Hunting down the Chowdermobile. Will report back with results!

Candybar

Yesterday night, Mark, Paul and I stopped by the Candybar on a rather crowded and busy night to use up a groupon for this place.

Going in, I envisioned that this would be an upscale place where you'd bring a date. Just thinking about their playful name and their mantra ("dessert/wine/art"), you'd think it's a place where two people would stop by after dinner to grab drinks and to chat for a while. But actually, it's kind of the opposite. This place is a bit too noisy and raucous for just two people, and all of their customers were there in small to large groups.

Onto the food:

Chocolate Mousse

Mango sauce|Roasted White Chocolate|Milky Way Malt Ice Cream

Once more, with flash:

Mark had the Peanut Butter Jelly Time!

Chocolate Tart|Peanut Butter Cream|Salted Caramel Peanuts|Blackberries

(And for the record, yes, they did play the Peanut Butter Jelly Time song.)

Strawberry Limeade

Strawberry Mousse|Vanilla Cake|Calamansi Cream|Strawberries|

Oh, right. And cocktails. I had the blood orange cocktail (sparkling wine, blood orange bitters, and a sugar cube). I was a bit disappointed that the blood orange flavor didn't come out more, and was otherwise not anything special.

A big part of the appeal of this place is not so much the dessert itself, but the lounge-y kind of atmosphere. It's clear from looking at the presentation of the food, the art on the walls and even the furniture that this place is all about the ambiance. Yes, people there are dressed nicely, perhaps having just come from a fancy dinner. With the lights slightly dimmed, it's a good place for a small group to spend a few hours just hanging out. Oddly enough, in contrast to the very much grownup decor, board games are left on a shelf for customers to pull out and play (adding very much to the noise factor =P). And yes, before the end of the night, we did get through a quite few rounds of Connect-4 and a game of Sorry.

Without the groupon, it's somewhat pricey for what it is. But I hear that the kungfu taco cart swings by during happy hour, so it might be worth it to come back to this place at some point.

For us, it came down to $15 a person. Most drinks and desserts were around $8 or $9, so full price for one dessert and a drink would be about $20 per.

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http://www.candybarsf.com/

http://www.yelp.com/biz/candybar-san-francisco

Candybar

1335 Fulton St

San Francisco, CA 94117

Nom of the day: Mission Minis

Yeah, I still have to get my groupon order (another two dozen of these babies), but in the meantime, I picked up a dozen for my mom's birthday.

From front to back: Ginger carrot, banana maple glaze, pink lemonade, and peanut butter chocolate.

The pink lemonade is the prettiest one. It also reminds me of childhood.

These cupcakes are good, yes, but I still think they're over-hyped. I like the frosting on these cupcakes. Substantial and holds its shape well, but not overly heavy (unlike Sprinkles). The cupcake itself, though, was wayyy too dry. I've had better. Notably from a young up and coming baker (also a very good friend of mine), whose cupcakes are absolutely heavenly. You know, not that I'm biased or anything.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/mission-minis-san-francisco

Mission Minis

3168 22nd Street
San Francisco, CA 94110

The Pot's

A blustery, cold night made this the perfect backdrop for a night of hot pot. And so our ragtag gang (three people is a gang, right?) headed over to The Pot's in the Outer Sunset, where we indulged in sweet, sweet, all-you-can-eat. And eat we did.

Romina sipping tea while Mark marks off what we want from a checklist (not pictured, of course).

Some condiments while we wait.

We had the satay soup base. Not too spicy, and overall a really good choice.

Food's here! The fish and shrimp balls dive in first. Not shown was the prime rib, lamb, fish, imitation crab, shrimp, tofu... you name it, we ate it. At some point there were veggies there, too. I think.

Yes, there were veggies. See those green onions? Those count, right? Just kidding! Bok choy, yams and winter melon, too. (We are good kids who eat our vegetables.)

Alright, at this point I stopped taking pictures, cuz I was hungry.

Overall, I was pretty impressed at the selection that this place had. They had a pretty good selection of ingredients, including some things that I'd never tried before (shrimp balls with some kind of meat inside). The ingredients were pretty fresh, though since it's DIY, we may have killed some things by leaving it in the pot too long. The shrimp dumplings were very good, and so were the beef and lamb. Weird to pick on their tofu, but I actually didn't like their tofu. Oh well.

