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emmy's spaghetti shack [18 Mar 2002|06:36pm] ladisastre http://www.sfstation.com/restaurants/emmys/index.htm a friend took me and 4 others here on saturday, and i can't wait to go again! arrived around 7:30 and were told there was an 1.5 hour wait. after smelling the food, we decided to grab a drink in el amigo next door and wait it out. the bar had room enough for a pool table and the stools that lined the bar. the bartenders let a few people take over the remote for the two tvs - even though i was content watching buffy. we were seated at 9, about the same time we realized that two people in our group suddenly couldn't stay for dinner. we ate the bread while looking at the menu, which was housed in a picture frame and needed to be illuminated by the votive from the table. our food came quickly and tasted as good as it smelled. i had the special - linguine with crab and peas. meanwhile, the djs were spinning tunes from the early 90s, which also hit the spot. next time, i'll be sure to leave room for desert. and if i'm feeling saucy, maybe a 40. it's on virginia and mission, between 29th and 30th (across from safeway). order a side

Barneys Gormet Burgers [18 Mar 2002|05:07pm] yourhero This place really rocks the house. If you want a good variety of burgers, awsome fries, and onion rings. Get some. Next level shit. Barneys in Rockridge 4 appetizers | order a side

[16 Mar 2002|10:39pm] battleajah andy and i went to plouf for my pre-birthday dinner. it was Won.Der.Ful. the food was marvelous, the waiters were all french, the bread basket was refilled constantly, and best of all, andy enjoyed his food. andy and i don't drink wine, so we had the perrier to start off with. the dinner came with 2 little loaves of french bread, and sweet butter. andy immediately tore into one of the loaves, when i had to gently remind him that the bread was slightly slashed with little marks for people to share. but, he eats more bread than i do, so i let him eat as much as he wanted. i'm used to restaurants only serving bread just once; to my surprise this place refilled our bread basket. 4 times. all the waiters and the hostess have french accents. our waiter had a mild accent, but since i had studied french, i understood him while andy often sat confused, waiting until the waiter was gone before he asked me what he said. plouf is a seafood bistro. their specialties are the mussels and the oysters. they have a separate mussels menu, in addition to the seafood menu and chicken/meat menu. andy ordered the mussels in wine sauce, with the pommes frites. i started off with the crab spring roll, and for the main course, i had the ling cod. the crab spring roll was delicious. it's chopped crab meat deep fried in a spring roll wrapper, served with this light soy/ponzu sauce (i think the menu said chili sauce, but wasn't spicy at all, which was fine with me) and a watercress/cucumber accompaniment. the sauce was light and not too acidic and didn't overpower the meaty filling. there was no dressing on the watercress/cuke combo, but i happily sloshed the sauce over that. before andy's mussels came, the waiter brought over 2 deep plates, one on top of the other. the noise level in the restaurant bordered on "raise your voice to be heard by your guest" right at the time when the waiter brought the plates, so we didn't know immediately what they were for. we didn't touch them, either. we eventually found out that they were for the discarded mussel shells. once enough mussel shells filled a plate, it is removed to let the plate underneath catch the rest of the shells. andy's mussels came in this cute little cauldron, piled high with about 40 or so mussels. andy loved the mussels (as did i), and the sauce was not smothered by the wine. the fries were deceptively crisp--they weren't a toasty golden color, but still bright yellow. i had the ling cod, which came with squash and pearl onions and those swirly colors of sauces that decorated the plate. i finished all the fish, but the squash and the sauces just didn't work together. the combination was forgettable in taste, blander than mild. and, i'm used to eating fish with a starch (preferably rice); there was no rice with this dish, and it felt too heavy when i was done. finally, for dessert, i had the chocolate mousse with creme anglaise. i would have chosen the profiterole, but andy and i shared that when we had our anniversary dinner at A Cote in Oakland a few months ago. the mouse was placed on a chocolate cake-like disk, with a spoonful of creme anglaise on top. it was light and not runny, and oh so delicious. our waiter was very attentive and neither mothered us or ignored us. the busboy (who seemed to be the only one who wasn't french) checked constantly for finished plates, and was very prompt in removing them. the place is not cheap (andy spent $80 for the both of us), but it was a wonderful birthday dinner. plouf is located on belden place alley, off of bush street, between kearney and montgomery. it's situated right next to B44 (a catalan restaurant i tried a year ago, owned by the same owner of thirsty bear) and cafe bastille . if you've never been to the restaurants on belden place, you're in for a real treat. the alley is closed to traffic when they set up tables outside, and has this european feel. check it out! order a side

