AllSunitaCanEat

Cyrus

2012-01-17T16:18:00.000-08:00

It was supposed to be a classy affair: I imagined us reverentially keeping our elbows off the table, using the long-forgotten knowledge of college's business club's etiquette class and receiving service from a Mr. Darcy look-alike in a penguin tux. I imagined a string quartet playing music in the background with dedication akin to that of the Titanic's string quartets, entertaining the first-class customers up until their doomed end.

However, dinner at Cyrus, a two-star Michelin restaurant in Healdsburg, with Mitra and our mothers, quickly devolved into three hours of bets on the finishing time of dinner and ages of each of our servers. We quickly discovered the inner snarkiness of the bread guy, that the head waiter realized just as much as we did how ridiculous the whole charade was and that the supposed synchronization of the service (two waiters would come for each course and set down our plates at the same time) was not repeated when the plates were taken away. The only saving grace was the wine guy, who I truly believed would have taken us away on a journey to South Tuscany with his piercing eyes and detailed chronicles of our wine pairings, all while the hypothetical ship we were on was sinking. The bread guy would have jumped in a rowboat and sailed off at the first sign of a glacier.

We decided to go all out with the eight-course meal and shared wine pairings. I won't bore you with all of the details of each course, because they were all delicious, but you can see the full dinner menu here. Here were some of the most memorable moments:

Most tongue-tickling:
We started off with a tripod presentation of small bites representing the five tastes: sweet, salty, bitter, sour and savory. Our taste buds were tickled by salty chorizo powder, a sour blood orange tart, a bitter radish with leek ash and a savory umami. I particularly liked the sweet bite, a molecular gastronomy concoction comprised of a prickly pear juice sphere with vanilla salt which spewed juicy flavor when eaten.

Weirdest ingredient:
Yuba: Yuba is the film created when soy milk is boiled and then cooled rapidly. (Is this a real thing? When this happens, isn't this generally discarded?) Additional research shows that yuba is often used to wrap dim sum or bunched together to form a meat substitute. It was also a layer in this multi-layered between-course small plate.

Most straight-from-the-animal:
This bone marrow custard was served inside a bone. The light salad on the side was absolutely incredible.

Favorite savory dish:
This John Dory with greens on the side was buttery, tender and tasty.

Runner-up Favorite:
There must have been something in the Healdsburg air that the fish were responding well to because the sashimi appetizer, doused in oxtail-umeshu consomme (umeshu is a plum liqueur and combined with oxtail stock, created a sauce with sweet and sour notes), was great: meaty and full of flavor.

The Worst:
I'm sure the butterscotch sundae on chocolate soil with a popcorn tuile, pictured below, is a technically advanced, richly nuanced dish to some high brow foodies. But for us, it was a little tasteless and not satisfying at all. I would have preferred a scoop of ice cream with some caramel sauce and M&M's on top.

Best Comeback:
The dessert above was the last dish listed on the menu, but with these multi-course meals, there always ends up being 4 or 5 extra things to eat along the way. For the grand finale, a cart holding a selection of treats was wheeled out and with calorie-clogged hearts and heavy stomachs, we chose a selection of marshmallows, macarons, brownie pieces and truffles to wash down the meal and temper the blow of the final check. It was amazing. Our collective plate is below.

All in all, it was a satisfying and entertaining meal. For meals like these, bragging rights and good stories seem to be just as meaningful as culinary taste and execution. Taking all these factors into consideration, dinner at Cyrus was a raging success.

Disclaimer: I apologize for the poor quality of the photos. In an attempt to not disrupt the flow of the meal and embarrass my dinner mates, I was subtle and surreptitious in taking pictures, not pausing to focus or use flash. Based on the behavior of our table throughout the meal, I should have been a much more obnoxious photographer.

Slapsgiving 2011

2011-12-19T14:18:00.000-08:00

In high school, Mitra and I were the only two girls in our physics class and naturally, we paired up as lab partners. We prided ourselves on the level of efficiency we wielded while working on each of our lab projects: we moved quickly gathering together equipment, performing the experiments and answering the questions. Our reward for our timely finishes was helping Mr. Drennan with whatever personal dilemma he was trying to resolve that day instead of teaching: setting up his voicemail, playing with his new cellphone's ringtones, etc. I can't speak to the quality of our physic's lab assignments, but I can say that we usually finished first.

During our backpacking trip in Asia, the efficiency kicked in again and we split up our tasks fairly organically: Mitra booked transportation and found laundry deals; I booked hostels and exchanged money. When Sara joined us for the last leg of the trip, she marveled out our efficiently planning (at least I think she did) and took on the role of continually feeding us candy and pieces of fruit.

Back at our apartment, I'm not sure if we always operate in the same way, mostly because we live fairly independently, but once in a while, the physics lab habits kick in. For the first annual Slapsgiving party it was ever-present, mostly out of necessity due to laziness and a late start on our part, as we channeled the efficiency of high school lab project days.

Here are the events of the day leading up to Slapsgiving:
11am: Mitra gets groceries and I create a playlist and the signs above.
12pm: Mitra comes home
2pm: Mitra and I go to Starbucks to take advantage of their 2-for-1 holiday drink special.
2:30pm: Mitra blow-dries her hair. Kat calls me and asks if we need help. I turn on the oven.

We eventually got to work and by the time Paula, Denis and Laura showed up on time at 4pm, we were finished with most of the prep work. Mitra delegated the remaining work among the three on-timers and we just had to keep an eye on the oven. We had picked fairly easy recipes to put together and managed to pull off the cooking with a minimal amount of preparation.

Below, you'll find the food menu for the most efficiently planned dinner party ever:

Chicken Tandoori - This was amazingly easy and I am now in love with Sukhi's Tandoori Marinade. So much so, that the week after Thanksgiving, I purchased another packet and 2 pounds of chicken for myself. The night before the party, I had marinated 4 pounds of chicken breasts and chicken legs in the marinade and a couple spoonfuls of yogurt, so the day of, all I had to do was cook the chicken in our oven's broiler for 20 minutes right before the party, flipping the meat once.

Acorn Squash: Glazed with maple syrup and topped with fried sage, this recipe was easy and delicious. I fried the sage in our cast-iron for about 10 minutes and it turned out to be a great garnish. Mitra was very particular about plating and chose this blue plate to make the colors of the squash pop.

Just as delicious, but not pictured - Brussel Sprouts: Mitra and I love brussel sprouts. So much so, that when we were driving back from Monterey a few years ago, we stopped at a farmer's market, purchased a huge brussel sprout stalk, and Mitra's mom promptly proclaimed it our love child, naming it Devin. Here's the brussel sprout recipe Mitra prepared.

