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Note: This first appeared in A News Cafe as a considerably abridged two-part series. Here is the full-length version. ( Read more... )

Downtown Redding used to be a fair-to-middling food wasteland with little but fast food offerings, while chain restaurants sprouted like weeds in Enterprise and induced Westside residents to venture across the river in search of dinner. But a few brave folks have taken the bull by the teeth (to mix several metaphors) and forged ahead in Old Redding with independently-owned restaurants. Fuji Japanese Restaurant occupies a spot on Placer Street that was a garage when Femme de Joie was a child but which morphed into a wide range of businesses over the years, including the late lamented Redding Bookstore and previously another restaurant.

Service is very fast and friendly; you’re seated immediately and staff is attentive. Specials are on a board facing the door when you walk in. Each table has a little card that explains the World of Sushi for neophytes.



Sake maka (mackerel), $4.25 and spicy tuna roll, $5.95

Spicy tuna roll was not at all spicy. It was tuna with avocado and tobiko (flying fish roe), nothing spicy about those. The sushi rice had been rolled in the tobiko quite a white back because all shine and "pop" was gone from the eggs, and they adhered firmly and glutinously to the rice. The only real taste was from the avocado. Mackerel is an oily fish that can be overwhelmingly fishy in taste, depending on how it was cured with salt, but this was mushy and had no taste, fishy or otherwise. Both rolls appeared to have been made in advance because they were served very, very quickly.



Beef sukiyaki, $11.95

Beef sukiyaki was a warming treat on a snowy day (though awkward to eat while working around the bail on the cooking pan). Included were tender-crisp carrots, zucchini, cabbage, scallions, asparagus, daikon with noodles, and strips of beef in slightly sweet broth. If you ever have to take someone to a Japanese restaurant who professes to not like Japanese food (fear of raw fish), this is what they should order, to break them in gently.



Bento box #5 - beef teriyaki, tempura, California roll with salad, soup, rice, $7.95.

Bento boxes come with a choice of miso soup, corn chowder, or hot & sour soup. Hot and sour was hot but not very sour, with a pleasing earthy mushroom taste. The miso soup at Fuji is packed with lots of seaweed and makes a nice light starter.

Beef teriyaki was luscious bites of tender beef in a not-too-sweet sauce with onion shards. Iceberg lettuce in creamy miso dressing occupied one corner of the tray; the miso dressing would be delicious on decent lettuce. California roll -- made ahead -- had avocado taste at the front but not much seafood taste. Freshly-made and crispy tempura had one large shrimp, one Brussels sprout (odd but really very good done this way), a slice of onion, a slice of yam, a whole mushroom, one asparagus spear, a slice of carrot, and one item that may or may not have been a log of sweet red bean paste. A slice of orange with a sweet-tart fruity powder sprinkled across the flesh and served afterwards was a nice touch.



Spicy calamari, $7.95 as a lunch special.

There was plenty of tender calamari, nicely done tempura-style, but no spice to speak of -- poking around, M. de Joie eventually located the shards of one smallish dried hot chili amongst the calamari. While not everyone is as fond of hot and spicy dishes as M. de Joie, if you’re not going to prepare a dish as hot and spicy, why advertise it so?



Bunny roll, $15.95 lunch special.

M. de Joie had to laugh at this wildly Rococo and architecturally improbable creation served up before Easter. On the inside: spicy tuna, avocado, cream cheese, and crab meat. On the outside: tempura avocado, crab meat, and special spicy sauce. This was impossible to eat with chopsticks and difficult to eat with fingers or fork: it simply would not hold together and in any case was much too big to eat in one bite. It was entertaining, to be sure, and freshly made and tasty, but the multiple and contra-distinctive ingredients meant some of the subtler tastes (like crab) got lost.

