The Ishii Manor & More

Tri-Tip

Since I had the misfortune of having to start my new job at Sony the week after I quit EA, I decided it was necessary to make the most of the separating weekend. I had been wanting to go on a road trip anyways, so when Ishii suggested we have a date is Fresno, I was so totally down.

As soon as Carlos & I arrived at casa de Ishii, we were greeted by a (just woken) hungry Michael J. He is always good for food suggestions, and we decided to try "tri-tip" at the Meat Market, a local favorite. This place was a food stand in a parking lot with some seating. It smelled delicious outside as they were cooking the meat BBQ style on the grill outside. I had never had tri-tip before, but I really really liked it. It was kind of like what Arby's is supposed to be, a delicious, thick, meat-filled sandwich.

mmm manju booty- so many flavors!

Next, we picked up Tiffany and headed to "downtown" Fresno to go to my favorite sweet shop in the world: Kogetsu-DO. That may sound like a bold claim, but I seriously think the fruit filled manju mochi is like my favorite thing ever. I have not been able to find it anywhere else I've traveled (even Tokyo) despite much searching. This place is in a super ratty part of town and had been open for over 100 years. They make the sweetest, most tender mochi and fill it with every type of fruit and bean paste you can imagine. They are also the home of the giant mochi ice cream! Best part is, it's in Fresno meaning it's super cheap! $1.25 per item. Yummmmm

mmm Chunky Bread

Since we had nothing to do, we ended up driving and driving and deciding to hit up Shaver Lake (a nice body of water about an hour out of town). This turned out to be an even bigger adventure as apparently there are some serious climate changes as you drive up the mountain. It went from sunny and blue to snowy blizzard within like 5 mins!!! We stopped at a local shop because Tiffany had heard of their famous "chunky bread."

Fresh Chunky Bread :O

OH MY GOSH SO GOOD!!!!! Chunky bread is this weird, pieced out baked good that is like a cinnabon on crack. Each section is oh-so-cinnamon gooey delicioso! We were all floored by how amazing it tasted, and got conned in to waiting 10 mins for more to come out of the oven. We almost died in the icy conditions coming back, but it was totally worth it to try this local treasure.

Hmm... then we went to a Japanese tea garden, saw peacocks, and drove home. We hit a Del Taco on the way <3 but I don't think that's blog worthy despite my obsession with Del Inferno. 

Mainly just some mass win with the manju & chunky bread <3 Fresno forever!

Late Night Ramen

flowers! <3

I'm going to take a break in the middle of my Germany posts to keep things more interesting and prevent excess backups :)

Returning from Berlin was like the happiest moment ever. Not that the trip was THAT bad..... but I was just so freaking happy to finally be back in my beloved SF bay area. Things started out great as Carlos picked me up at the airport with flowers :) and then took me back to my place to help unpack. After being up for like 24 hours and having nothing but kind of crappy but overly filling airplane pastas, I was really ready to have a nice, warm and light dinner. Only problem was that by the time we were ready to head out, it was pushing 10 on a Sunday night :(

Luckily for us, SF has plenty of places open late, and we were able to quickly pick Tanpopo, a decently rated ramen shop in the Japantown area. It was located just outside the mall on one of the mini walking streets. I was surprised by how crowded it was on a Sunday night, but it's a fairly spacious shop so there was no issue.

I was very impressed that we were immediately given water! And not only was it prompt, but the attendant refilled it without being asked multiple times!! One problem I have with many traditional Japanese restaurants is that it's hard to get beverages. This was some major points for Tanpopo.

The menu was definitely ramen focused but also had other Japanese dishes. I liked that the 12ish varieties were all listed with pictures. Picture menus make me happy. There was a pretty good selection of diff types with various meats and spicing. Free egg included!

spicy miso w/ extra pork

As a savvy consumer, I was ready with two options: garlic and spicy miso. Carlos also had two options, one being the spicy, so we determined that he should get that and I'd get garlic so I could try his. Then I totally Sharon failed when the server arrived!! I was informed that they had run out of garlic for the night, and instead of being creative I quickly switched my order to spicy miso meaning we both got the same thing. :P lame. His had extra pork in it, but otherwise, no even ingredient variations.

