If you are like me, then you must love great food. Well, so do I. Since we already have a lot in common, I assume that you, like me, love Asian cuisine, have a taste for spice, and have a deadly peanut allergy. For people like us, it is hard to find an Asian restaurant that doesn't make our throats swell/put us in a coma. That is why I recommend that you try Yan Flower on Pacific Avenue. When I visited the restaurant, I was a bit apprehensive at first because I didn't know that it was a Chinese food restaurant. From the name, I assumed that they served mostly flowers (flower salads, flower soups, flower sandwiches, etc...). I had made this mistake many times before with restaurants that I assumed served the food in their titles, which was why it took me years to ever eat at an Applebee's (a disgusting combination). But when I came to Yan Flower I was pleasantly surprised to find it to be a Chinese restaurant. The decor was lovely, and combined with the Asian music, made for a fantastic atmosphere. And being that my waitress was Yan, for whom the restaurant is named after, made for an intimate dining experience. But, more importantly, the food I ordered was the chicken chow mein and the hunan beef. Before my main courses, the waitresses brought over a cup of hot and sour soup, which was the perfect amount of hot, but had an inefficient amount of sour. Either way, the soup was free so I didn't complain. Then came my mein course (hahaha), and both the hunan beef and chow main were delectable. There were no peanuts in the food, which should come as a great relief to all of us, and in combination with a few spoonfuls of chili sauce the meal really hit the spot. The only draw back to the entire dining experience at Yan Flower was that they did not offer free refills of cola. This is a problem that is prevalent in most Chinese restaurants and needs to be amended. But all in all, the food at Yan Flower was delicious and inexpensive. I give Yan Flower my "seal of approval." I highly recommend it to anyone who loves to eat Chinese food sometimes.

Cafe Brasil (Brazilian cuisine?)- 1410 Mission Street

First of all, ewwwwwww. This restaurant is a Santa Cruz favorite, and I'm not trying to be a hater, but it is the worst. It's expensive and tastes weird and I don't like it. Now, I understand that I have a bit of a bias in that I hate eggs and don't really like South Americans, but I came into this restaurant with an open mind and tried my best to not let my personal distrust of South Americans affect my thoughts about the food. But as soon as the food they served me entered my mouth, I knew that I wasn't going to give this restaurant my "seal of approval." I ordered the Omelette Caipira, which contained ham, rice, green onions, mushrooms, tomatoes and mozzarella cheese. The people running the restaurant kept bragging about how they only used "cage free" eggs. The way I look at it, all eggs are caged by their own shells, so I found their claim to be ridiculous. A few bites into the omelette I asked for ketchup and the waitress got insulted! Hey, I like ketchup on my eggs, OK?! Why do they have to be jerks about it? So after I was denied ketchup, I got angry and told them my caged eggs theory. Then everyone in the Cafe got mad at me and gave me a bunch of stuff to read about egg cruelty. After that incident I sat down and ordered the banana pancakes. These were actually quite tasty, but I was too mad at my waitress to enjoy them. I did my best to not say anything offensive about South Americans while I was there, but eventually my political views shone through and I started yelling about the shortsightedness of socialism and the evils of Hugo Chavez. People started scolding me about the fact that he is President of Venezuela, which is a different country than Brasil, but I retorted with "Ah, they all look alike anyway." After I left the emergency room, I decided that, although I really enjoyed the banana pancakes, I had to warn all of the UCSC student body of this restaurant's pro-socialist, anti-capitalist food. If you hate America, you will love Cafe Brasil. But if you are a normal American, you will understand my why I must give this restaurant my "steer clear" stamp.