After several visits, M. de Joie is a bit torn about Fuji. It has many fine qualities but some of the food is hit-or-miss, and it appears some shortcuts are taken that affect the quality. On the one hand, Femme de Joie likes the speedy service and fair prices (lunch specials are a good value) at Fuji Japanese Restaurant. Dishes that are prepared to order like tempura, sukiyaki, teriyaki, and special rolls are very good and worth a return trip for. On the other hand, dishes like sushi rolls (particularly the most commonly ordered ones like California rolls, tuna, etc.) that depend on immediacy and fresh preparation seem to be made ahead, which does them no favor. And there’s no tea in the teapot! When you order tea ($1.95), it comes almost instantly (good) with no tea or teabag (not so good). It’s pre-made and kept hot. Tea really doesn’t improve upon standing and M. de Joie wonders why Fuji can’t just pour boiling water into a pot and add a teabag.

Fuji can be worth a visit for its good value, friendliness, and for some of the made-to-order dishes, but M. de Joie advises diners to inquire about when the fish was delivered before ordering sashimi and to ask when sushi rolls were made. With a bit more care and time devoted to each dish that comes out of the kitchen, everything on the menu could be terrific.

Fuji Japanese Restaurant, 1545 Placer Street, Redding, CA 96001. 530-243-8366. Open Monday-Saturday 11 a.m.- 9 p.m, Sunday 4 p.m.- 9 p.m. Beer and wine. Street parking or park in the mall parking lot. Vegetarian and vegan options. Credit and debit cards; no checks.

Sherven Square, that block of Market Street between Tehama and Shasta, boasts a surprising number of restaurants within a short walking distance: Sandwichery, Grilla Bites, Fasolini’s Pizza, Los Gordos, La Cabana, Kobe’s, Maxwell’s, Fatboy’s BBQ. Last fall, Village Deli opened its doors too, right across the street from Old City Hall. It’s easy to drive right by and miss, but this pleasant little café downtown might be worth a stop.

The freshly painted interior, decorated with black-and-white posters of New York City, boasts a few tables with a counter and seats along one wall. Order at the deli to take away or be served at the tables. Service is friendly, though not especially fast, and that’s due to the clumsy set-up of the prep area. Employees have to continually walk back and forth past each other to reach the cold case, pull out the mortadella or roast beef, slice to order, then lug the meat back and replace it in the display case. The upside of this is that every sandwich is made fresh; no dried-out cold cuts are waiting around all day. The downside, of course, is that you might wait a bit for your sandwich.

Regular deli sandwiches (roast beef, ham, corned beef, etc.) are priced according to size -- small: 4 ounces meat, 2 ounces cheese; large: 8 oz/4 oz; New Yorker: 12 oz/6 oz.



The Mediterranean Salad ($3.99/$6.49) was terrific: crisp mixed greens with Romaine, cucumbers, tomatoes, feta, kalamata olives and balsamic vinegar dressing was sharp and flavorful. Unfortunately the soup of the day, chicken with wild rice, wasn’t as successful. Cubes of white meat chicken became stringy and dry while simmering all day; the wild rice was tough and sank helplessly to the bottom of the cup.



The Long Island ($6.49/$10.49) is a triple-decker of turkey, corned beef, Russian dressing and cole slaw piled on toasted rye. The sweet-tart crunchy slaw was a great foil for salty corned beef. Beef-barley soup was also hearty, warming, and full of vegetables.



The Italian ($6.49/$10.49) was a bit of a disappointment. The meats and cheeses -- dry salami, cotto salami, mortadella, hot coppa, and provolone with pepperoncinis, red onion, oil and vinegar -- were lost inside that super-thick roll. It was quite a bit on the dry side and needed more juicy-ness and less bread. But the fillings had great flavor, so M. de Joie may give that Italian sandwich another try -- on different bread with more spreads.



Chef salad ($4.49/$6.99) is a good value and satisfying. You know the drill on a chef’s salad: there’s nothing unusual here, but all ingredients were fresh and flavorful and the serving size was generous.

While Femme de Joie wasn’t crazy about everything she tried at Village Deli, the salads were winners and overall she feels it has potential to serve up some really fine sandwiches with a bit of feedback from customers about what’s good and not-so-good. Prices are reasonable and everything is made to order. When you’re downtown thinking about a tattoo or recording your debut CD, stop in and give them a try.

