The Palace

Pin It Now!

The Palace is Chef Manny's newest establishment, the former being Mr Pollo.  Unfortunately, I had just missed his exit from Mr Pollo so I had to be absolutely sure this time I got to taste his cuisine.  Some things to consider - you have to text for a reservation (only open Weds -Sun for dinner), its BYOB since they haven't gotten their alcohol license, and its cash only (credit card can be used for an additional 3%).  The Palace digs are a little on the shabby side, but if you are really there for the food then you won't be disappointed.  At $50 for the 5 course tasting menu (additional $20 for Wagu, $10 for truffle, and $10 extra for dessert), its probably one the hottest restaurants at the moment.

The amuse bouche of the night was wild tuna with seaweed salad and topped with a garlic and cilantro sauce.  The dish was fresh and light, the perfect start to an unforgettable meal.  I wish they gave a menu of dishes so I could read all that went into each dish. 

The first course of the night was a Miyagi oyster topped with pickled ginger, tobiko, and ginger foam.  I prefer my oysters as simple as possible and with the sound of all the ingredients, I was prepared to find this dish overwhelming, but it was just so simple and perfect.  All the flavors enhanced the salty, brininess of the oyster.  One of my favorite dishes of the night.

Lobster three ways, which would be seem to be the theme of the night - the showcasing of an ingredient a couple different ways.  Probably my second favorite dish of the night, each of these lobster components were so different and delicious.  The lobster bisque (left) had a lemongrass curry flavor and each slurp made me want more.  The lobster claw cerviche had hints of lime and cilantro.  The lobster tail with habenero water was surprisingly very spicy, but I loved the kick.

Duck multiple ways - confit, breast, and sous vide egg.  Fresh farmer's market cauliflower decorated the plate with fun colors and who knew cauliflower came in purple? 

The duck dish also came with a $10 truffle supplement, which was shaved on tableside.  It provided a little earthiness to the dish, but even without the truffle this dish was still stellar.

Pork served in multiple ways - chorizo, chicharron, tenderloin, bacon, and riblet.  The different beets were splashed along the plate in a multiple preparation of their own.  The peaches and beets gave this pork dish some sweet notes.

The sirloin steak with creamed spinach was so delicious.  The meat was served a perfect medium rare (as all beef should be) and their version of creamed spinach was full of flavor with chunks of root vegetables and spinach.

For an additional $20, you can substitute the sirloin steak for wagu beef.  While the Wagu beef was super tender and buttery, the regular sirloin steak was cooked so well that the difference between the meats are very close in taste and tenderness.

The meal ends with one dessert option.  Tonight's was a dulce de leche souffle with fresh berries and a scoop of housemade mora ice cream.  Mora is a berry found in Columbia that has a flavor similar to a subtle raspberry.

 

Address:                  The Palace
                                 3047 Mission St.
                                 San Francisco, CA
 

Type:                        American

Popular chomps:      tasting menu

Chomp worthy:         tasting menu     

Afternoon Tea at Neiman Marcus Rotunda

Pin It Now!

Being inside the Rotunda at Neiman Marcus, this has to be one of the more luxurious afternoon teas in the city.  Having tea underneath the stained glass ceilings surrounded by thousands of dollars worth of merchandise is serious tea sipping with pinkies in the air.  

Chicken consume starts off the afternoon tea.  Its very rich and full of flavor.  A little cheddar biscuit is provided for dipping. 

Instead of regular bread the Rotunda gives you popovers.  I'm a huge fan of popovers, particularly Wayfare Tavern's (see post HERE).  The popovers at the Rotunda are brought to the table piping hot and fresh accompanied by strawberry butter.  The popovers are crusty with an eggy, fluffy inside.  While these are pretty delicious, I prefer the Wayfare Tavern's slightly fluffier version. 

One huge letdown here is that the fancy tea service here didn't include a fancy tea set.  Even the cream and sugar were just packets of sugar.  Pretty disappointing. 

