REVIEW: Crepevine is the place for big portions

Hungry? Do you want something with great "quality" and at the same time, a burst of deliciousness in your mouth? Try Crepevine! Ok, I just sounded like I was doing a commercial right there.

First of all, I love their menu. I love the chalk board feeling, which gives the whole restaurant a old fashioned feel while keeping up with a fancy look.  

Their menu included sandwiches, pastas, salads, crepes (sweet and savory), omelettes, egg benedicts, scrambled eggs, and other breakfast items. You can actually taste the fresheness and quality of their food. Most to all the food is very nutritious. That's why I love it here so much. 

bangkok salad

Bangkok Salad- This is the only salad I've tried at Crepevine, but I know for sure its going to be my favorite.  The sauces and spices go together so well.  The chicken is marinated with a curry flavor.  On the bottom are chopped up peanuts and they add a special crunch to the salad.  The semi-sour vinaigrette is  already mixed within the greens which is convenient for me because when I mix the dressing from the top of the salad to the rest of the dish, I tend to make a big mess.  I love their presentation also.  The plate is huge, and it is filled up with no space wasted.  And not to mention, their sourdough bun is delicious.  

palermo fettuccine

Palermo Fettuccine- This pasta was very creamy and cheesy.  Pasta isn't my favorite so I didn't find anything much special in this dish.  The chicken was ordinary.  The sauce was standard.

smoked salmon benedict

Smoked Salmon Egg Benedict- I'm a huge fan of salmon.  Any kind of salmon-raw, smoked, baked, fried, anything.  I'm also a huge fan of eggs with spinach.  That's why this dish is perfect.  The eggs were perfectly cooked- the yolk was drooling out.   Potatoes were served on the side, and they were nothing to rage about. 

provence

Scrambled Eggs with Salmon (provence)-  This was sort of similar to the Benedict above, but the salmon is cooked with the eggs and spinach.  Personally, I love goat cheese which was added on this dish. It gave the scrambled eggs a creamier taste since the salmon and eggs were a bit on the drier side.  It was delicious.  Potatoes and toast were served on the side.  

Those were some dishes I tried at Crepevine! I know I didn't get to try many of them, but that means I get to go to Crepevine more often.  That's a good thing.

I would say this restaurant is more on the pricy side.  However, their portion sizes and the quality of their food is incredible, so their prices is reasonable.  You've gotta give this place a try.  And one more thing-this place isn't actually like a fancy classy restaurant.  You have to order at the front, carry a number sign to your table of your choice and then they will bring your food over to you.  

If you have tried Crepevine (yay!), what is your favorite dish?

Also, shout out to my mom for taking some of these photos.

FAVORITES: Not your ordinary bagel

Lately, I've been loving a type of bagel called pumpernickel bagel.  It may look weird or somewhat unappetizing to you, but trust me, the taste is amazing.  Well, at least for me it is. It's so hard to describe the taste.  It is basically one of those foods that is either a hit or miss, which means you either like it entirely, or you hate it.

So I tried this bagel shop in Alameda called House of Bagels, they have a huge variety of bagels, and out of the large selection, of course I decided to try out the darkest, most unappealing one, and the one with the strangest name.  Yep, that is me. And if you check me out on yelp, you can see how many times I've been here based on my check ins.  The reason why I love this place so much is because they claim to have fresh and no added preservatives or oils in their food.  This is what I call quality ingredients and food.

I usually either eat my bagel as a bagel sandwich, or I eat it plainly.  But I'll warn you now, if you just eat it plainly, your jaw will plead for a break.  Cause mine were exhausted.

Pumpernickel is a whole grain food which means it is way better for you than the white refined flours founded in white bread.  And incorporating more whole grain in your diet means less risk of diseases and illnesses.  Also, they have more fiber than white breads.  So if they run out of pumpernickel bagels at this bagel shop, I recommend choosing some other whole grain bagels which include the rye bagel and the whole wheat bagel.  Pumpernickel contains many vitamins and minerals that are essential for the body overall.

I just decided to share this short post with you guys to let you guys know the things I've been craving in my life.  If I get a good response, I will start doing more of these.  And of course, they will most likely be a bit on the healthy side because I love nourishing myself with the good and natural ingredients.

Done.

REVIEW: Latino foods take on a new approach

Alright, the reason why I named the title, "Latino foods take on a new approach" is because for me,     when I think of Latino foods, I see the same foods as the Mexican cuisine.  However, that is not the     case. Bocanova is indeed a fusion-style Latino restaurant and most of their foods are not at all like     the Mexican style.  In fact, their food seem pretty much like a mixture of many different cultures.       

On January 23, 2015, my family and I came to Bocanova for my mom's birthday.  The view was great, since it was located in Jack London Square.  We took a seat outside, with the calm ocean view. It was quite breezy, but they provided us with a lamp heater, so that came in handy.

