Jinxi Eats

Wa Dining Okan

Dec 132013

I’ve been to Wa Dining Okan once for dinner, and while the food was really delicious, it turned out to be quite expensive since each dish was quite small. (Think Japanese tapas.) We ordered lots of little plates, and the costs added up pretty quickly. But our friend told us that their lunch is a set meal and quite a good deal. So, when my mother visited recently, we went together to check out their lunch options.

By the way, I learned that “Okan” is an informal term for “mom” in Japanese, fitting with the restaurant’s theme of Japanese “home-style” or “comfort” food.

There are actually quite a few options for lunch: rice bowls ($8, $9, or $10 options) and noodles (between $6.50 and $12). Each of us chose a rice bowl set meal, which includes your main dish of choice, three side dishes, miso soup, and rice. You could opt to substitute the regular rice with a “mini bowl” topping: salmon roe, beef, chopped pork, and mabo tofu.

Braised Pork Belly and Half Boiled Egg Set with Salmon Roe Rice [$10/set + $4/rice upgrade]

Braised Pork Belly and Half Boiled Egg

12/13/2013
Posted by Jinxi on 12/13/2013
No Responses
Asian, Japanese
Tagged with: lunch, Okan, San Diego

[Irvine] Bon Epi Patisserie & Guppy House

Dec 112013

Combining two restaurants in the same Irvine plaza in one post… seems acceptable, doesn’t it? Actually, these were from two separate visits to the Diamond Jamboree plaza (featuring my favorite 85°C Bakery), on our way home from LA, and I insisted both times that we swing by Irvine for dinner/dessert. Haha.

I originally read about Bon Epi Patisserie on CC’s blog, Pink Candles at Ridgemont High (link at end of the post). Before that, I didn’t even notice Bon Epi in the same plaza! Haha. But I definitely had to go and try some of the macarons, after reading about them. I’ve sort of been a macaron fiend lately…

Bon Epi actually features all sorts of pastries and desserts, but I had already gotten my fill of breads & pastries from both 85°C and a cafe in LA (post coming soon!). So, this would be a macarons-only visit…

White Chocolate Macadamia, Vanilla, Salted Caramel, Chocolate, Pistachio, Earl Grey,White Chocolate Green Tea

12/11/2013
Posted by Jinxi on 12/11/2013
7 Responses
Asian, Cafe, Chinese, Dessert, Taiwanese
Tagged with: bakery, Bon Epi, dessert, Guppy House, Irvine, macaron, milk tea

[Alhambra] Garden Cafe and Tasty Garden

Dec 092013

I am still slowly working my way through posts from the recent LA trips. One of my favorite types of restaurants is Hong Kong-style cafés, which serve both Western-style food such as steaks and pastas, as well as the typical Cantonese fried rice and noodle dishes, in addition to snacks and desserts. I’ve posted previously about a couple of HK cafés that I’ve visited in LA, but on one of my recent trips, I wanted something different. It was around 2AM, so our options were a bit limited, but we decided to check out Garden Cafe, located on Valley Blvd in Alhambra.

The menu was quite extensive, and I forgot to take some pictures of it… Did I mention it was kind of late? Haha. Nevertheless, here are some photos of our meal…

Cantonese-style Borscht Soup

Served with every “set” meal, this is a classic in cafés. I’m not sure why they chose to do a variation on borscht, a Russian soup, but it’s usually pretty good. It’s made with beef broth, tomatoes, potatoes, celery, cabbage, and onions. Sometimes, there will be beef stew meat as well. I actually like the version made by San Diego’s very own A Cafe, but that might be because I like a milder soup. Haha.

Sizzling Ribeye Steak with Black Pepper Sauce

Not the most flattering photo, but it was actually really delicious. For about $10, you get a sizable ribeye steak cooked in your choice of sauce (S chose black pepper), mashed potatoes, and veggies. Obviously can’t compare with actual steakhouses, but seriously, this was pretty darn good. The black pepper sauce helped with adding some juiciness.

Baked Bolognese with Spaghetti

12/09/2013
Posted by Jinxi on 12/09/2013
2 Responses
Asian, Cantonese, Chinese
Tagged with: Garden Cafe, HK cafe, late-night, Los Angeles, Tasty Garden

Sushi Tadokoro

Dec 042013

Let me preface this post by saying that this, was the best meal of my life.

