Genki Living (California - Rowland Heights)

     This is another back post from California - post 2 of 6!  I'm sad to report that as of the past February, Arcade Infinity has closed.  Arcade Infinity had a ton of fun import games such as Technika, Pop n' music, Para Para, Type for the dead, Beatmani, Guitar Freaks, etc.  Basically it was a gamer's paradise and it will be sorely missed.  =( 

     So Arcade Infinity brought us to this fun plaza where Genki Living is located.  We were looking for something to nibble on late at night after some gaming.  There was still quite a crowd bustling about, so we decided to stop by. 

     The decor gave the place a kind of funky/hip vibe to it, randomly colored furniture and equally random accessories strewn about.  I want to say it's not really my scene.  In typical Japanese fashion they had plasticized versions of their crepes on display, so you would have an idea of what you were buying.

     There was a pretty extensive menu posted over the cash register which included crepes, taiyaki, takoyaki, okonomiyako, etc.  We decided on just getting two taiyakis, my boyfriend got one with ham and cheese and I wanted to try out the mochi and taro taiyaki.  The kitchen area was open so you could watch them make your food, which I thought was a nice touch.

     So the taiyaki wasn't bad, it wasn't mind blowing either.  I want to say for my mochi + taro taiyaki, the mochi didn't really add much.  That's not really surprising though, mochi is mostly just a fun texture contrast. 

     Though the taiyaki was only so-so in terms of taste, I was pretty psyched to be eating a real taiyaki.  I think it has to do with all the Azumanga Daoih I watched during college.  If you watch around the 2:00 minute mark, my boyfriend and I basically re-enacted that scene.

     So if you're looking for a quick snack for a decent price late at night, I don't think Genki Living would be such a bad choice.  I'd definitely have to try more of their items to make a fair assessment of the rest of the menu.  =)   

     ...And if you're wondering, I eat my taiyaki head first!

Genki Living

Rowland Heights

1380 Fullerton Road

(626) 581-1395

Menchie's (Davie - University Drive)

4/10/11 - Menchie's Frozen Yogurt


     After a long evening of typing notes for class in between watching my friends play a rousing game of Carcassone, we decided to check out the Menchie's which had just opened up down the street from the dorms.

     Now, my group of friends usually frequents the Menchie's out on Pines Boulevard. However, that's a good 15-20 minute drive from campus! Honestly I've been to a few of these self-serve yogurt places before and I still don't understand the appeal. Perhaps as one of my colleagues stated," Maybe you just haven't developed your yogurt taste yet." And honestly it's a sentiment I might have to agree with, frozen yogurt has never really tickled my fancy.

     After trying an assortment of the available flavors, I ended up filling a portion of my cup with mango tango sorbet and the raspberry pomegranate sorbet. I really wasn't wow-ed by any of the current frozen yogurt flavors, they were either over-powering in flavor or underwhelming. The sorbets however were made quite well!  


     There's a plethora of toppings to choose from, ranging from fresh fruit, candies, granola, marshmallow fluff,  etc.  Basically if you can think of it, it's probably there.  However, since it's a self-serve yogurt place, you need to be mindful of how much you're adding in your cup because you pay by how much your cup weighs.  I went for some strawberries, kiwi, and mochi.  <3 for Mochi!

     Both sorbets were light and fruity and the fruit toppings were fresh.  The raspberry pomegranate had just the right balance of tart and sweet and the mango tango sorbet flavor was just spot on. The mango tango sorbet was probably my favorite of the two flavors, since it was sweet, but not cloyingly sweet. I always take issue when things are just inundated with sugar, but the many tango sorbet was the epitome of awesome, wonderfully balanced.  


     One of the nifty things that we noticed is that this Menchie's has a cute study room-esque area which is separated from the main dining area by a glass partition. The "chalkboard" really doesn't seem very functional as wiping off the chalk from the chalk board paint just seems to smudge everywhere. X_X However, it's still a completely cute idea. The owners said they wanted to put up a flat screen so students could hook up their laptops to it to show power points and perhaps make the wifi-accessible to the public, which is always cool.

     Though I'm not a huge fan of frozen yogurt I'm sure it's going to be a great spot for students to stop by late at night when they want something sweet.   After all it's open until 11pm or midnight, depending on what day you go.  Later on if there's public wifi and that side room actually does end up being sort of a "quiet zone" I can totally see it being a great place to study (sometimes you just get stir crazy sitting in the library or your dorm room).  

     I'm sure one day I'll find a frozen yogurt flavor at Menchie's that I enjoy, since they do have a rotation of over 100 flavors. Sadly there's no set time frame on the rotation of flavors, it sounded like it was based on demand. For now though, I'll stick to the sorbets. ^__^


Menchie's 
4900 S. University Drive, Suite #103
Davie, FL 33328
(954) 680-6499



Update 5/8/11 - I finally found a frozen yogurt flavor that I enjoyed immensely!  <3 for praline!