Gorge and Fill

I am having post school stress release syndrome. I am sick and tired of school and I am glad it is over. It is a glorious event to celebrate immediately the day after with a good friend of mine. I had originally opted for a Korean BBQ place, but decided in the end to do an All You Can Eat Hotpot. Weather was gorgeous and the place we went to (99 Favor Taste) wasn't packed. We could be sure that we wouldn't get kicked out in less than two hours of being seated. As soon as we sat down, we ordered. My friend had a tomato soup base and I decided to try an herbal soup base. I usually go for the traditional pork bone soup base, but it's about time to try something different. My friend jested me for having "old" tastes for a young person. The herbal soup base had some goji berries, 2 dates, ginseng, and another herb that I recognize but am not too sure it's called. When you try this soup base, do not imagine it as a medicine. Think of the herbs as spices to flavor the soup. It adds a very unique dimension and doesn't destroy and overpower the ingredients you cook it in.


The sauce bar was very clean and the interior was very well decorated. They definitely spent a lot of money on the establishment. 99 Favor Taste is a combination of hot pot and Korean BBQ so the tables you eat are were specially designed to have a electric stove tops for heating hot pots and grills for the barbeque. It's a good place to bring friends and family to. The staff that work here are really kid friendly. They were very courteous and I would be willing to come back next time. The food we ordered were in heaping portions. For instance, usually hot pot establishments give you the tiniest amount of enoki mushrooms which pisses me off greatly. I am a grown adult, give me more than one little bunch of enoki mushrooms. 99 Favor Taste gave us like 3 bags worth of enoki mushrooms. Hell yeah you're doing it right. Everyone knows those things shrink in the wash.

For the two and a half rounds of food, we ordered beef, pork, shrimp, squid, tripe, udon, daikon, fish tofu, fish ball, spinach, lettuce, watercress, and enoki mushroom. Six appetizers were given beforehand which we never finished. They were the yellow pickled daikon, salted spicy seaweed, spicy cucumber pickle, kimchi, salted peanuts, and edamame. Since we ordered our food immediately, there was never really time to properly finish the appetizers in the first place. It didn't really matter because all we both cared about was the meat. The second round when we ordered, they gave us a heaping portion of meat which I was very pleased with. We got our waters refilled and pots replenished during that second round. During our first round, we didn't receive as much and mockingly joked about how the staff probably thought we were "little kids" who couldn't finish their meals. All ingredients were indeed fresh and in good quality. The shrimp was surprisingly good. Our greatest criticism was the uncut squid. They didn't have the eye, bone, and beak removed making it difficult to eat. I would very much appreciate it if they were removed. If I were at home, I wouldn't be put off, but I'm outside at a restaurant. We finished everything and were stuffed.

After paying a bill of $24 per person, we were going to walk off all the food we ate. We ended our day with a trip to Mango Mango. They specialize in mango treats and desserts. The store is very small with only 3-4 small tables for seating. My friend generously offered to pay for my dessert to which I accepted. I got the mango ice cream with glutinous rice balls and mango pieces all put in mango puree. My friend got pretty much the same thing only in drink form and together we shared the mango glutinous rice ball treats. I have to say, Mango Mango is using real mango and not some canned fruit or artificial flavor. This is the real deal and I was very pleased with it. The little rice balls were really fun to chew on. We ate at the windiest place possible and I was beginning to freeze while enjoying a cold dessert. On our way, we encountered a beautiful Siberian husky. It was so docile and let us pet it.

I wouldn't mind coming back in the future if both 99 Favor Taste and Mango Mango had good food. They better keep up the good work or else I would bash them terribly like how I do with bad food.