Village Deli, 1300 Market Street, Redding, CA. 530-241-8800, fax 530-245-0350. Open Monday-Friday 7:00 AM - 4:00 PM, Saturday 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM. Closed Sunday. No alcohol. No checks. Cash, cards. Street parking and a small parking lot behind (access from Shasta Street). Visit them on Facebook at
http://www.facebook.com/thevillagedeliredding?v=info

Singaporean chef/cooking teacher Vanessa Frida speaks warmly of Thai sweet chili sauce and its all-around usefulness. M. de Joie had heard of it but wasn't really sure what it was -- there are many products labeled chili sauce or chili paste that don't taste at all like what a Californian might think. But Vanessa Frida knows whereof she speaks.

So the next time M. de Joie stopped in at Lao Market (2660 South Market Street, near Racha Noodle) to pick up some sesame oil and nuoc mam, she grabbed a bottle of Thai sweet chili sauce and took it home ... where it sat for several months. Finally she opened it up to make a Thai-style cucumber salad, and discovered how incredibly delicious it is served on - well, just about anything. It's gooey, sweet, and spicy-hot, and makes a wonderful dip/spread to use with wild abandon.

What's it good on? Fried chicken, shrimp, raw vegetables, grilled cheese, onion rings, pork chops, French fries, toasted sesame bagels, grilled hot dogs, steamed rice, cabbage salad, a pastrami or corned beef sandwich, lamb kebabs, cream cheese on a cracker, a hot buttered English muffin, and probably a lot of other things yet to be discovered.




Another item to pick up in an Asian market is black rice vinegar. White rice vinegar is more familiar but there are also red and black varieties. The red is a bit salty; black vinegar is more assertive than the white and somewhat resembles balsamic vinegar. If you love experimenting with Asian foods, this should be on your shelf. Try mixing equal parts good-quality soy sauce and black vinegar and adding a bit of grated ginger and/or sesame oil to make a dipping sauce for pork roast, eggrolls, spring rolls, spareribs, pot stickers and dumplings, or as a dressing for a cucumber or cabbage salad.



Then there's Trader Joe's Wasabi Mayonnaise. M. de Joie found it above the frozen fish in Trader Joe's and hasn't given a single thought to ordinary tartar sauce since. It has a nice wasabi kick and goes great on fried fish, shrimp, and oysters, roast beef, or as a sandwich spread. Also try dipping crackers or crudités into wasabi mayo, then into the sweet chili sauce for an extra blast of heat and flavor.

Sweet chili sauce, about $3.20 for a 32.5-ounce bottle at Asian markets.

Black rice vinegar, about $2.39 for a 20.3-ounce bottle at Asian markets.

Trader Joe's Wasabi Mayonnaise, $3.29 for a 12-ounce bottle at Trader Joe's.

Follow Vanessa Frida at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Culinary-Ness/151908563699#!/pages/Culinary-Ness/151908563699?v=info

"Now, tequila may be the favored beverage of outlaws but that doesn't mean it gives them preferential treatment. In fact, tequila probably has betrayed as many outlaws as has the central nervous system and dissatisfied wives. Tequila, scorpion honey, harsh dew of the doglands, essence of Aztec, crema de cacti; tequila, oily and thermal like the sun in solution; tequila, liquid geometry of passion; Tequila, the buzzard god who copulates in midair with the ascending souls of dying virgins; tequila, firebug in the house of good taste; O tequila, savage water of sorcery, what confusion and mischief your sly, rebellious drops do generate!" — Tom Robbins (Still Life with Woodpecker)

La Conquista is one of those places just off the freeway where travelers pop in for a fast meal, then slide back onto I-5, never to return. Femme de Joie and Amico del Signore visited a couple of months after it opened. It was, not to put too fine a point on it, Godawful. All M. de Joie recalls of that evening is a vegetarian burrito filled with what were labeled "grilled vegetables." They weren't grilled, they were interrogated and tortured. Amnesty International and the Geneva Convention couldn't have saved them. We expected La Conquista to go out of business shortly.

Three years later and La Conquista is still in operation. Femme de Joie decided to be brave and give it another try. It's hard for her to believe that a restaurant could stay in business based on shots of 500 tequilas, but that may indeed be the case, as the food ranges from pretty average to pretty stuccolike.

