Tartine Manufactory

One of my friends that lives in the area recommended Tartine.

At first, I was worried because have heard about lines out the door and it's always popular.  But then, we have the advantage of being early because of our bodies still in Texas time, which is 2 hrs ahead, so we were up earlier and went to brunch earlier. 

When you walked in, you're greeted with loaves and loaves of bread, and then the pastry case.

They got plenty of sweet and savory all on display.

First thing first, coffee!  Just a vanilla latte, but that did the job. 

Strawberry tart, so good....

We split the ham and cheese croissant.  So flakey, full of cheese and ham, yummmm...

We also had order an omelette to share. 

There's sharp cheddar, eggs, veggies, side of salad and side of toasted country bread, which is dang good!

Since we split everything, it wasn't too overwhelming. 

We took to-go: savory scone - which has jalapeño and corn.  It's definitely different, and flavors I've never had before, but I don't hate it. 

Then for the cookie, we split a salted chocolate chip cookie.  I loved it so much because the salt cut the sweet, and it neutralizes the flavors, it was very well done.

We went quite early, so we had no issue going thru the line to order and grabbing a table.  But as we leave, and more and more people arrived, the line was indeed wrapped outside.  They are serving dinner which has pizza as the main feature, but of course, variations.  For dinner, however, they will take reservations, and having one can only serve you well.

There are 2 other locations of Tartine in the Bay Area, but definitely not as big as this location in terms of seatings.  But if it's convenient to where you are, they are definitely worth checking out. 

Tartine Manufactory

595 Alabama St

San Francisco, CA 94110

https://tartinebakery.com/san-francisco/manufactory

 

Yakitori Edomasa

We were shopping in SF Japantown.

In the 2nd floor of the main shopping center, we were hungry and that's a bad thing because so was everyone else.  And the other places were about an hour wait. 

This is mainly photo dump....

Mushroom skewers, I feel like they can do a better job on the sauce, the mushroom already has a good texture and ready to absorb any flavors, so that was missing the mark. 

This is leeks, and as far as the middle of the vegetable goes, this is pretty decent.

Then comes the proteins...

We got Chicken Skin app, it came with ponzu sauce.  So it's not just the skin, alot of the bites has meat to it, so it's like fried chicken nugs in some ways.

Unagi - that's a must, since they're skewering.  I will say the flavors are average on this one.

Miso glazed pork belly.  It's pork belly, how can you go wrong?! And it didn't.  

Hotate - Scallops with creamy chili sauce.

Not pictured, Waygu - it's supposed to be A5, but it was chewier than smooth and marbled and flavorful.  

The whole experience was meh for us.  The service was spotty, the flavors were touch and go and not consistent.  Besides appetizers, truly all they serve is skewers dishes.  And if they are all consistently flavorful, I would've been a happy girl, but some opportunities missed in the dishes.  So that was a meh.

I think the lesson here is that we should've make our reservations at any place earlier than wait till the last minute.  That said, there are plenty of delicious places nearby, but since we're not familiar and super hungry, didn't get to do a decent research.  So, let this be a lesson. 

Yakitori Edomasa

San Francisco Japantown

1581 Webster St

Ste 270

San Francisco, CA 94115

415-872-7646

https://www.edomasa-us.com/

 

New England Lobster Market & Eatery

We were in a conference nearby and so lucky to have this place.

When I saw it on the map, I was so looking forward to lobster anything.

But first, I started out with an Arnold Palmer.  Yay for people putting it on the menu and selling it.

Then our food arrived....

I got the Lobster Corn Chowder.  As much as I am NOT a corn chowder person, that lobster chunks converts me.

I went for the Lobster Nachos.  And the lobster chunks here are too small.  But the nachos is made with house-made chips, there's jack cheese, that jalapeño sauce is amazing.  There's corn and black beans with the little lobster chunks.  I will say because of the jalapeño sauce that makes it so much more addictive. 

The place is very casual, there's a market on one side, and restaurants the other.  They even have live crab and lobsters for sale.  The restaurant has tons of seating both inside and outside, which is great when it's beautiful weather out. 

New England Lobster Market & Eatery

824 Cowan Rd

Burlingame, CA 94010

650-443-1559

https://newenglandlobster.net/

 

Ipoh Garden Malaysian Cuisine

We arrived in San Francisco mid-afternoon, but by the time we get to the hotel, checked in, settle in, it was getting to be dinner time.

