Chapeau!

126 Clement St
(between 2nd Ave & 3rd Ave)
San Francisco, CA 94118

Occasion: Another one of those Friday night dinner dates!

Banana Panna Cotta
Strawberry Salad/ Shortbread
The strawberries weren't that fresh and a little bit on the sweet side, but the shortbread was delicious. Out of the 3 desserts, this was my least favorite. It was still pretty good, but just my least favorite.

French Toast
Best dessert there!! It's seriously delicious. Who would have ever thought that french toast as a dessert would be so good! I loved how it was warm and there was a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top drizzled with a little bit of caramel. Heaven in my mouth!!

Basil Napoleon
Maui Pineapple, Manilla Mango, Banana, Kiwi & Strawberries/
Champagne-Citrus Pastry Cream/ Feuille de Bric
Very refreshing dessert. It's not overwhelming with sweetness. It had natural sweetness from all the fruits. After having such a rich dessert like the french toast, it was perfect. Tasted nice amd healthy. I felt good eating it.

Filet Mignon with Foie Gras
with oyster and lobster mushrooms and potatoes
The waiter recommended us to get this with the foie gras and so we did. I think it was my first time trying foie gras. The waiter was right, the filet mignon tasted really good with the foie gras. I don't think I could have had the whole dish to myself because the foie gras itself is very rich, thus making the dish very rich. When eating the foie gras with the filet mignon, its best to just get a little piece of foie gras to go with the meat, otherwise it's too rich.

Cassoulet de Toulouse
Canelli beans, shredded braised lamb shoulder/ duck leg confit/ garlic and toulouse sausage
This dish tasted the way it looked, very unappetizing. I was very dissappointed in not only the presentation of the dish but the taste as well. The excessive amount of beans reminded me of Mexican food. I barely tasted the lamb or the duck, although the sausages were definitely there. I was expecting more from an upscale restaurant like Chapeau!.

Pommes Frites and Rouille
It reminds me of In and Out's fries. I have nothing to complain about that, I just wouldn't expect it at a fine dining restaurant. Nothing too special, but the sauce was delicious!

Prince Edwards Island Mussels steamed with white wine, shallot and parsley
I love mussels. The sauce was awesome and very tasty. I dipped our complimentary bread into the sauce and let it soak into the bread. YUM! I loved the taste of parsley, it made it taste really refreshing!

Trio of Salmon
Gravlax, tartar and caviar/egg mimosa, fried capers and creame friache/ microherbs with lemon dressing
This appetizer was delicious. The salmon was full of flavor and was a very refreshing appetizer. It was definitely one of our favorites that night. The checkered chip on top reminded me of potato chips. Loved the presentation as well as the taste of this dish. YUMMY!

Fish and potato taster
This was complimentary from the chef. It was a nice little surprise. I thought the fact that it came out in a little spoon was so cute! Fits perfectly into the mouth. I really enjoyed this little teaser. I really like potatoes and fish so it satisfied my taste buds.

Let Them Eat Cake

423 L Street
Ste B
Davis, CA 95616

Occasion: After our lunch at Mikuni's. Ele (who's from socal) really wanted to give this cupcake place a try. Very cutty place. Keep in mind we're all still pretty hungover.

The Happy Camper, French Toast and Scarlett

I was kind of skeptical about this cupcake place at first because it was kind of in an alley behind a store. we walked in and were the only customers. It was really dead in there, or maybe it was just their off hours. The cupcakes were all placed really nicely with cute little placards. Ele got the Happy Camper made with dark chocolate cake, marshmellow frosting and grahm cracker crumbs on top. It was absolutely delicious. It kind of reminded me of s'more. I really liked it because it tasted really home made, which I like more than franchised cupcake shops like Sprinkles and Kara's.

I've been on a French Toast craze for awhile and when I saw that as a flavor, I knew that's what I wanted. I usually get red velvet, but this was screaming for me. It was made with a buttery cinnamon cake topped with maple cream cheese frosting. It was really good and it did remind me a lot of french toast, but unfortunately, I was still hungover so all that sweetness made me more nauscious than I already was.

I had a tiny piece of this from either cynthia or kim and from what I recall, it was good. But then again, I like red velvets of almost all kinds! I felt like breaking out of my predictable self. Nonetheless, they were good!

Mikuni Japanese Restaurant

500 1st St
Ste 11
Davis, CA 95616

Occasion: After a night of drinking, reminicsing and catching up in davis, majority of the people wanted to go for sushi. I honestly wanted a big bowl of pho. The new Mikuni's in davis.

Cynthia Annie and Kim ordered Platter D. Looks humungous!! They didn't even finish it. Maybe because they were all hungover.

I got some kind of lunch special which came with three different kinds of rolls in half portion. I like variety, which is why I liked this special! The rolls weren't spectacularly good, but it was decent. It just wasn't the best hangover food!

