Conclusion

In these 30 days, I have tried 15 different kinds of restaurants in the Bay Area. Some of them were told by friends while some were searched on the Internet. I like dinning out since I am not fond of and good at cooking. This is the main reason why I choose to introduce varied restaurants as the topic for the 30 days experiment. These 15 restaurants serve different types of food; even though I have been some Chinese restaurants, each of them serves varied food, such as Chinese BBQ, Dim Sum, etc. I found that the taste in these restaurants were different from the same type restaurants in Macau. I guess the reason is that the way of cooking probably caters the customers in America. Since I am an Asian, I prefer the Asian restaurants rather than other types of restaurants. In my experiment, Asian restaurants almost occupied the largest portion.

The restaurant that I rate for the highest is the Orenchi Ramen Restaurant. I like the famous Orenchi Ramen. (Same with the name of the restaurant) Why? First of all, I like Japanese noodles. I have been twice in Japan, once in Hokkaido and once in Osaka. I have tried the famous Ramen restaurants there; Orenchi Ramen reminds me the delicious noodles that I have tried in Japan! I like the Tonkotsu broth and pork there. (Tonkotsu broth is cooked with pork bone and soy sauce.) Also, especially the egg! What is so special about the egg? It is not completely cooked so the egg yolk is a bit liquid. There is a piece of seaweed on top of the noodles as well. You must eat it before it gets drenched or it will not taste good. Also, the fried chicken is good. It is different from the one in KFC. There are two other types of Ramen to choose – Shio Ramen and Shoyu Ramen. The toppings are more or less the same but the broths are different. The former one is with salt base while the latter one is with soy sauce. I highly recommend you guys to choose the Orenchi Ramen. It costs 9 bucks per Ramen. The stewards are very nice and friendly. Due to the taste and good service of this restaurant, I choose this to be my favorite.

The one that I rate the lowest is the Palace BBQ Buffet. I seldom go for Korean BBQ since I know the smell of the BBQ is quite strong in the restaurant which will make my clothes and hair full of this kind of smell. I went there due to my friend’s birthday celebration. When I was waiting for the seats outside, I have already smelt the barbeque. This restaurant serves as buffet which means you can choose any types of food to barbeque by yourself. There are variety of meat and cooked food to choose. They are fresh. There is a barbeque per table. If you like cooking, it will be fun. But for me, it’s not fun. The smoke makes my eyes so uncomfortable. You can get as much as food you like. It is $28 per person for dinner on weekends and $26 for weekdays. As I don’t like to eat a lot, $28 is quite expensive to me. To sum up, the smell and the price are the main unfavorable reasons which lead to the lowest rating in my experiment.

After these 30 days, I have spent a lot to dine out, about 300 bucks! Dining out all the time is quite expensive but I like to try varied types of food. I wish you guys will try some of these restaurants after reading my blog. There are many different kinds of tasty restaurants in the Bay Area!

Shabuway ( Mountain VIew )

This evening I had dinner in Shabuway in Mountain View. It's somewhat like the Chinese style hot pot but beef is the only main ingredient. Beef is the major element for Japanese style hot pot - Shabu Shabu. Shabuway is famous for the Kobe style beef which is the most expensive order. As long as you order any kind of shabu shabu, it comes with veggies and rice. You can choose the spicy soup or ordinary broth or even both. I've tried both of it. At first I felt okay with the spicy one but after a while I couldn't stand for it.



There are two Shabuway in the Bay Area, one in Mountain View and the other in San Mateo. $12.99 for the regular size of Kobe style Beef. I think it's enough for me or even too much for me. But it's really good!!! :) The environment and service are good so I will grade it for 4 stars. :D

180 Castro St
Mountain View, CA 94041

(650) 961-8880

Hours:
Mon-Fri 11:30 a.m. - 2 p.m.
Mon-Sat 5:30 p.m. - 10 p.m.
Sat-Sun 12 p.m. - 3 p.m.
Sun 5:30 p.m. - 9 p.m.

Sumiya Yakitori

Sumiya Yakiton is famous for the grilling food. Due to this reason, I went there with my friends after karaoke. Many people like going there for dinner and chat, so we have been waiting for the seat for half and hour. Waitresses were bustling for serving food in the restaurant but they still kept smiling. :) I appreciated their good attitude.


This is the grilled chicken with salt. YUM!!!


This is the grilled chicken wings with salt.

I like the KAIBI DON as well!! It tastes so good with the Kobe style beef and the raw egg on the rice!!

The price is quite expensive - about 20 bucks per person. Many Japanese like to go there for chatting with beer. But I'm not 21. I will grade it for 3.5 stars.

