Southern California

ORANGE COUNTY, LONG BEACH, IRVINE, surrounding areas

Asian:

• Shik Do Rak - Korean BBQ served with banh cuon (Vietnamese rice sheets) to wrap the meat inside, instead of lettuce or sesame leaf. http://www.yelp.com/biz/shik-do-rak-garden-grove
• Kogi - korean food truck - get the blackjack quesadilla, galbi taco, pacman burger
• Fukada - spicy tuna don on brown rice w hot tanuki udon combo
• Mas' Islamic Chinese - 3 dough noodle (chow mein), braised tofu omelet, honey walnut shrimp, thin sesame bread w green onions
• Shabu Shabu Bar - ribeye
• Mitsuwa Food Court - ramen at Santouka - shio ramen or spicy miso ramen w toroniku, special pork upgrade

Desserts:

• La Creperie - French bistro w/ great dessert crepes; La Martinique was my favorite!
• Yogurtland - http://www.yogurt-land.com/ - this is actually cheaper and much tastier than Pinkberry; I recommend trying the tart flavors with fruit and the mochi
• Sprinkles - cupcakes - there is 1 in Dallas, but I liked the daily special Lemon Blueberry
• Guppy House - strawberry mango shaved ice
• 85 degrees bakery - sea salt coffee
• Class 302 - mango strawberry shaved snow, green tea and red bean shaved snow
• Mochilato - pistachio, coffee, mint choc chip, hazelnut, tiramisu, stawberries n cream mochilato

Fast food:

• The Hat - chili cheese fries, pastrami sandwich, cherry coke
• In N Out - of course this is all over Cali & can be found in Nevada, Utah, and Arizona now; most people prefer to get double double and fries animal style

To try next time:

• Shin sen gumi - Angell's fave ramen in US
• Fat burger

NEW YORK CITY - updated 4/2011

SHOPPING:

• Century 21- brand name bargain shopping (kind of like Filene's Basement, but better)
• Forever21 - there is one near Times Sq. that is open until 2:30AM
• H&M - most popular location at 6th & 34th
• Apple Store
• FAO Schwartz & FAO Schweetz (candy section)
• Toys R Us (toy store) with a Ferris Wheel inside
• Hershey store

SIGHTSEEING:

• Empire State bldg. (Korea town is a few blocks away if you get hungry)
• Statue of Liberty (take ferry out)
• Ground Zero (where Twin towers used to be)
• Central Park (Shakespeare in the Park depending on the date or go running on the trail within the park), Peggy Guggenheim Museum nearby
• Times Square (TRL, Bubba's Shrimp Co., NY cheesecake, gyros off street carts or in little Greek hole-in-the-walls)
• Rockefeller Ctr (Kitchoan Minamoto nearby!) & St Patrick's Cathedral
• Grand Central Station
• MOMA
• MET
• Southstreet seaport - shops

NIGHTLIFE / ENTERTAINMENT:

• Broadway Shows - discount tickets sold day of show at tkts booths - recommend Rent, Phantom of the Opera, Wicked
• Blue Man Group
• Hotel Gansevoort rooftop bar (can see both Manhattan and Brooklyn bridges and skylines)
• Warehouse district for bars/clubs (Lotus, Hiro, Buddha Bar, etc.)
• Park - good food here, but it also converts into a bar/lounge late at night
• Brandy Library - chill lounge good for dates or smaller intimate groups for talking

GOOD EATS:

• Nobu57 - Nobu style ceviche, Lobster shiitake salad, Shrimp tempura, Chilean sea bass, Winter's Crush (?) cocktail
• Ippudo - Hirato pork buns, Akamaru Modern ramen (order w/ soft-boiled egg)
• Kyochun - original Korean Fried Chicken chain from Korea
• Bon Chon - revamped Korean Fried Chicken, supposed to be best in NYC
• Shanghai Cafe in Chinatown - xiao long bao (chinese soup dumplings) better than Djo's Shanghai
• Asian Jewels (aka Ocean Jewels) for dim sum in Flushing
• Flushing Mall for Taiwanese food - Ay Chung for thin noodle soup, herbal soup w pork and pork belly w rice, chicken nuggets, walk around street for Spicy Lamb skewer on street $1 each
• Upper Crust bakery - toasted sandwiches w/ fresh French bread
• Toasty's - sandwiches
• Cafeteria - semi-trendy restaurant featured in Sex & the City
• Gyros on street
• Kunjip for authentic Korean

