- Old Mandarin - Lamb
- Turtle Tower in the Tenderloin for pho. Everyday food. The secret back room.
- Pyung Chang in Temescal -- bubbling tofu. Everyday, all day. Love this stuff.
- Fish in Sausalito, near Heath Studios, and the Bay Model, and Tennesee Valley. A nice friends-in-town kind of place. Outdoor seating, tents when it's cold, a little pricer than you think, but completely worth it.
- La vie on Geary -- Roasted crab, garlic noodles. Desserts - nice and delicate -- mango panna cotta. Another friends-in-town, once-in-a-while place.
- Bakesale Betty's, Temescal -- Chicken sandwich, egg salad sandwich, need to try the new roast beef sandwich.
- Hog Island Oysters in the Ferry Building, or up in Hog Island.
- Oyajii - Ramen, Japanese tapas, and the owner -- drunk and happy.
- Redd, Yountville 6480 Washington Street -- memorable dish: cold honey dew melon soup with pieces of lobster. Amazing. Read the menu, some things are better than others.
- South, 330 townsend, near the train station. Small, nice vibe, Aussie and Kiwi run and owned. Bacon that reminded me of my Uncle's smoked meat with some vegetable like asparagus.
Dim Sum near SFO airport (great for picking people up at the airport)
- Hong Kong Flower Lounge Restaurant, at the corner of Millbrae and el Camino -- can't miss it -- it's the right on the corner. Cold, slightly spicy jelly fish a nice counter point to the dim sum. It's also nice to be above and have a view.
(650) 692-6666
- Fook Yuen Seafood Restaurant, 195 El Camino Real, Millbrae, (650) 692-8600. Just down the street from Hong Kong Flower. Good, but somehow I prefer Hong Kong Flower Lounge.
On the way to Oakland airport:
- Quinns Lighthouse -- on the water, sailboats docked, deck seating, and the best part -- tossing peanut shells on the ground. Big mounds of shells everywhere.
Cocktails, well made
- Fleur de Lys, Union Square area - Appletini - need to figure out how to make theirs.
- Flora, downtown Oakland - creative combos - elderflower.
- Florio on Filmore -- classic cocktails well made.
- Absinthe, Hayes Valley - creative and classics.
To do list:
- Koi Palace, dim sum, Daly City.
- A survey of soon tofu restaurants in the greater Bay Area - where they are.
- A noodle list -- where to go where-ever you are.
- Santa Ramen in San Mateo -- heard really good things.
- Indian restaurants -- and what to do with those condiments.
- Good, over-designed restaurants that are a little pricey for what they are.
- Related topic -- Asian fusion
- Over-priced, over-designed restaurants (lower left quadrant).
- Why the SF chronical and other reviews are nice, but not relevant for folks like me
- Boon Fly Cafe in Napa.
- Car camping food -- salmon on a plank, seafood in coconut milk, sweet rice balls grilled, Wai and Lisa's chicken.
- Alternate strategies - what to do when the restaurant you want is packed.
- Cafes -- Where to go when you're in Union City, or where-ever, and you need wifi.
- Happy hour specials - half off bottles of wine -- Solstice. Lukkas. Oysters.
- Simple food combinations -- e.g. dates stuffed with cowgril creamery creme fraiche, and why it doesn't really work with other creme fraiche. Machego cheese -- from Costco and Ardi's homemade lilikoi kurd.
- Favorite French fries and other fried potatoes -- Gregoire's potato puffs.
- Dessert places for the non-dessert person - Nopa's creme anglaise, shaved fennel and strawberries -- their sopsasitas and pecan pie.
- When my cousin Ardi comes into town -- Fleur de Lys, Quince.
- Sheila's malasadas spiked with spam experiment.
- How to make a Spamtini.
- How to make an outrigger canoe spam garnish
- Places to eat while riding your bike
- Mapo Tofu places - Spices, Genki Ramen.
- Mini food tours - SF, Oakland-Berkeley, Sonoma-Napa-Yountville, and the more challenging Carmel-Santa Cruz-Monterey.
- Afghan restaurants in Fremont
- Fried chicken and Manzilla sherry is it wonderful, or just weird?
- Restaurants worth driving to
- Situational restuarants - ok I'm here now where?
- Drinks to order when you're at bar can't make up your mind and don't like beer- a cheat sheet for before, after, and when-ever drinks.
- Where to eat late at night in Oakland, San Francisco. Paula L says include the jook place in downtown Oakland. Gotta find the name.
- Reading a menu - how to pick the good stuff. In short figure out what the restaurant is about first. Recently I ordered a clumpy cream sauce seafood pasta in Carmel. Originally thought, "I'm near the ocean, I can smell ocean", but it was really a meat, big-portion-kind of place that happened to be in Carmel. My friends' steak and prime rib looked savory and fatty in all the right ways.
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