Anchor Oyster Bar

579 Castro St
San Francisco, CA 94114

Occasion: Friday night dinner date. We were hoping to go to Swan Oyster Depot, but it was closed so we searched for another place on yelp and came across this.

Baked Corvina Seabass

garnished with toasted almonds and served with a tomato-basil butter with mashed potatoes and vegetable

I loved that it was garnished with toasted almonds because it definitely adds a richness to the flavor of the fish. I love fish, mashed potatoes and asaparagus, so this dish did not go too wrong besides the fact that the fish didn't taste too fresh.

Combination Seafood Salad

This wasn't my entree, but it was sooooo good. Very refreshing. I loved the heirloom tomatoes, the dressing and the seafood. There were crab, shrimp, prawns and I don't even remember what else. The seafood itself was full of flavor and it left my mouth watering for more, bite after bite. It was delicious.

Garlic Bread and Clam Chowder

I love garlic bread, but I am not usually too fond of clam chowder. For some reason, I really enjoyed this clam chowder though. Maybe it was a very cold day and it helped warm my stomach, but I found that it went very very well with the garlic bread. I dipped my bread into the soup and it was a perfect starter for our meal.

Koo

408 Irving Street

San Francisco, CA 94122

Occasion: Catchup session with Ali squared.

Best Roll/Azteca Roll/U2 Roll/Flying Kamikaze Roll
Starting from left to the right.
The Best Roll: tempura asparagus, avocado ,wrapped in fresh salmon & thin slices of lemon
Azteca Roll: crab,avocado, gobo and cucumber wrapped in white fish, topped w/ a thin slice of jalepeno , spicy mayo, tobiko & ponzu then lightly baked.
U2 Roll: tempura shrimp , avocado topped w/spicy tuna & tobiko.
Flying Kamikaze Roll: spicy tuna and asparagus wrapped w/albacore and topped with garlic ponzu and scallions.

My favorite of the four rolls would have to be the Best Roll. It consisted of all things I like to eat. I loved the fresh taste of the salmon that had a thin slice of lemon which added a little zest to it. I also really like asparagus and I thought it went really well with the roll. You can also never go wrong with avocado in sushi.

My second favorite of the rolls was the Azteca. It must have been the ponzu sauce and the fact that it was lightly baked, which made the white fish taste a little seared. It was delicious! I don't like spicy and I thought I would not like it because of the spicy mayo and the slice of jalapeno, but it wasn't too bad for me. I just scraped off the slice of jalapeno and the spicy mayo gave it a little kick!

Then I liked the Flying Kamikaze Roll. We were really appealed by the name of the roll so we decided to order it. The deep fried bits of garlic really made this roll special. Even though it consisted of spicy tuna, which I am not too fond of, this roll wasn't too bad. Yummy asparagus and albacore.

My least favorite of the four had to be the U2 roll due to the spicy tuna. This roll was just way too spicy for me. I thought I would like it because I like avocado and shrimp tempura, but I actually found this roll to be really dry and plain.

Tuna and Salmon Tartar

served with spicy guacamole and shrimp chips

I absolutely fell in love with this dish. I love the thickness of the shrimp chips. It was perfect so that we could scoop the tartar onto the chip without the chip breaking. I've tried tartar at a lot of places, and this one really stands out to me. I loved the presentation of it as well as the mixture of the guacamole with the fish tartar. It was seriously perfection in my mouth. I was so hooked on this!

Victoria's Bakery

1362 Stockton Street
San Francisco, CA 94133

Occasion: Tea time!! Coffee and desserts!

Tirimisu Cake

I enjoyed this a lot more than the princess cake. I love the fluffiness of the cake and the consistency of the marscapone cheese. I felt that they lacked something in it, although I don't know what. But overall I loved it.

Princess Cake

I've had princess cakes before, but this one did not meet my expectations. The marzipan was too thick for my liking, the cake was kind of on the dry side. It wasn't spongy or fluffy enough for me. Their custard seemed like custard pudding. It wasn't ALL that, it was alright.