The lobster club isn't part of afternoon tea, but it is a must get here at the Rotunda.  Similar to a regular club sandwich with the three tiers layers of toasted egg bread.  Large chunks of sweet lobster along with avocado, tomato, and arugula.  Everything on this plate is kinda awesome from the sandwich to the thinly fried crispy potato chips.

The tray of afternoon tea selections for today. 

The sweet items!  From left; clockwise: petit four, madeleine, raisin and berry scones, chocolate cake, lemon tart, and carrot cake.  Carrot cake has never been my thing, but this one is admirably moist and decadent.  Same for the scones.  Most are usually hard and rarely worth my attention, but this one was downright fluffy and scrumptious.  It was probably the best of the bunch. 

These tiny savory finger food items really make you feel fancy.  From top left;clockwise: crab puff, deviled eggs, chicken salad, smoked salmon, and cucumber and cream cheese.  While all the others were decently tasty, the crab puff was the absolute star of the savory choices.  Shredded crab inside the buttery puff pastry was full of flavor.

From top down:  lemon, cream, lemon curd, strawberry jam, honey.  Condiments for scones aren't as fun as some of the afternoon tea spots I've been to, but the clotted cream and the lemon curd were quite delicious.

Address:                    Rotunda at Neiman Marcus
                                   150 Stockton St.
                                   San Francisco, CA
 

Type:                          afternoon tea

Popular chomps:        afternoon tea
                                    lobster club

Chomp worthy:           afternoon tea
                                    lobster club   

Sacred Wheel

Pin It Now!

Although its says Cheese Shop on the building, its actually called Sacred Wheel.  Sometimes the best dishes need to come straight from the source!

Tons of cheeses to buy and look at while you wait for your food to be made.

Lots of cheesy stuff to choose from!  From mac and cheese to grilled cheese!

Grilled cheese and tomato soup is just one of those natural combinations.  I've never really found tomato soup very interesting or special until I slurp up this one.  Seriously, the best tomato soup I have ever had.  Not sure if it has to do with the random fact that they make it with Pabst Blue Ribbon (PBR) beer.  It looks so simple, but its slightly chunky with a strong tomato flavor, but best of all its spicy.  The grilled cheese is perfectly toasted with gooey cheese with made it great for dipping into the tomato soup.

I've had a good amount of mac and cheese recently, but nothing like this one.  Usually I've found that mac and cheese when layered with multiple components are rarely all hits.  Homeroom's whimsical mac and cheese (see post HERE) left me a little unsatisfied unsatisfied.  However, this one was full of flavor.  Not only was the mac and cheese delicious so was the sloppy joe and even the runny egg.  The sloppy joe had a sweeter taste, but it was fantastic.  Surprisingly, even after devouring this and the grilled cheese, I didn't leave with a heavy filling. 

   

Address:                 Sacred Wheel
                                4935 Shattuck Ave.
                                Oakland, CA

   

Type:                       American/sandwiches

Popular chomps:     tomato soup
                                 grilled cheese

Chomp worthy:       tomato soup
                                grilled cheese
                                sleazy mac         

Amato's Cheesesteaks

Pin It Now!

Amato's Cheesesteak is one of those must go to places in San Jose.  I've definitely had my fair shares of their cheesesteaks.  Amato's is a hidden gem in a strip mall that looks like it was stuck in the the 70s.

The thinly cut steaks are grilled to perfection.  Along with your choice of cheeses:  whiz, provolone, and white American cheese.  Another thing about their sandwiches are they are huge!  The smallest size (shorty) is more than enough for one person.  Along with peppers, mushrooms, I find that this is one of the best cheesesteaks in the Bay Area.  Personally, I like to order extra cheese, peppers, and mushrooms with my shorty.

The onions rings and fries are so good here.  Its probably because they don't fry it until you order.  The batter has this amazing crispy crust on the onion rings and its seasoned just perfectly.

