Toby! Toby! Toby! 15 months and adorable

How cute is Toby?! He's 15 months old now (wow!) and is a walking, pointing, grabbing, eating, smiling machine in Berkeley!

I brought plastic food! Dude, I'm the food librarian and Toby isn't ready for an easy bake oven, so I went with this food. I held up that miniature cake mix box and said, "Now Toby, you don't need cake mixes. Your Auntie Mary will show you how to make cakes. And take you to Disneyland."

Thanks for a great visit to the Bay Area Pam and Toby! Can't wait to come again!

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Shen Hua Chinese Restaurant, Berkeley, CA

Shen Hua Restaurant, Berkeley, California

Continuing my trip to Northern California... Pam, her son Toby and I went to Shen Hua Chinese restaurant in Berkeley. It has 3 stars in Yelp (the reviews vary) but one "plus" for us: It's Loud and Distracting. Perfect for 15 month old Toby! :)

Here are the item we ate... (Remember, I'm not a restaurant critic or anything...I'm pretty much just documenting my food so I can relive my trip! Ha ha. Just kidding...sorta!)

Chien Pi Chicken $12
Chicken with sun dried orange peels, roasted red peppers and spicy garlic sauce.
The chicken was tender and this dish was perfect over a dish of rice.

Garlic Buo Tsai Noodles $9
House made spinach noodles with garlic, onions and mushrooms
Pam gets these noodles to go all the time...but they are so much better in the restaurant because they were super hot and freshly boiled. Toby ate them up too! 

Chicken Siu Mai $7
With toddler Legos on the table! :)

Restaurant
Shen Hua
2914 College Avenue (Elmwood area)
(between Ashby Ave & Russell St)
Berkeley, CA 94705

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Saturn Cafe, Berkeley, CA

I spent the Martin Luther King, Jr. weekend in the Bay Area (Northern California). In other words, it was all about friends and foods! A couple of my friends are vegan and vegetarian so we went to Saturn Cafe for brunch. It was my first time at this George Jetson retro-looking vegetarian cafe. The main restaurant is in Santa Cruz and they opened this Berkeley location in 2010. It is located across to Gather where I went last year.

Sweet Potato Fries with wasabi dip $6.95
These were great! Seriously, you can fry a shoe and I would eat it with wasabi dip.

Heavenly Benedict $7.95
2 poached organic eggs on an English muffin with sliced tomatoes and avocado drizzled with hollandaise sauce and served with home fries (description from menu)

Vegan burger with vegan cheese $9.50

Vegan Pozole (Soup and Salad $8.95). Pozole is usually made with pork and hominy, but this was a vegan variety. The soup was pretty good...but where was the cabbage garnish? All the pozoles I've had came with a plate of cabbage and radishes (like getting bean sprouts and herbs with pho). I mean, cabbage is vegan. Was it cooked into the soup? I don't remember...but I wish they had it on the side so you could add your own and have it crisp. I got 5 extra lime pieces to add more flavor too.

Restaurant
Saturn Cafe
(The original is in Santa Cruz, CA)
2175 Allston Way
Berkeley, CA 94704
(510) 845-8505

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Ici Ice Cream, Berkeley, CA

Ever since my cousin introduced me to Ici, I try to fit in a trip on every visit. They have wonderful handcrafted ice creams and sorbets in great flavors. Peach habanero sorbet anyone? How about shiso leave ice milk? Yum!

In addition to yummy frozen treats (including great ice cream sandwiches), they have sell some treats too. I've never purchased those...because I'm too busy stuffing my face with ice cream!

Um, I completely forget what Pam got...dude, I need to blog as soon as the event happens. But I had a taste and it was delicious! I've never been disappointed...and I've tasted a lot of their flavors! See all these friends in a previous entry...well, I tried all their flavors.

Boysenberry Sorbet for me. Delicious!

I can't wait for my next visit to see Pam and Toby! He's got a nice mohawk going here. I pushed Toby around in his cool stroller playing the role of Auntie Food Librarian.

Here is little Toby (9-months) in a baby backpack on his mom, Pam. Pam's dad created this sun shade to protect Toby's soft-as-a-freaking-baby-skin. He can't wait to have Ici ice cream soon!

Restaurant:
Ici Ice Cream (ee see)
2948 College Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94705
510.665.6054

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Vik's Chaat, Berkeley, CA

Sorry I haven't been blogging in a bit...summer has been crazy busy. I'm finally catching up on some posts and baking again. So, here goes a few more restaurant posts from my trip to the Bay Area. Yeah, I think this is Restaurant Week #523. - mary

My friend Pam and her adorable 9 month old son, Toby and I went to Vik's Chaat in Berkeley for some Indian food. We've been before...but now they have a new location.

This is the most beautiful sign around. The new Vik's Chaat location has a freaking parking lot. Awesome!

Vik's new location has the same system of ordering at the counter and then listening intensely for your name to be called over the speaker. The acoustics are kinda bad for it, and the speaker usually holds the microphone too close to his mouth, and there might be an accent. Somehow, we all get our food. And now they have different sections for dosa, special of the day, etc.

Pam and I got the Masala Dosa. I love the Dosa. One of the best Indian dishes on the planet.

I love how big the dosa (thin savory crepe) can be!

This vegetarian dosa is filled with potatoes and curry. Pam and I seem to always get the same thing so I can't really tell you about the rest of the menu! :)

And the best thing about Vik's? Cute little Toby, of course! How cute is he?! I wanted to put him in my bag and bring him home. Hopefully, Pam will come down soon for Toby's first visit to the Los Angeles area. We have some great India food here...so, please come down! Next up, a trip to Ici in Berkeley for some ice cream and sorbet!

