Asian cuisine is, without a doubt, my favorite. It’s easily my go to/comfort food, except on the rare occasion that I want a taco. Because I eat a lot of Asian food, I’ve decided to make a spin-off of the Foodie Files series – Asian Eatscapades! While still a great part of the foodie files, Asian Eatscapades will focus primarily on new Asian food that I try and sort of review on the blog. Recently, I visited two new Asian restaurants and wanted to share.
Stray Cat Poke & Dessert
I visited Stray Cat Poke with Nancy back in February when I was in town getting my car’s oil changed. Unfortunately, Alyse was unable to join us due to school obligations (you go, my chemist friend!). For the longest time now, Nancy and I always talk about grabbing poke when we meet up and we finally did it! We hit up this new poke place located in the heart of Downtown Pasadena.
Their poke was reasonably priced. I got the regular-sized bowl which came with two scoops of protein (salmon all the way for this girl). I got the purple rice and topped it off with some avocado (which was FREE by the way), onions, cucumbers, sesame seeds. They also offered truffle oil as a dressing for their poke which seriously blew me away. I love anything and everything truffle – truffle fries, truffle aioli, and now this?! Count me in.
After eating, Nancy decided to spit their dessert which was the taiyaki ice cream. We got the rose berry flavor and had a little bit of matcha sprinkled on it and a side of mochi. It also came with the cutest little shovel! The verdict? This place was VERY unique with their purple rice base and their rose berry ice cream is to die for. The downside? When Nancy and I were finishing up our poke bowls, we noticed one of the workers continuously glancing over our table to make sure we still had food in our bowls – pretty sure he was ready to kick us out if we didn’t! Then we found out through their Yelp page that they actually kicked out customers and apparently had a “time limit” to their indoor seating. 3/5 stars. Would probably stop by but get my food to go in the future.
Sy-Salathai
After having been overstaffed and feeling a bit under the weather at work one day, I decided to clock out early. On the drive home, I decided that pho was the best way to cure whatever it was that was making me feel sick. After convincing Chris that we should get some pho, we found Sy-Salathai through Yelp. Sy-Salathai is a local Thai/Lao restaurant in the heart of the Central Valley. It had decent reviews on Yelp and after browsing through menu photos, we decided that the prices were decent enough.
Chris got some spicy cashew chicken with sticky rice (surprise, surprise) and I settled for their special pho. The portions were really good for being priced at $8. Their food was really good and the service wasn’t too bad either! We also found out towards the end of our meal that the restaurant serves pre-packed chicken & rice for $2 for those on the run. The verdict? We loved it here! The location of the restaurant isn’t the greatest but the food really makes up for it. This place proved to be a better dining experience than the Thai restaurant we ate during Valentine’s week. Already looking forward to ordering other items off their menu!
