I should go to sleep but I'm going to blog a quick list of stuff I ate and did the last week before I forget.
Friday I was down in south bay so I had to have a burrito at my favorite place, Taqueria De Amigos at 2974 S Norfolk St in the Marina Plaza in San Mateo (right off the Hillsdale exit and 101). I just love their burritos - I always get the jumbo pollo burrito - they're one of the few places I've seen with tomato-stewed chicken, which I find the yummiest thing ever. I also love heaping everything into the burrito - the only thing I don't like are the little green spicy peppers they intersperse in there. They steam their burritos at the end so it all melds together in the yummiest melted together coherent way. Though that probably is why you should eat the burritos on the spot instead of taking them home, b/c they get kind of soggy after a while.
Was so full I didn't really have dinner, just made myself some improvised egg-drop soup.
Saturday was a friend's birthday, and she planned the best day ever. Tour at Scharffen Berger factory (chocolate!), dinner at Sushi House in Alameda (sushi!), and karaoke at Music Tunnel in Richmond. Chocolate, sushi, and singing, how could it get any better? I actually discovered that coupling all three activities together may not be the best idea - chocolate has the potential to make you too full for sushi, which doesn't put you in the right state for karaoke. Luckily it all worked out, though. Ate a bit too much chocolate truffle cake at the Cafe Cacao after the tour, but was able to digest enough to enjoy some quite yummy sushi at Sushi House (except their shiro maguro roll has raw garlic in it and boy is it ever potent! Watching people's eyes bug out while trying it was fun, though), and then was able to digest enough to enjoy another 4.5 hours of singing at Music Tunnel. Wheee! I'm not the hugest fan of Scharffen Berger chocolate, but I can't object to walking into a place where the air is scented with chocolate, and I did learn stuff during the tour about chocolate making which was quite interesting.
Sunday was hanging out at a friend's place for a low-key holiday party, which was fun. Playing with other people's babies is fun b/c you can always give them back when they get fussy ;). Ordered pizza for dinner from Nizario's which was quite decent, and apparently also has two locations in SF.
Monday we got Indian from Indian Oven again. I don't care what people on Yelp say, I like that place. Their chicken dishes are always quite yummy (though this time I'm not sure I got what I ordered, or their sauces all taste the same),their mango lassi is expensive but delicious, and their pulau and garlic naan are the perfect accompaniments to our meal. We only ordered one dish this time, plus the pulau, naan, and lassi, and it seemed to be the perfect amount for us.
Tuesday was my sister's birthday so we went to the sushi place of her choice: Kiji (1009 Guerrero at 22nd). This was really quite good. We had a red and white tuna poki which was delicious. They had nigiri of a whole bunch of fish I liked - butterfish (which had mayo on it for some reason but otherwise was yummy), kanpachi (amberjack!), shiro maguro, sake - all good... my bf happily got the hamachi belly and the chu-toro... We also got an Orange Spice Salmon roll which was fine - nothing spectacular but pretty yummy. I also tried my sister's aji tataki which was interesting b/c they deep fry the remaining fish head/backbone/tail after you finish the tataki, and it's pretty yummy. Good stuff all around and quite decent prices.
Wednesday and Thursday we cooked.
Tonight I went to Jersey Boys so grabbed a quick dinner at King of Thai Noodle at 420 Geary St (across the street from the Curran), which I didn't know until just now is a chain with locations all over the city. For some reason I thought it was affiliated with the place on Haight, but that's *Best* of Thai Noodle. It's a very down and dirty hole in the wall type place with the guys frying it up in the same room as the cafeteria-style tables, but it was very quick, very cheap, and quite yummy. I got the Pad See Ew Chicken and it came out pretty much exactly as I liked it, so I gulped up the entire plate. Got in and out in half an hour... works for me!
Oh and for lunch I went to Delica RF-1 in the Ferry Building, which was an interesting Japanese deli. Very confusing in how it works in that you can get combination bentos or combinations, or individual items, or salads, or whatever.. I ended up getting a bunch of random items which were for the most part quite yummy (potato croquette, some tempura ball of stuff I wouldn't get again b/c it was too hard to eat and had been sitting out too long so was cold, a chicken dumpling, and a kanpocha?? and butternut squash soup). Wouldn't mind trying it again. There was a beef and mushroom curry that looked interesting...
Saturday, December 22, 2007
Jersey Boys - again!
Just saw Jersey Boys for the fourth time, 'cause I'm crazy. And got lucky. Gonna cut and paste a post I wrote on the broadwayworld.com board.
I just saw Jersey Boys for the fourth time in SF tonight. I knew the run was nearing its end and couldn't resist trying for rush seats to catch this cast (I previously saw the 1st tour once and the 2nd tour twice). I left work early and got there at 5:45PM and was a bit worried because there were 13 people ahead of me in line, but ended up with lower box seats that were better than the rush seats I got last time - limited view but not as limited, and limited in the opposite direction (I was on the right side of the stage, last time I was on the left side). Though I don't think I realized how much was done on the catwalk until I couldn't see what was going on up there. And the people in the box with me totally missed the "Our Sons" going to "Four Seasons" on the sign because it was behind the spiral staircase from our perspective.
I don't seem to have gotten any understudies tonight, which is neat. I wonder if Rick Faugno was tired, though. I've never seen him before so I have nothing to compare, but by the end of the evening he looked noticeably more wrung out and with less energy than everyone else, and his control over his voice over the course of the evening didn't seem to be consistent. I have to say, Rick was far from my favorite Frankie, vocally - actually, probably my least favorite. He kept getting up into his throat rather a lot, which produced a rather unpleasant, pinched, sharp sounding voice, especially when he was belting or going high. What's odd is that I feel like his singing voice range went higher than the other Frankies I've seen in that he didn't seem to need to go falsetto as much, or he disguised his falsetto better, but I thought he sounded the best when he was singing the lower parts. "My Eyes Adored You," the beginning part of "Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You," and the parts of "Fallen Angel" where he doesn't start going louder sounded terrific, I thought. But I couldn't get into his performances of "Sherry," "Big Girls Don't Cry," "Walk Like a Man," etc... On the plus side, my friend who has never heard or seen Jersey Boys before enjoyed it all, and leaned over after "Sherry" to say "Wow they really nailed that" and then again after "Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You" to say he really liked it. So maybe I'm just hypercritical now, or it's not fair because I keep comparing to Jarrod who's not only my favorite Frankie, but I also have a recording of from the Emmy's to keep his interpretation fresh in my mind. Also on the flip side, Rick probably sounded closer to the more gritty sound the real Frankie Valli achieves in his non-falsetto singing than Chris, Jarrod, or JLY. I think he let it get a little out of control from time to time though. But I go back to the tired hypothesis b/c at times his singing reminded me a little of me at the end of a karaoke night when I have to force my voice to go where I want it to, and at times it slips a little out of my control.
Acting-wise, I thought he was fine. At times he seemed to rush through lines, but at others I thought his emphasis and delivery were spot-on, and at times more convincing than either Chris or Jarrod. I was sitting on the side where his back was to me in some crucial scenes, like "Fallen Angel" and the pizza parlor scene with Mary Delgado, though, so it's a bit hard to judge. I still feel like Jarrod matures the most convincingly and the most subtly of the three Frankies I've seen. He becomes more mature without you really consciously noticing it, but just gradually takes on more gravity and more emotional weight. I thought Rick was ok here - I didn't really feel like he came off too young or anything. Hard to match what Jarrod did, IMO, b/c I can't even tell how Jarrod pulls it off.
As for the others, I actually quite enjoyed Bryan McElroy's Tommy DeVito. Though he has a far weaker falsetto in that jail ditty he came up with in Ohio than any other Tommy I've heard, I liked his singing voice in general, and thought his interpretation of the role worked quite well. He did the tough guy thing covering up for the screwups and delivering lines just right to get the laughs, and I liked him. Jeff Leibow as Nick Massi I also enjoyed. I feel like his line delivery and accent was actually fairly similar to Michael Ingersoll's which made me wonder if he was influenced by Michael's interpretation or if maybe Nick just sounded like that and they were both working off of that. His take seemed less fussy OCD than Michael Ingersoll's and a bit more wise guy, but I thought it worked well. Andrew Rannells as Bob Gaudio I have mixed feelings on. Vocally, loved his performance of "Oh What a Night," not as fond of "Cry for Me." He played up the humor really well, and did the young Bob in a really funny way. My friend found something a bit off about his performance but couldn't articulate it but I think I know what he means - he was a bit overenthusiastic and a bit too broadly winking outside of the role, I think. I mean, he got great laughs from the audience but then he seemed to react to it a bit more than was in character. I guess what I'm saying is he didn't seem to stay in character - the other guys all reacted to the cheering and laughter in ways more consistent with their characters. But he was a lot of fun.
I think I still like my first Bob Crewe (name slips my mind) the best - his interpretation completely colored what I think the role should be for me. Jonathan Hadley didn't quite hit the right note for me and wasn't as funny, I thought, though he was fine in general. Also looked a bit older than I expected for the role. The girls were great, I thought. Since the spiral staircase was right in front of us it was kind of interesting and touching to watch Joyce Chittick as Mary sobbing on the staircase as Rick sang the first part of "My Eyes Adored You" (also kind of interesting to watch Rick just gulp down as much water as he could during the whole trying to get "Can't Take My Eyes Off of You" on the radio bit - not sure how he could sing after downing that much water, though I'm sure he needs it!).
I don't know if being on the far side throws off the vocal balance or how things are mixed, and whether that affects how I hear things. But at times I felt like the orchestrations/songs were a little flat - I felt like I could barely hear "Short Shorts," for instance. But at others, the harmonies were heavenly - I thought they sounded better at times than I'd ever heard before. The three non-Frankie guys and whoever was singing backstage to back them up just sounded awesome together.
I think it's funny whenever I read a review about how the show really gets going with "Sherry/Big Girls/Walk Like a Man" because I'm actually a huge fan of the earlier mix of songs - I love the whole intro bit, adore "Silhouettes", love "A Sunday Kind of Love" when they're harmonizing on it in the church... I think that's one of the things that keeps me going back to the show instead of just listening to the cast recording, since they don't have the full songs in the cast recording.
The audience was great, btw - very very into things, laughing hard, cheering and whooping appreciatively, and I don't think I've ever heard them gasp so loud when Tommy says he owes half a million in tax money. They jumped up for a standing ovation before any of the actors even hit the stage for their bows.
At any rate, I have to say I missed my favorite Frankie, Jarrod, but on the whole I'm very happy I decided to see Jersey Boys for the fourth time. I just love this show, and the finale always brings a huge smile to my face (except the part of me which goes "oh no, it's almost over!"). It's probably a good thing it's going away soon - I've never seen any show four times in a single year before, and there are very few shows I've even seen four times total! Not sure I should let myself be tempted to see it for a fifth time!
I just saw Jersey Boys for the fourth time in SF tonight. I knew the run was nearing its end and couldn't resist trying for rush seats to catch this cast (I previously saw the 1st tour once and the 2nd tour twice). I left work early and got there at 5:45PM and was a bit worried because there were 13 people ahead of me in line, but ended up with lower box seats that were better than the rush seats I got last time - limited view but not as limited, and limited in the opposite direction (I was on the right side of the stage, last time I was on the left side). Though I don't think I realized how much was done on the catwalk until I couldn't see what was going on up there. And the people in the box with me totally missed the "Our Sons" going to "Four Seasons" on the sign because it was behind the spiral staircase from our perspective.
I don't seem to have gotten any understudies tonight, which is neat. I wonder if Rick Faugno was tired, though. I've never seen him before so I have nothing to compare, but by the end of the evening he looked noticeably more wrung out and with less energy than everyone else, and his control over his voice over the course of the evening didn't seem to be consistent. I have to say, Rick was far from my favorite Frankie, vocally - actually, probably my least favorite. He kept getting up into his throat rather a lot, which produced a rather unpleasant, pinched, sharp sounding voice, especially when he was belting or going high. What's odd is that I feel like his singing voice range went higher than the other Frankies I've seen in that he didn't seem to need to go falsetto as much, or he disguised his falsetto better, but I thought he sounded the best when he was singing the lower parts. "My Eyes Adored You," the beginning part of "Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You," and the parts of "Fallen Angel" where he doesn't start going louder sounded terrific, I thought. But I couldn't get into his performances of "Sherry," "Big Girls Don't Cry," "Walk Like a Man," etc... On the plus side, my friend who has never heard or seen Jersey Boys before enjoyed it all, and leaned over after "Sherry" to say "Wow they really nailed that" and then again after "Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You" to say he really liked it. So maybe I'm just hypercritical now, or it's not fair because I keep comparing to Jarrod who's not only my favorite Frankie, but I also have a recording of from the Emmy's to keep his interpretation fresh in my mind. Also on the flip side, Rick probably sounded closer to the more gritty sound the real Frankie Valli achieves in his non-falsetto singing than Chris, Jarrod, or JLY. I think he let it get a little out of control from time to time though. But I go back to the tired hypothesis b/c at times his singing reminded me a little of me at the end of a karaoke night when I have to force my voice to go where I want it to, and at times it slips a little out of my control.
Acting-wise, I thought he was fine. At times he seemed to rush through lines, but at others I thought his emphasis and delivery were spot-on, and at times more convincing than either Chris or Jarrod. I was sitting on the side where his back was to me in some crucial scenes, like "Fallen Angel" and the pizza parlor scene with Mary Delgado, though, so it's a bit hard to judge. I still feel like Jarrod matures the most convincingly and the most subtly of the three Frankies I've seen. He becomes more mature without you really consciously noticing it, but just gradually takes on more gravity and more emotional weight. I thought Rick was ok here - I didn't really feel like he came off too young or anything. Hard to match what Jarrod did, IMO, b/c I can't even tell how Jarrod pulls it off.
As for the others, I actually quite enjoyed Bryan McElroy's Tommy DeVito. Though he has a far weaker falsetto in that jail ditty he came up with in Ohio than any other Tommy I've heard, I liked his singing voice in general, and thought his interpretation of the role worked quite well. He did the tough guy thing covering up for the screwups and delivering lines just right to get the laughs, and I liked him. Jeff Leibow as Nick Massi I also enjoyed. I feel like his line delivery and accent was actually fairly similar to Michael Ingersoll's which made me wonder if he was influenced by Michael's interpretation or if maybe Nick just sounded like that and they were both working off of that. His take seemed less fussy OCD than Michael Ingersoll's and a bit more wise guy, but I thought it worked well. Andrew Rannells as Bob Gaudio I have mixed feelings on. Vocally, loved his performance of "Oh What a Night," not as fond of "Cry for Me." He played up the humor really well, and did the young Bob in a really funny way. My friend found something a bit off about his performance but couldn't articulate it but I think I know what he means - he was a bit overenthusiastic and a bit too broadly winking outside of the role, I think. I mean, he got great laughs from the audience but then he seemed to react to it a bit more than was in character. I guess what I'm saying is he didn't seem to stay in character - the other guys all reacted to the cheering and laughter in ways more consistent with their characters. But he was a lot of fun.
I think I still like my first Bob Crewe (name slips my mind) the best - his interpretation completely colored what I think the role should be for me. Jonathan Hadley didn't quite hit the right note for me and wasn't as funny, I thought, though he was fine in general. Also looked a bit older than I expected for the role. The girls were great, I thought. Since the spiral staircase was right in front of us it was kind of interesting and touching to watch Joyce Chittick as Mary sobbing on the staircase as Rick sang the first part of "My Eyes Adored You" (also kind of interesting to watch Rick just gulp down as much water as he could during the whole trying to get "Can't Take My Eyes Off of You" on the radio bit - not sure how he could sing after downing that much water, though I'm sure he needs it!).
I don't know if being on the far side throws off the vocal balance or how things are mixed, and whether that affects how I hear things. But at times I felt like the orchestrations/songs were a little flat - I felt like I could barely hear "Short Shorts," for instance. But at others, the harmonies were heavenly - I thought they sounded better at times than I'd ever heard before. The three non-Frankie guys and whoever was singing backstage to back them up just sounded awesome together.
I think it's funny whenever I read a review about how the show really gets going with "Sherry/Big Girls/Walk Like a Man" because I'm actually a huge fan of the earlier mix of songs - I love the whole intro bit, adore "Silhouettes", love "A Sunday Kind of Love" when they're harmonizing on it in the church... I think that's one of the things that keeps me going back to the show instead of just listening to the cast recording, since they don't have the full songs in the cast recording.
The audience was great, btw - very very into things, laughing hard, cheering and whooping appreciatively, and I don't think I've ever heard them gasp so loud when Tommy says he owes half a million in tax money. They jumped up for a standing ovation before any of the actors even hit the stage for their bows.
At any rate, I have to say I missed my favorite Frankie, Jarrod, but on the whole I'm very happy I decided to see Jersey Boys for the fourth time. I just love this show, and the finale always brings a huge smile to my face (except the part of me which goes "oh no, it's almost over!"). It's probably a good thing it's going away soon - I've never seen any show four times in a single year before, and there are very few shows I've even seen four times total! Not sure I should let myself be tempted to see it for a fifth time!
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Happiness is...
Finding a recipe. Trying it out. Having it work out really well (except the part where you're the slowest cook in the world and it took you like 3x as long as it should have) and really actually liking it. I've tried a bunch of recipes on Allrecipes.com recently that have been decent, but this one I really enjoyed.
Pear and Prosciutto Pizza using Quick and Easy Pizza Crust. At least the way I made it - D'Anjou pears (had no idea which to use so I got the more expensive ones =P), imported Swiss cheese (it was that or fat-free which I knew my bf would kill me for), fresh mozzarella, and six slices of prosciutto... I would advise using more than the 6 cloves of garlic it calls for, though - I didn't have enough to spread all around the pizza, though it still tasted fine. But it was super-yummy and I quite enjoyed the crust which really was quick and easy.
Made Sweet and Tangy Sauteed Collard Greens on the side b/c I figured I should branch out from my typical spinach (the only green in a standard grocery store I really know how to cook). It wasn't bad - not bitter like collard greens usually are. Of course, there's a lot of butter in that recipe. Some people said they made it without the butter and it still tasted good. Maybe I'll try that next time.
On the eating out note, I've been:
Yummy Yummy (1015 Irving St, btwn 11th and 12th) which was quite yummy yummy ;). Vietnamese restaurant next door to San Tung.. my bf's pho (which they let him add both flank and steak too even though the menu had them in separate offerings) was quite tasty. I ordered one of the special grills, which is basically something like lemon pork (or beef or five-spice chicken, or sugarcane shrimp, etc etc), vermicelli, carrots, cucumbers, lettuce, and mint leaves on a plate accompanied by hard dry skins that you dip in hot water until they soften and then wrap your own spring-roll like things in. This was surprisingly good given that the ingredients are so standard for Vietnamese fare - fresh and delicious.
