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