Sumiya Yakitori (Santa Clara)

We came here for date night today. It was our first time here, and it was not bad. The yakitori items we ordered were: pork belly, duck breast, shitake with bonito, kalbi, and chicken thigh. We liked the pork, duck and kalbi best. The shitake was a bit too salty, and the chicken thigh was a little rough. The pork belly had a good fat to meat ratio, and the duck and kalbi were succulent and well-cooked. 
We also tried two other items from the menu: baked avocado with chicken cheese mayo, and Nagoya-style calamari. These were delicious as well -- the calamari was sweet and peppery; it tasted like grilled Ika but with a bit of breading (though not too much). The baked avocado came on a hot plate, and was a generous serving (perhaps too much for two persons) of chicken cheese mayo topped over a baked half-avocado, with salsa on the side. Pretty interesting!

We did notice a difference between Sumiya and Sumika at Los Altos (more expensive) though. The meat, especially the pork and chicken, were better quality at Sumika. Also, the pork belly at Sumiya had some of that soft thin film that you get when you don't grill your meat entirely over a grill, but on a piece of foil, so the meat wasn't entirely dry all around. 
We were pretty stuffed after dinner, and will probably come here for yakitori if we are lazy to make our own, but will go to Sumika for that nice, fancy and perfect yakitori experience.

Nagoya-style Calamari and pork belly yakitori

Baked Avocado topped with chicken cheese mayo and salsa

Shitaki with bonito

Kalbi

Medium-cooked kalbi

Chicken thigh yakitori

Sumika Yakitori

2634 Homestead Rd

Santa Clara, CA 95051

(408) 973-0604

http://www.sumiyakitori.com/

Tea Era

Bubble tea (or boba) is a long-lasting fad in the Bay Area. By far, Tea Era at Castro St, Mountain View, is the best place to get boba. We're lucky that we live so close by!
We usually get the roasted barley milk tea, or the ceylon milk tea. My other favorites are taro milk tea, lavender milk tea, and his favorite for a hot day (like today!!) is honey longan tea. Their pearls are always consistently soft yet chewy (not under- or over-cooked).

Today I tried a new flavor -- dark plum green tea. Yum! (I'm a fan of choya ume by the way.) I added coconut jelly to my tea and it went pretty well! The dark plum is sour but sweet, just right for a hot afternoon. He thought his honey longan was a bit too sweet so we poured it into our glass flask with water and ice -- surprise! Physics at work at home! See the photo below for how the fluids separated out by their respective densities.. Cool!

Dark plum green tea with coconut jelly from Tea Era

Physics at work at home, approved by shiba