Pa'ina Lounge

DINNER AND MOVIE NIGHT: 07.14.12

Pa'ina Lounge replaced the former Sundance Kitchen. When Enrique saw that a new Hawaiian-fusion was reincarnated right next to our favorite theatre, Sundance Kabuki, he literally did a happy dance!

Walking in, it was like going to a club with purple and blue lights illuminating the white walls. The place is bi-leveled, open and spacious: bar is on upper section then it drops to the lower section which is the dining area. Pa'ina is sleek, modern and loud. The stage is ready to receive entertainers that the managers talked to us about when they finally get the license and paperwork done. There will be performers on a nightly basis-- DRAG SHOWS, REGGAE, HAWAIIAN, BLUES, etc.

Sadly, Pa'ina was not what at all we anticipated.  This has not been the most horrible experience we'd ever had but the most annoying!

We go to dinner to chill and relax. This place was so disorganized that it actually stressed me out!

Service was lacking and disorganized. Although the managers and servers were friendly, it did not make up for the fact that we did not get our drinks until 40 minutes after we sat down -- despite hounding any servers we could find to remind them about my Mango Kamikaze. Our dishes were delivered to our tables about 20 minutes apart.

1. $5 Happy Hour Clam and Mussel Combo.

2. Spicy Hawaiian Poke $12 with a side of rice $3

3. Short Ribs with Macaroni Salad for Enrique $10

4. Mango Kamikaze $10

The poke and rice arrived first after about 20 minutes. Another ~ 20 minutes and then the short ribs and appetizer of clam and mussel combo arrived. Our drinks were nowhere to be seen.

Our server was literally running -- no, make that sprinting back and forth across the dining room looking very stressed.

Until Enrique verbally expressed his disatisfaction that I have not received my drink and that his Diet Coke has never been refilled,  then that was when things ran a little bit smoothly.

We took a chance of placing our second order for more food. This time I guess because they knew we were upset, that the service became more efficient. However, my glass was never taken away nor was I offered another drink.

We placed another order for ISLAND POKE $12 for me and KALUA PIG FRIES  for Enrique. 

VERDICT:~Sleek cool place to chill.
~Very disorganized service.
~Reasonable prices and adequate portions.
~Strong drink. (Mango Kamikaze was at least strong and good.)
~ Decent food: Spicy poke was seasoned enough but the Island Poke was bland. According to my guy, the ribs were tender but very sweet. The Kalua Pig Fries were tender, flavorful and came with lots of pig.

FINAL THOUGHTS:We are frequent flyers at the Sundance Kabuki. In fact this theatre is where we watch our movies 98% of the time. Enrique is such a movie buff  that  we go to the movies quite a bit. We would often grab a quick bite at the Sundance Kitchen in the past and liked it for the convenience.

However, we will wait until Pa'ina iron out the kinks and hoping they would before we go back again.

TOTAL: $81 with generous tip despite the poor service.

Spice Kit

Spice Kit is a contemporary Asian fusion eatery located in the modern Orrick building in the Financial District. When it first opened, it caused quite a stir in the foodie scene in San Francisco. Who could resist the lure of eating a meal created by names associated with the giants of the culinary industry such as Will Pacio, formerly of the French Laundry and Per Se, and Chef Fred Tang of the Ritz Carlton?

Spice Kit is not a fancy dine-in restaurant nor a "mom and pop." The decor is contemporary and minimalist. It has a very high loft-like ceiling and plenty of casual table for sitting down. Or go out in the sun and eat your meal al fresco at the lovely courtyard.

The menu is short: chicken, beef or tofu which you can choose as a fillings for bahn mi, Ssam (wrap) or plate (same as the wrap minus the rice paper.)

On my first visit I could not resist ordering almost half of the short menu:

LOTUS CHIPS: $1.50 They were like Asian potato chips. Supposed to Be crispy but what I had was a mixed bag of not so crunchy and greasy chips. Some of the chips were slightly burnt. Glad I tried them but will not get them again.

