Digest

The people behind the ever-popular Rivoli have opened a more casual offshoot, Corso, featuring pizza, pasta, and small plates. Florentine dishes also are a specialty, reports the San Francisco Chronicle.

The place reminds Robert Lauriston of Rose Pistola just after it opened and Reed Hearon was in the kitchen: simple, great flavors, and very Italian. (Corso’s chef is Elaine Rivera, who spent many years at Oliveto.)

Acquacotta, a minestronelike soup topped with toast and a soft-cooked egg, and the cauliflower sformatino, a custard with intense cauliflower flavor, are both “great” reports Robert Lauriston.

bigchowfun tried the pizza funghi (“crisp, charred crust, very flavorful, with a touch of truffle oil”), pasta with sugo (“luscious slow-cooked pork/beef”), and bollito with salsa verde (“melt-in-your-mouth beef”).

And the dessert of caramelized pear with vin santo sauce and whipped cream is “heavenly,” says bigchowfun, who adds that the wine list is “totally Italian but reasonably priced.”

The small plates, such as spinach with garlic and chile, and creamy fagioli beans, went down well with megek, who also likes having the option of ordering wine in half glasses and half carafes.

Layout-wise, the restaurant has an open kitchen with a counter, a bar area, and a large, communal table, which could prove useful, since Corso doesn’t take reservations, notes bigchowfun.

Corso [East Bay]
1786 Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley
510-704-8004

Board Links: Corso (Berkeley)
rivoli on shattuck?

San Francisco dosa-lovers, take note: Udupi Palace has opened on Valencia Street. The rava masala dosa is nice and crisp, says nuttie_cat, while the mysore masala dosa has a layer of tangy chutney inside. The potato fillings in both are tasty, if not quite spicy enough.

The vada was also nice and crisp, continues nuttie_cat, but the idly was a bit dry. Still, based on an excellent spinach masala dosa, jpancake gives this location the edge over the small chain’s Berkeley branch, and says it’s a welcome addition to San Francisco given the “bland and overpriced” food on offer at nearby Dosa, which also specializes in South Indian cuisine.

Prices at this Udupi Palace seem about a dollar higher than the one in Sunnyvale, reports nuttie_cat, with dosas mostly $7.75, uthappams $6.75, and combos of dosa or uthappam with idly and vada $9.75.

It’s clean, and folks are friendly, according to nuttie_cat, but the hours are a little, well, unpredictable in these early days, says jpancake.

Also new in town is Kasa in the Castro, reports osho. It specializes in the kati roll, a sort of Indian burrito (also known as a frankie), and fillings include lamb curry, aloo jeera (sautéed cumin potatoes), or chicken tikka, all wrapped in a flaky roti.

The grass-fed lamb is outstanding, says osho, and the curry sauce is great on its own for dipping. The chicken tikka, however, was a bit dry and underspiced. On the side you get a mixed salad and some raita. Two rolls cost $8.95.

Udupi Palace [Mission District]
1007 Valencia Street, San Francisco
415-970-8000

Kasa Indian Eatery [Castro]
4001 18th Street, San Francisco

415-621-6940

Board Links: Udupi Palace SF open
SF–Kasa Indian–Castro

Its name may be Saigon Seafood, or Nha Hang, or perhaps even Saigon Vien Dong. But, whatever it’s called, hounds say this San Jose joint serves up good, fresh Vietnamese food, like goi sua tom thit, an herb-laced salad of pork, prawns, and jellyfish. The contrast of pork ear and skin with the jellyfish is fantastic, says The Ranger.

Also recommended: sizzling goat, sizzling fish (though on one occasion this wasn’t sizzling and arrived on a cold plate instead), dry nam vang rice noodle soup, and baby clams with special spices. There are plenty of herbs and dipping sauces, plus matchsticks of galangal for what markseiden calls “that indispensable hint of menthol.”

RWCFoodie also recommends you keep an eye out for the fruit vendor on the sidewalk just outside, selling fresh mangosteens, jackfruit, Manila mangoes, litchis, and the like.

Saigon Seafood [South Bay]
740 Story Road #1, San Jose
408-298-8488

Board Link: Lunch at Nha Hang Saigon Seafood Restaurant aka Saigon Vien Dong–San Jose