la bicyclette

We're still alive, I promise! This post, is long overdue, but then again, what posts of mine aren't? My birthday this past April was particularly filled with culninary goodness, and this little gem in Carmel, CA, was no exception.

Named La Bicyclette, this French restaurant was tucked away on a side street. It didn't look like much on the outside, but we (D and I) were instantly charmed by the atmosphere once we stepped inside.



It was like stepping into a little French town (not that I know what that's like). The smells of bread and other foods were incredible. The waitresses were dressed in nautical stripes and skinny black ankle pants (I suppose it's J. Crew's version of French). One such waitress apologized that our table wasn't ready and offered us some wine as we waited. D told her what he wanted--of course, I had no idea what he said, or what wine would be good, so I dumbly nodded that I wanted the same. When we finally sat, I made D take a picture of this miniature bicycle next to us.

La Bicyclette offers a prix fixe of sorts--the meal comes with a set first and second course, and you get to choose the third. They also have breads and pizzas a la carte, which seemed to be popular with the locals. A dessert menu is also available.

The first course was a lovely terrine. At first we weren't sure what it was, to be honest--some kind of paste? But it had a wonderful creamy, cheesy texture that went so well with the lightly toasted bread. Very herb-y and light.

The second course was a soup. They served it to us in a copper kettle pot, which I thought was so charming. It was a curried soup, with really deep, rich flavors. I wanted to drink it all, but I also wanted to save room for my actual entree.

For our entrees, I got the filet mignon and D got the lamb. I don't think I need to describe the wonders of beautifully cooked meat.

Afterward, D told one of the faux Parisian waitresses that it was my birthday and they gave us dessert with a candle on it! A nice gesture on their part, and a very delicious panna cotta.

It was a wonderful birthday dinner. I couldn't have asked for more.

muracci's japanese curry & grill

Have you had Japanese curry before? It's delicious and really simple to make, because all the spices come prepackaged in a box! However, when Jess (J on this blog!) told us about this place that makes curry from scratch in the city (SF), we knew we had to try.

We went to visit Harmonious for lunch one day and on Jess's recommendation, we ate at Muracci's. This hole in the wall is unassuming, one in a whole street of restaurants catering to the employees in the bustling SF financial district.

It was so crowded. I was prepared (thanks Yelp!), so N ran to claim one of the few tables in the place. I think it seats maybe 10 people overall? We shared a mild chicken katsu (deep fried chicken cutlet) curry.
The curry comes separately in a plastic container, so as to not render the fried katsu soggy.

Ta-da! The cutlets were fried perfectly, with thick cuts of chicken and good amount of breading.

The star is definitely the curry. Their menu boasts, simmered for two days straight with vegetables and spices. And it certainly tastes that way! The spices kind of creep up on you and build in your mouth with each bite. If you've never had curry made from scratch, you definitely should. I don't know if I can go back to boxed curry as delicious as it is.

N went back with J Woo and they got chicken kara-age, which she'll tell you all about!

This is their chicken kara-age. This was really good, though I thought the chicken was a bit over fried, but still very yummy. The lunch set comes with miso soup, potato salad, and salad, so it was very filling and good.
Murracci's Japanese Curry & Grill

http://www.muraccis.com/

San Francisco, Financial District
307 Kearny Street CA 94108-3204

sumiya part 2

When D saw my last post, he demanded to see the other pictures.

"What other pictures?"

"You know...from the other time we went!"

He then proceeded to email me said pictures.

I'm glad he did, because this time, we didn't just do meat dishes.

Exhibit #1: Bacon wrapped mushrooms

This... yeah. I'm speechless. The bacon was perfectly crisp and had a wonderful smokey, salty flavor that blended really well with the chewy, soft mushroom. A must get. Seriously.

Exhibit #2: Hamachi

This was grilled yellowtail. It was good too, and the negi (green onions) and masago (salmon roe) were a nice touch.

Exhibit #3: Nasu (eggplant)

I loved this too. Eggplant, a lot of times, absorbs too much of the oil that it's cooked in, but this was perfect. Soft and delicate, it melted in your mouth without the heaviness of oil. It was topped with bonito and a light soy sauce. Yum!

And now, the obligatory meat dishes:

I don't remember what the first one was...though I'm sure it was very good. The darker meat is kalbi (beef short rib) and the back skewer was chicken with ume (plum) sauce. I didn't like the flavor of the ume very much, but I'm sure for those who do, it would've been delicious.

