Something Old Something New

Eiji miso cod and strawberry mochi (photos courtesy of she-rene)

Lots and lots of puff pastry dough and butter, pizza from Americano

Brussel sprout chips (the lemon really makes it sing!), ADD burger drenched in grease from Marlowe

Pork bun from Spice Kit (short ribs are pretty money), kouglof and pain au chocolat et pistache from Laduree

some dish from the lazy ox, burma superstar leftovers

heart attack from namu, santa ramen on easter sunday

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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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Cinderella Story

After watching Nick and Norah for the millionth time and watching plate after plate of Ukranian food get eaten at Veselka, I decided that it was about time I hunkered down and explored my very own neighborhood.

Yes, the Richmond is largely Chinese, but there are seriously just as many Russians up in there. When I first moved there, one of my roommates and I randomly picked up some pastries from a bakery near our apartment. Not knowing what to get, we just randomly pointed and somehow managed to get something similar to an apple turnover. Maybe it was an apple turnover and we just thought it was supposed to be Russian. I don't remember. Regardless, that experience pretty much left no desire to venture down that route much longer. I dabbled here and there over the years with my close attempt (but not really) at a pierogi tour of nyc and a visit to Crixa, but that was really it.

With this newfound curiosity, I turned to the interwebs to do a little research (and no, I don't mean yelp). Among the many options on and around Geary, Katia's and it's kitty-corner competition, Cinderella Bakery, were to be my first tries. Both locations are sit-down restaurants, but since Cinderella also had a side bakery, Stacy and I picked a few things up then walked a few feet to get ridiculously fed at Katia's. There were so many things we wanted to try, so we did the most logical thing: ordered all of them. We thought we were going to have lots of leftovers, but the portions were small enough that there wasn't anything to bring home. So much for being healthy! Here's what we had:

- borscht: OMG out of this world. I would return solely for this. Such deep flavor... it really is the solution to a cold night
- cabbage piroshki: small, nice flaky crust...not too out of the ordinary
- pel'meni: little, really little, dumplings in broth, these really tasted just like won ton, except 10x more expensive
- blini platter: I've never had any blini before, but I had always imagined them in the canape form, much like the kind we always see on Top Chef. Well, heh. Not quite. Pretty much a cross between crepes and pancakes, filled with sour cream and fishy goodness.
- shashlik: really tender marinated lamb. This dish was pretty tasty (a bit on the sour side) at first, until I realized that it tasted exactly like black bean stir fry, except 3x more expensive. No joke!

The service was really great, which I'm sure would've still been the case even if the restaurant was more full. I read that Katia always greets her diners, and she did, and was very warm and chatted with us for awhile. The food wasn't as hearty as I had imagined, but was also way more expensive than I thought it would be. Also, who knew that Russian cuisine could be so similar to their commie neighbor??

Cinderella, on the other hand, had much more reasonable prices (just the bakery/deli). Piroshkis at both places were $2.50-3, but Cinderella's were at least double the size. The fried ones were even bigger, but super greasy. The baked cabbage and meat ones had a generous amount of filling, and a bit more flavor than Katia's. They could really be a meal on their own. The famed honey cake was $4 a slice, and you could see the work that went into the many even layers of light coffee cake and sticky honey cream. This cake was just too much for both me and Stacy... I took a few bites and already felt sick. I can see why people like it though - it's uber rich, creamy, and sweet. What's not to like, right? The vatrushka, a cheesecake-like cottage cheese pastry, was crumbly and dry, which would've gone down better if I had coffee.

I think I like Cinderella's piroshkis better than Katia's, which is largely due to the value. So far, so good!

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The Richmond: More than Asian and Russian

Sure, there's more than just Asian restaurants and Russian bakeries out in the north avenues. Near my hood, there's the overrated Chapeau! ... the ecclectic Simple Pleasures... the always ironic Trader Sam's.... Yes, we really have quite a selection, I must say. Well I finally made it over to Pizzetta 211 after a long-time recommendation by a coworker. Goal: become a regular (ie. gain 15 lbs).

This tiny little 4 table+bar spot is so cute and so good... I am definitely going to return. Good thing we showed up a little after 5pm on a Saturday evening because almost immediately afterwards there was a wait outside. The staff was great and friendly... pizzas came shortly after ordering, even when they were made to order (I'm pretty sure they were at least). We only tried 2 - the potato, leek + pancetta w/ egg, and the margherita w/ white anchovies. They were both great - the former a bit heavy but tasty, and the latter could've had more anchovies. White anchovies are way less fishy than other kinds, so I would've liked more than just one per slice.

