Did this separately from Tofu Talk, but I figured I would post this here.
Hot Pot Night - Saturday Night!
This past Weekend I (Bella) was lucky enough to have some old friends visit the Bay Area. To celebrate, we (friends and I) decided to have hot pot. Hot pot and Shabu Shabu are essentially the same thing, in that both have vegetables and meat cooked in hot water or broth in one pot. For our hot pot get together, I made two different broths: Spicy Kimchi with an Anchovy base, and Chicken broth with Ginger and Garlic. The Chicken broth was the overall favorite, as it had flavor, wasn’t too spicy, but most importantly, it came to a boil much more quickly. We were starving by the time dinner was ready.
We had pork slices, fish balls, vermicelli noodles and some green vegetables. Hot Pot can get a bit pricey, and doing it at home is the same. It cost quite a bit for us mainly because we got more meat than anything else. (Oh well, it is now used for my own meals).
Jajangmyeon, Jjampong, and Japantown:
On Sunday, my friend and I decided to go to a Korean Noodle place in Japantown called ZaZang Korean Noodles. The restaurant is rather small and homey on the inside with some Kpop music and music videos playing in the background.
Many fans on Korean restaurants rave about the side dishes, or banchan, but if you are coming to ZaZang, don’t expect many side dishes. Both times that I have been here, they only gave a few pieces of pickled radish and some raw onions. However, to make up for the lack of banchan here, they give rather large portions for the actual meal. When watching either South Korean shows or dramas, the two dishes that are the most likely to show up are Jajangmyeon (Noodles with Black Bean Sauce - often made with bits of pork too) and Jjampong (Spicy Seafood Noodles). According to Korean restaurant patrons online, this place has the most authentic Jajangmyeon in town. Either way, my friend ordered Jajangmyeon here and loved it! I order the Crab Jjampong, and while I couldn’t quite stand the spiciness, I did appreciate the fact that they included real crab in the dish. Both my friend and I had left overs to spare.
Dishes here ranged anywhere from about $8 to $17-18.
Following the late lunch on Sunday, we visited Japantown for some Ice Cream and crepes! My personal favorite crepe store in Japantown would definitely be Sophie’s Crepes, where the crepe skin is a bit more crispy and the service seems a bit more friendly. Normally, I order Nutella and a scoop of Caramel Ice Cream. ‘Belly Good Cafe and Crepes’ also makes crepes, and they have a fascinating idea with the cute little animal heads that they give their ice cream crepes, but the skin is often softer and as the ice cream melts, it starts to turn soggy.
^This picture is several months old.
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