Shredded napa cabbage, carrots, red peppers, mandarin oranges, caramelized almonds, cilantro, green onions, wontons and grilled chicken tossed in soy-ginger vinaigrette. $13
Escena Lounge & Grill, Palm Springs CA
Wow, this was like a huge Asian chopped salad! And a very good one at that. I loved the perfect combination of all the different textures and flavors.
The view from our table – absolutely beautiful!
Yuk kae jang. With sliced beef, sprouts, green onion, and mushroom. $8.75
Sorabol, San Francisco CA
I loved the flavor of the soup broth but the sliced beef was dry and chewy. Delicious Korean spices and cover up a lot of things but not over-cooked, poor quality beef. They should have just sliced them thinner.
Korean style marinated pork mixed with onion, scallion, and sesame seeds served with vegetable wraps. $14.95
K-pop, San Francisco CA
I didn’t realize this dish was going to be SO paleo-friendly when I ordered it, but it was a nice bonus! The flavors were good but this thing was WAY too salty! Geez, I could barely eat it after a while. Too bad because It looked and smelled amazing.
Ban chan. Complimentary
Mmm, I love ban chan and seven different kinds is decent at this price point.
Place setting.
Prather Ranch beef patty, steamed rice, sunny egg, green onions and sweet soy. $10
Starbelly, San Francisco CA
Ugh, this was a joke! In my nostalgia for Hawaii, I was stupid enough to order a loco moco from Starbelly. The hamburger patty was tough and bland and there was no yummy gravy! And by the time it made it to the table, it was cold. Gross. I usually love this restaurant, but we were having brunch with a group and the service was terrible! They were super slow and inattentive. Also, more than one of our dishes came out overcooked and they even forgot a couple of our plates. Lame!
Muni wires criss-crossing the intersection at Market and Castro.
Imperial rolls (deep fried stuffed with minced pork, taro root and carrot) with rice noodles. Served with shredded lettuce, carrot, mint, bean sprouts, green onions, peanut, and house fish sauce. $6.75
Little Saigon, South San Francisco CA
Mmm, I love Vietnamese imperial rolls! I enjoy the crispy, almost hard texture of its fried wrapper and the salty fish sauce that it always comes with. Almost as good as lumpia, hehe.
Artwork at the South San Francisco Bart Station.
Kona kampachi slices, miso glaze, macnut, scallions, and ogo (seaweed). $12.95
Don the Beachcomber, Kailua-Kona HI
This wasn’t my favorite dish. The miso glaze was really a thick miso sauce and there was A LOT of it. When it was combined with the seaweed, the resulting texture and flavor wasn’t appetizing. It was a salty, briney mess! I ordered this dish because I’d never had kampachi before, but it was nearly impossible to taste it because of all the crap on top. Too bad, perhaps next time…
Kailua Bay.
California roll with spicy tuna on top, sweet and sour sauce, tempura flakes. $18
Tokkuri Tei, Honolulu HI
Kilauea is a volcano on the island of Hawaii so they stacked this sushi roll to resemble it – pretty creative. The reddish spicy tuna on top even mimics flowing lava. It tasted pretty good but I’m not sure it was worth eighteen bucks. The spicy tuna had a slimy, squishy texture that I didn’t particularly enjoy.
Light-covered palm trees, Kapahulu Avenue.
A giant plate of homemade tortilla chips covered in a pepper jack cheese sauce, spicy taco-seasoned natural black angus ground beef, tomatoes, onions, guacamole, sour cream, and green onions. $15
Giovanni Pastrami, Honolulu HI
This was definitely a largo plate of nachos, but it wasn’t very good. The seasoned ground beef wasn’t spicy at all at the pepper jack cheese sauce was super bland. Lame!
Coors Light beer. Pitcher $12
White bougainvillea flowers (Nyctaginaceae), Ainahau Triangle Park.
Ezogiku’s signature and most popular ramen. Topped with charsiu pork, fishcake, and green onion. $8.75
Ezogiku, Honolulu HI
Mmm, this totally hit the spot! I was craving carbs and salt and this delivered on both. The restaurant was packed during lunch so we had to wait for a counter seat to open up. Glad we did because the ramen was pretty good!
Combo with gyoza. $2.25
“Aloha Welcome to Hawaii” sign at Honolulu International Airport.
Salt and pepper calamari. Calamari deep fried with a salt and pepper coating, sauteed with jalapenos and scallions. Served with a cilantro lime dipping sauce. $11
Zadin, San Francisco CA
Finally made it to this neighborhood restaurant, and I liked it! We had four people in our party so it was great to try a lot of different items. This dish was really tasty, but maybe a bit over-fried. I loved the jalapenos and the cilantro lime sauce was different and yummy.
Pink Triangle Park, Castro and Market.
House-made chorizo sauasage, organic bell peppers and tomatoes scrambled with three eggs and topped with queso fresco, sour cream, homemade slasa and fresh green onion. Served with a warmed flour tortilla instead of toast. $14
Portage Bay Cafe, Seattle WA
This place was packed with a line out the door! Thank goodness we had reservations. I don’t completely agree why this place is super popular though. I get that they use fresh, mostly healthy ingredients but their preparations aren’t anything special. I expected a little bit more considering their shear popularity. The food was good, but I thought it was overpriced for what it was. And the service was random and slow at times.
Coffee.
Pike Place Public Market sign at the corner of Pine and Pike.
Vermicelli noodles, tomatoes, green onions, mint, cilantro, crushed peanuts, rice wine vinegar. $11
Jiao, Palm Springs CA
Mmm, this was tasty! The shrimp were tender and delicious and all the noodles and herbs kept the dish super light. A great, summery dish – noms!
Lychee iced tea. $3
Black sesame shortbread cookies. Complimentary with check
