Kawaguchi Bara no Shizuku--Rose Candy: Review

As a fan of all (most) things rose scented, I also have a knack for rose flavored food items (gum, drinks, etc).

Today's goodie post is on this rose flavored hard candy that has a soft jelly like substance in the center.

As always,  Japanese packaging is #1. The pink rose in the background of the bag is just so pretty and makes it seem more welcoming!

Back of bag

The candy comes individually wrapped inside also in the same pretty pink rose wrappers.

The candy itself is like most other hard candies, round in shape. The

The candy is light pink in color (reminds me so much of Spring!)

And as you can see below, the inside does indeed have a softer/gooey filling inside.

I was surprisngly pleased by the flavor of this candy and was expecting something stronger, in terms of rose flavor. The outside rose hard candy is a soft and somewhat subtle rose flavor that leaned on a tangier side. The inside filling was sweeter and was rose flavored without the tangy note.

Overall, this rose candy was very lovely and wasn't perfume-like at all. It was nice popping this in and just enjoying the weather outside (does that sound a bit cheesy? haha oh well).

I bought this item for around $3.29 more or less (Japanese candy is pricier in general, but I don't blame them since they go all out for the packaging and it is also an imported item). If you ever get a chance to try Japanese rose flavored candies and you like roses, then I highly recommend checking out your local Japanese or Asian grocery store!

Would you try a rose flavored candy? What's your favorite flavor for hard candies??

Mamnoon Restaurant, Middle Eastern Cuisine: Restaurant Review

A couple weeks ago, my family and I went out to dinner to celebrate my mom's birthday. We went to this restaurant called Mamnoon, which serves Middle Eastern food. It is located in Capitol Hill right by the Melrose market.

There was a $5 special going on where you get an assortment of breads for $5 and the proceeds benefited... The one in the front (that kind of looks like pizza bread) was frikken amazing. It was like a spicy pepper sauce and was so nice and airy. The one to the left of it was flatbread sort and reminded me of pizza. The one in the back with sesame wasn't particularly my favorite--there was some type of salted filling in it, but it went well with the dipping items.

Muhammara ($10) - walnut, pepperpaste, pomegranate, cumin eaten with bread. This was very simple and was eaten as an appetizer. It had a nice smoky flavor throughout without being over powering, but probably not something I would order again, especially not for the price.

Arnabeil makli ($8)-frid cauliflower, tarrator, and parsley. I personally do not like cauliflower but this was actually surprisingly good! I think I liked the burnt (in a good way) taste to it and the sauce on top balanced well with the smoked flavor. The texture was better in this dish I know because it was fried, as opposed to steamed or sauteed cauliflower.

(~$20-25)

I'm not sure what this dish is called since I can no longer find it on the menu, but this was probably one of the better dishes.

A tender slice of cow tongue, served with a side of pickled vegetables and a sweet sauce to pair with it.

I loved the presentation of this dish, especially with the cork serving board. The condiments on the side in their own separate dishes were also a nice touch. The meat was so tender and so nice to bite into and it paired really well with the sauce.

kefta ( i believe!) ($22)- minced lamb, onion, pistachio, baharat. This wasn't exactly what I expected and was slightly disappointed, especially for the price of the item. I also didn't expect it to come in sausage-like logs. It was also a little salty, so the pairing with the cream (baharat I assume?) calmed down the saltiness. I found that the pistachio didn't do much to enhance the flavor of the lamb but more so compliment in texture.

fesenjun ($32)-lamb meatball, walnut, crispy onion, pomegranate molasses, saffron basmati.

This was another winner in the dishes we tried out. The lamb meatballs were moist and tender and the crispy onions added a nice layer of texture and flavor to the sweetness of the molasses and savory flavor of the meatballs. I absolutely love basmati rice and thought the aroma of the rice blended well with the meatballs, as well as add another means to soak up the sauce!

The fresh greens and walnut also added to the overall aesthetics to the dish.

