Alexander's Steakhouse in San Francisco offers a fine dining interpretation of a Modern American Steakhouse with hints of Japanese influences throughout their menu. The restaurant, which has received numerous awards since its opening in 2005, utilizes the finest and most luxurious products. It has its own dry-aging room, producing the finest quality of flavor in its 28-day, dry-aged steaks. Their menu features storied steak offerings, including the largest selection of wagyu beef and dry-aged steaks. The signature hamachi shots is a classic from the original Alexander’s in Cupertino. They are $4 each or $22 for half a dozen. These little glasses are filled with a palate-awakening mix of raw hamachi, jalapeno, avocado, ginger, lime juice and truffled ponzu sauce.
After serving as a private dining space for venture capitalist Brian Koo and his wife Grace for a year, Maum opened to the public on July 2018, with just one communal seating a night at a table for 16 diners, three nights week. Maum, which means “from the heart” in Korean offers an 8-10 course tasting menu which interprets traditional Korean flavors in a modern and elevated dining experience, keeping the integrity, seasonality, and locality. Chefs Michael and Meichih Kim are a married couple, whose hospitality and welcoming demeanor of Maum create a social and exuberant contrast against their refined cuisine and wine—starting with such exquisite canapés as soondae (blood sausage) dotted with preserved shrimp, or Kusshi oysters dusted with kimchi snow.
Dancing Yak is a Nepali restaurant that took over the old Babu Ji space on Valencia. Eating here will make you want to hop on a flight and immediately go check out the Himalayas. Every dish in Dancing Yak is visually vibrant, fantastically flavorful, and splendidly spicy. Order everything but make sure you don't miss out their momos which are the Himalayan version of a dumpling. Its made of minced chicken or vegetables mixed with chives, garlic, and homemade momo masala, served with spicy tomato and roasted soybean sauce.
Salty's is a coffee cum sandwich shop in Van Ness Avenue of San Francisco. In addition to their flavourful coffee made with beans from local roasters Ritual, this family-owned shop serves an assortment of signature sandwiches on soft pretzel rolls for breakfast and lunch. One of the most popular sandwiches of Salty's is their delicious Glorius Bastard Sandwich ($12.95). It is an avocado turkey club sandwich with pickled onions and chipotle gouda, stacked inside a Dutch Crunch bread roll with salami, mortadella, ham, smoked Gruyère, provolone cheese, tomato, garlic mayo.
Bistro Na's is a fancy, slightly expensive restaurant in San Gabriel Valley. It serves food that was originally designed for royalty and is one of very few Imperial Cuisine restaurants in the US. Each dish of this restaurant is prepared with hand-picked, superior ingredients by a dedicated team of expert chefs helmed by Chef Tian. Bistro Na’s top dishes include crispy shrimp ($24), prime beef rib ($39), peppered lamb chop ($36) and the “Emperor’s Jar” appetizer ($20). This place is pretty pricey, but the incredible dishes are worth the price.
Tips: Don't forget to make reservations before coming to Bistro Na's since they don't take walk-ins.
Elite in Monterey Park is one of the premium dim sum restaurants in San Gabriel Valley. This place doesn't have food carts, ordering is done from paper menu cards. Though there are more than 100 different things on the menu, the most recommended dishes of this place are its BBQ pork pastry, steamed taro cake, golden cream bun, crispy shrimp rice noodle and pork shumai. Elite's pork shumai is juicy, flavorful, and generous in portion size. The quality of the food remains consistent and reliable in this high-end restaurant year after year but the waiting time is often a little long.
A visit to San Diego is not complete without ocean view dining and brunch and luckily, JRDN offers both. Located in Pacific Beach, this restaurant offers stunning beach views and a perfect spot for people watching. The restaurant serves contemporary California cuisine and its brunch menu has enough variety to satisfy both those seeking breakfast or lunch. Not to be missed is their sticky bun: a giant gooey fluffy breakfast bun topped with either maple bacon or cheesecake bites that are big enough for sharing.
With an award-winning ramen master from Japan at the helms, Menya Ultra is serving some of the best tonkotsu ramen outside of Japan. Once inside, you feel like you've stepped into a ramen shop in Japan. Overly polite and friendly servers and staff greet you right away and you can witness the ramen being cooked firsthand as you wait for your food. The restaurant wait times are often 1+ hours, but the freshly made noodles bathing in a bowl of rich, creamy tonkotsu broth are worth the wait. They are most known for their tonkotsu ramen but if it's available, I highly recommend the limited edition Neg Mison Ramen.
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Bostwick's Chowder House offers the true Hamptons summertime dining experience. And if paper plates and a sometimes hour-long wait aren’t issues, the popular East Hampton spot has some of the area’s best seafood. Dine indoors among its seaside-inspired decor, outdoors on the casual patio with market umbrellas or order to go and enjoy your meal at home or the beach. Daily blackboard specials showcase the freshest catch from local fishermen, while menu options range from steamer and fried oysters with remoulade sauce to broiled local flounder, fish tacos, corn chowder, New England-style clam chowder, whole steamed lobsters and their famous lobster salad roll: a mildly seasoned production that packs plenty of lobster meat and butter.
Glass doors and walls afford a spectacular ocean view at this Montauk offshoot of the New York Italian restaurant first launched in New York’s Meatpacking District. The restaurant’s name is derived from the Italian expression “fare la scarpetta,” the pleasure of savoring a meal to its last bite. Fans pack the airy dining room and patio for sophisticated Italian fare. A crudo menu includes options like local fluke with roasted sunchokes, citrus and black salt. Popular pasta choices include short rib and bone marrow agnolotti and the restaurant’s famed spaghetti with tomato sauce. Entrée selections run the gamut from seared scallops with corn, tomatoes and morel mushrooms to lavender-glazed duck on fennel and potato puree topped with caramelized peaches and citrus.