annachan
-
Posts
1,157 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Store
Help Articles
Posts posted by annachan
-
-
If you're in the neighborhood and want a Latin-American style breakfast, try
Los Jarritos
901 S. Van Ness at 20th Street
415-648-8383
They're large, comfortable, inexpensive and pretty good.
I went to Los Jarritos a few times several years ago and really enjoyed the food. I have to get over there again sometime.
Over the long weekend, I discovered another great brunch place, Tangerine, at 16th and Sanchez. It serves up traditional items with a twist, such as coconut pancakes w/ ginger syrup, blue crab omelet and Thai chicken satay sandwich. WE ended up with the Hawaiian omelet and macaroni pancake. The omelet was filled with ham, fresh pineappe and cheese, and was the fluffiest omelet we've had. The macaroni pancake was topped an egg, sautee leek and oyster mushroom. It needed a little salt, but was very satisfying. The prices are also great since most items are under $10. We will definitely go back again.
-
Nothing weird in the scones. No currents or raisens or lemon zest. Give a good honest scone.
My husband saw this post and said "are you crazy? No currants in scones! That's how wars are started!" (Forgive him, he's English....)
Here's a few things he like to see in a Teahouse that reminds him of home:
1) None of the plates and utensils should match.
2) Pasties, lots of pasties.
3) Sausage rolls and beans.
4) Scones must be accompanied by clotted cream and strawberry jam. Warm scones are a plus.
5) The selction of teas should include teas from the North of England (i.e. Yorkshire Gold). No tea bags.
6) All teapots should be dressed in tea cozys.
7) Offer a selection of tea sandwiches. Filling should be minimal.
8) Pork pie. Shepard's pie. Chicken pot pie.
9) Carry a selection of imported (from England) of Cadbury's chocolate and Walker's crisps.
10) Ploughman's lunch.
11) Cheese and crackers.
-
In the past month, I've tried the following brunch places that are worth mentioning:
Mabel's Just for You: It has the standards like egg dishes, pancakes, burgers, etc. Those items aren't very special and you can get the same quality for those prices at a lot of places. What I would go back for are the fresh beignets and the huevo ranchero. Oh yeah, cash or check only!
Town's End: Frankly, the place is a little overpriced for moderate quality food. I ordered the Winter Frittata and it was more like a scramble. The strawberries that my husband ordered with the waffles was under-ripe and came with a high price. The best parts of the breakfast are the potato pancakes and the free basket of mini muffins and scones. I would be happy just having those two items for brunch.
Welcome Home: A no non-sense diner on Castro with all the standard flairs. It's a nice place for brunch if you're in the neighborhood.
-
We found a good little Afghan place when we were in Monterey in December. It's call Amir's Kabob House. Wonderful home style dishes at great prices. It's on Lighthouse, only a few blocks from the Aquarium and Cannery Row.
-
I don't know Oakland too well, but I've enjoyed dining at Pho 84 several times. It's a nice little Vietnamese restaurant. A littler pricery and fancier than your average hole in the wall places. It's on 17th between (one block from Broadway) Franklin and Webster.
Another place I really like is Jesso's. It serves up some delicious Southern Food with an emphasis on seafood. I don't know when you'll be in town, but the restaurant host Fat Tuesday every 2nd (? I believe) Tuesday of the month. For $5 if you RSVP, or $10 at the door, you get a buffet dinner (menu varies, but you usually get fried chicken, catfish, calamari, oysters, hushpuppies, mac and cheese and vegetables) and live entertainment. I haven't been to Fat Tuesday for a while, so I suggest you call Jesso's to find out about the details if you're interested.
-
We went to the Chocolate Obseesion demo at Sur La Table last night and had a great time. Thinking of making burnt caramel truffle and triple chocolate cookies this weekend.
Other than the class, we got some pleasant surprises. On the way to Sur La Table, we discovered Richart chocolate on Sutter St. We picked up 2 boxes of chocolate there. At Sur La Table, I picked up some nice cooper ware and silicone spatulas for cheap. They have a special last night that we get 1/2 off any clearance items. I got a cooper pot, sautee pan w/ lid and 2 silicone spatulas for $250 (originally $650).