PJ's Oysterbar [15 Mar 2002|04:54pm] sfsis [ mood | giddy ] Went to PJ's on a Thursday nite which is a bit of a "party nite" for that restaurant. M tells me it is almost always crowded anyway. That nite seemed to be a bit of a Mardi Gras night as we were given beads from the hostess. Don't go here if you want to talk to your date because it is NOISY in there. Lots of good times going on in there though. The wait staff was VERY helpful. I'm EXTEREMELY picky, just ask M ;) and she sat down next to me and answered all my questions. I settled on the Trout w/sauteed Shrimp and Confetti Onions....was pretty good...except that I wasnt prepared for the red peppers. That dish is served with rice, red beans and a 1/2 cobb of corn. M had the linguini combo which is made in a cream sauce. The people at the next table had a mess of crawfish. Price is about $15/entree. Overall, a fun place to be. PJ's Oysterbar is located on Irving St between 8th & 9th order a side

Katia's [15 Mar 2002|04:41pm] sfsis The atmosphere for this Russian Tea Room is quite nice in the evening. Large windows looking out to a fairly quick moving street of small businesses. Katia is the cook and she makes appearances in to the restaurant everyone once in a while to talk to the customers. It's a small staff...just Katia and one or two wait staff, depending on when you go. M and I had a appetizer of four Blinis (crepe) with a assortment of Smoked Herring, Smoked Salmon, Sour Cream and Salmon Roe (large portion) for $18 and you put it together yourself. The crepes were good, but a bit wet in the middle for my tastes. For the entree, I had something that was ground beef with onions and rice that was wrapped in a cabbage leaf and smothered with tomato sauce and a dollop of sour cream on the top. It was served with basmati rice and the vegetable of the day (squash that day), sauteed in butter. M had Beef Stroganoff, again with a dollop of sour cream, rice and the vegetable of the day. He's not a great fan of rice, but praised their basmati. Katia's is located at the corner of Balboa/5th Ave. order a side

Grape Juice [19 Feb 2002|12:10pm] xntrik78 Does anyone know where I can buy 100% Grape Juice that is NOT from concentrate?? I can't seem to find that in my neighborhood Safeway... all the grape juice is from concentrate :( Then again I'm moving in 4 days... maybe I'll have better luck in my new neighborhood... Let me know if there's a special brand or a location close to the Sunset where I can buy this... Thanks everyone! 10 appetizers | order a side

Quiet Coffee Place? [17 Feb 2002|03:27am] tyrsalvia Can anyone suggest a quiet coffee/tea house type place in San Francisco or the Penninsula? I want to have something of an emotional & private conversation with a couple of friends tomorrow, and can't think of where's good to go. Our homes aren't an option, and with the weather, heading to GG park doesn't seem like a great idea either. I know a couple of places in Mountain View, but I was hoping for something further north. Prime qualifications will be: decent free parking, open until at least 8pm on Sundays, fairly uncrowded & quiet, good (read indirect and not too bright but not too dark) lighting, and decent coffee. It should go without saying that Starbucks is out. Thanks for any suggestions you can offer! order a side

Thai [16 Feb 2002|07:01pm] xntrik78 Can anyone tell me of a good Thai restaurant in San Francisco? 20 appetizers | order a side

