Monthly Archives: May 2012

Memorial Day Weekend @ Virginia & Washington, DC *pix heavy*

i visited pork belly last weekend in virginia. we had such a great ‘outdoor’ weekend.

saturday we went to the national zoo in DC. we took the train instead of driving there. DC has the creepiest subway ever. so dark and creepy.

panda statue

the zoo is FREE just like other museums in DC

perhaps because it is free. there arent so many animals in the zoo.

cheetah

panda:

there are two pandas: tian tian and mei xiang. this is the first time ive ever since a live non-sleeping panda super close. w00t! the pandas were both eating bamboos. i really think their main meals are not bamboos but meat instead. how can they only eat bamboos and get that fat. they are aggressive diners.

panda was shipped in this cage from china.

some panda porn. they tried to reproduce on their own but couldnt get pregnant :(

this might be the 1st time ive seen a live owl.

after the zoo, we headed to sweet lobby. although pork belly bought sweet lobby for me a few times, i hadnt been to their real store yet.

see my review: here and here

the store is so tiny. im sorta on a diet so we just got couple things and ate on the spot. the cupcakes were so good when they were fresh.

strawberry champagne + green tea w/ a macaron on top.

check out pork belly’s panty and flies tee in the back :T

after sweet lobby we headed to georgetown. we rented two bikes and biked around.

look what i got lol….. i also bought a bubble bar from lush.

we had dinner @ chasin tails crawfish in arlington and watched the celtics vs. 76ers game 7. the food that night wasnt so good and fresh and the waiter was super slow. meh i don’t know if i will return again.

Sunday

we went to Shilla to get some bingsoo and bubble tea after hot pot lunch @ Mala Tang 

the green tea bingsoo is a beast. sooo goooddd omg!! the one @ pc cafe in boston is nothing but trash comparing to this.

the shaved ice is so fine + super delish green tea ice cream + mochi + yummy red bean

the pink bubble tea is guava flavored. tasted horrible it went straight to trash.

after yummy bingsoo its time for some biking. pork belly took me to the The Washington and Old Dominion Trail

“The 100-foot-wide W&OD has been called “the skinniest park in Virginia.” But it is also one of the longest parks, 45 miles of paved trail for walking, running, bicycling and skating and 32 miles of adjacent gravel trail for horseback riding. Built on the roadbed of the former Washington & Old Dominion Railroad, the multi-use W&OD Trail runs through the urban heartland and countryside of Northern Virginia.

W&OD Trail Hours: The park is open all year, from dawn to dusk.

Location: The W&OD Trail runs from Shirlington near I-395 to Purcellville in Loudoun County.”

Monday

after korean bbq @ honey pig we went to h mart next door to grab some snacks.

korean kit kat knock-offs

pork belly picked up this cuz he thought the expression of the chicken made this looked super good and spicy, but it turned out to be the opposite.

after h mart we went to our fave dessert place again – shilla 

i couldnt resist sampling their bread/bakery. omg so good. heavenly good. i was in paradise.

we also went to hahaPink for sticker photos <3

after i was super stuffed from sampling all the bread, we headed to great falls park for hiking.

after hiking we drove back to reston center. i got a cupcake from red velvet cupcakery. they only had two flavors left. this chocolate one and carrot cupcake. i hate carrot cake so i didnt have a choice. it was good but nothing so special about it.

also went to Pilango Gelato for some gelato. i got the passion fruit flavor. soooooo goood and refreshingly deflish!!!!! loved loved it!

pork belly was hungry at this point, so he got a beacon burger and cajun fries from five guys. i couldnt resist so i ate half of the fries of course.

thanks to pork belly i had a such fun weekend. i love you <3

District Taco @ Arlington, VA / Taco Truck

pork belly took me to district taco last weekend. they started with a food truck and now have grown into restaurants at multiple locations in and around VA and DC area.

pork

steak

chicken

i liked these tacos a lot! so tasty, bold, flavorful, and spicy. although the meat couldve been better, the ingredients were super fresh as they claim that they are made from scratch each day. the only complain i had was the tortillas were flour tortillas instead of corn tortillas. i just checked out their online menu it says:

‘Tacos
On flour tortilla. Corn tortillas available upon request’

i guess i did not see that in the restaurant. remember to ask for corn tortillas if thats what you prefer.

these still cant beat the taco trucks in LA, but i am satisfied. cant ask for more.

