Nolan's blog – Travel, Food, Poker, Photos

The food court at Valley Fair mall in San Jose has been remodeled and has gone upscale, being renamed “The Dining Terrace”.  Seems like Westfield kicked out the fast food vendors and installed more local foodie places.  One of those is San Francisco’s Super Duper Burger, which serves gourmet burgers at reasonable prices.

Super Duper offers counter service where they take your order and then issue you a pager to let you know when your order is ready. The menu consists of the regular burgers, fries, and shakes. They also had wine on tap”. I did not know that wine came in kegs….. Not sure if that will sell well in the land of wine snobs.

One of Super Duper’s differentiating elements is its own homemade pickles. Entire jars are set along side the ketchup and mustard at the condiment station.  You can munch on them while you wait for your order or after your burger to cut the grease and/or cleanse the pallet. The pickles are really crisp and not overly salty like most pickles you buy at your local mega-mart, but a bit on the vinegary side. You have an option to add pickles to your burger, but I would recommend eating them separately, as the tang is nice counterpoint to the pretty rich burger.

We ordered the Super Burger which contains two 4oz patties. You can top with lettuce, tomato, “super sauce”, red onions, grilled onions, jalapenos, and pickles. Cheese, bacon and avocado can be added for an additional up charge.  I chose lettuce, tomato, grilled onions and super sauce.  We also ordered the garlic fries.

The burger patties were fairly large for the size of the bun overflowing over the sides. Having two patties made this a very meaty sandwich. I found myself needing the paper wrapper to properly contain all the meaty goodness.  The meat patties themselves were well cooked, but not as juicy as Smashburger or Holsteins, perhaps because the beef itself was a courser cut and/or cooked differently.

The garlic fries were a thicker cut variety and topped with garlic, parsley and cheddar instead of the usual Parmesan cheese. While I would order them again if I had a garlic fry craving to satisfy, I would not put this as a “must try” item.

Verdict:
The lowly hamburger seems to be making a comeback in foodie circles and Super Duper is competing in the same space as Five Guys and Smashburger. Westfield has accomplished its goal of getting me to return to Valley Fair more often with the opening of their “dining terrace”.  Not sure I would fight the crowds on the weekends and holiday shopping season just to eat here, but if I happened to be at the mall or during off peak times, Super Duper would be a detour I would be willing to take to get a good burger.

Have heard a lot about Koeran style fried chicken, with a few places popping up in the South Bay. The buzz has been the best one is Bonchon Chicken, which started in LA and has expanded here.  We decided to check out the Sunnyvale location

You can either do dine in or take out. The dine in area was not big, consisting of about 8 tables and a bar/counter  that could serve 30-35 people.

The place was packed on a Saturday night and there was what appeared to be a reasonable waiting list for most restaurants. What we did not realize was the wait would be a while. There were time when a couple of tables opened up, but there was a lag between when diners left and when the table was bussed and ready for the next set of diners. It seemed there was no one person tasked with ensuring the tables were turned in a proper manner (like a hostess or maitre d’ role) . I sensed the same thoughts in the other people waiting for a table. This is not to knock the servers, who were being very attentive to diners already seated, but rather a procedural or operational defect that should be looked at. Theresa said this would be a good project for an operations management class.

After a lengthy wait, we were finally seated and we quickly ordered a “large” combo of wings and drum sticks, with the two different flavors, which were soy garlic and hot garlic fried chicken with a side of the kimchee cole slaw and white rice. as an appetizer, we ordered the zucchini fries.

Unlike the wait for a table, the food arrived fairly quickly, with zucchini fries arriving less than 5 minutes after we ordered, with the rest of the food coming shortly after that.  The zucchini fries tasted exactly like fried mozzarella sticks, except with zucchini in the center.  It came with 2 dipping sauces, which were sriracha flavored and ranch, I think. nothing outstanding about it, but would go great with a pitcher or beer.

