SF ChowHound in Amsterdam and Berlin

Though I've never been to Renger Patzsch (it's on the list!), I'm perfectly willing to believe that there are better Flammkuchen versions than Chez Gino's available in Berlin. I've certainly had better in the Elsass itself, and would never try to tout Gino's as a "best in its category" contender.

On the other hand, in the event that you *don't* end up getting yourself all the way to Schöneberg, I think Gino's might still be worth a visit: it's pretty inexpensive, its offerings are way, way better than the sorry melted cheese-laden fiascos I usually encounter around town (at least so long as you order the traditional version, with nothing but onions and speck--I'm not vouching for the bizzare-o nouveau combinations like sun-dried tomatoes and goat cheese . . . yikes!), the Käsespätzle really is pretty wonderful, and it won't take you all that long to get there from your hotel.

Enjoy Berlin!

sarahmilne in Europe

SF ChowHound in Amsterdam and Berlin

I second all of linguafood's recs, even the one for Lemongrass Grill, where I've never eaten, because I seem to generally agree with just about everything she suggests on these boards.

Other good things around Schlesisches Tor besides Ta Cabron (which is indeed a worthy newcomer, although coming from SF I suppose you may not exactly be yearning for Mexican!):

Chez Gino for Flammkuchen and Käsespätzle; also, good beer and salads (they specialize in things Alsatian-ish, but the beer is Bavarian); good ice cream right across the street

Noodles e Figli for creative Italian

Freischwimmer, on the water, for one of the nicest places to drink outside one could ever hope to find (don't order food there, though; not so delicious)

Heinz Mincki for a more traditional-style and equally lovely beer garden (good Bratwurst and decent Kuchen)

And since you asked for the best of the best at gentle prices, allow me to put in yet another chowhound plug for the fantastic Berlin-style fried chicken (and potato salad, and beer) at Zur Henne (Leuschnerdamm, Kreuzberg; if it's full, go across the street to Zur kleinen Markthalle).

Austria (Bergmannstr., Kreuzberg) is not exactly cheap, but it's also not exactly expensive, and my Austrian ex-pat friends will eat their schnitzel nowhere else.

If you do end up in the Bergmannstr. neighborhood, my favorite ice cream place in Berlin is also not far away: Vanille & Marille (corner of Hagelbergerstr. and Mehringdamm).

And finally: love Imren, especially the sit-down version (there are two in the same street). The best falafel I've had in Berlin (Berlin being actually something of a falafel town) lies only a few blocks away on Graefestr., and is called King of Falafel.

sarahmilne in Europe

Please advice on my Berlin list

Specific thoughts on some of the places from your list at which I've eaten:

Cochon Bourgeois is good, but in my opinion pretty expensive for what it is: solid French middle class cooking which is (much) better in Paris for (much) less money; a fine choice if you absolutely have to eat French; otherwise, if you're going to leave the very very center of Berlin, I'd encourage Hartmann's (same street, more interesting food, significantly better atmosphere).

Sale e Tabacchi is not as good as it should be for the prices, nor as good as all the guide books say it is. It is, however, a perfectly decent choice if the location is your primary consideration. Do not go out of your way to eat here.

Schwarzwaldstuben: quite good, and pretty inexpensive. Very central. There are better choices for similar cuisine (all the others on your list, plus Weinstein, in Prenzlauerberg), but they are not all as conveniently located.

Engelbecken is lovely, inside and out. Very good food, great desserts, properly Bavarian beer options, pretty space.

As far as your lighter fare list goes: Imren Döner is indeed very good. The döner at Imren 2 (just down the street), however, is the same, plus you can sit down and try very good versions of a couple other Turkish specialties. Good stuff at "the other" Imren: lentil soup, yogurt soup, lahmacun (otherwise known as Turkish pizza), corban salatisi (the Turk's version of "Greek" salad), adana kebab, white beans with rice, and ayran (the Turkish yogurt drink; they usually make it themselves here--you have to ask for the "fresh" ayran--and it's great). Love this place. It's as close as I've found in Berlin to the kind of cafeteria-style lunch places that feed practically all Istanbul's working folk.

