Absinthe Brasserie & Bar

398 Hayes St
San Francisco, CA 94102

Occasion: Girls dinner to celebrate another birthday for Ella.  Congrats on turning another year older! Hope this year is better than the last! 08.25.12!

Spicy fried chickpeas

with berbere spice and parsley

The aroma of these chickpeas definitely persuaded us to order this.  It smelled like some Indian inspired flavors.  It definitely smelled better than it tasted, as it was overly salty.  It's nice to snack on while waiting for our appetizers and main entree, but not something I'd want to order again. 

Mixed local greens

with red grapes, brioche crisp, goat cheese mousse and orange-almond vinaigrette

Love the fluffy goat cheese mousse and the added touch of almond slices.  

1) EL TRIGAL MANCHEGO 

white wine-poached apricots, raw sheep milk, firm, sharp, citrus notes

Corcuera Family, La Mancha, Spain

2) GREAT HILL BLUE 

honeycomb, raw cow milk, sharp, caramel flavors, rich

Great Hill Dairy,Marion, Massachusetts

3) MT TAM marcona almonds, Fuji apples

cow milk, soft, bloomy rind, buttery, tangy

Cowgirl Creamery, Point Reyes Station, California

PEI MUSSELS & MANILA CLAMS

andouille sausage, roasted bell peppers, lemon-chardonnay sauce, potato crisps

A combination of mussels and clams in a sweet tangy sauce. I liked the idea that there are chunks of andnouille sausage mixed in there as it adds more flavor to the mussels and clams.

BEEF TARTARE

violet mustard, green apple, red onion, cornichons, quail egg yolk, crostini

spread it on a piece of toasted crostini and it's perfect.  Love ordering this at restaurants and I'm glad the birthday girl does too.  

10oz RIB EYE STEAK

served with arugula & roasted garlic-whipped potatoes, grilled corn, peppercorn jus

I don't usually crave meat, but this just sounded really appetizing. I loved the roasted garlic whipped potatoes with the grilled corn kernels.  Though it's not the thickest piece of rib eye steak I've eaten, it was still pretty delicious.

MASAMI FARMS PORK TENDERLOIN & CRISPY BELLY

maple-Bourbon yam purèe, mustard greens, grain mustard jus

I love the sweetness of the yam puree.  It complements very well with the fatty richness of the pork tenderloin and belly.

Sing Sing Sandwich Shop

309 Hyde St
San Francisco, CA 94109

Occasion: Lunch after errands and some shopping downtown. 08.25.12

Combination Banh Mi

It's been a place that I've been wanting to try for awhile now.  But due to the location of this place, it's always steered us away.  After hearing about how amazing these sandwiches are, we finally had the opportunity to give this place a try.  The bread is toasted perfectly and the seasoning that they use in their sandwich is unforgettable.  I love that they don't smear a thick layer of mayonnaise like spread on the bread because that grosses me out just a little bit.  My one complaint would be that they don't have enough filling in their sandwiches.  The meat slices are super thin and not as generous, otherwise it would be my top spot in the city for Vietnamese sandwiches.

Naan N Curry

642 Irving St

San Francisco, CA 94122

Occasion: After the Academy of Sciences for Sheena's bday, Tiff and I needed food.  This was one of the few places that was still open for us to fill our famished stomachs. Love reasonably priced late night eats. 08.23.12

Chicken Tikka Masala

Probably my favorite thing to order at an Indian Restaurant.  Creamy curry sauce with flavorful chunks of chicken.  Sweet with a hint of spice that was absolutely bearable for my taste buds.

Prawn Masala
Tiger prawns cooked Punjabi style in curry sauce
Not as good as the the Chicken Tikka Masala, but still delicious.

You can't have indian food without some nan.  I don't think I've ever had nan that I did not like.  It's always the perfect thing to dip into the sauce.  I got the garlic nan, while tiff got the plain nan.  It's flavorful, fluffly and filling. An absolute must.