Lilly's BBQ (705 Divisadero between Fulton and Grove) Must qualify this by saying we got this takeout, and my bf biked it home. So it got home faster than when I walk/bus stuff home from, say, lower Haight, but it still cooled off by the time we started eating it. So that must be kept in mind since cool meat is not nearly as good as freshly warm meat. That being said, at the moment I favor Memphis Minnie's BBQ more. The people at Lilly's were really nice - seems like an entire family (all the males anyway) work there and the main guy was super down home and friendly. He advised us the tri-tip was too tough (in fact, wouldn't sell it) so we got the baby back ribs and beef brisket in a 2-meat combo, with a small order of cole slaw and corn on the side. The baby back ribs were ok - not particularly meaty, not particularly juicy, but reasonably flavored for the amount of meat I could get off the bone. The beef brisket - I don't think I'm as big a fan of beef brisket as I think I should be b/c I haven't liked it the last 3 bbq places we've gone... but at any rate, partly b/c it was cold, it was a bit tougher and not as tender as I think it should be. The mild bbq sauce was ok. I know it's not at all authentic but really, my favorite is KC Masterpiece. Particularly mixed with honey. The cole slaw I liked more than Memphis Minnie b/c it was standard creamy slaw as opposed to the vinegary stuff Memphis Minnie has. The corn was pretty much whole kernel corn out of the can though there's some smokiness to it so I'm not quite sure how it was cooked. It was better than the stuff at that Soul Food place we went to a few weeks ago. I've never had real authentic southern or Texas bbq so I don't even know if I judge these things right. But...Lilly's fell a little short for me.
Also had Squat and Gobble (1428 Haight St) for dinner but I don't even count that b/c I don't think it's really a dinner place. Got a Salmon Cobb salad. The salmon was fried. The salad was decent, particularly when I got the parts with bacon and blue cheese and ranch dressing all mixed in well, but the salmon was eh. It's fine when you're looking for a low-key dinner but it's not that fast.
Pear and Prosciutto Pizza using Quick and Easy Pizza Crust. At least the way I made it - D'Anjou pears (had no idea which to use so I got the more expensive ones =P), imported Swiss cheese (it was that or fat-free which I knew my bf would kill me for), fresh mozzarella, and six slices of prosciutto... I would advise using more than the 6 cloves of garlic it calls for, though - I didn't have enough to spread all around the pizza, though it still tasted fine. But it was super-yummy and I quite enjoyed the crust which really was quick and easy.
Made Sweet and Tangy Sauteed Collard Greens on the side b/c I figured I should branch out from my typical spinach (the only green in a standard grocery store I really know how to cook). It wasn't bad - not bitter like collard greens usually are. Of course, there's a lot of butter in that recipe. Some people said they made it without the butter and it still tasted good. Maybe I'll try that next time.
On the eating out note, I've been:
Yummy Yummy (1015 Irving St, btwn 11th and 12th) which was quite yummy yummy ;). Vietnamese restaurant next door to San Tung.. my bf's pho (which they let him add both flank and steak too even though the menu had them in separate offerings) was quite tasty. I ordered one of the special grills, which is basically something like lemon pork (or beef or five-spice chicken, or sugarcane shrimp, etc etc), vermicelli, carrots, cucumbers, lettuce, and mint leaves on a plate accompanied by hard dry skins that you dip in hot water until they soften and then wrap your own spring-roll like things in. This was surprisingly good given that the ingredients are so standard for Vietnamese fare - fresh and delicious.
Lilly's BBQ (705 Divisadero between Fulton and Grove) Must qualify this by saying we got this takeout, and my bf biked it home. So it got home faster than when I walk/bus stuff home from, say, lower Haight, but it still cooled off by the time we started eating it. So that must be kept in mind since cool meat is not nearly as good as freshly warm meat. That being said, at the moment I favor Memphis Minnie's BBQ more. The people at Lilly's were really nice - seems like an entire family (all the males anyway) work there and the main guy was super down home and friendly. He advised us the tri-tip was too tough (in fact, wouldn't sell it) so we got the baby back ribs and beef brisket in a 2-meat combo, with a small order of cole slaw and corn on the side. The baby back ribs were ok - not particularly meaty, not particularly juicy, but reasonably flavored for the amount of meat I could get off the bone. The beef brisket - I don't think I'm as big a fan of beef brisket as I think I should be b/c I haven't liked it the last 3 bbq places we've gone... but at any rate, partly b/c it was cold, it was a bit tougher and not as tender as I think it should be. The mild bbq sauce was ok. I know it's not at all authentic but really, my favorite is KC Masterpiece. Particularly mixed with honey. The cole slaw I liked more than Memphis Minnie b/c it was standard creamy slaw as opposed to the vinegary stuff Memphis Minnie has. The corn was pretty much whole kernel corn out of the can though there's some smokiness to it so I'm not quite sure how it was cooked. It was better than the stuff at that Soul Food place we went to a few weeks ago. I've never had real authentic southern or Texas bbq so I don't even know if I judge these things right. But...Lilly's fell a little short for me.
Also had Squat and Gobble (1428 Haight St) for dinner but I don't even count that b/c I don't think it's really a dinner place. Got a Salmon Cobb salad. The salmon was fried. The salad was decent, particularly when I got the parts with bacon and blue cheese and ranch dressing all mixed in well, but the salmon was eh. It's fine when you're looking for a low-key dinner but it's not that fast.
Sunday, December 9, 2007
Brunch at Zazie
Finally decided to try to wait in line for Zazie (941 Cole St), the French restaurant that everyone likes to go to for brunch. Got there at 11:30...got seated maybe 40 minutes later? And got the food right around an hour after I got there... Quite the wait, though a former coworker I ran into who goes frequently said it was the worst he's ever seen it this morning. Just my luck!
The lovely thing (or maybe the bad thing, depending how you look at it) about Zazie is that for all their pancake/French toast dishes, you can choose to get one, two, or three pieces, and it's priced accordingly. Similarly, for their poached egg (and possibly other egg) dishes, you can choose one, two, or three eggs, with a gradated price tag for that as well. This is great for me because I'm indecisive as all hell, I was starving (having not eaten anything yet that morning, and having worked out that morning), and everything looked great. Between my friend and I, we ended up ordering one slice of the gingerbread pancakes with lemon curd and bijou pear and one slice of the French Toast Tahiti (Challah French bread stuffed with caramelized bananas and walnuts) to share (we each took half), and then I ordered myself a one egg St Trop (poached egg on English muffin with smoked salmon, red onion, capers, and lemon hollandaise sauce with a side of home fries with whole garlic cloves baked alongside) while she ordered a one egg Monaco (similar to mine but with prosciutto and tomatoes provencale). Yumminess. The main problem was deciding in what order to eat - I saved the sweets for last and they ended up cooling down a bit and therefore not being quite as yummy as if they'd been fresh out of the kitchen. The St Trop wasn't quite what I had in mind - there's a smoked salmon eggs benedict-type sandwich I had at a restaurant in SF years ago that I loved, and this wasn't it - but it was decent. A few too many capers. The home fries with the garlic baked alongside were quite good. The French Toast Tahiti was yummy though I should have drizzled more maple syrup on it (it came with a sort of caramelized sauce but I didn't get the plate with the sauce). The gingerbread pancakes were rather thick and the texture was rougher than I'm used to for pancakes, but they were interesting,and the lemon curd and pear were really good.
I don't know if I want to wait 45 minutes for brunch again, but Zazie was yummy. Maybe I'll go again sometime when the line is shorter. It seems Bambino's two doors down serves brunch and the reviews on Yelp are pretty good for it, and that place never has a wait. So maybe I'll check out Zazie and go to Bambino's if it's got too long a wait next time.
The lovely thing (or maybe the bad thing, depending how you look at it) about Zazie is that for all their pancake/French toast dishes, you can choose to get one, two, or three pieces, and it's priced accordingly. Similarly, for their poached egg (and possibly other egg) dishes, you can choose one, two, or three eggs, with a gradated price tag for that as well. This is great for me because I'm indecisive as all hell, I was starving (having not eaten anything yet that morning, and having worked out that morning), and everything looked great. Between my friend and I, we ended up ordering one slice of the gingerbread pancakes with lemon curd and bijou pear and one slice of the French Toast Tahiti (Challah French bread stuffed with caramelized bananas and walnuts) to share (we each took half), and then I ordered myself a one egg St Trop (poached egg on English muffin with smoked salmon, red onion, capers, and lemon hollandaise sauce with a side of home fries with whole garlic cloves baked alongside) while she ordered a one egg Monaco (similar to mine but with prosciutto and tomatoes provencale). Yumminess. The main problem was deciding in what order to eat - I saved the sweets for last and they ended up cooling down a bit and therefore not being quite as yummy as if they'd been fresh out of the kitchen. The St Trop wasn't quite what I had in mind - there's a smoked salmon eggs benedict-type sandwich I had at a restaurant in SF years ago that I loved, and this wasn't it - but it was decent. A few too many capers. The home fries with the garlic baked alongside were quite good. The French Toast Tahiti was yummy though I should have drizzled more maple syrup on it (it came with a sort of caramelized sauce but I didn't get the plate with the sauce). The gingerbread pancakes were rather thick and the texture was rougher than I'm used to for pancakes, but they were interesting,and the lemon curd and pear were really good.
I don't know if I want to wait 45 minutes for brunch again, but Zazie was yummy. Maybe I'll go again sometime when the line is shorter. It seems Bambino's two doors down serves brunch and the reviews on Yelp are pretty good for it, and that place never has a wait. So maybe I'll check out Zazie and go to Bambino's if it's got too long a wait next time.
Friday, December 7, 2007
Food
Having not updated in a month, I clearly don't remember everything I've eaten. Here's what I do remember.
Tara (123 2nd St, between Minna and Mission). This is a new Thai/Asian-fusion place that opened up near work (just down the street from Osha Thai) that I'd been meaning to try for a while and finally got in for dinner Wed night when I was in a rush to get to AT&T Park for the Boitano show. They said they could get me in and out in 30 minutes, so yay! The service was great - the guy was unobtrusively refilling my water glass every 2 seconds, the food was quick, it was easy to grab someone's attention to get my doggie bag and check... The food... well I got the Pad See Ew with beef, which is a favorite of mine. The dish tasted fine - not the best I've ever had but certainly not the worst - but the beef was tough and chewy. Not so good when you're in a rush, or in general. It's cheaper than Osha, the *flavors* were fine, but the textures and the meat need work. Only having had one dish, I hesitate to judge the place overall, but it did give me pause...
Amici's East Coast Pizzeria (216 King St) - so it's a chain I've been to several times before, so maybe it's not entirely fair to review it. But I don't really like it. Never had a pizza here I particularly liked (and their pizza is gross once it starts to cool - my group ordered some for dinner one night and I got there late and the crust was so tough I had to tear pieces off instead of just biting pieces). So I went here b/c it was across the street from AT&T Park and I needed to grab quick food before dress rehearsal for the Boitano show. Got a spaghetti b/c really, how far wrong can you go with spaghetti? Also because their pasta choices are crap. And the spaghetti was both expensive ($10+ for a small portion with meat sauce) and pretty crappy. I had better tasting spaghetti in the IAD airport while waiting for a flight one night, and I watched them scoop the spaghetti out of a bin where it'd been sitting for who knows how long. So yeah, this is me dumping on Amici's. NOT recommended.
Brenda's French Soul Food (652 Polk St between Eddy and Turk). Closed on Sundays. So sad.
Dottie's True Blue Cafe (522 Jones between Geary and O'Farrell). Where we went when we discovered Brenda's was closed. Very popular spot - the line went halfway down the block and stayed that way the entire time we were there. Specials menu had some fairly unique items on it. My friend and bf both got the Banana Chocolate Chip French Toast with Balsamic Strawberries, which was pretty good. Not nearly as sweet as you would expect. Also not as spectacular as you would expect, but yummy. I was hungry and saw a combination that appealed - 2 eggs, piece of ham, hash browns, 2 pieces of French toast...yes, I'm a pig. The eggs were fine - standard scrambled, not entirely flavorful but bury it with enough ketchup and anything is yummy. The hash browns were the same - very standard. The ham was good - a nice big slice of real ham, and not some dinky little bits. The French toast was fine as well - their French toast is on big thick slices of bread which don't absorb the syrup quite as much as I'd like. Oddly, my combo cost like $1-$2 more than the special French toast and I only had one half slice less of toast than they got with their special. Maybe we should have tried some of their more exotic specials, but my conclusion is that the place was good but probably not worth waiting 1/2 an hour or more in line for...
Went to Abacus again for dinner the other night with bf's coworkers. Got more interesting food than the last time we went with coworkers - mongolian beef, tangerine chicken, creamed corn and crab meat soup, and house special chow mein (or lo mein?). I still think the dessert here is the best part - we got the ice cream sampler again, this time with lychee, coconut, mango, and double chocolate ice cream. The mango was kind of icy but otherwise so yummy. The food is ok. Soup was nice on a warm night.
Ziryab (528 Divisadero between Fell and Hayes). Looking for a quick place to eat Friday night before a comedy show at the Independent, and finding long waits everywhere, a local clued us into this place. We were seated immediately, no problem. It's a Mediterranean place so most of the people I was with ended up getting kebabs of some kind which they polished off so I assume they were quite good. My bf got a smoked trout? appetizer special (there was some confusion about whether it was an appetizer or an entree but luckily he also ordered some mediterranean herb bread so he had enough to eat) which he said was really good. I got the chicken schwerma plate - bunch o' little pita bread pockets into which I could stuff the schwerma and sauce. Quite tasty. Overall, not cheap, but a good meal in a not-overly crowded place with decent service.
It's never fair to judge a place by just getting takeout from them, especially when you have like a 15-20 minute walk to get the food home, and you placed the order before leaving work, a 30+ minute bus ride away. But that's what I did with Siam Lotus Thai Cuisine (1705 Haight St at Cole). The Golden Triangle appetizer I ordered actually still tasted quite yummy when I got home, despite it being in a crispy wrapper which you would think would get mushy (and got a bit softer than I'm sure it started as) and gross. These were little triangle shaped "crepes" stuffed with mashed potatoes, yams, and peas and weren't nearly as heavy as samosas and such tend to be. They had a nice, lightly sweet, almost fluffy texture and taste, and were quite yummy. The Pineapple Cashew Nuts Chicken wasn't as good, though I really do wonder if it's b/c of the delay in eating from prep time. The flavors of the sauce and such were quite good but the chicken itself was strips of quite bland dry white meat. Maybe they would have been better warmer? I definitely want to try this place again sometime from within the restaurant.
Got takeout a fair amount that week, actually. Well, delivery in this case. The North Beach Pizza on Stanyan St only delivers or has takeout - there's no sit in. We felt lazy one day so we ordered our typical pizza with pepperoni & tomatoes. Yummy. My only complaint is that North Beach isn't particularly fast - I think the order arrived like 50 minutes after I made it? Need to plan ahead better - they have an online ordering system and you can specify a time if you order ahead of time. I should try that and see how well it works. But I love North Beach Pizza. Yum yum yum.
Decided to try Tsuna mi Sushi Bar (1300 Fulton at Divisadero). My bf liked it a lot more than me. It's a fairly trendy type place - famous for its diverse sake selection, with kind of loungey-seating around the walls and tables in the middle. They have a relatively small, IMO, sushi menu with some unusual stuff. We ended up getting a Tsunami - maguro, bincho and asparagus flash-fried, topped with spicy aioli, tobiko, and scallions (Bincho is apparently albacore - what goes by white tuna or shiro maguro elsewhere?). That was fairly yummy. We also got sake sashimi and I forget what other fish...either hamachi or maguro, but pretty sure it wasn't bincho. I also think we may have gotten the Five Sisters roll, which I think is known as a rainbow roll elsewhere - california topped with five types of fish. It was all quite good. I guess my lack of enthusiasm mainly stemmed from the prices - we had only gone to Sushi Bistro like the week before, and Tsunami is decidedly more expensive. And I guess also the selection since there were less choices than Sushi Bistro. Given that they're in entirely different areas of the city, though, it's not like you'd necessarily skip one to go to the other. I guess my conclusion is it's a decent sushi place, but on the expensive side, and unnecessarily trendy (which means long waits on weekend nights).
That's all I can remember for now...
On a personal note, I had fun over Thanksgiving weekend going to see Kurt Browning in "Peter Pan", which was a fun stage musical. Also had fun going to the Boitano show at AT&T Park, which was quite an interesting experience - it was kind of funky being out on the field looking up into the stands. Big park! Went to a Comedians of Comedy show at the Independent - Patton Oswalt and the other two headliners (a guy from the Sarah Silverman show, a woman from I'm not sure where) were quite funny, but there were two comedians in a row who were the first to go after Patton warmed up the crowd who really sucked. None of us liked them, and they set the wrong tone for the evening for us, I think. I was in a bad mood for a while and wasn't ready to concede the following acts were actually funny at times, and some of the other people left early. It's a shame. Also odd was that it was a music venue so there were no seats, just standing room. And it was PACKED. Quite unpleasant. I'm so cranky =).
Tara (123 2nd St, between Minna and Mission). This is a new Thai/Asian-fusion place that opened up near work (just down the street from Osha Thai) that I'd been meaning to try for a while and finally got in for dinner Wed night when I was in a rush to get to AT&T Park for the Boitano show. They said they could get me in and out in 30 minutes, so yay! The service was great - the guy was unobtrusively refilling my water glass every 2 seconds, the food was quick, it was easy to grab someone's attention to get my doggie bag and check... The food... well I got the Pad See Ew with beef, which is a favorite of mine. The dish tasted fine - not the best I've ever had but certainly not the worst - but the beef was tough and chewy. Not so good when you're in a rush, or in general. It's cheaper than Osha, the *flavors* were fine, but the textures and the meat need work. Only having had one dish, I hesitate to judge the place overall, but it did give me pause...
Amici's East Coast Pizzeria (216 King St) - so it's a chain I've been to several times before, so maybe it's not entirely fair to review it. But I don't really like it. Never had a pizza here I particularly liked (and their pizza is gross once it starts to cool - my group ordered some for dinner one night and I got there late and the crust was so tough I had to tear pieces off instead of just biting pieces). So I went here b/c it was across the street from AT&T Park and I needed to grab quick food before dress rehearsal for the Boitano show. Got a spaghetti b/c really, how far wrong can you go with spaghetti? Also because their pasta choices are crap. And the spaghetti was both expensive ($10+ for a small portion with meat sauce) and pretty crappy. I had better tasting spaghetti in the IAD airport while waiting for a flight one night, and I watched them scoop the spaghetti out of a bin where it'd been sitting for who knows how long. So yeah, this is me dumping on Amici's. NOT recommended.