Other delicious items: Baked brie with honey, Laura's olive bread, Brucek's three bean salad, Lakshmi's chocolate cake

Non-delicious items: Pepper vodka and maple syrup - horrible drinkable items to have on hand when playing drinking games.

How to Eat Brunch

2011-11-07T11:55:00.000-08:00

My apologies, it's been a little while since I've posted. No, I haven't stopped eating and I haven't hit writer's block yet. But I have been keeping very busy catching up on......

..wait for it..

How I Met Your Mother episodes, Seasons 1 through 3! There are about 22 episodes per season and any 20 minute free slot I have, I use to catch one.

Other things that have kept me busy: planning a Slapsgiving party after watching the Slapsgiving episode, googling Neil Patrick Harris and trying to determine what character in the show each of my real-life friends most closely resembles.

In Season 2, the group brunches with Ted's parents, and the brunch starts out as a classy affair before devolving into a jumble of jealous up-staging, back-stabbing comments, family secrets and sex in the bathroom. "I love brunch!" Marshall exclaims.

If you live in San Francisco for long enough, you've probably brunched at some point. The title of this post is misleading - I can't really tell you how to eat brunch, because there really is no wrong way - you just eat it any way you want. Brunch is the lawless wildchild of meals, as compared to the structure of breakfast and lunch and the regality of dinner. What I intend to actually do is point out some of my observations about common brunch trends/things to do at brunch that are okay and then show you some pictures of really good eggs:

1) Brunch has a very generous timeline: it can occur anywhere from 8 am until 4 pm, or later, as long as it's before dinner.

2) It is okay to order anything you want at brunch. But if it's not an egg dish or other breakfast-y dish, you might need to explain your decision to the brunch table.

3) It is okay to drink before noon when you're at brunch. If you happen to be at a place with bottomless mimosas, it's a little weird if you don't.

4) You get major points if you worked out before brunch and show up in your workout gear. It is completely okay to not have showered first. There's an obligatory 5 minute opening period where everyone talks about your workout and how hard/long it may have been and then praises you.

5) It is okay to splurge on transportation (i.e. take a taxi) to get to brunch. When I once suggested taking the bus to get to our brunch place, my friend Josh said, "It's not very brunch-like to take the bus". He was right.

6) Post-brunch activities that are okay: Buying/eating a donut/cupcake/rice pudding, getting a pedicure, going shopping, taking a nap (my favorite), watching an episode of How I Met Your Mother (my favorite recently).

Last weekend I double-brunched: on Saturday, I went to brunch with my parents at Magic Flute in Laurel Heights and on Sunday, I went to a brunch spearheaded by my roommate at Rex Cafe on Polk Street.

Magic Flute was a last minute decision, I had quickly yelped places right before going, with my main criteria being that the restaurant have availability for the time we needed. And the brunch experience turned out pleasant for everyone! Magic Flute is located in Laurel Heights on Sacramento and Spruce. It's a cute little Italian restaurant with a nice back patio, a perfect place to sit on a sunny Saturday.

I ordered the chorizo sausage omelet, made using chorizo sausage, avocado, mushrooms and peppers, with a side of potatoes and fruit. The omelet was great, robust and filling with plenty of mix-ins to give it some variety. The real star was the side of potatoes - they were well-spiced and crispy and brown on the outside.

My mom ordered the mussels, cooked with garlic, wine, fresh mint and lemon aioli and my dad ordered the grilled spicy lamb hamburger. Both were impressed with their dishes and they are not easy to please, especially having just returned from a trip to Turkey and Greece, where mussels and lamb are common to the region.

Neither explained to me why they didn't order an egg dish, but seeing how it was already about 2pm by the time we sat down, I didn't push it. Afterwards, we did some post-brunch shopping on Sacramento Street and upon returning to the car, realized we'd received a parking ticket. It was all very brunch-like.

Sunday, I went to Rex Cafe with my roommate and a group of girlfriends she had assembled. Rex Cafe is one of our favorite staple brunch places - it is close by, on Polk and Green, and has high quality food for decent prices. I usually order either the Rex skillet scramble, an egg scramble that is served in a tiny skillet, or one of their varieties of eggs benedict.

I opted for the Blackstone eggs benedict on Sunday: the eggs are served on a crispy fried tomato as opposed to an English muffin with bacon instead of ham. I like this version because it's lighter than the typical eggs benedict without sacrificing flavor. Plus you can never go wrong with bacon.

I'll leave you with this: 7x7 has a great article about well-known restaurants that are opening up for brunch. Hopefully some will show up in future posts!
Enjoy!

Zushi Puzzle

2011-10-25T13:12:00.000-07:00

"I feel like I'm in a living room."

Said Gary, my former colleague as we sat down with our KPMG family of ex-auditors for one of our quarterly hangouts last Thursday. Earthquake weather was haunting the streets of San Francisco, Harold Camping had predicted the following day to be the End of Days and Wells Fargo's Q3 "Record" profits had fallen short of analyst expectations as we enjoyed a lovely sushi dinner at Zushi Puzzle on Lombard Street in the Marina. It did feel surprisingly homey - the restaurant was well-lit and not too loud, allowing us to engage in good conversation comfortably, and the decorations and dark wood furniture created a simple, intimate atmosphere, a rare experience in a hopping Marina restaurant.

We started with beers and hot sake. I ordered an Asahi Black, a dark Asahi beer that had that slight chocolate-y taste of Guinness. The "Salesforce roll" was the major roll of the night: it reminded me of the "Kitchen Sink" sandwich from Toaster Oven, known for its variety of ingredients, basically "everything but the kitchen sink." It's kind of like all of the sushi rolls you like and want and can't decide between merged into one roll: tuna, salmon, hamachi, avocado rolled in soy paper and lightly fried for a tempura finish with spicy sauce drizzled on top. The fish was delicious and fresh as was the fish in the other standard nigiri and rolls we ate.

Salesforce Roll:

While Zushi can't compare to LA's Sasabune, it was definitely one of the better sushi places I have been to in the city, and our bill for 5 people came out to only $95.

Random non-food-related musings:

Number One: I went to the Marina straight from work before dinner and had some time to meander around Union Street. My plan to browse the shops was quickly thwarted by overly aggressive salespeople in all the stores from Sephora to Bebe to Lush, where a lady washed my hands with pumpkin soaps. I guess Union Street on weeknights becomes primarily residential vs. commercial and the retail workers are lonely and desperate for attention. I took to wandering the streets and passed by Blo on Union Street, a blow dry salon, whose slogan was loudly displayed along the window: "Because you can't blo yourself". I know the Marina is known for being a fratty, cultural wasteland as compared to the rest of San Francisco, but this seems to take the post-adolescent vibe too far.

