This was so very hyped before I even went to Palo. So for each time passed by a Blue Bottle, I got in and ordered something (we only passed by twice though)

I tried both their cold brews, which are on tap right here:

And added almond milk because they are too hipster for the whole milk I ask for at every coffee place.

 
 Affogato was ordered once

And a black cold brew was also ordered

Short and sweet post so I can get on with the second half of the sandwich afternoon I was having in Palo.

When friend from Canada came to visit us in Cali, they were telling us to visit Nola (no, I don't expect you to know who they are, nor do I remember who it was who suggested going to Nola).

So we looked through the menu, and it looked pretty interesting enough - and the feels inside were rather warm and cozy...

We ended up getting sandwiches (wow, something I actually never order, like burgers, but I did anyway).

So here is the grilled chicken/pesto sandwich, oyster sandwich, shrimp po-boy

Macaroni and cheese, salad, fries, for sides

Food was not extraordinary. It seems that we had ordered all the wrong things (we had then been suggested to order jambalaya, amongst other cajun-y things)

But the highlight of the day was not food (what a change) but the visit to beautiful Stanford.

With its own public transportation because it is so large, we ended up staying there for the majority of our afternoon - taking pictures and wishing we went to school there instead of Waterloo (because it is so beautiful)

So this is a huge chain from LA and I missed out on eating here while I was in LA.

But coworker and Korean sister was like, this place is so delicious. And that the line is ridiculous long.

Given all this hype and 2 weeks left in Cali, I made a trip with my Korean family (because they eat almost only Korean cuisine, and Gen is pretty Korean)

Somehow we got there before everyone else did and our wait time was <30 minutes. I've heard waits of >1.5 hours.

Interior is very club-like (dim), but enough lighting to take those beloved food pictures.

Well they have just about every meat you want, including my favourite pork cheek Very good

The Korean parents loved the pork large intestines.

We all loved the deboned beef short rib over the boned beef short rib (which had a much thicker layer of fat)

Pork belly was disappointing. We had all flavours, the miso, garlic, red wine, and regular. All pretty so-so.

They give you the LA style kbbq veggies - cut veggies in marinade of soy sauce, chilli, sugar, sesame oil

$27 gets you all you can eat everything = the entire menu minus drinks

Select waiter/waitresses are very nimble and accurate with what you want. Some are still new (the boy bringing out our plates of raw meats).

Will I go again? - This is probably the one/few ayce kbbq places in San Jose/Santa Clara area, so if I don't want to travel far, then yes. But getting there early is key.

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.

Recommended by a coworker who gave me a long list of places to go to, of which I only really tried one (Vallarta Express).

This place was so cheap and so delicious that we went there twice (during our San Diego stay of 2 days).

Their caesar salad is not made with ranch (thank God), but a creamy, light, and refreshing cilantro dressing I tried to replicate at home and failed terribly.

We got grilled chicken to top the salad on the first day and grilled shrimp the second day. But honestly speaking, this salad would have been delicious sans meat/seafood. All you needed was that crispy romaine and the dressing. Will order every time

Chimichanga (deep fried burrito) was eaten on top of a rock overlooking La Jolla beach because we couldn't find any parking anywhere remotely close to the beach *tears*

Between myself and two hungry boys we were stuffed with the food and plethora of sauces that accompanied our food. guac, sour cream, red salsa, green salsa, some other stuff - all equally delicious and worked together harmoniously. Good

We also got the Surf n Turf burrito but never got to it because too full, ate it later in the car. Okay




Our next day's Vallarta was the salad again and a meat dish (steak, was it?)

Eaten on Huntington beach, Los Angeles

I was going to enjoy my afternoon Starbucks laying down in the sand, but finished the iced double shot in < 30 seconds cause the caffeine withdrawal was catching up quick.