Foods is probably bigger than the El Segundo one and they had this kitchen section where you could sign up for cooking classes!  Elisa and I are supposed to go to a class one of these days… : )

20955 Stevens Creek Blvd.  Cupertino, CA

Yuki Sushi

It seems like lately, all I’ve been eating is Chinese food or sushi. (not that I’m complaining) A fellow Silicon Valley foodie commented on a previous entry and suggested going to Yuki Sushi just down the street from Santana Row. So go to Yuki Sushi we did!

The moment we sat down Boyfriend mentioned, “I’m really starving.” Poor thing, he had to work overtime last night and didn’t even have time for dinner because he was so busy. All he had in his stomach from the past 24 hours was the snack I made him when he got home from work last night. So… we ordered a lot of food!

I wanted to start out with the yudofu because it was a tiny bit overcast and chilly when we were driving to the restaurant. It was a healthy but tasty choice! Tofu, napa cabbage, shiitake and green onions.

Boyfriend ordered a katsu don which comes with miso soup. I stole a bite of it and it was very good.

We also ordered four rolls: Toshi maki (tuna, salmon, hamachi, cucumber and avocado), Jazz maki (unagi and avocado with soy paper), spicy tuna and negi hama. The Toshi maki had a lot of stuff in it and sounded promising but it was actually just kind of bland.

The fish tasted fresh so I think I’d like to try some nigiri next time. The prices seem very reasonable for the nigiri sushi! I wish the menu listed how many pieces come with each cut. Some are only four, while others are six. If Boyfriend hadn’t ordered the katsu don, he still would’ve been hungry for sure.

I’m glad we went at 11:30 right when the restaurant opened. Before we got our food, there were already about five people who came in to pick up take-out orders and the place was packed when we left. The restaurant is quite cozy so it’s probably better not to go right at prime dining hours, I’d assume.

1827 Pruneridge Ave. Santa Clara, CA

Sichuan food in Milpitas

Boyfriend and I went to the Greek Food Festival (GFF)  in SJ yesterday afternoon with Carlo and Vu but it was so packed that by the time we found seats, our food was consumed before I could take any pictures!  The food was very good and filling.  Of course, I got my usual gyro. : )

After the GFF, we headed out to Milpitas to meet up with Lily and Long.  Long is in Sunnyvale from LA for work for a few days.  Ironically, Boyfriend and Long are working on the same program so they’re probably at work together right now as I type.  Boyfriend used to work with Long’s Dad down in Redondo before we moved.  It’s such a small world!

After walking in circles at the Great Mall and working up an appetite, Lily directed us to South Legend Sichuan Restaurant in Milpitas.  She made sure we were all okay with spicy food before she decided on a place.  Lily’s friend Guo met us there to make it a party of five.

We started out with a winter melon and sliced pork soup.  It had the tiniest peppery kick to it which made it really good!  I think that was my first time having winter melon.  (no pics, it was served too fast and actually looked kinda “blah” anyways)

The dry fried long beans were my favorite dish of the night.  I tend to love green bean dishes at Chinese restaurants.  It was the right amount of crunchiness with a lot of flavor.

Someone chose this beef with Chinese celery dish.  I don’t really care for celery but thought Chinese celery might taste a little different.  I ate a couple pieces but Chinese celery tastes EXACTLY like American celery… it’s just skinnier.

I was pleasantly surprised with this fish filet.  (Doesn’t it kind of look like chicken??)  I’m not a sauce person so I was worried I might not like this dish but it was good.   It was my next favorite dish behind the green beans.

Mapo Tofu.  You can’t really go wrong with tofu!

All of these dishes with steamed rice made for a really nice meal.  Nothing was spicy at all, which I was a little disappointed about.  The servers were friendly, especially the one who took a group shot of us at the end.  He seemed quite concerned with how our pictures would turn out and posed us in front of some random paintings on the wall.  I would definitely love to go back for the green beans… or just learn how to make them on my own!

1720 N. Milpitas Blvd.  Milpitas, CA