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Just when I think the Havana Street Business District can’t get any more fantabulous, another eatery opens up to WOW me. Case in point – Shi Miao Dao (or if you prefer, Ten Seconds Yunnan Rice Noodles) in the old Lucky China storefront near Havana & Evans. Shi Miao Dao is indeed a branch of a storied chain (whose locations are mostly in China) specializing in the soup from Yunnan Province called Guo Qiao Mi Xian, or rather, “crossing the bridge noodles”. Named when a very enterprising young lady in the city of Mengzixian discovered the best way to transport her delicious noodle soup to her studious sweetheart (who was cramming for exams on a nearby island), the dish has become a favorite across China and even further afield. At Shi Miao Dao, you will be served the soup as it was created all those years ago. Once you’ve chosen your broth, all your soup ingredients (and meat choice(s), if applicable) will be served separately, for you to add in prior to consumption. The rice noodles themselves will be brought out last, as these cook very quickly (Shi Miao Dao basically means “ten seconds until [done]”, hence the restaurant’s English moniker), and should be put in right before you begin to chow down. And now, allow me to go into a bit more detail about various aspects of your soup-slurping experience. Shi Miao Dao gives you a number of broths to pick from, such as soothing Fan Qie (tomato), hearty Yang Rou (lamb), or even the very interesting Jin Tang (“golden soup”) which gets its noticeable oomph from pickled chili peppers. Possible meat/flesh add-ins include Da Pai (pork chop), Niu Du (beef tripe), and my personal favorite, Yu Pian (sliced fish) to add a little more substance to your soup. And all the other components will of course vary according to what else you picked, but more often than not you can expect to see Jiu Cai (Chinese chives), An Chun Dan (a whole quail egg, helpfully served boiled and pre-peeled here), various types of luncheon meat, and Mao Mu’er (black wood-ear mushroom). If I’ve made this all seem a bit intimidating (oopsie), the friendly staff are always ready to explain the process, so hurry up and try it already!

HAJU Kitchen – Menu with Prices – 175 Massachusetts Ave, Boston

This is my favorite Korean restaurant. I love everything here. I usually get the Tteokbokki & its so good its sweet and spicy with ramen noodles, rice cake & tofu topped with cheese. Its a shareable plate. Spicy Tofu Soup (thats not the name but its something like that) it’s good for a cold day & it comes with rice although it is quite spicy its served on a clay pot and mixes well with everything else, bulgogi which is a marinated meat is amazing & very flavorful & good texture served in a clay pot. Bibimbap is like fried rice served with your choice of meat i recommend beef & served in a clay pot, its great with the bulgogi. The service is exceptional & extremely nice. Parking is not the easiest but not too hard, i always fine parking in the front. Its on a busy street. The only thing I dislike is the bathroom, its gross for a restaurant & should be cleaned, its dirty and smells gross. Terrible 1 – Excellent 10 Service – 10 Food – 10 Wait Time for Food – 10 Hygiene – 8 (Everything good except for bathroom) Presentation – 8 Parking – 7 Environment – 7

Cha for Tea Café – Menu with Prices – Village Center, 4740 Barranca Pkwy, Irvine

We’ve ordered from them via Postmates a few times now and we’ve not been disappointed! I’m addicted to their Crispy Chicken Snack (popcorn chicken), so that’s a go-to appy for us. You can order it any spice range from none to flay-the-flesh-from-your-tongue. I’m really trying to watch what I eat and they have some nice options like grilled chicken (no skin), “Freshly grilled chicken marinated in rice wine and sweet garlic sauce. Served with sweet corn, spring mix salad with ginger sesame dressing, and your choice of Rice or Egg Noodle” and their basil chicken which is, “marinated in fresh basil sauce, simmered to perfection with rice wine and ti kuan yin tea.” All of their entrees come with corn, rice or egg noodles and spring greens salad with the main item. You then get options to customize your order by swapping out rice, noodles, corn, salad for others in this list. Example: I skipped the corn and had double salad (gave my rice to my hubs). The portions are generous, especially the egg noodles option) and their prices are very reasonable. All in all, I really enjoy their food but I cannot speak to the actual restaurant because we’re Postmates all the way. So if you see them on Postmates don’t be afraid to give them a chance.