The ramen was pretty tasty! The spicy broth was very good and I liked the items in the soup. They even had one of those weird naruto swirly fish cakes in them which makes it seem super authentic. The noodles themselves were a bit chewy, and I think they might have been overcooked. It was good, but not outstanding. I feel like I would need to go back and try shoyu or something more basic before I made a final ranking.

size comparison with my glasses. HUGE!

Overall, it was a fun experience and it was perfect for its purpose. Also, the bowls were freaking huge which is inherently exciting :D

The Road to Ramen Expertise

I have a bad habit of wanting to try new places so much that I almost never repeat restaurants. Although this keeps my eating interesting, it still is kind of silly to not go to back to the ones that are awesome. However! There are a few exceptions. Some foods are so amazing that I want to become an  ultimate expert so I can always end up at the best venues. So far I've mastered froyo & cupcakes, and now I officially am taking on the ramen challenge! I don't think there are THAT many places that serve it, so it seems like a manageable task. Plus, Carlos is also a big fan, so it's a good project for us to take on contigo (yes, i know i'm using that word incorrectly).

Yesterday, we decided to start crossing off some of the places on the Yelp Silicon Valley "ramen list" and hit up Dohatsuten in very south Palo Alto. This place is down in almost Mt. View on San Antonio between 101 and el Camino. It is a very small little shop and looks pretty legit from the outside. We got there about 45 minutes before they were closing for the afternoon, and I was amazed that every table but one was completely filled. There were only two other white people in the place, so I was at first quite excited about the authenticity.

ramen focused menu

The menu was totally ramen focused with an entire sheet dedicated to picking the broth, type, and add-ons to your soup. The back had a few appetizers, but you can tell people come for the ramen. So far so good. We both ordered their "Dohatsuten" special. I added an egg to mine (<3 egg), and Carlos got the "Hyper" version. Points for using the adjective hyper in food context :).

dohatsuten special

Normally I am ok with crowds and noise levels, but I was kind of surprised about how loud the place was for a Sunday afternoon. There were a lot of families and screaming babies. It didn't necessarily bother me, but it definitely didn't add to the positive ambiance.

hyper dohatsuten special

I was starving and super excited when the food finally came; it looked very authentic and delicious. Unfortunately, the taste wasn't as good as the appearance :(. It wasn't bad by any means, but it was not outstanding. Granted we are both sick at the moment (completely coincidentally :P) and not on our tasting A-game, but we just weren't impressed by flavors. The noodles themselves really reminded me of Top Ramen for some reason. They were kind of bland. The broth was tasty, but not as spicy as I would have liked or strong enough to really flavor the ingredients. The "hyper" version didn't seem that much fancier, it just added some more meat, the egg, corn (so jealous), and some green onion things. 

Maybe it would have been better if we had paid extra money for different types of broth (lame! I think broth options should be free), but their "specialty" dish was not really worth the adventure. I'd vote any of the San Mateo shops over this.

Fusion that Can't Fail

I've never really understood "fusion" food. It generally just ends up being over-priced (albeit often delicious) Americanized Asian stuff.  I am highly in to bizarre foods though, so when I read about the coming soon Sushirrito in SOMA, I could not wait!! A sushirrito is exactly what it sounds like: combo of sushi & a burrito. AMAZING! Only problem is that the store is open for weekday lunch, and I work in Redwood Shores :(

reminiscent of a burrito bar :)

Since I'm freaking sick again, I was rocking the wfh. Normally when I'm wfh, I make a point of it to stay in PJs and clean out the cabinets and fridge to the best of my ability. But today, I decided to be crazy since it's Friday and venture out on a lunch quest! After some Yelp research, I found out that Sushirrito tends to get horredous lines around the lunch rush, so I planned on getting about 30 mins before they closed at 3. Of course I was late to leave my house, so I rolled out around 2:20.

