Joyful Garden is probably better than I think it is. I may just be too much of a Honolulu snob to give a restaurant on the Windward side its deserved praise. Regardless, I cannot bring myself to like this place as much as my parents do. Put simply, it is a casual Chinese restaurant with inconsistent but friendly service and pretty good food.
Kirin is on the same level as Mandalay, which is possibly the best compliment I can give to a Chinese restaurant. They are great for different reasons. I prefer the dishes and location of Mandalay, but the atmosphere and décor of Kirin is much nicer. Kirin gives free valet parking, which I consider a huge plus since I absolutely hate parking. You walk through a cheesy Chinese archway and enter a beautifully decorated interior, with deep wood tones separating smaller private rooms from the larger dining area, ornate chairs, and splashes of pale green.
For the most part, their dim sum is nonpareil. However, there are one or two dishes that are better at other dim sum restaurants, such as Hee Hing or Mandalay. For example, their seaweed roll is a bit too heavy. Other than that, I've been completely satisfied with Kirin.
Kirin Restaurant (Mo'ili'ili)
Tai Sei Ramen is conveniently located on the edge of downtown. The food is decent, but they give a lot of freebies: a free drink if you spend over $5; a $3 kids menu... The service is friendly but a bit slow.
My ramen came with an abundance of vegetables, but the noodles were somewhat bland. However, I did appreciate the large portions. Our gyoza was delicious, but I have never had bad gyoza.
Tai Sei Ramen (downtown)
I know, I know. It's a bit pointless to write about Zippy's; every Hawaii resident has eaten here and has formed their own opinions of this statewide chain. However, recently Zippy's has held a special place in my heart, and so I think it deserves to be on my blog.
Zippy's serves "local" food, whatever that is. From saimin to chili to teriyaki chicken, the menu reflects the diversity of our state. The quality of the food itself is nothing special. What I really appreciate about Zippy's is not its food but its convenience. In almost every neighborhood, you will find a Zippy's. At 2 am, when you are still out and about, you can always depend on Zippy's to satisfy your late night cravings. Unlike other late-night places in other cities, e.g., Montage, Hot Cake House, Zippy's is always dependable (not to mention not sketchy!). Clean, friendly, and cheap - what else could you want?
I love this place! Habibi is a casual, friendly Lebanese restaurant in downtown, right next to the Persian House (which is also right next to India House). My friends and I went on a Friday night. It was pretty full when we came, so I'm glad I had made reservations earlier. We were led up the stairs, which were lined with hookahs, to the upper level.
The service was quick and friendly. One of the guys (the owner, I think?) was quite flirtacious, which is always a nice touch on a Friday night with the girls. I need to go back very soon because I am craving that coffee!
Why is this place always so empty?? My friend and I have been here twice, both on Friday nights, and it's either completely empty or occupied with one or two other tables.
Persian House is a cozy, dimly-lit Persian restaurant in downtown. The service is warm, and the food is delicious, although a bit on the small side. We started with bread (is it called naan in Persia?) and Persian tea, which is very floral. I ordered the lemon chicken. it came with a large serving of rice with saffron and some vegetables. So much flavor! The chicken had just the right amount of lemon and spices.
For dessert I ordered baklava. It was the best baklava I've ever had! Light, crispy layers of phyllo dough filled with nuts and honey - now that is how baklava is supposed to taste. My friend ordered the Persian ice cream, which had cherry rice and pistachio ice cream in it. Also amazing.
This is definitely one of my favorite restaurants in Portland. We'll have to try the lunch buffet sometime.
Persian House Restaurant (Downtown)
After driving past this bakery multiple times and hearing me complain that we should go there each time, my friend finally parked the car and told me that today is going to be the day we're going to try it.
The interior is the reason I've been wanting to try it. Whoever decorated did a nice job. It looks part Swedish, part Californian - if that makes any sense. Light woods, huge windows, concrete floors. I had a croissant, and my friend ordered some apple pastry. Neither of us were impressed. Everything looks better than it tastes. Oh well. My friend doesn't have to hear me complain anymore.
Little T American Baker (Clinton)
Amazing Indian restaurant in the West Village, and a nice place to conclude our trip to New York. My friends and I tried some interesting dishes, including murg tikka masala, which is Tandoori diced chicken in mild gravy and Indian spices. The food was flavorful and quite filling, while the restaurant was nicely decorated with adorable utensils and water cups. I'd love to come back next time.