-
I live in Maryland where we often find thousands of what we call periwinkles in the salt marshes. They are quite small, maybe a half-inch across at most. Would they work for this dish? I once tried boiling a few of them but found the meat very difficult to extract; plus there's a hard bottom to the "foot" that is probably inedible.
Those sounds like what I've been used to. You do have to remove the hard disk on the bottom first. To extract them, the best way to to stick a toothpick into the meat and pull it out. Another way we used to extract the meat when we were little was to simply remove the hard disk and suck the meat out of the shell.
-
Check out the Gaslamp Strip Club. It's actually a steak house that got it's name from its signature strip steaks. Depending on the size of your party, you may be able to reserve the private area. It has a bar and it's 21 and over to get in the restaurant. Oh yeah, you have to grill your own steak. We were there about a year or so ago and had a great time. This is definitely fitting for a bachelor's party.
-
Went to Los Flamingos the other night and really enjoyed the food. It serves both Mexican and Cuban food. Parking is a killer thought, took me 45 minutes to find one....
-
I've also been wondering about this device. I wasn't interested at first, until I saw an ad for it in the Gourmet Retailer magazine I got from the Fancy Food Show. A company name Zevro actually has a version of this pasta cooker.
-
If you like sushi, Takara, Ino, and Kiss are worth considering - all of them are excellent, though you'll have a very different experience at each.
I second Takara. I love the amiebi (sweet shrimp) nigiri. They are the freshest around. There's a tank of them outside and they are fished out to order!
-
You can use fishball as the protein in a stir fry dish. I would cut them in half if using as stir-fry. An idea is to stir fry them with bean sprout, julienne carrot and celery w/ a little soy, Chinese wine and sugar. You can also add it some fried bean curd cut into strip, green onion, ginger and/or scrambled eggs. This stir fry goes well w/ rice or in a wrap of your choice.
A favorite street food in Hong Kong is curry fish ball. Just cook the fishball in your favorite curry sauce. It's typically done in yellow curry there. If you don't like curry, you can also cook them in a soy based sauce. I'm not sure of the exact ingredients, I'm sure soy sauce and sugar is in that mixture. You can add some chili sauce if you like them hot.
-
Sidenote: Since you're heading to Napa Valley.....I had one of the best meal ever at La Toque in Rutherford 2 years ago. The quality and quantity of food you get for the $98 pre fixe is well worth the price. But do watch out for the wine prices. We got 2 glasses of wine last time and they costed about $90. And they were on the lower end of the price scale....
From the wine pairing on the menu is listed at $62 per person for 4 wines each. From the half bottle page they have things listed from $16/375ml - I can't imagine how you managed to rack up a $90 tab on two glasses there, especially at the lower end of the price scale. Maybe you had a couple of glasses of Romanée-Conti and got a fantastic deal on them.
Looking back, I was not surprised that the wine was expensive. Looking through the wine menu at that time, many bottles were in the hundreds range, some in the thousands range and even a few in the ten-thousand range. Just taking a look at the wine list on the website now, there seems to be quite a few bottles for less than $100, which isn't what I remember from the wine menu. Maybe they are offering more wine at lower prices than when I was there.
Anyway, we did really enjoy the food and wine and we got our money's worth. I would definitely go again.
-
Slanted Door would not be my pick. I didn't really enjoy the food when we were there a few months ago. It seems to have turned into somewhat a tourist trap.
I haven't been to Boulevard or Farallone lately, but have really enjoyed the excellent food there before.
The one restaurant I've always enjoyed is Jardiniere. We've been there several times and the last time was about 4 months ago. The food is just divine and service impeccable. Make sure to ask for a table upstairs as the atmosphere is nicer.
I haven't been to either but have heard great things abour the Dining Room at Ritz and Michael Mina at the St. Francis.
Sidenote: Since you're heading to Napa Valley.....I had one of the best meal ever at La Toque in Rutherford 2 years ago. The quality and quantity of food you get for the $98 pre fixe is well worth the price. But do watch out for the wine prices. We got 2 glasses of wine last time and they costed about $90. And they were on the lower end of the price scale....
-
I second Baraka, good Mediterranean food.
I also really like Eliza's. It's a "Chinese" restaurant, but really more Chinese/Caifornian fusion like.