Address:              Amato's Cheesesteaks

                             1162 Saratoga Ave.
                             San Jose, CA
         

Type:                    sandwiches

Popular chomps:  onion rings
                              cheesesteak
                              cheese fries
 

Chomp worthy:     onion rings
                              cheesesteak           

Farm to Table

Pin It Now!

Its hard to imagine that a place like farm:table exists in the middle of the Tenderloin, but it does.  This ultra tiny space serves up some fresh breakfast and brunch items as well as some baked goods.  Since the space is very tiny, I wouldn't recommend it for large groups.  Most people that come here seem to get their food to go even though they have a small parklet outside, but if you do decide to eat in, they have a small communal table that sits about 8 people and 2 outside tables as well as a small parklet.

Not exactly "toast" (more like focaccia), but today's toast of the day was sliced peaches, mascarpone cheese, crushed pistachios, and fresh blueberries.  I normally don't associate anything sweet when I think of focaccia, but this surprisingly works.  The sweet fruits and the light tasting mascarpone cheese add to the airiness of the fluffy focaccia.

Egg on a biscuit is exactly that.  A hardboiled egg with cream cheese, sliced bacon, and bits of arugula all atop a cold biscuit.  Since the kitchen is super tiny, all the food seems to be made in advance and is just put together when ordered.  I would have loved to have seen a poached egg instead of the hardboiled egg, especially since the biscuit is served cold.  Normally, I would have accepted the fact that considering the small kitchen, it couldn't be done, but after seeing Suite Food serve up a poached egg in their kitchen of the same size (see post HERE), I know it can be done.  All in all its a nice place to grab a light breakfast and some coffee.

     

Address:                   Farm to Table
                                  754 Post St.
                                  San Francisco, CA 
 

Type:                         brunch

Popular chomps:       toast of the day

Chomp worthy:          toast of the day   

Tanguito

Pin It Now!

After happily discovering Salty's Famous Fishwich in Fisherman's Whaf Pier 39 area (see post HERE), I'm not as put off by the touristy area when looking for food finds.  I've passed by Tanguito when eating next door at the Codmother Fish and Chips (see post HERE) and its whaffing smell of fantastic bbq meats made me swear to myself that I would come back here.  Living in the city, getting to experience a real bbq is not very common, but the freshly grilled meats and the outside seating makes this girl feel like its really summer.

This stationary food truck churns out Argentinian food that is irresistible.  I've had some disappointing empanadas (El Porteno - see post HERE; Venga - see post HERE) and Argentinian food at Lolinda (see post HERE).  When I think of Argentinian food, I think juicy, flavorful platter of grilled meats.  There is nothing fancy about Tanguito.  No hipster decorations or fancy drinks, just slabs of good meat and flaky empanadas.       

The outer shell of the empanadas here are absolutely fantastic.  They have a thin flakiness to them and when cracking it open is like opening a pinata with even more surprises within.

Bits of salty ham and generous melted cheese make this one of the best empanadas I've had in the city. 

The beef empanada is one of the standard Argentinian empanadas and this one does not disappoint. While I prefer the ham and cheese over this one, the ground beef is juicy and flavorful.

The saffron rice comes as a platter with your choice of meats or as a side dish.  Each kernel of rice is so distinct and flavorful.  Mixed with peppers, onions, mushrooms and topped with a fried plantain, its a nice carb option to this protein centric meal.

Now onto the main event... the meat platter (parrillada).  A combination of almost every type of popular meat you can think of: chicken, Italian sausage, shortrib, tri tip, filet minon.  Each meat was seasoned so well with just herbs and some salt.  Nothing fancy, but so good.  Every piece of meat, even the chicken was juicy, so much so that a couple pieces squirted out juicy when cut.  This meat platter is no joke, its sharable and feeds about three people.  The meat here is just awesome, I can't even describe it in words. 

For an additional $4, you can get a grilled blood sausage.  Usually I find blood sausage to be a little too iron tasting for me, but this one was stuffed with tons of spices and herb.  So good.