The fried chicken is unlike traditional American style fried chicken, which tends to be overly breaded or if flavored, drenched in sauce. The sauce seemed to be incorporated into the dry outer crust of the chicken.  The hot flavor was not very hot. In fact there I could not detect much difference in heat level between the two flavors.  The chicken was also not greasy on the outside, again, unlike typical American style fried chicken, which means you don’t needs stacks of napkins to keep your fingers clean.

The kimchee cole slaw was average, with nothing especially memorable, tasting like regular cole slaw with the addition of some kimchee marinade.  We like the pickled daikon more than the cole slaw, as it provide some nice acid and a tiny bit of sweetness to balance out all the fried food.

Prices are really reasonable given the amount of food you get, which explains its popularity. I would suggest doing takeout rather than dine in, which can take a while on busy nights.

It’s been a while since I had gone to The Counter, primarily because the first location was in Santana Row, which is typically super crowded during meal times.  A new one opened in Mountain View in a less busy location, so decided to hit that up with Theresa and her co-worker.

The concept:
Design your own burger, meaning you are given a list of things you can top your burger with. Each diner is given a clipboard with a check list menu. If you ever filled out a survey or insurance forms, you will be familiar with this part.  Choose a burger size, cheese, sauce, toppings, and bun. The list includes the standard pickles, sauteed onions, mustard, and cheeses, but also include some more exotic toppings like cranberries, jicama, and bean sprouts.  Bun choices are varied.  There are also “Market Selection” options, which are seasonal items in each category.

The base beef is angus beef that is hormone and antibiotic free. You can choose between 2 sizes of burger, 1/3 lb and 2/3 lb. The weight of the burger is AFTER cooking, so plan accordingly.  For those overwhelmed or rendered paralyzed from indecision, there are also several pre-defined burger creations on a separate menu to choose from.

Regardless of the sauce you choose, it is always served on the side, which i like a lot because i prefer not to have my burgers (or sandwiches for that matter) drowned in a sauce that overwhelms the other elements.  The base burger patty was cooked well and fairly juicy/moist, although I found Smashburger to be “juicier”.

Verdict:
The Counter is ideal for those looking for a fully customized burger and should satisfy a wide variety of burger lovers’ preferences.  On the spectrum of burgers,  i would slot The Counter above Smashburger and Red Robin (and certainly way above the burgers you get at larger chains like Chili’s), but a notch below a place like Holstein’s. The Counter’s pricing certainly reflect that, as does the table service dining experience. For Bay Area residents, I would suggest the Mountain View location, as you won’t have to deal with the Santana Row crowds, parking, and traffic.

Smashburger is the latest trendy fast casual burger joint serving a more “upscale”  burger. The differentiation from an In n’ Out or Five Guys is the cooking process. They roll up the burger in a ball and “sear” the outside before flattening during the cooking process, resulting (at least according to its marketing), a juicier burger. The also offer better buns and toppings than a McD’s, Burger King, or Carl’s Jr (e.g. arugula instead of iceberg lettuce, sauteed mushrooms, fancier buns).  Smashburger also tweaks their menu within each region, and being in California, the one we went to offers avacado, “truffle mayo”, and ciabatta buns as options.  Sides include shoestring fries, with “Smash Fries” which are flavored with some rosemary, sweet potato fries, onion strings, and flash fried carrot sticks and green beans.  Milkshakes come in the standard chocolate and vanilla, but also come in flavors like oreo cookie and nutter butter.

Food is made fresh to order, and if you are dining in, runners bring the food to you when it’s ready. Despite arriving a bit later in the evening on a weekday, there was still a fairly long line to order and all the seating in the store was taken. Since this is the first store in the area, I suspect furvor will die down as time passes and as other locations open up (similar to when Chick Fil-A first arrived in the Bay Area).

Theresa and I ordered the Bay Burger and the Truffle Mushroom Swiss burger, with a side a Smash Fries and a Nutter Butter shake.

