Amarin Thai Cuisine (Mtn View)

A few of us set out on a two-car expedition down the Central Expressway and around the corner to Mountain View’s Castro Street for what was widely reported as the Pennisula’s best Thai food. After a 10 minute wait (at 9pm on a Wednesday this place was hopping) we were escorted to our table in what looked like just about any other thai restaurant you care to imagine. A garlanded portrait of the King, some colorfully ornate wallpaper was the owners only nod to their more starkly fashionable Castro Street neighbors (newcomers all, no doubt).

Not that Amarin needed it – the food is what makes it worth the 15 minute drive. Indeed, I would say the food would have warranted a 45 minute drive. It was 45-minute drive food. Pang, who is Thai, took care of most of the ordering, although our group’s old favorites (cashew chicken, pad see eiw) were easily indulged. I asked for something spicy, and got it – the fried catfish and the larb moo (minced pork) were more than enough to remind us we were still alive. The noodles (Pad See Eiw) were so good that Steve didn’t want to share with Wei Lin even after we asked. I was particularly moved by the curries – which in this country usually tend to be deflated by overcooked meats and inadequate seasonings. At Amarin, the curries were great. Fresh spring rolls were perhaps the only let down, but then that’s probably because Jason made us get vegetarian ones. Or maybe since, as Wei-Lin pointed out, they’re not Thai, but Vietnamese. Most of the dishes on the menu were largely what you would find anywhere else, but the execution was brilliant. Even Pang agreed that it was “Authentic”.

Amarin Thai Cuisine
174 Castro St
Mountain View, CA 94041

Old Mandarin Islamic Restaurant (San Francisco)

Rong, my classmate at Stanford, told me about a beijing-style hot pot restaurant that was “more authentic than the restaurants in Beijing.” Not being able to resist such an overwhelming endorsement, I rallied a group of 8 and headed to the “way outer sunset” neighborhood of SF, for a visit to 老北京 (It’s chinese name, which means Old Beijing).

It’s a small place, maybe with three large tables and four small ones, located in a neighborhood who’s only distinguishing characteristic is that it was so undistinguished that I can remember nothing at all about it. Lao Beijing was the only lit up building on the block.

Authentic it was. We no sooner indicated that we wanted the hotpot that the server, clearly the daughter of Mr Yan, the owner brought out a steaming bowl o scented stock and lit it’s burner. Only then did she turned to our order, and food started flowing freely thereafter in the copious streams we have become acustomed to.

Lamb is the house specialty, as we were informed when we tried to order half-beef, half-lamb for dipping into the then boiling stock. We ended up with four lamb orders, one beef, which combined with all the vegetable acoutrements was plenty of food for the 9 of us. Having plenty of food, of course, did not stop us from ordering more. The hotpot was truly delectable, and while we didnt order the spicy version, it was very flavorable. The lamb dumplings were clearly freshly made and while not at all the kind of delecate affiar you might get yourself into at a Cantonese restaurant, they had an earthy crudeness that did indeed remind me of a village somewhere on the mongolian plains. The mongolian tofu was out of this world: some kind of fried tofu bits tossed with chili and seasonings. Some of the best I’ve had. The group also ordered some more traditional chinese fare, such as eggplant with garlic, and veggie chow mein, and they were passable, but the cooks in the back clearly took more pride in their own specialties, such as the beef pancake and sesame pancake and of course, the Mandarin lamb (lamb with lots and lots of cumin).

The owner, Mr Yan, is from beijing, and resisted any attempt to acertain the provenance of his Islam. He is not Uigher (from western china), I imagine he is Hui, which is another muslim minority. All he divulged was that “his family had been in Beijing for 400 years. They are just muslim.” I suspect that like many chinese muslims, his devotion ran to the extent that he did not serve Pork in his restaurant (no small concession for a Chinese of any stripe). I did enjoy washing my meal down with a frosty Tsingtao beer, however.

Overall, this was one of the best chinese restaurants I have been to in the US, and probably one the top-3 most authentic (it’s competition is in Flushing, NY). 4 Stars, highly recommended.

(An interesting aside: a plaque on the wall proclaimed that this had be declared by some quasi-Chinese govt agency to be one of the top-100 Chinese restaurants in the US. I googled, and found this web page http://top100.c-r-n.com/top100winner2006.htm. Aparantly, this is some kind of annual list. We will investigate further.)

Old Mandarin Restaurant
3132 Vicente St
San Francisco, CA 94116