Pepper Lunch

And thus, this post marks the beginning of the blogging that is to come of all the meals I enjoyed and want to share with you all in San Francisco and its neighbouring cities ^_^.


We arrived at San Jose Airport right at lunch time. Our first itinerary activity was to go outlet shopping at the Gilroy Premium Outlet, so I made sure to plan a quick lunch somewhere near the airport to save time, and also to prevent us from wasting a good meal opportunity (since it is a known fact that the food court at Premium Outlets are never good).

Pepper Lunch is a known Japanese fast food restaurant that is found vastly throughout Asia. I've heard about it many times but never had the chance to try it out, so I knew I had to check this place out with such a perfect opportunity!

Some of the things that I love to have knowledge on in regards to the restaurants that I plan to visit when I'm on vacation is the exterior appearance of the restaurant and its surrounding vicinity. This helps make finding it so much easier, especially when you're in a foreign place to begin with. For our first meal, Pepper Lunch is found in a large strip mall with mainly Asian restaurants, stores and services

Shiki Menya

What better way to acknowledge the arrival of winter than by getting a fresh bowl of hot ramen. That was exactly what I did today on my day off. I was a little unsure if the cold weather would bring about a line full of ramen fanatics or if it would've helped ward off the crowd. Luckily, it wasn't crazy busy - we only waited outside for 5 minutes before we were seated (sorry, but unfortunately you cannot stand inside the little box found between Shiki Menya and Black Pig Bistro - fire hazard rules).

It is a small and modern looking ramen shop inside. This place gives off a hipster vibe and makes me feel like I'm in a hidden ramen shop found in New York.

Yum Yum Chicken & BBQ Korean Cuisine

I decided to order take out the other day because my aunt who is visiting from out of town wanted to try Calgary's take on Korean fried Chicken. I decided on trying a new place for fried chicken, Yum Yum Chicken.

I was debating on how much to order for five people, because in the past, I've shared a whole chicken with a friend, and ate everything without any remains. As well, I knew some members in my family have a larger than your average appetite. When I called, I asked the young girl how many people three whole chickens could feed, and she replied "It depends on how much the person eats, but there are about 36 pieces for three whole chicken".... That's nearly 7 pieces per person! So I chickened out and decided to go with two whole order, and was I glad I went with the two whole orders! We had leftovers enough to last for another full meal!

Half order of the Shallot Chicken

Anju Restaurant

I've gotten the chance to visit the renewed Anju a few times since its reopening. I returned again this past Saturday with my family in celebration of my mom's birthday. To ensure that we wouldn't be placed on a insanely long wait list, I made a reservation nearly two weeks in advance. We arrived and was promptly seated in the booths found at the back. This was a different experience for me - the previous times I've came, I was always placed at the high top counters facing the street of 17th ave. I love those window seats because it gave my dining companions and myself the entertainment of people watching (whether it be those passing by or the bustling staff found in the kitchen). This time, we were placed in the "den", and while the seats were comfortable, the noise level was a bit too high for my party's liking.

Wow Chicken

Of all the places I've ate at (and not posted) for the past year, Wow Chicken is one of the places that I really wanted to do a returning blog post on. Korean Fried Chicken (KFC 2.0 in my terms) has been on the rise in terms of popularity in Calgary for the past couple of years. New shops are opening left and right, from the first Korean fried chicken shop Olive Chicken to the third franchised Yum Yum BBQ Chicken that is yet to be open.

White Elephant Thai Cuisine

I've been hearing the latest rave about this authentic Thai restaurant lately so when my brother and I were debating on a place to dine late Friday night, I suddenly remembered this restaurant.

For some reason, I was under the impression that White Elephant was found in close proximity to North Hill Mall. I was proven wrong as we continued to drive along 16th avenue into the NE side of town. We didn't find the restaurant initially and had to stop the car to take a look around us. There were no apparent signs advertising the restaurant's existence but I knew it had to be right in front of us because Google map told me so! It was then that I spotted an elephant on the side of a run down hotel, Point Inn. We drove over and sure enough we had found our White Elephant. Not going to lie, we did not expect such a setting but we entered the Inn as skeptical as we were (Urbanspoon ratings were a huge influential factor in this).

We were quickly seated as most tables were leaving since it was 9pm by this time. The restaurant looked old and run down, but in a god way - like one of those long standing restaurants where the grungier they appeared meant the better tasting they were. As an Asian myself, I'm aware to not judge a book by its covers when it comes to restaurants because past experiences have taught me that the more sketchy a restaurant looks, the better tasting the food is.

Cafe Momoko

It would be an understatement if I said I was ecstatic and counting down the minutes until Tuesday's dinner. My friend had recently switched jobs, and as a result his office moved from downtown core to the south end of town near Heritage. This change resulted in him having to drive to work on a daily basis, as well as forced me to lose a lunch buddy. After a month or so, we were finally able to schedule a dinner. With his new found commute, the possibilities were endless when it came to picking out a new restaurant to try. I began scouring Urbanspoon like a mad woman, trying to find high rated restaurants in locations that were out of the way and/or in the deep south of Calgary. I couldn't pass off this rare opportunity with just any restaurant. After narrowing down to a handful of choices, we settled on Cafe Momoko based on its high rating as well as the fact that it was found in section of Calgary that we would seldom go to.

Yume Sushi

I finished my dance class and was heading towards Little Caesar's on 14th Street for their $5 pepperoni pizza as a late dinner. I was hungry and it was getting late, so I wanted something quick and cheap. As we were nearing Little Caesar's, I remembered that Yume Sushi was in the plaza strip right next to it. I've heard of Yume previously and the $1.00 sushi that they are known for, so I changed my mind and decided on sushi for the night instead. I stepped into the restaurant right before 9pm and the only person found sitting at a table was the owner who appeared to be doing paperwork of some sort. I wasn't sure if they were open so I walked in reluctantly. The owner was friendly and told us to come right on in as they were still open and to mind our steps as the floor was wet from being freshly mopped. I told her I just wanted to get some take out and she gestured us to the front of the restaurant and once again reminded us to be careful of our steps. When I neared the front counter/sushi bar, I saw a stack of binded in-store menus as well as paper take-out menus. Neither the owner nor the employee who stood behind the counter directed me the menu to use but I quickly figured out I had to check off items to be ordered from the paper menu.

CEREZO cafe & bar

I visited CEREZO, a Japanese fusion tapas themed cafe & bar, for the very first time on Saturday for a late lunch with a couple of friends. It was a bit difficult for me to find at first because I wasn't expecting CEREZO to look like a house on the outside. Upon entering the cafe & bar, the ambiance reflected was very coozy and home-like. The seating arrangement was spacious and we were lucky enough to have sat at a table in an area away from the other customers. It works just like any cafe - order up front and have the food brought to the table as it is made. As I stood in front of the till, my eyes bounced back and forth from the chalkboard menu to the glass display  filled with homemade desserts, and once again I was faced with my usual dilemma of deciding what to order. After what seemed like a decade, I had made my decision. For starters, I ordered a couple appetizers to share with my company.