Regardless, we really enjoyed our meal here. The short walk from home is just a bonus! Mike said it reminded him of di fara's in bk because of the tiny space and thin crust. I still need to go =P

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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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Oyaji

3212 Clement St (& 32nd Ave)
(415) 379-3604

Traditional Japanese in the Richmond

I've heard good things about this place awhile ago from my Japanese friend who knows his food. Near the Legion of Honor, this restaurant is within walking distance from my apartment, and isn't anything too trendy or pretentious. Our waiter (Matt) was really friendly and made us feel like we were welcome to become regulars =)

This restaurant is small plates style, but the sizes of each dish depends on what you're getting (e.g. for the yakitori, or grilled meats, were only 2 skewers per order). For 2 people, we got 6 dishes initially, then added one more later because Mike was still hungry.

- grilled cod: a delicious, buttery fish
- fried tofu & vegetable dumpling: large, cut into 4 pieces. The sauce was good.
- oyaji beef: beef & onions - how can you go wrong??
- spicy hamachi roll: this would have been better as sashimi (i.e. just the fish, which was very fresh)
- mountain yam & tuna: I really liked the yam the first time I had it, and this time around, it was nice having the tuna accompaniment, because it's all about the texture, and lacks flavor which the fish provides
- boiled burdock: Mike didn't like this, but I thought it was fine. The texture reminds me of chard/kale, which not everyone is a fan of.
- cabbage rolls: this is supposed to be bar (or "tavern") food, and it was definitely not what we expected. Instead of the anticipated lightly steamed and soupy rolls, it was smothered in a heavy gravy reminiscent of Stroganoff (which I love, even at places like Lalime). Not what you expect from Japanese food (i.e. not light), but it was yummy.

No need to get dessert afterwards, either, because they gave us each a frozen strawberry filled with white chocolate. This place is great, and definitely one to take a group of friends and chill over a nice meal and sake.

*** Update #1: I went here again this weekend and we sat at the sushi bar this time. Everything was fresh (toro, hamachi... I think I could eat raw fish all day if I had access), and some of our friends even dared to try the sea snails (raw. They weren't fans, but it looked really neat haha). However, I was kind of offended by the sushi chef when we ordered uni for everyone, and he immediately singled me out and said I wouldn't get any because it was only for men. WTF? I said whatever and laughed it off, but was really trying to shoot daggers at him with my eyes.

We also tried some of the other bar food, including the crab croquettes (eh. Couldn't taste the crab), asparagus wrapped in beef (eh. Not that flavorful), and then the cod again. It's dangerous sitting at the bar because it's so easy to order more and more fish = $$. We ended up spending around $50 this time! Holy moly.

*** Update #2: I've been here quite a few times since my initial experience, and here are some other things we've tried.
- grilled skewered chicken meatballs: pretty amazing, very juicy
- pork belly: good but really fatty, as expected
- steamed monkfish liver: creamy goodness
- marinated squid: nasty mcnasty... overpowering fishy taste and vomit-like appearance, which doesn't help
- fried tofu: good
- cold tofu: ok
- chicken wings: nice char taste on them
- burdock: prepared differently this time in this creamy sesame sauce
- ramen: decent

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Asian Food in the Sticks

At Geoffrey's request, here is my list of Asian food in the Richmond/Sunset

richmond:
- shanghai dumpling king (balboa & 34th): good xiao long bao (ghetto and dirty)
- shanghai house (balboa & 38th): hand-cut noodles
- oyaji (clement& 33rd): japanese tavern food
- burma superstar (clement & 4th): burmese - super trendy, long wait, but good!
- mandalay (california & 5th): burmese - less trendy, no wait, still good! and cheaper than burma superstar. the "special noodles" are really good
- tofu house (geary & 11th): korean tofu soup
- brothers (geary & 3rd i think): korean bbq
- taste of formosa (clement & 26th i think): taiwanese
- kitaro (geary & 18th i think): cheap japanese/sushi
- mayflower (geary & 27th): chinese - good for specialty dishes (and more expensive), supposedly good dim sum

sunset:
- san tung (irving & 11th): korean chinese, good dry fried chicken, dumplings, spicy peanut noodles
- "korean restaurant" (taraval & 40th i think): don't know the real name, but there's a sign outside that says "korean restaurant"
- cheung hing (irving & 30-something?): good BBQ pork
- PPQ (irving & 19th): pho and other vietnamese food
- pho hua (irving & 19th): I like their pho better, but some of my friends don't agree
- south seafood village (irving & 15th): decent dim sum
- ebisu (9th? & irving): decent sushi (a bit on the expensive side)
- hotei (9th? & irving): decent udon

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Chapeau!

