Korea House... or as I like to think of it now... The Pork Belly hook-up!

*** I think I've found my new Korean spot ***

The sun was slow to set and made the evening air pleasant. Quick steps up the stairs. Brief pause as we waited to be seated. Menus opened just for the sake of it... we three already knew why we were here.

I had been there two other times: once in high school, I took my foreign exchange student friends there (won't go into the mischief we caused that night!) and the last time with a date who hadn't tried Korean food previously. Wasn't that impressed so I continued to go to my usual, Han Il Kwan. But tonight was different.

We came to Korea House for their samgyeupsal, only discovering they served it once I read Miriam W.'s review. Lot of pressure since my two accomplices depended on me for the Korean hook-up. We were not disappointed.

The deets: 2 orders only (cannot order just one). Cook at your own table (can control how crispy you want it... ya ya, it's a gas grill, suck it up). Be careful of cross contamination (they'll give you metal tongs to place on the grill, but once you're ready to eat, use your chopsticks to plate). Served with a sweet dipping sauce. I ate it dipped in the sauce and then wrapped in a lettuce leaf with a bit of kimchi or hot paste).

Banchan:
All the little sides were great except for the gak du gi (spicy pickled radish... overripe which made it mushy). Kim chi was perfect. A few sides were different from the usual array one gets at a Korean restaurant: slightly sweet soy radish, soy sauce potatoes, green leaf lettuce salad with slightly spicy vinegar-sesame dressing).

Customer service was excellent (though I will mention there were only two other tables when we first walked in):
We originally tried to order one samgyeupsal, one ojingo bokum (spicy sauteed calamari), and one kimchi chi gae (spicy kimchi stew/soup) but once we found out we had to order two samgyeupsals to get it, we decided to pass on the calamari. The lady took our order and went back to the kitchen. After a few seconds, she came back and said she'd throw in the kimchi chi gae for free if we still wanted the calamari... of course, we took her offer. Much better than the fried fish we'd get for free from Han Il Kwan. And when we asked for refills on the sides, we got them no problem and with a smile. Only gripe was every other table got green peppers (not too spicy) to eat with the hot chili paste and we didn't get any! Guess I could have asked but only realized this once we were almost done. Also, helps if you speak Korean, but not necessary.

Price:
Think we each put in $22 for dinner and tip. I think it's a great value and could have probably fed a 4th person with the amount of food we had left over (all the samgyeupsal was gone, though).

Meal ended with cantaloupe slices, rather than the sickly sweet shik-kai (my friend loves to call it "dirty rice water").

Will definitely go back since to try their nang myon (cold noodle in a vinegary broth... perfect for hot summer days) and dol sot bi bim bap (hot stone bowl bi bim bap).

Korea House
(415) 563-1388
1640 Post Street
San Francisco, CA 94115

Le Central Bistro

Feeling old-school, "Herb Caan"-ish, but not French instead of Tadich? How's about Le Central instead?

Before you step inside, expect to pay a good amount for lunch. Going for dinner? Expect to pay much more. Park in the lot a block up on Bush... you won't find metered parking and if you do, you will find it will not have enough time or you'll have accidently parked in a yellow/white, loading zone, etc. spot and will have to move anyways.

Some say their service is poor; I say it's just very French.... though the only accent heard was a very slight Chinese one from Charlie who brought us water and refilled the coffee. Though our waiter did not say his name, he gave a smile each time he came by.

Today's lunch, split by two of us, consisted of:
Beefsteak Tomato and Mozzarella. 3 juicy slices, flavorful, dressing with a hint of Worchestershire sauce, sprig of basil on top.
Crab Cakes Beurre Blanc One fist-sized crab cake, perfectly seasoned, crisp, and not full of fillers... this was CRAB.
Fettucini Pancetta Meat Sauce. Sauce was not too sweet, nor was there too much of it... hate it when there's too much. Pancetta cooked well but still had a bite to it. Pasta wasn't freshly made, but what'd ya expect? North Beach?
Famous cassoulet. On this day, the cassoulet had been cooking for 11,433 days straight. One bite and I believed it... white bean goodness with tender-fork duck. Two spoonfuls from the cute single-serve earthenware cassole (not hard to figure out how the cassoulet got its name, eh?) and I was quite full already. So I only had one more spoonful and packed up the rest. With the weather the way it's been lately, this will be perfect for dinner.


Le Central Bistro
453 Bush St
San Francisco, CA 94102
(415) 391-2233
www.lecentralbistro.com

Thin or Thick? Doesn't matter!

I hesitate to write about Little Star Pizza on Divisadero. Already, they are way too crowded unless you get there right when they open. But being a huge pizza fan, I have to give credit where credit is due.

