Tim Lam

We were waiting for a Fringe show and decided to grab a quick bite and drink. We’ve heard about Rooster Coffee House, but never stepped foot in one so we decided to try it out. We got the Sourdough Chocolate Chip because it sounded weird and we’re all about weirdness. We couldn’t taste the sourdough, but the taste was on point. We also got an Almond Raspberry Danish which had a strong raspberry flavor, which we enjoyed. The coffee here is strong so if you’re looking for a pick me up you can’t go wrong with Rooster!

Gracie is a neighborhood staple serving delicious Italian fare. I have come back a number of times throughout the years and it’s one of the places that are always top of mind when we’re craving Italian cuisine. Everything is consistent from the amazing service to the entrees. We really appreciate how they give you a basket of complementary bread while you look over the menu. Our favorite thing to get here is the Penza, but you can’t go wrong with any of the pastas.

We came here for a special occasion and ordered the special combo of the week which cost $188 and opted to upgrade to lettuce wraps for an additional $15. The Pumpkin Soup came with seafood, which sounds like it wouldn’t work, but it did. We were huge fans! The Peking Duck was fantastic. Pro tip: the wraps for the Peking Duck dry out relatively quickly so be sure to eat that when it comes out. The lettuce wraps were a close second. The minced meat was really tasty without being overly salty. We really enjoyed the vegetables that they added into the meat as it gave each bite an extra crunch. They used pork neck to make their sweet and sour pork which was a bit interesting. The meat was slightly tougher and the breading was cooked in a way that made it extra crunchy. The eel was as expected. Delicious. But watch out for the tiny bones. The Abalone was really fresh and cooked perfectly and packed a lot of flavor. We got an assortment of desserts that included Mango Pudding, Cookies and Red Bean Soup. It was the perfect way to end the night. All in all our experience was superb and was enhanced by the excellent service we received.

There were only a few people with us when we went on a weeknight, granted, it was unusually cold. The location is a little out of the way from other tourist attractions, but not too far where it’s not walkable. Be sure to check the weather as the views are actually pretty good on a clear night. It was really windy so we had to take shelter a couple of times to warm up.

Even though there wasn’t a queue when we arrived I would still recommend buying tickets before hand as we were able to pretty much walk right in. There’s actually a lot to see in the museum and it provides an account of his history as well as other artists that have been influenced by his works. It took us about two hours to go through all the exhibits. We took our time take everything in so a speed run can be done in about an hour.