this place gets 4.5/5 bunny belly

5723 Lee Hwy
Arlington, VA 22207

(703) 237-1204

District Taco on Urbanspoon

Honey Pig Gooldaegee Korean BBQ @ Centreville, VA

boston does not have any good korean food. i usually get my korean bbq fix in VA. with a larger korean population in virginia, you can find way better korean food in VA. honey pig is our to go korean bbq place. honey pigs have three locations in VA. the centreville one is the closest to pork belly’s house. this was actually the very first restaurant pork belly took me to in VA. it opens 24/7 and i love the atmosphere here.

it reminds me exactly like korea. they even use the same table in korea.

we order LA galbi and ribs. so yummmmm

they sell their tees. two pigs and one wears bunny ears awww.

this place gets 4/5 bunny belly.

13818-B Braddock Rd
Centreville, VA 20121

(703) 830-5959

7220 Columbia Pike
Annandale, VA 22003

(703) 256-5229

Honey Pig (Gooldaegee) on Urbanspoon

Sichuan Chengdu Hot Pot / Shabu @ Mala Tang Arlington, VA

we have been to uncle liu’s hot pot restaurant a few times and i love the spicy hot pot broth @ uncle liu’s. probably the most authentic ma la spicy broth ive had on the east coast. the only turn off is the meat @ uncle liu’s. not tender and high quality meat. one day we saw mala tang on livingsocial. mala tang and uncle liu’s have the same owner except mala tang is the fancier version of uncle liu’s, so we wanted to give mala tang a try and hoped that they have better meat @ mala tang.

we went to mala tang for lunch last saturday. the place is pretty good. very well decorated for a chinese restaurant. we were the ONLY people there except another couple.

i ordered chengdu cold noodles. this was ok. flavors were off. not as spicy and delish as what ive had in chengdu.

chengdu dumplings. this was so off. nothing like the real zhong shuijiao, but it didnt taste bad.

they have the small personal pot for hot pot. it sort looks like shabu shabu. the broth was bland. uncle liu’s broth was way spicier, numb, and flavorful!

i love the sesame sauce, but not a lot of places have it in america. this tasted a bit sour :T

scam no. 1: i ordered the surf and turf meal which comes with meat and seafood of your choice and a combo of veggies. i chose veggie combo #1 because it has lotus roots on the menu, but when they brought the veggies i did NOT see any lotus roots. i asked our waitress why she said they did not have it. ok this is not acceptable. why didn’t she inform me that they did not have it when i placed the order?!

scam no. 2: you can choose either noodles, rice, or vermicelli. she did not ask me what i wanted; she just brought rice to me. who eats rice with hot pot?! i asked her if i could have vermicelli; she said no because that would be extra $4. wtf it says right in the menu that i get to choose.

scam no. 3: the meat – bad quality meat with veggies stuffed in the bottom to make the plate looks fuller.

ive always always been skeptical about restaurants on livingsocial or groupon. if the restaurants are good, they do not need to advertise on such sites. this proved me im right again.

this place gets 1/5 bunny belly

NEVER AGAIN!

3434 Washington Blvd
Arlington, VA 22201

(703) 243-2381

Mala Tang 麻辣烫 on Urbanspoon

Penang @ Chinatown Boston, MA (Malaysian)

we went to penang in chinatown last week for din din. penang serves malaysian food. the food isnt amazing but decent enough for me to come here once in a while ever since middle school.

the must:

indian bread with chicken curry. love it!

hainan chicken. tender and delish

the indian bread and hainan chicken are two must haves.

this is pineapple fried rice.

green curry. wasnt a big fan of it.

685 Washington St
(between Beach St & Lagrange St)
Boston, MA 02111

(617) 451-6373

Penang on Urbanspoon

Island Creek Oyster Bar @ Fenway Boston, MA

i have been trying to eat at island creek oyster bar forever. i could never get a reservation online (opentable) no matter how in advance. the place is huge so i figured no way they are packed every night. one of my college friends was in town; i decided to go to island creek oyster bar without a reservation. we were lucky enough to get a parking spot and seated immediately upon arrival. the place was busy but plenty of empty seats since it’s so huge. i tend to love places that have high ceilings. i really enjoyed the ambience: trendy and classy.

the entire wall is made of oyster shells.

we started off with riesling. wine was ok.

i also wanna mention about their butter. i loved it. so yum with a tint of sweetness.

appetizer. No Shell Prince Edward Island Mussels
white wine cream, garlic, shallots, parsley

this was my fave thing of the entire meal. loved the broth.

my friend tried 3 diff kinds of oysters. their oysters are supposed to be the best oysters in town. my friends thought they were good but a little bit fishy and oysters at neptunes  are def better and more fresh.