2634 Homestead Rd
Santa Clara, CA 95051

(408) 973-0604

Hours:
Mon-Fri 11:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.
Mon-Sat 5:30 p.m. - 11:30 p.m.
Sun 5 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.

Layang Layang

This afternoon I lunched in Layang Layang with my friends. It's a Malaysian Cuisine restaurants in San Jose. I seldom try Malaysian food because I think Malaysian and Thai food are alike - spicy. To be frank, the taste and the food look like the same. :P But not bad.


This is Pearl Mee. I like it. :)


It's called Roti Canai. The yellow sauce is curry. I like it:)

The food is pretty nice. It's not a big restaurant but I feel comfortable to sit inside and enjoy my meal. I like the decoration there since it represents the custom of Malaysia. Not expensive. So i will grade it for 4 stars. :D

1480 S De Anza Blvd
San Jose, CA 95129

(408) 777-8897

Hours:
Tue-Fri 11 a.m. - 3 p.m.
Tue-Thu 5 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.
Fri 5 p.m. - 10 p.m.
Sat 11 a.m. - 10 p.m.
Sun 11 a.m. - 9 p.m.

King of Thai (San Francisco)

Last night I was annoying to choose a dinning place at 10p.m., so my boyfriend suggested to go King of Thai in San Francisco. After an hour drive, we arrived the restaurant locating in Grand Ave. Surprisingly, there were still lots of people there at 12a.m. I seldom dine in Thai restaurants since I don't like spicy food. But the Roast Duck Fried Rice is really delicious!!!!



Look! This is so tasty!!!!! You should try this!!!!

There are three King of Thai restaurants in San Francisco and their opening hours are different. So make sure the hour before you go. Service and environment is OK there. I will give 3.5 stars for it.

1268 Grant Ave
(between Fresno St & Vallejo St)
San Francisco, CA 94133

(415) 391-8219

Hours:
Mon 11 a.m. - 1 a.m.

Palace BBQ Buffet

Do you guys like BBQ? I do! But now I'm not introducing you guys BBQ in park with friends, it's a Korean BBQ restaurant - Palace BBQ Buffet in Sunnyvale. Korean BBQ is very famous in Hong Kong and Macau so sometimes I will go to there with my friends. Wednesday was my friend's birthday so we had a celebration with him there.

It's a buffet so you can choose your favorite food to barbecue by yourself. This is very fun if you like cooking. There are many types of raw pork, beef, ribs, teriyaki chicken etc for you to choose.






The smell of the BBQ stuff is full of everywhere. Price is quite expensive at night, about 30 bucks per person. I will give 3 stars.

1092 E El Camino Real
Ste 1
Sunnyvale, CA 94087

(408) 554-9292

Hours:
Tue-Sun 11:30 a.m. - 3 p.m.
Tue-Sun 5 p.m. - 10 p.m.

Cooking Papa (Santa Clara)

It's a busy week but it's over now :)

Cooking Papa has opened for couple months only! This is a Chinese bistro like the Hong Kong Bistro I mentioned in the previous post. It serves fried rice, noodles, chow mein, Chinese BBQ, etc. These food are very common in Hong Kong and Macau. Today I would like to introduce the Chinese BBQ to you guys! This is very famous in Cooking Papa.


This is Roasted Pork Belly. Yummy!


This is Roasted Peking Duck!! :) Put the duck inside the steam bun with sauce. YUM!!


This is Steamed Pork Dumpling. Be aware of the hot soup inside the dumpling when u taste it!

This is a new restaurant in Santa Clara. Good environment but a bit noisy. Food is good but the portion is a bit small if you order the entree. Overall the price is inexpensive. I will give it 3.5 stars.

2830 Homestead Road
Santa Clara, CA 95051

(408) 247-3748

Hours:
Mon-Sun 11 a.m. - 3 p.m.
Mon-Sun 5 p.m. - 10 p.m.

CASH ONLY!!!

Fat Wong's Kitchen

This afternoon, I went to Fat Wong's Kitchen in San Bruno. It serves Chinese food, such as noodles, porridge, rice. Porridge is a very common food in Hong Kong and Macau. It just simply cooked with rice and water. I highly recommend the Farm Chicken Porridge which is my favorite there!


Here's the Rice Noodle Roll with Shrimp.





I like the food there and the iced lemon tea is good as well. The waiters are not so friendly but okay. Condition is clean so I give it 3.5 stars. :)

1780 El Camino Real
San Bruno, CA 94066
(650) 872-6682

Hours:
Mon-Sun
11:00am - 11:30pm

CASH ONLY!!!

