Bun Bun Tea House

Looking for Genki Living? Look no more. The former Asian crepe place has been turned into a Taiwanese burger joint. The food served tastes better than the name sounds.

Mom ordered the Black Pepper beef rice bun which is more like a pita pocket bread. They even added an egg. My sister got the Spicy Chicken burger which also had an egg and a peanut butter spread. I got the Peanut Butter Cheeseburger with no ketchup and it was also amazing. I love how they put a fried egg in each one cooked just right so that the yolk doesn't get all over the place but at the same time is not overcooked.

The burgers come with fries and one potato ball. You could substitute for something else for 50 cents extra.

We went the other day to get an order of potato balls. One order comes with 6 and they were buttery and delicious with a dollop of cheese in the middle. Well today, the potato ball seemed to be missing flavor of any kind, no butter, just the cheese in the middle.

Their drinks are also delicious. I got the iced green tea with no sugar. And my sister got some coffee tea with freshly made boba, so fresh, it was still warm in the icy drink.

The atmosphere is pleasant. It is served by 2 Asian dudes. They are friendly but sometimes is hard to get their attention, especially if there are other customers. The place is really big enough to hold about 6 tables. You also have a choice of sitting on a sofa with a low coffee table. Flip through old Asian magazines on a shelf while waiting.

They have a tip jar. They were not coming over when we wanted the check so I gave them the money on the counter. They came over to give the change. And I was walking over to the tip jar on the counter as they came by to clean the table. They collected the tray the bill was on and gave me a funny look but looked relieved just as I put the tip in the jar before I left.

The only disadvantage of the place is that it's CASH ONLY!

The Novel Cafe

After work, I headed to The Novel Cafe. It had pretty decent reviews from Yelp. The major complaints were that there was little to no service. I beg to differ.

I was kinda undecided as to where to eat. I walked around the block for awhile, but the only other eating places were fast food or a bar across the street. The menu presented at the front had mostly breakfast or burger items and I didn't want either. I thought I'd go in and ask for the the soup of the day or just settle for some tea and study.

If you haven't looked into it yet, the place is known for serving beer and wine as well as tea and coffee with wi-fi available.

The decor is quite pleasant. Artwork decorate the walls. Off to the side is a shelf full of books and as soon as you walk in, you are greeted by a well maintained and clean bar. It appears that the most comfortable seating is to the other side of the wall, but all those were either taken or had a reserve sign on the table. All the other ones were available and I settled for a table in the center at the back facing the door. It was happy hour! That meant $1 off the appetizers. I got the Sliders and they looked quite cute and filling. I also ordered the Gen-mai tea which came in a rather generously sized cup. I watched their big screen TVs while waiting; there was 3 of them- it was a basketball game that was on. Also while waiting, the female server was preparing flowers and brought out a vase filled with a lovely small bouquet onto my table. It was very friendly and cheerful.

The meat of the sliders was kinda tough...I think the first time and also probably the best I had Sliders was at Rubies. They had the Kobe Sliders with Hawaiian buns. However, the Sliders did come in a generous amount of nice piping hot french fries.

The ambience was really nice. It is definitely one of those places I would recommend going to alone to study or to surf the net or just to relax with a nice cuppa tea. The servers passed by with a smile but never rushed me or hassled me with the annoying question if everything is ok. The food was good, nothing really special, but I felt content and very comfortable.

The bill came out to be just under $11 and I left a $2 tip.

The only suggestion I would make would be that it would be nice if they also brought out a pot of hot water instead of just the big cup. Peet's Coffee does that- they give you a big cup of the hot tea along with a small pot of hot water. Also I don't think orange-red is a good color for a teacup. Because I'm the type of person that likes to look at the natural green color of the tea while I'm having it.

It is conveniently located across from the Pasadena City College. Since it was spring break, street parking was not too hard to find, although it is supposed to have its own little parking lot, which I missed.

It is also supposed to have live music on Fridays.

Overall- great experience...I will be back!!