Brenda's French Soul Food (652 Polk St between Eddy and Turk). Closed on Sundays. So sad.
Dottie's True Blue Cafe (522 Jones between Geary and O'Farrell). Where we went when we discovered Brenda's was closed. Very popular spot - the line went halfway down the block and stayed that way the entire time we were there. Specials menu had some fairly unique items on it. My friend and bf both got the Banana Chocolate Chip French Toast with Balsamic Strawberries, which was pretty good. Not nearly as sweet as you would expect. Also not as spectacular as you would expect, but yummy. I was hungry and saw a combination that appealed - 2 eggs, piece of ham, hash browns, 2 pieces of French toast...yes, I'm a pig. The eggs were fine - standard scrambled, not entirely flavorful but bury it with enough ketchup and anything is yummy. The hash browns were the same - very standard. The ham was good - a nice big slice of real ham, and not some dinky little bits. The French toast was fine as well - their French toast is on big thick slices of bread which don't absorb the syrup quite as much as I'd like. Oddly, my combo cost like $1-$2 more than the special French toast and I only had one half slice less of toast than they got with their special. Maybe we should have tried some of their more exotic specials, but my conclusion is that the place was good but probably not worth waiting 1/2 an hour or more in line for...
Went to Abacus again for dinner the other night with bf's coworkers. Got more interesting food than the last time we went with coworkers - mongolian beef, tangerine chicken, creamed corn and crab meat soup, and house special chow mein (or lo mein?). I still think the dessert here is the best part - we got the ice cream sampler again, this time with lychee, coconut, mango, and double chocolate ice cream. The mango was kind of icy but otherwise so yummy. The food is ok. Soup was nice on a warm night.
Ziryab (528 Divisadero between Fell and Hayes). Looking for a quick place to eat Friday night before a comedy show at the Independent, and finding long waits everywhere, a local clued us into this place. We were seated immediately, no problem. It's a Mediterranean place so most of the people I was with ended up getting kebabs of some kind which they polished off so I assume they were quite good. My bf got a smoked trout? appetizer special (there was some confusion about whether it was an appetizer or an entree but luckily he also ordered some mediterranean herb bread so he had enough to eat) which he said was really good. I got the chicken schwerma plate - bunch o' little pita bread pockets into which I could stuff the schwerma and sauce. Quite tasty. Overall, not cheap, but a good meal in a not-overly crowded place with decent service.
It's never fair to judge a place by just getting takeout from them, especially when you have like a 15-20 minute walk to get the food home, and you placed the order before leaving work, a 30+ minute bus ride away. But that's what I did with Siam Lotus Thai Cuisine (1705 Haight St at Cole). The Golden Triangle appetizer I ordered actually still tasted quite yummy when I got home, despite it being in a crispy wrapper which you would think would get mushy (and got a bit softer than I'm sure it started as) and gross. These were little triangle shaped "crepes" stuffed with mashed potatoes, yams, and peas and weren't nearly as heavy as samosas and such tend to be. They had a nice, lightly sweet, almost fluffy texture and taste, and were quite yummy. The Pineapple Cashew Nuts Chicken wasn't as good, though I really do wonder if it's b/c of the delay in eating from prep time. The flavors of the sauce and such were quite good but the chicken itself was strips of quite bland dry white meat. Maybe they would have been better warmer? I definitely want to try this place again sometime from within the restaurant.
Got takeout a fair amount that week, actually. Well, delivery in this case. The North Beach Pizza on Stanyan St only delivers or has takeout - there's no sit in. We felt lazy one day so we ordered our typical pizza with pepperoni & tomatoes. Yummy. My only complaint is that North Beach isn't particularly fast - I think the order arrived like 50 minutes after I made it? Need to plan ahead better - they have an online ordering system and you can specify a time if you order ahead of time. I should try that and see how well it works. But I love North Beach Pizza. Yum yum yum.
Decided to try Tsuna mi Sushi Bar (1300 Fulton at Divisadero). My bf liked it a lot more than me. It's a fairly trendy type place - famous for its diverse sake selection, with kind of loungey-seating around the walls and tables in the middle. They have a relatively small, IMO, sushi menu with some unusual stuff. We ended up getting a Tsunami - maguro, bincho and asparagus flash-fried, topped with spicy aioli, tobiko, and scallions (Bincho is apparently albacore - what goes by white tuna or shiro maguro elsewhere?). That was fairly yummy. We also got sake sashimi and I forget what other fish...either hamachi or maguro, but pretty sure it wasn't bincho. I also think we may have gotten the Five Sisters roll, which I think is known as a rainbow roll elsewhere - california topped with five types of fish. It was all quite good. I guess my lack of enthusiasm mainly stemmed from the prices - we had only gone to Sushi Bistro like the week before, and Tsunami is decidedly more expensive. And I guess also the selection since there were less choices than Sushi Bistro. Given that they're in entirely different areas of the city, though, it's not like you'd necessarily skip one to go to the other. I guess my conclusion is it's a decent sushi place, but on the expensive side, and unnecessarily trendy (which means long waits on weekend nights).
That's all I can remember for now...
On a personal note, I had fun over Thanksgiving weekend going to see Kurt Browning in "Peter Pan", which was a fun stage musical. Also had fun going to the Boitano show at AT&T Park, which was quite an interesting experience - it was kind of funky being out on the field looking up into the stands. Big park! Went to a Comedians of Comedy show at the Independent - Patton Oswalt and the other two headliners (a guy from the Sarah Silverman show, a woman from I'm not sure where) were quite funny, but there were two comedians in a row who were the first to go after Patton warmed up the crowd who really sucked. None of us liked them, and they set the wrong tone for the evening for us, I think. I was in a bad mood for a while and wasn't ready to concede the following acts were actually funny at times, and some of the other people left early. It's a shame. Also odd was that it was a music venue so there were no seats, just standing room. And it was PACKED. Quite unpleasant. I'm so cranky =).
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Food, what else?
Hmm. I last updated 8 days ago? I'm never going to remember everything I ate in the last 8 days.
Well, here's what I do remember. Last week was kind of our week for wandering out of our usual neighborhoods for food.
Last week, I had the urge for bbq, simply because walking around the office at lunch, I got a whiff of someone's yummy smelling bbq sauce with a kind of vinegary undertone that really reminded me of Memphis Minnie's. But the bf wanted to try something new, and after looking around, we ended up going for "soul food" instead of straightforward bbq. Yelp turned up HardKnox Cafe in Potrero, at 2526 3rd St (btwn 22nd and 23rd). It's a soul food restaurant apparently run by Vietnamese people, tucked into a rather nondescript block. The inside is pretty neat, from a vibe standpoint - corrugated metal lines the walls, with pictures and stuff evoking a kind of country-ish feel, there are a series of red booths along one wall, a bar along the other, and some tables in between. Food-wise...well I think they probably have good food but as my bf says, maybe we're just not soul food people. He got the fried chicken everyone raves about it and was very good indeed (actually kind of reminded me of San Tung's even though it had no sauce of any kind). His sides of corn and mac & cheese were only so-so, though. The corn was actually fairly bland and got kind of nasty-tasting when it was cold, while the mac & cheese was like somewhat better Kraft, though as he pointed out, it's kind of scary that it was still as liquidy as when it started even when cold. I got the smothered chicken, was a stupid move - I think I would have been better off with the smothered pork chops if I wanted some smothering. The smothered chicken is basically fried chicken drenched in gravy. Which means soggy fried part, though very tender fall-off-the-bone chicken. I think if I liked the gravy better, I would have liked the dish, but I didn't particularly like the gravy, which is mostly just a flavor preference thing. Which didn't help the fact that one of my sides was mashed potatoes, covered in the same gravy... I also ordered the collard greens, which also was a mistake. I was misled by the greens I had had at Memphis Minnie's (and possibly that place in Oakland) into thinking that to cut the bitterness, southern cooking usually used some sort of sweet/vinegary sauce, but nope. It was just a pile of very bitter greens. The thing is, I don't think any of this was done badly (collard greens *are* a bitter green) but it was just bad ordering on my part. I probably would have been far happier with the bbq pork spare ribs or something, and there was a long list of sides I could have chosen from. Just didn't pick the best ones. Each dinner did come with two corn muffins, and those were very good. Sweet and tasty all on their own, so I didn't need to put honey on them. For the fried chicken, I'd recommend this place, but it's too far out of the way for us to go back.
Thursday night I decided I just really wanted to eat at Helmand Palace (2424 Van Ness Ave, btwn Union and Green). The Helmand is an Afghan restaurant that used to be located on Broadway, within (long) walking distance to work, and I'd been to that location a few times - the first time with a vegetarian friend who loved the place, later for the lunch buffet with my bf (I think on Valentine's Day, actually). I've always loved the food, but then that location closed down (I guess due to a mudslide?). Sadness. Then, one day, I was poking around Yelp and discovered that Helmand was reopening in a new neighborhood and was happy again, though not so happy it was further away now. But I love my Kaddo so I'm willing to do the two bus transfer to get home from there. Now Kaddo is their sweet pumpkin dish and is absolutely the yummiest thing ever. Pumpkin cooked for hours into a delicious sweet soft texture, with yogurt and meat sauce on top. I loved going for the lunch buffet b/c I could get as much kaddo as I wanted. This time around, I had to satisfy myself with splitting an appetizer with my bf. The Helmand is just about the only place I've had lamb that I actually enjoyed (I usually hate lamb's gamey taste) because they make it tender, and at least in the Qabalee dish my bf has ordered more than once, with a minimum of that gamey lamb taste I hate. I got the Theeka Kebab (prime rib marinated in onion, baby grapes and garlic, then grilled and served with lentils and pallow rice) which was quite good. Though I really wish I remembered what dishes I had tried in the lunch buffet because I know they have stuff I like even more there. If it wasn't so far from work...
On Friday, the bf suggested Indian food, so we decided to try the Indian Oven (237 Fillmore St at Haight) again. This was the place we got take-out from last time. The food is definitely better when you don't carry it for 20 minutes on the bus (after letting it sit in the restaurant for probably another 20 minutes b/c the bus took so long to get there). The garlic naan was super-yummy fresh from the oven/griddle, in particular, whereas it had gotten rather soggy when we got takeout. What we ordered was fairly similar to last time - mango lassi (still some of the best I've had), chicken korma (hey it's my favorite dish), chicken madras (spicy coconut sauce with raisins), and an order of pulau (the rice with peas and spices). Very yummy, not that cheap though my bf did get another meal out of leftovers from it. Personally, I definitely like this place. The flavors suit me.
Saturday I met up with friends for peking duck and karaoke, so it was off to the East Bay with me. The peking duck was at Great China at 2115 Kittredge St in Berkeley. I loved that place. Might help that my bf doesn't like Chinese so I hadn't had Chinese food in a while, and also might help that I had no hand in the ordering (I think when I order I get really mundane stuff based on the English menu, b/c I have no idea what to order). But the food was all really tasty. The peking duck was great as advertised, though for me, using the thin little skins instead of the white puffy buns leads to very sticky hands. But the skin was crispy and delicious, and the meat was great. We also got the "double skin" which is not a dish I was familiar with - seemed to be some cold blend of noodles, funghi, meat, veggies, and whatever "double skin" is in a Wasabi-seasoned sauce. It wasn't my favorite but it was very interesting. There was some soup I don't know the name of that my friends like to order where they dump in a bowl of cracked rice (or something) which puffs up and softens in the heat of the soup and is quite yummy. There was do miau (pea shoots) which were honestly, just ok - there was some odd taste I didn't quite like but they were tender and done well otherwise - I think personally I like the simple garlic/salt taste and I'm not sure what else they used to flavor it, but it wasn't my favorite. There was a beef dish - sizzling beef of some kind. My bf has made me aware that Chinese restaurants tend to over-tenderize (and I think cornstarch) their beef to the point where it no longer has beef texture, which he hates. I don't hate it as much as him but it's not my favorite thing. And my least favorite is to get over-tenderized beef that is nonetheless hard to chew and stringy. But the tenderized beef at Great China was truly tender - soft, easy to chew, and with the yummiest sauce. I started scooping up sauce to put on my rice, I liked it so much. They also ordered lettuce cups, which were also really tasty. I may also have just been hungry, but I was very happy with the food there. There was a weird moment coming into the restaurant, though. It was a rainy day so everyone who was waiting was gathered under the small awning, the restaurant is tiny, and a guy in a wheelchair decided to plant himself right in the door. I think he couldn't get further in because of the way the entry way was designed (*not* a handicapped friendly restaurant) but he also refused to back out. And he and the waiter got in a cussing match where he, I think, led things off in a fairly antagonistic manner "get your hand off my chair" before asking for his order, and the waiter initially refused to serve him because of his bad attitude. Eventually I guess they worked out that he had already placed the order (the waiter was going "no, I won't make it. I won't make it!") and he got his food, but it was a bit of a mess. And no one could get in or out while this was going on. Then I couldn't get in b/c this huge stream of people came out of the restaurant. This happened again later - I'm not sure where they all came from because the restaurant was tiny. They must have a banquet room in the back or something.
Sunday, we went down to a friend's house in Fremont to play Halo3 on their new Xbox 360. They took us to, I think, De Afghanan Kabob House, a tiny hole in the wall at 37405 Fremont Blvd. More Afghan food! I decided to go for the beef kabob, my bf got the chicken kabob, one of our friends also got the beef, and the other got the ground beef with cilantro, scallions, and spices. The place is teeny - there are 3 tables shoved in one side of the room where you basically have to get up so the people in the tables further back can get in and out, and most of the room is dominated by the counter and grill where they cook up their magic. It wasn't very fast because they make your order on the spot, but boy was it good. My beef kabob - at least the first half or so before it cooled down - was delicious and so tender. The last two pieces I couldn't even cut with my plastic knife, or tear off with my teeth - I have no idea if it's because I got two bad pieces or because that's what happened when they cool off - but that was ok because I was pretty stuffed by that point anyway. Each dish came with rice, a potato/garbanzo salad and a kind of tomato/onion/cilantra salad which really seemed more like salsa, as well as a piece of Afghan bread. We didn't end up eating the bread (which was out of a bag) because they ordered the bulanee (I think) - a bread stuffed with potatoes and spices - which was really yummy. My bf's chicken kabob was good. I wasn't quite as fond of the ground beef patty which my friend gave me a bite of, but the fact that I'm not fond at all of cilantro probably didn't help. All in all it was way too much food, but it was very good.
Then, last night, my bf's sister was in town, and in the mood for sushi. We poked around on Yelp, and turned up Sushi Bistro at 445 Balboa St (between 5th and 6th). It got fantastic reviews, so we figured why not try it out. They had a very interesting and diverse menu - some of the typical standard rolls, but then a whole page of "bistro" rolls that were very creative and different. Also, a page of "Something Unique" which were more like little plates of creative combinations of food (many of which were cooked). A lot of the rolls were fried or cooked in some way or featured much spiciness or fruits or whatever... We had a very hard time deciding because there were so many options, but finally decided to order a couple rolls, "something unique" and the 12-piece sashimi combination, which had the best combination of fish I've ever seen for one of those combos. Lots of stuff I love, nothing I didn't like - 2 pieces each of albacore, albacore tataki, salmon, tuna, hamachi, and butterfish. I didn't try the tuna or the albacore since there were 3 of us, but the albacore tataki was melt in your mouth delicious, the salmon (which had been resting against a slice of lemon) was sublime (and slightly sweet), the butterfish was, well, buttery and delicious, and the hamachi was quite good too. I also got myself a lettuce wrap - an individual portion of a slice of lettuce on which they put stuff. I got the "Summer" which had unagi, salmon, abacore, avocado, sushi rice, and sauce on a slice of lettuce. It was super-yummy, though also quite messy, and heavily dominated by the eel. The "Something Unique" was the most disappointing - we got - I forgot what it was called, but it was blue fin toro with some sauce and apples, but the toro was cooked which seems a total waste. It tasted fine but when you want raw fish, cooked fish just doesn't cut it. The rolls were good, though - I'm actually not sure which was which and now I'm not even positive I remember which we got b/c we went through so many choices making the decision, but I *think* we got the Albacore Dream (spicy tuna, and avocado topped with albacore and house special sauce) which was an 8-piece yummy roll, and the... I want to say M&L except the ingredients don't sound right (baby lobster, cucumber, avocado rolled with soybean paper, topped with salmon). Hmm..maybe the one we got isn't on the Menupages page? At any rate, they were all yummy. I would definitely go back. If we are feeling adventurous, there are still a lot of interesting looking rolls left to try, and if we're not, their sashimi was super fresh and delicious, and they know what fish should go together. Yummy. It's not particularly cheap would be the one downside, but it's quite delicious.
And those were my culinary adventures for the week. Oh, and the bf got me more XOX truffles (hazelnut, coconut, peanut butter, and mint) and mmmmmm..... Boy, am I blabby.
Well, here's what I do remember. Last week was kind of our week for wandering out of our usual neighborhoods for food.
Last week, I had the urge for bbq, simply because walking around the office at lunch, I got a whiff of someone's yummy smelling bbq sauce with a kind of vinegary undertone that really reminded me of Memphis Minnie's. But the bf wanted to try something new, and after looking around, we ended up going for "soul food" instead of straightforward bbq. Yelp turned up HardKnox Cafe in Potrero, at 2526 3rd St (btwn 22nd and 23rd). It's a soul food restaurant apparently run by Vietnamese people, tucked into a rather nondescript block. The inside is pretty neat, from a vibe standpoint - corrugated metal lines the walls, with pictures and stuff evoking a kind of country-ish feel, there are a series of red booths along one wall, a bar along the other, and some tables in between. Food-wise...well I think they probably have good food but as my bf says, maybe we're just not soul food people. He got the fried chicken everyone raves about it and was very good indeed (actually kind of reminded me of San Tung's even though it had no sauce of any kind). His sides of corn and mac & cheese were only so-so, though. The corn was actually fairly bland and got kind of nasty-tasting when it was cold, while the mac & cheese was like somewhat better Kraft, though as he pointed out, it's kind of scary that it was still as liquidy as when it started even when cold. I got the smothered chicken, was a stupid move - I think I would have been better off with the smothered pork chops if I wanted some smothering. The smothered chicken is basically fried chicken drenched in gravy. Which means soggy fried part, though very tender fall-off-the-bone chicken. I think if I liked the gravy better, I would have liked the dish, but I didn't particularly like the gravy, which is mostly just a flavor preference thing. Which didn't help the fact that one of my sides was mashed potatoes, covered in the same gravy... I also ordered the collard greens, which also was a mistake. I was misled by the greens I had had at Memphis Minnie's (and possibly that place in Oakland) into thinking that to cut the bitterness, southern cooking usually used some sort of sweet/vinegary sauce, but nope. It was just a pile of very bitter greens. The thing is, I don't think any of this was done badly (collard greens *are* a bitter green) but it was just bad ordering on my part. I probably would have been far happier with the bbq pork spare ribs or something, and there was a long list of sides I could have chosen from. Just didn't pick the best ones. Each dinner did come with two corn muffins, and those were very good. Sweet and tasty all on their own, so I didn't need to put honey on them. For the fried chicken, I'd recommend this place, but it's too far out of the way for us to go back.
