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.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
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...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)