If you should happen to be still hungry after Imren(!), one of the very best falafel places in Berlin is just a block or two away. It's called King of Falafel, in the Graefestr. Expect to wait a bit--they're slow and popular--but the wait is worth it. I get mine with "Nusspaste," a delicious homemade pinenut paste they'll slather on if you ask.

General thoughts: you don't have much in the way of Berlin-specific eating on your list. In my opinion--and assuming you like fried chicken--it would be a crying shame to spend time in Berlin without experiencing either Zur Henne or Zur kleinen Markthalle (across the street from one another). Fantastic, Berlin-style fried chicken, beer, and potato salad in two of the oldest, most traditional restaurants Berlin has to offer.

The Berlin brunch tradition seems like it might deserve some representation as well, particularly for people who really like leisurely lunches. The best ones are all you can eat buffets with a mind-boggling assortment of fresh and delicious salads, meat and cheese platters, egg dishes, crepes, etc. The idea is to sit around eating and reading the paper until you are in danger of falling off your chair. Then you head home and take a nap. To my knowledge, this is a more or less Berlin-specific phenomenon. Saturdays and Sundays only. We go to Cafe Morgenland, because it's walking distance from our apartment and fantastic, but there are surely many other wonderful brunch options out there about which I know nothing, and which would not require Sunday morning transportation to Kreuzberg.

sarahmilne in Europe

Berlin: Middle Eastern groceries, hummus, tahineh, thin pita

God I love these boards. Just had lunch at Zula with a vegetarian friend who usually schlepps me to one of those horrid quasi Californian health cafes that at some point started popping up all over P'Berg. Fantastic. And she liked it enough to promise to make it our standard meeting place, so, like, fantastic cubed.

I will be heading to Azzam this weekend after clicking my mouth-watering way through all the pictures. If I can even wait that long.

Have I mentioned that I love these boards?

Right.

sarahmilne in Europe

Chinatown for a nice but not overly upscale dinner?

Cantoon Garden is awesome, but the atmosphere/decor there is not what I'd describe as "nice." It's no hole in the wall, but it is a chaotic, communal seating type experience--one where they bunch up the paper tablecloths after everyone is done messily eating and throw them in the trash.

sarahmilne in Manhattan

Chinatown for a nice but not overly upscale dinner?

Amazing 66 would be a good choice. Also, Shanghai Cuisine (pretty sure that's the name) on Bayard at the Mulberry corner has Italian trattoria-type decor (nicely spaced tables, brick walls, big windows, lots of wood), and is quite good for some things, though it gets virtually no attention at all on these boards. Things I've had there which I've liked as well or better than at other Shanghainese places: soup dumplings (filling is usually especially good here; might be my favorite soup dumplings in Manhattan), Lion's Head meatball casserole, whole fish dishes. I've also heard that the stir-fried rice cakes are good, though I haven't tried those. Not really upscale at all, but perfectly "nice," and thus the kind of place I can comfortably take my midwestern parents to. A child would be absolutely no problem here.

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Amazing 66
66 Mott St, New York, NY 10013

Shanghai Cuisine
89 Bayard St, New York, NY 10013

sarahmilne in Manhattan

Keste Sister Resto in UWS??

thanks for posting this! I don't have any info to add, but it would be fantastic news for the uws if it does indeed come through.

sarahmilne in Manhattan

Freda's Caribbean Soul Food

This place has gotten some attention from a couple different blogs, and there are a bunch of very happy yelp reviews out there as well, but since my search just yielded nothing on Chowhound, I thought I'd go ahead and put it on the radar here. I want this restaurant to make it.

