Day 32: Posh Bagel (Niniane)

There was so much bellyaching amongst Sunfire members about going to Posh Bagel, because it is at the bottom of our building and people are tired of eating there. But there is no flexibility to the rules of the Lunch Tour!



Posh Bagel has many types of bagels, but I always get the Whole Wheat.



Here is my sandwich: turkey on whole wheat bagel. I've had it many times before. It's good.



LG was the only visitor who was accommodating enough to eat with us at Posh Bagel.

We talked about how Jack Dorsey is splitting his time between Square (where Yishan is consulting) and Twitter (where LG works).



Later in the afternoon, Chris Robinson made homemade vanilla ice cream for us. It was so good! He told us how he gained 10 pounds in 10 days after buying this ice cream maker. He said the most fattening was creme brulee ice cream. Chris: "When you're spooning the ice cream to your mouth, before it's reached your mouth, you've already gained weight."

Day 32: Posh Bagel (Yishan)

Niniane questioned my devotion to the lunch blog while we were heading out to lunch today because I had not yet posted my entry for Cantankerous Fish (it's up now, but it's backdated), but I pointed out to her that I was voluntarily going to Posh Bagel, which is not really that good and also the place I have to eat breakfast at almost every morning after I work out and come into the office, because it's right downstairs. That convinced her. Plus, I am getting my Posh Bagel entry up before hers!

LG visited today, Makinde returned from his trip overseas (programming mobile software for poor schools in Africa), and the mixer today was with Evernote. I'd seen Evernote before, but had no idea how awesome it is. I am currently using it now.

The meal at Posh Bagel wasn't too bad. In fact, the food is pretty consistently okay, and they have a much larger menu than you think. There are soups, salad, fruit, bagels, crepes, sandwiches, smoothies, pastries, juice, breakfast foods, and (I think) paninis. I think the issue is that you come in and look at one part of the menu and your brain sorts the place into "that kind" of establishment and proceeds to edit out noticing the other menus. For example, I've come to this place for years and only recently noticed that they also serve soup. I just wish it were open past 5pm (3pm on Sundays).

I eat here almost every day that I'm at Sunfire, as it is now a consistent part of my morning routine. The food isn't amazing, but somehow I never get sick of it (maybe that means the food is really amazing). The staff knows me, and they are very friendly.

Day 31: Cantankerous Fish (Yishan)

I think having a company holiday in honor of your own company is brilliant (e.g. Minted Day) and I was happy to see The Return of Niniane. Sorry I had to go to a bunch of meetings in the afternoon, Niniane.

A lot of people ordered fish and chips. It was decidedly mediocre, but this restaurant is mediocre. I seriously don't know how it's stayed in business; I think it's because the expensive lawyers upstairs at Fenwick come downstairs and spend a lot of money at the bar or something, or take clients to lunch there because it's close by. There are plenty of better places within a couple blocks. You really don't expect a placed called Cantankerous Fish to have mediocre fish and chips, but there you go.

Day 31: Cantankerous Fish (Niniane)

Today is Minted Day at Minted, the startup where I work, so everyone has the day off. I came down to Sunfire for the day. Yishan wrote me numerous IMs about how overjoyed he felt about the tap-tap sound of my typing at the desk behind him. Then he promptly left for the entire afternoon after lunch. :/

We ate at Cantankerous Fish. They have a weekday happy hour, so we often go for drinks and small plates after our mixers. Jahanzeb revealed that despite hearing the pronouncement of Happy Hour at every mixer, he thought it was just a joke and didn't realize that people actually came down to eat and drink.



I had the fish tacos, which were very good!



Jahanzeb told us that tonight he is flying to Seattle for tryouts of X Factor, which is NOT Fear Factor but rather a version of American Idol. Jahanzeb is an amazing singer who has treated us to concerts, so we are all rooting for him. We thought about how we could trick users into inadvertently sending sms'es that vote for him.



I said how I just started watching "The Wire", and Doug revealed how it's listed as one of the items on "Stuff White People Like".

It was the first day for iTeleport's new designer, who came from Tucson, Arizona. Her name is Monica. Everyone working at iTeleport ordered fish and chips during lunch.

Linda Avey and I talked a bit about attending Piaw's wedding yesterday. Piaw showed a powerpoint presentation of "Top 5 Reasons to Marry Me". The fifth reason was "Never do your own taxes again." This is very self-aware (since Piaw loves personal finance and taxation), and also timely since taxes are due today.

Day 30: Cascal (Niniane)

We went to Cascal and ordered a bunch of meat. Yishan has been weightlifting, so he needs to fill up on protein. We ordered a tapa sampler, and then an order of asado (lamb, chicken, steak). I was amused at the large quantity of meat.

The waiter brought the sampler, and then... TWO orders of asado. I started to voice my objections, but Yishan informed me that he in fact did order two asados.


It was a cornucopia of meat.


We sat outside, and the weather was good. Surprisingly, despite being in downtown Mountain View, we did not run into anyone we knew.

During this meal, I revealed that I have fallen off the exercise bandwagon. Yishan informed me that he already heard about this, from the personal trainer that we both go to. Then he gave a passionate motivational speech. As a result, I started exercising again.

Day 30: Cascal (Yishan)

Just to fill in some details about Cascal:

Both the tapa sampler and the asado were quite good. We weren't able to finish the asado, but taking the leftovers home afterwards meant that I had meat to eat later.

I did not consider my "speech" to be particularly passionate or motivational, but I am really glad that Niniane found it so, because she started exercising again. I'm not even sure what I said, so if she falls off the bandwagon again, I will not be able to reproduce this result. Readers, please help encourage Niniane to stay on the exercise bandwagon. She even has a "self-improvement using social pressure" site called Trackville that she programmed that helps you do this, so you should join it and encourage her every day!

Niniane got a new camera (or rather, cell phone) so now her pictures of the food look much better!

To answer the commenter: the restaurant was indeed rather expensive, and I would not consider the quality to be commensurate with the price. It was good food, but it was really expensive (on the other hand, we did order two asados). However, they also have a half-price happy hour and are right next to Cantankerous Fish, so those who attend the Sunfire mixer could elect to come to Cascal instead, as the decor and styling is much better.

Day 29: Shiva's (Niniane)

I really like the Riesling white wine at Shiva's, and the butter chicken. I usually always get the same thing whenever I eat there.



The waiters at Shiva's describe the dishes in a professional tone of voice, and then serve you onto your plate, which is nice.

I went with Victoria, an engineer at a biomedical device company.