Sushi Week on Hold

I am putting sushi week on hold for a week because I am going on a trip to Portland. I am going to a camp at a fashion design school where they will teach me how to draw and create my own clothes. At the end I get to show off my creations in a real fashion show! I get my own photographer to do a photo shoot and I get my own portfolio! Catch up with me next week to see the winner of sushi week and to start on my new adventure with lasagna.

Sushi Me Is For Me

Today we hit Sushi Me in Bellevue and I am glad we did!

On decor of restaurant, I give it a 3. They had 2 orange walls with 1 wasabi green wall. I was sensing that they were going for an underwater bubbly theme according to the multi-sized circles covering the door entryway and the big seashells covering the bulbs of the lights. Also they had 1 wall that was all windows. I liked the theme but it wasn't that much different than anywhere else.

On friendliness of staff towards kids, I give it a 4. Our server brought me and my sister a bright pink straw in our drinks and they brought my sister a plastic cup with a lid and we did not even have to ask. When you walk into Sushi Me the sushi chef in the front greets you in Japanese. 

On service speed, I give it a 3. We had to wait at least 10 minutes to get a table because they were very busy. They had a full conveyor belt with mulitple varieties of each type of sushi. When I ordered a california hand roll the sushi chef forgot and it took 5 minutes to get it after I reminded him. 

On taste of food, I give it a 3. Here is a california roll...

It had very sweet rice but the delicate and bold flavors evened it out. It tasted like it has been on the conveyor belt for awhile. I think it looks prettier than it tastes. It tastes like an average california roll. I also had 2 eggrolls.

The egg rolls were very crispy and they had very fresh veggies inside. They were also served warm. They came with sweet and spicy sauce.

On appearance of food, I give it a 5. The california roll was covered in fish eggs with the last of the ingredients sticking out from the 4th roll. All of the rolls were garnished with some type of ingredient and they all looked beautiful. It looked like they really took pride in their work. 

On price, I give it a 3.

(Sorry that the picture is sideways)! Most rolls are only $2.00.

An overall score for Sushi Me is a good 21/30. Sushi Me had a lot of rolls that you don't see anywhere else like the Lobster Roll, The Me Roll and The White Dragon Roll. For dessert they also have yummy mango and different types of puddings and Mochi ice cream balls. I recommend Sushi Me for kids, and also for me!

  

Sushi Bland

Today we hit Sushi Land (aka Sushi Bland) in Bella Bottega in Redmond. It brings back memories like when I lost a tooth there!

On decor of restaurant, I give it a 3. It was kind of depressing. It had very dark colors like black, dark gray and navy blue. Mirrors lined one wall of the restaurant. The place also looked old and dirty. They had a filthy menu that I didn't even want to touch and dirty booths.

On friendliness of staff towards kids, I give it a 1. The people making the sushi were fooling around playing rock, paper, scissors and talking to their friends in Spanish. They didn't even listen to me when I wanted to order something and they acted like I was not even there. But they listened to my mom!?

On service speed, I give it a 4. The conveyor belt was packed full of sushi. Also, when we ordered something it came out in less than 5 minutes.

On taste of food, I give it a 3. I got a California roll.

It was not over the top amazing but it was not bad. For my taste it was just normal every day sushi. I also ordered a hand roll, and it tasted good but was very messy looking.

On appearance of food, I give it a 2. The sushi was very poorly made and it was sloppy. It looked like they did not take pride in their work. A big part of sushi is making it beautiful and they did not accomplish that. The california roll was rolled in small orange fish eggs. Otherwise the California hand roll was average.

On price, I give it a 5.

The Blue C bill was twice the price as this one! This one was $22.95. This sushi is very cheap and probably has the lowest prices around.

The over all score is 18/30. I recommend this place for kids because there are lots of rolls and cooked food if you don't like raw fish. If you are starving and don't have a lot of money go to Sushi Bland!

   

Sushi Mojo is the Place to Go

Today is the 2nd day of sushi week and I headed out to Sushi Mojo in Bellevue. The first thing I noticed when I walked in was that there was barely any sushi on the conveyor belt. We ordered everything we ate so this review is based on the orders, not what went by on the belt.