SusieCakes Bakery

2109 Chestnut St
San Francisco, CA 94123

Occasion: Cupcakes to celebrate my coworker's birthday! 08.22.12

Red velvet, Vanilla, Coconut, Chocolate banana,  Chocolate Vanilla and Lemon

My favorite has to be just the simple vanilla with vanilla frosting.  It's moist and simple. Their special the chocolate banana reminded me of a banana cake except in a fluffier form.  Over all we thoroughly enjoyed each of the cupcakes.  Luckily we cut each cupcake into six pieces each so we could all get a taste of everything.

Plouf

40 Belden Pl
San Francisco, CA 9410

Occasion: AJ's going away party with the office.  Since she's going away to France, this was the perfect restaurant for our farewell party.  Cute little french place in Belden Lane with outdoor seating.  That's exactly how I imagine it to be in France. Super cute non superficial place with delicious food. 08.16.12

Plouf Mussels

The broth was sweet and creamy and it seemed to have a touch of coconut milk in it.  Definitely one of the better places where I've had mussels.  This is probably one of my favorite dishes of the night.  Like usual, I love dipping bread into mussel broth.  This place has pretty legit broth!

coq au vin aka Chicken

roasted fingerling potatoes, pearl onions, baby carrots, natural jus 

I'm usually not a big fan of chicken as I've had some bad experiences ordering chicken at restaurants.  They sometimes end up too dry, but nope not here.  The meat was juicy and moist and the tasty.

Seared Duck Breast

 sweet potato hash, pancetta, sweet & sour red cabbage, vincotto

Pork Chop

It was one of the specials of the day and one of the best dishes we had.  The meat was juicy and full of flavor.

sauteed salmon 

cannellini beans, roasted summer squach, chorizo broth, aioli

Vanilla Bean Creme Brulee

warm crepes filled with orange marmalade & mascarpone cheese

grand marnier reduction vanilla ice cream

Kabuto Restaurant

5121 Geary Blvd
San Francisco, CA 94118

Occasion: Dinner date with the BFF! This is definitely a hole in the wall gem of the Richmond district. You can easily pass by and miss this.  Definitely do not judge a book by it's cover with Kabuto because they create some of the most unique sushi rolls.  Their rolls are not only very innovative they're also delicious. The combination of ingredients used in each sushi roll is so out of the ordinary and I could not possibly imagine it working, but it does.  I love love love this place.   Each roll is so flavorful on it's own that we don't even need to dip it into anything. The rolls are authentic with a modern twist. I would highly recommend this place for those with an open mind and enjoy good food. 08.14.12

16-20 Kiss

Black Tiger Shrimp Sushi with avocado wrapped with thin slice marinated radish served with Kabuto chocolate sauce

Hamachi Pear

Yellowtail sushi topped with sliced pear and Kabuto fruity mustard sauce

Ceviche

Halibut and salsa wrapped with deep fried seaweed and served with lime and sea salt

Crunchy Sushi

Tempura halibut served with Kabuto special curry sauce

Ono Grape

Wahoo sushi topped with grapefruit and basil cream sauce

1869 Oyster Shot

Baby Main Lobster

Sauteed Abalone

It was on their daily special menu.  Jenny loves abalone everything and anything so we had to get it.  It reminded me of a creamy abalone risotto.  There were a few chunks of mango which added a nice sweetness to it.

Saikyo Sushi

Grilled marinated Black Cod served with uzu-Kosho gravy

Spoon full of goodness. I love love love black cod, so this appealed to me.  It was buttery soft with a hint of sweetness to it.

Hot Apple

Seared scallop sushi served with apple and fruity mustard sauce

Shrimp almond aged

Deep fried prawns coated with almonds
We saw the couple next to us eating this and we kept eyeing it. By the end of their dinner, we had exchanged our insights on places to eat in the city and some opinion on our food.  They highly recommended this and we did not regret it at all. The almonds definitely added a fun crunchy texture to this dish. Not your typical tempura like dish.

HRD Coffee Shop

521 3rd St
San Francisco, CA 9410

Occasion: Food for the Giants game on Virgin America Voucher day. 08.11.12

Loco Moco

Not even sure if this is what it was.  I didn't order it.  It was like a kimchee fried rice with chicken, curry sauce and a fried egg. It was good, the flavors were there and it had a nice kick to it. BUT, the rice seemed a little undercooked, which brought this dish down a notch.  I'll definitely give it another shot, since I've only heard great things about this place.  Next time, I'll probably try their spicy pork kimchee burrito!

