Thoughts of you dominate my mind, still, mom.

So tonight I’m sitting at home and I’ve got this craving for Japanese food again. However, this time I want some ramen. It’s been months since I had a good bowl. But I don’t feel like driving all the way to San Francisco or to Berkeley…

Early this year I was on a mission to find ramen as good as the stuff I ate in Japan and in SoCal (Ebisu, how I miss you). With the help of www.yelp.com (I love that website—-if you live in the Bay Area you MUST try it) I was able to locate quite a few good ramen restaurants in the Bay Area. Like Santa, Ryowa, Tanpopo, and Gen to name a few.

Tonight I wouldn’t mind going to Santa in San Mateo, but man that wait just isn’t worth it. And let’s just say that the restaurant was built for midgets, not Tom Bissells. Let’s see here, I’ll just fire up my web browser and go to Yelp! again to see what the locals have to say… Himawari in downtown San Mateo, eh? Sounds good, I’ll try it. Within minutes I’m out the door with some directions and a purpose.

West on 92 across the bridge, north on 101, take the 3rd St. exit, and there you are—-downtown San Mateo. Only 17 miles from my house. What a nice area it is, too. I mean *really* nice. Almost too nice. The whole area is squeaky clean and just *reeks* of money. No graffitti, no trash on the street, no cracks in the sidewalk, everything is new, and all the people look like yuppies.

I immediately see the parking garage and take the first spot. I walk outside and whoomp, there it is: corporate America. Starbucks, Noah’s Bagels, and Jamba Juice—-boom boom boom, all three right next door to the other. OK, that’s not my scene, but it’s all good. I noticed quite a few businesses I wouldn’t mind checking out on the drive through downtown to the parking garage. So I walk two blocks and can’t help but notice the plethora of Japanese restaurants—-mostly Americanized sushi joints. But I want ramen, and I’m looking for Himawari. Oh look, there it is…

Wow, this place is fancy. Meh. Jazz on the stereo? I take a seat at a Japanese sized table (read: way too small for me) and order my favorites—-Kirin Ichiban on draft (bonus points), gyoza, and cha shu ramen. My beer arrives quickly and is very cold. The waitress brings my gyoza (which was excellent, much better than Ryowa’s) and a steaming bowl of cha shu men (Soy flavored ramen with extra pork slices). It’s so good and I’m starving so I wolf it down, barely pausing to savor the awesomeness of the food. Wow, that was really good. A little too expensive though. I think Ryowa in Berkeley is still my favorite ramen. Time for a walk.

It’s a good feeling, exploring an area that feels safe, you know? Downtown San Mateo is such a place. I spent a good two hours walking up and down all the streets, and in and out of all the bars, restaurants, cafes, pubs, bistros, and the like. Let me tell you, this place is cool. A little too yuppy for my taste, I feel more comfortable in places where chicks dress like it’s 1950 and the guys have arms covered in tats, but whatever. I like downtown San Mateo and I’ll definitely be back.

Here now… some stuff that I found:
A pool hall in an old bank building
Two “lounges” (you know, places with chill music, martinis, and comfortable couches)
O’Neill’s Irish Pub, which had the best nook in all of downtown San Mateo
Two other Irish bars, can’t remember their names
A greek food joint in a hole in the wall, looked and smelled delicious
L&L Hawaiian BBQ
Two sports bars, one for yuppies, and one for me
An Internet cafe with free wi-fi
A movie theater
Lots of Chinese and Indian food restaurants
A Spanish-Peruvian food restaurant with fantastic atmosphere
Several Mom ‘n’ Pop coffee houses
A Japanese knick knack store
Lots of Italian/Pizza restaurants

I’m sure I missed a lot. There’s no way I can find everything in just two hours. That said, I did see enough to know that downtown San Mateo should be the next location of the next Expedition of the Drinkin’ With Dave Podcast All Star Drinking Team.

So that’s it. How about some crappy photos taken with my cell phone? Oh, all right…

On Saturday August 12th the crew assembled once again for our 2nd Expedition. This time our destination was downtown Hayward for the 9th Annual IPA Festival at The Bistro.

