Sushi & Small Dishes at Sanraku (Metreon Location), San Francisco USA

I just revisited Sanraku for their lunch. Other than sushi, I tried many other appetizers and seasonal dishes this time. I have a few favorites that I can't wait to share with you!

Sushi Omakase at Sanraku (Sutter Street Location), San Francisco USA

At Sanraku, you can explore both Japanese small dishes and nigiri as well as their American styled sushi rolls. I was surprised by how much I loved their appetizers, which reminds me of the flavors I had in Japan. Besides their delicious nigiri sushi, I highly recommend their seafood Chawanmushi! 

Soba at Soba Ichi, Oakland (San Francisco Bay Area) USA

Cold Soba (Seiro - Regular Size) with dipping sauce, pickles, and condiments

Soba Ichi is a restaurant specialized in Japanese soba (buckwheat) noodles. Their soba is freshly prepared every day from scratch. They are one of the Bay Area restaurants with Michelin-awarded Bib Gourmand status in the year 2019. Since they are the only soba specialty restaurant in the area, make sure to make a reservation one day in advance! 

Sushi Omakase at Sanraku (Metreon Location), San Francisco USA

Omakase Set

This week, I visited Sanraku (Metreon location) for their omakase dinner. Sanraku is a great casual spot with lots of Japanese food choices such as sushi, Japanese small bites and appetizers, rice bowls, udon, soba, curry, tempura, etc. Although sushi was best to be eaten almost right away after sushi chef hand it to your plate, I actually really enjoyed their sushi omakase in one large wooden platter as well. Now let's check out what my Omakase dinner look like...

Shoyu, Shio, and Spicy Ramen at Shiba Ramen, Oakland (Northern California) USA

Clear Dark aka Shoyu Ramen

Shiba Ramen opened their second location in Oakland Downtown. I am so glad they finally can serve their ramen at an actual restaurant now. They still have their original shop inside "Emeryville public market," which is a food court that really limits their potential to serve pipping hot ramen. Anyway, I tried three ramen at the new location: Spicy, Clear (Shio), and Clear Dark (aka Shoyu Ramen). Out of all, I highly recommend Clear Dark, which its soup shows the strongest depth in flavor.

Sushi Omakase at Sasaki, San Francisco USA

Chefs Masaki Sasaki and Takanori Wada. Photograph by @foodbunker

Uni and Ikura over rice in a glass. Photograph by @foodbunker

Sasaki is one of the highest rated sushi restaurants in the Bay Area. Their ingredients have excellent quality and their courses are beautifully and creatively made. Not only I learn more about Japanese cooking and recipes, there are combinations of flavors and texture that I was surprised to try for the first time.  

Shio, Organic (Shoyu), Tori Paitan, & Vegan Tantanmen at Mensho Tokyo, San Francisco USA

Shio Ramen - Clear chicken and pork soup, Shio dare, pork chashu, kale, menma, fried garlic, chives, nori

Vegan Tantanmen - Vegetable soup with kombu and mushroom, premium Japanese soy milk, seven types of nuts, sesame, cilantro, chili oil, green onions, menma, kale sprouts

Tori Paitan - Rich, creamy chicken soup, pork chashu, duck chashu, menma, kale, burdock root, katsubushi sauce

Organic Ramen (Shoyu) - Clear organic chicken and pork soup, shoyu dare, pork chashu, duck chashu, kale, kale sprout, menma chives, menma, nori

There were 4 ramens on the menu tonight, and since I have 2 more people with me, we ordered all 4 to try out all of them at once. Personally, I fell in love with their Shio ramen. The tasty umami from the Rausu kelp and Hongare Katsuobushi Dashi broth really perfected it. Let me tell you more about Mensho Tokyo and their delicious ramen!

Tori Paitan Ramen at Ramen Shop, Oakland USA

Tori Paitan Ramen $17
manila clams, pork chashu, shoyu-marinated egg, maitake mushrooms, sweet onions, and mizuna

I just came back from Japan, and the first ramen I have when coming back is Ramen Shop. To me, Tori Paitan (Chicken white broth) always feel "nutritious" when compressing all the chicken bone, meat, essences into one bowl of creamy tori paitan. However it doesn't seem that way anymore when trying the Paitan tonight at Ramen Shop.

Katsu Curry at Curry Zen, Las Vegas USA

Katsu Curry $8.95

In Berkeley, I think Muracci's has pretty good curry with their fried katsu (chicken) and tonkatsu (pork cutlet). In Las Vegas, I found that Curry Zen is another nice spot for a comfortable meal of Japanese curry rice.

I ordered a Katsu curry rice plate, which is great! The katsu is fried with thin layer of batter (that doesn't detach from the meat!) it is crispy outside, yet tender inside. The curry I got is non-spicy, which obviously you can adjust the level of spiciness you want from the menu below.

level of spiciness!

Soy Milk Ramen & Spicy Ramen at Shiba Ramen, Public Market Emeryville, Northern California USA

Soy Milk Ramen, menma, bean sprout, egg, squash $9.5

Spicy Ramen, menma, bok choy, egg, spicy stir fried pork, bean sprout $11

Soy milk ramen feels very light, almost feels like there's no taste. But when I think back, what does it taste like when drinking soy milk? It feels light but almost no taste too. I guess it fits with what soy milk supposed to be without too much artificial flavor.

Spicy Ramen tastes a lot more flavorful right after I had the soy milk ramen. The ground meat is tasty and the broth is not spicy at all. If I can eat this, I am sure all other non-spicy eater can enjoy this "spicy" ramen too.