Restaurant:
Vik's Chaat
2390 4th St, Berkeley, CA 94710
(510) 644-4432

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Gather Restaurant, Berkeley, CA

Gather Restaurant

Restaurant Week #2 continues... We're still on the East Bay today in Berkeley, CA for brunch at Gather. This is a new downtown Berkeley restaurant that uses many local and seasonal ingredients.

Although we were close to the UC Berkeley campus, this brunch was all UCLA Bruins, all the time! There were 5 adults and 1 child. Between us, we have seven UCLA degrees! :) Goooo Bruins!

Summer scramble

(Descriptions from menu in italics)
roasted corn, heirloom tomatoes, basil, scallion, roasted potatoes, shaved summer squash arugula salad, Three Sisters cheese $12

Sumi, my RA from the UCLA Sproul Hall dorms, got this dish.

Acme walnut French toast

braised strawberries, maple walnut sauce, Straus yogurt (1 pc) $8, (2 pc) $12

I devoured this one. It was yummy...although I wish I ordered two pieces.

Blossom Bluff stone fruit

saba, yogurt, Riverdog almonds $7

Agnes, UCLA roommate and traveling companion, ordered this dish. We had some mealy peaches the previous day, and Ag said these were perfect!

Smoked onion cannellini bean soup
radicchio, Fall Press Sevillano olive oil, San Joaquin Gold Cheese $8

Shannon (double Bruin like me - UCLA BA and UCLA MLIS - Library degree, plus she has a JD from Hastings!) ordered this yummy soup. Agnes' daughter Julia also enjoyed a small cup of the soup.

Braised mushroom sandwich
grilled ciabatta, cashew-leek "cheese," little gems $9

Diane, former UCLA roommate, ordered this sandwich. Doesn't it look yummy?

Diane's vegan and got this plate of vegan desserts. I ate the perfect fig. Delicious!

Shannon ate this ginger ice cream. She said it was very gingery good.

Bread pudding and chocolate cake desserts.

The restaurant had two performers on the patio during brunch, and they have a full bar.

Agnes' daughter, Julia hanging out with Diane

Sumi was the Resident Assistant/RA in the UCLA Sproul Hall dorms many years ago. Agnes and I were two of her residents during our freshman year!

If you are in the East Bay, head over to Gather for some fresh and vegan/vegetarian friendly food.

Restaurant:
Gather Restaurant
2200 Oxford Street, Berkeley, California 94704
On the corner of Allston Way and Oxford Street
Phone: 510.809.0400, Fax: 510.809.0404

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Green Papaya Thai Vegetarian - Berkeley, CA

Green Papaya Thai Vegetarian, Berkeley, California

Restaurant Week #2 continues...the next few will be from my recent trip to the Bay Area (San Francisco and Berkeley). And, yes, it is back-to-back Thai restaurants. I love Thai food.

My college roommate, Agnes and I took a road trip with her 5-year old daughter Julia to the Bay Area. One night, we met our UCLA roommate Diane for dinner. Diane's vegan and she selected Green Papaya Thai in Berkeley.

To be honest, I always have some doubts when venturing into vegan restaurants...I think I've got scar tissue from visiting Cafe Gratitude several times in the Bay Area. (It's not the mostly raw food, although I do like warm soup, it is the names of the menu items.)

I AM DAZZLING CAESAR SALAD
I AM INSIGHTFUL SPRING ROLLS
I AM TRANSFORMED TACO PLATE
I AM ACCEPTING SUSHI BOWL
See the menu...I'm not kidding.
Then, when the waitstaff delivers your meal, they say, "Who is Dazzling?" and when you weakly raise your hand, they place it in front of you with a "You are Dazzling!" Kill Me.

Seriously, I want to order:
"I am freaking annoyed cold water"
"I am disappointed dairy-free milk"
"I am clinically depressed hummus"

Anyway, happily, Green Papaya was wonderful and the staff very kind.

Curry Puff $5.95

(descriptions from take-out menu are in italics)
Triangle, stuffed with pumpkin, fresh shitake root, potato, onion, pepper, curry powder, wrapped with wheat paper....served deep-fried with cucumber carrot salad

House Special Brown Rice

A combo of black, brown and wild rice

Peanut Sauce Tofu $7.95

Steamed broccoli, topped with fried tofu, seasoned with peanut sauce

Kee Mao Tofu $7.95

Broccoli, carrot, cabbage, bell pepper, green bean, sweet basil, chili, and fried tofu, stir fried with flat rice noodles and mushroom sauce

Yellow Curry Tofu $7.95

Potato, broccoli, carrot, onion, and fried tofu, served in yellow curry sauce

My friend for 21 years, Agnes and her lovely younger daughter, Julia (age 5)

Mango Sweet Sticky Rice

The first thing I ask at any Thai restaurant is "Do you have mango and sticky rice today?" Since it is seasonal, sometimes I'm disappointed. But if they do, I plan accordingly and make sure I save space! :) This dish is one of my favorites. Mango, rice, coconut milk. Delish!

If you are visiting the East Bay, try Green Papaya Thai Vegetarian restaurant. You will find it Dazzling (and not annoying)! :)

Restaurant:
Green Papaya Thai Vegetarian Cuisine
2016 Shattuck Ave. (near the Downtown Berkeley BART station)
Berkeley, CA 94704
Tel. (510) 845-1658

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