I've realized I like little date places with little plates. I've found another great small plate place, now to find the date.
I'm a sharer and I like to try lots of things and always hate when I'm at dinner with people that won't let me taste their food, so places like Bocadillos are perfect for me. A broad selection of little tasty plates meant to share. Pair that with a great wine list and an awesome somewhat lively one-on-one environment and you've got an awesome light dinner/heavy talk restaurant. The shrimp with deviled eggs are fun, and the chorizo is dangerously rich. I would not suggest the "arm of a gypsy" dessert (even though I had it on a fantastic second date and the name has yet not to cause us a good laugh) but the bread pudding is a winner. Definitely keep the company to a great date or a great friend and leave behind the group...oh and drink lots of wine.
Monday, September 1, 2008
Bossa Nova
OMG I freakin' love this place. I think for a while I was going once a week. Now I will first say that I am not an expert in Brazilian food. When I was there I ate a lot of tourist group meals and to be honest I didn't like much of what I ate, but I admit I had a bad selection to judge from. That said, I love Bossa Nova. It's tiny and often you have to carefully squeeze into your table so not to tip over your neighbor's mojito, but it's well worth it as once you sit down it's easy to get comfortable in the festive foodlover environment. My all-time favorite dish is the Rio Style Moqueca with it's coconut lime broth and overflowing array of white fish, musscles, shrimp and clams. I also love that they have live music and a happy hour with $5 mojitos & caphirinas (hey, $5 is a happy hour for San Francisco!!). I wouldn't suggest going with a large group, I would say maximum 4 and best with 2 but no matter who you go with you MUST GO. Seriously, one of my favorite semi-secret SF spots.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Suppenkuche
Why is that so freakin' hard to spell??!
I think at Suppenkuche you get what you expect and some more and to me that's what makes a great restaurant. This place is awesome for groups not so good for first dates (especially first dates that are double dates) as it's pretty loud. The wine choices are limited because well...it's a German place, but from what I hear the beer is good. I think if I went here often I would get bored quickly (the food is heavy and uses many of the same ingredients because well...it's a German place), but for once every couple months with a good group of people it's a great choice. PROST!
I think at Suppenkuche you get what you expect and some more and to me that's what makes a great restaurant. This place is awesome for groups not so good for first dates (especially first dates that are double dates) as it's pretty loud. The wine choices are limited because well...it's a German place, but from what I hear the beer is good. I think if I went here often I would get bored quickly (the food is heavy and uses many of the same ingredients because well...it's a German place), but for once every couple months with a good group of people it's a great choice. PROST!
Friday, August 8, 2008
Boulevard...Schmoulevard
Thursday night I finally made it to Boulevard. Having walked by a million times, seen it in an Infinity commercial and watched yelpers consistently give it 4 and 5 stars, it was only a matter of time before I got my butt through the door.
Ambiance: Upon arrival I was immediately surprised by the how busy it was. Walking by I always thought it was going to be more of a quiet older crowd but apparently I was mistaken. At first I thought it was refreshing but as the evening progressed it began to feel more like I was at a Cheesecake Factory paying $$$$ than at a fine dining San Francisco tradition. Not to mention it was absolutely freezing in the place which reminded me of the way in which Starbucks keeps a lower AC temperture in order to ensure minimal lingering and increase turnaround on tables. So although refreshing I was somewhat chilled.
Service: The service was good...not great. It was prompt to the point of being overly attentive. If my menu is still open I haven't decided yet. If my fork and knife are not placed in the finished position I'm not done yet. I know to a large extent this loss of awareness cannot be blamed entirely on the server as Americans have by and large, lost all table manners. Given this, it's difficult to know when to clear a plate if no one ever gives you the obvious sign that they are finished, but I do think if a server raises their level of awareness a bit they will notice when you haven't taken a bite for 4 minutes. Unfortunately this awareness has also been diminshed by the impatience of most diners and their desire to have the plate gone as soon as they've taken their last bite regardless of whether their other party members are finished. Overall I think the service was prompt and friendly, although a bit over powering at times.