That said, was kinda excited to find Malaysian food near by.  Turns out, it's not that near, we walked quite a bit, but luckily, I was ready for it. 

After all the walking, needed a Thai tea to quench the thirst.  

We started with Chicken Satay with peanut sauce.  Pretty nice.

Then we ordered the Hainanese Chicken which is poached chicken and it's cooked in chicken broth.   But to be honest, I'm here for that rice.  

This is Acar, which is assorted veggie & pineapple that are pickled.  

Got the Char Koay Teow - stir fried flat noodles with seafood, sprouts, eggs and soy sauce. 

Everything here is super flavorful, which was really a delight.  Of course, not having authentic Malaysian food in a long time also would do that too.   But it is family owned and the ladies are super kind and even though we were there near closing, you don't feel rushed out.   If you pay cash, they give you a discount. 

Ipoh Garden Malaysian Cuisine

100 El Camino Real

Millbrae, CA 94030

https://www.ipohgarden.com/

 

Vintage Cakes HTX

I signed up for a cake decorating class when I saw the promo by Sugar Bubs. 

Apparently, it's a Green Themed class.  The teacher took the time to bake individual cakes.

Everyone's chair came with tools, buttercream, decorations.

After a few practice, it was time to start.  Obviously, I am no cake decorator and also have tremendous respect for cake decorators and fully understand and willing to pay for that cost.  It was no easy task to make it smooth in all directions.  

Then now have to learn how to pipe the butter cream.  Having the decorative tips helps, but to be consistent is no easy task.  And it's not easy to scrap it if it's not matching.

And of course, the final touch!  Ha! yes, it's a Hello Kitty cake.  It actually tasted nice and fresh and not too sweet.  For an experience, it's a fun way to spend an afternoon.  But truly, having learned the process, I am definitely more appreciative to the art form and understand why they charge what they do - and rightly so. 

For sure, I do know they will do full fledge cakes for weddings or special occasions.  But they also do these classes for different themes and for different seasons too.  

Vintage Cakes HTX

https://www.instagram.com/vintagecakeshtx/

https://vintagecakeshtx.square.site/

 

Sugar Bubs

Matcha latte brought to you by Sugar Bubs.

So it was a bit deja vu when I saw the Sugar Bubs booth at an event that I was at.  Except, replaced the cakes with lattes.  

It's definitely a different take from dessert.  The latte I ordered was lavender matcha latte.  It's pretty good, not too much lavender, the latte was nice and smooth.  She also has banana matcha and a strawberry matcha, which that one reminds me of the Italian flag with the three colors (red, white and green). 

When chatting with Cyndi, owner of Sugar Bubs, she said that she's still doing Basque cheesecake, but trying to expand her business.  As a matter of fact, she's having an anniversary party coming up.  And the setting is 'what would it'd be if she were to open a real cafe/dessert shop'.   I wish her all the success, and more importantly, bring the box cake back!

Sugar Bubs

https://www.instagram.com/sugarbubs.htx

 

Original Chop Shop

This is my first time at Chop Shop.

Location was convenient enough, plus I was there for an event. 

I got the Scottsdale Cobb.  It has eggs, house green, tomato, avocado, bacon, and white cheddar.  It's actually a pretty good salad, I might add more protein next time, the egg was good, but I feel like for a late lunch I needed more.  

I was there for an event, but next time coming back, I would probably try another salad and see how it goes. 

Original Chop Shop

3027 Kirby Dr

Houston, TX 77098

713-589-7981

https://originalchopshop.com/locations/texas/river-oaks/

 

Vonlane

*Note: this is to a paid advertisement nor did I receive any compensation;  the opinion expressed here wholly owned by me*

Not sure if I'm the last person to know, but riding on Vonlane is kinda fun.

For those who are not familiar, Vonlane is a fancy bus that commutes from Houston to various cities in Texas.  Nice seats, you can stretch out.  Of course, they have blanket, lap desk, charger and pillow too.

When you first sit down, they bring a basket of Tylenol, Dramamine, ear plugs, tissues, toothbrush. 

Then, they serve drinks, you can obviously do soda, coffee/tea, juice, high brew, and sparkling water.  They have alcohol for purchase if you so oblige. 