Europane Bakery

I was walking around Old Town and decided to try out this bakery. Actually I was craving something savory and unique but didn't feel like paying for a $8 sandwich that I could make at home easily. I ended up getting a jasmine tea and a sea salt caramel macaroon which looked very interesting. In all honesty I didn't expect too much. The tea was good- it's kinda hard to mess up a classic tea like jasmine even in tea bag form. I kinda had a rough afternoon and never got around to eating the macaroon til later in the evening after dinner and oh my- one bite and I felt like I was in heaven! It's true what they say about saving the best for last. The outside was perfectly crispy and inside was a rich creamy wonderfully oozy texture bursting with caramel goodness, with just the right amount of sweetness that at the same time leaves your tongue with the taste of sea salt as though your mouth had just been to the Mediterranean Sea and back during the whole 2 seconds that the macaroon survived in your mouth. Wow! It's been a long time since I've been this impressed with non-Asian desserts and it definitely left me wanting more. I'm going to be thinking about it at work tomorrow...

They have a variety of flavors. Unfortunately I don't remember what they were all called. There was chocolate...and this green one, I think pistachio.

I should have taken a picture of it. I thought about it after the first marvelous bite but shoved the rest into my mouth upon deciding that I must return and get more anyway, so wait til next time for pics.

My complaint would be that it is not a convenient place to park and dash in and out; unless you walk you must pay for parking in the public structures and the Paseo one is right across the street. Second of all it was rather busy with a hectic environment when you're in line. And third of all, I just love it when they ask me "for here or to go" when it is obvious there are no more available indoor seating especially when one man was hogging up a table of like 20 seats. There were however a few tables outside, but it was a cloudy rainy day.

The tea and the macaroon came up to just under $4, which might seem like a wee bit expensive snack, yet it is still cheaper than a Starbuck's Caramel Macchiato and I would much rather have my macaroon with tea and eat it too.

85 Degrees Cafe

The first time I went to the 85 Degrees Cafe, the line went out the door. This time there weren't that many people, and for a good reason too. None of the bread I got was hot! I went at around 2:30pm on a weekday.

I got the Hawaiian Pizza bread. I am typically wary of breads that call itself a pizza but there were several suggestions for it on yelp. Unfortunately, it was not fresh and not even warm at all. It was tough and chewy, not soft like I'd expect. I only took a bite of it; it wasn't very tasty either. I decided to save the rest to be nuked in the microwave at home.

The garlic bread was good even when not warm and fresh. How can bread not be good when it's full of garlic buttery goodness? It had a decent enough texture as well, slightly crunchy, but not hard and stale.

The coconut cream bread was the best out of the three I chose. It definitely does not need to be warmed up to be enjoyed. The bread was wonderfully soft like a sponge and the coconut cream was not too sweet. However, it would have been nice if they put more coconut flakes or coconut milk. The cream kind of just tasted like whipped cream otherwise.

There were advertisements for their iced sea salt coffee, so I ordered a medium of that. It's decent enough for a typical non-coffee drinker. Reviews on yelp had been good for the sea salt coffee. It's a bit bitter for me. Added a pack of brown sugar.

My major complaint was that you have to wait for the drinks to be made. They call out your number, but they don't call it very loud. You have to stand right next to the counter, staring into where they display the cakes and sweets, where a lot of other people are standing around (some waiting for drinks, some just staring at the sweets). So, someone had called out some numbers and a guy had asked me what numbers they had just called and I repeated "122, 123". And he asks me "they said 123?" and I said "yes". Well, then he asks the guy at the counter again the number. I hate it when people do that, makes you feel all self-conscious, like your answer isn't good enough for some reason. And on top of that the girl he was with pointed to the label stuck on the cup which also had the number. It's like how many sources do they need to check their numbers.

The cakes look pretty good as well. Coffee creme brulee anyone?

The Chocolate Marble cake isn't very tasty by the way.

A curious thing is how come the branch in Taipei has bread and pastries that are always piping hot and the crowds don't act quite as crazy as those in the US?

I have also realized that there really isn't a wide selection of breads. It's just garlic bread, multi-grain bread, that black squid inked break, the blueberry cream one, coconut cream, some Danish, Pizza, pork sung, some French cheese bread, hot dog, and that is it! That is what they have one one wall and they have the exact same thing spread out on 2 other sides! Why is there such a freaking long line on the weekends? How is this place different from Cloverleaf or JJ Bakery?? Is it because they don't have the traditional red bean paste bread! They also don't have curry bread, one of my favorites from other bakeries.