Katana-Ya
430 Geary Street
San Francisco, CA
On our first night in San Francisco, after the FoodBuzz welcome reception street food fare, we were driven back to a hotel near Union Square. While everybody was walking back their to the hotel, I noticed a restaurant that I thought “just for kicks, this might be interesting for us to try!” The following night, while waiting for the gala dinner and seemingly seemed to be taking forever, I was telling the “gang” (as in TS/JS, Mijune and Sherman) that if dinner didn’t star by 8:00 p.m. (officially the invite was for 7:00 p.m.), I might as well go back to the hotel as I was tired already, a bit grumpy (OK, grumpier than usual). Wait! What about the food? Hey, food is always in the radar and Katana-Ya, that said restaurant, was on the way back to the hotel! Given I wrote about the dinner, that means we were let in before 8:00 p.m. which means we had to see if there was space/time to go there. And, actually we did! Since our flight back to Vancouver was in the late afternoon, I agreed with Sherman to meet way past the lunch rush crowd for a last lunch before taking the BART (hence, to the airport) and back to Vancouver…
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Tagged as:
Japanese,
Ramen,
Rice,
San Francisco,
Seafood
Alligator Soul
3121 Broadway
Everett, WA
If there is one thing I can say I am proud of is that I listen to my readers. From minor layout changes and, most importantly, suggestions: If you have something to say, as long as it makes sense, it is not burdensome and does not go against my code of ethics, it is pretty much fair game. That’s why I was quite excited when reader jlomein, in my Southern Kitchen post wrote the following:
Next time you’re in Washington you should check out Alligator Soul in Everett. It’s my favourite southern restaurant by far.
Well, that suggestion was quite interesting so why not! As a result, in the last trip through Everett, I decided to drop by to have a taste of Cajun/creole.
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Tagged as:
Chicken,
Pork,
Rice,
Seattle
Nong’s Khao Man Gai
SW 10th and Alder Street
Portland, OR
In a way, it was doomed to happen. Given my (somewhat unfair?) comparison of street food from outside North American to the ones in North America, it was almost certain that I had to visit an Asian one for comparison sake. And that brought the eternal question of… Which one(s)? I mean, given that the US can be as multi-cultural as Canada and, in part, I didn’t want to disappoint, I kept looking and looking around. While searching in other sites (Urbanspoon included), all of them seemd to point to two locations: Koi Fusion, which served Tex-Mex dishes with a Korean twish (take that Roaming Dragon, you are NOT the first! 
) and Nong’s Khao Man Gai, a cart that sells one and only one dish. While I am sure a lot of you would think that Koi Fusion would have been a better choice (due to a direct comparison with Roaming Dragon), the fact is that I wanted instead showcase what street food ought to be. And, in that case, Nong’s Khao Man Gai was a better option.
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Tagged as:
Asian,
Chicken,
Portland,
Rice,
Street Food,
Thai
Tomate y Amor
Calle 48 and Calle Uruguay
Panama City, Panama
When I went last year to Panama, there was a reason: the wedding of my friend Andrea and her now husband Enrique. If you look at the date of closely, you could easily find out it was around this time when they got married. So, more or less in their wedding anniversary, I took them to dinner. While Andrea was on holidays during those days, Enrique wasn’t. So, despite I was a bit of a foreigner (literally), I took the time to organize where and when. Originally, old schoolmate Jennifer was to join us but things happened and it was only Andrea, Enrique and me. The restaurant I chose? Tomate y Amor.
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Tagged as:
Latin America,
Panama City,
Rice,
Seafood
Gyuu Don Ya
500 Robson Street
Vancouver, BC
There has been times when I think we food bloggers are a dedicated group – a bit too dedicated at times. Like driving to +50 Km just for pizza or doing some cross border bakery delivery. Of course, these are long trips and, to prevent unnecessary frustrations, you would usually check if they are open and when they are open. But, how about a restaurant that was still under construction before the biggest party in Vancouver in recent history? I mean, given all the business opportunities during this time, would you try to make sure you would be open on time? In an odd way, that seemed to be the case with Gyuu Don Ya, the newest Japanese restaurant in the 500 block of Robson, which, culinary-wise ,one of the most interesting blocks in Downtown Vancouver, as it includes Falafel Maison, Viet Sub, Matoi Sushi, H-Mart, Beard’s Papa and so on.
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Tagged as:
Downtown,
Japanese,
Lunch,
Rice,
Vancouver
For as far as I can remember, my parents have told me a bit too much time on my hands is a bad thing. While I don’t remember doing any mischief nor they giving too much to keep myself busy (a contradiction in a way), they almost keep a check on what I was doing. Of course, I don’t live with them anymore yet that constant checking have made me self-conscious whenever I have a bit of extra time. Due to the crazy weather we had on the last couple of weeks, I did not go out that much and, yup, I had a bit of time. So, why not cook?
One dish I particularly liked to eat in Panama is arroz con pollo, literally, chicken rice. I never managed to master the Panamanian version of the recipe, mainly due to myself messing the proportion of some of the ingredients; my “version” usually ends up something on the lines of Spanish rice.
Still, the end result is quite good or so the people have tried it says… And here is my recipe.
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Tagged as:
Chicken,
Home Cooking,
Rice
