Limon

Saturday Date: July 23, 2011

I have had the pleasure of meeting the culinary family who introduced Limon's Peruvian cuisine to SF, and  their rise to success. I doubt that they will ever remember me but I met the brothers and their mother through a mutual friend almost 10 years ago while they were trying to make a name in the SF food world.

And how far they have come! I used to dine at their former restaurant also in the Mission District. I barely have any recollections of the old place but still remember the lomo saltado that was my favorite. Years later, thanks to Groupon, Limon was back in my radar again. The "new" Limon is very chic and contemporary with modern art and clean lines. At 2 pm, the place was not packed and is actually a pleasant place to have a late lunch in the Mission.

I did not order lomo saltado this time and wanted to try other Peruvian dishes. Enrique and I shared all the dishes family-style:

Ensalada Rusa: Classic Peruvian salad of beets, potatoes, peas and green beans in creamy mustard dressing. A salad that is on the heavy side because of the dairy dressing but filling and good.

Seco de Costillas: Braised boneless beef short-ribs with cilantro, potatoes and peas. This is really a very simple dish. Enrique mentioned that I made something very similar at home. However, the short-ribs were very tender and full of flavors.

Arroz con Mariscos: Peruvian-style paella with saffron rice, calamari rings, mussels, prawns, and pimiento. Not the best paella I've had but good as well with the spices with the saffron giving the rice and seafood good flavors.

Carne Empanadas: Crispy pastry dough filled with beef, veggies, hard-boiled eggs and raisins. Enrique was not quite full and ordered these empanadas which finally hit the spot. Delicous fried dumplings with generous beef fillings. I did not taste the raisins but it was there. I always compare empanadas from other countries to the Filipino empanadas. Filipino empanadas are baked and tends to be sweeter because of the raisins compared to the Peruvian ones. We enjoyed these little treats!

Instead of Sangria, I ordered a non-alcoholic mango lemonade. Very refreshing and paired well with the dishes we ordered.

OVERALL:
Well-executed dishes in a modern setting with lively vibes. Limon states their dishes are meant to be shared "family-style." However, their portions are more of tapas than big platters. Pricey for the portions but the taste of the food is worth the price.

TAB: $80 including 2 non-alc drinks, tax and tip.

Foodie Girl's Rating: 3.5 Stars

Key:
0 Star: Never again!!! These people should not be in business.
1 Star: Chalk it to bad experience. Live and learn.
2 Stars: Some are good. Some are okay. Some are bad.
3 Stars: Like! I will return!
4 Stars: Love! I will be dreaming of you at night!
5 Stars: Perfection (or close to!)

Bossa Nova

If you blink, you will literally miss Bossa Nova. Bossa Nova is a tiny Brazilian restaurant located in SF's South of Market (SoMa) Neighborhood. About three blocks from the Civic Center BART station, the location is perfect for access to public transportation which will come in handy after a glass or two of Bossa Nova's well-made mojitos and caipirinhas. It is also very important to get your street smarts out of the bag when traversing this part of SF--sketchy, sordid and surrounded by social services agencies including homeless shelters.

Is Bossa Nova worth the trip?  Definitely. If you are looking for delicious, well-made drinks, decent tapas and a little Brazilian live jazz, Bossa Nova is the place. Bossa Nova is a also cute and cozy. The decor celebrates both Brazilian culture with a cross and altar hanging on the brick wall, a well as SF's culture--a pair of red erotic high heels suspended above the bar. In the evening the tealight candles make Bossa Nova a romantic place to grab a light dinner or Happy Hour with your friends.

I have been to Bossa Nova for close to half a dozen times already over the last two years.  One thing I can say, the fruit mojitos were consistently strong and good. The food were hit or miss. They could be the same dishes but sometimes they came out good, othertimes, disappointing.

I can say, though, that my last visit in July 2011, our dishes were executed better than the last time I was at Bossa Nova. We celebrated my friend Russell's birthday. I made a reservation through Opentable and mentioned the occasion.

We started with a round of Mojitos, Caipirinhas and a fruit juice for me.  I've had Bossa Nova's mojitos and caipirinhas many times before. They were always well-made, strong and delicious. Even my non-alc strawberry lemonade this time was yummy.

