A couple more dishes:

Cumin Lamb
Sesame Ball Soup

Thanks for starting the thread!! Photos from the chowdown are posted here: http://flic.kr/s/aHsjF77UqY

I think all of us had pretty low expectations as Mandarin Gourmet is not known as a Sichuan restaurant, but we were all very pleasantly surprised and pleased with our meal. Thanks to the incomparable Ms. Wong for organizing!

We ordered exclusively from their 1.5 pages of Sichuanese offerings and found almost everything to be far superior to nearby Fey Restaurant in Menlo Park, where many of us attended the recent chowdown. Spiciness level was moderate even when asked to make things "extra spicy", but many dishes had good heat -- personally I like this level but others may prefer spicier. My take on the dishes:

FAVORITES:
- Tendon appetizer: Could be thinner but still a good rendition with a nice amount of Sichuan peppercorns
- Chongqing chicken: Served bone-in with crispy skin and good flavor
- Eggplant: I think I'm the only one who really liked this dish, but I guess I'm a sucker for breaded & crispy, deep fried foods with a soft & mushy interior. Quite different from the usual rendtions of this dish, with a thicker breading and heavier sauce

GOOD:
- Sliced pork appetizer: Same sauce as the cucumber but the sweetness worked better here.
- Hot & Spicy beef combo appetizer
- Cold shredded bean curd: Elegant cold "noodles" of tofu; refreshing.
- Poached beef in chili oil: Not as spicy as the barely-edible versions at Little Sichuan and the like
- Fish fillet in Chili Pepper Soup: Not sure why they initially gave us a slotted spoon to serve as the soup was tasty. Wish there were more noodles
- Pickled Mustard in Fish Fillet Soup: I love this dish wherever I go, hard to go wrong
- Dan dan noodles: More sweet & soy-saucy than I expected. Still tasty but not quite what I think of for dan-dan noodles
- Shredded potato: After many disappointing versions at other Sichuan restaurants, the one here was full of flavor, though a less vinegary than I expected
- Ma Po Tofu: The spiciest dish of the evening, ordered with beef instead of pork
- Sesame Ball Soup: The only dish were Fey's rendition was superior. Still tasty, but with thicker skins in the mochi and a less pronounced sesame flavor

HO-HUM / NOT A FAN:

- Cucumber appetizer: Barely spicy, strangely sweet, with a slight aftertaste of sichuan peppercorns.
- Pork kidney: While many 'hounds liked this, I'm personally not a fan of kidney and this didn't convert me
- Pickled Chili with Baby Cuttlefish: The baby cuttlefish were super cute but this dish wasn't otherwise memorable
- Cabbage: Good but nothing special

When kimchi gets old, it just gets more sour but it's still edible. However I prefer my kimchi fresh (I make my own), so when it gets old my go-to dishes are:

- Kimchi jigae (pork & tofu kimchi stew -- delicious on a cold day!)
- Kimchi fried rice
- bi bim bap
- kimchi pancake (savory version like seafood pancake, not sweet version like breakfast pancakes)

Since it's on the sour side, you can use it much like a spicy sauerkraut.

Fifteen hounds just spent an enjoyable dinner at the recently opened Fey Restaurant in Menlo Park. The jaunt was organized by our intrepid leader hyperbowler who had dropped by earlier in the week to discover the day's specials. As others have mentioned, Fey has some connection with Little Sichuan in San Mateo and the now-closed Classic Sichuan in Millbrae, as I recognized the lady owner upon walking in since I was a frequent diner at the other two restaurants.

Despite its petite and drab looking exterior, the restaurant is surprisingly long and elegant inside, with booths in front and round banquet tables in back. Our group took two of the tables in the way back; I'm listing the dishes at what I'll call Table #1 and hope someone from Table #2 will chime in on what they ordered.

Table #1:

#26 Five Delight Combo Cold Platter ($23.95)
#42 Smoked Tofu Pork with Sichuan Pickles ($9.50)
#48 Xinjiang Fried Cumin Lamb ($11.95)
#134 Spicy Sichuan Cold Noodles with Minced Pork ($7.95)
#150 Sichuan Dry Cooked Chicken Wings ($9.95)
#154 Steamed Powdery Tender Spareribs ($9.95)
#158 Spicy Boiled Tender Fish ($11.95)
Special: Ribs with Stir Fried Sichuan Salty Long Beans ($13.95)
Special: Pea Sprouts with Garlic ($12.95)
Special: Chongqing Dry Pot Yellow Croaker ($15.95)
Special: Sichuan Twice Cooked Tofu (forgot to charge us)
Dessert: Sesame Rice Balls ($8.95)
Dessert: Golden Red Bean Cake ($3 each)

Photos of each dish are here: http://flic.kr/s/aHsjEY2ikd

The noodles came out first, bland and severely lacking in any ma or la. Fortunately this gave us the opportunity to tell the waitress that we wanted the rest of our dishes to be spicy, really spicy! While the subsequent dishes improved in both the heat and numbing department, nothing was anything close to spicy except for in the yellow croaker dish.

