Gyu-Kaku: High Quality Japanese BBQ…with High Quality Prices

7862 Warner Ave.
Suite #109
Huntington Beach, CA 92647
(714) 842-8333
www.gk-bbq.com

I was fortunate enough to eat here for a friend’s birthday dinner and let’s just get this out of the way…the meat here is pretty darn good.  What stops me from fully recommending this place is the sky high prices.

Now, don’t get me wrong, it’s not “gourmet” sky high prices, but definitely expensive for how much they give you.  This place definitely emphasizes taste, not belly satisfaction.  Each dish can range anywhere from 3 dollars for 3.5oz of meat to $9.95 for 3 oz. of meat.  The most expensive meat they have there is Kobe beef, but I didn’t even bother to dabble in that as I’m going to need to talk to a loan shark to even order that.  However, what I was able to taste was definitely wonderful.

Amazingly enough, some of there cheaper cuts were pretty delicious.  One particular cut that I really liked was the filet mignon.  Definitely very tender and flavorful.  There was also another, very thinly sliced cut of meat that was marinated in teriyaki, but I cannot remember the name of it…but order all the thinly sliced meat…it’s the one that tastes good hahaha.

The calamari (although I don’t have a picture of it) was amazingly very tender and good.  It wasn’t chewy in any sense of the word and the batter was a perfect blend between crispy and moist.  Some batters tend to be a little too crispy, but this one was perfect.

I can only say good things about the food, but I can say 10,000 bad things about the price.  Honestly, it’s too expensive for me to recommend to anyone unless money wasn’t really the issue.  The bill at the end of the night was over $200, and no one was full at the dinner table…in fact…some people were talking about going somewhere else to eat since they were still hungry.  Okay, I was one of those people, but in my defense, I wasn’t the only one feeling that way.  If you were to go, I say go on the weekends and during lunch since it’s all you can eat.  Even though you don’t get the good cuts of meat, the other sub-par cuts are still good, and the most important, it won’t hurt your wallet so much.

Shinbala Cafe: Plain? Sure. Good? Suureeee….

20956 Homestead Rd
Cupertino, CA 95014
(408) 257 – 6868

Julie and I came here to eat with her mom when I was up visiting awhile back and the only thing that this place was known for (maybe to the locals) was the pineapple fried rice.  Was it good?  Sure, but I think there could be some improvements.

Well for starters, I think this place could give you a better ratio of meat/eggs/pineapple to rice.  I felt the ingredients were lacking in quantity because the rice is very predominant when you eat it.  I’m use to fried rice that is just jammed packed with ingredients, but then again, this is probably region specific and catered to the local demographic…maybe people up north aren’t use to having lots of meat and what not in their rice.

The other gripe I have with this dish is just the sheer size of the pineapple and meat.  It’s way too big.  They need to cut it further down to smaller bits and pieces.  Fried rice is suppose to be cohesive and work in unity.  Here, I felt like I was eating rice with pineapple and sausage in it, it didn’t taste like the ingredients were working together, but rather separate entity.

The taste, however, or should I say flavoring is very on point.  It wasn’t overly strong like most places make them.  This is by far, the most important part of fried rice because if it doesn’t taste good, then why eat it, right?  So at least the taste is on point.  My main complaints were mainly pertained to texture and quantity, but I can overlook these points if the food is good, which it is.  NOTHING SPECIAL of course, but still good nonetheless.

A good little joint to have some fried rice if you want it, but that’s about it.  The other dishes were not bad, but forgettable.  Summary: Okay to good food in a place with an awesome name.

TK Noodle: Crispy and Soft, Together at Last

20735 Stevens Creek Blvd.
Cupertino, CA 95014
(408) 257-9888
http://www.tknoodle.com/share/cgi-bin/site.cgi?site_id=tknoodle&page_id=home

Sorry we haven’t been able to update as frequently as before, everyone! Time and money have been teaming up against us. Enjoy the read and keep the suggestions coming!

This place isn’t by any means the best of anything, but for my mom and me it’s our usual  go-to for lunch when we’re too lazy to make something. Service is fast, food hits the spot, and prices are cheap. The chopstick can kinda grosses me out, but then again anywhere that just leaves their chopsticks open in a can kinda gross me out. Anyway, I think the food can redeem that aspect of this joint.

