cornflower55's Profile
Meat Cleaver in SF Chinatown?
kamei has a lot of kitchen supplies at great prices, but their knife (and meat cleaver) selection isn't very good. i saw one moderately heavy meat cleaver for sale there but nothing of quality. it might be easier to buy it on amazon.
3 nights in SF, where to eat?
given that you mentioned indian, i recommend amber. it is a cut above the other indian restaurants in san francisco.
udupi palace is also very good for southern indian food (vegetarian) - but it is not an elegant place -- great food and an okay atmosphere.
i know a lot of people like aziza, but i honestly don't have any idea why. i must have been there on a couple of off-nights, because the food was kind of plain. very good cocktails though.
there is a very small japanese restaurant on post street (it can be hard to find) called kappa, on post street. they do not serve sushi but serve other homecooked japanese dishes, omakase style. you would need to make reservations in advance to go there.
New to Marin (Mill Valley)...having second thoughts about leaving the East Bay
the buckeye roadhouse has maybe the best brunch in marin county
what's your favorite Chinese restaurant in SF?
beijing restaurant is fantastic! somewhat out of the way though for many people. the cumin lamb is very addictive.
Overwhelmed by options ... need help narrowing the list!
Rincon Center is the best location. Make sure you order the xiaolongbao (Shanghai soup dumplings)!
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Rincon Center
121 Spear St # B18, San Francisco, CA
6 nights in SF - upper mid end and upper dinning list for input
i think coi and dining room tasting menus back to back would be a pretty amazing way to finish out a trip. it would be interesting to see what others think, but i think you're better off at dining room even if prospect is open. or go to prospect earlier in the week instead of foreign cinema or commonwealth.
6 nights in SF - upper mid end and upper dinning list for input
I imagine since you're staying at the ritz Carlton (in sf) that you'll also dine there? My guess is that your meal there will be the best one of your trip. I wouldn't pass up the chance to enjoy the tasting menu there.
I would also skip foreign cinema as a dinner slot. Perhaps replace with RN74?
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RN74
301 Mission Street, San Francisco, CA 94105
Sushi in San Francisco?
every time i go to kabuto i am surprised by how good it is.
if you want inexpensive, fresh sashimi for takeout then try yum yum fish in the sunset.
Marin Breakfast
if you go on sunday, then i think buckeye roadhouse serves the best breakfast / brunch in marin county.
Café Gratitude - give me a break...
i would think if the food was good then none of the other stuff would matter
What's missing in SF?
A ramen shop and korean restaurant that is as good as what exists in LA
All things curry
I don't think Volcano is very good. I wished it were better, because it's pretty much all they do. But their curry is heavier and sweeter than any other Japanese curry I've had. It has coconut milk or cream or some other ingredient that doesn't seem right.
Please help me get over my egg loathing
i think you might be eating a lot of poorly cooked eggs. the only time i ever smell sulfur in eggs is 1) when they're boiled, but incorrectly, or 2) when they're rotten. but they have to be pretty rotten to give off a sulfur smell.
maybe you should try a simple experiment, to get two fairly fresh eggs, and simply fry them up. are you really getting a sulfur smell? or is there something else going on?
SHANGHAI and TAIPEI for a solo traveler -- any recs?
jia jia tang bao is a hole in the wall in shanghai but has very delicious soup dumplings. plus you can go across the street afterwards and get an order of fried dumplings. you won't have any problems ordering there.
xintiandi is a big expat area in shanghai -- it is one area where you can go most places and not worry about language issues. din tai fung is another dumpling house which i recommend -- although i have heard the branch in taipei is even better.
Best Indian Buffets in SF? [Split from "Sultan closed" thread]
Oh that's good to know. I've been there a number of times but not for buffet, but the Web site says they have lunch buffet -- it's not clear that it is only for the other locations.
Please help a first timer who did her research :-)
I second the recommendation for Ame -- one of the best places in SF overall, and especially for high-end Japanese fusion.
