Sharon S's Profile
GQ article: "20 best burgers in America"
I agree 100% - Zuni makes an awesome burger
Pizza delivery to SF Civic Center
I am organizing a pizza party and need to find a decent pizza that is delivered at lunchtime to the civic center area.
Making my first pie (peach) help!
I really want to try making a pie and I love peach pie. I am looking for a really good recipe and I don't even know what kind of peaches I should get. I could use any advice, thanks!
The documentary, "Food, Inc." Seen it?
I just saw the film yesterday and it will definitely change my eating habits. I had to close my eyes a lot to the brutality to the animals. It was like watching the Omnivore's Dilemma come to life. Very moving.
Loved Aziza
I had been to Aziza three years ago and remembered liking it pretty well. I went back with my husband for a birthday dinner Sat. night and we were both really pleased with the experience. We had the $55 tasting menu which was so delicious, but we actually could not finish our main courses as the portions were quite large (the amazing lamb shank made a great lunch the next day). The couscous was too perfect, I later read on-line that Chef Lahlou spends 8 hours making it! The cocktails are great. We let chef pick our appetizers and we had a calamari salad that I would not have ordered and it was fantastic. Also, I would not have ordered the watermelon granita if I had not been so full and I would have missed out on a really refeshing, tasty dish. With drinks the bill came to $150 before tip and tax. I would like to go back again and see if we could enjoy ourselves and still keep the costs down.
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Aziza
5800 Geary Blvd., San Francisco, CA 94121
Yangshuo Recommendations?
I just went to Yangzhou two days ago with a colleague who grew up there. Here are his recommendations: You can have a breakfast in Fu Chun (富春茶社）and Ye Chun （冶春茶社）restaurant ,Have a lunch or diner in Yi Yuan (怡园，besides Si Wang Ting 靠四望亭）and Fu Man Lou (福满楼酒店,正宗淮扬菜）restaurant
Sunday brunch in Santa Rosa?
Looking for a nice brunch place in Santa Rosa for a group of girlfriends - full bar a plus.
Szechuan Second Restaurant closed?
One of my go to places for a cheap Chinese lunch is supposedly closed forever. I am looking for decent Chinese food in the Civic Center.
City of Nanjing - Need recs
Thanks very much for the tips. I sure do not want western food (I don't even eat at KFC at home...)
Jason's, San Rafael - Still open?
I am looking for a nice place for dinner on Monday in San Rafael and a lot of places are closed. Someone mentioned that Jason's was closing in May.
Where to buy small organic whole chickens
I bought the largest chicken I could from Marin Sun at last Sunday's Marin farmer's market and it was 3 lbs - they only have small ones this time of year. You have to get there arly too because they sell out. It was absoultely fresh and delicious (you just have to deal with the head and the feet).
Saha report
I went to Saha in the Hotel Carlton at Larkin and Sutter with a group of ten friends the other night and had a really great time thanks to the recommendations on this board. We started with the Saha spreads (Hummus, Baba Ganoush, Leben, Artichoke and Eggplant) with pita bread and all were very delicious. We had a bunch of small plates including the Ten Crust Pizza (Artichoke spread, goat cheese, tomato confit, roasted dates, and eggplant), Shiitalkin Ravioli In fresh mango sauce, Chicken Bastille, Veggie and Beef Kibbeh, BBQ Tofu & mushrooms marinated in cumin, soy sauce, fresh basil & coconut milk. We also had three salads - Fattoush (Romaine hearts, English cucumbers,tomatoes, feta, olives, mint,cilantro, red onions, sumac), Asparaus and Mango, and the Fried Avocado. The price is very reasonable - about $30 pp with tip and wine. The atmosphere is really comfortable and not noisy so you can talk. They validate $5.00 parking right across the street. I got e-mails the next day from everyone saying how much they enjoyed it.
Great meal at Chopsticks in San Rafael
I agree about Yet Wah, I'd love to know where you go for Chinese food in SR.
Sat. Ladies lunch - Northern Marin
Wildfox. I had the crabcakes which were not bad. It is a nice space.
Sat. Ladies lunch - Northern Marin
I am looking for a nice lunch place for Saturday within a couple of exits north or south of the Regency theater in San Rafael. California/American - salads, simple mains, etc. Under $20 pp. Thanks!
What Christmas cookies are you baking this year?
Chez Panisse Ginger Snaps (only crisp for about a day). The recipe is on the
Chocolate and Zucchini website.
Sol Food - San Rafael
I am very sorry to hear that. They just needed a better location, the food was great...
Vin Antico in San Rafael
Okay, I'll bite. What did you have to eat that was good on the menu?
Ana Mandara or Bong Su?
I attended a nice birthday celebration at Bong Su last Friday night. It seemed like many others were doing the same. The food there is delicious, but some of the portions are small so if you are eating family style it could rack up the bill. We had the glass noodles with scallops, the appetizer platter, eggplant. shaking beef, garlic rice, vegetable and tofu curry. The only dish that was a bomb was the eggplant. Everyone loved the banana fritters and I would skip the chocolate malt mousse unless you like that sour malty taste. It is one of the few places that is quiet enough that you can have a decent conversation. I haven't been to Ana Mandara in ages, but Bong Su defintely has a warmer atmosphere and is more elegant.
Cocktails and Food in SF
I am looking for a place for great cocktails with some good bar food after work. It's small group, but not too noisy and parking a plus. Neighborhood should be somewhat central SF.
Playing hooky tomorrow - nice outdoor spot on the water in Marin?
How about Guaymas in Tiburon? The upstairs is usually pretty quiet and has great views. There are a few good things on the menu, I love the tamales and they have a full bar.
Chinese Recommendations in Little Saigon?