Number Two: Two earthquakes hit San Francisco on Thursday - one during the afternoon at work and one while we were at dinner. Both were small, at around 3.9, but jolting enough to cause everyone to take notice. Living in the Bay Area for most of my life, I've experienced numerous earthquakes, but only two seriously: the earthquake of '89 when I was 6 years old and the Japanese tsunami - I was 26 years old and on a layover in Tokyo when the quake hit, and ended up spending the night there before thankfully getting a flight out 24 hours later.

Everytime there's an earthquake, my roommate and I swear we will put together an earthquake kit but never actually get around to it. I think we know deep down that if a serious earthquake hit, and we were in the apartment, we'd be toast and an earthquake kit just doesn't seem worthwhile. It's sort of sobering to know that if a large quake hits, there's really nothing I can do about it, except maybe take a picture and post it on Facebook. When the 7.9 afterschock hit Japan 30 minutes after the first earthquake, a group of college-age boys started shrieking in high voices, and everyone around started cracking up, which seems like a completely inappropriate response in the face of an impending catastrophe, but what else could you do?

Anyways, I apologize for being so incredibly morbid. I guess to tie everything together, the lesson is Carpe Diem!: eat all of the Salesforce rolls you can, fry everything and eat it with spicy sauce and choose inappropriate moments to laugh. Just don't get a professional blowdry from Blo.

The Moral Way: Vegan Tofu Enchiladas with Vegan Sour Cream

2011-10-14T09:55:00.000-07:00

"Hilarious, but I don't eat anything with parents"

- Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, by Jonathan Safran Foer

At a recent wedding of a college friend, I was astounded to learn how many of my former UCLA classmates had taken the plunge into vegetarianism. They excitedly discussed their reasons for changing, their new healthy lifestyles and their trendy new meal plans. Were these really the classmates I shared chili cheeseburgers with at two in the morning in college? The reasons varied somewhat, but most of my peers were in it for health reasons - part of a broader plan to work out more, eat healthier and drink less.

I am a carniverous lady and I require a meat product everyday at lunch to get me through the day. In high school, while running cross-country, I learned and maintained the belief that the iron gained from eating red meat once a week was essential to maintain an active lifestyle. I learned that meat provides all 20 essential amino acids required by humans which few non-meat food items provide in totality (but which can still be obtained through conscious intake of grains and legumes). I have heard of several turned vegetarians who quickly go back to meat after losing too much weight and energy. I also know being a vegetarian does not automatically equate to greater health: the actual food eaten and ensuring proper intake of all the essential nutrients and vitamins are much more important than the veg/non-veg labels chosen.

Certain vegetarian things are not intuitive to me. I can't wrap my head around how a vegan brownie - in which eggs are replaced with oil and milk is replaced with more sugar, is actually healthier for you than a regular brownie with all of the typical ingredients included. The recent listeria cantaloupe outbreak proves that fruits and vegetables can also pose risks we can't always control. During the week of September 26th, I was better off eating a dirty-water hot dog in the mission than a cantaloupe from a Colorado Safeway.

I am not claiming to say one way or another is the right thing to do, both morally or health-wise, as I know that how we choose to define what we eat is an incredibly personal decision. I know that vast health benefits exist from being vegetarian which I've insolently disregarded. My immediate family always ate meat, but I learned at a very early age, to be sensitive to the vegetarianism in my extended network of family and family friends, which represented cultural and religious ideals. My grandfather knew we ate meat, but we were never to mention it and my peers rebelled against their parents by sneaking hamburgers into their diet whenever they could. I developed an unspoken courtesy with Indian friends and coworkers to always check when eating a meal about their dietary restrictions (which is slowly turning into check with Everyone regarding their dietary restrictions).

Then there is Natalie Portman, who is a 20 year vegan for moral reasons. Few people I know seem to talk openly about moral vegetarian or vegan convictions, maybe for fear of being made fun of? (Don't carrots feel pain when dug up too?). Maybe from knowing that they can't turn ravenous, carniverous, predatory crowds into grass-loving herbivores?

And then there is David Foster Wallace, who has the ability to evoke deep thoughts from our subconscious that we didn't know we had, where they linger on the surface, causing us to reassess the beliefs we've held for 27 years. I recently read his essay "Consider the Lobster", and walked away with this:

"....the whole animal-cruelty-and-eating issue is not just complex, it’s also uncomfortable. It is, at any rate, uncomfortable for me, and for just about everyone I know who enjoys a variety of foods and yet does not want to see herself as cruel or unfeeling. As far as I can tell, my own main way of dealing with this conflict has been to avoid thinking about the whole unpleasant thing.

"Is it not possible that future generations will regard our own present agribusiness and eating practices in much the same way we now view Nero’s entertainments or Aztec sacrifices? My own immediate reaction is that such a comparison is hysterical, extreme—and yet the reason it seems extreme to me appears to be that I believe animals are less morally important than human beings; and when it comes to defending such a belief, even to myself, I have to acknowledge that (a) I have an obvious selfish interest in this belief, since I like to eat certain kinds of animals and want to be able to keep doing it, and (b) I have not succeeded in working out any sort of personal ethical system in which the belief is truly defensible instead of just selfishly convenient.

"Given the (possible) moral status and (very possible) physical suffering of the animals involved, what ethical convictions do gourmets evolve that allow them not just to eat but to savor and enjoy flesh-based viands (since of course refined enjoyment, rather than just ingestion, is the whole point of gastronomy)? And for those gourmets who’ll have no truck with convictions or rationales and who regard stuff like the previous paragraph as just so much pointless navel-gazing, what makes it feel okay, inside, to dismiss the whole issue out of hand? That is, is their refusal to think about any of this the product of actual thought, or is it just that they don’t want to think about it? Do they ever think about their reluctance to think about it? After all, isn’t being extra aware and attentive and thoughtful about one’s food and its overall context part of what distinguishes a real gourmet? Or is all the gourmet’s extra attention and sensibility just supposed to be aesthetic, gustatory?"

There's really no way to argue with all that. As I'm beginning to realize that I will soon be attending/hosting dinner parties where half the group is vegetarian and my future children may one day scoff at grilled chicken breasts and medium-rare steaks, here is my recipe for vegan tofu enchiladas with vegan sour cream on top, which I made last weekend:

Ingredients:

Corn Tortillas

Enchilada Sauce (I like the Trader Joe's brand)

Tofu

Chili Powder

Lemon

A variety of vegetables (I used onion, bell pepper, spinach, corn, tomatoes and roasted green chilies)

Dice the tofu and vegetables and saute in a hot skillet until cooked through. Season with lemon juice and chili powder throughout.

