120 N San Gabriel Blvd, Ste H, San Gabriel, CA 91778
Pricing - $ | Dining - Casual, To-Go | Cuisine - Coffee, Tea, Asian


My older brother always hypes this place up so we decided to give it a shot since we were in the area. The line was long but not headachingly so. We grabbed a menu while we waited. I was taken aback by the prices though - they were a little on the higher end of boba places I had been. He suggested to get the milk drinks they had (not milk tea drinks, just milk drinks) so we chose from that section.


He said that the best one was the milk drink that had caramel, pudding, and their honey boba so he grabbed that. Our younger brother got the taro with honey boba. Mine was strawberry, pudding, and honey boba. My first impression was that the boba was delicious. I liked how it was honey-ed. After that, however, I wasn't very impressed. The "best drink" there was not special at all. It was a bit bland. The pudding in both our drinks was overwhelming actually. There was just too much of it. I had to chew every part of my drink. The taro was good in the sense that it had actual taro pieces in it. However, it was basically just that - there wasn't much of anything else added to it to sweeten the drink or make it creamy. Mine was artificial strawberry for sure. The best part was the honey boba but in terms of the drinks themselves, I'll take my business elsewhere.

1088 S Baldwin Ave, Arcadia, CA 91007
Pricing - $$ | Dining - Casual, To-Go | Cuisine - Taiwanese, Chinese | Reservations - Unavailable
www.dintaifungusa.com


So my dad had eaten here with his friend before and really wanted to take the family because he said it was delicious. When he told me you could watch the cooks make the dumplings in front of you, I thought that it would be an exciting experience where we could talk to the chefs or something. When we got there, I realized that watching them make the food was basically just a floor to ceiling window to the kitchen. It was still interesting for a little while but the little while turned into a long while. We waited nearly 2 hours to get our party of 5 seated and that was after persistent bothering of the hostesses to remind them that we were still waiting.


When we sat down, it took a while for them to grab our order form which we had filled out while we were waiting. To pass the time by, I looked at the instructions for how to best enjoy their dumplings (located on the back of the chopstick wrapper)...To be honest, when the food came out, I was unimpressed. The dumplings themselves were somewhat small and for about $9 an order, that made each one nearly a dollar! I think that the place was overly hyped up really. The long wait and the high prices made me think that the majority of the constituents that day were all first-timers. Perhaps it was the day we went. Nevertheless, the dumplings were good but not mind-blowing.


The first to come out was the juicy pork and crab dumpling. I thought that the crab was a bit too fishy in taste and smell for me. My favorite order was the vegetarian dumpling because it was chock full of delicious greens minced quite well.


When our order of the small dumpling with soup was unavailable, we opted for the green melon and shrimp dumpling which was...interesting. I'm not sure they worked well at all together. Simultaneously the famous juicy pork dumpling and the shrimp and pork dumpling orders came out. The pork dumpling was pretty good but not super special; I liked it better than the latter of the two though.


Next was my younger brother's order of the porkchop fried rice which had been suggested online from reviewers on Yelp. It was actually pretty good though the rice had a lot of oil. The rice itself wasn't jasmine or long grain but the sticky Japanese type. It was fried with egg, green onions, and a whole lot of oil. After that was the rice and pork Shao Mai which I found pretty tasty though a little too soft. There was a bit too much glutinous rice in it and hardly any pork.


Our dessert was an order of red bean dumplings. This and the vegetarian dumplings were the best in my opinion. It was just the right amount of sweet and the portion was ample. In general, the dumplings were pretty good but not worth the price and wait. We weren't even full at the end. What they do well here is having a good sauce of ginger and Chinese vinegar to dip the dumpling in and a decent amount of soupiness in them.

1430 Union St, San Diego, CA 92101
Pricing - $$/$$$ | Dining - Casual, To-Go | Cuisine - Desserts, Teas
http://www.extraordinarydesserts.com


Ever since I stumbled upon this place with my friends one night when we were hankering to walk around downtown SD at night and it was one of the only places open (we had tea there first), it's a place to target every time I'm in SD...which is rarely. However, I had the occasion to go back today and snagged some heavenly desserts. My friends and I wanted to sit down but the line/wait was too long so we just browsed the pretty displays before making our choices to-go.


What they have down pretty well is their presentation. The desserts look to-die-for and the interior decorations are pretty chic as well. I liked the small wall displays of wares to sell such as artsy looking teacups and teapots. There was also a section of delightful smelling teas (they set them out for us to sniff) and children's toys. The main attraction was, of course, the dessert display.


After wetting the floor with our saliva, we put our to-go orders in and waited in all the din for our orders. Of everything ordered, the only thing I didn't get to try was the Au Chocolate cake shown above. Oh well.


