October 25, 2007 - Our intention was to just go up the street to the one on Taraval but they were closed for vacation! Luckily the sign pointed us in the direction of their Noriega/32nd location otherwise we would have just headed up to Shimo. Don't get me wrong, Shimo is our fave but we were feeling like we ought to try some place new, especially given all the Japanese places around.
So we headed over to the one on Noriega and did our little "peek in" to make sure there were people in there and there were. The restaurant was spacious and clean. The decor was simple and modern looking. The place had a nice hip feeling for a Sunset neighborhood joint.
We were quickly greeted and seated. They brought out a big pitcher of hot tea. That was a little weird. I don't know why they didn't go with teapots but rather with these big thermos like pitchers for the tea. They took up space and I felt a little silly hefting the big pitcher just to pour a little tea into our typically small sized tea cups. Oh well.
The menu was extensive and they supplied you with a pen for checking off items on a separate list of the different rolls available. That list was very long. When trying a new restaurant I don't ever feel the need to be too adventurous with the food. So we pretty much ordered some basic gauge foods and an entre to share. We got the vegetable tempura, a roll with tuna and salmon, and for the entre we ordered the beef sukiyaki.
The tempura came out pretty quickly. For around $3 there were 4 pieces of the veggie tempura. I'm not sure if that's expensive or not... I'm bad with remembering prices. But it definitely was not as satisfying as other tempura appetizers have been. The batter was nice and light and crispy, but I didn't feel the pieces were as tasty as others have been. My sister commented that this was more similar to tempura that she had had in Japan so perhaps this more authentic. But I'm used to Americanized Japanese food so it was a notable difference to me. I didn't like it a whole lot. It was super greasy though! That was very nice.
The roll that came out next was ok. It was rolled tuna with the salmon on top. The rolls weren't too big so they were easier to eat. You could put the whole piece in your mouth to avoid trying to break the piece apart. But overall it wasn't spectacular. I'm no sushi expert but I didn't think the salmon was soft enough and the rice seemed like it had been refrigerated too long or something. It seemed a little hard. The whole thing tasted fine but not great. That might just be because of the roll we chose though. It was ok.
The sukiyaki was a perfect size to share. This dish was only ok too. The beef wasn't as tender and soft as we've had before. The broth was not as sweet and tasty as we've had before. For me there were too many carrots and not enough noodles, but plenty of mushrooms, which I liked. It was ok and we ate most of it, but it paled in comparison to the suikyaki we've had at Shimo.
Oh, the meal came with the typical salad, soup and ice cream for dessert. We had green tea of course. Why does green tea remind me so much of chocolate? Anyway, overall the restaurant was clean, service was fine, and the food was ok, just not good enough to temp a return visit. The search for a Japanese restaurant in league with Shimo continues!
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Clay Oven
October 22, 2007 - We go to the one in the Richmond, on Clement. We've gone many times now and always come out satisfied. It's usually a major craving that leads us to Indian food. And it's usually a craving specifically for Chicken Tikka Masala. That dish is sooo good.
So we got there early, a little before 6pm, so were the first ones in the restaurant. We started with some samosas then ordered a rice dish that I don't remember the name of. It was saffron rice, prawns, nuts, raisins. We also got Chicken Tikka Masala, of course, with some naan, and I ordered a Mango Lassi. Yum! It was plenty of food for around $40. So definitely not cheap like Naan 'N' Curry, but the food is better, it's a nicer restaurant with really good service. The wait staff have been excellent every time. Obviously recommend it since we keep going back.
So we got there early, a little before 6pm, so were the first ones in the restaurant. We started with some samosas then ordered a rice dish that I don't remember the name of. It was saffron rice, prawns, nuts, raisins. We also got Chicken Tikka Masala, of course, with some naan, and I ordered a Mango Lassi. Yum! It was plenty of food for around $40. So definitely not cheap like Naan 'N' Curry, but the food is better, it's a nicer restaurant with really good service. The wait staff have been excellent every time. Obviously recommend it since we keep going back.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Tofu Village
October 9, 2007 - It's starting to get cold and dreary in the evenings now. Last night was particularly grey so we decided to go out for tofu soup to warm us up. Usually we go to My Tofu House on Geary but today we decided to give someone else a try.