Tommaso Ristorante Italiano

1042 Kearny St
(between Nottingham Pl & Pacific Ave)
San Francisco, CA 94133

Occasion: I have been wanting to give this place a try, its somewhat in the neighborhood and we were hungry. Friday night dinner dates!

Half spaghetti and half ravioli in marinera sauce

The sauce is really as good as they say it is. It was very tasty, not too sour, not too sweet. The spaghetti noodles are a bit on the less cooked side. I suppose that's how its really supposed to be made, they're not meant to be super soft and mushy. The ravioli was really good and filled with deliciousness. Serving is quite decieving though. It looks like its decent sized portion but as you dig in, you realize there's really not that much in there.

Vegetarian Pizza

with bell pepper, green onions, mushrooms, garlic, olives and fresh tomaotes

Since we ordered the beef carpaccio for appetizer and a spaghetti and ravioli dish, we decided to go for a vegetarian pizza. We both really liked the pizza. The veggies made it taste so fresh and the crust was perfect. It is definitely comparable if not better than the pizza I've tried in New York.

Beef Carpaccio

I love carpaccio from vietnamese restaurants especially with the sauce they have. Cilantro, lemon juice, fish sauce, onions. I love it. So when I came here, I knew not to expect nuc mum (fish sauce) with the carpaccio. I was expecting a lot I guess. I thought they over did it with the cheese, there was not enough onions, lacked parsley and lemon juice. But I like how thinly sliced the beef was. I wasn't too impressed with our appetizer, but I still ate it!

Pier Market Seafood Restaurant

Pier 39
San Francisco, CA 94133

Occasion: Looking for a dinner spot in my neighborhood and ended up here!

Shrimp Primavera
Shrimp sautéed with fresh vegetables in a light wine butter sauce with penne pasta.

It wasn't too heavy of a meal, thanks to all the veggies it consisted of. The sauce wasn't too rich and they gave a lot of shrimp. It was a satisfying meal.

Half Dungeness Crab


A cup of New Englands Clam Chowder Soup
I don't usually crave clam chowder, even though our city is well known for it. But I was craving it that day. It was cold and I wanted some soup. Not only that, but I've always known that this place has supposedly the BEST clam chowder. Ever since our younger years when all my friends would work at the pier they'd praise about how delicious their clam chowder was. I decided to give it a shot. It was the real thing, not canned soup at all. I liked that there were lots of chunks of clam, which a lot of restaurants usually cheat you on. It was delicious with the complimentary bread. Overall, it was good, but I didn't think it was the BESTT ever.

Stacks'

501 Hayes St
(between Octavia St & Laguna St)
San Francisco, CA 94102

Occasion: Brunch at Hayes Valley! We felt like having an American breakfast!

Eggs Blackstone
Bacon, tomatoes, mushrooms & two poached eggs on an English muffin, topped with hollandaise sauce with potatoes & fruit.
I loved the hash potatoes it came with. This is really similar to the eggs benedict in look and in taste except there's bacon tomatoes and mushrooms on it, making it a heavier meal. I think I like the regular eggs benedict more. We tried it because it was a weekend special and they only offer it on saturdays and sundays. It wasn't too bad, but I don't think I could have had this all to myself.

Banana-Pecan Waffle
Filled with roasted pecans, topped with sliced bananas & fresh whipped cream
I totally have a sweet tooth and I love sweets, so I decided to get this. I usually do not like bananas but it was not too bad. I just wished they had cut the bananas into thinner slices. It fulfilled my craving for sweets!

Bi Rite Creamery

3692 18th St
San Francisco, CA 94110

Occasion: Random, felt like eating ice cream on a chilly November Sunday. Didn't actually think to have it until Sophia mentioned it. Since I've been wanting to give the place a try we headed there after some Sunday football. The four of us enjoyed our cups of unique flavors of ice cream very much, despite the fact that it was pretty cold outside.

They have a variety of homemade organic ice creams that taste like heaven. It's definitely nothing I've ever had before and each flavor that I tried had a uniqueness to it! I sampled the Honey Lavender, which tasted like the smell of the flower. It was weird, but cool at the same time. Their most popular flavor, the salted caramel tasted like those caramel brittle candy. A little bit of savory mixed with sweet. It didn't appeal my taste buds. I ended up getting their seasonal pumpkin flavor and molasses sugar with ginger! DELICIOUS!!! I will definitely go back for more when it gets warmer=]

The Grind

783 Haight St
San Francisco, CA 94117

Occasion: Breakfast meeting. yum. I love to have both savory and sweet, so my coworker and I decided to split an Omelette and French Toast.

Omelette with potato fingerlings

The omelette was good and very filling with the potato fingerlings. I'm glad I only had half.

French toast with potato hash

I absolutely LOVELOVELOVE french toast and I swear I finished every piece of my share. Fingerlicking good. YUM!

Hong Kong Lounge

5322 Geary Blvd(between 17th Ave & 18th Ave)
San Francisco, CA 94121

Occasion: Grandma's bday 2009!

