Restaurant Cost
Why did we dine here? – Trestle is a small restaurant in San Francisco’s Jackson Square district. Their claim to fame
is a three course prix-fixe menu for $35 per person, with an option to add an additional pasta course for $10. $60 for bottles of wine! The team behind this popular restaurant also runs Stones Throw on Russian Hill and Fat Angel.
Why did we dine here? – Raku is a popular Japanese restaurant in Las Vegas. Some friends loved this place and suggested we dine there. Raku are located about 15 minutes from the strip, right in the middle the Chinatown strip mall area. Chef Mitsuo Endo has been packing them in for many years.
Himawari is a Japanese Ramen Noodle house located in downtown San Mateo. Every block down here has a Japanese restaurant. Their chief rival, a couple miles away, is the legendary Santa Ramen along with its sister Ramen restaurants. They have a broader menu than Santa Ramen, with Rice Bowls, lots of appetizers, and many ramen options. We came on hot day and noted no air conditioning, just ceiling fans cranked up. Last visit September 2017.
A video review of the newest BonChon Chicken location in San Mateo, California.
Where does a foodie eat in Tokyo?
In the spring of 2015, we visited Japan for the first time in many decades. Our original trip was set many years ago, but the tsunami changed everything. We finally got some time to visit a country that we really wanted to travel to and eat at.
How to use your iPhone in Japan with a prepaid SIM card
The Chairman (Formerly Chairman Bao) is a San Francisco food truck that serves Chinese steamed and baked buns with a variety of fillings. These are offshots of Taiwanese Gua bao or bun sandwich. When we were in Taiwan, it was difficult to find this old school dish. Our only Gua bao was ironically at the ritz Shin Yeh, Taipei 101.
Why did we dine here? – Xiecheng Seafood & Hotpot is a popular restaurant in Macau. This restaurant group owns many different restaurants through out Asia including Jinyuexuan. Our friend recommended this restaurant, and we noticed you will not find it in tour books, nor on Trip Advisor. This place is not located on a central street, so you may need a taxi to reach it.
Why did we dine here? – Kingdom of Dumpling is a small Chinese restaurant specializing in dumplings. Being large dumpling fans, we decided to finally give this place a try. There are few restaurants with this variety of dumplings on the menu. The place has been featured on Check Please, so it has become busier over the years. Lots of to go orders. Our last visit was in July 2016.
Why did we dine here? – Ippuku is a Japanese Izakaya style restaurant in downtown Berkeley focused on serving yakitori skewers cooked on robata charcoal grill, soba, ramen, and other dishes in an interesting but narrow dining hall. They have a good selection of sake, shouchu, beer and other spirits. They are located on Center street in a long row of restaurants, a block from UC Berkeley.
Why did we dine here? – Pabu is a Japanese Izakaya-style restaurant in San Francisco’s Financial District from Michael Mina in partnership with Chef Ken Tominaga.
The chef’s Hana restaurant in a Rohnert Park had garnered a local following including Mina. This is the first Japanese restaurant for Mina.
We finished up our latest culinary tour of China in the Summer of 2011 at South Sea Fishing Village for lunch. They have 2 locations here. Guangzhou is the origination point for Cantonese Chinese cuisine, making it a must visit for those serious about Chinese food. In late 2014 we returned for dinner.
Best sushi ever!
Why did we dine here? – The first food we think about when we were planning our Japan trip was Sushi. Sushi or sashimi is a favorite dish of ours, so we were eager to plan a pilgrimage to eat some real Japanese authentic sushi.
Why did we dine here? – RyuGin (Inspired by a Zen poem that describes a powerful dragon) is a 3 Michelin Star Japanese restaurant in the Roppongi district of Tokyo. We had planned to dine here about 5 years ago, but the Tsunami got in the way. We finally crossed it off our bucket list.
Why did we dine here? – Pizzeria Mozza is a popular Southern California Italian restaurant with Chef Nancy Silverton in partnership with star chef Mario Batali and Joe Bastianich. We had it on our short list for our recent trip after a great meal previously at Osteria Mozza.