   

Address:                 Tanguito
                                2850 Jones St.
                                 San Francisco, CA    

 

Type:                        Argentinian

Popular chomps:       saffron rice
                                   empanadas
                                   skirt steak
                                   burger
                                   choripan
                                   parrillada

Chomp worthy:          saffron rice
                                    empanadas
                                    parrillada      

Holy Gelato

Pin It Now!

I'm always on the lookout for late night dessert spots to satisfy some sweet cravings.  Holy Gelato's late night hours (11p) was tonight's sugar run.

 They have a good number of flavors to choose from as well as soy/vegan options.  Actually, they have quite a bit of vegan options, so much so that the vegan flavors (Mayan chocolate, sea salt chocolate, Thai tea, etc) are even better sounding than the regular gelato flavors.

A medium size gets you anywhere from 1 to 4 flavors.  Starting from bottom; clockwise:  copa mista, Mayan chocolate, Irish morning.  Copa mista is a blend of vanilla, chocolate, grounded pistachios, and almonds.  Pretty good stuff, but nothing wowish.  The texture of all the gelatos wasn't as creamy as most gelatos, although the soy based ones were a lot more gelato like than most soy based ice creams I've had.  Most soy gelatos/ice creams I've had are really mushy and melty in consistency.  A warning that the Mayan chocolate was spicy was taken a little lightly until the first lick.  A last minute spicy kick on the tail end of a rich chocolately taste.  Surprising, but well received.  Irish morning had a Irish coffee and chocolate flavor, but more chocolate than anything.

I came here specifically out of curiosity of the goat cheese gelato.  After the eye opening goat cheese gelato experience at Bulgarini's in Pasadena (see post HERE), I've been intrigued to see if San Francisco had anything close.  From bottom; clockwise: white pistachio, guava, goat cheese.  The goat cheese does resemble goat cheese, but its nothing close to the depth and intensity of Bulgarini's.  Still yum.  White pistachio was chosen just because I wanted to see what is a white pistachio since normally pistachio ice cream is green.  A slightly sweeter taste to this white pistachio than the normal pistachio ice cream.  Take Kern's guava nectar and make it into a sorbet and literally that is what the guava sorbet tastes like here.  Good, but a little too sweet to indulge in the whole scoop. 

Address:                 Holy Gelato
                                1392 9th Ave.
                                San Francisco, CA
   

Type:                       dessert/ice cream

Popular chomps:     copa mista
                                 goat cheese
                                 mango
 

Chomp worthy:        copa mista
                                  Mayan chocolate
                                  guava                                          

B. Patisserie

Pin It Now!

I'm a little late to the party on B. Patisserie.  I've been too busy noshing other places and somehow skipped over this darling bakery.  Super pastry chef Belinda Leong's long awaited bakery has finally made a opening off Divisidero.  While Craftsman and Wolves (see post HERE) took the most anticipated bakery opening for 2012, B. Patisserie has to definitely be the best carbcentric opening of 2013. 

There is a steady stream of hungry customers here, but its easy to snag a seat (there are a couple outside tables, as well).  Most customers actually buy these pastries by the boxes, but have no fear the kitchen seems to it under control by filling the trays with freshly baked goods.  Having been rejected more than once from Tartine, I was a little fearful this popular bakery wouldn't have my beloved kouign amann, but it happily proved me wrong.

As if it wasn't hard enough to decide what baked good to eat, a caseful of pastries are displayed to tempt you even more.

I specifically came here for the famous kouign amann (my current pastry obsession), but ended up with a chocolate banana almond croissant and a savory bacon & scallion gougere feuilletee.  Im a little torn between which bakery is better - here or Tartine bakery (see post HERE).  With no waiting in line and never having to bear the disappointment my pastry would be sold out after a 30 minutes wait, I almost have to say B. Patisserie is even better than Tartine Bakery. 

