All posts in: Bay Area Eats

20 Sep 2015

Bay Area Eats:

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I’m not even lying to you. As I’m writing this post, I was thinking about what I was going to have for dinner tonight and thought about just aborting this post and going to get myself a Poki Bowl! Then I remembered, I couldn’t leave in the middle of the Emmy’s Red Carpet. It will just have to wait. Poki Bowl just opened in San Jose earlier this summer and I made a stop here about two months ago after work for a dinner date with a friend. When I arrived, the line was out the door. There wasn’t any seating inside or outside because it was so crowded and I’ll admit, I was a little bit nervous that I wouldn’t be able to order before they closed. Was it worth the wait though? Of course. You can order in two different sizes and because this was my first time, I stayed safe and got the regular. For this bowl you get three scoops of fish! WHAT?! I chose a scoop each of tuna, salmon, and yellowtail – all my favorites and a side of crab meat, avocado and spicy mayo over rice. It’s a hearty meal so if you eat here, you better make sure you come hungry.

Life

07 Sep 2015

Bay Area Eats:

Well, now that we are on the topic of it being the last week of summer, it seems approrpriate to write a post about my favorite cold treat of the season: ice cream! I’ve been obsessed with Tin Pot ever since I moved here from Seattle and I don’t think that’s going to stop anytime soon. They are just the cutest little ice cream shop over in Palo Alto. They’re original flavors are great, but I love that they can change things up every once in a while by adding seasonal flavors, special floats, and limited edition sundaes!

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18 Aug 2015

Bay Area Eats:

When it comes to brunch in the South Bay, there are very few options. Typically you’ll find diner style type restaurants instead of the really fancy type brunches that you might find up in the city. Nothing against those, but I like to find a happy medium. Sometime last year I discovered Cafe Borrone in Menlo Park and never let it go. Occassionally, Diana and I will find ourselves here during the weekend and sometimes spending upwards of about $60+ on brunch between the two of us. We go hard. Borrone is a popular spot and you can always expect a line here, but it’s also such a casual spot to be dining as well since they have a large area for outdoor seating and you can order your food right up at the counter. Here is just a sampling of the spread that Diana and I have once ordered. However, if you want to do my order, here’s what you need:

1 chai tea latte
1 freshly squeezed orange juice
The scramble – with salsa, avocado, and sour cream
1 side order of chicken apple sausage
1 side order of cinnamon raisin bread (toasted with butter)
(to split) a half order of the fresh berries french toast

Life

11 Aug 2015

Bay Area Eats:

So I just discovered that we’re completely behind on all of our posts! One of the best things about Yow Yow! though is that there’s always something to write about. I never usually find that I run out of material, but I did notice that I did my last “Bay Area Eats” post back in March and I’ve definitely eaten a lot more since then so let’s play catch up!

Mandi and I had one of our girly brunch dates at Straw in Hayes Valley months ago! Now, this is a pretty unique restaurant because they put a fun spin on your favorite items with a carnival type twist. No, your mind isn’t playing tricks on you. I really did order an egg sandwich in between two donuts. When Mom saw this photo she immediately thought that I was begging for a heart attack. For their dinner menu, Straw also makes a similar version with a cheeseburger in between two donuts! I was really hoping to like this because I love egg sandwiches and I love donuts independently. Together, however, was another story. It really just felt like I was eating surgary eggs and cheese combined with an already pretty sweet bacon. It ended up being a bit too much for me and on top of that – really messy to eat! I must’ve used up two of my napkins before I decided to give up – take it apart – and just eat the eggs. Has anyone ever tried this at Straw or a similar brunch meal? I’d love to know what you think!

Life

07 Mar 2015

Bay Area Eats:

So readers, here’s one thing you should know about me – I’m never good at learning lessons. Fact. Though I wish it weren’t true. I’ve been wanting to brunch at Starbelly in the Castro ever since New Year’s Day when we tried to brunch there the morning after New Year’s Eve and they told us it was going to be a wait and asked if I had a reservation. When things are unobtainable, you naturally want it more. To be clear, Starbelly is no Plow, but they shut me out the first time that I had to go back. So what did I do? I made the reservation one week ahead and when I got there I ordered the Loco Moco.

The lesson I was supposed to learn? You don’t order Hawaiian food at a non-Hawaiian restaurant. It’s the same as not ordering Asian food at an American restaurant – you get the idea. The Loco Moco wasn’t bad. I like that I could add avocado and the sweet soy, but it’s no gravy. The egg wasn’t even runny like it was supposed to be and the portion itself? Only a fraction of what REAL Loco Moco looks like. And I know what that looks like because I’ve had it at Seattle’s Kona Kitchen and San Mateo’s Takahashi Market in which the rice fills the plate and isn’t just a small scoop. It was a nice attempt, but Matt and I left feeling hungry and still. Hopefully, I’ve learned my lesson for the last time!