Freda's is a sweet, cheerful, relatively new little place on Columbus at 109th St, serving absolutely delicious Caribbean food at very gentle prices. I was there for lunch the other day with my husband, and we both had the lunch platter, which is $6.50 for either of the chicken offerings (they have jerk chicken and stewed chicken), with one side plus rice and peas. $1 extra for mac and cheese. We both absolutely LOVED the jerk chicken. Tender, brown, spicy, saucy wonderfulness. (Watch out for the tiny bone fragments. Also: did I mention spicy? I don't know if this is "authentic" jerk spicy, but I'm a Szechuan food addict, and this was sinus clearing for me.) Rice and peas were also great. For sides I had the callaloo (okra in coconut milk--it's usually pretty heavy, texturally speaking, but here it's super light, almost souffle-like in consistency) and he had the mac and cheese (pretty standard, but good standard, as in: absolutely serviceable). They were out of ginger beer, so I had a lemonade, which managed somehow to be both sweet sweet sweet and refreshing at the same time. (Maybe because it was so un-syrupy. Usually I don't like overly sweet lemonades at all.) They have a refrigerator case of desserts which we were way, way too full to check out. Seriously. Huge plates of food. I didn't even come close to finishing, but that didn't stop me from hurting myself in the attempt.

In addition to the two different chicken dishes they also have oxtails, curried red snapper, curried shrimp, and probably some other things I'm currently forgetting. Also, there's a whole slew of other sides (candied yams get a lot of love from the yelpers; I happen to hate sugary potato preps, so can't speak to that one). Super friendly and (at least at lunchtime) efficient service.

This place is a fantastic new answer to the perennial, if occasional, question about what to eat up around Morningside Heights. It's the kind of spot of which there are infuriatingly few within walking distance of the university--small-time, family run, homey, delicious, and affordable.

My only complaint: they play the TV too loud. I'm no enemy of TVs in restaurants, but really? The History Channel on at full blast at 1 in the afternoon in a half empty restaurant? It doesn't matter, though. They can play whatever they like, they're still going to see a fair amount of me.

(Other than the TV, decor is actually very patron-friendly. Yellow paint, brick walls, wood floors, well-spaced tables, big windows.)

sarahmilne in Manhattan

Non Touristy Restaurant - Times Square Area

Soba Totto (Japanese, great little plates of grilled stuff, plus soba)
Szechuan Gourmet (Szechuan)
Lan Sheng (Szechuan)
Gazala Place (Druse/Middle Eastern)

Margon (Cuban/Dominican lunch counter, but open through early dinner)
Djerdan (Bosnian)

These last two are really lunch joints, rather than dinner-type places, and the only one that qualifies as halfway "upscale" is Soba Totto. But the food's good at all of them.

Also: third Dafni.

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Margon
136 W 46th St, New York, NY 10036

Gazala Place
709 9th Ave, New York, NY 10019

Szechuan Gourmet
21 W 39th St, New York, NY 10018

Djerdan
221 W 38th St, New York, NY 10018

Soba Totto
211 E 43rd St, New York, NY 10017

Dafni
325 W 42nd St, New York, NY 10036

Lan Sheng
60 W 39th St, New York, NY 10018

sarahmilne in Manhattan

Pulino's

Just happened across the Slice report from way back in February, where Nate Appleman explains that he's not going to be doing A16-style Neapolitan pizza at Pulino's. I've also seen it said recently that what he was going for, in his own mind, was something more along the lines of "bar pizza," or "bowling alley pizza." This makes a lot of sense. In fact, the first thing my husband and I said to each other when we bit into slices of our respective Pulino's pies was: "this tastes like the pizza at [insert name of our favorite corner bar in Berlin here], only better." In other words: if that's what Appleman was going for, he nailed it. I find the idea that he's nailing bar pizza much less surprising than my original supposition that he was going for Roman pizza and falling unspeakably short. I don't get the sense that Appleman is usually the type to fall unspeakably short, in the edibles department.

All of which, however, just raises the question (at least for me): why would you choose to nail bar pizza when you could instead choose to nail, um, one of the greatest styles of pizza to grace the planet?