My mom and I always order the same things. She gets the Combination Rice Stick Soup and I get the Combination Crispy Fried Noodles. We also usually get a Fried Daikon Egg Flour Cake on the side. Both of the noodle dishes come with shrimp, chicken, pork, and some vegetables. For those who want a little bit of everything and less oil, the combination rice stick soup (#1 on the menu) will satisfy your cravings. There’s plenty of meat, so you don’t have to worry about them being skimpy with your protein. All in all, this dish seems to be one of the more popular ones, especially for those of you who want less oil. However, be warned that there’s still a lot of sodium in the soup.

So far, TK Noodle is the only place I know that sells Combination Crispy Fried Noodles. Like the name implies, the noodles are crispy. The fried egg noodles here sit over a pool of their sauce and is topped with meat and vegetables. This crispiness of the noodles is customizable to the customer-if you like your noodles more crispy then drizzle less sauce, if you like your noodles less crispy then apply the sauce generously. I’m a big texture person when it comes to food and for that reason, I love the crunch that comes with this noodle dish. It’s definitely a unique way of eating noodles that you don’t see very often.

Another one of their popular dishes here is their daikon and eggs flour cake. One thing that his place does a little differently from other daikon flour cake-selling places is that there’s boiled peanuts added into the cake. That aspect of the flour cake is actually my favorite part here because it gives the daikon cake an extra crunch and you don’t get sick of the taste so easily. Also, I prefer my daikon cakes not too mushy; I like that this place has peanuts and has enough substance that the cake does not fall apart immediately when dipped in the sauce. Lastly, TK noodle also adds eggs with their flour cakes. This could be for the good or for the worse, depending on preference; I personally enjoy the eggs very much.

I know this restaurant gets mixed reviews on Yelp, but like I warned earlier, this is not a place to go to if you’re hoping to be blown away by some mouth-watering awesomeness. Overall, this is just a great place for a quick bite to eat that is affordable. A plus is that Target is right next door-perfect for walking off that food coma.

Lucha Libre Gourmet Taco Shop: All Bow to the Champion!

1810 W. Washington St.
San Diego, CA 92103
(619) 296-8226
www.tacosmackdown.com

I was on my way to San Diego to visit my Julie-san for the weekend since she was already there to drop off her little brother for school.  After going around town and soaking up the sun, we got hungry and decided to meet up with her parents and grab some Mexican food at Lucha Libre.

So you’re wondering based on the title if this place is really THAT good if I’m asking you to bow down to the champion, well yes and no.  The place is definitely unique in that you don’t see too many joints that deck out their restaurant in the theme of Mexican wrestlers.  I definitely give them a thumbs up for being different.  They even have a special table that is cordoned off by velvet ropes…if you haven’t realized it by now or in the photo, it’s only for Champion Lucha Libres haha.  If anything, its honestly just a gimmick to get customers to come in and try their food.

Let’s get on with the food I suppose.  Julie and I weren’t too hungry, but we wanted to at least give this place a try.  We ordered carne asada nachos along with two tacos, one was carne asada and the other one was carnitas (which was called something else, but I can’t remember).  The nachos are great and was tasty.  The sour cream was awesome, the guacamole was awesome, the greasy chips…not so awesome haha.  That would be my only complaint about the nachos.  The chips were a little on the greasy side, I mean it was dripping with grease.  Other then that, they gave plenty of carde asada and plenty of condiments on the nachos to finish every last chip with meat and other fillers on it, a big plus.

The tacos were also a very welcome addition to our meal.  They both had different toppings on them as well.  The carne asada came with sour cream and guacamole along with some pico de gallo salsa.  The carnitas came with pork and some different salsa on top.  The meat was well seasoned and tasted great.  The meat wasn’t dry like some Mexican joints…and at $2.50 a taco, it’s a little pricey, but I guess not too bad considering your paying for some pretty good tacos.

