About

O Hei there!

Okay, I’m sure if you read up to this point, you know that I’m pretty lame. But if you’re on this site to begin with, you probably know that already (since most of you who read this know me personally – if you don’t: welcome to the site!). Anyways, one of my favorite hobbies is eating, or dining out to be more specific. And I’ve been to my share of restaurants over the years, as the majority of my disposable income goes towards restaurants. I am in no way a prominent food blogger – I started this in May 2011, to the fanfare of maybe three people. And I could care less if those same three are the only ones visiting this site. I just do it because I love food, and it’s fun.

How I got started: As I read more and more food blogs to feed my appetite on nights I don’t dine out (or am too poor for/far from certain restaurants), I realized that food blogging is a great way to chronicle my outings. I can easily refer my friends to the places I’ve been to this way, and more importantly, remember what I had at the restaurant (especially those damn tasting menus/omakase). There was a time when I ridiculed these food bloggers, as I assumed they were trying too hard to show off, or they were those ego-trippin’ Yelper-types who feed off criticizing places. But as I read more of these blogs over time, I started to appreciate the dedication and love these bloggers had for food, and it showed in their photos and writing. I finally pulled the trigger in May, and never looked back.

As you may have noticed, most of the photos kind of suck. Unlike the elite bloggers with DSLR camera mastery, I take photos with my iPhone 3GS. When there is ideal lighting, the photos turn out well. But that’s rarely the case. And I know a big part of food blogging is in the photos. But I really don’t want to drop serious money on a DSLR camera for the time being, and even if I did, I would be somewhat embarrassed to take photos while dining. God knows how embarrassed I get when someone in my party is pointing a big camera with flash at the table (side note: flash should be a big no-no at restaurants). So I apologize for the poor quality of photos on this site, but I do try to make up for it with some smartass commentary. And maybe someone can buy me a nice camera for my birthday or Christmas .

Also, I assigned a grade to each of the restaurants I visit. Not trying to be pretentious with these grades (unlike what my friend Han claims), but I figured that it’d be a good reference point to how often I’d visit a particular place or whether I would recommend the said place to someone. Remember, a C means average, and there are such restaurants where I’ve visited multiples times. Just means that I wouldn’t go out of my way for such places. I’m not going to be totally negative unless some waiter literally slaps me in the face, or if I violently vomited upon mastication of the food.

Some random dining-related trivia about me:

- I hate it when someone in my party orders the same dish as me, or if they ordered the dish I was planning on getting. I know it’s just plain stupid of me to get mad over something like this, but it’s a serious pet peeve.

- My favorite protein is probably pork belly. Like I said in a post: “I can never resist fatty pork. It’s comparable to my love for aggressive women: both can hurt me, but they hurt so good.” Duck and steak take the silver and bronze.

- I try to watch what I eat more nowadays because of my attempt to lose weight, but it’s VERY easy to tempt me into ordering/eating more food at restaurants. It’s not even funny how easy I put out.

Self-Imposed Rules on Posting:

1) Try to write about every restaurant experience, good or bad. I’ll never be (too) mean though. Remember: C = average.
2) No reviews re: dessert/drink places – only places where a full, savory meal may be had. This isn’t a desserts blog.
3) Grades are based solely on food – decor/price/service aren’t weighed in, as long as those factors don’t directly contribute to the flavor and execution of the food.

Contact info:

Email – chrishei@gmail.com
Twitter – @chrishei
Instagram – @chrishei