Being a good Chinese kid, I keep telling myself that this could have been done at home, better and for cheaper, too. But this really wasn't bad at all. With tax and tip, $28 a person.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/the-pots-san-francisco

The Pot's
2652 Judah St
San Francisco, CA 94122

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P.S. We went to Tuttimelon afterward to get some frozen yogurt, but on our way back saw this lying on the floor:

We think a piggy bank committed suicide by jumping off of the building above. The police have notified and are investigating the situation, and caution tape has been drawn around to cordon off the area.

Elephant Bar

Came here on a Friday night at the end of a long day with the CLS folk. Yes, it's a chain restaurant, and yes it's in a mall, but really, this wasn't bad at all. For a group of 8, they seated us pretty quickly. I wasn't feeling the Asian food, pasta or burgers, so I ordered the lamb shanks, and I'm pretty happy that I did. Everyone had gotten their food for 5 minutes already, but still hadn't brought my dinner out. I wanted to attribute it the fact that it takes more time to make mine, but it turned out someone just plain forgot about it. =/

Braised Lamb Shanks with mashed potatoes and peas, carrots and zucchini

The lamb was pretty decent! Not as good as Aziza, of course, though I'm not sure it's fair to make that comparison. The lamb shank here wasn't gamy at all, and was fairly tender. If anything, it was a bit dry and could have used a bit more seasoning, but I guess that's what the sauce is for. (Not complaining at all here, the sauce was pretty good.) Portions were decent, and I was definitely full at the end.

Wonder why all the Yelp folk insist on bashing this place. I guess I'm not too picky about service.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/elephant-bar-restaurant-daly-city

75 Serramonte Ctr

Daly City, CA 94015

Dim sum!

Dim sum at Hong Kong Lounge with Romina, Mark and Mark's friend Jonathan on a lazy Sunday morning. Though of course the place is already packed with a 40 minute wait by 11am. Oh well, it was one of the few sunny days we had in February, so it's hard to complain about waiting outside.

Can't do dim sum without tea.

One of our first dishes comes out. I think Romina's really happy.

Shrimp dumplings. Nom nom nom.

Shumai. Nom nom.

Shrimp rolls, my favorite. Just look at that thing glisten.

Their turnip cake is pretty good too!

Rice noodles in XO sauce.

Shrimp Potstickers

Sesame balls

Sweet tofu soup/dessert thing.

Hong Kong Lounge

http://www.yelp.com/biz/hong-kong-lounge-san-francisco
5322 Geary Blvd, San Francisco, CA 94121

Happy Chinese ahem, Lunar New Year!

These are just some of the random snacks that we usually have over the new year. Not sure how some of these came to be Chinese tradition - as far as I know, pistachios aren't native to China - but I ain't complaining. Chocolate coins were (and are!) my favorites, with pistachios a close second. Except for those pesky nuts that won't crack. As a kid, my go-to methods were to bite down until either the hull or my teeth gave way (luckily no major casualties), or just whack it with a hammer. Not once did I think to use a nutcracker.

Nom of the day: Spiced Oatmeal Cranberry cookies

Didn't take any pictures during the making of, but then again cookie dough isn't the most photogenic thing out there. Recipe to follow.

Nom of the day: Red Delicious

Nom nom.

(On another note, I gotta get me a tripod...)

Pardon the crumbs

An afternoon snack. Brie and crackers.

Dine About Town, Round 3 - Aziza

First I was like :)

Then I was like :P

And then I was like :D

On the recommendations of several friends, Therese and I finally made our way out to the Outer Richmond Wednesday night to try Aziza, apparently the standard bearer for Moroccan/Mediterranean cuisine. For the both of us, this was our third Dine about Town this month, and, unlike One Market, this place more than lives up to the hype. Everything about this place oozed with appeal; the decor, the lighting, the service and food presentation were all impeccable. It didn't hurt either that this was one of very few nights that it wasn't raining buckets. Seriously, I wish all Wednesday nights could be like this.