I'll let the others chime in first with their comments on each dish. Service was slow; it took us almost an hour after sitting down before we were able to order. At slightly before 7pm on a Thursday, our group was one of the first to arrive but the restaurant quickly filled up afterwards. That said, due to the slow service, we were one of the last to leave a little after 9.30. Other than being slow, our waitress was quite helpful, suggesting we order the twice-cooked tofu dish (one of our favorites) and helping us with other ordering suggestions.

This was my first Chowdown in many years and it was great to see old faces and meet new ones. While the meal at Fey was middle-of-the-road fine with its muted spicing and more mainstream flavors, it's a great option for that stretch of the Peninsula which is severely lacking in regional Chinese cuisine.

We rent a van for the weekend at SFO and have a designated driver (and pay for his/her Passport ticket). This year due to the size of the group we had to rent two vans, but it worked out pretty well and is pretty economical.

We went to Optima our very first year and were unimpressed, but if they're open next year we'll try them again. After 2pm the lines at Rafanelli & Mauriston are quite reasonable, at least on Saturday. Usually we try to hit up the central/southern wineries on Saturday when there are fewer people, and the more northern wineries on Sunday when the 1 day folks are in the central/southern areas.

My favorite wine festival of all time is the annual Passport to Dry Creek Valley, centered around Healdsburg. This was my fifth year in a row going, and with 50+ wineries available, I'm always puzzled why 'hounds don't talk about it more unless it's to keep it a hidden secret since tickets often sell out. To help others who may be going in the future, here's my take on this year's fest.

KOKOMO (3rd year): Since Kokomo, Papapietro Perry, Amphora, Peterson, and Family are all in the same complex, we've found that choosing a starting winery at one of those is ideal with large groups so that you can all start in the same area. Our group of 17 started Day 1 of Passport at Kokomo, which has friendly staff, strong whites/rose, and tasty comfort food (mini corn dog muffins, meatloaf).

PETERSON (3rd year): Since it's in the same complex, we stopped by for some simple and well-prepared Mexican food. Unfortunately their wine this and last time have not been memorable.

PAPAPIETRY PERRY (3rd year): The most popular of the wineries in the complex, Papapietro Perry always offers excellent pinots and zins. Although most wineries offer multiple bites for the food pairing, PPP usually offers just one rather homey snack, but it's always surprisingly delicious!

A. RAFANELLI (5th year): The only winery we've visited all five years is Rafanelli as it handily wins the "Most Copious Food" award each year with its bountiful Italian spread. The last two years their wine has been disappointing, but this year they came roaring back and also revamped their food offerings to a much more gourmet level with selections such as ahi tuna in seaweed cones instead of more traditional homestyle Italian selections. Unfortunately their portion sizes went down so several of us went back in line for seconds. Tip: avoid Rafanelli between 11.30am and 2pm as the line is super long then!

MAURISTON (3rd year): With Chef Charlie Palmer supplying the food, Mauriston often wins "Best Food" and this year did even better than usual with excellent diver scallop & maine lobster cakes (paired with a sauvignon blanc) which many in our group called the best bite of the weekend, beef short rib sliders (paired with a couple of zins) and a crunchy duck taco (paired with a pinot). The zins at Mauriston were the standouts, but unlike previous years when we could sample even more wines at the tasting room counter, they only allowed that for Wine Club members this year.

WEST (1st visit): We try to visit some new wineries each year (there are still about a dozen we haven't been to), and West was a newbie as it's been only their second year at Passport. The servers were quite spiffy in their white tuxes matching the Casablanca theme, and they served a comforting lamb tagine to pair with their Cabs.

STEPHEN & WALKER (2nd year): The copious Hog Island oysters and delicious pizzas at S&W are making a serious claim for must-visit status. They also offer one of the largest selection of Passport wines for tasting, with over 11 different types poured by very friendly staff.

ALDERBROOK (1st visit): We capped Day 1 with our first visit to Alderbrook which featured a Las Vegas theme and amazing $50/case deals (yes, per CASE, not bottle!) of some of their older (2001-2006) wines! While their vino wasn't amazing, for just over $4/bottle it was a crazy good deal and we walked away with several cases. With poker, karaoke, beanbag toss and a nice yard overlooking the winery, Alderbrook was the perfect chill end to a busy day!

