Best Boba in Tally

My favorite & usual litmus test: Almond Milk Tea

Okay everyone. I just couldn't believe that here in Tallahassee, exists a decent Asian restaurant that serves really good Boba.

What is Boba Milk Tea?
Tapioca pearls served in any preferred milk tea you'd like. Go back to California, particularly Asian populated towns like Cerritos, Irvine, S.F. Bay Area, and you will find some sort of Boba tea shop or restaurants that will serve it.

Where in Tally?
I've been here a year, and disappointment after disappointment, I finally gave in and bought packages at Tally's token Asian store, Lynn's Seafood. Ranch 99 & H-Mart, holla!! Come to this town. TJ's is coming in a year, might as well jump on the bandwagon. Anyway, so yeah, I tried to cook them. Hit or miss, I got my Boba cravings fulfilled.

But one day, a dear friend invited me to join some new students from China to have lunch at China Delight located on Tennessee. I hear the snickers now. Yes, I know. I passed it several times and assumed there goes one of those Americanized Chinese Restaurants. Yet, to my sincere delight, it was truly a glorious day. Not only did I love their Beef Noodle Soup [Fresh. Beefy. Broth was delish. Noodles just the right amount. Huge bowl.] but I also deeply enjoyed drinking every drop of Almond Milk Tea. The Boba had perfect chewy texture. I found my Boba place.

So, after my second trip there, but this time w/ the hubs I got to speak w/ the owner's daughter. They moved in from New York City couple years back. Go figure. No wonder the quick service and yummy food. Other than the rice being a little dry, the food was fresh and didn't have a MSG headache afterwards. Here are some other delicious picks.

The other Boba place: Rainbow Frozen Yogurt

My hubs told me about how this place recently started serving boba. I said, "What?!" So since I happened to be running an errand nearby, I checked out the joint. It is definitely owned by Asians. With all the Chinese characters on the menu, there was no doubt. Granted the menu doesn't have 30 options of Boba like Tapioica Express, it still is commendable that they're trying out this market.

Cute and colorful inside, w/ a yogurt bar similar to Yogurt Land. There are enough tables to go around w/ flat screens on the walls, which makes it a fun lounge to hangout. Tried the Boba. It wasn't tough but still stuck together a few times. Milk Tea wasn't too sweet, which was good. China Delight will be my go-to Boba place. Rainbow's will be secondary, which still beats the rest of the places out there.

A Very Julia Salad

Okay, folks. For those of you who know me. I've mastered a simple salad, well sometimes varies, but I must say everybody really likes my salads. I can hear my friend, Shifie, rootin' in the background.

In good ol' college days, I used to mix up some sweet and savory together. With the influences from the likes of Intermezzo and other fantastic local joints in Berkeley, I have to have delicious and affordable salads. No ICEBERG!!!! Please! I'm ruined folks. Can't stand restaurants that serve salads w/ iceberg. Hmmm! You call that a salad?

Okay, okay sorry the food snob awakes. To give some credit, Tally has Olive Garden and Cody's that offer decent salad dressing to accompany the iceberg riven salads they serve.

Sniff. Sniff. I miss you Bay Area.

Thankfully, I can make decent ones. And I can still buy Brianna's dressings at Publix. I had plenty of practice during my Berk-town years, because I made salad weekly for my Christian home meetings. Hsu's small group, I miss you dearly!! Like, one time I made a humungous bowl for maybe 25 servings.

Can't forget about that one w/ an episode that went along w/ it. One guy said, "Why didn't you make more?" I for one found it as a compliment, and my very strong feminist of a pal (you know who you are chika ;] ) next to me snapped back at him and said, "That was rude." My nervous self, giggled away to end the conversation. Awkward. But funny looking back.

The recipe was something like this:

• Mixed greens (from Berkeley Bowl)
• Torn pieces of green leaf or red lettuce
• Sliced carrots
• Diced tomatoes
• Sliced red onion
• Dried cranberries
• Diced mangoes
• Diced apples
• Sliced cucumbers
• Candied walnuts or pecans
• The best part (served on the side): Brianna's Poppy Seed Dressing

Note: I always served dressing on the side, w/ other options like Balsamic Vinaigrette. Sorry folks, I'm not a huge Ranch dressing fan.

