a bite of brownie

ikea is known for its good collection of home furnitures and kitchenwares. i bought my mattress, lamps, sofa chair from ikea-- just a few of my numerous ikea purchases. i love especially how they showcase bedrooms, kitchens and living rooms. they give you a lot of suggestions on how to decorate your home. an added attraction to ikea is their cheap dollar ice cream, 50 cent hotdog and cinnamon bread from their bistro. more options are also available in their ikea restaurant which offers meals. the ice cream is just like costco or sam's club's ice cream. the hotdogs are smaller since it's cheaper. the cinnamon bread is too sweet for me. i can only eat half of it in one sitting.
IKEA
1700 E Bayshore Rd
East Palo Alto, CA

Verdict: 3.5/5 (i wish they have pizza too.)

a friend recommended this bakery after reading or watching from some foodie. we got curious so we tried this famous bakery. when i got to the place, i saw a couple of customers having their breakfast. i read in yelp that they have good breakfast options too but i wasn't there for breakfast so i'll reserve that for future visits. i got one loaf of cinnamon bread since they are known for this. i also got a loaf of blueberry cinnamon bread and a round of almond sprinkled cinnamon bread. i got the last two items as discounted items since they were on sale. this is probably their way to keep their stocks fresh. i like each of the bread i got. the almond sprinkled cinnamon bread was the least sweet among the three. this bakery has very limited open hours so i was so happy to see that they sell their famous cinnamon bread at costco.

Greenlee's Bakery
1081 The Alameda
San Jose, CA 95126

Verdict 4.5/5 (it would be nice if they are open on sundays.)

one won't miss this restaurant if you take a walk at willow glen's downtown. its name is catchy to me so i stopped by for dinner one night. they do not only serve savory and sweet crepes but they also serve breakfast all day, pancakes, burgers and salads. i tried their san francisco savory crepe with smoked salmon (one can pick grilled or smoked), capers, red onions, spinach, dijon and dill havarti cheese. it comes with mixed greens salad with vinaigrette and fries. i had sweet potato fries instead of their house potato fries. the crepe was good and came in big serving. i didn't have room to try their sweet crepes for dessert which both tables beside me did. i was jealous! i'll definitely go back.

Crepevine
1100 Lincoln avenue
Suite 180
San Jose, CA 95125

Verdict: 4/5 (i prefer that they take the orders from the tables rather than on the cashier.)

2815 Taylor St
San Francisco, CA 94133

Verdict: 4/5 (selected dishes are remarkable. this is a $$ restaurant.)

if you are craving for dim sum, this is a good place to go. they have those push-carts carrying a variety of dishes from steamed dumpling, fried food, and desserts. one can also order from their menu. we didn't order much since we were just having a "snack". =) we got steamed shrimp dumplings, scallop dim sum, steamed scallop and shrimp dumplings, steamed chicken feet in black bean sauce and xiao long bao or soup dumplings. i like all of them but liked most the scallop dim sum. it was a satisfying meal and i'd definitely go back here and would recommend this place.

May Flower
222 Great Mall Dr
Milpitas, CA 95035

Verdict: 3.5/5 (servers can be inattentive.)

my friend was craving for some pho and found this place on yelp. the 25% off on weekdays from 3 to 6pm all the more encouraged us to try this place. we had spring rolls as starter. my friends loved the spring rolls. for our entrees, they each got pho of different kind and both of them liked their phos. i ordered the fried soft shell crab and oyster and i really enjoyed it. it's not the best soft shell crab i've tried though. the one in joy yee evanston illinois was tastier. we also ordered an extra steak meal. the steak was just fine but it was tasty and well-cooked. we unanimously had a great dining experience at this restaurant and it comes with free private parking.


Pho Cong Ly
460 E William St
San Jose, CA 95112

Verdict:  4/5 (adding pictures to the menu would be great.)

any kid can't miss this small little place at the corner of lincoln ave and willow st because of the long line overflowing from this ice cream/frozen yogurt shop. it's nicely located near the water fountain too so it has a nice outdoor view day and night. if you're lucky, you would see street performers playing a violin or a guitar. we got the mint, chocolate and vanilla yogurts. i wasn't happy with my order of chocolate yogurt. it tasted like diluted chocolate. my friend loved her vanilla yogurt while the mint yogurt was just a so-so. the more decorated ice creams/yogurts probably taste better.