Thursday night I decided I just really wanted to eat at Helmand Palace (2424 Van Ness Ave, btwn Union and Green). The Helmand is an Afghan restaurant that used to be located on Broadway, within (long) walking distance to work, and I'd been to that location a few times - the first time with a vegetarian friend who loved the place, later for the lunch buffet with my bf (I think on Valentine's Day, actually). I've always loved the food, but then that location closed down (I guess due to a mudslide?). Sadness. Then, one day, I was poking around Yelp and discovered that Helmand was reopening in a new neighborhood and was happy again, though not so happy it was further away now. But I love my Kaddo so I'm willing to do the two bus transfer to get home from there. Now Kaddo is their sweet pumpkin dish and is absolutely the yummiest thing ever. Pumpkin cooked for hours into a delicious sweet soft texture, with yogurt and meat sauce on top. I loved going for the lunch buffet b/c I could get as much kaddo as I wanted. This time around, I had to satisfy myself with splitting an appetizer with my bf. The Helmand is just about the only place I've had lamb that I actually enjoyed (I usually hate lamb's gamey taste) because they make it tender, and at least in the Qabalee dish my bf has ordered more than once, with a minimum of that gamey lamb taste I hate. I got the Theeka Kebab (prime rib marinated in onion, baby grapes and garlic, then grilled and served with lentils and pallow rice) which was quite good. Though I really wish I remembered what dishes I had tried in the lunch buffet because I know they have stuff I like even more there. If it wasn't so far from work...
On Friday, the bf suggested Indian food, so we decided to try the Indian Oven (237 Fillmore St at Haight) again. This was the place we got take-out from last time. The food is definitely better when you don't carry it for 20 minutes on the bus (after letting it sit in the restaurant for probably another 20 minutes b/c the bus took so long to get there). The garlic naan was super-yummy fresh from the oven/griddle, in particular, whereas it had gotten rather soggy when we got takeout. What we ordered was fairly similar to last time - mango lassi (still some of the best I've had), chicken korma (hey it's my favorite dish), chicken madras (spicy coconut sauce with raisins), and an order of pulau (the rice with peas and spices). Very yummy, not that cheap though my bf did get another meal out of leftovers from it. Personally, I definitely like this place. The flavors suit me.
Saturday I met up with friends for peking duck and karaoke, so it was off to the East Bay with me. The peking duck was at Great China at 2115 Kittredge St in Berkeley. I loved that place. Might help that my bf doesn't like Chinese so I hadn't had Chinese food in a while, and also might help that I had no hand in the ordering (I think when I order I get really mundane stuff based on the English menu, b/c I have no idea what to order). But the food was all really tasty. The peking duck was great as advertised, though for me, using the thin little skins instead of the white puffy buns leads to very sticky hands. But the skin was crispy and delicious, and the meat was great. We also got the "double skin" which is not a dish I was familiar with - seemed to be some cold blend of noodles, funghi, meat, veggies, and whatever "double skin" is in a Wasabi-seasoned sauce. It wasn't my favorite but it was very interesting. There was some soup I don't know the name of that my friends like to order where they dump in a bowl of cracked rice (or something) which puffs up and softens in the heat of the soup and is quite yummy. There was do miau (pea shoots) which were honestly, just ok - there was some odd taste I didn't quite like but they were tender and done well otherwise - I think personally I like the simple garlic/salt taste and I'm not sure what else they used to flavor it, but it wasn't my favorite. There was a beef dish - sizzling beef of some kind. My bf has made me aware that Chinese restaurants tend to over-tenderize (and I think cornstarch) their beef to the point where it no longer has beef texture, which he hates. I don't hate it as much as him but it's not my favorite thing. And my least favorite is to get over-tenderized beef that is nonetheless hard to chew and stringy. But the tenderized beef at Great China was truly tender - soft, easy to chew, and with the yummiest sauce. I started scooping up sauce to put on my rice, I liked it so much. They also ordered lettuce cups, which were also really tasty. I may also have just been hungry, but I was very happy with the food there. There was a weird moment coming into the restaurant, though. It was a rainy day so everyone who was waiting was gathered under the small awning, the restaurant is tiny, and a guy in a wheelchair decided to plant himself right in the door. I think he couldn't get further in because of the way the entry way was designed (*not* a handicapped friendly restaurant) but he also refused to back out. And he and the waiter got in a cussing match where he, I think, led things off in a fairly antagonistic manner "get your hand off my chair" before asking for his order, and the waiter initially refused to serve him because of his bad attitude. Eventually I guess they worked out that he had already placed the order (the waiter was going "no, I won't make it. I won't make it!") and he got his food, but it was a bit of a mess. And no one could get in or out while this was going on. Then I couldn't get in b/c this huge stream of people came out of the restaurant. This happened again later - I'm not sure where they all came from because the restaurant was tiny. They must have a banquet room in the back or something.
Sunday, we went down to a friend's house in Fremont to play Halo3 on their new Xbox 360. They took us to, I think, De Afghanan Kabob House, a tiny hole in the wall at 37405 Fremont Blvd. More Afghan food! I decided to go for the beef kabob, my bf got the chicken kabob, one of our friends also got the beef, and the other got the ground beef with cilantro, scallions, and spices. The place is teeny - there are 3 tables shoved in one side of the room where you basically have to get up so the people in the tables further back can get in and out, and most of the room is dominated by the counter and grill where they cook up their magic. It wasn't very fast because they make your order on the spot, but boy was it good. My beef kabob - at least the first half or so before it cooled down - was delicious and so tender. The last two pieces I couldn't even cut with my plastic knife, or tear off with my teeth - I have no idea if it's because I got two bad pieces or because that's what happened when they cool off - but that was ok because I was pretty stuffed by that point anyway. Each dish came with rice, a potato/garbanzo salad and a kind of tomato/onion/cilantra salad which really seemed more like salsa, as well as a piece of Afghan bread. We didn't end up eating the bread (which was out of a bag) because they ordered the bulanee (I think) - a bread stuffed with potatoes and spices - which was really yummy. My bf's chicken kabob was good. I wasn't quite as fond of the ground beef patty which my friend gave me a bite of, but the fact that I'm not fond at all of cilantro probably didn't help. All in all it was way too much food, but it was very good.
Then, last night, my bf's sister was in town, and in the mood for sushi. We poked around on Yelp, and turned up Sushi Bistro at 445 Balboa St (between 5th and 6th). It got fantastic reviews, so we figured why not try it out. They had a very interesting and diverse menu - some of the typical standard rolls, but then a whole page of "bistro" rolls that were very creative and different. Also, a page of "Something Unique" which were more like little plates of creative combinations of food (many of which were cooked). A lot of the rolls were fried or cooked in some way or featured much spiciness or fruits or whatever... We had a very hard time deciding because there were so many options, but finally decided to order a couple rolls, "something unique" and the 12-piece sashimi combination, which had the best combination of fish I've ever seen for one of those combos. Lots of stuff I love, nothing I didn't like - 2 pieces each of albacore, albacore tataki, salmon, tuna, hamachi, and butterfish. I didn't try the tuna or the albacore since there were 3 of us, but the albacore tataki was melt in your mouth delicious, the salmon (which had been resting against a slice of lemon) was sublime (and slightly sweet), the butterfish was, well, buttery and delicious, and the hamachi was quite good too. I also got myself a lettuce wrap - an individual portion of a slice of lettuce on which they put stuff. I got the "Summer" which had unagi, salmon, abacore, avocado, sushi rice, and sauce on a slice of lettuce. It was super-yummy, though also quite messy, and heavily dominated by the eel. The "Something Unique" was the most disappointing - we got - I forgot what it was called, but it was blue fin toro with some sauce and apples, but the toro was cooked which seems a total waste. It tasted fine but when you want raw fish, cooked fish just doesn't cut it. The rolls were good, though - I'm actually not sure which was which and now I'm not even positive I remember which we got b/c we went through so many choices making the decision, but I *think* we got the Albacore Dream (spicy tuna, and avocado topped with albacore and house special sauce) which was an 8-piece yummy roll, and the... I want to say M&L except the ingredients don't sound right (baby lobster, cucumber, avocado rolled with soybean paper, topped with salmon). Hmm..maybe the one we got isn't on the Menupages page? At any rate, they were all yummy. I would definitely go back. If we are feeling adventurous, there are still a lot of interesting looking rolls left to try, and if we're not, their sashimi was super fresh and delicious, and they know what fish should go together. Yummy. It's not particularly cheap would be the one downside, but it's quite delicious.
And those were my culinary adventures for the week. Oh, and the bf got me more XOX truffles (hazelnut, coconut, peanut butter, and mint) and mmmmmm..... Boy, am I blabby.
Monday, November 5, 2007
Munch munch munch
More eats from last week, which was probably one of our most satisfying weeks for eating out yet.
First up, one of my bf's former coworkers notified us kind of last minute that he and his wife were going to be in town a week ago Friday night, so we acted quickly to locate a Nob Hill restaurant (where there hotel was). We came up with Fino Restaurant (624 Post St btwn Taylor and Trader Vic Alley) in the Andrews Hotel. This ended up being a cute little Italian restaurant that had pretty decent food. Apparently the bolognese sauce on the wife's pasta was a bit overly sweet (I suspect I would have liked it) but they seemed to enjoy their Fettucine Carbonara, Caprese Salad, and Caesar salads... My Polla alla Saltimbocca was delicious, though I've never had it with avocado on top before. My bf seemed not to enjoy his Salsicce e Penne as much as he had hoped, but that may have been due to a high stuff:pasta ratio - I think he wanted more pasta. Overall, I wasn't blown away but it was a good meal.
Saturday, I got my hazelnut milk tea and Chinese pastry fix down in Mountain View, and then went to a friend's place for her Halloween pumpkin-carving party. We got lazy and didn't bring a pumpkin, but it was fun watching everyone else's pumpkin take shape. There were some pretty cool ones, especially a very cool Bowser (doubly cool 'cause he designed it himself instead of using a pre-existing pattern). I always thought of jack-o-lanterns as just being a face but we got a pirate ship, a tropical island, a Pikachu, and a haunted house/castle...pretty neat! Evidentally I stuffed myself too full of pastries and milk tea and didn't have much appetite for dinner, but there was a pumpkin cake-thing there that was super delicious. Had a layer of something like pumpkin pie filling on top of a yummy cake. Kept sneaking bites of that all night.
I have no memory of Sunday, but I think Monday was the day I got an urge for pho, so we decided to check out Pho Clement (239 Clement between 3rd and 4th) in Inner Richmond. That was a happy meal. They have an extensive pho menu, but like most pho places, for some reason did not offer a combination of brisket, steak, and flank. However they said you could create your own pho combinations, which I promptly did. Based on my bf and my experiences, medium is just about the perfect size there - the large was too big, the small looked tiny, but medium was nice and filling. I got a pineapple shake which was very yummy (if a trifle strong with the pineapple) while the bf got a mango shake which was great. Both our bowls of pho really hit the spot - good tasting broth (I actually didn't have to add the plum sauce or whatever it is they leave on the table for once), yummy meat, good noodles... It was just good, basic pho. The place is nothing fancy to look at - as someone on yelp says, standard Vietnamese pho cafeteria setting - though they do have a nice big flatscreen which was showing the football game. To my pleasure, it also wasn't particularly full, so we got very fast service and seating. Sometimes nice restaurants are what we're looking for, but sometimes something warm and comforting is really the way to go.
Thursday was my bf and my 11th (eep) anniversary, so we decided to get a nice dinner to celebrate. After House of Prime Rib and NOPA both said they only had reservations available after 9, we turned to Zoya (465 Grove between Gough and Octavia), a restaurant we had previously tried to go to on a performance night (it's near the opera and all the other performing arts venues on Van Ness) and weren't able to get in. That turned out to be a great choice, and a near-perfect meal. The venue is a little odd - it's a little almost tower/turret like thing stuck to the end of a Days Inn. There is a bar on the first floor with some seating but the small dining room is actually on the second floor - up some fake green grass covered stairs which also leads to the upper floor of Days Inn rooms. However, once you go through the curtain covering the door, the dining room itself is in a cute little round room, with nicely set tables (though not too many of them!), little candles flickering, and windows around looking out on Grove St. The service is a little bit slow, because there is only one very sweet waitress who had to go up and down the stairs to carry up all the food, drinks, etc, as well as to check if anyone was there and bring them up to seat them. However, as I said, she was really nice, and we weren't in a hurry that night anyway. We don't typically get appetizers, entrees, AND desserts in the same meal, but we decided to splurge that night, and it was definitely worth it. I got the butternut squash soup with creme fraiche - I love butternut squash soup and while this wasn't the best I'd ever had (it was a little on the bland side), it was still a nice starter. The bf got their poke - ahi tuna with all sorts of stuff mixed in and fried wonton skins to scoop it all up with - and absolutely loved it. My aversion to cilantro made it hard for me to enjoy it, but it did seem a good appetizer. For entrees, I got the roasted chicken breast quarter with marsala pan sauce and porcini risotto (or something similar - that's what's listed on the website) and it was absolutely delicious. The chicken was moist, tender, and flavorful, the broccoli rabe tender and not at all bitter, and the risotto flavored just right - not bland, and not overpowering, just delicate and yummy. My bf got the Australian lamb loin chops with pomegranate molasses and pearl couscous with cumin herb oil and his only complaint was that there wasn't enough meat - they gave him two smallish chops and when he'd eaten it down to the bone, he would have liked more. But the flavors he said were very good. The dessert menu looked great so we decided to go for that as well - I got the chocolate pot de creme with strawberries, which was quite yummy, with the strawberries blending beautifully with the chocolate rather than seeming a bit too tart. The bf got the blueberry in grand marnier with graham crumbles, and one scoop each of Tahitian Vanilla and Scharffen Berger Chocolate Gelato, which was also delicious. Just a happy meal overall, and one that didn't leave us feeling too stuffed, which was nice. I definitely recommend this restaurant, though make sure to go on a non-performance night, or make a reservation ahead of time, because the space really is quite small.
On Friday, we weren't in the mood for anything heavy, and decided to go for sushi. A quick browse on Yelp turned up Wayo Sushi (1407 Van Ness), which got very good reviews. Wayo Sushi is definitely not a high-selection sushi place - the roll menu was quite limited and the nigiri was limited to the standards - but the prices were very reasonable, and the fish was quite good. We ended up getting 3 sets of sashimi (6 pieces each for about $9-$9.75) - hamachi (which reminded me strongly of amberjack, which I love), maguro (fine), and shiro maguro (as usual melt in your mouth). We also got a mango salmon roll - I only had one piece b/c I had stuffed myself with the wakame salad (yummy, good quantity for only $3.75) but it was quite good. Overall, I thought it was a reasonably good sushi place - nowhere you'd go if you're going for exotic, but a nice place to stop for reasonably priced, fresh fish.
Afterwards, we walked down like 10 blocks to Grove St to go to Citizen Cake (399 Grove St at Gough) since the bf felt like some dessert. I thought I was too stuffed to get anything, but as usual couldn't resist. I ended up getting a scoop of the banana toffee peanut butter (and possibly some other stuff) ice cream, which was quite good. My bf got the lemon meringue tart, which was also good. He also brought home a giunduja (sp?) something or the other, and a mexican wedding? cookie... I got to try the first which was kind of like a nestle crunch but with hazelnut overtones - pretty yummy. I think he enjoyed the latter?
Beyond that, we've actually been cooking and eating at home for the most part. But that was a good week for restaurant choices!
First up, one of my bf's former coworkers notified us kind of last minute that he and his wife were going to be in town a week ago Friday night, so we acted quickly to locate a Nob Hill restaurant (where there hotel was). We came up with Fino Restaurant (624 Post St btwn Taylor and Trader Vic Alley) in the Andrews Hotel. This ended up being a cute little Italian restaurant that had pretty decent food. Apparently the bolognese sauce on the wife's pasta was a bit overly sweet (I suspect I would have liked it) but they seemed to enjoy their Fettucine Carbonara, Caprese Salad, and Caesar salads... My Polla alla Saltimbocca was delicious, though I've never had it with avocado on top before. My bf seemed not to enjoy his Salsicce e Penne as much as he had hoped, but that may have been due to a high stuff:pasta ratio - I think he wanted more pasta. Overall, I wasn't blown away but it was a good meal.
Saturday, I got my hazelnut milk tea and Chinese pastry fix down in Mountain View, and then went to a friend's place for her Halloween pumpkin-carving party. We got lazy and didn't bring a pumpkin, but it was fun watching everyone else's pumpkin take shape. There were some pretty cool ones, especially a very cool Bowser (doubly cool 'cause he designed it himself instead of using a pre-existing pattern). I always thought of jack-o-lanterns as just being a face but we got a pirate ship, a tropical island, a Pikachu, and a haunted house/castle...pretty neat! Evidentally I stuffed myself too full of pastries and milk tea and didn't have much appetite for dinner, but there was a pumpkin cake-thing there that was super delicious. Had a layer of something like pumpkin pie filling on top of a yummy cake. Kept sneaking bites of that all night.
I have no memory of Sunday, but I think Monday was the day I got an urge for pho, so we decided to check out Pho Clement (239 Clement between 3rd and 4th) in Inner Richmond. That was a happy meal. They have an extensive pho menu, but like most pho places, for some reason did not offer a combination of brisket, steak, and flank. However they said you could create your own pho combinations, which I promptly did. Based on my bf and my experiences, medium is just about the perfect size there - the large was too big, the small looked tiny, but medium was nice and filling. I got a pineapple shake which was very yummy (if a trifle strong with the pineapple) while the bf got a mango shake which was great. Both our bowls of pho really hit the spot - good tasting broth (I actually didn't have to add the plum sauce or whatever it is they leave on the table for once), yummy meat, good noodles... It was just good, basic pho. The place is nothing fancy to look at - as someone on yelp says, standard Vietnamese pho cafeteria setting - though they do have a nice big flatscreen which was showing the football game. To my pleasure, it also wasn't particularly full, so we got very fast service and seating. Sometimes nice restaurants are what we're looking for, but sometimes something warm and comforting is really the way to go.
