Category Archives: Asian

Japantown Cherry Blossom Festival

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http://nccbf.org/home/

This was the first weekend of the Cherry Blossom Festival so we thought we’d go check it out and get some good eats. We were very lucky with parking but I don’t advise trying to park there next week, it’d be easier to take the bus or walk. We arrived around 12:30 just in time for lunch. We started with some spam musubi (sorry no pic) and a dozen takoyaki (although made from shredded beef instead of octopus).

We had some yakisoba and beef skewers before taking a break from eating.

We were lucky to see the contestants of the Cherry Blossom Festival Queen Program in the crowd. Their program was on Saturday evening.

We wanted something a bit sweet and had the red bean paste filled cakes.

Super fresh!

Vicki as my food model 🙂

After lunch, we went to check out the booths and exhibits. We ran into my favorite celebrity…

and Ron’s favorite dog:

They’re having an actual show next week with the characters from Puroland with singing and dancing. I’m tempted to go but I’m not that obsessive!

Standing in front of the cherry blossoms at Peace Plaza.

We went to Hotel Kabuki to see their exhibits or origami, dolls, swords, and ikebana.






The last snack for the afternoon, deep fried mochi. I was expecting it to be sweet since it was at the shaved ice stand but it was a bit salty, there was some dried seaweed on top with a sweet soy. Again, Vicki is my food model 😛

The festival continues next weekend and the parade will be next weekend too. Don’t miss it!

Farmers Market, Stacks, Russian Hill, Okoze Sushi

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Certainly had a fun filled, packed Saturday with the beautiful weather.

We got up surprisingly early, 7:30am! On a Saturday, that’s almost unheard of, we usually only get up early to go snowboarding or if we have to really go somewhere. But it was nice because we spent a quiet morning at home drinking our coffee and having a bit of breakfast and catching up on a few things. Maxwell enjoyed our early rising so that he could peek out the window to smell the morning air. He’s in mid-sniff:

I took the bus down to the Embarcadero to get some goodies at the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market and just enjoy the beautiful weather.

My treasures for the day: strawberries,

Pepper jelly and beautiful Pomelos,

A huge artichoke and brussel sprouts,

Garlic Quark and Red pepper Curds.

I enjoyed brunch at Stacks’ in Hayes Valley. My friends Kat & Jon had some to pick me up from Union Square to join them for brunch. I ordered a short stack (2 pancakes) of their banana macadamia nut and coconut pancakes, quite a mouthful to say and an even bigger mouthful to eat! I only ate like 2/3 of the portion and packed the rest in a doggie bag. I liked the macadamia nuts but probably too much coconut.

After brunch (which Stacks’ is open until 3:30pm on Sat/Sun), I invited myself over to my friend Kat & Jon’s place to spend the afternoon (I hope they didn’t mind) since we hadn’t hung out in a while. They live on top of Russian Hill and have a great view from their building. You can see all the beautiful San Francisco landmarks.

The Transamerica tower, Bay Bridge, Coit Tower.

The new span on the Bay Bridge to the left.

Alcatraz (which I’ve yet to visit…)

The Golden Gate Bridge.

Berkeley’s Campanile… in the middle, that tall skinny thing.

I wish I had a better lens.

We met up with some of their friends for drinks at Bistro Aix before having dinner at Okoze Sushi, where Ron joined us.

I remember dining at Bistro Aix before but I didn’t remember them having such a lovely outdoor dining area. The heat lamps were on and we were seated at a quiet table in the back corner. It was quite cozy and the service was very attentive. We were only there for an hour for wine and appetizers.

We had dinner at Okoze Sushi where Kat & Jon recommended. They had met one of the sushi chef’s on previous visits, his name is DJ, and he has always treated them well with good food on subsequent visits. Tonight, Jon asked him to prepare some things for our party of 7, whatever he thought would be appropriate. We started out with some edamame and this waygu beef carpaccio dish. Yummy!

The restaurant was too dark so I gave up on taking pictures with my phone’s camera and just decided to enjoy the meal. We had delicious sashimi, an extra large special roll that had soft shell crab inside and some sort of white fish outside with siracha sauce and salmon roe, tempura, and a few other little things. Everything had really strong flavors and seemed more fusion cuisine rather than traditional Japanese. My only complaint would be that it was quite loud inside the restaurant so it was hard to have a conversation but then you can really concentrate on eating.

What a wonderful activity packed day in San Francisco…

Stack’s Restaurant
501 Hayes Street

Bistro Aix
3340 Steiner St (between Lombard & Chestnut)

Okoze Sushi
1207 Union St (at Hyde)

One of the reasons why I fell in love…

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http://www.yelp.com/biz/k…arket-daly-city

Ron is so cute/funny sometimes. He does unexpected things like packing me this super cute lunch!

We went to the Kukje, a Korean supermarket in Daly City, after seeing Aliens vs. Monsters and picked up a lot of goodies for dinner for the next few days. Last night he was making dinner for himself (since I went out to Hotei) and I guess made a little extra for me.

I bought this thermos-like thing for keeping food warm which has three little compartments and comes with portable chopsticks. I’m embarrassed to say I’ve never used it, until today! The containers are white rice, spicy broiled pork, and kimchi (seaweed, Napa cabbage, and sprouts).

Yes, I’m a lucky gal!

He cooked dinner after we got home from the gym tonight. He cooked the pre-marinated kalbi (short ribs) and some vegetables and we had some more of the Korean small dishes. Had to share the mini marinated crabs we bought. You eat the whole thing, shell and all… they are a bit sweet and salty.

Hotei – Japanese Noodles + Sushi

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http://www.hoteisf.com/

Tried Hotei for the first time tonight. Thanks to Patsy and her husband for the treat!

We shared a 49er Roll which is sliced salmon, lemon, avocado, tobiko, and shiso. The thinly sliced lemon on top gives it an interesting bite, in a way very refreshing but also a bit strange.

I tried the chasu ramen with miso broth. Surprisingly this bowl of noodles was too much for me. I shouldn’t have eaten that banana before I left work… but the noodles were nice and al dente, the chasu on the leaner side, yummy bamboo shoots, other nice greens in the soup…but then broth just a bit too salty for me. I’m not really a broth drinker to begin with so I may be a bad judge of broth.

We also shared an order of hamachi kama (yellowtail cheek, usually broiled) so that may have contributed to my inability to finish my noodles. Next time I’ll know to save my stomach because this restaurant’s portions are actually very generous.

With the suddenly cooler weather, warm soupy noodles were just the thing!

Hotei
1290 9th Avenue

Hong Kong Clay Pot Restaurant

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http://www.yelp.com/biz/h…t-san-francisco

Had dinner in SF Chinatown this weekend at Hong Kong Clay Pot Restaurant. We ordered three dishes:

Salt & Pepper Shrimp

Ong choy stir fried with green chilies and fermented bean curd

Oxtail clay pot

The oxtail clay pot was the best dish of the meal. The sauce was very yummy over rice and the oxtail meat was tender and surrounded by well marinated tendons and fat. Probably not very healthy but delicious if you like oxtail.

After dinner I cheated on my cats and hung out with two other cats. This is Macintosh who is the friendlier of the two. He took a cat nap with me and came eagerly with the shake of the cat treat package.

This is SpyderCat, the more aloof of the two but he also sat next to me while I was watching TV and was grooming himself. I found his sitting position quite funny, like he was trying to sit like humans do (when in actuality, it was so he could groom his stomach).

Hong Kong Clay Pot Restaurant
960 Grant Ave (at Jackson St)