Downtown Mountain View tends to have new restaurants pop up on a monthly basis. Just outside of Castro Street, you rarely find successful restaurants. Yellow Ginger sits in a spot that was a chinese noodle house for the longest time that I can remember. It then was Baba Neo, which didn’t last long. Now, new owners have launched Yellow Ginger. I live close to this place and finally decided to check it out.

The decor inside was definitely surprisingly nice compared to the strip mall exterior. This restaurant is family owned and run, and you can tell by the random people just sitting around in the restaurant, and then occasionally popping into the kitchen.

The food presentation was great and the portions were excellent. One of our dishes got mixed up, but other than that, I’d recommend trying it if you’re into malaysian/singapore food.

This place is an absolute circus. I came here because it use to be a favorite bagel stop of mine. Low and behold, the bagel shop is gone and now it’s Izzy’s. Okay. I can live with that. Let’s give this place a try.

I order the american breakfast, which is suppose to come with an omlette, some veggies, some potatoes and a bagel. Instead, they don’t have any veggies and no potatoes. However, they decide that french fries would go well with this dish. The omlette, isn’t actually an omlette. It’s just an overdone egg. The bagel is plain and getting it toasted wasn’t even an option.

On top of that, the entire time I was there, I was holding my Starbucks drink (during ordering, while I was waiting for my food, and while I started to eat). As I’m eating, one of the waiters comes up to me and says that I can’t bring outside food in. I ask, “What do you want me to do?” He says, you can drink it quickly. Uh…it’s coffee.

That was pretty much it for me. If you’re not going to tell me I can’t bring outside food in when I walk in, or when I’m ordering, or even when the food is brought to me, then why then?

This place won’t last 1 month. I hope my bagel place comes back.

On old main street in santa monica, the library ale house is a good place to get drinks, watch a game on the tube, grab some food, or do all three. Not to mention, people watch. You are in west LA.

Manpuku is set up similarly to a korean bbq restaurant. You can order a variety of meat, seafood, veggies, and unique items to bbq yourself at your table.

The wait staff was prompt and polite. The bbq fans weren’t too loud so that you can have a sensible conversation with the people sitting across from you.

My wife and I literally stumbled on this place as we were looking for a place to eat.

As you walk into Hattoriya, it reminds you of someone’s house, but not quite. As most true japanese restaurants go, there’s one tv playing some japanese sitcom, game show, or cartoon. Most of the people in the restaurant were japanese and each were heads down into their comic books.

The food was original and tasty, yet pricey. Not so sure if there will be a return to Hattoriya.

Heard about this so-cal fad and was able to try it while down in santa monica for work.

Being a nor-cal guy, I’m always sceptical about so-cal fads. My friend and I headed over to the Pinkberry near the Sawtelle area after dinner. The line of people was about 20 deep.

We got our yogurt and ate outside. The line of people hovered around 15 people the entire time we were there.

No…they don’t franchise. Already checked.

Japanese kappo cuisine is typically suppose to have the customers sitting facing the chef. One benefit is to see the food being prepared and having the dish immediately served to you.

At NamiNami, the only area you can see a chef is at the small sushi bar (seating for maybe 4 people) when you walk in. The entire kitchen is closed off and the rest of the seating are at tables.

The decor is nice and spacious. They had smooth jazz playing the entire time I was there (a little odd at a “traditional” japanese restaurant).

The service was a little off, with multiple waitresses asking for drink orders, and only 1 or 2 empty dishes getting cleared off periodically.

The food was decent and portions were okay, but definitely not for the price we paid.

The Witherspoon Grill is located in the heart of Princeton, about 2 blocks from campus, and neighboring the Princeton library.

The restaurant is very nice looking and the bar is well equipped.

This is a good place to hang at the bar, or have a nice dinner.

I can never do buffets quite right. My experience at Hokkaido was no different. This place is in the same site that the old Scores sports bar use to be. The food served here is a combination of sushi, chinese and korean food. I think this place is chinese owned, considering most of the people that work here are chinese.

The sushi was decent quality and everything else was so-so. I wasn’t too impressed. But if you’re in a hungry mood for all you can eat asian, this is a good choice. Be prepared to wait a little during peak times.

The quality of sushi here is outstanding. The portions are extremely generous and the diverse menu will keep you ordering for more.