Nopa

560 Divisadero (& Hayes)
(415) 864-8643

American in Western Addition/ "NOPA"

**Update 27Sep09: OK after visiting a few more times, I must say that their pork chop, flatbread, and blue bottle martini are my go-tos. They will never fail!

*Update 06Jul09: I've been meaning to go back for awhile, especially since seasonal restaurants are always better in the summer. I finally understand the hype because this meal was sooo much better than the last! Flatbread was seasoned perfectly, with a nice char and crunch. Burger, chicken, and white beans were all pretty good, but the real star was the brined pork chop with grilled peaches. I'm a sucker for grilled peaches, but the juicy pink chop is what won me over. The cornmeal cake was really dry, but the Blue Bottle martini was the perfect ending to a great meal.
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[28-Jan-08] Went to Garrett's hood on a rainy Thursday, and this place was still packed! We couldn't get a reservation so we just tried walking in, and had to wait about an hour. Service was friendly, and the space is pretty nice. "Barnyard"-like is how Garrett described the roof, but I'd say it's more rustic. The ceiling is high, and there are very long windows - I'd imagine it'd be great on a nice day with the sun pouring in!

The food was solid, classic American fare. Nothing blew my mind, but I did enjoy my meal. We had the crispy duck leg to start, which was very meaty for this type of fowl. As for entrees, I had the cod which was eh, and Garrett's pork chop was a very juicy cut. We also shared the donuts as a dessert, which were fine, although you can't really go wrong with anything fried.

So overall, the restaurant was decent, but nothing special.

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1300 Fillmore

A little while ago, Michael Bauer wrote about the rise of comfort food on his blog. Well, unrelated to that (or maybe we're just the type of people he's talking about), we visited 1300 Fillmore after talking about it for ages. Yes, I also just went to Front Porch recently, but it's purely coincidence! Stacy had gone awhile ago for brunch and really enjoyed her meal, so of course we had an itch to scratch after her raving reviews!

Our waiter was really fun, and the ambience was pretty much what I imagined - down to earth, yet still sultry. Definitely an inviting place to lounge around and spend some time before a show at Yoshi's next door. It's also surprisingly big with optional partitions to section off private events.

So how was the food? The hush puppies were non-traditional and pretty much just battered shrimp. The shrimp and grits was tasty, and pretty much a meal in itself. The char - I had to look up what it was, because I just remembered it as "salmon but not salmon" - was boring, and the lobster & andouille hash that was on the side was bland, super wet, and pretty lobster-less.

On a brighter note, the fried chicken had a ton of spices, even if it it was heavy on the batter. Beignets were filled with chocolate, the same chocolate that came as a dipping sauce. Strange, but we just dipped into the coffee foam which was a much better accompaniment.

Not a place I would go out of my way for, but definitely a great option to get you in the mood for some jazz.

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Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

846 Divis (& Fulton)
(415) 441-1118

Pizza in Nopa/Western Addition/Panhandle

After my coworker had been raving about Little Star for the longest time, I decided to finally give it a try. After briefly skimming through yelp reviews, it seems like a lot of people think it's better than Zachary's. My opinion? It was different, not necessarily better.

For a pizza place it isn't what I expected - really dark (hence, no pictures) and tiny! Not a family place at all. You can get takeout though, which would be a good idea if you're in a rush because the wait is ridiculous. It took me like 20 min to find parking so we got seated almost right away after I arrived (sorry Tan!), but around 8pm the wait was 2 hrs long. Our waiter was really nice, and after waiting another 25-30min, our Little Star pizza (spinach, feta, other stuff) was ready.

I really liked it. It has a lot of flavor (heavy on the garlic, which I like), crunchy cornmeal crust... but lighter on the toppings. Lighter isn't necessarily a bad thing - if anything, it doesn't leave you comatose like Zachary's. However, I like heavy tomatoes, and Zachary's wins hands down in that respect.

So yes, I liked Little Star a lot and would go back if I had a craving for deep dish, and maybe also try their thin crust. Plus, it's in a great neighborhood that's walkable to anything (we went to a bike cafe down divis where we were surrounded by granola hipsters and talked about blogs).

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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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