- not as good as before
- had the tonkotsu ramen + shared a piece of pork belly
- went with carol
- for dinner 6:30pm
- broth not as good...flavor not the same...not as deep
- noodles similar
- not many patrons..a wait and full when arrive but after sat down at 7, the line was short and then no line and empty tables...did not feel the same
- people did not seem as happy eating it as before...didn't see smiles i was used to seeing
- i would prefer himawari instead..and ajisen tasted much better imo...
- not worth the trip back next time
- buta no kakuni is about the same i felt...
- didn't have that very cool, fun, hole in the wall with best ramen...had a diff feeling...
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6/20/09 - Bistro Aix
so after the long search for a steak dinner place, i decided to go with bistro aix (actually made reservations for el raigon but was too expensive so decided to change it)...they assured me that they always have a steak on the menu and the person i spoke with was very accomodating. large parties are usually sat in the outside patio but unfortunately it was all booked up. so he said that if i didn't mind, he can manage to make room for our group of 13 inside. i said ok and we booked the table...what i liked was how he called me during the lunchtime of the day of the reservation (saturday, june 20th) to tell me that they had a cancellation and that they could now sit me in the patio. he highly recommended it so i did...
and the dinner turned out great! despite a few flaws, i would be tempted to give bistro aix 5 stars.. i think for the price, its definitely worth a try. the steak entree was a NY steak with a bearnaise sauce and french fries ($22). the meat was cooked perfectly. exactly what i wanted. i decided to have the gnocchi instead of steak (not great as the morels were too salty and the gnocchi weren't fluffy enough, but good taste...3 of 5 stars)...the other entrees i had a taste of were the braised duck leg (3.5 stars), halibut bouillebasse (3.5 stars), and hamburger (2 stars)...the appitizers of fried calimari with slaw (4.5 stars) and pizzettas (5 stars) were very good and the dessert was also good too...we had nectarines with creme fraiche (3 stars because of the price...8 bucks for 1 cut up nectarine basically), blueberry tart (5 stars), apple tatin (4 stars) and chocolate cake (4.5 stars)
i guess...looking back, as it was my birthday dinner, i liked the dinner mostly because the shared foods (appitizers and dessert) were very good, the steak was cooked beautifully (as most of my friends ordered the steak) and the atmosphere was perfect...the covered outdoor patio felt very nice with the right lighting and noise level. our waitress was ok, not great as she looked tired and lacked enthusiasm...but she did her job..oh, and their bread was amazing...very good focassia (despite crappy olive oil for dipping)...so yah...i would return...i've been here once before about 10 years ago and remembered i enjoyed it then too despite my chicken being too salty.
i think that for the situation, Bistro Aix was 5 stars...for the food, its 4 stars, so unbiasly, i would have to give it 4 stars. the best way to describe the restaurant is a casual, yuppy-neighborhood restaurant serving up a limited menu consisting of italian inspired american food (despite a french name) at reasonable prices with a great patio in the back for groups.
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5/19/06 - Kisaku
Restaurant Review: Kisaku
Cuisine: Japanese
location: 47 E 4Th Ave, San Mateo, CA 23810
contact: 650-347-4121
date: 5/19/06
overall score: 8/10
decor: 6.5/10
food: 8/10
service: 8.5/10
sushi: I tried an assortment of sushi and was pleased but not blown away by the quality. The yellowtail (hamachi) was incredibly fresh and tasty but quality fell a little short on the tuna and scallop (the tuna tasted bland. It had a very farmed taste to it). The rice was good but i thought it was a tiny bit too dry. FYI - avoid the unagi sushi at all costs!
appetizers: The chawan mushi was cooked too fast leaving it not as solid as i would have liked but the taste was spot on. (The shrimp in my chawan mushi was unfresh having a bad texture and taste to it.) Yakitori was not good but only acceptable. The potato salad was good and worth ordering.
comments: This restaurant is very authentic with restaurant guests and employees being mainly japanese. Service was friendly and nice as expected at a Japanese restaurant. Their sushi was not the best sushi in the world but it does rank top 10 (and maybe top 5) for me in the bay area. The food menu has a good variety of sushi as well as traditional entrees and appitizers. The price is above average when compared with other japanese restaurants in the bay. What i enjoyed most was the assortment of sake on hand. I had the sake flight and was very pleased by two of the three sakes ($9). I would come here again. It is worth the drive from San Francisco but i would try another restaurant in the San Mateo area before returning back to Kisaku.
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5/5/06 - Myth Cafe
Restaurant Review: Myth Cafe
Location: 490 Pacific Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94133
Contact: 415-677-4289, www.mythsf.com
Date: 5/5/06
overall: n/a (not enough information) - estimate: 7.5
decor: 8
service: 6.5
food: n/a (not enough information) estimate: 8
mixed fruit tart - This was the best tart i have ever eaten. Fresh fruit and a delicious crispy crust. The sweetness was perfect and the price was also reasonable
comments - I only got to try a mixed fruit tart and a tea here but from first impressions alone, this place is awesome. I love the decor and the location of this place. The chef seems to be very passionate about his job and the customers are civilized and good people. On their menu i noticed many unique and delcious sounding sandwiches that i would be sure to try next time i come back. They even have bag lunches and a nice assortment of desserts. I want to come back again but i will be expecting a lot since my first impressions were so good. The prices are reasonable and the the quality seems very high. I would come here again to try a full lunch / snack to catch up with an old friend or to do some work on my laptop. It is not quiet enough to read a book but great place to have a conversation.
