oakland – Page 2 – Elsie Hui

November 11, 2014

Feel Good Bakery – Alameda, California

We were looking for a good place to purchase a birthday cake for our nephew where we stumbled across a website for Feel Good Bakery in Alameda, which wasn’t far from where we were. We started our drive to find ourselves looking at a Marketplace, so we figured it was inside. Sure enough, Feel Good Bakery was inside of the marketplace, and there’s parking across the street (Across Park Street)

We found ourselves an 8″ Chocolate cake which we wanted them to draw a dinosaur on. They had no problem doing that, so we just bough ourselves a macaroon each as the display case was beautiful, full of all sorts of wonderful things, but we settled on a little treat each.

I decided I would go for the Pumpkin Macaron as it was fall season, and I love pumpkin anything! The macaron was delicious, not overly sweet and it was delicate but not flaky or dry! It actually tasted like pumpkin so I was impressed.

We also decided to try a Chocolate Macaron as it’s more traditional of a flavour. The chocolate was really amazing and we especially enjoyed the filling inside the macarons!

Overall, we were more than pleased with our experience here. Our birthday cake tasted amazing and looks fantastic! This was worth our little drive over!

Feel Good Bakery

1650 Park St
Alameda, CA
(510) 864-2733

November 10, 2014November 10, 2014

Full House Cafe – Oakland, California

Breakfast will always be my favourite meal of the day and with San Francisco being an hour behind from the time zone difference, it appears I get up really early and is hungry! So, we ventured around where we went to Full House Cafe right on Macarthur Boulevard.

I didn’t really know what I wanted to eat, so we started picking random foods. We had ordered the Denver Omelet with no cheese and the portions was huge! The food was really good and fresh – it’s definitely as good as it looks!

Then, we got an order of Blueberry Pancakes and she asked how many pancakes did I want. I wanted 2 – so that’s what I got! The pancakes were as big as the plate and you can tell they’re made on their flat grill by the taste. It’s not bad although not jammed stuffed pack with blueberries.

Lastly, we got an order of their Corn Beef Hash which came with potato pieces. This was a delicious meal, and not overly greasy.

Overall, this was a perfect breakfast place! The food was really awesome as it was really fresh, and made to order. The prices was awesome and the service was quick and friendly! This is an fantastic way to start any morning!

Full House Cafe

3719 Macarthur Blvd
Oakland, CA 94619
(510) 482-2200

November 10, 2014

Shimizu – Oakland, California

We arrived into San Franciso one evening and by the time we got out of rush hour, 2 hours had gone by and we were starving. We heard about a decent place in Piedmont that wasn’t bad called Shimizu so we went there. The place was still very busy on a late weeknight!

We started with miso soup. As weird as this sounds, I’m not sure if we ordered it. It arrived on to our table and we drank it! It was really quite flavourful and the pieces of tofu was really silky and kind of sweet.

We got an order of Hamachi Kama which is grilled yellowtail fish, but just it’s collar. They did a wonderful job grilling it here and there was actually a lot of meat on our portion! We were pleasantly surprised and we all ate a good piece of it!

Of course when it comes to my favourite, the Hokkigai, once I see it on a menu – I get it! We got 4 pieces and it was wonderful! Usually I’m use to a portion of just half a hokkigai and the restaurant would call it “one piece”. Here, they actually use 1 surf clam for each piece of sushi! I was blown away and I ate it all up (pretty much!) It was sweet and the texture was really nice – plus they cleaned it well!

We then ordered a plate of Assorted Sashimi which was 18 pieces of chef selected sashimi. The pieces were large and fresh and they all tasted great! The selection was pretty good as well.

The last thing we ordered was their Double Salmon Roll which was a salmon and avocado roll, topped with salmon! This roll was spectacular and the salmon was really tasty! Everything was really fresh and the flavours complimented each other with nice taste and textures – and salmon was definitely the highlight of this roll!

Overall, the prices were really good, especially for this area. The atmosphere was really nice and the service was really friendly and helpful. We enjoyed the freshness of the food and the portion sizes. What a great experience!

Shimizu

4290 Piedmont Ave
Oakland, CA
(510) 653-7622

January 4, 2014January 4, 2014

Best Taste Chinese Restaurant – Oakland, California

For the first time ever, I went down to California in 2013 to celebrate Chinese New Years with my husbands family. We had a wonderful time and one of the places that I remembered really well was Best Taste and they’re known for their Clay Pot Rice, so we went there to eat some, along with other things – but those are just minor things!

We had a chicken clay pot, and the rice was cooked into the pot leaving a nice hard crust that my husbands family craves and loves! There’s really nothing like eating rice cooked from a clay pot – and we just do it normally as it’s a pain to clean afterwards. This dish was excellent and my favourite as it had tons of chicken pieces in it, with the delicious rice and soy sauce!

The other clay rice pot we had was basically a Chinese cured meat one, and it’s got a bunch of Chinese sausages in it, with some vegetables. Chinese cured meat is different from anything else, and I’m not sure if it’s an acquired smell/taste, but I know I love it. Some people do find it too greasy – but it works so well with rice! The rice absorbs the grease with the soy sauce and other flavours that it was steamed with! It’s truly a treat and if you haven’t tried it – now is the time!

Overall, I absolutely loved this place! It’s the type of food I love and I guess my aunt-in-law love this stuff too! I’m so happy they brought me here, and I’m sure I’ll request to go back next time I visit them!

Best Taste

814 Franklin St
Oakland, CA
(510) 444-4983

March 11, 2013March 11, 2013

World Ground Cafe – Oakland

One afternoon during out trip to California, we decided to slow down the pace and start the day with a nice hot drink. We came across a place called World Ground Cafe which was still in Oakland. We actually like to come here often to pick up some drinks on the go! The location is great for us, the people are always friendly, and the drinks are always fresh and delicious!

I really like to order their Hot Chocolate as it’s rich and creamy! It’s never too greasy tasting – but yet, I don’t ask for whipped cream. It seems to be my “go to”drink in the morning, which I have no problem with!

The other drink we seem to enjoy ordering a lot was their Spicy Chai as it was a nice spicy chai. It’s not the same as the ones we get back at home, but it does leave a nice fragrant note and flavour in the mouth. It definitely warms up the body on those cold wintery months!

Overall, we like this place as it has what we need, at a price we like, and the location that is convenient for us! Most importantly, it’s worth the price we pay too! Especially for something as basic as hot chocolate! I am sure I will be back next time I’m here – since I’ve been back for a few years now!

World Ground Cafe

3726 Macarthur Blvd
Oakland, CA
(510) 482-2933