Although Tartine's almond croissant is my favorite almond croissant ever, I cannot deny that B. Patisserie's banana chocolate almond croissant is pretty amazing.  As if the crunchy almond topping on a fluffy, buttery croissant isn't enough, its stuffed with oozing chocolate and slices of bananas.  Every flaky pastry I ate had the perfect light, crisp exterior without it being too rich. 

I've had Starter Bakery's kouign amann at Four Barrel (see post HERE) and then at Philz Coffee (see post HERE) and I've been dumbfounded by how amazing these pastries were, but nothing compares to B. Patisserie's.  A thin later of crystallized sugar on top of a the ultra flaky pastry is just heaven.  Its light and fluffy with just hints of sweetness in each bite.  Perfection at its best.

     

Address:                      B. Patisserie
                                     2821 California St.
                                     San Francisco, CA
 

Type:                            bakery
 
Popular chomps:          kouign amann
                                     macaroon
                                     chocolate vanilla choux

                                     chocolate banana almond croissant                 

Chomp worthy:             kouign amann
                                      chocolate banana almond croissant 

Dosa Republic

Pin It Now!

The creators of The Dosa Republic are the same owners as Curry Up Now (see post HERE).  First of all, this restaurant is in the most obscure area of San Mateo.  Since Curry Up Now has a location in downtown San Mateo, I somehow thought that this restaurant would be close by.  Instead its located on a random area of a desolate stretch of El Camino.  Same shtick as Curry Up Now in that it takes a fusion approach to Indian food, except in dosas.  Dosa are thin crepes that are often stuffed with curry potatoes, spinach (saag), and other vegetables.

Personally, I love dosas.  Their crispy exterior with my usual curry potato filling (masala) is kind of like taking a bite of heaven.  I actually don't think there are enough good dosa places in the Bay Area, my favorite being Dosa (see post HERE).  One gripe about the dosas here are they are soggy and not crisp at all.  Not even the edges.  The flavors are okay, but it could definitely use more heat!  The sambar is also too watery and doesn't have much flavor.

The fun feature about Dosa Republic are its fusion take on dosa.  I think its best to come with a larger group so there are more dishes to share and try.  With so many fusion options, its hard to choose one.  The jamaican jerk dosa comes with chunks of pork belly mixed with potatoes.  Even though the actual dosa was soggy and disappointing, the pork belly was quite tasty and tender.

  

Address:                     The Dosa Republic
                                    2299 S. El Camino Real
                                    San Mateo, CA
 

Type:                           Indian

Popular chomps:         thaali
                                     jamaican jerk dosa
                                     masala dosa

Chomp worthy:            jamican jerk dosa    

Crepe Temptations

Pin It Now!

The order was already placed before I realized Crepe Temptations has a custom menu, where you can build your own crepe with toppings such as gummy bears, bacon, and even cornflakes.  Even more awesome, is that you can customize how crunch you want the crepe to be made (extra crunchy, of course).  I'll have to go back to concoct my own special creation, but for now I just had to enjoy my red velvet crepe.  Still on my red velvet kick from the red velvet latte at Bitter + Sweet (see post HERE), I had to get the red velvet crepe.  Large slices of red velvet crepe stuffed with vanilla ice cream and topped with fresh strawberries and whipped cream.  Loved the creativity of this place, but the crepe was on the soggy side, most likely due to all the ingredients stuffed inside.  Next time I'll have to ask for extra crunchy, no matter what.

There are a couple other cake stuffed in a crepe type options.  Tiramisu is another one.  Four slices of tiramisu cake layered around mint chocolate chip ice cream (you can pick whatever flavor ice cream you want) and then topped with whipped cream.  I do think the actual crepe at Genki Crepes (see post HERE) have a better taste and texture, but the creativity of all the crepes here make it a must repeat spot, not to mention its open till midnight.

       

Address:                  Crepe Temptations
                                 2575 Judah St.
                                 San Francisco, CA
 

Type:                       dessert

Popular chomps:      mango crepe
                                 red velvet
                                

Chomp worthy:        red velvet crepe