Bishop Meals

Soba Dinner, Beer - Bishop  2025

El Pollo Loco - Bishop  2025

Soba brought from home and microwaved. El Pollo Loco just across the street.

Wow!

Return to Dragon Burger

Dragon Burger (Kyoto) - Japan  2024

Dragon Burger Burger (Kyoto) - Japan  2024

Yum! We had an enjoyable lunch here with Jim and Margaret in 2023, so here we were back in 2024. Again, quite good!

Yum!

Dragon Burger Beer (Kyoto) - Japan  2024

Kurashow Lunch - 1

Kurashow Lunch (Chiba) - Japan  2024

Beer at Kurashow (Chiba) - Japan  2024

We'd eaten before at Kurashow, but that was when the restaurant was in Otaki. Of course we wanted to dine there again, but now they've relocated to a different area in Chiba. Getting there by train was just a little convoluted! It certainly helped that Yoko met us at Takataki Station and gave us a ride over to the restaurant.

As usual, the lunch was quite tasty, plus Mike was able to sample a local beer!

Tokyo Rain - 2

Rain, Alleyway (Tokyo) - Japan  2024

Rain, 7-11 (Tokyo) - Japan  2024

We walked past deserted alleyways, skipped going into 7-11, and finally found a pretty nice grocery store that wasn't on Google Maps. When we got back to the hotel Hali was able to fashion a nice serviceable salad! And Mike could sample the beer he had purchased at the Hakodate Airport.

Groceries (Tokyo) - Japan  2024

Hokkaido Beer (Tokyo) - Japan  2024

Yokohama Visit

Yokohama Buildings (Yokohama) - Japan  2024

Rain, Hotel Window (Tokyo) - Japan  2024

We actually stayed in Yokohama before, and enjoyed it! We wanted to pay a return visit to check out a particular fabric store located there, and also to sample a restaurant that had been highly recommended. It rained that day, the view out our window partially obscured by raindrops.

We ordered a lunch set at Tokori, featuring a quantity of various cuts of beef to be grilled at the table. Excellent! And quite reasonably priced. Also, this was the first time since Hakodate that Mike was able to have a beer with his meal!

Yakiniku Restaurant (Yokohama) - Japan  2024

Yakiniku Beef Selections (Yokohama) - Japan  2024

Pizza 'n Coffee

Pizza, Beer (Mammoth Lakes) - Sierra Nevada  2024

Coffee, Muffin (Mammoth Lakes) - Sierra Nevada  2024

My usual pizza and beer at the place next to my motel in Mammoth Lakes. Then, a walk down to a new coffee place for coffee and muffin (Sony RX100 on the table). iPhone photos.

Compare to shot taken earlier this year in Monterey County with my old, now missing, Canon GX5.

Best Meal / Cold

Udon - Sierra Nevada  2024

Morning Temperature - Sierra Nevada  2024

Best meal of the trip: Sanukiya Udon from Cost Plus, with cut-up pork belly pieces from Trader Joe's. And some Mexican beer.

It was fairly warm when I first arrived at the campground, but it started to turn cold the night before my departure. I was thinking that I should have brought some handwarmers to put down at the foot of my sleeping bag. Next time.

Mexican Restaurant / Grocery Store

Agave Bar & Grill (Kalispell) - Montana  2024

For my last meal in Kalispell I walked past the Volkswagen dealership to the Agave Bar & Grill. Sat at the bar and ordered taquitos and beer. Pretty good, actually, with enough food for tomorrow's dinner.

Next morning I went grocery shopping. Luckily I didn't have beer or wine on my list.

Montana Law (Kalispell) - Montana  2024

St. Patrick's Day Dinner at Barbara's

Corned Beef Pot - Marin County  2024

Corned Beef Serving Platter - Marin County  2024

Yum!

St. Patrick's Day Beer - Marin County  2024

 

Korean Restaurant

Soju - Burbank  2024

Han Korean BBQ House in Burbank. We had just left the REI in Burbank when Google's directions somehow pushed me onto a freeway going in a completely unknown direction. Luckily Hali was able to come up with a new route that placed us right in front of this restaurant!

Food was good! I didn't have any soju, however.