I have worked in the Civic Center for over 4 years and Szechwan Second is the only place that I have had pretty decent Chinese food. I have not tried Joe Joe's BBQ. I have gone to Hai Ky Mi Gia on Ellis Street which is Chinese/Vietnamese and Golden Era which is Vegetarian Chinese/Vietnamese on O’Farrell. I would love to find more good Chinese places in the 'hood.
What to order at Terra?
One of their longtime specialties is the Black Cod and Dumplings with Shiso broth, but that can also be had at Ame. I love the Foie Gras tortelloni starter.
San Francisco Hound goes Loopy
I was in Chicago for a conference and so I did not get to go out for too many meals and I did not get to choose some of the places I did dineat. I went with a large party to Opera (1301 S. Wabash - on the corner of 13th and Wabash) which has a pan-Asian menu. We had a lot of the dishes including the Vegetable Springroll, Maine Lobster Springroll, Beijing Twice-Cooked Ribs, Sichuan Peanut Noodles, Carolina Rock Shrimp Fried Rice, Black Tiger Prawn Singapore Noodles, Fire Cracker Chicken, Black Pepper Crusted NY Strip with Asparagus, Phat Noodles & Black Pepper Sauce. I tasted some other dishes that were very also good like the duck cooked three ways. I thought the food for the most part was great and everyone in the party did also. The waitstaff went out of their way to accomodate our large party and also worked hard to satisfy the vegetarian member of our party and the person who did not eat pork or red meat. We absolutey loved their cocktails. I also went with a friend to Topolobampo - I would have liked to have gone to the Frontera Grill, but we had limited time to wait and some friends had mentioned that the night before the wait was 1 hour and 45 min (they ended up waiting 1 hour for a seat at the bar). That place is crazy busy and LOUD. Topolobampo was practically serene in contrast. The menu is fairly expensive (it was $130 for two). We had the trio of ceviche - which I guess is a specialty and I was not wowed by 2 of the 3. I am of the mind that ceviche needs to have extremely fresh fish that really tastes like it was just pulled out of the sea, also the sauces were a bit overpowering. We also had another appeitzer of shrimp tacos that were unlike any fish taco I have ever had (in a bad way). There were 4 - very small -rolled up tacitos with shrimp that was swimmming in a tomato sauce that tasted like it came from a can. I had the Maine Lobster which was quite delicious and came with a small gratin of some sort of almost vegetable for which I cannot remember now. There were really no vegetables with any of the dishes and I am not sure there were in any of the dishes even on the whole menu. My friend had the duck which was also quite delicious. We had a couple of cocktails and glasses of wine and no dessert. I also had one dinner at the Park Grill in Millenium Park which was pleasant - I had a nice Cioppino which was very small and came with bread that was not good. The bread for the table was really good though, thank goodness or I would have starved, also a decent German chocolate cake which I am pretty picky about. I also ate out for breakfast at the Atwood Cafe, Orange and Yolk, Orange and Yolk were adequate, kind of disappointing, and Atwood was lovely.
Ridiculous Request for Valentine's Day Guidance
While I enjoy eating at Thai House I would never tell someone to walk from Union Square to Thai house. A cab would be better. I do think Asian food would be a good option. How about Straits in the Westfield Centre, lively atmosphere and pretty good food. Also, South of Market is Tres Agaves and Maya. If you can get access to the internet you could check on Open Table for a last minute reservation.
Dim Sum Bar -- Clean-cut takeout
Gary: I would be very interested in a comparison between this place and the newly opened
Emperor's Kitchen at 418 Larkin St.(near Golden Gate). I have worked for years in the SF Civic Center and I think it is interesting that two such similar restuarants have opened at the same time in the same general area. Emperor's Kitchen has steam table Chinese dishes to go, lots of choices and huge quantities for cheap (the combo's are about the same price as Dim Sum Bar and they also sell around 6-8 types of dim sum. They have a few small tables inside, but it is a mostly take-out place.
415 Restaurant and Lounge - Menu wrong?
Since I did not get much response to my request to anyone who had dined here lately I plunged in anyway. 415 is a pan-Asian restaurant at the SFJCC on the corner of California at Presidio and open for lunch and dinner.The atmosphere of this restaurant is very pretty and serene. Soft music, low lights, but not particularly romantic - at least for me. I was seated in the lower level corner and faced the upstairs kitchen and there is a great deal of activity going in and out of the swinging doors. I had a couple of small plates. One was the Lemongrass Beef Skewer - two smallish skewers with a dipping sauce which was absolutely delicious. Then I also split an order of the duck confit dumplings. They were also quite good, but it did not say that they were fried on the menu. The biggest glitch of the evening came when I ordered the seared Hawaiian Opah with a cara cara and mint sauce. What they brought me was an Opah carpaccio. Since the servers are not the waitstaff, I had to wait quite a bit to attract the servers attention to let her know that was not what I ordered. The service there is really hit or miss. It turned out that the menu was wrong, they were not serving the seared Opah and were serving Opah carapccio. I don't think I have ever run across this situation and I really wanted a nice warm piece if fish so I sent it back and ordered the short ribs. The ribs were a small portion, but very rich. One thing that struck me was that they used really large white plates for all the items, which hardly fir on the table and they had no real presentation - nothing else on the plate (the skewers had a lettuce leaf under it) so everything looked even smaller than they were and very sparse. They were out of the carmelized banana bread that I wanted so I did not order dessert. The three dishes and a glass of wine came to $55.
(415) Asian Restaurant & Lounge
Has anyone been to this pan-Asian restaurant in the SF Jewish Community Center lately? What is good there?
Picco and Picco Pizzeria
I just went to Pizzeria Picco for the first time on Sat. and had the cesear salad, margharita pizza and the vanilla soft serve with olive oil and salt and loved every bite of all three.