Why did we dine here? – Lei Garden is a top restaurant group with locations in Hong Kong, Singapore, China, and Macau. In late 2014 we had dinner at the Guangzhou location of Lei Garden, based on our local friends re-iteration that even this location serves up great food. Interesting to hear that the Xi Jinping’s crackdown has affected business at this restaurant too. Government officials do not want to be caught near any fancy restaurants any more. This location takes up one floor and is 50% made up of private rooms.
Incredible Italian in Shanghai
Why did we dine here? – 8 1/2 Otto e Mezzo Bombana is the sister restaurant to their Hong Kong location. They have been awarded 3 Michelin Stars in Hong Kong. We were getting sick of several weeks of Chinese food during our Asia trip and decided it was time for something different. Being huge fans of Italian food, we went for the number one bet.
Why did we dine here? – Zi Yat Heen is the Chinese restaurant at the Four Seasons Macau. We were staying in the hotel and saw that this restaurant had two Michelin stars, making it a no brainer to eat here. We knew nothing about the restaurant, so off we go on another dim sum adventure. Prior to this, we were in Taiwan, so we missed traditional high end Cantonese fare.
250lb Wagyu beef roast?
Why did we dine here? – MGM Macau Rossio Buffet is the main buffet at this huge resort in Macau. Macau is China’s Las Vegas, and generates $44 billion in gambling revenue in 2014, compared to $6 billion in Las Vegas. Clearly Macau has become the biggest gambling area around. We stayed here for one night to see how the small country has changed.
Why did we dine here? – Fu Chun is well known as one of the most authentic Xiao long Bao restaurants in Shanghai. They have been in existence for many decades. They have many locations around the city, (10 stores, mostly in shopping centers) we chose the one that was the closest to our hotel near People’s Square. Note: this location is slated to close as a new high end shopping center is displacing it. More progress.
Why did we dine here? – Da Chun is an old school Sheng jian bao restaurant. We love Yang’s Dumplings (Xiao Yang) and try to eat there everytime we visit Shanghai, but made sure we visit the harbinger of this genre. This restaurant has several locations, yet we chose the Da Shi Jie outpost as it is supposed to be the best.
The Shihlin Night Market in Taipei, Taiwan is a must visit for food loving travelers. It is obviously located in the Shilin District of Taipei, just a couple blocks from the Jiantan MRT subway station. (Not Shihlin Station) This is the largest and most famous night market in the city and typically starts up around 4pm in the afternoon.
Why did we dine here? – Shin Yeh at Taipei 101 is the flagship restaurant for this local restaurant group. This particular Shin Yeh is located on the 85th floor of the Taipei 101 Skyscraper. We were looking for a high end restaurant to celebrate Christmas and settled on this place. Of note, there really aren’t a lot of fine dining Taiwanese restaurants here. Night markets, small local places are all over the place. If you have other suggestions, please leave them in the comments.
Howie’s Artisan Pizza was opened by Howard Bulka in late 2009 into Town & Country Village shopping Center of Palo Alto. He had worked at various restaurants including Marche. Inspired by the New Haven school of East Coast pizza-making and the renaissance of artisanal products including organic, natural, and local ingredients. Our last visit was in the beginning of 2015 when we noticed that pizza prices went up again.
Elite Seafood Restaurant is one of top Chinese restaurants in the San Gabriel Valley, according to several different sources. This restaurant serves dim sum during lunch, and traditional Cantonese dishes at dinner time.
Espetus Churrascaria is a Brazilian steakhouse serving Rodizio style food. They focus on meats straight from the fire brought to your table, continuously through the meal! You can stop the meat parade by flipping the table card to red. They have a salad and hot plate bar with lots of different options including asparagus, bean salad, eggplant, rice, beans, cod, and much more. Do not eat too much of this stuff otherwise you wonder have room for all the meat. Vegetarians should stay away.
Espetus Churrascaria has locations in San Francisco and San Mateo. We tried the brand new San Mateo location for dinner. It is all you can eat, with lunch going for $25.95 with 7 meat options, $37.95 on weekends. Dinner is $54.95 with 14 meat options. Kids are 50% off. Our last visit was in the Summer of 2014.
