Stephanie "not going anywhere unless we have a reservation" W.'s Profile

For the long of it, read here http://dessert-before-...

For the short of it, I liked the atmosphere but thought the coffee was mediocre at best. The cupcakes looked beautiful but the frosting was a little grainy even if the cake itself was a great texture. They seemed too big for one person, however.

Pretty much I liked everything about it except the coffee. That would be forgivable sometimes, but not when it's a main aspect of the place.

For the long if it, read here :http://dessert-before-...

For the short of it, I was not impressed. The vegetarian plate wasn't bad, although the hummus was a little over salted. More than anything, I was upset by how unclean this restaurant seemed. EVerything felt run down, old and a little dirty.  It wasn't somewhere I would necessarily go again, but it was a good place to make a quick stop for lunch

For full review, check this out http://dessert-before-...

Tried the key lime cupcake the last time I went. I was hoping for something deliciously tart like a key lime pie.  I'm still a fan of Georgetown cupcakes, but I'll stick to what they do best in the future (everything chocolate based)

For the full story, check out my blog http://dessert-before-...

I'll give you the short story here. The last time I remember coming by this location, it was still True Love coffee. It's been a long time.

I went to Sugar Plum not expecting much. I am of the belief that vegan and gluten free desserts were sent here by the devil.  Cake is meant to be made with flour. You can't make frosting without butter and (for the best frosting) egg whites. The idea of a vegan gluten free bakery just seemed wrong.

I ordered the fake hostess cupcake (the gluten free version) and I was pleasantly surprised. It was dense and a little dry (expected) but it had a rich chocolate flavor in the cake and the frosting. There was even a nuttiness in the cake due to it being made from a combination of chickpea flour and rice flour, not almond flour as i would have originally thought.

Good place with good options. Not sure if I'll ever think of them in the same way I think of real cupcakes, but I'm wiling to try something different from time to time.

For full, extensive review, please see my blog, http://dessert-before-...

I have, for all intents and purposes, given up writing on yelp. I rarely feel inspired by most places (not enough to make me want to write about it later). More than that, working in the restaurant industry for quite some time has made me less inclined to review other restaurants in my off time. That's just how it is.

But I feel so completely compelled to tell everyone about Kiraku, a new izakaya in Berkeley that only opened a month ago. The setting is not elegant. It's straight forward in a restaurant space that only seats about 30 people. They have a decent shochu and sake selection, the service is attentive and friendly, but their food is definitely what shines the most in their restaurant.

I would hesitate to describe the food as Japanese since it is not traditional japanese fair. Similarly, I can't call it fusion because it is not the pretentious ideas of fusion we have in the United States. It is decidedly  Japanese because the food uses all the same odd fusion techniques and ideas that have been used in  Japan for years.

The plating and presentation of every dish is superb. This is certainly a restaurant where you eat with your eyes first, but the rest does not disappoint. I've been there twice and have tried probably 1/3 of the menu (this is not a small menu... the first time i just came with a party of 12 people for my going away party...)

Every dish is excellent, but there are some particularly interesting standouts. We've had the fried ginko nuts, the fried garlic, both types of eggplant, hamachi collar, pork with kim chi, oxtail, sashimi, yaki udon, etc. Everything is plated beautifully. Everything is excellent (and for me, the oxtail was the weakest dish). They even have french fries, and the french fries are damn good.

The best dishes I've tried so far (by far) are the pickled octopus in wasabi, the boiled baby octopus, agedashi nasu, and really super fantastic shark cartilage in ume sauce . The shark is my favorite because it's so salty, sour and crunchy all at the same time. It's perfect drinking food and it's not something I could find anywhere else. They even have seared foie gras with daikon. That's so luscious and unexpected and even though I was super full by the time that arrived, I had to eat it because it's foie gras. You have to eat it.

Tonight was the first time I had dessert. We ordered all 3 desserts, including a sweet potato creme brulee, green tea ice cream with warabi mochi and a red tea pana cotta. All were excellent but the pana cotta is so amazingly good. It's not too sweet, the tea is subtle and the additions of coarse anko, whipped cream, tapioca are absolutely perfect.

I'm sad to be moving away from the bay area soon, but I'm glad I got to discover this place before I did. It's amazing, and i hope they do well for many years to come.

I needed to get away from Waikiki during our vacation, so the boyfriend and I drove out to the north shore for the day with the intention of simply taking an long walk on the beach.

