Alley Street Eats in Rosewood

Everyone in the neighborhood has eagerly awaited the opening of Alley Street Eats. I read an article about these folks and their concept.  Asian street food, of different styles.  The decor is cool and modern. The menu is extensive without being overbearing and features the variety we so desperately need in our area.

Viv and I shared shrimp and zucchini tempura to start.  Their tempura is light and crispy, just as it should be.  Next, we had an order of the Sichuan wontons. 

These are delicious.  Pork wontons with soy, scallion, cilantro and garlic. I was expecting them to be spicy, given "Sichuan" but they were actually pretty mild, but very flavorful.  I bet next time I can just ask for them to be spicy and they would oblige. 

Next, we had the Yaki Udon Noodle with shrimp.  This was also quite delicious. Soft, pillowy Udon noodles in a soy based sauce with red bell pepper, scallion and mushroom.  The shrimp were nicely cooked, which as we all know, can be a 50-50 shot in some restaurants.

Viv and I are excited about this place.  We've often lamented the fact that almost every Chinese place we know of has a zillion dishes on their menu, yet they all taste the same.  We love, love, love Mai Thai but sometimes the trip to W.C. just isn't in the cards. And, our Korean and Japanese choices are limited.  Now that we have Alley Street Eats right here in the neighborhood, we can get our Asian food fix much more readily!  Here's the link to their MENU. Support our locals!

Fujiya Funbox

One of Vivi's favorite cuisines is Japanese.  Unfortunately, the Japanese steakhouse closest to our house is, IMO, a dump. It's about 100 years old and the decor has clearly never been updated nor has the place been cleaned.  We can go to Assembly Street, or St. Andrews or the Northeast to find good Japanese food.  But, there's something even closer.

Fujiya on Rosewood Drive is just a couple minutes from our neighborhood.  I've driven by it a zillion times but never ventured in.  I noticed on Facebook one day that my friend Eugenie was there, so I asked her about it.  Turns out she & her family go there pretty often.  So, I decided to give it a try.  I took Vivi to lunch one day a couple of months ago.  Since then, we've been back two more times.  

Is this the best Japanese restaurant in town?  No.  But it's a good one and it's so convenient for us to get there whenever the craving hits.  It's a small place, the hibachi chef is actually Japanese (the dump's chefs are Hispanics...I mean, that's just odd) and the wait staff is attentive.  So far, we've only been there for lunch and what I want to share with you is what a good deal they are for lunch.  They call it the "Lunchbox."  

Viv's beloved teriyaki chicken Bento

My shrimp Lunchbox

Connoisseur

It's a Bento box with your choice of shrimp, chicken or NY strip teriyaki, tempura, gyoza, salad with ginger dressing and either steamed or fried rice. Vivi loves the chicken so much, that she always plows right through that before trying anything else in her box.  The chef cooks at a hibachi table that you can see, but it's not at your table.  

We were excited to see that they offer red bean ice cream, but disappointed to learn that they didn't have any today.  If you have never eaten red bean ice cream or red bean seed pastries, do yourself a favor and order it whenever you see it show up on a menu.  Fujiya, Inakaya and the Blue Cactus are the only places I know of in Columbia who carry the ice cream. In the absense of the ice cream, we opted instead for strawberry ice cream mochi.  Good, but not red bean!  :-)

Like I said, this isn't the best in town, but it's pretty darn good.  What I mean is that this isn't high gourmet, but good, typical offerings of Japanese fare. I like the fact that it's a small, neighborhood place where we can eat lunch that consists of real food for the same price that someone else pays to feed their kids McStuff. The wait staff is always pleasant and they keep a close eye on you and take care of you.  It's a good experience and I especially enjoy my lunch dates with my little girl!