Izumiya

Izumiya's entrance

Isn't the entrance so pretty?  Everyone passing by Izumiya was gawking and taking tourist-y pictures in front.  Including me.  Except I also went in to try the food! 

Hey Jocelyn, are those Christmas decorations and is that Frosty the Snowman riding the first cart that train?  Ok, I'll admit it.  I kind of forgot that to write about Izumiya a couple of months back...and I just recently stumbled upon the pictures...haha.

Izumiya a small little restaurant in the corner of Japantown.  And my goodness, this place just never stops surprising me!  After being seated, I opened the menu and smiled big.  All the pictures in their menu are hand drawn!  So adorable!  It took me twice as long to decide what to order because I kept getting distracted by all the pictures.  

Oh, what is this?  An omelet?

It's an Omelet Mixed Soba!

The Omelet Mixed Soba was wonderful!  The soba was wrapped in egg and topped with mayo and ketchup.  It was really fun eating it!  Every time I poked into the omelet, the soba just poured out!

Curry Katsu

Side Salad with Izumiya Miso Dressing

The miso dressing is amazing.  The salad was just a side but it might just have been the best part of dinner!  Izumiya actually sells their miso dressing in bottles and I was seriously contemplating on whether I should purchase one.  I ended up not but deeply regretted it that next week when I had to eat my salad with ranch dressing.

Eaten by Jocelyn.

Izumiya

1581 Webster St
Ste 290
San Francisco, CA 94115

(415) 441-6867

We just might have found heaven at M & W Bakery

Who would've known that right next to our school was one of the most fabulous bakeries of all time?

How could we have been so blind?  Oh so so blind we were.  Both of us agree that M & W Dutch American Bakery is one of the best we ever had!

 We wish that you could also taste these little pieces of heaven, but at the very least, you can take a look and salivate.

Mille-feuille alternating layers of puff pastry and custard cream

  Doesn't it look just mouth-watering?  Yeah, actually all their desserts do!

It was super flaky, thick, and creamy.  Although, the cream could have been a tad bit sweeter -- the two of us have quite the sweet tooth. 

Chocolate Honey Almond Bar chocolate covering layers of marzipan, almonds, and chocolate cake

Whenever we walk into See's Candies and they offer us samples of Pineapple Buttercream Truffle or Maple Walnut, we always request the Marzipan instead.  If you don't know what Marzipan is, then you are oh so so missing out!  BECAUSE MARZIPAN IS THE BEST!  Marzipan is a honey almond paste, which happens to also be the most perfect chocolate filling.

When we found out that the entire bar was filled with marzipan, we were so giddy!  Although it looks large, the bar was not enough to satisfy our marzipan addiction.

Fun fact:  There was a point in time when Cathy's biggest dream was to get a Marzipan vending machine fixed into our dorm wall that provided unlimited Marzipan chocolates.

Chocolate Mousse Cake moist chocolate cake, layered with rich chocolate mousse, and encased in chocolate ganache

This was the ultimate combination of Chocolate's reincarnation.  The funnest part was poking the fork into the cake and breaking that smooth, delicate layer of chocolate.  Just looking at this picture makes us want to stab it all over again!

Guess what this is?

 We know it's not colorful or perfectly shaped, but it is actually a French macaron!  And a delicious one at that.  When we saw a tray of these behind the display, we have to admit, we thought they were kind of ugly.  They came in all sorts of sizes, and were not smooth on top.  When they told us they were French macarons, we were surprised and a bit skeptical, but that was more the reason we had to try one out.

Raspberry French Macaron innards

It was amazing.  The macaron was perfectly soft with a thin, crisp crust on the outside.  The raspberry mousse was spot-on.  Proves that you should never judge a book by its cover.  Or in our case, to never judge food by its appearance. 

Eaten by Jocelyn and Cathy. 

M & W Dutch American Bakery 

4343 Pacific Ave 

Ste A6

Stockton, CA 95207

(209) 473-3828 

mandwdutchamericanbakery.com

Quality Chinese at House of Mandarin Noodle

We were planning on dining at Din Tai Fung for their oh-so-juicy steamed dumplings, but the line wrapped around Pluto and all the way back.  So we hopped back into our car and drove around aimlessly, hoping to find a magical sign.

And there it came.  At the red light, I glanced out the window and saw 4 words: House of Mandarin Noodle.  I'm not one to judge a restaurant by its name, since many great restaurants have the strangest names!  I quickly looked it up on yelp, and it was 4 stars.  It was a done deal for me, so we turned into the parking lot right away, and walked through the restaurant door to meet our fate.

Green Onion Pancake

Oh, fate was kind!  The pancake was light, crispy, and flaky, with plenty of onions too!

Beef Noodle Soup

Slowly simmered beef
so tender — melts in your mouth
while melting your heart.

Pan-fried Pork Dumplings

These were one of the best pan-fried dumplings ever! (Close runner up, after Luscious Dumplings)

They were nice and crispy on the outside, and the inside was oozing with juice, ready to burn your tongue.  After eating one dumpling, I just couldn't stop myself from eating her delicious sisters and brothers too!

Eaten by Cathy.

House of Mandarin Noodle
4819A Temple City Blvd

Temple City, CA 91780

(626) 286-1689

Late Night Dinner at Honey Thai Restaurant

When you're driving on the road late at night, you gotta have some fuel to keep you going.  So you pull into the gas station on the corner and fill your car up!  Now that he or she (or it) is full, you gotta fuel up your own stomach!  

Thankfully, many restaurants are now open into the wee hours of the night.  And just one stop can turn a hungry camper into a happy camper!  

Today, we picked Honey Thai Restaurant to give us some well-needed energy.  

