Flavor Boulevard

Hawaii is paradise if you are:
1. into constant heat and 90% humidity. In Hawaii, the world outside your air-conditioned box (e.g., your house, car, or office) is a sauna.
2. in the shave ice, juice, lemonade, or ice cream business.

The owner of Coconut Cafe is in *full* control of her life, her shop, and her customers. Her main sale is undoubtedly shaved ice, although her menu also has other dessert drinks (such as bubble teas), sandwiches and burgers. Coconut Cafe has no fixed hours of operation. She opens and closes when she wants to, and even if you walk into the door when she has already decided to close, she will tell you firmly so and there is no changing it. We know this fact, because we experienced it not just once, but 4 times.

The first day, we got there at 9:30 pm, after dinner, doors were shut tight, understandably, although we were somewhat surprised by how early stores and restaurants close in Hawaii compared to Berkeley. There was no sign anywhere saying what hours they’re open.

The second day, we got there around 5 pm. The lady said we could get shaved ice to-go because she’s closing, which is fine with us. A couple walked in a few minutes after us and they had to leave empty-handed. We thought about how lucky we were.

That luck didn’t last, however. The next two days we returned, around the same time, first to a closed shop, then to an about-to-close shop, and the lady said it’d be open around noon the next day. Noon the next day, we returned, a guy promptly greeted us with a simple cross of the arms, “we’re close,” without so much of a sorry. We left, dejected and irritated. Is a cup of shaved ice really worth our pride? Is a shaved-ice shop opening at noon, according to the owner’s words no less, really so much to ask for?

We were out of patience and ready to not ever go back, but luckily (and somewhat inexplicably), we went back. The owner lady apologized with as much sincerity as she could express, explained why she couldn’t open at noon as promised (I still can’t fully understand her explanation until this day, but I suppose that’s on me), and even waited for our return late that day. She stayed opened until 6:30 pm, just for us. As soon as we got our shaved ice, she closed for the day.

Shave ice with 3 flavors: pineapple, cherry, and P.O.G. (passion fruit, orange, guava). Photo by bnibroc.

The fruity syrups, condensed milk and ice cream certainly make her shaved ice desirable. The heat helps, too. But I think her business model is successful for two main reasons:
1. The completely, unfailingly unpredictable hours (you know, keep us customers on our toes)
2. The owner is nice. She doesn’t treat her customers with indifference.

So, as one of the kids exclaimed right after taking his first spoon,
“This is the best shaved ice I’ve ever had. Thank you!”

Address: Coconut Cafe
2441 Kuhio Ave
Honolulu, HI 96815
(cash only)

Yesterday Kristen posted on Facebook pictures of cutie fluffy four-legged pals that walk all around her in a cat cafe. I’m so jealous, Kristen! My jealousy is as high as Mt. Fuji right now. You know the (almost) first thing I did when I went to Japan? I looked for a cat cafe.

Unfortunately, just about everybody decided to go to the same cat cafe that day (I wished I had found a less popular cafe, this one being on the internet with English and all just makes it too known). One middle-age man chased the cats around relentlessly. (He wanted their attention just as much as I did. I feel you, man.) Then after he was about to leave, a couple came in and the girl took over the chasing duty. >__> All of the cats retreated under chairs and onto inaccessible window sills. My phone sucks at taking their pictures. One cat semi-approached me, but somebody (either the middle-age man or the girl) inched to him and he left. Me devastated.

I spent an hour there reading, trying to hide my misery, but I was too heart-broken to even get through 2 pages. At least the affogato ice cream (800 yen) was good.

To end on a bright note though, look at this sweet cotton ball I found at a small shrine near Kameido Tenjin shrine (亀戸天神社). He let me pet him! HE LET ME PET HIM!!! I was in tears.

Address: Cafe Calaugh
Asakusaekimae Bld. 2F, 2-19-13,
Kaminarimon, Taito-ku, Tokyo
calaugh.com

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Guest blogged by C. from Katsushika.

Even if you don’t like anything at Cafe Rabelais (I didn’t), this mini-mountain of profiteroles loaded with ice cream is still as resistible as a pool in the summer, and worth every second you spend with it too.