Service was friendly and fast. Chips and salsa arrived at the table promptly, along with one food menu, one tequila menu, and one cocktail menu. This, in addition to the laminated tequila menu tacked on the wall of every booth, did not bode well for what the food might be like.



The menus are difficult to read, with bolded font on very intensely-colored paper in torn plastic page protectors. And they're badly organized: La Conquista has all the standard Mexican menu items, but you'll have to search for them. They're there somewhere in the midst of more tequila promotion. Combination platters are featured at La Conquista, most of them running $9.29 at lunch and $9.99 at dinner; they come with a choice of sides -- refried beans, corn, rice, or a green salad.



La famosa wet burrito with shredded beef, $8.99


Shredded beef filling was moist and tender but not especially flavorful. The refried beans inside were not nearly as hot as the meat so there were hot and cool spots within the burrito. Serving size was very generous.



Pork enchilada verde and chicken taco ($9.29 lunch, $9.99 dinner)


This combo of enchilada and taco were amply sized, filled with tender but bland shredded meat, but overwhelmed with too much melted cheese. It took a few spoonfuls of salsa to add any character other than cheese. A side salad was served separately (a good idea instead of lettuce wilting rapidly on a hot platter); nothing out of the ordinary but was adequate. The corn also was served separately -- plain buttered corn but unusually sweet, as though it had been heated in sugar water.



Shredded beef tamale and chile rellano, rice and beans ($9.29 lunch, $9.99 dinner).

This plate was heavy going and difficult to plow through. The tamale was shaped like a taco with nary a corn husk in sight, plasterlike masa reminiscent of canned Gebhardt's tamales and the same shredded beef used in the wet burrito. Gobs of melted Monterey Jack cheese engulfed the beef bursting from the masa casing. The chile rellano was a canned green chile filled with Monterey Jack cheese, coated in a heavy floury egg batter and deep-fried, then covered with more cheese. Refried beans were canned and the rice had a weird and unpleasant over-reheated taste. Everything was very salty.

Though M. de Joie visited La Conquista three times during prime dining hours, she never saw more than ten tables occupied. She has to assume those 500 tequilas are keeping it in business - though she didn't actually see anyone belly up to the bar and order a shot. If you're looking for a tequila sunrise, an aged anejo, or a shot with a lick of salt and a squeeze of lime, this is the place, but M. de Joie thinks you could do better elsewhere for dinner.

La Conquista, 1630 Hilltop Drive, Redding, CA 96002. 530-222-0450. Open Tuesday-Saturday, 11 AM - 9 PM, Sunday 11 AM - 8 PM. No checks. Cash, cards. Full bar. Vegetarian selections. Parking on-site. Outdoor seating.

It's been noted before in this space that strip malls can be an unlikely place to find good food. The many vacancies and low rent in Redding make them ideal for small family-run restaurants. Yuet Bistro is one such place.

Yuet Bistro's interior is a bit more elegant and stylish than you'd expect given it's next to a tire shop and there's a parking lot just a few feet from the window. A long polished bar describes one wall; discreet hanging light fixtures cast a better glow on diners than ordinary florescent lighting. Lacquered chairs and tables are comfortably spaced apart so you don't feel like your neighbor could just reach over and take a bite off your plate. Service is prompt and ranges from friendly to perfunctory.



So the interior’s nice. But how’s the food? With a menu extended between dim sum, Thai, Cantonese, Mandarin and Szechuan, Femme de Joie was a bit concerned that the kitchen wouldn’t be able to successfully accomplish everything they advertise. But M. de Joie is pleased to recommend Yuet Bistro for lunch or dinner, or a dim sum extravaganza. Prices are right for a speedy bargain lunch, but this is no fast-food express joint: the cuisine is elegant enough to take a date or enjoy a special occasion with family.



Hot and sour soup - $3.50 cup, $6 bowl or available with lunch specials.

Though it could have packed more heat, this warming and filling soup was nicely sour and was brimming with lots of crunchy julienned vegetables. It was a pleasant surprise to find hot and sour soup is an option to go with lunch specials in place of the ubiquitous egg flower soup.