Namu

439 Balboa St
San Francisco, CA 94118

Occasion: Dinner date with Diana.

Korean Beef Short Rib "Tacos"

The waitress said that it was one of their most popular dishes and that it usually gets sold out at their booth at the ferry building, so we decided to give it a try. It was delicious. I loved the flavor of the beef mixed with diced tomatoes and the pink sauce they drizzled it with. What i didn't like was the fact that two pieces of seaweed acted as the taco shell holding everything together. When I think tacos i think finger foods. I was really confused as to how to eat it without it being too messy. The seaweed got soggy from the meat, tomatoes and sauce, so when we lifted it up to eat it, the filling all started to fall out. I would have enjoyed it more, if it was easier to eat.

Hamachi Crudo

It was served with five pieces. Each piece lay on top of a slice of lemon topped with garlic chili oil and seaweed. Our server told us the chef recommended us eating it without the lemon. I thought that was so funny...then why put the slice of lemon under the fish. I understand that lemon takes out the fishiness of seafood which is why it was probably there. They could have put lemon on the side so that we can drizzle it on the fish if necessary. The fish was really fresh and tasty. We loved the flavors used and freshness of the fish.

Shitake Mushrooms

It wasn't bad, but it wasn't extremely good. I loved the mushrooms in the soup. it came with a total of 8 dumplings which is not really worth it for the price.

Kimchee Fried Rice

It was topped with a fried egg and bits of bacon, which i'm not too fond of, but it did add flavor to the dish. It was our most filling dish. Loved the consistency of the rice. I enjoyed it, but not as much as one from a more authentic Korean Restaurant. It was still yummy though.

Adzuki Red Bean Cupcake

I love japanese red bean, i think its very different from chinese red bean. I don't know what it is, maybe the consistency, sweetness or the texture. Anyhow, the dessert was just alright. Nothing that wowed me. It came with two pieces of strawberry and was garnished with milk and white chocolate.

Azul

1 Tillman Pl
(at Grant Ave)
San Francisco, CA 94108

Occasion: Came here for Happy Hour on a typical thursday night!

Tuna Tar Tar

As I've mentioned before I love tuna tartar. This was a refreshing tapa dish we got. I loved that there were seaweeds and sesame in it. Scoop the tuna with the chips and MMMMMM delicious.

Mac and Cheese

I am not usually a fan of Mac and Cheese, but this one did not taste too bad. Maybe I'm used to seeing the yellow cheddar cheese with the standard arched macaroni noodles. With a different appearance from the usual mac and cheese, I found it to be a bit more appetizing. There is definitely a different twist to this mac and cheese. I found it enjoyable and caught myself reaching for seconds and thirds.

Chicken Nachos

Something different. I'm used to having Nachos with beef not chicken. It wasn't that great because the cheese wasn't melted all the way, which is the way I like it. It was actually still semi cold when we dug into it. O well.

Chicken Teriyaki Skewers

Yummy! I love skewers. I liked that it was still warm, unlike the chicken nachos. I had like 2 or 3 skewers that night.

Chicken Wings

It reminded me of San Tung's Dry Fried Chicken Wings. So delicious. Crispy skin with caramelized teriyaki-like coating. Tender chicken meat that were still warm. Absolute heaven.

Slanted Door

1 Ferry Bldg
San Francisco, CA 94111

Occasion: Ella's Birthday Dinner. August 30, 2009

Chue farm japanese eggplant

with green onions and coconut milk

This was my favorite dish of the night. I love eggplants and the balance of the sweet coconut milk flavor with the natural flavor of the eggplant went very well together. The eggplants were not too mush and not too hard. The flavor of the coconut milk also added sweetness to the onions, which I enjoyed a lot.

Niman Ranch Shaking Beef

cubed filet mignon, sausalito springs' watercress, red onions and lime sauce

This was one of my favorite dishes, even though I don't usually like beef. It was well seasoned and full of flavor. The meat wasn't too cooked, nor was it undercooked. I liked it a lot. It is #7 on the SF BIG EATS 2009: 100 things you must eat and drink befor eyou die.