To top, it’s HUGE. THREE orange-size puffs, for only $6.50! We thought it was going to be just one cream puff, you know, like how desserts are usually portioned… but no, the pastry chef has a heart of gold. Next time I’m at Rive Village, I’ll swing by for a profiterole recharge. 😉

Sidney and the cream puffs. See how big this dessert is?

Address: Cafe Rabelais
2442 Times Blvd (West University, steps away from the big shopping mall of Rice Village)
Houston, TX 77005
(713) 520-8841 (They don’t take reservation though)

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Now… a few more shots of Rabelais’ foods, but the menu varies daily and is only written on the blackboard so we might never see these dishes again:

Pate de campagne – meaty and well seasoned.

Salmon salad with raspberry vinaigrette.

“Roasted leg of lamb with raspberry demi” – Well, I don’t like the smell of lamb and this one didn’t change that.

Bavette steaks with caramelized onion.

The above steak, in bread. Looks tough.

Lemon sole meuniere – too much lemongrass, lemon and salt, but so much more edible than the lamb.

Creme brulee. Too sweet, of course.

Chocolate mousse – I might as well swim in sugar. I like the chocolate stick though!

“Fondant au Chocolat sur Croute de Noix” – basically the chocolate mousse on a nut crust.

By the way, the service is just plain negligence. But if you come only for the profiteroles, you won’t see the waitress enough to notice the service anyway. 😉

While in Seoul, I stayed in Hongdae for 5 days and Myeondong for the next 5 days to experience different areas of Seoul. Since I was in a hostel at Hongdae and raw eggs and bread were provided, I never had to worry about breakfast. However, moving into a hotel in Myeondong meant that I would have to start going out for breakfast.

I was worried because it seemed like nothing in Hongdae opened until 12:00pm (except for Cafe Berlin and a few other cafes that opened “early” at 10:00am). Luckily, just down the road and across the street from Hotel Astoria is a little cafe called Cafe Beati (카페 베아띠) that is opened at least before 8am (I am not sure when it actually opens but when I stopped in it was already open at 8:00am).

The owner of the store was one of those people who absolutely refused to speak to me in Korean despite my not using any English. This is probably good news since this means that it’s a pretty accessible cafe for non-Korean speakers, but it definitely made me self-conscious about my Korean skills!

The great thing about this cafe though is its sandwich special. For 5,000 won, the special comes with a sandwich and an iced coffee. Seeing that coffee (especially iced coffee) is usually more than 5,000 won (a little less than $5 USD) alone, this is a GREAT deal!

Like most cafes I’ve been to in Seoul, Cafe Beati is super cute and the  shelves have all kinds of interesting knick-knacks displayed.

The first sandwich that I got here was a take-out sandwich as I had to get to my conference location at Seoul National University all the way across the Han River. I took it back to my hotel room and it looked so cute in the wrapping paper!

As to what the sandwich actually was, I saw on the list of sandwiches that were offered (egg, ham and egg, and Elvis) the “Elvis.” I totally blame this on my own apparent lack of knowledge of American culture, but I had no idea what an Elvis sandwich was, so of course that was the one I ordered. All I saw was that there were bananas in it and I was in the perfect mood for something sweet for breakfast. Anyways, so for those who don’t know, the Elvis Sandwich is named for Elvis Presley’s favorite snack that consists of toast with bacon, bananas, and peanut butter. I’m not sure why I’ve never heard of this sandwich before, but I’ve honestly never seen this on any menu anywhere in the US! I’ve had banana and peanut butter sandwiches before, but bacon is something that I never would have thought of adding to this sandwich… but as a person who sometimes has weird food cravings, I can definitely see the appeal.

The Elvis sandwich at Cafe Beati, however, doesn’t have bacon. In fact, it’s just a perfectly good banana, peanut butter, and chocolate sandwich!

