sfbing's Profile
5 days in SF.
Anchor and Hope is kind of far from the park for a pre/post game pint. Usually, I head over to 21st amendment. Or tres agaves if you're in the mood for tequila and fries fried in lard. Or the public house which is as close as you can get.
In the dogpatch (which is probably farther than anchor and hope, really), there is serpentine, piccino, hard knox, and mr. and mrs. miscellaneous, who serve an Anchor Steam ice cream with peanuts.
Momo's is very popular but I always feel vaguely ripped off there.
Top 10 Must-visit SF Eateries - The Budget Version
Marnee thai is making a very nice version of kanom krok right now as a special. Topped with chives, cubes of taro and cubes of pumpkin and oozing with coconut cream.
Nam Kao Tod in Bay Area?
I've had it at champa, and vientiane. I think Vientiane is my favorite for the rice ball salad. I'm not really sure it should be that crunchy, although that is my preference. Most every place I've been to hasn't been that crunchy--and it is not like it is that hard to make it crunchy since it is basically deep frying, which makes me think that the Lao prefer it softer. I mention the sour sausage b/c it is a pretty important component of nem kao.
Unfortunately, I think Green Papaya and That Luang make other dishes better than Vientiane with less MSG and salt. But vientiane has a lot of unusual things. Chabaa is a little more expensive than I am used to for lao food, but it is the only place in the city. Focus on the cured and grilled meats if you go to chabaa.
I've also seen nem kao at the Berkeley Thai temple and at the SSF temple.
Nam Kao Tod in Bay Area?
Not crunchy enough for me, but Chabaa's house made sour sausage is pretty sour. Noticeably funkier than other places.
bahn mi for party
If you don't want to make a long trek, irving cafe and deli makes decent sandwiches. I think if you eat them on the same day, they should be fine. You can also pick up vietnamese desserts and cha gio. For the vegetarians, freshly fried felafel can be had at sunrise deli nearby.
NY hound visiting San Francisco. Must Try Foods?
Vancouver is several notches above SF, NY, LA in terms of cantonese. My uncle says toronto is similar but I haven't been so can't compare directly.
Check the Manhattan board for high end chinese recs. There are a lot of people who are very familiar with the Chinese scene on that board. I thought about going to Chinatown Brasserie, but NY Chowhounders dissuaded me from doing so since I came from SF. I hear some fancy pants place called Hakkasan is opening up in Midtown.
Aside from the obligatory familial dim sum lunch, I mostly frequent places around the Flushing mall and Yunnan Flavour Snack Shop for cheap non Cantonese authentic eats.
NY hound visiting San Francisco. Must Try Foods?
Why would that be bizarre? Hong Kong is Cantonese food central. Of course, the food would be best in the mother land. (The flip side of this is that it is quite difficult to find good affordable non Cantonese food in Hong Kong. )
San Francisco is not in China but has an extremely large Cantonese population. New York is further away from Hong Kong, and has more immigrants from other parts of China rather than from Hong Kong so it doesn't really have a large selection of Hong Kong type places to eat. Great stuff from other regions, though.
Unless London has changed dramatically in the last 10 years, Chinese food was pretty crappy IIRC. $10 bucks for a teacup full of soggy noodles and wonton.
If you are looking for great Cantonese food outside of Hong Kong and Asia, Vancouver is the place. Lots of wealthy Cantonese immigrants plus great seafood.
NY hound visiting San Francisco. Must Try Foods?
New York has a shortage of high end HK style dim sum for some reason. Even in Flushing the places are behind the trends and there is an emphasis on price and quantity over quality. My suspicion is that the Chinese population (and I count my NYC relatives) just won't pay for it.
On the plus side, if you're missing your favorites from the seventies (black sesame rolls, tamarind spare ribs, snails in black bean sauce) NYC is a good place to find them.
ISO Vietnamese noodle soup with duck and dried bamboo shoots: bun mang vit
So much for following leads--I wandered into Sao Bien on Larkin today with a friend.
Coincidentally, they happened to offer bun mang vit. Unfortunately, it was just ok. Not funky enough, a fair amount of duck, but the broth was cloudy and the noodles were wrong. (At least, I'm used to more of a bun bo hue type thickness rather than a regular rice noodle). Also, a lack of herbs and ginger dipping sauce. Sigh. A perusal of the yelp page suggests that noodle soups are not a strong suit.
