2323 Mission St (& 19th St)
(415) 826-9287
Senagalese in the Mission
I've been here quite a few times in the last few years, and I recently visited to find their menu changed. They still have a lot of the same dishes, but it's definitely more condensed and more organized.
On my most recent visit, for food we had the plantains, the "seafood coconut" with tilapia, and the "yapou khar" which was basically lamb in a veggie sauce. The sauce in the seafood coconut dish is really yummy, which is the one thing I've remembered from my past visits here as well. The rest of the food that I've tried is good, solid, and hearty.
This is a cool spot for a chill dinner with drinks (they have a nice selection of hibiscus and ginger cocktails). It's not that big, so a party of 6 is probably as big as I'd go.
Sunday, July 29, 2007
Bissap Boabab
Monday, July 23, 2007
organic lemon cream tartlets
I based these tarts off of this recipe, making a few minor adjustments. I was also breaking in my new food processor (!) so it took me much longer than anticipated.
These apricots are from my dad's backyard. I must say that using organic lemons felt more flavorful. Maybe it's just me, but the rinds were more oily and fragrant.
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
$1 meals, or an Exposé on my Food-Related Spending Habits
My recent experience at Oliveto took place during a visit to my friend Erina's open house for a missions project she's leading called BayUP. In short, BayUP is intentional living in urban neighborhoods across the Bay Area. After the open house, the hordes of visitors split up to take out each of the 5 team members to dinner, and because I'm special (so special!), I got Erina all to myself.
Oliveto, to me, was relatively cheap. We ended up spending about $25 per person (I treated), which to me is a great price considering that it's a well-known and classy Berkeley joint. She, however, felt guilty, and with reason. Here is an excerpt from an update she sent out after her first week at BayUP:
Food has also been on our minds a lot. We all have a budget of $15/week for food, which comes out to less than a $1/meal for an entire week. While God has been sufficient in providing for our team, many of us are trying to learn what it means to have to ration food and eat just enough. God has definitely been challenging us about what true "Hunger" is and what it means to spend our money and labor on what can truly satisfy and to delight in the "richest of fare" (Isaiah 55).I tried to appease her guilt by justifying that there's nothing wrong with enjoying life and having nice meals once in awhile. Living that lifestyle, however, could be questionable, I said.
Right after I made that statement I realized what I hypocrite I am! I mean, I HAVE A FOOD BLOG! Just the day before Oliveto I had a conversation about French Laundry, where we spent $460 per person. The day after Oliveto I went to Pearl. I do eat out a lot, but definitely not as much as I did before... but relatively, it is still fairly often.
That's my credit card activity since the beginning of the month for the most part (I can't recall what the "Queen House" purchase was though... strange. It might be a Taiwanese restaurant in the MVizzy). Everything on there is food or food-related. Would I be able to try $15/week for food? That means absolutely no eating out, since lunch in financial averages around $10 for a sandwich! Everything in moderation.
Oliveto
5655 College Ave.
(510) 547-5356
Italian in Oakland's Rockridge area
This place is really big! The downstairs is for their more casual wood oven menu, and the upstairs menu is more extensive with more variety. We went upstairs, and were welcomed by a great waiter. We ended up ordering what he suggested....
To start, we had the crudo (Italian sashimi, basically) with halibut and avocado - this was amazing. The amount of citrus was perfect and, with the salt, made the dish cohesive. For entrees, we shared paccheroni (the beef wasn't as good as I thought it would be. It felt slightly overcooked) and the strozzapreti which I liked. I think I just like anything with ricotta salata - I like salty things.
We had a pretty light meal, but it was good quality and well priced. The non-pasta entrees are about $15+ more expensive, which is why our meal doesn't match the pricing on this entry (we spent $25/person). I like this place! I need to go a few more times to get a better feel.
Saturday, July 07, 2007
rice pudding, or Food Rejected by the Suffering
My little sister just got her wisdom teeth pulled, and being the youngest child she is, she's been sobbing melodramatically over her unrelinquishing pain. So being the good sister I am, I went home to visit her, and today she said she wanted pudding. We only had jello mix, but she didn't want jello (silly Kathy); she wanted pudding. Chocolate pudding. Well we didn't have chocolate, so I decided to make her rice pudding. I liked it, but the rice wasn't soft enough, so she automatically spit it out and huffed about how she wanted smooth chocolate pudding! Grrr. Whatever. It's in my tummy now. And now she's eating cookies. WTB??
Chapeau!
1408 Clement St. (and 15th Ave.)
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.
*** 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.
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.
Wednesday, July 04, 2007
chocolate truffles
In honor of the 4th of July, I made the worst thing imaginable: chocolate truffles. It was HOT, and one of the BBQs I went to was in the MVizzy, which was like 90 degrees. I had to stick them in the freezer like every 15 minutes. What was I thinking??
On the left: almond & vanilla, the right: kahlua & baileys rolled in cocoa powder.
