All posts in: Yelp

Life
05 Jul 2019

SF Eats: Yin Du Wonton Noodle

The very first time Kevin introduced me to this spot, I was hooked. It actually works out nicely that him and I live in two different parts of the city because it means we are able to try more restaurants at a wider distance. Yin Du is a no-frills joint with an excellent selection of wonton noodle soups. For under $7, I get a bowl of noodles in soup with a meat of my choice and six or so wontons. On some occasions, I even consider ordering two bowls even though I know that’s pushing it.

You won’t find a website for Yin Du and the ratings on [Yelp] are so-so. When it comes to asian restaurants though, y’all know we can’t trust Yelp to do the right thing anyways. The restaurant fills up quickly and can sometimes be crowded, but the wait isn’t long because they’ll make you share tables with other guests. Don’t worry, you can deal with this for how good the price and the food is.

Life
15 Mar 2015

Billion Dollar Bully Slams Yelp

It’s pretty crazy how often I find myself using Yelp. If I’ve never been to a restaurant before, I completely rely on them to give me honest reviews. Since I’ve used it so much, I guess I never realized the backlash that the company has received from other business owners, but it makes sense. In this new documentary, local filmmaker Kaylie Milliken questions Yelp’s business practices and conducts interviews with business owners who feel their businesses have been vastly impacted by the types of reviews that are found on Yelp about them.

I’m actually really interested in watching this. The film is halfway done already.

[Source]

Culture
03 Mar 2014

100 Best Places to Eat

Think you’ve got it all figured out as a “foodie?” Yelp, just released their list of 100 Best Places to Eat and yes, I’m hungry and yep, I’m up for the challenge. It’s easy to select a food spot based off of the reviews found on Yelp, but for this list, their engineers and went through all of their data to come up with the best list. We don’t like to argue against numbers. Additionally, the list “takes into account both ratings and amount of reviews to showcase places that are both popular and delicious.” Here are the top 10 to kick things off:

1. Da Poke Shack (Kailua-Kona, HI)

2. Paseo (Seattle, WA)

3. Oklahoma Joe’s BBQ (Kansas City, KS)

4. The Cinnamon Snail (New York, NY)

5. Porto’s Bakery (Burbank, CA)

6. Dametra Cafe (Carmel by the Sea, CA)

7. Alinea (Chicago, IL)

8. Franklin Barbecue (Austin, TX)

9. Gary Danko (San Francisco, CA)

10. Joe’s Falafel (Los Angeles, CA)

HOORAY – Paseo’s at number 2! I’ve never actually eaten there, but everyone that has ever eaten there has told me that is the absolute best.

[Source]

Culture
03 Jul 2013

Where Hipsters Live in Major Cities By Yelp

Oh yes, we see you Capitol Hill. Way to represent.

This project by Yelp is actually very interesting and completely tracks the neighborhoods in which hipsters are residing in. Given the map above, I’d say this is pretty accurate.

[Source]

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09 Dec 2010

Japonessa

Tonight, Kevin and I decided to try out the new sushi restaurant Japonessa on First Avenue directly across the street from the SAM. It is very difficult for me to be a food critic because I love food especially the best kept secrets of this city, but I sometimes tend to be biased to my favorites. I will have a favorite sushi restaurant, a favorite dim sum joint, fast food etc until something better comes along, naturally.

Japonessa has been open for a few months and has a little bit of a Latin twist that is very noticeable in the restaurant. The decor is beautiful and the atmosphere is both lively and serene at the same time. The restaurant’s head chef, Billy Beach, has worked at a variety of restaurants in the area as well including Umi Sake House (a favorite!) and Kushibar.

Between us we ordered

  • Two bowls of Miso Soup
  • 4 pieces of Unagi/Eel
  • 4 pieces of Sake/Salmon
  • 4 pieces of Hamachi/Yellowtail
  • Seattle Crunch Roll – Tuna, salmon, avocado, cream cheese, tempura’d, drizzled with sweet chili soy glaze
  • Ultimate Dragon Roll – Snowcrab, avocado, cucumber, topped w/ half eel, black tobiko, drizzled with soy glaze

Overall, we kept it pretty simple tonight. In terms of pricing, rolls ranged from $12 to a whopping $20!  In comparison with my favorite places Wasabi Bistro and Umi Sake House, their rolls are nowhere near the $20 mark. However, though the rolls here might be slightly larger than the others and in the case of the Ultimate Dragon Roll, we practically got the whole tail end of the eel attached to one of our rolls, we still believe we could have gotten a better deal elsewhere. The nigiri was fine, but it didn’t blow me away. My one issue with the Ultimate Dragon Roll was that it was soaked in the soy glaze. If it had even just been a slight drizzle, the soy glaze would not have been as overwhelming. Also, because it was dripping in glaze, the roll would easily come apart, making it more difficult to eat.

It is hard to give the most accurate rating because I am not a food critic. I don’t get paid to review restaurants in Seattle and I choose items off of the menu based on my preference. Maybe there are other items on the menu that are much better, but I just didn’t know. Yelp has reviewed Japonessa and the 102 ratings have determined an average of four and a half stars! Not bad. Japonessa also has a fantastic happy hour! Looks like I’ll be testing out the restaurant again soon round two?

Based on my experience:

Price: Too expensive.

Presentation: Of the overall restaurant – fantastic!

Taste: At times, nothing special nor memorable.