Between the two of us, we split two appetizers, two entrees and two desserts, and there wasn't a single miss among them.

lima beans, feta, bread crumbs, oregano

Remember back in the day when we all refused to eat lima beans? These were no ordinary lima beans, no no. This was served casserole style, baked in a tomato sauce with feta cheese and topped with crispy bread crumbs. I'm not much of a fan of feta (particularly goat cheese feta), though to each their own. The bread crumbs were unexpected but not at all unpleasant. But the beans, man oh man were they good. And gigantic, too. The beans were tender but not mushy, and had absorbed all of the wonderful flavors of the sauce. If they were served like this, I'd have eaten them all day, every day. Initially I was hesitant to order this, but I'm absolutely sold.

meatballs, grape, jícama, herb vinaigrette

Yup, those are grapes, not cherry tomatoes, which I first thought they were. And it works oh so well. Loved the spices in the meatball. Small, but well cooked, moist, and packed with flavor. The jícama, which is normally fairly bland, was seasoned well, yet maintained the same refreshing taste.

couscous, chicken, prawn, lamb sausage, vegetables

For someone completely accustomed to eating rice, rice and more rice, the grains of couscous were a wonderful change. They were fluffy, cooked well and were still slightly chewy with a little pop, which Therese said was like munching on sacks of roe. The trio of meats was a great idea, with red meat and seafood and poultry (oh my!). If anything, the chicken was just a touch overdone, but that's really stretching to find something that I didn't like about the meal. The shrimp and sausage were grilled to perfection.

lamb shank, barley, prune, cranberry, scallion

Ah, yes, this was without a doubt my favorite. I can only assume that this was painstakingly slow roasted over hours and hours. The meat fell right off the bone, no need for a knife, and melted in your mouth like butter. Unlike most lamb that I've previously had, this wasn't gamy at all, and had I known better, I'd have even mistaken it for beef. Either way, it was fantastic. It was served over barley and cranberries and with a prune on the side. A great mixture of sweet and savory flavors.

passionfruit semifreddo with pistachios, crumbled gingersnaps, and cherries

Passionfruit and pistachios aren't two things that I'd normally associate together, but for some reason, it works! Two layers of a light and soft ice cream, with a layer of pistachios in between, topped with cherries and a passionfruit sauce. Considering how generous the appetizer and entree portions were, I was happy to have something that wasn't so heavy. It was very beautifully presented, in a way that these dark pictures can't fully justify.

sesame mousse, cocoa spice cake, and cranberry coulis

Sesame isn't something I normally see in American desserts, though it's used heavily in a lot of sweet asian goodies. In that sense, there was a kind of familiarity with the flavors of this dessert, yet it was still innovative and delicous. And like above, very beautifully presented. Feast with your eyes, so they say. I did like that it wasn't too sweet, and had a slight crunch from the sesame. A bit of a tossup between which dessert I liked better.

Great company, great food, great atmosphere. It doesn't get any better than this.

Total with tax and tip, $45. Worth every penny.

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http://www.yelp.com/biz/aziza-san-francisco

5800 Geary Blvd, San Francisco, CA 94121

Baklava!

Another one of those fun words to say. Even more fun to make and to eat. Recipes and "making of" pictures to follow.

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Recipe adapted from here and here:

Ingredients
For the filling:
2 tsp ground cinnamon
6 ounces almonds
6 ounces walnuts
6 ounces pecans (I substituted pecans)
2/3 cup sugar
1 pound phyllo dough, thawed
8 ounces (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted

For the syrup:
1 cups honey
1 cups water
1 cups sugar
1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp vanilla

Directions
Heat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Mix sugar and cinnamon in a medium bowl. Finely chop the almonds, walnuts and pecans; add to the cinnamon sugar mixture. Set aside.

Trim the sheets of phyllo to fit the bottom of a 13 by 9 by 2-inch metal pan. Brush the bottom and sides of the pan with butter; lay down a sheet of phyllo and brush with butter. Repeat this step 9 more times for a total of 10 sheets of phyllo.

Top with 1/3 of the nut mixture and spread thinly.

Layer 6 more sheets of phyllo with butter in between each of them, followed by another third of the nuts. Repeat with another 6 sheets of phyllo, butter and remaining nuts. Top with 8 sheets of phyllo brushing with butter in between each sheet. Brush the top generously with butter.

Place in the oven and bake for 30 minutes. Remove pan from the oven and cut into squares.

Return pan to the oven and continue to bake for another 30 minutes. Remove pan from the oven, place on a cooling rack, and cool for 2 hours before adding the syrup.

