1. toasted PBLC (peanut butter lemon curd - i prefer that over jelly/jam) with the ends of the bread loaf. how sad.
2. easy mac + tuna!
3. frozen potstickers
4. ice cream (if you're lucky, you might have the limited edition dreyer's girl scout samoa ice cream! only super cool people are able to get their hands on this baby)
5. ramen (the packaged kind)
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
TOP 5 things to eat when you have almost no food
Thursday, March 22, 2007
TOP 5 ramen joints if you're an old man (or not)
guest contributor: ze faja
Santa – try the stew pork and the chicken is really good too. Tofu is so-so. Long wait. Wear sneakers so you can sprint to the head of the wait line from your car and keep an eye on competing sprinters (in other cars) in case they jump the gun!
Maruichi – good set lunch which comes with
Ringer Hut – their Nagasaki Champon noodle is pretty tasty and you can order the set lunch A, which includes a small dish of fried rice. A good size and nice place with plenty of space.
Mifune – in J-Town upstairs. Offer large variety of set lunch options and you can choose ramen or udon. Kathy was not a fan of this place.
Suzu – in J-Town downstairs. Small place and normally crowded.
** I've witnessed the Santa Ramen madness and it's pretty ridiculous. If no one's lined up before it's opened, that means everyone is waiting in their cars hawking the other parked cars. Intense! I would've also added Ryowa in both Berkeley and Mountain View. -kathy
Taverna
52 Belden Place
415-986-8887
Mediterranean in Financial (Belden Lane)
Went here for a work lunch, and the food was decent but like the rest of Belden Lane's restaurants, nothing special. Belden Lane is really just about convenience (i.e. during or after work) and the ambiance. You feel like you're in a little strip of Europe here since it's lined with outdoor seating. Unfortunately, the food does not match its hype.
Taverna is no exception. The only thing memorable about that meal was the dessert. My friend's friend WAS the pastry chef there, and her desserts were amazing! The fried custard was definitely the highlight - light and flavorful. Unfortunately, she doesn't work there anymore, so I don't know what the dessert menu is like now.
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.
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
plouf
40 Belden Place
415.986.6491
Seafood in Financial
what a delightful restaurant! it's location, in cute little belden alley, takes you away from san francisco and makes it seem like you have actually travelled to another place just to have dinner. dining outdoors adds to the non-citylike atmosphere (though the tables are a bit close together).
the food was delicious. i had the "new zealand bass en croute with haricot vert, caramelized onions and truffle glaze" while my friend had the "ahi tuna au poivre with jerusalem artichokes, escarole and sauce beurre rouge." the sea bass was one of the best that i've had (my favorite has to be the sea bass in chicago), the fried and breaded outside was light and tasty (fried stuff, so good!) with the inside sea bass perfectly flaky and tender. the ahi tuna was, as ahi tuna almost always is, delicious. nearby, a pile of mussels were stacked high on another diner's plate - next time, i'm trying those.
the waiters, when present, were all very friendly; they answered all our silly questions and helped us with all our pronunciation difficulties. service however, was only average; it was sometimes difficult to get the waiters attention. moreover, near the end of our meal, it seemed like the waitress was trying to free up a table just so she could seat one of the many people waiting in line; when she asked us if we needed a dessert menu, she mistook our "yes why not?" for a "no thanks."
although the portions are a little on the small size and the service is only average, for the atmosphere and for the food, i would come here again. (i would also come early just to beat the crowd that begins to form later on at night.)
-s
*** Edit: I've been here a couple of times for lunch during work and I think it's just average. I think the only things worth getting are the mussels with different types of sauces (and you can just get a side order of fries for dipping). - kTakara
22 Peace Plaza
Suite 202
(Miyako Mall, Japantown)
(415) 921-2000
Japanese in Japantown (If that's not unique, what is?)
There are many Japanese restaurants in San Francisco. This is one is better than most that I've tried and has some distinguishing features. The first distinguishing feature is the tank of live shrimp outside the entryway. The second is that the boss and all but one member of the waitstaff speak Japanese (as opposed to Korean, Mandarin, Cantonese, English, or Spanish) . The third is that the set meals start off with two dishes of pickled vegetables and a cup of a savory custard. (Set meals are $18.50 for a two-item one and $23.50 for a three-item one ... I think.) In all the Japanese restaurants I've eaten around the world -- Japanese restaurants in California, Hawaii, Beijing, Taiwan, and British Columbia -- I've never had those two types of pickled vegetables nor the custard. The pickled vegetables were new, but I didn't particularly like them. I liked the custard. It was served steaming hot, had julienned fish cake and mushrooms, and some broth sitting under the thick but fluffy egg-custard surface layer. The set meals also come with miso soup, white rice, and a scoop of ice cream.
