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!)

One Market

One Market is classy in its simplicity.  Huge windows looking into Market Street made One Market feel spacious.  The earth tones and white linen covered tables gave this restaurant  a formal business feel without feeling stuffy.  The open kitchen added a cozy ambiance to the place. Serious business suit seemed to be the preferred attire at One Market.

It was my beautiful friend Heather's birthday and I wanted her to feel special. We also wanted to check out Dine About Town's lunch menu. And we also wanted to sneak in our monthly gal-bonding lunch before we go on our trips separately.

Heather chose to try the DAT lunch menu. For $17.99, she got a FARMER'S SALAD: A simple salad of seasonal greens. Very fresh and generously portioned that we had enough to share between the two of us.

STEAMED MUSSELS (chili flakes, pesto and grilled bread): Heather loved her dish! The portion was also generous. I tried the mussels with the sauce and it tasted like curry instead of pesto but I thought it was good!

I was about to try the DAT menu as well until I saw two dishes on the main menu that I could not resist:

STEAMED GULF FLOUNDER (soy sauce, shitake and bokchoy) $22 The fish was sooooo tender, sooooo flavorful, sooo delicious! Yes, you can tell I loved it! I wish they gave me a little bit more fish but it was really good in its simplicity.

CHICKPEA FRIES ($5): Heather and I were intrigued that we had to have these. We thought they were deep-fried chickpeas but they were chickpeas that were mashed, formed into sticks then deep fried. They came with aioli type sauce but they were good even without. Light, not greasy and seasoned-well. Best to eat while hot off the fryer.



SERVICE:
Service was efficient and friendly. We opted for tap water but our server somehow insisted with a bit of pressure for us to try the flavored lemonades. We declined twice and the 3rd time, we just went, "What the heck. We'll have one each." They were refreshing but we just really wanted tap water.

LOWDOWN:
One Market's DAT is one of the best DAT we have tried so far. Heather and I have tried quite a few DATs over the last couple of years and somehow we oftentimes thought they were just okay.
At One Market the DAT dishes were executed well, priced right and generously portioned.

And I also found out after our meal that One Market is a 1 Michelin Star awardee. As good as our meal was, no stars fell from the skies for me. It was very, very good but I had better Michelin star meals in the past.

Tab: $70 including tax and 20% tip

Foodie Girl's Rating: 4.25 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!)

Six Peaks Grille (Lake Tahoe)

Memorial Day Weekend Getaway 2011

As my first carnivore meal after 8 1/2 months of pescetarianism, I had the 7 oz RIBEYE STEAK at Six Peaks Grille. I know I have been deprived but I have not forgotten how a good steak should taste like. The steak was medium rare, juicy, almost melt in your mouth tender and so full of flavors. ($16)

A PEPPERCORN SAUCE was served on the side but the steak was good without the extra help. That's when you know the meat is of good quality.

Enrique had the same thing. He had the MASHED POTATOES as a side dish while I had the BROCCOLINI. Both were simple but good. ($5 each)

I guess once a seafoodtarian will always be a seafoodtarian. I kept on going back to seafood and ordered DIVER SCALLOPS as our appetizer. Our server warned us that one order might not be enough. Why? Because these scallops were so perfectly seared and deliciously seasoned. They just melted in our mouth. And only 2 came per order accompanied by yummy onion crisp. ($13)

I had the BERRY BELLINI while my guy had the MOJITO. My bellini would have been yummy if not for slightly tasting like cough syrup. It was still good, though. We were not sure if it was because of being in a high altitude or the strong alcohol or combination of both but we both got pretty intoxicated during dinner!

We were full but we were given a "passport" for free dessert for every entree when we checked in:

*FRIED NEAPOLITAN ICE CREAM: Individually fried scoop each of vanilla, chocolate and strawberry ice cream and coated with rice crispies. A variety of texture and temperature going on at the same time. Pretty and yummy dessert!

*3 MINI CUPCAKES: We had to take them home. Even after the next day they were still fresh, delish and not dry.