Karahi Indian Cuisine (West Village)
After suffering through "Where the Wild Things Are," my friend and I definitely needed some chocolate. We both walked straight into Hot & Crusty, which seems to be a New York chain. There were two huge cases of pastries. We were in heaven. We both ordered some crunchy chocolate pastries that I forgot the names of. Pretty good, but nothing amazing. However, we did slightly recover from the movie. I'd have liked to try their bagels, which must be good since people kept coming in for them, even late at night.
Hot & Crusty (Upper East Side)
Another Chinese restaurant during our stay in New York! This one is called Wok 88 and is located on the Upper East Side. They offer a variety of noodle dishes at reasonable prices. Clean place, decent service. And fortune cookies at the end. Perfect!
Wok 88 (Upper East Side)
This is definitely one of our favorite restaurants we tried during our visit to New York - and I will gladly take credit for it, since I had spent about an hour doing research in search of a decent sushi place for our fifth night. Located way east on York Avenue, it is pretty out of the way for most. However, the journey is well worth it. $13 for a plate of some of the best sushi I've ever had?! How can anyone say no? We came late at night, so by the end of the meal, the waitress was practically kicking us out. Besides the semi-rude service, everything else was perfect. Clean atmosphere (although, I do wish Ko played some Japanese music instead of American love songs), and the sushi was some of the best I've ever had (and I've had a lot!) -- both in taste and in price. It will be hard going to another sushi place after this.
Ko Sushi Japanese Restaurant (Upper East Side)
Alright, we admit it - my friend and I went to Starbucks every day while in New York. However, we did manage to go to a non-chain (at least, that's what I hope) coffeeshop. On our way from our hostel on the Upper East Side to midtown, we popped into Juliano's, a small, cozy espresso bar. My hot chocolate was delicious and cheaper than Starbucks. Plus, the old Jewish baristas were adorable.
On our second day in New York, we wanted Asian food again. This time, we were on the Upper West Side, so we walked down Broadway. After passing some pricey sushi places, swanky Italian restaurants, and unappealing Greek diners, we found Dan. Another success!
The first thing my friend and I wanted to do when we arrived in New York was eat - and of course we wanted to eat Asian food. We were staying in the Upper East Side, so we had a little difficulty finding an Asian restaurant. In fact, when we went into a bodega to ask for suggestions, he kind of looked at us, smirked at our apparently glaring "tourist" stamped on our foreheads, and told us, "Madison Avenue does not have that." So we kept walking, finding our way to Lexington Ave. There it was! A little hole-in-the-wall Chinese restaurant called Pick Up Stix. Looked authentic, i.e., the waiters were Chinese and it looked a bit dirty. Success.
My friend and I were not very pleased with this place. We were on Hawthorne and wanted to try something new instead of going to our usual, Pho Van. We've always walked by Bread and Ink, so we decided to try it. Right away, we got the feeling that it was not going to be our type of place. As soon as we walked in, we were seated by some person in grungy black clothes and tattoos. Now, I'm not judging her style (I have nothing against black clothes, trust me), but when I want a cozy dinner, this is not the person I want to have serve me. Plus, our menus were paper. That they reuse for each customer.
Service was alright, atmosphere was alright. In conclusion, I probably won't come back here. Bread and Ink is not awful, but it's definitely not worth it for me. I hear their breakfasts are pretty good, but I doubt I'll come back when there are so many other breakfast places I love.
Another fabulous place for a lazy breakfast. This restaurant is located on the first floor of the hotel at which my parents were staying, Hotel Fifty in downtown Portland, overlooking the Willamette River. Breakfast is a nice time to come because it's pretty empty, maybe a few other tables occupied with other hotel guests. We were seated by the window with a perfect view of the waterfront park.
I ordered two over-easy eggs, bisquits with a sausage gravy, and roasted potatoes. I was a little upset that they didn't have any hot chocolate (our waiter said they had run out of their homemade chocolate syrup), but I survived just fine. Their coffee and orange juice were good. The eggs and potatoes were perfect, and my sausage gravy was delicious. My dad ordered some of the best french toasts I've ever tried.
Good service, pretty food, and straightforward delicious food. The perfect way to start a lazy morning.