A tableful  of tapas followed. We thought the Organic Fresh Hearts of Palm Salad w/ Fresh Peas, Black Olives, Cherry Tomatoes, Chives & Red Wine Vinaigrette  $12.75 was superb. The salad was so full of flavors, light and refreshing.

All of our tapas were delicious and came to us at the right temperature. (My least appetizing dinner at Bossa Nova in the past was due to hot/fried dishes coming to us lukewarm but not this time.)

Brazilian Cheese Bread "Pão de queijo" $5.50: Delicious bite-size morsels of cheesy bread.

I personally loved the Steamed Mussels w/ Spicy Tomato, Cilantro, Coconut Milk Broth $15.75. I could not leave the broth alone even after all the mussels were gone.

The Fried Plaintains $4.75 when done right, i.e., delivered to the table hot off the fryer were actually nice, crunchy and savory. The spicy sauce that accompanied the chips complimented the salty-tangy taste of the chips.

The Steak Fries $4.75 were beautifully piled high on the plate. These thickly cut fries would have been great if they were not overfried to the point of being burnt. Since we were rounding up dinner we decided to not send them back.

We have had a few more tapas including Saltcod Croquettes which were hot and good with plenty of fish instead of being doughy with flour.

The most disappointing part of our dinner at Bossa Nova was the lackadaisical, luke-warm service that we received. In the past, Bossa Nova's friendly and warm service was its saving grace when dinner was less than satisfying.  This time, although our server was not mean or unkind, she appeared stressed out and uncaring. When it was time to order dessert for the birthday boy, we pointed to our friend and informed our server that it was his birthday. (I also mentioned during during my reservation through OpenTable.) We asked if she could put a candle on his cake. She half-smiled and told us "we do not have candles." She made a brief attempt to look in the drawers.

Needless to say, our birthday celebrant was deprived of a birthday candle and a round of embarrassing "Happy Birthday" song.

He truly loved and enjoyed his Chocolate Cake ($7.25), though, which was a hot molten lava cake--sans birthday candle. Oh, well...Happy Birthday, Russell!!!!

Tab: $120 after tax before tip for 5 people (5 alcoholic drinks and 1 fruit-juice)

Foodie Girl's Rating: 3 Stars

A great place for Happy Hour, well-made fruit mojitos and tapas. Live Brazilian music sets the mood for fun times with friends or solo R&R!

Key:

0 Star: Never again!!! These people should not be in business.
1 Star: Chalk it to bad experience. Live and learn.
2 Stars: Some are good. Some are okay. Some are bad.
3 Stars: Like! I will return!
4 Stars: Love! I will be dreaming of you at night!
5 Stars: Perfection (or close to!)

Doobu

Saturday Dinner and Movie Date Night: July 9, 2011 @ 6PM

A "Play-It-By-Ear" Saturday lead us to Doobu in Japantown. Still slightly jetlagged from my trip from Manila a week ago (yes, it took me that long to recover!)--Enrique and I did not plan anything for this Saturday except dinner.

Movie at the Sundance Kabuki is always our favorite way to spend a lazy Saturday evening after dinner.  And this time, no restaurants in mind, no Yelping, no Opentable. Just anything goes.

We took a stroll at J-Town and after a quick browse at the Aloha Warehouse for cute Hawaiian merchandise, I spotted Doobu right next to it. I found out that Doobu is a Korean restaurant. Perfect! I was not in the mood for Japanese food.

Doobu is tiny but the decor is surprisingly hip. It is a mixture of traditional and contemporary.  The "sushi" bar was at one side of the restaurant. The rest was mostly comfortable booths for seatings. The place was almost empty when we first sat down before 6pm. Minutes later, people stated coming in. And I was glad to see that many Koreans patronize this restaurant. A good sign!

As soon as I saw Bibimbap on the menu, my heart (tummy) was set on this dish.  Enrique went for his usual Kalbi.

We were given a whole fried fish as a complimentary appetizer. The fish was battered and crispy. I loved it but Enrique did not like the bones so I ended up eating his and really enjoyed this nice treat.

5 ban chan were also provided to us: a kimchi, seaweed, chewy fish cake strips, pickled sprouts and daikon.  The kimchi was on the bland side and lacking in heat and spices.  My favorite was the marinated seaweed but the rest of the ban chan was actually pretty good!

