Last year, San Mateo, CA was named the “Best Small Town for Food” by the Rand McNally Best of the Road contest. When Dishcrawl offered me a ticket to a progressive dinner exploring San Mateo’s award-winning cuisines, I jumped at the chance.

Dishcrawl hosts unique culinary experiences in over 250 cities across the US, Canada, and the UK. On the site, you can sign up for progressive tastings that guide you through 3-4 restaurants that are walking distance apart and offer meet-and-greets with the chefs. Or, you can customize a private group event.

As a self-proclaimed foodie who loves spontaneity, I was thrilled that the Dishcrawl team kept the restaurants we would visit a secret. We were notified of the meeting location via email, only 48 hours prior to the event.

Curious and hungry, I arrived at Tasty Thai in downtown San Mateo and joined a table with eight other young professionals. The entire restaurant was closed to accommodate our group of 38 or so Dishcrawlers. The owner of the restaurant, a sweet and spunky Thai woman, explained that she had come from Thailand in pursuit of her dream to open this restaurant to provide better opportunities for her children in America.

The menu was fixed, and we were served almost immediately. I was surprised to see the large portions (a full meal!) of delicious Pad Thai, Tom Yum soup, and a papaya salad.

Next up – Bill’s Hofbrau, a half-block’s walk away. After the exotic flavors of Thailand, we were greeted with a hearty plate of German comfort food.

And I mean hearty! The Dishcrawl leaders told us there were two more stops to go, so don’t get too full – but how could we resist? The gravy-topped mashed potatoes and roasted chicken were scrumptious. At this point, my tablemates and I kept pressing the our leaders for hints on the next stop (and more importantly, the last dessert stop), but they just smiled mischievously at our guesses.

I had a hunch the next stop would be Italian. Bella Mangiata served us Penne al Arrabiata, a popular rigatoni and penne dish, and a secret dish not listed on the menu – a flat pasta lasagna twirled with four cheeses and prosciutto. Despite my full stomach, I finished the whole thing.

And finally – dessert. We walked about four short blocks to Honeyberry, an Asian-inspired dessert counter where we sampled their milk tea bar and famous Roti bun, a fluffy and doughy pastry from Malaysia. A cross between a croissant and churro, it was absolutely divine.

All-in-all, I enjoyed my first Dishcrawl experience. Coming in to the evening, I was expecting a truly progressive dinner where we would sample one signature appetizer at the first restaurant, a side dish at the second, an entree at the third, and a dessert stop to conclude. Alternatively, I thought that we might taste a small signature dish at each restaurant. But dieters, don’t fear – the Dishcrawl leaders mentioned that the portions were unusually large for this event, and you might find smaller dishes on other crawls. And, you can always box up what you can’t finish. It was a fun way to try something new and meet people– I can imagine a Dishcrawl as being perfect for a first date or a group of friends looking to catch up. A private birthday party would be a blast.

The food was fantastic, but what I enjoyed most were the conversations with my tablemates– they were from all over the area and I will definitely try to keep in touch with some of them. I am looking forward to signing up for my next Dishcrawl – in the Mission in San Francisco, perhaps?

Posted on 2-26-2014

Written by Ashmi Pathela

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