The sad thing I realized after we had ordered everything and I started taking pictures was that all the cakes were laid on their sides. Alas, no good pictures could come of these. I myself got the Blood Orange Ricotta Torte which I found pretty good but quite drenched in whatever syrup was soaking the cake part. It was quite sweet with the bits of blood orange adding some tartness. To be honest, hardly all that memorable aside from the fact that it was quite heavy for a citrus-infused dessert.


My older brother wanted to get the Passionfruit Napoleon but though the platter was quite full when he placed his order, they ran out when it came to packing his box. So, instead, he got the Lemon Praline cake that I had been eyeing before. It was quite tart! I liked the bits of pralines that coated the outside of the cake but the middle cream was too jaw-wincing for me to handle.


My younger brother didn't even know what the dessert he ordered was called. He just looked at it and knew he wanted it. He had apparently settled for some kind of rich coffee cake. It was very moist yet crumbly and was true to its nature. I think we would've needed several cups of coffee to help swallow the thick chocolate and yellow cake it was. I believe he finished it after 3 separate occasions of going back at it.


What we ended up bringing back to our parents was a Creme Brulee which had lemon infused in it and cinnamon cream on top. As I expected, when they had some, they said it was too sweet. What I didn't expect was that after having some of it myself, it really was too sweet! I liked this take on creme brulee, however, because the lemon was refreshing. It also is certainly one of the better looking desserts and the white chocolate sheets work well with it. For the price, though, I was expecting more than an overload of sugar in my mouth. I'm going to need to come back when it's less busy one day to try out the actual food and not just the desserts.

[UPDATE: THIS RECIPE HAS BEEN UPDATED AND CAN BE FOUND HERE.] This was a small dish I put together for the graduation party at my apartment back at school. I always enjoy myself some mushrooms and artichokes. I was in the mood for making an entire antipasto platter but settled for marinating the baby bella mushrooms I had in a balsamic vinaigrette. It was spectacular and just the right amount of vinegar-y. Give it a try!

Step 1: Ingredients (serving size: 4)

• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 lb mushrooms, sliced with stems removed
• 1 can artichoke hearts, 14 oz
• 2 tsps oregano, dry
• 2 tsps basil, dry

Step 2: Marinating the mushrooms
You can keep the stems on your mushrooms if you want but I preferred them off. I used baby Bella mushrooms and sliced them up after wiping them down. You don't want to wash the mushrooms intensely because you would be removing the fungi's nutrients. I then put all the ingredients except for the artichoke hearts into a bowl. Due to a time crunch, I only marinated in the refrigerator for about 2 hours though you can leave this overnight.


Step 3: Cooking the mushrooms
After a few hours, you can heat up a pan and once hot, pour the bowl's contents into the pan. The olive oil in the marinade allows you to omit adding oil to the pan. Saute your mushrooms until slightly browned. The mushrooms will release some liquids but retain all of that. Once they are cooked, pour all the contents back in the bowl. Add the drained artichokes hearts and mix well.


Step 4: Finishing
Put the bowl back into the fridge for about another hour or so as it is a cold dish. You may then serve as you see fit. I put all of mine around a bed of lettuce with hummus in the middle.

Irvine Spectrum, 71 Fortune Dr, Irvine, CA 92618
Pricing - $$/$$$ | Dining - Casual | Cuisine - American | Reservations - Available
www.yardhouse.com

A chain restaurant, yes; however, it's mostly in Southern California for the locations in this state. Other locations are in AZ, CO, FL, HI, IL, KS, MA, NV, and TX. Of all the times I've been to Yard House, I think I've only had their regular fare once. I basically just go for their Happy Hour specials where you get half off select appetizers and certain drinks are cheaply priced. What's impressive about Yard House is the 100+ beers they have on tap and the large variety you can get of their blends. When you walk into their place, you can see all the kegs and taps; it's quite amazing.


I chose to go with the Youngberry Chocolate which was their unique blend of Lindeman's Framboise & Young's Double Chocolate Stout. It tasted like a liquid raspberry truffle to me. I love raspberry truffles! The stout was smooth and quite tasty. When I got to the bottom of my glass though, I realized that I should've mixed them a little bit as I got closer to the end because when I was left with the Framboise at the bottom, my jaw was clenching from how tart it was (even thinking about it now made me salivate). Great drink though. I'm interested in trying out more. I took my younger brother, Edison, with me when we went and as a growing teenage boy would, he made hefty choices that made us feel quite full at the end. We opted to go with the spinach cheese dip, chicken nachos, and Chinese garlic noodles.


The spinach cheese dip has been one of our favorites. I believe we get it every time we go. It has Feta, Jack, and Parmesan cheeses melted into it. The flatbread used to get the dip is quite crispy and has Parmesan sprinkled on it. It's a little salty but gets balanced out with how savory the spinach dip is. While the bowl is shallow, it certainly is enough dip considering how rich and cheesy it is.