FERRARI-CARANO (3rd visit): Without a doubt, FC wins the "Most Beautiful Winery" category with their amazing gardens, Italianate mansion, and beautiful cellar room. They have a huge selection of whites, but the happy surprise was their Baci, a sweet zin infused with dark chocolate which was just okay on its own but became a joy in the mouth when paired with the dark chocolate and cherry biscotti.

DUTCHER CROSSING (2nd visit): Decent wine & food in a pretty setting. The only winery we visited this trip to offer port. They also offered a couple of promising barrel tastings.

FRICK (4th visit): One of our must-visits is this small winery offering unique varietals like Cinsault, Carignane, and Viognier. Bill Frick, the winemaker, was also very present and happy to chat.

BELLA (3rd visit): One of our favorite wineries is Bella which as usual wins for "Best Theme", this year (and last) featuring fairy tales, complete with a princess and her frog, a hatter with his tea party, and an elegantly decorated cave with a harpist. We loved the Lily Hill zin, the entertainment and the chocolate petit-four served with their late harvest zin.

ZICHICHI (2nd year): Four delicious wines were offered for barrel tasting this year. Unfortunately we were pretty tipsy by this time and I can't remember anything else.

GOPFRICH (1st visit): With lots of seating, a smooth crooning singer, and a very chill atmosphere, Gopfrich was a wonderful spot for us to take a little break. Five wines were poured and paired with Cuban meatballs, pulled pork sliders, and a chocolate hazelnut trifle.

MICHEL-SCHLUMBERGER (2nd year): This year's theme was Spain, and this pretty winery's pork skewers were quite tasty. I enjoyed the cucumber & grape gazpacho to escape the hot summer day, but others weren't as impressed.

MAZZOCCO (3rd year): Mazzocco was the last stop of our weekend and featured Peru with the food of Chef Iskander from Radio Africa & Kitchen (a favorite restaurant of mine), llamas, and a Peruvian band and dancer. Mazzocco usually has a huge range of absolutely delicious zins, and we often buy one of their whites as well. This year we liked their Gewürztraminer (which we don't think we've seen before at Mazzocco) and had a tough time picking from all the great barrel tastings.

Photos from our weekend:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?s...

The one must-visit winery we skipped this year was Seghesio, partly due to our having so many newbies in our group that we did more revisiting than usual, and also due to their increasingly crowded atmosphere.

Overall we had a great time as usual and plan on going again next year!

Thanks for posting; perhaps the actual cut makes a big difference. We went a couple years ago and the option that night was flatiron which we thought was just okay. The price is good but the food quality wasn't worth going out of our way. We may try again if wagyu stripsteak comes up again.

Thanks for posting. We're always looking for new restaurants to try, esp off Strip, as we go about 2-4x/year for fun. Will check it out next month!

Unfortunately they didn't have conch when we were there -- I asked.

Just returned to SF from a long weekend dining and drinking around Chicago. Thanks to everyone who helped with our trip planning, especially nsxtascy!

GIRL & THE GOAT: Loved the confit goat belly, the green beans, and the miso-butterscotch budino; thought the pig face, wood fired oysters, and crudo were okay. Several dishes were overly salty -- we wish we ordered bread. Service was surprisingly good for a restaurant with such a boozy young vibe; we'd definitely revisit to try more items, especially on the goat menu as we rarely get goat outside of Jamaican restaurants.

HOT DOUGS: I thought this would be a "one time visit" but the dogs and toppings were really delicious!! Four of us finished 8 varieties of dogs. Favorites: foie gras, bridget bardot, paul frank. Wouldn't order again: rabbit, duck fat fries & the cheese fries (the fries were limp; you can get better duck fat fries in Vegas). At 1pm on a Friday, the line was not too bad; we only had to wait about 15 minutes. I would definitely return.

SABLE: We stopped by for pre-dinner drinks. Very impressive cocktail menu and drinks, and the food looked and smelled delicious as it went by. Next visit we'll try to visit for dinner.

NEXT: The whole reason for our trip was to go to Next! The food had its ups (mushroom consomme) and downs (veggie charcuterie on birch bark, squab) but as far as concept and entertainment, it was worth the money. However the service was very disappointing -- I'd classify many of the servers as "socially awkward", and about half the time our drink glasses were empty. Also we were distinctly unimpressed with both the nonalcoholic pairing and the reserve wine pairing -- next time we'd likely just stick with the free water.

BARRELHOUSE FLATS: Post-Next we took a taxi to Barrelhouse Flats for drinks since it was open past 2am. Also a very extensive cocktail menu and good drinks, but we didn't like it as much as Sable, perhaps since half our party was too tired.

GIORDANOS: We dropped by for Saturday lunch with a largish group including a couple of kids. If you arrive before noon there was no wait, but afterwards it filled up. We ordered the Chicago Classic and Meat & More Meat stuffed pizzas, as well as a Harvest Salad. The stuffed pizzas didn't seem as unique / different as the deep dish pizza did at Gino's East, and I didn't enjoy them.

