Vung Tau II

1750 N. Milpitas Boulevard
Milpitas, CA

I took mum, dad and Carol to this place for Sunday lunch. It was recommended by Carol's cousin. It's in a plaza on the corner of Dixon Landing and Milpitas Boulevard. Carol did all the ordering since she knows the Vietnamese food very well. Well, I have no idea of the names, so here it goes:

Chicken Salad: thinly sliced chicken with pickled veggie and salad, served with fish sauce. Very light and yummy.

Some sort of rice noodle wrap with grilled beef: This is very special. It came in 2 separate plates. one with just fresh veggie and lettuce. The other has the rice noodle wrap and grilled beef. The rice noodle wrap is like a thin wrap but made of rice noodles - you actually can see the noodles criss-cross like a tightly meshed net. To eat the traditional way: take a wrap, add lettuce and veggie, add grilled beef; roll up; dip in the fish sauce and eat.

Clay pot fish: This is another very traditional dish. Fish pieces(not fillet, fish cut into cross sections with the center bone) cooked in caramelized sugar. It's very sweet, but yummy nonetheless. Carol says she can make better one... and in 15 minutes.

Fried frog legs: with curry powder. Not too spicy, just right.

I remember that I used to come here for lunch when I was working for a company just a few blocks from there. But, back in 2003(2004?) when I worked in Santa Clara I came here once, it was closed. I wonder if it's the same restaurant? The layout sure is different. Carol asked the waiter, he said they've been here 10 years already. So, I guess it's the same place, they just closed briefly for remodeling. I used to came here pretty often, but usually with a bunch of colleagues, so we never did lunch family style, can't believe I missed all these good stuff. This lunch is definitely a good experience in authentic Vietnamese food.

Carols said a lot of Vietnamese food use fish sauce, so if the restaurant makes bad fish sauce, most of the dishes would taste bad... However, if they make good fish sauce, then most dishes would taste good ...

Oh yeah BTW, the fish isn't those bottled ones you can buy from the Asian grocery store. It's a mixture of the bottled fish sauce with part water, part vinegar and part sugar, optionally add chili pepper.

Aroy-Dee Thai Restaurant

375 Saratoga Ave
San Jose

I had dinner here on Saturday night. It's doesn't look much from outside, it's in a small strip mall right by the street. However, the food is very delicious. It's so good, Carol and I actually finished everything. We ordered:

Shrimp wrapped in Chicken: it's more like egg roll. Shrimp wrapped in minced chicken and again wrapped in egg roll like skin and deep fried. Not as special as we'd hoped.

Duck curry: very creamy and yummy. We ordered it medium, but it's not that spicy at all - which is very good.

Steamed Mussel in Clay Pot: This is absolutely delicious. Although the menu says "steamed", but the mussel actually came in a pot of soup. The mussels themselves are very tender, came in half shell. A small saucer of sweet and sour sauce is provided - but this is no ordinary sweet n' sour sauce. It's made with lemon, lemon grass, cilantro and some other secret ingredients the lady won't tell us. It has a very light and refreshing taste. We ordered it medium as well, but the soup is VERY spicy, it's burns lips, mouth and stomach. Next time, I'll order it mild...

Door to Door subscription sales

Liars! I just got a call from San Francisco Chronicle letting me know what the delivery will start on Wednesday. What the heck?! I don't remember ordering anything. Then he said I ordered it last week. Hmmm. I do remember a teenager came around sells subscriptions, but I didn't order, since I read all my news online. Then the kid said in that case I can donate to local hospital instead of subscription. So I did. I was suspicious about the receipt he gave me, as it showed subscription receipt. And 2 weeks earlier, I donated too, and I wasn't given a receipt... guess he just pocketed it.

So be warned, if someone wants to sell yo subscription, say No!, If he says he will get college sponsorship if you donate to hospital, say No! Because he's lying!