Deb had some bridal shower thingy to attend so we had to heave-ho without her. Under the careful supervision of The Captain, The Navigator transported us downtown.

Hayward. Downtown Hayward. This place is really starting to come up. The city has spent a lot of time, money, and effort into revitalizing the downtown area and it shows. New businesses are coming in–bars, restaurants, shops and soon a movie theater. It’s becoming a newer, hipper place to hang out. It’s not bad, you know? I actually kinda like coming down here now. It’s almost to the point to where I wouldn’t mind living in one of the flats in the area.

Enough of that.

Our first stop was Buffalo Bills Brewpub. It was once a scummy dive bar, replete with sawdust floors and free peanuts in the shell (you were encouraged to throw the empty husks on the floor). But now it’s all yuppie-fied. It’s now slathered with Widescreen TVs, new furnishings, and an expensive menu. It’s definitely not my scene. The only beers on tap are ones that they brew themselves, right there in the establishment. They’re OK, nothing great. All in all, it’s still a decent place to sit outside on a nice Saturday afternoon in the summertime and have a pint.

The crew met James and Jen, also known as Fat Man (or Fat Gold) and his new bride, Fat Wife. Amy Bookout stopped by to say hi, accompanied by her son and some friends. Unfornately due to some misinformation they wouldn’t be staying (sorry Amy! I was only going by the information related to me by the folks at The Bistro!)

After lunch and some pints the crew set sail for The Bistro. The place was slam-jam packed. Over 50 IPA’s on tap. Oh, this could get messy. The Captain soon realized that we needed to cool out for a bit, so we once again left port for a bar down the street–The Stein Room.

Once known as Detton’s and once owned by Al Davis, The Stein Room fit the bill. We soon had pitchers of MGD and a handful of quarters for the jukebox and some pool. Not a bad music selection, but not enough old timers for my taste. I threw on some Frank Sinatra and settled into a few games of pool.

What’s this? What’s that? An actual working phone booth in the corner of the bar? Unbelievable! Sorry, no pics available.

The Stein Room was a fun place to hang out but those drink tickets for the IPA festival were burning a hole in my pocket. So the crew posse’d up and walked back up the street to The Bistro.

The festival was now in full swing. A band that played nothing but old Santana and Jimi Hendrix tunes was in the middle of a set. I sampled some more IPA’s and sat outside for awhile. I was in a good mood. The weather was perfect and the crowd was fun. It was one of those moments where it felt good to be alive.

When the band took a break I walked through the bar and out to the patio. Deborah! My sister, the Serving Whench was finally there, along with Geoff and Stacey and little Shannon. And holy cow, it’s Ernest Mayo, too!

The crew was in classic form. The IPA’s were flowing like wine, as we compared and tasted and discussed our favorites. And then Dave got “The Call”.

His wife was on her way back from San Francisco. No big deal, right? She’s going to stop and come in to hang out with us, right?

Wrong. She was going to do the drive-by thing. Pull up to the corner, Dave gets in, and they leave. She’s not stopping. No. Not even for one drink. Not even for a minute. So they couldn’t stay and David absolutely had to leave right this moment and that’s final.

And so it was that we lost The Captain.

James and Jen were exausted and headed home. Ernest Mayo needed to go as well. But Deb’s friend Jen showed up to lighten the mood.

Our day continued as the festival wound down. Their permit expired and the street once again became navagable. The tents came down, the stage was disassembled, and the brews were moved inside.

By this time it was close to 8pm and the crew needed food. Hmmm… yes, we need food. It’s been a good 8 hours since our last meal.

Anita met us for dinner at Buffalo Bills. What’s this? Nobody is drinking? Waters and iced teas filled the table. Oh Captain, where are you when we need you?

We ended our night at Geoff and Stacey’s house. Geoff is a brewer himself and had three homebrews ready to drink. A little Steel Pulse on the stereo and some pints… and then it was midnight.

And so we called it a night. And a good time was had by all.

We missed you, Captain. We were lost without you.

Click here for the pics