weekend healthy fix - oakland, ca

after a long week, we have a beautiful saturday to sleep in, get in some exercise and make a healthy lunch together :)

arugula salad with corn, peas, beets, oranges and avocados. topped with marinated chicken breast.

eat real - jack london, oakland

good food, good friends, good fun.

if the eat real festival, now in its third year, ever had a motto, that would be it. not only does the festival celebrate eating with the people closest to you, it also promotes inhaling delicious bites that come from local sources, both vendors and farms. eat real also embodies the soul of oakland, not only independent (of restaurant seats), but sharing with those you love.

two of each: pork shoulder, pork belly and sesame chicken

we stood in line for a good half an hour at least for these babies from chairman bao. this was a crowd favorite last year at eat real and this year was no different. the line was one of the longest, but it didn't disappoint. we caught up with my mom, aunt and family friends so we ended up getting a PLATTER. folks kept looking over ruel's shoulder and asking what we got. they must have sensed our excitement. the "buns" were pretty awesome and our group members (many eat real/food truck newbies) were quite impressed and devoured the whole box in no time.

bacon wrapped hot dog
at brass knuckles

eat real homies :)
enjoying some tacos!

classic mac n cheese from
homeroom.

momma and ba na enjoying the chairman bao -- eat real first timers

north carolina pulled pork slider.
yummy, but small portion
compared to other
comparable dishes.

visited FAT FACE to have
popsicles just like last year.
i had the usual thai tea and
sweet potato, which was
BETTER than i remembered
and ru opted for the special
"bacon and egg" flavor

last but not least, we ended the
day with a s'more from brass
knuckle. sweet marsh and
graham cracker cake -- wish
it was warmer though. it
was starting to get chilly
by the end of the day!

to conclude our itis driven tirade, our third eat real was certainly successful. although a lot of the time was spent waiting to order at the food truck windows, the time hanging out with old friends and a new baby was certainly worth the wait!

today's winners: classic mac n cheese, thai tea popsicle, and chicken bun from chairman bao.eat real gets a full 5 out of 5 kettlekorns for being awesome. we look forward to going again next year! ciao!

rudy's can't fail cafe - uptown, oakland

this evening, i had the privilege of enjoying an eventful meal with our two guest-eaters, jennifer "open-wide" leung and bonita "lil' bit mo" lam.

we trotted a few steps from rudee headquarters down to rudy's. ru had been there before and had been raving about it, so we felt like we had to give it a try. also rumor on the street was that thursday is MAC 'N CHEESE day.

we got picked three diverse entrees and shared. of course we had to get the mac n cheese, lil' bit mo chose the blackened catfish and i got the bbq pork sandwich. we agreed that the mac n cheese was pretty yum -- lighter than expected and the crushed croutons on top gave it some texture. whether or not it lived up to the hype though -- we are divided.

the blackened catfish was a crowd favorite. came with a refreshing mango salsa, slices of avocado and the usual rice and beans. i wasn't too impressed by the rice -- definitely had better, but the fish had a good, deep flavor that b and j could not resist.

the pulled pork sandwich was good, although we agreed it wasn't the most exciting dish. the slaw was okay, but i definitely believe it could have been more complex in taste and less flat in presentation. the sandwich was as good as a standard bbq pork sandwich. i'd get it again, but probably not after i make sure to try other things first.

overall, we agreed upon a 3.5 rating for the playful ambiance and range of interesting dishes. the service was all right, but the crowd seemed lively and diverse, definitely a plus.

rating: 3.5 out of 5 kettlekorns.

happy eating ya'll! special thanks to our guest-eaters!

best homemade thai meal

pad prik king over fried fish.

which basically is medium pieces of catfish topped with sweet & spicy string bean curry.

we had it over rice with fried egg. quite a lot of fried foods, but definitely a tasty meal before little bro heads back to SD. bon voyage, derek (and daddy who's helping him move! :)

oh, there was also coolest chef(s) ever, daddy jkitti and big momma suvie j!

rating: 4.5 of 5 kettlecorns

(might be a little biased, or not -- you should try it out yourself and see :)

bobby g's - downtown berkeley

had a meeting at bobby g's tonight for the student board so I picked up some pizza for the boo! :) check out the fancy pizza. it was pretty pricey -- but i guess it was expected for a place like bobby g's. i got some sweet italian sausage pasta which was good with al dente pasta and tasty sausage, but too heavy on the cream. gotta handle it with some salad so you're not overwhelmed. in thai, they'd call this, LEIN! it dutifully comes with a small side salad and some bread.

rating: 3.5 out of 5 kettlekorns for the effort on taste, but mediocre (high) pricing, especially for a budget-friendly student environment.

ciao, rudee

kianti's, downtown santa cruz

after a long long hiatus - RUDEE FOODIE is back!

just a couple of updates -

• THANK YOU PETER T. for the new domain name! find us at rudeefoodie.com from now on.
  
