Eastern Pearl: Dim Sum and Stuff

Before this became a dim sum place, it was a pho restaurant called Pho Than Brothers. I actually liked that place, even though it looked old. After it was taken over by Eastern Pearl, the place looked like it was Chinese New Year every day, haha. At the start, there weren't many people; now, out gets pretty filled. I think it's because this is one of the few dim sum places in Redmond.

I didn't get very much; below is a bowl of sweetened hot shot milk, and the lowest picture shows some vegetarian dumplings. In general, they serve pretty decent dim sum.

Zen Noodle House: So many options

I like this place; it was very simple and filling. I had waaaay too many rice cakes in my soup, and I ordered the smaller serving. The only thing that made me sad was the durian dessert. When I asked how much durian there were serving, it was only a small slice of it...for $4...aiyah, why is it so expensive.

You see this menu? I didn't use it at all, lol. They give out a card for each person; basically, you can check off whatever ingredient you want on the card and they'll make a customized soup for you. Be careful though; each side has a price difference because they're different serving sizes.

This is my older brother's. He ate his fried egg separately, unlike Sakiupo. My older brother pretty much vacuumed the egg in a matter of seconds...

Here's my soup. The rice cakes were okay; I prefer ones that are softer and easier to chew.

Toy's Cafe: There are no toys :'( (so misleading)

There weren't any toys :/ I legitimately thought I was walking into a toy store. This place is pretty much a typical Chinese restaurant/bakery; they serve stir fried dishes, wonton soup, congee, etc. as well as pastries and cakes. My mom told me that good Chinese restaurants mean that a lot of Chinese people (especially the elderly) come...it makes sense....but I'm pretty sure we all have different tastes...

I like their style of egg drop soup; usually, the soup is too yellow and too salty. This is just right; the eggs aren't completely scrambled, and the taste is much more delicate.

I got fried rice with stir fried vegetables. Besides the egg drop soup, nothing else seemed to stand out...most of their dishes were pretty standard.

Kukai Again: Vegetable Kakiage, Yum Yum

Kukai had a new appetizer that I had to try :P It's pretty pricey, but I'm glad I tried it once. The sauce was probably the best part; it tasted salty and a but sweet. I'm pretty sure it had soy sauce and sesame oil. I think the kakiage is made of tempura batter with edamame and some onion bits.

My dad and Sankiupo got the chicken ramen and the tsukemen dipping noodles, respectively.

I always thought the bathroom was pretty nice. They even have mouthwash :D

Seoul Hot Pot: I Love Korean Food

This place is one of my favorite Korean restaurants. I used to come here when they didn't have the grill too, hahaha.

There isn't anything that stands out; in my opinion, Seoul Hot Pot is a standard Korean place. However, in the area that it's located, it's unique. During peak hours, this place gets really full; I think it's because it's placed conveniently next to many neighborhoods, and next to Microsoft.

My only concern is that there isn't vents for the grills...I don't think I've ever used the grills here, but usually grilling will create a lot of smoke.

Fun Times at Microsoft

A while ago, my parents raided leftover food from a nearby Microsoft building. Sometimes when they're waiting for me and Sankiupo to finish some kind of event (school, gig, etc.) they'll just camp out at a nearby Microsoft and do work (aka watch Korean dramas on a projector ;D )

It was nice of them to get this delicious food; I actually like Microsoft food. They should sell this stuff in colleges.

Below is a green bell pepper stuffed with wild rice served with mashed potatoes. I really liked the bell pepper; it was still crunchy, and the rice made it quite filling. The potatoes were really buttery x___x I'm not a huge fan of super oily stuff. Other than being overly rich, the potatoes were mashed well, and they still had potato skins. I like chewing on them (extra iron too).

The last three photos are from a different visit to Microsoft. I was picking up my gratuity for a Microsoft User Study that I participated in. I'm so lucky that they were having a promotion :DDD The sign says it all, but basically, to promote the consumption of fruit, they were selling fruit for five cents each. EACH. That means your bananas, oranges, apples, whatever they have is FIVE CENTS. LIKE, FIVE PENNIES. OR A NICKEL. Ok I'm pretty sure you guys understand.

Olive Garden

I apologize for the infrequent posts; I'll try to be better~~

Olive Garden was always a good place to go for Italian food, but now the quality doesn't seem to be as great as it used to be. It took me a while to realize this...I actually can't tell if it's because my standards became higher, or if the quality depreciated.

With an entree, you can choose a soup or salad. I've always gotten minestrone; some people don't like the sogginess of the soup contents, but I like my vegetables soft.

Sankiupo had some cheese ravioli with meat sauce. It tasted pretty standard to me (I mean it's just cheese).

We had a few appetizer from a previous visit. Unfortunately, it's pretty much gone in the picture below, haha. It's basically calamari, beef pockets, and fried mozzarella. It was quite heavy for an appetizer.

The first time I went to Olive Garden when I returned from Canada, Sankiupo urged me to try the five cheese ziti...the cheese was overkill x_x I remember the five cheese sauce being orange, but the consistency was more of a sauce rather than cheese. This sauce was more cheese than sauce. I couldn't finish x__x

The second time I went to Olive Garden, I tried a new item; it's penne with garlic white wine sauce. I honestly can't taste the wine part, but not like I'm complaining (personally, I don't really like wine). I was expecting minced garlic, but the pasta came with whole garlic cloves. I think it would've been nicer to spread out the garlic taste.