But, you know, it *is* good bar pizza. At which I never, ever turn up my nose, so long as it's served to me in a bar, on my street corner. Which this, unfortunately, is not.

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Pulino's
282 Bowery, New York, NY 10012

sarahmilne in Manhattan

Fatty Crab Price to Portion

I feel the same way. Lots of hits on the menu, portions too small for the prices. But if you live anywhere close, you might want to keep their happy hour in mind. They have the buns, the wings, and the sliders (which I don't like, actually), for $5 a pop. And all their signature cocktails for some equivalently reasonable price. Great for before a movie. Or just because.

sarahmilne in Manhattan

Pulino's

It's not nearly that clear-cut for me, though I would say that Keste on its best days does in fact have the edge over Motorino. The thing is, Motorino is more consistent. And sometimes there's just not enough oven magic (I think of this as the Italian version of wok hei, and for me it's the difference between pizza as bliss and pizza as sustenance) going on at Keste.

Like you say, though: we're lucky to have them both. Long may they endure.

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Motorino
349 E 12th St, New York, NY 10003

sarahmilne in Manhattan

Pulino's

We were there for dinner last week. Absolutely everything was wonderful except the thing we went for, which would be the pizzas. We thought the space was beautiful, and though it got *extremely* loud and almost club-like later in the evening--as people who were waiting for tables kind of dispersed themselves all over the restaurant--earlier on with the huge windows open to the street and the sun going down it was practically magical. We had a nice, inexpensive bottle of barbera d'alba and our two starters were absolutely delicious. One was the burrata with beet salad, and the other was a special that sounded like a potential train-wreck, but actually worked at every possible level: oven-roasted asparagus with ramps and rhubarb over black pepper mascarpone. Yum.

The thing is, though, we're A16 devotees, after 2 years in San Francisco, and we were EXTREMELY excited about the thought of having that addictive, Neapolitan-style pizza in NYC. We knew the Pulino's pizza was going to be different from the A16 pizza the second we got there and saw what was coming out of the kitchen, but we remained optimistic. It looked like Roman-style pizza rather than Neapolitan--even down to the traditional, Roman-style metal plates--and we actual prefer that style to the Naples version, at least when it's done in Rome.

So we ordered it. And it was . . . ok. Really just ok, with not a hint of that amazing Roman pizza synergy, and very little, actually, to distinguish it from the best wood-oven slice-style pizza in, say, Princeton NJ. (Can't compare it to anywhere in the City because I've never sought out that style here). Which is fine, I guess, but nothing our pizza-obsessed selves are going to travel across town for in the future, and a real shame given the potential of the space and the oven.

We'll be going back to the Keste/Motorino rotation.

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Pulino's
282 Bowery, New York, NY 10012

sarahmilne in Manhattan

Review this San Francisco Hound's List!

Your itinerary looks great, and is clearly very carefully thought out, but I agree with sugartoof that Motorino plus Franny's/Roberta's is a lot of pizza, especially coming from SF. (I think A16 and Pizzaiolo are both just as good as Motorino. Though if you're not coming from SF but rather from Boston, you might well want to double-up. No idea what the pizza scene looks like in Boston.)

Also, I don't think Rack & Soul in ANY way merits one of your dinners. It's not bad if you have to be in the neighborhood, but even in the relatively weak neighborhood of Morningside Heights there are far better options. (Zoma for Ethiopian, Thai Market for Thai, and Krik Krak for Haitian come to mind.)

I agree with some others who've mentioned Sichuan Gourmet as a good representative of a category in which NYC is particularly strong. I like Ssam better than Noodle, but both are great. I had one of the best meals of my life at Degustation recently (as good as the one I had at Manresa, way better than the one at Coi, to give you a West Coast point of reference), and it's not even that expensive. I'd make it a serious priority.