ALINEA: We were able to snag a same day table at Alinea, and they were even so gracious as to add one more person to our table at the last minute so we had a 5-top instead of a 4-top. The menu was considerably condensed from when we last visited 3 years ago, which was disappointing as the price was the same, but the food and service was stellar as always. Wine pairings here were also much better than at Next. Alinea is one of our favorite restaurants and after this visit, will continue to be.

AVIARY: Since our dinner at Alinea ended in 3.5 hours instead of the 5 hour meal like last time, we swung by Aviary to see if they would still let us in as we had a reservation earlier in the night. It was surprisingly not that busy, and six of us ordered 3 Kitchen Table menus for sharing. Most of the portion sizes for the KT menu were about 1/3 the size of normal drinks, so it would be very doable to finish. In fact we ordered two more drinks at the end to try. We loved the experience but it was pretty pricey, to say the least. Don't come here on a full stomach as we couldn't finish all the bites, though they were tiny.

Favorites were the hot chocolate, the chocolate brioche bite, and the wagyu bite.

MR BEEF: We wanted to sample Italian beef and this place wasn't too far from our hotel. The beef was nice and meaty, and the bread not overly soggy. The spicy peppers gave a nice kick but I wish there were more, and the sweet pepper was negligent. Overall a tasty sandwich, and I'm looking forward to trying other renditions next time.

PUBLICAN: Our last meal in the Windy City was dinner at Publican, which was probably (other than Giordanos) the most disappointing meal of our trip. We really wanted to love the restaurant as the style and vibe were so interesting, but the food was just so-so. The best were the crudo, the pork lion, and the fries under the roast chicken. While the chicken itself was perfectly cooked, the flavor wasn't anything to write home about; the cheese powder on the pork rinds was too heavy; and the shaved brussel sprouts were way over dressed.

Overall, though, a terrific weekend in Chicago and we can't wait to go back!

We just went to the Aviary last weekend. Definitely make reservations, but it's a bit strange that they haven't gotten back to you as they always got back to us one day after we contacted them, first to make the reservations and secondly to change the reservation (I moved mine from Thursday eve to Saturday eve).

Also you can order the Kitchen Table menu without sitting at the Kitchen Table, which is what we did. For reference, here's a little blurb on our experience: we had 10pm Sat eve reservations for the Aviary.

On Friday we had dinner at Next but became confused so went to the door for the Aviary instead at 10pm (our reservaiton time) and saw a line to get in.

On Saturday we ended up getting a same day table for Alinea and so I emailed the Aviary to cancel our reservation. Our dinner at Alinea ended earier than expected so we went to the Aviary at 10.45 hoping they'd let us in anyways -- there was no line (maybe the bouncer told everyone to go away?) and they still had our name on the reservation list, so after we explained our situation they let us in. It wasn't that crowded inside, I think you can walk in if you didn't mind standing, but it's good to have a reservation.

There were six of us and we shared 3 Kitchen Table menus between us (we sat a normal table as the KT was occupied). However as we had just finished dining at Alinea, we were pretty stuffed and couldn't eat that much food, though the drinks were tiny (they're small portions). In fact we ordered 2 more drinks to share afterwards.

A tip re: G&TG: if you want to move your reservations to an earlier time, check frequently the night before on opentable. We originally had 10.45pm reservations at G&TG but the eve before, were able to snag a table at 9.30pm instead. So we went last night a little early (arrived around 9.15) but they were still able to seat us right away. So you can try doing that if you don't want to eat too late. We really enjoyed the confit goat belly!

Really great suggestions on this thread. I have to chime in and agree that you MUST go to Katz's -- best pastrami ever (though I wish they had better rye bread like Langer's in LA). And if you like pickles at all, you gotta go to the Pickle Guys -- they're super friendly and will give you a small sample to try if you ask. I bought a small tub of the pickled okra and regretted not buying a huge bottle to take home.

NYC is better than the other locations you're going to try European (esp. Eastern European) & Caribbean food. And you can compare NYC pizza vs Chicago pizza vs SF pizza!

Ah, so many choices, so little time!