Pepper Lunch USA

Hello everyone. Tonight I dined in Pepper Lunch USA in Milpitas with my friends. This is a Japanese Fusion restaurant. When I was outside waiting for the seats, the place smelled strongly of the Teppanyaki food. This is cool. I've ordered the Teriyaki Pepper Chicken, with rice, soup and salad and it only costs $8.5!!!!



This one is the Beef Pepper Noodles. There are corns, beef and sauce on the noodles. You have to stir all the ingredients and make the raw beef to the stage of cooked. It's quite tasty.

This is economical. If you go there, remember not to wear expensive clothes because the smell of the food is quite strong. Not much decoration there but the food is good. I will give 3.5 stars for it.

408 Barber Ln
Milpitas, CA 95035

(408) 577-0778

Hours:
Tue-Sun 11:30 a.m. - 3 p.m.
Tue-Sun 5:30 p.m. - 10 p.m.

MONDAY IS CLOSED!!!

Red Lobster

Hello guys. Do you guys like seafood? Fish? Shrimp? Crab? What about lobster?
This evening I dined in Red Lobster in Fremont with my boyfriend. This is a casual American restaurant so I think this is good for a group of friends gathering. The place is roomy and I feel so relax with the music there.

The main dish is the lobster and shrimp pasta.


Yummy!!!! :D


This is the Lobster pizza.

Price is quite expensive. The pasta costs about 23 bucks while the pizza costs about 10 bucks. I think it's good to celebrate special dates with friends in Red Lobster. Food is good. Waiters are nice. I will give 3.5 stars.

There are several Red Lobsters locate around the Bay Area. The one that I went is in Fremont.

39401 Fremont Blvd
(between Stenerson Ln & Walnut Ave)
Fremont, CA 94538

(510) 657-2436

Hon Sushi

Sunday afternoon, I dined in Hon Sushi with my friends in Mountain View. This is a traditional Japanese sushi restaurant. Why did I say so? Because you can find many kinds of Japanese sushi rolls there. Since sushi is one of my favorite food, I would like to introduce this restaurant to you guys.



This is Alaska Roll! (So delicious!!!!)





Unlike sushi, these kinds of sushi rolls contain avocado and crab sticks.


|Here's the menu.


Not just sushi, sashimi, but also rice and noodles are provided. Then you have more choices to choose. :)

I think Hon Sushi is a good one. Price is economical since every rolls is 30% off. Not many decorations in the restaurant but there is a Sakura tree drawing on the wall which embellishes the environment so much. Food is good and I give it 4 starts.

1477 Plymouth St
Mountain View, CA 94041

(650) 967-9279

Mango Medley

On thursdays, I visited my friend in San Francisco and he brought me to an Asian Fusion restuarant - Mango Medley. It provides baked food, desserts, and noodles. When I visited there, I saw couple Indian families and White people families dining there. I guess it is suitable for different culture people.

My friend highly recommended me to order for the Baked seafood and veggies pasta.

Really delicious! But I've waited for it for 20 minutes. :P

Also, I've tried the dessert - Mango Tofu-fa.



The price of the pasta is around $13 and the dessert $4 (during happy hour).
The environment is quite silent and it is good to chat with friends. The food is good. I would like to give it 4 stars.
It is quite far from De Anza College. But if you go to San Francisco next time, you may try this Asian Fusion restaurant.

3911 Judah St
(between 44th Ave & 45th Ave)
San Francisco, CA 94122
Neighborhood: Outer Sunset

(415) 681-3228

Hours:
Tue-Fri 12 p.m. - 3 p.m.
Tue-Fri 5 p.m. - 12 a.m.
Sat 12 p.m. - 12 a.m.
Sun 12 p.m. - 11 p.m.

Hong Kong Bistro

Hi. Hong Kong and Macau people are fond of eating in bistro. Unlike the fast food restaurants, this kind of bistro provides delicious, fast, and economical meal. Today I am going to introduce Hong Kong Bistro for you guys. It locates in Mountain View. Take the freeway 85N and the exit of Evelyn Ave.

It attracts lots of Chinese people, especially the college students. Every time I visited there, it reminded me my home city so much. The food is so similar that I used to eat in Macau. For example, different kinds of fried rice, noodles, and chow mein. Iced Milk Tea and Iced Coffee are very famous too!


This iced lemon tea is my favorite!!!!!



This is the Shrimp Fried Rice which is my favorite.

The price is economical and the environment is clean and neat. But sometimes during lunch time or late night, you have to wait for a bit longer for the food. The waiters there are okay but I think can be more friendly. Anyway, I'll give it 4 stars.