Spicy Chili Chili Hot – Menu with Prices – 429 Nāhua St, Honolulu

What a find in Waikiki! And what a cool name! Spicy Chili Chili Hot! My wife and I just happened to park on N?hua St. in Waikiki and planned to go have udon, but we seen the line was incredibly long and didn’t want to wait, and we didn’t think of an alternative place yet. Luckily, as soon as we got out of our car and walked a few steps, I immediately noticed a new place. It had Chinese characters, so since I can’t read it, I asked my wife to take a look and tell me what that place is. Her interest quickly piqued and in just a few seconds, she was already inside and asked what food they offer. I was still standing outside still looking…at the outside and the interesting name. Spicy Chili Chili Hot is on N?hua St, right in between Sunny Mart and Maguro Bros. A couple of spots over is Coffee Shop 831. This restaurant is small with several tables, and still under development. They’ve been open only three days when we went there, and are still testing out things and developing the full menu. This place will serve mainly Sichuan style cuisine and offer non-spicy items as well. Apparently, this place is an offspring from Sakura Ramen in the 808 Center. We ordered one of their main dishes, Sour and Spicy Chicken Noodle Soup. The noodle is the mung bean starch noodle. It’s similar to the noodles in Chicken Long Rice, but softer and less dense. The liangfen is normally a cold dish, but definitely works for hot soups. There’s nothing more that excites me than receiving a bowl of noodle soup and seeing the flaming red chili peppers and smelling the heavenly aroma. Seeing it made me think of the spicy noodles dish in China, and my wife said it is exactly how it’s supposed to be. The flavors were very good and well balanced with a nice mix of spicy, sour, and savory. The spice level was perfect of me for a nice, cooling sweat. It’s mostly the numbing spice, so it’s the slow burn. I can definitely eat this everyday! We had the spicy tripe. It came with fried peanuts and romaine lettuce and mixed with a spice mix that was similar to the soup. The tripe crunchy and tasty. Full of flavor and spices. They also offer this same dish with beef or chicken. Overall, Spicy Chili Chili Hot is a nice welcome to Waikiki. They offer something unique to Waikiki that you can’t find anywhere else. The taste and food are authentic. Hope they can build on this and be successful.

Imperial Tea Garden – Menu with Prices – 3120 Jeanlin Dr SE #7325, Grand Rapids

Sorry to digress by introduction, but it will make sense. I had been buying tea mail order from a company called SpecialTeas in Connecticut, which up until about 2009 or 2010 was probably the best fine tea company I’ve ever dealt with. They had many many varieties of fine connoisseur grade China black, Oolong, Green, and Darjeeling. They had teas with the year and estate specified, the prices were fair, considering the incredible quality. Then they were bought by some retail outfit called Teavana which seems to be big on slick marketing but lacking in the true connoisseur department. Teavanas’ teas sound fancy and trendy but are vastly overpriced, without specifying the estate they were grown at or having much of a selection. A pound of high quality (I assume) Keemun for $144? I don’t think so. So I had to find a new supplier. As another reviewer has pointed out, Imperial has a fairly lousy website, and an antiquated ordering process and shopping cart. But they do have some good teas at fair prices. I like to drink a good quality Keemun (China black), as they are rich, smooth, and the better ones have a faint cocoa note. I also like the Yunnan (China black) as a decent golden grade will have a flowery note. Imperial has pretty good grades of these two tea varieties. I usually order a pound each, which lasts me a few months, and the price at Imperial for the grade of tea is good. Their prices for smaller quantities are kind of high though, so than unfortunately discourages experimenting. Remember that the teas I’m interested in are just vastly better than almost any tea you can buy in a tea bag. I like strong rich China blacks (think English Breakfast style but far higher quality.) The only tea I’ve ever bought retail that I thought was a true high quality China black Keemun is loose leaf Twinings Prince of Wales. It is not carried anywhere I shop anymore. My worst experience with Imperial is that I tried a pound of a tea billed as black called Nuwara Eliya from Sri Lanka. Most black tea sold in tea-bags actually comes from Sri Lanka, and they are capable of producing higher quality blacks. But this was bitter and fairly undrinkable, even after a short steeping. It didn’t even look like a black tea, it was rather green like a partially fermented oolong. A decent black tea will not get bitter even after a long steeping. I don’t know what that was, or if it was mislabeled or something, but what I got was not a quality black tea by any stretch of imagination. So I continue to reorder Keemun and Yunnan from Imperial. Someday I may find a better place like the old SpecialTeas, but who know when that will happen.

