I’m going to SF for a week to visit friends before they leave the country.  Can anyone recommend restaurants in SF area?

Any particular cuisine or budget?

There is a thread with some bay area restaurants. If you are going to be there for a week, just hop on the BART and get off at the Rockridge/College Ave. station and head up College Ave to A Cote that I recommend in that thread.

House of Nanking

house of nanking… that place is OG!  i used to work by there and went there all the time for lunch.  maybe not momos thing as it’s far from authentic chinese cuisine.  at the same time, it’s authentic in the sense that if there’s one place to eat greasy bastardized chinese fare, it would be where chinese-american culture has it’s roots in SF’s chinatown.

if you like soul food, there’s a place just a bit south of the SF centre off market street.  try the homemade ginger beer at the bar.  it’s not actually beer but the most powerful ginger ale you’ll ever taste.  kapow!

http://www.farmerbrownsf.com/

Sushi Bistro. Our friends restaurant.. Sushi Bistro Menu

Koi Palace for Dim Sum Koi Palace

Enjoy!

I’ve just discovered (upon arriving) that the family I’m staying with is vegetarian.

momopi - 14 October 2009 03:24 AM

I’ve just discovered (upon arriving) that the family I’m staying with is vegetarian.

Ubuntu in Napa.

Okay, so I asked my BFF is San Fran for her recommendations. I haven’t been to every place on the list but I trust that if she says it is good it is. Rather than try to reword her recommedations I’m just going to paste her email to me.

I think the two restaurants you’re thinking of are L’Osteria del Forno in North Beach and Delfina in the Mission.  I remember being with you at both.  Those are definitely two of my faves.

My favorite go to for cheap French is Ti Couz in the Mission.  They’re specialty is savory Brittany style crepes made of buckwheat.  I always get the mushroom crepe.  Bottomless coffee, too.  Cheap Indian at Pakwan and Aslam’s Rasoi, both in the Mission.  You can bring your own beer into Pakwan. 

For best margaritas - Tommy’s on Geary near 24th Ave.  We recently discovered Belden Place, a little French alley downtown.  They have lots of outdoor seating, really cute.  We ate at Plouf for mussels.  Their creme brulee was yummy and I had the frog legs, bouncy bouncy!  SF is known for dim sum.  The one better known place I’ve been to is Koi Palace in Daly City.  It was a bit crazy inside.  For cheap Japanese noodles, Katana-Ya in the Tenderloin.  For chocolate, Recchiuti in the Ferry Building.  The Ferry Building also has all sorts of fun foodie shops.  There’s a store devoted soley to mushrooms.  There’s also a tea house, a wine bar, oyster tasting, and caviar tasting. 

If money is no object, some of the more famous SF area restaurants are Fleur de Lys , Gary Danko, French Laundry (in wine country), and Chez Panisse (Berkeley).  Hubby and I went to La Folie for our anniversary.  I would recommend their wine pairing option.  I heard Boulevard was good for steak. 

The place I would miss the most if I moved away would be Ti Couz.

Both Gary Danko and Chez Panisse do great vegetarian dishes. Again, if money isn’t an issue. FWIW, Gary is f’ing nuts in the kitchen, total Nazi. But… I know how to make one of his seafood salads that is freakin awesome.

Ditto the recommendations on Koi Palace.  Very busy so get there a few minutes before it opens to get in line.

It’s worth mentioning so your expectations aren’t skewed - this isn’t the typical rambunctious dim sum place.  The menu is consists of only about a dozen+ items and you order from a waiter, not push cart ladies.  There’s 2 or 3 selections from each of a few categories like traditional Cantonese dim sum dishes, Shanghainese-style dumplings, etc.  Very pricey (~$5 for four har gow) but everything is delicate and refined.

In many regards, it’s more true to the origins of dim sum.  Small delicacies shared over drinking tea (which is what “yum cha” means after all) as opposed to the free-for-all mass quantities of cheap dishes that we’re more accustomed to.

Assorted dumplings
[IMG]http://i35.tinypic.com/2i6dpgk.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i35.tinypic.com/16kui4x.jpg[/IMG]

Specialty of the house - Shark Fin Dumpling Soup
[IMG]http://i38.tinypic.com/vmrbpd.jpg[/IMG]

Custard tarts topped with birds nest
[IMG]http://i35.tinypic.com/aovwk9.jpg[/IMG]

GraceOMalley - 13 October 2009 05:46 PM

Sushi Bistro. Our friends restaurant.. Sushi Bistro Menu

Aside from being your friend’s place, how does Sushi Bistro compare to other places downtown or in J-town.  Just found out I’m also going to be in SF for a few days next month but staying downtown so both locations will be a bit of a trek.

Koi Palace recently opened another sister restaurant Koi Garden in the Ulfert Center in Dublin. It is the Irvine of East Bay. Dim Sum there is more expensive there and less varieties. The seatings are packed in. Dim Sum should average about $18/person. Koi Palace for 3 came to about $60. Koi Garden was $68 but we ate much less due to the crowded condition.

Here is another excellent Dim Sum Place Hong Kong Flower Lounge in Milbrae

You will find the best Chinese restaurants South of SF and North of Redwood City. The Chinese demographic in the Stanford University vicinities such as Atherton, Hillsbourough, Palos Alto, and Redwood City are very picky with food but prefer to pay much higher price for better quality dim sum.

Good Dim Sum restaurants cluster around wealthy Chinese in the Bay Area.

acpme - 15 October 2009 05:42 PM

GraceOMalley - 13 October 2009 05:46 PM

Sushi Bistro. Our friends restaurant.. Sushi Bistro Menu

Aside from being your friend’s place, how does Sushi Bistro compare to other places downtown or in J-town.  Just found out I’m also going to be in SF for a few days next month but staying downtown so both locations will be a bit of a trek.

Apple I-phone featured Sushi Bistro on their TV ad.

Mrs BK wrote the first review on the internet and launched their success with the geek crowd.

momopi - 13 October 2009 02:53 AM

I’m going to SF for a week to visit friends before they leave the country.  Can anyone recommend restaurants in SF area?

Go the the Ferry Building for one of the best food experiences in the country.  Not kidding, that place is amazing.  It is filled with all of the Bay Area food snobs.

http://www.ferrybuildingmarketplace.com/

Joe33 - 15 October 2009 09:20 PM

momopi - 13 October 2009 02:53 AM

I’m going to SF for a week to visit friends before they leave the country.  Can anyone recommend restaurants in SF area?

Go the the Ferry Building for one of the best food experiences in the country.  Not kidding, that place is amazing.  It is filled with all of the Bay Area food snobs.

http://www.ferrybuildingmarketplace.com/

I highly recommend this too. Every time I go to SF now, I go here. If you are a cheesehead, then you will love the cheese store. The wine bar is great too… oh so many yummy places there.

momopi - 14 October 2009 03:24 AM

I’ve just discovered (upon arriving) that the family I’m staying with is vegetarian.

You have to go to Millenium! Be sure to order the Chocolate Almond Midnight, it’s a divine combination of
almond cashew crust, mocha chocolate filling, raspberry sauce, white chocolate mousse. And it’s vegan.

Vien Huong Restaurant
712 Franklin Street
(between 7th St & 8th St)
Oakland, CA 94607
(510) 465-5938
http://www.yelp.com/biz/vien-huong-restaurant-oakland

This is an old school restaurant in Oakland Chinatown.  I was expecting the Oakland version of Trieu Chau (Santa Ana).  It had the right “look” with many big tables (sharing) and packed with Asian customers.  But, the soup had no soul.  :(  Non-soup noodle dishes were better.