Halloween nnnnnnnn

halloween pretty much became my fave ‘holiday’ ever since i stopped getting money on chinese new years. i rarely do a non food related post, but i thought i’d share some pix. i used to go out 2-3 nights in a row dressing up in different costumes, but this year i didnt feel like to. just one night one costume and nothing too crazy.

hope everyone had a great halloween weekend. ive been pretty busy packing and moving out. have to move out before the storm hits. my food posts will be up soon. stay full and safe!!!!

pork belly was a ghostbuster and i was a lil riding hood if you cant tell.

2012 NY Street Ramen Contest Round 3 pix heavy

i took a day trip drove down to nyc to check out the 3rd round of nyc street ramen contest last weekend. i took a LOT pix and they are pretty self explanatory.

they had 8 ramen contestants.

1. ramen lab: italian ramen

roma tomato, chicken broth, petite basil, crimini mushroom, italian sausage, romano/parmigiano reggiano cheese, durum semolina ramen noodle.

this was my 2nd least fave one. it didnt taste bad at all but it tasted like spaghettis and meatballs, im here for some nice asian ramen, not some ramen version of spaghettis and meatballs.

2. hakkoan: Chan Chan Yaki Ramen

this was my 2nd fave out of all 8. brothless ramen with salmon, mushroom, cabbage, carrot, garlic, onion, and miso.

3. the shoyu ramen: shoyu ramen (soy sauce)

4. yume wo katare: shoyu ramen
this was the only one i didnt try because i just had a huge bowl of their ramen 2 nights before when they opened up in boston. please check out my full review.

Tsuyoshi Nishioka is super passionate about his ramen and what he does. he was always cheering and brought a lot energy to the crowd.

their ramen looks like this:

5. colo pesu ramen: colorful ramen

worst ramen of all, tasteless, i hate all the artifically coloring.

6. jin ramen: spicy miso ramen

7. tonyu ramen: tonyu herb ramen with soymilk

i really liked this. i liked the taste of herbs, creamy but light broth, feels healthy, not overwhelming.

8. tabata ramen: dark men

my FAVE of all. so tasty and flavorful. def my kind of ra-men!!!!

i didnt vote, but id totally vote for dark men. they won at the end anyways without my vote. congrats!

random pix of the other stuff they sold there

green tea marshmallow

mozzarella pancake

pork belly super popular

gyoza

sweet potatoes, yummmmm

veggie soymilk smoothie

squid

hope everyone had a great weekend. im off to get my sushi fix tonight.

Ramen on Steroids @ YumeWoKatare Porter Square Boston, MA (Yume Wo Katare)

porter square’s hugely anticipated ramen shop yumewokatare finally opened up last friday night. my friends and i were super excited and went to check it out.

their current hours are 6pm to 10pm from Tuesday – Saturday. closed on mondays and sundays.

super long line. we expected to wait for an hour but ended up waiting for 2 hours.

yume wo katare means ‘talk to your dream’. the frames on the wall are available to rent so you can share you dreams. owner of the yumewokatareone Tsuyoshi Nishioka owns 5 restaurants in japan. one of his dreams was to take his business international and he would like to see everyone else’s dreams come true as well.

while we were waiting in line in the cold, Nishioka’s friends were there to explain the concept of the restaurant and menu. they were really friendly and funny people. we had a lot of fun talking to them. you can also buy one of their tshirts for $15. i would consider it if they were selling something like scarfs?

this is their entire menu. either 2 slices of pork or 5 with your ramen. same soup, same veggies, same pork, nothing fancy, easiest choice you can ever make, i love that.

yumewokatare’talk to your dream’ in japanese

you have to purchase your ticket before sitting down and they will take ur ticket when you are served.

wall of dreams. i guess my purpose in life is to just eat hehehehe. what could possibly be a better purpose huh

haha looking at me all smiling

Tsuyoshi Nishioka making ra-men!

ra-men is finally served. this bowl of ramen is def not your typical ramen. look at all that pork and fatttttt. pork on pork on pork hahah. the pork is super tasty and tender. broth is really heavy, satisfying, and flavorful. the guy sat next to me was ‘moaning’ at the entire time while eating like he was reaching an orgasm. i guess he really enjoyed his bowl of ramen huh.

before they serve you your ramen, Tsuyoshi Nishioka would ask you ‘ninniku iremasuka’ which means if you want garlic. i love garlic of course id love some. my friend tingting copied me and said ‘hai’ as well, but she didnt want it. she gave all her garlic to me. yay double garlic for me!!!!!

love love love the texture of the noodles. al dente. very chewy and firm jus how i like it. <3 all ramen is made in house. the flour is imported directly from japan.

this is how i did. i wolfed down the entire bowl of ramen in like 15 mins. i finished all except for the pork fat and the soup. i was super stuffed after it and thought i would probably take a break before i revisit due to the heaviness and oiliness, but i started to crave for it the second day. this is your ramen on steroids… with crack… hahahha

at the end of the night. they give you a banana. i guess thats desserts? why in heck would i eat a banana for desserts esp the ramen was super super heavy and filling already. anyways, its nice of them i guess.

model – my friend, Jay Liu. he’s def rockin it.

yea we had wayyy too much fun with the bananas

i absolutely loved their concept. so simple straightforward. just straight up good food. no pretentiousness and unnecessary choices. we are given too many choices in life and i really enjoy the no-brainer experience. i guess you can leave all the thinking to your dreams.

great great place for a slurp. bring friends, bring scarfs and ur moncler jackets, bring cash, bring napkins (yea i didnt find any napkins), bring mouthwash, and you are good to go!

yume wo katare also participated in the street ramen contest yesterday in new york city and i went to check it out as well. stay tuned for pictures of the event.

hope everyone had a great weekend eating good food!

