boltnut55's Profile
Restaurant in Peninsula to "Linger" on Weeknight
Seems like I may have asked this before, but I did a good search before posting this. :)
My BFF for the past 34 years is relocating 3,000 miles away, so there will be three of us going out to dinner and spending some time there. She's staying w/her sister, so we can't go to her place afterwards, and the other two of us have family, so "lingering" at home will not be convenient.
We've done this dinner several times at Left Bank in Menlo Park, always on a weeknight, and it has worked out. We order generously from several appetizers through dessert and coffee (for those of you who have read about my frugal posts, this is something out of the ordinary for me) and tip that way as well, but we do stay for about 3-4 hours (basically dinner time till closing).
Since we live in SF/SSF and short on time this time, we're trying to find a place closer to us. Our first criteria is the ability to linger (and closing around 10), and the second is easy free parking. Any ideas? I don't want to say that money isn't an issue, so we can't do Gary Danko for example.
Thanks!
-----
Gary Danko
800 N Point St, San Francisco, CA 94109
Best Taco Stands in LA
It's been over three years since the original post. I don't get to LA very often even though I'm just up north, but we're going in a couple of weeks, so I'd love to find out if the feelings are pretty much the same about the taco places mentioned. Guess I should have done a tally. Thanks.
Alternative Beef Cuts for Chinese Stir Fry
Oh, thanks for letting me know about the "silverskin." I hate it when that happens, and my good meat ends up tasting chewy! Then my husband will say, "are you sure you cut across the grain?!" . I'll check out the beef shoulder and bottom round.
Alternative Beef Cuts for Chinese Stir Fry
I asked this question a couple of years ago and then completely forgot about it. Although I found the post, the thread died soon after without an answer, so I'm asking again...
I'm interested in the type of beef that Chinese restaurants use, the ones who don't use the good meat like the flank steak or the flap meat. When they charge $5 for a dish and it's large enough for 2 meals, I doubt they are using the good stuff, right? So what meat do you think they are using? I'm not saying I want to do that all time, but maybe at least to try it. I'm hoping there are alternatives that don't require the baking soda.
I know Safeway sells one that is marked "stir fry" and taste like the beef in beef stroganoff, and that's NOT what I'm looking for. Thanks.
Best eats and Bars in San Luis Obispo / Central Coast
Yes, keep the great ideas coming. I visit monthly, so I'll have plenty of dinner opportunities this year! Also would love to hear ideas of places that might be better for a lone diner.
Salinas Help
I'll be driving through Salinas for work and will be there on Monday for lunch and Wednesday for dinner. Smalley's is closed on Mondays, so I think I will stop by for dinner and bring leftovers to share w/family - or at least tempt them.
I'm looking for suggestions for Monday lunch and an alternative to Smalley's. I'd prefer somewhere right off 101 (with exit name will be great!), so I won't get lost or turned around. I'm thinking no more than $15 for lunch and $25 for dinner (meal, iced tea, and tips). I'm looking for sit down service in a quieter environment (not romantic, but not a pub with loud music). Thanks!
Visalia Famous Chinese/French restaurant?
Closed,
I found this article from March 2006: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5298206 This thread came up in a search of mine, and I didn't realize it was a very old thread until I started reading online about the restaurant.
Pismo/SLO recommendation
Thanks for sharing about the results. Does anyone else have further comments now that it's about 6 months later? I'll be there for 2 evenings. I'm looking for a nice, unrushed place for two weeknights, sit-down service type restaurant. Although on the company's dime, I also want to make sure it's not that expensive. From Pismo to SLO, and best if near freeway exit! Thanks!
Successfully Steam Both Levels in a Steamer?
We generally use the steamer to make chicken or cubed spareribs mixed with soy sauce and corn starch or fish with soy sauce and oil. Since there's only three of us, we normally just use 1 level. The times that we've tried to use both levels, the bottom level has turned out very watery (dripping of water from above?) and therefore tasted mushy and bland and of course filled with water.
Our steamer came with two steamers, so it didn't even occur to me that it wouldn't work that way. Can you tell me how to compensate for that? I need to make two portions of spareribs for a potluck, and I don't want to do one portion at a time. Thanks!
Service- What makes it excellent? Merely good? Or bad?
