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Ole’s Waffle Shop – Alameda, California

We have been going to Ole’s Waffle Shop for many years now and the place is always packed. I love this place as it not only had the best breakfast food, it’s in an old fashioned style diner with the long bar, swivel seats and booths! Located right on Park Street, you won’t miss it at all as there’s always a line and street parking.

Once we sat down, we ordered their fresh squeed orange juice which is one of my favourites. They have really good orange juice as there is a juice extractor. Plain and simple, really fresh and tasty!

I ordered their Waffle Combo which comes with a waffle, eggs and I ordered mine with a sausage patty. It was the perfect amount of food and everything tasted so delicious. They even warmed up the syrup which was really a nice treat as no other waffle/pancake place has ever done that!

My husband ordered his favourite, the Corn Beef Hash thinking there was hash browns in with the corn beef hash, but it was more just flat grilled corned beef, no has.. and we got grits on the side. It was still really good although not what either of us was expecting.

Overall, this waffle shop has been a favourite of ours for many years and we will always continue to go here. It’s close and convenient and delicious. The staff is always friendly even though they’re really busy!

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Ole’s Waffle Shop

1507 Park St
Alameda, CA
(510) 522-8108

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Suzu Japanese Noodle House – San Francisco, California

This one evening, we didn’t know where to go for dinner. We were on the San Francisco side as we were doing some sigh seeing, so we decided we would go for Japantown for some ramen for dinner and we ended up finding Suzu Japanese Noodle House inside a little mall. The place was little and packed so make sure you have some patience if you want to try them – it’s worth it!

We started with an order of Gyoza as well all know, I love dumplings. They pan fried the dumplings here really nicely and the pork inside was really well seasoned. It was a thin skin and delicious!

I ordered their Cha Shu Ramen with Shoyu flavour soup and it was actually really delicious! The broth was excellent and the cha shu was tender, juicy and flavourful! The texture of the ramen was really nice and the noodles were really fresh!

We saw a news article outside the window of this restaurant where someone was showcasing their Suzu Ramen so my husband got that! It was quite different as it had karaage, fried gyoza and corn in his soup. His soup was miso flavoured and that was super tasty as well. We didn’t like the fried gyozas nearly as much as the pan fried ones that we got as an appetizer but the noodles are as tasty as it looks!

We also ordered a bowl of Kakuni Ramen with shoya flavour – which was their braised pork belly. It looked and smelled delicious and it was eaten completely withouth a word! So, it was awesome!

Overall, we loved our experience here. We all thought it was worth the wait and we know we could be back! The prices were reasonable, the service was quick and friendly and most importantly, the food was so good!

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Suzu Japanese Noodle House

1825 Post St
San Francisco, CA
(415) 346-5083

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Kapok Seafood Restaurant – Alameda, California

We went out for lunch and decided to go for dim sum – somewhere more local with great rates for dim sum at Kapok Seafood Restaurant! All dim sum dishes here were only $2.00 and the place was quite busy for a weekday!

We just ordered a bunch of stuff and shared it at our table, which is the traditional way to having dim sum. They don’t give you any bowls here though, just a plate and chopsticks (which isn’t very traditional). We started with an order of Chive Dumplings that were steamed. It was really quite delicious and the skin was thin and delicate.

Then, we ordered some Fried Taro Dumpling which isn’t something we normally get. But, it looked really nice and light, and fresh here. And, it was! We hate it when it’s cold and hard, but it was delicately fried and the filling was hot and fresh. The pork was well seasoned, so we enjoyed this quite a bit!

We don’t normally go to dim sum without ordering my husbands favourite, lo bak goh and it wasn’t bad. Of course, nothing as good as homemade, but it was still really fresh with lo bak shreds thoughout! We love it when there are noticeable shreds so they are amazing that way!

Some more steamed dim sum for our table, we got an order of Spare ribs and it was really well seasoned here. The spare ribs were not too fatty at all and like everything else, it was really tasty and fresh. The meat was tender and it came off the bones without being over cooked!

Another dish we always order is the Steamed Beef Balls which is another of my husbands favourite, especially with Worcestershire sauce! The balls were excellent here and not made with overwhelming amounts of parsley so it was nice to actually be able to taste the meat balls here!

Just as you would think we’re done, we ordered something quite amazing! It’s their Lobster Noodles for only $8.88! It doesn’t get better than that! It was an awesome little lobster that sat on a bed of yee mein which is one of our favourites and never really order as it’s costly here. With this price, sure it’s little, but it was definitely enough as we’re having it WITH our dim sum!

Everything was amazing here and the price of the experience seems to have made us extra happy! So, if you’re looking for fresh dim sum at a great price, then you should come try here! It’s not clean, service is average, but you get good food and a great rate!

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Kapok Seafood Restaurant

1511 Webster St
Alameda, CA
(510) 865-5405

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Peet’s Coffee & Tea – Piedmont, California

We found ourselves stopping for a quick coffee break on a beautiful afternoon at Peet’s Coffee & Tea right on Piedmont Avenue that crosses with Glen Avenue. It’s pretty easy to find if you’re strolling on Piedmont Avenue, and parking can be tricky – but there is street/meter parking available.

Once we entered the cafe, there was an advertisement for Cinnamon Hazelnut Latte and I knew immediately that it was the drink I really wanted to try. We got a small one of those and they did do a nice latte art on the top – although I squished the cup to make the art not so clear, the coffee was wonderful! You definately get the aroma and taste of cinnamon, hazelnut and coffee! It was a delightful latte!

We also ordered a holiday favourite of ours, the Peppermint Hot chocolate and this was really nice! Very chocolatey and very pepperminty! The hot chocolate was amazing and with that chocolate syrup swirl on the top, it added extra goodness to the drink!

We absolutely loved this little cafe and we know we will be back. We like spending time around this area for many reasons, and now this will be on the list of many!

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Peet’s Coffee & Tea – Piedmont

4050 Piedmont Ave
Oakland, CA
(510) 655-3228

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Ici Ice Cream – Berkeley, California

We heard about an amazing ice cream place in Berkeley and although I am a little sick, I figured I’m going to have ice cream anyway! 🙂 We ventured and found Ici Ice Cream which is located right on College Avenue. They do have street parking along the sides, and be prepared to wait in line outside as the shop is a small one with tons of customers!

We decided to try their Pumpkin Caramel Swirl flavoured ice cream in a dish and it was amazing. It definitely tasted almost like a pumpkin pie and it almost seems like it can have the texture of a frozen pumpkin pie filling. It was amazing and very enjoyable. You get pieces of frozen caramel swirl within the ice cream so it’s a nice treat when you get some!

We also got the Vanilla Creme Brulee in their home made waffle cone! The cone was really different but it was really tasty. Definitely not too sweet at all, and it had a chocolate nugget at the bottom to stop ice cream from dripping down as it melts. The ice cream was amazing and there was pieces of the broken burnt sugar from the brulee which added nice texture to the ice cream!

We love local shops and stores and we have no problem waiting for a good one. This place was worth the wait! A great treat any day!

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Ici Ice Cream

2948 College Ave
Berkeley, CA
(510) 665-6054