What you are definitely missing, in terms of things NYC does particularly well, is LATIN AMERICAN FOOD. Cuban sandwiches (love Havana Chelsea and Margon), Dominican rice and beans joints (ditto, but Castillo de Jagua is also good), the Brazilian spots in Astoria, the roast suckling pig and cuchifritos in East Harlem (the amazing cuchifritos stand on the south side of 116th St between Third Ave and Lex is worth a trip from anywhere; best mofongo in the city), etc. etc. All cheap.

Oh, and Russ and Daughters for "brunch," especially if the weather's nice.

And finally: Vietnamese food around here is in general not so fabulous, but I have never had a better banh mi anywhere (and I eat them everywhere, though admittedly never in Vietnam) than the one at Saigon Bakery. In the back of a jewelry store, but definitely not a hidden secret. There are tons of posts about this place.

My two cents.

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Thai Market
960 Amsterdam Ave, New York, NY 10025

Rack & Soul
258 West 109th St., New York, NY 10025

Margon
136 W 46th St, New York, NY 10036

Krik Krak
844 Amsterdam Ave, New York, NY 10025

Motorino
349 E 12th St, New York, NY 10003

sarahmilne in Manhattan

Pizza at Motorino

Yeah, I agree. Motorino does one of the best Neapolitan-style pizzas in the city (the only real competition in this category, as far as I know, is Keste), which makes it a definite destination for people who love Italian pizza. Other kinds of pizza are great too, and if that's what you prefer then there's no need to get yourself to Motorino. But, conversely: if you have a serious craving for a Neapolitan pie, no other style is likely to fill the bill, and in that case, Motorino is worth a trip from anywhere. Except maybe Italy.

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Motorino
349 E 12th St, New York, NY 10003

sarahmilne in Manhattan

Sit-down lunch around the Deutsches Haus (420 W. 116th between Amsterdam Ave & Morningside Dr.)

This isn't sandwiches or soup, but the best restaurant within walking distance of Deutsches Haus is Thai Market (107th? maybe 108th and Amsterdam). And they do have a lunch special, though I've never tried it. (I always stick to the appetizers and Thai salads.) At Amsterdam and 109th there's also Roti Roll, which does something kind of sandwich like. It gets good Yelp reviews, but I've personally never been and am not sure that it's a sit-down place. If you're up for crossing Morningside Park there's Zoma, which is great (Ethiopian) but only open for lunch on the weekends.

sarahmilne in Manhattan

Knife sharpener

Do you know whether they specialize in sharpening Japanese knives as well? Or just European style?

sarahmilne in Manhattan

Antica Trattoria

I used to live near Antica and have a real soft spot for the place. Its strengths, in my opinion, are the soulful, long-cooked dishes (wild boar ragu, osso bucco) and the specials, which are often traditional regional combinations seldom seen in U.S. Italian restaurants (buckwheat pasta with potatos, cabbage and fontina, for instance, or venison medaillons with spaetzle and cabbage). Grilled shrimp, on the other hand, were dull and overcooked.

They also have--or had, when I was still going there--a couple *very* reasonably priced and wonderful barberas on the wine list.

sarahmilne in San Francisco Bay Area

Sunflower Report

Having treated this place primarily as a decent neighborhood option for "emergency" Vietnamese (read: I need fish sauce NOW and don't want to have to get on a piece of transportation to make it happen), it hadn't occurred to me to post a report. That said, while I don't think it's particularly fabulous in any way, and while it certainly can not compete with places like PPQ and Turtle Tower, it's neither terrible nor, in my recent and multiple experiences, particularly oily. (Speaking here only of bun and pho bo, which are the things I tend to order.) Bun actually comes completely dry, which is how I've always had it elsewhere, and the accompanying dipping sauce--while occasionally too sweet and too light on the fish sauce (just ask for extra fish sauce straight up on the side), has never been oily either. Imperial rolls are very crispy, and tend to stay that way even after the addition of the sauce. Soup broth is flavorful enough, and the noodles have never been mushy. So while it's absolutely not a destination place, I think it's a fine (only?) option for Vietnamese in this particular neighborhood.

