Kauai Coffee Company

On our way back from Waimea Canyon, we stopped at the Kauai coffee company.  It overlooks the coffee plantation. There are dozens of free samples (including some decaf), and a small museum showing the process.  There is also a coffee counter selling regular sized coffees.  We bought a delicious peaberry coffee and some chocolate covered coffee beans.

Coffee tasting at Kauai Coffee Company

Dinner at Roy's

A friend recommended that we check out Roy’s during our stay in Hawaii.  So, while in Kauai we made sure to get a reservation.  We wound up eating there twice – it was far and away our favorite restaurant we ate at during our 2 weeks in Hawaii.  The first time we went we started out at the bar, and moved to a table when one became available.  The service was fabulous.

Seafood appetizer at Roy's

Both meals we had were incredible.  Wendy’s vegetarian entrée was a Portobello mushroom served over vegetables.  Ian had some fabulous ahi.  Even the bread (ask for it!) was delicious.  The salad was very well prepared with nice fresh ingredients.  Be sure to finish off the meal with the chocolate molten lava cake – outside of some desserts we’ve had in Europe, it was the best chocolate cake we’ve ever had – and believe me, we’ve had a lot of them.

Yum Cha Restaurant, Grand Hyatt Kauai

This restaurant, about a 10 minute walk from the main hotel complex (with its own parking) overlooks the golf course and the mountains.  It is a big open room, nicely decorated, but not as spectacular as Tidepools. The cuisine is Asian fusion. We had some very tasty appetizers.  For our entrees, Ian had a whole fish, which was very nicely prepared and a good size.  Wendy had a couple of vegetarian choices, and enjoyed her meal as well. The restaurant was relatively expensive, about $100 for the two of us.

View from Yum Cha Restaurant

The bar at Mirepoix restaurant in Windsor, California

Tonight we had dinner at Mirepoix restaurant, in Windsor, California.  The restaurant is in a converted small house and has a warm cozy feel to it.  It is a good idea to make reservations as there really aren’t very many tables.  The menu changes frequently and is supposed to have a French feel to it.

We started off with a mixed green salad with goat cheese fritters ($7).  The greens were fresh and the cheese fritters delicious and different.

For dinner, Ian had the rainbow fish trout with bacon.  It was very tender and served with crisp lettuce on top.  Wendy had the vegetarian option which was a mushroom risotto.  It had lots of different kinds of mushrooms in it and was rich and flavorful.  The corkage fee is only $11, so we chose to bring our own wine with us.

For dessert we split a “Saddened Chocolate Cake”.  It was served with a small scoop of vanilla ice cream with a butterscotch sauce.  We weren’t impressed with the cake, although our friends who ate with us thought it was good.  For us it was much more sweet than chocolate, and quite small.  The ice cream was nice, as was the sauce, but the portion was very small.

Overall we really enjoyed the meal.  The food was good and the service leisurely but attentive.

Intimate dining at Tidepools Restaurant

We went for dinner at the Grand Hyatt.  The Tidepools restaurant is very beautifully set among koi ponds and waterfalls. The restaurant is divided into many sections surrounded by the pond, giving it an intimate feeling.  Many of the tables are right next to French doors that open out on to the ponds.  The koi were literally at our feet. The restaurant is almost entirely wood, and had a very Asian, relaxing feeling to it.  It is a very romantic setting – probably the most romantic restaurant we went to in Hawaii (or ever). Reservations are necessary – we booked a couple days before.  Service was fabulous, very attentive, and knowledgeable. The food was very good, but not at the same level as Roy’s. It was more expensive than Roy’s, however. The total bill for the two of us with dessert and one glass of wine came to $120 with tip.

Us at Tidepools Restaurant

Terracotta Warriors

In the morning, we headed out to the star attraction of Xi’an, the Terracotta Warriors. A bus leaves from right outside the hotel and took us directly there, comfortably. First up we visited the museum, which is a large modern building, with nice air-conditioning and is well organized. The museum’s collection consists of some better-preserved artifacts from the digs of the area and is worth checking out. English signage was good. After about half an hour, we headed to see the pits of the warriors themselves.

Unintentionally, we visited the pits from least interesting (smallest) to largest – it turned out to be a good order to do things in. The pits are semi-air conditioned, and it was comfortable wandering around even in the heat of the day. Although signs up everywhere said “no cameras”, everyone was taking photos even right in front of the guards, so we ignored the rules as well. We got some good photos, but a tripod would certainly help here.