Make the syrup during the last 30 minutes of cooling. Combine the honey, water, sugar, cinnamon and vanilla in a medium saucepan and set over high heat. Stir occasionally until the sugar has dissolved. Once boiling, boil for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat.

After the baklava has cooled for 2 hours, re-cut the entire pan following the same lines as before. Pour the hot syrup evenly over the top of the baklava, allowing it to run into the cuts and around the edges of the pan.

Allow the pan to sit, uncovered until completely cool. Cover and store at room temperature for at least 8 hours and up to overnight before serving. Store, covered, at room temperature for up to 5 days.

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The recipe originally tells you to cut into 28 pieces, but I cut them into more (9x4=36).

Total cost of ingredients: about $20. Probably less if you already have some of the basic ingredients on hand.

Dine About Town, Round 2 - One Market

(Apologies for the pictures, I didn't have my camera with me, so I had to take these with my cell phone. And no amount of photoshopping can save these photos. I've tried.)

Dine About Town continued tonight with a visit to One Market with Mark and his friend, Paul. Considering its location in the heart of the Financial District (also bordering the Embarcadero), you can tell immediately that this place generally serves a more upscale clientèle.

I was informed during dinner that this place was awarded a Michelin Star ("Ooo la la!"). Quite frankly, that comes as a bit of a surprise. Not to say that the experience was bad, I just expected so much more. Perhaps to expect is simply to set ourselves up for disappointment. On to the food.

Seared Tuna with something-something

Alright, I didn't pay attention to what they said this was. This was the complimentary amuse-bouche that was brought out just after we ordered. The tuna was very fresh and the herbs complemented the fish well. A wonderful start to the meal, though to be honest, I'm impressed merely at the fact that they serve amuse-bouche (it's a fun word to say, too). My only complaint was that we only got one bite =(

Cauliflower Soup with Nantucket Bay scallops, asian pears, pickled ramps

The soup was creamy without being overly heavy. The Asian pears were a bit of a surprise; for a while, I couldn't decide if that was good or bad. I'm a fan of the texture and the added crunch, but it's a weird flavor to mix with the otherwise savory soup. The scallops were delicious though.

Grilled Bay Leaf Marinated Skirt Steak, “boulangere” potatoes, red wine shallot reduction

Though the photo above is dark and grainy, honestly it's a pretty good representation of what was served. The portions were good and the steak was fine on the inside, but it was inexplicably blackened and charred on the outside. Perhaps I had angered a chef for ordering my steak medium (blasphemy to some, I know). For a while I thought that the burnt taste came from the steak, but soon I realized that the sauce tasted burnt too. That was a major downer. The meat and potatoes sat on top of the red wine sauce and, as I soon found out, a sad squished little pile of spinach underneath. I ate the spinach anyway, but considering that it was the only source of color in the dish, I had to wonder why it was tucked away and drowned in the sauce.

Dulce de Leche Bread Pudding, caramel rum sauce, pecans, Tahitian vanilla bean ice cream

Throughout the entire meal, I kept waiting to be blown away; after the disappointing steak, I was ready to give up entirely. And when dessert came out, blown away I was. The bread pudding had a slightly crisp shell on the outside and was soft and warm inside. The candied pecans were toasted nicely. Even the ice cream made Dreyer's taste like a frozen pile of dog turds (comparatively speaking, of course). I should note that Mark ordered the chocolate souffle with chocolate/blood orange ice cream, and that too was absolutely perfect. Hats off to dessert chef. This is the definition of decadence.

So to recap, the soup = pretty good; the entree = eh; the dessert = fantastic. Would I come here again? Maybe next year for Dine About Town. Or maybe just stop by for dessert.

Total with tax and tip, $45. Quite a pretty penny.

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http://www.yelp.com/biz/one-market-san-francisco
1 Market Plaza, San Francisco, CA 94105

Nova Smoked Salmon and Cream Cheese

On a pepper and poppy seed cracker. Also great on bagels. Hmm, maybe that'll be tomorrow's breakfast.

On another note, the intermittent breaks we get in between the periods of heavy rain make for pretty decent lighting.

Salmon, $5 for 4 oz. Water crackers, $0.99 for 4 oz. Cream cheese, $2 for a small tub. Trader Joe's is awesome.