I like to pretend I'm an expert at SF driving which is a complete lie. I knew the place was in SOMA near 2nd and between Market and Mission. I hate driving on Market Street, so I thought I'd take a different route. I ended up on Folsom and got all the way down to SOMA when I ran in to an issue I had forgotten to take in to account. YOU CAN'T FREAKING MAKE ANY LEFT TURNS EVER! Stupid non-one-way-street no turn signs >: |. I was already totally late at this point, so I was starting to get super flustered. I decided to make some strategic right turns instead. failfailfail. I'll spare the details, but the highlight of that endeavor was me making a highly illegal u-turn to avoid turning on to some secret carpool entrance to the Bay Bridge. Good times.

I was too shy to take a pic of the rest cuz people were staring

Once I finally got my car on Mission heading back west, it was like 2:45 and I was freaking out. I took the first parking spot I could find on the side. The f-ing meters there are ridica expensive, and I only had 2 quarters which got me about 5 mins. I tried to stick my credit card in, but it would only fill it to 15 mins even though it was an hour meter?? (BTW, since when can you use credit in those? awesome!!). After that, I booked it up the street. I was totally shamelessly running and knocking in to people, but I was not going to miss my sushi burrito! I arrived at the shop with a few mins to spare and was amazed that there was still a decent sized crow waiting for their food. 

I ordered the "Latin Ninja" roll mainly because it had mango :). The menu had like 6 choices, and all of them sounded pretty tasty. They contain pretty typical sushi fair but with a little bit of extra sauces/spicing. The shop itself is pretty small and has a few standing room only tables that can be pulled down from the walls. Definitely a lunch spot for people who work in the area. 

Luckily my sushirrito was done quickly so I was able to run back to my car before the meter ran out. Oh and anyone in the vicinity of 1st and Mission today around 2:55 prolly saw my butt cuz a huge gust of wind came right as I tried to get in my car with my hands full. Even better times!

warning: do NOT remove from paper wrapper!

I was so relieved to arrive back in my beloved Twin Peaks apartment and settle down with my Outlook and lunch. I actually really enjoyed it :). It was pretty much just a giant sushi roll. I feel like it might have kind of tasted like pre-packed sushi, but they poured on a lot of green onion-ey cilantro sauce which made it really unique and good. I was a bit timid about the giant pieces of salmon, but they were fresh and delicious too :). I made the mistake of unwrapping the paper from the first half which made the first side totally explode everywhere!! Beware, they can be very messy. I ate it quickly an it was decently filling and felt pretty healthy. My only complaint is that $10+ seems like a steep price for the amount of food you get. 

I probably won't be back anytime soon due to how highly inaccessible it is to me, but I highly recommend everyone try it at least once! I love weird foods!!!! :D

Sushi Shaped like a Caterpillar

For this week's dinner with dad, I wanted to keep it local, so we ended up in the thriving college town of Belmont. Even though we had the crazy classy sushi experience at Sakae last week, my dad and I are addicted to Japanese food, so we decided to hit up Sushi Monster. I am always amazed by the amount of sushi restaurants in the 10 mile radius of EA, I have been actively trying to visit them all since I started, and every time I Yelp I find like 5 more I haven't heard of.

I arrived first and sat down. As it was a Wednesday, it wasn't too crowded. I immediately noticed the adorable blue monster mascot :). The other cool thing was that the menus were placed under the glass on the tables and were covered in pictures. The main reason I chose this place was because I noticed how cute and thematic their rolls were. Not only were they are delicious looking, but some (caterpillar, godzilla, dragon) were actually shaped like their names! It reminded me of the plastic foods in Japan :)

shrimp lovers roll, daniel roll

There are two ladies that run the place, and it was semi-awkward at first. I'm sick again (BLARG!!!!) and so when  I got there I randomly broke in to a mini-coughing fit. I basically just needed a drink, and for the first 5-10 mins they weren't coming over to serve me :(. They knew I was waiting for one more... but still haha, it sucked and I think I was grossing out the family next to me. Finally the waitress came over and I was able to get a water + diet coke. I was really impressed that the diet coke was fountain/refillable, that's pretty much unheard of at Japanese places.