Moving Giordano's to Sunday is a good idea, especially since on Saturday we're joined by friends who are bringing their kids, so we definitely want to go to a place that takes reservations. For ourselves, we're also leaning towards biting the bullet and renting a car for our whole trip; normally it would be a no-brainer except that parking at the Hyatt is crazy expensive :(

Right now the itinerary is:

THURSDAY:
- Arrive early afternoon
- Art Institute of Chicago (my fav museum in the world! But then again I grew up in Indiana so part of it could be nostalgia)
- If we're able to move our Second City tickets to 8pm this day, then we'll have a late dinner at the Girl & the Goat. Otherwise we'll try for dinner at Purple Pig, and if the wait is crazy, our backup is Sable

FRIDAY:
- Chicago Architecture walking tour if we get up in time and it's not too cold
- Snack at Al's Beef while driving to Midway
- Lunch at Hot Doug's (agree it's likely a do-it-once place but we gotta get around to the once sometime)
- Snack/drinks at Purple Pig, Sable or the Violet Hour depending on the time and what we did on Thursday
- Late dinner at Next

SATURDAY:
- Brunch at either Gage, Sable, Perennial Virant or Atwood Cafe. Which of these has the tastiest brunch?
- If we can't move our Second City tickets, then show @4pm
- Dinner, most likely at Piccolo Sogno
- Drinks at the Aviary

SUNDAY:
- Lunch at Giordano's
- "Book of Mormon" matinee
- Dinner at Publican

So it seems the only open question is where to go for brunch at a place that takes reservations! :) I'm a little concerned about PV and Gage as the online brunch menus seem limited, which could be an issue when we have a group (8 total including 2 kids) and thus need to please different folks. Or do they also have daily specials to supplement what we see online?

Good point that Oxbow may be another place to get interesting Latino flavors. Pica Pica offers arepas, a Venezuelan speciality which is hard to find elsewhere, and I had a tasty (but rather unauthentic) crab taco last time I was there at C Casa. That said, the poster is going to NYC and the arepas at Caracas Arepa Bar in the East Village are better than at Pica Pica.

As a side note, I was amused last time I was in NYC and saw several restaurants advertise "San Francisco style burritos" as a speciality! So the poster should definitely get a SF burrito while in the Mission; also rather unauthentic in Mexico but it's become something SF is known for :)

I feel visitors should not get any Dungeness crab prep, but focus on the one served at Vietnamese (and now other) restaurants all over SF and thus can almost be called a local specialty, which is garlic roasted whole crab with a side of garlic noodles. I don't see it elsewhere in the US or Asia like I do here, and honestly prefer our version to others (for example, the Singapore chili crab is too messy & sweet for my taste). But that's just me :)

Now I'm going to lose what little CH credibility I had and suggest another place (which I just remembered) to get this crab, which is The Crab House on ground zero tourist central Pier 39 (you can check out the sea lions while you're there). The crab was surprisingly tasty, and while the garlic noodles are slightly different than the Vietnamese restaurant reps, they're still quite satisfying. My out-of-town family members recommended it so I went recently with my parents and hubby, and they enjoyed it too.

I actually prefer Burma Superstar over Mandalay and Burmese Kitchen, but as it's been over 3 years since I've dined at any of them, lots could have changed in the interim! However I do agree that Superstar has crazy long lines which make it a poor choice. Make sure to get the tea leaf salad no matter where you go!

Agree that Boudin's chowder is nothing special, and that SF isn't known for chowder. That said, it's your first time in SF and as someone who loves to do cheesy touristy things myself, I think you're absolutely justified in getting a touristy serving of clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl while you're in SF! You can have it for lunch or a snack while biking through Fisherman's Wharf, either at Boudin or any of the many stalls along the wharf. Sure it's not gourmet but still fun.

Most of the good Dungeness crab places are sadly out in the Richmond/Sunset like PPQ. The only place I know of close to your hotel is Crustacean, which is the upscale restaurant by the same folks who own Thanh Long, the originator of the SF area Asian roast crab phenom. Most foodies dislike both Crustacean and Thanh Long but my Vietnamese husband loves them; I personally think they're overpriced but the food is fine -- actually prefer their crab & garlic noodles to PPQ's -- so Crustacean may be a good choice as the price difference is probably not worth the hassle of getting to the other side of SF. Wherever you go, make sure to order the garlic noodles too with your crab! Yum.....

Thanks for the PDC recs -- we'll keep them in mind for next time! Yes, I was surprised that we thought the food in PDC was just okay, but maybe we need to order the right thing at the right places (similar to Chinese restaurants where often only a few things may be stellar and everything else so-so).

I actually love TripAdvisor, especially for their hotel ratings. Agree that restaurant ratings are more hit & miss, but they're a great source when CH doesn't have many suggestions (internationally there's often a limited number of posters). Like Yelp, I take TA reviews with a grain of salt but they've helped me find a lot of great places that I wouldn't know otherwise, especially when one has to put location as a major factor when traveling. One super valuable resource for me is the traveler photos, either of hotels or restaurants, and not just what people say.

I've had a few places ask me to post a rating, and while it slightly bugs me, I understand it from a business perspective -- all businesses need advertising and if they have happy customers, then they should get the word out. It was strange when I was in Mexico and it seemed like a lot of restaurants, excursion companies, and hotels prominently posted their TripAdvisor rating in front, but I'll continue to use it, just like I continue to use Yelp, as a supplement to CH.