Pan Roasted Rhode Island Monkfish
whole grain spaetzle, grilled onion,
lemon caper butter

this was good but nothing amazing.

LOBSTER ROE NOODLES
braised short rib, grilled lobster,
maitake mushrooms, English peas, Pecorino

i ordered this dish because it’s probably the most popular dish here. the pasta itself was NOT so ‘al dente’ but overall wasnt bad.

it was a lil bit salty for my liking. the beef and lobster were well cooked. notice there is ONE french fry in my plate. i wonder if it really came with it?

again, i really liked the ambience of this place. very spacious and relaxing. the food isn’t the greatest food on earth, but i would def come here again to hang out. the open til 1 in the morning.

my fave part of the meal: at the end of the meal we wanted to order more drinks, the waiter poured us 3 free glasses of wine. how awesome was that!?!? free drinks w00t!!!!!

because of this i am giving this place 5/5 bunny belly!!

500 Commonwealth Ave
Boston, MA 02215
(617) 532-5300

http://www.islandcreekoysterbar.com/

Prezza @ North End Boston, MA

i had been wanting to go to prezza for a while and i finally went tonight with two friends. i made a reservation on opentable last night for 6:30. we got there on time and were seated right away.

prezza is one of the nicer restaurants in north end. service was very pleasant, friendly, and attentive. they offer an extensive wine list, but i wasnt in the mood of drinking because i was still recovering from last weekend.

olive oil with warm bread. you can pretty much tell if the restaurant is good or not from the beginning by the bread and olive oil/butter they serve. i already started liking this place.

Grilled Wild Tiger Prawn with frisee, black olive and oregano potato salad
exactly how i expected it to be.

Seared Scallops, English peas, fava beans, spring garlic and polenta

Potato Gnocchi with rock shrimp, roasted tomato, ramps and Parmigiano cheese
i heard prezza has really good pastas, so i had to try some. this dish is well executed. it is very tasty without being too bold or overwhelming.

the steak was huge so my friends splited one. i am not a huge steak person, but this is somewhat bland.
picture is show 1/2 of the steak.

BEST PART OF MY MEAL!!
Passion Fruit crème brulee with fresh whipped cream and coconut macaroons
omg i was blown away by this passion fruit creme brulee!!! what a heavenly mix.
maybe i just love everything passion fruit but this was amazingly delish, probably one of the best desserts ive ever had!! highly recommended!!

Tiramisu “Parfait” with Kahlua and espresso
tiramisu was very yum too. very creamy and satisfying.

this place gets 4/5 bunny belly

24 Fleet St
(between Garden Ct St & Moon St)
Boston, MA 02113

(617) 227-1577

http://www.prezza.com

Prezza on Urbanspoon

Bingsoo @ Between Hours / PC Cafe Boston Allston, MA

i actually hate this place. i would NEVER come to this place if i didnt have to. the bubble tea/milkshakes/smoothies are absolutely the worst in town and i have had enough to judge. the service is horrible and nonexistent. 9.5 out of 10 times i do not want boba in my bubble tea. despite the fact that how horrible their drinks taste, one time i order bubble tea from between hours and asked for no boba, my drink was literally a little bit more than half cup filled. i asked why and she told with a BAD ATITUDE that their drinks were proportional pre-poured so i did not want boba therefore my drink wasnt filled. what kinda BULLSHIT is that? you did not charge me less for no boba so why cant i have my drink filled up. i thought that was super ridiculous. their fro-yo tastes horrible too. there are plenty of better bubble tea and fro-yo places near allston/brighton area, so no way i would want to return to this place esp with the TERRIBLE service and food.

last night, 5 friends and i went to shanghai gate for din din. we headed to between hours because one friend insisted and said the bingsoo (shaved ice) is good.

i shared a green tea bingsoo with my friend. meh, this was ok. wasnt as horrible as other things that they have. they put boba and banana in it which i dont like.

two other friends shared a red bean bingsoo

and my friend has this banana split by himself. i tried some and did not like it. tasted like very cheap ice cream.

while we were there, we had some fun with my iphone fisheye lens.

154 Harvard Ave
(between Brighton Ave & Glenville Ave)
Allston, MA 02134

i went to the hampton beach last weekend and we were stuck in traffic for like 3 and half hours.

it was already 7 when we got there so i just snapped a few pix and left.

it’s summertime chea