Cellophane noodles

with fresh dungeness crab meat

This was my least favorite dish. This dish did not stand out at all and I barely touched the portion I served myself. It lacked in flavor as well as presentation. I felt like I could make this myself at home. It really wasn't anything special, come to think of it, I don't think any of us touched it much at all. If you're asian, it's not worth a try at all. In my opinion I don't think it's worth a spot as #7 on SF's Big Eat: 100 things to eat and drink before you die

Whole Tai Snapper

The fact that they made it whole, really gives it an asian feel, as this is how a lot of chinese and vietnamese people cook fish. I love fish and I eat a lot of fish, especially ones that are cooked whole. I was expecting the fish to be fresh, since this restaurant is located by the dock and it came out in a whole fish form, but when I tasted it I was a bit disappointed not in the taste of it, but the freshness. It wasn't fresh at all. I was intrigued by the sauce they provided, as it was a little bit tart and sweet. Not bad.

Hodo soy beanery organic tofu

with lemongrass, shiitake mushrooms and roasted chili

I love tofu and this would have been a favorite of mine, if it weren't so spicy. I can't really eat spicy, therefore I didn't really enjoy it as much as I should and could have.

Chicken claypot

with caramel sauce, chilies and fresh ginger

Not too bad, but it was a bit on the spicy side for me.

Prather Ranch Beef Carpaccio

with roasted peanuts, rau ram and fresh lime juice

I was really excited to give this dish a try, but I was somewhat disappointed when I tried it. The meat wasn't sliced as thin as I hoped for it to be. I wished that it was thinner and they actually cut the meat to a size that is actually easy to eat. We had a group of 6 people trying to share all the dishes. This dish made it difficult to share, because we found ourselves carving away at the meat trying to cut out portions that were eatable. I didn't think the lemon juice dressing was authentic enough. It was too citrusy. I wished that there were more chopped basils because the vietnamese use it a lot. The shrimp chips with sesame that topped the carpaccio was actually pretty good though.

Spring rolls

with shrimp, pork, mint and peanut sauce

There was nothing spectacular or special about this roll. I feel like I could have gotten a better one for half the price at a vietnamese restaurant in TL or Chinatown.

District

216 Townsend St
San Francisco, CA 94107

Occasion: Came here to grab a bite before a giants game.

Sliders

A bit on the sweet side, but pretty filling. The sauce they had was not too bad, but it didn't help over power the sweet taste of the bun, which I wasn't too fond of.

Calamari

Hard to go wrong with calamari. It's good just about everywhere. I'll make it known if its not good!

Katana-Ya

430 Geary St

San Francisco, CA 94102

Occasion: Just a random outting for a dinner. First time with Ella =].

Katana-ya Ramen

We couldn't decide which ramen, so we decided to go for the most expensive one. It had pork, bamboo shoots, gyozas, chicken karage, corn , half a boiled egg and some seaweed. The broth was so good and it tasted so authentic. The noodles tasted hand made and very fresh. It was so fresh, it had a crisp to it. Best ramen noodle I've ever had! But what it came with wasn't all that great. The gyoza was a little bit too salty, the chicken karage was soggy by the time i ate it and there wasn't enough corn in it. Next time I'd probably try something simpler.

Pacific Puff

2201 Union Street
(between Fillmore St & Steiner St)
San Francisco, CA 94123

Occasion: Surprise treat while having a not so good day =]

I really wanted to try the Classic sugar, but too bad they ran out, so I had the Fruit Whip, Chocolatier Sugar and the Chocolatier.I was so afraid that I'd hate the Chocolatier, but to my surprise, it was amazing. I probably wouldn't be able to have a whole one because the chocolate was a bit too rich, but I loved that it had like a chocolate fudge like texture, it wasn't like chocolate candy.I enjoyed the Fruit Whip as well which had whipped cream and fresh strawberries inside. YUM!!The Chocolatier Sugar, was just as I remembered it from that one sampling I had when I was on Union street a few weeks prior.

