6.03.2006
shanghai restaurant: near durant food court. our waitress was a hoverer. soupy buns live up to hype, but h says beware the oakland location.
su hong, palo alto: beef soup with delicious chewy noodles, shrimp w/scallions, fish, squash with those gluten balls, shanghainese noodles... we ordered so much i can't remember what else. but everything was really good.
quizno's, bancroft near campus: classy! love how the counter guy summons the next person in line by saying, "next guest?"
breads of india, sacramento at dwight?: NOT AS GOOD AS I REMEMBER. curry was too salty, our garlic naan lacked garlic. sad.
la mediterranee, college near ashby: cheap! and pretty good. pomegranate marinated chicken--they give you four drumsticks!
gelato milano, shattuck at center?: wanted to support an asian brother, but the stuff was just way too sweet. i suggest you go in solely to taste the white peach flavor. not recommending the full size though. we got panna cotta (not a fan), strawberry (not bad), yogurt (would have been great if less sweet), white peach (first bite good, next bites overwhelm with sugary flavor), some italian cake thing (meh).
saul's delicatessen: some beef dish and a grilled cheese sandwich with tomatoes. satisfying.
mi lindo peru, sf mission: marinated beef poured over crispy french fries. 'nuff said.
samwon garden on telegraph: first time, kalbi. second time, aljjigae and dduk mandu guk. love the kalbi, a little "eh" on the soups (though infinitely better than seoul gomtang).
seoul gomtang on telegraph: so wanted to like this place, but EVERYTHING had msg in it. banchan was a bunch of different kinds of kimchi. we ordered samgyetang and soontubu. thumbs down on both.
naan n' curry, telegraph at durant: not bad. naan was good, but we're not fans of their tendency to leave the bones in the chicken.
t-rex, tenth street at gilman: the sides were ridiculous. macaroni shells drenched in parmesan and cheddar cheese. cornbread with maple butter (does it sound like it'd be soggy? because it defied all expectations and was kind of crisp with buttery goodness. we continued eating this long after we'd declared ourselves grossed out). asparagus with tarragon creme fraiche... i thought this was just okay. for the main courses, between three of us, we ordered brisket, spareribs, baby back ribs and pulled pork. unfortunately, we were underwhelmed by the dry meat. and it's what we came for!!
a cote, college ave (rockridge): pommes frites, mushroom tart, beef, fried artichokes... INSANE (1hr+) wait.
mount everest restaurant, shattuck at university: curry, tandoori fish?, naan... can't remember what else. friendly servers.
la burrita, durant avenue: i can't go here anymore. i order a burrito meant to last two meals and then i eat the whole damn thing.
top dog, center street. linguica, calabrese, hot link. yum.
epicurious garden
- kirala: chicken bento and rainbow roll. i give it a randy jackson aiight.
- soop: greek chicken soup.
love at first bite, vine: red velvet cupcake, black bottom cupcake. red velvet was a little dry, but the cream cheese frosting was delicious. black bottom cupcake moist, but too much black bottom.
teacake bake shop, bay street: white cupcakey, blueberry cookie. loved the frosting, and everything there was adorable. not much selection by the time we came by, though.
pasta pomodoro, bay street: cannot recall exactly... shared a pasta and a salad, and ate lots of bread. food was decent, service was lousy.
gregoire, cedar at shattuck: ribeye with gorgonzola sauce and roasted tomatoes, crispy potato puffs, strawberry bread pudding with white chocolate sauce. and a mango drink and a coconut pineapple drink. thumbs up.
steve's korean bbq, durant food court: bibimbap with beef.
cafes:
royal grounds, shattuck at channing. lots of weird people along with this girl i had hoped i'd *never* run into again. but there's lots of room to work, they have dreyer's ice cream, and it's close by. $4 minimum for credit cards, wireless internet $15 a month.
sufficient grounds, durant at telegraph. came here twice. first time was fine, second time the punk kid making the sandwiches gave me bread that was burned black on the bottom. miffed!
village grounds, shattuck at delaware. nice atmosphere though it gets hot in the afternoon, yummy cilantro chicken empanada, free wireless.
fertile grounds, shattuck at delaware. illy coffee, they also sell scharffen berger chocolates at the counter. a little cramped. free wireless.
berkeley espresso, shattuck at hearst. coffee was all right. free wireless.
strada, bancroft at college. americanos. banana nut muffins. cheesecake.
peet's coffee, shattuck at kittredge. americanos all around.
yali's cafe, oxford. lemon square, citrus green tea, african something tea.
zemocha, shattuck at berkeley way. owned by a nice guy who's a former network architect. specialty is their hot chocolate. interior almost unbearably hot.
