Katy's Travel Adventures

Back in August, we had a little get together for our dear friend KTD, whose getting married in alil over a week!! Her family/bridesmaids put together this amazzing spread of international foods, for our world traveller. I took a few pictures of what was offered. They did sucha good job


Tri-Tip Salad (San Luis Obispo, CA)


Paninis (Florence, Italy)


Lamb Shawarma (New York City, NY)


Haupia (Honolulu, HI)

Assortment of Drinks

Pomegranate Green Tea (CA)


Green Tea (Japan)


White Wine Sangria (Spain)

Koi Garden

4288 Dublin Blvd * Dublin, CA

For Mother's Day we went to Koi in Dublin. We've frequented this place a few times now, but i have yet to get pictures until this time. Because it was Mother's Day, in order to get reservations we had to pre-order our menu from a selection of banquet meals. My mom picked (cheaper) one for the "kids" table and another (classy) one for the adults. I will be focusing on the kid's tabble as I did not see what the elders had.


Whole Steamed Shrimp
Whole steamed shrimp with a soy sauce dipper

My family orders this all the time. when the shrimp are fresh, this is the best way to enjoy this scrumptious dish. to taste the sweetness of the shrimp, forego the sauce. this is a dish that must be eaten hot or warm, not cold. eating this cold, you'll taste the fishy/seafoody-ness of the shrimp.


Cold Plate Appetizer
a mixture of 6 different appetizers: jellyfish, bbq pork, clam, seaweed, chicken, bean curd

This is another one of those dishes that most Chinese Seafood restaurants will serve up. Nothing out of the ordinary here.


Scallop & Water Chestnut Stir-Fry
Scallop, water chestnut, chinese broccoli, carrots

This dish is pretty unique to Koi. I've had a few variations of the scallop stir-fry. The portion size of this is pretty large, we had a lot leftover. A little bit on the oily side, but still a well executed dish.


Deep Fried Egglant & Shrimp
Eggplant stuff with shrimp paste, topped with sweet mayo and shredded dried pork

This was a first for me. The eggplant was cooked to a good tenderness, a good amount of batter, and the topping was perfect for balancing the flavors.


Steamed Lotus Bun
sweet lotus paste stuffed inside a steamed bun

This is another standard dessert item on a banquet menu. The bun is supposed to be in the shape of a chinese peach. this is almost always eaten during birthday celebrations, there is some significance in the chinese culture to eat this.

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Overall, this was a good meal. There was way more food than i photographed (sorry, recurring theme). I would recommend koi to someone who knows what they are ordering, as the menu may be a little bit hard to navigate, even with all the pictures. However, if you don't know the style and cooking techniques, you could be thrown for a loop. There are also many off-menu items.

Ray's Sushi

888 A St. * Hayward, CA

I really enjoy the food from this place. it may not be SUPER authentic, but it is fresh, good quality, and yummy. I must apologize that i did not take as many photos as i had wished. we just had too much good food.

We went here as a group of 16. a family friend was treating everyone out to dinner. we frequent this place a lot, in small and large groups.

The owner, Ray, put together a set meal for the 11 adults. ($50/person). the kids ordered off the menu, as they don't eat much.


Sushi Boat.
A variety of raw fish and seafood: salmon.tuna.hamachi.uni.fish roe.lobster.squid.hirame.saba.and the list goes on...

There was so much sashimi on that boat, I didn't even know where to start. Everything was fresh. I am not a huge fan of the uni (sea urchin). the lobster i like. the hamachi is good. Ray's tends to cut their sashimi pieces a little thicker than elsewhere, which is a no-no in Japanese cooking. however, many like it bc they feel they are gettin more for their $$.


closer look at the contents of the boat.


Uni, Sea Urchin


Broiled Lobster

They are very resourceful with their food. this was the shell/head of the lobster that was served in the sashimi. they add some seasonings and mayo and placed it in the broiler. I didn't actually try this, but on previous ocassions it has been good.


Stone-cooked Filet Mignon

The stone was heated to a high temperature then brought out with the steak on a separate plate. the waiteress/waiter then proceeded to cook the meat at our table. this is the remanants.


Cut Sushi Rolls
a variety of rolls

Sorry, by the time i remembered to take photos, this was pretty much gobbled up. what is shown in the picture is about 1/4(?) of the sushi that was on the plate. we had a soft shell crab roll, two baked rolls, and the two "veggie" rolls. Their rolls are good, no skimping on the fillings.


These were all the photos that I remembered to take that night. we also had a broiled hamachi head, fish cake soup, scallops, and of course green tea&red bean ice cream.

If you are looking for a Japanese restaurant and are in the area, i would definately check out Rays. Come prepared for a line. You may think that Hayward would not offer good sushi, but don't judge a book by its covers.