On decor of restaurant, I give it a 4. They had the BEST music playing. The also had cool silver branches with silver flowers and red birds painted on the walls. All of the awesome decorations made it look very modern! There was a big ol' fluffy teddy bear on the bench in the waiting area in case you need a hug. On the way to the bathroom there were a lot of pretty paintings painted by kids on the wall. They must love having kids there! Also, there were longs strands of origami on the ceiling. It was very original!

On friendliness of staff towards kids, I give them a 4. Our server served with a smile but I wasn't "thrilled" with her performance. Until my friend ordered little Japanese cookie sticks with frosting. When they didn't have a flavor that looked appetizing our server brought out a whole platter of different choices. We were amazed at what she brought. I am only rating Sushi Mojo based on my experience today, but I have been here before and the owners are really nice and remember my name.

On service speed, I give it a 4. Since there weren't many choices on the conveyor belt, we ordered everything we ate. They were able to bring out our orders very quickly, in under 5 minutes.

I ordered a california hand roll and potstickers, and my sister ordered avocado sashimi.

My mom ordered albacore sashimi and they actually cut up a whole raw fish! Check it out...

On taste of food, I give it a 4. My hand roll had very crisp cucumber but kind of soggy seaweed that was hard to bite. The crab tasted a bit fishy. The potstickers were on the greasier side but they still tasted really good and crispy. My mom LOVED her sashimi and said it was the freshest and yummiest she has had in a long time. Of course my sister loved the avocado and there really isn't a lot to say about that.

On appearance of food, I give it a 4. My sister's avocado came with a beautiful hibiscus flower on the side. The california roll had bright colors and really caught my eye. The potstickers looked pretty on a white doily but when you lifted up the postickers there were grease spots.

On price, I give it a 4. All of the rolls, no matter how fancy, are $1.75. Most of the things kids like (like potstickers, edamame, shrimp tempura) are only $1.00. See for yourself...

The overall score for Sushi Mojo is 24/30. I liked that their menu has pictures for everything so you can order something that looks good. You also don't have to know Japanese to ask for something. In case you like to eat healthy things, they have beautiful fresh cut fruit for a dessert. My friend doesn't even like sushi, but she gave the place a chance and loved it. If you don't like sushi, try Sushi Mojo and you may find that you like it after all.

Blue C Gets a C

Today was the first day of sushi week and I didn't hit it off to a fabulous start. I went to Blue C Sushi in downtown Bellevue and if I had to give it a school grade, I would give it a C.

On decor of restaurant, I give it a 4. It was very modern with gray and white walls with splashes of  bright colors like orange and green. There were also videos of scenes in Japan projected onto the walls. The place looks really awesome and makes you feel hip and happy to be there. If you really have to go to the bathroom go somewhere else because you have to walk 25 stairs to get to there. It doesn't even seem like it was in the same building!   

On friendliness of staff towards kids, I give it a 2. The server didn't even talk to me! I did get special chopsticks that are easier for kids to use. Check out the chopsticks...

On service speed, I give it a 4. Of course it is conveyor belt sushi so the food is right there in front of you. They brought my drink right away without barely any wait at all. There is a service button at the tables that you can press when you want the server. We pressed the button and had to wait at least 5 minutes.

On taste of food, I give it a 3. I got a califonia roll which I always get and it is one of my favorites. The rice was not too sticky and the seaweed had just the right crunch to it. I could really taste the freshness of the cucumber, crab and avocado. Overall, it was good but just average and not any different than anywhere else. It is more expensive than other places so I expected it to be better. I like it when places roll it in tobiko (fish eggs) to make it pretty but they don't do that here.

On appearance of food, I give it a 3. The roll had bright but average colors and overall it just looked like a normal california roll. But the california HAND roll was prepared beautifully...

  

On price, I give it a 2. It was over-priced average food. Each color of plate is a different price, so check out all of the prices.....

Normally, a california roll costs about $1.50 but here it is $2.75.

