Foodie Lingo

Ever seen something on the menu in a nice restaurant with a name you can't pronounce that seems exotic and fancy? I always tend to see the same words in dishes that I'd love to make, but never know what exactly they consist of. Sometimes, in certain situations, it is awkward to ask a waiter/waitress the meaning of an ingredient listed in the dish. However, I find that when I do, it can be crucial to my meal decision. It also inspires me to try new things and broaden my culinary pallate. Here's a list that I've compiled of words that I commonly see on menus, and have no clue what they are:

Bearnaise = A classic white-wine sauce flavored with fresh herbs and shallots, thickened with egg yolks and usually finished with tarragon or chervil

Bechamel = Basic milk (white) sauce

Bordelaise = A red or white wine sauce mixed with meat glaze, marrow, lemon juice, finely minced shallots, parsley, ground pepper, thyme, bay leaf, and other fresh herbs


Canape = French for an appetizer prepared and served on toast or crackers
 
Compote = Combination of fresh or cooked fruits. May be served hot or chilled
 
Confit = To slowly cook pieces of meat in their own gently rendered fat



 

Coq Au Vin = A French dish of chicken, mushrooms, onions, and bacon or salt pork cooked in red wine

Pronounced "Coco-VAN"

From French, literally (Chicken in wine)

Coulis = Thick sauce made from pureed vegetables or fruits
Pronounced "Koo-LEE"
From French, Couleis ("To strain)
A vegetable coulis is commonly used on meat and vegetable dishes, and it can also be used as a base for soups or other sauces. Fruit coulis are most often used on desserts. Raspberry coulis, for example, is especially popular with poached apples. From Wikipedia
 
Crudites = Hors d'oeuvres consisting of raw vegetables served with a dipping sauce
 
Demi-Glace/Demi-Glaze = A term meaning "half glaze." This rich brown sauce begins with a basic espagnole sauce and beef stock, and is slowly cooked with Madeira or sherry until it has been reduced by half. The resulting thick glaze should be able to coat the back of a spoon and can be used as the base for many other sauces.

Yeah, I kind of stopped at the D's lol, but don't worry! I will have more parts hopefully! My laptop has been weird lately so I've slowed down my posting considerably. I have some written, but just not published yet. Think of this as a small preview :P

Stephanie, WWT

Restaurant Review: Fat Cactus Grill and Bar

Pic taken from Fat Cactus Facebook page

A week ago, I went out with some gal pals from high school to check out a mexican restaurant located in San Ramon, CA called the Fat Cactus Grill and Bar. This place was literally like a minute away from my house yet I had never tried it before. We all went on Tuesday because we were drawn in by the awesome price of $2.00 tacos! (After 5:00 pm)

Once we all went in we found it was packed with people. The hostess asked us if we would like to wait for a table or sit outside. We asked how long of a wait it would be and she said 30 mins... Really? To seat 5 people inside it was a 30 minute wait?? We didn't see anyone else waiting so we said we'd sit outside. Luckily, she found us a table right in front of the door (going outside onto the patio) where we could all fit. Yay, for air conditioning!!

Outdoor patio at Fat Cactus (taken from Fat Cactus Facebook page)

So we sit down and start perusing the taco menu which has 4 tacos listed at $2 and about 15 tacos listed as $3.50, but these were specialty tacos so I was willing to pay a bit more. As soon as our waitress comes to the table and takes our drink orders, she ended up returning shortly to tell us that they didn't have any clean water glasses and were currently washing some for us, so it would be about 10 minutes until we could get water.

..... after a moments hesitation, we all simply nodded and said "ok!" When she left we kind of gave each other a look like, "They don't have ANY clean water glasses??" The place wasn't even full! I wonder what they use when it is...

We expected some chips and salsa because we saw some at the table next to us, but we had to pay $2.50 for that too. After getting our clean water finally, we ordered. Me, being the more adventurous one, decided to try the Alligator Taco and the Kangaroo Taco. Here are the results:

The lighter meat is the alligator and the dark meat on the right is kangaroo.

Alligator: A bit tough for my liking. The texture was kind of like hard, chewy, fat and the taste was a little sweet. Hard to explain, but not my favorite. The meat was almost clear looking, very strange.

Kangaroo: I did really enjoy this one. Not as tough as the alligator, it had more flavor and tenderness.

Both had a strawberry salsa on top and some lettuce. Really? No cheese, or sour cream or avocado or anything?? Nope, these were just the bare bones tacos. Meat, some salsa, and lettuce. I thought this made them extremely dry but maybe that's just me.  I ended up just eating the meat and not the tortilla, it was too dry.

Overall, the service was bad, and the food wasn't good. It was bland and dry. So not worth the trip there. I've heard their brunch is ok, but I've never tried it myself. After the tacos, I'm not sure I want to go back. If you're looking to try variety meats though, they do have a wide range. Everything from Buffalo and Ostrich, to Shark tacos were on the menu. I'm willing to bet that you could find better somewhere else however.

