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This is our most favorite place to eat Pizza in San Francisco as well... In fact we just went there last Saturday for lunch!

That to me suggests that anywhere that loud children wouldn’t be welcome wouldn’t be an option. A few weeks ago I was having dinner at Shalimar in the south bay and there were six kids running through the place pummeling each other; at one point one took refuge under our table; another at one point one hid behind my chair – that’s all fine with me, quite entertaining in fact. ← (1) There are plenty of San Francisco restaurants that are noisy beyond belief and you won't see a kid in sight -- it's the adults who are creating all the noise. (2) chowfun simply said "they are a bit loud"... extrapolating from that to cite the example of kids running around under tables is a bit extreme. (3) Suggesting that there is nothing else kid-friendly in San Francisco other than Shalimar, Ali Baba and Taco Trucks is also a bit extreme, unless you were being facetious. Having said that, there is (unfortunately, in my view) some truth to the fact that San Francisco restaurants, in general, are not kid-friendly. It's almost like they have child-phobia or something. I have never understood the why part of it. Especially considering my point (1). Anyway, I have found that noisy places are perfect for noisy kids -- if the kids are making noise, no one will notice. Here's a few: - Chow and Park Chow? They are pretty kid friendly. - I haven't been to Isa in a long time, but they used to be pretty kid friendly. - Pizetta 211 is child friendly, especially if you sit ouside at lunch time. - Quince, - and Antica Trattoria are restaurants with good food but are very noisy, so they should be child friendly (although the tables are place way too close, may not be that suitable for children). Really, it entirely depends on the demeanour of the kids as to which restaurants you can take them to. In my last visit to Manresa, the table next to ours had two kids -- a 5-ish year old and a 6-ish year old. They were in their most perfect behaviour throught their meal. Impressive!

Check out recent discussion: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=50232

A bit of googling reveals this:http://www.hinduonnet.com/folio/fo0004/00040200.htm And http://sify.com/shopping/book_detail.php?prodid=114873&cid=2

Bengali's have many dishes prepared with mustard paste. Traditionally, mustard seeds are "wet-ground", using a "shil-nora" -- the "shil" is a flat and thick block of stone with many small indentations on it. The "nora" is piece of cylindrical stone. You lay the wet mustard seeds on the "shil". Then you pond the wet seeds with the "nora", to break them into a coarse grind. Then press down with the "nora". and continue to move the "nora" back-and-forth, along with a light rolling motion, until you get a really fine ground paste.I am lazy (and besides I do not have a "shil-nora" :>) -- I use my Osterizer Blender. Here is how I make my mustard paste: 1/4 cup mustard seeds (I use a mix of black/brown/yellow) 1 cup water Soak mustard seeds in 0.5 cup of water for 10-15 minutes. Grind the mustard seeds (along with the water) to a fine paste in a blender. Add upto 0.5 cups of more water, as the grind progresses, to keep the consistency on the liquidy side. The grinding takes a long time, about 10-20 minutes, depending on how powerful and how efficient your blender is. I use an osterizer blender at its highest setting. If you do not grind it to a fine paste, the resulting mustard paste may have a bitter taste. I noticed that the recipe calls for a 1tsp mustard paste. In a normal blender, it is difficult to make so little of mustard paste. Alternatively, you can try to purchase dry mustard powder (from an Indian store perhaps), and use that, mixed with water. I have never used this method, but I know other folks have tried this. Also, I can't really vouch for the authenticity of this dish -- this is just one recipe I found on the web using Google. I am pretty sure my mom does not use Yougurt when making this dish. Also, to be sure, when you say "Banana Stem", you mean the whitish pith of the Banana stem, correct? Sort of looks like #4 in the picture below? The picture is not a very good one though.

The bengali term for banana stem is "thor" (pronounced thowr). Here is a recipe I found on the web: http://milonee.net/bengali_recipes/contributed3.html#thor I have to ask my mother for her recipe. I am curious -- are you in the USA? if so, where did you get a hold of fresh Banana stem? I have looked and looked and never found any.

More than five, and in no particular order : * Antica Trattoria, San Francisco * Shalimar, San Francisco * Bistro Jeanty, Yountville * Pizzetta 211, San Francisco (for pizzas only) * Turmerik, Sunnyvale * Vivande Porta Via, San Francisco, for pastas * Quince, San Francisco * Dasaprakash, Santa Clara * Zarzuela, San Francisco * Dish Dash, Sunnyvale * Manresa, Los Gatos * La Folie, San Francisco * Hong Kong Flower Lounge, Millbrae * Shahnawaz, Milpitas

Here are some more I can think of off-the-top-of-my-head: Park Chow, Chow in San Francisco Chez Sovan -- two locations, Campbell & San Jose MsMelkor has already mentioned Shalimar -- although each time we go there, we end up spending more than $10/person Dish Dash, Sunnyvale -- Middle Eastern food Dasaprakash, in Sunnyvale -- South Indian food 3 Amigos Taqueria in Half Moon Bay -- although this probably falls under "fast food" More may follow...