BEEF SHORTRIBS SSAM: $7.50: AKA Korean Wrap. This wrap resembled a burrito but instead of tortilla the kimchi rice was wrapped in fresh rice paper. The kimchi rice did not overwhelm the dish. The generous pieces of beef were marinated in Korean marinade sauce and was very tender. Other ingredients were cucumber, lettuce and beans sprouts. This wrap was humongous! It's was like eating a hand-held bibimbap.

PORK BUN 2 for $5 or $2.95 each: Thick, juicy, tender pork belly in an Asian bun with hoisin sauce, pickled cucumber and green onion. Fun to eat and delicious! Smallish appetizer portion. I can eat 6 of these in one seating!

Others have complained that Spice Kit is not authentic Asian food. It is NOT! It is Asian-American fast lunch fusion. The menu is playful but tasted good.

If I wanted authentic pork bun, I would to a more traditional restaurant in Chinatown or a fine dining dim sum restaurant. If I wanted Bibimbap, I will go to a Korean restaurant where I can get my bibimbap in a hot stone pot plus ban chan.

So, in my book, Spice Kit is not only okay but good. The dishes are creative, filling and tasty. The prices might be higher but the portions are generous and ingredients are of better quality --than say, Chinatown.

And for this reason, I decided not to try the banh mi at Spice Kit. Working not far from  Saigon Sandwich, I just could not get myself to not only pay $8 for a banh mi when I know I could get an super-delicious authentic banh mi in the TL for a little over $3!

Spice Kit is a good lunch place and I will be returning to try the tofu Ssam and eat more of the pork buns!

CHECK: $15 for 2 pork buns, Beef Ssam and Lotus Chips

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!)

Sushirrito (Sushi and Burrito)

Sushirrito has been on the top of my list since I first heard about this Mexican-Japanese fusion almost a year ago.  This is definitely a new, intriguing concept. For a self-proclaimed foodie, I just cannot pass this up. Except I do NOT do lines. I do not wait in line for my food. My philosophy is San Francisco has a plethora of delicious food options that no food is worth the 1 hour wait. And just like any newly opened, highly-raved food in San Francisco, the record wait for Sushirrito has been close to an hour.

Today, I finally tempted fate by going to Sushirrito at 1:15 in the afternoon--and NO line!!! Either the novelty of "sushi-burrito-in-one" lunch option has worn off or after 1pm is just the perfect time. I went back twice both on weekdays around 1:15 pm and the average wait time was 3 to 5 minutes.

Somehow I imagined Sushirrito to be a food truck or a food stall. (Maybe too many visits to "Off the Grid.") I was pleasantly surprised to find a spartan modern deli with about 3-4 men behind the counter making sushirritos as you order them. A simple menu on flatscreen above the counter is easy to decipher.

EL TIGRE:

El Tigre was made with ahi tuna, shredded veggies, rice cracker, avocado and green onion, sushi rice wrapped in nori. The menu warns "It is very spicy!" It tasted okay and not spicy at all. The ahi tuna tasted fresh and fairly portioned. The crunchy veggies made up most of the sushi, not a lot of sushi rice and a crunch added by the rice cracker. It was like eating salad wrapped in seaweed.

El Tigre

SUMO CRUNCH:

Shredded crab, avocado, cucumber, cabbage and red tempura flakes. This sushi was "too busy." It was like a kitchen sink of ingredients but the flavors did not come together. Despite all of the ingredients the sushi tasted bland. And my biggest complain, the rice crackers made both sushi greasy to the point I felt nauseous.

Sumo Roll

SO, WHAT IS A SUSHIRRITO?


According to the website, "Sushirrito offers made-to-order, hand-held sushi burritos stuffed with savory Asian and Latin-infused ingredients and flavors."

In my opinion, Sushirrito is really nothing but a ginormous and uncut American sushi. It looked and tasted like the giant sushi. I did not find any Latin influence on mine unless the chef considers putting avocado and green onion in the sushi will make it "Latin." It was not spicy at all except for a little hint of wasabi--still Japanese. Something crunchy and greasy hit me which gave me a brief nauseated feeling. I later on found it out it was the rice chips.

The rice was sushi rice. I wonder what would have happened it they put tomato-flavored Mexican rice instead, or mix chorizo or carnitas with the raw tuna?

