Snippets

I've lived in SF for a long time, but here are some overdue firsts that I've had within the last month or so:

Sanddabs and cioppino at Tadich

Cap + NYT at farm:table, popovers and afternoon tea at Nieman's

Chicken pho at Turtle Tower, $45 porchetta prix fixe + wine pairing at Jardiniere (ok meal, incredible value)

Nopalito
Primo Patio
Liang Mama's House
Chinese banquet at Kirin
Drinks at Trad'r Sam
Emmy's Spaghetti Shack
Sandbox Bakery
Sightglass

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Pre-Thanksgiving

November is always insanely busy, even before Thanksgiving. This year... bachelorette in Napa, 24 hrs in LA, Mike's birthday + his family visit, lots of potlucks, Mom's birthday, my birthday!

Dinner at Redd: not as amazing as I thought it would be, but it was a solid meal

San Tung and Zuni - SF classics

Dishdash lamb marinated in yogurt... amazing and much tastier than 53rd+6th halal cart; Citizen Cake pudding pop... chocolate overpowers all other flavors

Other things...
Savory bread pudding
Zankou chicken
Soup galore: butternut, split pea w/ ham, lentils + chard
Hobees

Tanto

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Cute Cakes, and Happy Birthday to Jess!

Miette's lemon cake + lemon buttercream (I didn't know there was a Hayes Valley location!)

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Modern Tea

602 Hayes St. (& Laguna)
(415) 626-5406

Tea Salon/Cafe in Hayes Valley

In place of my sister's bachelorette party, I planned a Spa Day for the day before the wedding. To go with the theme, I arranged to have lunch at Modern Tea (i.e. tea = relaxing). I've walked by this place many a time and have always wondered what it's like.

I must say that it's beautiful on a nice day since they have large windows and the light just pours in. The service is also great - very warm and friendly... the type of staff that reminds me of the comfortable chillness of Berkeley restaurants.

They have quite an extensive tea menu, but they're primarily hot teas. They only had about 5 chilled tea drinks, which was disappointing since it was a pretty hot day. I went ahead and got the iced soy chai which I sweetened to my liking with simple syrup. The two hot teas that my sisters tried were eh... I don't really have a palate for teas, so I can't really go into much detail. I don't remember what they were, either =T But they came in their own individual cute mini teapots!

The food is good here - I love heirloom tomatoes and got a sandwich with just those and cucumbers = light and yummy. My little sister got a chicken meatloaf sandwich (it was strange tasting meatloaf made out of chicken), and a friend got a savory bread pudding = yummmmy. I wish I had gotten that, but I didn't feel like getting anything too heavy.

I would definitely come back and try more of their teas and hopefully become more educated. They are also supposed to have good desserts, but we didn't have time to try them. Next time!

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Zuni Cafe

1658 Market St (between Franklin & Gough)
(415) 552-2522

Mediterranean/Californian in Hayes Valley

I went here on a fellow foodie's recommendation, and I was extremely disappointed! The ambience is great - right on Market, with big glass windows and a woodsy feel - very classic. This place is definitely happening, and popular for its oyster bar. Yes, the oysters were good. However, the rest of the food, was not so much. I don't quite remember what we had, but I remember getting the sea bass, which wasn't anything special. Risotto was actually pretty good - not too cheesy (risottos are usually too cheesy for me), and shinie's poultry (I think it might have been hen... not sure) was nothing special, either.

Go for the ambience, but don't expect anything spectacular from the food (except for the oysters).

** Edit: I wrote this original review about over a year ago and gave this place 2 stars. However, after a recent visit, I've increased it to 3 because this time the food was very good. My friend and I shared their 1 hr chicken (roasted to perfection) served with these giant crouton-like pieces of toasted and buttery bread and some greens. Other people had veal which was amazing (but the beans accompanying it were kind of an off-putting grainy texture), and someone had the salmon which I didn't try but they liked. We also shared marinated olives where the oil was great for dipping.

The service, however, was questionable. I originally made the reservation for a party of 4, then changed it to 5, then when we got there, we changed it back to 4 because we thought one person wasn't showing up, but she decided to show up after all! So understandably, the staff might have been a little frustrated, but after that, our waiter wasn't nearly as friendly. He was almost snotty which definitely didn't make me feel at ease. It might have just been me, but despite the fact that I've been to very nice restaurants, the waiter made me feel like I didn't belong here. He even served us our chicken (which he had beforehand made it a point that it be "presented" to us) while we were in the bathroom. Rude! Whatever.

