The Chestnut Bakery

2359 Chestnut St
(between Divisadero St & Scott St)
San Francisco, CA 94123

Occasion: A little dessert for the bday boy! 5.17.10

Mango Mousse
Nice and light little dessert. It wasn't too sweet which was perfect. They have so many other goodies there, I have to go back to try them all!

Santa Ramen

1944 S El Camino Real
San Mateo, CA 94403

Occasion: Hangover food after a night of mayhem!

Pork Base Ramen

with mushrooms and cabbage and a boiled egg

PERFECT meal after a night of craziness. I was really sad when they were sold out of their miso broth, so I decided on the pork base broth, which I don't regret at all. Broth was very aromatic and flavorful. Not only was it delicious, it was also very filling. For ramen, this place is pretty pricey. It's because they charge for everything you want to add into your ramen. Overall, I had a good first experience with them!

Grilled Squid

When we were waiting for a table, we saw almost every party with a dish of this on their table, so we decided to get it too. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't great. The boys said they would have much rather had it deep fried.

Quan Bac

4112 Geary Blvd
San Francisco, CA 94118

Occasion: Rich's Bday dinner with friends! We came in to a prefixed menu. The restaurant decided on our menu for the night.

Chicken Papaya Salad
Nice little refreshing appetizer. I like the dressing a lot. Reminds me of beef carpaccio from a Vietnamese restaurant. It consists of crushed peanuts and their delicious nuc mam (fish) sauce.

Rice noodle with yummy filling  "Banh Cuon"
I have no idea what this dish is called but it was sooo good. It is rice noodle wrapped with deliciousness that includes some kind of ground meat. Love the fried garlic chips sprinkled on top and the dipping sauce. It's all in the sauce.

Sparerib stirfry

It was ok. Portion size was okay. There wasn't much meat on the spareribs, there were more bone than meat. Nothing spectacular.

Sauteed garlic clams

They were decent! I can't really recall how great it was since I was all over the place trying to take pictures. I love seafood and from what I can remember, I enjoyed it.

Crab

Only had one small piece, but from what I can remember, it was decent.

Grilled Pork or chicken

Shrimp garlic noodles

I love garlic noodles. This was good and filling, especially with the shrimps on top.

Stir fry beef

I'm not usually a beef person, but I found myself reaching for a second serving.

Fish

Beef garlic noodles

A couple of people in our party were allergic to seafood. It was good.

Fried Rice

Definitely memorable, but not for a good reason. Not good at all. It was lacking in flavor. Didn't taste like fried rice to me. I can't really explain it either.

Jimisan Sushi Bistro

1380 9th Ave
(between Irving St &  Judah St)
San Francisco, CA 94122

Occasion: Friday night dinner after friday night happy hour with Rich. I was so full, I barely ate!

Dragon roll: shrimp tempura cucumber roll topped with eel and avocado

This was the only roll I seem to remember the name of. From what I can recall the food was pretty good and the service was excellent. I will definitely come again to try the hamachi kama. Next time on an empty stomach.

Grand Cafe

501 Geary Street

San Francisco, CA 94102

Occasion: Friday Happy Hour 5.14.10

$1 Oysters (Miyagi's)
Delicious. Fresh. Just what we wanted...besides the crazy long wait for it. We ordered 4 dozen and the chef had a lot of other orders...which is why we had to wait about half an hour for them.

Duck Ravioli
It had a familiar taste to it like chinese dim sum. Nothing special. It only came in two pieces. I didn't think it was worth it because it's not filling.

Salmon Tartar

Taste was on par, but unfortunately I was disappointed in the portion size. Flavorful and perfect on the toasted baguette.

Shrimp Stew

There were only about 5 prawns in there cooked in tomato. Again, portion size was small, but it was tasty. It was nice and warm and stayed warm in he skillet. It was good and I enjoyed it. Nice little snack!

