Quick restaurant update

Went to a bunch o' restaurants this week and one last week.

Briefly, without links:

Baghdad Nights in Lower Haight - Iraqi food. Completely empty when we walked in (on a Friday night!), but right after we walked in a few couples and groups came in. Food was similar in description in many items to the Afghani food at Helmand Palace. Kebabs and biryani and the like. I got a lamb shank with okra in tomato sauce that was ok. Lamb was tender and not too gamy but it wasn't very interesting tasting dish. My bf got a minced lamb with other stuff dish that also wasn't that interesting. Nice service though not very quick (at least to get our check) b/c it was only the one guy seating everyone and taking their orders with one other underling who brought out food and cleared stuff. We probably won't go back - the Helmand's food is so much tastier.

Gamine in Marina - French food. Fairly empty but cute little place. Super-nice and friendly waiter - honestly, nicest and most genuinely smiling French waiter I've ever had. Food was ok. I got tilapia on a bed of garlic spinach - the tilapia was very generously salted and peppered, and the spinach was quite salty too. Not *too* much to the point where it was unpleasant but definitely very strong. Nothing subtle about the flavors there! The tilapia was fine - not as delicate/flaky in texture as I had hoped but I have no idea if tilapia actually is supposed to be that flaky. My bf got the flat iron steak (which was very thick and he said was quite like flank steak) with a heap of very thin fries which were apparently very salty and delicious and he polished them off (which he *never* does with fries). He said the steak was fine. We also split a banana nutella crepe for dessert which was what you would expect for a banana nutella crepe =).

Conduit in Mission - American food. Tries to be swanky or cool or something with their menu, which apparently is printed new every day and doesn't bother with descriptions, just a list of nouns of what's in each dish (more or less - doesn't bother to describe sauces or cooking style or anything). As a result we may have missed out on some good pork (sounded good as described by the waiter to the table next to us, after we'd ordered). I got a fish & chips appetizer, which I do not recommend - not very tasty, not very interesting, overly fried and overpriced ($11 for 3 sticks of fish and 2 wedges of potato). I also got a half-portion of the butternut squash ravioli which was delicious - butternut squash and ricotta with brown sage butter in ravioli with brown sage butter sauce. Unfortunately a half portion ($11 or $10, I forget which) only comes with 3 pieces. I should have just gotten the full portion and forgone the fish and chips. My bf got a beef carpaccio appetizer with truffles on top (quite yummy) and the pappardelle - homemade pasta (long wide noodles, or thin sheets, depending how you look at it) with pork sugo - that was pretty tasty. We ran out of there and biked home before the rain, so no dessert there or anywhere else.

Pauline's Pizza in Mission - actually right on the same block as Conduit. Apparently they use fresh organic ingredients, and have specialty pizzas and more interesting ingredients. We split a medium Louisiana Andouille Pizza, which was just the right size for the two of us (8 slices, 12" - the small is 8 slices, 10"). Fairly thin crust that was just a bit crispy and not the least bit soggy or doughy. Yummy Andouille sausage though not enough of it. Fontina cheese (I like cheesier pizzas so I could have used more of it as well). Bell peppers. Green onions (way too many - I don't like green onions much and only want them in moderation). My bf was all "mmmm, this is great pizza, great choice!" I liked it a bit less but mostly b/c of the green onions. Overall pretty tasty pizza that is very minimally greasy. They weren't very fast, though, I must say, and there was always a wait since it seems fairly popular.

And of course, since it wasn't raining last night, we polished it off with some more Bi-Rite Creamery ice cream. Bi-Rite rocks. This time I got the single scoop two flavors - the salted caramel (which I always do) with chocolate-coconut (vegan option that uses coconut instead of dairy..ie, lactose-intolerant-friendly option) and homemade graham crackers sprinkled on top. Sooooo good. And soooo cold since it was pretty chilly out last night and it was too crowded in the Bi-Rite to eat inside. My bf got the Meyer lemon with pistachio which he says was odd and he wouldn't get again, and which didn't go along with his coffee toffee at all. Which is just to say he picked badly, not that bi-rite is bad =).

Want to try Candybar, a dessert/wine place with board games at Fulton between Divis and Broderick sometime. Found it on the Yelp app on my iPhone. Going slightly nuts installing free apps on my iPhone. Fun!

To work...