liamettocs's Profile
Best bites of 2010
I have to agree with the amuse bouche egg yolk with onion cream at Commis. That may be the best thing I ate all year.
The perfect lunch is a half dozen assorted oysters with a salad for lunch outside at Hog Oyster Bar in the Ferry Building.
Also:
Fried chicken wings at Scends in Emeryville.
Soon Du Bu at Stone Korean Kitchen in Embarcadero Four.
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Commis
3859 Piedmont Avenue, Oakland, CA 94611
Stone Korean Kitchen
4 Embarcadero Center, San Francisco, CA 94111
You Scends Me.
I had take-out at Scends the other night. Fried chicken wings were fab - nice and crispy on the outside, moist and juicy on the inside and perfectly seasoned. The cornbread was amazing - delicious sweet, corn taste. Red beans and rice were good too. And the atmosphere was great as well. A very friendly, family atmosphere. Next time I'll eat there.
Moraga Options
Bo's has a great reputation, but I think they've been relying on that reputation without earning it for quite a while now.
Moraga Options
In Moraga, I also recommend Kirin Sushi, a very good Japanese restaurant in the Rheem center next to the theater. The broiled mackeral and hamachi belly are particularly good.
Stone Korean Kitchen
I have eaten at Storen Korean Kitchen (ground floor of 4 Embarcadero in SF) several times recently and wanted to bring this great little place to the attention of fellow CHers. The soon du bu (spicy seafood and tofu soup) is to die for! It comes to the table sizzling hot in a stone bowl. The menu describes the tofu as "silken" and that's the perfect description. It is so soft and smooth. It also contains a generous amount of seafood (shrimp, claims, squid). They also bring an egg (in shell) with the soup, which you break into the soup and it's cooked by the heat of the soup. You can get it mild, medium or hot. Medium is perfect for me - hot without being too hot. Warning, if you order the soon du bu hot, it is very hot. Their bi bim bap is also excellent, with a fried egg served on top. Finally, I recommend their stone wings appetizer - fried chicken wings in an excellent sauce. There were some early posts about this restaurant shortly after it opened noting some problems with the service, but those were just break-in issues typical of any new restaurant and have been cleared up. Service is fine now.
Need Minetta Tavern recommendations
Here is a link to another thread discussing Minetta Tavern: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/623550
Minetta: which burger?
Dined at Minetta tonight. Excellent. Shared the bone marrow and cod-stuffed squid appetizers. Both were outstanding. Despite other reviews to the contrary, I thought the bone marrow portions were generous and delicious. Had the Black Label burger w/ onions but w/o cheese. It was incredible. I couldn't stop eating it. Tables were a bit crowded, but not unusual for a restaurant in the City. Same with the noise. It was loud, but not unusually so. My only criticism (albeit mild) was that the fries were good, but not great. But I think there's a self-limiting factor when a fine restaurant serves fries. I mean, how good can they be? Perhaps if they served the fries with an unusual dipping sauce, like maybe a harissa aioli.
Has anyone been to NAMU's cart at the Thursday Ferry Building market?
I've only had the Korean tacos, which were delicious, but a little pricey for their smallish size. The other dishes looked great and I will be back for more. Check this thread for more info on Thursday lunch at the Ferry Building Farmers Market: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/633563
Cooking oils
What cooking oils do CHers use for different tasks and can anyone provide smoking points for different mainstream oils? Personally, I use olive oil whenever I can. If I need a higher smoke point, I will use a blend of olive and canola oils. I can't use peanut oil due to my child's peanut allergy. Also, I just bought a deep fat fryer and would like oil recommendations specifically for that application.