For a grand total they got 18/30. One really great thing is that for dessert thay have actual mini cupcakes from Cupcake Royale and actual doughnuts from Mighty-O-Doughnuts. Most of the food is cooked (like rolls) or fried (like tempura and egg rolls) so it is extra good for kids who are afraid of eating raw fish. The place looks cool and you can tell that they are trying to make you feel cool when you eat there. But, it is expensive and when you look at the food it isn't that cool after all. 

Why sushi week was ALMOST cancelled

Two days ago I ALMOST cancelled sushi week and decided to never eat fish again. I was on a trip with my family and we were fishing on a dock. There was a guy fishing next to us who actually caught a shark. Not just a small shark, but a 3.5 foot dogfish shark that looked like this:



When he pulled this monster out of the water I was really scared and started to cry. What if it went out of control and tried to hurt me? The guy who caught it was not scared at all! He was hollering and laughing like he was king of the dock. He took the hook out of it's mouth and put it down to flop around. He put a knee on it's back, and with his large tattooed fist out of nowhere, punched the dogfish in the back of the head to break the vertebrae in it's neck and kill it. It was very dramatic! By then I was bawling and had to walk away. It was right then and there that I decided to never eat fish again.

But then....the next day...I had the best fish and chips ever and decided that sushi week is back on!!!!

Emily's Pizza Eat of the Week!

Congratulations to MOD Pizza for earning my award of "Emily's Eat of the Week!" It won with a score of 26/30 and deserved to beat all of the competition. I strongly recommend it for kids and people of all ages. If you are 5 or 82 you will love this place! I can't wait to eat there again soon.

Follow me on Monday for the first day of conveyor belt sushi week! Or as I call it, sushi go round. 

CPK is "Eh" OK

Today was the last day of pizza week, and I visited California Pizza Kitchen in downtown Bellevue. My overall review of the experience is, "eh."

On decor of restaurant, I give it a 4. Most of the walls were huge glass windows with a lot of light coming in. The colors were yellow, orange, tans and black. It looked very modern! There were painted CPK boxes hung on the walls. They also had plenty of seating for big groups.

On friendliness of staff towards kids, I give it a 3. We had to ask for a kids menu and the coloring pages. Our server served us with a smile and said, "thank you, have a nice day" when we left.

On service speed, I give it a 1. It was the worst! It only took about 10 minutes to get 1 large and 1 small pizza, but the service problems started after I got the food. Our server never came back for refills and I was really thirsty. I spent about 15 minutes with no water - it was really annoying. When she was standing right next to us seating another family we couldn't even get her attention. We finally flagged her down for our check but she never came back on her own.

On taste of food, I give it a 4. I ordered the Hawaiian pizza and it was great! It had a medium crust, not too thick, not too thin. It was very cheesy and had big chunks of pineapple. The taste of the pineapple was very juicy and strong so I couldn't taste the sauce. The crust was really good - it was the first time I ever ate my pizza crust first.

On appearance of food, I give it a 3. It really just looked like an average pizza. There was nothing special about it.

On price, I give it a 4. One Hawaiian pizza off of the kids menu was $5.50. It comes with any drink and free refills. Also, dessert can be added for only $1.00.

The overall score is 20/30. The best thing about CPK is that they have bendy straws!!!! They also host birthday parties where you can make your own pizzas. My overall review is "eh" because the pizza is good but I wouldn't necessarily want to go back there because the service is pretty bad.

Free Slurpee Day at 7-Eleven!

Today is July 11th (7/11)! It is free Slurpee Day at any 7-Eleven all day long! Don't forget to get as many as you want. Not at once.

Frankly, I like Frankie's

Today I ate at Frankie's in Redmond. Frankly, I like Frankie's.

On decor of restaurant, I give it a 4. There is indoor seating and a patio where you can eat. It looks VERY Italian!!! There are wine bottles, candles and grape vines everywhere. The colors are dark like dark green, grays, and dark turquoise. The lights over the tables are hung low, so if you have young children they could hit their heads.

On friendliness of staff towards kids, I give it a 4. Right away our server brought us crayons and coloring pages without even having to ask. She was very calm and pleasant.

On service speed, I give it a 4. Our server brought us warm buttery breadsticks right away. It took 10-15 minutes for us to get our cheese pizza.

