Recent delicious treats via the Bay Area

Last weekend I visited my sister in the Bay Area (just saying "Oakland" sounds so... ya know). Anyways, there were a lot of delicious things I consumed, which is one of my favorite reasons to visit her, besides that whole seeing your sister thing. It was a Friday night- Sunday night trip so we tried to fit in as many meals as possible (as usual). I landed around 9pm Fri night, and she was kind enough to take me to Popeyes for delicious juicy spicy fried chicken. I still believePopeyes has the best Fried Chicken, and Fried Chicken is definitely #1 or #2 of my all time favorite foods. The nearest Popeyes from me is 40 minutes away so I don't frequent it often, which is good for my cholesterol level.

Anyways, Saturday was white water river rafting day at the American River. Our trip included a lunch of all you can eat sandwiches, which we definitely loaded up on. We were starving the whole morning so we kept chanting "Sandwiches, sandwiches!" to motivate ourselves. After lunch was finished and the post-food coma passed, we chanted "korean bbq, korean bbq!" to motivate ourselves for dinner. And it was quite the feast. We went to a place in Sacramento and boy was it tasty.

Lots of fatty pork ala bacon, beef and chicken, and the famous korean sides as well. I am a BIG fan of korean bbq, especially from shabusen, where they have the all you can eat korean bbq and sushi. :)

We finished off the night at Fentons Creamery in Oakland, famous for their ice cream. The line was out the door when we arrived at 10:30pm - definitely a hoppin' place on a Saturday night. More food-induced comas followed post consumption of ice cream. I ordered 2 scoops - chocolate marble and coffee & cookies. Delectable.

Sunday was my favorite meal day. My sister surprised me with a new place - Bakesale Betty's - which as AMAZING fried chicken sandwiches. They're served in a hoagie roll with a spicy cabbage slaw mixed with cilantro and sliced jalapenos. MMMM. BB's also has amazing baked goods - we got a chocolate chip cookie and a candied ginger scone. Both were baked to perfection.

Of course, Manpuku was an obvious choice for dinner. I cannot visit my sister without going to Manpuku near UCBerkeley - cheap but delicious sushi. You can rarely find that combo. It's usually either cheap or delicious. Not here. It's both! :) We ordered the hot king roll (cali-roll inside, tuna on top, with siracha and green onions), the aloha roll (my fave! cali-roll inside, salmon on top with slices of lemon), and the avocado and salmon roll. So effing delicious that my mouth is watering right now just thinking of that meal. We topped this meal off with a steaming bowl of hakata ramen ("tonkatsu" for you noobs). The pork broth is so savory and flavorful, and they include picked veggies, a hard boiled egg, and braised pork with perfect al-dente ramen. Definitely gives Samurai Noodle a run for their money though I'd like to go to Japan and get the real deal. There's always next trip...