• ruel moved into a new apartment in oakland - with a HUGE kitchen for cooking and close to many many lake merritt/oakland eateries.
• and dee got into grad school! GO BEARS!

now no more excuses, on to the juicy stuff! so this past memorial day weekend - we packed up the big van and drove over to BIG BASIN with mi familia, mr. peter t and of course rudeefoodie. after a long and (at times) scary drive we made it. hiked along a beautiful trail and became very HUNGRY! :) we headed toward downtown santa cruz where we dined at one of rudeefoodie's FAV places in SC, kianti's.

kianti's is always busy with families, students, tourists and the like - for a good reason though - the FOOD is delish. we started with a family size kianti's insalate. it was probably one of the best restaurant salads i have ever had! i chose it because i LOVE beets, but was impressed by the light but very flavorful dressing and grand portion. the family size fed all five of us hungry hikers (including 2 heavy eaters - me and my mom :). the mixed greens, beets, pine nuts, peperoncinis, bean salad & gorgonzola tossed in balsamic house dressing was gone in no time.

fortunately- there was MORE. for entrees, we all shared a family style chicken bruschetta pasta, which was all right. the flavors were not amazing and didn't hold up the pastas i've had there before. it wasn't terrible though, i did enjoy the bruschetta! last time, i did the "pasta your way" thing and had a pesto sausage pasta which i remember, even months later, was DELISH and helped carve kianti's a place in my little foodie heart.

also - we all shared a pesto pizza, but subbed the bacon for sausage. AMAZING. they were generous with the pesto sauce, but not too generous and the pizza had flavor while still feeling not too heavy (a feeling i hate when eating pizza).

overall the meal was a success and etched yet another reason why we love kianti's. i'd suggest going on the weekends at night to watch a game on the TVs and enjoying a nice cocktail to accompany your meal. and an added bonus - they put on a dancing pizza show and throw dough in the air. lol i think i just made it sound corny, but it's actually kind cool. especially if you are waiting to get a table for more than 30 minutes!

i would rate kianti's a 4 out of 5 kettlekorns for it's delish-ness and fun environment. would def go again next time we are romping in the woods of big basin!

mesa grill - caesars palace, vegas

although it may seem that vegas is warmer than the bay in the winter, you may want ask the recent vegas-goers and find out the truth: its more like the bay a season ago (autumn = still cold = moded, haha). wamps! but this isn’t a weather blog, it’s a food blog, so lets get to eatin’!

first, those who go to vegas must experience the buffets. it’s sort of a innate respect thing. this blog unfortunately is not about buffets because there are no words to describe such calorie glory, but on a short note, i recommend caesars and dee would recommend the wynn, each from experience.

continuing to restaurants, the first one is mesa grill. i am a food network fanatic, and bobby flay, as pale and irish as he is, knows his southwest. a new mexican spiced pork tenderloin sandwich to be exact. equally tasty southwestern fries, it was a melting pot of flavor, many roots in the spice palate of the region. the pork although not pulled, resembled a melting texture that still stood up to the bobby flay’s mesa also offers a great drink to pair as well. in the form of an prickly pear margarita, it was a true compliment to those who may not receive credit for ancho, chipotle and other smoked chile influences. the indigenous peoples were true pioneers of great smoky flavor.

to further engage in smoky flavor, especially on a lighter note, one can venture for a barbequed lamb cobb salad. like dee, many do not pair well with lamb meat due to its ability to be gamy. not the case for flay as his salad with blue cheese and buttermilk dressing aided with some rather spicy lamb cooked to perfection truly marinated flavors from earthy to velvety to sharp all in one bite.

dee and i enjoyed a very engaging brunch with abundant flavors in the town and never sleeps, and has much more to offer than the tradition calorie-gorge buffet.

4 out of 5 kettlekorns