When we were reading the menu, the Chinese garlic noodles jumped out at us. We decided to give it a shot, and it was a good choice save for the saltiness. Butter and garlic tossed with Shiitake mushrooms and sprinkled with grated Parmesan, this dish was flavorful but a bit small. It had a bit more salt than I would have liked but the noodles' texture was good. Though good, I probably wouldn't order again because it wasn't superbly out of the ordinary or anything. It was merely just good for then.


What made us bloated was having ordered the enormous chicken nachos with their spicy pinto beans, Cheddar and Jack, red and green sauce, tomato, cilantro, onions, guacamole and sour cream on tortilla chips. It was quite the sizable portion. However, the amount of chicken on the nachos was sparse and nothing stood out for me on this dish.


Here are two fabulous pictures that my fellow diner and friend took of the food that was ordered. The first picture is of the Hawaiian Poke Stack my friends got (which was delicious!), and the second is of my brother's and my order. Thanks for taking such awesome pictures Justin Misa! I'm considering trying a hand at food photography because pictures like these make me oh-so-happy. Food is a wonderful thing!

12661 Beach Blvd, Stanton, CA 90680
Pricing - $/$$ | Dining - Casual, To-Go | Cuisine - Sushi, Japanese
http://yukisushi.tumblr.com/


Oh good sushi, how I have missed thee! California is the place to be. After some fun at Dave & Buster's for my friend's birthday, we headed over to Yuki Sushi which is one of the favorite sushi places of one of my friends. We got some of the free edamame and miso soup to start off the evening. The miso soup was pretty good with actual soft tofu bits.


The first roll we grabbed was the Hot Night Roll which was shrimp tempura, cucumber, and crabmeat on the inside with spicy tuna and crunch on the outside. It was pretty dang good. The spiciness caught me a little off-guard there because I wasn't expecting it to be so quick to heat. However, it worked quite well for the roll, and the tuna was very fresh. The crunch was scrumptious! I enjoyed this roll a lot more than the other one we got (though it was good too).


The second roll was the Crunch Dragon Roll which actually had the same inside as the Hot Night Roll but the outside was fresh water eel. I think I only didn't like this roll as much as the first because the generous chunks of eel overpowered the other tastes. Whereas the Hot Night Roll had a bit of zing to it from the spiciness that gave way to the inside, the Crunch Dragon Roll was mainly eel-y. Nothing against eel - it was a good roll too. I'd recommend it to those who like large chunks of eel!


Dessert was a must here. The tempura ice cream at Yuki is phenomenal! We snagged ourselves a green tea tempura ice cream; I always must commend them on presentation of their dessert. I also have to give a thumbs up to how they get the right balance between a crunchy hot tempura shell and superbly frozen ice cream. I mean, the ice cream is not melty from the shell's heat nor is it frozen solid as an "easy way out" for the making of the dessert. The ice cream is very creamy and smooth as well. Another satisfied dinner at Yuki!

[This recipe has been updated - if you'd like to see the newest version, click here.]

I made this dipping sauce for the graduation party to go with the Italian meatballs that were to be a platter. It's pretty simple and puts a nice tangy spin on just putting meatballs in ketchup or tomato sauce.

Step 1: Ingredients (serving size: 10 ounces)

• salt, to taste
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tbsp white sugar
• 1 cup ketchup
• 2 tbsps white vinegar
• 2 tbsps Worchestershire sauce

Step 2: Making the sauce
In a saucepan on medium heat, mix everything together! Hah...I'm sorry that the directions are just that but it just is that simple!

1242 University Ave, Ste 5, Riverside, CA 92507
Pricing - $ | Dining - Casual, To-Go | Cuisine - American Chinese

I headed over to Life Cafe with a huge group of other people after a long Circle K banquet tonight. We had all had food a few hours before but it was about 11:30pm before we hit up this place. It was great to see that it was open late night because we were quite hungry. I snagged a menu and though I thought I should only get an appetizer, I ended up getting a meal without any drink. I regretted not getting a drink after I saw that the boba drinks came out in beer steins (huge ones at that) and tasted my friend's drink - the tapioca was pretty good!


The starter for my combo was a small side salad and a tad bit of soup. I liked the dressing for the salad but iceberg lettuce is not my thing. The soup needed a bit more cornstarch and probably some more vinegar as it was a hot and sour soup (from what I surmised) but was lacking in some areas. It also wasn't all that hot in temperature.


My entree was a combination plate of walnut shrimp and beef & broccoli with steamed rice. I'm not quite sure what the logic was in pairing these two together though. The flavors did not quite mesh if you wanted to eat a bite of one and then immediately have a bite of the other afterward. The walnut shrimp was quite sweet; there were even pieces of cut-up Asian pear mixed in. The walnuts were too soft for my liking and the shrimp's breading had a queer texture to it. It made my mouth feel...powdery? The beef and broccoli was decent; my main complaint was that it was too saucy/salty. The meal was okay overall - not bad but not phenomenal. Props on presentation though!