Myung In Dumplings

Miko and I had barley tea.

Nick had Coke.

Banchan are always nice.

Bourdain approves...

The dumplings came out very steamy.

Nice crisp bottoms -- Mary Berry would approve.

Ahh, look at this fresh and healthy filling!  So...unsatisfying.

Emphatic note scribbled on our data sheet that sums up our experience.

Rating: Two sideways thumbs
Date: 5/23/2015
Time in: 12:10 PM
Time out: 1:25 PM

Number in our party: 3
Servers' recommendations: #12 (No English translation), #1-3 are popular

What we ordered: #3 spicy steam roll dumpling with pork and shrimp, #4 shao mai, #12
Final check amount: $31
Price per person: $10.33

Notes: 

• The server was very informative and pleasant!  The restaurant was clean and bright too.
• It was fine...but the food was not amazing. Maybe we had really high expectations, since we'd heard that the LA location had Anthony Bourdain's stamp of approval.
• We found the dumplings a bit too vegetable-heavy.  You know what makes dumplings good?  Fat.  Preferably pork fat.  We want dumpling filling to require minimal chewing, and these had so much of the fibrous greens in it.
• We didn't feel satisfied and ended up getting a large order of fries at a brewery an hour and a half later.

RESTAURANT INFORMATION  
Address: 4344 Convoy St
Phone number: 858.565.2688
Noise level: 2
Accepts credit cards? Yes
Parking: A shared lot with a decent number of spaces!
Ideal group size: Any

Sang Devan (Deuan?)

This noodle dish was VERY tasty.

The sauce was good; the fish...was tilapia.

Look at this beautiful beautiful sticky rice!

Miko wished her coconut juice was in a coconut.  I wished my iced coffee was decaf.

Rating: One (conditional) thumb up (Jenne), one sideways (Miko)
Date: 3/27/2015
Time in: 12:43 PM

Number in our party: 2

Servers' recommendations: Phad lao, three flavored fish, lao papaya salad, golden wings with sticky rice, boat noodle, khao poon num pla
What we ordered: Thai iced coffee, young coconut juice, mee gatee, three flavor fish with sticky rice instead of regular
Final check amount: $32.72
Price per person: $16.36

  
Notes: 

• They fully redecorated, and a lot of it looked DIY.  They are very into aesthetic details -- for example, they used fresh flowers at each table.
• The noodles were very tasty, with a strong lemongrass flavor.
• The sticky rice was also good, and the portions were generous.
• The servers were kind, and the prices were reasonable too.
• It was kind of our fault for ordering freshwater fish, but the tilapia was pretty bad.  The sauce on it was okay, but it wasn't enough to mask the strong muddy taste the meat had.  Miko: it even triggered my gag reflex, and I couldn't finish the bite. 
• Miko: The young coconut juice came in a glass, and it was sweetened.  I'd much rather have it served in the actual coconut without any extra sugar.

RESTAURANT INFORMATION  
Address: 3904 Convoy St, Ste 112
Phone number: 858.737.4784
Noise level: 3
Accepts credit cards? Yes
Parking: Shared lot. Not bad during lunchtime.
Ideal group size: Any

Available vegetarian options: The menu has a vegetarian section!

Iceskimo

Is this culturally insensitive?  Hmmm...

Miko looking sort of wrung out...after kayaking six miles while seasick,
having a foot massage, and eating an entire order of xiaolongbao.

The "Old School."

The "Frrrozen Hot Chocolate" (three r's).

You can "build your own" like in a yogurt shop.

We like their cute designy style, and their nice server.

Rating: Two thumbs up

Date: 1/23/2015
Time in: 4:25 PM

Time out: 4:44 PM

Servers' recommendations: The Special (Frrrozen Hot Chocolate), Sweet & Salty, Strawberry Shortcake, Cookie Monster
What we ordered: Frrrozen Hot Chocolate (chocolate snow, dark chocolate bits, fresh strawberries, housemade whipped cream), Old School (Milk snow, slow-cooked red bean, grass jelly, condensed milk). We asked for half-orders, but they were giant!
Number in our party: 2
Final check amount: $8.06 + 0.15 for extra condensed milk, added later
Price per person: $4.11
Notes: 

• It's definitely the best snow we've had, although we only have two other locations to compare it to.

• Jenne really liked the chocolate snow -- it was rich, creamy, and really chocolatey. The whipped cream is good too, not too sweet. She was not a huge fan of the old-school.

• I liked my Old School, but next time, I would get an extra layer of condensed milk in the middle. The red bean is quite good. Tastes homemade.

• The design is really cute and simple.

• The music is at the perfect level! This never happens in trendy restaurants!

• The server at the counter was a lovely person.

• We're coming back to try the Sweet & Salty!