The best part of Lucha Libre in my opinion that really puts them above the rest of your casual Mexican joints is their creamy cilantro sauce!!  It was THAT good.  It definitely made the food taste 10 thousand times better.  I’m sure it’s not good for you, but eh, what the heck, you only visit San Diego so often.

Unlike La Vics in San Jose which serves below par to mushy Mexican food with their “famous” (also to me known as “NOT THAT GREAT and most over hyped sauce ever”), the food here is actually good, and the sauce only compliments it even more so.  Is this place better then most average joints?  I would say it’s about a notch up.  I think it’s comparable to Iguanas up north in terms of quality, but with an extra kick.  They both serve their food with a different style, so it’s hard to compare.  Iguanas tastes like a very Americanized Mexican joint, while Lucha Libre still maintains that Mexican vibe, WHILE still serving Americanized Mexican food…now that’s hard to do haha.  Lucha Libre is comparable to……..think Alertos, but 3 times better and with some kick ass sauce. Get ready to get into the ring, because you won’t want to leave even if you get body slammed by a heart attack haha.

P.S. There’s nothing gourmet about this place…it’s just a taco shop. =)

Silicon Valley Restaurant Week: Oct 14-21

Hey everyone! I’m sure many of you have heard of restaurant weeks in other cities such as Orange County, San Diego, or San Francisco. Personally, I’m always excited when these restaurant weeks roll around, but for me to have to drive all the way to San Francisco to enjoy a $35 3-course meal is not practical. Anyways, it’s Silicon Valley’s turn to host their restaurant week. Several fine dinings will have 3-course meals for a fraction of the normal price. Yea, $35 is a hefty amount … but then again, these three course meals would normally cost +$50 so I guess that makes it a good deal .

Check it out: http://www.siliconvalleyrestaurantweek.com/

Spam Musubi: Hawaii’s Hidden Gold…That’s Right, Forget Diamonds

Ever gone to a Hawaiian restaurant and wondered how they made this?  WONDER NO MORE BECAUSE I HAVE FIGURED OUT THIS CORONARY ARTERIAL DISEASE CAUSING WONDERFULNESS!!  Let’s get it on…

Ingredients

1 can of Spam Musubi
1/4 cup of soy sauce
1/4 cup of water
3 tablespoons of sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons of hoisen sauce
1 1/2 tablespoons of oyster sauce
Several large sheets of Nori Seaweed
1-3 cups of white rice (depending how much rice you want to use)

Directions

First cut the spam musubi into 1/4 inch slices or whatever thickness you like.  Marinate them into the mixture of sugar, water, oyster sauce, hoisen sauce for 10 minutes.  Take them out and pan fry them until they are crispy. You don’t have to use oil to fry them, you can if you want, but I find that spam musubi already has so much saturated fats that the moment it hits the pan, all the fat from the spam already renders out to an amazing amount. 0_0

To make the sauce, take the marinade and check for taste, if the flavor is really strong to your liking, dilute it with some water.  Pour the entire mixture into the sauce pan.  Now, you can thicken it one of two ways.  You can reduce the sauce over the stove (simmering it until a lot of the water boils out) or you can make a roux.  To do the roux, put some oil into a pan, and put some all purpose flour in it (make sure the oil is hot first before doing this).  Cook the flour until you see it become almost like the consistency of mash potatoes.  Pour the marinade mixture into the pan.  I personally like to do it the traditional way, which is to just reduce the mixture.  I personally dilute the sauce until it taste like sweet and sour sauce, I like it a little strong.

After the sauce has reduced, remove it off the stove and let it cool, it will continue to thicken further to the  consistency of gravy.  Now, take the spam musubi you had just fried up.  Get the rice.  Have your rice, than your spam musubi, then a plate to put your creation on.

FIRST and FOREMOST, wet your hands with water so the rice isn’t sticking to your hands.  Grab some rice and built the two rice layers to about the size of the spam musubi.  Add the two layers on top and below the spam.  Take the nori seaweed and measure out wide the nori should be so that it would fit the spam musubi.  Cut accordingly.  Wrap the spam musubi and to close up the wrap, moisten the edges of the seaweed to bind the seaweed together.  Cut at a 45 degree angle and serve.

ENJOY!!!  Don’t eat too much, spam has a lot of saturated fats haha.

Blackened Chicken Tacos: A Little Bit of Mexico At Home

Chicken tacos, what else is there more to want than this?  Maybe a beer to go with it….

Ingredients

1 chicken breast
1 tablespoon of crushed black pepper
1 tablespon of Cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon of Paprika
1 teaspoon of canola oil
1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of garlic powder
1 teaspoon of onion powder
1/5 of a lemon
2 corn tortillas (white or yellow)
2 tablespoons of oil
1/4 cup of yellow onions
1/4 cup of cilantro

Directions

Take the chicken breast and cut it into various small strips.  After this is done, rub down all the chicken with all the salt and peppers.  After it is completely rubbed down and covers all portions of the chicken, pour in the canola oil and lemon.  Let this marinate in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes to an hour.

Take the onions and dice them finely. You can either top your tacos with the onions as is, or you can grill them and caramelize them to give them some more depth.  I always just grill the onions with some canola oil to give it some color and a grilled taste.  Take the cilantro and dice them finely as well.  After all the prep work is done, take the chicken out of the refrigerator and get out a non-stick saute pan.  Pour some canola oil into the pan and start frying the chicken up.  ( IF YOU HAVE A GRILL, YOU CAN JUST BRUSH CANOLA OIL ONTO THE CHICKEN AND GRILL IT INSTEAD).  After the chicken is cooked, remove it from the heat source and let the chicken rest for at least 5 minutes!!!! This is very important because this prevents all the juice form leaking out of the meat if you were to start shredding it right away.

After the chicken is done resting, start shredding the chicken with your fingers.  Now put a corn tortilla (or 2 if you want to double layer the taco) onto a skillet.  Let it warm up and when it becomes pliable, take it out of the pan and start buidling the taco.  Lay the shredded chicken down first, then the grilled onions, then the cilantro.  At this point , it is up to your discretion if you want to put other condiments, such as avocado, hot sauce, guacamole, sour cream, etc.  I prefer to put guacamole, sour cream, and some fresh squeezed lime.  At the very core of the taco though is the chicken, onions, cilantro, everything else after that is up to the person making or eating it, so ENJOY my recipe and be creative!

$25 restaurant gift certificates for $2?? I’m in!

Being a food blogger, of course I have to share good food-related news.

So check it out guys, restaurant.com is having a sale (ENDS TODAY, sorry for the late notice). Restaurant.com basically sells gift certificates to various fine dining places for a fraction of the price. For example: $25 gift certificate: You pay $10. However, til the end of today their 80% sale allows you to get those $25 gift certificates for $2! Yummy deal, no? Enjoy! Let us know if you guys ended trying anything good.

http://view.emailrestaurant.com/?j=fe891d787d66037c76&m=feef1377736103&ls=fdef16797d67077b75117572&l=fe94157274630d7a75&s=fe1812787c63057b7d1274&jb=ffcf14&ju=fe3115707562007e721075&rpid=3801&r=0

The Cottage: I wish I could get this in bed!

7702 Fay Ave
La Jolla, CA 92037
(858) 454-8409
www.cottagelajolla.com

My friends in San Diego have been raving about this place for forever! The weekend I went down to San Diego for my brother’s move-in for school, Vy picked me up so we could go give this place a try. When we passed the restaurant, we noticed that there were a lot of people waiting outside to be seated. Oh no, for sure we thought the wait would be really long, and we hadn’t even found parking yet after circling around a few times. I got off the car first to put my name down while Vy went to look for parking. Luckily, the host assured me that the wait would only be 20 minutes despite what it seemed.

I love the atmosphere of this place. With its white picket fences and garden chairs, this little gem completely embodies the spirit of a countryside breakfast. All the waiters and servers were also very attentive and helpful. One of my friends had suggested getting the stuffed french toast, so that was what I ordered. Vy never had a good experience trying eggs benedict before at two other breakfast joints, but seeing that many of our neighboring customers were ordering eggs benedict, he decided to give this place a try.

Vy’s California Benedict came out first and boy, did it look delicious. The poached eggs were made just right (slightly runny) and not overcooked like some other breakfast places. Accompanying the eggs were thin-sliced turkey meat, fresh avocados, and tasty potatos. Overall a good, filling breakfast made just the way we like it.