147 Castro St
Mountain View, CA 94041

(650) 968-8938

Dynasty Chinese Seafood Restaurant

This afternoon, I went to Dynasty Chinese Seafood Restaurant with my friends. This is a famous Chinese restaurant near AMC theater in Cupertino. Every time I came to this kind of restaurants, I'll think of my home city, Macau, so much since my family always visit this kind of restaurants during weekends.











These Dim Sum are very common in Hong Kong and Macau and they are my favorite too. (:


I think it's quite economical, around $15 per person. The stewards are okay. The waitresses there push a handcart with lots of Dim Sum for you to choose. The environment is a bit noisy but this is the feature of Chinese restaurants. (:
The food is delicious and I recommend the egg tart (my favorite). I will give 4 stars to Dynasty Chinese Seafood Restaurant.

10123 North Wolfe Road
Cupertino CA 95014
Phone: 408-996-1680

Hours:
Mon-Fri 11 a.m. - 2:30 p.m.

Mon-Fri 5 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.

Sat-Sun 10 a.m. - 3 p.m.

Sat 5 p.m. - 10 p.m.

Orenchi Ramen Restaurant

Today I dined in a Japanese ramen restaurant in Santa Clara. The Orenchi Ramen is my favorite! I was impressed by the Tonkotsu base so much because the soup is not salty and tastes really good. It costs $9 per Orenchi Ramen. There are two other favors of ramens, Shoyu Ramen and Shio Ramen, but I think the Orenchi Ramen, which I always order, is the best.




Additionally, you can't miss the egg there! It is not totally cooked so the egg yolk is a bit liquid. It tastes so good!!!!!

The waiters and waitresses there are really nice with genial smile on their faces. The dinning environment is mild that I feel comfortable to sit in there enjoying my ramen and chatting with my friends.

Each ramen is around $9 and the size is not enough for a man but I think it's enough for a woman. You can order with extra noodles by the way. $1.5 is additionally cost.


Here is the menu.

With the tasty food and the friendly service of the stewards, I will give 4.5 starts for Orenchi Ramen Restaurant. (:

I am not a Japanese but I really love ramen. I've been many Japanese ramen restaurants around the bay area but I think this one is really good. The noodles is quite different from the Chinese noodles. Japanese noodles is thicker while the Chinese one is slimmer.

Here is some extra informati0n about the soup of ramen.

Ramen soup is generally made from stock based on chicken or pork, combined with a variety of ingredients such as kombu (kelp), katsuobushi (skipjack tuna flakes), niboshi (dried baby sardines), beef bones, shiitake, and onions, and then flavored with salt, miso, or soy sauce. Other styles that have emerged later on include curry ramen and other flavors.

The resulting combination is generally divided into four categories (although new and original variations often make this categorisation less clear-cut):

• Shio ("salt") ramen is probably the oldest of the four and, like the Chinese maotang (毛湯). It is the lightest ramen, a pale, clear, yellowish broth made with plenty of salt and any combination of chicken, vegetables, fish, and seaweed. Occasionally pork bones are also used, but they are not boiled as long as they are for tonkotsu ramen, so the soup remains light and clear. Shio is generally the healthiest kind of ramen; fat content tends to be low, and fresh vegetables like cabbage, leeks, onions, and bamboo shoots typically adorn the simple soup and curly noodles. Chāshū is sometimes swapped out for lean chicken meatballs, and pickled plums and kamaboko are popular toppings as well. Noodle texture and thickness varies among shio ramen, but they are usually straight rather than curly.

• Tonkotsu ("pork bone") ramen usually has a cloudy white colored broth. It is similar to the Chinese baitang (白湯) and has a thick broth made from boiling pork bones, fat, and collagen over high heat for many hours, which suffuses the broth with a hearty pork flavor and a creamy consistency that rivals milk or melted butter or gravy (depending on the shop). Most shops, but not all, blend this pork broth with a small amount of chicken and vegetable stock and/or soy sauce. Currently the latest trend in tonkotsumāyu (マー油/麻油), a blackish, aromatic oil made from either charred crushed garlic or Sesame seeds. The noodles are thin and straight. It is a specialty of Kyūshū and is often served with beni shoga (pickled ginger). toppings is

• Shōyu ramen typically has a brown and clear color broth, based on a chicken and vegetable (or sometimes fish or beef) stock with plenty of soy sauce added resulting in a soup that’s tangy, salty, and savory yet still fairly light on the palate. Shōyu ramen usually has curly noodles rather than straight ones, but this is not always the case. It is often adorned with marinated bamboo shoots or menma (麺媽), green onions, kamaboko (fish cakes), nori (seaweed), boiled eggs, bean sprouts and/or black pepper; occasionally the soup will also contain chili oil or Chinese spices, and some shops serve sliced beef instead of the usual chāshū.

