Tied House - Mountain View - 3 stars

Visited on: Sep. 29, 2006

Comments: Average -> Recommended

Ordered items:
Blackened catfish

Garlic fries



Fried calamari

Beers

Bread


General description:
Came here with colleagues for happy hour drinking. $2 a beer, half off selected appetizers. We ordered them all. The natchos is not outstanding, but the garlic tossed French fries are rather fine, fried calamari is also plenty, goes well with the beer. The blacked fish is, however, a bit small, there’s only about six pieces of fish in one dish. Could have hoped for more, but tastes pretty good, surprisingly spicy in its flavoring, and the fish is still juicy. Beer variety is also pretty good, but nothing as spectacular as some of the Irish pubs in Mountain View. I probably would choose somewhere else for happy hour gathering for a party of 8 or less. For more people, however, the airy barn feeling with its nice patio filled with gorgeous morning glories should be a good choice. The menu looks very adventurous, featuring New Orleans specialties like alligator sausage and wild boar sausage, and it has a weekly rotation of wild game burger – buffalo, elk, wild boar, and a couple others. My colleague said that the wild game burger is good. I need to try it some other time.

Basic information:
http://www.tiedhouse.com/

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Maruichi - Milpitas - 4 stars

Visited on: Often, last visited on Oct. 3, 2006

Comments: Recommended

Ordered items: All ramens on the menu.
Kuro ramen


Maruichi special with pork-chicken bone broth



Cold ramen

General description:
There are many types of broth based soup in Asia. However, I suppose ramen holds a special place among all the others, for it is unique in its complexity within its own breed. For chow fun, you get beef or chicken, taste pretty much the same, but when you get a pork-bone broth ramen and soy bean sauce broth ramen, the only similarity is as if you say you look like your next door neighbor. Aside from the fact that you are both humans and share the same feature components, you are nothing like each other. Same goes for ramen. The broth base is everything, but the noodles and the accompaniments are what make the broth base divine.

Maruichi Milpitas is a branch of the Mountain View original. I’ve never been to Maruichi Mountain View before, but I can honestly say that Maruichi Milpitas has came a long way since it just opened. Now, the kuro/black ramen based on black sesame oil is no longer greasy but found its broth/oil balance, miso ramen is fully comforting in its warmth and that delightful miso blend of mellowness/sharpness, and the Maruichi special with its abundant accompaniments serves up both taste and value. I like the char siu, the roasted poark, a lot better now, more tender and firm to the bite. When I immerse the soft boiled egg with its semi-ripe, sunset golden yolk into the broth and taste a bite, let the broth melt the yolk in your mouth, a moment of content washes over me. The thin and al-dented ramen noodles trap the soup within its curls very well, and order an extra portion of mentaiko to kick it up a notch. Or you can simply order the special, when you get to choose from pork-bone soup base or kuro soup base, and comes with roasted pork, buro pork (three layer, slow stewed lean/fat/lean cut), scallions, bean sprouts, black fungus, mentaiko, and dryed seawood. A very satisfying meal in itself.

For summer its has cold ramen, prepared cold and dry, and you can add broth to it from a small sake bottle. It is also good, because it comes with crunchy and heat-dispelling accompaniments like cucumber and chilled bean sprouts.

In any case, needs to either come early or come late, since many people are seeking comfort from work or weather in this small restaurant.

Basic information:
530 Barber Lane Milpitas, CA 95035
(408) 434-5991

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