Singapore style noodles with pork and curry, $8.95

This was the weakest dish M. de Joie sampled at Yuet Bistro. Noodles, veggies, Chinese BBQ pork, and shrimp were all cooked beautifully. Unfortunately, the curry powder wasn't stirred in thoroughly. About half of the dish didn't have any curry and tasted very bland, and then suddenly there’d be a mouthful of pasty curry powder glommed onto the rice noodles. Too bad, because the other ingredients were perfect.



Ma po tofu -- lunch special, $6.95, including steamed or fried rice and a choice of egg flower or hot and sour soup.

This was a terrific deal -- a very large portion of cubed tofu, strips of tender pork, diced carrots and peas in a gingery, not-too-sweet spicy-hot sauce, along with a generous amount of freshly cooked fried rice. Even an unreconstructed carnivore would enjoy this hearty special vegetarian dish with meaty textures. Ma po tofu can be made sans pork for a vegetarian dish.



Salt-baked squid $8.95, enough to serve two or three as an appetizer to share.

Salt-baked squid is not, in fact, baked but rather deep-fried in a light, puffy coating, with lots of browned slivered garlic, salt, fresh jalapenos, and dried chilies thrown over the top and served with hoi sin, sweet and sour, and garlic-chili paste. Femme de Joie could hardly stop eating this delicious, intensely flavored dim sum. Amico del Signore is not a squid fan but he loved this.



Thai tom yum seafood soup, $8.95 for a very large serving.

M. de Joie loved this spicy and warming Thai soup, sour with limes in a strongly aromatic broth and filled with three green-lipped mussels and plenty of squid and shrimp. This is a soup for those who love assertive flavors and unexpected combinations of tastes.

Now that the Cypress Street Bridge is complete and there aren’t 20-minute delays crossing the river, Yuet Bistro is easily accessible from downtown for lunch, or make a special evening reservation and enjoy some sophisticated Asian food in an attractive dining room.

Yuet Bistro, 24 Hartnell Avenue, Redding, CA 96002. 530-222-8322. Open Sunday-Thursday 11 AM - 9 PM; Friday and Saturday 11 AM - 11 PM. Cash, cards; no checks. Ample onsite parking. Vegetarian and vegan options. Beer and wine. See menu at http://www.yuetbistro.com/

Note: this was originally written and posted last winter. Not so appropriate for June, but still, a bowl of soup might be just what the doctor ordered.

Before the sunny streak, this winter had been very much like the Shasta County winters Femme de Joie remembers from her childhood, when she had to walk five miles to school in a blizzard uphill both ways over hot burning coals -- whoops, sorry. That’s a different rant for a different time.

But it looks like this season's rainy and cold winter has resumed, and that makes M. de Joie think fondly of soup -- not just adding one can water to one can of Campbell's, but real soup, soup that comforts you when you are sick, warms you down to your popsicle toes when you’re frozen, rejuvenates you when things look bleak. While it’s quite easy to whip up wonderful, soothing, full-meal soups in one’s own kitchen with only a modicum of effort, there are certain soups most people don’t attempt at home, putting them instead on the lists of foods they only eat when at a restaurant. And there are times when you just don’t feel like cooking, or when you need lunch but don't want to eat so much you feel groggy the rest of the day.

If you’re out and about on a miserable winter day, or at home wishing you had a large steaming bowl of soupy comfort in front of you, here are a few of Femme de Joie’s favorites. Each is a meal by itself, reasonably priced, and most are just a bit more exotic than chicken noodle (though dear knows chicken noodle has its place on a list of favorite comfort foods).

ALBONDIGAS AT EL MARIACHI’S



Albondigas, $4.50/$7.50, served with tortillas. This savory broth is seasoned with oregano and includes generous chunks of zucchini, carrots, onions and tomatoes, plus large meatballs. It’s sophisticated enough for adults while also appealing to kids.

For the adventurous, Femme de Joie can't say enough good things about the ridiculously red giant bowl of menudo (not pictured) served daily at El Mariachi's. Hot tortillas and a side plate of lime wedges, dried chili flakes, minced onion and chopped cilantro allows the diner to enhance the soup to taste. Fat tender pillows of tripe -- without what a friend described as "that cow-stomach smell" -- bob in a rich chili base. $7.99 for an enormous serving; good whether you have a hangover or not.

