Posted August 11th, 2009 by Meg
I was able to experience my first Southern Indian food! At Udupi Palace, a restaurant named after the city in South India notorious for the vegetarian cuisine, I ordered the Channa Batura. The channa part is the spicy chick pea curry and the batura (sometimes spelled different, like bhatoora) is a puffy fried yogurt bread. The bread was soft, chewy, sour and paired perfectly with the heat from the curried beans. Win.
Udupi Palace
1007 Valencia St
San Francisco, CA 94110-2405
(415) 970-8000
Posted August 7th, 2009 by Meg
Cardamon Ice Cream.
A spice that is used in both savory and sweet dishes results into a warm, inviting, subtly spicy, and nicely sweet ice cream flavor. Yum. Check out their many other unique flavors too! Like Saffron, Rose, Falooda, and Kesar Pista.
Bombay Ice Creamery
552 Valencia St
(between 16th St & 17th St)
San Francisco, CA 94110
(415) 861-3995
Posted August 6th, 2009 by Meg
I was recently in San Francisco and was able to eat at some delicious restaurants. Over the next few posts, I will share my dining experiences.
The first restaurant my friend and I ate at was the Salvadorian Mexican restaurant, Panchitas (No. 2). I have only had Salvadorian a few times before in my life, but this little gem reminded me that I should have it more often.
Of course, Salvadorian Suprema Beer. A pale lager. Delicious!
Pupusa De Chicharron Con Queso (Pupusa with pork meat and cheese) AND Pupusa De Queso Y Loroco (Cheese pupusa). Mmm… pupusas. Cheese and just about anything is good in my book.
Platanos Con Crema (Plantain with cream). This was my favorite! I could eat this everyday. Yummy!
Yuca Con Chicharron (Yucca root with pork meat) - Mmmm, yucca root! I prefer them over potatoes.
Panchitas No. 2
3091 16th Street
San Francisco 94110
(415) 431-4232
Posted July 20th, 2009 by Meg
This past week my boyfriend and I went out for dinner at the always satisfying restaurant Blue Plate. It has become a safety restaurant for us. It’s not too expensive, it’s not too far, and it’s not a Mexican restaurant. This tiny little nook on Montana raises the bar for comfort food. Unlike most restaurants that offer breakfast, lunch, and dinner, everything I’ve tried on the Blue Plate menu has been delicious and I always leave satisfied. This time around I ordered:
Matzo Ball Soup - Simple and delicious. It came with oyster crackers.
Chicken Chow Salad - I love this salad. Romaine lettuce, grilled chicken, grilled vegetables, feta cheese, avocado, cucumbers, and tomatoes. I could eat this everyday.
Coconut Ice Cream Ball - Vanilla ice cream rolled in toasted coconut served with chocolate syrup on the side. I never enjoyed coconut until recently, but it is as if a whole new world of delicious combination possibilities has opened up. Usually when I “share” with my boyfriend, he takes a bite and puts his utensil down. This was not the case, but instead turned into a barbaric spoon scooping war. Seriously. Chocolate syrup was shed. On the table, on the plate, on the floor, and on the face. Everywhere.
Blue Plate
1415 Montana Ave
Santa Monica, CA 90403-1711
(310) 260-8877
Posted July 7th, 2009 by Meg
With no better day to celebrate than Friday, I met up with my roommate and my boyfriend at Riva for happy hour.
With my subjective well being high, I ordered the only glass of red available at the happy hour price of four dollars: Sangiovese Vignedileo from the Marche region of Italy.
The attentive waitress brought the bottle to the table and filled my glass in front of me. Delicious.
For food, we ordered the House Made Meatballs ($6) and the Margherita Pizza ($8). So yummy. I especially enjoyed the pizza’s thin sourdough crust.
You can find happiness at Riva on weekdays from 5:00-6:30pm. However, I must recommend that it is a great restaurant to eat at any hour.
