ROC - DosiiRoc Cafe & Korean Kitchen

I’m in town for a doctor’s appointment so that means spending time with some cousins which also means we’re going to lunch!

I love coming from a family of food lovers because it means I often get to try new restaurants when we meet up and this visit is no different.

LOCATION: 1225 JEFFERSON RD. SUITE A11 ROCHESTER, NY 14623

We’ve collectively been thinking about coming here for a few months but my visits are sporadic and we haven’t been able to make it until now, and I’m excited. I love Korean food so hearing a new(ish) Korean restaurant has opened up right next to the game store that I always frequent when I’m in town is great.

DosiiRoc is a small spot in the corner of a plaza that opened up about a year ago and has a good variety of Korean food. When this group of cousins and I go out to eat, we typically do family style sharing regardless of the restaurant so we can try as many dishes as possible (a system that I love but that I know a lot of people don’t) but after looking over the menu, we all decided to each get our own DosiiRoc Boxes because each box was such a good variety of food to start with.

I got the Korean Boneless Fried Chicken Dosiiroc box with the chicken tossed in a honey garlic sauce. Each box comes with white rice, japchae noodles, and chef’s choice banchan. The menu also says it comes with two pieces of yachea jeon which is the veggie pancake but each of boxes came with a couple pieces of tteokbokki instead which was okay with all of us. No complains and I’m pretty sure we forgot about the jeon with how much came in this meal. Three of the five of us got the beef bulgogi dosiiroc and two of us got the fried chicken but my cousin ordered his chicken with the dosiiroc secret sauce which he let me swap a piece for and that tasted like a yangnyeom spicy sweet sauce. Not too spicy but a tiny kick with a sweet hint to it too.

I liked this meal a lot. I’m already excited to come back. I managed to eat almost all of my meal while there and I’m not a huge fan of japchae but this one was really good. I think the temperature was just right and I haven’t liked japchae in the past but maybe this little taste was the right amount for me today.

I honestly think today was a good day for me to go because the two banchan they gave were beansprouts and a cucumber kimchi which are two of my favs when it comes to banchan. I’m not a huge kimchi fan - cold cabbage just doesn’t hit with me as much as I want to like it, but a cold cucumber is just right.

Everything in this box was so good. The chicken was this perfect crispy texture without being try or tough. The sauce was well balanced and even though I got the honey garlic, it didn’t feel overly sweet.

I just wish they still had their housemade fruit cheong so I could have a Korean Ade to drink. One of the owners said she was making a new batch later that afternoon for tomorrow so I just missed out but it just means I have to come back so I can order that, along with trying the rest of their menu out.

This is going to be a repeat spot for sure, I just hope they stick around! Everything on this menu is something that I’ve craved before that I just wasn’t able to get my hands on but now that I know this place is right here and has all the goods, I’ll back.

SYR - Rise N Shine Diner

It’s a new year and we’re starting it off trying new places and eating all the good food!

Today’s adventure was to the Rise N Shine Diner Wescott for a little post holiday, holiday team breakfast. I’m not one to complain about a little bonding meal, that’s for sure.

LOCATION: 500 WESCOTT STREET, SYRACUSE, NY 13210

We’ve gotten Rise N Shine for breakfast before as a team but I’ve actually never been to this location. For some reason, we’ve ordered delivery to the office before but we can’t quite remember what the occasion was but I do remember eating an eggs benedict from this spot before because it’s a big thing they’re known for and I love a little eggs benny.

Today, I decided to mix it up a little and get myself a Homefries Poutine which is technically one of their ‘Divvies’ to start off/share but I’m not one to deny myself a menu item just because it was labeled as a sharable plate. It was also priced the same as an typical ‘entree’ plate ($16) so logically, this seemed like a reasonable choice to me.

I, of course, love a poutine. Being a huge lover of potatoes, I didn’t want to pass up on this option. This one came with homefries with garlic-breaded cheese curds, chopped black forest bacon, and topped with a sausage gravy. Now, I won’t say that this is TOTALLY giving poutine just because we added some cheese curds to a potato base but I’m not mad. It was definitely leaning more into a breakfast hash vibe with the giant potato chunks and the white sausage gravy but I was here for it.

If I was out an about craving a poutine, this wouldn’t be my first choice, but as far as breakfasts go, I really did enjoy it. Of course, it was super filling and I have leftovers for days but I really enjoy a messy plate that gives you a different bite each time. The homefries are really just giant potato chunks (not crispy deep fried cubes if that’s what you’re hoping for) and there are hidden pieces of breakfast sausage so you’re really digging into this big plate but it’s a good time for sure. Nothing special, but this order won’t let you down.

SYR - Haraz Coffee House

It’s a day of eating! Welcome back from holiday break! There’s a new spot that opened up about a month or so near campus so of course a few of us had to try it out before the students return on Monday and flood the joint!

LOCATION: 125 MARSHALL STREET, SYRACUSE, NY 13210

Word is Haraz is a chain of authentic Yemeni coffee and while I’m not a big coffee drinker, I do like a nice tea and a new place to try out.

