Eat. Travel. Eat!

A famous restaurant for Hainan Chicken Rice, Savoy Kitchen is a very small restaurant on Valley Boulevard that draws large crowds. But it isn't merely an Asian restaurant, but rather it serves both Asian and Italian options--you'll find pizza, pasta, bread, curry, and other options.

Our last visit to Sagami went so well that we recently visited it again. This time, we were just as satisfied, and ran into a great special item!

It happened to be Easter on a recent trip to Irvine (coincidentally, we did this also three years ago ), so was it the time to take chances and drive to an unexplored area of town for lunch? Not really. So, we headed to a familiar location -- Fashion Island -- and finally tried out True Food Kitchen, which was under construction back when we visited its next door neighbor, Flemings .

Oto-Oto Izayaka Japonaise may be a large chain restaurant, operated by Ramla Inc., the third-largest chain restaurant in Japan, but the food quality was decent enough for a friend to recommend it to us. To thank him for a year's worth of mentoring, we decided to surprise him here, and as expected, the dinner went very well. Holding a corner spot in a strip mall, one may think that Oto-Oto is small, but it is actually quite a decent sized restaurant, with a large number of booth tables and stand alone tables.  They were able to fit our 20+ attendees comfortably that evening along with regular patrons and a birthday party! Throughout the visit, the employees made sure that we all had enough water, although by the end of the visit, they were slightly less enthusiastic as we spent more than three hours in their restaurant. It happened to be happy hour while we were waiting for our special guest, and so I ordered a small appetizer: spicy trio cones. These consisted of sp...

Four years ago, I used a camera phone and a point and shoot. One of the most memorable pictures was this picture of an engraved watermelon with an UCI anteater, taken when my friend was just entering the university. The food then at Pippin Commons was decent, but there were definitely some setbacks, even at move-in day, where Pippin was trying to demonstrate its quality offerings to parents. For example, the chicken tortilla soup was barely passable; some other items I shrugged about. (Pictures taken during Celebrate UCI, 2012) In between the four years, I got samples from Pippin, such as some chocolate chip cookies (delicious, crisp on the outside and chewy in the middle) or fruit, but I never really got to thoroughly visit Pippin, or UCI itself again. With that said, my companions and I really were in for a surprise when we visited Pippin for the first time again in four years. In comparison to some restaurant reviews that I've written here on the blog...

(Now that I've eaten a generous serving of AP Tots (the reason for my month's absence), I'm back to writing on a weekly basis!) For years, I have wondered what was this "May's Chinese Restaurant" entry on my GPS; how could there be a restaurant in Arcadia that I did not still know about? It was only recently that I found out it was May's Cafe, an establishment that has been in Arcadia for years. With some special circumstances that began this year, May's Cafe suddenly became a restaurant with a prime location-- one ideal for me to try out their Taiwanese selections from a walking distance. Inside, the restaurant is tiny-- there are less than 20 tables, and mirrors are used in an effort to enlarge the space. Still, the less than perfect surroundings, coupled with some KOST 103.5 radio and view of the street, add for a unusually relaxing way to end an otherwise busy week. The constant use of Mandarin may present a barrier for some, but eve...

(pictures taken with a HTC Surround) Replacing what used to be Noodle House, a steam tray Chinese restaurant that offered excellent deals (for example, three entree dishes and rice for 10 USD), Daikokuya was a somewhat surprising addition to the President Square Food Court. Its operation is quite similar to that of other ramen outlets, such as Santouka : one orders at the counter and can get plenty of condiments and water to the side. Daikokuya offers a wide variety of sauces and toppings like pickled ginger (the blurry red box in the picture), more so than any other food court restaurant that I have seen.

About a year ago, Golden Deli opened up in Temple City, replacing Alpha Science, an education center that has since relocated to Monrovia nearby Shanghai Bamboo House . We have been coming to this location ever since it opened, after having a good first experience and satisfactory return experiences. (Condiments and Utensils) The restaurant actually runs quite similarly to that of a fast-casual restaurant (or "express style"); the customer gets to pick the table, holds the table number so that the employees can send over the food to the table, and gets to pick up drinks like tea, water, and soft drinks by themselves. Likewise, the interior is modern, like those of fast-casual restaurants. However, I find the food quality similar, if not the same, to that of the Golden Deli in San Gabriel ; management seems to agree, having stripped the "express" part from the restaurant name. This fast-casual aspect makes Golden Deli a great place for newcomers to try Vietna...