Yes, more on the sweet side but balances out w/ all the greens and creamy dressing. No photo of that, but I have a special feature of my recent salad.

My friend has always described my salads, "A Very Julia Salad." Here is one simple one. I don't have names for these things. I just toss together what I like. May I add, this was strongly influenced by one of my closest friends, Di, best Asian cook I know. Her salad will be featured soon. ;)

Pardon the photography. I'm saving up for an awesome cam.

Ingredients:

•  Mixed greens (pre-washed from Costco)
• Sliced cucumbers
• Sliced carrots
• Canned sweet corn drained
• Sliced red onion
• Crumbled Feta
• Dressing: Blush Wine Vinaigrette (I could drink this)

Did I say, "I could drink this?" Because it's sooo true.

Tally Sushi: Sumo Sabi

Tallahassee for what it is, pseudo country/city/campus town, still has its hidden gems. Coming from the golden state, where everything I mean EVERY THING from food to clothes is right at your finger tips, it's easy to be critical. You don't have to drive more than a half hour to an hour to get to the next big city. You want sushi, you'll have to deal with choosing from 10 options in each direction. You want Trader Joe's, I had 3 to pick at Mission Viejo. Produce was sooooo much more affordable. I could cook whatever and whenever I wanted. Wherever you go in Cali, high chances are that you'd meet someone from out of town.

However, I've done some research and hubby's co-workers gave us a few recommendations. So, date night came and we picked Sumo Sabi. It was quite empty on a Thursday night, but still cute ambiance.

Hubby ordered a crunchy roll and I wanted to try one of their specialty rolls. I, of course, wanted to try their Sumo Steak Bowl. Gotta have the red meat since we've decided not to buy red meat for a while until ahem we catch up financially. Sweet hubby let me order a meal and I realize now that he ordered just sushi. Don't worry, I didn't let him starve and so we shared the bowl.

Photo taken with my Android, which explains the blah quality.

Cute plate...Isn't it?

Sumo Steak Bowl w/ Sumo Sauce & Terriyaki on the side.

They had a sauce bar with at least 10 options. The most popular is the Sumo Sauce, absolutely creamy and delicious. Not sure what's in it, but tasted like a nice blend of garlic, onion, sugar, sour cream. When my order of Sumo Steak Bowl came, I was delighted to see how huge of a bowl it was and the uber amounts of meat covering brown rice w/ yummy looking veggies. More for us, yay! I quickly got stuffed and my usual stingy self was happy to share the rest of the meat with the hubs.

It was on the affordable side, so hubby was eager to go to Sumo Sabi over my preferred place, Cypress Restaurant. But, it was fun to go to the other side of town near the campus about 20 minutes away. The juicy steak drizzled with their homemade sauce made the trip worthwhile. There wasn't much of a crowd making the night less interesting, but great food = great times with the hubby.

Review in Brief

We would come back for the sushi. Although reviews aren't as great on Urban Spoon or Yelp. We still would go again.

Hooray for Late Night Hours - Open til 3 a.m. Finding a place for a late night outing after the kids are down is hard to come by, in Tally. So I was thrilled to find out they were open past midnight. The bummer factor is that they don't have anything like shaved ice nor Boba Tea. I'd have to go to Gainesville for decent milk tea. Which we did get at Bento Cafe. Or, I can make my own to save myself an hour drive. Their milk tea was better than what any place in Tally could offer, but won't ever beat Tapioca Express, Guppy's, nor Champions at Irvine, CA.

Endless Menu - I think they had at least 100 options to choose from, which was personally overwhelming. They've got great corporate identity to begin with, but I would recommend a menu redesign. Potential client maybe?

No dessert Caught My Eye - With the literally hundreds of items, I didn't have time to glance their dessert selection. So, we went to Lofty Pursuits Ice Cream (Tally's Local Ice Cream Parlor). We found a review on this via Sweet Tea & Bourbon (local foodie blogger), whom I can agree with most of the time. Watch out Tally, Julia Holly is a food snob tasting her way through every restaurant (worth the trip of course).