Clinton Street Baking Company & Restaurant – New York City

The last food stop of the full day of eating was dinner at Clinton Street Baking Company & Restaurant.

It’s famous for its pancake and the line for their breakfast/brunch is usually 1-2 hours.  Since I don’t mind eating breakfast for dinner, I decided to skip the lines by going at night.

pancakes with wild maine blueberry and warm maple butter… the pancakes were warm and fluffy and didn’t sag.  The maple butter tasted more than maple syrup.

the award-winning buttermilk fried chicken dinner…. the parents weren’t up for breakfast food and ordered this.  I had a bite and the chicken was pretty good… fried perfectly!

kale salad with avocado chunks, quinoa, cherry tomatoes, red onions, spiced green pumpkin seeds and lemon vinegrette….

IMO, the pancakes are delicious.. but I wouldn’t wait 2 hours for it..

FAIM? OUI OUI!!!!

Clinton Street Baking Company & Restaurant

4 Clinton St, New York, NY 10002, United States
+1 646-602-6263

The Garden @ Four Seasons Hotel New York

Each morning, we had breakfast at the hotel… which wasn’t really worth it.  I mean, there are so many other things to eat while in New York!

The restaurant, by the lobby, has trees!!!

started off the day with this ultra-expensive acai smoothie (16 usd)….. not worth it…

Park Avenue Breakfast (eggs, sausage, potatos, salad and smoke salmon)….

“Super” Green Egg White Frittata – Spinach, Asparagus, Broccoli, Tofu… extremely bland…

eggs benedict with smoked salmon…

Catskill Smoked Salmon Bagel – Capers, Vine Ripe Tomatoes, Red Onions, Cream Cheese…. good thing there’s a lot of smoke salmon..

Stuffed French Toast – Organic Blueberries, Nutella Butter…. pretty good

Buttermilk Pancakes….

The food quality is ok.. but overpriced at 120 USD for 3! We paid for bed and breakfast rate.. which was 100 USD more than the regular room rate.  Guess we saved $25.. but still.. I didn’t think it was worth it.

FAIM? OUI OUI!!

The Garden @ Four Seasons Hotel New York

57 E 57th St, New York, NY 10022, United States

Phone:+1 212-758-5700

Mizuno お好み焼 美津の – Osaka, Japan

From Nara, we finally made it to Osaka and it’s completely different than Kyoto.  Where Kyoto is relatively slow-paced and an ode to the the past, Osaka is bursting with energy and bright neon signs.

Near the famous “Glico Running Man” in the Dotonburi area, is one of the most famous and best okonomiyaki restaurant: Mizuno.   Mizuno has been serving okonomiyaki for 65 years! Even though its located right in the middle of Dotonburi, it’s still really hard to find. Luckily, we got help from really friendly locals who googled Mizuno’s number, called for the address, and took us there.  So nice!

The lineup was crazy! We waited an hour.. and had takoyaki while waiting!

Okonomiyaki is a savory pancake that contains a variety of ingredients. We didn’t know what to order and just asked for the 3 most popular.

scallop and pork

pork and squid..

pork and spring onion..

we saw our neighbours order the noodles and it looked really good. so we ordered it too!

Loved the okonomiyaki!  fluffy, flavourful, lots of fillings and cooked just right!

FAIM? OUI OUI!!!

Mizuno / Miduno (お好み焼 美津の)
1-4-15 Dotonbori, Chuo-ku, Osaka 542-0071
大阪府大阪市中央区道頓堀１丁目４−１５

Fable Kitchen – Vancouver

This summer, the newest IT restaurant in Vancouver is Fable, a farm-to-table restaurant opened by Trevor Bird, a contestant on Season 2 of Top Chef Canada.

My friends and I met up for brunch.. the reservations for dinner were all full!

Fable Eggs: rustic bread, tomato jam, sunny side eggs, lardons, mushrooms, potatoes, kale…. From the description, this dish sounded pretty ordinary but it’s NOT! You can’t see from the photo, but the mix of lardons, mushrooms, potatoes, kale with tomato jam beneath the eggs is the highlight of this dish.  The mix has a sweet taste to it and is a winning combination.

Pulled Pork Johnny Cakes with tomato jam, pickled jalapenos….my friends ordered this and I had a bite.  This too was an interesting yet winning combination.  Who would have thought salt and pancakes went well together?

Halibut brandade benedicts with Olive Oil Hollandaise.….. my other friends ordered the egg bendicts..

free post-meal white chocolate chip cookies, which my friend is happily munching on!

I definitely want to try dinner at Fable.. since brunch was such a success, I would imagine dinner to be even more amazing!

FAIM? OUI OUI!!

Fable Kitchen

1944 West 4th Avenue  Vancouver, BC V6J 1M7
(604) 732-1322

Portage Bay Cafe – Seattle, USA

Went down to Seattle to meet up with my BFF before summer ended…she’s studying at UW and took us to lunch at Portage Bay.

Portage Bay is a campus favourite and only serves breakfast, brunch and lunch.

Loved the airy and sunny interior… it also has outdoor seating..

Organic Pancakes (Two big pancakes made from Bluebird Farms heirloom wheat, organic yogurt, brown sugar and vanilla)… There’s a toppings bar with whipped cream, butter, syrup, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, nuts and more! And! it’s unlimited toppings and you can go back as many times as you want!  My BFF said my piling of the toppings was pathetic cause most people cover the entire plate with toppings.  I didn’t want to seem like a pig …. I ended up making more that 7 runs to the toppings bar because I kept getting the blueberries which tasted so sweet and fresh.

Barbecue Pork Sandwich (All-Natural pork shoulder, braised in our spicy homemade Fonte espresso barbecue sauce, piled up on a soft brioche bun with a heap of fresh slaw)…. Mom ordered this and loved it.. especially the sauce..

Club all-natural (organic chicken, with organic avocado mayonnaise, lettuce, tomato, and thick pepper bacon, all on our savory country white bread)…

Thai Style Manila Steamer Clams (sustainably harvested local manila clams sautéed with organic shallots, garlic, Thai purple basil, organic mini bell peppers, diced organic roma tomatoes, and Alvarez Farms organic purple spring onions in a red chili infused coconut broth finished with organic chopped scallions)….  BFF ordered this… I had a few clams.. really fresh but the sauce was spicy…..

BFF’s been waiting forever for this post to be up!  Thanks for the great brunch recommendation!

FAIM? OUI OUI!!!

Portage Bay Cafe

4130 Roosevelt Way Northeast
Seattle, WA
(206) 547-8230