My friends, who eat Japanese food often, complimented the quality of Takara's sushi. Even with my brutish palate, I could tell that the sashimi was better than the average SF Japanese restaurant. My half-Japanese half-Korean commented that their green tea was good.
The restaurant's disposable chopsticks are made from bamboo, so they don't split awkwardly and asymmetrically like disposable chopsticks made from wood.
-J
Dottie's True Blue Cafe
522 Jones St. (at Ofarrell) Guest starring Lil Cyn at the mic. So we arrived at Dotties and it was a gorgeous day, which made the wait in line not that bad. We waited about 20 minutes and I think I got a neck tan in the process. our day wasn't so nice...we waited about an hour saturday morning. lucky for us (but not for those in line) it started pouring after we were seated. We wait about 30-40 min. Good thing I wasn't hungry (yeah right). When we got in my friend said everything was good, so I ordered the sweet potato tart, which came with two slices of homemade dill bread, a mountain of scrambled eggs, and a bowl of fruit. I also got the coffee and later we split a cinnamon roll. The tart was really good: sweat and savory at the same time. The bowl of fruit was also really good, surprising because sometimes those can just be gross. i tried the recommended frittata that consisted of a lot of ingredients, one of which was penne. it was unusual, but good. i also tried the southwestern scramble which had Andouille sausage, onions, cheese, salsa served with two tortillas - tasty, though my frittata was better. it was the same with the smoked chicken apple sausage, eggs, and other stuff special which came with grilled cornbread - good, but not spectacular. I also tried the frittata (asparagus, feta, tomatoes, and other stuff) and it was gooood. It was served with a side of potatoes and toasted zucchini bread mmm you could taste all the butter in it. Kevin agreed that mine was better than his (he had scrambled eggs with sausage, spinach, and more normal stuff). (random side note: Dottie's is a hot spot for celebs - Halle Berry, Cheryl Crow, Jake Gyllenhal...I forgot the rest) My friend said to order the cinnamon roll because it wasn't like other cinnamon rolls. It was much flakier and not too uber sweet. There was a faint hint of orange in the roll because they use orance juice in the brown sugar sauce part. My friend got an omlette with pesto, goat cheese, and something else, and it looked deeeelicious. I only ate half my meal so that I could eat the cinnamon roll, and I ate the rest of it for lunch today, and it was still good! Yay! i'd go back on a weekday and try the cinnamon roll =], but i wouldn't try going again on a weekend. If you love breakfast, you'll love Dottie's. I totally plan to go back. The service was great, service was average (maybe they just liked c better) the people friendly, and the ambience cozy. And, if you love old Hollywood, like I do - pay attention to the collages and posters of Betty Davis, Rita, Veronica Lake (whose hair I could never manage to copy), and other beauties from when Hollywood was Hollywood. I took away one star from the original post because the food wasn't FABULOUS. It was definitely good, but I don't know if it's worth the wait. They don't have a sign-up sheet or waitlist, so you just have to wait in line forever. Yay, two thumbs (tongues?) up! (one tongue!)
(415) 885-2767
This past Sunday I went to Dottie's True Blue Cafe. I went with my friend who helped design the posters, mugs, lamps, you name it. He highly recommended this place and he says he goes just about every day, so I thought heck why not. Besides, breakfast food is THE BEST. i do like breakfast foods!
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Memphis Minnie's
576 Haight St.
BBQ in the lower Haight
Sunset magazine has consistently called this restaurant the best BBQ place on the West Coast. They have a sake menu, too.
Everything is good here. I had my first sweet tea here, and I had grits with shrimp, gravy, and sliced green onions -- an item from their Sunday brunch menu that's "a South Carolina tradition." I've had grits before, but they were like a cross between oatmeal and concrete mix. Today's grits were smooth, rich, and creamy, and the shrimp (which were slightly overcooked) complemented the grits. Our party of four also shared two types of ribs, beef brisket, potato salad, corn bread muffins, and a beef brisket omelet.
I like the non-pretentious, bright atmosphere.
When I saw all our food spread out on our table, ready to be eaten, I exclaimed, "I love America."
---
I went here for dinner, and got the rib tip appetizer, the beef brisket, and the pork ribs. For sides, we got the mac n cheese and beans, which were ok. The meat, however, was HORRIBLE. It was dry and flavorless, and we basically had to douse everything in sauce, which was runny (I prefer it thick). After talking to Jesse, he suggested I go for lunch, since his experience wasn't like that at all. Perhaps I will one day and have this experience redeemed, but for the time being, I do not plan on ever going back.
I took off 1.5 stars because I thought it was really bad (I would've taken off more, but I thought that would be unfair to Jesse's review).
---
One rule of thumb for any and all BBQ restaurants: The meat will be more moist if you go during lunchtime and drier if you go during dinnertime. Memphis Minnie's is no exception, unfortunately.
