Monday, April 30

♥ All Hyped Up For Nothing



Yelp: http://www.yelp.com/biz/class-302-irvine
My Overall Ratings: 2.2
Review: Sunflower

Seriously, what is all the hype about? Class 302, ripped one of Jay Chou's songs and used it as their name, nothing but a mediocre cafe. After reading many mixed reviews on Yelp, I expected both the best and the worst. As an optimistic person, I chose to be positive and hope for the best! First off, the service is definitely a miss. The girl was plain out RUDE! She didn't say anything rude, but her attitude was really pissing me off! Also, the food was OK-AY! Nothing Nothing NOTHING SPECIAL! I rather drive up to Arcadia or Rowland Heights for better Taiwanese foods. Last, the decorating is not "as cute" as most people said it to be. The decorating is somewhat messy and ghetto! The tables are small and wobbly! The only "cute" part is the name. (oops, sorry about the rant) Also, I don't want to break anyone's bubble, but CLASS 302 USES FROZEN FOOD! According to one of their ex-workers, all of their food are NOT FRESH, but FROZEN! They microwave the food upon request.

 (3/5 Ratings) The Spring Rolls was average. Nothing special!




 (3/5 Ratings) The Spicy Beef is supposedly one of their MUST-TRY dishes here! 
Oh please! This is worst than my Thai Instant Noodles at home.



 (4.2/5 Ratings) This was the best dish of the day, the Cold Tofu with 1000 year old eggs. The Tofu was silky and soft, the sauce was perfect, the shredded pork was sweet, and the 100 year old eggs were amazing.



 (0/5 Ratings) Oysters Omelet!  I don't usually reject food for any reasons, 
but I gotta say "Adios" to this omelet!


 :(

 
 (4/5 Ratings) At least I finished off with something decent, the Shaved Ice
This was almost the best part of the meal, but still lacks some flavor.


Strawberries + Grass Jelly + Red Beans were my favorite

          

           -Lesson Learned,
 Don't Follow the HYPE!

♥ Boiling Crab



Yelp: http://www.yelp.com/biz/the-boiling-crab-garden-grove
My Overall Ratings: used to be a 4.5/5, but now it's a 3/5
Review: Sunflower

Beware of the LONG WAITS--usually 20-45 minutes on their busy hours and on the weekends. On the weekdays, I usually come here at 3-5pm because not much people are in lines, good luck waiting during dinner hours. On the weekends, try to come when they just open because after 12pm, herds of people will stand aimlessly at the doors and parking lots for their names to be called.

Lemons are essential to every seafood's meals. Number one! a squeeze of lemon will enhance your taste buds to the fullest. Number two, I usually use lemons, after a meal, to remove unwanted fishy smell from my fingers and under the nails.


(4.6/5 Ratings) It's pretty hard to find good and fresh Oysters around this area--only if you are willing to drive to Newport or Redondo Beach. Today, the oysters were exceptionally outstanding--not frozen nor super slammy. I remembered having frozen oysters here once and wasn't happy. Overall, Boiling Crab has the best oysters out of all the near by crawfish joints.  


One squeeze of lemon, two drops of Tabasco sauce, and  a scoop of G sauce. OR, black pepper, Tabasco sauce, and lemon! YUM YUM YUM


(5/5 Ratings) I absolutely love the sausages here!! So delicious! The spicy sauce and the garlic soak into the sausages and just make everything so favorable.


I always order extra sausages, cuz it's never enough


(3.2/5 Ratings)  If eating one crawfish is to technical for you, you can always count on the shrimps. The Shrimps are not as juicy and fresh as the ones at Kicking Crab. This place used to be so good, but it got brought out.


Still tasty!!! But compared to the old joint, this is nothing ...


(3/5 Ratings) negative 2 stars for the size and freshness of the crawfish, and the tasteless sauce! I've become a regular here for 6 or 7 years ago, have always ordered the mild garlic butter sauce. But was very disappointed today! The new remodeled place is definitely NOT UP TO PAR! The crawfish is smaller than Kicking Crab, some of my crawfish is not cleaned thoroughly (still black), and the garlic butter tasted like BLAH! 


Poor little crawfish... I'm sorry, but I'm so hungry


(5/5 Ratings) Now, I come here for the chicken wings! The wings are crispy, tender, and hot when served. One dip of ranch makes my whole world goes ROUND.!!!! Definitely a 5 star dish here.


After my workout at 24 Hour Fitness, I'm craving for these ...


(4.5/ Ratings) The Catfish basket is also another good finger food here. The catfish is sooooo soft and crispy. OMG! Heaven heaven!!! This is definitely a MUST-TRY item (and the chicken wings too).


While editing this blog, I'm extremely hungry now!!!


(4.5/5) Says hello to Mr. Ketchup Face Fries! The Cajun Fries are also amazing.


Sunday, April 29

♥ Antique and Craft Fairs


 Hello everyone! How was your Saturday? Mine was very fulfilling--tutoring, food fair, and a wedding. So, I checked out the Antique and Craft Fairs in Irvine. Visit their website for more infos.

The Antique and Craft Fairs contains many mini events: learn how to grow pumpkin seeds, to make jams from scratch, taste food, learn about wine, buy fresh and organic fruits and vegetables, eat food trucks, admire arts, and of course, ride the carousel.

