B Star Bar - Go go go!!

An early evening stroll down Clement uncovered a goldmine - B Star Bar. We first walked by and barely gave it a second thought. It was pretty empty and looked new. A quick glance at the menu showed a reasonably-priced establishment that served tea leaf salad just like Burma Superstar on the next block. As we passed by Burma Superstar, I noticed a handwritten sign that said "B Star Bar now open <-----" We decided to eat there for dinner.

What luck, seeing as it was the very first night it is open! The food was delicious - they offer appetizers (in "mini" and "shareable" sizes), well-priced entrees ($8-$12) and salads, including the famous tea leaf salad that has always been sold out when I try to order it for dinner at Burma. We tried:

Deviled Tea Eggs with Tobiko - wow. I loved this. Instead of mixing the yolk with mayonnaise, they filled the cooked egg white half with a sriracha aioli that had a great kick and topped it off with tobiko and lemon zest, which made it really zingy.

Tea Leaf Salad - delicious and nutty

Claypot Chicken Biryani - nice indian spices, not too overwhelming. It would have been nice if there was a rice crust like in traditional claypot rice dishes.

Pork Chop Sammy - like banh mi with a fried porkchop. The bread had a delicious buttery bread smell. Came with an apple-carrot-red cabbage slaw.

The service was very attentive and friendly, and the portions were spot on for the prices. I'd rather pay $8 for a slightly smaller entree than $12 for something where I have to bring a tiny bit home and then forget about for the next three weeks while it dies in my fridge. There were a lot of other entrees we wanted to try, but it doesn't matter, since we'll definitely be back!

posting is so much harder when your laptop has been STOLEN

Originally uploaded by starchmouse.

Sigh.
My locked laptop was stolen from my lab. My whole life was on that laptop so you can understand my devastation. And yes, some of my stuff was backed up, but not all. Mostly, I feel violated and want those bits of my life back.
I guess I've had a bit of bad luck lately.

I want to say that Pinkberry was worth the drive down to LA. I wanted to love it, I really did. But I was expecting something like Red Mango, which is the creamiest, tastiest frozen yogurt imaginable. Has real yogurt flavor with just the teeniest hint of sweetness. Delicious with fruit. Swoon-worthy.

Pinkberry is just the opposite. Sour. Icy. Not at all creamy. Each bite a shock to the tastebuds. Waaaaay too expensive for what it is.

So Pinkberry, I was just kidding. I don't need you to come to the bay area. I'm perfectly content with my liquor store vanilla frozen yogurt (on Fillmore and Union, absolutely delicious) and I'll even try to make my own...