Tofu Village is on Irving and has been open for about 6 months. It's clean and has very simple, no frills, decor. We got there right before the rush and were seated and fed pretty quickly. We decided to share a dinner combo of tofu soup and beef bugolgi. Right after our order was taken, a small salad was brought to our table. Not long after that, all the neat little small dishes were brought out. They are what make going to Korean food so much fun. Bean sprouts, cold rice noodles, pickled cucumbers, kimchee, yucca, etc. Yum.
The beef bugolgi was really good. The beef was so soft and tasty. It came over a bed of onions and was a perfect combo. The tofu soup was only ok. It was a smaller bowl than we had expected, and the soup wasn't as tasty as we've had before. We were surpised to find shrimp and clams in with the tofu. Didn't realize that we had ordered seafood. Anyway, it wasn't great which is too bad because that's what we went there for.
So overall, the food was ok, the service was pretty good, and the place was clean. We'll probably go again sometime just because it's nearby.
Tofu Village is on Irving and has been open for about 6 months. It's clean and has very simple, no frills, decor. We got there right before the rush and were seated and fed pretty quickly. We decided to share a dinner combo of tofu soup and beef bugolgi. Right after our order was taken, a small salad was brought to our table. Not long after that, all the neat little small dishes were brought out. They are what make going to Korean food so much fun. Bean sprouts, cold rice noodles, pickled cucumbers, kimchee, yucca, etc. Yum.
The beef bugolgi was really good. The beef was so soft and tasty. It came over a bed of onions and was a perfect combo. The tofu soup was only ok. It was a smaller bowl than we had expected, and the soup wasn't as tasty as we've had before. We were surpised to find shrimp and clams in with the tofu. Didn't realize that we had ordered seafood. Anyway, it wasn't great which is too bad because that's what we went there for.
So overall, the food was ok, the service was pretty good, and the place was clean. We'll probably go again sometime just because it's nearby.
Saturday, October 6, 2007
Gold Mountain
October 6, 2007 - How about some dim sum in Chinatown? Gold Mountain is on Broadway and it is your classic dim sum place, or at least classic in my mind. It was a perfectly gorgeous morning to be out and about in the city. We got there pretty early so it wasn't too filled up yet. We walked in and there was no hostess right there to greet us, a little confusing. Finally someone showed up and directed us to head on over to the back. She just pointed so we started in that direction. But she didn't follow so we had no idea where she meant for us to sit. We were about to just pick any old table when a man finally saw us and told us where to go.
The place is classic in my mind because the people still go around with the carts. The restaurant is spacious enough for there to be clear isles for these carts to go around. The food circulates well and the people call out the names of the items very loud and clearly, just as you expect they should. Sounds like an auction or something in there, "har gow, har gow, anyone want har gow?" Going once, going twice...
So the food was good. Nothing stellar but also nothing disappointing. Just your classic, steady dim sum grub. We had most of the usuals like har gow, cheung fun, xiao lung bao, ham sui gok, beef spare ribs, shrimp stuffed peppers and eggplant, and dou fu fa. The har gow was really good. They were filled with shrimp and the wrapper was just perfect, not too doughy. The xiao lung bao were a little disappointing because there was no soup in them. But they tasted good. The ham sui gok were really good, just perfectly crispy and chewy with plenty of filling. Finally the dou fu fa was perfectly refreshing and smooth. Everything was good.
Clean, quick service, good location, inexpensive (total today was $24). Another solid performance. Totally will go back.
The place is classic in my mind because the people still go around with the carts. The restaurant is spacious enough for there to be clear isles for these carts to go around. The food circulates well and the people call out the names of the items very loud and clearly, just as you expect they should. Sounds like an auction or something in there, "har gow, har gow, anyone want har gow?" Going once, going twice...