Galuppi’s 620 Subs n’ Salads Menu with Prices 805 N Federal Hwy #2737, Boca Raton

I love this place! I’ve been here many many times. They are may favorite subs…period. my order is the ham on white with lettuce and extra sweet peppers. The sweet peppers are the best and make the sub along with the not too bready bread lol. They load up on the meat which is the way I like it. I have only found the sweet peppers here and at laspadas which I believe is almost exactly the same. Same bread. Same meat. Same sweet peppers…. except 620 puts more meat making it slightly better. They used to be cheaper too, but unfortunately this has changed. (More on that later) but I will say it’s still worth it. Just not quite the value it was before. Laspadas may actually be cheaper now. There is still a mini combo which is a 4 inch a side and a drink. A 4 inch sub here is still filling. The combo cost $6 which isn’t bad. The seating area was renovated and it now a bit nicer with more room. Unfortunately after this makeover of the store is when the prices went up. So as alluded to before the bad news from my favorite sub shop is that the prices have gone up. It used to be such a great value as well as being the best sub. Overall though because it is still my favorite sub, I still had to give it 5 stars. It’s just too delicious and sooo meaty. But maybe I’ll visit a little less often now (I used to go out of my way whenever I was in South florida), I will still will be back…it’s still great!

Thai Nghiep Ky Mi Gia – Menu with Prices – 1427 Noriega St, San Francisco

We actually discovered dry noodles the prior weekend and loved it so much we wanted more! We wanted to try something new instead of the standard Vietnamese of pho, bun, and the rice plates. I was on yelp and found that one of my yelp friends come here a lot and we wanted to dine in the sunset as well so it was prefect. We came for brunch on Sunday around 11am. Metered parking – free on Sundays. The place is a bit small with varying booths and tables. Half capacity when we arrived. We were given a booth. They speak Canto and Viet here. I ordered a number 22 – seafood with thin egg noodles with soup on the side. My husband ordered the same except with a mix of rice noodles and thin egg noodles. Complimentary soy milk – hot or cold. It was pretty delicious and you get a decent amount of food – including the toppings. The egg noodles were the clear favorite amongst the two of us. I am glad I got the soup on the side. Although, I did like it was a bit on the sweeter side for my liking. The soy milk was refreshing and pretty smooth. Pretty good deal as it was 21 dollars for both our meals. Two restrooms. Street parking. Rideshare. Public transport (N) credit card $15 dollar min I would come back but it is a bit out of the way for us.

Havana Rey’s Cigar Shop & Lounge – Menu with Prices – 2351 Airport Blvd, Mobile

FINALLY! Since moving from DFW three years ago, I’ve been waiting for an actual cigar shop / lounge to open a little closer to WeMo. I am so excited that Havana Rey’s has opened and is delivering a great experience to our city! Their selection is pretty good and ranges from very well-known cigars to a few of the smaller, more boutique brands (several of which would be in my “favorites” list). They have a bar for any of your beverage needs. Their staff is incredibly friendly, helpful, and knowledgeable. Now, the actual shop – at many, if not most, cigar shops, there is a front area with a humidor and then a lounge-area in the back (oftentimes limited just to “members”). Havana Rey’s did away with that, though – the entire shop feels like a lounge. Every other great thing aside, this was my favorite part…I felt like I was in my den, back at home. In fact, another patron commented, “Ah…my home away from home.” I am really excited that Havana Rey’s is open and look forward to frequenting their shop as often as possible!