[15 Feb 2002|02:35pm] yourhero Hey, this is cool. I'm new to the group. Eat out way too much and cook when I have the energy. I live in N. Oakland and frequent places such as Kirala, Jin Ling, and the Drunken Boat. Jin Ling's a bang up place for dim sum. Limited menu, but fresh and reliable and served all day. So tell me ya'll, what's the place to get Italian in North Beach? I always end up thinking I wasn't quite at the right place. I'm plannin to move to SF this summer, finally. I will eat. 1 appetizer | order a side

Kirala Japanese Cuisine, Berkeley [12 Feb 2002|09:00am] cherrytwist76 [ mood | hungry ] Kirala 2100 Ward Street (where Shattuck and Ashby meets) Berkeley,CA 94705 510-549-3486 yes, we went out to eat last night :D kirala is one of my fav. japanese restaurants. it's quite pricey so we go here not too often but only when we feel like spoiling ourselves.. ^_^ parking: has a lot across the restaurant. there's no huge sign or anything for the restaurant, but there's Any Mountain store right next to it-you cant' miss that. waiting: quite long..if you dont wanna wait, i recommend going either at 5:30pm when they open or 9pm. (they close at 10pm) or around 6pm or 8pm (that's when ppl 'swap' i guess)-this time period you wait about 30min to an hour instead 1.5hrs.. dont even try going during the busiest hrs (6-8pm) on weekend nights. they dont do lunch. they dotn take reservation. price: quite expensive. but they do accept credit cards. if you wanna save money, dont eat too much sushi or dinner plates. their grilled stuff is cheaper and it's one of their best. so stuff yourself w/pizza or something before you go, wait in line for about 30mins and get all their grilled stuff! environment: quite noisy. they play their jazz/blues or whatever it is pretty loud and although it is no prob talking to one another..it definitely aint a quiet restaurant. mostly non-japanese (white) customers. this is one of the rare japanese restaurants that still tastes awesome even when i dont see japanese customers coming in.. it is owned and run by japanese though and all their sushi chefs are japanese. (i am particular about this kind of things. it's like, i wouldnt feel great going to a non-korean owned korean restaurant kind of thing. in fact,i havent seen any like this..) taste: appetizers: it's awesome. try their 'agedashi tofu'. it's one of the best i've had around town (trust me, i go to japanese place way too much) their 'almond shrimp tempura' is also great except it's lke 7.25 for 2 giant shrimp. i'm broke. that's a luxury.. i wouldnt waste my money on stuff like 'edamame'. but they have tiny bar in the back while you wait, so you can drink there. all kind of japanese beers available. and also some senbei to eat with :) main dish: i personally dont like thier reg.japanese cuisine: ie miso soup, teriyaki plates, etc. miso soup is too thick and too hot, i(and others) often burn my mouth. yikes.. if i'm paying 15bucks+ for teriyaki meal, i expect a better taste, more portion and miso soup & salad to be included. it's not. *_* i wouldnt waste my money here to eat teriyaki dinners. their fish (like saba)are good though. sushi: their rolls are really good, although at least 4-5bucks more than other places. but it is fresh and it is one of the better ones i 've tasted. this is one of the two places i know that have shredded crab for 'kani' rolls. most places have a crabstick on the top. although i dont eat much of sashimi, i can tell you that they have one of the better and fresh fish in town their rainbow roll is awesome, it's 4 pieces for 12 bucks (yikes). stuffing is crab, avocado, tobiko and rolled inside out (nori-seaweed is inside). on top they have saba, hamachi, tuna, and salmon. it's really awesome. really worth the price. robata(yakitori) grilled stuff: try their baby squid (it'll say squid (calamari on the m endu) it's 2.50 a shishikabab and has like 4pieces, with tobiko, and some white ranch/mayo type sauce. it's ssssssssooooooooo good. also thier shiso-chicken is really good, although i find it little too much soyu taste.. stuffed mushroom (portebello with chckn) is awesome. -only 2 pieces per order. potatos are good too (small white potates grilled with butter only 1.50bucks for 2pieces per order) grilled mushroom (portebello) is awesome too. like i mentioned earlier, grilled stuff is the cheapest one on the main menu and this is what we like the best. dessert: your regular green tea or red bean ice cream. but try their tempura ice cream (4,50) and it's so darn good. ive had at other places before but last night i decided this is the best place to have it. their ice creams are so awesome too (tempura ice cream has green tea ice cream inside) after the check,they give you this cholate mints. really good. i always ask for more on my way out. lol.. waiters,waitresses are nice, hostess is really cool, and bus boys are really fast and quick. basically, great service. i'm sure most of you reading have been to kirala before and may not agree with me on the sushi or main dish review. but everyone has diff taste, and i personally think Party sushi on shattuck and francisco (will write later) is about the same taste for 1/3 of the price i'd pay at kirala. for main dish stuff, i can go to some reg. japanese restaurant (or the ones in japan town) and get better for a buck or two cheaper -with miso and salad included .lol.. man..i'm hungry again.. order a side