Verdict? If you're not salivating by now, I don't know what kind of food you eat. But please consider bringing me along.

sumiya yakitori

I love Japanese food. It always feels so clean and fresh and best of all, delicious! Even when you eat something like yakitori, or (loosely) grilled skewers, it never feels heavy at all.

D took me to this place in Santa Clara called Sumiya, a restaurant that specializes in yakitori. The restaurant itself is quite small, and very popular. We managed to get 7pm reservations (I don't know how that happened, but I'm glad it did!), and we were pretty much right next to the diners adjacent to us on both sides.



I've had yakitori before, but not as a full blown meal, so D did most of the ordering. We ordered pork belly, chicken with yuzu sauce, and a yakitori donburi. (A donburi is, loosely, a rice bowl.)

Both meats were tender and well seasoned. The pork belly can be a bit much for people because it's so fatty, and I have to say, I was glad it was the only "fatty" thing we got. I'm not sure if I could've handled more, as delicious as it was. It's how I feel about bacon. Delicious, but can be much. The sauce on the chicken was unexpected; I'm not sure if I liked it, but it was good.

The highlight was definitely the donburi. It came with a wonderful, chilled poached egg that lended a creaminess to the skewers and rice... I'm salivating just thinking about it! So, so good. Eggs are amazing.

We finished off the meal with a dessert--green tea creme brulee. Yes, more eggs. I love custard, and this was light and creamy with a hint of bitterness from the green tea. It was gone in seconds.

Isn't the raspberry on the side so cute?

If you're in the South Bay, definitely check it out--but get reservations early! It's almost impossible to walk in. Also, it can get pricey! Skewers range from $3 to $12 dollars depending on what and how many you get. There's a wide variety of food, from vegetables, to meat, to seafood. They're all really, really good, so if you want to try them all, bring lots of money!

Sumiya Yakitori
2634 Homestead Rd
Santa Clara, California
http://www.sumiyakitori.com/

burma superstar

For jwoo's birthday, me, m, j, jen and peter took him to burma superstar. It was all our first times except for m's. Maybe m and j can add to this review... So we ordered 6 dishes and it was pretty good. Not sure if it's my type of food in terms of spices and all, but pretty good.
Samusa Soup. This was yummy, but I wasn't really sure what I was eating and drinking. Hahaha.
Tea leaf salad. This is the thing that they are famous for and everyone raves about it. I thought it was alright. I liked the nuttyness and that you can actually see the components that you were eating. I also liked how they mix it in front of you. It made me think they were cooler.
Rainbow salad. I liked this salad better, based on taste and I don't know...but yes, more fresh tasting rather than heavy on tea leaves.
Pork curry with potatoes. This was good. I can't really remember actually...the pork was soft and potatoes cooked through...
Salmon curry with pumpkin. This was okay too. I liked the pumpkin in it.
Beef kebat. This was my favorite. It was just enough spicy and cooked really well.

I'd say, it's a good experience, but I don't think this is something that I crave and think about going to and eating at. Worth going to though just to try.

Burma Superstar

http://www.burmasuperstar.com/

4721 Telegraph Ave
(between 47th St & 48th St)
Oakland, CA 94609
(510) 652-2900

half & half teahouse

I heart boba. Like really like it. And I'm a boba snob, as people say it...but I'm not that bad!!!

I first tried Half & Half Tea House in San Gabriel during Hunt and Eileen's wedding. I am a die hard Ten Ren's fan, but this place was comparable! I've always wanted to go back but it's soooo far from my house and since there's a Ten Ren's right next to my house, there was no reason to venture out. BUT, they opened a Half & Half Tea Express in Rowland Heights! So I went and tried.

Look at that, it's humongous. Actually it was different than what I remembered but I think they're using the trend in Taiwan and their 胖胖杯. It is quite fat and this was the smaller size.

Comparison in size to the drink from Phoenix, it's ridiculous. I always get green milk tea with boba. It's good, not too sweet, tastes of tea and the boba was the right q consistency. Go check it out!