DESSERTS / SWEET SNACKS:

• Lady Ms Confection - mille crepe cake is THE BEST, Maroons cake, green tea cake
• Spot in St. Marks - Soft cheesecake, Jackfruit dessert, Pineapple tiramisu
• Saint Alps Teahouse for bubble tea - I used to go to this chain in Hong Kong - great almond milk tea, gingerbread tea, Ginger black, jasmine green, ruby grapefruit w coconut jelly
• Minamoto Kitchoan (Japanese pastries) - REALLY good mochi and red bean cakes - 608 5th Ave, between 48th St & 49th St - near Lacoste store around Rockefeller Center
• Tai Pan Bakery- HK style coffee and yummy egg custard (much more authentic than Egg Custard King)
• Eileen's Cheesecake - http://eileenscheesecake.com/gallery2.htm - mini cheesecakes, blueberry is my fave - 17 Cleveland Place, New York, NY 10012
• Baked by Melissa - mini cupcakes, all flavors are pretty good
• Ceci Cela Patisserie - French bakery
• Pink Berry (yogurt) - http://www.pinkberry.com/ - 13 locations listed on website (one is next to rices to riches)
• Beard Papa - cream puffs and pastries
• Chinatown Ice Cream Factory - green tea, red bean, ginger, lychee flavors and more
• Rice to Riches (rice pudding, not for everyone) - walkable from Chinatown - 37 Spring Street, between Mott and Mulberry St

ACCOMMODATIONS:

• Hilton Hotel Fashion District (26th between 6th and 7th Ave) - great location

WILL TRY NEXT TIME:

• Pings dim sum in Chinatown
• Amy Ruth's chicken and waffles in Harlem
• Rairaiken ramen
• Xiao's Famous foods in Flushing Mall

What the PHO?!

The MAIN KEY THINGS to look for when it comes to PHO:
- It's ALL in the broth! The broth should be clear, not opaque and bits of meat should not be present initially when served to you. If you get the "tai" meat (uncooked until the boiled water hits it), obviously your broth will later have pieces of meat and become more opaque.
- ratio of meat to noodle should not be chinsy (Pho Binh in Houston is the freaking best in Texas. As a result, they can get away with little meat, because their broth takes them to a home run anyway.)

TIPS from a purest who used to eat pho 1-3 times a week and once went a month eating frozen homemade pho in college:
- If you want to REALLY test the quality of pho, you should try putting your sriracha in one of the little dishes (may have to request, otherwise should be with the big spoons on the table). If you HAVE to have it spicy, try adding jalapenos into your broth. The sriracha has many other ingredients that makes it difficult for most people to separate the flavor from the actual intended broth, whereas the flavor of jalapenos can easily be separated.
- When you become more advanced, you can add basil, the long jagged leaf (don't know english name), squeeze some lime juice, and ask for a side of thinly sliced onions (preferably red onion) in vinegar. You will take these red onions and eat a little with every bite.
- Proper Pho etiquette is to CONSTANTLY drink the broth throughout the eating experience. It makes me very sad when I see Americans with a big ass bowl of broth untouched b/c they were silly and decided to drink sriracha and then spend the majority of their meal blowing their nose instead of truly enjoying the pho broth.

Short film by Christina Tran: http://www.uarts.edu/a...

Let me know if you have any questions. Clearly Pho is something I hold very close to my heart. When people tell me they have never had it, I'm pretty sure my heart skips a beat. I almost had to break up with someone once when they told me they did not like pho.

San Francisco Recommendations

Delicious Meals

• Fifth Floor in Hotel Palomar - 1 Michelin star restaurant - best tasting menu I’ve ever had! amazing service, must go back to request drinks at the bar (they will make a drink with your liquor of choice)
• Ike's Place - amazing sandwiches - $12 for menage a trois sandwich on dutch crunch bread
• San Tung - dry fried chicken wings #1, handmade pork dumplings
• Katana-Ya - katsudon + ramen combo w/ green tea was $14 - known for best ramen in town
• Crepe o Chocolat - brandy chicken sandwich served on a toasted narrow baguette = DELICIOUS
• Burma SuperStar or B Star Cafe - tea leaf salad was featured on food network
• Roli Roti at the Ferry Building Farmer's Market - porchetta sandwich is soooo good
  