I'm happy with the service if I order water and they don't roll their eyes! :-) OK, OK, let's see...
When I come in and the hostess and friends aren't busy with the restaurant work, I would appreciate eye contact and, "good evening." I've been to snooty places where they talk among themselves and then glare at me like I'm intruding. Then lead me to my table, gently place the menu down, and say "enjoy your meal." We've had people show us to your table, plop the menu down, and walk away.
If there are several empty tables, I'd like to be seated with a table in between us. I realize that the other table will be occupied within minutes but let me feel like I have my own private space for those few minutes.
I'd like to open my menu and pretend to find the "beverage" section before being asked what I want to drink, so I don't have to ask, "ummm, what drinks do you have?" If there are specials, please tell me... although I hardly ever order the specials, I hate hearing the specials told to other diners but not to me. Am I underdressed?
Know what I ordered. If you have a food runner, that person should know. Ensure my drink is not empty. I usually strategically put it near the edge when I need a refill, so you can see it when you walk by me. If my cold drink doesn't have ice and your pitcher has no ice... it'd be best if you put some ice in it before refilling my cup. It'll cost your restaurant less too since it's filled with ice.
I'm skipping to the end. When I ask for the bill... I mean NOW, not 10 minutes later. Which means when I quickly zip out my card, I'd like to see the receipt come back to me quickly too... not another 10 minutes later. For a while, I would ask for the bill whenever 1 of us was almost done so that by the time we're done, we've finally paid and can relax, talk, and nurse our drink before leaving. Otherwise, we have to do all that and then wait 20 minutes before we can go.
Service Difference Between Alcohol an no Alcohol Ordered
Now that I have read everything, thought I'd chime in because we are non-drinkers and I am cheap. We don't order alcohol because we don't drink alcohol ever. I know this can be hard for some to understand, but we both grew in homes where parents didn't drink, we went to a local university, so we didn't do the drinking thing since we also worked right after school (and lived at home), and most of our friends don't drink alcohol either. Not a religious or cultural thing... just worked out that way. Therefore, we can't even order alcohol just to be nice.
We both order water when we eat out because it's free, we're overweight, and our favorite drinks are caffinated.... We don't need the extra calories as I am about 50 lbs. overweight (so it's obvious), and DH could stand to lose about 20 lbs (less obvious). To be nice, sometimes DH will order a Coke (his fave drink) and I will order an iced tea so that I won't incur the extra calories... but that also means we won't be able to sleep at night... but we won't have to see that sad look on the server's face. But we're also wide awake at 3:00 a.m. as punishment for not standing our ground.
Regarding service level, I don't have high expectations anyway, so my server shouldn't disappoint me! I don't expect them to spend time chatting with me, as we are there to just eat and go - 1 hour max. I totally am fine w/my server joking w/his familiar customers, the customer who's happy from the alcohol,etc. I understand. All I want is to get my drinks around the same time as them, get my food when it's ready, have the server check on me at least once, refilling our drinks at least once, and showing up with the bill when we're done. They don't even have to smile. Just be friendly in general so that I don't feel like I'm bothering them when I ask for more sauce.
The main difference I see is in the minutes between when they ask if we want anything to drink and the few minutes after we say "water, please." Most of the time, once the server figures out that we are low maintenance, the service recovers. My complaint would be that they should learn to not react that way. Just smile and say "sure," but usually we get either silence or a scowl and "okay" while they walk away.
Back to the cheapness... because we are pretty frugal, we are able to keep eating out the same amount (some times more often) even in this economy without change any habits that some others may have had to (ordering less, tipping less, take outs, etc.)... after all, what else can we do to cut back?! :-)
Service Difference Between Alcohol an no Alcohol Ordered
And I agree with jfood, as I do most, if not all, of the time. :-) Worse... we order water! Egads! Yeah, we're polite, don't return our food, and generally leave within 1 hour and will tip our 15% even if you give us bad service. Personally, I'd rather serve us than take the chance with some others who are perceived to be better tippers...
TOP "essential" New York Restaurants $ to $$$$
All I have to say is that I wish I had time to come here BEFORE my 1 week vacation (eat fest) in NYC. It just means I'll have to return.
