Daily Feed - December 17-23

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	ABOUT ME: Name: Gutenberg Location: Somewhere near the Golden Gate Bridge. Occupation: BRPR (Bunrab public relations.)			the BUNRAB blog spot
				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

December 17-23, 2009

go to next week's blogs

Wednesday, December 23, 2009
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The Refuge was overflowing with Refugees when we arrived for our repast-rami.

Instead of bowing to the sovereignty of their pastrami and Swiss, we sought asylum in Russian dressing.

My “The Toasted #19” ($16.00):

... escaped persecution between toasty sheets of rye bordered by coleslaw to give crisp relief to the meaty masses. Swiss was nicely neutralized to a melty blanket of cheese over this slaw biting, Russian-dressed, assembly.

Chubby got his pastrami ($16.00) with coleslaw, Russian dressing and chopped liver:

The chicken organs were spread too thin to ful-filter their offal promise. It was good, but the simpler sandwich options are better bets.

A cone of crisp and craveable fries ($3.00 with a sandwich) were a required accompaniment to our lunches along with suds from Allagash and a luscious Leffe Blonde from their Belgian based beer list.

The Refuge is the place to settle in for a treaty meal.

The Refuge
963 Laurel St.
San Carlos, CA
650.598.9813

Tuesday, December 22, 2009
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Lemongrass pork ($15.00):

... is my default lunch order at Grand Pu Bah. The stickily-sauced, grilled meaty flavor invaded the banana leaf bundled rice:

... melding slightly charred flavors with the glutenous grains. Lettuce cups acted as carbo canoes to paddle this pork to my palate with a cuke salad:

... to offer a contrasting and refreshing vinegary crunch.

This is a good place to drop in for the Phuket influenced chow.

Grand Pu Bah
88 Division St.
San Francisco, CA
415.255.8188

Monday, December 21, 2009
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Patrons sate themselves on all day breakfasts, burgers and ice cream at St. Francis Fountain but we marched in for a number of grilled sandwiches. I got a tuna melt ($8.75):

... with a side of chili cheese fries ($2.00 extra):

... which manifested itself as a mound of bean studded spuds (which weren’t as cheese encrusted as I would have liked, but this mash up with potatoes still had its strange charm.) The tuna salad had bits of celery, melty Cheddar and slices of generic tomatoes in the griddled belly of this classic combo.

Chubby went with the Reuben ($8.75):

... which was a thin version of this sauerkraut stuffed, Swiss and corned beef wich. The ingredient distribution was spotty with an island of 1000 dressing in the bullseye of the rye. The accompanying mac and cheese:

... needed a kick of hot sauce to elbow though, but it was okay.

This altar of altered old school eats is a fun and funky fountain of cheap and cheerful chow.

St. Francis Fountain
2801 24th St.
San Francisco, CA
415.826.4200

Sunday, December 20, 2009
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The warm welcome as we arrived for brunch at Lark Creek Tavern:

... was followed by a period of abandonment as we tried to flag down someone to take our order. We were told that our server was too busy and that we would be taken care of by the person we originally tackled.

We both got egg breakfasts ($12.50 each) with red potatoes that were spiced and fried up yet lacking in crispy bits. Chubby got perfectly cooked overeasies with dry chicken apple sausage and an English muffin:

My scrambled eggs came harder than my requested “soft” but the 2 strips of bacon were intoxicatingly smoky and flavorful:

I’m hoping that the service issue was a fluke, but it’s always a bummer to get minimum table service.

Tavern at Lark Creek
234 Magnolia Ave.
Larkspur, CA
415.924.7766

from the bunrab mailbag, Kate is questioning geography:

Dear Gutenberg,

Burlingame, Redwood City, San Mateo, oh my!!! What gives...have you relocated to the South Bay? I miss the Marin/SF reccos as those are my stomping grounds...why have you hopped to the peninsula? And more importantly, are you ever hopping back?

-Kate

Gutenberg replies:

Dear Kate,

I have been hopping in wider circles lately, but Marin and the City aren't off my radar. I'm still going to devote space to them while continuing to explore the more southern end of things.

-Gutenberg

Saturday, December 19, 2009
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We were milling around Maria Maria enjoying margaritas ($8.00 each):

... and snacks at this restaurant chain owned by musician and footwear mogul - Carlos Santana.

Low expectations accompanied by a crazy day of racing around made us all the more appreciative of the caliente component to the salsas and the made to order guacamole ($9.50):

... which had a nice chunky texture, heat and good acidic balance. We slathered our chicken quesadilla ($9.00):

... with the green stuff and augmented these wedges with the variety of kicky condiments on our table.

Live music took away the “chainy” feel to this reasonably priced cantina. The service was attentive, friendly and efficient enough to bookmark this place for a repeat visit...maybe on a $1 taco Tuesday.

Maria Maria
651 E. Blithedale Ave.
Mill Valley, CA
415.381.1070

Friday, December 18, 2009
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The poorly named chain known as BJ’s Restaurant:

... is like a Cheesecake Factory hold the cheesecake.

The lunch-sized Cobb salad ($7.95):

... was a miserable melange of baco bits, Oscar Meyery slices of turkey, anemic tomatoes, avocado, croutons, feta on a surplus of finely chopped lettuce.

The clam chowder ($1.00 with lunch):

... was a thick, clam-filled wave to my low tide of expectations.

I’ll tag this as “what did I expect?” or “hope springs eternal”.

BJ’s Restaurant
2206 Bridgepointe Pkwy.
San Mateo, CA
650.931.2990

Thursday, December 17, 2009
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The remodel of the Oakland Airport did not result in any improvements to their dismal dining options.

I hoped that the Chinese place would have some jook for the a.m. crowd, but the jook was on me instead.

I ended up getting a “bold” coffee at Starbucks (which was allegedly stronger than their “regular”, but it didn’t seem all that bold to me) and their misinterpretation of a smoked turkey sandwich: