vickichowder: CUISINE

LIHO LIHO, SAN FRANCISCO

We wanted to go here for my first visit to SF. And friend said we could go for lunch. And because I love ogling through menus, I looked this place up and they only provided a dinner menu.

I don't think they serve lunch here, said I

Oh, but they should, we can go check it out, said friend

And no, they do not serve lunch. We went around dinner time without a reservation and they told us the wait time to be >1 hour (I actually don't remember the time but it was long enough for us to be like, nope, we ain't waiting that long)

So the next time we decided to go, we showed up at 1645 and there was no one else but us in line. So we got a booth right upon their doors open (1700)

And ordered the following

This to start the meal

Duck liver toast. The bread was very substantial and we split this amongst 4, so 1/4 slice per person. Love the pineapple (exactly what I expected hawaiian cuisine to be like). Fois gras and fruit upped this dish, but its something that can be replicated at home (yes, you can do it too). Thin celery slices gave it a fresh taste, cut through rich slather of fois gras. Okay

Marinated squid, "salad"? Super crispy topping of tripe, cabbage, shallots. Acidic, sweet, and savoury mouthfuls in every bite. I loved it. The squid from what I remember was raw, and was probably 'cooked' like how people describe ceviche'd fish to be cooked. Good-Very Good

Grilled short rib, bone marrow, escargot. Too many good things in this one dish. The bed of mushrooms on bottom was too saturated with the sauce (too salty). Breading on marrow was excessive. Couldn't distinguish too much of what I ate from the marrow. Short rib was deboned = easy mouthfuls of meat. Unnecessary parmesan, it was salty enough. Okay

Fried cornish game hen. Wow so crispy and sweet/salty glaze was like hawaiian take on korean fried chicken. Everything about this was great but the white meat (I like the darker cuts), and again, what is with this overly salted veggies. Veggies were too salty, would be good if accompanied with white rice (something I thought I would never want to eat, cause I rarely crave for it) Because even the cilantro and shreds of what seemed like chinese veggie leaf didn't save the over-savoury sauce. Okay

Baked Hawaii. The caramelized pineapple ice cream was yum. Not the biggest fan of meringue in this form though (I like it in marshmallow form, you see) Chiffon at the bottom. Okay

Bruleed cardamom cheesecake. What does cardamom taste like? If you ate this cheesecake you still wouldn't know. I still like my home baked Japanese cheesecake more (or the Cheesecake Factory one because their whipped cream on the side is drool-worthy). Bad

And so there was our meal of hawaiian-ish cuisine

Our waitress was not exceptionally skilled with her crumb sweeping. Which is a shame because I enjoy that moment so much - when the table is cleared with the swift motion of the metal sweeper.

P/S

In Napa Valley we didn't taste much wine, we didn't fine dine.

We took pictures of a sad Niagara on the Lake. Okay so I shouldn't have expected the two to be any bit similar because the drought in California is quite real.

Rows of green on a backdrop of golden grass.

But it felt necessary to share some Napa pictures with you, dear reader

Dear readers, still a few more US posts before I get onto Canadian East Coast posts!

, by vickichowder

AMERICAN

HAN BA TANG, NORTH YORK

When I go out with the guys there are three things that always happen.

I. They will come exactly 1 hour or 1.5 hours after the time they said they initially were

II. I never know where we are going until halfway into the car ride

III. Music is loud in the car and we sing along to it

Back to point I: even though I know they'll be arriving later than they said they would, I always have this lingering hope that one ~~day~~ night they will come on time, so I get ready at 9 when they say, "Coming at 9".

But as always, they come 1-1.5 hours later.

So how was this night any different?

Basing on the first three points, it wasn't any different, it was the restaurant that made it different (not one of usuals). Which is also the reason why I came unprepared and took pictures with my phone and not camera. This place is famous for their infused soju and modern Korean dishes.

Very rustic, quirky, bare architecture

And I don't even like tacos (it's true, my friends will tell the same), but this spicy pork taco was so delicious I had two.

Kimchi bulgogi poutine is just like what it sounds like. The acidity of kimchi help cut through the grease, and the meat provides some substance. They serve it in a shallow pan so that every fry gets an adequate dose of topping (because no one likes eating the plain and not soggy fries at the bottom).

"Because girls like white sauce" was what I said when they asked why girls like this dish so much. Things always sound better in my mind and sometimes I wish I talked less out loud. It came with a small side of pickled cabbage, which helps you eat more of the rice cakes drenched in cream sauce.

Chicken wings! Wow this was impressive. Because, they removed one of the two bones in the middle wing (my favorite part of the wing, because middle > tip > drum), and deep fried it to a glorious crispy crunch.

Notice that curved edge of the cup rim! That curved edge hugs your lips - yes it did elevate my beer drinking enjoyment.

Beer? Yes, they have that here too. We got three pitchers: Hoegaarden (a light beer), Rickards (a dark one), and Sapporo (because we're at an Asian food place and need some Asian beer). Because the food was so tasty I nursed a pint of each with no problem!

Strawberry, then peach

I don't like fruit flavoured liquid drinks (that means smoothies excluded) very much. The only ones I don't mind that much are lemon juice (ratio of 1:1 with water, no sugar) and orange (with lots of pulp). So I don't like cocktails because the taste is very artificial fruity sweetness.

They are known for their infused soju, which you can try all at once for a $15 soju flight. But we got 2 flavours instead. The peach, and the strawberry. I didn't like the peach soju cocktail. But the strawberry one was basically soju + strawberry YOP, and it was delicious. Would get that one next time (or just make it at home).

Oh yes, and the environment in this place? Very nice - there is a wide mix of types of people here (different ethnicities), and the servers (including an ajumma) and waiters/waitresses are fun and friendly.

The guys especially like the waitresses. And I especially like the waiters.

P/S

It's already more than a month into 2015, but last week I still wrote the year to be 2014 in my some of my lecture notes.
Sometimes I just don't think much.

Made some pumpkin tarts and she wanted them bad

Dear readers, when has your forgetfulness not caused an issue?

, by vickichowder

ABALONE

JABISTRO, TORONTO

For my birthday we went to JaBistro...

And ordered ahi tuna, chopped up with spicy mayo, green onions, micro sprouts, salmon roe, uni

Eaten with some crispy seaweed.

This was on the daily special. Was very much like spicy tuna, but made elegant and with the uni and roe. And I just have to comment that the rectangular bamboo board is actually the same one from Dollarama. I don't know about the box though.

Lobster miso. Who knew miso could taste so good. They dislodged most of the lobster claw meat while keeping it pretty in the shell so it was easy to pick out and eat. It's a rather large bowl of soup when you compare it to the ones you typically get from the black-outside-red-inside-with-lid bowls of miso everywhere else. There were probably 2-3 bowls of the small ones in this one large bowl.

There is our pretty platter being made by the very energetic chef

We were debating whether to get the $50 platter or $100 platter. According to our very informative server, the difference is quality and selection. So of course we dived in on the $100 platter, adding also the lobster platter (at market price) (which included the lobster miso soup).

Wagyu skewer and clusters of lobster sashimi up at the very top

Wagyu was all that we had hoped it to be: the well marbling of fat was cooked very slightly, keeping the meat soft and melt-in-the-mouth (when you put it in your mouth).

The lobster was very crisp, and like the shrimp, creamy. We had lobster sashimi at Guu Sakabar, and I liked that one more. It was blanched very slightly, then cold shocked, making the lobster meat so much softer and creamier than just, plain raw.

Salmon, hidden under the swirl of daikon skin, with very distinct near-the-belly layers of fat, was not particularly better than the sashimi grade salmon you can get at the fish market on certain days.

The piece (or was it 2) of geoduck was amazing. Crisp and crunchy, and very creamy as you laid it on the tongue.

The uni was the same uni from most Japanese restaurants (they took it out of the very distinct sectioned white container I had once ordered from the Japanese food wholesaler). Had I expected more? Yes of course. For a 100$ platter I expected a bit more.

We had three types of tuna: lean, medium fatty, and full fatty (left to right, increasing in lightness of pink). We ate them in that order, savouring the fattest for the last. Yes, it really was the best piece of tuna I've ever had.

Above the tuna, underneath the swirl of daikon (which I think serves very little aesthetic purpose) is kanpachi, or amberjack. The entire slice was creamy and full of flavour, especially in the red colored flesh.

The scallop was cut in half lengthwise (semi circle), was not fresh (i.e. previously frozen) and still had the extraneous piece of muscle clinging to the side (which they should have removed). Last week we bought fresh scallops from the fish market to eat raw, and it was better than Jabistro's.

In there somewhere was also a slice of abalone. Abalone is best when raw or very slightly blanched. They served it raw here and it was indeed good.

On the right, is the shrimp head with the creamy delicious head innards, and an extremely sweet and clear tasting raw shrimp meat (not in the picture)

Then is hamachi (translucent and pink) and sea bream (with dark skin still on). Hamachi or yellowtail, was not exceptionally different from other places, but sea bream, what is usually not available at many Japanese restaurants, was delicious here. The chef scored the skin and torched only the skin, contributing to an almost smoky smell. It has a very distinct mild taste and a meaty texture.

What did I not like about this sashimi platter?
The excessive use of cucumbers scattered all throughout and touching my fish.

Ok yes, maybe it makes everything look better (gives the platter more dimension) but I'm not a big fan of having the taste of cucumber on the pieces of fish that are touching it.

I ordered the JaBistro slipper, which had a cherry that piqued my interest. My friend got the green tea mojito. Both were very refreshing.

The matcha brownie was amazing. I don't even like brownies but this was an exception. Very dense but not too chewy, they gave us 3 or 4? pieces of very strongly concentrated matcha cake. It was not crumbly, and almost creamy in texture. Sitting on top of a bed of a crisp cookie and pistachio crumbs was your typical matcha ice cream (I want to say it is the one and only Hime one), accompanied by blueberries and strawberry quarters (you know, when they cut a strawberry down the tip into 4).

Yes, and that is chocolate sauce and matcha powder circling the edge of the plate. Being a person who doesn't like chocolate that much enjoyed the little bit of chocolate here very much.

Let me borrow your hands for a sec so I can give this *four thumbs up*

Those knives, are so beautiful and could easily cost more than my tuition *drools*

Along with our receipt came a chocolate for each of us. And because you're at JaBistro, you don't just get any after dinner candy but Valrhona dark chocolate. They are famous for being camel-toe-shaped.

It's on urbanspoon!

Zomato as well!

It was dark and you can only see my silhouette, right by the fish's mouth *points*

P/S

At Trader Joe's (during our Washington trip) we found a hybrid fruit:

We were going to buy some (actually it was only me that was going to buy one out of curiosity, but we ended up buying brie instead (again it was just me that wanted to buy the brie.

Dear Readers, where will you be eating for your birthday?