So the food was good. Nothing stellar but also nothing disappointing. Just your classic, steady dim sum grub. We had most of the usuals like har gow, cheung fun, xiao lung bao, ham sui gok, beef spare ribs, shrimp stuffed peppers and eggplant, and dou fu fa. The har gow was really good. They were filled with shrimp and the wrapper was just perfect, not too doughy. The xiao lung bao were a little disappointing because there was no soup in them. But they tasted good. The ham sui gok were really good, just perfectly crispy and chewy with plenty of filling. Finally the dou fu fa was perfectly refreshing and smooth. Everything was good.
Clean, quick service, good location, inexpensive (total today was $24). Another solid performance. Totally will go back.
Monday, October 1, 2007
Superior Palace
Sept 30, 2007 - We had just had a pretty busy weekend. No cooking. And we wanted walnut prawns. I had remembered reading about a place in the Outer Richmond on Balboa with good walnut prawns so we swung by to see if I could find it. Over on Balboa in the 30-something aves there are bunches of restaurants and cafes. How fun! So we saw two big Chinese restaurants and decided to give one of them a try. Boy did we luck out on our choice.
This place was pretty hoppin'! We were seated right away and the waiters were very attentive in watching to see when we were ready to order. As soon as we looked up someone zoomed over. We ordered honey walnut prawns, beef and Chinese broccoli, garlic eggplant and sizzling rice soup.
The soup came out very quickly. It was so yummy! Well, to be fair, I should mention that we were really hungry by the time we got there. But the soup was really very good. The snow peas in the soup were still nice and crunchy and the broth was nice and clear. It was very refreshing.
The walnut prawns came next and they were so good!!! We love this dish and though we are not sure if it really is actually Chinese food, we love it and always think of it when we think of Chinese food. Trouble with that dish is keeping the prawns crispy even as they are covered in a thick sweet mayo like sauce. Also the walnuts need to stay crunchy too. It's easy to mess this one up but they sure didn't mess it up at Superior Palace. They really are superior!!
The beef and eggplant came out and we realized this was probably enough food another 2-3 days. I am newly in love with eggplant so I thought it was delicious. It had almost a sweet and sour like taste to it. The beef and Chinese broccoli dish wasn't great though. The broccoli was maybe cooked too long and lost it's crunch, while the beef was a bit too soft and chewy for my liking but it tasted alright. We took most of the eggplant and beef home. The walnut prawns and soup were wiped out. All of that food came out to only $32 including tip. Awesome.
This place was one of those pleasant surprises. We stumbled upon it and were so happy with the food and even the service. Yeah, for a Chinese restaurant even the service was good! They were fast and attentive. Not super friendly but that would be asking too much of a Chinese restaurant. It was a great experience and we're totally going back there.
This place was pretty hoppin'! We were seated right away and the waiters were very attentive in watching to see when we were ready to order. As soon as we looked up someone zoomed over. We ordered honey walnut prawns, beef and Chinese broccoli, garlic eggplant and sizzling rice soup.
The soup came out very quickly. It was so yummy! Well, to be fair, I should mention that we were really hungry by the time we got there. But the soup was really very good. The snow peas in the soup were still nice and crunchy and the broth was nice and clear. It was very refreshing.
The walnut prawns came next and they were so good!!! We love this dish and though we are not sure if it really is actually Chinese food, we love it and always think of it when we think of Chinese food. Trouble with that dish is keeping the prawns crispy even as they are covered in a thick sweet mayo like sauce. Also the walnuts need to stay crunchy too. It's easy to mess this one up but they sure didn't mess it up at Superior Palace. They really are superior!!
The beef and eggplant came out and we realized this was probably enough food another 2-3 days. I am newly in love with eggplant so I thought it was delicious. It had almost a sweet and sour like taste to it. The beef and Chinese broccoli dish wasn't great though. The broccoli was maybe cooked too long and lost it's crunch, while the beef was a bit too soft and chewy for my liking but it tasted alright. We took most of the eggplant and beef home. The walnut prawns and soup were wiped out. All of that food came out to only $32 including tip. Awesome.