VEGETARIAN CHILI AT GRILLA BITES



Every day, Grilla Bites offers a selection of soups -- mostly organic, always with a vegetarian selection, and some designated as gluten-free. The day M. de Joie visited, the offerings included vegetarian chili (pictured above), lentil, minestrone, and their signature Rockin’ Moroccan. $3.50 for a small bowl, $6.50 for a large serving; add $2.00 to be served in a bread bowl.

PHO AT PHO SAIGON



As the name indicates, pho is the specialty of this little cafe tucked away in a corner of a strip mall near Raley's. M. de Joie favors tai sach - variety beef cuts including tendon, tripe, meatballs, and flanken, along with rice noodles in a star anise-spiced roasted beef broth, side dish of bean sprouts, fresh cilantro, and hot chilis to add as desired.



For those who like fish and want to expand their horizons a bit, try pho hai san - shrimp, squid, fish cake, imitation crab meat with rice noodle. A small bowl is $7.99.

KHAO SOY AT 5 THAIS


Khao soy ($6.99) may look like square marshmallows floating in a bowl of chocolate milk, but one sniff, one taste, will reveal flavor combinations of coconut, red and yellow Thai curry, and onion that are simply out of this world. If tofu doesn't rock your socks, chicken and beef are alternatives. Also available at sister restaurant Racha Noodle.

If there’s a restaurant that makes a fine soup you crave, M. de Joie would love to hear about it. Meanwhile, give these places a try for a warming lunch or dinner that won’t break the bank. Call for opening days/hours and more information. Note: 5 Thais and Racha Noodle accept cash only.

Pho Saigon, 236 Hartnell Avenue, Redding; 530-223-9888

Grilla Bites, 1427 Market Street, Redding, 96001; 530-242-6656

El Mariachi's, 2914 Churn Creek Road, Redding, 96002; 530-224-1847

5 Thais, 1003 Dana Drive, Suite A, Redding; 530-221-8929

Racha Noodle, 2630 South Market Street, Redding, 96001; 530- 246-8730

It's been five years since Femme de Joie set foot in International House of Pancakes, and that was only because she was in an unfamiliar city for an unpleasant reason and didn't feel up to looking for a decent place to eat. The only memory she carries with her of that breakfast was how horrifyingly, overwhelmingly sweet everything was.

Nutrition information is available on the IHOP website, and it was shocking to learn an order of Stuffed French Toast contains 39 grams of fat and a whopping 45 grams of sugar; add strawberry topping and that's another 16 grams of sugar. That comes out to 13 teaspoons of sugar and 350 calories' worth of fat.

Which brings us to From the Hearth, a local bakery turning out high-quality bread such as green onion-garlic-Cheddar, olive oil & rosemary, and 100% whole wheat. They also make wonderful cinnamon-raisin and pineapple-apricot, both of which are ideal for making your own stuffed French toast at home with more taste and texture and far less sugar than Worldwide Palace o' Flapjacks. And it's stupid easy. Here's how:



Spread cream cheese on one slice of bread. (We used Green Valley cream cheese, made by Rumiano Cheese of Willows - we found it at Grocery Outlet for $1.50 a pound. Luscious.) You don't need much.



Top with jam of your choice. Again, less is more.



Dip in egg-milk mixture and fry.



Voila. Your own very delicious stuffed French toast, for a fraction of the cost of what IHOP charges and far less sugar and fat.

From the Hearth Bakery. Available at Tops Sunset Marketplace, R&R Meats, Orchard Nutrition Center, and at From the Hearth Cafe, 1292 College View Drive Redding, CA 96003. (530) 245-0555, Open Mon 7am-3pm; Tue-Sat 7am-9pm; Sun 7am-6pm
See http://www.fromthehearthbakery.com/

Oscar Matson: Attention must be paid

Years ago a local winemaker told Femme de Joie about a call he made to UC Davis to ask what kinds of wine grapes would do well in Shasta County. He was told, "We don't know, but be sure to let us know what happens!"



