See Us Eat: 2005-11-27

Saturday, December 03, 2005

Dinner at Ariake, San Francisco, CA

Ariake's is our favorite sushi place in San Francisco, and well worth the trip considering it is a bit out of the way. The fish is always incredibly fresh. The total, including sake, came to $40 per person.

Edamame

Salmon Sashimi

Seafood Salad
Raw fish with seaweed, cucumbers, pickled veggies and roe. This is awesome.

Miso Soup
Decent version.

Hamachi

Salmon, Hamachi and Toro Sushi

White Tuna Tataki
This delivate salad of slightly seared tuna is balanced by super thin slices of lemon. It is delicious.

Shiro Maguro Sashimi

Ariake Roll
Spicy hamachi with seaweed. This has quite a kick, even sans wasabi.

# posted by Giao and Alexis @ 7:04 PM 0 comments

Lunch at Costco, San Francisco, CA

Chicken Caesar Salad $4
This was okay. The chicken was surprisingly moist and the lettuce was crisp, but the dressing was decidedly lackluster.

Polish Sausage and Hotdog $1.50 each
Giao decided to get one of each this time to see if he could tell the difference. He could. And the sausage was better.

# posted by Giao and Alexis @ 1:38 PM 0 comments

Friday, December 02, 2005

Dinner at scott howard, San Francisco, CA

We decided to try this new restaurant--scott howard-- for dinner after an evening of poker. The meal was delicious; surprisingly so. The 7 course tasting menu, as seen below, was $80 per person.

Porcini Profitrole
This was a tiny puff pastry filled with chopped, sauteed porcini mushrooms.

Chestnut Soup

Although a bit thick, this warm soup tasted purely of freshly roasted chesnuts.

Fluke Sashimi
(with muscat grape gelée, keffir lime and hon shimeji mushrooms)
The saltiness of the mushrooms gelled the entire dish. Very subtle.

Duck Leg stuffed in itself, served cold
This was, in essence, a tasty duck terrine.

Seared Foie Gras
(with ancho jam, french toast style brioche and watercress)

This was a standard, yet good, preparation of this decadent ingredient.

Carrot Broth (with sabayon, chervil and truffle oil)
Usually carrot soups are a bit to sweet for my taste, but this was wonderful and very subtle. Not sweet at all. The consistency was perfect.

Seared Ahi Tuna
(with an onion marmalade, a pinot noir reduction, and some sort of sauteed greens)
This dish was amazing. The flavors melded beautifully, yet remained distinct.

Short Ribs (with a celery root puree and porcini jus)
This was very good. I have no idea how they got the puree to be so incredibly silky.

Apple Upside-Down Cake with Orange/Muscat Ice Cream
The warm apples in the cake were quite good, but ice cream lacked either of the distinct flavors it claimed to have.

Eric
You may remember him for his guest-photography skills, as seen at Tandoori Mahal.

Ratings:
Food: 2
Decor: 2
Service: 1

Website
Health Code Violations

# posted by Giao and Alexis @ 10:33 PM 0 comments

Lunch at Enrico's, San Francisco, CA

After aimlessly walking around looking for a spot to eat lunch we decided on Enrico's. Although not far from the office, Alexis had never been there. She was pleasantly surprised.

Fried Calamari $8
The batter was light and the calamari tender, which is about all you can ask for in this classic dish. The mayonaissy sauce was sub par, though.

7 Hour Lamb Stew $11
This was really very good. The lamb was falling-apart tender, the stew was flavorful and it was a huge amount of food for the price.

Mussels $12
The preparation was nice but the mussels were not plump enough for Giao.

Ratings:
Food: 1
Decor: 0
Service: 1

Website
Health Code Violations

# posted by Giao and Alexis @ 1:26 PM 0 comments

Breakfast from Gambinos, San Francisco, CA

Meatballs from Gambinos.

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# posted by Giao and Alexis @ 10:25 AM 0 comments

Thursday, December 01, 2005

Dinner at Home

Grilled Asparagus and Tilapia Baked with lemon and capers
The grilled asparagus was tender and flavorful and the fish tasted fine to Alexis. But Giao thought that the fish tasted like plastic and spit it out.

So I made Giao a snack of cheese, smoked trout and chicken wings.

# posted by Giao and Alexis @ 8:23 PM 0 comments

Lunch at Work

Steak, Shrimp and Broccoli Stirfry
I threw all the leftovers from the hot pot into a stirfry and tossed in a sesame/chili garlic/soy sauce.

# posted by Giao and Alexis @ 1:21 PM 0 comments

Breakfast at Home

Cheesy Scrambled Eggs

# posted by Giao and Alexis @ 10:16 AM 0 comments

Wednesday, November 30, 2005

Dinner at Home

Hot Pot

Steak, shrimp, brocolli and oyster mushrooms cooked in boiling beef broth.

After eating the meat and shrimp, we mix eggs and spinach into the mix and eat it like soup. Yum.

# posted by Giao and Alexis @ 9:23 PM 0 comments

Lunch at Work

Leftover chicken, shrimp and brocolli.

# posted by Giao and Alexis @ 1:22 PM 0 comments

Breakfast at Home

Fried eggs and Bacon.

# posted by Giao and Alexis @ 10:20 AM 0 comments

Tuesday, November 29, 2005

Dinner from Mehfil Indian Cuisine, San Francisco, CA

Chicken Mahkni $10
Buttery and a bit sour, and made with dark meat. Yum. Better than CTM any day.

Lajawab Jhingay $10
These are basically like lightly breaded tandoori shrimp. They were a bit too tough though.

Saag Paneer $8
Not salty enough this time, but always a good bet.

# posted by Giao and Alexis @ 8:49 PM 2 comments

Lunch at Work

Alexis ate at work today, while Giao had his lunch meeting. She had leftover shrimp with garlic and brocolli.

# posted by Giao and Alexis @ 12:27 PM 0 comments

Lunch at Aqua, San Francisco, CA

Crab Cakes $17
These crab cakes were 80% crab meat and pretty damn good.

Ahi Tuna Tartare $18
Wasn't as good as remembered, but still ok.
Note: This picture is post waiter manipulation.

Salmon Tartare $18
Really good but too oily.

Ratings:
Food: 1 (used to be a 2)
Decor: 2
Service: 2 (but we waited 10 minutes before being greeted)

Website
Health Code Violations

# posted by Giao and Alexis @ 12:21 PM 2 comments

Breakfast at Home

Egg White Omelet with Fresh Dill and Smoked Trout
This was an attempt at a healthier breakfast than bacon and fried eggs. But...it didn't taste quite as good.

# posted by Giao and Alexis @ 9:19 AM 0 comments