Wenzhou is now represented in the Bay Area, in San Jose at Wenzhou Fish Noodles & More. @sck has expressed interest in the food from the region, which can be found in NY. Someone please open a new thread once you have some info!
They say the easiest place to find Wenzhou food outside of China is Paris. I wonder if Hungry Onion has the budget to send me there to check it out.
Thanks @Hyperbowler! Rather unusual to see a Wenzhou restaurant…
From the Mercury News:
‘The task was particularly difficult for Chen and Soloviev, who did not have previous entrepreneurship experience. Chen, who’s in real estate, said she’s soaked up expertise from family members who own restaurants and from her mother, who contributed some of her secret recipes to Wenzhou’s menu.’
The restaurant serves traditional handmade fish noodles and other dishes from Chen’s native Wenzhou, a city in China’s southeastern Zhejiang province.’
They wrote in details about the historic building. But didn’t mention that this is quite possibly the first Wenzhou themed restaurant in the Bay Area…! Rather brave for them to pick this cuisine since its much easier to say they are Shanghai/ Sichuan/ Hunan…
I think its cheaper to fly to Wenzhou than it is to fly to Paris. But then again its not exactly sexy to go to Wenzhou.
But, it is the world capital of shoes and cigarette lighters. You can load up on those two things while you are there.
[Qi Wei Kitchen]
(https://m.yelp.com/biz/qiwei-kitchen-newark) in Newark has Wuhan/Hubei dishes and dry pot. Part of a chain from Sam Gabriel Valley. See Clarissa Wei’s piece on some dishes.
Kung Fu Noodles Milpitas just opened. Region unknown for now, first Yelp reviews suggest Shaanxi
Wu Bai (San Mateo) familiar Peninsula mix of Shanghai, knife shaved noodles, Sichuan, and northern Chinese. Former location of TLT BBQ.
Fang Yuan in park Merced, SF has a Chinese only menu listing 18 Sichuan items.
Inchin’s Bamboo garden, Indo-Chinese opens in San Mateo. It’s their third location.
Inchin’s Bamboo Garden is an Atlanta-based franchise chain with 15 locations.
Not to nitpick, but “Indo-Chinese” is an antiquated term for Vietnamese. I think a more useful term is “Desi Chinese.”
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Shao Mountain (San Jose) has changed its name to Hunan Impression, the name it filed its liquor license under in 2014.
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BBQ Alley (Newark) is closed
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The Flame (SF Richmond) closed
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[Gallus Pot](https://www. yelp.com/biz/gallus-pot-union-city) (Union City). A description of their specialty, Shenzhen Hot Pot, on one website discusses it as a Hong Kong or Shenzhen interpretation of Sichuan Hot Pot. P
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Chang Luong on Durant in Berkeley has a chef from Shandong and offers Shandong items, other northern items, and shao kao (skewers) after 5pm. Here are some menu pics.
Hard to get through security on the way home.
Wenzhou - $600-ish one way. multiple airlines.
Paris - $200 on WOW. I flew WOW last week and I did not enjoy myself… but it did get me there.
What didn’t you like?
No entertainment at all in flight ( unlike norwegian, which is cheaper, and has modern movies & buy-food-through-seat ).
The iceland airport exchange was pretty lousy. Few chairs in the airport, almost no food.
The seats on the airplane were terrible too. They’re the thinnest possible seats, with no recline buttons. Rough for an 11 hour flight. And I had a standard aisle seat, not at the back row or near an exit row.
Won’t even pass out water on the flight. Have to buy water. Ended up arriving home very dehydrated.
All in all - I might have been OK with the experience if I hadn’t tried Norwegian on the flight out, which is running modern 787’s. Norwegian has flights out of Oakland, so if you search “SFO” on any travel site, you might not see them. I was just going to london, which is hub for them. ( I also found I liked Gatwick if your final destination is London. Closer to the city. )
And if the scrum in Iceland hadn’t felt like landing in the old bombay airport.
If there were good things — the flights left on time, and they did leave ( arrived in SFO an hour late, just seemed to be driving very very slowly ). Checkin was just fine. If you can do the thing where you stay in iceland for a few days, I think it would be fun.
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What is WOW? Is that a successor to Icelandic? I can remember when Icelandic was the backpacker’s favorite way to go to Europe: cheaper, with free stopovers in Reyjkavik. I had a roommate who headed for Europe on Icelandic, stopped off in Reyjkavik, took a job as a jackhammer operator, and never returned.
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WOW sounds like Ryan Air, viking style.
Icelandic exists. This is Icelandic one further.
Tofu Village is now called Szechwan Cuisine (I think it’s the same people as in the original report, they just got around to replacing the sign). The shui zhu yu at lunch for $8.95 (includes rice, hot/sour soup, and a plate of room-temperature vegetables) is a generous and tasty portion.
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Pacific Lighthouse Restaurant (怡景麗宴) opened in Alameda. Official opening today. Banquet for 10 from $400 to $1400 for a table of 10. Any idea what they are offering for $1400?
Eden Silk Road (Uyghur, San Mateo). See discussion of fremont and upcoming sf branches.
Shanghai Bistro in Newark specializes in Sheng Jian Bao according to this thread
Skyiew Noodle & Tea in Pittsburg has what may be the Bay Area’s first taste from Anhui province.
Went to Shanghai Cuisine based on some positive reviews elsewhere on the web. Huge portion, cheap prices, but didn’t stand out amongst other Shanghai restaurants. The ‘chicken feather’ vegetable was good. The smoked fish appetizer, the sesame bread, and the fish gluten were alright. 10% off during grand opening. Its not distinctive enough, for me, to make a trek. (especially when Yum’s is nearby)
I was jokingly reprimanded for going by someone I know who is Shanghainese and cooks good Shanghainese food, who said that she knows who owns the restaurant (same as another place in Milpitas), and (because the Chinese name of the restaurant says Shanghai Private Kitchen) that I should just eat ‘proper private kitchen Shanghainese food’ from her. In her opinion, there is no good Shanghai restaurant in the Bay Area, though that’s for another discussion.
- Taiwan Liu He Snacks (San Jose) is closed
Open
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Chef Hung Taiwanese beef noodle in Cupertino
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Chili Boy (San Jose) has “mala hot pot.” The owners are Cantonese and they had a soft opening menu as of 10/7/16 when I stopped in.
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Beijing Duck House opened a Milpitas location in the spot of a former Sichuan restaurant
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Wu Bai (San Mateo) has knife shaved noodles and “handmade noodles”
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Spices I closed in 2015, and Spices II is now known as Spices. The decor is updated, and there’s now a sign on the corner of 6th and Clement. There are a few Shanghainese items on their menu with the words “chef” listed next to them, Lion’s head meataballs, pork shoulder in garlic sauce, and black mushroom with Shanghai bok choi, and (maybe) the house special crab. Otherwise, the menu has been reorganized, but still has hot pot, stinky tofu dishes, and an excellent section for vegetarians dishes. How’s the food now?
Noodle Talk Chinese Home Cuisine (Los Altos) Homestyle Hunan
Chinese Szechuan Restaurant (Pleasanton) has had an untranslated Chinese Korean menu for several years.