Thursday was my bf and my 11th (eep) anniversary, so we decided to get a nice dinner to celebrate. After House of Prime Rib and NOPA both said they only had reservations available after 9, we turned to Zoya (465 Grove between Gough and Octavia), a restaurant we had previously tried to go to on a performance night (it's near the opera and all the other performing arts venues on Van Ness) and weren't able to get in. That turned out to be a great choice, and a near-perfect meal. The venue is a little odd - it's a little almost tower/turret like thing stuck to the end of a Days Inn. There is a bar on the first floor with some seating but the small dining room is actually on the second floor - up some fake green grass covered stairs which also leads to the upper floor of Days Inn rooms. However, once you go through the curtain covering the door, the dining room itself is in a cute little round room, with nicely set tables (though not too many of them!), little candles flickering, and windows around looking out on Grove St. The service is a little bit slow, because there is only one very sweet waitress who had to go up and down the stairs to carry up all the food, drinks, etc, as well as to check if anyone was there and bring them up to seat them. However, as I said, she was really nice, and we weren't in a hurry that night anyway. We don't typically get appetizers, entrees, AND desserts in the same meal, but we decided to splurge that night, and it was definitely worth it. I got the butternut squash soup with creme fraiche - I love butternut squash soup and while this wasn't the best I'd ever had (it was a little on the bland side), it was still a nice starter. The bf got their poke - ahi tuna with all sorts of stuff mixed in and fried wonton skins to scoop it all up with - and absolutely loved it. My aversion to cilantro made it hard for me to enjoy it, but it did seem a good appetizer. For entrees, I got the roasted chicken breast quarter with marsala pan sauce and porcini risotto (or something similar - that's what's listed on the website) and it was absolutely delicious. The chicken was moist, tender, and flavorful, the broccoli rabe tender and not at all bitter, and the risotto flavored just right - not bland, and not overpowering, just delicate and yummy. My bf got the Australian lamb loin chops with pomegranate molasses and pearl couscous with cumin herb oil and his only complaint was that there wasn't enough meat - they gave him two smallish chops and when he'd eaten it down to the bone, he would have liked more. But the flavors he said were very good. The dessert menu looked great so we decided to go for that as well - I got the chocolate pot de creme with strawberries, which was quite yummy, with the strawberries blending beautifully with the chocolate rather than seeming a bit too tart. The bf got the blueberry in grand marnier with graham crumbles, and one scoop each of Tahitian Vanilla and Scharffen Berger Chocolate Gelato, which was also delicious. Just a happy meal overall, and one that didn't leave us feeling too stuffed, which was nice. I definitely recommend this restaurant, though make sure to go on a non-performance night, or make a reservation ahead of time, because the space really is quite small.
On Friday, we weren't in the mood for anything heavy, and decided to go for sushi. A quick browse on Yelp turned up Wayo Sushi (1407 Van Ness), which got very good reviews. Wayo Sushi is definitely not a high-selection sushi place - the roll menu was quite limited and the nigiri was limited to the standards - but the prices were very reasonable, and the fish was quite good. We ended up getting 3 sets of sashimi (6 pieces each for about $9-$9.75) - hamachi (which reminded me strongly of amberjack, which I love), maguro (fine), and shiro maguro (as usual melt in your mouth). We also got a mango salmon roll - I only had one piece b/c I had stuffed myself with the wakame salad (yummy, good quantity for only $3.75) but it was quite good. Overall, I thought it was a reasonably good sushi place - nowhere you'd go if you're going for exotic, but a nice place to stop for reasonably priced, fresh fish.
Afterwards, we walked down like 10 blocks to Grove St to go to Citizen Cake (399 Grove St at Gough) since the bf felt like some dessert. I thought I was too stuffed to get anything, but as usual couldn't resist. I ended up getting a scoop of the banana toffee peanut butter (and possibly some other stuff) ice cream, which was quite good. My bf got the lemon meringue tart, which was also good. He also brought home a giunduja (sp?) something or the other, and a mexican wedding? cookie... I got to try the first which was kind of like a nestle crunch but with hazelnut overtones - pretty yummy. I think he enjoyed the latter?
Beyond that, we've actually been cooking and eating at home for the most part. But that was a good week for restaurant choices!
Thursday, November 1, 2007
Joss Whedon is my Master
Whoo-hoo! New Joss Whedon show! Starring Eliza Dushku! Already greenlit for 7 episodes! On Fox! Damn writer's strike!
Whedonesque post with links to articles
Whedonesque post with links to articles
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Whole lot of shakin' going on...
Apparently I live in a perpetually unsteady state, to the point where I never feel earthquakes, not even the biggest quake since 1989. I think I've experienced at least 3 or 4 quakes since moving to CA - I mean quakes big enough that people actually notice them - and I only felt one.
The first quake, I was living in Foster City, which is built on a landfill. I was up and walking around my room and completely failed to feel the earthquake which my bf (who was sitting on the bed) noticed, and which my housemates all immediately reacted to. It was only because the light in the foyer was rocking that I even had any evidence there was an earthquake.
The only quake I've ever noticed, I was sitting in my office in Newark, CA and thought at first the building was just shaking due to blasting in the quarry nearby, which frequently shook the building. It was only b/c of the prolonged duration of the shaking that I began to suspect something else was going on.
Yesterday's 5.6 quake, which admittedly hit down in San Jose while I live up in San Francisco, I didn't notice at all. I was cooking (on my gas stove) when my bf started yelling from his office down the hall. I had no idea what he was saying (the stove fan was on) until finally I heard "earthquake! earthquake!" I still had no clue what he was going on about because I didn't feel anything, but he insisted there was an earthquake going on. I looked around and noticed some books and the open bathroom door wobbling, so I decided to believe him. Kind of reacted belatedly to turn off the stove, and then stood in the doorway of the kitchen, watching things shake but feeling not a thing.
I dunno. I guess a lifetime of being perpetually off-balance (I'm known to start toppling over if I just shift my weight too much from foot to foot, and to list heavily to one side while trying to avoid obstacles in my way) has made me rather oblivious to the world around me shaking.
The first quake, I was living in Foster City, which is built on a landfill. I was up and walking around my room and completely failed to feel the earthquake which my bf (who was sitting on the bed) noticed, and which my housemates all immediately reacted to. It was only because the light in the foyer was rocking that I even had any evidence there was an earthquake.
The only quake I've ever noticed, I was sitting in my office in Newark, CA and thought at first the building was just shaking due to blasting in the quarry nearby, which frequently shook the building. It was only b/c of the prolonged duration of the shaking that I began to suspect something else was going on.
Yesterday's 5.6 quake, which admittedly hit down in San Jose while I live up in San Francisco, I didn't notice at all. I was cooking (on my gas stove) when my bf started yelling from his office down the hall. I had no idea what he was saying (the stove fan was on) until finally I heard "earthquake! earthquake!" I still had no clue what he was going on about because I didn't feel anything, but he insisted there was an earthquake going on. I looked around and noticed some books and the open bathroom door wobbling, so I decided to believe him. Kind of reacted belatedly to turn off the stove, and then stood in the doorway of the kitchen, watching things shake but feeling not a thing.
I dunno. I guess a lifetime of being perpetually off-balance (I'm known to start toppling over if I just shift my weight too much from foot to foot, and to list heavily to one side while trying to avoid obstacles in my way) has made me rather oblivious to the world around me shaking.
Thursday, October 25, 2007
My bf observed the other day that whenever we've been eating out for several days in succession, I start getting antsy about eating out too much and thinking we should cook. But then, when we've cooked for several days in a row, I start making comments about not having eaten out in a while. Apparently I'm just never satisfied.
This week we combined a bit of both worlds by getting takeout for dinner Monday, and then eating the leftovers Tuesday. For the first time in a long time, we got Indian, from Indian Oven (237 Fillmore, btwn Haight and Laussat). It wasn't cheap - I paid $47 for the whole order - but I also got a bit over-ambitious when ordering, getting the chicken tikka masala, chicken korma, assorted breads (garlic naan, onion kulcha, and chapati), an order of pulao, and two mango lassis. Also, in all fairness, it *did* last us for two meals. As for the taste, I liked it a lot. I don't know if it's super-authentic or anything, but I really enjoyed the sauce on both the tikka masala and the korma, the chicken was really tender, the lassis were super-yummy, the pulao was interesting (it's rice with peas, but also cinnamon and various other spices)... the breads order wasn't so good but it took me probably 1/2 hour from when they finished making the order to when I actually got it home so that could be why. A bit soggy. My bf wasn't quite as fond as I was - he pointed out that the chicken dishes seem like the type where they make a big batch of chicken and then ladle the sauce on, rather than making them together, which I think is possible. But like I said, the chicken was super-tender and the sauce yummy, so it still worked for me. It probably *isn't* authentic but it works for my taste buds.
Then, last night we went to Dragonfly Restaurant in Inner Sunset (420 Judah between 10th and 9th), which is a Vietnamese restaurant we've walked by several times while in the Inner Sunset. It was quite good. Proof you don't have to go to a super-expensive place like Three Seasons or Tamarine for good, slightly upscale Vietnamese (though Dragonfly's Shaken Beef is $19). We got the beef short ribs and five-spice chicken, both of which were quite yummy, along with the Hainan rice (I got overruled on my desire to try their coconut rice). The highlight, though, was definitely the dessert. He got the fried banana with coconut pineapple ice cream (if you read my restaurant reviews you will note that fried bananas are a favorite), which was good (super coconutty ice cream). I got the melted chocolate fondue, which was divine. The stuff to dip in was fine, whatever - strawberries, bananas, apples, pineapple, little pieces of pound cake, and two fried ice cream puffs - but the chocolate with grand marnier was really really good. We both started scooping up spoonfuls of the stuff after we'd exhausted the dipping possibilities. My main issue with this restaurant was they were SUPER slow. We ended up spending a bit short of 2 hours there, just for dinner and dessert. It wasn't just food coming out that was slow, but they took forever after they cleared our dishes to even ask if we wanted dessert, took a while to come back to get the order, took a while to clear *those* plates, took even longer to give us our bill, and then didn't come to pick up the credit card...my bf had to go up and drop the bill off b/c he was getting fed up waiting. So my conclusion - pretty good food, great desserts, but don't come here if you're in a big hurry.
This week we combined a bit of both worlds by getting takeout for dinner Monday, and then eating the leftovers Tuesday. For the first time in a long time, we got Indian, from Indian Oven (237 Fillmore, btwn Haight and Laussat). It wasn't cheap - I paid $47 for the whole order - but I also got a bit over-ambitious when ordering, getting the chicken tikka masala, chicken korma, assorted breads (garlic naan, onion kulcha, and chapati), an order of pulao, and two mango lassis. Also, in all fairness, it *did* last us for two meals. As for the taste, I liked it a lot. I don't know if it's super-authentic or anything, but I really enjoyed the sauce on both the tikka masala and the korma, the chicken was really tender, the lassis were super-yummy, the pulao was interesting (it's rice with peas, but also cinnamon and various other spices)... the breads order wasn't so good but it took me probably 1/2 hour from when they finished making the order to when I actually got it home so that could be why. A bit soggy. My bf wasn't quite as fond as I was - he pointed out that the chicken dishes seem like the type where they make a big batch of chicken and then ladle the sauce on, rather than making them together, which I think is possible. But like I said, the chicken was super-tender and the sauce yummy, so it still worked for me. It probably *isn't* authentic but it works for my taste buds.
Then, last night we went to Dragonfly Restaurant in Inner Sunset (420 Judah between 10th and 9th), which is a Vietnamese restaurant we've walked by several times while in the Inner Sunset. It was quite good. Proof you don't have to go to a super-expensive place like Three Seasons or Tamarine for good, slightly upscale Vietnamese (though Dragonfly's Shaken Beef is $19). We got the beef short ribs and five-spice chicken, both of which were quite yummy, along with the Hainan rice (I got overruled on my desire to try their coconut rice). The highlight, though, was definitely the dessert. He got the fried banana with coconut pineapple ice cream (if you read my restaurant reviews you will note that fried bananas are a favorite), which was good (super coconutty ice cream). I got the melted chocolate fondue, which was divine. The stuff to dip in was fine, whatever - strawberries, bananas, apples, pineapple, little pieces of pound cake, and two fried ice cream puffs - but the chocolate with grand marnier was really really good. We both started scooping up spoonfuls of the stuff after we'd exhausted the dipping possibilities. My main issue with this restaurant was they were SUPER slow. We ended up spending a bit short of 2 hours there, just for dinner and dessert. It wasn't just food coming out that was slow, but they took forever after they cleared our dishes to even ask if we wanted dessert, took a while to come back to get the order, took a while to clear *those* plates, took even longer to give us our bill, and then didn't come to pick up the credit card...my bf had to go up and drop the bill off b/c he was getting fed up waiting. So my conclusion - pretty good food, great desserts, but don't come here if you're in a big hurry.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
My trip to Seattle
I went to Seattle this weekend for a friend's birthday. We were his surprise gift. It was a pretty fun trip. They've recently renovated their house massively and it was interesting to walk through and see how it had changed since the last time I saw it. I also had a lot of fun petting their dog, who was a very sweet dispositioned lab who was very open to me petting him endlessly. I can get a bit odd around other people's dogs and babies. I get very happy if they like me, and will do whatever it is I was doing to make them happy for as long as they stay happy, which means a dog that will stick near me can get pet for like 1/2 an hour or an hour as long as he stays there. Or I'll hold the baby or play peek-a-boo or whatever as long as the baby keeps smiling at me and staying happy. And I get vaguely sad if the dog shows no interest in me or the baby cries when I'm near. Must be some sort of insecure desire to be liked at work there. Kind of pathetic!
Our friends are season subscribers to the Seattle Repertory Theater, and were very enthusiastic about the production of "Twelfth Night" (or "Twelfe Night," as they billed it) that happened to be ending on Saturday, so we all went to see it. It's not a good idea to try to watch Shakespeare when tired, because, at least for me, it requires a certain degree of focused attention for me to follow the dialogue. It was a fun production, though. "Twelfth Night" always requires a suspension of disbelief that I have difficulty with - not that an unrelated actor and actress are supposed to look so alike that no one can tell them apart so much as that they're indistinguishable when one is a head taller than the other. But this cast did a great job of playing the stunned disbelief and slightly scared confusion when Sebastian and Violet were revealed to be two separate people. The cast was very good overall. The production was interesting in that they didn't make any attempt to place it in time - some of the costumes looked period, some more modern, and the sets was rather abstract (the back drop was basically this big wavy wooden deck that looked like a wrecked ship but also just doubled as a hill or the back of a room). The lighting was also really beautiful - they had the whole back lit up like the sky in various colors and achieved some really gorgeous effects with it.
Saturday night, we went to see "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" which was quite a good movie. Very slow paced, very long, but executed extremely well. Brad Pitt made a convincing charismatic yet manic Jesse James, succumbing to paranoia and depression and knowing it. Casey Affleck was creepy and compelling as Bob Ford, torn between his hero-worship of Jesse James, his hopes for notoriety and fame, and his disillusionment and bitterness towards the hero who does not behave towards him as he had hoped. The movie made an interesting but fairly subtle case for the idea that Jesse James both was aware of and welcomed Bob Ford's betrayal, deliberately setting aside his guns and turning his back on him, and not reacting even as he could see the reflection of his shooter. This was supported by Jesse's apparently self-hate for his losses of control and violent outbursts, and just the sense that he was increasingly weary of it all. Don't go into this movie expecting much action, but as a character study and historic piece, it was quite interesting.
We also had some good food in Seattle. For brunch Saturday, we went to the 5 Spot and had a super-yummy French Toast. Instead of maple syrup, they had this caramel sauce and it was really good. Very sugary on a very thick piece of French Toast. For dinner, we went to Trader Vic's, where I had a quite yummy (if very slightly undercooked) duck breast, tried our friend's BBQ rib appetizer (pretty decent), and then split a very good chocolate lava cake, as well as banana fritters with ice cream. Dinner Sunday was at Blue C Sushi which I quite enjoyed. Sushi on a conveyer belt (with booths as well as a sushi bar alongside, which was interesting) makes it very easy to just keep taking and taking (not to mention staring at the conveyer belt instead of talking to your friends) but the prices were quite good (at least compared to the places in SF!) and the quality I really enjoyed. Not a huge, huge selection, but had enough that I liked - good Shiro Maguro, very tasty Sake, interesting Sockeye Salmon (forgot the Japanese name), pretty good Tamago, a yummy shrimp tempura roll, tasty seared tuna, yummy sesame noodles (with a peanutty sauce)... get the impression I ate rather a lot? I think I ate more than twice as much as one of our friends, who apparently wasn't very hungry. I like getting sushi in the Northwest - if you can find the right places the food is often very yummy, fresh, and quite cheap!
Our friends are season subscribers to the Seattle Repertory Theater, and were very enthusiastic about the production of "Twelfth Night" (or "Twelfe Night," as they billed it) that happened to be ending on Saturday, so we all went to see it. It's not a good idea to try to watch Shakespeare when tired, because, at least for me, it requires a certain degree of focused attention for me to follow the dialogue. It was a fun production, though. "Twelfth Night" always requires a suspension of disbelief that I have difficulty with - not that an unrelated actor and actress are supposed to look so alike that no one can tell them apart so much as that they're indistinguishable when one is a head taller than the other. But this cast did a great job of playing the stunned disbelief and slightly scared confusion when Sebastian and Violet were revealed to be two separate people. The cast was very good overall. The production was interesting in that they didn't make any attempt to place it in time - some of the costumes looked period, some more modern, and the sets was rather abstract (the back drop was basically this big wavy wooden deck that looked like a wrecked ship but also just doubled as a hill or the back of a room). The lighting was also really beautiful - they had the whole back lit up like the sky in various colors and achieved some really gorgeous effects with it.
Saturday night, we went to see "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" which was quite a good movie. Very slow paced, very long, but executed extremely well. Brad Pitt made a convincing charismatic yet manic Jesse James, succumbing to paranoia and depression and knowing it. Casey Affleck was creepy and compelling as Bob Ford, torn between his hero-worship of Jesse James, his hopes for notoriety and fame, and his disillusionment and bitterness towards the hero who does not behave towards him as he had hoped. The movie made an interesting but fairly subtle case for the idea that Jesse James both was aware of and welcomed Bob Ford's betrayal, deliberately setting aside his guns and turning his back on him, and not reacting even as he could see the reflection of his shooter. This was supported by Jesse's apparently self-hate for his losses of control and violent outbursts, and just the sense that he was increasingly weary of it all. Don't go into this movie expecting much action, but as a character study and historic piece, it was quite interesting.