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4/27/06 - House of Bagels
Restaurant Review: House of Bagels
Cuisine: Breakfast / Bagel
Location: 5030 Geary Blvd, San Francisco (in between 14th and 15th ave.)
Contact: 415-752-6000
Date: 4/27/06
Noise: Quiet
Meal: Before Noon snack
Why did i pick this restaurant? I love bakeries and restaurants that are fully committed to one main item. I saw it many times prior but never went inside. A bagel seemed like the perfect snack for my mood.
Overall Rating: 7/10, not dissapointing, yet not worth recommending either.
Decor: 7/10, comfortable and fitting
Service: 8/10, friendly and fast
Food: 5/10, not better than the competition, but good value
I ordered:
1. Garlic bagel with cream cheese, $2 - though toasted, the texture still was not great. i don't think i would have liked it at all if i chose to eat it as is. The garlic flavor was not strong enough and consistency was not to my liking. I much prefer Noah's Bagels. I'd say that the best part was the very generous serving of cream cheese.
Bottom Line:
If you are walking around the neighborhood and in need of a bakery / breakfast item, this would be a safe pick. I didn't get to try anything but the 1 bagel, so i am in no place to really judge much, but i do feel that from the constant flow of customers, that this place is pretty solid when it comes to their other items as well. But, don't come from miles away for the bagels. I suggest you come when you are in the neighborhood and want a comfortable place to sit, eat, and read the newspaper.
Coming Soon:
1. Tommy's Joynt, 4/29 Dinner
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4/25/06 - Zushi Puzzle
Restaurant Review: Zushi Puzzle
Location: 1910 Lombard Street, San Francisco 94123
Date: about 4/25/06
Contact: (415) 931-9319
Overall: 3
Decor: 4 (badly set up tables and a very tacky mexican-ish theme to the decorations)
Service: 2 (not nice at all...)
Food: 3.5 (not the worst, but not good enough to want to eat again)
Sushi - After such rave reviews on citysearch.com, i had to come in and try it out. I tested them with a swordfish nigiri (it sounded interesting), california roll, and a rock n roll roll. The rice was quite good but the cut job on the swordfish was very bad. My piece of sashimi was not cut with one single cut but instead was a result of 2. That is a true sign of a low-skilled sushi chef. Fortunately, it was a fresh piece of meat. The california roll lacked flavor and the rock n roll was really quite bad. The sushi was very expensive for its quality. Bottom line is that it was low quality (similar to kitaro's sushi) sushi sold at high end prices.
Comments: I would not recommend anyone to come here. For the price, you are totally getting ripped off. (I have to admit that i only had a few pieces of sushi and only 1 normal (nigiri style) sushi so maybe i have no right to be so harsh with my comments.) I tried the rock n roll and california roll because they are so hard to mess up and because they are most known for their specialty rolls (i found this out from reviews ). This place was very dissapointing. I would not come again unless it was a dare or a treat from someone (and even then i would try to steer them away from here). I am totally shocked and disgusted by the popularity of this restaurant. I really wish that americans can learn to develop a better pallette for sushi. This is such a big pet peeve of mine.
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4/21/06 - Fresca
Restaurant Reviewed: Fresca
Cuisine: Peruvian
Location: 3945 24th St., San Francisco, CA 94114
Contact: 415-695-0549
Date: 4/21/06
Noise: Loud
Meal: Dinner
Why did i pick this restaurant? Friend's recommendation / Friend treated for dinner
Overall Rating: 7.5/10 (satisfactory)
Decor: 8/10
Service: 9/10
Food: 7/10
Appitizer: ($7-12)
1. Raw Oysters (Kumamoto (Oregon), Blue Points (Atlantic)
2. Ceviche Tinta Negra
3. Causa Nueva
Entree: ($12-27)
4. Special of the Day - Deep-fried Peruvian Fish with Steamed Rice
Detailed Food Critique:
1. Raw Oysters - (B) - Kumamoto (Oregon), Blue Points (Atlantic)
nothing extraordiniary. but raw oysters rarely are. plating was unimpressive but it was accompanied by a nice assortment of add-ons: lemons. pisco ponze mignonette, and cocktail sauce (too bad neither mignonette nor cocktail sauce was especially good. i didn't have any expectiations from the cocktail sauce but i believe that any chef who would go through the trouble of making a special mignonette would care to be more creative or bold in his approach.) But i don't eat raw oysters for the add-on's. so i didn't care much. Good oysters...same as everywhere else..