The House

1230 Grant Ave
San Francisco, CA 94133

Occasion: Ella and I were looking for a place to eat on a friday night and we wandered into the HOUSE. I've heard a lot about it and wanted to try it so we waited an hour just to be seated.

Ahi Tuna Tar Tar

We love tuna tar tar so we ordered it. It came in three layers each held in place with a piece of nori chip. we each grabbed a chip that was filled with the ahi tuna tar tar. My friend took a bite and she made a face. UH OH....i took a bite...and then I knew what the face was about. The both of us are not fond of wasabi and there was a hint of wasabi in it. BOO! I tried to make the most out of it, but she couldn't handle it at all. We were very dissappointed with our first dish and would have enjoyed it A LOT more if there was no taste of wasabi.

Seared Scallops

It was a special that night. I love scallops so i had to get it!! this dish did not dissappoint at all. the scallops were cooked to perfection and the sweet mustard-like sauce complimented well with it. YUMMY!!

Miso Black Cod

It was a special they had just like the scallops. It came with chinese brocolli and california rolls. I thought the seabass was good, but this was even better. The meat was softer and juicier and it melted in my mouth even MORE than the seabass. Chinese brocolli was nice and crunchy and went well with the fish and the sauce. I thought it was weird to have california rolls with it, but it was perfect because the flavors balanced out very well. Overall amazing!!

Grilled Seabass

It came with string beans and garlic noodles. The fish was also grilled to perfection. I loved the somewhat crispy outside with the buttery soft tender meat in the insides. The meat was really smooth and melted in my mouth. String beans were nice and crunchy, but the garlic noodles was a bit to salty for my liking.

Blowfish Sushi to Die For

2170 Bryant Street
San Francisco, CA 94110

Occasion: Friday night dinner. We were in the area trying Tartine Bakery and decided to have dinner here!

Buddha Roll/Rainbow Roll/Pacific Roll
BUDDHA ROLL: very intersting, there were bits of mango in it, which I was skeptical about trying, but to my surprise, it went well with the rest of the roll and it did not overpower the taste of the roll. Had shrimp tempura, mango bits and eel. YUM! we devoured the roll.

RAINBOW ROLL: nothing too special. It's pretty much the same everywhere else. You can't really go wrong with this dish. I love rawfish and avocados. yum.

PACIFIC ROLL: not bad either. there were bits of deep fried rice mixed with the regular sushi rice. filled with smoked salmon, asparagus (yum!), avocado and crab meat. Our second favorite roll.

To Die For
This appetizer goes perfectly with its name. It is absolutely to die for. It's so hard to explain this dish, but I loved the outer crispy rice, with the inside layer of just regular sticky rice that had this teriyaki like sauce drizzled on top. It came with shitake mushroom, filet mignon pieces and crawfish. The flavors from everything blended perfectly together. I definitely recommend giving this dish a try...its the perfect appetizer to start your meal with.

Tartine Bakery

600 Guerrero St
San Francisco, CA 94110

Occasion: I've been wanting to come and give this bakery a try, so I did. It was so hard to find because there was no sign up. It's just on the corner of 18th and Guerrero. They have awesome desserts as well as breakfast and lunch foods.

Coconut Macroons and Almond Rocher

The coconut macroons were nice light little treats. I loved its crunchy outside and chewy inside. The coconut flavor was not TOO much, just perfect. I'm not a big coconut fan, but this definitely left me wanting more! I honestly had no idea as to what a rocher was when I ordered it, but I decided to give it a try and it was another delightful little treat! I'm not sure what it's made with, but i love how it's chewy almond flavored insides. Delicious.

Banana Cream Tart

This was my favorite thing that we ordered here. I wish we didn't save it for last because we would have killed it if it was the first thing we ate. I absolutely love the flaky crust, which was very tasty with the custard cream. There is also a bit of caramel in it, which definitely makes it different from all the other banana cream pies I've ever tried. I wish the banana slices in the pie were sliced a little thinner. I think it would have been a bit more enjoyable.

