[Travel] [Restaurant Review] [San Francisco, CA] Milkbomb Ice Cream

Sometimes I'm skeptical of trendy food.  Yes, as much as I'm susceptible to it, #DidItForTheGram #AmIRight

It just seems like everyone is doing "hybrid" or "mash-up" food these days.  Or rainbow, glittery, or rose gold food.  Because #DidItForTheGram

But some hybrids and mash-ups are worth writing about.

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Milkbomb Ice Cream
1717 17th Street
San Francisco, CA 94107

Milkbomb is a small family-run and -operated ice cream store tucked behind a Philz Coffee in the San Francisco neighborhood of Potrero Hill.  It's relatively new, having opened in 2017.

Its most popular menu item is The Milkbomb Sandwich, which is a glazed donut bun filled with ice cream, toppings, and sauce, placed on a heat press and sealed.  Their Yelp page describes it perfectly: The MilkBomb Sandwich is "hot on the outside, cold on the inside, and delicious all over."

Each one of those steps is customizable: they've got different types of donuts, at least a dozen changing ice cream flavors (though there also seem to be some constant favorites, like taro, ube and creamy horchata), tons of toppings and sauces going far beyond tried-and-true sprinkles and hot fudge (think crushed cereals and sauces like ube and condensed milk).

We opted for The Milkbomb Sandwich with a glazed donut outside, a scoop of horchata ice cream and one of ube, topped with condensed milk and cinna-pebbles.  Didn't want to go too over-the-top with either ube or cinnamon, but they do have ube and cinnamon donuts, too.  Plus ube sauce.

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If The Milkbomb Sandwich is a bit much for you (I do recommend sharing it with a friend, family, or date), they also serve ice cream in cups or hand-rolled cones with flavors like matcha, birthday cake, red velvet, black sesame, etc.

The shop is tiny, so there isn't really any indoor seating, but there are several cute little cafe tables just outside Milkbomb, so you can still sit and enjoy (with the company of your dog, see Exhibit A).  There's also a public park a block away, or you can take the ice cream a few blocks away to Anchor Public Taps for a different kind of afternoon delight.

Rating:  8/10, would recommend for an afternoon snack.  But not a morning snack—they're not open until 2:00 PM and they close 7:00 or 8:00 PM (Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays).

[Travel] [Restaurant Review] [Bay Area, CA] Mokutanya

TIL ("Today I Learned"): yakitori is a Japanese word meaning "grilled" (yaki) "fowl" (tori), meaning it technically refers only to Japanese grilled / barbecued chicken skewers.  But, since most yakitori joints also serve plenty of other delicious grilled barbecue meats and veggies, my whole life, I've always (mistakenly) assumed the term referred to all Japanese grilled skewers.

While I was wrong about what, exactly, technically, yakitori is, I assure you I am not wrong that it is delicious.

The meat or veggies are cut into bite-sized pieces, skewered, then roasted over a (typically) charcoal grill.  There are primarily two ways yakitori is seasoned, either with salt and lemon juice or with tare sauce, which is a sweet sauce made from mirin, sake, soy sauce, and ginger.  Here in the U.S., I've almost exclusively had the kind with tare sauce.

My friends and I were in Burlingame, California for a convention a few weeks back and looking for a quick bite to eat.  There were a lot of very good options for Asian food in the area, according to Yelp, but we settled on Mokutanya, a Japanese spot serving ramen, yakitori, and other miscellaneous Japanese foods, like karage (Japanese fried chicken).

Mokutanya
1155 California Drive
Burlingame, CA 94010
(650) 348-9388

The decor of the restaurant is very adorable, almost romantic.  Each of the tables is in its own glass "room" and the chairs are sunken into the floor so that, to passersby, you look like you're sitting at a traditional Japanese kotatsu-style dining table—low to the ground, on cushions rather than chairs.  There's a cubby seating area outside each of the glass "rooms" for diners to leave their shoes.