They bring the snack basket by, there was slim jims, various kinds of cookies, chips of several kinds, different kinds of nuts the fancy kinds. 

For breakfast hours, they serve muffins, oatmeal, yogurt.  For lunch, there are choices for sandwiches, salads, and wraps of different kinds. 

For me, I go the Caprese Sandwich in Ciabatta bread with dressing.  It was still a bit cold from thawing.  But I appreciated the offerings.  On the trip back, I got a salad, and that worked out very nicely. 

While I started to dig into my sandwich, the snack basket made its appearance again.  Which at the time, I was thinking, that makes sense, since chips goes with sandwiches... Pretty good service.

An hour outside of the city, the snack basket came back around again!  That basket has showed up 3 times in a 4 hour ride.  For drinks, they come by and check on you and refill.  

Truly, overall, the service was great, since the bus seats 24 max, it was very nice to have them so attentive.   You don't even get that kind of service when you pay more than that for a flight.  This is definitely worth checking out.   And yes, even the bathroom is nice.

Vonlane

https://vonlane.com/

 

Braum's

I pulled my kid into my childhood favorite.

Keep in mind, it is a childhood nostalgia thing, not it's the best in the world thing.

We ordered meal for both of us.  It came with a sandwich and fries with a drink.  We upgraded one to a shake and just regular drink for the other. 

Yep, nothing spectacular, it's just something I used to have when I was a kid.  Cheeseburger... of course, if you finish your meal, you get an ice cream (read: reward, not free from the place).

I got me a scoop of Rocky Road, my go-to.  Super creamy, super flavorful.  Mainly because they are a diary shop and ice cream parlor. 

I was surprised to see they have a mini market.  They have their own bread & brownie on top of ice cream, sorbet and the like.  

They have regular groceries too. 

If you're ever in a pinch, you can really just hop in, grab a meal or an ice cream and get what you need, so you don't have to haul yourself to the store and get lost strolling around.

Growing up, friends had worked at Braum's after school.  So we would go to hang out with friends and buy an ice cream (or two).  I did know they sell food, maybe have gotten fries, but I don't often eat there.  They do serve alot of breakfast food, but otherwise, burgers, chicken sandwich, or chicken tenders. Not too many choices to pick from.  Again, this is just a nostalgia stop and showing my kid where we hang out after school. 

Braum's

518 Centennial Blvd

Richardson, TX 75081

972-783-9945

https://www.braums.com/store/518-centennial-blvd-richardson-tx/

 

Cafe Brazil

When I go to Dallas, I go to my old haunts. 

Even though, technically, I didn't come to Cafe Brazil until after I've moved away from Dallas. 

My favorite item to get: Coffee... we'll talk more about that.

For my main, I got the Fruit Pancrepes.  There's 4 big crepes with cold fruit and puree.  That combo of hot and cold is so good, and I just love that so much.  I come back for it year after year.  

Mind you, for their other food offering, there's decent about of omelets and egg dishes, or migas or tacos.  So this is a great place to bring friends because it has a little bit of everything. 

Another good thing about this place, they are opened 24/7, so you can come anytime and breakfast is served all day.  

When you walk in, especially if it's busy.  Head over to the coffee bar and get yourself a cup and pick your coffee.  Or, mix your flavors, I do.  

Cafe Brazil

2071 N. Central Expressway

Richardson, TX 75080

972-783-9011

https://cafebrazil.com/

 

Maru Ramen

You know when you're on the road, too busy to look for food, you have to take some risk.

Sometimes they paid off, sometimes they don't...

Got the Veggie Tempura - I would say, I do appreciate the squash and beans to the mix.

I got the Unagi Ramen, because it looked good.  I was surprised to see that the unagi came separate, it's almost like why did I bothered.  I'd rather them keep the unagi with the rice than with the noodles.  It came with Tonkotsu Ramen, and add the fish if you wish.  The type of noodles I got was the Sapporo type which is yellow curly egg noodles.  It has more elastic and chewier than the regular ones.  The broth base is fine, not as thick as some base we've had, but it did what you need it to do.

The place was not not-busy, but it's more like an easy dinner thing than coming here because it's so good, we must come back repeatedly. 

Maru Ramen

400 N. Greenville

Dallas, TX 

972-792-8888

https://www.maruramen.com/