When heading back to town, beware of the more expensive shuttle buses that will try to entice you in. We are guessing they leave when full, and the cheap public bus was very fast anyways.

We killed time until our night train. If we had to do it over again, we would have spent less time in Xi’an – we sort of ran out of things to do (although fortunately there was good shopping).

Thai Cuisine, Petaluma

One of our favorite restaurants in Sonoma County is Thai Cuisine, in Petaluma.  The restaurant is in a converted Victorian house.  There is a separate room on one side for larger parties.

Lunch runs around $10/person with (vegetarian) soup included.  The curries are very nice and they will prepare them spicy or mild depending on your preference.  Wendy’s favorite dish is the Vegetarian Deluxe ($9) with lots of different vegetables including pumpkin, mock duck, salad and rice.  Ian’s favorite is the duck curry ($10).  The Thai iced tea is really good and the service is friendly (it’s a family-run business).

Thai Cuisine, Petaluma

Duck Club Restaurant Bodega Bay Entrance

Tonight we went out for dinner at the Duck Club Restaurant – part of the Bodega Bay Lodge and Spa. The restaurant has an ocean view with 3 big bay windows with tables for 4 in each. The atmosphere is romantic with a big fireplace.

To start, Ian had some delicious fresh oysters from just down the road in Tomales Bay ($2.50/ea). For dinner Ian had the filet mignon with smoked onions and other vegetables ($32). The meat itself was good but not great – but the preparation was excellent. There were lots of interesting flavors and very fresh vegetables. It was, however, a little bit too salty.

Duck Club Restaurant

Wendy had the only vegetarian option for dinner – a homemade papperdelli ($20 – wide, flat pasta noodles). It was served with fresh vegetables in a tomato sauce. The vegetables were very fresh – the corn kernels were still stuck together from being cut off the cob. The sauce was nothing special and the pasta was cooked well past the “al dente” stage.

For dessert we split the flourless chocolate cake ($8), which is served with fresh whipped cream and cabernet macerated berries (blueberries, raspberries and strawberries). The berries were delicious, as was the wine sauce and the fresh whipped cream. The cake was good, but a little on the sweet side and not chocolaty enough for our taste. (We think we’ve had this problem with pretty much every chocolate cake we’ve eaten in the United States). Ian’s cappuccino was good, but the foam was a little on the cool side.

The service was excellent. Our waiter was very attentive and knowledgeable. The food arrived nicely timed and hot.

Roy's Hawaiian Fusion Restaurant Decor

We ate dinner at Roy’s, a 10 minute walk from Union Square. We had previously enjoyed a couple of great meals at Roy’s in Poipu, Kauai, so we wanted to check out the local version. The restaurant was full, but we had made a reservation a couple of days beforehand on their website (this was very easy and there was no charge). For an appetizer, Ian had some ahi – it was good, but not at the same level as the ahi we had in Hawaii. Wendy had mushroom risotto, but was not impressed – it was pretty tasteless. For my entrée, I had some delicious yellowfish (a yellow-finned tuna) with foie gras ravioli – The serving was plentiful, and the fish was very well prepared. Wendy had fried bananas and sticky rice and really enjoyed it. The portion was a little small, and then they brought more out, because the chef had decided that there wasn’t enough good.

Roy's Hawaiian Fusion

For dessert we had Roy’s signature molten lava cake. It was jut as we’d remembered it from Hawaii – delicious. I tried to have a cappuccino, but when the first one arrived barely hot, I sent it back – and the second one was even cooler. They took it off the bill, and admitted that their machine is pretty bad.

The room itself was very nice

We pricelined the Grand Hyatt close to Union Square in San Francisco for $90. Including the taxes and other fees, it came to $110. The Hyatt offers valet parking for $49, but we opted for the $30 parking underneath Union Square, ½ a block away.

The Hyatt has a very nice lobby, and the checkin was very quick. The good-sized room had a beautiful view out towards the Bay, but there was no patio. The hotel room was nice, but the bathroom was definitely showing signs of wear. The wallpaper was peeling up ins several places, the caulking around the shower needed to be redone, and it was obvious that the room hadn’t been overhauled for a while.

There was no free wi-fi – it was $30 to buy the “business package” which included it. The room was mostly quiet at night, although there was a lot of strange creaking coming from the building – and we were only half way up the hotel, and it wasn’t that windy.

There is no swimming pool. We checked out the restaurant for breakfast on the top floor in the morning – the view was beautiful, but the prices were a little high (and surprisingly the same cost as room service). Instead we went to Lori’s Diner, just round the corner.