In the Sun

The weather has been amazing (ie, 60F+) which makes me want to wear pretty dresses and just listen to fluffy music all day. One can dream!

Raisin scone, soda bread, and brown bread from John Campbell's in honor of St Patty's
While their scones are much lauded across the city, I think they're rubbery. Their breads however are powerfully addicting.

"Tammy's banh bap" (aka tamale), shrimp "cupcakes" at Tarmarine, for an eventful birthday evening

Fried mac n cheese and a pork confit sandwich from 4505. So unnecessary and kind of disgusting (the mac n cheese).

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Christmas Desserts A Plenty

I had a good amount of egg yolks, whites, and cream leftover after the wedding, so before I left SF I wanted to use it all up so it wouldn't end up in the trash.

- olive oil ice cream + fleur de sel ganache: When I arrived at my parents' house for the holidays, I mentioned that I had an ice cream base to spin and their eyes lit up as they inquired what kind. Olive oil, I said (adapted from a David Lebovitz recipe), and immediately their faces looked of disgust. After I made it my dad was like "it tastes too oily"... who would've thought. I used a really good bottle of olive oil that Mike gave me that was actually kind of old, so it probably didn't taste as good as it would have if it had been fresh. I made a quick 1:2 ganache using the leftover bittersweet chocolate from the truffles I made for the wedding and some fleur de sel to give the ice cream some contrast.

- leftover "vanilla" cupcake batter + vanilla buttercream

- leftover lime cream => lime meringue tart, pate sucree shell: Since the lime cream (adapted from a Pierre Herme lemon cream recipe) wasn't intentionally made for a meringue pie/tart it didn't really hold when I put it in the oven and the entire thing deflated by the end of the day. Usually you just use citrus curd, and not a cream that is mostly butter.

- butterscotch pudding a la tiffany from top chef holiday special: I put this, unwrapped, in a bag with a bunch of other stuff and left it in the hallway of my parents' house, and when I finally remembered I left it there, it was partially eaten! Sneaky little Bonnie (sister's dog)! This had very dark caramel flavors from the brown sugar, and was extreeeemely rich, but my dad made me throw it out since he was afraid Bonnie's germs might get us sick.

- round chinese pineapple cake vs. rectangular: We went to my cousin's new house on Christmas day, and they had a container full of round pineapple cakes. I had never seen them before, but they tasted exactly the same as the rectangular ones, except without all the extra cakey parts. Since it didn't have corners, there was a pretty even ratio of cake:filling, which made it ten times more enjoyable to eat since the cakey part is usually really dry. No pictures of it, but if you ever see it... trust me... it is a much improved eating experience!

- Egg custard tarts from Golden Gate Bakery: My family had dinner at the House, and stopped by Chinatown for a little pre-meal snack. As always, there was a line, but they are so worth it. Sure, you can find them for cheaper than $1.15 elsewhere, but there is no bakery in the bay area that makes them better. Always the best when eaten on the sidewalk - hot and fresh out of the oven! (The House isn't as good as it used to be, btw, although it was still packed).

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Mission-Street-Food

After weeks of waiting (Alice!), I finally made it out to this fairly new Thursday nights only pop-up restaurant, no longer a Mission Street-Food taco truck. Now Mission-Street Food, the team has been using this Chinese restaurant between 18th + 19th the last 2 Thursdays (they will be closed the rest of November). At first I was hesitant about the move away from the fun and laid back appeal of the taco truck, but the whole pop-up concept worked out just fine. The only real advantage from the customer's point of view is not having to brown-bag it. You can still BYOB, or get one of theirs for a buck.

Tan and I shared 4 of the 5 available dishes, where the one we didn't try was a vegetarian version of the smoked rice. The smoked rice had a very nice char flavor - I normally don't like smoked things, but it was also seasoned well which brought out other flavors so it wasn't just concentrated on the smoke. The coconut curry soup was my fave - very rich, lots of depth, and just really tasty.

The week's special was a rare beef and glass noodles app, served with fried lotus chips. It wasn't really what I expected - instead of the traditional thinly sliced pieces of raw beef, we got ground meat, like a steak tartare. It was OK - pretty basic. I think it needed some (or more?) acid.

