Lois

Does anyone know anything about L'Image, or has anyone tried it? The menu looks nice and fairly fancy, but I'm confused by its appendage (a beauty store).

I was just there, and one highlight was Legendary Noodle, at 4191 Main. The guy hand-pulls the noodles while you eat, and the lamb soup with noodles was fantastic (and cheap). I also got pea shoots with garlic, which were delicious. In Chinatown, try Phnom Penh, which is actually Cambodian but very good. There is also a Hong Kong-style bakery/teahouse called The Boss, which I heard very good things about, but it was too crowded (and I had already eaten too much) the day I stopped in. I have Richmond recommendations too, as I got to spend a couple of days there, but will wait and see what you want specifically.

So, if Yaohan isn't all it's cracked up to be (or even if it is), where else do you all go in Richmond? What are the best of the malls and food places? I'll be in Vancouver for a week starting Friday and really want to explore the Asian food scene there. There seem to be a lot of threads on this general topic and I didn't want to start another one (but will if that would be preferred--just let me know). Any hot new tips?

It's not a fancy option, but check out Minako, which is a tiny little family-run place on Mission in S.F. (I think it's at about 17th). The mom cooks, the daughter waits tables, and it's a total bargain. I haven't had the kaiseki (which is about $30, if I remember rightly), but on my last visit (where I had a fabulous miso-marinated mackerel with housemade sesame-ish noodles on the side) I saw several tables getting it and it looked great. There's also a vegan kaiseki option, and most of the ingredients are organic. It's quirky, the service can be slow (but charming!), and you may have to wait for a table, but the food is good. Here is a post about it on Chowhound.

For sit-down Mexican in a divey atmosphere, I like Mom is Cooking, which is waaaay out in the Excelsior in San Francisco. For taqueria, there's a newish place in the Mission that I love, called El Metate. It's on Bryant, I think somewhere around 21st/22nd. Lots of great options and a little fresher and more interesting than the standard taquerias. Both places have good chile verde (green chile pork), which for me is the sine qua non of Mexican. I second the recommendation above of the tacos al pastor at El Farolito. They also do a good vegetarian taco (beans, rice, onions, hot salsa, and lots of avocado).

I haven't eaten at Powell's yet, but I sometimes do yoga at a studio next door to them--and let me tell you, it's hard to concentrate on your breathing in a 6 p.m. class with the smell of that fried chicken wafting through the air. The reason I haven't eaten there is because every time I'm in Hayes Valley, it's to do yoga, and I feel sheepish about going and eating fried chicken right after a yoga class. It doesn't seem very yogic, you know? That said, I second the suggestion of looking in Oakland. I think there are some classic chicken & waffles places, and plenty of regular soul-food spots.

Thanks, everyone! I served the roasted kale with Meyer lemons at Thanksgiving and it was the only thing at the table that was completely finished. On the varieties of kale, I generally see three varieties in my local markets (in San Francisco): Regular old kale is a medium green color (the color is like that of spinach or a little lighter) with very curly-edged leaves (the shape of the leaves is probably the most similar to the ornamental kales you see in gardens). Russian or red kale is a silvery grayish green, tinged with a reddish purple at the tips of the leaves. The leaves are a kind of odd finger-shape spreading out from the central ribs, almost like dandelion greens (but the leaves are much thicker and tougher, of course). For me, the flavor of Russian kale is too strong--it has kind of a bitter edge. Dinosaur or lacinato kale has very dark green leaves, similar in color to Swiss chard or even darker. The leaves are flatter and more of an oval shape--only slightly curly. I prefer the flavor of it, which is deep but fairly mild, and the leaves are a lot easier to work with, both in terms of getting them off the stem and cutting them into even pieces, since they are flatter. I also think the color is gorgeous--very dramatic. (It's very pretty with the preserved lemons, which look like jewels against the almost black roasted kale.)

You can also cut it up (make sure to discard the tough stems), toss it with a little olive oil and roast it in the oven--high heat, about 20 minutes. The leaves on top get crispy, almost like kale potato chips, and the ones underneath get tender. Yum! I get a whole bunch of it and fill up a 9x13 pan. When it's done, add salt and pepper or whatever you like. (I like to chop up oil-cured preserved Meyer lemons and mix them in.) Good hot or at room temperature. Alternatively, you can do this with a little sesame oil for an Asian version. I also like to make kale and white bean soup (with or without chorizo). It's great in soup. For my money, the best variety to use is the dark green dinosaur or lacinato kale.

Thanks, Squeat! Yes, Kathy at Lotus Garden is extremely charming and nice, and she never fails to tell us to enjoy our lunch. Stone, I agree that the cooks at the counter are extremely impressive. I just haven't had particularly good food. The stir-fries all seem to have the same mix of uninteresting vegetables (and again, way too much sauce). I got some pho there not long ago that was downright awful. To be fair to them, it's not really their specialty (it was a chilly, rainy day and that's what I really wanted), but I had no idea pho could be so bad.

I have visited Stockton frequently all my life (my grandfather lives there). If you find anything worth seeking out, please, please let me know. Because of the large immigrant population there, I'm convinced that there must be good Vietnamese or Thai food somewhere, plus good taquerias, but haven't had time to really check things out thoroughly on short family visits. I went to a place in Sacramento recently called Pho Bac Hoa Viet, which is a small Vietnamese chain of which there is an outpost in Stockton. It's at 7945 N. West Lane. I thought the pho was pretty good, didn't try anything else (and haven't been to the Stockton branch). In Stockton I have tried a place called Saigon, I think, where the food was OK, not fantastic. There must be more, though--I would suspect that the really good authentic Southeast Asian places are on the south side of town. There used to be decent Chinese-American food at On Lock Sam's (or is my nostalgia for going there as a kid with my grandparents clouding my vision of the food? The fried asparagus at least was very tasty) but it closed down last year. In Lincoln Village, there is Podesto's market (mentioned above) and a serviceable Japanese place (called Sho-Mi, I think), plus a Japanese market with a pretty good selection. Is the Alder Market still around? I used to go there with my grandmother about ten years ago. It was a very ladies-who-lunch crowd but pretty good food. That's much more upscale. A place called Le Bistro is often cited as Stockton's best restaurant, but I would advise against it. I don't like the food, the atmosphere, or the service. Some of the best food I've had in Stockton was at a Greek festival at the church there--surely there must be some good Greek food around somewhere (again, there's a big Greek population). And, if you end up starving, there's always an In & Out Burger.

My favorite Vietnamese lunch spot in SF is Golden Flower, which is on Jackson (between Grant and Kearny, I think) in Chinatown. Get the bun (rice noodle salad) with grilled pork and imperial rolls. It's number 40, and it can't be beat. I used to work two blocks from there and I still miss it. (They used to call me "number 40!" to me when I walked in. Sniff!) Good noodle soups, too. Anyway, if you're doing the tourist thing in Chinatown or North Beach, it's right near where the two neighborhoods meet. Out in the Mission, there's a place with very good pho and very friendly service called Lotus Garden--it's near the intersection with Cortland, at the foot of Bernal Heights. I live in the neighborhood, so it's my takeout joint. Everything I've gotten from there has been good. A bit out of the way but accessible on the bus (parking's not bad in that area, either), and if you want a fun little jaunt then may I suggest going there after a tour of the Mission District, then head up to the top of Bernal Hill for a very pretty and distinctive view of the city? One place that gets a fair amount of press is Tu Lan, on Sixth between Market and Mission. I don't know what others think, but I'd skip it. I haven't had great food there, despite hearing a lot of hype about it, and the neighborhood is exceedingly grotty.