Day & Day Coffee 百家小廚 (Closed)

I just found out from 18boot's blog that 百家小廚 has closed down :( I actually drove by the other day and noticed the sign was gone. I've only been there twice for their inexpensive and large lobster (波子龍蝦) and soup and wanted to go again soon, only to find out they are no longer in business.


Out of 金沙，油泡, maggi, and rice wine, my favorite was the 金沙 - just the right amount of coating without being overly salty and taking away from the sweetness of the lobster. I also really liked the coconut chicken soup. Now where can I find large marble sized pieces of lobster & tasty homemade MSG-free soup?

Go For Tea (Midland)

Hot Barley Milk Tea - actually not bad, good malt taste, better than their cold version (dislike sprinkling hard flakes on top, prefer blended in). If you order two or more dishes from a set menu, you can get a soup. 

Green Onion, Chili and Pepper Chicken (椒鹽) (popcorn chicken again!) and Satay Beef (~$10.99?). The chicken was pretty good - large, tender pieces, spicier than I expected (black pepper). The beef was on the oily side, but sauce pretty tasty. Served with white rice.

Prawn Paper Hot Pot - very strong rice wine taste with a hint of red date. Comes with rice and a side of spring rolls and tomato & egg (cold).

G4T is not my first choice for bubble tea, but food was decent.

Lohas

Friends' first impressions: very purple & green. feels like a jewelry store. comfortable chairs. A few other people were there enjoying the free wifi.

Food: I never really eat at bubble tea places 'cause it's expected that the food isn't great, but that day I wanted to try popcorn chicken. I expected it to be all batter and no meat, but it wasn't. The pieces were quite big,  tender on the inside, slightly crispy outside and the portion was quite large (~12 pieces). The rice had a bit of meat on top, but I wish they put more 'cause eating the rice with no sauce was a bit bland. The rice combos also come with a side of corn and cucumbers. For $2 extra, I added a Malt Milk Tea - my usual go-to drink. It was good with soft bits of [oat flakes?] mixed in and not artificial tasting. So overall for ~$10 it's a quick meal of "average" quality expected from a bubble tea cafe, though other dishes that my friends had (rice + fish and noodles) were not good.

Guu Izakaya

Kakimayo (baked oysters with cheese), Unagi Doria

Staple orders (not pictured): Salmon Tataki, Gyu Carpaccio, Takoyaki. A bit disappointed with the first two as it didn't have garlic chips, which is my favorite part of the dish (Sakabar better). The best dish of the night was the takoyaki - crispy and hot outside topped with sweet tonkatsu sauce, mayo and seaweed, good sized piece of real octopus inside. I liked the small mushrooms in the oyster but found it a bit sour and it was very creamy/filling. The eel rice was very sweet, soft and cheesy but I prefer the mushroom bibimbap as that one is served hotter in a stone bowl.

Sake Mojito

For drinks, I had the Matcha Coco and Sake Mojito. The Matcha tastes like green tea frappucino but with alcohol and a bit heavier tasting. The Mojito was refreshing and light, not much alcohol taste.
Second visit to this Guu location. We arrived before 5pm so no line up, but for a Monday, it was still quite full by 6-7 pm. Total bill came to $37/person.

More from Guu Izakaya (Summer 2010)

Salmon Tataki

Mushroom Cheese Bibimbap - Must Try 

Okonomiyaki

Tofu Cheesecake

The Keg

Warm, soft bread to start. Tastes a bit like sourdough (not sure)

French onion soup

Crab and Shrimp Sirloin

Sister's order - a bit of everything - 2 shrimp, cluster of dungeness crab smothered in Bernaise sauce, smaller cut of sirloin. Mashed potatoes were really good and creamy but a bit salty. Sirloin was very tender and flavorful - I liked it more than the filet mignon.

Filet mignon with twice baked potato

I always remembered filet mignon to be my favorite cut of steak, but this time the sirloin was better as the filet wasn't as tender. Got a tip from Foursquare and tried the twice baked potato - soft inside with bits of green onion, crsipy top. All orders come with asparagus and red pepper; better than plain broccoli and carrots.

Creme brulee

Cheers to finishing undergrad and a very good dinner c/o dad's $200 gift card!