lion king roll

I had already picked the rolls by the time my dad got there. We had to get back to our highly american roots and get: shrimp lover's roll (what it sounds like), lion king roll (mmmm my fav roll :D cali + fried + sauce + baked salmon on top), caterpillar roll (too cute to not order), and daniel roll (for eugi! fried fish + cream cheese). 

caterpillar roll! note the antennae

So I'm going to be totally honest here, I don't really know if they were good or not. They looked good, and I ate a ton... but being sick I couldn't actually taste anything :(. My dad seemed to enjoy, so I will give this place the benefit of the doubt and say it was totally amazingly awesome :). Either way, I had fun

Swanky Sushi

I love dinners with my dad!! Since he flies in and works in Mountain View, we try to do at least bi-weekly meet-ups for food adventuring :) As this week was a special occasion, he pulled out all the stops and took me to Sakae Sushi in Burlingame.

The first positive was that it's about a half-block from the downtown "strip," and parking was insanely easy. For some reason no one was hitting up the Pez Museum at 6:30 on a Wednesday, so I grabbed a space right in front.

Inside has a cute ambiance. I know it's acclaimed to be very authentic, and from my limited Tokyo experience, I'll buy that. I was extremely excited (and slightly heartachey) to see a little Tanuki greeting me at the front desk. I miss August 2010 :( haha. There is a full sushi bar with a few seats, and then several booths and tables. One wall was lined with a giant variety of Sake bottles and lit from behind for a cool effect.

sake wall

The menu is more focused on general Japanese and sashimi than rolls. Items are quite pricey, but super fresh and delicious. Usually when my dad and I go to sushi, we order like 6 of the most fried, bizarre, and American rolls that we can. This time we tried to be a bit more authentic (just barely)

For appetizers, we started off with tempura artichoke hearts with aioli dipping sauce. These were incredible!!! The presentation was gorgeous with leaves surrounding the little fried chunks (i finally get what carlos was trying to explain to me in semi-english about the process of eating artichokes ;D). 

I usually HATE wasabi, but this dish came with a dish of  powder that you could dunk in post aioli. Amazing! It just added a hint of spice.

tempura artichoke hearts with aioli and wasabi

Next we got the sashimi mixed plate. I suck at fish (despite my obsession with it) so I can't even remember what it was. Salmon of some sort, scallops, etc.... It was very delicious though, and reminded me of my meal at the Tsukiji Fish Market :) (will blog about someday...). 

sashimi mix plate

Finally our roll plate! The selection of rolls was minimal, so we went with some standbys like Spider. Here is what excited me very very most though.... EGG PELLET!!! So when I was in Japan, I discovered the most amazing concept. A condensed thing of egg, usually rectangular, that was slightly sweetened. I adoringly nicknamed it "egg pellet" and have longed for it ever since. They prolly sell it at a lot of places, but this is the first time I've gotten it. Unfortunately, it was in sushi format and not quite as yummy as what I remembered, but still, good good memories :)

EGG PELLET <3

Only complaint was that service was quite slow. There are only two servers, and the place was packed. We had to call the waitress over several times to refill our waters and order more. Also, their dessert selection was lacking. Options were choco cake or green tea ice cream. 

All-in-all, very very good place! It's expensive, but if you want a swanky sushi expedition, check it out!!

Ramen Questing

more backblog:

I'm always looking for new, yummy ramen places! There seem to be so few legit ones, and every time I find one, it makes me so happy. Sometime last November, Steve and I hit up Himawari in San Mateo for lunch. I had only heard so-so reviews of the place, so I went in with some hesitation.

mmm butter ramen

The inside is adorable! It was very crowded for lunch, but luckily we came early. It definitely has a trendy cafe feel with modern decor and plentiful seating. I guess it should be expected after seeing the adorable squiggly-fonted sign outside.

I ended up ordering a "butter ramen" and Steve got a deluxe ramen with pork. I LOVED mine!!! I'm totally American, so chances are what I was loving was like the orange-chicken of ramen, but it was so good. I think I added egg and extra corn, so it was basically like a corn on the cob stew with hints of ramen spices and yumminess.

giant meat chunk

His was also quite tasty, and I was really impressed by the pork. Instead of the traditional, flat slabs, his contained large cubes of meat! They were very tender and flavorful <3. I've never really seen cubes of meat like that, and all I could think of was the opening to Dexter when he cuts the large square out of the ham. Any meal that reminds me of that show is total win. 

