California Dreaming..

I'm usually not a big fan of when bloggers recount their travels; ultimately, unless I'm planning on visiting the place soon, I don't want to read about all the places I'm NOT travelling. And then I get stressed, and surf fodors.com for awhile, brainstorming ways I could scrounge up the cash to visit Buenos Aires or Thailand.

In any case, I had such yummy food in California that I'm going to be a total hypocrite and share. Plus, Virgin America is doing some crazy sales these days! So maybe this will motivate you? ;)

My first morning in Santa Barbara, Ann and I headed to Shoreline, and enjoyed some breakfast burritos loaded with avocado. The best part about Shoreline? The tables are all directly on the beach, so as you eat you can wiggle your toes in the sand. Heaven.

Ann peruses the menu...

At night, we headed to chic sushi spot, Arigato, right on State Street, the main drag of Santa Barbara. It was a little pricey, but we did manage to try the magic mushroom maki stuffed with shittake, crimini, maitake, asparagus, and truffle oil, and the kobe beef sashimi. My favorite though was the fiesta maki, with tempura halibut, tomato, avocado, cilantro, and habanero sauce (top photo). Afterwards, we got Pinkberry!! I've been wanting to try this popular frozen yogurt chain for so long now, and it was everything I wanted and more. The fresh fruit, the tart yogurt, the inventive and playful mix-ins (I got cocoa crispies)-- looove it.In San Diego, we finally got to try the one, the only, In n Out burger. FINALLY!! We got our fries "animal style" (onions, cheese, and special sauce) and our burgers just regular. I immediately regretted not getting a double-double (what was I thinking!?) but it was amazing nonetheless. Though I think I still give the best burger crown to the #12 at Johnny Rocket's (am I alone here?). And, as others have said in the past, I wasn't the hugest fan of the fries here, even animal style.The next day we parked ourselves on the beach all day long, enjoying the San Diego sun (and wind) and flying kites. After the long day, we stopped at this Mexican place Roberto's, located right next to the beach. It was dirt cheap, but seemed awesomely authentic, and we loaded up our plates with baja fish tacos, enchiladas, Mexican rice, and refried beans. YUM.

Part II of California round-up to come... including Zaytoon, a Santa Barbara Middle Eastern restaurant with fire pits at each table where Ann's roommate made a love connection with our waiter, and Porto's, amazing Cuban food in Los Angeles.

Seiyo review - South End

It was a Wednesday, and I had a wicked craving for sushi. I wanted to just stop by old-favorite Symphony Sushi (I’m addicted), but Z insisted that we try somewhere new. I knew, as Dish Gal, that this was the correct decision.

We decided on Seiyo, a sushi and wine bar in the South End on Washington Street, across the street from Toro. The restaurant has very striking and elegant decor, with dark wood and a zig-zag bar along the window that allows for communal-yet-intimate dining.

I started with a bowl of steaming miso soup ($2.50), which was delicious, but excruciatingly annoying to eat with the teeny-tiny spoon that accompanies it. I usually love slurping up miso soup. By the time I finished this, it was cold and pretty un-appetizing…Speaking of utensils, they also have metal chopsticks. Takes a second to get used to them! But design-wise, they are very cool.

We intended to share the salmon tataki with ponzu sauce ($7.50), but it was a little too rare/fishy-tasting for me. I have a history of ordering something, and then wondering, “Why did I get this? I know I don’t really love rare salmon.” But Z seemed to enjoy it.

For our sushi rolls, I chose much more conservatively, with two of my favorites – spicy tuna maki and caterpillar maki (eel wrapped with avocado). They were both delicious, though the spicy tuna roll was a little sad-looking and lopsided. Sorry for the terrible photo quality..If I wasn’t such a poor/frugal person, I would’ve loved to have tried the Kobe shortrib maki ($16.99) -- seared Kobe short rib wrapped over Jonah crabmeat, jalapeño asparagus, teriyaki chile garlic miso sauce, and shaved bonito. Wowza! That looks awesome.

All in all, Seiyo is definitely a hiddem gem. I think this would be a great date spot if you’re in the mood for sushi and trying to impress without spending a ton of money. It’s reasonably priced, and the atmosphere of the dark wine room is great. However, if it’s a quick weeknight meal to be enjoyed on my couch that I'm planning, I’ll probably stick with old-favorite Symphony Sushi. . .

Haru in the Prudential Center

Eating at a restaurant under nerve-wracking circumstances is difficult when it comes to judging the food itself. A first date is filled with thoughts of, "Is there spinach in my teeth?" or "I hope these onions don't make me gassy!", rather than what a restaurant experience should make you think--"How can I make this spinach at home?" or "This onion soup is extraordinary!"

