Caroline I.'s Profile

the boy and i were on the hunt for a dim sum place to hit up one sunday morning. i have yet to find THE dim sum place, one that has convinced me to return to it regularly. this place was recommended to us by a (non-asian) friend of the (non-asian) boy.

i should've known.

ton kiang is AMERICAN. look around and most of the tables will be occupied by non-asians.

the servers come around with trays, and call out each dish by its english name/translation. i'm not chinese, so i always get flustered because the cart-pushers always try to speak to me in chinese and i obviously have no clue what they're trying to tell me, but i've come to expect that out of a typical dim sum outing. it was WEIRD that that wasn't happening here...and also weird hearing har gow referred to as "steamed shrimp dumpling" or something like that. it's just easier for me if you refer to it as har gow.

the food wasn't necessarily bad, it was decent, it was PRICEY - $20/person for mediocre dim sum?

yeah, no.

i'll be continuing my hunt for THE dim sum spot.

taco truck! taco truck! taco truck!! you can't go wrong with a taco at 2 a.m. - that's when the place is most packed! best place to go after grabbing drinks in old town...or just when you have a taco craving at that hour.

i usually end up getting the asada or carnitas. the green sauce is awesome. the red sauce is HOT - beware! it's not for the faint-hearted. they gave it to me once by mistake and i was dying. they also put the red sauce on the taco of a friend of mine, and he started rubbing ice cubes on his tongue after he finished his taco (that was pretty amusing, actually).

i make sure to stop by every time i'm back in LA.

best strawberry shortcake ever -. YUM, YUM, YUM!!

however, that line is sometimes ridiculous. last time i was there, it stretcheddown to the end of the block. i mean, it's good, but really?

kingdom of dumpling (i like that "dumpling" is singular, heh) is literally a hole in the wall - it's tiny, tiny, TINY. it's a bit cramped in there, but you really cannot go wrong with the food here. the dumplings are delish of course, but their soup noodles are yummy as well. i LOVE the pork and corn dumplings! service isn't all that great (but i wasn't expecting much anyway), but you can't go wrong with the price - $10 for dinner, including tax and tip!!

i used to live down the street from this place, and i used to always come in for frozen dumplings - they're $7 for about 2 dozen.

i miss living right next to kingdom of dumpling. it's good stuff.

they said this is the best coffee in SF.

they weren't kidding.

seriously, blue bottle has the best lattes i've ever had. it's rich and smooth, and not bitter. they also don't burn the coffee like some other places (*cough*starbucks*cough*) sometimes do. i usually get a shot of vanilla or hazelnut in my lattes, but this stuff i like to drink plain.

it's good stuff. and the leaf design in the foam? it's the icing on a very delicious cake!

the downside is the long line that always exists every time i come here, but it's worth it.

um yeah. kitty's was one of the weirdest bars i've been to. the vibe and crowd were...odd.

but the mojitos....mmmm....now we're talkin'. they're awesome.

being japanese, i almost always get asked this question: "where can i get good, authentic japanese food?" well, oomasa is usually my answer.

my family and i have been oomasa regulars for years now. this is not my favorite place for rolls (but most rolls tend to be an americanized, fusion type thing anyway), but the nigiri here is always fresh, cut nicely, and with good rice. if you insist on ordering rolls here, get the rainbow roll. it's perfection. my parents and grandma are big fans of the chirashi, which is a pretty popular dish here.

the non-sushi items are also pretty good, especially the teriyaki.

the good food and the friendly service here keep us coming back and keeps oomasa one of my favorite places in j-town.

oh, love at first bite. i really did fall in love head-over-heels with you after taking that first bite of your pretty in pink cupcake. it was impeccably moist and fluffy, perfectly sweet, and the frosting creamy and light. sized not too big, not too small, and not so overwhelmingly sweet, but just right. just perfect, the way goldilocks would've loved her cupcake. plus, i love that you put real strawberries in the cupcake.

i fell in love some more after sampling the frosting on my friend's matcha green tea cupcake. who would've thought? the frosting was absolutely delicious.

i can't wait to visit you again next time i'm in berkeley, and fall in love all over again.

love, me.

this place definitely has an identity crisis.

first impression from the cartoony logo on the sign outside is that it's your typical asian cafe - cheap, quick food (and that it still looks almost exactly like the enterprise car rental it used to be before). you walk inside, and notice that it has this classy, modern decor - almost like a more upscale restaurant. you get the menu, and it looks like your typical asian cafe menu - xeroxed papers in menu holders, nothing fancy. you then open it and discover that the prices are definitely not along the lines of your typical asian cafe ($10-$15 ish for pasta, and $15-20 ish for meat dishes). the dishes also have fancy-sounding names such as "vienna chicken leg with something or other wine sauce."

you try to order said vienna chicken leg....except the waiter (who is wearing a long black apron like at a fancier place, except it's topped off with a t-shirt with cartoony logo on the back) apparently doesn't speak or understand much english and has no idea what you are trying to order, and asks you to point to the item in the menu. repeat process for every other order. apparently, most of the wait staff does not speak or understand much english, either. my OCD friend asked three different servers for a plastic spoon, and all three of them tried to hand her a normal silver spoon off an empty table. she finally asked them for a glass of hot water...only to have the waiter appear with a glass of ice water.

the food was good enough. not spectacular, but perhaps slightly better than the typical asian cafe. the salad was drowning in way too much dressing, but the chicken was tender and the sauce was good. the iced lemon tea here is quite delicious, and is included with the meat dishes. service here is a bit slow - the salad and soup courses come out fast enough, but it took a while for the main dish to come out, and by then my other friend was already finished with her pasta.

all in all, it was sort of a strange cafe experience.

i tend to come to green papaya because of convenience (i live a block away) and not because it has the best food. it's not bad, but it's definitely not the best, either. i am not a big fan of their pad thai - something is funky about the sauce. i do like their pad see-ew, and their pineapple fried rice. curry is okay. a bit on the spicy side.

their thai tea rocks, though - and they serve it to you in a huuuuge, tall glass.

one small pet peeve about this place - they never get my name right when i call in an order. one time they had me down as "calorine" and last time the girl could not get my name right or pronounce it, no matter how many times i told her how it's said/spelled.