The PBJ (pork belly + jicama wrap), their signature thus far, was actually disappointing for me. Maybe because there was a lot of hype around that dish so my expectations were high... but I just didn't like my pieces of meat. They were overcooked - dry and almost completely fried fat. I know pork belly is all about the fat, but it shouldn't taste like fat - it should taste like yummy pork goodness, which it didn't. I'm sure if I got better pieces of meat it would've tasted better, so it isn't just about execution.

Overall, the food was good - comfortable and in a relaxed environment. It didn't blow my mind, but this type of food isn't necessarily supposed to. And for $9? Yes, that's right. HELLZYEAH I'm going back!

P.S. Sorry for the horrible photo - it was REALLY dark in there and I don't like using flash in restaurants. That's the best one I had (soup + rice).

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Catching Up

Here's a list of places I've gone to in the last few months but just haven't gotten around to posting about.

- Red Crane
- Beretta
- Q
- Spruce
- Fresca
- Koi palace
- Umbria
- Lobster shack
- House of Prime Rib

Brief "reviews" after the jump! (Useless yelp-style?)

Beretta: Italian in the Mission
Like SPQR, this new restaurant got a "blow job" by Michael Bauer (my old pastry chef's exact words). And just like SPQR, this Italian joint was just OK for me. I definitely enjoyed my meal there... but it was also quite forgettable. Pizzas are aiight, apps are decent, drinks are whatevs.

Q: Diner/Comfort Food in Inner Richmond
Slightly upscale diner food - add blue cheese to the burger and it's not even close to the Spotted Pig's, but it's still satisfying. Eat all the accompanying garlic fries and you'll definitely pass out. Definitely a must if you like tater tots.

Spruce: Contemporary American Fine Dining in Laurel Heights
Really upscale for the neighborhood - who would've known! Very pricey for what it was. Had the charcuterie, fries, lobster, some kind of med fish, and palmiers for dessert. Those heart-shaped cookies should NOT be on the menu. They have a side-bakery so I don't see the point in wasting a menu spot with those. We only got them because we didn't realize what they were. Doh!

Fresca: Peruvian in Lower Pac Heights (there are other locations too)
Why did I eat Peruvian right after coming back from Peru? Honestly, I didn't know until I got there. My friend invited me to join her double date (5th wheel!) and I just went in blind. I like Limon better, but honestly... it's hard for me to even think of spending $35 on a meal that would be less than $5 in Peru!

Red Crane: Japanese Asian Fusion in Cupertino
Despite its identity crisis of a location, this restaurant actually has very very good food. Although the sashimi plate (pictured to the right) looks very impressive, it isn't worth it. However, every single other dish we got was fantastic. The only drawback is the location - very Asian suburbia....

Koi palace: Dim Sum in Daly City
If you want to know where all the Chinese people eat, wake up at 9am to get here by 10am on a Saturday morning.

Umbria: Italian in SOMA
bsze wanted to bid SF adieu by going to Baron Davis's favorite restaurant. Olive Garden anyone?

Lobster shack: Seafood in North Beach
$20 sandwiches? (pictured at the top) They do leave you pretty comatose. They actually weren't very big, but they were generous with the lobster meat. I don't think I like lobster enough to justify the cost though.

House of Prime Rib: MEAT in Nob Hill
Four years ago HOPR used to be $30 total... those were they days.

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The House

1230 Grant Avenue (and Columbus)
(415) 986-8612

Asian Fusion in North Beach

It's a bit random to find an Asian Fusion restaurant in central North Beach, but this tiny place seems pretty popular, and for a reason. Decent food, decent prices, good location... I definitely was not close to blown away, but I didn't really have any complaints with this meal.

Their porkchop was cooked very nicely - extremely moist (my mom thought it tasted too "fatty" - well, what do you expect?), but the pomegranate glaze was a bit too intense and sweet. The scallops app was good - you can't go wrong with dousing anything in butter. My dad said their noodles were hand-pulled, but I find that highly unlikely because they looked and tasted like normal noodles... plus, he got that piece of information from yelp, which is very unreliable.

The only thing unreasonable about this dinner was the cost. It was a bit overpriced for what it was, especially a $5 tiny pot of Chinese tea? Uhh....