The prices were a bit on the higher side, but it was expected because again, it was in Jack London Square.

BOCADITOS (snacks)

Dungeness Crab Deviled Eggs----Personally, I love hard boiled eggs, so if you're a fan of them like me, this dish would be great for you.  However, I think that they provided too much sauce for this, and it was too salty for me.  It had a thick texture and the sauce flavor was what they called, chipotle aioli. The crab was perfect though.  

dungeness crab deviled eggs

CEVICHES Y CRUDOS  

Ceviche is basically marinated fish with some lemon or citrus juice.  Crudos means "raw". 

Scallop Ceviche---This dish was probably one of my favorites.  The flavor was just right.  It tasted very fresh and complete.  The tumbo juice they added gave the dish a bit of sour taste which was perfectly combined.  Also, I thought the avocado went great with the scallops because the texture of the avocado was mushy and the scallops were harder, so it tasted as though the avocado was an extra sauce for the scallops. 

scallop ceviche (19)

ENSALADS (salads)

Quinoa Salad---Alright, this was hands down the best quinoa salad I've ever had.  They give you an adequate amount of duck meat and it tasted so good.  Avocado was also added in there which gave it a stronger taste.  There was also watercress, pumpkin seeds and cilantro vinaigrette.  Every ingredient inside the quinoa salad was absolutely amazing.  This is a must try for everyone.  

Not only is there a lot of great nutrients, it tastes so flavorful.  I'm always about the quality and healthy benefits of the food.  I literally cannot emphasize how much I love this dish.  

You have to try this right now !

quinoa salad (15)

PESCADOS Y MARISCOS (fish and shellfish)

Grilled Octopus---I love anything seafood related.  This dish was alright, but there was nothing really special about it.  The octopus was very chewy and the chickpeas went well as a side topping to the dish.  The flavor was just right with a little bit of sourness from the preserved lemon they added.  I wouldn't say I hated this one, but it definitely couldn't beat the quinoa salad.  

grilled octopus (21)

The following dishes are not on the regular restaurant menu.  It is on the menu of the Oakland Restaurant Week. The whole set meal was $40.

Scallop Crudo---This dish was extremely small and I didn't like it at all.  It was again, too salty for me.  There was cured kumquats and I don't like them so that is probably the reason why this dish didn't match my taste buds.  The scallops were very thinly sliced.

scallop crudo 

Duck Confit&Frisee Salad---I know I have repeated this many many times, but I very much dislike dishes that contain too much salt that go over my taste buds.  The reason why I like salads is because it is a lighter option.  But for this salad, it is nowhere near what I expected.  All of the greens soaked in the salty sauce.  The egg was my favorite though.  I love eggs that are cooked on the outside and drooly in the inside.  The duck was alright.  But I liked the duck in the quinoa salad better. 

duck confit&frisee salad

Slow Cooked Lamb---I think there were more vegetables than lamb.  Even though there were so many vegetables,  it went perfectly with the lamb.  They weren't cooked fully, but it added an extra crunch. The lamb was perfectly cooked. This dish wasn't too salty so it was great.

slow cooked lamb

Desserts

Dried Apple Crisp(with the set meal)---This dessert tasted like applesauce with caramel ice cream.  It was way too sweet.  It tasted like they added too much syrup to sweeten up the apples.  This was not my favorite.

dried apple crisp 

Warm Chocolate Croissant Bread Pudding---These were one of those desserts that are just like WOW.  This was the best bread pudding I've ever had.  Since it was made with croissant, it gave the dessert a richer taste.  The Mexican chocolate ice cream was so good.  It was way better than the caramel ice cream in my opinion.

warm chocolate croissant bread pudding (10)

Churros---In a Latino restaurant, how can we not try churros...?  And no, these are not like the Costco ones.  They are served warm with a side of Mexican chocolate sauce.  I liked how the Churros weren't too thick or too long.  The sauce was delicious, just the right amount of sweetness and the texture was very thick so it didn't drip all over the place.

churros (8)

DRINKS

Café Mocha---First of all, I love the flower they drew on top.  The flavor of the drink itself wasn't as concentrated as I thought it would be.  But I liked it the way it was.  The sweetness was just right.

café mocha

Agua Fresca---Pineapple and Orange.  This just tasted like flavored juice, and nothing really special.  It was refreshing and very thirst quenching.  This contains no alcohol.

agua fresca (4)

Sangria---My mom drank this since it had alcohol.

sangria (7)

That is it to my review !

I've written a short review on Bocanova on yelp jasminecheng.yelp.com .  I do my usual check ins on there so check it out !

Also HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my mom !! I know you love food as much as I do, so I hope you enjoyed this delicious dinner at Bocanova.  Stay young (haha) and don't stress out too much !