Looks like the Boilerhouse is closing, to reopen in January 2013...per their website.

Driving by today noticed they now offer Sichuan dishes, not on regular menu, but server was very gracious and translated from the Chinese for me. I ordered fish in a spicy chilli oil, had numbing spice as well as chilli, cabbage slices and beansprouts, very delicious!

I can't make an informed comparison with China Village but I was very satisfied, told them they need to have an English menu and the server said they haven't yet decided what to put on permanent menu...

Was thinking this might be a good Chowdown site...

Bummer—but she once told me that the usual customers of the mall didn't want to pay more for organic/natural. I hope she reopens in Berkeley, where she would be very appreciated! What I loved was authentic homestyle Thai flavors with natural meats—I wish there were more Asian restaurants in this category, not fancy fusion or vegetarian, just not industrial ingredients.

When does crab season open? How about salt and pepper crab or another crab dish?

I remember Ming's chicken salad growing up, but then I don't think they skinned it—I still crave that combination of hot mustardy dressing and crunchy fried chicken—guess the low fat silliness put an end to that...

Highwire Coffee in the Market Plaza in Oakland (Rockridge BART) has a special Starter Bakery kouignn amann with espresso custard made from their espresso blend. It is fabulous!

Not in San Francisco, but Whole Spice in the Oxbow Market in Napa does, and they have online ordering...

Unless they have changed recently, the food is terribly mediocre.

Nice for the bagels, but a drag for us Cafe Zoe regulars who no longer can get the great pastries from Indie Pies and Cakes that have been dropped by the new owners....

Aziza used to be more Moroccan than "inspired by" and its portions weren't just artistic smears on a plate. Haven't been back since that time I ordered the spreads and got a painting instead...

Not Thai fusion—but what about Skool? Right ambiance, very interesting fusion of Japanese and Mediterranean. Love it.

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Skool
1725 Alameda St, San Francisco, CA 94103

I stopped going there after a fairly mediocre meal at the new location (I was a big fan before). Would love to hear about other restaurants people really like. I've been to Salang Pass in Fremont, found it better than the current Helmand.

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Salang Pass
37462 Fremont Blvd, Fremont, CA 94536

I wish he were so adventurous! He's a real meat and potatoes guy, that dish at Chow was perfect for him.

Sounds delish, however would really prefer a less expensive restaurant. Chow used to charge around $15 I think...

My Dad is coming to town, requested to go to Chow for the braised short ribs, but it's not on the menu any more! Any recs for someplace that does them well at a reasonable price point?

Rock Cod sandwich at Wood Tavern
Spicy Hog (pulled pork) at Southies
Seared Ahi sandwich at Southies

Too bad it's not on the menu anymore, but Plum's beef cheek&oxtail "burger" was my all time favorite sandwich ever.

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Wood Tavern
6317 College Ave., Oakland, CA 94618

Southie
6311 College Ave, Oakland, CA 94618

Japanese salmon roe has a different flavor, it's cured a little differently. You will find 4-5 grades of salmon roe at New World or European Food. You can also get black caviar in bulk at European Food, ask at the counter. Still expensive but much less than Tsar Nicolai. I can't remember what other fish roe they have...

Which one? They hadn't even heard of it at BB West...

I've looked all over the East Bay, and the only place I have seen has it is Tierra's stand at the Ferry Plaza Saturday market, but they sold out before I could get there. Anyone seen it anywhere in SF or East Bay?

Maybe Jeremy just wants to cook with meat again....

I click and click on it, no go, always comes up "Last Post". I'm using Firefox 3.5.6 on OS 10.4.11

I got some last year at Semiramis on Mission and 26th. They were good. If you go can you post if they have them again? I'm not in SF anymore but would make a special trip for those...

Bar Crudo is now on Divisadero, close to Nopa. Across from the Independent.

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Bar Crudo
655 Divisadero Street, San Francisco, CA 94117

Wow—how does the guanciale flavoring work in that dish? I'm familiar with a plain pork belly dish that is similar looking...

Berkeley Horticultural often has them too.

Where is this market?

Based on the photo in your blog I think the "native" plant in the amuse was nasturtium. That's a nasturtium petal floating on top. Nice report.

Might have if they used a sweet waxy potato. Some of the little heirloom types are quite sweet.

I am a longtime fan of Ton Kiang, resistant to the reports of "slipping" but my last two visits have shifted me to the other camp. The dumplings, my biggest reason for preferring TonKiang over other dim sum houses, are tasteless. The fillings have no flavor, and more than a few were oversteamed. The Tao Meo (snowpea shoots) with garlic also lacked the previous savory pan-roasted whole smashed garlic cloves that made it superlative, instead just thick slices of garlic that seemed to add little garlic flavor to the dish.
And now they give Chinese mustard instead of the red chili-garlic sauce that is de rigueur for dim sum for me. When I requested it they brought a smooth chili paste that reminded me of Siracha, NOT the flavor I look for with dim sum.
Soft-shell crab was lost in the thickest crunchy batter that felt very heavy in my stomach.

I'm sad..

Thanks for the report back! You made me want to try Gitane soon.

Re: your experience of Aziza. I have been a longtime fan of this restaurant, but my last visit there really shocked me. The portion sizes seemed to have shrunk, the welcome seemed to have disappeared from the staff. My friend and I walked in without reservations at 6;30pm, to a largely empty restaurant. Told we could only be seated at the bar we watched as many tables remained empty. When we left there were still empty tables.

The cocktails also seemed to have lost their inventiveness and sparkle, the food still tasty but barely there—the spreads appetizer now three tiny smears like a minimalist's palette. Our other dishes didn't shine—but we also didn't order as much as I would have normally because we were sitting at the bar, and a little disgruntled.

The menu descriptions now an unenlightening list of ingredients, I don't know what is going on but it made me sad.

What happened?