[11 Feb 2002|09:47pm] notbob does anyone know of any good chinese delivery joints in the City? 9 appetizers | order a side

Chocolates and Sweets [11 Feb 2002|09:06pm] xntrik78 Does anyone know of any other chocolate companies other than Godiva, Ghiradelli (sp?), and Sees Candies? I want to get some nice chocolates or sweets for my friends who are helping me move in two weeks... Any suggestions? And also where could I get these things? 4 appetizers | order a side

Beach Chalet [10 Feb 2002|07:56pm] sfsis [ mood | content ] The boyfriend and I headed over to the Beach Chalet at Ocean Beach by Fulton Ave today, after long months of him looking at it longingly when we pass. Well, we got there about 12:30 and was told there was a 45 min wait....(they give u these kewl "pagers" to tell you when your table is ready hehehhe When we were seated it was pretty noisy and bright from the sun glinting off the ocean but soon the place thinned out and they pulled down the drapes some to block off the light. Boyfriend ordered a beer sampler....it comes in a 3 oz shot glass and there are 7 different types of beer for i $5.25, which is not bad but it is the same price as their single sample of 75 cents or their regular 22 oz glass for $5.25....but if you r a beer conneiseur....the sampler is worth it. For our entrees, I ordered the Seafood Linguini Provenceal and bf had Beer Batter Fish with Garlic Fries and we shared a Berry Cobbler with Vanilla Bean Ice Cream for dessert. I really enjoyed my seafood pasta and bf's fish was ok but the fries needed more garlic. The berry cobbler was bittersweet. Overall, he thought it was more like a diner then a "nice restaurant". Our advice is make reservations, try the beer sampler and enjoy the view. On a final observation....there was not a great variety in the menu and it looks like it doesn't change. 5 appetizers | order a side

mix up of phone number and address [10 Feb 2002|04:24am] cherrytwist76 [ mood | dorky ] ok, i have a bad feeling that i made this mistake for little koryo and big koryo.. but in any case. little koryo is on telegraphs/blake st (closer to campus) and big koryo is actually in oakland on telegraph and 44th street (near macdonalds and jack in the box past caspers hot dogs) sorry about that, but i know where it is, but exact address wise, it confuses me...plus it's 4am. *shrug* order a side

