Never Turn Down A Cupcake: Sushi

I've been getting a lot of takeout from restaurants around me since March as a way to make the most of this time at home and support some great places. I know that I am very lucky to have SO many places near me to try!

I wanted to take some time to share some of the delicious food I've had these last few months, starting with this Restaurant Week dinner from Sushiko! I treated myself to this three course takeout dinner for my birthday last week and it was so delicious. I love that there were choices for each course, but clearly I had a hankering for sushi and sashimi, haha. Everything was very fresh and packaged nicely for the car ride home. This was a great Restaurant Week takeout meal and I would definitely recommend it - it's available until the 31st for anyone that is interested!

Sushiko Chevy Chase

5455 Wisconsin Avenue

Chevy Chase, MD 20815

Wednesday, July 17, 2019

Whistle and Flute T-Shirts

I've been a fan of Whistle & Flute's t-shirts and other goodies for a while now on Instagram, but during a recent online sale I couldn't resist getting a shirt for myself and also for my niece and nephew! I mean, the ramen shirt is clearly right up my alley, and the little face on the bowl is too cute! The kids' sushi shirts are super fun, and I love how each of the items has a tiny little face on them. The shirts feel soft and durable, which I feel like is especially important for kids' clothes. I heard that they will be doing another online sale on the 18th, so be sure to check out their website if you're interested in any of their products!

Tuesday, May 7, 2019

Lunchtime Links for May 7th, 2019

Love and Olive Oil: Ahi mango poke.
Serious Eats: Spring soup recipes.
The First Year Blog: Mini coffee cheesecakes.
Bakerella: Detective Pikachu cake pops.
How Sweet Eats: Crab avocado salad on buttered garlic toast.

Monday, April 15, 2019

Sushiko - Kani Karaage (Soft Shell Crab)

Soft shell crab season is back! I love soft shell crabs and can't get enough of them when they start popping up on restaurants menus this time of year. One of my favorite soft shell crab dishes in the area is the Kani Karaage at Sushiko in Chevy Chase, MD. "Kani" means Crab in Japanese, and "Karaage" is most commonly known as bite size Japanese fried chicken, but in this case is linked to the way the crab is prepared.

I recently met a few friends there for happy hour, which includes some great deals on sushi hand rolls and appetizers. But I was there mainly for the delicious fried soft shell crab, which is super crispy without being greasy or heavy - so good! This dish is on the regular menu so even if you're not there during happy hour I highly recommend trying it while it's available!

Wednesday, August 8, 2018

Pike and Rose - Jinya Ramen Bar

The moment I found out that a Jinya Ramen Bar would be opening up in the Pike and Rose area, I was pretty much counting down the days until they announced their grand opening, haha. I have been to other Jinya restaurants a bunch of times - mostly in the Seattle area, but there are also other locations near here in DC and VA - and have always enjoyed their ramen. This location officially opened yesterday on the 6th, but I had the chance to try it out with my friend C and other local ramen fans at the preview event the night before!

I like the setup of the outdoor dining space - especially this large communal table with a fire pit in the center.

The preview event definitely made sure that no one left hungry - there were lots of passed appetizers and mini bowls of ramen throughout the night!

One of my favorite bites are the Takoyaki, which consists of a soft flour-based batter with tender pieces of octopus as the main ingredient. The octopus was super tender in every bite.

The mini wonton tacos with salmon poke (above) and spicy tuna (not shown, but definitely enjoyed, haha) were also delicious.

The place filled up pretty quickly once the event got started. I really liked the exposed lighting and upside down planters, which looked really nice above the bar/communal high top tables!

The crispy chicken (karaage) appetizer was seasoned really well and very crispy on the outside without being dry on the inside. It's one of my favorite Japanese foods, and this one did not disappoint.

And now to the main event - the ramen! They served a number of mini bowls so we could try out the different flavors. I love that they did this, so we could really get a good taste of the chicken, vegan, and pork broths, the thin/thick noodles, and the various toppings.

Chicken Ramen

Spicy Creamy Vegan Ramen

Tonkotsu Black Ramen

Judging from the preview event crowd, the neighborhood is definitely excited to have a new ramen restaurant in the area!

Jinya Ramen Bar

Pike & Rose

910 Prose Street

North Bethesda, MD 20852

Friday, May 27, 2016

Lunchtime Links for May 27th, 2016

Averie Cooks: Cashew chicken.
Kirbie's Cravings: Mini flourless Nutella muffins.
The Cozy Apron: Spicy Ahi tuna poke bowl.
Handle the Heat: Nutella chocolate covered pretzel milkshake.
Kevin and Amanda: Chocolate peanut butter cup pancakes.