If you can, try to take a whole day and go wine tasting in either Napa Valley or Sonoma. Although it's super commercialized and way pricier, I actually recommend Napa to visitors as the wineries are closer to each other, it's beautiful (from April to November when the vines aren't bare), and the tourist infrastructure is better (highly recommend booking the Blend Experience at either Paraduxx or Franciscan -- super interesting!). Plan on also eating lunch & dinner in the area -- for lunch I recommend getting a bite from one of the stalls at Oxbow Market (maybe Hog Island Oysters), and for dinner I've always been a fan of Ad Hoc, though there are lots of other good choices. You should rent a car for this, though.

Definitely go to the Ferry Building on a Saturday lunchtime! The summer is even better with all the fruits/veggies but even now it's fun to walk around the shops and the farmers market. Cowgirl Creamery (cheese) has a shop inside, and Hog Island has tasty oysters (if you don't try them in Napa).

Cheeseboard pizza is awesome but I'm not sure it's worth the shlep all the way out to Berkeley. If you do go to Berkeley and have a car, I perhaps stop at Takara Sake to try the sakes -- only $5 per flight of 5-6 sakes (they're small so theoretically you can even try two flights per person).

Difficult to recommend places for you in SF as I most often eat Asian, and as you're in SG/Sydney, the Asian food there will likely be better than here. Places I tell visitors to try are:

- State Bird Provisions (difficult to make reservations tho)
- Perbacco (Italian, great apps & pastas but avoid the entrees)
- Burma Superstar (Burmese so probably not for you)
- Suppenkuche (German, may be interesting for you)
- Dosa (Indian -- lots of Indian in SG but this may still be worth going to)

SF has lots of good artisanal pizza places -- I personally like Tony's Pizza Napoletana and of course Cheeseboard, but there are tons more I haven't tried. Was not impressed with Flour & Water (both pizza & pasta) on my one try.

My hubby (coffee drinker in the family) loves Blue Bottle -- you can walk from Union Square to the Mint Plaza location in about 15 minutes. Philz (many locations including in Mission) is also a popular local brand.

If you're in the Mission, make sure to try our unique ice creams! My favorite is Humphrey Slocombe (fav flavor is Salt & Pepper, but the signature is Secret Breakfast), but somewhat more folks prefer Bi-Rite Creamery. Mr. and Mrs. Miscellaneous is a newer one that has been garnering raves (I haven't been).

Have fun, and feel free to post in the Las Vegas board too (sadly I can give more recommendations there as I'm a tourist there all the time).

My parents (late 60s) and I just returned from six days in Cancun/PDC -- it was the first visit for us! Thanks to everyone for posting their suggestions on this board -- great info!

ABOUT US:
Me: Love street food and unique/different flavors. Somewhat adventurous (wanted to try chapulines but my parents nixed the idea). Pet peeve is overpaying for what you get -- I'm always looking for a good price/quality ratio for meals. Relatively familiar with Mexican food as I often eat at hole-in-the-wall authentic (few gringos) places in the Latino neighborhoods of the San Francisco area.
Parents: Middle-of-the-road diners but open minded for trying new things if it's not too weird. Very little exposure to Mexican cuisine -- Chevy's/El Torito is about the extent of it.

PLAYA DEL CARMEN
------------------------------

LAS BRISAS: We a decent inexpensive seafood dinner here -- the seafood combos for two are a great deal, I think we got a big platter of fish, lobster, squid and shrimp for less than 400 pesos. However the restaurant is a bit dingy (our tablecloth looked like it hadn't been cleaned for a couple days), and while the freshness of the food was okay, it wasn't remarkable. However a good choice for a inexpensive seafood meal just a block off Fifth Avenue. Mixed seafood platter for two, two beers, agua fresca, and extra garlic sauce: 525 pesos including tip.

CARBONCITO: This was the most "touristy" place we went in PDC; we ate here for brunch. We thought it was okay -- a solid safe choice but nothing special. It bugged me that the agua fresca in Spanish was 5 pesos cheaper than if you ordered it in English. Two breakfasts, one aqua fresca: 290 pesos including tip

LA PESCA: We had dinner here the night after Las Brisas. Definitely more expensive (by about 50%) than Las Brisas, seafood was slightly fresher and tastier but not by much. We had the mixed ceviche (which we didn't like), lobster with shrimp combo, and fish fillet Veracruz. Overall it was good but not great; perhaps we should have gotten a whole fresh fish instead. Dinner including one beer, two limeades and automatically added tip: 750 pesos

TACO/TORTA STANDS in the plaza at Juarez & 25th: Good cheap food -- I think a torta was only 20 pesos! We had a really tasty lechon torta, and a decent cochinita pibil torta -- make sure to add lots of the pickled red onions as it makes a big difference! I thought it was interesting that the torta bread we got there was different than the torta bread used here in the San Francisco area -- in Playa it's somewhat long and thin, almost torpedo shaped, whereas in SF it's always round kinda like a big burger bun.