Willow Glen Creamery
1104 Lincoln Ave
San Jose, CA 95125

Verdict: 2/5 (i'll give this another chance by trying their loaded/decorated ice creams.)

i've eaten lunch buffet at this restaurant thrice and this is one of my favorite indian buffet restaurants because of its wide variety of tasty options in their buffet table. however, this time around, i got invited to my friend's tenth year wedding anniversary for dinner a la carte style. we got the appetizer "asparagus paneer bhurji flat bread - masala scrambled cottage cheese, peppers and asparagus on a naan bread with garlic tulsi aioli on a cedar plank". i loved it because it's like pizza. it was my first time to try paneer on pizza and it was a nice suprise. we ordered three entrees: curry with eggplant, another curry with masala sauce, and chicken biryani. i didn't like the curry with eggplant but liked the masala curry and chicken biryani. we had "narangi pista kulfi - rich, creamy orange and pistachio flavored ice-cream served in an orange rind" for dessert and i liked its taste and presentation. i'd give this restaurant's service and ambiance a high recommendation.
The Mynt
5210 Prospect Rd
San Jose, CA 95129

Verdict: 3.5/5 (not all dishes are good.)

N: What can I say, I'm a sucker for Korean BBQ and AYCE at that :) so for my birthday I invited my friends to try out this restaurant, partly to try out the place but mostly because birthday celebrants eat here for free if they bring at least 5 friends with them haha

Known to Cebuanos as one of the best places where you can get fried chicken, Sunburst continues to thrive through the years as a fast food shack and retreat for the hungry souls looking for a delicious bite of chicken to soothe the rumblings of their tummies.

We came by to sample once again the famous chicken of Cebu and found ourselves sated by the assortment of food offered to us by the courteous staff of Sunburst Ayala. We ordered old favorites such as sotanghon guisado, sizzling bangus, calamares, crispy pata and their famous recipe of chicken. The place was packed, but the orders came on time and piping hot and delicious. We had to deal with insufficient space and cramped walkways as proof of its still strong popularity.

I had no complaints about the food, though the price tag that comes with each of them is note worthy. Chicken sold here are served using their secret recipe that is uniquely theirs. I have yet to find a restaurant that copies their taste exactly as it is



. It wasn't spectacular nor was it very good. Just ok. Their bangus and the crispy pata is a winner, though. ^^


Sunburst
Ayala Terraces

Verdict:
A: 3/5
Not for the price conscious. Some dishes are heavy on the pocket.

85°C first caught my eye when i saw someone carrying this bakery's box in SJC airport. something about picking a food as gift to friends/family from another state gives me the impression that food from this bakery must be good. after doing further research, i learned that this is a highly recommended bakery. i was supposed to get some macarons from chantal guillon but didn't make it before their closing time. since this bakery is less than fifteen minutes drive from palo alto, i ventured out to newark to try this bakery. i've been told that there is always a long queue to this place and it wasn't an exception when i went. it took around ten minutes before i got my turn to pick the bread that interests me. there were a lot of choices that did not only look yummy but also looked fresh. every five minutes, you'd see someone refill the counters. since i was thinking of getting bread which i think would last without refrigerating for 24 hours, i got the giant brioche, cheese bread, cheese dog, calamari stick, and chocolate sponge. there were a lot of other bread there that were calling me but they'll just have to wait for next time. when i was in the cashier, i was told that the chocolate sponge needs to be refrigerated so i had to return them. i found a seat and started on the cheese dog. it wasn't spectacular. i tried next the calamari stick which is a bun of bread with black squid ink on it's dough. i liked it but unadventurous people towards food wouldn't. it had an after taste of the black squid ink. the cheese bread had a cream cheese filling on it. it would pair well with coffee or tea but since i had it with water, it was too sweet and satiating for me. the giant brioche was just fine so all-in-all, my experience was a disappointment as compared to the hype that i got from stories and research. it's possible that i picked the wrong items. this bakery reminds me of bread talk but i enjoyed bread talk's bread better.


85°C Bakery Cafe
35201-V Newark Blvd
Newark, CA 94560

Verdict: 2.5/5 (the items i picked were not extra-ordinary but i am still curious about the hype of this bakery and i'm still planning on trying out their other items.)

i got introduced to chantal guillon's macarons when i received a two-piece macaron gift from a teammate. i think they were passion fruit and hazelnut praline macarons that came in a small white box with red ribbon and the G logo stamped on the box. my first bite on one of the macarons was ecstatic! it was just heavenly. i guess i finished both macarons in less than two minutes. it was so good that i craved for more. i was sad to know that its branch is in san francisco but then i learned that they had another branch in palo alto that was just thirty minutes drive away from me! i got ready so fast and headed off to get more macarons. i bought twelve pieces of macarons: italian pistachio, passion fruit, salted caramel, mango, champagne, cherry-chocolate, dark chocolate, tahitian vanilla, hazelnut praline, persian rose, almond amaretto and red velvet. every piece was just awesome! it's so difficult to pick favorites among them but if i am forced to choose, i guess among my top three would be: champagne, mango and italian pistachio. i can't imagine having enough or too much of these macarons! i would love to learn how to bake them at home to have unlimited supply of these.


Chantal Guillon
444 University Ave
Palo Alto, CA 94301

Verdict: 5/5