TheFuzzy's Profile
Consensus On Best Restaurants in SanFrancisco???
Larochelle,
I'll admit that Kate's isn't what it used to be, but it's still impressive to someone from out of town. Ella's is better on the weekdays; I won't go on the weekends anymore either. As for the Pork Store, I'm a local so maybe they give me better food. I don't know.
Where *would* you recommend for breakfast?
Consensus On Best Restaurants in SanFrancisco???
You're not going to get a consensus. SF has probably 300-500 good restaurants; nobody has been to them all, not even the critics.
Also, if it's next week you've already eliminated some options because you don't have reservations.
For breakfast, I'd recommend Ella's, Kate's Breakfast and/or The Pork Store.
Crab in SF
Ferry Plaza Seafood (across from the Hog Island Oyster Co.) in the Ferry Building does a pretty good crab melt or crab salad, if you want to do crab for lunch. And it's the Ferry Building!
Bistro 1689 on Church
Absonot,
No problem. I figured that because I once made the same mistake myself.
Bistro 1689 on Church
Absonot,
The kitchen probably bought pea shoots instead of pea sprouts by accident. Pea shoots are a week older than sprouts, and need to be blanched or otherwise fully cooked.
hayes valley: groceries, produce, and inexpensive restaurants?
Really? Can anyone else speak to this? I've wondered about Il Borgo.
hayes valley: groceries, produce, and inexpensive restaurants?
David,
I disagree with the recommendation of Flipper's unless it's improved markedly in the last year. Quite possibly the slowest lunch service in the mid-town area; how can it take over 1/2 hour to make a burger?
I'll second Suppenkuche though; if you stick to soup and salad you can have a fantastic German meal and a great German beer for less than $25, total. Fancier stuff is a bit more.
If you like crepehouses, the one on Gough is above-average and the owners are very nice. I'm not wild about crepe houses myself, overexposure.
Two of the best options for cheap eats in the neighborhood, Viccolo's and Pendragon Bakery, are sadly long gone. Also, my wife tells me that Frijtz's Belgian fries have gone pale and soggy ... making one wonder how long they have left to run.
The Guardian likes Patxi (the Chicago Pizza joint) and the tea house at Laguna & Hayes, but I've not been to either one.
If you can get in on a non-Opera night, Cafe Della Stelle has a variety of unusual Italian dishes at reasonable middle prices ... they've kept the same prices for the last 7 years, turing what used to be a moderate night out into a bit of a bargain. Especially when you consider that the delicious tomato pesto and made-there bread is free with the meal. However, avoid their spillover restaurant, Stelline, as well as the bland overpriced taqueria in the vicinity.
Also, skip Max's Opera Cafe in the Opera Plaza unless you're a big fan of quantity over quality.
If you are willing to cough up some dough to get absolutely stuffed, you can't do better (at least not as a meat eater) than Espetus, the Brazillian steakhouse at Haight & Market. It's something like $45 per person but that's all-you-can-eat in an I-don't-want-breakfast-or-lunch-the-next-day kind of way.
Oh, also Jay's (Page & Octavia) is good for an inexpensive (if unimaginitive) breakfast/brunch/lunch, expecially if you feel like lingering over the large collection of magazines & newspapers she stocks.
Review: Jamie Kennedy Wine Bar
I'm visiting from San Francisco for a conference, and a client took me out to JKWB. It was nice to go there for a very high budget meal. On the other hand, the other consultant there was enrolled in the Master of Wine Course in Sydney, so dinner was also an educational-but-somewhat-intimidating experience.
Overall, I would *not* go back to JKWB if I were paying with my own money.
According to our wine expert, the wine list was good but not impressive ... mostly JKWB doesn't like old wines and he does. Partly he complained because the red we ordered (a Barollo for $175) wasn't what he expected but wasn't faulty enough to send back. *shrug*, it's all out of my depth anyway. Tasted good to me.
The reason I personally wouldn't go back was different: salt. About half of what we ordered ... the salad, the walnuts in the cheese course, the my neighbor's filet ... were nearly inedible due to too much salt. And this was after one of the diners who had eaten there before asked them to take a light hand with the salt.
Some other stuff (horse tartare, polenta terrine, gooseberry trifle, cheese course) was delicious, but for $100+ per person you kind of expect more than 50% of the food to be correctly seasoned.
On the up side, ask them to make poutin for you. It's an experience: hand-cut fries, sheep's milk curds, shitake mushooms in veal jus. Kind of like if Alice Waters was Quebecois.
Also, the service was execellent. But for me, it didn't make up for the salt.
Farmer Brown report > disappointing fried chicken
Melanie,
I'd missed that. Maybe he did ... we've only been there once since Farmer Brown's opened. No wonder the place feels like it's just going through the motions, and the Southern beer was gone.
In that case, I give Blue Jay 6 months to live.
Dia de Portugal Festival, SJ on Sat 6/10/06
HHC,
We went to this. We go every year.
The food is great ... tasty, plentiful, and cheap. Also very ethnic.
I ordered the grilled sardines from one booth, and supplimented it with tomato-cooked fava beans, thinking I'd need both (I was hungry). Turned out to be too much ... they gave me 5 grilled sardines, crusted with salt and garlic, Portuguese onion relish and potatoes. But the favas were terrific, so I ate some of everything.
My wife had a pork sandwhich, which was OK, and Portuguese doughnuts, which were fantastic.
Best were the prices:
Entrance: free
Parking: free (if you park on the street 1/3 mile away)
Sardines and potatoes: $8
Favas: $3
Portuguese wine or beer, by the cup: $3
Pork sandwich: $4
Doughnuts: $1 (enough for two people)
San Jose historical park was fully staffed this time, so between the historic park and the dancing there was plenty to do for 4-5 hours. IHMO, this is the most underrated outdoor festival in the Bay Area.
One thing I find inexplicable is that there are over 100,000 Portuguese-Americans in the Bay Area, and only 3 Portuguese restaurants in all of California. (one in Marin, one in San Jose, one SoCal) What gives?
Farmer Brown report > disappointing fried chicken
Given that Jay is now running two restaurants, I think that he's having trouble maintaining consistent quality. Traffic is way down at Blue Jay's Cafe, even though the meal that we had was quite good.
hidden japanese restaurant in sf?
Violet,
You could be describing two places I know of. 108B Carl Street (actual name is Hama-Ko, but you couldn't tell from the outside), is a husband/wife place with no menu. No-Name Sushi on Church is a well-known hole-in-the wall which uses a chalkboard menu.
Also, for great hole-in-the-wall non-sushi Japanese food, try Balboa Sushi House on Balboa between 5th & 6th.