Flammenkuche D'Alsace

wood oven baked crispy flatbread, stone fruit, honey lavendar with candied walnuts and goat cheese cream
The combination of flavors are very interesting. The crispy flat bread was simple, yet tasty especially with a slab of goat cheese cream slathered over it. There was a thin slice of fruit on top and it was just amazing. Candied walnuts sprinkled on top were amazing. It was a nice little happy hour snack.

Beef Brochettes

Beef, seasonal vegetables, marchan du vin sauce
Beef was tender and full of flavor. Again, portion size wasn't that great. Glad to say I tried it.

Tanpopo

1740 Buchanan Street

San Francisco, CA 94115

Occasion: Catch up session with Mei =]

Agadashi Tofu

It wasn't anything special. It came in three block of cubes. Portion size was small and not worth the money, but luckily we ordered things that filled us up.

Potato Croquette

Absolutely delicious! I love it. The outsides is fried to a crispy golden brown with a warm mushy inside that is full of flavor. The potato croquette were filled with potato and ground pork. So good and so addicting.

Miso Ramen

Definitely hit the spot that day. Warm soup on a chilly Thursday evening. It's not the best ramen I have ever had, but it still did execute for me. A lot of people LOVE LOVE LOVE this place, but I just like it. It's convenient, reasonably priced and not bad. I have no complaints.

Sushi Tani

4828 Geary Blvd

San Francisco, CA 94118

Occasion: Wednesday night dinner after I got my hair did with the hairstylist Jenny and Diana! 5.12.10

Cherry Blossom

Tuna over salmon with avocado

Fish tasted very fresh. Its simple but it was good. I like my sushi with a dab of soy sauce and no wasabi.

Hamachi Kama

I love ordering this dish. The portion was very generous here, which we all liked. It's always fun eating this dish because there's always a lot of meat hidden behind bones and skin. Tender meat was full of its own natural flavor.

Hot Floshy

Salmon, white tuna over spicy hamachi

The only spicy roll we ordered. The combination of the different fish were tasty and fresh. Just absolutely delicious!

Salamander Roll

Deep fried asparagus, eel, wrapped tuna with caviar

Another good pick by Jenny. Again, the tuna was very fresh. Out of the 4 rolls we ordered this was my favorite because of the combination of flavors. There's the crunchy texture of asparagus, fresh taste of the tuna, sweetness of the cooked eel and the beady texture of the caviar.

Pink Lady

Soy bean sheet, tuna, yellowtail, salmon, crab, avocado and Ikuma

My least favorite of the rolls. Not a big fan of the soybean sheet. Rice was just mediocre, not as soft and fluffy as I expected to be. Good variety of fish, but i jut do'n like the soybean sheet wrapped around it.

Noe Valley Bakery

4073 24th Street

San Francisco, CA 94114

Occasion: Desserts for Susie's Bday=]

Top row: Caramel Fleur de Sel, Red Velvet, Lemon Drop

Second row: Black and white, Carrot, Boston Cream Pie Cupcake

3rd row: Mini cupcake

Caramel fleur de sel: Delicious chocolate cupcake with a light caramel Bavarian cream filling topped with a caramel chocolate ganache. I would definitely have to say that its a highlight of the batch. The caramel Bavarian was not too sweet or overpowering in flavor. It added a nice touch to the cupcake.

Red Velvet: I like it, but it wasn't the best I've had. I thought the frosting was too cheesy in flavor. I like it a bit sweeter. My second favorite of this batch.

Lemon Drop: Not only did it look cute, it was also very tasty. I'm not a big fan of citrus flavored desserts, but I must admit, this one was pretty darn good. Lemon flavor was very subtle and balanced out the vanilla cupcake very well.

Black and white: Sometimes the simplest things taste the best. Nothing unique about it, but it tasted great. It's just vanilla cupcake with a chocolate cream frosting.

Carrot: Your typical carrot cupcake with cream cheese frosting. Not bad, but didn't stand out.

Boston cream pie: My least favorite. I didn't like the pastry filling, as the texture seemed a bit clumpy. It just didn't satisfy my taste buds the right way. I didn't like the combo of flavors/ingredients used at all.