little Koryo (korean restaurant in berkeley) and others [10 Feb 2002|03:59am] cherrytwist76 [ mood | hungry ] ok. so taking my bf's advice, i decided to make a korean bbq place as my first post (well, not really the first, but ..) here for berkeley restaurants :D On Telegraph (between Dwight and Parker) Ave., there is this little food court consisting of japanese place (noriko noko-not that good but expensive and small portions), fondue fred, some newly opened ethiopian restaurant (they're not my fav.esp when Blue Niles is across the street..), and Koryo. Don't confuse this korean restaurant with the ones right in the middle of Telegraph (near haste/channing). those are fake :( the place is hard to find, esp if you're a new comer. but it's really worth looking for the place. There's another big Koryo korean bbq place on Telegraph and 44th street, so we usually call the place little Koryo (cuz it's smaller in size). lunch special is on weekdays only i believe. 11-2:30pm. smaller portions for bbq plates but it's usually under 6-8bucks per dish. dinner is awesome. bbqs are usually 9.99. other dishes are 6-8bucks. decent price, awesome food. ran by this middle aged couple, who speak ok enough english. customers are mixed customers of koreans, korean-americans (non-korean speaking ones) and non-koreans. they open at least till 10pm or so i think but not so sure. no credit card accepted. bring enough cash. 10-15bucks per person should be enough. side dishes and kimchee are awesome since it's all homemade by the lady owner (she's so nice and cute) anywho, that sounded confusing but here's a quick recap. ***Koryo BBQ (little koryo) 510-548-2525 4390 Telegraph Ave Berkeley. (by Blake, between Dwight and Parker, slightly across from Andronicos market)-located in a little food court area-thus not too visible when driving by. very good, esp if you're looking for a home style korean bbq or korean cuisines. decent price, 6-10bucks usually per dish. no credit card or cheks. cash only. just about everything is great at this place. but i like their Stone-pot bibimbap the best. (stone pot, rock pot, stone bowl, all the translations cannot escape the nuance of grass for some reason. *sigh*) some others *Koryo restaurant (big koryo) 510-652-6007 2556 Telegraph ave. Berkeley (by 43rd,44th street) it's a mid-size korean plaza, has few other restaurants and a small market, video store, karaoke place, etc. pretty decent. you can smell the bbq from the outside. credit card accepted. 10-15per dish or higher. i dont go here too often because usually, me and my friends hit this place below if we wanna spend lotta money eating meat.. ***Samwon BBQ House 510-834-5757 2600 Telegraph Ave. Berkeley (26th street, right after a korean market called Pusan plaza if you're coming from oakland side) they take reservation (they have a huge place behind the reg. seating areas for banquets and stuff) most waitresses there speak decent english (at least to understand orders and requests) always busy, so avoid the busy hours (8-9pm) usually open till 10pm or so. you can grill your bbq by the coal thingie if you have more than one order of bbq (usually for big groups at least of 3 or more i think) . great service, great food. always crowded, good mix of koreans and non-korean customers. lunch special starting t 5.99 but their reg. dinner prices are kinda pricey, 8-20bucks or more per dish. (but it's worth it :) if you order the self-cook bbq on a coal thingie, they usually give you free den-jang soup as a service. just about all dishes are really awesome here. really worth paying all that money. we're planning to go here to meet up w/friends this Sunday dinner. :D there are 2 more korean restaurants in berkeley, right in the mid of telegraph (berkle berkle and another one, next to raleighs) but those are fake man!!! i didn't like it. it was so whitewashed korean foods *_* i hear Brothers bbq on Geary(SF) is very good, but havent tried yet myself. there's also fast food korean-Steve's BBQ in Durant food court (on Durant by Telegraph) it's pretty good for mexican made korean bbq (order #2-bbq pork is their best!) fake cabbage kimchi, but it's all good. it used to be cheap, good and fast, but now it's not all that cheap with tax, it's over 6bucks. with this price, i go to little koryo. i get authentic homemade korean food with all the nice side dishes :) anywho. that's about it. next time, i'll write lists on Thai or japanese around berkeley. 7 appetizers | order a side