On taste of food, I give it a 4. I tried the small cheese pizza. It had a super doughy crust, and the proportions of cheese and sauce were perfect. The sauce was very fresh and had chunks of tomatoes in it. The pizza was a bit greasy and you could see it shimmering. It was a thick crust pizza and there was a little too much dough.

On appearance of food, I give it a 3. It had a perfectly browned crust. The cheese and sauce went all of the way to the edge. It also looked typical and not special.

On price, I give it a 4. It was $9 for a small pizza that would serve 2-3 kids.

On my way in, I noticed an herb garden outside the restaurant. They are growing basil, rosemary and chives. I asked the woman inside if they use them for the food and she said "yes." See for yourself...

The overall score is 23/30. Frankie's is a good place to go for pizza. My mom had a greek salad and minestrone soup and she said they were amazing and fresh. If you have a mom who thinks pizza is fattening like mine, you should take them to Frankie's.

Round Table: The Last Honest Pizza?

What does that even mean?

Today I ate at Round Table in Redmond. If they're the last honest pizza, then something is seriously wrong here.

On decor of restaurant, I give it a 2. It's called Round Table for a reason...they have round tables!!! They are ugly wooden tables, but they are round. The decor disappointed everybody it is so bad. They have dull colors like army green, brown, and rusty gold. The light over our table wasn't just out, it didn't even have a bulb. And it was dusty.

On friendliness of staff towards kids, I give them a 3. The woman working just took my order and it was really nothing special.

On service speed, I give it a 4. It took 10 minutes to get my individual sized cheese pizza.

On taste of food, I give it a 4. It was really cheesy! The cheese was long and gooey and went all of the way to the crust. The sauce didn't really stand out but tasted good. The crust wasn't thin crust or thick crust, but it was perfectly in the middle. It was crispy on the outside and doughy in the middle. The only bad thing is that it is really greasy (as you can tell in the picture).

On appearance of food, I give it a 3. The cheese was nice and browned but the crust was a little burnt. It was served on an ugly brown plastic plate and a piece of wax paper. They shouldn't have put it on the wax paper because that shows how greasy it is! The pizza looked appetizing but pretty normal.

On price, I give it a 4. It was $5.39 for an individual sized pizza. They have an all-you-can-eat lunch buffet from 11-2 on Monday-Friday for $7.99. That includes pizza, unlimited soda, and a salad bar.

The final score is 20/30. The pizza was really good and I recommend it for families. However, the Round Table in Redmond is next door to a very inappropriate store that is not good for kids. And the store is ugly. If I were you I would get delivery. They have locations in Redmond, Issaquah and Woodinville. 



Don't freak for Zeek's

 Today is the second day of pizza week and it was a bit rough. We went to Zeek's in downtown Kirkland.

On decor of restaurant, I give it a 3. They have very dim lighting and most of it is from the blood red candles. They also have some paint missing in some of the corners and walls.The table and chairs are wooden and boring.  They have a really cool clear glass window with steps to sit on where kids can watch the servers make pizzas. When I waved to the person making pizza, he threw flour at the window to make me laugh but he actually seemed annoyed.  Check out the glass window.....

On friendliness of staff toward kids, I give it a 4. The staff  kept us very entertained! They gave us pizza dough to play with and crayons with coloring pages. Also they were very polite and they served with a smile and complimented my friend's nails.

On service speed, I give it a 4. It took between 15-20 minutes to get 1 large cheese pizza and 1 small veggie pizza.

On taste of food, I give it a 3. I had a slice of cheese pizza. The pizza had a very thick crust and it was a little too doughy for my taste.The pizza had very sharp cheese and the ratio of cheese and red sauce was off. There was too much dough and the toppings only went halfway up the pizza leaving the other half of it dry. There was a little basil sprinkled on top. The pizza was not special, it was just average pizza.

For the appearance of food, I give it a 2. The pizza had golden edges and the tomato sauce went up to the crust. As you can see, the cheese was mostly in the middle and that doesn't look nice.

For price, I give it a 2. For 1 large cheese pizza and for 1 small veggie pizza it was a total of $40.00.