There are several Vietnamese Bahn-Mi and Pho places where you could eat good food for less than $10, many places even less than $5. In fact, yesterday's San Francisco Chronicle food section has a special feature devoted to Good Pho Places in San Francisco When I am in the city, for Bahn-mi I sometimes go to Saigon Sandwich or Wrap Delight, both on Larkin St. In the San Jose area, I go to Lee's Sandwiches or Huong Lan

Thanks to both of you for your recommendations. I am puzzled about Cafe Beaujolais though -- all of the other reports seem to be very good, except yours. I am wondering, marie-louise, if perhaps your experience was because of an off-night for the restaurant, an anomaly perhaps? Or does anyone know if the restaurant has recently changed ownership?

We are heading off to Elk( 15 miles south of Mendocino) this weekend, and would like to hear recommendations for good places to eat around the area. From my research so far, I have seen the following names pop up: * Cafe Beaujolais * Patterson's Pub * Mendocino Cafe * Queenies Roadhouse, Elk * The restaurant at the Stevenswood Lodge * Mousse Cafe * Ardella's Kitchen, in Willits * The restaurant at the Albion River Inn, in Albion Any additions to (or deletions from ) this list would be most welcome. Last, but not the least, any comment about the "Child Friendliness" (or lack thereof) about the places would be most welcome. We will have a 1.5 year toddler with us. EDIT: to add the bit about child-friendliness...

But boy they are pricey! For instance, on this page: http://www.houseoftea.com/category.html their Makaibari Estate FTGFOP-I is listed at $72.00 per lb!!!! Same Tea is available from http://www.silvertipstea.com from $23.00 per lb. Am I missing something or House of Tea really selling it at more than 3 times the price?

Cut out the middle man and buy from source. In this case, the source is Makabari tea estate, considered by some to be one the best tea estates in the Darjeeling region: http://www.silvertipstea.com My personal favorite is their Makaibari Second Flush FTGFOP1S I am just a satisfied customer and have no affiliation with them...

Is this the same as "Kala Chana"?

But Mr. Katzer is not completely silent on the subject.* He mentions "Onion Seed" is a synonym for Nigella aka "Kalonji". * And, on the same page, he also says: I agree with him on both points, especially on the first point. I have seen the terms being used interchangeably pretty much everywhere.

According to Gernot Katzer's Spice Pages, Kalonji=Nigela=Onion Seed. Same thing. It is called "Onion Seed", but it is actually not the seed of an onion plant. Perhaps that is what Mr Kochhar meant.

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...ndpost&p=581535 is one easy way to do it.

This is the part I don't understand. When the meat is braising, it is, by definition, surrounded by liquid. Why would the meat be dry? In my experience, when I am making a Indian style chicken stew (aka Chicken curry), even the breast meat is never dry, even if manage to overcook it. Even if I cook it to "falling-off-the-bones" consistency.

I prefer the leg/thigh meat, with bones. However, when cooked in a gravy, I wonder if there really is such a difference between the taste of the meat from the breast vs. that from the leg? When cooked dry, I understand there is a difference in taste. But when its been braising for a while, anyway its going to get the flavor from all of the spices/broth etc, will there be that much difference in tase?

This same recipe (and other thoughts) have been discussed recently on this eGullet thread: Bahn Mi RecipeThe consensus is that this recipe does not work.

This is because Imagestation _only_ lets you view the pictures if you are viweing the Imagestation album. You cannot place an Imagestation hosted image in another site's page and expect to view it. Instead of the tag, you would be better off if you could use the tag and place a link to the specific page in your photo album.Or, you could upload your images to ImageGullet and place links to them.

Wow, are you saying that neem and mango all originated in Latin America? ( I know that cashew did, but not neem and certainly not mango). That's contrary to what I have heard all my life. Can you please substantiate?

Does anybody (Monica?) have a easy recipe/method to make falooda to go with this kulfi? BTW, Monica, I have just placed an order for both of your books... can't wait for them to arrive. Also ordered Suvir's book as well.

I am really surprised at the lack of responses about experiences about cooking/eating neem leaves. Does this mean Bengalis are the only ones to eat neem leaves? This is really surprising, considering Neem trees grow all over the Indian subcontinent...

AFAIK, you cant buy neem leaves in the USA. You can purchase neem extract, neem oil, neem-based moth-repellants etc, which I have no experience with.Or, you can buy yourself a neem sapling Neem tree and its leaves are known to have pesticidal qualities.