Enrique did not have much to say about his Kalbi except "it was good." He commented, though, that it had a lot of fat.

I was disappointed with my Bibimbap as soon as the pot was placed in front of me.  The very hot stone pot and a raw egg on top held the promise of a great bibimbap. It was also tasty with the right spices. A jar of red hot pepper sauce arrived with my dish. However, instead of bulgogi (thinly-sliced beef), my dish came with ground beef. Eating ground beef with my bibimbap just felt strange to me texture-wise. I prefer the more traditional bibimbap.



Doobu is a good option if you are craving Korean food in Japantown where you will most likely end up dining on sushi and bento boxes. Service was friendly but not very efficient given there were only two servers who functioned as hosts, food preparers and servers at the same time. It is also more expensive than the Korean restaurants we frequent both in the City and the East Bay.

Doobu might not have made it to my fave Korean list but I will have no qualms returning if I were craving Korean food in J-Town.  I will just skip the Bibimbap and try a different hot stone pot next time.

Tab: $60 including a Diet Coke, tax and 18 tip.

Foodie Girl's Rating: 3 Stars

Key:
0 Star: Never again!!! These people should not be in business.
1 Star: Chalk it to bad experience. Live and learn.
2 Stars: Some are good. Some are okay. Some are bad.
3 Stars: Like! I will return!
4 Stars: Love! I will be dreaming of you at night!
5 Stars: Perfection (or close to!)

Chenery Park

Chenery Park is a neighborhood gem that is located at Glen Park-- a cute little SF neighborhood where you will find houses at the bottom of sloping hills. Chenery Park was a charming house converted into a 3 level restaurant. The staff are friendly and efficient. The ambiance is cozy, romantic and dark.



Chenery Park has the right ingredients for a nice casual dinner. The dishes were comforting and creative, however, sadly, we found them to be underwhelming.

Before I left for my trip to the Philippines in June 2011, my fiance and I had my pre-trip date night at Chenery Park. I looked at the menu prior to dinner and I already knew that I really wanted to try the beignets and the gnocchi:

CAMBAZOLA BEIGNETS  with Apples, Endive, and Poached Figs $9: The beignets were not the traditional beignets. They were more of dark fried dough as compared to the more traditional fried donuts. However, they were light, hot, savory and oozing with creamy melted cheese. I imagined them to be stuffed with apples and figs. However, the apples, figs and endive were the salad that came with the beignets. This would have been a perfectly executed  dish if not for the dressing that came with the salad. The sweet-sour dressing tasted like the bottled Asian version that overpowered the whole dish.

HOUSEMADE WILD MUSHROOM GNOCCHI $9: I chose the half-order ($17 for a full-order). The gnocchi were like soft delicate pillows. It would have a been a delicious and  exquisite dish if not for overpowering creamy mushroom sauce that tasted like Campbell's mushroom soup. Chenery Park takes pride in using fresh and organic ingredients. While the sauce was not definitely canned, it did lacked the unique homemade taste that I was expecting.

DRY-AGED NY STEAK with French Fries $22: Enrique's dinner. He thought it was okay and on the smallish side.  Unremarkable.

AFFOGATO, Vanilla Bean Ice Cream with Espresso and Hazelnut Meringue Cookies $7: This dessert was divine!!! Hot coffee, cold i, sweet. An explosion of sweetness on the palate!

CHOCOLATE VEGAN ANGEL-FOOD CAKE with Blackberry-Cabernet Sorbet & Chocolate Sauce $7:   I don't think my fiance knew he was ordering vegan. We both tried it and it was very dry and tasteless like cardboard. Definitely a very disappointing dessert to end your meal.

TAB: About $60 before tip and before Groupon.

Chenery Park is delicious enough but tends to overexaggerate some of the flavors of their dishes.

Foodie Girl's Rating: 2   Stars

Key:

0 Star: Never again!!! These people should not be in business.
1 Star: Chalk it to bad experience. Live and learn.
2 Stars: Some are good. Some are okay. Some are bad.
3 Stars: Like! I will return!
4 Stars: Love! I will be dreaming of you at night!
5 Stars: Perfection (or close to!)