French Inspired Afternoon Tea

@ The French Bakery: Lafayette, CA. This place is très adorable! It's almost impossible not to feel like a lady when you walk in. Imagine seated in a cozy room right next to the fireplace, with a large velvet chair on the side (see photostream). The walls are painted pink, with vintage frames and pictures. Throughout the bakery, small trinkets are displayed for sale.

This day, I sampled four teas:

• Darjeeling Rose Camellia*: hints of soft rose petals mixed with spice and black tea

• Peach: tasted just like a fresh, ripe peach

• French Breakfast*: hint of chocolate malt and black tea (tasted like hot cocoa when I added milk & sugar)

• Mango: much like the peach, tasted like a fresh, ripe mango!

*teas are imported from France




Their tea set comes with 2 petit fours, a scone, finger sandwiches, and your own pot of tea. The tea stays hot with a small candle underneath the pot. It might not look like a lot of food, but I could barely finish everything. But then again, the whole point of afternoon tea is just to have a few nibbles and chat with friends! 

Dessert...with a view!

Took a trip to downtown Tiburon and came across Bistro 35 Patisserie. You are immediately drawn in by the pastries displayed in the window. As you walk closer towards the back, there is a small seating area that faces the ocean, with the backdrop of the Golden Gate Bridge and San Francisco. The first pastry was a large strawberry tart. The custard inside the tart was very rich and creamy and complemented the strawberries very well. The chocolate almond croissant was light, fluffy, and amazing! The chocolate was not too sweet, which added the perfect balance of flavor in the croissant.

Imported: Burma Superstar

Burma Superstar in San Francisco, is one of three locations in the Bay Area. It was lunchtime and the dishes above are on their 'lunch special' menu. The tea was surprisingly fragrant and soothing, a blend of Jasmine and Green tea.  The Tea Leaf salad (also featured on the Food Network) was a great appetizer. The salad mixes unique ingredients such as sunflower seeds and tea leaves imported from Burma. It's hard to describe the taste, so you have to try it yourself! The Chicken Dahl's curry sauce, made with yellow beans, was rich and flavorful. The chicken was still on the bone, but was very tender and the meat came right off with my fork. The last dish was the Superstar Vegetarian Noodles, which had a hint of tomato and lemon in the sauce. It tasted like a Burmese version of pasta. Try going during lunch to reduce your wait time for a table. The wait during dinnertime can be up to 2 hours, but I guess they make up for it by providing free hot tea while you wait in the cold outside! 

8/30/10 Recently returned to Burma Superstar and tried the Garlic Noodles with Duck: it was too good for my tastebuds. The garlic wasn't too overpowering, and made it oh so flavorful!

SF Street Food Festival 2010

Food truck extravaganza

Don't miss out on this year's SF Street Food Festival in the Mission district! If you like street food...then support their cause for the formalization of mobile vending in San Francisco here.

Cham Sut Gol (AYCE Korean BBQ)

Best $20 I ever spent for All-you-can-eat Korean bbq

@ Cham Sut Gol in Garden Grove, CA

Exactly how I felt when I made my trip to Italy last summer.

Eat Pray Love

SF Chef 2010

This week only, there will be a "SF Chefs Showcase" which features 3-course dinner menus at prix-fixe prices of $35 and $50. The restaurants range from Downtown SF, Sunset District, Fisherman's Wharf, Oakland, to Berkeley. Trying a 3-course meal this way will be cheaper than if you ordered from the regular menu! Find out which restaurants are participating and learn more about SF Chef 2010. Now I just have to decide which restaurants to try this week!

Soufflé délicieux!

Been wanting to write this review for Cafe Jacqueline near North Beach in SF. It was featured on "The 2009 Big Eat SF: 100 Things To Try Before You Die" list. I would describe the interior as cute, romantic, slow service, and fairly expensive ($30-$40 per soufflé). Their sweet soufflés definitely beat their savory ones (the mushroom one was..OK). The chef, Jacqueline personally bakes each soufflé, so if you get a chance to go the bathroom, you can see her in the kitchen.  However, the average wait time is 3 HOURS. But...this peach soufflé was so delicious and perfect. It had just the right amount of sweetness, and was light and fluffy. I just wish it didn't take so long to make!

Why hello there peach souffle, pleased to eat you.

Rikyu: Taste of Japan

Tonight I had dinner at one of my favorite Japanese restaurants, Rikyu in North Oakland. I have been coming here for 2 years, since their opening. If you want high quality fish at affordable prices, this is definitely #1 on my list. Their food is consistently delicious, fresh, and well presented. This place is owned by a cute husband and wife couple. They are really nice people and will take the time to answer any questions you have about the fish. Compliments to Chef Tatsuya Koyake! You are amazing! 

In love with Shanghai cuisine

Mmmm! Juicy dumplings

Xiao Long Bao: (noun). also known as soup dumpling, is a type of steamed bun or baozi from eastern China, including Shanghai and Wuxi. It is traditionally steamed in small bamboo baskets, hence the name (xiaolong is literally "small steaming basket").

Amazing HOT dessert

Fluffy, warm, and soothing

Probably one of the best HOT desserts I have ever had...the Hot Almond Milk Souffle at China Garden in Irvine, CA.

Upcoming new show on NBC

Anything with "free" and "tasting"...I'm down!

Back in June, I was passing by Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas. For those who know me, I can never turn down free grub :) So I signed up! Little did I know I would soon meet some of the greats in food history:

Deep Fried Summer

Deep Fried Oreos

This past week, I visited the OC Fair with my boyfriend. Apart from the petting zoo of cute animals