Speaking of posting... [08 Feb 2002|10:25pm] asynja [ mood | sick ] [ music | Bauhaus - Silent Hedges ] So, We were bored tonight and had NO idea what to eat. Decided to go to Nico's (which is right off of 880 S, the first Alameda exit -29th St I believe. We live in Alameda. It's right beside a 7-11. Anyway...if you want 24hr diner food, go to Denny's. Blah. At least we know now. The husband ordered VEAL (WHAT was he thinking???) and I got an order of fries and an order of onion rings. Not very veggie friendly there. Fries tasted like onions, onions tasted like chicken, and uh, the iced tea was pretty darn bad. I'm not going to go into what the veal looked like. So, they don't even have slingers, so its not worth it for bad diner food :) In fact, I don't think they have slingers in this state, which isn't really a bad thing! Okay, I have greasy gut rot, time to lay on the couch! 2 appetizers | order a side

argh..i cant' edit the community post.. [08 Feb 2002|03:41pm] cherrytwist76 if you were too lazy to click the link. here it is. "Animal Style" - bun is grilled with mustard, sauteed onions instead of raw, pickles, extra "special sauce" "Wish Burger" - no meat, i.e. veggie burger "Protein Style" - lettuce wrapped around the burger instead of a bun for all of you who are in "The Zone" "Old Fashioned Style" - ketchup and mustard instead of the weird special sauce "Flying Dutchman" - two meat patties with two slices of cheese. that's it. "Double Meat" - Double Double without cheese "4x4" - 4 meat patties with 4 slices of cheese. Are you SURE you can eat that? "2x4" - 2 meat patties with 4 slices of cheese for the fromage afficionado "Grilled Cheese" - cheeseburger, sans meat "Fries - well done" - get your fries extra crispy and brown the way you like them! "Choco-Vanilla Swirl Shake" - just what it sounds like "Neopolitan Shake" - a blend of chocolate, vanilla and strawberry shakes. order a side

inNout secret menu [08 Feb 2002|03:36pm] cherrytwist76 [ mood | hungry ] i'm sure most of you knew about this.. courtesy of arenadi http://www.zenlemur.com/innout.shtml also, i eat out mostly in berkeley area/sometimes in emeryville/oakland. mind if i post some great places here in berkeley? (i did read the intro journal..) i may not have the numbers or phone numbers (although i'll try to) i know lots of good and decent-affordable price places that you guys can check out. berkeley is only 20-30min drive from SF :D one more thing. try this restaurant. it's quite famous but quite expensive too (about 15+per dish) ca.cuisine. "Boulevard" on 1 Spear/Steuwart. you can easily do search on the web. it's ranked one of the top restaurants in the city. 9 appetizers | order a side

pizza party [06 Feb 2002|07:47am] insomnia So, it looks like this Saturday is the LiveJournal Pizza Party in San Jose. 6pm-9ish, at ... Nick's Pizza 354 E Santa Clara Street (at 8th St.), San Jose, CA (get a map ) I need to give the owner of the restaurant some sort of idea regarding the number of people who are showing up. So far, I'm guessing about thirty will show up, but that's just theoretical and is likely to increase. We've got room for up to 75, easy. The cool thing is that you can swing by, hang out with a lot of the local LJers, have some great food, and still have time to go out later that night if you have other plans... Oh, and people have been asking questions, so I figured I would share the answers: - Yes, you can definitely invite others, even if they aren't part of LJ. - Sure, you can post about it in your journal. In fact, I'd encourage it. - Yeah, I'm sure the owner can get you food that is vegetarian / low-carb / non-lactose / non-pizza. He's actually got quite a large menu, is a trained chef, and customizes dishes for people all the time. Pizza is just the most convenient thing for him to have ready for a lot of people. If you think you'll be able to drop by, please reply to this post or email me to RSVP. See ya there... ! order a side

[29 Jan 2002|11:30am] sfsis I'm gonna be by Barney's on Steiner today so I will try to check that out. Thinking on the area sparked a reminder of a little place I found out about in December. The place is called "Little Lucca's Speciality Sandwich Shop" and it is on Fillmore/Union. I think it is franchised....but if you like garlic, their sandwiches rock!! A 12 inch roll sandwich with 2 meats was $4.65. Service is a bit slow, but one sandwich will probably feed two. order a side

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