PALETA (Mexican popsicle) store on Juarez between 10th & 5th Ave: So many interesting flavors (better know some Spanish, though)! I really loved my pineapple/chile flavored one. Avoid the ones that just taste like cream unless you like really subtle flavors. I think getting paletas is a MUST DO in Mexico -- even here in SF area where there's a huge Hispanic population, I don't see many standalone stores (lots of small carts trolling the neighborhoods, though). There are a bunch of other paleta shops around, I'm not sure if there's one that's particularly better than the others.

SEAFOOD RESTAURANT AT XCARET: We got a package with an included lunch buffet (good thing to do as the lunches a la carte are 370 pesos/person, but you can eat lunch up til 5pm). My parents voted for the seafood buffet -- unfortunately (but maybe not surprisingly) most of the seafood there didn't taste fresh. Avoid the whole fried fish and the crab soup! However the seafood ceviche was decent. If I went to XCaret again, I'd pick a different buffet.

CANCUN
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EL FISH FRITTANGA: All the locals (guys at the hotel, taxi driver) recommended this to us so we had high hopes. We had 6 pescadillas (thought the ones at XCaret were actually better), 3 octopus tacos (they looked so good being cooked at the takeout stand up top but were nothing special when we ate them in the restaurant), the "shrimp in orange sauce" which our waiter said was a favorite of the locals, and 2 limeades. While we wouldn't order the orange shrimp again, I was happy we tried it as it was very different from anything I've had before -- it was almost Asian in flavor, with a LOT of mayo (maybe that's a local preference?). Lunch for 3 was $35 including tip.

LABNA: My favorite restaurant of the whole trip. Going to downtown Cancun was a bit of a hassle, though -- it was almost an hour each way on the bus from the Westin Regina! We also were steered the wrong way by a policeman and some others and got pretty lost looking for it, with my parents freaking out about our safety the whole time. Fortunately we arrived with no incidents to a restaurant which was strangely almost empty our entire dinner. I loved the pumpkin salsa served with the chips. We ordered two lime soups (you MUST put the extra lime skin into the soup else it tastes pretty much like limey chicken soup), the "Yucatan Tour" sampler, the cochinita pibil, a beer and a pitcher of limeade for 534 pesos not including tip. The poc chuc in the Yucatan Tour was stellar, and I liked some of the other items in the sampler (though I wish the server explained to us what they were). The cochinita pibil was nothing special, but I'd visit this restaurant again to try other offerings. There were also lots of tasty-looking food in the park stalls and streets, but I didn't want to freak out my parents more and so we didn't try any.

MEXTREME: I wanted to have lunch in Punta Cancun so that we can look at the touristy places there, and this was recommended by both the MapChick maps and TripAdvisor (the latter saying it was a good and inexpensive choice). Our lunch here was the priciest (slightly) of our entire trip at 760 pesos (including tip) for a mixed grill (serves two), a large beer, and a large cocktail. My parents liked the mixed grill (steak, chicken, shrimp, veggies) but I thought the steak/chicken fajitas at Chevy's are much better than the meat here -- the chicken especially didn't taste good. I appreciated that they had cactus on the mixed grill, but otherwise I'd say this is a place for the non-Chowhound crowd.

Wow, what awesome suggestions, thanks so much!

I'll need to talk to hubby about dropping Hot Doug's as he has his heart set on eating there. Last trip we dropped by when had a car but were shocked at the line and bailed -- we've been kicking ourselves since. Agree that the food probably isn't great but the weird types of hot dogs (foie gras, etc.) appeals to the cheesy tourist in us :)

How would you rank these restaurants as dinner recommendations for an out-of-towner that's looking for something good for groups and really tasty, with bonus points for unique/different and close to our hotel or to the Aviary? But regarding distance: as long as it's within a $15 cab ride from our hotel we can deal with it -- we're willing to travel for good food :)

- Sable (though I really disliked the chef on Top Chef)
- Piccolo Sogno Due (thanks for the tip that 1&2 are the same -- I had read somewhere that the original was better)
- Mercat la Planxa (maybe overpriced for what you get?)
- La Sirena
- David Burke's Primehouse
- Takashi (maybe too fancy?)
- Perennial Virant
- Something else?

I'm not sure about going all out for brunch at the Crab House -- $48 is more expensive than the dinner buffets at the Bellagio or Wynn in Las Vegas!