To make the enchiladas, first spread enchilada sauce along the bottom of a large baking pan. Soften the tortillas by heating in a microwave or over the stove. With each tortilla: spread with enchilada sauce, spoon in the tofu mixture and top with vegan sour cream (recipe below).

Roll up each tortilla and place in the baking pan. Cover with the remaining enchilada sauce and dollops of sour cream. Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

Vegan Sour Cream (Paul McCartney's recipe)

1/2 lb tofu

3 tablespoons oil

1 teaspoon maple syrup

Juice of 1 lemon

Salt to taste

Combine in a blender or food processor until smooth.

My Idea of Beautiful: SF Weekly Dish 2011

2011-10-04T10:27:00.000-07:00

On the season premiere of Real World San Diego, Frank, a nice bisexual hipster, professes that beauty comes in all forms, beauty is defined differently for different people, and cited the exotic Alexandra as the most beautiful woman in the house, far exceeding Ashley whose blonde model looks had caught the attention of the other men. His entrancement with her beauty progressed from constant compliments and longing looks to sadistic begging for attention and psychotic episodes of rage when rejected to a final exhausted collapse in the confessional room.

I was reminded of Frank's proclamations as I descended upon the SF Design Center on Sunday for the 2011 SF Weekly Dish, an event featuring dishes from over 40 restaurants, as well as wine and cocktails. The venue was a beautiful spot and all four floors of the Design Center seductively harbored tables filled with unlimited amounts of mouth-watering food and beverages. This was my idea of beautiful.

I ravished my way through the first floor of bite-size restaurant tastes, glared jealously at those in line in front of me and lustfully gulped down homemade vodka crans while frantically taking notes on my iPhone. By the middle of the second floor, I was slightly delirious and dizzy but intent on continuing my foray. By the third floor, I was sweaty and red in the face, and begging the vendors to give me the smallest portions possible so I could draw out the tastes. And by the fourth floor, I trekked on in denial, convinced I could make it work despite my swollen stomach, my paralyzed taste buds and my burning heart which ached from the build up of hydrogenated oils in its arteries.

I reached a table of fried chicken in defeat, and my brain yelled "Am I not strong enough?" while my clogged intestines raged, channelling Frank's interrogation of Alexandra "Am I not cute enough?" before his chair-throwing fit. When I couldn't even muster the energy to smuggle some fried chicken into my purse, we decided it was time to go. Cruelly, a homemade ice cream table was placed near the exit, and even though I knew it was a bad idea, and my friends told me not to do it, and the only possible outcome was for me to end up hurting more, I grabbed a final scoop. It hurt so good and I wept.

You cannot possibly know what I went through unless you were actually there. All I can do is list out everything I ate, took a bite of, or stared at for a while before throwing away and hope that with all of that data careening towards you, your brain will fry and fizzle out and you'll feel defeated. That's my goal: for you to understand my defeat from sensory overload.

Round 1:
Clockwise from top right:

Alfred's: Zinfandel braised tenderloin stew

Cliff House: Tomato and feta salad

Chabaa Thai: Chicken curry

Anchor and Hope: Thai squid ceviche

Round 2:
Tres Agaves: Carne en su jugo with bacon

Tito's: Homemade vodka cranberry

Round 3:
Clockwise from top:

Turtle Tower: Chicken noodle soup

Wing Wing: Ground chicken black pepper biscuit

Papalote's: Chips and salsa

Round 4:
Clockwise from top:

Mission Mini's: Pumpkin Pecan Cupcake

Four Barrel: Coffee

Rock Candy Snack Shop: Peanut Brittle and Kettle Corn (top)

Palomino's: Heirloom tomato bisque

Round 5:

Slow Hand: Barbecue brisket and cole slaw

Round 6:

Clockwise from top:

The Plant Cafe: Crostini with fig and chanterelle mushroom

Good Frickin' Chicken: Falafel with tahini sauce

Bocce Cafe: Ravioli and tortellini

McCormick and Kuletos: Deviled egg with caviar

Round 7:
Bund Shanghai Restaurant: Fried wontons with fried rice

Round 7.5:
Let's Cupcake: Coconut lime and green tea cupcakes, coconut chocolate chip cookie

Round 8:
Top to bottom:

Knead: Raspberry cheesecake

Schmidt's: Pea Latke with smoked salmon and yogurt

Round 9:
Sol Food Puerto Rican restaurant: Plantain Chips

Round 10:
Mr. and Mrs. Miscellaneous Ice Cream: Homemade dogfish head punkin ale ice cream

Favorites: Anchor and Hope thai squid ceviche and the Let's Cupcake green tea cupcake

Regrets: Slow Hand BBQ and the Schmidt's pea latke

Powers of Two

2011-09-26T10:24:00.000-07:00

One thousand and twenty-four (1,024) is a power of two - 2^10.

October 24th (10/24) also happens to be my friend Jeff's birthday. On Tuesday, I went to dinner with him at Comstock Saloon with his boyfriend Sam (the inspiration for my blog) and my roommate Mitra Lohrasbpour (whose full name I am using so that when she's googled, "Powers of Two" will pop up). Mitra and Sam (not relevant, but both are MIT alums) were the ones that pointed out the power of two correlation to Jeff's birthday, and for that, this blog post is dedicated to them.

In a group of 23 people, at least two will have the same birthday with a probability greater than 1/2.

When you walk into Comstock Saloon, on Columbus and Pacific, the restored 1907 building musters up feelings of being transformed to Prohibition-era times, complete with dim lighting, dark-wood decor and a leather booklet detailing the fanciful cocktails. Our waiter, a kind, whimsical man from Virginia with tortoise-shell glasses and a jovial laugh, was incredibly friendly, overly attentive and bounced to and from our table quite often, checking up on us and taking new orders.

12+3-4+5+67+8+9=100

The restaurant, opened by the same guys who opened Absinthe in Hayes Valley, was the only San Francisco bar to make it to Esquire's "Best Bars in America 2011" list, and so of course, we had to order some cocktails. From Jeff's Sazerac, with rye, sugar and Absinthe, to Mitra's "Blood and Sand" with scotch, vermouth and cherry liquor, the Powers of Two conversation became exponentially more interesting.

Among all shapes with the same perimeter, a circle has the largest area.

For small plates, we shared the Hangtown Toast with pickled eggs, bacon and oyster dressing a 7x7 Big Eat 2011 Pick, and the jalapeno corn fritters, which we devoured quickly. The toast was one of the most unusual things I've eaten: the toast was crisp, the pickled eggs had a subtle tartness to them and the dressing gave the toast some moistness. The toast was surprisingly light, considering the ingredients on it, and the compact pieces were perfect as small bites.