After a big breakfast this morning, I was totally happy to have a light tea for lunch with a little sweet treat and Haraz delivered. I ended up ordering a Saffron Adeni, which was a black tea with haraz spices, saffron, and cream along with a Strawberry Mousse because it was too beautiful to pass up and I’m a big strawberry fan as well.

The tea was in fact pretty strong and was giving coffee vibes. I drank half and felt super amped (I’m sure the cream didn’t help) but it was really nice to have something warm a rich to drink to help digest more of my breakfast. The strawberry mousse was a great little sweet treat. It tasted just like a light strawberry ice cream and had a really nice thin shell. There was a little cookie base that was pretty hard to cut through and got stuck to my plate so that wasn’t a win but that base also didn’t have much flavor so I didn’t feel I was missing out too much. The mousse was a little runny once I broke the shell but that’s to be expected from a ‘dessert’ that sits in a glass case all morning at a coffee shop so no points off there. I will say, this little guy was almost $12 alone, so we really are treating it as a special occasion dessert and not a weekly purchase.

All in all, I enjoyed the vibes and the menu items. I don’t think my wallet will appreciate too much frequency here but once a quarter is probably doable. Hopefully, the coffee drinkers of the world support this place so it stays open long enough for me to make my sporadic trips.

ITHACA - Ithaca Bakery

ITHACA - Ithaca Bakery

It’s a movie date day but we’re old homebodies so that means we start with breakfast and hit the early showing! We did a scouting mission and, upon seeing a couple full parking lots for local diners, we ended up with our pick for the day.

LOCATION: TRIPHAMMER MARKETPLACE, 2255 N. TRIPHAMMER ROAD, ITHACA, NY 14850

We’ve been to Ithaca Bakery before a couple of times and this location is the most convenient when we’re trying to hit a movie so here we are. It’s been awhile, but we don’t LOVE going here since it’s usually a pretty busy spot. I also don’t love the layout of this location - it’s pretty cramped by the doors and the menu is nowhere near the registers so don’t forget what you were planning to order. Caleb wanted a bacon, egg, and cheese breakfast sandwich but everything has a name so he got a Brooklyn bagel (add cheese for $.90) and I decided to go with an Avocado Toast #2. I had a moment at the counter wondering if I really did want the #2 and not the #1 or #3 and since the menu is over by the door, I just hoped for the best. The upside was that I was correct and I did want the #2 which comes with avocado, feta crumbles, bacon, olive oil, salt and pepper on oatmeal wheat toast. I’m not the biggest fan of wheat toast at all but I figured it’d be fine with all the extra toppings included.

Not gonna lie, this was a disappointing toast. And for $10 I should’ve known better but I’ve been having a mental aversion to eggs lately and didn’t want a whole bagel sandwich because I knew I wouldn’t eat it all. Joke’s on me because I didn’t eat all of my avocado toast either! For an avocado TOAST you would thing that they would actually TOAST the bread but no luck. I could’ve used a little extra bit of support but the bottom was floppy. It did manage to stay together well enough so that’s what hearty bread will do for you but just a light toast on it would’ve made a world of improvement.

Honestly, this felt like an avocado toast you could get at a dunkin’ donuts. Pretty generic ‘avocado spread’ that didn’t really scream freshness, microwave bacon that smells smokey but only tastes like salt, and some pretty mid feta crumbles. Each component tasted the way I wanted it to, but all together it was so muddle and one note. My wallet is crying for a meal that was not worth the $10. We’ve got to find some alternative breakfast options for days like these.

LAS VEGAS - eggslut

Today was a chill morning without an official reservation because we made our way to one of my picks for breakfast - eggslut.

LOCATION: THE COSMOPOLITAN

3708 LAS VEGAS BLVD. SOUTH LAS VEGAS, NV 89109

At this point, I can’t remember where I got this recommendation but it must have been a video for places to eat in LA and I cross referenced it and made a note that there are locations in Las Vegas too. I was pretty excited this made it on the itinerary and had a fun time coming here.

This eggslut location is a take-away counter but this area in The Cosmo is pretty open seating, casual hang-out, food stalls kinda vibe. This did make it a little tricky to find a place to eat once we got our order but the group did a little divide and conquer and found a tiny table that got the job done.

I did remember that one of the reasons I wanted to go to an eggslut was to order their signature menu item - the slut. The slut is a coddled egg on top of a smooth potato purée, toped with salt and chives, and served with slices of baguette. Unfortunately, one of my cousins took the counter role so I didn’t actually get to ask for a slut to go but that’s only part of the journey. I think it was a nice little stop for a true American to-go breakfast which was a nice experience for the German family.

I think I did buy into the naming and branding a little hard because this was a pretty average breakfast. I haven’t had this exact combo before of a coddled egg with a potato purée but eggs and potato with bread is not a wild combo. It was still really good, I liked the serving amount, and it was a solid choice for a casual breakfast. I also did have an enjoyable time dipping the bread into the coddled egg and having a little potato surprise underneath. I wouldn’t go out of my way for an eggslut, but if I needed a quick breakfast sandwich or some eggs to-go, this wouldn’t be a bad stop at all.