An engagement between French & Japanese cuisines at Chaya Brassiere

Spiced Honey Glazed Duck Breast and Warm Chocolate Croissant Bread Pudding.
I know your mouth is watering...or at least mine's is!
New food blog post about a fusion cuisine restaurant in San Francisco that my friend went to. It has the most amazing view of the Bay Bridge, currently lit up by 25,000 LED lights for the Bay Lights project to celebrate the bridge's 75th anniversary (I think it was 75th...)

I checked out the menu, which was a bit pricey, but the ambiance seems romantic and cozy, perfect for a date, perhaps? If you're interested, click here to read about it!

Best Tea Place in Berkeley

 Just updated the food blog with a new post on one of the best tea places in Berkeley.  I was introduced to it not long ago by my friends, and was a little doubtful of whether their tea is any good since it seemed like one of those artsy places that jacks up prices of good tea I can easily get in Hong Kong for low prices.  But I can firmly say that Asha Tea House in Berkeley serves really good tea, even in those creamier and more dessert like drinks (i.e. boba & tea lattes).

 

Pictured above are the hojicha latte and matcha affogato.  I thought the hojicha latte was straight tea at first with just a hint of sweetness if I didn’t see it was a creamy brown color.  Their boba is also chewy, sticky, and incredibly yummy.  It was definitely none of that commercial powdered mixes I like to call baby formula for adults that Quickly’s or any other chain would serve you.  The matcha affogato was quite strong as well.  It was intensely concentrated green tea powder, which made it the right amount of bitter when paired with sweet and rich vanilla ice cream.

If you ever get a chance to go to Berkeley, skip Quickly’s or any chains you’re familiar with and hop down to Asha.  Their tea is amazing, their atmosphere is relaxing (the interiors are really cool!), and it’s a good place to kick back with a book or bring your laptop for study or work.  I haven’t managed to try their Portuguese egg tarts yet (they have a matcha version of that as well), but am definitely putting that on my list next!  If you’re interested, click here to read about it!

Food blog update! Pizza at Cheese Board & Potato Puffs at Gregoire

If you're ever in Berkeley, you need to hit up these two places for food.  Seriously.  I've never been to Gregoire nor Cheese Board during my time as a student in Berkeley, thinking it must just be overhyped places...but how wrong I was...especially about Cheese Board.

Cheese Board only serves 1 type of pizza per day, and all their choices are vegetarian.  I'm a meat lover, but their pizza is simply amazing, so much so that it doesn't even matter if there isn't any meat.  There's a queue out the door all the time (but I missed it since I went in the odd hours between lunch and dinner).  They also have a live band, which makes it a nice place to hang out with friends.  The potato puffs at Gregoire on the other hand...are...well, they're good, but they were too salty for me.  I need to try out their other stuff to see if I've missed out on something.

If you're interested in the review, click here to read about it on the food blog.