Bay Burger

Truffle Mushroom Swiss

Smash Fries

 The burgers were very juicy, as advertised, making additional sauces or condiments unnecessary. Buns were nicely toasted and the ingredients worked well together. The Smash Fries were surprisingly good, with the hint of rosemary, and not overly greasy or dry. The shake was made with Haagen Daaz ice cream and was on par with other shakes at fast casual burger joints (like Red Robin) and better than Five Guys or other fast food joints.

If you are a burger person, Smashburger should be on your list to try and perhaps put in your regular rotation. The market for “upscale burger” seems to be getting more and more crowded, but I would rate Smashburger in the upper tier, mainly because the ingredients and cooking methods make a tasty juicy burger.

Decided to seek out and try some new brunch places and found Pastis in Palo Alto. Located on California Street, not far from La Bodeguita Del Medio, a restaurant we had been to before. Pastis bills itself as an authentic French bistro serving brunch and light lunch fare.

A good sign of Pastis’ French authenticity was the wait staff all communicated in French. In fact, several Yelp reviewers stated that French ex-pats frequent Pastis. Further research on Yelp revealed the pain perdu (aka French toast) was popular and a signature dish.  We decided to also order the open faced croissant sandwich and the French  onion soup.

Open face croissant with ham, cheese, 2 sunny side up eggs

French Onion Soup

Pain Perdu with Chocolate Hazelnut spread and bananas

The pain perdu had the proper custard texture/feel and ranked above the run of the mill “French toast” you get at greasy spoons and diners. A minor complaint was I felt there should have been more banana in the dish, but this is more of a personal preference than anything else. The eggs on the croissant were properly sunny side up and worked well was an open faced sandwich. Surprisingly, what I liked the best was the French onion soup.  More often than not, American interpretations of French onion soup are salt bombs topped with globs of rubbery cheese. Pastis’ French onion soup had the proper amount of salt, nice beefy broth, and just enough melted cheese on top.

Menu prices are typical for a restaurant with a Palo Alto address (although not as high as Parisien cafe pricing). In exchange you get food that is well prepared with fresh high quality ingredients and an authentic French touch.  After Sunday brunch, you can walk out onto California for the farmer’s market, or on other days explore California Avenue.  Pastis certainly delivers on the French experience and is a good brunch spot.

Theresa and I decided to hit the Livermore Outlets one afternoon and arranged to meet our friend Kulwinder for dinner.  After throwing around a few suggestions, we settled on Sauced, which is located in the main downtown area.

The restaurant was packed on a Saturday night, with over an hour wait for a table. The restaurant is split roughly in half, with half being traditional tables, and the other half being the bar with a bunch of counter height table and stools.  There are several TVs set up along the walls, so you can catch your favorite games while downing a beer and some appetizers. Several tables ordered the pulled pork nachos, which looked tasty and was huge. The place definitely has a Southern feel to it. They even serve you water in large Mason jars.

Seating in this area is open, so you can grab a table as soon as people leave.  We were pretty hungry when we arrived, so we hovered a bit near some folks in the bar area and pounced on their table as soon as they left.

The menu consists of several forms of BBQ meats, your usual BBQ sides, and appetizers.  Their signature meat is “burnt ends”, which from what I gather are the fattier ends of the briskets that crisp up during the cooking and are then chopped up and mixed with sauce. Quantities are limited, and by the time we ordered, they were out. Evidently it sells out quickly on weekends.  We decided to share the two meat combo platter and a full rack of ribs amongst the three of us.  The two meats we chose was the pulled pork and the brisket. Sides were mac n cheese, cornbread, and fries.

All the meats had a nice smokiness to them, with most of the fat rendered out, but not overly dry, indicating a low and slow cooking BBQ method. The pulled pork was Carolina style, with a sweet and slightly sour sauce mixed in it.  The brisket came “dry” (i.e. no sauce), but none was really needed unless you wanted to punch up the flavor a bit more with one of their homemade BBQ sauces (see below).   The rib meat fell right off the bone and was glazed with a bit of the Tin Roof sauce. The sides complemented the meats well, but nothing really stood out as outstanding. The cornbread had a honey glaze on top, which was a bit different than other cornbreads I have had.  Portions were generous, and I would recommend sharing the platters among your party.