My husband & I will be in Chicago for a long weekend and would love to get some advice on our itinerary. We're from San Francisco and will be staying at the Hyatt Regency. We don't know whether we'll have a car or not, but most likely not.

WHAT WE LIKE:
- Hubby: Loves gastropubs, big strong flavors, spicy foods, & sweets/desserts
- Me: Street food, unique/different flavors. Price/quality ratio is a big factor in my enjoyment of food -- I don't mind paying if the food is tasty & interesting (re: Alinea) but if I think the food is just okay or way overpriced for what you get, that ticks me off (sorry my pet peeve!).

THURSDAY EVE:
We plan on having dinner at Purple Pig but the wait scares me as we probably won't get there til about 8pm. Can you suggest a backup plan in case the wait is too crazy? Seems both Mercat de la Planxa and Piccolo Sogno have open tables -- would one be better than the other? Or maybe other suggestions closer to Purple Pig?

FRIDAY:
Right now we plan on meeting some friends and having a late-ish (1.30) lunch at Hot Doug's, but our dinner reservation at Next isn't til 10.15pm. Should we go to Next pretty hungry & thirsty, or is it okay to get a snack/drinks beforehand? If snack/drinks around 7.30/8pm are okay, what are some good choices either near our hotel or near the restaurant? We can also go a bit further away as we're thinking of maybe renting a car for the day since Hot Doug's is pretty far from the hotel.

SATURDAY:
We gotta be tourists and get pizza (last time we tried Gino's East), so this time we're going for lunch to Giordano's for their stuffed crust. We have reservations for the Aviary @6pm and plan on getting dinner afterwards. Unfortunately the Publican is closed for a private event that night and there are no tables available at the Girl and the Goat. How is La Sirena, is that an interesting enough choice for us (though their no reservations policy worries me as we'll be a party of six)? Or perhaps there are other good choices nearby or a short taxi away? We don't want anything too fancy (such as Grace or Tru) as we're in a group, and ideally a place where we can make reservations.

SUNDAY:
We have tickets for Book of Mormon at 2pm so are looking for a great brunch spot near our hotel or the theatre. Any ideas? For dinner we have reservations at the Publican.

Probably no Mexican or Asian suggestions please, unless it's really unique, since we have quite a few choices here in SF and we went to Topolobamo last time (plus we just got back from Mexico).

We're super excited about our trip and appreciate any advice we can get! Thanks!!

A friend saw it earlier today for $3.29/lb in San Jose

GREAT suggestions, thanks everyone! We'll try to squeeze in some soba, and as I love love love uni, the unidon as well! Japanese style hot dogs sound pretty cool too, I'll see if I can find the truck for it!

This weekend four of us (3 from SF and one from NYC) will be visiting LA specifically for its awesome Japanese food. We're staying with a friend in Torrance, which seems to fit well as so many CH'ers say it's the epicenter of Japanese food in the area. What places would you specifically recommend?

So far we're planning on going to Torihei, Shunji, and a little farther out, Oumi Sasaya. We'd like to get more rec's in our area, especially for sushi, but anything that's unique and tasty would be great. We're all pretty familiar with Japanese cuisine (half of us have been to Japan). A few years ago I remember having make-at-your-table yuba skin at a place in Torrance which was awesome (though I believe it's no longer available), so something unique along those lines would be great too, though sushi / sashimi that's not crazy expensive (Shunji will likely be our sole splurge) is definitely our #1 priority.

Thanks!!

We were in Budapest a month ago and thought the food at Klassz was good, though I agree that the service was pretty slow (but not as slow as you experienced -- I think it took us 15-20 minutes to order). Maybe the title should be "avoid if you're in a hurry" :)

Thanks for posting! Great recommendations for folks who are going on a whiskey tasting tour, as friends & I are hoping to do some day. Did all the distilleries give a wide range of scotch to taste? I've tried all the ones you've visited and prefer Oban of them, but perhaps that's due to having only tried the most popular versions. Also did you have to make reservations for the distilleries, or can you just walk in?

I'm a big fan of L'Atelier du Joel Robuchon at the MGM, but make sure you get the multi-course Discovery menu. The decor is a bit 80s but I really enjoy sitting at the bar and chatting with the waitstaff there, who are happy to explain the dishes or answer questions you have as you peek into the open kitchen.

My husband loves Raku but I haven't been as impressed after two visits. Lotus of Siam is worth visiting for their unique dishes, but you need to order very carefully as I've had quite a few disappointments / so-whats there. That said, I'm not sure either really can be classified as "fun".

Thanks for posting, especially the detailed recommendations for each course. Next month I'm making my 3rd trip to Las Vegas this year and am trying to decide where to go, so might visit Jaleo.