Cleaning Mildew off Rice Cooker
Glad I found this thread again. OK, I have that inner cover as well, but once you remove that cover, there's another metal plating, right? Isn't that dirty too? And if it is, is that meant to be removed for cleaning? Thanks!
Do you send food back when you're a guest?
Thanks, everyone, for your replies. The GM wrote back and told me that they check the quality of their food every morning, so it was clearly missed.
Where is the Best Dim Sum in Manhattan? [Moved from The Best board]
Thank you everyone! So this is what happened... I had decided to go to Oriental Garden, but when I got there, there was a sign that read "cash or American Express only." We wanted to charge it because we were running low on cash but didn't have an A/E card, so we went next door to Jing Fong. It was about 1:00 p.m. on Thursday. The great thing was that there was a table right away. It's a cart place, but the problem was that there were only 3-4 carts coming around the entire time, and there wasn't the variety we were hoping for. We ended up getting six plates for three of us: shrimp cheung fun, spareribs, steamed pork buns, siu mai, egg rolls, and shrimp dumplings. Bill without tips came to $15.90. In general, the food was good, but I was just disappointed in the lack of variety and activity. We were full enough because... on our way walking down Canal Street, we stopped by a bakery for a fried dumpling (hom sui gok) and a custard and then a pint of cheung fun with fish balls.
We had a great time in NY, so I'm sure we'll be back... DH said we'll try the non dim sum places next time. :-) We came home this afternoon, and he called a dim sum place near us to see if they were still open because he just wasn't quite fulfilled, so we had dim sum today as well. Again, not because of the quality, but mostly because he wanted more... we ended up ordering 9 plates this time ($24 before tips).
Thanks for the info, including the subway info!
Where is the Best Dim Sum in Manhattan? [Moved from The Best board]
Because most of these comments were from Jan 2008, and Im visiting NY now, I am reviviing this thread (instead of starting a new one). Because restaurants come and go, I thought Id check in to see what everyones thoughts were now.
My kind of dim sum is the non-fancy type. I like basic - ha gow, siu mai, cheung fun, egg rolls, taro root puff, fried daikon, custard tart. I like to pay starting at $2/plate, although I dont know what the prices are here. For those familiar w/SF, I don't go Koi Palace, Ton Kiang, or Yang Sing. :-) We speak Cantonese, not that grossed out by unclean but will only have 1 opportunity to have NYC dim sum. Judging by the comments above, I am leaning towards one but want to hear more recent comments.
Also subway station info will help too! We are coming from W 34th/6th.
I think Im going on Tuesday. Sorry - apostrophe key is broken (most of the time!) on hotel computer. Thank you!
Do you send food back when you're a guest?
I was going to post this but decided just to search and add to it instead. My boss took his employees (3 of us) out to lunch as a thank you at a restaurant of his choice. This was a $15+ entree place but still a "bar and grill" atmosphere. My entire salad had red edges, but I quietly ate it because I just couldn't get myself to say anything. I ended up complaining through their website. Would you have said anything during the meal? Is there a graceful way to do this?
Rec for Chinese Sponge Cake in Chinatown
We're in the financial district, and my boss asked me for recommendation for the Chinese style sponge cake for a baby shower. Y'all probably know the one. Spongy white cake, fresh fruit filling in the middle layer, topped with whipped cream on top. I normally order for ABC or Victor in the Sunset, so I have no idea about Chinatown.
One friend recommended Washington Bakery and Eastern Bakery, but I was wondering what the rest of you thought. It has to be close to Embarcadero, so my first thought was Chinatown. Someone will be driving in, so she can wait in the car or loop around while the other person picks up the cake.
Thanks everyone!
1st Visit to Gary Danko (got tips?)
Definitely try to fois gras. I'm not one for trying new foods (hence I would never say I'm a foodie), but I did try this, and I really liked it. I just made sure my dinner companions were philosophically okay with it. :-) Their trio of creme brulee is regular size ones... yes, three regular size ones.
The portions were larger than I was expecting, so that's always a great thing. And of course, allow for several hours, which I'm sure you already know. I'm planning to go back again for my birthday this year. Can't wait. It makes getting older just a little better than it really is.
Wichita - Dinner Recs for Chatty Customers
Thanks. Well, I don't know when prime dinner time is, but I suspect we will either be eating 5:00 - 7:00 or 8:00 - 10. In any case, we could also move our chatting to the hotel as well. Let me change this a little... how about just non-ethnic restaurant in Old Town that has great food and not so expensive?