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Tinderbox

803 Cortland Ave (& Ellsworth)
(415) 285-TBOX

Experimental American in Bernal Heights (or, "An Ode To Blair")

L: a peek into the kitchen, R: fresh popcorn, with lemon grass and butter and a bunch of other stuff :)

L: kampachi crudo, R: rabbit hot pocket


L: saffron infused lasagnanette, R: black cod, coated with cliantro paste, caviar dressing


L: grilled and candied tri-tip, R: pork love


L: basil panna cotta, R: raspberry-beet beignets

Molten chocolate cake baked with a blue cheese center

sorry for the late upload of pics :) GG

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The food at Tinderbox is described as “experimental” and the ambience, “green.” So basically a fusion restaurant with tacky décor, how very SF. The dining experience was somewhat of a roller coaster ride, starting with just trying to get to the damn place (Bernal Heights = who knew it existed) all the way to the end of the meal, when you can’t believe it’s over.

Tinderbox opened a few months ago and is co-owned by the Head Chef, Blair Warsham. With a long list of credentials spanning all over the United States, including a few James Beard nominations, it is no surprise why his creations, while strange, are intelligently put together. This does not mean that everything tasted great, but it certainly made the diner really think about each course and what the chef was trying to say about the flavors.

We had a few starters including a rabbit hot pocket, saffron infused lasagnanette (one with fried zucchini and another with fried calamari) and a kampachi crudo with melon and crisp prosciutto. Although a combination of two things I despise (Hot Pockets and rabbit), the Rabbit Hot Pocket turned out to be a fave among the group. The pastry shell was crisp and buttery, definitely not a product of heating with an aluminum/paper sleeve in the microwave. The other few dishes were either under seasoned or over seasoned. Salt can be your friend or your foe, in the case of the lasagnanette and kampachi, the kitchen clearly had issues (maybe a bad break-up where one wants to be friends but the other still wants to hook-up).

My favorite among the main courses was the Pork Love- pork loin and shoulder with blueberry mole, a great combination of flavors and was a creative twist on a classic dish. The most boring item on the menu was the grilled and candied tri-tip served with marrow butter, fennel gratin and creamy corn. Well prepared but unoriginal.

The dessert items hit some high points. A fragrant and creamy basil panna cotta was the perfect way to end a heavy meal. Although an interesting idea, raspberry-beet beignets were a miss, with little flavor and texture contrast. However, I could see where the chef was trying to go with this one--beets being sweet and raspberries being tangy, it would have been awesome with a little more tweaking.

Best thing on the menu? Molten chocolate cake baked with a blue cheese center. If every dish on the menu could match the innovation with this dessert, the restaurant is sure to succeed. The sweet blue cheese, while somewhat potent really did complement the bitter chocolate flavor. The whole dish became heightened, every bite had a multitude of flavor experiences all happening one right after another. Served on the side was a pistachio gelato with pine nuts, a great way to bring out the nuttiness (those crazy thangs) of the cheese.

The food makes you think, which makes the dining experience very different than say, a steak at Outback. I guess that’s what I liked about the restaurant, the menu is intelligently put together and dares to be different. Tinderbox is worth a try, but definitely for the adventurous. Oh and just as a side note, Chef Warsham is a hottie and if the name of the restaurant is any testament to his personality, this Aries girl is all in! Tinderbox: a person or thing that is highly excitable, explosive, inflammable, etc. I love a man that lives on the edge.

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Poleng

1751 Fulton St (& Masonic)
(415) 441-1710

Asian Fusion in Western Addition (more like Pan Asian than Fusion, actually)

This is a very trendy place - lots of yuppies... I've never been here for an event, but most of the people who've mentioned this place to me have gone for music-related events (e.g. hip hop, reggae). I went here for my friend's birthday dinner, and he set up the menu himself with wine pairings (he's an oenophile). I don't really believe in Asian Fusion (that's a whole other post), but because I'm such a good friend (!), I caved and made an exception.

The food was decent. This place is small plates style, which is to the restaurant's advantage -- when it comes to food that isn't spectacular and nothing special (but still decent), the more there is, the worse/more normal it seems because you have to keep eating more and more of it. Or at least that's how I feel. We had... (unless there are comments, it was normal)

- ahi poke
- sweet potato fries w/ banana ketchup (I don't like banana anything unless it's actual chunks of banana... otherwise, it reminds me of banana-flavored anaesthesia that my dentist used to give me as a kid... shudder)
- beef with bone marrow: I had heard from people that this was good, but I couldn't taste anything, ie it had no flavor... I wasn't the only one that felt this way. Beef wasn't very good - tough and bland.
- garlic crab noodles: surprisingly lots of crab, but the noodles felt like panda express chow mein quality
- edamame: I know, I know. Can they really be that different? I think this was my favorite part of the meal, which sounds weird. They were grilled, unlike most places, and the char flavor really gave it a kick.
- shrimp
- chicken satay: they used lemongrass stalks as skewers, which was pretty creative, and it definitely gave the chicken an enhanced flavor
- calamari
- cod
- dessert was like stuff you'd get at a Chinese restaurant. What it actually was escapes me at the moment

Wow, we got almost everything on the menu! So yes, the food was decent, and for $30, that's actually very good value. The wine pairing, of course, was not included since my friend brought all the wine from home.

