Food recap: Burmese and Italian favorites

Rangoon Ruby

I didn't discover Burmese food until I moved to the Bay Area. Before Rangoon Ruby opened up in Palo Alto, we had to trek up to Oakland or SF and wait in long lines for Burmese food at Burma Superstar. Now we can have amazing Burmese cuisine closer to home without the wait, since they take reservations. Pictured below - the mango salad and the tea leaf salad. Other yummy dishes - rainbow salad, nan gyi dok noodles, and pumpkin stew. 

Delfina
Delfina is an oldie but a goodie in San Francisco. I love their spaghetti - almost as much as I love Scarpetta's rendition of this dish. I'm a big fan of simple classics that are done really well. They usually have an amazing buttermilk panna cotta but on this day, they only had lavender panna cotta so I opted for some Bi-Rite ice cream across the street instead.

Osteria
Osteria is one of my favorite Italian places in the Bay Area. The Palo Alto restaurant is unpretentious, the portions are generous, and prices are pretty fair. My favorite dish is the homemade fettucine with mushrooms and truffle oil, as pictured below. The pasta is perfectly al dente and the truffle oil makes everything taste more heavenly. I also love their calamari and I don't normally like that stuff. Their calamari comes in tender steak portions that are super delicious and completely unlike the typical fried calamari. Their hazelnut flan is pretty popular, but I normally go to Paris Baguette for dessert when I'm in Palo Alto.