January 27, 2009 - Basil Canteen, Thai

Basil Canteen

Neighborhood: SOMA

1489 Folsom St(between 11th St & Juniper St)

San Francisco, CA 94103

(415) 552-3963
http://www.basilcanteen.com/

Basil restaurant just opened it's second restaurant, also on Folsom. Basil Canteen is located where the Public restaurant used to be and is it's a terrific loft space. There are big shared tables and also small intimate tables, whatever is your choice. Both are good experiences. The staff are super friendly and very knowlegable of the food - and, it's a good thing because I am not so familiar with traditional Thai dishes. We started with the Mian Kum, $7, which is fresh cut mustard leaves topped with diced shrimp, roasted coconut, pomelo, peanuts, ginger and shallots. This was so fresh and unique! We took a chance on the Aor Suan, $10, because it sounded so unusual. It was an omelette, loosely, of fresh oysters, beansprouts, and scallions served with a sweet and spicy Sriracha sauce. It was fabulous, spicy and no where near anything I have ever tasted before. We then had something a little more familiar: Pla Pao, $7, which is charcoal grilled wild caught fish on bamboo skewers served with a Thai chili-lime sauce. It was perfectly cooked and again, nice and spicy! We ordered Pla Sahm Rot, $13, which is a traditional dish that comes with rice. It is a pan-roasted rock cod fillet with a Thai three-flavored sauce. The sauce was very tasty and I would eat it on anything.

January 13, 2009 - Thirsty Bear Brewery, Spanish

Thirsty Bear Brewery

Neighborhood: SOMA

661 Howard St(between 3rd St & Hawthorne St)

San Francisco, CA 94105

(415) 974-0905

http://www.yelp.com/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thirstybear.com&src_bizid=M1qm-JWaI1tHVBx-XLJbmA


This brewery has some wonderful beers, which is why I had the taster flight. It had 18 oz of beer all together, eventhough it looks like much more. We started with the Hama River Oysters, $12, 3 of which had cava-tarragon mignonette, and the other 3 had an orange-saffron granita. It was a great way to start. We then had the Tortilla Espanola of the day, $7, which was green bean and potato and came with a black pepper aioli. Following the tortilla we had the fingerling potato Flat Bread, $9, with grilled treviso, carmelized red onion, manchego & rioja balsamic reduction. I would never have thought of puting potatoes on flat bread but this really worked. We then had the Piperade, $8, which is slow roasted peppers and onions, a soft cooked egg and garlic bread crumbs. This may be my all time favorite tapa!! We also had the Gambas al ajillo, $8.25, which is shrimp with orange zest, garlic, sherry and olive oil. Fabulous. This brewery is a great casual place to meet friends and have beer and tapas!

December 30, 2008 - Oola!, SOMA

Folsom Street(between 4th St & 5th St)

San Francisco, CA 94107

(415) 995-2061

www.oola-sf.com

This restaurant is a very magical space. The ambiance is hip and has the appearance that anything can go, ... but it's very elegant at the same time. We started with Oysters (Kumomoto and Marin) at a very good price of $2.75 each. We had a Cheese plate, $16, that was strangely wonderful as a tasting dish though truely lacking in cheese (only two pieces). And, a fantastic Oven Dried Tomato Tart with onion jam, aged balsamic, goat cheese and fresh thyme, $12. It doesn't seem like much food, but it was so satifying with a glass of Kin Crawford 07 Pinot Noir, $10/glass, which is from New Zealand.

December 23, 2008 - Beretta, Italian

1199 Valencia St(between 22nd St & 23rd St) - Mission District

San Francisco, CA 94110

(415) 695-1199

http://www.berettasf.com/

Oooooh, comfort food at it's San Francisco finest... A perfect place to go on a cold rain night!! It is so warm an cozy in Beretta, that a half an hour wait standing up near the bar is fine. We had Zucchini Pamigiana with scamorza and basil, $6, which is filled with the perfect italian flavors. It couldn't be any better. Also a stand out dish: Cauliflower with pangratatto, capers and sage, $6. As always, we ordered the Monterey Sardines en saor, $6, which are so tastey.

December 16, 2008 - Lingba Lounge, Thai

1469 18th St(between Connecticut St & Missouri St)
San Francisco, CA 94107
(415) 355-0001

www.lingba.com

I have driven by Lingba Lounge almost every day for the past 4 years, and have never gone before. After learning that all of of my neighbors LOVE the food I decided to meet some girlfriends at the Lounge. It have a wonderful atmosphere and terrific food. Sitting in the lounge we had the Seafood Appetizer Sampler, $26 for two. featuring grilled king prawns, fried calamari, thai spring rolls,and fresh spring rolls... yummmmeeeeeeeeee!! The fresh yellow Corn Cake, $8, is pretty fabulous too.

August 14, 2008 - Foreign Cinema

Foreign Cinema

2534 Mission St (between 21st St & 22nd St)
San Francisco, CA 94110
(415) 648-7600
www.foreigncinema.com

Yes, we are now repeating venues. But, some are so delicious we have to go back... soon! We had the Baked fromage d'affinois: summer truffle, roasted potatoes, toasts, and sauteed greens $12.50: I believe we had this last time... but, who's counting. Again, it's cheese - will we pass this up? We also got the Bombay style smoked trout, fresee and walnut toasts, $10 (by accident) but we loved it!! And we can't pass on the House cured sardines, meshweya, Moroccan olives, with fried almonds, $10. This is one of the best dishes I have ever had (oh, maybe that's why we had it last time too).

Bacar - September 2, 2008

448 Brannan St (between 4th St & Ritch St)
San Francisco, CA 94107
(415) 904-4100
www.bacarsf.com

This is my second or third time at Bacar. This restaurant is always extremely busy and full, and previously we have only been able to have dinner in the lounge. This time they had a table available in the dining area, however, I would recommend the lounge instead. It's a little cold feeling in the dining area on the main floor. However it may be different upstairs. I saw Oysters on the menu and had to have one of each: Buckley Bay-British Columbia, Marin Miyagi-California, and Rocky Pass-Alaska, $3 each. I didn't have a favorite yet they were all different and great! We had the Borrata Cheese Ravioli which had toasted walnuts, heirloom tomatoes and escarole $13. They were wonderful, and the serving size was just perfect for such a rich dish. We also got the Salad of Summer Squash containing fennel, baby artichoke with ricotta salata, mint and a creamy peppercorn vinaigrette, $11. Excellent!! Perfect combonations of flavors. And, we finished with a pizza, which we couldn't finish. The Mushroom Pizza, $15, was very tasty. I wish I had more room to finish it.