RESTAURANT INFORMATION
Address: 4609 Convoy St Ste B

Phone number: 858.216.1111

Noise level: 2

Accepts credit cards? Yes

Parking: Shared lot -- decent number of spaces at this time.

Ideal group size: Any.

Off-Convoy: JAPAN PART 2!

Okay, I was not in Japan this time for a happy reason.  However, with my brothers, family, and friends, who all love to eat as much as I do (which is saying a lot), we were obviously going to dedicate every second of free time and every bit of stomach space to finding delicious consumables.

This is my adorable great-uncle, who owns a popular beachside cafe called Tsuboya
(and his cat, who only likes him).
You should visit if you are ever in Shimoda; it is charming.

Soba with a fried shrimp topping.  It was shockingly delicious.

Izu has tons of natural hot springs,
which means they have a lot of free footbaths in parks.

My uncle treated my brother and me to a night at a fancypants hotel.
The hotel gives you jammies, which everyone wanders around in all day,
including to dinner at the hotel restaurant.

Speaking of dinner, it was endless.  Let's count the dishes, shall we?
Okay, here's 1. Appetizers.

2. Shabu shabu.

Yum, drinks!  There are lots of oranges grown in this region, so I got the juice cocktail.

3. Sashimi.

4. Teriyaki fish steak.  What kind of fish?  I don't remember.
There's probably not an English name for it anyway.

5. Taro root manju.

6. Beef stew.  (At this point, my stomach was starting to seriously hurt.)

7. Seafood chawanmushi.  I couldn't even eat this because I was too full.

8. Pickles.

9. Dessert!  Thank God, we made it!

10. Oh wait, nm, here's a giant dish of complimentary fruit
because your aunt's sister works here.
We had to take this back to our room and eat it in the morning.
We felt like we would never be hungry again.

You know what is delicious?  Japanese milk.
It is fatty and full-flavored.
It's standard to serve milk to drink after going in the hot springs baths.
Sounds like a great recipe for lactose intolerance-induced upset stomach, but I was fine!

Speaking of Japanese dairy products, their soft serve is ridiculously good.
American soft serve tastes like garbage in comparison.

This is the owner of Malukoh, an old-school cafe where he's been serving soft serve and hotcakes for 40 years.  We love him.

At Kura, a tiny place where housewives cook meals
out of local ingredients from the area farms.

This was 500 yen.  (Less than 5 bucks.)

  
   

If you go to Japan, get the menchi, katsu, and croquettes from a local butcher.
They fry everything in lard.

Everyone says Japan is expensive, but dude, these skewers are CHEAP.
The chicken is only 50 cents a pop.

Japanese spiny lobster in butter sauce with salmon roe over pasta.
Everything perfectly cooked and seasoned.

The foam on this beer is frozen like a slushy!

An awesome street of tiny bars in Oimachi.

Our cousin treated us to Yamazaki whiskey. Jim Murray's World Whiskey Bible named Yamazaki as the best whiskey in the world. To name a Japanese whiskey over Scotch or Irish -- that is as shocking as when the California wine won the French competition.

Tsukemen.  Oh, this pork -- it melted in your mouth.

A BACHELOR'S IN CONVOY!!

Happy Convoy Day! It has now been FOUR YEARS since we began our exhaustive Convoy study.
This year we tried to mostly go to different places than we did the first time...

This year we made T-shirts! 

The helmets were once again a big hit.
Lots of people honked and waved as we walked down the street.
It was interesting how we felt less and less embarrassed by them as the day went on...

We started the day with dim sum, joined by members of Convoy Recon:
Django, Andi, and Beston (not pictured).

 

Breakfast dessert at The Fruit Shop!

Mangosteens!  It's like they knew it was Convoy Day!

Midmorning tea and books at Big Joy Family Bakery.
(This was planned as introvert reading time,
but Katie showed up and we ended up just talking after all).

Miko was really worried that we wouldn't have enough books to read.

Pre-lunch beers at O'Brien's Pub.

With guest and fierce Convoy Day veteran, Katie!

A rainbow of beer!  I think the red one had hibiscus in it, or something.

Lunch at Crab Hut!  With guests Howie, Laura, Jessica and Katie.

The Viking spirit is strong.

Lunch dessert at Angels & Hearts! (That's Jessica with Katie.)

We didn't go here, but we like the idea of a cheery massage!

Finally trying the mysterious Korean spa!

Utterly relaxed after having many layers of skin rubbed off.

Dinner at Yokohama Yakitori Kobou (with the usual shot of milk).

Sarah H. brought Miko a birthday present! 
She has an excellent present-receiving face.

Ume panch!!

With guests Chelsie, Hildie, Cam, Nick, Katie, Santiago, Sarah H, Sarah P, Sarah M, Alli, Beston, and Andi.

Dessert (and looking epic) at Blush.

No new guests here!

Oh, Santiago.

With Howie, Summer, Emily, John, Erica, and a bunch of people from before!