Goat Hill Pizza has nice pizzas. Nothing fancy, just solid pizzas and great meatballs. Monday is all you can eat pizza and salad for $9.95.
Hard Knox Cafe serves up some awesome Southern food. Prices are great, portions are huge, the corn muffins are a must. It's my favorite causal place for comfort food.
-
Amirʼs House of Kabobs (794 Lighthouse Ave) is a great Afghan restaurant we went to in December. The food was wonderful, the service was very friendly and the price was a bargain. It is only a few blocks away from Cannery Row but it's definitely not a tourist trap. I would definitely eat there again the next time I'm in Monterey.
-
I sent you a list of the people attending the show who listed themselves as being in the packaging trade. I was under the impression that you were looking for help. Had you taken the time to look at what I sent you, you might have found that I sent exactly what you asked for. Look at the list of vendors, click on the links, and contact them. Simple. The Fancy Food Show, for better or worse, is the largest show of it's kind in the world and is a great resource for those interested in what's going on with commercial food trends.
I'm sorry if I wasted your time. Good luck with the internet-it's a tough gig. I should know, it's how a make part of my living.
I actually just went to the Fancy Food Show in San Francisco yesterday and saw some vendors that specialized in tins. Allstate Can Corporation, Independent Can Company, United States Can Company,J.L. Clark. Check these out and see if any meets your needs.
-
I had the same problem before and ended up switching to using chocolate disks. However, I did get some advice about using the chocolate chopper. I was told that it's easier if you use the chopper along w/ a rubber mallet.
-
So in about 2 weeks I'll be back in Montreal for a month and I've been told to cook dinner for some friends and co-workers, some of which are proud vegetarians. When they come to meet me in China/HK we mostly avoid Chinese food since so far they are unimpressed with what they find in comparison to their favorites faux-meat veg places in Montreal.
Maybe you should have taken them to some Buddhist monastery to eat. I remember from years ago from this one monastery we ate at. The faux-meat dishes were nothing less than amazing. One dish in particular really blew my mind. They made a vege-chicken in the shape of a whole chicken. If you didn't take a look at it carefully (and have not yet cut open the "chicken"), you would've swore that it's a chicken! The outside is made of tofu skin, in the same color as cooked chicken skin. On the inside, it's stuffed w/ an assortment of vegetables and tofu.
-
My question is, "Is it open yet?"
I'll be at the Fancy Food Show @ Mascone Center Sunday. Will likely walk over to check it out. If I'm lucky and they are open, I'll be sure to share my experience.
-
What are you making with it? If it's for a soup noodle, you can add it as it is. For stir-fries, run your fingers through the noodles to separate them, add more oil and make a quick job of the frying, or it'll stick together.
I am making lemongrass beef with herbed noodle salad....I just need to know how long to cook them. Asian home-cooking always screws me up...
You know, "how long" is a difficult thing. Depending on the brand, the thickness of your noodle, etc., cooking time will vary. What we usually do at home is to taste the noodle periodically until you get the texture you desire. Since it's fresh noodles, it should not take more than a few minutes. I would say give it a taste after a minute or so to test it.
-
That's one thing I've never seen anyone made at home....I would suggest reading some labels and do some experiments.....
As far as I know, Sha Cha Jiang and XO sauce are quite different. XO sauce is supposed to be made with top quality ingredients such as dried scallops, hence the name. I'm not sure exactly what's in Sha Cha Jiang, but I don't think it contains any expensive ingredient.
-
Semi-refined/yuppie-type places
Miss Millies (24th St @ Castro) - always love those fresh churros. Many items on the brunch menu tend to be new twists on old classics, such as gingerbread pear waffles and lemon ricotta pancakes. You'll definitely spot a crowd waiting for tables outside on weekends.
FYI-
Unfortunately, Miss Millie's is closing; due to the cost of doing business in San Francisco, they have decided to move their place to Rockridge (Oakland).
Stu
Thanks for the heads-up. It will be missed by SF.
-
What goodies would you like to see
in Pastry & Baking
Posted
Clotted cream is definitely more dense than yogurt, even Greek yogurt. It's a nice rich cream with a little sweetness to it. I just got to have that with my scones whenever we go to the local tea house.