Clear Ramen & Miso Ramen at Shiba Ramen (Soft Opening), Public Market Emeryville, Northern California USA

Shiba Ramen with Clear Broth, menma, egg, chashu $9

Shiba Ramen with Miso Broth, corn, ground pork, egg, menma, bean sprout $10

Tonight is a soft-opening for Shiba Ramen! Here's all the ramen on their menu: Clear or Miso. Clear is actually very flavorful. The only down-side is that the bowl of ramen is overall warm, not hot. It will be GREAT if they can make a delicious hot bowl of ramen for this type of cold weather! 

Miso ramen is heavier than I thought, but is it still good. (especially for people who love heavier broth type) Along with menma (bamboo shoots) corn, and bean sprouts, the miso ramen is well balanced countering the heavy miso broth. 

Japanese-inspired dishes at Alinea, Chicago Illinois USA

Campfire course

Alinea is one of the 12 restaurants in the United States that earned a 3-Michelin star rating. Their most memorable dishes are "the helium balloon" and "the hand-drawn dessert on the table". 

Edible Helium green apple candy balloon

Similar to many other Michelin-starred restaurants, there is only drinks and pairing menu. The initial dinner is around $210-$295 per person. (not including pairings) There is a total of 25 courses, but I will emphasize mainly on the Japanese-inspired dishes. 

Japanese Teishoku Pop-up Dinner at 2293 Mission St., San Francisco USA

Tonkatsu (Fried Pork Cutlet) with egg and sauce: with rice, miso soup, pickled cucumber, and cold mix-veggies over tofu (Tamago was supposed to be in that empty bowl...) $18

What do traditional Japanese meal tasted like? I am glad I was introduced to a Japanese Teishoku Pop-up Dinner in San Francisco tonight. Teishoku means "meal set" and typically includes items like rice, miso soup, a main dish, side dish and pickled vegetables. It's simple dishes, but was prepared with great care. Let me tell you how the dinner went!

Monterey Bay squid and pork fried rice at Ramen Shop, Oakland USA

Monterey Bay squid and pork fried rice with wild nettles, cilantro, basil, cherry tomatoes, and Siew’s spicy shrimp-chili paste $15.5

Once a while, my friends will order Ramen Shop's fried rice as a small appetizer. It is a little bit spicy from their house-made shrimp-chili paste. 

Taiyaki at May's Coffee Shop, San Francisco USA

Taiyaki $2

This snack shop is located inside Japan Center. It has a large Taiyaki drawing at the front of shop. There are two flavors: chocolate or red bean. Also, I recommend coming at the morning so you can get fresher Taiyaki. From what the set-up tells me, it seems like they make a bunch in the morning and leave it at the front.

Red Miso Mochi Ice Cream at Ramen Shop, Oakland USA

Red Miso Mochi Ice Cream $5

Happy Birthday to me! I tried my first RED MISO flavored mochi ice cream at Ramen Shop! First of all, it is house-made, I wish I can find any flavor of mochi ice cream at any convience store. ^ v ^

The ice cream is very flavorful, but the taste of red miso is subtle, almost taste like a ripe plum.

Dorayaki, Kusa-mochi, and Gen-mai-cha at Japanese Tea Garden, San Francisco USA

Dorayaki 銅鑼焼き (Japanese Pancake with Red Bean Paste Filling) $3.25

Kusa-mochi 草餅 $4.95

It is the oldest public Japanese tea garden in the United States. If you are into Japanese tea garden as well as tea house, this is a very beautiful and relaxed place to visit. The garden features classic Japanese tea garden as well as architecture such as an arched drum bridge, pagodas, stone lanterns, stepping stone paths, native Japanese plants, serene koi ponds and a zen garden. In March and April, beautiful cherry blossom trees bloom throughout the garden.

Tamago, Sashimi, and maki-sushi at Tani's Kitchen, Daly City USA

Hamachi $3.25 & Tamago Nigiri $2.5

Assorted Sashimi: hamachi, tuna, salmon, octopus $8.95

Negihama $3.25, Spicy Tuna $3.25, & Salmon & Avocado $3.25

Hearing from a friend, Tani's Kitchen is famous for their tamago. Although they use a very common way of making tamago-yaki, the piece is quite tasty and well-balanced: nor too sweet or salty. It is also still very spongy with moisture. (they use 2 layers of cloth and bamboo rolling mat to keep tamago from drying out) Since the sushi shop is fairly small, the wait for this place is inevitably long: around 20-35 minutes.

Umami Burger at Umami, San Francisco USA

Umami Burger: parmesan frico, shiitake mushroom, roasted tomato, caramelized onions, Umami house ketchup

Tonight, I tried the umami burger with medium rare steak. It is quite tasty with the Umami house ketchup, which is rather savory than sour. Overall the burger blends very well with all the veggies, especially the roasetd tomatoes.

Seafood Udon and Nigiri at Kamado Sushi, Berkeley USA

Seafood Udon: clam, mussel, scallop, fish, shrimp

Hamachi (yellowtail), sake (salmon), hon maguro (tuna)

Kamado Sushi is a causal Japanese restaurant located at Northern Berkeley area. I came here towards the end of lunch time, and there was no waiting line. I ordered a seafood udon as well as 5 sets of nigiri: Hamachi (yellowtail), sake (salmon), hon maguro (tuna), hotate (Hokkaido scallop), and tamago. (egg cake)