I visited my best friend, S, in the Bay Area last night and she suggested dining at Daimo in Richmond, CA. During my past few trips along the Interstate 80 between Sacramento and San Francisco, I've noticed Daimo more than once. This restaurant shouts out to highway commuters with its strategically placed blazing sign reading "DAIMO". Somehow, while cruising by at post 70 speeds (Shh... don't tell highway patrol), I failed to notice the chinese characters around and thought that it looks like an interesting Japanese restaurant to visit. And visit I did last night, except I won't be having Japanese for dinner.

Expect Hong Kong cuisine at Daimo's. Before leaving, I went to look up directions online and discovered their website. This restaurant has had several mentions in a few magazines, although there weren't any recent ones. To celebrate my S' birthday coming up in October, I went ahead and ordered up more food than we could finish. The dishes shown in the above picture are:

• Assorted BBQ platter with Soy Sauce Marinated Chicken, Barbecued Duck and Roasted Pork (foreground)
• Sautéed Sweet Pea Shoots with Garlic (left)
• Sweet and Sour Pork (right)
• Beef Brisket in Light Broth 清汤牛腩 (Mini wok in background)

Our dishes came fast (about 5 to 10 minutes) and they were good. The Beef Brisket in Light Broth came first, and was served up in a mini wok over a burner containing burning *purple* jelly. The beef brisket slices were tender, but being beef brisket, I would have preferred that they were cut into smaller slices. I struggled with a slice for a bit, unable to sever all the tendons, until I gave up and started chewing the entire piece. Problem with that, S gets to hear me talk with my mouth full. But since we've been best friends for 17 years now, she's probably used to the abuse.

After a taste of the Sautéed Sweet Pea Shoots with Garlic, S' favorite dish there, she commented that they probably had a change of chef although I didn't find out if she would be ordering the dish again. I saw whole pieces of fried-up garlic cloves in there, but it did not taste as garlicky as I had expected. The dish is still good, mind you, but it wasn't spectacular.

The Assorted BBQ Platter we ordered was listed a dollar more on the in-store menu than what I saw online. While my husband liked the roasted pork, especially its crispy skin, I liked the barbecued duck. However, we both agreed that the star dish is the sweet and sour pork. The deep fried pork nuggets, crispy yet tender on the bite, were perfectly accompanied by the mild yet fragrant honey sweet tangy sauce. You don't get that sharp chemical sweetness overpowering everything else in this sweet and sour pork dish.

It's been a while since I've enjoyed a family-style spread like this. On our own, my husband and I might enjoy one or two simple dishes at home, but do not eat out in such a fashion because there is simply too much food. Even the three of us could not finish the feast and the leftovers made their way into Tuesday's bento. Dinner was great at Daimo. S and I spent some time catching up. The next time I'm near Richmond, CA and feel like having Chinese, I know where to go.