Restaurant: Tibet Nepal House

I lobbied fiercely against the original dinner choice for the night. Inspired by Ezra Klein's cri de coeur against the hated Grilled Vegetable Plate, I took a stand against a restaurant that had only that as its vegetarian option. Blind opposition, of course, is not enough: I needed to propose an alternative. So I googled for restaurants around our hotel and picked the Tibet Nepal House because it sounded fun and I had never had that type of cuisine before. I was glad my suggestion was accepted.

The food was great, similar to Indian but with slightly different spices. We had Daal, Aloo Phulkopi Tarkaari (similar to Aloo Ghobi: potatoes, cauliflower and tomatoes), Aloo-Taamaa (potatoes and bamboo), Vegetable Sekuwa (oven roasted vegetables) and Tse Phing (a noodle dish, which we ordered because it symbolized long life).

In addition, I was particularly excited by the Tofu Saag. I'm not a particular fan of paneer, it's tasteless and just adds fat and unhealthiness to meals. Why have Saag Paneer, I've always said, when you could substitute tofu which is equally tasteless that has the same texture. Finally, I found a restaurant that does this. Also, there were meat dishes, including yak which was apparently quite interesting.

When we flew back to Toronto I had leftover Braised Coconut Tofu for dinner, thus bringing this blog around full circle from the California trip posts. There were other restaurants I went to, including a nice asian fusion place in Pasadena and several mediocre lunches but I think I've done enough items on California restaurants.

Tibet Nepal House
36 East Holly Street, Pasadena, California, USA

The Cambrian Explosion

We drove on the edge of a cliff as darkness slowly began to surround us. We were driving to LA on California's Highway 1, which we had picked based on its beauty. We hadn't considered the reason why it was beautiful was because, to repeat, the highway is on the edge of a cliff. The day had started off leisurely, with a drive from a San Jose suburb to Monterey where we had some delicious Mexican food for lunch. The lunch special was two items accompanied by beans, rice and a salad. Honestly, the accompaniments would have been a big enough lunch – but there were also, in my case, a burrito and a quesadilla. We hadn't gone to Monterey for its food though, we went to see its aquarium. There were some truly stunning creatures on display.

No, that's not seaweed: that's a Leafy Sea Dragon. As in it's an actual living animal that looks like that. All the interesting things to see caused us to tarry perhaps a little too long. It was already four pm by the time we started heading on down Highway 1. We realized three facts early on:
1) The aforementioned cliff-edge-thingy
2) That this necessitated a low speed limit, especially around curves
3) There weren't any big population centres that could be stopped at when night hit.

We decided that we should set a goal of arriving at the town of Cambria, knowing nothing about it only other than the fact that it was the next thing that had an "over 1000 people" icon on the map. As the hours ticked past conventional dinner time, I was very happy lunch had been so big. Just when it seemed we might have to sleep in the car or at any random roadside motel, we hit a patch of non-crooked road and made it into Cambria.

Cambria was, in a word, charming. We stayed at the White Water Inn, where the office has homemade cookies and a movie lending library (VHS, natch). While there, the proprietor recommended Robin's Restaurant as vegetarian-friendly and booked us a reservation.

We were seated outside, in a semi-enclosed area. There were plenty of choices on the menu and I ended up going with the Wanton “Ravioli”.

The ravioli was stuffed with arugula and tofu feta and was quite nice and subtle. Once again though, my mom outdid me with her order of the Pan Seared Furikake Tofu. The tofu was absolutely excellent: crisp without being rough on the outside, succulent on the inside and topped with a delicious sauce.

The next morning, the Inn had washed our car's windows for us as is their custom. We drove away to LA, with strong feelings of good will for the little town of Cambria.

Robin's Restaurant
4095 Burton Drive, Cambria, California, USA

The Thousand Year Restaurant

We went to dinner at another restaurant recommended by my cousin, this time he and his girlfriend joined him. Located next to the Hotel California (or a Hotel California, I'm not sure how this works) the Millennium Restaurant also occupies the prime real estate of #1 google hit for "Millennium" .

The restaurant serves haute vegetarian cuisine and was very elegant. It also proved why I'd be a bad food critic, as I really don't know how to describe the meal.

"Excellent" would be accurate, but not very useful. "My meal had a medley of vegetables, tofu and portobello mushrooms" is a bit banal. "I really don't know how to describe the meal" is a bit meta. I'll give it a shot though:

The flavours were complex and daring. The portobellos were delicious and succulent, with a crispy bottom. I asked the waiter how they did it and he explained that they dredged them before sautéing. The meal also taught me that I'm never going to like parsnips. I've never cared for them and if this place couldn't do them well, nobody can.

Coming up, tales of restaurants outside San Francisco but inside California. Where could they be? You'll have to tune in to find out!

Millennium Restaurant
580 Geary Street, San Francisco, California, USA

One Nob Hill

I am in California with my parents on my way to my sister's graduation. Currently, we are in beautiful yet hilly San Francisco but who knows where we will be tomorrow (as it turns out: San Francisco). We don't know the city that well, so we asked my cousin for recommendations. He suggested an Italian restaurant with a very un-Italian name: Hob Hill Cafe.



I decided to go for the pizza option, where you build on the basic Margherita by adding toppings. I chose spinach, artichokes and mushrooms. Once I got the meal I regretted my decision.



This was not, of course, because the pizza was bad. It was actually quite good. Rather, I regretted it because I have a very ambiguous relationship with gourmet restaurant style pizza. As shameful as it is to say, in many cases I prefer the stuff from an under-the-heatlamp pizzeria. Luckily, we were all fuller than we thought we were when we ordered so I got to sample my parents orders. They had both gotten pasta and it was excellent. The Fettuccine had a delicious creamy pesto sauce but it was the gnocchi where the restaurant really shined. The gnocchi were light but not insubstantial and the sauce was zesty but not overpowering.

So if you are in San Fran, I'd recommend it but chose the pasta over the pizza.

Nob Hill Cafe
1152 Taylor Street, San Francisco, California, USA

Braised Tofu and Cauliflower in Curried Coconut Milk

I realized earlier today that I hadn't had anything new this week and would have nothing to blog about. So I turned to Mark Bittman's book and opened it at random. I wanted to have something a) good, b) new and c) something with cauliflower to use up the remnants from last week. The recipe I stumbled upon certainly seemed to fit the first two, and a bit of modifications made it fit the last as well.

Braised Tofu and Cauliflower in Curried Coconut Milk

3 large onions, cut into eighths

1 28-ounce can of tomatoes (with liquids)

5 cloves garlic

1 dried chili pepper

2 tbsp neutral oil

Salt and pepper

1 tbsp curry powder

1 tbsp garam masala

700-900 grams tofu, blotted dry and cubed

2 cups cauliflower florets

1.5 cups coconut milk

Combine the onion, tomatoes, garlic and chili in a blender or food processor. Purée. Add oil to a deep pot over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the pureed mixture with the salt, pepper and spices. Cook, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes: until it becomes saucy. Meanwhile parboil the cauliflower (toss in boiling water for a few minutes) and add the cauliflower and tofu to the mixture. Cook for about about 5 minutes and stir in the coconut milk. Bring to a boil and cook for a little bit more. Serve over rice.

Serves 5?

I thought I'd made it too soupy, but once it was over the rice it turned out quite nicely: with a hearty and complex taste. I'm not quite sure how many it serves, my parents and I all had a meal out of it and there were plenty of leftovers.