Dosa-doe your pardner home

I'm the first to admit that I'm not a connoisseur of Indian food, nor do I understand the subtleties of Northern Indian versus Southern Indian food. That being said, I think Dosa is a fun place to eat at and a nice change of pace from your typical naan and curry.

The original Dosa is in the Mission, on Valencia. This one is super crowded, has annoyingly small tables and doesn't take reservations. Also the hostess is always dressed like a renaissance women, it's very odd.

Dosa on Fillmore recently opened up where the old Goodwill used to be. This one has bigger tables (plus point) and takes reservations (plus point). Crowded? I can't tell. When I try to eat there on a Wednesday night at 7pm they say they are booked yet all I see are empty tables staring back at me, also very odd.

Since I currently hate my job, Kathy has all the time in the world and Stacy just wanted to try the place, we decided to take a long lunch and head over to the Fillmore. My personal fav there is the paper masala dosa. Unlike the traditional dosas on the menu, this one is extremely thin and crisp. It tastes delicious with the sambar (lentil dipping soup) and potato concoction. I usually also get the Dahi Vada (lentil dumplings topped with yogurt and garnished with tamarind and mint). The dumplings are crisp and taste refreshing with the yogurt sauce. I was really enjoying it until Kathy said it was basically like a big falafel, and then I was sad. We also shared a sample of Uttapams. I wasn't a big fan of these, they just tasted like bland pancakes.

The dessert menu had some interesting choices. While we chuckled at the name of one option, toasted coconut and saffron barfi, the waiter said it was actually the tastiest dessert. It did not look or taste like projectile vomit, unless your vomit is dry and flaky like the massive amount of coconut in this dish.

Best part of the meal? The company of course! Best conversation topic? General consensus that Paul Giamatti is one of the top 10 creepiest people in movies. Fact: he went to Yale. Fact: don't care where he went to school, he will always give me the heebie jeebies.

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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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SPQR AT LAST

1911 Fillmore Street (@ Bush)
(415) 771-7779

Italian in Lower Pac Heights/Fillmore

Photos courtesy of Tinwin's new SLR!

Mike and I have been meaning to go here for awhile now, basically since Michael Bauer's raving reviews and my pastry chef friend was filling in there. After a few unsuccessful attempts (no reservations = ridiculously long waits), we finally made it out a little after its 5:30pm opening. Unfortunately for us, we were a few minutes too late because the first seating cut off a few people before us. Sucks! We weren't that hungry yet anyway, so we decided to stick out the almost 2 hour wait (RIDICULOUS).

We did "chef's seating," aka counter overlooking the extremely narrow kitchen and I think one of the line cooks hated us cause we were so loud. It's not our fault the place is so noisy! Can't hear anything. At least he couldn't spit in our food since we were watching him make it.

The food was pretty solid. I got so many recommendations to just go with the apps and not so much the entrees, and I have to agree with that, even though we got two pasta dishes anyway. They're very aggressive with the salt, which is what I prefer (cooking 101: season your food), but for others it was too much in some dishes. We had:

- fried cauliflower: unbattered, the frying was subtle and just added a nice crisp. This was one of the salty dishes
- fried bay scallops: they fried some small lemon slices too. The scallops were tiny.
- House-made sausage w/ braised fennel: the fennel was very nice
- Grilled romano beans
- Clams in lobster brodo: could've done without
- Potatoes: tasty!
- Grilled porcini: plump and juicy
- Canneloni
- Amatriciana: Mike thought it was decent, but I couldn't taste anything but tomatoes.

We didn't do dessert because we decided to go to Bi-Rite (salted caramel!). Everything was pretty decent. I'm not sure if I would go back, even without the wait. The apps were solid, but not enough to fill you up - I'd get hungry again like 2 hrs later. Maybe it would be better for lunch?

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Ruth's Chris Steak House

1601 Van Ness Ave. (and California)
415) 673-0557

this is the first restaurant where i've liked the service more than i've liked the food. we (jess and i) started off the night with reservations for four, which we then cancelled, and then we walked in hoping to get a table for two, which by the end of the night became a table for four. throughout the night, the server was just so accomodating and pleasant. he answered all our questions about the menu very nicely and patiently. he then moved our already served entrees so we could sit with brian and jen. and when i thought my steak was too well done, another server very readily took it back and told me he'd bring me a new one. ever so often, a server would come to check on us, but never enough that it became too much. the steak itself (the ribeye) was good. (i've had better homecooked steaks). the salad was nothing out of the ordinary, the potatoes au gratin were good,the fries were even better (i thought the fries were fried perfectly - crispy on the outside but soft and fluffy inside), and the bread pudding was a nice way to end the dinner.

though ruth's chris steak is a bit overrated (maybe it's because i've had goooood steak) its service exceeds expectations =]

-s

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