- J - k -J
Alegrias Food from Spain
2018 Lombard St . (and Webster)
(415) 929-8888
Spanish tapas in the Marina/Cow Hollow
This is a good place if you're looking for authenticity (well, what I think is authenticity at least). The staff is Spanish and very knowledgable, and most importantly, very friendly! Our waiter was fabulous and so friendly =)
The food itself was so-so. We had the gambas al ajillo (shrimp with garlic sauce), pinchos morunos (pork skewers), the patatas bravas con alioli (think fancy shmancy garlic fries), and the seafood+chicken paella as our main dish. These were all just good, but nothing special. The shrimp was really nothing special at all. The potatoes were good... the paella was a bit too seafoody. We had the apple crepes (a flambe), which were pretty unique - not your typical crepes.
Even though the food wasn't spectacular, the service was wonderful. What brings it down is that the tables are way too small. When you have tapas, you're obviously going to have muliple plates on your table, on top of your own personal plate and bread plate and all the other stuff on the table. There just was not enough room!
Citizen Cake
(415) 861-2228
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.
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
1550 Hyde Cafe & Wine Bar
1550 Hyde St. (and Pacific)
(415) 775-1550
Californian in Russian Hill
We had the game hen and rabbit -- game hen was a bit too salty and the accompanying risotto was funky. It was an interesting (in a good way) change to chicken though. The rabbit was good, and the accompanying pasta was very unique. Both dishes require quite a bit of work to eat, though, since both animals have a lot of small bones -- imagine trying to eat a chicken wing with fork and knife.
Service is good, atmosphere is very cute -- very popular place. Overall, it's pretty good and the food was pretty original. I wasn't blown away, but it's still good =)
Pazzia Caffe and Trattoria
337 3rd St. (and Folsom)
(415) 512-1693
Italian in SOMA (specializing in homemade pasta)
The service is great, and the ambience is very cute. This is a good place to eat if you're in the Metreon area and don't feel like eating something commercial. The pasta dishes are typical, but the pasta itself is very good (you can taste the freshness). They're served in small portions which are enough, but it's also very oily. Average priced, but personally not worth it. Once is good enough for me.
Isa
3324 Steiner St. (and Lombard)
(415) 567-9588
Californian/French, tapas style in the Marina Went here for my birthday on a late Saturday night (around 9:30pm or so). Even though it was so late, there were still a lot of people there (we were the last to leave though). Sat at the patio in the back - very nice ambiance.
For two people, we shared 4 plates - the lobster broth (just ok - really just broth with like.. 3 pieces of shrimp in it... no lobster), the sea bass wrapped in potato (very good), the duck (not that good... it was very chewy and not that flavorful), and the truffle risotto (recommended by the waiter, but it was too cheesy). For dessert, we had the amaretto semifreddo, which was good - really just because I love love love anything hazelnut. =)
The service was very attentive - since we were there so late and ended up being the last ones out, towards the end they kept asking if we were done which was a little annoying, but understandable.
Overall, pretty good, but the sea bass is the only thing that really stuck out.
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
Yank Sing
101 Spear (and Mission St. in the Rincon Center)
(415) 957-9300
Chinese, Dim Sum in Financial
The first time I was here was actually for my 2nd cousin's wedding reception - they rented out the place and it was reallllly nice, since the restaurant basically pours into the floor of the Rincon Center, surrounded by waterfalls and a high ceiling. =) The food at the wedding was fabulous - not exactly americanized Chinese food, but rather a western twist on non-traditional Chinese.
The second time was for dim sum with my family, and it was a good thing we got reservations (probably the only dim sum place that you would need reservations for) and it was verrrry good. =) They had your traditional dishes, as well as some interesting spins on what would usually be main courses. Their xiao long bao was very authentic (I'm not an expert obviously, but my parents agreed!) and the best I've had other than in China. Very delicate though.
Definitely a classy Chinese place that's actually good. Expensive though. If you're ever tempted to go to Yank Sing 2 -- DON'T!! It sucks majorly.
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
Clementine
126 Clement St. (and 2nd Ave.) - 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)
(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)
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.
B44
44 Belden Pl. (between Bush and Pine)
(415) 986-6287
Spanish in Financial
Went here for Valentine's Day, and as expected, the prices were jacked up for the commercial holiday =P. The service was pretty good (our waitress was so nice =), but it was INCREDIBLY LOUD in there! We would've sat outside to escape the noise, except that it was freezing.
The food was ok - for appetizer, we had lamb skewers mediterrean style, which were ok. The entrees included rabbit paella and the monkfish. The rabbit paella was good - the portion was really small though, only enough to feed one person who has a small appetite. The monkish was ok, but nothing special.
Overall, this is a pretty convenient place to go to after work, and the atmosphere (outside) is great, since belden is like a little Euro-style alley way. The foods not great though. I'd go back for the rabbit paella, but I heard that the other paellas aren't very good.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)