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!)

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!)

Olive: Swanky Oasis in the Tenderloin

October 28, 2010 @ 5 PM
The TL (Tenderloin) is a San Francisco neighborhood which is not for the easily offended.  Heroin and crack cocaine abound.  Homeless folks walk the streets day and night.  Inebriated people are often passed out and snoring in front of businesses. Puddles of human DNA are plentiful where you tread. This the ugly face of the TL.

Do not be so quick to write off the TL as one of your food destinations.  TL is also the home of Little Saigon-- San Francisco's Vietnamese community. Here, you will find plenty of unique food adventures  from steaming hot bowl of pho and delicious $3 banh mi's, to newer innovative gourmet restaurants to swanky bar/lounges like Olive.

To get to Olive, you might need to endure the catcall of the inebriated man on the sidewalk. Or jump over a puddle of human DNA. You might need to look past the internally preoccupied lady in her own happy nirvana.

But you will finally arrive at Olive. In the hearf of the Tenderloin is an oasis to quench your thirst after putting in an honest day of work at Civic Center or its vicinity.

Olive's pleasant existence in the heart of crack-cocaine city is an unexpected surprise. Happy Hour is from 5 pm to 7pm where well-made cocktails are $5 each or $1 off each glass of wine.

They serve decadently fatty yet delightful bar food of pizza, fries, etc., and selections of bigger plates of pasta, fish, etc.

Olive is a swanky bar/restaurant/lounge. Contemporary decor of hanging mood lights adorn this tiny space. You either sit at high bar tables or at the bar. If you are lucky you might score seatings at the lounge area. Tealights on every table made this tiny dark bar cozier.

Olive is no dive bar. Nicely dressed 9-5 Civic Center/TL employees start walking in ready for a drink or two either solo or with their friends at around 5 PM.

As for me and my GF Rebecca,  we came here with the intention to just grab a drink during Happy Hour. We ordered a drink each and a side of mixed sweet potato/regular potato fries with aioli.

The server was very nice. I requested for just drop of alcohol in my drink. He suggested a pomegranate mojito with more juice than ETOH. Still very delicious.

My GF had the regular mojito plus 3/4 of my drink. (I was too paranoid to have a drink and drive.)

Our sweet potato fries were okay. Soggy and not seasoned enough but it was still nice to munch on them along with complimentary olives.



Olive provided a nice venue for that girl-bonding moment after work.

Between the modern interior, super-nice server, yummy drinks and the coziness of Olive, I think I finally found a bar where a woman can be safe and comfortable to imbibe solo.

Olive is an oasis in the heart of the TL. Definitely not a place I will go back to if I am no longer working in the area but good to know there is a clean and safe spot in the TL. Great for pre or after show drinks or dinner at the American Music Hall.

Tab: $16 for 2 mojitos and one sweet potato fries before tip.

FOODIE GIRL'S RATING: 4.5 Stars for well-made drinks, cool vibe and swanky decor.

Key:


0 Star: Never again!!! These people should not be in business.
1 Star: Chalk it to bad experience. Live and learn.
2 Stars: Very disappointing but there it has some good things to offer.
3 Stars: It is okay but do not expect much. I will still return.
4 Stars: I like it! I will be singing your praises!
5 Stars: I will be dreaming of you at night!
6 Stars: Perfection (or close to!)