3 restaurants

b/c i havent had time to update as often, i'm going to feature 3 restaurants in this entry - one crack.

first: Yum-Yum Thai and Chinese Cuisine (March 21st)

this restaurant belongs to the family of a friend of mine.  its the first time i've been there, but i always heard good things about the restaurant.  as you can imagine, i was pretty excited about eating here.  here are the dishes we enjoyed!

this is some of the best papaya salad i've had so far - not overly spicy, slightly crunchy and tangy and just plain refreshing.  great flavor!

Tom Yum soup.  this was GREAT!  it had shrimp, mushrooms, vegetables, and the broth was perfect.  a spicy seafood broth with just the right amount of sourness that you'd expect from great Tom Yum....

these are breaded calamari rings.  most places over bread their calamari rings, so you get more breading than calamari.  NOT THIS PLACE.  this honestly is the first place i've been that does not over coat the outside of the calamari.  the amount of coating was just the right amount.  and to top it off, the calamari was cooked perfect - not rubbery and chewy, but soft.  it is served with a spicy sweet chili sauce, but you hardly need it b/c these come with so much flavor already.

Pork fried rice.  this thai restaurant also has chinese offerings as well.  fried rice, while pretty standard, can still be messed up if the cook doesnt know what they're doing.  but at Yum-Yum, the cooks know great food, thus, the fried rice was also another great addition to our meal.  

Pad Thai noodles.  one of my favorite dishes, Pad Thai is a peanut sauce based noodle dish that is slightly spicy and can come with anything from pork, chicken, beef or seafood - here, we got shrimp.  the noodles were great, the peanut sauce excellent and the shrimp - huge and once again cooked perfect.

this dish is nick-named "Lisa's Fish" b/c it is not on the menu.  yes - being friends with the owners daughter does have some perks.  this is their baked fish i believe, but with some adjustments.  it has a ginger sauce and is covered with shrimp, mushrooms and ground chicken.  the baked fish was very nice.  the crunchy outside stayed crunchy, even with the ginger sauce on it, and the "special" toppings made this fish even better.  sorry folks... as i said before, its not on the menu.  but, if you get the regular baked fish, i'm sure you wont be disappointed.

here is our dessert.  a warm, sweet tapioca, corn and kidney bean pudding.  i know the corn and kidney beans sound weird in here, but it actually wasnt as weird as you'd think.  the corn was sweet, so it went pretty well with the pudding and it seemed like the beans were sweet too, so it was a nice ending to a nice meal.

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NEXT: The Counter, custom burgers (March 23rd)

so, if you've heard in the news, recently a new custom burger shop opened.  "The Counter" is owned by D.K. Kodama and Daniel Dae Kim (Lost).  they offer high end burgers which you personalize by adding your own toppings, sauces, and bread.  they also have the standard fries, sweet potato fries, fried onion rings, and fried pickles.... lets get to the photos: 

instead of choosing one of the pre-made burgers on the menu, i decided to make my own.  i got the 1/3 pound burger with bacon, sprouts, Gruyere, roasted chiles and red onions.  for a sauce, i got a garlic aioli and my bun a honey wheat.  while this is the smallest size burger they have..... i still could not finish.  the bacon and Gruyere were great choices on this burger, and the garlic aioli is not only good on your burger.... but also your fries :)

here are the sweet potato fries, regular fries and fried pickles.  they do not all come in one tray, but we attacked it before i could take pictures..... the regular fries and sweet potato fries can be ordered together as a "50/50."  they also offer fried onions which were really good too - they're like French Fried Onions, but crispyer.  these came with ranch, barbeque and what i'm pretty sure was a roasted pepper sauce.  the pickle chips come with a sweet fruit sauce, i think it was apricot.  all were very good.

ok, they DO NOT serve these cakes at The Counter.... but it was a friends birthday, and thats why we all were there.  the pyramid cake was from JJ's bistro and bakery (which i've been to, and let me tell you, its very, very nice there) and the other cake was from St. Germain (i'm pretty sure) and it had a great collage of the birthday girl and all her friends.  both very awesome cakes....

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NEXT: Hinone Mizunone Japanese Restaurant (March 24th)

this is a restaurant that i've been wanting to try for a very long time.  i pass by it all the time, and when i first saw it, i was intrigued.... i love asian food; i love japanese food.  being japanese and growing up around japanese food, i am fortunate to appreciate what goes into creating excellent japanese food.  personally, my family makes great japanese food, but when they're not cooking, i have to get it from somewhere else.... here is yet another restaurant...

here is the interior of the restaurant.  bright, clean, and they have thier name and symbol plastered on every surface of the restaurant.... if you were wondering... yes, they are a chain restaurant.

like i said..... every surface....... cute boxes that hold the condiments - salt, pepper, "sauce" which i'm pretty sure is for the gyoza, shoyu, tabasco and togashiri red pepper.

every surface..... including the back of the chairs.......

they also have a small tv in the corner for your viewing pleasure.  what was on?  ESPN.  the light fixtures are also pretty cool lookin.

the art on the walls are pretty nice too..... 

here's what i ordered..... teishoku! all teishoku comes with two main dishes (i got tempura and salmon), miso soup, rice and two sides (determined by the restaurant, they gave me kobocha and hijiki seaweed).

here's my salmon....

here's my tempura - it was shrimp tempura, squid tempura a piece of kobocha and eggplant.  the squid was the best thing on this plate... they cooked it perfect!  everything else was good too, but the squid was excellent.

my rice!!!

here's what my friend got: teishoku - tonkatsu with house made tonkatsu sauce, misoyaki butterfish and as a side they gave eggplant and hijiki.

we also ordered..... some kimchee (it was simply O.K., but not great)

and a side of karaage chicken - crunchy and fried.... delicious.

also, i had to order a side of cheese filled aburaage..... this dish, was one of the weirdest things i've ever eaten.  when i bit in, i could find no cheese, however, there was a strange "fruity" flavor that made me not want to eat it anymore...... my suggestion?  if you go here.... dont get this one.

ok. thats it for my first food entry.  hope you enjoyed!  more next time.......