Thursday, November 12, 2015

Japan Visit - Food Displays

One thing you may notice when you visit Japan is the sheer volume of food displays outside of restaurants. They've been around for as long as I can remember, but I always love seeing all of the different plastic foods because they really do look so real, haha. I've seen countless TV programs in Japan about how these display foods are made, and they really do put in a lot of effort to make them look as realistic as possible. It's also a great way for people that don't read or speak Japanese to easily decide where to eat or what to order, since you don't need to read menu to figure it out.

This is just a small part of the food display outside of a sushi restaurant (surprise) that we went to the day I arrived in Japan.

And here's the real sushi - not too much of a difference unless you're looking at them really closely, haha.

And here we have a food display outside of a Chinese restaurant inside of a department store, showing some of the entree options as well as the sides that come with certain set meals.

While these dishes are not in the previous photo, I thought it was pretty awesome that this Chinese restaurant offered so many different set menu options - I mean, who wouldn't want a small tonkotsu ramen as a side dish to the entree?

Finally, we have a delicious shrimp burger from Mos Burger - and I didn't take a photo of the fake one, but at first glance it would be really difficult to figure out if this was real or fake, because both the display and the real burger look identical, haha. And this is a fast food burger place - when's the last time you got a burger in an American fast food place and it looked just like the photo?? Especially the perfectly toasted bun, not smashed down into a sad sliver of bread, haha.

These are just a fraction of the amazing food displays you can see everywhere in Japan - such a fun and practical way to figure out what you'd like to eat!!

Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Japanese Wasabi Kit Kats

Of all of the crazy-sounding Japanese Kit Kat flavors, this is likely up there in the "What the heck?!" ranking. Yes folks, this is a box of Wasabi flavored Kit Kats. Yes, as in the pile of green next to your plate of sushi, is also found in these candy bars, haha.

I must say, the light green hue of these white chocolate based wafer sticks was actually very pretty to look at. They didn't really smell like wasabi right off the bat, but you definitely get a little tinge of something like horseradish. As far as the taste, the white chocolate flavor is very strong, which helps to mute the wasabi flavor. There's definitely a wasabi flavor in here, but it's not overpowering. This was definitely one of the more interesting flavors to try out!

Thursday, September 19, 2013

Seattle Visit - Nishino Restaurant

During my recent visit to Seattle, my parents and I got to try the omakase dinner at Nishino restaurant. The restaurant itself is on the outskirts of what I consider to be central/downtown Seattle, tucked away into a hilly residential area. The space was pretty small but very bright and airy throughout the dining room, with an open kitchen. All of the courses were fresh, delicious, and mostly seafood-based as you can see in the photos, which I really enjoyed. It was all beautifully presented and overall a really lovely dinner!

1: Salmon, toro, clam

2: Amaebi shrimp ceviche

3: Albacore tuna sashimi and salad

4: Miso cod, vegetables

5: Walla Walla onion, maitake mushroom, and oyster tempura

6: Arctic char and vegetables

7: Nigiri, negitoro roll, soft shell crab roll

8: Assorted mochi and fresh fruit

Nishino
3130 E. Madison
Seattle, WA 98112
206.322.5800

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Farmers Fishers Bakers' Brunch

Man oh man - the brunch at Farmers Fishers Bakers really goes all out! M and I tried out this weekend brunch recently and I really thought the variety of items was great. I also really loved how there were a number of food stations AND passed dishes that went from table to table, offering fresh items as well. And don't worry about missing any of the tableside items if you are up at the buffet, because they come back A LOT, seriously. I started to feel bad for the Eggs Benedict server that we had to keep saying no to over and over again, haha.

As you can see there is much more than your standard brunch fare here - on this plate I got a bruleed grapefruit, watermelon (with mint?), salsa, freshly made guacamole, chips, thick-cut bacon, kale salad, and a dab of crab dip, I believe.

One of the tableside items was this deliciously gooey cinnamon roll, yum.

The fried chicken was. AWESOME. I totally would've gotten more if I hadn't gotten all of this other food haha. On the bottom right is a pulled pork taco in a crispy corn tortilla, like a corn crepe almost, as well as some rice/pasta mix, a meatball, and grits.

There are also a lot of desserts to choose from, and anyone that's a fan of sweet items during brunch is welcome to grab a few desserts as your meal, haha. This beignet was puffy and sweet, but not hot, unfortunately.

Yay for cute desserts in a jar! This banana pudding was really good - the wafers inside weren't soggy and stayed crunchy which I liked, and that whipped cream on top was especially delicious.

Overall I thought the brunch at Farmers Fishers Bakers had a TON of dishes to choose from and it was a relaxed and fun way to get to try a little bit of everything. We never felt rushed during our meal, which was nice because we could chat leisurely as we ate, and take breaks in between hitting up the buffet area, haha. I would definitely come back again for brunch!

Farmers Fishers Bakers

3000 K Street NW

Washington, DC 20007

202.298.8783