Cycle 15 – Item 176
29 (Sat) June 2024
Prime Rib
3.0
-Redwood City, California, USA-
with DJ and DJ’s friends
Summer Holiday in USA (Day 4 of 11)
-
- Day 1 (15.173 Sauteed Pea Sprouts with Garlic)
- Day 2 (15.174 White Clam Chowder (in a Sourdough Bread Bowl))
- Day 3 (15.175 Giants Dog)
- Day 4 (15.176 Prime Rib)
- Day 5 (15.177 Snow Pea Prawns)
- Day 6 (15.178 Albacore Tataki)
- Day 7 (15.179 Chicken Tacos Regular)
- Day 8 (15.180 Classic Beijing Duck)
- Day 9 (15.181 Surf (& Turf))
- Day 10 (15.182 Top)
- Day 11 (15.183 Turbot Fillet)
In the San Francisco Bay Area. With the Family. Their first time in Northern California. The immediate objective is to escort DJ and three of his friends to compete in the finals of a global logic competition at Stanford University, while taking advantage of the opportunity to show the family my hometown/region, including San Francisco, Silicon Valley, and Berkeley, and visit my best friend Hahn, who lives in Los Altos, maybe even drop by my childhood home in Saratoga. The itinerary is packed, nearly every hour scheduled with activities. Stay tuned.
After three nights at a hotel in downtown San Francisco, next 4 nights at a rented house in Redwood City.
TRANSPORT
Checked out of the hotel this morning and Ubered down to Redwood City, directly to the car rental office, where I had reserved a minivan. But upon arrival, the office was closed.
Fortunately, Hahn lives nearby, and we already had plans for lunch, so he came out a bit earlier and took us to a different rental company, where we were fortunate to secure a minivan.
LUNCH
MJ Sushi is a Japanese restaurant. Specializes in American-style rolls.
After sorting out the car, we joined Hahn and his family at the restaurant.
Having paid $19 for a can of beer at the ballpark yesterday, I found it impossible to believe that beer at MJ Sushi was free. Doesn’t make any sense for a restaurant to give out something that customers are generally happy to pay for. Especially near a college campus. Even after we got the bill, I scanned through the items just to make sure they hadn’t snuck in the charge.
The food was very good. Fresh ingredients, expertly constructed. Best meal we’ve had thus far.
Including tax and a generous tip (to offset the free drinks), the total bill came out to $269.90. For 7 people, that’s $38.56 per person – a bargain, compared to restaurants in the city, such as Harborview ($68.34), Yank Sing ($57.53), Mel’s ($37.16), or Denny’s ($32.09). We were relieved to pay.
HOUSE
With 7 people (4 of us + 3 of DJ’s friends), we rented a house. 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms. Rentals in Palo Alto being too expensive, we found one in Redwood City at $1,649.95 for 4 nights = $58.92 per person per night.
DJ’s friends had met up at SFO, shared an Uber to a mall near the house, and had lunch on their own.
We picked them up after lunch, dropped by Target to buy groceries, and checked into the house.
DINNER
Harry’s Hofbrau is an American restaurant. Serves “carvery” fare, such as roasted turkey, smoked ham, corned beef, etc, along with traditional sides, such as mashed potatoes, mac & cheese, etc. Founded 1954.
Just the place for our first dinner in the suburbs.
Earlier in the day, IZ suddenly got sick and puked all over the bedroom floor, then again in the bathroom sink. Never seen so much vomit. Because he’d eaten sushi for lunch, it had flecks of black from the seaweed – so gross. Without any plastic/rubber gloves, I had to clean it up barehanded.
Everyone else seemed fine, including Hahn’s family, so it probably wasn’t food poisoning from lunch, likely just accumulated stress.
Anyway, IZ stayed home for dinner, and W stayed him.
I was struggling to decide – everything on the menu looked good – when the guy behind the counter emphatically insisted that we try the Prime Rib, available only on the weekend, exactly 5 portions remaining. Done deal.
The food was good. The beef was perfectly cooked to medium-rare, leaning towards medium. Not quite as beefy as hoped, but still quite tasty. Paired nicely with mashed potatoes and gravy. Overall, a very comforting meal, classically American.
Ordering the most expensive item on the menu, the total came out to $168.44 (no tip), just $33.68 per person – a better value then what we had for lunch.
(See also GLOBAL FOOD GLOSSARY)
(See also RESTAURANTS IN USA)
(See also BOOZE)