restaurant review: iroha restaurant

hey guys. here's another restaurant review. this time a japanese restaurant in japantown in san francisco. was in the city for the annual chinese new year parade. pretty cool but my friends and i left after seeing my college marching band march pass haha. anyways onto the review:

situated in the heart of japantown, iroha sits on top of another restaurant, serving up ramen, sushi, and other japanese favorites. there are also a few lunch specials to choose from.

food: 4. the sushi roll we ordered was delicious. i ordered a katsu (deep fried prok cutlet) curry, while my friends both ordered ramen bowls. my curry was good but nothing beyond that. i also tried my friends ramen which was as equally passable as my curry.

ambiance: 4. pretty good. since the restaurant was situated on the second floor, customers can be treated to nice views of japantown and watch people pass by. unfortunately we weren't given a seat by the window. but the dining area was clean and well kept.

service: 2. bad, though i think they were short staffed. still they took almost forever to get our order, the waitress got my friend's order wrong (he ordered ramen with no green onions but it came with green onions even though the waitress WROTE IT DOWN!), we were left waiting for drinks, and we were handed our utensils without setting them. my friend said she came with a friend a year ago and it was perfectly fine. what happened in that span of time???

price: $$. seriously, not worth it. that's all i'm going to say.

final score: 3. the food is good, but because of the service and price, i don't think i'll be coming back. plus there are many other places to go in japantown (such as tanpopo, which is right next door, and has far better ramen for a far better price), so you really aren't missing much.

enjoy,

mike

to love and tigers...

happy chinese new year and single's awareness day aka valentine's day. yes, i'm single and i'm ok with that. spent it grocery shopping with my parents, which was fun nonetheless.

this chinese new year is the year of the tiger. i was born in the year of the rabbit which will be next year. cool!

enjoy your red envelopes,

mike

restaurant review: ralph brennan's jazz kitchen

here's another restaurant review guys (and just in time for valentine's day if you're in the anaheim area):

ralph brennan's jazz kitchen, located in the downtown disney district, offers a taste of the big easy, serving up delicious new orleans cuisine. the building itself is reminiscent of French Quarter architecture and offers a jazz club and balcony seating.
i came for dinner with a group of friends celebrating a birthday.

food: 4. it's good. the crab cakes i had were passable, the sides i had were for the most part good (i had mashed potatoes, which were ok, and the grits, which i wished i'd made a meal out of; they were THAT GOOD!). i tried a bit of the zinfindel reduction from a friend's dish which blew me away. since it was my friend's birthday, we shared birthday beignets, which were light and excellent.

ambiance: 5! loved it. we sat in the jazz club part of the restaurant so we were treated to low lights and a jazz piano player playing in the background. definitely felt like being in new orleans (though i've never been so i wouldn't know - -;;;).

service: 4. good service, though i do remember waiting for refills on drinks for a bit, but the music helped keep our minds off the waiting.

price: $$ their website states the prices are cheaper for lunch, though we went for dinner. definitely a bit pricey.

final score: 4. i'll go back for the great music and those grits. god they were so good! a bit on the pricey side, but definitely a good place to go for a romantic evening.

enjoy your valentine,

mike

restaurant review: choi's kitchen

hey guys. i promised you a restaurant review so here it is:

today's review is a restaurant that i went to over the christmas break which serves korean food called choi's kitchen.

located in santa clara, ca, this restaurant is said by many locals to have the best korean food in town. one of their signature dishes, besides a wide range of lunch specials, is the seafood pancake, which is a pan fried pancake with all kinds of seafood in the batter.

food: 4. the seafood pancake rocks! as did my bulgogi (korean bbq beef)

ambiance: 3. was like eating in a cafeteria but very clean

service: 4. good. my mom was even able to get a side dish from them that wasn't even on the menu

price: $$

final score: 4. it's excellent korean food. hope to go there again!

enjoy,

mike

o when the saints...

yay for the saints. i'm genuinely happy for them even though i'm not a saints fan (go niners!). and the footage of drew brees with his son at the end of the game was really touching. i could see tears welling up in his face. awesome game.

more restaurant reviews and other stuff to come guys. promise!

enjoy the rest of your super bowl sunday,

mike

all nighters... T_T

ugh so tired guys. pulled an all nighter to finish off a paper. was just procrastinating like crazy and paid the price. completely missed all my classes because i literally crashed after turning it in. so tired...

enjoy some rest,

mike