Mini cupcake: White cake, filled with whipped cream, topped with a chocolate frosting. The chocolate frosting was not a cream, nor was it a ganache like frosting. It had the texture of chocolate candy, but VERY VERY THIN. Those that break apart in your mouth and melts. It was divine.

Mini fruit tart, chocolate mousse and cheesecake

Unfortunately, my stomach did not allow me to try all these. I only got to try the chocolate mousse, which was fantastic. Very light and not to rich. One third of it was a light chocolate cake and the rest consisted of the mousse. I enjoyed it a lot. Because it was light in flavor, it was very addicting. I usually find chocolate mousse to be a bit on the sweet side, but not here.

The Chestnut Bakery

2359 Chestnut St
San Francisco, CA 94123

Occasion: Susie brought yummy breakfast for us.

Apple crumb pastry

Delicious. It looked like a mini apple crumb pie. It was really good, as it did not taste too sweet. The top crumb layer consisted of crumbs mixed with sugar and cinnamon that were perfect. The apple filling was not too much either.

Sour Cream mini pound cake

I've always liked sour cream made pastries. I like the end result texture of the dough. It's creamier, denser, but soo good.

Banana nut mini pound cakes

So addicting. I don't like bananas, but I love banana flavored pastries. It was so good, I couldn't keep it away from my stomach.

Cako

211 O'farrell Street
San Francisco, CA 94102

Occasion: Mother's Day dessert! After brunch at Dottie's, I was walking by this cupcake place and decided to get a cupcake for my mom! It was just too cute not to get.=]

Red Velvet Cupcake
After a day filled with eating, I was too stuffed to even look at this. After dinner, we got home I cut it into four. One piece for mom, one for dad, one for my sister and one for me. My sister really liked it, as did my dad. My mom complained about it being too sweet, but she ended up eating my share too. I guess everyone enjoyed it. In my opinion from my little bit of tasting, I thought the cake was a bit on the dry side. It's hard for me to really judge this cake, as my stomach was full and could not fit anything else in it. Due to that fact, my taste buds could have been affected. It was the perfect amount for us all that night.

Great Eastern Restaurant

649 Jackson Street

San Francisco, CA 94133

Occasion: Mother's Day Dinner with the family, minus one!

The ingredients in our rock cod soup
Mustard green, mushroom, green onions. These are all the ingredients in our fish soup. So good and flavorful.

Mushu Pork

The waiter said it's such an "ABC" dish. Only us American born Chinese like dishes like this. It comes with a flour wrap of some sort so we can wrap it up like a burrito. It also comes with a Hoisin sauce for us to lather over the mushu pork. I liked it better without the wrap because it was such a mess trying to make a wrap out of it. I'd suggest eating it without the Hoisin sauce because it makes it too salty. Unless you like your food drenched in salty hoisin sauce, I'd advise not to use any of the sauce because its flavorful as is. It wasn't a bad dish...just too much MSG for my liking.

Quail

Mom and dad's choice of fowl. It's supposed to be better than duck, well of course. There's no layer of fat you're biting into. Loved it. Meat wasn't too dry, skin had the perfect crisp, not too greasy. Overall good.

Seafood Stirfry with prawns, scallops, squid, snow pea, mushroom
I love this dish because I love the variety of seafood in it. It's well made here. I love the presentation and the generous amount of goods. Yum!

Rock Cod stir fry

Left over fish meat from the soup. Whatever meat they didn't use for the soup, they made it into a stir fry. So good. Fish meat tasted very fresh and had its natural sweetness. Everything combined in that dish not only tastes good, but is also very healthy. So happy about this dish!

Snow pea shoots with garlic

We usually like ordering this. One of my favorite vegetable dish. I like the crunchy stem and the leafy top. Unfortunately, it was not that great. The stems were so dry and rough and hard to eat. These veggies are considered "old" when it's texture is like chewing on dry grass. This was our least favorite dish and only unfinished dish.