We also had some good food in Seattle. For brunch Saturday, we went to the 5 Spot and had a super-yummy French Toast. Instead of maple syrup, they had this caramel sauce and it was really good. Very sugary on a very thick piece of French Toast. For dinner, we went to Trader Vic's, where I had a quite yummy (if very slightly undercooked) duck breast, tried our friend's BBQ rib appetizer (pretty decent), and then split a very good chocolate lava cake, as well as banana fritters with ice cream. Dinner Sunday was at Blue C Sushi which I quite enjoyed. Sushi on a conveyer belt (with booths as well as a sushi bar alongside, which was interesting) makes it very easy to just keep taking and taking (not to mention staring at the conveyer belt instead of talking to your friends) but the prices were quite good (at least compared to the places in SF!) and the quality I really enjoyed. Not a huge, huge selection, but had enough that I liked - good Shiro Maguro, very tasty Sake, interesting Sockeye Salmon (forgot the Japanese name), pretty good Tamago, a yummy shrimp tempura roll, tasty seared tuna, yummy sesame noodles (with a peanutty sauce)... get the impression I ate rather a lot? I think I ate more than twice as much as one of our friends, who apparently wasn't very hungry. I like getting sushi in the Northwest - if you can find the right places the food is often very yummy, fresh, and quite cheap!
Yay Kimi!
At the risk of spoiling someone else watching F1 on delay (who the hell who reads my blog actually watches F1?) as I was spoiled inadvertently while surfing the Web on Sunday...
Yay Kimi Raikkonen, Formula One 2007 World Champion!!
That was a super-exciting final race. I've been rooting for Raikkonen to win for years b/c he's just so talented but has had the worst luck in the world (though one does begin to wonder how much of his bad luck has to do with how hard he drives the cars). So I'm thrilled that he finally won the world championship. Although, it would have felt a bit better if it didn't come about b/c Lewis Hamilton made some idiotic mistakes (learn how to protect your championship, man, don't just go for the win and take unnecessary risks), and if Massa hadn't so clearly been dominating the race (though Raikkonen never really lost ground to him) and wasn't so obviously going to concede the position to Raikkonen at some point during the race... Still, I feel like Kimi has really deserved a world championship for a while so I'm just thrilled he got one. The shuffle of getting Kimi to race lead also didn't seem to involve any overt shenanigans, IMO, just a pit strategy that favored him. And it was fun watching the grin steal across the face of the "Iceman" as he sat in the post-race interview.
Also, go Kubica since he was pulling off some very fun passes during the race!
It is too bad about Hamilton but after China and Brazil, I guess he's shown himself to be human... I'm just glad Alonso didn't win. Though 110/109/109 - that's a close championship if there ever was one!
Yay Kimi Raikkonen, Formula One 2007 World Champion!!
That was a super-exciting final race. I've been rooting for Raikkonen to win for years b/c he's just so talented but has had the worst luck in the world (though one does begin to wonder how much of his bad luck has to do with how hard he drives the cars). So I'm thrilled that he finally won the world championship. Although, it would have felt a bit better if it didn't come about b/c Lewis Hamilton made some idiotic mistakes (learn how to protect your championship, man, don't just go for the win and take unnecessary risks), and if Massa hadn't so clearly been dominating the race (though Raikkonen never really lost ground to him) and wasn't so obviously going to concede the position to Raikkonen at some point during the race... Still, I feel like Kimi has really deserved a world championship for a while so I'm just thrilled he got one. The shuffle of getting Kimi to race lead also didn't seem to involve any overt shenanigans, IMO, just a pit strategy that favored him. And it was fun watching the grin steal across the face of the "Iceman" as he sat in the post-race interview.
Also, go Kubica since he was pulling off some very fun passes during the race!
It is too bad about Hamilton but after China and Brazil, I guess he's shown himself to be human... I'm just glad Alonso didn't win. Though 110/109/109 - that's a close championship if there ever was one!
Friday, October 19, 2007
What I'm watching
What I'm watching these days...
Chuck
Heroes
Journeyman
How I Met Your Mother
Reaper
Bionic Woman
Pushing Daisies
My Name is Earl
CSI
ER
Daily Show
Colbert Report
Also DVR-ing the Dead Zone and South Park and Robot Chicken, but haven't actually had time to watch them yet. We're also 2 weeks behind on TDS/TCR.
When I saw a bunch of potentially interesting shows in the fall TV guides, I didn't really mean to start watching them *all*... The ironic thing is most of these shows are on NBC, and NBC is the channel we get with the weakest signal strength over the air. On the other hand, we supposedly get ABC at something like 97% and yet I haven't gotten a clean recording off of them yet. Or CBS, for that matter. We really need to get an outdoor antenna.
At any rate, of all these new shows, "Pushing Daisies" is definitely the favorite for both my bf and I. It looks so different than anything else on TV - very Men In Black/Tim Burton-ish - and sounds different, but it's not just overly quirky and precious, it's well-done. We really get a kick out of it. The bf likes "Chuck" and stopped watching "Reaper" after the second show. I like "Chuck" ok, even if it's fairly predictable, and I like "Reaper" ok - the trouble is, I don't dislike it enough to stop watching it, and I don't love it either. It's amusing and entertaining and apparently I don't ask for much out of my entertainment. "Journeyman" I can take or leave - in fact, I left it last week. Feels a tiny bit like "Dead Zone", which I'm getting a little sick of. "Bionic Woman" I'm kind of eh about. It could be better than it is, but I don't dislike it enough to stop watching it either.
"Heroes" this year so far has been fairly predictable but I like the show. I have the feeling I'm not going to get to "Buffy" levels of love for any new TV show for a long time....
Chuck
Heroes
Journeyman
How I Met Your Mother
Reaper
Bionic Woman
Pushing Daisies
My Name is Earl
CSI
ER
Daily Show
Colbert Report
Also DVR-ing the Dead Zone and South Park and Robot Chicken, but haven't actually had time to watch them yet. We're also 2 weeks behind on TDS/TCR.
When I saw a bunch of potentially interesting shows in the fall TV guides, I didn't really mean to start watching them *all*... The ironic thing is most of these shows are on NBC, and NBC is the channel we get with the weakest signal strength over the air. On the other hand, we supposedly get ABC at something like 97% and yet I haven't gotten a clean recording off of them yet. Or CBS, for that matter. We really need to get an outdoor antenna.
At any rate, of all these new shows, "Pushing Daisies" is definitely the favorite for both my bf and I. It looks so different than anything else on TV - very Men In Black/Tim Burton-ish - and sounds different, but it's not just overly quirky and precious, it's well-done. We really get a kick out of it. The bf likes "Chuck" and stopped watching "Reaper" after the second show. I like "Chuck" ok, even if it's fairly predictable, and I like "Reaper" ok - the trouble is, I don't dislike it enough to stop watching it, and I don't love it either. It's amusing and entertaining and apparently I don't ask for much out of my entertainment. "Journeyman" I can take or leave - in fact, I left it last week. Feels a tiny bit like "Dead Zone", which I'm getting a little sick of. "Bionic Woman" I'm kind of eh about. It could be better than it is, but I don't dislike it enough to stop watching it either.
"Heroes" this year so far has been fairly predictable but I like the show. I have the feeling I'm not going to get to "Buffy" levels of love for any new TV show for a long time....
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Much-delayed update
Wow it's been almost two weeks since I blogged last. Since this blog in some ways serves as a brain/memory replacement for me (otherwise I'd totally forget what I've seen, done, and eaten), a quick rundown of what I've been doing:
- Went to Phoenix for a day for a skating show. 95 degrees outside, with an ice rink inside produces a very disconcerting effect. Downtown Phoenix is odd - it seems like it's currently in the process of being constructed, with over half of the high-rises I saw mid-construction. However, the "Copper Square Ambassadors" are awesome. Before I went to the show, I emailed them to find out if it was safe to walk from the arena back to my hotel around midnight, and in return got an offer for someone to stay at their office (they close at 11) to walk me back. Then, when I was arriving at the show, I was trying to find the media entrance and one of the Ambassadors took me around until he could find where I should go, and told the arena people to let me in. That's just awesome service.
FYI, ate at Matt's Big Breakfast (long wait, small cute place, pretty good breakfast food, nice service) and Majerle's Sports Grill (super-nice and accommodating, let me occupy a booth and order nothing but a Coke for an hour before I finally ordered dinner, even as more and more parties showed up and I kept offering to move to a smaller table. Decent salad for dinner - was still full from Matt's). Stayed at the Holiday Inn Express downtown on N 6th St, which had free internet, free breakfast, and free parking, was within walking distance (sort of, if you don't mind walking in 95 degree weather) of downtown, and was nice and clean and comfortable.
- Went to the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival in Golden Gate Park sans lawn chairs (mistake, given how crappy my knees are). It was a pretty neat event, with a whole bunch of stages (like 5?) set up all around the park, featuring a whole range of bluegrass acts and a bunch of festival food. Had a very yummy Polish sausage and garlic fries, and then later had to snatch up some funnel cake (a bit disappointing) - hey it was splurge time. We caught about 3 or 4 acts, including Hot Buttered Rum (my favorite), the Songwriters' Circle, and some other groups I don't remember the name of. The Blue Angels were flying around the city that day for Fleet Week, so it was a bit disconcerting to sometimes have the music drowned out by the super-loud jets. We left a bit early after it got crowded enough that we couldn't find a place to stand within reasonable hearing distance of the stages.
- Flew into Buffalo to go to a skating show in Mississauga, ON. Nothing special to report about the cuisine since I ate at the hotel restaurant (Delta Meadowvale - everything was overpriced), Swiss Chalet (actually pretty good rotisserie chicken), and Tim Horton's. Then visited a friend in Rochester (best friend from high school) and her new absolutely adorable 8-month old baby. That was a really nice visit and I really like the little guy (and he seemed to like me, so yay). That was my day of overindulgence and trying to splurge on all the stuff I usually miss - my favorite apple cider, followed by ice cream at Abbott's Frozen Custard for lunch (love their Mexican sundaes), and Pizzeria Uno's for dinner. Again, it's all about chains, but hey, chains that I like!
- Went to the Jimmy Eat World concert at the Fillmore. My conclusion is I'm a REALLY crappy concertgoer b/c I could just think about how my knees hurt and I wish I could sit down. Plus, I HATE the sound balancing - all I could hear was the bass and drums, along with a really annoying bad distortion throughout. I like Jimmy Eat World's harmonies and melodies and I couldn't hear either almost at all. Didn't help that I actually only know one of their albums so for a while, I didn't know any of the songs! I still like the band, but the concert wasn't something I particularly enjoyed. Oh well.
New restaurants in SF I've tried:
Kushi Tsuru (1737 Post St - next door to Mifune in Japantown) Bf wanted to try something different b/c he's not the biggest fan of Mifune (can't find stuff he wants to eat there) and we were looking for a place to eat before the concert at the Fillmore. IMO, it was ok. I got the Nabeyaki Udon and it was...eh. Bland but fine. Not the best I'd had, nothing wrong with it. Bf got the Sukiyaki beef which was flavorful, just smaller than the ones I've gotten elsewhere. We also got an order of Shiro Maguro sashimi (of course) which was great texture (as usual for Shiro Maguro) but tasted the most like the tuna out of a can of any tuna sushi I've ever tried. It is albacore so that sort of makes sense, and it didn't taste strongly of it, but it was definitely somewhat tuna-in-a-can reminiscent. He liked it - says it has the type of dishes he'd like to order. I would rather go back to Mifune.
Suppenkuche (525 Laguna between Hayes and Fell). First German restaurant I've tried, gets great reviews on Yelp. I can't vouch for the beer since I don't drink beer (or at all) but the people there seemed happy. Shared seating (we shared the table with a party of 3, and then a party of 4) which I hear is fairly typical of Germany, small bar around which many people were gathered, a kind of rustic environment (or bare-bones, however you want to look at it). Food was very yummy, or at least the Jagerschnitzel I ordered. That was pork loin with mushroom sauce, spatzel, and a green salad. The meat texture was ok but the sauce was very yummy. Me like spatzel. My green salad was butter lettuce with dressing on it. My bf got the beef in red wine sauce, except he didn't realize it was in red wine sauce (which he doesn't like), so he didn't like his food nearly as much as me. I would recommend the place if you're not looking for good date atmosphere b/c as far as I can tell, the food is quite good. Not cheap, though.
Can not remember for the life of me if we ate anywhere else in the last two weeks. We *have* been eating at home a lot - Costco tenderloin is great meat, and my bf has a great technique for his filet and his roast (out of Best Recipe, I believe). So yummy. And I guess I was away for most of one week....
- Went to Phoenix for a day for a skating show. 95 degrees outside, with an ice rink inside produces a very disconcerting effect. Downtown Phoenix is odd - it seems like it's currently in the process of being constructed, with over half of the high-rises I saw mid-construction. However, the "Copper Square Ambassadors" are awesome. Before I went to the show, I emailed them to find out if it was safe to walk from the arena back to my hotel around midnight, and in return got an offer for someone to stay at their office (they close at 11) to walk me back. Then, when I was arriving at the show, I was trying to find the media entrance and one of the Ambassadors took me around until he could find where I should go, and told the arena people to let me in. That's just awesome service.
FYI, ate at Matt's Big Breakfast (long wait, small cute place, pretty good breakfast food, nice service) and Majerle's Sports Grill (super-nice and accommodating, let me occupy a booth and order nothing but a Coke for an hour before I finally ordered dinner, even as more and more parties showed up and I kept offering to move to a smaller table. Decent salad for dinner - was still full from Matt's). Stayed at the Holiday Inn Express downtown on N 6th St, which had free internet, free breakfast, and free parking, was within walking distance (sort of, if you don't mind walking in 95 degree weather) of downtown, and was nice and clean and comfortable.
- Went to the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival in Golden Gate Park sans lawn chairs (mistake, given how crappy my knees are). It was a pretty neat event, with a whole bunch of stages (like 5?) set up all around the park, featuring a whole range of bluegrass acts and a bunch of festival food. Had a very yummy Polish sausage and garlic fries, and then later had to snatch up some funnel cake (a bit disappointing) - hey it was splurge time. We caught about 3 or 4 acts, including Hot Buttered Rum (my favorite), the Songwriters' Circle, and some other groups I don't remember the name of. The Blue Angels were flying around the city that day for Fleet Week, so it was a bit disconcerting to sometimes have the music drowned out by the super-loud jets. We left a bit early after it got crowded enough that we couldn't find a place to stand within reasonable hearing distance of the stages.
- Flew into Buffalo to go to a skating show in Mississauga, ON. Nothing special to report about the cuisine since I ate at the hotel restaurant (Delta Meadowvale - everything was overpriced), Swiss Chalet (actually pretty good rotisserie chicken), and Tim Horton's. Then visited a friend in Rochester (best friend from high school) and her new absolutely adorable 8-month old baby. That was a really nice visit and I really like the little guy (and he seemed to like me, so yay). That was my day of overindulgence and trying to splurge on all the stuff I usually miss - my favorite apple cider, followed by ice cream at Abbott's Frozen Custard for lunch (love their Mexican sundaes), and Pizzeria Uno's for dinner. Again, it's all about chains, but hey, chains that I like!
- Went to the Jimmy Eat World concert at the Fillmore. My conclusion is I'm a REALLY crappy concertgoer b/c I could just think about how my knees hurt and I wish I could sit down. Plus, I HATE the sound balancing - all I could hear was the bass and drums, along with a really annoying bad distortion throughout. I like Jimmy Eat World's harmonies and melodies and I couldn't hear either almost at all. Didn't help that I actually only know one of their albums so for a while, I didn't know any of the songs! I still like the band, but the concert wasn't something I particularly enjoyed. Oh well.
New restaurants in SF I've tried:
Kushi Tsuru (1737 Post St - next door to Mifune in Japantown) Bf wanted to try something different b/c he's not the biggest fan of Mifune (can't find stuff he wants to eat there) and we were looking for a place to eat before the concert at the Fillmore. IMO, it was ok. I got the Nabeyaki Udon and it was...eh. Bland but fine. Not the best I'd had, nothing wrong with it. Bf got the Sukiyaki beef which was flavorful, just smaller than the ones I've gotten elsewhere. We also got an order of Shiro Maguro sashimi (of course) which was great texture (as usual for Shiro Maguro) but tasted the most like the tuna out of a can of any tuna sushi I've ever tried. It is albacore so that sort of makes sense, and it didn't taste strongly of it, but it was definitely somewhat tuna-in-a-can reminiscent. He liked it - says it has the type of dishes he'd like to order. I would rather go back to Mifune.
Suppenkuche (525 Laguna between Hayes and Fell). First German restaurant I've tried, gets great reviews on Yelp. I can't vouch for the beer since I don't drink beer (or at all) but the people there seemed happy. Shared seating (we shared the table with a party of 3, and then a party of 4) which I hear is fairly typical of Germany, small bar around which many people were gathered, a kind of rustic environment (or bare-bones, however you want to look at it). Food was very yummy, or at least the Jagerschnitzel I ordered. That was pork loin with mushroom sauce, spatzel, and a green salad. The meat texture was ok but the sauce was very yummy. Me like spatzel. My green salad was butter lettuce with dressing on it. My bf got the beef in red wine sauce, except he didn't realize it was in red wine sauce (which he doesn't like), so he didn't like his food nearly as much as me. I would recommend the place if you're not looking for good date atmosphere b/c as far as I can tell, the food is quite good. Not cheap, though.
Can not remember for the life of me if we ate anywhere else in the last two weeks. We *have* been eating at home a lot - Costco tenderloin is great meat, and my bf has a great technique for his filet and his roast (out of Best Recipe, I believe). So yummy. And I guess I was away for most of one week....
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Marina sushi?
Haven't been eating out all that much recently...repeated at Little Star (the bf didn't really like it, we're unlikely to go back), Citrus Club (the citrus-fried bananas are DELICIOUS), Memphis Minnies (don't go there if you're not in the mood for meat, but still yummy)...
Did hit one new place in the Marina when I needed to go up there to borrow something from a coworker. The bf felt like "not meat" so we looked up sushi places up there. My coworker warned us that Marina food was all overrated - the people in the neighborhood thought it was great but it really wasn't - but we figured we'd give it a try.
