Restaurants Ottawa - Wild Oats

This is a great place especially for people that are a little health conscious. All the ingredients they use are fresh, organic and they chose to use healthy alternatives to white flour and refined sugar. Plus the staff are super friendly which makes it a very welcoming and chilled place to be.

Their Oaxaca sandwich is delicious 6.25 CAD. Their crepes are made with spelt flour and rice milk. A simple crepe with butter and maple syrup costs 4.50 CAD. They have a little shop next door which belongs to the cafe. You can chose some drinks from the shop and have them in the cafe.

For those who look for cafes with wireless, this place has wireless internet as of 15:00. They are open till 8pm an all days except Sunday where they close at 6pm, so it is more of a breakfast or lunch place.

817 Bank Street

Ottawa ON K1S 3V7

Restaurants in Chicago - Shikago (recommendable)

Shikago is good place for a tasty japanese lunch. They have sushi as well as bento boxes.

I tried the shio yaki salmon bento box which was served with shrimp chawa mushi, an onigiri (rice ball), kimchee, a salad and a fruit salad. The green tea creme brulee is also quite tasty. All dishes are presented elegantly and the genmaicha tea was brewed well.

We paid around $20 per person which was reasonable for a good size lunch.

160 West Adams Street

Chicago IL 60603

www.shikagorestaurant.com

Restaurants in Chicago - Cafe Iberico (recommendable)

This is a great Tapas place to go to with a group of friends.

We tried many different dishes:

-Tortilla Espanola

-Patas Ali-Oli (red potatoes with garlic mayonnaise sauce)

-Jabon Iberico (spanish cured ham with manchego cheese and tomato bread)

-Gambas al Ajillo (grilled shrimp with olive oil, garlic and wine)

-Paella Marinera (seafood paella made with shrimp, fish, clams in a special saffron broth)

All dishes were well prepared and recommendable. I especially liked the tomato bread which is simple chopped fresh tomatoes + olive oil + salt on a piece of white bread.

The only thing is if you have any allergies and intolerances, the staff do not know the dishes well and can not give you a straight answer to your questions e.g. if a dish or sausage has lactose or not. They purchase their bread from someone else but do not know the ingredients.

With tip it is around $25 per person which is good value for money.

739 N La Salle St

Chicago IL 60654

www.cafeiberico.com

Restaurants San Francisco - City View Restaurant

This is a delicious upscale dim sum place in Chinatown (near the Transamerica building). Don't be disappointed if you get there and are expecting a great view, there is no view of the city, but you will have a great view of the delicious food that will be passing by on trollies.

It is one of the most delicious dim sum places I have been to. Even though London and New York have great China towns, I must say this place is one of the best I have tried.

They have a huge selection of dim sum. Many new and exciting dishes tempted my palate. We tried various dim sum: char siu bao (steamed barbecued pork dumpling), shaomai (prawn and pork), char siu sou, shrimp fun roll, chinese broccoli, peking duck and many more.

The value for money was also good. We were a large group and therefore were able to try many dishes, but everyone was definitely full at the end and we paid 20 USD per person including tip.

City View Restaurant

662 Commercial Street

San Francisco

CA 94111

Tel. (415) 398-2838

Restaurants San Francisco - Benjarong Thai Cuisine (recommendable)

This is a charming little Thai Restaurant on Lombard street. If you are in the area it is a nice place to go to. I do not know why it is quite an empty place because it is a good restaurant.

We tried the yellow curry with sticky rice, pumpkin curry, and a shrimp fried rice. The main dishes with rice were around 12 USD per person, so good value for money.

Benjarong Thai Cuisine

1968 Lombard Street

San Francisco

CA 94123

Tel. (415) 441 8999

www.benjarongsf.com

Restaurants San Francisco - Bodega Bistro (recommendable)

This is a simple, perhaps some would even call it kitschy place, but great Vietnamese food! So ignore the scooter that is standing in the restaurant as decor and enjoy the food!

We tried the following dishes NOM (finely shredded papaya topped with tender beef and coarsely grounded peanuts with a tangy sauce), Cha Gio (crispy vietnamese egg rolls filled with crab meat, hicama and wood ear mushrooms), Goi Cuon (pork and shrimp wrapped in summer spring roll), Pho Ga (chicken in rice noodle soup), Bun Cha Handi (marinated pork served with vermicelli, salad wrap and a delicious sauce) and Bo Luc Lac (filet mignon marinated with garlic, pepper and a special seasoning sauce.

My two favourite dishes here was the Bo Luc Lac and the Bun Cha Handi.

Again the value for money is good - we paid around 20 USD per person.

Bodega Bistro

607 Larkin Street

San Francisco

CA 94539

www.bodegabistrosf.com

Restaurants San Francisco - Thanh Long (recommendable)

This Vietnamese Restaurant is in a residential area west of the Fisherman's Wharf of San Franciso (by the Golden Gate Park).

We tried the garlic noodles, garlic rice, roast crab (a whole crab roasted with garlic sauce)! Even though every dish was delicious here, one of my favourite dishes here was the Shake Beef (tender cubes of marinated steak flambeed in Chardonnay served with potatoes, mixed greens & cherry tomatoes).

Main dishes are around 20 USD per person, so not on the cheap side, but definitely worth a try. This place has a more trendy restaurant which is more central called Crustacean San Francisco, but according to a local source the food is not as good as in Thanh Long.

Thanh Long

4101 Judah Street (Corner of 46th)

San Francisco

CA 94122

Tel. (415) 665-1121

www.anfamily.com