Yokohama Iekei Ramen, Union City, CA

Yokohama Iekei Ramen in Union City, CA was the very tasty destination today.  It's located in a shopping plaza along Alvarado Blvd with an eclectic mix of other shops.  There is a Filipino pork restaurant, a Chinese Calamari restaurant, a South Asian grocery market, and a bunch of other interesting shops including physician's office all …

Adventures in Architecture, Book Reviews

On a recent trip to New England, I was struck with how beautiful some of the historic buildings there are, particularly compared to many of the "McMansions" I see around the West Coast.  So I started looking into architecture a bit.  I took a few flights recently, so had plenty of time to get some …

Bread from a Can

One of the major New England food traditions is baked beans.  Boston is known as Beantown, and a key part of small town life in Maine are "Bean Suppers", often held in church basements or the like.  One of the common food items that goes with these baked beans is a steamed brown bread.  Traditionally …

New England Pickles

One of the nice things about being in New England  in the summertime is the abundance of nice farm stands.  It was also nice to see that the supermarkets had some relatively local fresh pickles for sale.  So I'm showing one of each type here.  The Kosher dills are from Farm Ridge Foods in NY, …

San Francisco Ramen Festival

Back in July, there was a big ramen street festival in San Francisco.  It was in association with a Japantown J-Pop festival.   Lots of people told me about it in advance.  I was a bit skeptical, but I decided to go check it out.   Basically, the best way to review the experience is …

Research Study on Health Impact of Instant Noodles

It doesn't look good for women who love instant ramen.   New research by Frank Hu in the Journal of Nutrition: Instant Noodle Intake and Dietary Patterns Are Associated with Distinct Cardiometabolic Risk Factors in Korea Shin HJ, et al. Abstract: The consumption of instant noodles is relatively high in Asian populations. It is unclear whether …