(Incidentally also the most expensive. But hey, you only turn 25 once, right? Haha.) So yes, it was my birthday, and I really wanted sushi. Originally, I had suggested Sushi Diner, but S actually said, “Why don’t we go somewhere nice?” I was really pleasantly surprised, and remembering how much Kirk of mmm-yoso loved Sushi Tadokoro, that’s the place I chose.

The menu features a “sashimi omakase,” which I knew was probably a platter of the freshest sashimi that day. But I wanted the full-on sit-at-the-sushi-bar-and-interact-with-the-chef experience, which I’ve only read about but never tried. I was a bit shy about asking for that option, but the chef understood immediately that we wanted the “full omakase.” He told us that the price range would be around $80, which we thought was quite reasonable. I had heard that a similar omakase experience at Sushi Ota would be around $120.

Anyway, there are a LOT of photos in this post, so I’ll stop rambling and get started on the pictures. I tried to remember exactly what Chef Soichi told us about each piece of fish, but sometimes I couldn’t quite catch everything. Haha.

Fresh Oyster (Source: Seattle)

Monkfish Liver / Ankimo

Started out with a couple of “appetizers.” When I heard that the oyster was from Seattle I knew that it’d be good, and indeed it was. I was equally impressed by the monkfish liver, which I’ve always wanted to try. It was every bit the delicacy that I’ve heard about – creamy and rich, even better than foie gras. It was served with grated ginger and a seaweed/ponzu sauce.

Sashimi: Sanma (Japan), Toro (Spain), Kanpachi (Japan), Big-Eye Tuna (Hawaii), Uni (San Diego)

Sashimi: Pacific Saury/Sanma (Japan), Bluefin Tuna Belly/Toro (Spain), Amberjack/Kanpachi (Japan), Big-Eye Tuna (Hawaii), Sea Urchin/Uni (San Diego)

The sashimi platter came after that. I was surprised to see bluefin tuna and felt pretty guilty about eating it, but honestly, it was so good. That’s all. My second favorite was the uni, of course – it was super creamy and very sweet. As for the others, I’ve never had either sanma or kanpachi before. Both were pleasant first-time experiences, and the big-eye tuna was very good as well.

Now begins the procession of nigiri. They were presented to us on our own plates, and we were instructed which pieces should be eaten as is, and which ones should be dipped in soy sauce. Our wasabi and ginger pieces were replenished throughout the meal.

Halibut, cured with kelp seaweed

Golden-Eye Snapper, with yuzu citrus and Himalaya rock salt

12/04/2013
Posted by Jinxi on 12/04/2013
7 Responses
Asian, Japanese
Tagged with: fine-dining, San Diego, Sushi, Sushi Tadokoro

Cafe 21

Dec 012013

When my mom visited San Diego a few weeks ago, she wanted to go somewhere “exotic” for dinner – something that would be hard to find in Texas. We looked through my Yelp bookmarks, and when she heard that Cafe 21 served Azerbaijani/Central Asian food, she immediately wanted to try it out. I’ve only been for brunch once, a few years ago, and really enjoyed the experience, so I was also looking forward to trying it out for dinner!

We didn’t make a reservation, and luckily, we were seated almost immediately – on a Saturday night! The restaurant is quite cozy, and you can choose to sit either inside or on the small patio. We’re both pretty afraid of the cold, so luckily we got an indoors table. I remembered liking the tea selection last time, so Mom and I decided to share an apricot green tea. She really enjoyed the IngenuiTEA pot, haha.

Apricot Green Tea [$4]

In case you didn’t know how this worked, basically there’s a level on the bottom of the tea pot, so when you’re ready to fill your cup, just set the IngenuiTEA brewer on top of your cup, and the liquid will be strained into the cup. It’s pretty nifty. I actually thought about buying one, but I have several teapots already so I refrained. Maybe if there’s a good deal for it on Cyber Monday, hehe.

Anyway, I asked my mom what she wanted to eat, and she immediately said the “duck wings.” Wha? It took me a minute to find it on the menu, and lo and behold, duck wings. Haha.

Duck Wings [$9]

It’s impossible to tell what each individual piece looks like, and I apologize for lack of better pictures… well, I guess they look sort of like chicken wings. Hahaha. The wings were slow-cooked in a pomegranate glaze sauce, which went really well with duck! I loved the flavor combo, and the meat was fall-off-the-bones tender. You can tell that these had been cooked for a long time. I brought some of the leftovers home to S, but he didn’t like them because it had too much “duck” flavor. Haha.