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
Ajanta
1888 Solano Ave.
(510) 526-4373
Indian in Berkeley
This is an "upscale" (kind of) Indian restaurant in Berkeley's cute Solano area. By upscale, I mean that the restaurant has a nice interior and the food is cleaner (i.e. less greasy, more subtle flavors, if Indian food can be subtle).
For the food, we got chicken biriyani (rice, chicken, nuts, yogurt sauce, and other stuff), chicken samosas (mine had chicken cartilage in it! ugh), these scallop and corn fritter things (few pieces of scallop, and heavy on the fish paste), and the "madras jhinga masala," which was basically prawns with an onion sauce. The scallop fritters were gross - all you could really taste was the fried-ness. The samosas and the biriyani were OK. The prawns were REALLY good. I could just eat the onions+sauce with naan and be satisfied with that.
The beer we got was pretty rich, dark, and chocolatey - Ayinger ale from Germany... the brand was Celebrator I think. Anyway, this is a lackluster review for a whatever meal. Satisfying, but you can get Indian food just as good for cheaper. The end!
Rick & Ann's
2922 Domingo Ave (& Ashby/Claremont)
(510)649-8538
Californian in Berkeley
It's safe to say that this is my favorite place in Berkeley. I'm really hesitant to give 5 stars, because that would really mean perfection, but 4 would just not do justice, because I enjoy my experience here every single time I visit. * I've never been here for dinner, and although they also have a lunch menu, I think I've only eaten off their breakfast menu even during lunch time (which runs until 2:30pm). On weekends there is always a wait, especially when the weather's nice.
Nothing fails here. The staff is friendly, the ambience is very country/cottage, which is quite characteristic of that neighborhood in Berkeley. The food is great. I'm more of an eggs person when it comes to breakfast (by far the best meal of the day), but their whole wheat pancakes are fluffy and divine (and healthy!). Everything is uber Californian, and yummy! I went here earlier this morning for a late brunch and had the buttermilk waffle which wasn't the best, but I wasn't complaining. Their French toast is pretty good, but when Mike had it before he couldn't really taste the Orange (they add orange extract into the egg batter - I overheard a cook explaining it to a diner). Other than those examples, just about everything here is good!
* Edit: I change my mind. This is still one of my favorite Berkeley restaurants, but I realized that I'm over-hyping it by giving it 5 stars. I still believe their whole wheat pancakes are divine though.
Saturday, June 30, 2007
lavender lemon cupcakes
The flavors are subtle, but if you know what lavender smells like, you'll be able to pick it up in the cake.
I infused cream (I didn't have whole milk on hand) with the lavender buds for the batter, and also added some lemon extract. For the frosting, I used vanilla extract with a bit of lemon extract, and then food coloring to make it lavender colored.
Cute, yeah? =)
Friday, June 29, 2007
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.
Sunday, June 24, 2007
TOP 5: food & liquor
I'm generally very healthy, but that all goes out the window at 2am after a couple of drinks when I'm starving.
1. Pizza: Pizza Orgasmica is open until 2:30am, (what?? I go to the Marina?? No, but they deliver) and Escape from NY seems to always be around whenever I'm out (Castro, Russian Hill, etc). I don't know if I'll ever be drunk enough to try this though. It would also require me to be in Philly (or would it??).
2. Pancakes: sometimes you just want breakfast in the middle of the night. There's an IHOP in the Marina (What?? The Marina again?? Fortunately Brian moved out of there. Yes!), and Bagdad Cafe is close to Cafe du Nord. Mel's is also open late, but I never like going there (I got yelled at once in the Berkeley location).
3. La Burrita & Top Dog: I don't know any hot dog places in SF (are there any?), but for the non-college-student, this Berkeley pair hits the spot after a show in the Greek (or if you happen to be in that area for any other reason).
4. Ramen: it's just the answer to everything! Chef Boyardee? It seems to go well with the magical rap stylings of Ms. Lil Mama. What better reminds you of lip gloss that's poppin than the pasta of our elementary school days?
5. Sweethearts' popcorn chicken: I haven't had this since college because boba places just do not exist in convenient locations in SF (there's a Quickly in the Castro though. Random!).
Friday, June 22, 2007
coconut tapioca with strawberries & basil lime syrup
I've been wanting to try a rendition of La Folie's tapioca for awhile now, and I finally got around to it. I didn't have enough time, so instead of making the pudding from scratch, I just used a mix and used coconut milk instead of regular milk. This was a mistake, since the vanilla flavoring in the mix is so strong that you couldn't even taste the coconut really. Oh well!
I really just wanted to see how the basil sauce played out (epicurious recipe), and it was actually really good! Strawberries and basil go really well together, so everything just complimented each other. Yum!
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Mitchell's Ice Cream
688 San Jose Ave (& 29th St)
(415) 648-2300
Ice Cream Shop in Noe Valley
Mitchell's is definitely a San Francisco staple. Although yelp says it's Noe Valley, it's like borderline Noe Valley/Bernal Heights (or even Glen Park according to someone else, but I think that's really stretching it - I just tagged it as all of those places kind of). Parking isn't bad since it's pretty far out, and there's also a small lot behind the place. It's also pretty accessible by public transportation - it's a decent walk from the 24th & Mission BART station, or you can MUNI it.
