Danny ChaiFrom Clara’s page.
1. Favorite Main Entree: A well prepared steak. This is really hard to answer though, as I value variety over anything else. I love lobster in garlic sauce at Chinese restaurants also, that might be #1.
2. Favorite Salad: A warm spinach salad with caramelized red onions, mandarin oranges, goat cheese and candied walnuts. I had a very memorable salad of this type at Maya in the city years ago.
3. Favorite Soup: The clam chowder at Hog Island Oyster Co. It’s not really a soup, but it’s delicious.
4. Favorite Appetizer: The mini-cheeseburgers at Shutters On The Beach in Santa Monica. They had these at Jane and Jonathan’s wedding reception and I gorged myself.
5. Favorite Dessert: Creme brulee. A simple dessert, but a good indicator of the quality of a restaurant. I thought it would be amazing in France, but I found out later that the dessert didn’t actually originate there, which is interesting. Or not.
6. Favorite Fruit: Cherries. Bing, not Rainier.
7. Favorite Vegetable: Asparagus.
8. Favorite Sashimi: Toro. I read a fascinating article on the history of sushi recently, and found out that long ago, the most prized pieces were not the fatty cuts like toro we value today, but leaner, more flavorful pieces, and some old-school peeps still esteem them above tuna and salmon, the most popular fishes in the U.S. And as you may or may not know, sushi actually stands for the rice, not the fish, and there are hard-core traditionalists in Japan who don’t consider it sushi unless some flavor is added to the piece. It’s just interesting, because with food, no matter how hard-core you are, there are always people who are harder-core who think you don’t know “true” food. So there’s really no point in saying what’s real or not. It’s just food.
9. Favorite Sushi Roll: Spider Roll. In general, I’m against rainbow-type rolls where they mix a bunch of fish together, simply because then I can’t taste anything. This is the roll I get most frequently.
10. Favorite Soda: Not a big fan of the soda. I think it makes you fat. The regular sodas with the awful corn syrup. And the diets keep you from drinking water, which can’t be good. But of what I do drink, I probably most frequently drink the Italian grapefruit soda from Trader Joe’s.
11. Favorite Non-Alcoholic Beverage: Green tea. I drink two cups a day.
12. Favorite Alcoholic Shot: I don’t do shots. If I had to choose, I guess I’d say vodka but I know nothing about it.
13. Favorite Alcoholic Drink: Pale Ale. I know very little about alcoholic drinks, but I do know I enjoy Pale Ales with a hearty meal.
14. Favorite Cake: Not that into cake, either. The Prolific Oven’s chocolate cake is pretty good though, although expensive.
15. Favorite Pie: Pecan. It’s so sweet it can instantly cause diabetes, but it’s good.
16. Favorite Ice Cream: Pralines and Cream.
17. Favorite Milkshake: The Oreo Cookie Shake from Jack in the Box. I rarely partake though, because I’m lactose intolerant, but sometimes, the pain is worth it.
18. Favorite Cut Of Beef: Rib Eye. Not into the filet mignon. It’s tender, but no flavor. A T-Bone is a good compromise.
19. Favorite Cuisine: Japanese. Which is odd, because growing up, I used to hate all Japanese food that wasn’t tempura. Now I love it.
20. Favorite Part Of Chicken: Breast meat. I once had fried chicken in Korea that included the neck. Not a fan.
21. Favorite Fried Food: Corn dogs. When I worked at M.D. Anderson, I’d regularly get the corn dogs in the cafeteria. Nowadays, I can’t reconcile the cost of a corn dog with the small volume, e.g. at Hot Dog On A Stick. So although I love it, I rarely eat it.
22. Favorite Cookie: The freshly baked chocolate chip cookies they used to sell in the snack bar by the library in high school. They wouldn’t fully cook it, so it was warm, gooey, and delicious.
23. Favorite Indian Curry: uh, no clue. I like the sauce in butter chicken, if that counts.
24. Favorite Gum: I never chew gum. I’d probably choose Big League Chew because it’s soft.
25. Favorite Candy: Those little A&W root beer candies. The Dad’s root beer candies are a little too rough.
26. Favorite Crepe: Ham and cheese. Minho’s right though, nothing compares to a sidewalk crepe in France, so every time I get one here, I’m always slightly disappointed.
27. Favorite Sandwich: Grilled pork Vietnamese sandwich. At one point I ate at least one every week.
28. Favorite Pizza: The Great Chicago Fire at Pizza Chicago. Tomatoes, sausage, fresh garlic, cilantro, and sport peppers that burn as much going out as it does coming in, but it’s worth it. I fully realize it’s not authentic Chicago-style, and I don’t care.
29. Favorite Mexican Dish: Seafood enchiladas. And I don’t know why, but it’s better in Houston than in the Bay Area.
30. Favorite Vietnamese Dish: Probably that dish where they prepare meat a bunch of different ways.
31. Favorite Korean Dish: Can’t beat kalbi. It’s the best way to prepare meat on the planet.
32. Favorite Chinese Dish: Honey walnut prawns.
33. Favorite Filipino Dish: I like the candied banana they sell at Goldilocks. I don’t know Filipino food too well.
34. Favorite Southern Food: Chicken fried steak. I don’t know who came up with this idea, but it’s brilliant, and I wonder why it hasn’t spread more. Why not chicken fried tofu? I’d try that once.
35. Favorite Instant Noodles Brand: Sapporo Ichiban in a cup.
36. Favorite Juice: Pomegranate.
37. Favorite Snack Food: Snyder’s of Hanover Honey Mustard and Onion Pretzel Bits. More addictive than crack.
38. Favorite Fish: Salmon. Have I mentioned this before? My family habitually overcooked salmon when I was growing up, and it was only after I left for college that I learned what good salmon really tastes like.
39. Favorite Cereal: Honey Bunches of Oats.
40. Favorite Pho: Steak and beef balls. I love pho beef balls, but I like for there to be other meat in there also.
41. Favorite Breakfast Food: Eggs Benedict.
42. Favorite French Food: Steak frites. Can you even call this French? Whatever. Steak with french fries. Great idea. Good stuff.
43. Favorite McDonald’s Food: Sausage McMuffin with Egg. It tastes delicious, and brings back memories of post Saturday-morning soccer games as a kid. And only has like 200% of your cholesterol for the day.
44. Favorite Pasta Dish: Hmm. I rather like the seafood spaghetti (Tarantina?) at Pasta? The combination of seafood with a slightly spicy sauce. I dig.
45. Favorite Bread: Oroweat Buttermilk Bread. I never get it, since whole wheat bread is healthier, but it’s still my favorite.
46. Favorite Tea: Green.
47. Favorite 7-11 Slurpee Flavor: Cherry.
48. Favorite Hershey’s Kiss: The swirly one with toffee bits. Mmm, toffee.
49. Favorite Flavor of M&Ms: They have flavors? I guess the plain milk chocolate ones.
50. Favorite Candy Bar: Snickers