Why did we dine here? – Bouchon, no relation to Thomas Keller’s Bouchon, is a top restaurant in Santa Barbara. We were here for one night and decided to give this legendary restaurant a try.
Saison (French for “season”) is a Michelin starred restaurant in San Francisco that focuses on a singular 8 course prix fixe meal each evening using local, specifically identified, and sustainable ingredients.
This style considers different elements of the ingredients, incorporating influences from its native environment and leveraging primitive techniques like ember and ash cooking. They have two Michelin stars. Their sister restaurant is the more casual Angler.
Lanai has been on our must visit lists for a while. We finally got a chance to visit this tropical paradise in April 2014.
The easiest and cheapest way to arrive is by ferry from Maui. The fare is a reasonable $60 round trip. Frankly we saw more dolphins, flying fish, and whales riding this ferry than we did on a whale watching tour!
There are two Four Seasons Resorts on the island along with a small Lanai Hotel. We stayed in the Four Season Manele Bay, right on the beach. (Why would you want to stay at the other one?) One beautiful resort and priced a couple hundred less than the Four Seasons Maui. Lanai City is a small plantation town in a timewarp to the 70’s. A tiny place with a small town square. Here are 3 places we ate in between all the chilling.
One Forty
1 Manele Bay Rd
Lanai City, HI 96763
(808) 565-2000
Website
The Cosmopolitan was the latest and greatest hotel to open in 2011. Its buffet is called Wicked Spoon. Some have called it the next great buffet after Wynn and Bellagio, so we had to give it a visit. Our last visit was in the summer of 2014.
Why did we dine here? – Ox is part of the restaurant group that owns Lardo, Grassa, and other Portland restaurants. This place was highly recommended by some of the foodies on Chowhound, so we added it to our list of must-visit restaurants. This modern steakhouse is located in a bright red building and features a huge wood fired grill right near the door. Wait times at this restaurant can be long, so we came right when it opened. You need to arrive 30-45 minutes early on weekends. Clearly this is a hot spot.
Why did we dine here? – Lardo was the place mentioned several times by other foodies, when asked where to get a great burger in Portland. We’re also big Porchetta fans, so this made it an easy decision. We selected the location right near downtown Portland, within walking distance of our hotel and that bookstore to end all bookstores, Powell’s.
They have 3 locations to serve your pig-out needs. Chefs Table Group also owns Ox, Grassa Next Door, and several other well respected restaurants in Portland.
Why did we dine here? – Lark Creek Blue takes the place of the seafood oriented Yankee Pier at Santana Row in San Jose. Run by the same restaurant group, they still maintain the seafood emphasis (Monterey Bay Seafood watch) but with a more contemporary look. Lots of wood, communal tables, jazzy music. They are located across the street from Left Bank.
Why did we dine here? – Dumpling Kitchen is a Shanghai, Chinese restaurant in the outer Sunset of San Francisco. We are big dumpling fans, and heard that they had some worthy candidates. The person who runs this restaurant is the brother of a former owner of Shanghai Dumpling King. Last visit was in March 2015. This place is busy on the weekends.
Why did we dine here? – Lahaina Grill is one of the most popular high end restaurants in the touristy part of Lahaina, Maui. It definitely has a great repuation, and is situated in the midst of a ton of tourist traps. Foodies regularly recommend this restaurant, so we had high hopes. This place fills up fast, so you need to make reservations ahead of time or have to sit at the bar.
Marlowe is a market driven neighborhood bistro near SF’s ATT park, they moved to the old Coco 500 location in 2014. Chef du Cuisine: Jennifer Puccio was formerly of restaurant Cortez. The focus here is on American comfort food. We decided to try this place because Michael Bauer raved about its burger. Our last visit was in February 2015. Marlowe’s sister restaurant is Park Tavern SF.
Jeffrey’s Hamburgers is a popular burger joint in downtown San Mateo open since 1997. They also have a location in Menlo Park. They serve American fast food including burgers, hot dogs, fish and chips, salads, fries, and shakes. Seems like every town has a place like this, San Francisco has its Mel’s Drive in..
Why did we dine here? – We were staying at the Fairmont on Maui, so it was natural to eat at restaurant Ko. We had originally sought to eat elsewhere, but jet lag make
it far easier to stay put. A beautiful room, tropical sea breeze flowing, a view open to the pool with live modern Jazz playing.