Terra Beer (Korean) - Burbank  2024

Tofukuji - 3

Wedding Photo (Kyoto) - Japan  2023

They were being photographed on the veranda overlooking the temple grounds. Seriously, they look like they could be actors in the latest J-Drama. 

We walked back to the train station, by then quite hungry. We decided to try Dragon Burger, which turned out to be quite good. Jan A, from San Jose, says on Yelp: "I mean wow! I'm from California and man, these burgers are very comparable to the states! Shoot might be even better. If your looking for gourmet burgers in Kyoto, this is the place to go." That's right, Jan A!

Dragon Burger, Fries, Beer (Kyoto) - Japan  2023

Kurashow Sightems

Local Beer (Otaki) - Japan  2023

Flowers, Vase, Table (Otaki) - Japan  2023

A few more images from our meal at Kurashow. The beer was good!

Kurashow Sign (Otaki) - Japan  2023

Fishwife

 

Fishwife - Monterey County  2023

Outside Beer - Monterey County  2023

We had dinner at the Fishwife seafood restaurant near Asilomar. Good! We were the only ones eating outside.

H Mart

 

H Mart - San Francisco  2021

Kimchi (H Mart) - San Francisco  2021

We had been to H Mart once before . . . Shawna had taken us there in her car together with the kids. But that was on a Sunday afternoon. Too crowded!

This time we left Marin County early in the morning and drove to the southern part of San Francisco where H Mart is located. Much better . . . but somehow very chilly inside.

They specialize in Korean food items, but other Asian countries are well-represented. (Below, some beer from Kyoto that they carry.)

So for those of us who regularly watch K-Dramas on Netflix the store is quite interesting.

Kyoto Beer (H Mart) - Marin County  2021

San Rafael Sightems

 

Enrollment Center (San Rafael) - Marin County  2021

Beer Garden (San Rafael) - Marin County  2021

Enrollment Center for Covered California (ACA). We're not sure whether it's official or not.

Beer Garden on west end of Fourth Street. Never been there.

Trzesniewski

Trzesniewski Plate (Vienna) - Austria  2019

Trzesniewski Counter (Vienna) - Austria  2019

"Open sandwiches (Belegte Brote) are a common Viennese snack, made popular by the iconic company Trzesniewski. Small slabs of rye bread with a wide variety of toppings, and often accompanied by a Pfiff (small quantity) of beer, they are perfect for a mid-morning snack."

Margaret managed to find a table, which was a feat unto itself. So that was nice. Also, I found out that when they say "Pfiff (small quantity) of beer" they really do mean small quantity. I took a photo of the hobbit-sized beer mug, but it doesn't really demonstrate how tiny it was.

I was informed that the toppings were excellent. They tasted fine to me!

Ribcev Laz - 2

Burger, Beer - Slovenia  2019

Steak - Slovenia  2019

Dinner at Foksner in Ribcev Laz - highly rated! And good. Below, the tempting blackboard sign listing the steak options by weight.

Steak Sign - Slovenia  2019

Alkohol! / Ne Toci, Peter

Alkohol! (Ljubljana) - Slovenia  2019

Ne Toci, Peter (Ljubljana) - Slovenia  2019

Top photo says, as translated by our food tour guide: "No great conversation ever happened over a glass of water."

Not sure about "Ne Toci, Peter," as seen on a beer coaster. Yes, it's a film. But it's also some sort of slogan . . . and I can't figure out the context or meaning.

Verdi

Road Turns Left - Nevada  2019

Full Service - Nevada  2019

The town of Verdi is located in a valley just north of the casino. The road takes a sharp left then drops down a steep decline towards the town . . . Union Pacific tracks run through there. Alas, it's too hard to tell when a train is going to come. No rail traffic when I've been there so far.

Someday I must check out those 20 beers.

Zurich Restaurant

Chestnut Puree, Figs (Zurich) - Switzerland  2019

Beer (Zurich) - Switzerland  2019

We wandered around looking for a place to have dinner and found this place: Mere Catherine. We were early enough that we could get in without a reservation. The main courses were excellent, but I really enjoyed the dessert and the beer.

Much later I discovered that I had left my waist pack in the restaurant. Luckily I was able to go back the next day and retrieve it. Whew. After that I stuck to using a daypack exclusively.