Stella's Soul Kitchen - May 24, 2014

Stella's Soul Kitchen

2715 Contra Loma Blvd
Antioch, CA 94509

Saturday, May 24, 2014

Five of us Grandma, Linda, Elsa, Ken and I gathered in Antioch at Noon.

Stella's is located in a very small strip mall one block south of Hwy 4.

Next door to a Pizza Hut

A 7-11 with gasoline is adjacent

Their current hours of operation

Ken, Elsa and I arrived first and got the table.  Donna the owner and cook set us up.  She named the restaurant after her mother Stella, who does not work at the restaurant.

My bad Donna's eyes are closed but this was a lone photo

Grandma lives in a contiguous town but needed to have her passenger Linda phone me for directions.  Grandma is too familiar with the streets of Antioch but did not know where this address was exactly.

All here now

Linda sees something?

Here is the standard menu.

A few daily specials are on the back

Donna even took our order.

Now for the food photos:

Smothered Pork Chops over Rice and Gravy with a side of yams

Pig's Feet with Greens and Stuffing with cranberry sauce

Oxtails with Mac and Cheese and Black Eyed Peas

Oxtails with Greens and Green Beans

Pig's Feet with Yams and Mac and Cheese

Because of their upbringing Grandma and Linda brought a baggie of short grain brown rice with them.  They both grew up eating rice with their oxtails and also with pig's feet.  It used to be short grained white rice but in their old age they switched to brown rice.  Donna not only let them but she even warmed the rice up for them.  :-)

Splitting up the mains and rice

Almost ready to start eating

Still getting ready as three of us are already eating

It takes these two a long time to prepare

Finally starting to eat

Meanwhile Ken and Elsa have already been eating for some time.

Elsa and I had split up the Oxtails and Pigs Feet while Ken had the Smothered Pork Chops all to himself.

Ken did not want a photo of the top of his head  :-)

My plate after eating.

Really these are all of the bones from everyone  :-)

The dishes were fairly highly seasoned but did not over power the taste of the main item.  You tasted the oxtail, the pig's feet, the yams, the greens and other items as the predominant flavor of each dish.


I don't know how but Ken had to have his dessert.  The rest of us were stuffed.

A small Banana Pudding

I had another customer take this group photo.

Then I take a couple of photos of the girls.

One last photo.

Great food.  A good time was had by all.


~end
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China Palace - May 3, 2014

Just Ken and I from the Lunch Bunch plus four of my Class of 1961 classmates from high school.

We had just had a Class Luncheon about 6 hours before but Bev, Pat and Naomi came from out of town and Gobo (himself) who was at the Luncheon had mentioned a Special Set Menu at the China Palace to the girls at the Luncheon.  So after spending a few hours BSing at my home the girls decided to have dinner there.

So Fuku, Ken and I who live in Stockton plus the three out of towners are off to dinner.

Fuku, Pat, Bev and Ken

The basic Set Menu for 6 was $69 for 8 dishes plus soup.  Rice was an extra charge since the normal cost of the dishes was over $100.

Soup of the day

Chinese Beef Stew (brisket  with bok choy)

Dish #1

Spicy FishCake with Veggies

Dish #2

Some kind of bbq pork dish

Dish #3

Salted Shrimp in the Shell

Dish #4

Beef and bok choy

Dish #5

Mustard Greens

Dish #6

We were suppose to have Roast Duck, but they ran out so we got a similarly prepared chicken dish in its place

Dish #7

A closer photo of the Roast Chicken

Again Dish #7

Fuku, Naomi and Pat

Eating

Bev and Ken

Eating

Our last dish was Clams in Black Bean Sauce

Dish #8

We ate quite a lot but there was still much left over.  We took home 6 take out dinner plates full of food.

~end

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