sarahmilne in San Francisco Bay Area

Guatemalan Truck at 16th Street BART

There are a couple posts on this truck here:

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/568389

Haven't tried any of the fried things, but everything else I've had has been good. I particularly love the beans. Occasionally, they also set up a hot dog grilling station next to the truck and pile the sausages with about 17 different kinds of fixings. Good stuff.

sarahmilne in San Francisco Bay Area

Bar Tartine - update

I'm bumping this up in order to call attention to the Dungeness crab and sea urchin, pumpkin custard, chorizo, jalapeno and vanilla oil appetizer on the current menu. The ingredient list is long and maybe a little precious, but this was easily one of the most spectacularly interesting and delicious things I've eaten in a long time, and I'm not even much of a Dungeness fan. Silky custard, sweet and briny sea creatures, spicy peppers, and a whole that exceeded by leaps and bounds the sum of its weirdly disparate parts. Yum.

(The yellowtail crudo, marrow bones, beef heart with quail egg, and squid/pork belly with egg salad were all pretty tasty too, though--surprisingly, for me--I appreciated them in precisely inverse proportion to the amount of meat that arrived on the plate. Meaning: 1) uni and pumpkin custard, 2) hamachi, 3) marrow bones, 4) pork and squid, and 5) beef heart. Also enjoyed--though not as much as the citrus semolina cake at Bar Bambino--the meyer lemon pudding cake and a perfect affogato. Banana parfait was a bit too unrelievedly sweet for me, but then, I'm not much of a dessert person. And I was also approaching capacity by this point!)

sarahmilne in San Francisco Bay Area

Monk's Kettle

Just bumping this thread up to say: I had the burger here last night and thought it was really very good. Best burger I've had so far in SF, which may not mean that much, since I haven't tried Zuni, Slow Club, or some of the other real contenders, but I definitely thought it was better than Street's, for instance. Particularly good char flavor from the grill, and nice thin, crispy fries.

Beer, which is obviously the main attraction, was great too, and since the beer/burger combo is a staple of my diet (that sounds bad, doesn't it?), I'll be back.

sarahmilne in San Francisco Bay Area

SF: A Bar Bambino Saga (spoiler: it's good)

After a flurry of recent visits here—and particularly after my last experience, which was really quite impressive—I feel like it’s time to post on this place. I happened on it at the end of September, while on the quest for an apartment, at which point I was in no position or frame of mind to use it as anything other than a particularly pleasant café. I had a very good espresso (they give you a choice between a darker, southern and a lighter, northern roast; I chose the darker), the BF had a glass of absolutely wonderful rose to sooth his apartment-hunt-jangled nerves, and we filed it away in our minds as a place worthy of further exploration.
A few days later, we stopped in before a very late dinner reservation at La Ciccia and had a couple glasses of two very nice white wines (sorry, don’t remember what they were), together with the salumi platter. The salumi platter doesn’t seem to change much—I’ve had it three times over the past 4 months, and there’s only been one “new” item during that time—but when something’s this good, change isn’t necessarily all that desirable anyway. The “prosciutto” comes from Iowa and is fabulous; the others are all salamis and are cured in house. They’re by turns peppery, spicy, earthy, nutty, and rich, but most importantly never—and this is going to sound strange—distractingly meaty. By which I mean that you can really taste all the nuances in the meat because it’s not busy shoving itself obnoxiously in your face (or rather nose) so as to render all quieter distinctions irrelevant. Bar Bambino nails this one, in my opinion.
We finally made it back a week ago for a full meal, and I left just a bit disappointed. The salumi platter was a good as ever, but I thought the little cheese plate we ordered lacked variety, and the eggplant “meatballs” (ground eggplant, currants and pinenuts) in tomato sauce were tasty but lacked profile—the eggplant tasted less like eggplant to me than it did like some particularly innocuous form of ground meat. (That said, and probably for precisely this reason, a newly vegetarian friend pronounced it heaven on a plate.) In addition, I had bites of the cavatelli with lamb ragu (gamy and satisfying, though perhaps a bit one-dimensional) and the pappardelle with rabbit ragu (again, tasty but a little one-dimensional; it was also so rich that I would certainly have found a full portion tremendously cloying). All four of us were exhausted after three long days of job interviews, so we called it a night without trying dessert.
Given that I didn’t think anything else from this meal was nearly as good as the salumi platter, I probably would have waited much longer to go back but for a freak planning accident which left me scrambling to find an appropriate lunch place near a BART station for an Italian-food-obsessed professor. I’m glad I caved. It was a wonderful, and overall quite Roman-tasting lunch. Starters were cups of a gentle, white bean and kale soup, the tried and true salumi platter, and a mini portion of the pasta with sausage and cream sauce. The pasta was very salty, very rich, very delicious, and—we all agreed—perfectly sized. Nobody would have wanted more than a tiny portion of this one, but it was a great way to jump start the meal. For mains, we split an order of meatballs—these are a much denser style than A16’s, and somehow more prosaic-tasting, but not really the worse for that (meatballs being prosaic, and deliciously so, by their very nature)—and a meltingly tender, if a tad sweet, beef brisket. This time around, we followed up with dessert, and on the basis of this one experience I would advise anyone eating at Bar Bambino to do the same. I’m not a huge dessert person, but I loved both the dense and yeasty Italian-style donuts and the intensely perfumed citrus polenta cake. Espresso was good, though not as good as I remembered my first one being. Bill would have been extremely reasonable if it hadn’t been for our bottle of wonderful (and very pricy) barbera.

