shawn cafe

arcadia, ca

link to yelp

anthony was visiting so i decided it was worth traveling to arcadia to get good chinese food. it also helped that anthony drove the whole way. we met g and cindy c at the restaurant and let cindy c order the best options from the menu. and what a spread! generally my favorite taiwanese dish is a meatball covered in glutinous sticky gooey stuff and unnaturally red-orange spicy sauce. trust me, it's delicious. but this time, cindy c introduced me to a new taiwanese favorite - xiang chang (chinese sausage) sliced with sticky rice sausage. chinese sausage is great with everything (shout out to my mom's signature sticky rice with chinese sausage and mushrooms) but this was a nice twist, serving it with sticky rice in a similar sausage shape. grab one slice of each sausage, stuff whole into mouth, and enjoy.

southland flavor cafe

cupertino, ca

website

cupertino village is a complex with a ranch 99, a few bakeries, and several excellent chinese restaurants with strange names. southland flavor cafe? it's probably a literal translation of the chinese name, but a better translation would be "southern taiwanese cuisine." i wonder if i can make a career out of fixing chinglish. derek's parents happened to be in town while val was visiting from chicago, so we made a trip out to cupertino village. managed to pull tiffany away from her studies too for a mini family reunion.

my favorite (pictured) was the pork rice bowl which can feed a small army (or me) for about $6. another favorite was the beef noodle soup, served with the wide noodles that derek likes. the only downside to this place is that every other table orders the malodorous and aptly named "stinky tofu" (that's actually the english translation). the state of california should mandate "stinky tofu only" sections for taiwanese restaurants. we always try to finish our food quickly when we hear a nearby table say "chou dou fu" because that stuff is deadly.

oasis tea zone

seattle, wa

website

my favorite spot for bubble tea in seattle - oasis - has two locations (international district and u-district). derek and i used to stop by here all the time when we went to uw. this time around, we brought both sets of parents to have a nice break. it's kind of a hangout for younger folks (with board games you can borrow and pool tables in the back), so my parents thought it was a little too loud for their tastes.

although they have great bubble tea (including an excellent thai iced tea version), i wanted to snack so my dad and i shared a taiwanese style shaved ice (also called bao bing). it's pretty simple - shaved ice, doused with condensed milk and topped with your favorite toppings. i chose red beans, green beans, lychees and lychee jellies. cool, sweet, refreshing - perfect for a sweltering 80 degree day in seattle.