My stuffed french toast also looked amazing. Fluffy french toast stuffed with strawberry compote and marscarpone cheese-this was just heaven! Okay, I know Vy doesn’t think it’s an orgasm in your mouth good, but it was close-my-eyes kinda good for ME. We both agreed that the french toast was extra yummy because it was nice and fluffy rather than the thick, chewy style bread. I usually think stuffed french toasts get too sweet for me (i.e. at places like IHOP), but I was so glad I ordered it here. In fact, writing about it now is making me crave it again, too bad it’s all the way in San Diego while I’m stuck in norcal.

All in all, we both were very delighted with this joint and I’m sure we’ll be back again when we’re in the area. Or at least I will be. The Cottage has definitely made within the top of my favorite list of places to be a fattie at. If you’re in La Jolla, stop by and enjoy the fair prices, excellent service, and delicious food; you won’t regret it. And if you’re worried about the food being too heavy or fattening, The Cove (a strip of beach with seals) is within a 10-15 minute walking distance of 3-4 blocks. [Personally, even that was too long of a walk for lazy people like Vy and me. However, do keep in mind that if you want to drive to The Cove on the weekend, parking will be hard to come by.]

Teske’s Germania Restaurant and Beer Garden

Courtesy of Teske’s Germania Restaurant & Beer Garden

255 N. 1st St.
San Jose, CA 95113
(408) 292-0291
www.teskes-germania.com

Reminiscent of actual beer gardens in Germany, this restaurant has an outdoor seating area set up like a little garden where their waitresses with German accents serve you. If you come for dinner, there’s also live jazz playing some nights. As cute/romantic as it sounds, the ambience I got actually didn’t feel very cute or romantic as it would seem. However, that’s the point of german beer gardens. In Germany, beer gardens are more of a place for socializing and eating rather than a date place.

Before I begin my review of the food, I have to admit that the photos really don’t look that appetizing. Normally I don’t like to use flash for my photos because flash makes the photos come out less natural. Anyways, my friends and I came here in celebration of a birthday among us. Prices aren’t cheap at this place so if you’re not too hungry, sharing wouldn’t be too bad of an option. Just a warning though, to split an entree costs $10 extra dollars; sharing appetizers has no extra penalty.

What this restaurant is best known for are their sausages. Their Sausage Combo Platter comes with 4 different flavor sausages: Knackwurst, Polish, Bratwurst, and Bavarian Bratwurst. I wish I remembered which sausage was what in the photo, but that is just beyond me. All I can really remember is that the top sausage was spicy and the third one from the top looks and tastes like a hot dog. What I can do, is tell you a bit about what’s in each of these 4 types of sausages (according to various online sources). The Knackwurst, a.k.a. Garlic Sausage contains finely ground cuts of pork, veal, and beef and is highly seasoned with a garlic flavor. Polish sausages are almost always made with pork and seasoned with garlic and pepper. Similar to the Knackwurst, the Bratwurst is also made with a mixture of pork, veal, and beef meat. The spices used for seasoning can include caraway, coriander, cumin, ginger, and the such. Bavarian Bratwurst is made with only lean cuts of pork and seasoning. The sausages were all highly seasoned and very filling. Maybe I don’t appreciate this dish enough, but I felt that they were a bit salty for my personal preference.

Whew, that was a mouthful. I’ll try to keep the rest of this entry short. We also ordered the German Potato Pancakes appetizer served with applesauce. This dish just tastes like any ol’ fried mashed potatos, except with a slightly sour aftertaste. Another thing I was able to try was the Marinated Herring in Cream Sauce. Save your stomach; I wouldn’t recommend this dish. It could just be me, but I expect my cooked fish dishes to be hot dishes, not cold. So when I put it in my mouth, I was very surprised. I’m not a fan of this dish at all.

Teske’s final analysis? Honestly, I don’t think I would come back to this place. I’m not sure if it’s just because I don’t appreciate German food enough, but nothing I tried was memorable enough for the pricetag attached. I’d rather spend my money on mediocre food elsewhere.