There were several sushi places within a few blocks but this one seemed to get the best reviews on Yelp - Asa Sushi (2365 Chestnut St, between Divisadero and Scott). The place was quite a cute little place, wasn't even close to full, and had nice waitresses. The menu was quite large - tons and tons of rolls of various kinds and combinations. We were thrilled to see rolls with shiro maguro (the bf's favorite fish, and my almost-favorite fish) so we had to try one of those (something about a Flamingo - spicy shiro maguro and a whole bunch o' other stuff). Also got another roll with spicy tuna, a roll with maguro, sake, and hamachi (three amigos), and a fourth roll the contents of which slip my mind right now. On the nigiri side, we got shiro maguro (aka albacore tuna aka white tuna), butterfish (super white tuna), and sake. My verdict? Not bad. This definitely wasn't some super-awesome amazing fish shop, but it was decent stuff, pretty yummy fresh fish, and reasonably good rolls. Not terrible prices - kind of moderate. I particularly liked (though found hard to eat due to its size) the maguro/sake/hamachi roll since those are 3 fishes I like. After talking to my coworker, I know I'm no real sushi connoisseur but this place made me happy.
It's interesting walking through the Marina. The feel of the neighborhood is so incredibly different than the Haight, for instance. Or Mission. Or even North Beach. I guess it says something about me that I quite like it...
Did hit one new place in the Marina when I needed to go up there to borrow something from a coworker. The bf felt like "not meat" so we looked up sushi places up there. My coworker warned us that Marina food was all overrated - the people in the neighborhood thought it was great but it really wasn't - but we figured we'd give it a try.
There were several sushi places within a few blocks but this one seemed to get the best reviews on Yelp - Asa Sushi (2365 Chestnut St, between Divisadero and Scott). The place was quite a cute little place, wasn't even close to full, and had nice waitresses. The menu was quite large - tons and tons of rolls of various kinds and combinations. We were thrilled to see rolls with shiro maguro (the bf's favorite fish, and my almost-favorite fish) so we had to try one of those (something about a Flamingo - spicy shiro maguro and a whole bunch o' other stuff). Also got another roll with spicy tuna, a roll with maguro, sake, and hamachi (three amigos), and a fourth roll the contents of which slip my mind right now. On the nigiri side, we got shiro maguro (aka albacore tuna aka white tuna), butterfish (super white tuna), and sake. My verdict? Not bad. This definitely wasn't some super-awesome amazing fish shop, but it was decent stuff, pretty yummy fresh fish, and reasonably good rolls. Not terrible prices - kind of moderate. I particularly liked (though found hard to eat due to its size) the maguro/sake/hamachi roll since those are 3 fishes I like. After talking to my coworker, I know I'm no real sushi connoisseur but this place made me happy.
It's interesting walking through the Marina. The feel of the neighborhood is so incredibly different than the Haight, for instance. Or Mission. Or even North Beach. I guess it says something about me that I quite like it...
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Some eatin'
We, or at least I, have been trying to cook more and eat at home more. But we did hit a few restaurants in the last week.
Rosamunde Sausage Grill - 545 Haight St (btwn Fillmore and Steiner)
Really cheap eats, small place with counter seating (most people apparently take out or take it next door to the bar to eat, which the guy knows and will explicitly ask which you're doing). Very popular. We got the Hungarian sausage and the beer sausage, along with the German potato salad (for me) and a bag of chips (for him). You can put (choice of 2) hot and/or sweet peppers, onions, sauerkraut, or beanless beef chili on your sausage, along with choice of wasabi honey mustard, dijon mustard, or ketchup. We both got sweet peppers and onions on our sausage, and traded sausages halfway through. Our verdicts were actually the same - it's well done sausages of a particular style, and it's not our style. I might go back b/c it's really cheap and they have a huge variety of sausage types (kind of want to try the duck and fig or chicken and cherry ones), but stylistically, the ones we tried weren't really our thing. It's hard to explain what I'm talking about. They are good sausages, and the guy behind the counter was cool. I liked my German potato salad (not mayonaissey, more vinegary). But I guess I like my sweet Aidell sausages? Also, the Hungarian sausage was not at all what I had imagined - the sausages on the Hungarian pizza at Applewood Pizza, all smoky and yummy. It was more spicy and salty, not exactly what I had in mind, which didn't help my opinion. I do think I'll try it again sometime though.
Where else have I gone? We actually went all the way down to Mountain View to get Pho Hoa, which I realize must not be very authentic pho but we love their broth, we know what we like here, and it's so fast...and to get my hazelnut milk tea from Verde. I realize people who really like tea don't like Verde but I don't like tea, I like sweet drinks, and I love their hazelnut (which no one else has - the drink at Tea Era doesn't remotely taste like this) and their slightly sweet chewy pearls. I was a happy girl that night, though I then couldn't fall asleep for the rest of the night =P.
Friday night, we went with a friend to Pine Restaurant (1330 Noriega, between 20th Ave and 21st Ave), a Korean restaurant in the Sunset. I was very pleasantly surprised - we didn't do the grill at the table (though it was an option) but I found that I really liked their bulgogi and kalbi, which was yummy and cheaper by like $5 than Brothers. Plus there was no wait. Good stuff, I'd definitely go back. Afterwards, we went to Golden Island Cafe a few doors down. They've got one in San Mateo too, but this one was better - more options, better options, better service... My bf got a "Yummy Mango" which was HUGE and yet only $6 - big heap of mango sorbet, crushed ice, sago, fresh mango, coconut juice... I got something smaller and more standard - the sesame paste + sweet tofu. I love these Chinese dessert places. Yummy!
That's all I can remember off the top of my head...
Rosamunde Sausage Grill - 545 Haight St (btwn Fillmore and Steiner)
Really cheap eats, small place with counter seating (most people apparently take out or take it next door to the bar to eat, which the guy knows and will explicitly ask which you're doing). Very popular. We got the Hungarian sausage and the beer sausage, along with the German potato salad (for me) and a bag of chips (for him). You can put (choice of 2) hot and/or sweet peppers, onions, sauerkraut, or beanless beef chili on your sausage, along with choice of wasabi honey mustard, dijon mustard, or ketchup. We both got sweet peppers and onions on our sausage, and traded sausages halfway through. Our verdicts were actually the same - it's well done sausages of a particular style, and it's not our style. I might go back b/c it's really cheap and they have a huge variety of sausage types (kind of want to try the duck and fig or chicken and cherry ones), but stylistically, the ones we tried weren't really our thing. It's hard to explain what I'm talking about. They are good sausages, and the guy behind the counter was cool. I liked my German potato salad (not mayonaissey, more vinegary). But I guess I like my sweet Aidell sausages? Also, the Hungarian sausage was not at all what I had imagined - the sausages on the Hungarian pizza at Applewood Pizza, all smoky and yummy. It was more spicy and salty, not exactly what I had in mind, which didn't help my opinion. I do think I'll try it again sometime though.
Where else have I gone? We actually went all the way down to Mountain View to get Pho Hoa, which I realize must not be very authentic pho but we love their broth, we know what we like here, and it's so fast...and to get my hazelnut milk tea from Verde. I realize people who really like tea don't like Verde but I don't like tea, I like sweet drinks, and I love their hazelnut (which no one else has - the drink at Tea Era doesn't remotely taste like this) and their slightly sweet chewy pearls. I was a happy girl that night, though I then couldn't fall asleep for the rest of the night =P.
Friday night, we went with a friend to Pine Restaurant (1330 Noriega, between 20th Ave and 21st Ave), a Korean restaurant in the Sunset. I was very pleasantly surprised - we didn't do the grill at the table (though it was an option) but I found that I really liked their bulgogi and kalbi, which was yummy and cheaper by like $5 than Brothers. Plus there was no wait. Good stuff, I'd definitely go back. Afterwards, we went to Golden Island Cafe a few doors down. They've got one in San Mateo too, but this one was better - more options, better options, better service... My bf got a "Yummy Mango" which was HUGE and yet only $6 - big heap of mango sorbet, crushed ice, sago, fresh mango, coconut juice... I got something smaller and more standard - the sesame paste + sweet tofu. I love these Chinese dessert places. Yummy!
That's all I can remember off the top of my head...
Busy days...
Sunday was a pretty stacked day. We went to Alice's Now and Zen during the day, and then drove over to North Beach (I think the first time we actually chose to drive in the city to do something since moving here) to catch Russell Peters at the Cobb's Comedy Club.
The rationale behind going to Alice's Now and Zen was primarily "there's a fairly cheap concert in the park, and we're relatively near the park. Why not go?" The bands I didn't particularly care one way or the other about - Gin Blossoms, Joss Stone, James Blunt, and opening group Peter Bjorn and John. Turns out I knew and liked the Gin Blossoms music the best, didn't know anything by Joss Stone, and James Blunt is a lot more energetic than I would have expected in concert. And for some reason unknown to me, he covered Peter Bjorn and John's "Whistle Song", only minus any whistling. We got to the park around 10:50AM (doors opened at 11) to discover a long line stretching down JFK Drive, but luckily it turned out to not be so bad when we got in - got a good-size spot a reasonable distance from the stage so it wasn't too loud but we weren't super-far, either. I was extremely happy that the day before we'd gone to get lawn/beach chairs from Sports Authority - a 5 hour concert lounging in chairs with $5 toss pillows we'd gotten from Target turned out to be a great way to see things. Admittedly, after the crowd stood up for Joss Stone, we stayed resolutely sitting so I didn't end up *seeing* much (also, I pulled out my book), but it was an enjoyable way to spend the day. The weather was typical SF - went from slightly drizzly and extremely grey when we arrived to bright blue and sunny and almost hot by the time we left. We brought our own sandwich-making materials and a lot of snacks, so I didn't have to pay for any over-priced festival food (plus, they didn't have funnel cake!). They did have a number of booths giving stuff away for free, though.
The Russell Peters show at Cobb's was hilarious. It's always interesting to see the distribution of the audiences to shows, and the audience for his show was very telling - primarily Asian/Indian. It was totally sold out, and the line was already stretching halfway up the next block by the time we arrived almost an hour before the show. We got a great seat - not close enough to the stage for him to pick on us, but close enough to get a great view. They chose an interesting array of comics to open for him - one white guy, one Mexican, one black guy, and one Japanese guy. Definite rainbow there. The Japanese guy I didn't like that much - he had funny jokes that he would then ruin by taking too far, laughing at too hard, or explaining. The other guys were pretty good. Russell Peters was definitely the highlight, though. I'm still unclear how much of the show is pre-scripted and how much is spontaneous (drawing from his pool of jokes) based on the audience responses he gets...and how much is planted (why are people suddenly shouting their nationalities at random points in the show when he doesn't even ask?). But his style is very loose and funny and very interactive. He can get quite insulting when interacting with the audience, but he turns it out all into hilarity. And his accents are great - Indian, Chinese, Filipino, etc. His comedy is largely about race and racial stereotypes (or not even so much stereotypes as inside joke for each culture) and it totally cracks me up.
The rationale behind going to Alice's Now and Zen was primarily "there's a fairly cheap concert in the park, and we're relatively near the park. Why not go?" The bands I didn't particularly care one way or the other about - Gin Blossoms, Joss Stone, James Blunt, and opening group Peter Bjorn and John. Turns out I knew and liked the Gin Blossoms music the best, didn't know anything by Joss Stone, and James Blunt is a lot more energetic than I would have expected in concert. And for some reason unknown to me, he covered Peter Bjorn and John's "Whistle Song", only minus any whistling. We got to the park around 10:50AM (doors opened at 11) to discover a long line stretching down JFK Drive, but luckily it turned out to not be so bad when we got in - got a good-size spot a reasonable distance from the stage so it wasn't too loud but we weren't super-far, either. I was extremely happy that the day before we'd gone to get lawn/beach chairs from Sports Authority - a 5 hour concert lounging in chairs with $5 toss pillows we'd gotten from Target turned out to be a great way to see things. Admittedly, after the crowd stood up for Joss Stone, we stayed resolutely sitting so I didn't end up *seeing* much (also, I pulled out my book), but it was an enjoyable way to spend the day. The weather was typical SF - went from slightly drizzly and extremely grey when we arrived to bright blue and sunny and almost hot by the time we left. We brought our own sandwich-making materials and a lot of snacks, so I didn't have to pay for any over-priced festival food (plus, they didn't have funnel cake!). They did have a number of booths giving stuff away for free, though.
The Russell Peters show at Cobb's was hilarious. It's always interesting to see the distribution of the audiences to shows, and the audience for his show was very telling - primarily Asian/Indian. It was totally sold out, and the line was already stretching halfway up the next block by the time we arrived almost an hour before the show. We got a great seat - not close enough to the stage for him to pick on us, but close enough to get a great view. They chose an interesting array of comics to open for him - one white guy, one Mexican, one black guy, and one Japanese guy. Definite rainbow there. The Japanese guy I didn't like that much - he had funny jokes that he would then ruin by taking too far, laughing at too hard, or explaining. The other guys were pretty good. Russell Peters was definitely the highlight, though. I'm still unclear how much of the show is pre-scripted and how much is spontaneous (drawing from his pool of jokes) based on the audience responses he gets...and how much is planted (why are people suddenly shouting their nationalities at random points in the show when he doesn't even ask?). But his style is very loose and funny and very interactive. He can get quite insulting when interacting with the audience, but he turns it out all into hilarity. And his accents are great - Indian, Chinese, Filipino, etc. His comedy is largely about race and racial stereotypes (or not even so much stereotypes as inside joke for each culture) and it totally cracks me up.
Monday, September 17, 2007
I'm my own mother!
I recently signed up on broadwayworld.com so I could post about Jersey Boys, and as a consequence have seen more random information about Broadway than I've read in, well, ever. A recent news bit caught my eye and made me realize just how circular and small the theater world can be.
Apparently Lea Salonga (formerly Eponine) is currently playing Fantine on Broadway. And she's going to be replaced by Judy Kuhn, who was Broadway's original Cosette. Not only that, but looking at the current cast list for Les Miz, it says Gary Beach is playing Thenardier. The name is really really familiar...I could have sworn he was in Les Miz ages ago and there *is* someone named "Gary Beach" in the credits of the Complete Symphonic Recording which is definitely over a decade (even two, maybe?) old...
Ye gods! Apparently Daphne Rubin-Vega (the original Mimi in Rent) played Fantine when this production first opened on Broadway. That's so not right...
Apparently Lea Salonga (formerly Eponine) is currently playing Fantine on Broadway. And she's going to be replaced by Judy Kuhn, who was Broadway's original Cosette. Not only that, but looking at the current cast list for Les Miz, it says Gary Beach is playing Thenardier. The name is really really familiar...I could have sworn he was in Les Miz ages ago and there *is* someone named "Gary Beach" in the credits of the Complete Symphonic Recording which is definitely over a decade (even two, maybe?) old...
Ye gods! Apparently Daphne Rubin-Vega (the original Mimi in Rent) played Fantine when this production first opened on Broadway. That's so not right...
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Odd Jersey Boys tribute
The cast I saw Thursday of the Jersey Boys was on the Emmy Awards tonight, doing a tribute to The Sopranos. So I get the Jersey connection (Frankie Valli apparently even guest starred on the Sopranos) but it was just odd, seeing all these clips of people getting beaten or shot or drowning themselves or something juxtaposed with "Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You." I'm not sure who thought that one up but I guess the "Jersey Boys" show is best known for that song, "The Sopranos" is a really violent show, so if you're going to show what's well known about each, you put violence over a love song?
I dunno. Anyway. I'm not sure that was the best representation of the show or the cast it could have been, since it seemed to be missing the full sound and energy in that large space, but I'm just glad to finally have a recording of Jarrod Spector as Frankie. Even though the performance seemed to be missing a little something that's there when you see it live. Wish it had been longer...
I dunno. Anyway. I'm not sure that was the best representation of the show or the cast it could have been, since it seemed to be missing the full sound and energy in that large space, but I'm just glad to finally have a recording of Jarrod Spector as Frankie. Even though the performance seemed to be missing a little something that's there when you see it live. Wish it had been longer...
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Who loves you?
I love, love, love the Jersey Boys. Absolutely adore it. The music, the harmonies, the story, the jokes, the energy, everything. Puts a huge smile on my face while I'm watching.
I just came back from seeing the Jersey Boys for the third time at the Curran Theater, first time from rush seats (I arrived at 5pm, I was probably the 8th or 9th person in line?). They aren't kidding when they say the seats are limited view. We were in the front row of the left orchestra - I had the centermost seat of the four of us, and most of my view was blocked everytime they had a bar or table or something set up, and I couldn't see anything from the actors' waists down once they got only halfway back (or barely their heads when they were in the back), and my friends were even further to the left and could see even less. On the other hand, you really get caught up in the energy of the show when you're that close up, watching the spit fly, getting a wink or a glance from a cast member, seeing the glittering moisture in Jarrod Spector's eyes during "Fallen Angel," watching every facial expression cross the actors' faces (when they weren't facing away from you, at least), and almost, almost thinking you could hear their actual voices instead of the projected voices.
I've now seen the original SF cast - Christopher Kale Jones as Frankie, Deven May as Tommy, Miles Aubrey as Bob (Erich Bergen was off that day), and Michael Ingersoll as Nick - from 3rd row center orchestra seats we were lucky enough to snag the day or two before the show. I've seen the new SF cast shortly after they started - Jarrod Spector as Frankie, Jeremy Kushnier as Tommy, Drew Gehling as Bob, and Steve Gouveia as Nick - from balcony seats. And now I've seen the current SF (soon to be Chicago, I believe) cast with Michael Ingersoll as Nick from 1st row left orchestra. Not to mention countless YouTube clips of the Broadway cast. My assessment? It's far, far, better to be close up, to feel more caught up in the energy and the emotion. Center orchestra 3rd row (which probably cost 4x as much as rush seats) are much better than left orchestra 1st row. Jarrod Spector sounds an awful lot like the actual Frankie Valli and his acting is spot on - the emotion feels genuine, his growth from callow youth to mature father very convincing, yet extremely subtle, his quiet strength and barely-restrained anger in the confrontation scene with Tommy believable, and his anguish during "Fallen Angel" palpable. He delivers one of the most beautiful versions of "Fallen Angel" (and "My Eyes Adored You") I've heard, and his voice is fantastic. My only complaint is that I sometimes felt, in both performances I saw of him, that he was a bit too restrained - his falsetto is flawless but doesn't project as strongly as his non-falsetto singing voice so he could get a bit lost in the orchestrations, and he doesn't have the extroverted energy of the rest of the cast (though how he could maintain that for the length of time he's on stage, I don't know). On the other hand, from the recordings I've seen of John Lloyd Young, that could simply be the character. He seems to me to approach the character in a very similar way to JLY. Christopher Kale Jones, on the other hand, was a bundle of joyous energy. Of the three Frankie's I've heard, he's the least authentically Valli sounding, but he has a very powerful falsetto and possibly the best musical theater singing voice (though when Jarrod actually got going on songs like "Beggin'", he was right up there in the projection and energy as well). His energy level was infectious, and it could be b/c it was the first time I saw it, but Sherry/Big Girls Don't Cry/Walk Like a Man was an absolutely incredible energy shot in that first performance in a way that didn't quite hold as true after that. On the other hand, I found his dramatic scenes - the confrontation with Tommy, the "Fallen Angel" scene (though sung beautifully) a bit less convincing. Christopher Kale Jones was a ton of fun to watch, Jarrod Spector is extremely compelling to watch. The funny thing is, the first time I heard both Chris Jones and Jarrod Spector sing as young Frankie, I could not stand their voices - both were far too nasally (and I thought Chris Jones went slightly off key from time to time). It was my bf who suggested that it was a deliberate acting choice to indicate him being young and untrained, I was too busy cringing to interpret =P. I don't know if it's b/c I expected it or b/c he's toned it down, but I didn't think Jarrod's voice was nearly as nasally as young Frankie tonight. At any rate, I would love to see Chris Jones' interpretation of Frankie again now that he's had more time to settle into the role and I'm much more familiar with it, but I'm not *quite* crazy enough to drive out to Sacramento to see the show for the fourth time. It's tempting...