2. Ceviche Tinta Negra - (B) - "Calamari, fish,scallops, and prawns, squid ink lime juice, salsa criolla, cancha, and yams"
Though i am still a newbie when it comes to ceviche's i would say that this was good. my friend did not share the same feelings but i did get what i expected. The only other ceviche i ever ate in a restaurant was from Thirsty Bear's and it was plain horrible. It was extremely sour and salty. Me and my friend left more than 1/2 of it untouched. Unlike my 1st experience, this ceviche had a very nice balance of flavors. the menu described it to have calamari, fish, scallops and prawns but bite after bite was only calamari and prawns. The calamari was quite good but the prawns were not very fresh. It left a fishy smell in my mouth even despite the lime juice. I would love to speak about the fish and scallops but failed to find even 1! All that aside, the texture of everything in it was good. Plating was done as usual in a martini glass but the squid ink into the lime juice was a nice touch.
3. Causa Nueva - (A-) - aka "Miniature chili infused mashed potatoes, tuna and smoked trout tartare, avocado, rocoto pepper aioli".
This was definitely the best dish of the night. Like the Ceviche, the flavors were balanced perfectly, especially the peppers. Unlike flaming hot dishes which literally scorch your mouth and make you scurry for water, this dish was strong enough to wake you up, yet subtle enough to let you sit still without a gulp of water. the Aioli was fantastic without that nasty mayonaise flavor i just hate! Plating was also very nice (4 neatly stacked towers on a long rectangular dish). the only thing that makes it an A- and not an A is the texture. The textures were all too similar, all mushy and soft. I needed something crunchy, like a tortilla chip or a crisp green to liven up the texture.
4. Special of the Day - Deep-fried Peruvian Fish with Steamed Rice - (C+)
firstly, let me confess that I never expect much when it comes to fish in non-asian restaurants, as i have had very bad experiences with them. This fish will not go down in history as a worst of the worst, nor the fish that changed my views but instead, it falls safely in between. I would easily give this dish a C or even a D but the fry job was done very well. So well that i asked the waiter about their technique (cornmeal for those of you who are wondering). This does not deserve a high grade because it lacks creativity and even style points. In chinese restaurants its exotic and delicious to serve a whole fish, head and all on a plate, but at a higher class, more sophisticated restaurant, they should have been more aware of their squimmish customers. The sauce was only a tomato puree (nothing more than a spaghetti sauce). White rice was also just normal white rice. The waiter highly recommended this dish, and being a trustworthy guy, i took his suggestion. Not a bad dish, just that it could have been much better..
Bottom Line: Like most nice restaurants, come for a couple appetizers, but be cautious when concidering entrees. The decor was great and the service was satisfactory. This is a safe bet to impress someone but not good enough to leave me craving for more.
Reviews In the works:
a. House of Bagels
b. Memphis Minnie's BBQ
c. Puzzle Zushi
d. Rosamunde Sausage Grill
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3/1/06 - Rosamunde Sausage Grill
Restaurant Review: Rosamunde Sausage Grill
Cuisine: Sausages
Location: 545 Haight Street
Contact: 415-437-6851
Date: March '06
Noise: Quiet
Meal: Afternoon snack
Why did i pick this restaurant? I love good sausages! Germany turned me on to them and since then, i have been hooked. I made a search for the top rated cheap eats in San Francisco on citysearch.com and found Rosamunde. It had a superhigh rating of 9.7 and seemed like a perfect place for me to critique.
Overall Rating: 6.5/10, a cheap eat, but i prefer 2 costco polish dogs over this.
Decor: 5/10, not good, not bad...it was small and clean. nothing much to say.
Service: 8/10, really friendly service person (only 1 worker when i was there) but took 5 minutes for the dogs.
Food: 6/10, good sausages but i could have store bought it and saved a few bucks.
I ordered:
1. Smoked Lamb Sausage (filled with sundried tomatoes and potato), $4 - Every sausage is served on fresh baked bread with 2 free condiments. I decided to have grilled onions and spicy beef chili. The sausage was crispy but since it was not made in-store, i can't give it a high rating. I came into this store expecting sausages made on site. I could have went to any supermarket, picked up a couple of gourmet sausages and had just as good a meal at home. In Germany, the sausage was huge and definitely made me smile biting into it. The flavor and freshness was far superior to Rosamunde. It was juicy but it wasn't as special as the description made it out to be. I think it lacked the smoky flavor that only an open charcoal pit can provide. The worst part about this meal was the bread. It was pretty bad. The cashier assured me that the bread comes fresh daily from the east bay and that today was as good as ever. Being a bread guy who has eaten some very good bread in the past, i was quite unimpressed. Costco sausage buns are way better! But i did like the free condiments. The chili was better than the onions though. Neither being good enough to boost up my rating.
Bottom Line:
If you really need to eat a quick sausage and are in the neighborhood, come here. But if you can wait, i suggest you buy a pack of gourmet sausages from Albertsons with a few rolls and make it yourself. It ain't any different than Rosamunde's since nothing is made in-store anyway. I am baffled by the 9.7 rating and though it is under $5, it is not a great value. Overall, not a bad taste or bad experience, but i expected something more special for the drive.
Coming Soon:
1. Myth Cafe, 5/5 Afternoon snack