I like this place. I think people should go.

sarahmilne in San Francisco Bay Area

Top 10 Tastes - 2008

In no particular order:

1) pizza margherita with arugula at A16 (also: the Monday meatballs, the tuna conserva over bean puree, and the chocolate budino tart)
2) age dofu at Minako (also: the cured salmon with house-pickled umeboshi over greens, the black cod in sake, and anything fried)
3) shrimp tempura salad with avocado and apples at The House (also: the scallop in ponzu sauce appetizer, the first and second times I had it; the most recent version was less impressive)
4) bacalao mousse terrine at Luella
5) biscuits at Brenda’s (beignets are great too, as are the grits)
6) roast chicken at Zuni (it’s really as good as everyone says)
7) bay leaf panna cotta with almonds at Incanto (also: the salumi platter; everything else here was merely fine)
8) foie gras-stuffed duck breast with faro and black chanterelles at Bar Tartine (and I don’t usually love either foie or duck breast; also: bread and butter, pork belly with pear glaze, shortbread with blood orange sorbet in sparkling moscato, and trifle with caramel, meyer lemon granita and almond cake; so why do I remember feeling like it was a bit too expensive?)
9) pork dumplings with peanuts at Shanghai Dumpling King (also: soup dumplings and warm donuts)
10) grapefruit sorbet in kiwi-lemongrass soda at Ubuntu (also: Robuchon-style potatoes with caramelized onions, leeks in vinegar, and a slow egg)

I know the parentheses are cheating, but, honestly, I ate so many truly fantastic things this year that I’ve had to leave some of my favorites off the list entirely, and tricky punctuation seemed like a good way to sneak in a few extras. The category of “almost but not quite top ten caliber” would certainly include: celery sorbet and sous vide egg with wheatberries at Coi, buckwheat pizzoccheri with savoy cabbage, potatoes and fontina at Antica, bean and cheese pupusas at Balompie, my first al pastor taco from the Tonayense truck, earl grey and champagne-flavored truffles at XOX, the burger at Ravenous, aushak at Helmand, roasted banana and crème fraiche ice cream at Bi-Rite, chowder at Bar Crudo, eggs benedict at Canteen, tea leaf salad at Larkin Express, papaya salad with beef jerky and bun cha Hanoi at Bodega Bistro, pho ga at Turtle Tower, egg custard tarts at Golden Gate Bakery, chilaquiles at Primavera, jerk chicken at Back-a-Yard, the salumi platter, citrus polenta cake, and Italian donuts at Bar Bambino, ahmok at Angkor Borei, grilled calamari with white beans at Delfina, and pork leg stew at THE. Places that surprisingly did not make either list with any single dish include: La Ciccia, Pizzetta 211, Pizzeria Delfina, Pesce, Aziza, SPQR, and Coco500 (though I thought Aziza was actually better overall than its presence here would seem to indicate).