Food: Here I have have mostly good things to say. The abalone appetizer was the perfect mix of crispy and tender. I think the cornmeal crusted green tomato was an especially nice touch although I do think the tarter sauce brought the quality of the dish down a bit (it was a bit runny). I had the lamb as my main and it was delicious. Perfect portions accompanied the perfectly cooked lamb which had been stuffed with sundried tomatoes, feta cheese and kalamata olives. Dessert in my opinion was a home run and brought the entire meals score up a few points. We had the panacotta, peach sorbet, roasted peach & meringue (sorry I forgot the name). Perfect portions and perfect pairing and although I'm sure some might find it a little too sweet I have what I like to call an "advanced sweet tooth". We also got a chocolate ice cream cake which reminded me of my favorite childhood ice cream and thus was an automatic winner.
Ambiance: Upon arrival I was immediately surprised by the how busy it was. Walking by I always thought it was going to be more of a quiet older crowd but apparently I was mistaken. At first I thought it was refreshing but as the evening progressed it began to feel more like I was at a Cheesecake Factory paying $$$$ than at a fine dining San Francisco tradition. Not to mention it was absolutely freezing in the place which reminded me of the way in which Starbucks keeps a lower AC temperture in order to ensure minimal lingering and increase turnaround on tables. So although refreshing I was somewhat chilled.
Service: The service was good...not great. It was prompt to the point of being overly attentive. If my menu is still open I haven't decided yet. If my fork and knife are not placed in the finished position I'm not done yet. I know to a large extent this loss of awareness cannot be blamed entirely on the server as Americans have by and large, lost all table manners. Given this, it's difficult to know when to clear a plate if no one ever gives you the obvious sign that they are finished, but I do think if a server raises their level of awareness a bit they will notice when you haven't taken a bite for 4 minutes. Unfortunately this awareness has also been diminshed by the impatience of most diners and their desire to have the plate gone as soon as they've taken their last bite regardless of whether their other party members are finished. Overall I think the service was prompt and friendly, although a bit over powering at times.
Food: Here I have have mostly good things to say. The abalone appetizer was the perfect mix of crispy and tender. I think the cornmeal crusted green tomato was an especially nice touch although I do think the tarter sauce brought the quality of the dish down a bit (it was a bit runny). I had the lamb as my main and it was delicious. Perfect portions accompanied the perfectly cooked lamb which had been stuffed with sundried tomatoes, feta cheese and kalamata olives. Dessert in my opinion was a home run and brought the entire meals score up a few points. We had the panacotta, peach sorbet, roasted peach & meringue (sorry I forgot the name). Perfect portions and perfect pairing and although I'm sure some might find it a little too sweet I have what I like to call an "advanced sweet tooth". We also got a chocolate ice cream cake which reminded me of my favorite childhood ice cream and thus was an automatic winner.
Boulevard may not deserve the "schmoulevard" I tagged on the end, but I do think my experience was not quite what yelpers chatted it up to be. Perhaps I will try it on a different night of the week with a date and see if it feels more like "fine dining" but given the amount of restaurants in this city, I highly doubt that will be anytime soon.
Monday, August 4, 2008
Hungry?
When I first moved to the city my roommate and I tried to make an effort to get a group out to a new restaurant every Tuesday, hence the name Tasty Tuesdays. Unfortunately that "tradition" has dwindled, but I still manage to get to at least one new restaurant every week so I figure this blog is still valid. My hope is for this to be a space where I can post my review and those who have dined with me or at the same restaurant on their own time, can contribute without feeling like evangelists. Now you may wonder why I would even bother when there is a site like Yelp with reviews of every restaurant and the ability to share, bookmark and post my opinions, but to be honest, I don't really feel my opinion is all that important. Odd thing to say on a blog yes, but I really don't. Given this depressing view of self worth I would rather post here than a place cluttered with over opinionated writers who really should just start a blog and get to the point.
With that said, let the games (or should I say dining?) begin.
With that said, let the games (or should I say dining?) begin.
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