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Belly Good Cafe & Crepes
One thing I learned in San Francisco was that if you are a Japanese food lover but don't have the money to travel all the way to Japan, San Francisco is definitely your best option. Originally invented by French, crepes reached its popularity in Asia after transformed by Japanese. Belly Good Cafe & Crepes is located in Japan town, just 10 minutes away from the Union Square of downtown SF. A Japanese couple owns and runs this little, warm, and famous crepes shop. They have every combination of crepes that one can think of, but if you feel like being creative and adventurous, you can always create your own crepes.
"Happy Face Crepes" is why Belly Good is so popular, aside from the fact that it tastes very good. People always say Japanese people are good at making cute stuff, but I was still very surprised when the chef gave me my No.48 Happy Face Crepe with pudding, whip cream, corn chips, red bean paste, and banana. Look at this crepe, how can you not want to come back for more?
Realizing their customers have different preferences, Belly Good serves their crepes in two ways: You can have it wrapped and ready to go, or you can go with the traditional French style, on the plate.
Belly Good address: 1737 Post St. #393, San Francisco, CA 94115
Note: Cash only. They don't accept credit cards.
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Verde Tea House
Verde Tea House is a chain tea house in SF, and apparently very popular among not only Asians but also every race in general. The layout of every store is slightly different, but the bubble tea is consistently in high standard.
The name says it all: You must get a bubble tea when you come here. Unlike many bubble tea places in the mid-west, Verde is actually owned by Taiwanese people, and their bubble tea comes with all sorts of things that can only be found in Taiwan (Not even in China or Hong Kong, trust me!). I always get the regular milk-tea with tapioca just to test the water, but later I found out the one my friend had, milk-tea with noodle, was amazingly good. Never thought that noodle and milk-tea could go together? Try it in Verde and you'll fall in love with it.
In addition to bubble tea, they also serve Taiwanese snacks. I ordered some Taiwanese style think toasts to see if Verde was good enough to have a place on my blog, and~ here it is! They come in all kinds of flavor, sweet or salty, and with a little extra money, you can have two flavors in one thick toast just to see which one you like better.Verde address: 852 Villa St. Mountain View, CA 94041
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Mama Chen
Famous for its traditional Taiwanese food, Mama Chen is always in its full capacity, even on weekdays. Having their store name and menu written in Chinese, I was not surprised to find out this was the place full of Asians, or some Americans taken by their Asian friends. You can find almost every traditional Taiwanese dish in here, from stinky tofu to intestine noodle. However, just when you assumed that they also served bubble tea here, they would tell you they have everything except for bubble tea. If you feel like having a sweet ending after meal, go to Verde.
Taiwanese oyster pancake is one of my favorite dishes of all time. Many tourists who come to Taiwan have it in Taipei, but the best oyster pancake is actually in my hometown, Hsinchu. To my surprise, the oyster pancake in Mama Chen was actually comparable to those in Hsinchu. What does that mean? The oyster pancake in Mama Chen is 4.5 star if Hsinchu oyster pancakes are rated as 5-star.Mama Chen address: 5075 Stevens Creek Blvd, Ste 10, Santa Clara, CA 95051
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Kappo Nami Nami
Another thing I learned in SF was that there's not really a Chinatown or Vietnamese town where you find legit Asian foods that can't be found anywhere else. Because of the large Asian population in SF, not only did I hear people talking in Mandarin on the streets but also found Asian restaurants outside of the so-called Chinatown amazingly good.
Due to the convenient location of being in the coast area, the seafood in Kappo Nami Nami is very fresh. The special dishes that Japanese restaurants have in the mid-west are their regular dishes in not only Kappo Nami Nami but also all Japanese restaurants in SF.
In addition to raw fish and seafood, Kappo Nami Nami has traditional Japanese hot plates and bowls as well. Their portion comes a little smaller than the usual portion in mid-west, but the quality of food is incomparable.Kappo Nami Nami address: 240 Castro St., Mountain View, CA 94041
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Pier Market Seafood Restaurant
Located in Pier 39 of Fisherman's Wharf, Pier Market Seafood Restaurant serves the best seafood dishes I had in San Francisco.
Their clam chowder in bread bowl is one of my favorite dishes. Different from other clam chowders, the clam chowder they serve comes with real and fresh clams. A lot of Yelp reviewers said their bread bowls were very good too, but I was too full to finish the bread bowl as well.
Being in the coast, eating raw and fresh seafood is a must-do to me. I"m not a big fan of eating raw seafood because I was food-poisoned before, but these middle-sized raw oysters did not disappoint me. Pier Market address: Pier 39, San Francisco, CA 94113
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Shabuway
Shabuway is a Japanese Shabu-Shabu place. For those of you who are not familiar with Japanese dining, Shabu-Shabu is similar to Chinese style hotpot, but in a healthier style because you don't drink the soup. Different from the regular hotpot, you don't leave the meat in the soup. You only dip the meat into the soup a few times so the Kobe beef would not get "old" and lose the purpose of ordering such high quality meat.
There's only two soup bases available in Shabuway: Seaweed soup and spicy soup. Interestingly enough, there's only one meat available: Kobe beef! However, you do have a choice between a regular portion or super large quantity of Kobe beef.
Once you choose your soup bases and how much meat you want to eat, it's time to enjoy. Veggies come with the Kobe beef combo, and it's highly recommended that you put the veggies in first because the longer you cook the Napa veggie, the better it'll become.
In such a great place for Shabu-Shabu and Kobe beef, I only have one suggestion for those of you who are thinking about going: Just close your eyes and eat as much as you want because you don't get this kind of meal everyday. God will forgive you for forgetting about the diet you're going though.
Shabuway address: 180 Castro St. Mountain View, CA 94041
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