Example A: For Dish Gal's first "date" with Z, we started out at Starbucks, closed down the place, and then walked over to the Coolidge Corner Clubhouse and split a sandwich. I think it was turkey?? I can't remember the food, but I can remember the butterflies in my stomach and the text I sent to my roommate when he went to the bathroom. For our second date, we went to Casablanca in Cambridge. What a great spot chosen by my SO, but my nerves were going crazy, so all I remember was picking at my food and pushing it around the plate.

Example B was a Christmas lunch at Haru with coworkers. I hadn't worked at my current job for too long, and I was still in that initial phase where I was focused on keeping up appearances. The one thing I remember was that I put an entire dumpling into my mouth, and it was so hot that it made my eyes water and burnt my whole mouth. I finally had to spit it out into my napkin. Real nice, right!? Sooo awkward!

In any case, Dish Gal headed back to this sushi chain with Z for a Friday night early dinner, and this time, I was paying attention (and waiting for the dumplings to cool down!).

It was empty when we arrived, but I was surprised how this serene restaurant was quite romantic at night. Very low lighting set the mood.

We decided to venture out from our ordinary sushi picks by choosing edamame dumplings with mushrooms to start. This was...interesting. Pretty weird mushy texture, and the flavors did not mesh well together. I guess sometimes strange flavor combinations just turn out to be, well, strange..
Next we split their house salad-- which was huge and had nice, dark, leafy lettuce, a change from the usual, glaringly-white iceberg in most Japanese restaurants.
We also shared three sushi rolls. The super dynamite roll ($13), which had tempura-style tuna, freshwater eel, and asparagus with sriracha, spicy mayo and eel sauces, was very flavorful. I had wished it would have been spicier, but it tasted good nonetheless, and was my favorite of the evening.

The Philadelphia roll was your standard, slightly-boring philly roll-- no tricks up Haru's sleeves there. And the spicy crunchy salmon roll was not really all that crunchy-- or spicy.

All in all, its clear that at Haru, you're definitely paying for the atmosphere. If you want decent sushi, you could head to your neighborhood joint. But if you want decent sushi in a sleek and stylish, romantic setting, Haru could be for you.

Snappy Sushi

Last night I decided to try Snappy Sushi (formerly Shino Express) in Davis Square. My first impression: the name is silly. It makes it sound like some bad chain restaurant that would have a cute little mascot.

My second thought when I walked in was that I really don't like communal round tables. I can kind of handle communal long tables, like the ones at Wagamama, but round tables are so awkward. You're staring across at a total stranger while trying to concentrate on the conversation you're having to your right or left. I think a lot of the fun of a restaurant is that when you're at your table, you're in your own little world, and you can almost pretend you and whoever you're with are the only ones dining.

However, my lack of enthusiasm for the name and dislike of the configuration of tables waned when I read through the inventive menu, filled with the odd foods Shino was famous for. Example: a portobello mushroom maki? Roasted red peppers with eel? It was all very intriguing.

Snappy Sushi, besides its inventive rolls, differentiates itself from the pack by using brown rice, white rice's healthy cousin. I was a bit hesitant about this, but it turns out that I really enjoyed it!

I opted for an old classic, a spicy tuna roll ($4.95), and tried a new one, the crispy eel maki ($7.95). The latter was eel, avocado, cucumber, and flying fish roe topped with crunchy tempura bits and eel sauce. I discovered when I opened my take-out bag that it wasn't just topped in tempura flakes, it was smothered in them. You couldn't even distinguish individual pieces of sushi. The eel sauce and some unidentified creaminess (mayo?) made these crispy flakes into a mushy mess.

The spicy tuna roll was uninspiring due mostly to the fact that it wasn't spicy! The tuna tasted nice and fresh, but I could not detect any heat from it, and had to pile on the wasabi.

I can't be definitive about Snappy Sushi since I only tried these two rolls, but I don't think I'll be heading back anytime soon. Though I think other sushi places should follow suit with the brown rice option...

Take Out Madness

Things have been a bit crazy in Dish Gal's world lately. I was out of Boston this past weekend at a wedding in Philly, and returned very late Sunday night. Then, I've had an event for work every single night this week. Thus, I have not had the time (or energy) to cook or grocery shop at all... which led to The Week of Take-Out Food... Hopefully you can learn a thing or two from my mistakes (and my good choices).

Monday night I left the event and trekked home, feeling fairly confident that I'd be able to pull something together from my pantry. I was wrong. I ended up making some Easy-Mac, which, note to self, is only good at 3 a.m. post-a night of fun; perhaps the lack of clear thinking makes me forget that I'm eating something that turns powder into cheese.