Thiên Ã?n Restaurant – Menu with Prices – 7304 101 Ave NW, Edmonton

Thien An is a new Vietnamese restaurant to open us in this neck of the woods. Not much is in this area except we did pass Pho & Bun a few blocks west on the way back home. There’s plenty of room to park and they even have a lot in the back. We came on a late Monday afternoon so there were only a few tables occupied. The inside is new and quite spacious. The menu is massive but the southern Vietnamese soup (hu tiu mi) and beef stew (bo kho) caught my eye. – Fresh salad roll with tofu (V2) ($6.00 for four) – these were nicely done. Slightly warmed, freshly made and with a good peanut dipping sauce. – Veggie noodle soup (V9) ($10.50) – O’s converted to partial vegetarianism so it was veggie soup for her. She liked the broth and it looked like a satisfactory amount of tofu, vegetables and noodles. – Hu tieu nam vang (H2) ($13.00) – smelled great. You choose either egg noodles or rice noodles. I asked about it and you actually can get a mix, so I tried both. You get a variety of meat (beef, shrimp, squid and ground pork) but a bit more meat and noodles would justify the higher price point. That being said, the broth was solid and had a sweetness to it similar to what you find in a wonton/egg noodle soup. What I found interesting was the shape of their bowls. The top part of the bowl forms into a square shape. Odd. Good first experience. I’d come back to try their bo koh and other pho options. 3.5 stars.

Yifan Catering and Cooking school – Menu with Prices – 10820 Abbotts Bridge Rd #370, Duluth

This is a hidden gem for any foodie interested in authentic Chinese food. The restaurant itself is primarily a catering service for private parties and dinners, but among the local Chinese word-of-mouth, Yifan may be the best spot in the whole ATL to get authentic Chinese cuisine from all parts of China. The key ingredient to their success: chefs here aren’t professionally trained restaurant chefs. They’re an assortment of your family aunts or uncles. This is Chinese home cooking at its finest. Here’s how they work: They’re only open for lunch Tuesday through Saturday. Yes, they close on Monday’s and Sunday’s and they’re not open for dinner at all any day. They have two options for food: buffet days, and combo days. The price is the same Tuesday through Friday (about $10), and on Saturday, (about $20). The buffet days are an AYCE and the combo days are a fixed plate of a variety of homemade dishes. Either the AYCE or the combo meals will blow you away on price, value, and authentic Chinese cooking. Here’s a sample of what they served last week from Tuesday through Friday. Note there’s no English menu (just Chinese), so if you don’t read the language you’ll just have to try it to find out. Monday Closed Tuesday Hundred Leaves Braised Beef Eggplant Beef Strips Stir Fry Cold Rice Noodles Wonton Soup Little Dough Bites Eight Treasure Porridge Wednesday Braised Beef and Tendon Ground Beef String Beans Chicken Strip Tossed Noodles Onion Leek Pie Coconut Tapioca Soup Thursday Fermented Chicken Mapo Tofu Vegetarian Stir Fry Little Doughnuts Special Italian Seafood Linguini Tulip Beef Bone Soup Friday Yuxiang Beef Chicken Strips with Celery and Beans Mushroom Veggie Dish Hot and Spicy Rice Noodles Little Dough Bites Purple Sticky Rice Porridge Saturday Surprise day – an assortment of all of the above plus others, including dessert All of the days offer free white rice, water, juice, hot tea, and on random days, a special dessert from their pastry chef. The one downside from this spot is that they’re only open for lunch Tuesday through Saturday. So unless you work in the area or can stop by on Saturday for lunch, well, then you’ll never get the chance to try these guys out. Bottom Line The menu constantly changes so next week there will be something new. I cast my vote for Yifan as the most authentic Chinese restaurant in all of ATL. The cuisine here is a mix of all regions of China–Northern, Shanghainese, Sichuan, Hunan, and even Southern.