Stephanie, WWT

Restaurant Review: Cameron's Pub

This visit was from about a month ago, but I forgot to blog it! Anyway, me and the parents went on a weekend drive to Half Moon Bay located on the coast of California about an hour away from our house. Unfortunately, we picked the wrong day to go because it ended up raining! This weather is crazy right? As a side note, today (June 28th) it thunderstormed here... in California!

Right, so back to the restaurant review! We were heading to Duarte's, located in Pescadero, but realized there was something funky happening on the highway. Apparently, there was some rock slide and the cars were restricted to one lane for both directions of traffic. This deterred us back the way we came and we ran into Cameron's British Pub and Inn!

The pub/restaurant itself is very cool and decorated with tons of both British and American memorabilia and just about everything you could imagine. When you dine here, it is definitely mandatory to walk around and look at everything! There is a decent sized bar area, outdoor seating, a game room with pool tables, shuffleboard and arcade games, as well as a small area where they sell British items like food/candybars. There are two huge double decker buses outside (one for smoking and one for non-smoking) as well as a British style taxi-cab. The food is typical British pub grub, lots of bangers and mash and fish and chips.

London Taxi!

The immense collection of beer cans.

As for the food, I had a vegetable sandwich, which was unfortunately pretty bad. I honestly could have made it myself at home. It had a random assortment of veggies including some black olives, mushrooms, onions, and peppers slathered with some melted cheese between two slices of wheat bread. I also tried the bean salad which was actually pretty good consisting of green beans, kidney beans, and some carrots. I know they're not trying to be all gourmet about their presentation, but it wasn't anything special. 

My dad opted for a roast beef with au jus sauce type thing and he declared it to be okay. My mom ended up with the fish and chips which was very good (we all ended up trying hers).
NOTE: Next time, get the burger!!! It wasn't until after we started reading the signed pictures on the wall did we realize that the burger is clearly the star here.

Overall, experience/atmosphere-wise, Cameron's gets a 10. The place is just awesome to look at and is really quirkily decorated. The food isn't really that great, but I can't speak for the burger. If you're looking for a fun place to hang out, get a drink, or some authentic British feel, then stop by Cameron's. P.S. go check out the bathroom, the women's one is so awesome right?

Ceiling of the women's restroom. Gotta love the disco ball!

They have my favorite, Pictionary!!

Stephanie, WWT

Boboquivari's Restaurant Review

For Father's Day, my mom and I surprised my dad by taking him to Boboquivari's, more commonly known simply as Bobo's. Located on Lombard Street in San Francisco, between Van Ness and Franklin, Bobo's is a mardi gras/venetian style restaurant that serves steak and crab dishes. They are most well known however, for their bone-in filet mignon, which is aged 4 - 6 weeks.

bad pic taken out of the back of my car :P

Our server, a wonderful man with a French accent gave us a spiel about the aging process which attracts many people to the restaurant, 99% of which order the bone-in filet. He assured us that if you go to Bobo's and do NOT try the bone-in, it is equivalent to "going to Disneyland and not seeing Mickey Mouse." Alright, so both my parents ordered the bone-in while I promised the waiter that I would eagerly have a bite of it.


Our spread of food, or what's left of it!

Along with the steaks we also tried the following:
~Apple, Walnut, Cranberry Salad with blue cheese and a raspberry vinaigrette (sorry no pic!)
The salad was very good, but in my opinion, was loaded with dressing.

~Toybox Tomatoes with Burrata (top middle)
Came with mini croutons and avocado mixed with the tomatoes. The burrata, like a mozzerella cheese was served in a small dish for dipping.

~Twice Baked Potato (bottom left)
Topped with a cheesy crust. The potato itself was very creamy and loaded with chives for a burst of flavor.

~Baked Yams with Brown Sugar (bottom right)
The yams were alright, but pretty much standard. A nice alternative to a baked potato.

~Brussels Sprouts with Pancetta and Cheese (bottom middle)
This was our favorite hands down. We all enjoyed the brussels sprouts which were drenched in an olive oil and topped with pancetta pieces and a sharp white cheese. Fantastic.

And if that's not enough, they bring you a complimentary olive loaf, topped with olive pieces and garlic. The bread is actually already drizzled with olive oil on the inside so you don't need anything on it!

I have to say, the food was fantastic and we all had stomach pains from eating too much! Of course, that didn't stop me from ordering dessert! The three of us split the Chocolate Bomb! It was a chocolate mousse with a raspberry coulee and on the inside was a sort of chocolate cake with a chocolate fudge topping. Yum!

I would definitely recommend Bobo's to someone who enjoys a great steak. None of us tried the crab, but I'm willing to bet that it is magnificent as well. Word of warning, don't order too much food!
The decor in the restaurant was also very nice. We were a bit apprehensive at first after hearing some reviews that there were clowns on the walls, but overall, the theme felt more Venetian to me.

2nd floor dining room

1st floor dining room

I would definitely return to Bobo's in the future to possibly try a different dish. Their menu is sort of limited if you don't fancy a steak or crab though. There is a sunfish dish, but not really any chicken or pork alternatives. In the end, we left with our leftovers, our stomachs full to the brim and satisfied with rich food.

Stephanie, WWT