I'd come here again for an event, and to try the tea (supposed to be really good but I didn't get to try it). The food is whatever, but the ambience is great for a night out with good company if you don't want to hit the bars/clubs.

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Andalu

Asian/Spanish/Fusion?? small plates in the Mission

This place is pretty popular and in a prime area of the mission district. Parking's a bitch, so carpool or take public transportation if you don't live in the area. I went here for the first time last night pretty much knowing what to expect, and I was actually a bit disappointed. I think I'm just used to going to small plates restaurants in parties of two, allowing me to taste more of the food. Regardless, the food was definitely solid, but it didn't blow me away.

- polenta fries: because the menu said "curly," I was expecting something along the lines of curly fries, i.e. spiced, but it was just literally curly in a half-moon shape. These were good though, and definitely a nice break from the grease of normal fries
- halibut: don't get this. I've had much better at chinese restaurants (yes, they were going for asian fare here)
- duck confit dumplings: tasty, but mostly because they were fried. There was just too much wrapper (like a won ton wrapper) and I couldn't taste the duck at all.
- mahi mahi: the fish itself was ordinary, but the artichokes were quite complimentary
- roasted portobello: there were only 2 pieces for a party of 4, but even my half-a-mushroom was meaty and savory. If only there were more....
- pork wrapped in bacon: is it possible for something to be wrapped in bacon and not taste good? I really liked the yam puree
- coke short-ribs: I actually didn't think they were anything special, although jess really likes them. The coke flavor was non-existent, but I'm not sure if it's supposed to be?
- donut holes + mexican hot chocolate: good stuff, although it would've been I'D HIT THAT-worthy if they were served fresh and HOT.

All in all, this place is pretty solid - food-wise, ambiance (although... what's up with the KOIT music?), wine list. Good for smaller groups (I'd say no more than 4).

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Roy's Restaurant

575 Mission St. (between 1st & 2nd St.)
(415) 777-0277

Hawaiian Fusion in Financial

This is a very popular restaurant (a CHAIN! gasp!), and shinie and I went not knowing what to expect since it could've been overrated. To our delight, it was pretty good =) The service was really good -- everyone is really friendly and greets you with "aloha." The place is HUGE and spacious. I haven't been to a nice restaurant that wasn't small and intimate in a long time. It was a Thursday night and still pretty busy, and it's probably a popular place for people to go after work. Nonetheless, I still sat alone at the bar (how tragic) with a Hawaiian martini (think strong pina colada) as my only friend. tear =(

Food:
Three of us had a sampler (basically a 3-course prix fixe for $33), which is a really good deal since all of their regular dishes are $25+. Appetizers in the sampler include: 1 crab&something else potsticker (came with reallllllly good butter sauce), 1 short rib (eh), and 1 shrimp (shrimp is shrimp to me, but jess really liked it).

Entrees included the mahi mahi (I thought it was good... especially with the butter sauce... I'm drooling as my body prepares for a heart attack), the braised short ribs (cooked for 16 hours... it was too chewy though), and the butterfish (very Chinese, and kind of salty... nothing special).

For dessert, we had both the macadamia tart (I liked it) and the chocolate souffle (still hot in the middle mmm). The souffle was good and is their signature dessert... but it's VERY RICH. Jess ate the whole thing of hers, but I could only take a few bites because it was too much chocolate for me... but it's good quality =). They also brought out a cute little dessert plate for Val with "Happy Birthday Valerie" written on the plate. Very cute =)

Food-wise, this place is pretty good. Not great. I'd go back for their appetizers, but not anything else. This is a good place for groups and events since they are so accomodating.

- k (+ shinie's input)

** Edit: I've been here multiple times since the original review, and I've decided the food is just average, but very satisfying for non-foodies.

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