In the end, Sushirrito is just sushi. A good-tasting, filling and healthy lunch. It is portable and convenient to eat on the go although the sushi does not really hold up that well.

VALUE: I paid $10.50 for El Tigre and I though it was reasonable. A sushi roll will cost you that much. El Tigre is probably equivalent to 2-3 sushi rolls. However, Sumo Crunch set me back $13 (including tax)! Originally priced at $8.50 but the 2 extra tempura shrimp costs $3.50. I barely tasted the shrimps. This pricey lunch was not worth it!

DISAPPOINTMENT:

I just wished it had been more Japanese-Mexican fused like chorizo with ahi, Mexican rice, tortilla and seaweed together, etc. It was a disappointment in that respect. Sushirrito did not really live up to its name. But otherwise, I am glad I tried Sushirrito but I do not think I will be returning anytime soon.

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!)

Mercury Lounge (SoMa)

Happy Hour with the Girls: February 10, 2011 @ 6PM

CLUB OR RESTAURANT?
Mercury Lounge will feed you delicious Filipino and Asian Fusion dishes before you get your groove on on the dance floor. Mercury Lounge is a restaurant/club in one.

Thanks to Mercury Lounge's split personality, we were able to enjoy its foodie offerings and able to take off before ML's DJ started bringing down the house.

SOCIAL SCENE/AMBIANCE:
My girls and I met up at 6pm for few rounds of ML's tasty cocktails and fun pan- Asian tapas. The place was almost empty but chill. Everything was laid-back while the DJ and his crew were trying to get ready for that night's music event.

DECOR:
ML's decor is disheveled yet swanky at the same time. The dingy furniture are casualties of bumpin' and grindin' while imbibin' night owls, I'm sure, but the place is clean.

ASIAN FUSION FOR SHARING:
The dishes are fusion-fun and unique. Definitely more fun when sharing. Believe it or not 4 girls demolished all of these:

YUM!
* Fried Tofu w/ pepper adobo sauce $5

* Crab Curry Fried Rice (Crab, coconut, chinese sausage) $9
(The spices did not quite come together but delish carb galore)

* Cucumber Salad $5

* Miso Tofu $11

* Eggplant Miso $6 (Tender eggplants bursting with flavors)

* Salt and Pepper Fish $5 (hot and fried but not greasy)

* Bread Pudding $6 (sweet wya to end a savory dinner)

JUST OKAY:



* Samosa $5 (Ananda Fuara's samosas are a 100x better!)

* Basil Garlic Fries $5 (Overly fried and greasy)



* Grilled Flatbread w/curry sauce $5 (The flatbread was dry)

None of the dishes were foodgasmic delish but still yummy and we enjoyed almost all of them. My girls imbibed while I was the only one who remained sober (I was the only one who had a virgin drink),

ALCOHOL:
And my 3 friends really did imbibe. They liked their drinks which they reported as yummy and strong. They had the following:
(2) Li Hing Margarita ( Herradura Tequila, lime, mango juice, and li-hing powder ) $9 each
(1) Mercury Mojito (Bacardi Rum, muddled mint, fresh lime)$9
(1) Thai Gimlet (Tanquerey Rangpur Gin, muddled w/ thai basil, fresh lime, sugar ) $9
(3) Mercury Ale $3 each

NON-ALC:
I was getting over my flu plus I also drove in that evening so I was stuck with a non-alc drink. It was as expensive as the alcoholic drink but it was really just a fruit juice.
(1) Threesome (The menu says $5 but we were charged $9) Calamansi, mango and orange juice, up or on the rocks w/ li-hing powdered rim

BOTTOMLINE:
If you want to get your groove on or you just have the munchies or both, Mercury Lounge is your destination . Affordable, fun tasty with decent-sized portions.

The late night kitchen is perfect if you are jonesing for Asian fusion particularly Filipino dishes, before and after a hot night on the dance floor. Mercury Lounge will satisfy your cravings without robbing your dinner savings account. The staff are chill and friendly as well.

TAB: $140 including tax and tip (about $35 per happy well-fed girl)



FOODIE GIRL'S RATING: 4 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!)