March 23, 2009 - Ramblas, Spanish

Ramblas

557 Valencia St

San Francisco, CA

(415) 565-0207
http://www.ramblastapas.com/

To start, we had a wonderful Spanish cheese, Cabra al Romero, $4.50, which is a young goat's milk cheese flavored by rosemary and served with honey comb. After which which we had the Anchovy and red pepper toasts whith olives, $5.00. A perfect flavor combonation. We had the Spanish Tortilla, $8, which is a potato and onion omelet with caramelized onions, wild mushrooms, capers, and served with aioli and salsa verde. We had Asparagus with Manchego cheese, sage and brown butter served with the Tortilla. We ended our meal with a lovely Rice Pudding that had lots of flavor and raisins.

March 17, 2009 - Andalu, Californian

Andalu

3198 16th St

San Francisco, CA

(415) 621-2211
http://www.andalusf.com/

We can't visit Andalu without ordering the Crispy Mac & Cheese, $7.50. Sooooo good! We also ordered the Grilled escolare with beurre blanc, $10.50, which comes with red quinoa salad with shitakes, corn, and swiss chard. The fish is very rich so a small piece was perfect. We loved the quinoa salad! Then we got the Grilled Eggplant stuffed with ricotta, spinach, & pinenuts, served on caponata, $9.00. This eggplant was superb and I could eat it everyday.

March 3, 2009 - Barbamino, Italian

Bar Bambino Cafe and Wine Bar

2931 16th St., San Francisco, CA
(415) 701-8466
http://www.barbamino.com/

This was not our first time at Bar Bamino - actually, it's one of our favorites! We started with a small cheese plate, $13.00. This cafe has a Salumi and Fromaggi Bar and the gentleman who is responsible for the salumi and cheese comes out and describes the cheeses with great detail. He's like a sommelier of cheese! We had Caprino Luciano (goat cheese from Italy), Lavort (sheep cheese from France) and Blue del Moncenicio (cow cheese from Italy). They were all delicious! After the cheese plate we had the Salad of Roasted beets with arugula, $9.50, hazelnuts, and goat cheese. This salad was perfectly dressed. When I saw they had Arancinette, $7.50, on the menu I had to order them, and they didn't disappoint. They were small balls of saffron risotto stuffed with mozzarella and deep fried. YUMMY! We finished with a Bruschette of Egg, $11.50, with white truffle salt and parmigiano-reggiano. The egg was perfecly poached and the flavor of the truffle was just perfect on the egg. A wonderful dinner!!