Bobbilicious, Cardamom revisited, Izakaya Sozai!

As if I could get enough Japanese...

Izakaya Sozai 

I have officially been enlightened... To a new realm of Japanese food! Top notch Ramen and tapas style dishes for the win! I am so satisfied and excited to go back and enjoy it again, as well as try out other places. The tapas highlights were as good: Seaweed Salad, Grilled Riceball with Salmon (yaki onigiri), and Sweet Miso Grilled Eggplant (nasu dengaku) for me, all though everything we got was amazing. 

 This restaurant is correctly rated the best ramen in SF.  The noodles were cooked to perfection, and the broth was milky, eggy, creamy, and had a distinct flavor I couldn't put my finger on. That's what you get when you take three days to make it I guess. I perfectly poached egg and a big sheet of nori went perfectl in it. I opted for no pork of course.  The noodles never seemed to end and I loved it.  That was just the ramen. 

A quality seaweed salad with a distinct dressing that wasn't too sweet or obviously sugar-y and multiple kinds of seaweed. A smokey, sweet, savory crunchy grilled rice and salmon combo. 

 The most interesting/awesome however was the Eggplant, a perfectly grilled eggplant, but topped with the most amazing almost custardy sweet and salty sauce. It definitely had some sake in it which I kept raving about because it gave the best subtle bite to its flavor, and also had yummy leanings of lemon, sesame, and miso. I want to make it! The lighting was bad for my iphone so my pictures are poached from the web, but they are from the restaurant.

 Teriyaki Leftovers and a New Cookie Bar

I've been into finding a good cookie bar/blondie recently, either to buy or to be inspired into determining how my own recipe should turn out.  When I saw a new line of gluten and dairy free baked goods at Woodlands, I had to go for it. Bobbilicious is officially good, and local from San Rafael.  This fruity nutty bar tasted like an Almond Tea Cake I used to make, combined with a Blondie and no unhealthy ingredients.  Still moist, soft, and chewy without any butter (grapeseed oil does the trick I guess!) and uses almond flour, which definitely tasted bomb. Not too sweet at all, and plenty of chewy nutty hints of pumpkin seed, coconut, and cranberry. My standards for this kind of food are crazy high so this was truly a success.  Accompanied by dinner leftovers, no changes, just added a little Rice Wine Vinegar and Olive Oil to dress the salad super quick this morning.

-Garlic Ginger Sesame "subtly" Teriyaki Grillled Chicken and Green Beans Salad with Brown Rice

Cinnamon Cardamom Vanilla

After my first time w/ cardamom powder yesterday, I wanted to improve upon my experience today, with the perfect accompanying flavors. Cinnamon and Vanilla. and some Lemon to go with the Vanilla. I definitely put in a little too much Vanilla extract, I think if I want that much vanilla flavor I'm going to have to grind in a vanilla bean, which I will be adding to my spice drawer very soon. Still made for a flavor combo to die for, almost overwhelming, with a happy helping of fruit and nuts.

-Oats, Soymilk, Vanilla Almond Milk, Stevia extract

-Cinnamon, Cardamom, Vanilla extract, Buddha's Hand Zest

-Pecans and Almonds

-Mixed Berries