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ABOUT ME: Name: Gutenberg Location: Somewhere near the Golden Gate Bridge. Occupation: BRPR (Bunrab public relations.) |
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Do you need to answer back? You can send me comments if you want to. If I want to, I'll post 'em in this very blog. -Gutenberg |
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March 16-21, 2007
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Wednesday,
March 21, 2007 It was late and cold, but that didn’t keep Pinkberry devotees from queueing out the door before its 11 p.m. closing time.
We split a small original with diced mango ($2.50 base price plus .95¢ for one topping):
This swirl of tangy nonfat yogurt was refreshing against the fresh, ripe mango chunks. We liked our light dessert but marvel at the cultlike following this new fangled fro-yo chain has inspired. They serve “original” and green tea flavored frozen yogurt, shaved ice and smoothies at this cute little swirl shop. The toppings include fruit as well as the expected chocolate chips and crumbled cookies. They also offer Cap’n Crunch and Cocoa Pebbles for those serial visitors. The pebbles extend to their flooring concept in the exposed rock surface. The tinted plastic chairs and cool lighting fixtures create a fun, modern vibe.
This expanding chain has many Los Angeles branches as well as a few in New York. It’s not destination eating, but fun, festish food. Pinkberry
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Tuesday,
March 20, 2007 Kung Pao Kitty:
... serves no such dish. They do however, have a menu populated by the usual Asian suspects with an American influence. We both ordered lunch specials which came with a spring roll (that had lost its spring) and a choice of brown or white rice. I got the Spicy Yu Sheng Fish ($7.25):
... which was sweeter than my prefernce. Bits of Mahi were cooked in manner to insure that all bacteria (and flavors) were irradicated. The bamboo shoots and black mushrooms added textural variation and the brown rice helped to diffuse the sucrose factor, but ultimately, this was not my thing. Chubby got the Szechwan beef ($6.25) which was a clone of my dish with cow subbed out for the Mahi. Even spread around on the mound of white rice, Chubby found this dish a too desserty. Fortunately, we ordered a side of broccoli ($6.00):
... cooked crisp-tender which acted as our consolation dish in the absence of a kitty entrée. Kung Pao Kitty
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Monday,
March 19, 2007 It was off to Silver Lake for dinner with our pal M. The Greek salad ($14.00):
...was a carefully assembled tomato-dominant combo of cukes, olives, peppers and feta. This was both simple and tasty. Chubby got the organic filet ($36.00):
... which was cooked to a toothsome degree of pinkness and served alongside a square of potato gratin and some veg. It was good, but not necessarily reorderable. My seabass ($30.00):
...was a little more cooked than my personal preference, (but to be fair, I didn’t state my personal preference at the time of ordering.) This radicchio encased, generous chunk of seafood was served with bok choy, endive and fingerling potatoes. The vibe is smart-casual in this dimly lit bistro.
They serve breakfast, lunch and dinner with some expected items (like burgers) as well as some fetish foods like poutine. But of course, the whole point of getting together boils down to the company and it was good to catch up with M and hear about his adventures. Dusty’s Bistro
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Sunday,
March 18, 2007 Nope it’s not a pizza, it’s a cheese uthappam ($9.49):
...which I had for lunch at Om. This pleasingly sour pancake came with a tomato-ginger and a coconut chutney. It was fine, but I prefer the onion and jalapeno one from a previous visit. We started with an order of Sanbar Idly ($5.95):
Three steamy rice cakes came with a generous bowl of warming, carrot and onion studded, sambar and a pot each of coconut and tomato-ginger chutneys. I enthusiastically ripped into a fresh from the oven chapaathi while it’s little heart was still beating. Yum. Chubby forgot that he had already tried the Cochin prawn masala ($13.99):
...on a previous visit. It was as good as last time with lots of fresh curry leaves in the coconut milk based sauce that went well over rice. Om has become a Bunrab fave. There are some hits and misses, but it’s a good mantra when mealtime rolls around. Om South Indian Cuisine
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Saturday,
March 17, 2007 B and R made some tasty macaroni and cheese with an arugula, pear and almond salad at their cool new digs. We topped off our comfort food dinner with some Strauss Dairy soft serve over at Picco Pizzeria. It was after the dinner rush had cleared out so we sat at the counter and devoured our sweet lactose spirals. I got a Scharffen Berger chocolate and vanilla swirl with chocolate sauce ($4.95) while Chubby went with his favorite - vanilla topped with Da Vero extra virgin olive oil and sea salt ($4.25):
This bits of salt cut through the fruity oil and cream with every bite. Picco Pizzeria
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Friday,
March 16, 2007 We decided to take advantage of the gorgeous weather and watch the sun go down while eating on the waterside deck at Fish:
Unfortunately, all of humanity had the same idea:
The queue took about 20 minutes and our food took another half hour but we amused ourselves by watching packs of wild children run, climb and scream as we sipped our drinks. We shared some specials starting with the sardine sandwich ($14.00):
... on a torpedo roll. These flavorfully grilled former residents of Monterey came with red onion, tartar sauce and lettuce as well as a side of fries which were the blondest that I have had them here (but still good even though I generally prefer them crispier.) The bacon braised greens ($8.00):
... were disappointing. They arrived lukewarm with too much bacon grease and vinegar. Not something I would reorder… The star of the show was the whole striped bass ($29.00):
...which was stuffed with lemon and herbs and grilled until crispy-skinned and moist centered. We thought that we would have leftovers when we saw this Moby meal, but we picked every bit of flesh and skin from the carcass. The roasted asparagus, leek and spring potato salad were all wonderful side dishes to this fresh and delicious meal. I did think that having chopped asparagus in the potato salad was repetitious, but that’s just being very picky - it was a great entrée. If we knew how big the bass dish was going to be, we probably would have ordered a salad rather than a sandwich and side, but to be fair, it was so good, we ate it all. Friday early evening might not be the best time to visit (unless you don’t mind a chaotic vibe) but no matter when you go, don’t forget your cash (that’s the only form of payment they accept at this counter service seafood restaurant.) Fish.
From today’s bunrab email, our friend Sally writes: Dear Bunrabs, I turn to you for some sage advice. where would you take an out of town guest for dinner if you wanted to take her to the slanted door but couldn't get in (i will try to call in for same day reservations but wanted to have a reliable backup plan)? This is for this Monday night. we are going to Oliveto’s on Sunday night but I was hoping for a good Asian restaurant (I know, that is broad...) with a nice ambiance and great food for Monday. any suggestions? SF or East bay is preferable. what say you, oh wise ones? Love, Sally
Dear Sally, We love O Chame in Berkeley since they have great Japanese influenced chow and the noise level is always conversation friendly. Another place (that would be more in line with your Slanted Door thinking) would be Bodega Bistro in San Francisco, which is a little bit louder and funkier (but with good food.) Hope that helps, -G
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