I would agree that Zuni is a classic and not overrated at all. However, I would go instead to the Dining Room at Ritz-Carlton. It is called French but it has a strong Japanese influence and the nine-course tasting menu might be the best dinner one can buy in SF. It is not a meal that you could find easily in Europe.
The best time to get Dungeness crab is December but you should still be able to find it and I highly recommend it. It's too bad you don't want any SE Asian recommendations because I think the best preparation of dungeness crab in SF is PPQ Dungeness Island. It is Vietnamese but you might want to go there and only get the crab and nothing else. People have recommended Nettie's Crab Shack for a more American-style crab feed, but I have not been there.
I also recommend Ozumo for a high-end modern Japanese restaurant. The sushi is very good but the other Japanese dishes are even better, and it has an extensive sake menu. Kappa serves koryori traditional Japanese dishes and has been given very good reviews.
Most of the "Mexican" food in SF consists of taquerias that serve Mission-style burritos. They are not similar to what you would find in Mexico but might be worth trying for the novelty. Or you can try a Mexican-American style restaurant like Tia Margarita. They are more similar to what you might find in LA, but also not really like Mexico (and also not really available in Europe -- the Mexican style restaurants I've been to in Europe taste completely different and uninteresting). However, given you only have 3 nights free, I'd save Mexican for a quick lunch in the Mission, and go for the other options in the evening.
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Zuni Cafe
1658 Market Street, San Francisco, CA 94102
Nettie's Crab Shack
2032 Union Street, San Francisco, CA 94123
Ozumo
2251 Broadway Avenue, Oakland, CA 94612
Best Indian Buffets in SF? [Split from "Sultan closed" thread]
Try Udupi Palace - its menu is south indian and therefore different from what many people are used to. the food is very good. it is all vegetarian but i bet you would not miss having meat.
Inner Richmond Favorites?
ML8000 - that's a good list. i also think Oyaji on 32nd / Clement is worth the trek out a few more blocks.
Also Kabuto is very good. People don't talk about it as much as they used to, but it still has some of the best sushi in SF.
There is also a fruit and vegetable market across the street from House of Bagels that has very fresh produce. It is a family-run store and the owner sources all of the produce himself.
Many of the take-out dim sum places on Clement aren't really that good. I've heard Tong Palace has very good dim sum on 10th / Clement, but I haven't been there.
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Oyaji Restaurant
3123 Clement St, San Francisco, CA 94121
Tong Palace
933 Clement St, San Francisco, CA 94118
opinions on which place to buy sushi grade fish/seafood in SF?
nijiya, and then uoki up the street on post, is where i would go for sashimi-grade fish. you can go to both places and compare for freshness. as carriewas said, you will not get the same variety if you don't go to a japanese grocery.
Beijing Food Advice
Da Dong is great. I would recommend going to the Nanxincang location (on Dongsishitao). The decor is better and the food has the same high quality. If there is a meal in which you can come with others, I would suggest doing that at Da Dong because the menu has many other very good dishes (which most people don't try because they focus on the duck).
I really did not enjoy the Donghuamen Night Market. It might be worth a walkthrough if you are in the area but I would not plan on having a substantial amount of food there.
taiwanese noodles from DinTaiFung
Yes they are thinner than the Dan Dan noodles I have had here. What is interesting is that the printed menu says Taiwanese style noodles so maybe there is a different name for this noodle.
The noodles do look the same as the picture in the wikipedia entry for Dan Dan noodles:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_dan_noodles
However the dish is nothing like the description for the traditional Sichuan preparation in the Wikipedia entry.
taiwanese noodles from DinTaiFung
thanks for the responses. it looks like they are indeed dan dan noodles. after doing some searching it looks like most of the interpretations here are very different from the one at Din Tai Fung. those were really good -- not too sweet, not too oily, and fairly spicy. i may have to take a trip to arcadia to find the same recipe again. :(
taiwanese noodles from DinTaiFung
On my last trip to Asia I tried these fantastic noodles from DinTaiFung:
http://www.dintaifung.com.tw/en/product_a_detail.asp?ProductNO=174&CategoryNO=1
It was described on the paper menu as Taiwanese-style noodles. They were vegetarian, and were fairly thin noodles in a somewhat strong sesame sauce with peanut.
