Category: restaurant

Categories
#foodie My San Francisco Chronicles restaurant sweet treats

Indian Ice Cream?

While walking in the Mission today, my sister and I stumbled upon Bombay Ice Creamery, a little ice cream shop situated beside an Indian/ethnic grocery store. At first we were in a bit of disbelief over Indian ice cream, but nevertheless we went in to poke around the shop a bit.

There were some standard flavors (Chocolate, vanilla, etc.), but there were also very exotic flavors such as lassi and Indian food-inspired flavors. At the moment, I can’t name many of the flavors off the top of my head, but I know I wanted to try some. Unfortunately, my sister and I had some huge burritos (at El Buen Sabor), and she advised that it probably was not wise to mix Mexican fare with Indian desserts.

So very true, so very true. Next time, Bombay, next time.

Categories
drink My San Francisco Chronicles restaurant

Tapioca Tea at Golden Deer Restaurant.

In my epic quest to find the best tapioca tea out here in San Francisco/California, today my sister and I stopped in at a Vietnamese restaurant called Golden Deer in the Richmond district.

They had tapioca tea of course, and I decided I would try their red bean flavor. The tea came in a cute parfait glass with shredded ice on top; the bottom half of the drink was still warm (I’m guessing from the machine).

At first taste, I liked the red bean flavor, but after drinking the whole glass, I realized the tea was a bit too sweet. My sister tried the coconut flavor; it had a very authentic coconut flavor, but it too was a bit too sweet for us.

I guess if I were to give the tea/the restaurant a rating, I would say it was a 3/5. Not horrible, but not the best either.

Categories
#foodie American Culture fast food restaurant

Re-entry into the American lifestyle–

What better way to “get back into the groove” of American life than to go eat breakfast at IHOP?

Yes, I went to eat breakfast at IHOP today:

1) I was craving it when I woke up
2) I have no food in my apartment at the moment due to my month-long vacation away from the apartment
3) IHOP is just one block away from my apartment.

This was the first time I was able to venture outside since I arrived back in San Francisco on Wednesday. It felt strange to enter into a restaurant and not have someone say to me “Welcome!” in Japanese. The service was faster, the people were still polite, but ah-ha–today I finally had to leave a tip (in Japan, it’s not part of their custom to leave tips). Well, the meal was good, all-American: stuffed French toast, sausage, eggs, hash browns.

Yes, I’m back in America, and today I finally can feel it from this experience.

Categories
#foodie Japan Japanese food restaurant

Haiti Cafe in Shinjuku.


Spent the day out with friends; I basically had an “International” meal day. For lunch, I met with some friends and we ate Indian food. For dinner, I was with another group of friends, and we were walking around the streets of Shinjuku, trying hard to find a decent/fun place to eat. We came upon this restaurant called Haiti Cafe; Haitian food. This was a new one for all of us!

So we walked in, and the atmosphere was very island-like with some voodoo statues and such. The menu was probably a fusion of Japanese and Haitian flavors–I ordered a curry actually–but, it was still new and interesting to us all. We felt really amused by the experience; at the end of the meal, we were served coffee, which came with rum to mix in. Interesting!

Categories
#foodie Japan restaurant

Okinawan Food


After spending the whole day out with my friend Mayumi , I realized that I really need to get out of Tokyo and explore more of Japan. I want to go to all the other “major” areas of Japan–Hokkaido, Osaka, Kyuushuu, Okinawa–and also to the more rural areas as well. I just need to explore more of the country; after all, there’s more to Japan than Tokyo, just like there’s more to the US than NYC, DC, SF, LA, etc.

I was perusing through Granduo today at the Tachikawa station; felt bored and restless, so I walked around the mall a bit and listened to some music. I went upstairs to the food places and found this little gem called Ichariba, which serves Okinawan food. I had never tried Okinawan food before, so I decided to venture in.

The menu had a lot of healthy items, including some items to preserve youth. I went for the Maguro rice bowl (raw tuna slices with rice), since the picture looked appealing. That choice was a good one for me; I needed something light and healthy to fill me up for the day, and this was it.

I’m not quite sure what the green or white stuff was, but nonetheless it still tasted delicious. Eating this dish made me really want to go to Okinawa soon!