Pay As You Like Restaurants

This post is here to keep track of restaurants which use the pay as much as you want model.

SAME Cafe - Denver, CO
http://www.soallmayeat.org/

One World, Everyone Eats - Salt Lake City, UT
http://www.oneworldeverybodyeats.com/

Terra Bite Lounge - Seattle, WA
http://www.terrabite.org/

Panera Bread - Clayton, MO

Lentils as Anything - Melbourne, Australia
http://www.lentilasanything.com/

Der Wiener Deewan - Vienna, Austria
http://www.deewan.at/

Taste Profiles

I find food fascinating, but I recognize that I have a bias when it comes to the foods I like to eat. I blame this on growing up in a household where Taiwanese food was the norm. What this means: I generally like foods which are sweeter but not overpoweringly so. For example, I like sweet-ish tomato sauce, and I don't like most American candy bars very much because I feel they are too sweet.

Those from Beijing like their flavors heavy. This means more salt, more chili, more vinegar, and just in general using more spices and flavorings.

Singaporeans, Szechuanians, Indians, and Koreans love their spicy food although each one has its own particular brand of spicy, which I am not completely familiar with enough to comment on especially since my taste buds aren't accustomed to eating particularly spicy things. The numbingly spicy hot pot which is guaranteed to set your mouth on fire originates from Szechuan though.

The Vietnamese like to put lemon/lime juice in a lot of dishes, and their staple sauce is fish sauce which also has a sour taste profile.

I'm not quite sure how to characterize the Japanese although they, like the Taiwanese, seem to really like sweet things. They do tend to eat sweeter things than the Taiwanese and also saltier in what seems to be an effort to preserve foods as Japan has to import a lot of its product.

Some other places(Laos, Thailand, Phillippines, etc) didn't make it into this post because I simply haven't had enough experience with these cuisines to make a commentary.

Sweet Snacks Part 1: Japanese

I want to introduce you to some of my favorite sweet snacks from East Asia (of course). There are so many of them that I'm going to split this up into a few posts so as not to overwhelm you. This one is going to cover the ones from Japan since the Japanese seem to make a lot of snacks which are suited to my palate.

Pocky is a fairly popular brand, and they have all sorts of crazy flavors. It's basically a pretzel that has been dipped in chocolate.



Koala Yummies have an image of a koala stamped on the outside of a cookie shell which is filled with a chocolate cream. This seems to have become less popular in recent years.


Yan Yan is a butter cookie stick which is then dipped into the chocolate cream that is included in the package.



Kasugai Gummies have a lot of flavor which makes them irresistible. With just 2-3 people a bag is gone before you know it. The flavors include apple, grape, strawberry, and peach



Morinaga Milk Candies are these chewy candies that have a hint of milk in them mixed with the taste of caramel. They're also incredibly addictive.



Melty Kiss is basically a chocolate candy that melts really quickly in your mouth. The speed with which it melts gives a feeling of luxury that you don't find in many chocolate candies.



Cigare Cookies are deliciously crunchy, buttery crepe cookies rolled into the shape of a cigar. The Japanese definitely make the best versions of this cookie.



That's all the Japanese snacks I really enjoy (they're also quite popular in Taiwan)! These snacks can in general be found at Asian supermarkets like Ranch 99 although some of the more popular ones like Pocky are carried by your local supermarket.

Food and I

I have a great interest in food, and can generally be considered a picky eater. This means that you will be seeing some blog posts on here about food and hopefully some food photos (lovingly referred to as food porn). For sure there will be lots of photos after my upcoming trip to Taiwan which I am eagerly looking forward to.

I also enjoy cooking so hopefully I will get around to posting some of my creations here although I will focus on the asian dishes that I create to be in keeping with my site theme.

Also, if anyone knows of any places serving great Japanese curry. Recommendations are very welcome!

Some curry for your viewing pleasure from when I took a trip (spent a semester) in Singapore.