Life

28 Feb 2015

Bay Area Eats:

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Oh boy, I’ve been wanting to try the toast at The Mill for quite some time now and have really just put it in the back of my list of places I needed to try until today. Yelly and I had planned on having brunch at Plow this morning, but as expected, the line was super long and we didn’t want to have to wait an hour and a half to eat so I threw out The Mill as an option. We both ordered two different kinds of toast – mine with butter, cinnamon, and sugar because I have the sweet tooth of a child and Yelly with a more savory toast of cream cheese, salt, and fresh ground pepper. The Mill was crazy packed this morning and I don’t think it’s just because of the fancy $3.50 toast. The cafe also serves up some delicious Fourbarrel coffee and has a parklet just outside. Needless to say, we’l probably be back.

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20 Nov 2014

Bay Area Eats:

I was lucky enough to have a random Wednesday day-off yesterday and was ready to take full advantage of it. For quite some time I’ve been craving Hawaiian food especially because when I was living in Seattle, I could always count on Kevin to go to Kona Kitchen with me. I decided to Quora question where I could find the best Hawaiian food in the Bay Area and my coworker suggested I try Takahashi Market in San Mateo. It’s not exactly right in my backyard, but I made the drive anyways because I could really go for a warm meal of Loco Moco on a cold and rainy day. I hadn’t been to this place before so I didn’t know what to expect. It really is just a market place and I think most people just order take out, however, there are few tables outside that you can sit and eat at. I considered just taking out and driving all the way back home, but no one really wants cold loco moco! So I bundled up and hunkered down and ate my meal. It was worth it. Believe it or not, this was my first time actually order loco moco despite having plenty of Hawaiian meals in the past. I loved the beef patty, the rice smothered in gravy and of course the sunny side up egg. It’s the perfect brunch meal and I can’t wait until the next time I come back so I can order their unagi and ahi poke!

Life

09 Nov 2014

Bay Area Eats:

I was feeling the brunch cravings hard this morning so I posted this latergram Instagram photo when I woke up around 8:30. I actually ate this meal a couple weeks prior. How deceiving, right? Well little did I know that only a few hours later, we would actually be having this exact same meal again! Do any of you ever have that feeling when you have one amazing meal and then you feel like you want it again just a few days or even a week later?

I really love Cafe Borrone for their simple breakfast. They make some incredible basic scrambles that you can add things to. I had the #4 which includes their salsa, sour cream, and avocado with a side of chicken apple sausage. I’m also a huge fan of their french toast (half portion) which is perfect for sharing.

Life

17 Aug 2014

Bay Area Eats:

After eating my favorite Fried Egg Sandwich from Plow two weekends in a row, I decided it was finally time to mix it up a little bit. Outerlands is a brunch spot that I have been itching to try for quite some time. After hearing such good things about it and having a friend that lives somewhat nearby, I decided to set up a date. It’s in the Sunset after all so there’s really no other reason to go over there other than this place. We may have waited nearly an hour or maybe an hour and a half or so to be seated, but it was worth it. Also, this is San Francisco and if you’re not waiting that long for brunch then you’re not going to a very good spot.

(That’s not exactly true, but sort of.)

I decided to order “Eggs in Jail” and for those of you who have been reading Yow Yow! for quite some time, you know that this is a meal that Veronica and I made almost every other week because we were just SO POOR! We were 22 years old and completely satisfied with the childhood meal of frying an egg into the middle of a piece of a toast. On a Friday night, we would each eat two of these, but not before accidentally burning and ruining two before we could eat.

Outerlands made our favorite dish even better by adding tomatoes, bacon, and what we think could be a cauliflower drizzle. We’re really not sure. What I am sure of is that I really loved this twist on a classic college meal. What a throwback!

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17 May 2014

Bay Area Eats:

bar crudo oysters

There’s a certain kind of panic you start to feel when you get nervous that you’re going to miss happy hour. That’s how we felt last Saturday when we arrived to Bar Crudo packed at 5:30 with a predicted 45-minute wait to get a table. Happy hour was from 5-6:30.

We’ve been dying to have the oysters at Bar Crudo for weeks and after multiple reschedules, we finally reserved it for last Saturday. After 15 minutes, we got our table and decided that our dinner would pretty much consist of everything off of the happy hour menu. Oysters – Washington Pickering – of course were just $1 an oyster during this time. Quickly going through our first dozen, we ordered a second. We could’ve had a third round, but decided to not push it since we had other plates coming out afterwards.