Photo Credit: Thrillist

I failed to grab a good picture of my own, but here's one courtesy of Thrillist.  

We opted for a few appetizers to share: seaweed salad, karage (Japanese fried chicken), and fried Japanese yam chips.  We then each ordered the skewers we wanted.  My go-to yakitori, by the way, are chicken thigh (もも momo), chicken skin (とりかわ torikawa), wagyu beef, cartilage (sorry, I am Taiwanese and I love the texture), and various veggies, like shishito peppers, sweet potatoes / yams, and bacon-wrapped asparagus.

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For those more adventurous than I, Mokutanya has "exotic meat" night twice a week, on Wednesdays and Thursdays, from 6:00 PM to 2:00 AM.  According to their website, they serve such meat as peacock, iguana, venison, alligator, buffalo, wild boar, kangaroo, swan, and silkworms.  Online reviews suggest they often serve additional "exotic meat."  This isn't my cup of tea, personally, but just be aware that Wednesday and Thursday nights tend to be packed, so either avoid those nights if you're like me, or make a reservation in advance if you're "game."

Overall, Mokutanya's yakitori was pretty tasty and not too expensive.  We didn't try the ramen, so I can't offer an opinion.  If I had one complaint, it would be that the service was very slow and the food came out at a snail's pace, even though we were there around 2:00 PM and the place was far from full.  I don't mind leisurely service at times, but we were pretty hungry and they actually never brought us our rice (we wound up asking them to strike the charge), which is basically sacrilege.  GIVE ME THE CARBS PLEASE.

Rating:  7/10, would recommend for a leisurely date or night out with friends.  Be careful of "exotic" night.

[Travel] [Restaurant Review] [NYC] P.S. Kitchen

My friend Anne says that I "know" about food.  While I'm not quite as deserving of that declaration as she might think (though I'm certainly flattered), it is true that I love food—all kinds of food—and that I do try to stay on top of what's new and interesting.  And I always give bonus points for being a good deal—if we're friends (or if you follow me via this blog), you'll see that value and affordability will play a big part in my overall satisfaction.

One thing that has always surprised me is the lack of true vegetarian and/or vegan restaurants in NYC.  To be honest, even true vegetarian/vegan options at restaurants can leave a bit to be desired, with many restaurants having just one or two options on their (official) menu.  I'm 100% a carnivore, but I have friends who aren't, and since picking restaurants often falls to me, their pain becomes my pain.

With that in mind, I'm very excited to tell you about P.S. Kitchen, a fairly new restaurant (a few months old only) located in Midtown Manhattan.

P.S. Kitchen
246 West 48th Street
New York, NY 10036
(212) 651-7247

It's sophisticated vegan food, inspired by seasonal flavors from all around the world prepared in a "classic French technique."  They're open for brunch, lunch, and dinner every day of the week, and they serve lovely vegan coffees and teas (you can choose from almond milk, coconut milk, and I'm sure other milks that I am forgetting) as well as cocktails.

And best of all, 100% of their profits are donated to self-sustainable local and overseas charities.  As of this writing, the listed charities are ShareHope, Yunus Social Business, The Bowery Mission, DEFY Ventures, and The Doe Fund.  Updates may be made periodically to P.S. Kitchen's Mission page.

Anne and I had lunch reservations.  The decor is adorable and inviting—perhaps best described as French country chic.  I failed to get a decent picture of the place, but think white, aged window panes, beautiful chandeliers, and clean, white, wooden tables with fresh country bouquets and large water bottles with sprigs of mint.

We each ordered matcha lattes (with coconut milk) and decided to split the Fennel Tartine, which is caramelized fennel, spiced almonds, and orange suprême on toast, to start, in part because I consider tartine to be a bit too much work to make at home with any sort of regularity.

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I opted for the Colombian Potato Soup, which included cilantro puree, avocado, jalapeno, and radish, while Anne went for the Ginger Rice Congee with spinach and crispy yuba (holding the sauteed oyster mushrooms).