111,111,111

x 111,111,111

12,345,678,987,654,321 (it's a palindrome)

(1 + 2 + 3 + ... n)^2 = 1^3 + 2^3 + ... +n^3.

As entrees, Jeff and I shared the beef shank and bone marrow pot-pie and the fried oyster and ham po' boy with cole slaw and potato chips. The pot-pie was my favorite - when we smashed into the crispy, crumbly crust with our forks, the aromas of beef steamed up and the shank pieces were tender and juicy.

The sum of the squares of the first 7 primes is 666:

2^2 + 3^2 + 5^2 + 7^2 + 11^2 + 13^2 + 17 ^2 = 666.

The po- boy was well done as well - the fried oyster and ham pieces were substantial and fried foods always make my heart flutter. The potato chips that came on the side were amazing as well: spicy, oily and crisp, like an upgraded Kettle's barbeque chip.

The sum of the first 144 digits of pi is 666.

Overall, we had some great American fare, punctuated by cocktails worthy of the 7x7 list. The highlight, however, and definitely a reason to make a visit, was our kind waiter, who appeared frequently with a twinkle in his eyes, hunched down eagerly when listening to our questions and humored us when we asked him personal questions.

For the finale:

6x7=42

66x67=4422

666x667=444222

6666x6667=44442222

66666x66667=4444422222

666666x666667=444444222222

6666666x6666667=44444442222222

Enjoy your meal!

Restaurant:	Comstock Saloon
Location:	155 Columbus Ave, SF, CA
Items ordered:	Hangtown Toast with Pickled Eggs; Jalapeno Corn Fritters, Beef Shank and Bone Marrow Pot-Piel Fried Oyster and Ham Po' Boy
Pricing:	$10-$30
Grades:	Taste: B+; Cleanliness: A-; Service: A+

A Sushi Burrito Experience

2011-09-20T15:52:00.000-07:00

When I first heard about Sushirrito, a sushi burrito shop in Soma, I fantasized about huge Chipotle-sized flour tortillas stuffed with tangy guacamole, spicy salsas, melted cheese, and.......sashimi? I wasn't sure what to expect, but the combo of Mexican and Japanese sounded acutely amazing.

So, this past Monday, I ventured down to this hole in the wall off New Montgomery Street, and discovered that a sushi burrito is really a giant sushi roll, stuffed with baby arugula to balloon it to the size of a burrito.

I ordered the "Casanova" which came with salmon sashimi, arugula, daikon radish, tomatillo salsa, avocado, toasted pumpkin seeds, green onions and a "White Soy Ponzu" sauce. Look at all that arugula!:

It turned out much better than I expected - all of the fresh veggies went well in the burrito, the pumpkin seeds provided a nice crunch and the sauce gave it a little kick. It was sweet and tangy and complemented the fresh sashimi well. Also, the burrito had a good balance of rice, which didn't override the other ingredients. The shop had a pretty efficient assembly line going, so although the line was long, it moved quickly.

I will probably come back, but only when I'm in the mood to spend some money ($9.50 for a burrito! - to be fair though, a roll at any Japanese restaurant would be priced similarly). Now we just need a brown rice sushi burrito spot....

Hiyaaa Roll!

2011-09-12T19:05:00.000-07:00

These days, food seems to taste better if it is served from the inner throes of a mobile truck. So the other day, I headed over to TruckStop, a gathering of food trucks in an alley off of Mission Street between Fremont and 1st, for lunch. The private alley, owned by the owner of the adjacent 450 Fremont building, houses three trucks on a rotating basis: two main course trucks and one dessert truck. The schedule can be viewed on their website through their online calendar.

Aside from it being a tight squeeze in the alleyway, the location is great - it's close to where I work and right next to the 50 Fremont outdoor courtyard that has plenty of seats. The selection of trucks is handpicked and includes CurryUpNow, KungFu Tacos, Chairman Bao, The Rib Whip and Kara's Cupcakes.

I chose to go to Hiyaaa Roll, a truck serving Vietnamese-style "Banh Mi" sandwiches. For $7, you get a sandwich with your choice of meat (bulgogi, pork, lemongrass or curry chicken, tofu) and fresh veggies on a toasted roll and for $2 more, you can have your sandwich "stuffed" with double the meat. I ordered the spicy pork sandwich: while it's hard to justify spending so much on Vietnamese food when cheaper and tastier food exists in Little Saigon, it was definitely one of the better SF Vietnamese sandwiches I've had, minus the 'loin crowd.

It also beat out Spice Kit, the Vietnamese version of Chipotle down the street, in taste, in price, in the fact that it came from a truck, and pretty much everything else. The bread was crunchy, the pork was well-spiced with "secret sauce" and the veggies were plentiful and fresh. I overheard another patron in line highly recommending the "stuffed" version so I may try that next time.

Restaurant:	Hiyaaa Roll
Location:	Varies; Truckstop, on Mission Street between 1st Street & Fremont Street
Items ordered:	Spicy Pork Roll
Pricing:	under $10
Grades:	Taste: A; Cleanliness: A-; Service: B

Homemade Green Tea Gelato and Blackberry Sorbet

2011-09-09T10:11:00.000-07:00

When I was unemployed, I purchased an ice cream maker, because when you're unemployed, you have all the time in the world to buy things you don't need with money you don't have. I made a batch of pumpkin pie ice cream, but as homemade ice cream doesn't last for longer than 4 days (with no preservatives, it gets freezer burn quickly), I hadn't made any ice cream since the first batch.

So when my friend Fran got married this past weekend, I decided to try my hand at it again for her rehearsal dinner. Her wedding colors were purple and green so I went for a blackberry sorbet and green tea gelato (Cuisinart recipes that came with the ice cream maker).

The green tea gelato was by far tastier and was the overall favorite. The blackberry sorbet mixture wasn't cold enough when I put it in the ice cream maker. It didn't set well and then was frozen the following day in the freezer, so came out a lot icier than I wanted it too.

Here are the recipes:

Green Tea Gelato:

The green tea gelato was more labor-intensive and I began the night before making the ice cream to let it sit overnight.

Ingredients:

3-1/4 cups whole milk
8 green tea bags
1/4 cup powdered fat-free milk
8 large egg yolks
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup heavy cream

1) Place the milk in a medium saucepan and heat to a simmer.

2) Pour half over the tea bags in a medium bowl and let steep for 30 minutes; strain, pressing all the liquid from the tea bags.

3) Stir powdered milk into remaining milk and keep warm over low heat.

4) Place egg yolks and sugar in a medium bowl. Using a hand mixer or whisk, beat until thick and pale yellow (the consistency of mayonnaise). While mixing, slowly add the hot milk and whisk until blended.