Her combo broken rice plate was quite good though. Best I've had in the city. Even the omelet thing was decent and I don't actually like that part.
There were several number of people slurping up crabs for lunch, of all things. Maybe that is where people should focus given the extremely large menu.
ISO Vietnamese noodle soup with duck and dried bamboo shoots: bun mang vit
Thanks guys, I'll check out the leads!
ISO Vietnamese noodle soup with duck and dried bamboo shoots: bun mang vit
Anyone know of a place with a decent bowl of this? San Francisco preferred but will schlep as far as San Jose for a good bowl.
Anyone ever tried Stinky Tofu?
I once took Star Lunch's fried stinky tofu in a paper bag into a crowded elevator. Ahh. Good times.
Turtle Tower SOMA not as good?
I think the Turtle Tower in SOMA isn't quite as good as the Turtle Tower in the Tenderloin, but it is more of an issue of freshness/turnover than that it has a weak broth. For example, occasionally a bowl in SOMA looks like the the cilantro or green onion or jalapeno or chicken was cut perhaps yesterday night rather than fresh that morning. I get the feeling that maybe the SOMA people are trying to save some time in the morning by prepping the evening before.
However, Turtle Tower does Northern style pho which is more delicate and has less spices than the Saigon style which is more common here. So maybe Turtle Tower simply isn't to your taste. If that is the case, I recommend Ha Nam Ninh which is where I go for Southern style beef pho. Be patient, b/c bowl is made to order and they kind of operate on Vietnam time. Also ask for beef on the side if you like your beef rare, b/c their stock is very hot.
Chawan Mushi at Takara
Ame has a very good hot one which changes with the seasons. R&G lounge makes a Chinese version with clams that is quite good.
Burgers and coffee, that's elf food, apparently -- your thoughts solicited
I like the burger at Slow Club, probably because the meat is from Prather.
An interesting option is the newly opened Tayyibaat in the tenderloin around the corner from saigon sandwich. Halal fast food restaurant filled with muslim families when I went. It is kind of an odd combination of traditional Afghan kabab plates with burgers and fries. When I was there, it looked like the parents were getting traditional plates for themselves and burgers for the kids. http://www.yelp.com/biz/tayyibaat-meat-and-grill-san-francisco
Can't vouch for the burgers but my chicken kebab plate was quite tasty, especially for fast food. There was probably more than a smidge of msg in the rice though. if only they dumped the coleslaw and served bolani instead.
7 favorite ingredients HELP!!
This sounds like a version of miang kum. I would guess the other ingredients you are looking for are: ginger and toasted coconut.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miang_kham
Who serves the most impressive Chinese Banquet for under $500 per table?
I've never been to HKL for a banquet dinner but both those menus look fine. The $500 one doesn't even look like a huge rip-off, although most non-Chinese (and some Chinese) find the sea cucumber totally not worth it. My rule of thumb is that the cheapest menu isn't that great and the most expensive is usually a ridiculous rip off. One of the ones in the middle is usually the sweet spot.
For your dad's birthday, you should ask for yi mein for good luck.
Best place for Dim Sum? {also Sushi, San Francisco]
I found this link, which you might find helpful since it provides a short description, pics, and most useful of all, ADDRESSES.
http://blogs.sfweekly.com/foodie/2012/02/san_franciscos_top_10_dim_sum.php
Best place for Dim Sum? {also Sushi, San Francisco]
Sorry--apparently you can get some of the things I listed (although still not much offal). I still maintain that the selection is significantly limited compared to Hong Kong Lounge and the big places outside of the city.
Robert-that turnip cake is probably daikon cake. And the steamed daikon cake at Koi Palace makes special for New Year's is killer.
Best place for Dim Sum? {also Sushi, San Francisco]
There is no tripe at Yank Sing. There is no ngau jaap, or beef offal mix. There is no pork's blood. There are no shark fin soup dumplings. There aren't any lava buns. There aren't even custard buns. There aren't chicken feet, neither steamed or pickled. There are no chiu chow dumplings. There is no pigs feet. There is no jellyfish. There is no daikon cake or taro cake. There are no steamed meat balls or spareribs. They have no cheung fun, which is an entire dim sum station by itself. Nor can you order ala carte noodle/soup/rice dishes to pad out your meal which most dim sum places usually have. Also, I haven't seen the (uncommon in other dim sum restaurants) lobster dumpling, goldfish dumpling, chicken lotus root cake, or curried chicken turnover described on their menu.