Manresa would probably be taking up 9 of the first 10 slots if I hadn’t eaten there in December of 2007.

sarahmilne in San Francisco Bay Area

Antojitos San Miguel: Guatemalan Snacks Wagon in the Mission

All I know is that it's pretty much always at the 16th St. BART station on the nights when I'm coming back late from Stanford, which would mean Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. Closing hours vary, since sometimes the lady who seems to run it is closing just as I get to her (betweeen 10 and 11) and sometimes she's not. I've always made it, though.

sarahmilne in San Francisco Bay Area

SF - Kasa Indian - Castro

Quick update: I tried delivery from here a week or so ago, and had a very positive experience. I ordered a thali plate (choice of one or two entrees plus dal, rice, and condiments) with the lamb curry and a potato-eggplant curry which was one of the daily rotating vegetable options. I thought the lamb curry was tasty but a bit one-dimensional; the potato-eggplant dish was delicious. All together, with the dal, rice, and condiments, a well-rounded, fresh-tasting delivery meal. (I also ordered a mango juice, which I found much too sweet and wouldn't order again.)

Delivery itself was fast, and the food came on a very sturdy and conveniently compartmentalized plastic plate.

sarahmilne in San Francisco Bay Area

Antojitos San Miguel: Guatemalan Snacks Wagon in the Mission

Just thought I'd add a quick two cents on my beloved late night dinner option. The beans here are the best I've tried in the Mission. And since I care more about beans than about any other single foodstuff, this truck has quickly become one of my favorite objects in San Francisco. (I should add that I'm biased in general in the direction of Guatemalan bean production.) They're black, cooked into nearly pureed submission, and have a meaty depth that allows them to stand on their own as a perfectly legitimate meal. (Ask for rice or tortillas, or both, and add some of the fixings from the mini salsa bar on the counter.) I also like the Guatemalan tamal, an overstuffed chicken/pepper/olive affair, though in that category I think I'd give the edge to the delicious chicken tamales at Panchita #2.

sarahmilne in San Francisco Bay Area

Mini Pupusa Roundup

Hi Melanie! Aminta seems to have a policy of having no policy on the one vs. two pupusa question. I'm back in the Mission now, after a 6 month hiatus, and have been effectively living on pupusas. A couple weeks ago, I finally asked why I'm sometimes allowed to order singles and sometimes not, and the woman working there smiled sweetly and said "sometimes is ok, sometimes not ok." For what that's worth. Not that it bothers me, since I nearly always want two.)

I have another mini-review to add to my list from above: since I now live closest to Panchita #2, I got pupusas from there a couple times before realizing that I'd really just rather walk to Balompie. Panchita's are fine, but they're not nearly as round-tasting as Balompie's and I much prefer Balompie's sharper, more vinegar-y, and just generally more flavorful slaw.

Panchita's does, however, have a very nice chicken tamale. So I still go there plenty, on my pupusa off nights(!)

Other things I like at Balompie: huevos rancheros (it's just fried eggs in a homey tomato sauce, served with their delicious beans and those Salvadorean tortillas), shrimp soup, and chicken soup. Still haven't tried the pescaditos. Rice is truly mediocre. Which doesn't matter much so long as you always make sure to use it only as a vehicle for the beans.

sarahmilne in San Francisco Bay Area

Mini Pupusa Roundup

I haven't, but I definitely will next time, now that you've called my attention to it. I love smelt. Thanks for the heads up.

sarahmilne in San Francisco Bay Area