Desserts & Drinks

• Bi-Rite Creamery - tried the salted caramel, strawberry balsamic, coffee toffee, roasted banana, vanilla ice creams ($3.25 for small w/ 2 flavors)
• Ciao Bella Gelato (at Ferry Bldg Farmer's Market) - bourbon butter pecan, maple ginger snaps
• Genki crepes - crepe w/ nutella, lychee ice cream, strawberries
• Minamoto Kitchoan
• Beard Papa - chocolate cream puffs
• Golden Gate Bakery for egg tarts
• King’s Bakery - coconut buns recommended by Angell (50 cents each) - only worth it if you really like coconut buns, otherwise it's out of the way and kind of out of place (Chinese bakery in the middle of Latino area)
  
• Blue Bottle Coffee - first single drip coffee in SF
• 21st Amendment - watermelon beer

Other tips/useful information:

• $8.10 BART ticket from SFO to Downtown
• $20 for 3 day pass on Muni (bus, cable cars, some underground lines w/ red Muni logo)
• Good bathrooms near Union Square - Border's (top floor), Macy's (bottom floor food court)
• Union Square/Market St. - huge H&M on Powell (3 in Union Square area) & DSW
• Touristy (not recommended for a good meal, perse) - Boudin Cafe for clam chowder in bread bowl
  

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Other recommendations I have not yet confirmed, but will have to try next time:

Food & Desserts

• Thanh Long - roasted crab and garlic noodles
• Pizzeria Delfina
• R & G Lounge
• Benkyodo in Japantown for mochi
• Miette - old fashioned chocolate cake w/ marshmellow (have one in cupcake form)
• Sweetheart for bubble tea
• http://www.yelp.com/biz/sophies-crepes-san-francisco

Sights

• Visit Fort Point - BEAUTIFUL right under the Golden Gate bridge
• Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park
• Alcatraz – the audio tour is really cool, take ferry

Nightlife

• Fly Bar @Divisadero and like Fulton - Alyson’s friends own it, has very cool sake drinks - http://www.yelp.com/biz/fly-bar-san-francisco
• Amnesia Bar (Valencia)

Vancouver, BC, Canada

• Shanghai River (Richmond, BC) - xiao long bao (best soup dumplings I've had outside of Asia so far), shanghai noodles w/ beef (good), green onion pancake (OK) - 22 CAD for 4 people
• Guu w/ Garlic - Japanese izakaya - make reservations ahead of time! This was my second visit, but it is always packed! Everything I had is delicious, you cannot go wrong! The bill was 34 CAD for 4 people will puffy bellies at the end. For more information or the menu, go here: http://www.guu-izakaya.com/robson.html
  
• Dragon Ball Tea House - lychee black tea w/ pearls
• Kirin Restaurant - fancy dim sum - 70 CAD for 6 adults
  
• La Casa Gelato - 218 flavors served at all times w/ homemade waffle cones - http://lacasagelato.com/
• To try next time: sushi town, honey's doughnuts, dim sum at happy valley
  

Seattle

• Palace Kitchen - roast pork and chard ravioli, lamb meatballs
• Dahlia Bakery - eclair, brioche monkey bread w/ caramel sauce, cinnamon sugar beignets (served w/ mascarpone and fresh preserves to dip), fried egg sandwich w/ bacon, cheddar, and arugula, chocolate truffle cookie
• Noodle King - beef noodle soup (ask to make it spicy)
• Ambrosia - $2.25 for a massive black tea w/ tapioca
• Uwajimaya - Japanese grocery store w/ Puccha candy
  
• Mon Hei Bakery - pineapple custard cakes
• Beard Papa - creme puffs
• O'Asian - fancy dim sum
• Dilletante Mocha Cafe
• Fare Start "is a culinary job training and placement program for homeless and disadvantaged individuals." I tried the main entrée: Linguini with Roasted Tomato, house made “Thundering Hooves” beef ragu, green garlic, pecorino
• Gordon Biersch - Cajun Pasta: Andouille sausage, grilled chicken, shrimp, and Louisiana spices with fettuccine in a tomato cream sauce and a strawberry lemonade made w/ puree
  

Las Vegas

• Hash House A Go Go - sage chicken eggs benedict (was on man vs. food and it will change your life) & chicken and waffles (made with bacon inside the waffles)

• Jean Philippe Patisserie (in Aria) - try the Imperial (creme brulee and mousse enshelled in chocolate)