(Notice the iced coffee in the background.) The bananas are nice and fresh and the peanut butter is super subtle – even though it’s spread across the top I couldn’t really make out the flavor that much. It’s really more of a banana and chocolate sandwich. The chocolate layer on the bottom is ADDICTING; it reminds me a bit of nutella but without the hazelnut taste. The grilled sandwich, the warm bananas, and the delicious chocolate sauce (the sandwich was also sprinkled with some chocolate powder on top) made for perfect bites of sweetness. This definitely satisfied my sweet tooth and while it doesn’t seem to really be all that true to an Elvis sandwich, I found it amusing that the first time I heard of this sandwich was while I was in Seoul!

I went back a few days later to try a savory sandwich – this 5,000 won deal is just too good! This time I had the egg sandwich; I was expecting something like an American breakfast sandwich with a cooked egg patty, but it was actually an egg salad sandwich.

Unfortunately this sandwich wasn’t anywhere near as good as the Elvis sandwich. The egg salad is on the VERY top (a very thin layer) followed by cucumber, a LOT of lettuce, and American cheese. It was very bland – all I could taste was the lettuce and cheese. It wasn’t very tasty at all and I should have gotten the egg and ham instead, which would probably have given more flavor to the sandwich.

If I’m ever in this area again, I would definitely go back for the deal though; it’s just too good to pass up. And that Elvis sandwich was pretty delicious too!

And while I’m at it, maybe I’ll check out that 섹시 크럽 (Sexy Club) across the street.

While figuring out where exactly I was staying in Hongdae, I printed out the map on how to get to my hostel from the limousine bus stop. The map was marked with restaurants and cafes to use as landmarks while navigating through the backstreets of Hongdae. To my surprise, on this map a location was marked as “Hello Kitty Cafe.” I’m not the biggest fan of Hello Kitty, but there is something about themed cafes that really excites me, so I knew then that I had to go. (Or okay maybe I am a LOT excited about Hello Kitty…)

It is PINK in here. It was a little blinding, but I felt so happy once I stepped inside! The music consisted of club dance music too so that definitely contributed to the upbeat atmosphere. I couldn’t decide what to order at first since all the cakes and drinks looked super cute and yummy, but I decided to go with the prettiest treats because how often is it that I get to go to a Hello Kitty-themed cafe?

After ordering, I made my way to one of the many seating areas in the cafe (all of the cafes in Hongdae seem to be ridiculously large with multiple floors). How cute is this?? The chairs were ridiculously comfortable and so cute with the pink bow! I settled into my large chair after snapping this photo and began to read some books about the Korean War…maybe it wasn’t the most appropriate reading to do in this setting, but I was in Seoul to present at a conference on my research after all! There is free wireless here – I wish I had known that so I could have brought my computer. Note: pretty much every cafe in this area has free wifi and it is FAST. I will definitely keep that in mind the next time I go back to Seoul because while my hostel internet refused to work consistently, I never had problems with wireless internet at the cafes.

After a pretty long wait (about 30 min) because of the amount of people in the cafe, I finally got my order. I had the sweet potato latte – so cute! Unfortunately I messed up Hello Kitty’s nose while bringing my tray up to my seat, but the rest of the outline stayed pretty much intact. I liked the subtle sweet potato flavor, but otherwise the drink tasted like hot milk and was a little boring. Of course being the Hello Kitty Cafe, the drink was pricier that usual (I think 8,000 won or a little less than $8) and way overpriced for my standards, but I saw it as a one-time splurge.

I also ordered a strawberry cake (this cake comes in vanilla and chocolate as well with matching colors), but I had to order the pink cake because why not go all out while in an all-pink cafe? I really didn’t expect this cake to taste good, but I ended up really enjoying it. The inside of the cake was very fluffy and moist with layers of sponge cake and strawberry mousse (the strawberry layers inside were made with the some material as the outside of the cake). It really felt so light and like I was eating a cloud.

Apologies for this somewhat scary photograph, but the layering of the cake was just so perfect that I had to show it! The icing around the edges was so soft and fluffy – I like how the cake was also not too sweet. The whiskers and eyes are make out of chocolate, which added a nice complimentary taste to the strawberry and spongecake.