Here is the Chinese description of the same dish:
http://www.dintaifung.com.tw/ch/product_a_detail.asp?ProductNO=100&CategoryNO=26
Does anybody know if this is a common Taiwanese preparation, or if it's specific to DinTaiFung? And more importantly, does anyone know where I could find this dish in San Francisco?
Let's Try ANEW- The best Xiaolongbao (soup dumplings) in Shanghai?? WHERE????????
I would say that if you were going to one restaurant and all you cared about was the quality of the dumpling (and nothing else), Jia Jia Tang Bao beats out DTF. But DTF is still outstanding, and all the other items on their menu are equally very good. You have very limited choice at JJTB. Plus the ambiance is completely different at the two places -- JJTB is very inexpensive but kind of divey, while DTF feels like being in an upscale shopping mall (which it is). I think both places should be at the top of the list of places to go, but for different reasons.
What to put on rice?
natto (fermented soybeans) whipped with soy sauce, green onions, and crumbled nori, poured over hot rice
raw egg mixed with soy sauce, mixed in with hot rice
day-old rice with dashi, soy sauce, and egg drizzled into the broth
broiled salmon onigiri
mapo doufu
furikake
sake chazuke
any secrets to a great tuna fish sandwich?
the chiarello tuna mousse recipe above (the linked one, not the posted one) is very good. it is worth trying -- and following exactly.
one note -- if you use tuna in water instead of oil, and you don't drain every drop, it will turn into something very disgusting. also if you add too much balsamic vinegar or lemon juice it will also be terrible. this is a recipe where you have to follow the proportions perfectly.
John Campbell's pasties..
I have to say that while John Campell's is a fantastic bakery, the pastys and pork pies are extremely salty. The crust is fantastic, but I can't eat two bites of the filling without needing to drink a quart of water.
The pork pie isn't like a Mowbray pork pie (or at least the ones I've had). There is no pork jelly (which for me is a good thing). However, it has a lot of pork sausage in the middle -- too much for me, especially with the amount of salt in it. The crust is very good.
I only had the beef pasty. It is ground beef, not steak. Plus there are carrots (some people don't like carrots in their pastys). I think the proportions are right and the pasty would be perfect if it was just less salty.
They also have a number of shepherd's pies (or pies with savory filling topped by mashed potatoes). I had a chicken curry "shepherd's pie" which was really good -- by far the best savory thing I had there.
Breakfast in SF Richmond/sunset
whoops my bad, when i read joe's i automatically thought of the ice cream shop.
john campbell's irish bakery is a great place. the bread is very good and the selections really do represent Irish tradition. i think they have a very small weekend brunch menu but i have not tried it. plus i've never seen any tables so i think it is all take-out only.
pork chops--brine or not?
the type of pork chop you buy has more impact on the tenderness and flavor than whether you brine or not. having said that, brining does make any pork chop juicier.
center cut pork chops (or top loin chops), and center-cut rib chops are the most tender. i would cook them over dry heat (sear and bake, or grill). blade or shoulder chops are better with slow cooking like braising.
i think the only downside to brining is that it can potentially change the flavor. the more sugar you add to the brine (and the longer you leave it), the more it can end up tasting like ham. i would brine a regular commercial pork chop but i'd cook a center-cut kurobuta chop without brining.
Pork tenderloin -- simple recipe ideas?
another very simple recipe is Michael Chiarello's lemon salt recipe. Zest a few lemons and grind the zest in a mortar and pestle with salt. Add 1 Tb olive oil and fresh ground pepper, then rub over the tenderloins. Then sear and bake until done (about 145 degrees).