This place was one of those pleasant surprises. We stumbled upon it and were so happy with the food and even the service. Yeah, for a Chinese restaurant even the service was good! They were fast and attentive. Not super friendly but that would be asking too much of a Chinese restaurant. It was a great experience and we're totally going back there.
Koi Palace
Sept 29, 2007 - It was a beautiful Saturday morning. The sun was shining and the sky was just a perfect, clear, blue. Not the slightest puff of white in sight. We were in the perfect mood for dim sum!
I've yet to hear a really negative review about dim sum at Koi Palace. There's always a line. So far we've been pretty lucky and have managed to get there early enough for the line not to be too excruciatingly long.
This time was we waiting for our table we stood right by the front where an older gentleman was making Dragon Beard Candy. It was really pretty fascinating, check it out on youtube.
We didn't have too long or maybe that's just how it seemed because we were so mesmerized by the candy making. The three of us were seated at a full round table for eight. They seemed not to mind at all and seems it's typical for them to do that. Guess there are never enough small tables. We were seated and the food started coming right away.
So this time we got plenty of stuff since there were three of us and we were there for so long. We got: crab dumplings, ham sui gok, fried tofu, xiao lung bao, chow mein, shrimp stuffed mushrooms, beef cheung fun, bean curd rolls, egg custard tarts with yeen wo on top, bo lo bao, and dao fu fa.
Everything was yummy. This was the first time we got the yeen wo dan tat. My friend even tried it and wasn't totally grossed out when we told her what it was. Cool. The cheung fun was fine though I thought it wasn't smooth enough. The xiao lung bao were properly filled with soup. The yeen wo dan tat had a lovely coconut flavor to them though they weren't warm by the time we got them. Finally, my new fave, dao fu fa was delish! So smooth and the liquid was just perfectly sweet enough. It was yum!
After a while there seemed to be a lull in the food circulation. We seemed to see the same things pass by multiple times and nothing new came out. We wondered if it was supposed to go in cycles but we waited a long time and finally just started in on desserts. That seemed strange. We wondered when new food would be coming out but were not interested in waiting. Otherwise, service was fine. The brought my friend her water and refilled it a couple of times. The check was quickly collected when we gave the nod and returned promptly.
So far not a bad experience. Oh so yummy and definitely worth the wait.
I've yet to hear a really negative review about dim sum at Koi Palace. There's always a line. So far we've been pretty lucky and have managed to get there early enough for the line not to be too excruciatingly long.
This time was we waiting for our table we stood right by the front where an older gentleman was making Dragon Beard Candy. It was really pretty fascinating, check it out on youtube.
We didn't have too long or maybe that's just how it seemed because we were so mesmerized by the candy making. The three of us were seated at a full round table for eight. They seemed not to mind at all and seems it's typical for them to do that. Guess there are never enough small tables. We were seated and the food started coming right away.
So this time we got plenty of stuff since there were three of us and we were there for so long. We got: crab dumplings, ham sui gok, fried tofu, xiao lung bao, chow mein, shrimp stuffed mushrooms, beef cheung fun, bean curd rolls, egg custard tarts with yeen wo on top, bo lo bao, and dao fu fa.
Everything was yummy. This was the first time we got the yeen wo dan tat. My friend even tried it and wasn't totally grossed out when we told her what it was. Cool. The cheung fun was fine though I thought it wasn't smooth enough. The xiao lung bao were properly filled with soup. The yeen wo dan tat had a lovely coconut flavor to them though they weren't warm by the time we got them. Finally, my new fave, dao fu fa was delish! So smooth and the liquid was just perfectly sweet enough. It was yum!
After a while there seemed to be a lull in the food circulation. We seemed to see the same things pass by multiple times and nothing new came out. We wondered if it was supposed to go in cycles but we waited a long time and finally just started in on desserts. That seemed strange. We wondered when new food would be coming out but were not interested in waiting. Otherwise, service was fine. The brought my friend her water and refilled it a couple of times. The check was quickly collected when we gave the nod and returned promptly.