Coconut Passionfruit Bavarian Cake
The guy helping us highly recommended this cake. This was the first dessert we dug our forks into. Neither of us enjoyed it too much. I was expecting more of a coconut flavor to it, but the tartness of the lemon and passionfruit overpowered the coconut. Also, I didn't like the coconut flakes that the cake was topped with. This just didn't do it for me.

Basil Thai Restaurant and Bar

1175 Folsom Street

San Francisco, CA 94103

Occasion: Friday night dinner outing for 2.

Fried Bananas with Coconut Ice Cream

I always have room for dessert because I love sweets. I don't normally like bananas, but fried bananas are delicious especially with coconut or vanilla bean ice cream. In this case we had a scoop of coconut ice cream in the middle of the fried bananas.

Panang Short Ribs

The meat was so tender that it fell off of the bone. The curry sauce was nicely seasoned and not too spicy for my liking. I could have just eaten rice with the curry sauce alone and I would have been happy.

Param Rung Song
The grilled skirt steak with a sweet peanuty sauce was nice and tender cooked just right too my liking. It wasn't too rare nor was it too well done! Another good dish to get.

Keow Wan Roti
This was absolutely DELICIOUS! I loved the flavor of the indian bread. The bread had a slightly crisp outside with a soft and warm inside. The spicy flavor of the green curry and the sweet eggplants went well with the bread. We devoured it and it left me wanting MORE! I would highly recommend trying this for the appetizer.

Hoi Ying Scallop Skewers

I absolutely love scallops and was expecting a lot out of this. Unfortunately, it dissappointed us. It had a burnt taste to it, perhaps from the grilling. We've definitely had better scallop and we both agreed that scallops don't taste that great grilled. If you were to get a Grilled Kebob, maybe opt for something other than the scallop.

Shrimp Chips Appetizer

This was a complimentary appetizer before our meal came. I thought it was very interesting how they put it in one of those dim sum racks! We were starving by the time we got here so we basically scarved it all down. It wasn't bad, nor was it great, but it was free so it doens't matter. I just really liked the presentation of it.

Boiling Crab

1631 E Capitol Expressway #101
San Jose, CA 95121

Occasion: Judy's Birthday back in July! She loves seafood and has never tried it, so it was the perfect excuse for us to come again!

Oysters from Mexico
They're not what I'm normally used to in the bay because they're so big! But it was still very nice and refreshing.

The Whole Sha-Bang Crab
Mixed with three flavors, so full of flavor! I love crab, that's all I've got to say. Boiling crab makes a very addicting sauce and definitely stands out from a lot of other seafood places. If you want to eat here you've got to be willing to get your hands dirty, as I used over 1o sheets of paper towels.

Crawfish with corn cobs and sausages
This was too spicey for me and plus I don't like to work hard on crawfish because the payout isn't that great. The corn and sausages were soaked with the flavors of the crawfish, which made it so much more appetizing, even for a person like me who doesn't like spicey food.


Clams
You either love it or hate it. It just tasted like clams with the whole sha-bang sauce. I love clams so of course I enjoyed it.

Shrimp
One notch too spicy for me, but I stuck through it and ate it anyways. I loved it, but hated the runny nose part. Especially when my hands were dirty. It definitely did not taste like the freshest of shrimps, but the sauce was delicious.

Himawari

202 2nd Ave
San Mateo, CA 94401

Occasion: In the San Mateo area and wanted to give this ramen place a try, since i love ramen so much.

Deluxe Shio Ramen

Very authentic broth. Did not enjoy the fatty pork. Fresh ramen noodles. Perfect for a cold day.

Jar Jar Men

Cold noodles mixed with veggies and ground pork. Nice flavorful dish. There were jalapenos which I am not a fan of. Good for a HOT day.

Tuna Poki

The tuna didn't taste too fresh and i thought it lacked some flavor. I've had better.