As for the rest of the cast, I have a definite fondness for Deven May as Tommy DeVito - he seemed more dangerous, more edgy, but really played up the sly humor and the broad winking at the audience. Plus I like his voice. However, Jeremy Kushnier brings his own spin to the role and is equally compelling in a different way. He plays Tommy more as an ineffectual blowhard than someone actually dangerous or tough, which I initially found a bit offputting after Deven May's interpretation, but made him backing down to Frankie and the way everyone started dismissing him after a while a lot more believable. Both are awesome and I'm glad I saw them both. Of the Bob Gaudios, Miles Aubrey had a wonderful, wonderful voice, but as a character, I thought Drew Gehling was both more convincing and brought a lot more interpretation to the role. Of course, Aubrey was an understudy so he didn't have night after night to perfect the role, but IMO he also didn't have the right look to play the super-youthful Gaudio early on. I loved his "Cry for Me" and "Oh What a Night" but Drew Gehling also has a wonderful voice and made me laugh harder. His rather overexaggerated but hilarious reactions as the extremely nervous inexperienced youth at the beginning of "Oh What a Night" (and when he first talked to some girls at the bar in his first scene) were priceless. And it was pretty amazing glancing at him as he stood on the catwalk and watched Frankie sing "Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You". He was facing me directly from where he stood, and even though he's in the background of the scene, he looks completely proud, and fond, and every emotion you would imagine Bob Gaudio feeling as he watched his best friend sing this song and capture the audience you could see on his face. It had me wondering if he's just a great actor, or if that was actually his genuine emotion watching Jarrod. Pretty cool moment. Though I was a bit distracted at times b/c I think he looks a bit like Todd Eldredge, the figure skater. As for Nick Massi, there's no question about it. Michael Ingersoll's interpretation wins for me hands down. The character can be a bit of a non-entity, in the background all the time but never really exhibiting a really strong sense of who he is in the way the other three do, but Michael Ingersoll brings him to life in his line deliveries, facial expressions, and body language as a slightly offbeat, quirky, precise and fussy, and wistful person. His every line reading is deliberate in the same way he straightens his cuffs, really taking what's in the script about this slightly OCD character and embodying him with dignity and humor. And the way he turns "maybe I should start my own group" into a running joke, just by his delivery and expressions, is awesome. Steve Gouveia's interpretation was far more ordinary guy, and given how in the background Nick Massi already is, it just didn't make him stand out at all. And the "maybe I should start my own group" repetition seemed to just blow over the audience's heads, wasting a great joke. He was good, but I love Michael Ingersoll's version.
Overall, though, it's the music more than anything that keeps me obsessed with this show. I love guys harmonizing anyway but there's something about the Four Seasons music that is just so infectious and addictive. One of the people we talked to in line was waiting for her 3rd show in a row, and had seen the show a total of six times. I'm not quite at that level yet, but boy..it is kind of tempting to go back tomorrow night and try again... ;)
Oh I almost forgot - one funny bit that I don't remember ever seeing in my previous two viewings of the show (maybe they added it, maybe I didn't notice it?) was when Frankie and the guys are singing backup for "Miss Frankie Nolan", at one point Frankie sings backup alone for her, really belting out his part in falsetto, and she starts looking really pissed, waving at him to be quieter, and trying to outsing him, finally giving him a very dirty look as she leaves the stage. In the meantime, he's looking really amused (probably one of the few times you see him laugh on stage) while the other guys are basically laughing and slapping him on the back for it. That was cute. Ah, poor threatened lead singer...
Who loves you, pretty baby? Who's gonna help you through the night... *goes off singing(
I just came back from seeing the Jersey Boys for the third time at the Curran Theater, first time from rush seats (I arrived at 5pm, I was probably the 8th or 9th person in line?). They aren't kidding when they say the seats are limited view. We were in the front row of the left orchestra - I had the centermost seat of the four of us, and most of my view was blocked everytime they had a bar or table or something set up, and I couldn't see anything from the actors' waists down once they got only halfway back (or barely their heads when they were in the back), and my friends were even further to the left and could see even less. On the other hand, you really get caught up in the energy of the show when you're that close up, watching the spit fly, getting a wink or a glance from a cast member, seeing the glittering moisture in Jarrod Spector's eyes during "Fallen Angel," watching every facial expression cross the actors' faces (when they weren't facing away from you, at least), and almost, almost thinking you could hear their actual voices instead of the projected voices.
I've now seen the original SF cast - Christopher Kale Jones as Frankie, Deven May as Tommy, Miles Aubrey as Bob (Erich Bergen was off that day), and Michael Ingersoll as Nick - from 3rd row center orchestra seats we were lucky enough to snag the day or two before the show. I've seen the new SF cast shortly after they started - Jarrod Spector as Frankie, Jeremy Kushnier as Tommy, Drew Gehling as Bob, and Steve Gouveia as Nick - from balcony seats. And now I've seen the current SF (soon to be Chicago, I believe) cast with Michael Ingersoll as Nick from 1st row left orchestra. Not to mention countless YouTube clips of the Broadway cast. My assessment? It's far, far, better to be close up, to feel more caught up in the energy and the emotion. Center orchestra 3rd row (which probably cost 4x as much as rush seats) are much better than left orchestra 1st row. Jarrod Spector sounds an awful lot like the actual Frankie Valli and his acting is spot on - the emotion feels genuine, his growth from callow youth to mature father very convincing, yet extremely subtle, his quiet strength and barely-restrained anger in the confrontation scene with Tommy believable, and his anguish during "Fallen Angel" palpable. He delivers one of the most beautiful versions of "Fallen Angel" (and "My Eyes Adored You") I've heard, and his voice is fantastic. My only complaint is that I sometimes felt, in both performances I saw of him, that he was a bit too restrained - his falsetto is flawless but doesn't project as strongly as his non-falsetto singing voice so he could get a bit lost in the orchestrations, and he doesn't have the extroverted energy of the rest of the cast (though how he could maintain that for the length of time he's on stage, I don't know). On the other hand, from the recordings I've seen of John Lloyd Young, that could simply be the character. He seems to me to approach the character in a very similar way to JLY. Christopher Kale Jones, on the other hand, was a bundle of joyous energy. Of the three Frankie's I've heard, he's the least authentically Valli sounding, but he has a very powerful falsetto and possibly the best musical theater singing voice (though when Jarrod actually got going on songs like "Beggin'", he was right up there in the projection and energy as well). His energy level was infectious, and it could be b/c it was the first time I saw it, but Sherry/Big Girls Don't Cry/Walk Like a Man was an absolutely incredible energy shot in that first performance in a way that didn't quite hold as true after that. On the other hand, I found his dramatic scenes - the confrontation with Tommy, the "Fallen Angel" scene (though sung beautifully) a bit less convincing. Christopher Kale Jones was a ton of fun to watch, Jarrod Spector is extremely compelling to watch. The funny thing is, the first time I heard both Chris Jones and Jarrod Spector sing as young Frankie, I could not stand their voices - both were far too nasally (and I thought Chris Jones went slightly off key from time to time). It was my bf who suggested that it was a deliberate acting choice to indicate him being young and untrained, I was too busy cringing to interpret =P. I don't know if it's b/c I expected it or b/c he's toned it down, but I didn't think Jarrod's voice was nearly as nasally as young Frankie tonight. At any rate, I would love to see Chris Jones' interpretation of Frankie again now that he's had more time to settle into the role and I'm much more familiar with it, but I'm not *quite* crazy enough to drive out to Sacramento to see the show for the fourth time. It's tempting...
As for the rest of the cast, I have a definite fondness for Deven May as Tommy DeVito - he seemed more dangerous, more edgy, but really played up the sly humor and the broad winking at the audience. Plus I like his voice. However, Jeremy Kushnier brings his own spin to the role and is equally compelling in a different way. He plays Tommy more as an ineffectual blowhard than someone actually dangerous or tough, which I initially found a bit offputting after Deven May's interpretation, but made him backing down to Frankie and the way everyone started dismissing him after a while a lot more believable. Both are awesome and I'm glad I saw them both. Of the Bob Gaudios, Miles Aubrey had a wonderful, wonderful voice, but as a character, I thought Drew Gehling was both more convincing and brought a lot more interpretation to the role. Of course, Aubrey was an understudy so he didn't have night after night to perfect the role, but IMO he also didn't have the right look to play the super-youthful Gaudio early on. I loved his "Cry for Me" and "Oh What a Night" but Drew Gehling also has a wonderful voice and made me laugh harder. His rather overexaggerated but hilarious reactions as the extremely nervous inexperienced youth at the beginning of "Oh What a Night" (and when he first talked to some girls at the bar in his first scene) were priceless. And it was pretty amazing glancing at him as he stood on the catwalk and watched Frankie sing "Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You". He was facing me directly from where he stood, and even though he's in the background of the scene, he looks completely proud, and fond, and every emotion you would imagine Bob Gaudio feeling as he watched his best friend sing this song and capture the audience you could see on his face. It had me wondering if he's just a great actor, or if that was actually his genuine emotion watching Jarrod. Pretty cool moment. Though I was a bit distracted at times b/c I think he looks a bit like Todd Eldredge, the figure skater. As for Nick Massi, there's no question about it. Michael Ingersoll's interpretation wins for me hands down. The character can be a bit of a non-entity, in the background all the time but never really exhibiting a really strong sense of who he is in the way the other three do, but Michael Ingersoll brings him to life in his line deliveries, facial expressions, and body language as a slightly offbeat, quirky, precise and fussy, and wistful person. His every line reading is deliberate in the same way he straightens his cuffs, really taking what's in the script about this slightly OCD character and embodying him with dignity and humor. And the way he turns "maybe I should start my own group" into a running joke, just by his delivery and expressions, is awesome. Steve Gouveia's interpretation was far more ordinary guy, and given how in the background Nick Massi already is, it just didn't make him stand out at all. And the "maybe I should start my own group" repetition seemed to just blow over the audience's heads, wasting a great joke. He was good, but I love Michael Ingersoll's version.
Overall, though, it's the music more than anything that keeps me obsessed with this show. I love guys harmonizing anyway but there's something about the Four Seasons music that is just so infectious and addictive. One of the people we talked to in line was waiting for her 3rd show in a row, and had seen the show a total of six times. I'm not quite at that level yet, but boy..it is kind of tempting to go back tomorrow night and try again... ;)
Oh I almost forgot - one funny bit that I don't remember ever seeing in my previous two viewings of the show (maybe they added it, maybe I didn't notice it?) was when Frankie and the guys are singing backup for "Miss Frankie Nolan", at one point Frankie sings backup alone for her, really belting out his part in falsetto, and she starts looking really pissed, waving at him to be quieter, and trying to outsing him, finally giving him a very dirty look as she leaves the stage. In the meantime, he's looking really amused (probably one of the few times you see him laugh on stage) while the other guys are basically laughing and slapping him on the back for it. That was cute. Ah, poor threatened lead singer...
Who loves you, pretty baby? Who's gonna help you through the night... *goes off singing(
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
How far is heaven?
Los Lonely Boys sure put on a good show. High energy, great harmonies, a rockin' guitar (or bass, or both) solo in every song, special guest appearance by their dad on two songs, and a very show-off but impressive encore where they played the hell out of their instruments, out of each other's instruments, simultaneously out of their own instruments and each others' instruments, and then played the guitar and bass one-handed (I guess for the electric instruments you don't actually need to pluck the strings??) and behind their heads...
Apparently for the Fillmore you either need to get there super-early to claim one of the very few tables/chairs along the balcony (and I think you may have to order food) or you may as well not try to get there early at all, since it's pretty much standing only, with just a few half-walls around you can sit on. I'm a lame concert goer - my knees hurt too easily while standing and I'd rather be sitting. Still, Los Lonely Boys got me moving around enough that it wasn't nearly as bad on my knees as I had feared.
Dinner was at Little Star Pizza (846 Divisadero, between Fulton and McAllister), reportedly the best deep dish pizza in SF. Having never tried any other pizza in SF I couldn't really judge the merits of that statement. It *was* very yummy, but quite different than the deep dish pizza I've had in the past. The crusts I'm used to are like Pizzeria Unos (which I love) - buttery and I guess chewy. Little Star's crust was some kind of cornmeal, actually kind of crunchy and a lot less greasy. Not exactly what I love in a pizza crust but it was good. It was also less cheesy and more tomato-ey than I'm used to. The sauce was good, though, and sufficiently buried the Italian sausage (which I usually can't stand, or maybe the sausage here was particularly good) that I could eat our Classic (sausage, bell peppers, mushrooms, onions) without picking anything off and enjoy it. It's not exactly the type of deep dish I like best, but I do recommend it. Apparently there's usually a huge wait on weekends but if you get there at 6pm on a Tuesday like we did, it's fairly empty.
Apparently for the Fillmore you either need to get there super-early to claim one of the very few tables/chairs along the balcony (and I think you may have to order food) or you may as well not try to get there early at all, since it's pretty much standing only, with just a few half-walls around you can sit on. I'm a lame concert goer - my knees hurt too easily while standing and I'd rather be sitting. Still, Los Lonely Boys got me moving around enough that it wasn't nearly as bad on my knees as I had feared.
Dinner was at Little Star Pizza (846 Divisadero, between Fulton and McAllister), reportedly the best deep dish pizza in SF. Having never tried any other pizza in SF I couldn't really judge the merits of that statement. It *was* very yummy, but quite different than the deep dish pizza I've had in the past. The crusts I'm used to are like Pizzeria Unos (which I love) - buttery and I guess chewy. Little Star's crust was some kind of cornmeal, actually kind of crunchy and a lot less greasy. Not exactly what I love in a pizza crust but it was good. It was also less cheesy and more tomato-ey than I'm used to. The sauce was good, though, and sufficiently buried the Italian sausage (which I usually can't stand, or maybe the sausage here was particularly good) that I could eat our Classic (sausage, bell peppers, mushrooms, onions) without picking anything off and enjoy it. It's not exactly the type of deep dish I like best, but I do recommend it. Apparently there's usually a huge wait on weekends but if you get there at 6pm on a Tuesday like we did, it's fairly empty.
Monday, September 10, 2007
More SF doings...
Other stuff I've done around SF this past weekend:
- Went to the Ghiradelli Chocolate Festival on Saturday. Less chocolate than you would think - only Ghiradelli actually had chocolate chocolate, and that was their chocolate squares. Everyone else had chocolate-related desserts, I guess. I ended up having a Ghiradelli sundae (small but yummy), banana mango sorbet (ok, not the best I've had) from Ciao Bella Gelato, chocolate malt (mmmm) from Lori's Diner, chocolate truffle cake with raspberry and whipped cream on top (not bad) from McCormick & Kuleto's, 3 small samples of cookies from Kit's cookies (Pecan Rum Raisin w/ chocolate chips, cashew coconut with dark chocolate chips, and cranberry walnut with white chocolate chips) which were all right, and then used up the rest of the tastings on Victoria's Toffee (had it last night, very yummy), and Ghiradelli Chocolate Squares. My favorite was probably the sundae, actually, even though it was your basic vanilla with chocolate sauce, whipped cream, and a cherry. The chocolate was delicious, though. I also ended up spending more money than I should have buying two pretty glass beads that I've made into a choker and a necklace/choker thing. Had a good time, though!
- On Sunday, a friend and I went to the free San Francisco Opera in the Park concert. We got quite a good spot, almost centered, right behind the paved path running 2/3 of the way back from the stage, so we had no one directly in front of us and a good, if slightly far view of the stage. Not that we were really watching the stage. We both had books and a bunch of snacks, and spent a relaxing afternoon with good music in the background, a good book, and constant eating.
I really need to eat less...
- Went to the Ghiradelli Chocolate Festival on Saturday. Less chocolate than you would think - only Ghiradelli actually had chocolate chocolate, and that was their chocolate squares. Everyone else had chocolate-related desserts, I guess. I ended up having a Ghiradelli sundae (small but yummy), banana mango sorbet (ok, not the best I've had) from Ciao Bella Gelato, chocolate malt (mmmm) from Lori's Diner, chocolate truffle cake with raspberry and whipped cream on top (not bad) from McCormick & Kuleto's, 3 small samples of cookies from Kit's cookies (Pecan Rum Raisin w/ chocolate chips, cashew coconut with dark chocolate chips, and cranberry walnut with white chocolate chips) which were all right, and then used up the rest of the tastings on Victoria's Toffee (had it last night, very yummy), and Ghiradelli Chocolate Squares. My favorite was probably the sundae, actually, even though it was your basic vanilla with chocolate sauce, whipped cream, and a cherry. The chocolate was delicious, though. I also ended up spending more money than I should have buying two pretty glass beads that I've made into a choker and a necklace/choker thing. Had a good time, though!
- On Sunday, a friend and I went to the free San Francisco Opera in the Park concert. We got quite a good spot, almost centered, right behind the paved path running 2/3 of the way back from the stage, so we had no one directly in front of us and a good, if slightly far view of the stage. Not that we were really watching the stage. We both had books and a bunch of snacks, and spent a relaxing afternoon with good music in the background, a good book, and constant eating.
I really need to eat less...
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