 

Oooh! Romantic lighting with a real candle!  A man's best friend but a photographer's worst enemy.  But still, the hearts were lovely!  It was such a perfect set-up for a casual date.  Made me wish I had one..but I enjoyed the decor nonetheless.

Silver Delight - silver noodles stir-fried with chicken, egg, and veggies

Crab Fried Rice

Eggplant and Fish Filet with Thai Herb Sauce served with Jasmine brown rice

Look at the adorable fish-shaped plate!  This was my favorite dish to eat, most likely because of the plate.  Who can resist animal-shaped plates that match the actual food in the dish?  I wonder how they would serve their octopus...

Eaten by Cathy.

Honey Thai Restaurant

57 N Milpitas Blvd

Milpitas, CA 95035

(408) 719-8200

www.honeythai.com

XXL Boba Milk Tea at Verde Tea Cafe

So after dinner, my friend and I strolled around to digest the meal and we noticed a super crowded cafe.  It was around 11 PM at that time so we were curious what all the hype was about.  As we got closer, I  saw people sitting outside this cafe with huge cups of boba.  And when I say huge, I mean HUGE!  It was like those plastic pint size containers that you buy soup in!  My eyes lit up and I was like "I NEED ONE OF THOSE!"  It looked like boba heaven!

The menu featured "Frothy" Milk Teas starting at $2.75 and for an extra $1 you can upgrade to that pint sized boba milk tea.  So of course I paid the extra buck!  

They only had one person taking orders and waiting table so the line moved quite slow.  And I found out there isn't really anywhere for you to just sit and chat.  You need a $5 minimum order to sit at the tables inside the cafe because they also serve food.  They do have two tables outside but it was so cold!

Frothy Milk Tea with Boba & Frothy Rose Green Milk Tea with Boba

Oh-ho!  It's actually frothy!

All milk teas should come in pint sizes.

I would say for the price, the milk teas were not bad at all.  I mean, I needed both my hands to hold my drink!  I don't think I've ever drank anything that big in my life.  Although I think I was more thrilled about the size than the taste.  My rose green milk tea got a tad too sweet but the original milk tea was good.  Boba texture was soft and chewy.  The extra-large size required so much boba, it got me wondering how many pounds of boba they had to make a day! 

My cup was too big to fit in the car's cup holder...

When I got into the car, I realized my cup didn't fit in the cup holder!  My friend was laughing so hard when I had to hand her my drink to put on my seat belt. I was forced to just hold my drink all the way back home.

And if you're wondering, my boba lasted me a good two days!

Sipped by Jocelyn.

Verde Tea Cafe

19620 Stevens Creek Blvd

Cupertino, CA 95014

(408) 873-2868

www.verdeteacafe.com

How to make Apple Pie Pancake

Dessert for breakfast.  Admit it, we've all dreamed of it at one point in our lives.  But it was either your parents telling you it was super unhealthy and you'll die early, or your moral conscience talking.  But it's alright my friend, I solved your problem!  Mr. Apple Pie has disguised himself as the popular breakfast item, Mrs. Pancake to create the ultimate morning meal: Apple Pie Pancakes!

The ingredients you'll need:

2 cups of flour

2 tsp of baking powder

1 cup of sugar

A dash of salt

1 cup of milk

2 eggs

1 apple (or more to preference)

You'll also need a bit of butter to butter up your skillet!

This recipe makes about six to eight pancakes depending on the size.

1) Mix together all the ingredients except for the apple.  Set batter aside.

2) Cut the apple into strips.  The strips should be about 1cm in thickness. 

3) Throw the apple strips into the batter and thoroughly mix.

4) Use medium heat and then butter the skillet.

5) Pour the batter into the skillet.  And depending on if you're feeling cute mini pancakes or huge Frisbee pancakes, pour as much or as little batter as you want.  Flip the pancake when it is golden brown and same for the other side.  Cook covered.

And waalaa!  You got some dessert for breakfast! And it's a tad bit more healthy.  These pancakes are already sweet so no need to add breakfast syrups.  It's also a pretty versatile recipe so go ahead and play around with it!  I wanted to try this recipe with sliced banana.  Mmm...

Made by Jocelyn. 

Dim Sum at Happy Harbor Restuarant

Dim sum! One of my favorite foods of all time.  And my favorite place to eat it?  Happy Harbor!

Unlike usual dim sum places, there are no carts here.  You order from a menu, and your food is made to order!  I like it this way, since the food always comes out hot and fresh.  

And another plus: your food is served by men [and women] in black suits!  Yes!

They have flat screen TV's in case you want to watch sports or Chinese news while you are eating.  Hmm..but with all the mouth-watering food sitting right in front of you, how could you look away?

The Chef with the Obama's and some other peeps

Pick your own tea!  Chrysanthemum tea won today.

Shrimp dumplings (har gow)

Pork Shumai

Pork Spareribs

Shark fin dumplings

For you shark-lovers out there, don't worry!  I don't think they use real shark fin for these dumplings.  

For you shark fin-lovers out there, I'm sorry.

Shrimp rice noodles

Spring rolls

Yes!  Freshly fried, so they are still hot and crunchy!  I always burn my tongue eating them.  Some things never change.

Sticky rice innards

Taro cake

The dim sum here is pretty pricey, but the food is just so good!  Sadly, they like to use chipped plates.   

Tofu with abalone sauce

This is one of my favorite dishes here.  The tofu is so soft, it literally melts in your mouth!

BBQ Pork Pastry

Portuguese Egg Tarts

You can never leave dim sum hungry since there are just so many dishes!  Whenever I go with my family, I always end up stuffed to the max.  We like to split everything evenly, so I end up eating the same amount of food as a full-grown man.  No complaints though!

Eaten by Cathy.

Happy Harbor Restaurant

1015 Nogales St

Rowland Heights, CA 91748

(626) 965-2020