Oscar Matson, as pictured on Matson Vineyards' web site.
At a time when the wine industry was rapidly picking up steam in Napa/Sonoma but no one knew if wine grapes could be successfully grown in our blisteringly hot summers, Oscar Matson took a giant step and established Shasta County's first bonded winery.

Femme de Joie only met him twice but was impressed with his kindness, gregarious nature, generosity, and knowledge of, it seemed, just about everything. He was a memorable personality who greeted us at Matson Vineyards with a shout and expansive wave from his balcony and gave us a tour of the vineyard. He quizzed us on our wine knowledge as we tasted, and bubbled over with information about growing grapes, making wines, and tasting.

Matson led the way for the burgeoning wine industry here in Shasta and surrounding counties. Yes, it would have come about anyway, but someone had to take that leap of faith and be the first to prove good wine could be made here, and that someone was Oscar Matson. Godspeed.

Oscar Matson died Jan. 17, 2011. He was 88.

It was 1968 that Buz’s Crab Stand opened for business in a slightly grotty location between a dry cleaner’s and Safeway. Back then, after placing an order, customers had to keep one ear peeled for staff yelling through the noisy restaurant that their order was ready. The menu was short and sweet: fish and chips, a few broiled fish dishes, clam chowder. Though they claim to be a “funky fish joint,” nowadays Buz’s is more genteel and calculatedly funky than in their early days. The amount of available seating has expanded and servers now bring food to your table. You still order at the counter -- usually standing for a few minutes reading the enormous menu board behind the cashier -- and get your own non-alcoholic drinks, but now diners are given a table marker saying Swordfish or Halibut to ensure food is delivered to the right table. Service has been friendly and prompt.

Buz’s menu has expanded wildly since those early days, which may appeal to a broader demographic with more adventurous palates than was had forty-some years ago, but very often the execution is uneven and disappointing. There doesn’t seem to be one chef overseeing operations and ensuring consistency. Pastas, wraps, fish burgers, Southwestern, Cajun, cioppino, Mexican, fish kebabs, grilled/fried/broiled -- Femme de Joie feels that while trying to please every taste, the kitchen has spread itself too thin.



The signature dish at Buz’s, fish and chips, $7.75. The batter was crisp but bland; the fish was fine the first few bites while still warm from the fryers. After that it became apparent the fish inside was dry and overcooked. Chips -- which appear to have been pre-cooked en masse and kept warm; they certainly are not freshly fried -- are under the fish so any crispness they might once have had is steamed out by lying under the hot filets.



Crab chowder,$5.49. This rich and creamy soup was filled with new potatoes and loads of crab. Unfortunately, the delicate, sweet crab taste was lost due to a heavy hand with dried herbs.



Salmon bisque was much more successful than the crab bisque; the stronger flavor of meaty salmon chunks stood up nicely in a not-too-creamy base.



Two fish tacos supreme. Nuggets of deep-fried fish were crunchy but tasteless and covered with guacamole from a jar, cheese, olives, salsa from a jar, scallions, and a very runny creamy sauce that saturated the flour tortillas and eventually made the entire taco a soggy mess.



Open-faced crab sandwich on sourdough was one of the better offerings: lots of hot crab under a not-too-heavy coat of melted cheese on a thick slice of sourdough. The sweet crab -- mixed with bits of celery -- came through nicely and the sandwich was kept hot on a metal platter. There were plenty of those soft, pasty chips on the side.



The best thing Femme de Joie had at Buz’s: a fresh green salad.

Generally, M. de Joie doesn’t care much about presentation as long as the food is good. But when she pays a fairly hefty price for lunch and then finds the food isn’t all that wonderful, she starts to notice things. For instance: a $5.50 cup of soup served in a plastic bowl, runny and drippy tacos served in a plastic basket with a sheet or two of paper to keep the flood from spilling onto the table, cheap plastic forks. It wouldn’t be so noticeable if other restaurants did the same thing, but if you’re paying sit-down prices and getting takeaway plastic and paper, you start thinking about whether you’re getting the best value for money.