Gui Ling Gao (Turtle Jelly)
I love it here. I think they make it the best. It's not too sweet nor is it too bitter. Taste is perfect. I love this healthy jelly dessert!

Dottie's True Blue Cafe

522 Jones Street
San Francisco, CA 94102


Occasion: Another Sunday Brunch adventure with Rich!

Home made thick cut French toast with their house maple syrup

I was a bit disappointed. I thought it was very dry and it lacked in flavor. Maybe I should have drenched it in maple syrup or maybe I should have eaten it right when it came out. This just didn't satisfy me the way I had expected it to. I'm so glad we decided just getting two wedges instead of their full order of 4. If you're looking for good French toast, I would recommend Brenda's; which is drenched in a banana nut syrup.

Blueberry cornmeal pancake

with pure maple syrup

Pancakes were not as great as I thought it would be. First, it seemed to be a little on the burnt side. It didn't look golden brown as I had expected it to be. They weren't fluffy, nor was it that sweet. Maybe it was the "cornmeal" part of the pancake, but I thought it had a bitter after taste. I ate it, but I was not happy about it. I tried drenching it in the maple syrup, but it didn't work. Eatable, but I have had better at Ella's on Presidio.

Smoked whiskey fennel sausage with mushrooms and baby spinach scramble with grilled cornbread and potatoes

The best thing we ordered. I like how it's not too greasy and not too rich. Love the scramble and the potatoes were filling. The cornbread like non other that I've had. It was soo good. It wasn't just a regular cornbread, it had chopped up bits of jalapeño and chili. I know it sounds spicy, but it wasn't at all. Unique, delicious and very original! I lathered it with some home made jelly which made it taste even better! There were about 5 different types of hot sauce that they had on the side that we could drizzle on top of the scramble. Variety was great, I know I know...who am I to say, but it makes the experience so much better for those who love hot sauce.

Mandalay

4344 California St

San Francisco, CA 94118

Occasion: Friday night dinner date before watching IRON MAN 2(which I totally fell asleep on ='/). 5.7.10

Tea Leaf Salad(Lap Pat Dok)

imported Burmese tea leaves, lentil seeds, grounded shrimps, fried garlic chips, peanuts, sesame seeds, green pepper, chef's special dressing.

The flavors were amazing. I loved biting into the lentil seeds because they were crunchy and very flavorful. The texture as well as the flavor of the tea leaves were divine and the fried garlic chips are definitely memorable. I've had this dish before at Burma Superstar and I must admit that I like it better at Burma, both are good, but portion size at Burma Superstar was a little bit more generous.

After all the ingredients are mixed together. This is only good to serve about 3 people, where as at Burma Superstar we could have served up to 5.

Moo Hing Nga

Burmese style fish chowder with ground catfish served with cilantro and lemons

This was amazing! I loved the rice noodles they had in it. Flavor was superb and delicious! After I was done with my bowl, I thought...where are the seconds? It's not too fishy due to the fresh flavors of the cilantro and lemon juice from the lemons. This is a dish that is definitely worth a try!

Burmese Lamb Curry

Portion size isn't that big. Enough to serve about two people. There were a total of about 5-6 pieces of lamb with about 4-5 pieces of potatoes. Lamb was decent, not too dry nor too chewy, which I am not fond of. Flavor was decent but they lacked in sauce. They barely gave us enough sauce to lather over our meat and potatoes, how the hell were we going to have enough for the Palada we ordered with it? That makes no sense. We asked for more and they gave it to us free of charge. Well, I think that should be a given anyways. Comparing it to Burma Superstar, their meat is definitely better, but they lacked in the amount of sauce they put in the dish.

Palada

Burmese pancake

You could add this for only $3.50 more to the lamb curry. Portion size is definitely generous, but I found myself nostalgic for Burma Superstar's Palada. I thought it was good here, but not as great as Burma's. The bread seemed a bit more buttery and less fluffy. Since we ordered it with the curry, we didn't need any rice. This was the filler for our stomachs. It's good for the price.