Dexter meat

I think I liked this place better than Ramen Dojo or Santa Ramen :O!! But once again, it's prolly cuz I americanized my dish :)

Down a Mysterious San Mateo Ave

I have the bad habit of assuming all restaurants in San Mateo lie within the three block 3rd & B street radius. Considering I live on 20th, this is rather silly... but it still gives me a little thrill every time I find a row of culinary commerce elsewhere. Bingo!

Gee Unit and I have started up our own rendition of Fancy Food Fridays (sorry Alice!) and try to hit up a non EA place for lunch once a week. A few weeks ago, we tried Yuzu Sushi & Grill on 37th street. Also as per usual, we went a bit early. Lucky thing because it quickly filled up. As per usual I think this place is a game industry favorite because I spied a herd of Pogo people at a table nearby.

According to Yelp, this place is hardcore traditional. I guess so? They serve a lot fewer of the awesome fried American rolls than other places in the area do. It has a reputation of being expensive, but luckily they have lunch specials for under $15 (still kinda pricey). 

I ended up getting a weird teriyaki bowl. I totally can't remember the meat. I *think* it was unagi. I'm so terrible at remembering nihongo de fish names. Totally silly since I eat Japanese a ton and studied the language, but it's one of those things that just won't stick. It was tasty, but the eel wasn't my favorite. Granted I'm not a meat person, but I ate all the rice around it and left probably 1/2. 

Came with soup and Japanese tray!

Steve got a typical sushi fare. It's funny looking back at the picture, because his lunch is practically identical to the sushi plate I got at the tsukiji fish market last week :) (post soon to come). I guess this place is legit! He seemed to like it, and the presentation was pretty.

no prawn head in soup. not THAT authentic :P

Seems like a good place to hit up if you want fresh, non-Americanized rolls. 

But watch out! Service was SLOWWWW. He got his food like 15 mins before me. totally awkward.

if you on the shore then you sho' not me, oh!!!!

cuz, I'M ON A (SUSHI) BOAT MOFO-ER!!!

for years (and by years, i mean months since kevin came to visit) i have heard tell of the magical concept of "sushi boat" : |. i finally went last Friday, and it was every bit as pure amazing as i had hoped and dreamed. eugi, manu and i hit up Warakubune Sushi in the Castro. so awesome!!! for those of you who have not yet experienced the magic, at sushi boat places you sit around a central island counter. in the middle is a chef... he is consta-refreshing little plates on these boats that sail around the moat in front of you. each plate is priced, and you reach up and grab whatever you want! so great :D. The sushi here was decent, especially for a serve yourself type place. Also, they had one spicy roll that was topped with Taro fries, highly recommend!

endless possibilities await... raining sushi, slingshot sushi, train sushiiiiii

Finally- Santa Ramen!

I need to preface this by stating: I am a white girl from Sandy, Utah. I know nothing about good ramen. To be honest, it all kind of tastes the delicious same to me.... that said! I had a very pleasant meal at the Santa Ramen in San Mateo yesterday. I feel stupid that it's my first visit considering the rave reviews I've heard (mainly from Alice), and the fact that I live on the same street :P

Gee Unit and I went for lunch at 11:30. It was already quite packed when we arrived but we were seated. Immediately like 50 people showed up, and the line was insane (piles of people stuck outside). This may be 1. because it's good, and 2. because it's SAF (s for slow). The ramen itself was quite good, I loved the broth! The one bummer was that you had to pay extra for the egg, and according to my asian counterpart, they didn't cook it right. lame! either way, i highly enjoyed.

I think it's a common place for us game industry folk to hang out. I know EA people go there tons, and I hear that Capcom people love it too. As i was leaving, I noticed a table with that one dude from Sony with black hair and all the tatoos.... I don't know his name but I think he's PR or community management cuz I always see him at trade shows. wow, CREEPY STALKER! here's hoping he never stumbles upon this post. :)