So far not a bad experience. Oh so yummy and definitely worth the wait.
Lulu
Sept 28, 2007 - My good friend had just gotten into the city from Arizona. She was visiting for the weekend so get ready for this barrage of posts.
Our first stop was Lulu's in SOMA (Folsom/4th). I had driven by this place a few times before and for some reason the name was pretty catchy to me so I've been wanting to check it out. We were there pretty early, right after work, around 6pm. It was a nice space. There were high interesting ceilings and the central dining area was open and had a nice airy feeling to it.
We were promptly seated and dove straight into the wine list. My wine glass was pretty dirty so I asked for another and that one was fine. We got ourselves a nice, refreshing bottle of Pinot Grigio and ordered an antipasti and a pizza.
The wine was good and now I wish I remembered what it was called. But the food was only OK. The antipasti was a choice of 3 things so we got the following: 1) cucumber, fennel, salmon; 2) cantaloupe with prosciutto; 3) heirloom tomato with cucumber salad. It didn't look nice. They just put the 3 items on a long plate. It was kinda boring and nothing was really spectacular about it. But I think it was almost $15. Hmph.
The pizza was not great either. For almost $18 you would expect something pretty special but really it wasn't that much better than a pizza you might find at CPK. I like CPK pizzas so I liked this one, but CPK pizzas cost around $12. I wondered what the other $6 were for. Ambiance perhaps? It was really loud in there though. There were plenty of families and large groups which gave the place a little more warmth. But it still managed to keep an upscale look so they were able to charge according to that look.
Service was fine. They were very attentive with the water, which my friend drinks a lot of, but the waiter was not constantly interrupting or annoying us. He visited us just the right amount but was not overly friendly. It was fine.
Oh, dessert! How could I forget? We got chocolate cake. It was a rich chocolate with the melty, oozy fudge in the middle. It was yummy. But nothing to get too excited for.
Overall it was a fine experience. I don't have plans to return though. Nothing spectacular and overpriced for just ok food. Still, we had a nice time and nothing was horrible. Ah well, they can't all be spectacular.
Our first stop was Lulu's in SOMA (Folsom/4th). I had driven by this place a few times before and for some reason the name was pretty catchy to me so I've been wanting to check it out. We were there pretty early, right after work, around 6pm. It was a nice space. There were high interesting ceilings and the central dining area was open and had a nice airy feeling to it.
We were promptly seated and dove straight into the wine list. My wine glass was pretty dirty so I asked for another and that one was fine. We got ourselves a nice, refreshing bottle of Pinot Grigio and ordered an antipasti and a pizza.
The wine was good and now I wish I remembered what it was called. But the food was only OK. The antipasti was a choice of 3 things so we got the following: 1) cucumber, fennel, salmon; 2) cantaloupe with prosciutto; 3) heirloom tomato with cucumber salad. It didn't look nice. They just put the 3 items on a long plate. It was kinda boring and nothing was really spectacular about it. But I think it was almost $15. Hmph.
The pizza was not great either. For almost $18 you would expect something pretty special but really it wasn't that much better than a pizza you might find at CPK. I like CPK pizzas so I liked this one, but CPK pizzas cost around $12. I wondered what the other $6 were for. Ambiance perhaps? It was really loud in there though. There were plenty of families and large groups which gave the place a little more warmth. But it still managed to keep an upscale look so they were able to charge according to that look.
Service was fine. They were very attentive with the water, which my friend drinks a lot of, but the waiter was not constantly interrupting or annoying us. He visited us just the right amount but was not overly friendly. It was fine.
Oh, dessert! How could I forget? We got chocolate cake. It was a rich chocolate with the melty, oozy fudge in the middle. It was yummy. But nothing to get too excited for.
Overall it was a fine experience. I don't have plans to return though. Nothing spectacular and overpriced for just ok food. Still, we had a nice time and nothing was horrible. Ah well, they can't all be spectacular.
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