Best restaurant meals I ate around Sacramento in July | Food reporter’s notebook
You’ll get far more than what you ordered at Rosemont’s traditional Korean restaurants. West Sacramento’s Latino roots still run deep, with taquerias to prove it. Carmichael — Carmichael! — has a party-friendly sushi bar where the food is no afterthought.
These were the best restaurant meals I ate around the Sacramento area in July. All reviews were first published in The Sacramento Bee’s free weekly food and drink newsletter, which hits inboxes at noon each Wednesday. Visit https://bit.ly/bee_food_drink_newsletter to sign up.
Paste Thai
I added Paste Thai to my ever-expanding dining list after reading Kathi Riley Smith’s glowing recommendation in Sacramento Magazine earlier this year. The American River College culinary supervisor and former chef at San Francisco’s famous Zuni Cafe, Riley Smith has repeatedly made the drive from Sacramento to Davis for Paste’s fresh produce, scratch-made curries and balanced cooking since the restaurant opened last June.
You can taste those carefully-plucked ingredients in the ginger stir-fry ($17-$19 depending on your choice of protein), brightened by chef Kim Luanglath’s expert cooking. Enoki mushrooms, multiple types of bell peppers and onions and a garlic-ginger sauce provided the backdrop for the fried tofu, fluffy on the inside of its leathery jacket.
Thai chicken curry puffs ($16 for three) made for a fun appetizer; my Indian American dining companion compared them to slightly sweeter samosas. Flaky shells gave way to an earthy filling of diced chicken, carrots and potatoes, with a sweet cucumber-onion relish for contrast.
I could smell the coconut milk wafting off Paste Thai’s panang nuer ($19), a vibrant auburn curry infused with makrut lime leaves, the second it reached the table. The centerpiece chunks of beef were perfectly cooked, surprisingly tender and still pink on the inside.
Address: 417 Mace Blvd., Suite I, Davis.
Hours: 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m. and 4:30-9 p.m., seven days a week.
Phone number: (530) 564-7051.
Website: https://order.toasttab.com/online/paste-thai-417-mace-blvd-ste-i
Drinks: Beer, wine, tea and sodas — try a bottle of the Beerlao dark for a pleasantly malty Laotian option.
Animal-free options: Many.
Noise level: Quiet to medium-quiet.
Silver Sake
Camon Lee was just 22 when he founded Silver Sake, his informal sushi restaurant in Carmichael’s Marconi & Walnut Shopping Center (he also owns Sushi Kakogan in Rocklin). Nearly 21 years later, it’s predominantly staffed by the next generation, a group of outgoing young friends who eat and drink at Silver Sake even on their days off.
Speaking of drinking ... Friday nights are a true party atmosphere, with sake shots being poured throughout and generally slow service. It’s more family-friendly on other nights — kids even eat free on Mondays — though 22-ounce Japanese beers are still discounted to $5 on Wednesdays and Thursdays.
Silver Sake isn’t trying to hide its food behind alcohol, though. Salmon and yellowtail nigiri ($7 and $8, respectively, for two pieces of each) were surprisingly flavorful, and the soft-shell crab ($16) appetizer put a crunchy tempura shell around the creamy seafood flown in from Maine.
The pepperfin ($16 for 4 ounces of albacore, $23 for 6.5 ounces with avocado and fried jalapeños or $28 for chef’s choice of fish) is Silver Sake’s best-known item. Fish comes swimming atop shredded daikon in a smoky ponzu/chili oil sauce, as tasty as it is pretty.
Most non-veggie rolls come with tempura shrimp in the center, and the tango roll ($23) might be the best of the bunch. Decadent and full of contrast, it was filled with spicy tuna and snow crab as well and topped with hearty chunks of barbecued albacore in a somewhat spicy orange sauce.
Address: 4949 Marconi Ave., Carmichael.
Hours: 11 a.m.-2 p.m. and 5-9 p.m. Monday-Friday, 12-3 p.m. and 5-9 p.m. Saturday, 5-9 p.m. Sunday.
Phone number: (916) 473-6368.
Website: http://silversakesushi.com/
Drinks: Beer, wine and sake.
Animal-free options: A section of vegetarian and vegan rolls, starter salads and tempura options.
Noise level: Medium-loud to loud during dinner.
Pine Tree House
Head to Rosemont — to Pine Tree House, specifically — for classic Korean comforts. Opened in 2008 at 9205 Folsom Blvd., Suite D, it’s an understated spot for traditional stews, grilled meat and bibimbap in a strip of Korean restaurants on the outskirts of Sacramento.
Each meal at Pine Tree House begins with a dozen banchan — complementary side dishes such as kimchi, macaroni salad and egg custard to nibble on while heartier items are being prepared. Appetizers are available on top of that, such as bindae-tteok, a thick, crispy mung bean pancake ($22 for four).
Then it’s on to mains such as grilled atka fish ($23, or $29 with an excellent bean paste soup loaded with umami). Also known as mackerel or godeungeo-gui, the salty fish is served with its fins still on.
Pine Tree lacks the tabletop grills and all-you-can-eat options of some Korean barbecue destinations, but the kitchen makes a mean kalbi beef ($34, or $37 with a cold, slippery noodle dish called mul-naengmyeon). The barbecued short ribs are thick and juicy, and coated in just enough sweet/spicy sauce to highlight without smothering.
Address: 9205 Folsom Blvd., Suite D, Sacramento.
Hours: 11 a.m.-10 p.m. seven days a week.
Phone number: (916) 366-3323.
Website: None.
Drinks: Soft drinks, beer and Korean drinks such as bokbunja-ju and baekse-ju with the alcohol content of wine.
Animal-free options: Several.
Noise level: Typically quiet, aside from recorded piano playing in the background.
Cocina Doña Chuyita
West Sacramento’s last decade has been marked by housing growth, rapid development along the Sacramento River and craft breweries as it became a more attractive, less expensive alternative to Sacramento living.
Latinos still make up 33% of the city’s population, according to the most recent Census data, and traditional places such as Cocina Doña Chuyita have persevered through those changes. Tucked away off Jefferson Boulevard between a liquor store and tire shop, Dulce Jazmin Ascencio’s restaurant opened in 2012 with Mexican license plates lining the walls and pineapple-spinach aguas frescas ($3.09).
Go for the camarones a la cora ($19) if you enjoy a fireball’s worth of heat. Chili seeds poke out from this shrimp dish native to the small, coastal state of Nayarit, which has a pleasantly sour marinade lurking behind its wall of spice.
Gooey, cheesy quesabirria tacos ($4.50 apiece) were a more modern highlight, double-wrapped in large corn tortillas and stuffed with juicy stewed beef. You’ll want a cup of the warm, rich consommé ($2.07, can support two or three tacos) for dunking.
Address: 1035 Drever St., West Sacramento.
Hours: 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday.
Phone number: (916) 572-0066.
Website: http://ordercocinadonachuyita.com/
Drinks: Beer, sodas and aguas frescas.
Animal-free options: Hard to find vegan and even vegetarian options; a few of the latter include huevos rancheros, nachos and quesadillas.
Noise level: Quiet.
