Joanna "the other Asian" K.'s Profile

It was a super cold winter day, and my sister and I were looking for a place to grab a quick bite before going to watch Wicked only a block or two away! We were headed towards a random Yelp app choice, but it got way too cold to hold my phone with my bare hands, so we ducked into the first acceptable looking place, which ended up being the West End Bar!

We got seated pretty quickly, and we soon had drinks in front of us. We both ordered the crab BLT(? Or was it the crab club?) I forget, it was a sandwich with bacon and crab meat in it, which was really good!!

Stay away from desserts here (because we really should have known better than to order it here), as our "lava cake" came out ice cold and lava-less.

Service was attentive at first, but it took some time for us to find her to get the check near the end. It also took a good 15 minutes for our cold lava cake to come out of the kitchen (I think they were trying to defrost the poor sad mound of dry cake).

I was telling one of my friends how much I love bibimbap, and she was like, "YOU HAVE TO GO TO GAHWA!"

So one Saturday afternoon, we met up to have really good bibimbap!!

I loved that when we sat down they automatically brought a pot of fragrant kimchee that they cut up tableside (it's like old school Korean! Love it!).

The bibimbap was really really good, but I think what made it get pushed to "super good" territory was the side of the milky white soup they serve alongside. I personally LOVE broth but I haaaaate the clear vermicelli noodles in ox tail bone soup, and a giant bowl of it tends to be too much for me. The side of soup brought out with the bibimbap was perfect!

We also ordered a "small" order of soon dae (Korean blood sausage) which was hands down, the best soon dae I've had.

The service was also super attentive which I appreciated! My hot tea never went empty, and we left with giant full bellies. I can't wait to come back!

I love their spicy tuna + sesame leaf roll!

I think their boonshik food is a tad bit expensive, but their food is top notch. I was looking to get several trays of kimbap and ddukbokgi done for a party, and after asking a few older Korean ladies on the best place to get it done, Nolbu was the highly recommended favorite. And they didn't disappoint!! $70 of mixed kimbap, $50 of ddukbokgi, and $30 of fried chicken amply served 30 people for dinner. That's $150 for 30 people, $5 a head!! You can't get any better than that! They also threw in a salad and a package of dumplings as a "service".

Will definitely use their services again!

My friend and I were in the area having lunch, and we had a wedding that night so wanted to get our nails done! The nail place she normally went to in the area was closed, so we headed towards the block of Korean business to try to find a nail salon. And in the midst of all of the restaurant signs, we found PINK Nails & Skin Care!

They had apparently just opened (it's either 2 weeks or 2 months ago - my Korean is not as good as it should be and I confuse the words all the time), and they seemed really happy to see us on a snowy Saturday (as the place was empty!).

My friend went in to get a pedicure and I wanted a manicure. The owner (? May have been the owner - definitely the lady in charge) helped us pick out our nail colors, and the workers got busy scrubbing away at our hands and feet. I must say, they were meticulous in their work, and I really enjoyed the long hand massage I received as part of my manicure. I was shouting across the salon to my friend in the pedicure chair, and I mentioned how awesome a mutual friend's nails looked as they were bejeweled and "blinging". The guy doing my nails heard our exchange, and so added some awesome glitter effects to my nails. As he put it, they were "bling bling" - which made me laugh out loud.

Everyone who has seen my nails have complimented me on how awesome they look, and I will definitely be back!!

$22 mani/pedi on weekends, $18 on weekdays.
$7 manicure, $7 eyebrow wax

I also had my eyebrows done and they look awesome! The owner/lady in charge also showed me their full selection of facial products (as I am in desperate need of a facial), and I told her that I would be back to book my appointment!

I loooooooove their pastries and cakes. I always try to grab cakes here for special (or not so special) occassions! You got a promotion?? I'm bringing a Paris cake. You just got engaged?? Definitely a Paris cake. Dinner over at someone's house?? A Paris cake. You're having a bad day? No day is so bad that a Paris cake can't help make it better!

I also really appreciate how CLEAN the workers keep the bakery, and their uniforms are wicked cute.

I wish it didn't smell as good as it did here, because even after a giant meal and bubble tea, I must grab pastries to stuff in my face.

Just had a group of about 15 people here for dinner. We tried to get the small room in the back, but it was booked for another party so they let us have the first half of the restaurant!

Their jjajjangmyun is really really good, but I have to say the appetizers we ordered were amazing!

The fried dumplings (goon mandu) were HUGE, like 2x the size of regular dumplings. The kkang poong oojinguh (deep fried squid in garlic sauce) was AMAZING. We had to order another one after we demolished the first plate because it was so good. The squid was tender and just SO good.

The servers were also really nice to us!

My brother just moved to the area, we're definitely going to be back!!

I stop here to get takeout rolls whenever I'm hungry leaving the gym (Club Fitness a few blocks away).

My usual go-to's are the spicy tuna rolls and their jalapeno and hamachi rolls! 2 rolls are enough to fill me up, and I've always received really fresh fish. The ladies are usually really friendly and don't look at me too crazily when I'm standing there sweating from my workout!

I LOVE THIS PLACE!!!

As Ryan M. mentioned, Copacabana offers high quality food at street food prices.

Usually when I go to meat fests (i.e. Brazilian Churrasco/BBQ), I just want sirloin and rice pilaf and salsa. It's weird, I know, but that's usually all I want. And I love that that's all I need to get here and still get my money's worth!! Woo hoo!!

Their fried fish filets are also ridiculously good! The guy manning the meat skewers spoke perfect English (so he was able to tell me what meats to get and which meats were the most popular choices). I walked away with a heaping plate full of rice, fried fish, salsa, sirloin (cooked med-rare, my fav), plantains, and short ribs. YUM. My friend was initially hesitant when I took her here, but she dug in enthusiastically once we sat down.

$20 for a crazy good dinner for 2 + drinks + dessert!!

We will so be back here... soon!

I walked into Blossom nail spa, stood there a few minutes, was completely ignored, so left and saw Tara as I was walking down the block.

They were super friendly when I walked in, and were able to do both my pedi and mani at the same time which I appreciated since I was under a bit of a time crunch.

It's been over 2 weeks and my pedi still looks fabulous! Will need to head in to get my nails redone, but I think I've found my go-to nail place.

$10 for a watch battery replacement!

I was at Bay Terrace meeting some friends, and finally remembered to bring in several watches that had died.

I waited about 20 minutes and finally had a working watch on my wrist! The folks weren't all that friendly, but I guess they save their charm for high rollers.