• Miso ramen is a relative newcomer, having reached national prominence around 1965. This uniquely Japanese ramen, which was developed in Hokkaidō, features a broth that combines copious amounts of miso and is blended with oily chicken or fish broth – and sometimes with tonkotsu or lard – to create a thick, nutty, slightly sweet and very hearty soup. Miso ramen broth tends to have a robust, tangy flavor, so it stands up to a variety flavorful toppings: spicy bean paste or tōbanjan (豆瓣醤), butter and corn, leeks, onions, bean sprouts, ground pork, cabbage, sesame seeds, white pepper, and chopped garlic are common. The noodles are typically thick, curly, and slightly chewy.

From Wikipedia.

3540 Homestead Rd
Santa Clara, CA 95051

(408) 246-2955

Hours:|
Tue-Sun 11:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. |
Tue-Thu 6 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.
Fri 5:30 p.m. - 10:30 p.m.
Sat 5:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.
Sun 5 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.

REMEMBER it is closed on MONDAY!!!

Mongolian Hot Pot in San Mateo

Sorry guys. I was too busy in the last week since I got couple midterms and couldn't dine out.

The first restaurants that I want to introduce is Mongolian Hot Pot in San Mateo.
I've been there for a few times before and I really love the soup of the pot. Every time I went to there, my friends and I would choose two different soups - the spicy one and the normal one.
There are various ingredients for you to choose and you can just simply put them into the hot pot until the food is cooked. The most famous food for hot pot are beef and mutton. We've ordered a lot of these two dishes.


This is the famous mutton.













This is the soups of the hot pot.













These meatballs contain beef, mutton and pork.

The price is quite expensive in this restaurant. It's about $35 per person.
I will give 4 stars for the environment and the food.

Hot pot is a common meal in China especially in winter because Chinese love to gather around with family and friends. Not only the warmness, but also the noisiness in a dinner can provide a delightful environment for us during the meal.





215 South Ellsworth Avenue, San Mateo, CA‎
650) 343-2566‎
Hours:
Mon-Sun 11:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m.
Mon-Thu, Sun 5:30 p.m. - 10 p.m.
Fri-Sat 5:30 p.m. - 10:30 p.m.

Introduction of my 30 days experiment

1) Problem/Issue/Topic
I seldom cook by myself since I think cooking is a huge challenge for me. When I read the recipe, question marks flow over my head. The complicated and long procedures make me feel so annoyed. Choosing the ingredients in the supermarket, flavoring the ingredients, cooking them, totally frustrates me. So I choose to dine in different restaurants instead of cooking at home. At the same time, I can try different types of food which are different and similar to my home town or even I can compare the taste that I used to eat in Macau and in here.
Some of my friends have been living here for couple years more than me so they like to bring me to different restaurants in the Bay Area. In this 30 days experiment, I will go to diversified restaurants and introduce the food there throughout my blog. Since there are various races around the Bay Area, such as Chinese, Japanese, Korean etc, I would like to explore certain of them by going to their restaurants. I would especially like to acquaint with the freshmen international students who only know just several restaurants around Cupertino before I transferred. We like to explore around new places no matter what dishes they serve. At the same time, I can introduce the culture and customs of different races.

2) Experiment & Rules
In the following 30 days, I will visit at least 14 restaurants in the Bay Area. I will put the photos and leave some comments for each of the restaurants on my blog. The restaurants maybe located anywhere in the Bay Area and will be different kinds of restaurants. The restaurants may include Japanese, Chinese (different kinds of Chinese food restaurants), Korean, Italian, American etc. But since I am an Asian, I will prefer the Asian restaurants more.

I would also like to describe the environment in the restaurants. Some of them are economical or costly. I will grade them with the highest five points and the lowest one point. I know some of you have visited some before. However, I want to share my opinions to all of you. When you visit my blog, you may discover various restaurants and foods near your home. People are welcome to leave comments on my blog and I will respond to them if I can.

3) Timeline & Documentation

I will start my experiment on the 8th of May and end at 6th of June. I will dine out three to four times a week and will post that restaurant after the meal on my blog. What I need for this experiment is a huge budget and a camera to take photos. Under every photo, I will add some description to it. The most important is I will describe the price of the meal that I have and report some responses of the customers. Not just the taste of the food, but also I will grade the restaurants for the service, environment. When I was small, I was interesting in many different country cultures. So I am really excited at doing this 30 days experiment.