DECOR:
Six Peaks Grille's decor is attractive enough but generic. The designers probably felt like they could not compete with nature's own beauty that surrounds the place. We were seated by the window and dined while fluffy snowflakes were falling. We had a view of the mountains and the outdoor patio with a big fire on the fireplace while it was snowing. As we were eating dinner, our surroundings were being covered in whiteness and softness except for the colors of fire in the fireplace. It was so quiet and serene.

SERVICE:
Our server, Lucci, was top-notch. His services were comparable to fine dining at fancier restaurants.

LOWDOWN:
I appreciate Six Peaks Grille's thoughtfulness in putting together a delicious menu on top of the mountain in the middle of nowhere. Seeing the world slowly being covered in white fluffy snowflakes added to the magic of our meal. A table by the window is a must when dining at Six Peaks. Do not settle for anything less!

Tab: $98 including tax, 2 drinks, 2 complimentary desserts before tip.

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!)

Marc 49

Saturday Date Night: May 21, 2011 @ 10:20 PM aka "END OF THE WORLD"

Some people probably chose to hide in their basement awaiting the end of the world but I was sipping a very nice bubbly at Marc 49 with  Enrique.

HOW TO FIND:
If you blink you will miss this tiny wine bar on 51st and Telegraph but the fairy lights outside will beckon you to come in to quench your thirst. 

DECOR:
The decor is mixed nostalgic, gothic and speakeasy-ish. Black and white pictures of the generations before us (including the young Elizabeth Taylor) cover most of the wall on the the side. Red velvet curtains framing a huge mirror cover the opposite wall gave Marc 49 the feel that you are in dracula's lair. (There is also back patio that looked like a steam wooden sauna but I did not check it out during this visit.)

SOCIAL SCENE:

The patrons that night were hip 20s to 40s friends and lovers lazily lounging on the low leather benches sipping glasses of vino.

Enrique and I chose the low table and chairs by the window. We were there for the food!

BUBBLY: Reasonably priced at $8 a glass, this champagne was nice, fresh and with a generous taste of honey.

STRAWBERRY FIELDS $6: Greens with blue cheese, candied nuts, strawberry slices and sweet strawberry dressing. A light sweet delicious salad!

BROADWAY PANINI $7: Chicken breast and pesto panini. He added a Monterey Salad (lettuce, pear, candied walnuts, blue cheese) for just $3 more!

SOLOIST BRUSCHETTA $6: 3 generous slices of nicely toasted baguette, crispy but not hard, topped with goat cheese, proscuitto and melon. Eventhough I had to take out the proscuitto slices that were fresh and not even a hint of dry edges, I really enjoyed these toasts sans the meat. Delicious with my salad!

BROWNIE: It looked prettier than it tasted. It was sweet with mounds of whipped cream and a little bit on dry side but it completed the meal.

SERVICE:
The food and drinks at Marc 49 deserve 4 stars. The staff deserves 6 Stars. Only at a neighborhood place can you get the kind of accomodation we received last night. When we walked in at 10:20 at night, the kitchen was already closed. Our server said that it was a bizarrely slow Saturday. She joked "maybe because it's the end of the world but wouldn't you want to just drink wine and run up your credit card instead of hiding?" They decided to close the otherwise open until 11pm kitchen early. Seeing our disappointed faces, they reopened, told us not to apologize and order whatever we wanted on the menu and served us kindly and ungrudgingly!

LOWDOWN:
We wanted a light dinner and a night cap after a family party then watching "Pirates of the Caribbean 3" at the Kabuki before calling it a night. Marc 49 is the perfect spot for either late night dinner and drinks in Temescal, catching up with your friend, a quick weekday date night dinner or going solo.

They also serve tapas aside from what I mentioned above. Extensive offerings of wine reasonably priced at $8 per glass or $26 per bottle.

Marc 49 is a real neighborhood gem and is now added to my short list of favorites!

$40 including tax before tip. With $20 Groupon, this very enjoyable meal was only $27 including a Diet Pepsi, tax and 20% tip.

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!)