Mine didn't quite come out to be the consistency of mayonnaise, but was more of a thick syrup. I still turned out okay.

5) Stir the egg mixture back into the saucepan and add the tea-infused milk; increase heat to medium. Stir the mixture constantly with a wooden spoon, until the mixture is thickened like a custard sauce and registers 180 °F when checked with an instant-read thermometer.

I didn't have a thermometer, but just kept stirring until it started turning into the consistency of oatmeal.

6) Strain the custard through a fine mesh strainer into a medium bowl. Stir in cream, cover and refrigerate at least 6 hours before continuing.

The mixture turned out grey-ish, so I added a bunch of green food coloring to give it some color.

7) Turn the machine on; pour mixture into freezer bowl, and let mix until thickened, about 20 to 25 minutes. The gelato will have a soft, creamy texture. If a firmer consistency is desired, transfer the gelato to an airtight container and place in freezer for about 2 hours. Remove from freezer about 15 minutes before serving.

Tada!!

Blackberry Sorbet

The Cuisinart recipe booklet didn't have a blackberry sorbet, so I adapted this recipe from other sorbet recipes:

1 1/4 cups of sugar

1 cup water

24 oz. fresh blackberries

Juice of one lemon

1) Combine the sugar and water in a saucepan and heat over high heat until the water comes to a boil and the sugar is dissolved. Store in the fridge for 1 hour (but really longer, if you want it to set well).

2) In a blender, puree the blackberries and chilled syrup until completely liquified (about 20 seconds). Working with half of the mixtures at a time help speed the process along. Strain into a separate bowl.

It will be very thick so use a spoon or spatula to push as much liquid through as possible. The remaining pulp will look like this:

3) Stir in the lemon juice.

4) Pour into the ice cream maker and process for about 25 minutes. It should thicken as it is processing and should be thicker than this:

Pour into a separate container and freeze until it's ready to serve.

Tada!!

Keep Portland Weird

2011-08-29T23:09:00.000-07:00

I don't think that will be hard to do.

Bianca and I descended upon the land of eco-friendly fleece-wearing tattooed hipsters, quirky taxi drivers, the vegan homeless and the bearded last weekend hoping to eat a lot and stare at some trees.

Our first night out, we ended up at Bailey's Tavern in Downtown Portland which serves several varieties of local beer and has board games! Also, the beers are super cheap - $4.50 for a 20 oz and $2.50 for a 10 oz:

Bianca and I both ordered the peach hef, a popular local beer. Bianca asked the bartender in her best Valley girl accent if the prices were this cheap everywhere in Portland, prompting him to say yes while he silently judged us for shaving our legs and for wearing clothing probably made using sweatshop labor.

The next day, after taking a hike in Forest Park, we noshed on some food truck food for lunch. Portland is infamous for its large variety of food trucks - many of them are clumped together in "pods" around the city. We went to the food truck clump on SW Alder St. between 9th and 10th Aves, where approximately 25-30 trucks are lined up around a parking lot.

We were feeling carnivorous after an active morning and several of the delicious looking trucks were closed but we managed to get some solid bulgogi and ribs at an authentic Korean cart, a hefty meal for $6.

After, we washed down our meal down with a strawberry lassi from an Indian stand. We continued sightseeing, napped and ended our day with a meal at Oba, a Latin American restaurant in the Pearl District, where everything we had, even the serrano chile-infused mojito, was delicious.

We ordered the salmon ceviche, the butternut squash enchiladas and the crispy coconut prawns to start. The ceviche was interesting - salmon was definitely a change from typical ceviche and the orange and mango sauce it was served in was unique. The crispy coconut prawns came with a jalapeno-citrus marmalade that was delicious and the butternut squash enchiladas were my favorite - the sweetness mixed with the tomato sauces were well balanced and unique as well.

As an entree to share, we ordered the 8 oz kobe beef steak topped with plaintains and bacon, served with a side of fresh vegetables, which was pretty much as tasty as it sounds.

Our final morning in Portland, we went to the ultimate food touristy spot - Voodoo Donuts.

Voodoo Donuts sells donuts that are unique and crazy and racy, with names and shapes that are not appropriate for my blog, and even offers marriage services. Although they are no Bob's Donuts on Polk St, the toppings draw a huge crowd - we waited 45 minutes on a Sunday morning to get donuts.

Counterclockwise from the top: Captain Crunch Donut, a vegan cinnamon donut, a maple glazed donut with bacon on top (their famous donut) and a banana foster donut stuffed with bananas, peanut butter and chocolate. They were all as sugary sweet and appetizing as they look, although the Captain Crunch cereal was slightly stale.

We couldn't finish the donuts, so after we took them and offered them to a homeless man, who promptly rejected them, claiming to be a "whole food-ist". We finally convinced him to take the vegan donut. It's people like him who will keep Portland weird.

Overall, here are my takeaways from Portland:
- Being different is good
- Free public transportation works
- I will walk a long way to stand in a food truck line
- Bob's Donuts is still the happiest place on earth

How to Eat on a Cruise

2011-08-19T08:38:00.000-07:00

This past weekend, I took a Carnival cruise to Ensenada, Mexico with 11 other girls for a bachelorette party. 3 days and 3 nights of eating, drinking, and sleeping, and one Buddha belly later, here is what I have learned about cruising:

1. Take advantage of the 24 hour buffet and eat a full meal every few hours with snacks in between.
Don't overload your plate the first time around. The buffet will always be there. Get a little of everything and then go back for what you enjoyed. You need something to break up all that laying out on the pool deck during the "at-sea" days.

2. Sit down dinner: Order as many appetizers and entrees as you can.
In the event you are undecided between two dishes, order both. If you've never had a rare steak, then order a rare steak and another entree as a backup. Order the soup, the shrimp cocktail, and the melon and prosciutto salad to start. Order two desserts and a side of sorbet to finish.

3. Don't fill up on salad or fruit.
You can always get a salad in San Francisco for $11. Save room for meats, fats and sugars.

4. Don't order anything that has the word "diet" in it.
We ordered the "diet orange cake" to share on top of our individual desserts, just to try it. But we really could've just ordered an additional molten chocolate cake instead. If you're goal is to "eat healthy" and "stay in shape", then you must have been sniffing white out when deciding to book the cruise.

5. Don't exercise early in the morning, even if everyone else is.
I did this after my cruise roommate and our 2 friends got up at 8 am to workout. "You don't have to come" said my friend Paula in a soothing voice after waking me up and looking worriedly at my bloodshot eyes and tousled hair. But I did anyways and I could've skipped it, slept in until 9, and met them for breakfast.