H50 Bistro and Bar (Downtown)
This place is so good we went twice in one day. Yes, we're that crazy. My friend took my family and here for lunch to get some authentic Malaysian food. She ordered dishes that she usually eats in S
We got to try some very interesting dishes, such as Bak Kut Teh (a delicious beef soup), Buddish Yam Pot (a pot made of fried yam holding various goodies like shrimp and vegetables), and Kang Kung Belachan (ong choi cooked in peppers and shrimp sauce). For dessert, we shared two dishes: one consisted of shaved ice, coconut milk, sugar, and jellies; the other one consisted of cooked black rice and coconut milk. Both amazing.
Two hours later we returned with another family. This time, we came for dim sum. That's right - this place specializes in both Malaysian food AND dim sum. How cool is that? More unbelievable is that the dim sum was just as good as their Malaysian food. We got what we usually order when we eat dim sum: (I know I'm going to be spelling a lot of these incorrectly; I apologize in advance) shu mai, ha gau, scallop and beef look fun roll, gin doi, taro, and seaweed roll.
The restaurant is nicely decorated with light wood walls and pictures of Southeast Asia. My only complaint is that it's located in SE 82nd and, since I'm a wuss, I don't particularly like going there. Definitely come when you have a car and/or it's still early. However, once you're here, you can go right next door to Fubonn, a massive Asian marketplace. When my parents come back to visit me next year, I know we'll be back because we instantly fell in love with this place. Both times.
Malay Satay Hut (82nd)
Andina is an AMAZING Peruvian restaurant in the Pearl District. Unfortunately, it's another one of those restaurants to which I can only come when my (or someone else's) parents are in town because it's quite pricey. But every penny is worth it.
Colorful, loud (every night there is a band that comes in), and packed throughout, Andina is the place to be on a Friday night. We started off with some drinks. I tried the Inca Kola, which I guess is what the Incas drank before they all died out. It tastes almost like ginger ale, but it's sweeter and a prettier yellow color. The rest of my party enjoyed their drinks, including my friend who ordered an arandano, which is a raspberry drink. The bread was also interesting because it was served with three different sauces: a peanut butter and cheese one; a citrus one; and a jalapeño one. I highly recommend mixing the peanut butter and cheese one with the jalapeño one.
Then we had some appetizers. One of them was called "pulpo a la oliva", which is tender octopus slices cupped in fresh endives with Botija olive sauce. ($8.5) The second one was called "a la chalaca", which is sashimi-style fresh fish in an aji Amarillo vinaigrette, served with corn salsa criolla. ($12)
My main course was called "corderito de los andes", a succulent double rack of grass-fed lamb grilled to order, and served with a Peruvian yellow potato and two cheese timbale with a sublime roasted pepper demi-glace. ($27) Delicious! I don't eat lamb often, so this was definitely a treat. It came with two huge pieces of lamb, nicely arranged in a line with alternating slices of roasted potatoes. The cheese timbale gave the perfect kick to the rich meats. The portion was large so I get to eat my leftovers this week. Everyone else loved their meal as much as I did. Other recommended dishes: dorado al rocoto y kion (roasted mahi mahi over a shiitake mushroom, smoked bacon, and bok choy broth, topped with slivers of ginger, rocoto, and scallion basted with smoking sesame oil, served with asparagus-quinoa fried rice); conchas del senor de sipan (quinoa-crusted diver scallops perched on top of wilted spinach and potato-parsnip purée, with golden beet and crabmeat "cannelloni”, and a duet of red beet and passionfruit reductions); and adobo de cerdo (pork tenderloin quickly braised in the Arequipa style, with butternut squash and gorgonzola ravioli, green apple, and a tamarillo-rocoto “uchucuta”).
For dessert, I had "mousse de valle y selva", a tiered semi-freddo of velvety lucuma and espresso mousses, chocolate ganache, and crushed cocoa nib meringue, served with espresso shortbread. Tasted delicious, almost like a tiramisu dish. Another person in my party ordered the plato de crema quemada, which was three pots of crème brûlée, each different flavors: one rosemary, one orange, and none of us could figure out the last one.
All in all, this place is one my new favorite restaurants. It was my first time trying Peruvian food and, I must say, I am quite impressed. I wish I could back more often, but I'll probably have to wait for my parents to visit again (or someone else's parents to treat me).
Andina (Pearl District)