Category: Japanese
1925 Massachusetts Ave
Cambridge, MA 02140
Neighborhood: Porter Square

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I Cooked…

i dont think ive ever blogged about my cooking… oh besides the evo car cake i made for pork belly’s birthday. yea surprisingly, i dont only just know how to eat, i can cook as well. in fact, i do like to cook a lot, but unfortunately, i dont have my own kitchen and i dun have anyone to cook for so i havent cooked for a while. i like to cook for people. it makes me happy. (eh do i sound like a grandma?)

this past weekend we planned to play majiang at my friend tingting’s place. i decided to cook. i havent cooked for at least half year and i never cooked for so many people, so i was kinda stressed.

when i was in syracuse for college, i was sick of limited food choices esp chinese food. i started to look up recipes and try to cook on my own. i cooked for friends when we had gatherings and usually got a lot of compliments. my dad, my aunt, and my grandma are probably the best cooks, i guess i got some of their traits.

shrimp with cucumbers

sichuan spicy beef with lettuce (in the bottom)

chicken with mushrooms

steamed cod

beef potato braised in tomato sauce. i know this doesnt look appetizing but it tasted pretty good.
i seared the beef with hot dry peppers and peppercorn first then slowly cooked it in tomato sauce for two hours.

i know my food pictures usually look better than how they taste. altho my cookings didnt look super appetizing from the pictures, they tasted pretty good. at least my friends cleaned all plates. yay

i thought about doing recipes on my blog, but when i cook, its pretty much freestyle. i dont use measurements, i dont follow any orders or rules, i just throw in whatever i feel like in at the moment, so the dishes might taste different every time.

let me know which dish y’all would like to learn how to make, i ll try to write up a recipe for it.

i also made red bean soup but forgot to take a pic of it

my friends bought desserts. how sweet

french macarons from Macaron Cafe in NYC

yea we didnt play for money, we played for some goose.

two of my best friends in boston tingting and pu pu. known each other for 10+ years <3

hope you all enjoyed columbus weekend and ate some nice food!

Oga’s Japanese Cuisine @ Natick, MA Boston

went to oga’s 2 nights ago and IT BLEW ME AWAY. besides o ya, this was the BEST sushi ive had in boston. i have been slacking on my blog posts. so many posts i need to do so many pix i need to edit, but screw all that, i just have to i must to share with you guys my great din din at oga’s.

i usually do my post in chronological order, but today i am giving you the highlight of my night right at the beginning.

doesnt this look crazy good?!??!?!?!? this is the 8-piece omakase.

Oga’s Sushi 本日の寿司おまかせ

Oga’s specially selected sushi of the day

they also offer 10-piece omakase, but it was sold out that night. i didnt try out their other sushi, but based on this omakase, hands down best sushi ive had in boston so far (of course o ya is whole another story)

every bite was heavenly delicious. my friend NAOTAKA MISU who is also a foodie and japanese himself and has eaten at a lot sushi/japanese places in boston completely agreed with me that this was the BEST sushi he’s had besides o ya.

ok lets see the rest of our din din.. from the beginning.

Hamachi Usuzukuri はまち薄造り- Thinly sliced fresh yellowtail served with ponzu, chili sauce, and sesame oil

Madai Carpaccio 真鯛カルパッチョ – Authentic red snapper from Japan served with ponzu and balsamic vinegar

White Tuna Tataki びんながたたき – Fresh white tuna lightly seared and then marinated, served with mushrooms, onion, pepper,
sesame ponzu jelly, and plum sauce

Maguro Tataki 鮪たたき – lightly seared fresh tuna and sliced onions served with ponzu sauce

Chirashi ちらし寿司 – Assorted fresh seafood over a bed of seasoned sushi rice.

if you ever come to oga’s. please please get the omakase (oga’s sushi). it wont disappoint. everything else we had that night was good, but the omakase sushi def BLEW ME AWAY. every bite was ORGASMIC. i CANNOT wait to go back again to get the 10-piece omakase!! til then, i ll dream about it every night!

good night

have a great (long) weekend everyone. #eatmorefood

Categories: Japanese, Sushi Bars
915 Worcester St
Natick, MA 01760
(508) 653-4338

http://www.ogasnatick.com

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No. 9 Park @ Boston, MA

my friend took me to no. 9 park for my birthday. i know my birthday posts jus never end.

Christoffel Riesling kabinett urziger wurzgarten i loved it!

cocktail – no. 10

Scottish Salmon – salty

i actually forgot what this was. i think i liked it. fish was perfectly cooked and overall nice savory flavor.

Prune Stuffed Gnocchi – foie gras, toasted almonds, Vin Santo
one of no.9 park’s signature dish. i enjoyed it a lot.

pork shoulder – this dish was the most disappointing dish of the night. pork was not tender at all. bad choice of veggie.

blah

i always wanted to check out no. 9 park since i like most barbara lynch restaurants/bars. i’d say no. 9 park was rather disappointing. very average uncreative dishes. i wasnt digging the ambience of the restaurant either. i dont think i would return in the future.