We found Puaena Point Beach and it was was amazingly beauty and best of all, almost completely empty.

We walked past some families and some surfers but as we rounded a corner and started walking along the beach, it was just us. No tourists, no people and not even many waves to speak of either. It was just beautiful views, sand and nothingness for several more miles. When I later looked at a map, I discovered there was a turtle sanctuary a few miles up the beach that I wish we had seen as well, though we did get to see a turtle or two even in our area.

It was amazing to get away from the crowds if only for a day.

We ended up at Gyoza No Ohsho for a cheap dinner and some beer toward the end of our trip. I think it was my fault because I say yakisoba on the menu and wanted to go in. Granted it was cheap, but not the least bit memorable.

The inside was a little grungy and there appeared to be only one person in the kitchen and one person on the floor waiting on tables and pouring drinks. Given that, the service was pretty good.

We ordered the fried gyoza, which was fine, but the wrappers were too thick and not steamed long enough, leaving them hard and a little rubbery. My boyfriend's garlic ramen came and only when his dish arrived did they tell me they were out of the yakisoba.

I was heartbroken. I don't even remember what I ordered to replace it, but it was not memorable.

The garlic ramen broth was a little flat and the noodles were overcooked. It's not a place we will check out in the future.

I've been opposed to ultra touristy things for my entire life, never wanting to seem like I do not belong and also, never wanting the locals to take advantage of my naivette and make me pay extra. However, the boyfriend had never been to Hawaii and wanted to go to a luau, so we went to Paradise Cove.

We purchased the package that came with premium drink tickets as well as regular ones. Additionally, prices were slightly reduced since we were there in the off season.

Before the dinner, there were a couple hours of games and demonstrations or the freedom to walk along their small stretch of private beach. Their had arts and crafts, hula lessons, maori henna tattoos, and the other activities you would expect at a standard luau. The main entertainment during dinner was also better than expected with dancers, songs, fire, etc.

The food was what expected from a large setting like this, to be perfectly honest. The pork was good though they also had fried chicken for some unknown reason (to appeal to middle america?) It was average buffet food, but it wasn't excellent.

What upset me most about paradise cove was the weak weak drinks. Normal drink tickets would only get you a small drink and you would have to pay extra for a larger size or even any of the blended drinks (including virgin blended drinks) Don't expect to get any sort of buzz here, just a bad hangover from all the sugar in the drinks.

It was a fun time for my first luau and great company, but I'm not sure if I'd do it again.

After our first lackluster sushi experience, we called one of our mutual friends who goes there at least once a year for work for some recommendations on places to go in Hawaii. We called them and they said "I remember this great sushi place called Mario's or something"

"Marios? Isn't that italian?"

"Well, or something. Anyway he was shitfaced drunk, they were out of rice, and he gave us a bunch of free stuff as well as a six pack for dessert. Oh yeah, and the quality was pretty good too."

"Can we go for lunch sometime?"

"No. I'm pretty sure it's a smoothie shop during the day."

While looking for a place to go for dinner that night (around 730) we stumbled upon "Morio's" and got super excited knowing we had found the place.

We walked in and they immediately asked if we had a reservation. We looked crestfallen I'm sure, but apparently they had had a cancelation only 10 minutes before. How fortunate that we got to sit at the sushi bar (we will make reservations next time. We then tried ordering drinks but were denied. Apparently they do not have a liquor licence and we were encouraged to go to the liquor store across the street to buy our drinks. That was a little strange, but I didn't mind having a six pack of Kona Lager to go with my sushi.

We ordered a couple omakase nigiri letting him choose everything. The razor clam was wonderfully fresh, as was the buttery toro. We got ikura (not my favorite ever) and Japanese uni (though I much prefer the flavor of California uni instead). I am also not normally a fan of unagi but this was fabulous.

The counter was full of regulars, most of whom didn't live in Waikiki. We drank, we laughed, and had an amazing time. I saw some of the food they were getting (huge plates of sashimi, sauteed lobster, etc)  and it occurred to me that next time, we order all omakase and let him choose everything.

We were drawn to this sushi place on the main strip because of a sign advertising $2 Kirin during lunch. I'm not much of a fan of Kirin, but $2 was a great price for it.

The sushi rolls were overpriced for the quality, and the sashimi was only so so. The $2 beers were great, but I would never go back to this sushi restaurant when there is an excellent one right around the corner (review to come later)