Half & Half Tea Express

17575 Colima Rd
Ste C
City of Industry, CA 91748

porto's bakery and cafe

This is Porto's Bakery and Cafe in Downey. Super nice, super big, super pretty. So actually, this visit was really on the whim but really nice.
And in fact, I went to Porto's again the day after but at the Glendale location which is not as nice as their newest place obviously. Their food is afforadable which is a big surprise because you'd think super fancy places like these are pricey, but nope, not here. This is a Cuban inspired bakery and it's pretty good!
So this is the ropa vieja sandwich which is shredded beef with bell peppers, onions, and tomato sauce on Cuban bread. Its pretty big and obviously we shared. Okay it looks like it's only that one sandwich, behind...is actually another half of the sandwich! It comes with plantain chips which is good and crunchy. It's different!
This is their meat pie, chicken empanada, and their potato ball. I thought their meat pie was really good. The pastry around the meat inside was super flaky and kinda sweet. Really good. The empanada was okay. The potato ball is really good. It's stuffed ground beef and deep fried. If you've ever been to Gregoires in Berkeley, it's like their potato puffs except stuff with meat.
These are the pastries they are known for. Especially their guava and cheese strudel which is the two bottom right pastries. We also got their cheese rolls, almond danish, mango turnover, and guava strudel. It's good! The mango turnover was a little sweet, the almond danish had the perfect amount of almond flavor, the guava/guava cheese strudel was good, but didn't overwhelm me with deliciousness. They have a lot more pastries and strudels and goodness.
We also got their cakes! The prices on the cakes were more normal, not super cheap, but reasonable. My mom, anywhere she goes, always has to get tiramisu. It was really good. Just strong enough hint of espresso and nice creamy marscapone mousse. Yummm.
This was their fruit tart and mango cheesecake. Their fruit tart is really good. The crust didn't completely fall apart and it wasn't hard to break into it either. I don't think I tried the mango cheesecake...it doesn't look super appetizing to me...
The next day I got an opera cake, just to try and another fruit tart. Yes, I am obsessed, I can't help it! It's just really good! Anyways, the opera cake was interesting. Pretty dense and chocolate-y, I think the mousse layer was a little thick and would've liked more cake layer.

I would go to the Downey location because it's so nice and clean and pretty, but around the area, there's not much to do. The Glendale location is better in terms of surrounding things to do, like shop at Americana!

All in all, I think it's worth a try. It's affordable, yummy, though locations are far from me. I do believe it's a little hyped up, with the long lines and all, but still if I were in the neighborhood, I would stop by.

Porto's Bakery and Cafe

http://www.portosbakery.net/

8233 Firestone Blvd

Downey, CA 90241

315 North Brand Boulevard

Glendale, CA

bruxie gourmet waffle sandwiches

I visited jwoo at his hood and there was this new place that he found in Old Town Orange. Kinda like a food stand...well I guess it kinda is. It's pretty popular already and the owner is really nice. Super cute too!

This is their buttermilk fried chicken and waffle sandwich. The sauce on it is this chili honey and there's coleslaw in it. It's very yummy. Oh and that is their waffle fries which are pretty delicious too.
This looks like a sad sandwich but it's their prosciutto and gruyere sandwich. They use whole grain mustard, and usually I'm not a fan of mustard but it really helped to balance out the saltyness of the prosciutto.

This was super intense. This the Liege Waffle, which is a really thick and dense waffle. It did not have the same consistency of a normal waffle, but yeah, super intense. With a chocolate or Nutella dipping sauce.

I think it's worth the try. And I would definitely support the owner because he's cool. It's a cute and innovative idea for a deal or a snack.

Bruxie

http://bruxie.com/

292 North Glassell Street

Orange, CA 92866

tokyo table

My family plus dan and jwoo came here for dinner during winter break. Its in the Diamond Jamboree plaza which is the plaza with 85°C, the super popular place. Well it was an interesting place, kinda fusion-y, maybe owned by a Korean? I can't be sure.
There were a lot of people waiting, so we didn't get an actual table, but settled for a bar table...kinda. Very hard to describe. Well we got several appetizers, because actually they are pretty slow... But this is shrimp or spicy tuna summer roll (we got both) and a scallop dynamite. The summer rolls were okay, very ordinary. The dynamite was not a traditional kind, it kinda reminded me of nachos, but it was good.
This is yakitori. It was normal and just tasted like chicken teriyaki.
This is bacon wrapped asparagus. Well, anything wrapped in bacon is yummy. But normal...
My dad ordered a kaisen don plate which was marinated diced tuna, salmon, and yellowtail topped w/ ikura (salmon roe) on a bowl of sushi rice. This was yummy.My mommy got an assorted nigiri plate. Normal, normal but at least their fish was fresh.

The rest of us got udon, ramen, yakisoba, and a roll. Nothing too special. So the table next to us got this dessert which was flambéd in front of them. Because it looked so cool, we asked the waiter what it was and order it.

So cool! So it was a banana flambe. This was baked bananas drizzled with caramel and chocolate, topped with two scoops of vanilla ice cream.

It was pretty dericious. But I can never resist ice cream.

I guess it was overall alright. It's pretty pricey but good.

Tokyo Table

http://www.tokyotable.com/

2710 Alton Parkway

Irvine, CA 92606