M
Best place for Dim Sum? {also Sushi, San Francisco]
If you are looking for:
decent, unadventurous dim sum in a nice environment with good service and prices to match: Yank Sing at Rincon or Ton Kiang
basic affordable dim sum near Chinatown: City View
dim sum near attractions at Golden Gate Park: South Sea Seafood Village
hard core dim sum with a huge wait in the City: Hong Kong Lounge
hard core dim sum with a huge wait that needs a car: Koi Palace
dim sum near the airport: Hong Kong Flower Lounge or the Kitchen or Asian Pearl (furthest from airport, but IMO least MSG)
Good Eats
Also you might find this a useful list of brunch candidates:
http://blogs.sfweekly.com/foodie/2012/02/san_franciscos_top_10_brunches.php
Note: I really like Outerlands, but it probably isn't worth the trip to eat there for a visitor.
Good Eats
If you are only here for a weekend, skip the rental car. There is plenty to see and do in SF in two days without the hassle of parking.
Judging from your posts, your tastes slant American (breakfast, BBQ, seafood, pie, sandwiches, little mention of non European ethnic cuisine). Regardless, I agree with a lot of other people in this thread about spending a Saturday morning at the Ferry building farmers market to get a feel for the SF food scene. The porcetta sandwich at the Roli Roti food stand sounds right up your alley.
Other suggestions based on your stated preference for busy, youngish, mid-range places:
Breakfast: Mama's or Brenda's
Alembic or Magnolia brewpubs in the Haight
Nopa for American, or Nopalito, Nopa's little sister for Mexican
Mission Chinese Food, for trendy hipster Chinese American food
Barbacco, for casual Italian and wine
Swan's Oyster Depot, old school SF seafood
Bar Crudo
Commonwealth
Ike's Sandwiches, for huge sandwiches with crazy names
Sumo citrus - enormously good to eat
Had one at Nijiya in Japantown last weekend for 2.39 each. Incredible aroma from the peel, great texture. I ate it as I was getting my groceries packed (so rude), and the kid who was packing my bags said, "Wow, that citrus smell really woke me up!" The fruit was actually pretty acidic, which I liked. I was told that they get sweeter later in the season. Kind of like a giant tangerine with better texture.
ISO Veal or Beef Brains
I asked them about this when buying my side of beef from Prather. B/c of their other business of supplying the medical industry, Prather is pretty obsessive about not letting neural tissue contaminate their equipment. They wouldn't even provide us with the beef neck, let alone the brain.
New to SF. Perfect tasting menu at 5star place for 30th bday?
Given the restaurants you provided (Morimoto, Farallon, Jardiniere), I would suggest Benu. Then Saison, Quince, La Folie.
ISO Bells and Flower minced salted radish pickle
Has anyone seen this in the Bay Area? I'm almost out and I'd rather buy local.
ISO Gai Loong/Ham Siu Gok Recipe
This is an old post, but I thought I might stir it up to see if anyone has anything new to add.
Haam Siu Gok (salt water dumpling) are those deep fried mochi footballs found in dim sum restaurants. There's a lot of air inside and the filling is mostly pork and gravy. Gai Loong aren't quite the same as Haam Gok (salty dumpling) and definitely not the same Haam Siu Gok.
Gai Loong are a steamed tapioca flour dumpling shaped in a half crescent stuffed with a mix of things that seems to vary from family to family. Recipe in this thread seems to fit.
Haam Gok have a similar stuffing with a similar shape but the dough is different. It probably has some glutinous rice flour since it has a slightly mochi like consistency and it is deep fried. The recipe in the eG thread seems close, but my family's dumplings never get golden brown.
They're kind of an off white color and greasy and chewy. Sounds gross, but that's the way I want it. Does anyone have a dough recipe for this?
Such thing as a delicious brunch buffet in SF?
If you like Indian food, Amber India's Sunday brunch is quite good. The food is freshly made and there is more variety than your typical all you can eat Indian buffet. When I was there, there was a guy who was making minidosas and uttappam to order.