7. Don't expect the food to be good.
It's about quantity, not quality. The cook-to-order Mongolian noodle station was actually decent, but part of that was the 45 minute line. Even the chocolate fondue bar was underwhelming. But it doesn't matter - when else can you order an entire menu for dinner or eat pizza at 8 in the morning?

8. When in Ensenada, eat like a local.
While our friends went to Papas and Beer to drink and do unmentionable things, Marcie, Evelyn and I ventured out of town for some authentic tacos. A taxi driver had told us where to find the fish tacos that made Ensenada famous, and after about a 13 block walk, we came across a street with several carts, serving fish and shrimp tacos, (Avenue Esbinoza, in case you find yourself there)

The fish was fried to order in large vats of oil:

Toppings of fresh vegetables, limes and spicy salsas were on the side for a DIY taco.

Tada! Amazing taco. Definitely worth the 13 block walk and the entire $1 cost.

We were fortunate enough to arrive at one taco stand when a new batch of salsa was being made. Turns out the salsa was comprised of an entire blender of peppers with a few garlic cloves thrown in on top. We were like, SO authentic.

After washing down the tacos with Fantas from the local supermercado, we headed back to town and then to the cruise, ready to fill our stomachs with more.

Do We Look Like We're on a Date?

2011-08-12T07:53:00.000-07:00

It apparently appeared that way as the waiter at Tajine, a Moroccan restaurant on Polk Street, set down our Chicken Bastilla appetizer in front of us with a large heart shape drawn on top in cinnamon dust. My friend Bianca, in town for work for the week, had a confused look on her face, and the awkward couple next to us stared at our plate and then stared at us for a while.

That was just the beginning of a sequence of strange events to come, in which the wait staff repeatedly and aggressively tried to take our plates away before we were finished with them, the kitchen staff stacked and put away all the tables and chairs surrounding our table, leaving us in isolation in the middle of dinner, and the wierd couple next to us quietly munched on their food while eavesdropping on our conversation.

Regardless, the meal was delicious. The Chicken Bastilla appetizer had come highly recommended and was well done. Bastilla is like a pie, with a flaky crust, filled with savory meats and dusted with powdered sugar. The crust is made of "warka", which is like phyllo dough but thinner and made in a different way. Ours was made with a mixture of ground chicken, crushed almonds and egg, but the dish is historically made with pigeon; pigeon bastilla is the national dish of Morocco.

(picture of my bastilla leftovers the next day)

For entrees, I ordered the merguez (a type of lamb sausage) kabab plate and Bianca ordered the lamb kabab plate. Both came with lots of rice, zaalouk (a cooked egglant salad), shalada (a Moroccan style salad with tomatoes and cucumbers) and bread.

It was pretty much as delicious as it looked - the meat was tender and the salads were full of flavor and complemented the meats well. The strange couple next to us broke their silent stares to comment that they didn't think we would finish all the food on the table, and they were wrong - we cleared our plates.

Overall, great Moroccan meal and only 3 blocks from my apartment. The place was also packed which is always a good sign. Bianca will have nightmares about the weird couple for the next week or so, but another than that, success!

Restaurant:	Tajine Moroccan Restaurant
Location:	1653 Polk Street, SF, CA
Items ordered:	Chicken Bastilla; Merguez Kabab Plate; Lamb Kabob Plate
Pricing:	$10-$30
Grades:	Taste: A-; Cleanliness: A-; Service: B

Pictures of the Remains

2011-08-09T08:25:00.000-07:00

At Santana Row this weekend, I took about five thousand pictures of my almost-bride friend, Frances Sun, as she tried on her wedding dress and Joyce and I learned how to help her put it on. But all the white taffeta and invisible mini-buttons and small, tricky strings that are impossible to find seemed to muddle my brain because I forgot to take pictures of our delicious dinner after, only remembering when the food was almost gone. Hopefully pictures of empty plates will do justice to our meal at Village California Bistro & Wine Bar. But first, a picture of the beautiful setting:

We went family style, ordering a halibut ceviche, the seafood risotto and one order of the "Sunset 3 course dinner" for $29, which included the seasonal soup, Twice Cooked Cubano pork, and a peach cobbler dessert.

We started with the seasonal soup, a creamy corn soup with plenty of spices, topped with a medley of garnishes. It was warm and full-bodied and delicious to sop up with the sides of bread. Along with the soup, we ate a halibut ceviche with thick, generous pieces of halibut, The ceviche wasn't too amazing - I like mine with lots more acidic juices and more spices, but the purple potato chips, that accompanied the ceviche, stole the show. The crispy, salty purple potato chips prompted Fran to ask if we thought the chips came from potatoes that were actually purple.

The question was too loaded for Joyce and I to respond to at the time, and Frances probably cared more about the fact that purple potatoes would go well with her purple wedding colors and our purple bridesmaids dresses. But to answer Fran's question, the purple potato chips did in fact come from purple potatoes. Purple potatoes have a dry, starchy and nutty flavor, are believed to have originated in Peru, and are high in antioxidants - similar to berries and pomegranates. Hopefully, they will appear on Fran's wedding menu :)

Next, we shared the seafood risotto and the Cubano pork. The pork was great - it was tender and aggressively spiced with sweet potato hash and pickled vegetables complementing it. The risotto was my favorite - it was creamy, smooth, and cheesy, and you can never go wrong with mussels, clams and a variety of fish thrown in. I somehow managed to take a picture before every morsel was eaten:

We ended with peach cobbler dessert - the peaches were plump and juicy and the cobbler crust was sweet and crunchy. Every bite was warm and complemented by thick peach juices and the cobbler bits were buttery and chewy. The scoop of ice cream on top provided a welcome, contrasting coolness. It was refreshing and evocative and left us serene and stuffed and Joyce may have drifted into temporary unconsciousness afterwards. Have I described the dessert well enough? Hopefully so, because this is all you'll get in the way of a picture:

Bangers and Mash and Little Beers

2011-08-03T23:18:00.000-07:00

So, the other day, Kevin Fisher finally agreed to hang out with me after I told him he could be in my blog. Yay!

We went to Jasper's Corner Tap and Kitchen on the corner of Taylor and O'Farrell (formerly the location of Ponzu), which just opened a week ago. The restaurant serves upscale pub food, (a "gastropub") and a variety of cocktails and beers from around the world. I had sort of forgotten to make a reservation, and the website didn't have any availability, but when we got there, they were able to seat us immediately. The decor was great - plenty of space, simply decorated and was packed without seeming too crowded. There are a total of 137 seats in the restaurant, including the bar, a lounge area and two communal tables.

We decided to forgo the cocktail list, aptly named "The Beverage Book" at 16 pages and started with a couple of beers. I got the Barney Flats Oatmeal Stout, which was great - it tasted like a Guinness but was much smoother - and Kevin got an ale.