Executive Chef Tylun Pang was Voted 2013 Maui Restaurant of the Year.
Insider Tip – Happy Hour 3-5pm with drink and pupu specials is cheaper!
Why did we dine here? – The Plantation House is a fine dining restaurant next to a golf course on Maui in the posh Kapalua area, not far from the Ritz Carlton. Chef Jojo uses local food whenever possible and tries to serve modern interpretations of classic island inspired cuisine. He used to cook at Banyan Tree and Morimoto Waikiki.
Why did we dine here? – Pacific Catch is a small string of restaurants in the Northern California area. They were started by the founders of World Wrapps. The first location open in San Francisco on Chestnut Street in 2003, with the San Mateo branch opening in 2014, right next to the Century Theaters multiplex.
Japanese Izakaya is hot in the SF Bay Area right now.. Yakitori Kokko is a Japanese Izakaya or drinking oriented establishment (like Sumika in the South Bay, Ippuku in Berkeley or Izakaya Mai in San Mateo) that serves casual food focusing on skewers of meat and liquor. It is run by Japanese folks and feels pretty authentic. Yakitori means chicken grill, so the focus is on charcoal grilled meats. The place has gotten some good buzz, so we decided to give it a try. Our last visit was in the summer of 2015.
Chez Panisse Cafe is the lower cost, more casual, a la carte menu restaurant upstairs from famous Chez Panisse. We dined at the main restaurant Chez Panisse previously. Alice Waters started a food revolution here, way back in 1971. She strives to serve only the highest quality products, and only when they are in season. All produce, meat, poultry, and fish come from farms, ranches, and fisheries guided by principles of sustainability. This restaurant has produced many famous chefs that have gone on to start their own restaurants. Our last visit was in February 2014.
The Kitchen is part of a restaurant group that owns highly regarded Chinese Cantonese restaurants in California including Asian Pearl Peninsula. We’ve been to most of them and find them pretty good. This review concentrates on dinner. The food here is pretty authentic Chinese Cantonese food, so some may not like this type of more hardcore cuisine. Do not come here for General’s Chicken or Broccoli Beef. Another review covers The Kitchen dim sum lunch. Our last visit for dinner was in 2015, a meal where we found that their quality has improved. We’d consider this #2 behind Koi Palace. The Kitchen has recently remodeled the dining room, making it much more open, spacious, and modern.
Why did we dine here? – Roka Akor is a modern Japanese restaurant that opened in San Francisco in 2013. They have branches in Scottsdale, Arizona as well as Chicago and Old Orchard. This is an offshoot of the popular Roka in London.
Why did we dine here? – Seven Hills is a quaint neighborhood restaurant in San Francisco’s Russian Hill. We used to live nearby, had heard all the rave reviews, and finally had an excuse to dine there. They proudly list the various local suppliers they use on their website.
Michael Bauer gave it a 2.5 star, Very good rating in 2013. A high 4.5 stars on Yelp.
Fenton’s Creamery has been around since 1922 in Oakland. They produce their own ice cream and toppings batch by batch on site. They serve breakfast, sandwiches, burgers, salads, but the main draw is of course, ice cream. Their creations are simply huge. Even the kid’s ice creams are huge. Our last visit was to the Nut Tree Vacaville location in the spring of 2015.
Donato Enoteca is an Italian Restaurant in downtown Redwood City, located right next to City Hall. They serve modern Italian focusing on fresh, simple ingredients, and focusing on the chef’s Donata Scotti (formerly of La Strada) Northern Italian roots. Our last visit for dinner outside in 2020 during the Covid 19 Pandemic.
Post Pandemic, Whisk has buffets or semi-buffets on special holidays only.
Whisk is a restaurant in the posh hotel Mira, which is renowned for having Edward Snowden, the US whistleblower, stay. This hotel is conveniently located in the middle of the main Hong Kong tourist district. We were originally going to revisit our favorite Sunday Brunch buffet, Conrad, but after having an even better buffet in Singapore, we decided to try something new and less expensive. Whisk is a Contemporary European the rest of the week.