Personally, I'm a thin crust kinda gal. Growing up in the East Bay, everyone always raved about Zachary's in Berkeley/Oakland. Tried it twice to make sure. Yep, me no likey vat of tomatoes on top of soggy crust. Of course, I wasn't a big fan of tomatoes back then and now I actually like the smaller "on-the-vine" yuppie ones. Maybe I'd like it now. Maybe I should have gone to Zachary's with people who liked thin crust pizza, which they do serve there, instead (but then why would you bother going there?). Doesn't matter. My heart now belongs to Little Star Pizza.

I tried their Classic (sausage, mushrooms, onions, green bell peppers and Pesto Chicken (pesto, roasted chicken, mushrooms, onions) the first time I went with a group. Since it was so crowded, we decided to swill our beer quickly and take the pizzas over to Bar 821. Second time, D. and I got a simple pepperoni (no reason to hide the tangy tomato sauce atop a crispy-perfect cornmeal crust with toppings). All fabulous. Get there during happy hour (5-6:30, 10-11) and enjoy $1 pbr's or $1 off all beer.

Little Star Pizza
846 Divisadero St.
www.littlestarpizza.com

Blue Jay Cafe

One night in March, I went out to dinner with some friends. We decided on Blue Jay Cafe where a couple of them had eaten before, thinking I would like it, too. I had heard this Southern comfort food place was good, cheap, but lacking in service.

Horseshoe counter area in the middle, a few tables hugging the sides of the walls.
Décor was funky, cool music played in the background. Dim lighting which is always a plus with me (think I know why... more later).

We were still waiting on one friend so we each got a beer… 5 minutes later, the beers came to the table. I will admit, there was only one server/hostess working, but c’mon… beers always make waiting better. 15 minutes later, our last friend arrived and we ordered.

Here's what I had:
Meatloaf, wrapped in bacon, with garlic mashed potatoes and gravy


Didn't immediately notice the pool of oil from the bacon till I had already started digging in… the meatloaf had the consistency of cat food. Ever have “deviled-ham-in-a-can”? It was like that. Flavor was a bit bland. Bacon was okay, potatoes and gravy the best. Ended up taking half home… by the time the food showed, I wasn’t that hungry.

P. and T. decided on one of the specials:
Slow cooked oxtails with grits

They enjoyed it and when I tried a bite, I thought it was pretty good. Very tender but a bit salty.

My tardy friend, A., chose the Pot Roast on the suggestion of Tim. Tim swore that it was delicious, having had it on a previous trip.


He liked the onion rings and the sauce… perfectly thick. He just thought it'd be more like a Filipino dish he imagines when he thinks of "pot roast" . He says now,“It was okay for what it was,” but still wishes he had gotten the fried chicken.

He had already eaten some before the photo was taken… note his fork unable to stay away. In the top right you can see the free corn muffins that were given to the table, one for each of us. The one picked on was mine. Tim didn’t eat his. Too dry and not very good, in my opinion. Same thing with the biscuits that were served with each entrée.

As A. had a slice of pecan pie, I enjoyed watching the cockroach on the windowsill, go back and forth between Tim and I. At least it wasn’t in the food! Maybe that’s why it’s so dark?

Took a long time to get the pie and check, and A.’s beer was forgotten about for a while. Here’s a suggestion to the waitstaff: write it down.

Fun dinner because of the company, but I’m not sure if it’ll join my rotating selection of restaurants. That said, I think it’s worth another look because I want to try the fried chicken, too.

Blue Jay Café
919 Divisadero St
San Francisco, CA 94115
Phone: (415) 447-6066

Brindisi Cucina di Mare

When it’s warm in SF and you feel like dining al fresco, the best place to go is Belden Place. It’s an alley between Pine and Bush that’s closed off to traffic. The 4 restaurants/1 bar all have outdoor seating, charming waiters and mixed reviews on food.

So one unusually pleasant March night, my girlfriends and I decided to meet on Belden. Once we got there, we realized everyone had the same idea we did. We had drinks at Voda (reviewed here), but soon, our stomachs didn’t want to wait any longer. Nor did we want to fall flat on our faces from too many drinks on an empty stomach. We had been waiting for Plouf, for an hour, only to hear the hostess tell us, “It’s not going to happen.”

Out of sheer desperation, we decided to try Brindisi, on the corner next to Voda, the only restaurant out of the 4 standing by itself. The hostess there assured us an outside table for 8 would open up within 10 minutes and amazingly, it happened. That should have been a warning sign.

Brindisi Cucina di Mare, one would guess from its name, would have good Italian/Seafood. Since I still had Plouf’s mussels on the brain, I decided to have them here. Bad idea. Broth was watery and pretty bland. One slice of burnt sourdough accompanied it. At least there was a sizeable portion for the $13.00 price tag. My friend who shared 3 plates with her sister was amazed at how small each of her dishes were. No one seemed that impressed with their food.

