I’ve been to the area a couple more times.
Masala Desi Cafe in Burlingame is pretty good. I don’t have South Indian locally, so I usually favor that when I travel somewhere that has it. I had sambar with idli there and thought the sambar was really good. The idli was okay, too, bigger than idli i’ve had before. I’m just not a great fan of idli. Also had masala dosa with podi. The dosa itself was fine, nice and crispy. The masala mixture could have used more mustard seed for my tastes. Standout dish of that meal was the Andhra Chicken. It was well spiced. It was hot but not blazingly so.
Yangon in Burlington was only the second time I’ve had Burmese food. I really enjoyed the food there. Definitely better than My Burma in Davis. Started with palata with coconut chicken curry sauce. Very nice. Also had Burmese Beef Curry which was great along with coconut rice. I’m a beef rendang fan, and that combination scratches that itch. The other thing I had was Mango Chicken which I thought would be a nice contrast with the beef curry, and it was. I didn’t expect to like it as much as I did, but I liked it as much as the beef curry. The AI websites say mango chicken isn’t a traditional Burmese dish. The restaurant menus have it tagged as Burmese. Whatever it is, I enjoyed it very much.
Had Mama Go’s at SFO again, trying different things than I’ve had before there. I had a silog plate there with longannisa, garlic rice, and unusually their silog comes with scrambled eggs intead of fried which was fine with me. I added a side of tocino, too. No complaints about any of it, especially for airport food.
Latest trip was a few days ago. First meal was South Indian again, this time at Tabla in San Mateo. The Mysore Masala Dosa tasted great, plenty of mustard seed and the paste they smear on the dosa also added flavor. The accompaniments that came with it, including the sambar, were very good. I almost ordered sambar with vada (which i prefer over idli) but figured it would be just too much food, and it would have been. I also had Hyderabadi Chicken Dum Biryani which was probably the best biryani i’ve ever had. Still good but the dish I liked least was Chicken Chettinadu. It had some heat to it but wasn’t super hot. It just wasn’t as good as the Andhra Chicken I had at the other restaurant on my prior trip.
My Filipino meal this trip was at Ling Nam in Daly City. I shared rice plates with my dining partner there. Garlic rice with pork adobo, sisig, lechon kawali, and grilled barbecue pork. The food was good for the most part and relatively inexpensive. I didn’t much care for the pork adobo, but the rest was okay. Chibog isn’t far away, and I’d recommend Chibog for much better Filipino food. Highlight of the meal at Ling Nam was actually the steaming hot, buttery, slightly sweet señorita bread I got at the associated bakery next door. Ling Nam also had calamansi juice (canned) which not all Filipino restaurants seem to have and was good to see on the menu.
Best meal of the trip was Burma Spice in Redwood City. Started out with palata with chicken coconut curry again which was the equal of Yangon’s. Burmese Beef Curry again and coconut rice. I thought Yangon’s was great, but this was even better. Very nicely spiced and a more generous portion size than I’ve gotten at the two other restaurants I’ve ordered it. The other thing I ordered was Shan Tofu Red Curry. I was hoping it would be different enough from the beef curry to make it worthwhile, and it was. The curry sauce was very different, and the yellow tofu which I had never had before was unusual and delicious.