Chow Kids. Are you raising one?
More of a chow kid that I ever was or ever will be. The moment I knew was when she had just turned three. We went to Sheraton Palace in SF because my DH's company was having a conference there, so we went to use the pool. After swimming, I asked, "Would you like to eat at the restaurant here? Maybe share a prawn and scallop pasta? She replied, "I LOVE prawns and scallops!" We ordered and eat our very enjoyable meal.
She's almost 12 now. She loves sushi, sashimi, and pretty much most foods. She won't eat papaya, which might be the only thing I eat that she won't. I don't eat a lot of things. When she eats, she can make food look like it taste a lot better than it really does because she really enjoys eating.
Teens and noodles in SF
This is good. Restaurants are nearby so they can peer in first. Wha'ts "gamey"? I thought it was the experience of walking through Chinatown and seeing the hanging ducks in the window! :-)
Great Eastern is a great rec for clean place w/variety. One of my friends held her 40th birthday party there, and we had a great time. I think they also validate parking in case you're not walking.
Eating at an empty restaurant?
Exactly! I can't get into Chevy's, Chili's, or Olive Garden... so I don't go. Obviously, they don't need my money.
Eating at an empty restaurant?
This is another reason why I think restaurants AND servers should be grateful of all customers. Even though I might only order an entree and water, I'm taking up space in your restaurant that makes your restaurant look more full. I have good karma too - when I come in, the place generally gets more business soon afterwards.
I don't mind eating at an empty place, especially if it's not my first time. You get all the attention. I don't think they are really watching me. DH doesn't like to because he doesn't like any attention. I don't feel bad for them necessarily because I don't know them. After the meal, I'll know if their food is the reason why they don't have customers. Or I'll find out that it's mostly a take out business, or their customers are generally older who like to eat early.
I will NOT wait for a table anywhere, not when people all had money, and definitely NOT now that there's apparently a problem with the economy, although you can't really tell with most restaurants in my area.
Cleaning Mildew off Rice Cooker
Hi. Isn't the top plate stuck to the actual cover? Or are there screws to remove? I have yucky build up there but not mildew, and normally I would overlook it, but we bring rice regularly to a function, and I don't want anyone to find out, but I don't know how to clean it either without soaking it (which I can't do because of the cord) because it's been a long time... possibly longer that yours. :-)
Reading at the table? [moved from Boston board]
Agreed. I'm out within 60 minutes as long as my food comes in time. Most of the time, the book is for the time when I've ordered and when my food comes. I rarely read while I'm eating or linger to finish pages after I'm done eating... maybe just to nurse my iced tea.
Take my order, bring me my food, check up on me at least once during the meal, refill my drink, give me my check anytime I've gotten my food, and I'm a happy woman. I try to pay ASAP so that I can leave anytime I want.
I don't think I need to tip more than normal. What additional burden am I giving them? I know I'm at a table for 2, but if 4 of us were seated at a table for 6, we shouldn't have to tip more either.
If I linger and look like I'm lingering, but never if people are waiting, I will tip more - need to waste time in between appointments, etc. I only do this at a coffee shop where the owners know me or at a hotel restaurant that has lots of available tables.
Wichita - Dinner Recs for Chatty Customers
I'll be meeting up with a group of other women and having dinner in Wichita. Some of us will be flying in and staying in Old Town, while others will be driving in from other nearby cities, so we don't know each other well. I'm looking for dinner recs that woud give us the opportunity to sit for a couple of hours, unrushed, on a Saturday night in a place where we can hear each other, so we can hang out and learn more about each other. To accommodate the entire group, I'm guessing that an "American" restaurant will be better. I also don't want a very expensive restaurant either, something around $10-$12/entree at the most.
Ideas? Thanks!
Why Do Restaurants Seat Like This?
Yes, I always ask myself this too... many times it's 5 booths in one section, and it's 1, 2, 3, 4, 5! Hello! I think it should at least be 1, 3, 5 and then 2, 4. UGH! I think it does have to do with making it easier on the staff... can't really think of any reasons. I don't like sitting near other people because you can hear each other conversation (or like tonight, it was a extra noisy drunk guy!).