Grilled Pear Salad [$12]

12/01/2013
Posted by Jinxi on 12/01/2013
5 Responses
American, Asian
Tagged with: Cafe 21, Central Asian, San Diego

MARKET Restaurant & Bar (Restaurant Week)

Nov 282013

This post is loooong overdue – in fact, it’s from San Diego Restaurant Week, all the way back in September. Haha. I guess I forgot about it and was looking through my folders recently, and realized that I never did this post… Well, you could say that this is in preparation for the next RW, in January!

I had originally only planned to visit one restaurant for RW, Nine-Ten, but some of my friends persuaded me into checking out another one. Particularly, one friend who was leaving San Diego soon and was telling me about how this could be his “last Restaurant Week in SD,” etc. etc. So of course I had to go. In the end, we got a group of six people for dinner on the last night of the September RW.

By the way, all the photos in this post are courtesy of my friend J! He has a much nicer camera than mine, that does much better in low light. I actually got another friend, “Uncle E,” to take photos as well, but his camera was too nice, and the files are too big for my little blog… hahaha.

We were seated promptly by the hostess, and soon after we were presented with some baguette slices:

Bread & Butter

It was pretty good bread, but I wasn’t particularly dazzled by it. But then, this came next…

House Corn Muffins

I have a spot soft in my heart for cornbread/muffins. Anything corny, I guess, ha! But these were so delicious. They arrived at our table warm, freshly baked, and they tasted delicious. Soft and fluffy and buttery and corny. Mmm… we asked for seconds of these, and the next batch arrived warm, too. This restaurant knows the way to my heart. (Ah, if only S knew that all he had to do was present me with warm, freshly-baked, delicious bread, I would have started dating him long before I actually did. Heehee.)

Amuse Bouche: Spot Prawns with Mango Puree

Amuse Bouche: Spot Prawns with Mango Chutney

We were pleasantly surprised with an amuse bouche (“taster bite” that’s supposed to whet your appetite before the meal starts), poached spot prawns with a sweet-and-sour mango chutney. I really enjoyed the prawn, which was fresh and cooked perfectly. I was also a bit sad that S wasn’t at the dinner, since he would have given me his prawn, haha…

Anyway, for Restaurant Week, Market offers a three-course dinner for $40. Between the six of us, we tried four different appetizers:

Fuji Apple Salad & Roasted Apple-Brie Tart

This was J’s appetizer. I noticed that most of the appetizers had two components. I tried a bit of the apple-brie tart – the crust wasn’t so flaky, but I did love the pairing of apples and brie. I like apples and brie better than the traditional apple with cheddar, actually – the creaminess of brie contrasts well with the crunchy apples. The salad was made with butter leaf lettuce, and a caramelized honey-cider vinaigrette, drizzled with vanilla balsamic. I didn’t try the salad itself, but J seemed to enjoy it.

Alder Wood Smoked King Salmon & Crispy Potato Cake

11/28/2013
Posted by Jinxi on 11/28/2013
2 Responses
American, New American
Tagged with: fine-dining, Market, Restaurant Week, San Diego

Pho Cow Cali Express

Nov 252013

Back for a San Diego post! I’ve still got a bunch of LA places for the blog, but it’s probably time to get back to SD for now. Haha. I admit, part of the reason is that I haven’t gotten the photos from my recent SD food-ventures out of my camera until yesterday… Oops.

Anyway, my lovely mother visited for a weekend, and we did a lot of eating, cooking, and shopping! For her first meal here, I decided to take her out for pho (Vietnamese noodle soup). Haha. Doesn’t sound like much, but she loves noodle soups, especially pho, but since my stepdad and sis don’t like it too much, she doesn’t usually get to have it at home. The only pho places I’ve been to in SD are Phuong Trang, Pho La Jolla, and Mignon Pho & Grill, none of which was that impressive to me, but I’ve heard good things about Pho Cow Cali in Mira Mesa. (Conveniently located close to H-Mart, where we were planning on doing some grocery shopping.) So, off we went.

The place was bustlin’ for Friday lunch – the parking lot was pretty full, and we had to wait ten minutes or so before we were seated. Mom said she’d go with pho, and I chose my go-to, bun (rice vermicelli).