Riva
312 Wilshire Boulevard
Santa Monica, CA 90401
310.451.7474 (RIVA)
Posted June 26th, 2009 by Meg
Brentwood is not the same as it was when I first moved here. And that is a good thing. For quite a number of months, I have watched the slow transformation of a Hamburger Hamlet (a restaurant I have never been) turn into a beautiful hot spot, Tavern (a restaurant I want to go to everyday). Tavern (and Larder) is the product of renowned restaurateurs Suzanne Goin and Caroline Styne. Their other amazing restaurants include A.O.C. and Lucques. Also, Suzanne Goin and her husband, David Lentz, own the delicious Hungry Cat.
A few weekends ago, my roommate and I decided we would go for drinks and appetizers at the bar. We went around six, which was early enough to avoid the dinner crowd. The stools at the bar counter were full, but the chairs and tables surrounding the bar were still available. The bar is beautiful. The design of the bar (and everywhere else) is well thought out; fluidly chic from the lighting to the upholstery on the chairs. The service was also excellent and consistent even as the place progressively became more crowded.
First drink: I had a glass of Cabernet. Instead of writing down the exact wine or trying to memorize what I ordered, I thought I could just go online and check their wine menu. Sadly, they don’t have it up. So I don’t know exactly which one I ordered.
Second Drink: Lucques Gimlet - Hangar One Vodka, fresh lime juice, and mint. Delicious. In my humble opinion, I prefer the cocktails to the wine. And in no way is that a criticism to the wine list, but instead a compliment to the cocktail menu. All their cocktails are creative and delicious. I would order any of them and be satisfied.
While I was there to just have a few drinks, my roommate ordered some bar food which I was fortunately able to sample:
Steak tartare with quail egg - It is hard to believe that I was a vegetarian for eight years, because I could eat this perfectly seasoned tartare with quail egg everyday. And part of me wants to only to catch up on the lost carnivorous years.
Gougères with french radishes - A gougères is a choux pastry (light pastry dough made from butter, water, fllour and eggs) filled with cheese. I think Tavern follows tradition and makes their gougères with gruyere cheese, but I could be wrong and plan to return soon to taste again. A French radish, also known as French Breakfast Radish, is an elongated red-skinned and white root base. I only had one, but that is all I needed to fall in love. It’s a cheese pastry in a ball form that you can pop into your mouth. What’s not to like about it?
The Tavern and the Larder (marketplace/café) are wonderful additions to my neighborhood. I love that in a short walk I can be consuming tasty drinks and amazing dishes. I plan to go back in the future, repeatedly.
Posted June 18th, 2009 by Meg
I haven’t posted in forever. I have a really bad cold right now. It sucks. This week has been very hard for me to get through. But, in more interesting news:
1. I went to Intelligentsia Venice. I love the way it looks. I enjoy the personalities found behind the counter and in fellow patrons. However, I think I prefer the Silver Lake Intelligentsia more simply because I find their assembly line of baristas (one to take your order, one to make your order, one to ring you up) works smoother and faster than Venice’s one stop barista (one person takes your order, makes your drink, and then finally rings you up). Maybe this is just a sign from above for me to put down my to do list, take a deep breath, and enjoy the processes of life.
1½. Speaking of Intelligentsia, I currently am sipping on the in season, direct trade, single origin, El Machete, Panama. Yum. Not the best part of waking up, but really the only reason I wake up.
2. I went to the Tavern with my roommate for drinks and bar snacks. I loved everything about this restaurant. I hope to write more about it soon. I know I have started the post, but have not gotten around to finishing it.
3. I just bought my first loaf of Woman’s Bread. I really like it. If you’re not a woman, there is also Men’s Bread. If you are not a woman, nor a man, there is gender unbiased / androgynous bread. French Meadow Bakery is healthy, organic, and tasty. I’ve used it for mainly turkey sandwich purposes.
4. I wish I could take some HiberNol.
5. Hope to update more this weekend. Have a happy Friday!
