Cherub Score 9.0 Rasa Rasa in SF's Mission serves the best nasi padang I've had in America — fall-apart tender rendang — plus a martabak worth the drive. 9.0/10.
Cherub Score 8.8 Mari Mari in Milpitas serves Malaysian classics 15 minutes from Santa Clara. I walked in a skeptical Indonesian — the char kway teow won me over. 8.8/10.
Cherub Score 9.0 Tai Er, the Sichuan chain with 650+ locations across China, opened its first U.S. restaurant in downtown San Mateo. Come for the signature sauerkraut fish.
Cherub Score 9.0 A Shinkansen ride to Kobe for fusion cuisine that smashes Japanese and Western traditions together — and an A5 wagyu steak that nearly brought me to tears.
Cherub Score 9.0 I woke up at 5am, took the train to Toyosu Fish Market, stood in line for an hour, and sat down at Daiwa Sushi. Seven pieces of the freshest fish I've ever eaten — and a tamagoyaki that made me rethink eggs entirely.
Cherub Score 9.5 A Hakata Nagahama-style ramen shop in Tokyo that looks like nothing from the outside and serves a bowl of tonkotsu that made me sit in silence for a full minute.
Cherub Score 8.5 Molecular gastronomy, dishes disguised as everyday objects, rain inside the restaurant, and a price tag to match — Namaaz Dining in Jakarta is unlike anything I've experienced.
Two days in Kyoto — the Shinkansen ride from Tokyo, the Silver Pavilion at Ginkaku-ji, and a kaiseki dinner at Mame-cha, a tiny restaurant tucked down an alley with no Google Maps pin.
Cherub Score 9.0 A hidden Thai spot in Midtown Houston — attached to a Texaco, easy to dismiss from the street, and home to the best Pad See Ew I've had in the city.
Cherub Score 10.0 After countless phone calls and a Ritz-Carlton booking trick, I got a reservation at Sukiyabashi Jiro's Roppongi location. 20 pieces of the best sushi I've ever had — and a photo with chef Ono Takashi.
Cherub Score 9.8 The most famous barbecue in Texas requires a 4-hour wait, limited supply, and zero shade. The brisket and beef ribs made me forget all of that. Here's why Franklin lives up to the hype.
Cherub Score 6.5 A new ramen shop opened in Houston's Westchase area and I waited almost three hours on opening week. The gua bao was decent. The ramen was not.
Cherub Score 9.0 A wood-fired Neapolitan pizzeria in Greenway Plaza that outclasses every other pizza spot I've tried in Houston — thin crust, wet mozzarella, and add an egg on top.
Cherub Score 9.6 A tonkotsu ramen shop in Tokyo where you eat alone in a booth, customize everything on a form, and walk out wondering why all ramen doesn't taste like this. Here's what Ichiran at Ueno Station is really like.
Cherub Score 8.0 An omakase-only sushi bar in Los Angeles where the chef decides everything, the wasabi is real, and you don't touch the soy sauce. Here's what it's like to eat at Sushi Zo.
Cherub Score 9.5 A Korean drama sent me down a rabbit hole. A Japanese restaurant in Houston gave me one of the best bites of my life. Here's how foie gras sashimi at Kata Robata earned a 9.5.
Cherub Score 9.0 A tiny, packed Korean restaurant in LA's Koreatown with soondubu that lives up to the Anthony Bourdain hype — and bibimbap that might be even better.
Cherub Score 9.5 A head-to-head comparison of two of Austin's best ramen spots — one a former food truck turned brick-and-mortar, the other a tiny, authentically decorated gem worth the wait.