Turkish coffee ice cream-fresh breeze organic cream, valrhona chocolate ($6). I'm not sure what distinguishes Turkish coffee, but I am a fan of all and any coffee based ice creams so this one was a hit. The coffee flavor wasn't dark but on the lighter side and a bit milder than what I expected. The cream was almost like a palette cleanser and was almost unnecessary since I feel like it didn't really add or take away from the dish. The chocolate bits were nice though and weren't too sweet. They also had a more grittier texture to them.

mouhallabia ($7)-milk pudding, pistachio. This one was a big winner with my mother. The milk pudding wasn't too sweet in any way and had a flavor I can't quite describe, but there was definitely more than a 'milk' flavor to it. The pistachio actually went really well with the pudding--giving off texture and a nutty flavor. The half tangerine, though, I felt was almost too overpowering for the dish. It also didn't help, in my opinion, that it was a bit frozen too. I could have done without it and had more pudding.

My overall thoughts on this place was that I did enjoy it and would love to check out their lunch meu or pop in for a snack some time. This is a place where the dishes are a little more pricey so probably not for those on a budget. However, if you want to try some Middle Eastern foods and are willing to take the time and money, I would definitely try some of the items out.

Have you tried Middle Eastern foods? What is your favorite dishes? Any recommendations?

Late Post: Big Boy's Filipino Food Truck: review

Seattle Seahwaks Super Bowl XLVIII Champions! + 12th man at the Parade!

The past week was filled with family, friends, food, and of course Football!

For those of you not familiar with American Football or the Super Bowl, it is probably the most watched event on American television for the year and is definitely the biggest event in sports. My hometown team, The Seattle Seahawks, made it to the finals anddd.....

Congratulations to the 2013-2014 Seattle Seahawks for winning it's first ever Football Championship!

We are the World Champions and all of Seattle is beyond proud!

My outfit for parade.

I have a few pictures below of one of the biggest celebrations ever! Enjoy!

Now I don't ever usually wear eyeshadow, let alone super bright and bold ones, but I had to go out and buy some blue and green to show my Seahawk pride! And I think it turned out pretty well for a newby like myself!

  

Products used:  E.L.F. eyelid primer, Wet n Wild Color Icon eyeliner in 653E Cool Green, Wet n Wild Color Icon eyeshadow palette in 391A Arts in the Streets, Essence eye pencil in 09 Cool Down, and an Elf brightening eyeshadow palette, and Maybelline Great Lash colored mascara in I See Blue

And of course, I had to color my hair too! I attemped chalking (and let me tell you, it was the hardest thing to do, and left my hair incredibly tangled..ughh! but totally worth it!) I used Rembrandt soft pastel chalk and water. 

 

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And of course pictures of the parade and crowd itself below! I swear, I have never been surrounded by so many people at one time. It was beyond crazy especially since it was freezing outside! Totally worth it though, and definitely something I am glad to be a part of!

I stood in Pioneer Square near Main street and it was beyond crowded. It was hard to see over people and get good shots/videos, but I was able to grab a few good ones. I'm just lowkey upset I couldn't get a good one with Marshawn Lynch aka Beast Mode! Below are a couple of the pictures I was able to take from both the offense and defense.

Tight End

Offensive Line

Wide Receivers

Running Backs

Quarterback! (Russell Wilson!!)

Defensive Line

Linebackers

And of course, the Legion of Boom #LOB !!!

I had so much fun at this championship parade. Despite the cold and being surrounded by thousands of people, I met a random yet really cool group of guys that shared their food with me, hehe. Even though no body had reception or internet access, it made people become more aware of the moment, instead of constantly updating their Twitter and Instgram accounts. I am so proud of the Seattle Seahawks, I am proud of our city coming together like this, and I could not have wanted more for our football season. This really was an experience of a lifetime!

