CHI - Meet Fresh Love

LOCATION: 2026 S CLARK ST. UNIT A, CHICAGO, IL., 60616

I've never been to meet fresh before but I've been missing out on this chain and I'm pretty happy it's in my life right now. Meet Fresh just opened up here in Chicago and my friends brought up that we needed to go especially since I've never been before. So one night after dinner, we headed over. A little out of the way from the rest of Chinatown visually, this sweet spot is just around the corner from Chinatown square and right next to the L train. 

We walked in to a semi long line but still out of the cold to order our dessert. I shared the iced meet fresh signature with Christel and it's a bowl of herbal blended shaved ice with herbal jelly, taro and sweet potato balls, and creamer on top.

These taro/sweet potato balls are the best with amazing chewy texture and a subtle flavor. The grass jelly and the shaved ice were a great soft textural balance and the creamer gave the whole bowl a light sweetness. I love asian desserts because they tend not to be overly sweet and have a fun texture to them, though possibly odd for people unfamiliar with the components. 

The price of these desserts is a little high so it's not a regular place to go especially since it's super busy and it's hard to find a table but when I'm craving some dessert, this is the place to be. I'm already excited to go back.   

BUFF - Fuji

Cousin time continues with the family in buffalo and some quality sushi.

LOCATION: 736 MAPLE RD., BUFFALO, NY. 14221

Cousins Kim and Charlie both work at a sushi restaurant in Buffalo during weekends when they're not in school and they totally gave me the hookup with a full sushi meal (which we brought back to their house) including salad and some soup (for their dad). The best part of cousin sushi is the discounted price and no judgment for not eating raw.

I've eaten at fuji before but it's been awhile and we got all the works this time around. I love family time and when it includes cheap quality sushi it just gets better but when it comes to my dad's side of the family, food is always on point. 

ROC - Cousin Time at Owl House

I swear I keep coming back here and it's great. Owl House is still one of my favorite places to eat in Rochester, its such a cute hole in the wall, healthy choice with some great flavors.

LOCATION: 75 MARSHALL ST., ROCHESTER, NY., 14607

This time around I went with my cousin Sheen who suggested trying the place since he's newly returned to Rochester from California. I'm not back in Rochester often since I'm in school and it's getting harder and harder to coordinate family meals but I was pretty excited we had time to meet up and catch each other up on big events in life. 

Thankfully, Sheen is a great cousin to share food with because he's up for new foods and isn't picky but willing to go family style so we get to try more dishes. 

Owl House has an ever changing menu and I swear I never can eat the same thing twice (not that I go often enough). We decided to share buffalo cauli wings, and a beet salad. I voted on the buffalo cauli wings thanks to yelp reviews which are crispy fried cauliflower with classic frank's red hot sauce and a side of vegan blu cheese & celery slaw. Sheen voted on the beet salad which came with watercress, wine braised baby beets, pickled fennel, chevre, and grapefruit segments drizzled with a white balsamic vinaigrette. Honestly, we both new that he made the better choice and that beet salad blew the cauli wings out of the water. I'm a fan of beets and so is Sheen, so it must run in the family so salads with beets are always an automatic win.

I ordered a steak sammy for lunch because I was just in the mood for steak that day, which had pickled  onions and fennel, mayo, feta and arugula on a hoagie. It also came with house chips on the side but I seriously didn't need more food after our two starters. The steak was a little heavy and chewy so it was a little difficult to eat but I was content with the steak and it fulfilled my craving so thats what I was looking for. 

It was a great time with Sheen and I love getting food with him and sitting down to talk and bond more. Of course Owl House is one of my favorite places to revisit so it all added up to a good time ending in full bellies.  

ROC - Brookyln Ramen

I love being home and I love when home has new places to eat and try. But the key to new places to eat are to have someone to eat with and luckily my friend Nicole came through. 

LOCATION: 215 ALEXANDER ST, ROCHESTER, NY., 14607

Nicole and I are both back in town for the holidays and boy am I glad. I love seeing old friends and eating new foods. She mentioned that she wanted some ramen or pho when she got back to Rochester and I was her ticket to it so we headed out for a day of Ramen and Rock climbing. 

Brooklyn Ramen is a new place that opened this past fall. I've never been to a traditional ramen place in Rochester and apparently this owner trained in Brooklyn and brought it back and I'm pretty hyped about it. When you first walk in you can tell it's family owned. There's a dad taking orders and calling them out, a young son that you can tell was kinda forced here and would rather be chilling with his friends, an young grandma boiling noodles and steaming dumplings, and the one hired American that already has a passion for asian food. The banter between them is a little awkward and forced and I'm not trading my family for theirs but boy would I love working in a family place. Restaurants run in my dad's blood and I wish my mom was less practical and would let us open a place. Hard work but I think I'd love it. 

Of course we order a bowl of ramen, I go with my favorite Tonkotsu and add and soft boiled egg for good measure. We decide to split an order of goyza for good measure and you can hear the communication in the kitchen loud and clear; a little awkward but authentic family. The food comes out quick and we sit down at the table. Little sturdy plastic bowls and throwaway silverware but its all fun and fast.  

This is pretty good ramen. It came out quick and was perfectly cooked. I've had ramen in New York and I wouldn't say this bowl was as good; thin, soft noodles and a super casual Rochester atmosphere come into play but its still a good bowl of ramen if thats what you're craving.   

FL - Bento Cafe

I'm here in Florida for Christmas break visiting family which means Orlando visit! My main family doesn't life in Orlando but it's close enough that we do trips for a couple of days and head to some theme parks to check out the new additions and changes. We've been going for years so I'm familiar enough with them that we get through parks pretty quickly and know exactly what we wanna see. 

This left us with some time to go out for dinner a little and my cousin Michael had the perfect spot that he and his friends loved going to back in college when they had time. 

LOCATION: 7335 W SAND LAKE, ORLANDO, FL., 32819
                  : 2260 S UNIVERSITY, DAVIE, FL., 33317

That's right, we went twice. Michael really loves this place and only knew about it back when it only had one location in Orlando, but we went after a day of Disney and he learned that they have a location closer to home in Davie too. He's gonna go back often, I'm sure. Bento has sushi and bento box style meals and I wanted to try both (among other things) so when Michael suggested a second trip, I was all over it even though we went 3 days prior.

That first night I went bento style and ordered a bento box which comes with lo mein, ginger salad, string beans, and my choice of white rice. For mine I picked yellow (thai) curry with chicken. He and I were so hungry we also went with edamame to share and miso soup each to start. Everything was great. I spent the whole meal wishing we had one of these in Rochester (of course we don't) and inhaling everything in front of me. My cousin Vi commented that she hasn't seen me eat like this before and that's probably because she's so picky that whenever I go out to eat with her it's never anything special and non-american like this (i.e. all the classic chains).

Clearly, this place was so good that Michael and I had to go again but this time around I was ready for sushi. Now, this place is still a chain so this wasn't supposed to be ground breaking sushi, but for the price of a cheap chain, this place is still awesome. Again, Michael and I go for the miso soup and edamame to share but he orders the same thing as last time and I go for the sushi combo box. This box comes with an 8pc cali roll and two 4pc rolls of my choice - Mt. Fuji (krab, tempura shrimp, topped with krab, eel sauce, scallions), and a Mexican roll (tempura shrimp, cream cheese, avocado, eel sauce). This is great; cheap sushi, decent quality, I wish I could get it any time I'm craving sushi.