Food, what else?

In the week before my gum graft, I was rather concerned with weeks and weeks of not being able to eat anything real (that's what I get for reading online stories) so I was a bit determined to get some good meals in before it happened.

The Tuesday before the procedure, I was surfing Yelp to see what kind of Tuesday night deals there were. I had already found the $12 Tuesdays at 2223 Restaurant. Apparently there were Taco Tuesdays all over the city, but that wasn't what I was looking for. I finally stumbled across 20% off Tuesdays at Tangerine Cafe (3499 16th St at Sanchez), a restaurant I'd heard good things about for brunch. We decided to give it a try. The restaurant was fairly empty - one reason for Tuesday specials is I think it's kind of a dead night for restaurants - so we were seated quickly and then moved almost as quickly to a table by the window. The menu looked interesting but I have to confess the food was a bit disappointing. My bf got the Baked New Zealand Lamb, described thus: "Lamb chops encrusted with herbs, honey and pistachio nuts, served with spicy rice with roasted bell pepper and steamed vegetables" - he said he tasted neither honey nor pistachio, and it just wasn't very interesting. I think I got the Grilled Plum Wine Marinated Pork Tenderloin, described thus: "with Whiskey-Braised Apple Sauce,Served sautéed eggplant with black bean and jasmine rice." This tasted pretty good, but it was rather strongly flavored. Nothing subtle in this dish - I liked most of the flavors but they were just very overpowering. It's too bad because the menu did look interesting, but the visit didn't inspire the desire for a return visit.

I did discover, however, that Sanchez has got to be the sweetest smelling street in SF. I'm used to walking around and smelling piss. Sanchez has jasmine trees or something planted all along it, and the walk to the bus was so pleasant and lovely smelling. I'd want to live there just for that!

I don't remember what we did Wednesday night but Thursday, I decided to try the 7-course of beef at Anh Hong Restaurant (808 Geary at Hyde), who claim that their family invented the seven course of beef. I'd heard a lot about this but I have to say, the 7 courses weren't what I expected. It was beef in stuff like salads, soup, rolls, sausages, meatballs..the only straight out pieces of beef were the "beef fondue" which was thin slices of beef cooked at the table in a shallow layer of simmering red wine vinegar sauce over a small flame. Of course, this was less overwhelming than if it was 7 courses of pieces of beef (like Brazilian bbq) and it ended up being quite tasty. The pacing was odd, though. They came out quickly with the salad (which was really good - fresh and tasty - and we both gobbled it up quickly), followed it with the beef fondue before we were done with the salad (having brought out the steaming hot bowl of water for us to soften our spring roll skins in way before so it'd already started to cool down), and then after a pause, the next four courses on one plate. There were definitely language issues - one of the poor waiters tried to turn to me to speak Vietnamese (sorry guy, I'm Chinese) and I had to shrug helplessly. Still, I mostly enjoyed it. The beef of the beef fondue didn't end up particularly tasty but we rolled it into a spring roll along with a bunch of other ingredients so it was ok (although that made a lot of rolls which filled us up quickly!). My favorite of the four courses that came together was probably the beef sausages, which were very tasty and flavorful. The meatballs, beef wrapped in Hawaiian leaves, and grilled beef with lemongrass were all pretty good but not amazing. We had to leave some of this dish behind so we would have room for the beef rice soup, which turned out to be quite tasty. I was surprised my bf loved it - he gobbled it up very quickly. We ended up liking the salad and the soup best, to my surprise. It was a good meal though my bf said he wasn't impressed enough to want to go back to that restasurant.

The morning before the procedure, I got a steak sandwich from Thirsty Bear (661 Howard St at 3rd) when my coworkers went there for lunch. They put blue cheese in the sandwich which makes it quite tasty if not "the best steak sandwich ever" as my coworkers proclaimed, and it came with garlic fries. Not a bad "last meal."

Other places I've been since I started being able to eat again:
Citrus Club (1790 Haight St) where my bf and I keep thinking we should like it but being underwhelmed.

Hukilau (Hawaiian, 5 Masonic Ave at Geary) which I actually really enjoyed. I've only tried Hawaiian really once before and wasn't that fond (next time I should order what I think looks interesting, not what my friend likes). This time I got the Kalua Pork and really liked it - it was slightly overpeppered but the overall flavor, with the cabbage stir fried in, the steamed rice and macaroni salad on the side, was very satisfying. And I had enough leftover for lunch. We also got the tuna poke appetizer which was quite yummy - large chunks of raw tuna in soy sauce, sesame oil, and some other marinade. My bf got the chicken katsu which was quite decent, and garlic fries (which were extra) which were buried in garlic. I'd definitely go there again - a nice satisfying, homestyle (if you're Hawaiian), no frills meal.

Golden Flower Vietnamese Restaurant (667 Jackson St between Kearny and Grant) This pho place is near my bf's work and in Chinatown (my first time to the real restaurant part of Chinatown - I'd only gotten as far as the stupid tourist stores before). The pho was really tasty - very yummy broth. My bf said the smalls were too small so we both got larges, which were bigger than I usually get but I finished it anyway. It was just really yummy. I'd happily go back.

The rest of the week I've actually cooked. Wow.