I enjoyed the food at each booth, but they were very pricy for a small portion!!!! Some dishes were eyes popping, some were mediocre, and one was disappointing.
 

Let's start the CURIOUS TASTING with me ... 

This was the first booth that I saw, though I didn't try it! Regretted now ....

 (5/5 ratings) I came across a familiar booth, Mochilato, and didn't know that they carry Beard Papa's cream puffs! When I was in Toronto, Canada, stampede of people were fighting in lines for these! I thought Canadians were just plain weird! BUT after devouring these cream puffs, I UNDERSTOOD CRYSTAL CLEAR!!! One word to describe these: unbelievable!


 (4.5/5 Ratings) After the cream puffs, I was in thirst! Coconut Juice seemed ideally! I would've given this 5 stars, but they didn't have spoons for the coconut meat!? Are they out of their minds? The best part of any coconut is the COCONUT MEAT! I was pretty depressed after slipping up all the juice and had to wave bye bye to the meat part :(


 Hellos and Bye Byes to the ... coconut meat



 (2/5 Ratings) All I will say is "looks can be hella deceiving!" and it cost me 3 dollars for one bread stick!


(2.6/5 Ratings) Mediocre! This is too healthy and organic for me 


 The vegetables are so fresh! This is also where Farmer's Market is located every Saturdays


Gotta go GREEN sometimes ...


KUDOS to the Purple carrots! This is my first time seeing non-orange carrots.


(4/5 Ratings) Grrr.... I forgot the name of the truck and the taco! But it was amazing!! Taco-fever had just struck me again!

(4.5 / Ratings) The Mushroom Tacos with extra avocados! AMAZING! No meat, but amazing!


(5/5 ratings) Kogi's truck is known for their Korean/Mexican fusion of tacos and burritos. I got the Korean BBQ Tacos and the Spicy Chicken Taco.

Either I was supper hungry, or I'm being very bias as an Asian. I instantly gave this 5 stars, no question asked. A very interesting combination, but somehow works


What do you think this is? TAKE A GUESS? Highlight this part for the answer -> [ This is a sun oven! The oven uses the reflectors to reflect the sunlight into the oven! The thermometer read 200 Celsius.] AMAZING RIGHT?


(5/5 ratings) I, then, ended my food tasting journey with two scoops of HOMEMADE Strawberry ice cream! So creamy and thick! Best ice cream that I had so far.... in the longest time.

Saturday, April 28

♥ Keungama Korean Restuarant



Yelp: http://www.yelp.com/biz/keungama-korean-restaurant-los-angeles-2
My Overall Ratings: 3.5/5
Review: Sunflower

As for today, the service was fast and friendly. The lady that served my table was soo nice and attentive, even though i was tucked away in the corner and out of sight. So, the service here is either a hit or a miss, good luck. This place is usually very crowded at night for clubbers.

  • (4/5 ratings) Side Dishes are somewhat limited. I liked everything, except the smallest dish with little shrimps like. 

  • (5/5 ratings) Nice cold beer for a hot SUNDAY day.
  • (3.8/5 Ratings) Beef Broth Soup with Meat is interesting. The beef is cooked 'till it's well done--tender but not chewy. The broth is amazing, seems like rice broth with onions and beef juice. The finished broth a very light on the mouth, but addicting.
잘 먹겠습니다
 (jal meokkesseumnida)
- Jal Meogeosseumnida, Everyone 

Friday, April 27

♥ Fukada

                

My Overall Ratings: 4.6 / 5 
Review: Sunflower

Their wine and alcohol collections--very organized. And very impressive for a small Japanese restaurant


Close up of the the wine bottles


(3.5/5 ratings) We got the Cold Tofu as an appetizer. Tofu will always be tofu! So basically, 3 stars for not being an ASTONISHING appetizer! This dish is very basic-- cold, soft tofu with smashed up ginger, cut-up green onions, and dried Nori.   

(5/5 ratings) The Seared Tuna is what LIFE IS ALL ABOUT!--compete and content. The tuna is cooked just enough so the fishy smell/taste disappear completely. For this Japanese dish, the sauce is soo Western that I had to grab the waiter for an answer! The secret lies within the pepper and onion dressing and the hidden vinaigrette onions at the bottom. This dish completely set my world into fire-amazing! I will definitely come back for more.


(4.5/5 Ratings) The Sansai Udon, their specialty, is also amazing. I never had this type of udon before. The udon is very different from the thicker udons that I always get or had. The chef is so meticulous that the udon is perfect--not too hard nor too soft! The udon is in its best condition when served!! The soup base is so favorable and lacks MGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THUMB UP!

Only greens, but still tasted so good .....



(4.8/5 ratings) The Brown Rice with Chicken is mouth dropping. You have the choice of getting the brown or white rice, but I chose brown rice for health and personal preferences. This is a MUST-TRY item.


The chicken is soo tender with the beat-up eggs


(4/5 ratings) The Seafood Salad, Yelper's favorite, is also tasty. This salad uses the same sauce and ingredients as the Seared Tuna's. Between the two dishes, I personally like the Seared Tuna better. This "seafood" salad contains all of our favorite sea creatures: crab, tuna, and salmon. 


Yum yum yum ... 


         

The design is very simple and clean and the service is friendly and respectful. I do recommend this place for all those udons + raw seafood eaters.

- Enjoy your meal