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Finally, we finished up our lunch with the Strawberry Short Cake, with strawberry-rhubarb compote, almond cream, and crunchy almond.  It turned out to be one of the best desserts I've had in a while, vegan or not.  It probably helps that I am a huge almond lover and that I prefer fruity desserts, but honestly, if all vegan desserts tasted like this one... 

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My experience at P.S. Kitchen can be summed up simply: I can't believe it's actually vegan (not butter, TM).
Rating:  8/10, would definitely recommend to both carnivores and herbivores.

[Travel] [Restaurant Review] [Recipe] Early Morning Muir Woods + Breakfast and Millionaire's Bacon

I admit—too often, my first thought for travel is that it's expensive and far away and I'll need to make sure my passport is up to date.  But that's definitely not true—I'm lucky enough to live in the U.S., and there are amazingly beautiful things to see (and delicious things to eat) right here, in every state in the union.

One of the many stunning things you can see in California are the redwoods forests.  There are so many parks at which you can do so, including the Redwood National and State Parks (consisting of four parks), the Big Basin Redwoods State Park, and the Humboldt Redwoods State Park, but perhaps the easiest one to get to is the Muir Woods National Monument.  The Muir Woods are just a little over 16 miles outside San Francisco proper (though it will likely take you 45 minutes or so to get there by car) and feature easy boardwalk loops as well as proper hiking trails.  You'll want to arrive early in the morning, if possible, to beat the crowds—there isn't a lot of parking available—although the Internet lets me know that eventually the Muir Woods will move toward a reservation system—keep an eye on that over the next couple of years, as you'll need to plan ahead a bit more than we had to in the near future.

These steps lead to adventure and stunning views and photo ops.

Under the canopy of the redwoods, you feel so small.  Can you even spot me in this shot?  I think if you could zoom in, you'd see I wasn't even looking at the camera here—was just looking up in awe.

I didn't get a chance to take a proper hike this trip (my friend and I were squeezing this visit in the morning of my flight back to the East Coast), but there was plenty of beauty just along the boardwalk.  Don't underestimate, though, just how cold it can be in the middle of the forest—walking will warm you up, but you'll definitely need long sleeves, and a sweater or a light jacket are probably smart.

We took a healthy number of photos and read our fair share of informational placards.  It took a little over an hour for a pair of New Yorkers (meaning only that we walk quickly) to do the longest boardwalk loop—the park, I think, recommends you take 2 hours to do that same loop.

Before (or after) your morning hike, drive a little over a mile to Kitchen Sunnyside for a delicious, hearty breakfast.

Kitchen Sunnyside
31 Sunnyside Ave., Suite 1
Mill Valley, CA 94941
(415) 326-5159

They've got tons of delicious options both sweet and savory (plus lots of vegetarian dishes if that's your jam), and all the portions are huge.  Pictured below are the Morning Tacos with chipotle aioli, avocado, scrambled eggs, chicken apple sausage, bacon, tomato, cilantro, mild cheddar, and parmesan, and topped with roasted salsa and pico de gallo and sour cream.  Served with your choice of potato medley (my choice), home fries, hash brown or salad.

I made sure to order a side of millionaire's bacon-- don't forget yours.  Millionaire's bacon appears to have been invented (or at least made popular) by San Francisco's Sweet Maple restaurant.  I've actually made this bacon myself before at home—with regular bacon—but it really is best made thick.  Try for yourself using the recipe below—but also definitely order it when you're next in San Francisco.

Millionaire's Bacon
an original recipe by tammiest (The Passionfruit Fashionista) 

Ingredients
1 pound of thick-cut bacon
5 tablespoons packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon Cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 teaspoon black pepper

Directions
1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2.  Line a baking pan with foil.  Combine all of the spices and the brown sugar together in a bowl and mix thoroughly—if you like things spicy, increase the amount of spice to taste.  Handcoat each strip of bacon with the mixture.
3.  Bake for 25-35 minutes until the bacon is crisp.  Cool for at least 10 minutes before enjoying.