 

Chinese New Years 2014

Sorry I haven't been posting lately, but this past week has been filled with so many events! Chinese New Year was on January 31st, and of course my family and I had a nice celebration and along with that, it was Super Bowl weekend with the Seattle Seahawks taking it all for the city!

For today's post, I just wanted to share pictures of my family's Chinese New Year with you guys and in another post I will be featuring all things Seattle and Seahawks!

One of my favorite decoration set ups in my living room!

My mom fried up a lot of homemade shrimp crackers...so good!

We had a lot of people over so we needed two whole chickens for my mom's Hainanese Chicken and Chicken Rice (so bomb btw)

 And then the circle of food (there wasn't enough room to fit everything so things are intermingled) at the "adult" table. We had vegetable wraps, Mu Shu pork wraps, pea vines, pork belly and taro, steeped mushrooms, bbq stea, and roasted pork..etc just so much food!

Overall, it was a wonderful day and a loud and festive night! I had family from California and even Australia over to come celebrate with us. Everything was decorated in red and of course, red envelopes of lucky money >.< hehe.

I hope you guys all had a wonderful weekend and if you do (or don't) celebrate Chinese/Lunar New Year.. Gong Hei Fat Choi!! (gong xi fa cai in madarin)

Coastal Kitchen feat. The Amalfi Coast: Restaurant Review

Last Sunday, a few of my old co-workers and I headed over to Capitol Hill in Seattle to try out Coastal Kitchen for 'Blunch'!

 

I have never been here before and have always driven by it or hear people talk about it, so when we got together, we thought, why not? The cool thing about this place is that each month or so (not sure how often, it is probably on their website) they feature and tour a new area showcasing the flavors and some dishes of that region and when we went, they were featuring the Amalfi Coast which is located in Southern Italy.

They don't feature a whole ton of dishes from the region, the whole menu only has 3 dishes for each side with foods from that region and the rest of the menu is a regular blunch/lunch menu.

I didn't get anything from the regular lunch menu but I did choose 2 items from the blunch side.

First thing I tried was the Sfogiatelle and not gonna lie, it was a little disappointing. The description made it sound really good and as if the ricotta inside would be nice and creamy. The flaky outside was a bit chewy and took some work before you could swallow it. The inside was more moist than the outside makes it seem, but it wasn't exactly the creamy type of cheese (like a danish perhaps) I was expecting. I did enjoy the flavor of it though--the lemon flavor was refreshing and it wasn't overly sweet. I had expected these to be a bit more fresh, but in honesty I feel like it was a bit stale. Not that good for a first impression...however, my main course made up for it!

I choose an item from the blunch side again and this time it was the Risotto Hash con Polpo. The risotto had pancetta, octopous, and argula while topped with two eggs over easy served with grilled foccacia bread.

The presentation on this was excellent and immediately made me giddy with excitement to dig in! It was almost too good to eat..almost. haha. It came with its own little wok and the colors of the fresh herbs and other ingredients were so inviting.

I love octopus but hate when it is overcooked and I was very pleased by the way the octopus was prepared in this dish. It wasn't too chewy, but rather nice and tender. I loved breaking the egg yolks up and mixing everything in together with the rice. The pancetta bits added a nice salty layer of flavor to the dish as well. The grilled foccacia was nice and crispy too and was perfect for dishing up the risotto on top of it.

My only gripe about the dish was that it was a bit greasy. You could see a lot of oil at the bottom of the pan--but it did help in making the rice sticking to the pan crunch up--it was just the leftover oil that was a bit much.

Overall, I was satisfied with my dish and am definitely wanting to come again, either for a happy hour or dinner, or even when they change touring location. The place is always busy and you should make RSVPs for dinner time (I don't think you can reserve space in the morning/lunch time). We had about a 30 minute wait, but since it wasn't raining and the fact that there were many little stores to check out, it wasn't too bad. The price was very reasonable and the portions are quite generous as well. 

Have you ever tried a dish like this? What's your favorite Italian food??