Waiter was inexperienced (forgot to bring dishes) and unfamiliar with his wine list (we ordered a bottle of chianti that he didn’t know was served). We were seated right by the kitchen window and could see there was only 2 chefs working. No wonder the food came out dish by dish and appetizers served along with entrees.

Save your money and don’t bother going here. If Plouf can’t take you, save your money and go to Pasta Pomodoro instead.

Brindisi Cucina di Mare
88 Belden Place
San Francisco, CA 94102
Phone: (415) 593-8000

Kukje Korean Supermarket

I stopped in at Kukje in Daly City Tuesday evening, craving some Korean food that could be fixed quickly, or at least, with little effort.

As soon as you walk in the main entrance, there is a little restaurant to the right. I’ve never eaten there, so I can’t recommend them.

On the far left, there is a cosmetics counter (don’t know what they have but I’m assuming it’s a lot of whitening face cream and pink eye shadow). Beyond that, the housewares section with rice cookers, utensils, bowls, teapot sets. And next to housewares, there is a Korean video rental place.

Enough of what I don’t look at…


If you have not been to Kukje and you love Korean food, you are missing out. The original Kukju supermarket in SF (think it's on Noriega) isn't as big... this Kukje is as big as a Safeway. No more going out to the Richmond for Korean food supplies since Kukje opened.

Every Korean ingredient you’re looking for is there:
-spices like kochukaru (hot red pepper) and denjang (bean paste)
-dried items like cuttlefish or mushrooms
-instant items like jajangmyun (black bean paste) in a bag or spicy noodle bowl
-frozen items like a box of squid or fish
-premade packed items like kimchee (regular, cucumber, radish, etc), fried fish, or seasoned crab
-soju, beer, aloe vera drinks
-produce section
-meat/seafood counter

But my favorite is their self-serve “pan chan” (side dish) bar. You pay by the weight (there’s a little scale next to box of tissues for messes). This is especially good for people that don’t know how to make Korean dishes on their own or for lazy people like me, who don’t want to spend the time making something I can just buy! I think it works out to cost about the same, too, since I don’t buy that much for myself. Wish I had taken a photo of it. Will update if I do.

Ended up buying:
- One shrink-wrapped package marked: Hot Fish Roe Soup, complete with soup base paste, veggies, dduk (rice cakes shaped like ovalettes), a sealed bag of udon noodles, and seafood (calamari, baby shrimp, a few scallops and a bunch of roe sacks) and one piece of fish cake (the white half-circle with the pink outer rim? Don’t know the name), all for $11.90! Way too much for me alone, but decided I didn’t have to make it all at once. I figured it would serve 4 easily. I found it in the meat/seafood refrigerated case.
-Spicy pickled cucumbers – slightly different from oiee kimchee. ($1.50 for about a handful)
-Raw calamari pieces in a spicy sauce, no legs included ($1.52 for a little less than a handful; calamari are heavy, I guess)
- Container of umeboshi (Japanese pickled plums) – yes, there are some other Asian items available here, too ($4.99 for the brand I wanted but there were cheaper ones)
-Two Korean pears (about $3.00 but totally worth it)
- Dried whole octopus in a bag ($5.99)
- Regular kmchee ($3.99? I think)

Went home, made my soup (roe was a bit too chewy; think I’ll try a different pack next time) with just the dduk. Heaven!

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Kukje
2350 Junipero Serra Blvd
Daly City, CA 94015
650-758-1900
There’s two rows of parking right in front of the store but the adjacent strip mall has more if it’s full.

Pizza in the Castro...

Rather than try to list all the past restaurants I've been to in the Bay Area, I'll just start recording them going forward.

Last night, D and I grabbed a pizza in the Castro. Normally, we get one at Cybelle's but we were looking for a change. I had wanted to get one at Nizario's. I've been a fan of theirs since I used to drink at Pat O'Shea's and then stumble next door for their Greeko pizza (Feta, Olives, Onions, Bell Peppers, and Tomatoes, though I don't remember bell peppers and tomatoes on them; maybe they're a new addition). Anyways, we decided to get an Escape from NY pie called:

THE GOURMET (18" large for 22.00)
Fresh Spinach, Feta Cheese,
Sundried Tomatoes & Artichokes

Decent thin crust and a flavorful sauce. Artichokes a bit cumbersome to eat, but was expected. Was happy that it didn't seem to soggy up the crust. D commented that the pizza had a bitter taste, but I loved it.

Slices may be the way to go at EFNY since the slices get crispier than a full-on pie, but a nice change from the usual pepperoni/mushroom.

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Escape From New York Pizza
Castro at 18th and other locations

Escape From NY through citysearch.com



Nizario's in the Richmond
Geary between 2nd & 3rd

Nizario's in the Castro
18th at Castro

Nizario's Pizza