bolansa dessert, milpitas, ca

I was really bored last night. Bored and hungry. I texted JenLui and she invited me over to crash the Chinese dessert run she was going on with Bonnie and Kelly.

Over discussions of psycho-ness, unique-ness, Kelly’s long hair, why girls are like fruitcakes, and other life musings I ordered mango and sticky rice and minced beef with steamed egg over rice. The mango arrived first.

I thought the bottom was red bean for some reason even though the menu clearly states that it’s mango, coconut milk, and sticky rice. The rice was… earthy. That means it tasted like it was sprinkled with a little dirt. It’s a little weird. Is red rice supposed to taste like that? The mango was more sour than sweet, but that’s not really Bolansa’s fault. It’s hit or miss with fresh mangos. The coconut milk was watery but good. Not what I expected since I’m used to the mango sticky rice plates at Krung Thai that are not soupy in the least.

So I struggled to order this because it’s not on the menu. It only appeared on a poster and on a table stand thingy. Also, there wasn’t an English translation. Both times it was all in Mandarin. I asked Bonnie to translate to make sure I wasn’t ordering beef face paste or something. She couldn’t guarantee it but I took my chances. I had to bring the table topper thingy with me to point at when I ordered.

What arrived at the table was a clay pot with rice, a hamburger patty, a freshly cracked egg, 2 stalks of unknown greenery, and a bowl of soy sauce. I would have preferred the rice a little softer as it was a bit drier than I like it. The beef and egg were good and I cracked the yolk to let it spill over onto the rice. The veggies were good too – not overly cooked so they were nice and crisp. It reminded me of loco moco sans gravy.

I spent like $10 on the whole thing and we ended up chillin’ there until midnight. Not bad. 3***

Note: To eat here you should come in, grab a table, figure out what you want, go to the counter, order, and sit back down. They’ll bring over your stuff and you can ask for the check to be brought over whenever you’re ready. It’s located in the not-Ranch 99 shopping center in Milpitas best known for the ABC Seafood on the 2nd floor. Parking generally sucks.

Bolansa Dessert: 680 Barber Lane Milpitas, CA 95035