Longevity Egg Noodles with Crab Meat
I love these noodles and with bits of crab meat. Delicious. This came at the end of the meal because it represents long life. Since we're celebrating a birthday, it was really suiting to have this dish. I enjoyed the leftovers for lunch the next day. YUM.

Steamed Live Fish

Unfortunately, I don't remember what exactly this fish is, but I love fish. The fish was really big, but it didn't taste too fresh. The meat wasn't as tender as the meat of a fresh fish would be.

Braised Mustard Green with Mushrooms and Shredded Pork

I am not a big fan of mustard green, but I am a fan of mushrooms. I don't think I touched the mustard green. I only picked on the mushrooms.

Crispy Chicken

Very typical chinese dish. It was made very well here. The skin wasn't too crispy, it was the perfect golden brown. The meat wasn't too dry, it was nice tender and moist. Overall, not bad.

Sauteed Lobster

I love seafood and I lobster is definitely I the list of things I love to eat. I enjoyed every part I ate. Again it was seasoned well, some chinese restaurants can not get it to the taste I like, but this one did. Drool.

Stir Fried Prawns with Brocolli

I love prawns and brocolli, so I enjoyed this dish. I thought it was good because it was flavored with just the right amount of season and the brocolli were not overcooked or undercooked. It was nice a crunchy just the way I like it.

Deep Fried Stuffed Crab Claws

This was so good, but so bad for you because it's deep fried. It's a ball of deliciousness. It's like a big shrimp ball and when you get to the biddle its a crab leg. You dip it in some sweet and sour sauce and it becomes a delight in your mouth. YUMMY!

Some Asian Soup
I do not remember what it was, but it was good. I always enjoy the semi thick soups they serve at Chinese banquets.

Assorted Appetizer Platter

This consisted of Jellyfish, squid, bbq pork and roasted pig. I usually am not too fond of bbq pork or roasted pig but I thought it tasted really good here. I only like bbq pork if its fresh and the meat is tender, which it was. I don't usually like the skin of the roasted pig because its too chewy and fatty and to my surprise it was pretty crispy crunchy and not too fatty. I loved the jellyfish with sesame and the squid was refreshing.

Shanghai Dumpling Shop

455 Broadway
Millbrae, CA 94030

Occasion: Sunday brunch! I've been meaning to come here for Xiao Long Baos and northern Chinese food.

Soybean Milk

Something to help the food digest into the system. It wasn't great, but it wasn't bad either. I liked that it wasn't too sweet, but I didn't like the pieces of what seemed to be powder particles in it.

Lions Head Meatball

When we were waiting to be seated, I swear almost every table had this dish. I was curious to give it a try and see why a majority of the tables had ordered it. Maybe I'm just not that big of a meat person, but I did not think too highly of this dish. The flavor is different and it was hard for me to even finish half of this. My friend on the other hand, loved everything about it from the flavor to the tenderness of the meat. He ate like two whole ones by himself including the half I couldn't finish.

Shanghai Style Stir fried Rice Cakes
I love rice cakes and I thought this one just tasted ok. It wasn't bad at all, but it was as good as I had expected it to be. I've been meaning to go to a really good Shanghainese restaurant in the bay area. After reading the reviews of this place I thought I'd give it a try. I guess the greater the expectation, the greater the dissappointment. Or their style of marinating their meat or cooking their food just isn't my style at all.

Soup Dumplings aka Xiao Long Bao

I was quite dissappointed when I took my first bite out of a xiao long bao. Why? Because it was dry and there wasn't enough soup in it. After I came back from New York and had tried Joe's Shanghai's Xiao Long Bao, I've been craving it. I am on a search to look for the bay area's best xiao long baos. Not only did it taste just mediocre and the fact that it was a bit on the dry side, I found dust particles on my second xiao long bao. That really disgusted me. I almost wanted to return the whole platter. Luckily the person I was eating with did not care and ate the 3-4 xiao long baos with dust particles on it. So disgusting! Seriously though, how does something like that happen?

Tanpopo

1740 Buchanan Street
San Francisco, CA 94115

Occasion: Lunch date on a hump day! I'm so happy I work close to restaurant with ramen, but so sad that I don't get to go to it often.

Potatoe Croquet
I thought it was pretty good. Nice a crispy skin with creamy insides. I don't think I could eat the whole dish myself because it is on the richer side, but sharing with people would be perfect.

Ja Ja Men

Cold Ramen Noodles with either pork or beef, veggies and half of a boiled egg. It's good to have this on a hot day.

Ankake Ramen

I love how they put kind of a lot of things in the ramen, but the noodles just do not compare to the ones at Katana-ya. It was still good though, but not as crispy fresh as I was expecting it to be. Compared to Katana-ya they do put a lot more ingredients into their ramens. I was actually quite dissappointed by this experience because I found chunks of fat in my soup. You know when fat cools down, it get's kind of jelly. Yes, I guess my soup base wasn't heated all the way and I found those chunks in my bowl. That itself totally ruined my experience, lowering the notch of the food quality here. Sorry, unless I get a better experience next time.