The score is 18/30 for Zeek's Pizza. It is a good place to take kids because there is a lot for kids to do and it is a big restaurant that would be good for large groups. Just be prepared to pay extra for pizza that tastes as good as the frozen kind from the grocery store. Therefore, don't freak for Zeek's.

Mad for MOD Pizza

Today was the first day of my pizza adventure and MOD Pizza in downtown Bellevue was the perfect way to start it off. MOD stands for Made On Demand, and that is exactly how it is! They make pizza to order, exactly how you like it. They have 5 different sauces and lots of cheese and toppings. They have different types of combinations to choose from or you can free style.

On decor of restaurant, I give it a 3. It is very unique with a "garage" theme. They actually have an open garage door for a wall of the building. There is a bar to sit at while feeling the breeze. It overlooks a loud street, and with the loud heavy music it's a little much. They do have plenty of outdoor and indoor seating.

On friendliness of staff towards kids, I give it a 4. When I asked how the process worked, the worker said "we make the burger and you make the fries at the end." It was just a joke and we chuckled. It was really cheesy. They were mostly nice and listened carefully to my order. Also, there were kids yelling and running around and nobody seemed to care.

On service speed, I give it a 5. It took under 5 minutes to order and get a perfectly baked custom made individual sized pizza. They made it right behind a clear glass so you can choose your toppings and watch them make it - just like at Subway.

On taste of food, I give it a 5. I got a Hawaiian pizza (canadian bacon and pineapple) with thin crust and red sauce. The pineapple was very fresh and it was the perfect consistency of sauce. The pizza had crispy browned edges and the pizza was cooked in a hot oven to perfection.

On appearance of food, I give it a 4. It was served on a round tray with paper to fit it's exact size. The proportions of toppings, sauce and cheese was just right and looked nice but I wish it went all of the way to the edge. There was a bit too much dry crust on the end.

On price, I give it a 5. Every pizza costs $6.28, no matter the toppings or sauce. It is the only price they have so get all the toppings you want!

The final score is 26/30 and pizza week is off to a great start! To make the day extra fun, there is a bus stop right out front so you could take a bus to get there. There is also a sidewalk to a park around the corner. I'm mad for MOD Pizza and you will be too!

EMERGENCY NEWS ALERT!!!

The best thing EVER just happened to the eastside! Blissberri in Bel-Square Mall is now open and it is the eastside's first SELF-SERVE fro yo place! They have lots of flavors that are perfect for kids like Thin Mint, Reese's Peanut Butter Cup and watermelon. They have every topping I can even think of, and you can put them on yourself.

You can mix flavors of yogurt and toppings and make it just like you want. When you are finished, they weigh it and you pay by the ounce. Here is my sister's yogurt and a good example of what happens when you just want it all...

The Time of My Life

I just got back from Los Angeles, and I had the time of my life! I DID get to meet Nick Jonas and even went to his concert. Meeting him was actually awkward because I didn't know what to say. When I was in the hotel lobby waiting to meet Nick J, I saw Ce Ce from Shake It Up. Meeting her was NOT awkward! She was very nice and happy to take pictures.

I also met the cast of The Glee Project. They were friendly and acted just like normal everyday people. You should watch the show if you haven't seen it. I think Sam won for sure because he stands out with his own personality and style. Also, if you pull one of his dread locks without his looking, he can tell which one it is even though all of the locks are different. Creepy! Check it out...

I had an amazing opportunity to see a real movie being filmed and I ate lunch with the cast. I met Joy Bryant from Parenthood and she was very easy to talk to. My trip was sure a star studded adventure!

I also DID get to try Pinkberry and ate there 6 times!

There was a line there every day because it is so good. It is creamy and fresh, and they have a lot of unique flavors like salted caramel (which wasn't very good) and watermelon. My favorite is pomegranate yogurt with chocolate bits and brownie bites. Here is a picture of pomegranate with brownie bites and watermelon - it was so appetizing I couldn't hold back before the picture...

If you are ever close by to a pinkberry, stop there for a taste. The coolest thing is that they have "mini" size for kids which is perfect.

Check back tomorrow to read the first pizza review!