While the Hello Kitty Cafe isn’t somewhere to go to get great drinks and food, it’s a great stop to make as a tourist, and while the drink wasn’t good (which seems to be all too common from my experiences at Seoul cafes), the cake is worth a trip to this cafe.

As a graduate student, I find that I need to always be constantly reading and writing. However, I am not someone who can study easily in a library – it’s a little too quiet and after a while, I start to freak out. I need a little bit of noise to keep me motivated, which is why I prefer to study at cafes all the time. Seeing that I was in Seoul to present at a conference, I needed to get on top of my studying too and took a few days to relax a little bit and read.

For the first half of my trip I stayed in Hongdae, which is a super cute neighborhood outside of Hongik University, an art and design university. There were so many cute shops and vendors open during the day and clubbing at night; I can definitely see why this is such a popular place for young people! My favorite part of Hongdae though are the cafes – each cafe is unique and has its own charms. I obviously did not get a chance to hang out at every single cafe, but I did have a favorite while I was staying in Hongdae!

This cafe is called Cafe Berlin! Pictured here is the counter. When I visited, the staff there did not speak English at all, but luckily I know enough Korean to order off the menu and to ask for the Wifi password! I spent an entire day here: about 8 hours just reading and writing my conference paper. I’m always surprised at how empty the cafes are here (especially since I feel like I have to fight for seating at the cafes in Berkeley), but then there’s so many cafes in this area and they’re all super large so that may be a reason why individual cafes seem empty. Cafes are also really expensive – expect to pay 5000+ won for a drink ($5 or more) – so I know that if I lived here, I wouldn’t be able to financially sustain going to a cafe every day!

I arrived right at the opening time at 10:00am and snagged a great seat – I have a view of the entire cafe! As a morning person, I had a hard time in Hongdae – most cafes and shops don’t open until 12:00pm except for the 24 hour ones, so I liked that Cafe Berlin opened bright and early (well…I guess by Seoul standards).

The decor is just so cute! I can’t get over how cute so many of the cafes are – it makes me want to design my own cafe as well!

Even the bathroom is uniquely decorated, although I’m not sure why someone would want to sit on a counter in the bathroom or what the bike is doing in the corner. I guess it just adds to the charm though!

I should start talking about the food though… There aren’t that many food options to choose from and I’m not sure why the “meal” section is the only one untranslated. For those who can’t read Korean, the options are honey toast, yuja (citrus) dressing sandwich, Croque Monsieur, and Berlin waffle. Food prices are a LOT better than drink prices (except for the waffles), which seems to be a common thing among a lot of the cafes. As someone who is used to only paying a few dollars for tea or coffee, a $7 coffee or $6 tea is a little scary!

Pictured here is the honey toast! This reminds me a little of the Taiwanese toast-type meals that I’ve had before. Drizzled generously with honey and chocolate sauce and topped with almonds, this was definitely a filling breakfast! The little bowl on top came with a handtowel. I’m not sure what possessed me to do this, but I thought it was a marshmallow and actually bit it…how embarrassing…I was lucky no one was at the cafe this early!

Later in the afternoon it started to really get hot – the air conditioner was on in the cafe, but it was on a very low setting so the heat still crept through. So I ordered a yogurt smoothie to cool down. It was definitely very interesting…I feel like yogurt products here have a very sour and tart taste that I’m not familiar with. I liked that the shake wasn’t super sweet but it was a lot thicker than I would have liked. It definitely cooled me down but it didn’t quench my thirst. It was also pricey at 7,000 won (a little less than $7), but I’m glad I tried it.

The food and drinks that I tried at Cafe Berlin were okay – nothing to really rave about, but the atmosphere was perfect for some hardcore studying. With my extremely expensive iced earl grey tea (6,000 won) and my books, I had an extremely productive day. This is a cafe that I would want to write my dissertation in, but sadly I would have to move to Hongdae to make that dream a reality! I wish there were more Berkeley cafes that were as cute as the cafes in Hongdae, but I’m definitely not complaining about the prices of coffee here! I would definitely recommend anyone to check out Cafe Berlin if they are in the Hongdae are – it’s gorgeous, spacious, and feels just artsy enough without being pretentious.