Expect a wait. On any given day. You can also buy their ice cream in cartons and to go.
Mitchell's is known for their "exotic" flavors, meaning Filipino flavors like ube, halo halo, etc. All of their flavors are pretty good, including the standard ones (french vanilla custard? mmmm). A lot of people like Tropical 4, but I think it's kind of boring. Their "grasshopper pie" is REALLY GOOD (mint chocolate chip + fudge + oreos), and that's coming from someone who isn't big on chocolate. They also offer ice cream sandwiches (between 2 cookies, reminiscent of Diddy Riese), shakes, and other sweet concoctions.
Sunday, June 17, 2007
lychee & black tea granita
IT'S HOT! LET'S MAKE GRANITA!
I was at my parents' house this weekend and wanted to make something since their kitchen is so much nicer than mine, but they had hardly any ingredients to make anything and I didn't want to spend any money... but I found some cans of lychee. My mom is also a tea fanatic, so I thought why not.
I also got this idea from Sketch in Berkeley after a recent visit there (actually, I don't remember if they also used tea in theirs). It pretty much tastes exactly the same, except the lychee overpowers the tea in mine. I'll have to use more tea bags next time (I just used one).
Thursday, June 14, 2007
peach clafoutis, or I am the Best Friend Ever
So my friend asked me to make something for a morning meeting because it was his turn to bring food. I decided to make banana nut muffins (easy) and something a little less normal - clafoutis - as inspired by this class I took recently. Although clafoutis is traditionally made with cherries, I decided to use peaches because I had peach pie on the brain. That almost sounds dirty.
I didn't follow any particular recipe exactly, but kind of tweaked a conglomerate of a bunch of recipes I found via
blogs/slashfood/epicurious. Pictures aren't very nice because I made this at night (finished around midnight) and I had to give it away. Thus, no natural light for nice pictures. The other is taken by a camera phone.
How does it taste? Not bad. Pretty much how it was supposed to taste (custardy). People supposedly liked it. This dessert is all about the fruit... too bad you can't see how nicely I fanned the peach slices out! It was pretty. =)
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Sushi House
2375 Shoreline Dr. (@ the marina)
(510) 865-0999
Japanese in Alameda
Anyone who went to Cal has been here. Just a 10 minute drive down 880, Sushi House is the reason why people even know where Alameda is. It has definitely gone downhill over the years (portions are smaller, food is less carefully prepared, etc), but it will always hold a special place in my heart as comfort food should.
What's special about this place is the large selection of sushi rolls - many of them baked or accompanied with a special sauce. These mega rolls have caught on to most sushi restaurants, but none can beat Sushi House's. The Bay Scallop roll is by far my favorite, but almost all of them are good (another popular is the Lion King which is a California roll topped with salmon and then baked with a sauce).
Another dish I like to get here is the chirashi, which is like a sashimi salad or an open sushi roll, depending on where you are (like in San Diego, there's this place where it really is like a salad salad). At sushi house, it's just a bunch of raw fish and stuff on top of sushi rice. Since Sushi House is so popular, they are constantly getting fish, so you know it'll be fresh. Hamachi is like butter here.
If you have never been, you should eat at the restaurant at least once. It's a long wait though. You honestly would have to go at odd hours in order to avoid any wait at all. Calling ahead and getting take-out is ideal if you don't have the patience.
Monday, June 11, 2007
Rivoli
1539 Solano Ave. (and Neilson)
(510) 526-2542
Italian/Californian in Berkeley
I've been here twice - the most recent occasion was for 2 family birthdays a few weeks ago. The other was over a year ago, and although I never wrote my own review, I found Kevin's travbuddy review from way back then. It's quite amusing, and it definitely describes the feel of our meal that night - e.g. being the sommeliers that we are, we chose the wine based on the fact that we thought the name was cool haha.
This place is pretty small, but the mirrors that line the walls and the huge windows definitely create the illusion of more space. During my recent visit, we started with their signature portabella fritters (fried mushrooms? how can you not like that), cheese souffle with prosciutto (yum), and this minced scallop thing in a phyllo shell (don't really remember).
For entrees, my dad and I had stuffed veal (pictured) and it was incredibly good. I'm a sucker for veal, and this one did not fail. My little sister got the ravioli Kevin had last time which was eh (but a first for her! She just about ALWAYS orders chicken or whatever the most boring item on the menu is), my other sister got a risotto cake which I really liked, my mom got salmon (like my little sister, she gets salmon everywhere she goes. I don't know why though, because it tastes the same no matter where you go or how it's prepared), and the Joe got a big chunk of pork which was fatty.
Service this time was definitely more competent haha, and I think any waiter/waitress that can serve my family and still be really nice is always a trooper. Desserts were typical. No wine this time - my mom freaks out if I have more than one glass of wine because I'll "get drunk."
Note: I tagged this as a wine entry per the travbuddy review.