Piccino

1001 Minnesota St (at 22nd St)
San Francisco, CA 94107

Ocassion: Double date dinner in celebration of Fiah's birthday! 08.05.12

marinated cucumber, little gems, citrus, juniper and fried capers

Light, refreshing and juicy.  The vibrant colors in this dish is appealing and the variety of textures in this dish makes it that much better.  The crisp of the lettuce, the plump and juicy chunks of oranges, crunchy cucumbers and the pickled onions.

farmer’s cheese, eggplant, nardello pepper, nepitella and pinenuts

The combination of slices of the smoky eggplants went really well with the creamy farmer's cheese.  The pine nuts added a nutty flavor as well as texture to this mushy/creamy dish.  I love eggplant anything and this was one dish I had to order.

creamy corn soup, charred corn and pepper relish

Probably one of the best creamy corn soup's I've had.  It was sweet, perfectly creamy with corn kernels in them. It was oh so good!

house made tagliatelle, monterey bay calamari, cherry tomato and lemon

baked semolina gnocchi, peas, carrots, parmesan broth and basil pesto

funghi: roasted mushrooms, stracchino and shaved garlic 

My favorite! Flavorful, delicious with super thin crust. If you're getting a pizza, I'd highly recommend this.

margherita: tomato, mozzarella and fresh basil

it's simple, but it's delicious. I just wish there were more basil leaves.

Bisou

2367 Market St
San Francisco, CA 9411

Occasion: GNO dinner for some good food and catch up! There are so many good eats in the neighborhood which makes it horrible to find parking! Cute little french restaurant located near the heart of the Castro.  It's modern, it's hip and they serve up some pretty good french flair. 08.04.12

Beef Carpaccio - Creekstone Farm

filet mignon topped with frisee, mache, chopped shallots, quail egg, and hazelnut vinaigrette

Tuna Tartare

cantaloupe, dungeness crab, ginger avocado purée

Escargot And Mushroom

snails in belgium endive leaves with seasonal mushrooms, tomatoes and bacon cream sauce

Californian White Seabass

seasonal mushrooms, creamy leeks, black sausage and bone marrow sauce

Chocolate cake filled with chocolate and vanilla bean ice cream

Jamey & Ginger

Ginger Cake, Bi-Rite Vanilla ice cream, Jameson caramel and burnt Meyer lemon meringue

Salted Caramel Pot de Crème

Brown butter maple bacon doughnuts, vanilla bean whipped cream, cacao nibs

Joe's Ice Cream

5420 Geary Blvd
San Francisco, CA 9412

Occasion: Nice little dessert after dinner at PPQ!  07.29.12

Green Tea Ice Cream

Their ice cream is not only super delicious, but their portions are also very generous.  I've had my fair share of green tea ice cream from different ice cream shops and I can honestly say that this place has some legit stuff.  It's creamy, it tastes like green tea and it's perfectly sweet.  Love at first lick!!!

PPQ Dungeness Island Vietnamese Cuisine

2332 Clement Street
San Francisco, CA 94121

Occasion: Double dinner date for some crab! 07.29.12

Peppercorn Crab

My favorite between the two different preparations of crab.  It's deep fried, dry and not too messy to eat.  It's absolutely packed with a peppercorn spice.  

Seabass 

The meat is so soft that it seriously melts in your mouth.  There's a great combination of sweet and savory.  This is so good.  Though this is not their signature dish nor is it what they're known for, this is one dish that is definitely worth a try.

Roasted Crab 

It's soaked in garlic and butter and it's delicious, but it can get messy.  And if you know me, I'm not a big fan of messy!  Though I'd like for it to be more garlicy, it's still good in my books.

Garlic Noodle

How do you have crab without garlic noodles.  You can't!  Perfect pairing with some crab meat! I don't think their garlic noodles are the best, since I like it loaded with garlic flavor, which this place kind of lacks in.