The waitress brought them over in these glasses and explained that the restaurant gave smaller pours because the beers had a higher alcohol content and they wanted the clientele to be able to enjoy multiple drinks. Which basically was her way of telling us we were getting ripped off. KF of course told her he wouldn't mind a bigger glass of beer and he would still be able to enjoy multiple drinks and then she fake laughed and walked away.

While recovering from the $7 mini-beer slap in the face we'd just been blown, we enjoyed the following appetizers: berkshire pork ribs with a scallion citrus rub and a salted warm soft pretzel with a side of smoked gouda and cheddar fondue. The fondue was incredible - it was warm and viscous without being too sharp and cheesy, and its mellow flavor complemented the soft pretzel well. The riblettes were my favorite of the entire meal: the meat fell off the bone and the scallion citrus rub was tangy and zesty.

After appetizers, Kevin ordered another beer, hoping to get in at least a full pint of beer for the night and we settled in for the entrees: fish & chips and bangers & mash. The fish & chips were decent - the fish was tender and crispy (made with a polenta crust) and came with a tart dipping sauce. The bangers and mash were pretty amazing: spicy pork and beef sausage with an onion sauce, mashed potatoes with chives mixed in, and peas and fancy mini carrots. The sausage had a surprising kick and the assertive taste was balanced by the smoothness and richness of the potato puree.

Overall, it was a pleasant dining experience - I would go back. Jasper's fulfilled my expectations of an "upscale" gastropub, particularly when we received the check. (Kevin started crying when he saw it and then remembered he wasn't on a KPMG salary anymore) Although the meal fell on the pricey side, any place that can bring me back to memories of being a 20-year old study abroad college student in a seedy London pub on a foggy night gets my approval.

Restaurant:	Jasper's Corner Tap & Kitchen
Location:	401 Taylor Street, SF, CA
Items ordered:	Berkshire Pork Ribs, Soft Pretzel with Fondue, Fish & Chips, Bangers & Mash, Barney Flats Oatmeal Stout
Pricing:	$10-$30
Grades:	Taste: A; Cleanliness: A-; Service: B+

The Missing Avocado

2011-07-31T08:14:00.000-07:00

On Friday night, our friend Michael Flanagan, who was crashing on our couch, and I went down to Polkers Gourmet Burgers on Polk Street for some burgers. Polkers is one of my neighborhood favorites as it was the place my roommate and I had our first dinner in San Francisco four years ago. Their burgers come with fun, unique variations and their satisfying brunches draw long waits on the weekends. I still remember eating huevos rancheros here one New Year's day in a state of bliss.

Friday, however, the fog must have settled in a little too thickly over Russian Hill. We both ordered the Habanero Burger "Extremely Spicy" because the extremely spicy moniker seemed like a good challenge. The burger came with jack cheese, avocado aioli, and a habanero salsa on the side, which appeared to be a mixture of tomato paste, chopped up habanero peppers and onions.

We both selectively had overlooked the word "aioli" in the description and spent about two minutes looking for some avocado, before realizing that it was in fact a very thinly spread aioli on one bun which did not contribute to the taste of the burger. I was disappointed because I love avocados and Michael was disappointed because avocados are green and that is one of Notre Dame's colors.

In addition, applying the salsa separately seemed like a smart idea, but the clumpy nature of the salsa caused the burger bites to vary from no salsa bites to fiery hot bites. The patty itself was cooked well and was perfectly medium. The side salad that came with it wasn't amazing but that's what you get for ordering a side of salad with a hamburger. Overall, we left feeling satisfied but not too impressed with the meal. I would still go back to Polkers but will change up my order.

On another note, I ordered an Arnold Palmer, my non-alcoholic beverage of choice, at dinner. An Arnold Palmer is a drink made up of half lemonade and half iced tea and is named after a famous golfer. It can also be called a half and half and the alcoholic version (using vodka or sweet tea) is called a John Daly.

When I ordered it, Michael was Super impressed. He used words like "wow" and "bold choice" and almost switched his drink order as well. I think he was being sincere. I would have found it strange, but I've faced similar reactions when I order the drink with a group. I don't know why - it's lemonade and iced tea mixed together and it's really quite simple. Anyways, the point of this sidenote is that if you'd like an easy way to impress a table at a meal, order an Arnold Palmer and you will be a hero and I cannot give you a good reason why.

Restaurant:	Polker's Gourmet Burgers
Location:	2226 Polk Street, SF, CA
Items ordered:	Habanero Burger "Extremely Spicy"; Arnold Palmer
Pricing:	$10-$30
Grades:	Taste: B-; Cleanliness: A-; Service: A

Lots of Indians Is Always A Good Thing

2011-07-29T15:12:00.000-07:00

I can't think of a better first post to begin with than the Chaat Cafe in Crocker Galleria, my favorite lunchtime indulgence. It is situated on the top level of the Galleria, and at lunchtime during the week, is always packed with people, particularly Indian clientele. Which can only be a good thing in any Indian establishment. Aside from the thrill of potentially running into a long lost cousin, the food is very clean, tasty and fairly affordable for a Financial District lunch. Lunchtime food ranges from Indian-style sandwiches and salads to authentic thalis, lassis and chaat food.

My favorite is the chicken tikka plate:

It comes with 3 generous portions of tandoori chicken, basmati rice, a side of dal or curry sauce, a garlic naan and a cucumber salad (hidden underneath the mountain of naan in this picture). The chicken is incredibly tender, the sauce is sort of spicy, but you can fire it up with chutneys from the chutney bar, and there is more rice and naan than the average carb-starved San Franciscan can handle, all for $8.

When I go with a group of people, I also like to share the Bhel Puri appetizer:

It consists of rice puffs, crispy noodles, potatoes, green chili, and onions mixed together with tamarind and mint chutneys. It's basically a mixture of crunchy, tangy, sweet, tart, and spicy all in one, an explosion of flavors all in one bite. It's not the best Bhel Puri I've ever had, but is pretty good regardless. Good luck going back to work after this one. (Best Bhel Puri = Vik's Chaat House in Berkeley)

Chaat Cafe has 2 locations in SF, one in Berkeley, one in San Jose and one in Fremont. And of course they use only fresh Halal chicken and lamb and source only organic vegetables.

If you time your lunch right, you can catch the Thursday Farmer's Market at Crocker Galleria and grab some fruits or munch on samples:

Restaurant:	Chaat Café Express
Location:	Crocker Galleria, 50 Post St. SF, CA
Items ordered:	Chicken Tikka Plate with Curry Sauce; Bhel Puri
Pricing:	Under $10
Grades:	Taste: A-; Cleanliness: A; Service: B+