Buz’s Crab Seafood Restaurant and Market, 2159 East Street, Redding, CA 96001. 530-243-2120, fax 530-243-4310. Open Sunday-Wednesday, 11 AM - 8 PM, Thursday-Saturday 11 AM - 9 PM. Seafood market open Sunday-Wednesday 9 AM - 8 PM, Thursday-Sunday 9 AM - 9 PM. Beer and wine. On-site parking. Cash, local checks, cards. Overnight delivery of fish via FedEx; see website for details. Website at http://www.buzscrab.com/index.php

Last June while wandering through San Francisco’s Chinatown, Femme de Joie and Amico del Signore stopped in at Vital Tea Shop (see here for details). We bought some tea and on our way out, asked Jason, the proprietor, for a recommendation on a good place to eat. When he asked us, “What do you feel like having? Malaysian, Vietnamese, Szechuan, Hunan, Korean, Cantonese, seafood?” we knew we had asked the right man. We said we wanted simple Cantonese food, and he directed us around the corner and up Washington half a block - “Look for the ducks in the window.”

We eagerly hiked up half a steep block and walked into New King Tin. There were Peking ducks hanging in the window; to the right of the cash register a man worked patiently turning out won tons, chopping ducks, making fish balls. Before us was a large nondescript dining room with worn linoleum and unadorned Formica-topped tables; fish tanks bubbled in the back with live lobsters, crab, catfish and cod; and tables full of Chinese families were noisily and eagerly tucking into dishes with aromas that made us weak in the knees.



Though we couldn’t read them, the presence of hand-lettered signs in Chinese told us we were in the right place.

Since that first visit a year ago, we’ve made three more stops at New King Tin. Yeah, it’s that good. We’ve sampled a variety of dishes from the menu and we might have to visit about fifty more times to try everything, but that is a challenge we’re willing to take on.



Won ton soup - the won ton filling is made fresh on the premises, unlike many restaurants that order bulk filling (along with pre-chopped egg roll filling). The mixed pork and chicken broth makes this an especially rich version.



Those ducks in the window aren’t just for display. A generous order of star-anise scented roast duck set us back just $7.95 - tender, juicy, and meaty, this was enough for two people as part of a Chinese dinner.



Hot and spicy braised eggplant ($6.95) and sweet and sour pork ($8.95). Asian eggplants sliced and braised with hot dried chilis and pork were filling and meaty in texture. The sweet and sour pork was luscious: cubes of deep-fried pork had a crunchy exterior and flavorful, tender interior with a tangy, light sauce, not sugary sweet but piquant.



Double meatball soup ($5.50 for enough for two people) had tofu, pork meatballs, and fish balls in a lovely gingery chicken broth with spinach; though it might sound like an odd combination, it worked well. The fish balls did not overwhelm the rest of the flavors but were instead delicately flavored and light.



New King Tin’s version of tomato-beef chow mein was light and crispy with deep-fried rice noodles, small bites of steak, and a scattering of fresh vegetables. Not at all salty with soy sauce or oily as so often happens, this was one of our favorite dishes.



Oysters with black bean sauce ($12.95) were the surprise hit for both Amico del Signore and Femme de Joie. Six oysters in the shell are topped with fermented black beans, garlic, and scallions, and steamed. Briny fresh oysters took on an exotic dimension neither of us dreamed existed - salty, spicy, amazingly plump and juicy. We loved this so much we ordered it two days in a row.

If you’re in Chinatown and looking for an authentic restaurant, we can’t recommend New King Tin enough. It’s not a place many tourists go. It isn’t pretty and the restrooms are frankly a little scary. But service was polite, helpful, and prompt, servings are generous, the menu is extensive and inexpensive, the fish could not be fresher, and you’ll roll out of there wondering when you can come back.

New King Tin, 826 Washington Street (between Ross Alley and Grant Avenue), San Francisco, CA 94108. 415-368-8088/8188. Credit and debit cards; cash. Open daily 8 AM-12 AM. Beer and wine. Street parking only; good luck. Better to park elsewhere and hoof it, or take Muni; lines 41 Union, 30-Stockton, 45 Union-Stockton, 8 Express, 10 Townsend, 12 Folsom, 27 Bryant, 1 California, and the Powell Street cable car all come nearby. Sample menu at http://sanfrancisco.menupages.com/restaurants/new-king-tin-restaurant/menu