On the table were 4 different homemade sauces: Pig Candy, Tin Roof, Hot Tin Roof, and Georgia Gold.
The Pig Candy was fairly sweet sauce, while the Georgia Gold was very vinegary.  The Tin Roof would be the middle of the road in terms of sweetness and acidity. It is also what the ribs were finished with. The Hot Tin Roof had a kick to it, but was a fast burn, meaning it did not linger with you like a Thai pepper would.

Overall I would recommend Sauced if you are ever in the Livermore/East Bay area. While the BBQ at Smoking Pig is better, Sauced’s BBQ is very good.  Coupled the food with the atmosphere, especially in the bar area where we were seated, it all adds up to an enjoyable experience.  This would be a perfect place for happy hour, watch a game, or just chow down on some BBQ while downing a few beers.

Been meaning to try The Melt after hearing the hype in the media a couple of years back.  The Melt, a chain of restaurants based on grilled cheese sandwiches was started up and financed by the founder of Flip Video, Jonathan Kaplan.  I guess after making a fortune in selling Flip video cameras and then selling the entire company to Cisco, Kaplan turned his attention to the problem of making the perfect grilled cheese sandwich in a fast food environment.  He came up with a high tech solution.

He sunk some money into engineering a machine to take the guess work out of making a grilled cheese sandwich. Instead of relying on the traditional method of flipping it on a hot griddle, workers just place the assembled sandwich in to what amounts to a fancy panini press and close the lid. At the appointed time, it pops open, letting the workers know it’s done.

Other techie touches includes an order board, where you can see the status of your order with expected wait times and the ability to send in your order online.

You can order the standard grilled cheese on white with cheddar, but there are other cheese choices. You can also add turkey, short ribs, and ham into your sandwich for a small charge.  There are also 4 soups to choose from, including the traditional tomato soup.

I ordered the “classic” grilled cheese on white and a cup of tomato soup, while Theresa got the S’hroom sandwich and added short rib.

“The Classic”

“S’Hroom” with added short rib

“Two Tomato Basil” soup

I found the classic to be not really remarkable and the tomato soup very average.  Theresa’s sandwich was better, with the sourdough, swiss, and short rib adding a bit more punch, but it would not rank among the better hot sandwiches I have had.  One nice thing I did notice was the bread was much less greasy to the touch compared to other places and had a nice crispness/toastiness to it. Maybe as a result of all that engineering and testing?

Prices can be on par with other sandwich places, but if you add meat to your grilled cheese, and soup on top of that (a pickle being the only side included with your sandwich), your bill will go north of $10.  The portion (both sandwich and soup) is not very large, so more than likely you will get hungry in about 3 hours, making it a not so great value in my book.

While the quality of the ingredients are better than your typical greasy spoon or company cafeteria and the high tech cooking machines draw people in, I would not characterize the sandwiches as a “must have” experience (e.g. like when Krispy Kreme first came out or getting your burger fix at In N Out.). I think the format will do well in high traffic areas like Stanford Mall, and cater to those looking for something beyond just burgers or pizza.  I would have to have a real craving for grilled cheese before I would return to The Melt, and since it is a 25 minute drive away, I would probably opt for something closer to scratch that itch or even make my own.

Tucked in a strip mall close to where Theresa works is BiBimBowl, which offers Korean rice bowls and tofu soup.  I

Diners can build their own bowls by choose the type of bowl (regular, stone, sizzling platter), rice (white/brown), protein, and sauce/spice level.

I have always like Dol Sot Bi Bim Bap because the stone bowl it comes in crisps up the rice and adds texture to the meal and BiBimBowl delivers a decent one.  Reasonable pricing and fairly fast service makes this a popular place for lunch, with the restaurant filling up fairly quickly by noon, so expect a wait if you get here a little after noon.  There was also a fair amount of to-go business as well, so if you don’t feel like waiting for a table, that is always an option. If a Korean food craving strikes you while in Mountain View, give BiBimBowl a try. If it matches my experience, you should not be disappointed.