But yes, the food has been redeemed since my first visit. I really liked it and it would've been worthy of more than just 3 stars, except that I'd have to go again to actually know for sure since my first time sucked so badly.

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Suppenkuche

525 Laguna St (& Hayes)
(415) 252-9289

German in Hayes Valley

I've heard a lot about this place, so finally I decided that my birthday was the right occasion to try Suppenkuche out! For those of you wondering how to pronounce it, the voice on the machine said something like "soopenkookah". Apparently it means "soup kitchen" in German.

Before the majority of the party arrived, a few of us arrived early to check out the bar. The decor was simple, with large minimally finished wooden tables and chairs, but it was appropriate for the restaurant type. Immediately I was excited about their beer selection. I love beer, but I can't say I know much about German beer (other than knowing that I like Heifeweisen). I consulted with the friendly bartender who let me have a taste of some of the five or six varieties of Heife they had on tap. I opted to go with a .5 Liter of Schneider Weiss (which was also the bartender's favorite). Jeff, on the other hand, went for the 2 Liter boot of a special Pilsner they had on tap that day. Just as a warning, the boot is pretty fragile, and they will charge your credit card $50 if you break it.

Once the entire party of 10 arrived, they were prompt about seating. If you have a party larger than 6, you should definitely call ahead to make a reservation. Since the menu had so many enticing options, we stalled for time by ordering an appetizer of potato pancakes with applesauce. As a lover of potatoes, I enjoyed these very much. It was the perfect amount of crispy on the outside, and the applesauce complemented it well. After some pondering, I ended up ordering a sauteed porkloin with mushroom sauce and spaetzle. The portion was pretty huge; I definitely couldn't finish it all. The pork was a little dry, but the mushroom sauce was flavorful. The spaetzle was a little greasy, but I enjoyed it as well. A couple of my friends ordered a cabbage roll stuffed with chicken (or sausage). I would highly recommend ordering this. The cabbage was full of flavor, and the meat was very tender. For dessert, I ordered an Apple Streudel, which was tasty enough, but nothing to write home about.

Though at first the wait staff made me nervous by mentioning that we need to be out of the restaurant by 8 to accommodate for another party, the waitress was relaxed and let us sit with another round of beers before leaving. All-in-all, it was a very pleasant and delicious experience, and I was glad to spend my 25th birthday there.

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Hayes & Kebab

406 Hayes St (& Gough)
(415) 861-2977

Mediterranean in Hayes Valley

This is a very busy place on the weekends, especially for after church lunches (saw everyone there, including my pastor and his family!). In the center of Hayes Valley, it's great to sit outside on a nice day and just people watch with good food.

We just had lamb gyros - the meat was moist and flavorful, unlike a lot of mediocre gyros I've had in the past. The only caveat was that since this place was so busy, we had to wait FOREVER for our food. The staff felt bad though and gave us free baklava (score! either that, or they heard Jesse say that he wanted some).

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Citizen Cake

399 Grove St. (and Gough)

(415) 861-2228

[Californian] Dessert place in Hayes Valley (near Civic Center)

I've been here twice -- once for dessert, once for brunch. The atmosphere is very sterile -- the biggest detterent for me. The decor tries too hard to be ultra modern that it makes you feel cold and uncomfortable.

The food, however, lives up to its reputation. For brunch, the portions are very small, but the quality is very high. We had the french toast (very good), quiche (good but small), and scrambled eggs (you'd think that it's impossible to be impressed by scrambled eggs, but they were very good!). When I came here for dessert, I had the plum mochi cake that came with black sesame gelato. I'd have to say that it was one of the most innovative desserts I've ever had.

** Edit: I've been here multiple times since this review, and it's pretty much a toss-up. What I appreciate about this place is that it's innovative and takes risks... but sometimes to the detriment of the dish's cohesiveness (e.g. curry ice cream? gross). The non-dessert food has been lackluster since that first brunch, so in the future I would only go here to see what the pastry chefs come up with.

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