Oki Sushi - San Francisco, CA

I showed up half an hour early to pick up my order fully expecting to wait. (Which I had no problem with - I was early, they weren't late), but there was my order, made quickly and made nicely, totally for the taking. 

Oki Sushi got on my good side before I even got to the sushi, and they stayed on my good side after.

Starting with the Tempura Plate for the toddlers, everything they make is made right and made well. The tempura kept some crunch despite the time in transit. 

Artisan rolls, artistically arranged. The Dragon Roll and Caterpillar Roll are same-same but different, and both have ripe avocado and sweet, sweet eel. The Rainbow Roll is fresh, and the Spider Roll has my favorite fried soft-shell. 

Wrapping up with Assorted Sashimi and Tamago Nigiri - they even threw in cuts of fattier tuna for posterity...and generosity.

Another cute and fun little eatery. I suspect SF has no shortage of sushi so there is much to try, I do think Oki is better than just okay.

Dumpling Specialist - San Francisco, CA

Quite good. 

Ah, the sweet little Shanghai special. your basic XLB with a thin, al dente wrapper and tons of tiny pleats encasing a tender pork filling with just a little juice.

They are a dumpling specialist, and they have Pan Fried Potsticker and Pan Fried Pork Buns down pat. Both have a nice filling, and they taste like something you'd get from a Shanghai stall. 

The Wonton in Chili Oil left me wanting...a thinner, less flour-y wrapper, perhaps, a filling with a touch less ginger, maybe, a sauce that has a little more flavor, yes. 

Sticky Rice Roll, a specialty treat I can't often find around my SoCal home. This is the best one I've had so far. In my life! A fried dough stick with pork-sung fried so crispy it's like crunchy, savory strands of air encased in a perfect rice. Sticky enough to stick together but separate enough to taste every grain. I know it's not a completely traditional filling, but I just can't complain.

Cute little place, easily affordable, which is already special in a city like San Francisco. It's adorable and makes a perfect little meal for a little bit of lunch or a casual night of Netflix.

So much color. Bright yellows and blue splash a drenched patio as the world gets covered in rain. Nido's colorful, covered setup will brighten a blustery day, and their comfort-food platters of plenty will keep you warm.

Solid starters like the Totopos y Guacamole will please all with gooey guac, slightly-spicy salsa and crunchy house-made corn chips that are even better than the dips. 

Garbanzo Fritos are a lighter nosh, like bar nuts but better with a dusting of chile and lime. 

The Quesabirria is a cheese, filling, flour quesadilla dripping with bits of birria, served with a side of beef consomme built for submersion. 

Go a little lighter with a formidable Flautas de Papas con Rajas. Corn tortillas are golden-fried, filled with soft potatoes spiced up with a sassy salsa.

I'm a bit spoiled by Mexican food coming from SoCal, but there's nothing about Nido's I don't like. A solid meal and a great back garden for socializing, and so far the only place that's ever gotten my toddler to eat a quesadilla!

Antigua Coffee - San Francisco, CA

I love a good Cappuccino. 

Antigua makes a solid coffee, and though I'm no expert, even I can recognize when it's good. 

If you didn't take a swig of coffee to wash down a bite of Coffee Cake, did you even have coffee? This one is a little less moist than other I've had, but I like it all the same.

Banana Bread. Nutty, dense, not too sweet, no complaints whatsoever. 

Cute little coffee shop, more conducive for grab-n-go. A lovely little walk from where we were staying, and I'd love to walk in again. 

Osaka-ya - Sacramento

A cute little mom-and-pop mochi-ria for a sweet treat anytime. 

These cute little colored squares have artificial flavor, but the fun is very real.

Butter Mochi is a weekend special, and I've never gotten so lucky. I'm all about these spears of soft, gooey-chewy chow-down.

They have a menu of small eats like saimin and rice balls, and I would have munched on a musubi had I not just picked up a full meal next door. Definitely worth a visit if you're in the neighborhood - it's a great, cheap shop for snacks!

Taiwan Best Mart - Sacramento

We need something quick and easy, and the well-known izakaya is too busy. That is the best thing that happened to us in Sacramento because it forces us to look across the street. We stumble upon this cute little takeout joint, where we pick up the best food of the trip. 

Chili Oil Wontons are addictive. Twelve plump pockets of a delicate, juicy filling of pork and shrimp, doused in a chili oil will have you burn for more.  

Cold Sesame Noodles are impressively simple. Sesame sauce and chili oil mix with absolutely perfect noodles and julienned veg for a lighter lunch. 

Stewed Pork over Rice is a fantastic find, a simple chopped-up simmer of fatty, gooey bits punctuated by pickles and highlighted by a soy sauce egg.

The food sounds simple, but the flavors are balanced and full. Every item plays its part, every element added is smart for plates of pretty, homey comfort food, all exquisitely made. 

Elite Restaurant - Monterey Park

Real dim sum, some of the best dim sum, without getting run over by carts. 

The Shrimp Hargow are perfect, 

The Shumai are dense and intense. 

They also make a signature Scallop Dumpling that is to die for, purses of delicate skin encasing a six/pack of succulence.

I can’t find a good Bean Curd Roll anywhere but here. The bean curd is chewy so you can feel every lovely layer, the soup is a viscous savor, and tbe pork filling is delicate mince. 

Tripe with ginger and onion is a chewy, heavily textured stew. Simple seasoning makes it a solid dish, but it’s not a standout among these superstars. 

Pot Stickers are another porky pocket. Pretty and every element hits, but among the greats, this stuff doesn’t stick.

Beef Short Ribs are more spunky with black pepper sauce to pep up a marbled meat.

Regular Spare Ribs are juicy and sweet. 

But all other meats can go - this platter of Macau Roasted Pork is all you need. You can see the juices, running rivulets, each pink-pearl piece flanked by a fillet of fat. The skin is a crackling-crispy as it looks, and a swift swipe of sugar and sauce makes it complete.

Shrimp Rice Noodle is another sweet n’ salty staple, 

But if you haven’t tried their Crispy Shrimp Rice Noodle you haven’t truly lived. Shrimp-stuffed sticks of Chinese fried dough keep their crunch as they uplift and add life to a more shy rice noodle. 

And then there were Turnip Cakes. More like turnip latkes, and easily Elite’s defining dish. The stacking of shreds and a serious deep frying turn a do-not-eat into the most coveted dish there is. 

They have a lot of standouts, but the real magic is in their pastry. 

The Elite BBQ Pork Bun is perfection,

And the Macau Egg Custard is unforgettable, 

But the Egg Custard Bun takes the cake. Crispy pineapple crust so thick it crumbles in chunks with a creamy egg-lava inside, there is nothing more decadent than this. 

And if it’s cake you’re craving, don’t skip the House Special Golden Cake. Each bite is both gelatinous and fluffy, dense and airy, sugary and light. 

The devil’s in the details, and that’s what it comes down to with dim sum. There’s very little wiggle room on this well-established cuisine, and it takes a certain creative brilliance to maneuver successfully within these stipulations. Elite has both that brilliance and mastery - it’s what makes Elite elite.