1408 Clement St. (and 15th Ave.)

(415) 750-9787

French in the Richmond

I ate here with a friend for his birthday a long time ago, and I honestly don't really remember much about the food (doesn't say much for the food). It was good, but not striking, obviously. I just remember having a lot of meat. Oh and the trio of sorbet which was interesting. i thought that the food was so good, more **** than *** (it might have been because of the two bottles of wine though. for appetizers we had the tuna tartare served on a crouton which was perfect, not too fishy but still tuna, a delightful foie gras, and smoked trout that was very flavorful (maybe a bit too smokey though). the next course was sea bass on top of a scallop served with a seafood risotto and a tasty lobster sauce, it was absolutely wonderful. =]. for entrees, we had the duck and the cod. they were both really yummy too (and sounded a lot better on the menu than they do right now). and for dessert, we had some sort of strawberry with whipped cream with a vanilla pudding, a tart, and chocolate puffs on the house - so good, but we were so stuffed by then too.

On the other hand, what's quite memorable about this place is the service - it's EXTRAORDINARY - by far the best service I've had in SF. i agree! definitely the BEST service i've had. the waiters are very accomodating. the owner/chef/host comes out of the kitchen every so often just to see how the meal is going. Since it's in a residential neighborhood, it's not that crowded (which I love) but definitely gets a good amount of business. (it's been completely booked the two times i've tried to go there, definitely make a reservation if it's the weekend) Our waiter was extremely friendly and attentive, and really made the experience 10 times more enjoyable. our waiter was great too When we asked about the sorbet trio (the menu didn't list the flavors), he said it was a surprise and that we had to guess hahaha. We got 2 of them right, and were very close on the third =) The check is served in a hat ("chapeau" in french) - very cute. We had heard that the owner/chef makes sure he meets you after the meal, but we didn't see him so we decided to just leave. As we were rounding the corner, he ran after us and hugged/thanked us for coming =) we saw the owner/chef/host quite often. he came to speak with us many times, including when we were asking about a wine that i would like. his wife is one of the waitresses/hostesses as well.

Although the food wasn't memorable, everything else was! Very very cute. =) i liked it so much! i would definitely go here again.

- k - s

*** Edit: I went here again for a belated Father's Day dinner with my family, and it was a pretty lackluster meal. I really liked the broth in the mussels appetizer, but other than that, the food was eh. I think I would only go back for their "Early Bird Special" - a prix fixe for $25 on Sundays and weekday early evenings.

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Shanghai Dumpling King

3319 Balboa St. (& 34th Ave)
(415) 387-2088

Chinese in the Richmond

This is one of my favorite places in SF - not just because it's a few blocks away from where I live (please don't stalk me), but also despite it's ghettoness, it's damn good.

Their xiao long bao (soup dumplings) are "some of the best [jess] has ever had, including in asia." I would agree, but jess's opinion in Chinese food tends to be slightly more credible than mine. Regardless, their spicy beef noodle soup is decent, as is their pan fried rice cakes dish. I like their green beans, primarily because they're really garlicky.

The staff is nice and extremely accommodating. My apartment celebrated Chinese New Year here and brought our own bottle of wine (which we drank out of tea cups). Soon enough, people were randomly leaving their tables and coming back with brown paper bags. No corkage fee, and they also brought us extra plastic cups. Niiiice.

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aziza

5800 Geary Blvd. (and 22nd Ave.)

(415) 752-2222

Moroccan in the Richmond

This restaurant has been on my list forever, and I FINALLY went there!

Ambience: very dim and intimate. It's actually bigger than it looks (2 rooms you can't see from the front room), but the seating arrangements aren't good for large parties. They have belly dancing on the weekends, but we went on a Friday. You definitely need reservations.

Service: good and attentive. They give you rose water for your hands, which I've never seen done before. Our waiter was very accommodating, yet at the same time seemed a bit arrogant (maybe because we're young?). (he did seem arrrogant. during my second visit, the hostess seemed a bit rude as well. it was true we were late for our reservations, but telling us that they would reseat the table at 7:30 and also telling us that we wouldn't have enough time to eat all the courses we wanted to order didn't make us very happy diners. instead, it made me feel rushed and even a bit stressed, not at all what i want from a night out)

Food: very good! This place is known for exotic cocktails -- I had a "fez fizz," which is basically a pomegranate mimosa, and Shinie had this lavender and honey martini -- the most interesting drink I've ever had. It's like drinking sweet flowers, which sounds gross, but was actually really good. Appetizers -- we had mediterranean spreads and the baked seafood triangles. Both were pretty good, but what stood out was the couscous that came with the triangles. Sooo good! Very flavorful. (they both were quite good. i liked the baked seafood triangles so much that i ordered it again the second time)

Entrees -- we had the lamb shank (pretty good), the rabbit (pretty good), and the basteeya (kind of like a chicken pot pie, but in phyllo). The flavors are quite varied per dish, which you don't see often in restaurants. The basteeya was kind of a disappointment -- it was extremely pretty though... but I was expecting more flavor. i also tried the azizza couscous, which is really good. you get to try a little bit of everything and its served with their very tasty couscous. the prawn tangines (i think that's what it was called) which were good as well but a bit on the salty side. the vegetables that they were served with seemed more like tomato sauce than anything else. it's true though, azziza is really good at making all their dishes tasty so that you encounter flavors that you wouldn't otherwise.