Special Combo Pho with Rare Slices of Steak, Well-done Brisket, Flank, Tendon, & Tips [$6.95]

I love how much basil they gave us. Continue reading »

11/25/2013
Posted by Jinxi on 11/25/2013
6 Responses
Asian, Vietnamese
Tagged with: pho, Pho Cow Cali, San Diego

[Irvine] 85C Bakery, Part Two

Nov 222013

I’ve already posted once about my recent visits to 85°C Bakery in Irvine, one of my favorite Taiwanese bakeries (in the U.S.). I felt like I purchased way too much stuff to fit into one post, so I split it into two, haha. It’s actually taken S and me quite a while to finish all the breads – thankfully, nothing got moldy or stale. We usually refrigerate everything (sometimes, I put it in resealable bags) and toast the breads before eating them – there’s nothing like warm bread. Anyway, enough small talk; I’m going straight to the pastries.

Green Tea & Red Bean Roll; Coconut Custard Roll

Green Tea & Red Bean Roll

These were actually gifts for my friends; I’ve had both of these roll cakes before, and they’re both soft and fluffy sponge cakes with fresh cream rolled in the middle. I prefer the coconut custard roll, which has a pretty strong coconut flavor and is quite sweet (but is an awesome tea time snack), but my friend’s favorite is the green tea & red bean. I’ve never been a fan of red bean, but the green tea taste is really mellow and fragrant. I wish they made a roll that was just green tea, haha.

Coffee & Raisin Bread

11/22/2013
Posted by Jinxi on 11/22/2013
4 Responses
Asian, Cafe, Chinese, Taiwanese
Tagged with: 85C, bakery, bread, dessert, Irvine

Beard Papa’s and Ozero: Two Sweets in One Post

Nov 202013

Sorry to keep flooding you with posts from my L.A. trip, but I haven’t eaten out much in San Diego since we spent so much money and time eating out in L.A. instead. Haha. I’ll consider this my guide for L.A. for now. Also, I’m going to combine some of the posts since we visited quite a few cafés and dessert shops during our short time there (another reason we’re trying to eat out less… har har).

Anyway, we stumbled upon Beard Papa’s in Little Tokyo Shopping Center by accident. Our destination was a sushi restaurant for lunch, and Beard Papa’s happened to be at the entrance of the same shopping center in Little Tokyo. Normally when S and I visit L.A., we eat in the San Gabriel Valley area (for Taiwanese and/or Cantonese food), so this was my first time in Little Tokyo. I actually really liked the large shopping center, which reminded me a bit of Asian department stores – a food court floor, arcade, grocery store, boutiques… Should have taken some photos. Oops. I was too busy window shopping with my friends.

My friend saw the Beard Papa’s and got super excited. Haha. It’s a Japanese franchise that specializes in selling cream puffs – soft and puffy choux pastry filled with pastry cream. I’ve made my own version at home, but Beard Papa’s makes some of the best cream puffs I’ve had. (Keep in mind, I haven’t been to France. Haha.)

Filling the choux pastry with fresh pastry cream

You order the type of cream puff you want (see next pic for the menu), then it gets filled – this way, the choux pastry stays crisp instead of getting soggy from the cream.

Beard Papa’s Menu

I was really tempted to get multiple puffs, but they don’t taste good if they’re not fresh, so I just ordered a regular vanilla cream puff for S, and one vanilla E’clair for myself. The E’clair is just the cream puff dipped in chocolate.

11/20/2013
Posted by Jinxi on 11/20/2013
8 Responses
Asian, Cafe, Dessert, Japanese, Taiwanese
Tagged with: Beard Papa, dessert, Los Angeles, milk tea, Ozero, pastry

[LA] Tamaen Japanese BBQ

Nov 132013

Here’s another post from my recent visit to L.A. (Actually, I’m going to L.A. again this weekend, so this month might pretty much be L.A.-focused. Haha.) We were meeting up with some of our college buddies, and we decided to eat something nice. Since one of my friends is pretty familiar with the Torrance area, he took us to a Japanese BBQ restaurant in Lomita. We didn’t have reservations or anything, but luckily they had a table for four available on a Friday night. The place was pretty small, very cute, and reminded me a lot of Tsuruhashi - Japanese “Korean” style BBQ.

The menu indicates that they have “Special Selected” as well as “High Quality” U.S. Kobe beef. But we decided that U.S. Prime beef was good enough for us (and our wallets), haha.