Tuesday night I stopped at Taipei Tokyo in Davis after event #2. I got one single sushi roll (spicy tuna) and had them add tempura flakes (at the suggestion of "Penelope", Sebastian's friend/TV & movie star/sushi enthusiast). Taipei Tokyo is a stop I often make in Davis--not as much because of the quality of the food, but more because of its proximity to the T stop. I've never had a bad meal there, but never had a great one either... I took it home and ate it on my bed (even though OmGal calls that bad feng shui-- I call it comfortable) but sadly spilled soy sauce on my sheets (ugh! should have known better).

Wednesday night's late night event left me famished (and anxious to get back for the Top Chef finale-- otherwise known as the most ridiculous judges' panel of all time). Skylar brilliantly suggested getting Wagamama, and I devoured my ginger chicken udon, thick, slippery noodles with fragrant ginger and garnished with pickled red ginger. However, my "favorite dish award" for my crew had to have been "Jamie's" ("Jamie" is making her Dish This debut!) chilli beef ramen, a spicy soup with cilantro, fresh chillies, and lime.

Thursday night, after nearly falling asleep on the red line, I stumbled off at Davis around 9 pm and wandered over to Diesel Cafe. Part cafe/part pool hall/part late night hang out, I love how Diesel doesn't really make sense except if you've experienced it. Sebastian is probably more of a fan than I am (I'm a die-hard Dave's Fresh Pasta girl when it comes to sandwiches) but sadly Dave's stops making sandwiches at the wee-hour of 7 pm. So to Diesel I went, where tired-me (I know, call the waambulance) felt very welcomed by the convivial and unpretentious employees, who didn't even balk when I tried to change around the sandwich a bit. I got the "monkey wrench" which is (usually) a baguette with turkey, avocado, havarti dill spread, tomato, and sprouts. I nixed the dill spread and changed the bread to wheat (trying to pretend to be healthy). It was very satisfying and was a nice late-night meal (not too heavy, but satisfying).

Anyway, thank GOD this week is over. Looking back, I've definitely learned some lessons from it all :

1) Easy-mac should only be eaten when inebriated...
2) Soy sauce should be kept far away from the bed or even a sofa...
3) Wagamama is always a good call...
4) Dave's Fresh Pasta should make sandwiches 24 hours.

The Quest for Good Sushi

Boston (proper) has a major sushi problem.

There are, of course, the favorites out there: old-favorite Oishii, new-favorite SushiTeq, extravagant foodie-favorite O- Ya, and chain-favorite Haru. But this leaves one major problem for Dish Gal: I can’t afford any of these on a regular basis!

Sure, I’ve named some pricey restaurants I’ve eaten at recently (Harvest, Capital Grille, etc.)… but these are all once in awhile type meals. Dish Gal has cravings for sushi approximately every 5 days. But there is such a shortage of places to go that are both yummy and reasonably priced.

When I used to live in the alcohol-coated, asphalt wasteland that is the intersection of Comm. Ave and Harvard Ave., I was spoiled by walking distance to Takeshima (RIP), Mr. Sushi, and Fugakyu that were all located in Coolidge Corner. But now that I’m in (my beloved) Davis Square, Tapei Tokyo just isn’t cutting it for me…

Last Saturday I had hope when I read about a good yet reasonably priced sushi place next to the State House and Mooo… called Zen Sushi. When I walked in, the atmosphere was nothing to write home about – odd smoke machines and the familiar uncomfortable wooden chairs at tiny tables, and a small sushi bar.

But I was still hopeful. We ordered three sushi rolls—one was a spicy tuna roll with a twist (the twist being the tempura flakes and spicy mayo were inside the maki, and the tuna was on the outside) for $13.95, a sweet potato tempura maki ($4.95), and an unagi maki (I always picture Ross from Friends now when I order this) for approximately $6.

The “special” tuna maki wasn’t very special; I decided I prefer my tuna to be in the inside, although the tuna itself tasted very fresh. The sweet potato one was less dense than others, and thus had less of a sweet potato taste and more of a rice taste. The unagi was pretty standard- yummy, but not outstanding.

All in all, I don’t regret going, because it did (somewhat) satisfy my sushi craving and was reasonably priced, as promised. But Dish Gal’s quest for the impossible—a yummy sushi place in Boston that doesn’t break the bank—goes on….

Please feel free to leave any suggestions!

Sushi Teq Saturdays

This is a cool deal-- I had never heard about it until I was just checking out their website:

http://www.intercontinentalboston.com/images/pdf/Sushi_Saturdays_Promo.pdf

It's a 2-for-1 deal on sushi. Mmm delicious.