I was very satisfied with my visit here. If I went back, I'd try the couscous aziza, and I'd go on the weekend to see the bellydancing =) i don't think i'd go back anymore. it's true that the food was tasty, but i wouldn't want to go to a place with such pretentious service. maaaaybe if we were going to go see the bellydancing =]

- k - s

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The Richmond Restaurant Wine & Bar

615 Balboa St. (between 7th & 8th Ave.)
(415) 379-8988

Californian/American in the Richmond

Went here for my birthday =) The atmosphere is great - total mom & pop place (homey yet elegant) located in a residential neighborhood close to my apartment! It actually looked like it was an apartment converted into a restaurant (it did!) . Since it was a Tuesday night, it wasn't that busy (we were able to make reservations in the late afternoon the day of).

The waiter was friendly and helpful, but at times had a condescending tone. There were 7 us, and none of us really know much, if anything, about wine, so we asked for recommendations... the waiter seemed a bit annoyed with our indecision =P (he wasn't very helpful at all. he didn't seem like he should belong in such a cute restaurant)

The food was good, but not worth the money. The butter for the bread was very cutely plated - a regular yellow butter coated in coarse salt, a green pesto butter, and a purple taro butter (the butter was adorable). First time I've seen that. To our surprise, the appetizers are INDIVIDUAL - i.e. the scallop (not plural on the menu) really is just one scallop! Sure, it was big and tasted good, but $10 for ONE scallop? Silly. (i know! so silly!) The entrees were the steak (nothing special) (yeah, not special at all), ravioli, cheeseburger hehe, sole + braised short ribs (ok).

Overall, this restaurant is good, but the food isn't anything special.

- k - s

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Clementine

126 Clement St. (and 2nd Ave.)
(415) 387-0408

French in the Richmond

a very cute french restaurant located in the inner richmond district, it's a perfect date place. the food is good (though not exceptional), the decor is very cute and romantic, and the service is good too. the veal was tasty, the rack of lamb was very good but the quail and the rabbit were only okay. if you come on a tuesday, wednesday or thursday, you can get a 3 course meal for 27 dollars (i think). overall nice place to eat with someone special =]

(the salt and pepper on the table are really cute)

- s

** Edit: This is one of my favorite places for dessert -- their FRENCH TOAST is absolutely divine (this means something because I rarely give rave reviews). My french coworkers generally like this place and say it's very authentic - I wouldn't be able to tell, but I think their non-dessert food is just ok. (- k)

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Gaspare's Pizza House & Italian Restaurant

5546 Geary Blvd. (between 19th and 20th Ave)
(415) 387-5025

Pizza/Italian in the Richmond

This is a very well-known mom & pop restaurant for thin-crust pizza. The service is friendly, but it's a bit confusing when you walk in because there's a sign-up sheet, so we automatically thought we had to wait for someone to seat us. However, we didn't realize until later (after people just started to sit down) that it's self-seating and the sign-up sheet is for if there are no tables available. The place is also a lot smaller than it looks from the outside, so it can only accomodate maybe 3 large parties at a time.

The food was just ok - we had a pizza (Bruce's special), a calzone, and a veal+ravioli dish. The veal was a bit dry, and the ravioli was ok. The calzone was pretty good, mostly because we asked them to add jalepenos. The pizza we had was not very good, honestly. It was EXTREMELY garlicy, and the crust was so thin and actually soggy. I was not impressed at all.

I would definitely go back, just to see if the soggy crust was an accident - nobody else said that about their pizzas. Jalapenos seriously make a big difference - they make everything taste better! I'm so not a jalapeno fan, but it's definitely worth trying. =)

** Edit: If you're friends with Nick, you should go with him because he gets hooked up (knows the owners) haha

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Mandalay

4344 California St. (& 5th Ave.)
(415) 386-3895

Burmese/Chinese in Inner Richmond

I've been to this place twice (once with Shinie and Kyle, and once for Laurene's bday) and I just noticed that I've never reviewed it! Although Burma Superstar is a really popular place, I think the food here is better (with almost no wait, compared to waiting an hour or more).

Get the "special noodles" - a server comes to your table with all the ingredients in front of you and mixes them together right there. The flavors are reallly good... writing this makes me want to go there for dinner. Everything else is pretty normal but good. The service is decent, and if it's your birthday, you'll get a special happy birthday song played throughout the entire restaurant (that sound like "it's a small world" kids but creepier).

I say skip Burma Superstar and go here instead. Or just go here. =)

** Edit: I've been here a gazillion times since this review, and it never fails. I've tried their salads, desserts, drinks... everything here is solid. The special noodles is still definitely the stand-out dish, and if anything, go here to try it.

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