China Rose Chinese Restaurant – Menu with Prices – 9536 Antioch Rd, Overland Park

China Rose is my go-to for when that Americanized Chinese food craving hits. While I have never dined in, I can attest that the employees that take my order are very polite. Why is China Rose my go-to? Well, they actually answer their phone when I call to place an order, and their food is up to my standards. Growing up in Americanized Chinese restaurants, I can say that their food is the closest to how I like it. My way to tell if an Americanized Chinese restaurant is legit is through their chicken fried rice and crab rangoon. I will never understand why savory crab rangoons are a thing – sweet is the way to go. Your life will be changed when you’ve had one. China Rose’s crab rangoons are just a tad too sweet, but still pretty damn good. Their chicken in their fried rice is always tender, and their rice is not mushy. I hate when you get tough, dried out chicken and mushy rice at other places. This place knows how to do their basics. The one thing that I cannot recommend here are their meat wontons. I found them to be flavorless and just not at all good. My main gripe is that their prices are a bit more expensive than I like to pay, but still fairly competitive for the area. I’ll definitely keep coming around for that Americanized Chinese food fix while I’m in the area. Overall: 4/5 Food: 4/5 Service: 4/5 Atmosphere: 3/5

Ploy Thai kitchen – Menu with Prices – 486 Royer Dr #101, Lancaster

Service was great! Little dining area for small families, soit sorta gave that vibe that is more of a take out restaurant. Nonetheless, the food was very flavorful and not subpar to the likes of Sukothai. In fact, I enjoyed their thai iced tea more. Our favorite dish was the drunken noodles, which are large flat rice noodles. The flavoring somehow reminded me of Peking duck. The only thing we didnt really enjoy was the Tom yum hotpot. The soup base itself was good, but it was missing ingredients that we normally get to enjoy with other hot pots, like veggies or meats we could dip/cook within the soup. Instead, it was just some mushrooms and a few shrimps. I would definitely visit this establishment again.

Mi la Cay – Vietnamese Restaurant #1150 – Menu with Prices – 4500 Satellite Blvd #1150, Duluth

I was heading over to try Kups when I saw the sign for Mi La Cay and decided to go and try it out. This is the first and only Mi La cay franchise in the Georgia Area – the other US branches of this franchise can be found around California ( I believe there are only about 4 locations scattered there). That said, I am excited to try something different and rare. The owner Hsi has been here about a year and has moved here from California where she ran another Mi La Cay for ten years. That said, she has a bit of experience with these noodles and I loved the dish that I got. Obviously seeing the sign on the door of the house noodle soup made fro Mi La Cay, I wanted to go that route my first time here. The Soup actually came out rather fast. I was still breaking out my gear when she brought it out and it came with a separate side dish which looked like a shrimp fried inside some sort of chip. I found out later this is the Shrimp Cake that comes with the dish. It’s hard to talk about the taste of the broth when you’re at a Vietnamese restaurant. This is because there is a full table of sauces and peppers for you to customize it to your liking. For this reason, I can usually only judge a Vietnamese soup by the quality of the ingredients. The waiter broke out jalapenos for me to add as well as the usual chili sauce, ginger, hoisin, soy, etc. After saucing it up a bit – I was more happy with the broth. The Mi La Cay style noodles – unlike your traditional noodles used in pho, are about the same size as pho but much thicker since they are egg based noodles. I like this actually better due to the fact that its more filling and holds in more flavor. The chicken was a bit confusing to me at first (having a whole chicken leg in your soup is a little unorthodox) but it became one of my favorite parts of the dish. I would literally come here just to buy the chicken (don’t see it on the menu, unfortunately). The sliced pork also was done very well so all together the full combination worked out. Full review on my blog at http://georgiafoodies.com