Trekking to South America by way of Tradiciones Peruanas

15 people...that's how many turned out for the 2nd foodie outing of 2009. Although many enjoyed the food, the service was not as good.

Here's a comment on yelp by one of other core members:

"The food was actually quite good, which makes it such a shame that the service was bullshit. This update would be more detailed if I had more time... you know, time that I didn't spend sitting there with nothing but a bowl of stale corn nuts and watered down punch that tasted like it was spiked with a packet of spiced cider mix. For the sake of saying something positive, I'll talk about food. This is known to be a seafood place, but I actually liked the meat dishes better. Meat, onions, sauce, and french fries are not normally something I would expect to find on a plate outside of a burger joint, but somehow it went well together, and more so over rice. Yum!To be fair, I'll go back (probably with fewer people) and update accordingly when they're not ridiculously busy. I won't fault the solitary cook, but they are definitely understaffed in more ways than one. "

The Place: Tradiciones Peruanas on 1161 N Lawrence Expy Sunnyvale, CA 94089

The foodies: JV, Laureano, Yeelo, Craig, Patty, Aivy, Julien, Dennis, Randy, David, Robert, Trevor, Cristina, Nghia and Gia

The eats: Seafood Paella, Chinese inspired pasta dish, Pollo Saltado, Egg Torta, Cebiche Mixto, Chicha Morada and Inka Cola

Reconnaissance Mission to the land of Pupusas

As all of you may know, Cisco Foodies has sadly gone dormant in the last year and a half. The good news is that this hibernation is long gone and a whole slew of new Cisco Foodie outings is in the works. What started out as a regular conversation about a Salvadorian delicacy, known as pupusas, became the impetus for renergizing this group once again. We can proudly say that we are back and ready to munch our way through the South Bay Foodie map.

Chalateco on Dempsey Road was our first destination. We ordered 5 pupusas, a small torta sanwhich the size of plate and a side dish of fried plantains, beans and sour cream. Let's just say that we were stuffed and not ready to get back to work. Through our excitement, we returned to work and plotted for the next eat. Stay tuned....

The foodies: Aivy, Dennis, Julien

The place: Chalateco

Location: 78 Dempsey RdMilpitas, CA 95035

The food: Chicharon, cheese and shrimp pupusas, a torta, fried plantains with beans and sour cream
http://www.yelp.com/biz/chalateco-milpitas

Group Picture from Senzala

Senzala: Brazillian Buffet

This turned out to be one of the greatest foodie missions up to date. Although bittersweet as we celebrated Dennis' last day, Senzala proved to have the largest turn-out from the Ops Center up to date.

The food also proved to be a smash hit. Giving enormous proportions (we think they used a snow shovel to scoop the rice). Beef Stroganoff, Shrimp in tomato sauce (Bobo de Camarao), Carne de Panela Panela were some of the favorite dishes, each coming with a rich, very well seasoned sauce. The sides were also spectacular, with fried bananas, fried Yuccas, french fries, steamed vegetables and collared greens. Irwin gets the gold medal for being the only one to finish his plate. Trust us, these portions would fill up any appetite!

There was even a Bossa Nova band playing in the middle if the day, making this a memorable lunch break for all. Senzala definately gets five stars, a smash hit and extra kudos to Dennis for picking the perfect place for his last stand.

We miss you dennis!

Steven's Cheesteaks

Our last destination turned out to be our swan-song for the legendary foodie member, Dennis. Dennis apparently chose to keep his sanity and not attempt a career at Cisco while pursuing his Masters simultaneously. If Dennis doesn't return in five years he will most likely be our first member of the Cisco Foodie Hall of Fame.

Steven's is a near legendary establishment located right by the 49er training camp, feeding 300 pound linemen with relatively authentic philly cheesteaks. The menu is simple, Cheesteaks is what they do... however they also make superb sides, such as deep fried onion rings, garlic fries, and crispy curly fries. The cheesteaks come out piping hot, with the meat/cheese blended so well it's as if they are one!

A Taste of EuroAsia: The Armenian Gourmet

The White Elephant Game