Ippuku
2130 Center Street, Berkeley
Now takes reservations
Category Archives: wander
My first time to Golden Gate Fields
first taste at Commonwealth
This was my first trip to Commonwealth. It was unexpected so I didn’t have a good camera and thus only took two pics. However, I loved it, the service was great and our waiter even gave us free dessert. We had:
- eggplant in various forms (one of them dehydrated), nardello peppers, shelling beans with lime and cardamom ($14)
- charred octopus, smoked marrow, fingerlings, sea beans, horseradish ($15)
- scallops, hearts of palm, snap peas, popcorn (yes, and it was really good together) squid cracker, some kind of yuzu stuff ($16)
- sweet breads that were on the tasting menu but we got them anyone thanks to our waiter and they were FANTASTIC. juicy on the inside, super perfectly crispy (maybe fried) not the outside — ask for them if they’re on the tasting menu anyway
- pork loin grilled on cedar plank with mustard greens, pickled ramps (that were extra pickly, which I love, especially with the pork preparation), cherry jus ($15)
- peanut butter semifreddo, chocolate ganache, frozen popcorn — again with popcorn and it worked — salty, chocolatey, peanut butter cookie
Commonwealth
2224 Mission Street — @ 18th
SF Street Food Festival 2011
The theme of this years festival? Rip off drinks. The best food was the simplest: ribs from Il Cane Rosso, a hard boiled egg, covered in pork, breaded and fried from Chiefo’s Kitchen and unassuming pastrami slider and a Chocolate Babka from Wise Sons Deli. Peep.
The quiet before the storm:
A bready meatball from A16.
Korean Tacos and Okonomiyaki from Namu.
Pastrami Sliders and Chocolate Babka from Wise Sons Deli. Really really tasty, house-made pastrami. I highly recommend this place.
Cebiche Clasico from La Mar Cebicheria.
Pork belly rendering and exploding in the heat.
Scotch Eggs — hard boiled egg surround with ground pork, breaded and fried — from Chiefo’s Kitchen.
There may or may not have been New Orleans Style Blue Bottle Iced Coffee involved as well in addition to many other snacks along the way that you’ll just have to imagine.
Great India
Greatest Indian food experience ever outside of India.
Had just a little bindi, puri, cholle (which is punjabi for chana – no idea about the spelling), and chicken tikka masala. And Naan.
Great India Restaurant
6127 Geary Blvd.
Aziza for Moroccan in SF
I haven’t been to many Michelin One Star restaurants but Aziza was very worth it and the best Moroccan food I’ve ever had. I ate:
Gin and Blueberry
Borlotti Bean Soup
Albacore Sashimi, squid, black olive oil, scallion, lime
Duck Confit Basteeya
Quail with a Giant Prawn and Fava Beans
Lavender Cake with Lemon Semifreddo, Almond Cream and Boysenberry Meringue
Mint Bavarian with Lime-Buttermilk Granita, Hibiscus, Pistachio
Grapefruit Gelee, Chocolate Cardamon, Macaron
Extra bomb.
Aziza
5800 Geary Boulevard
Dinner at Plum in Oakland
We had a great experience at Plum. The food was prepared with the utmost precision and care and re flavor combos were delicious. Some dishes that stood out: seared squid with sautéed melon, quinoa with a smoked egg, slow roasted pork with dumplings, blood sausage, peach and basil, and onion crisps.
The onion crisps are crazy. Im going to try to make them soon. The method is: sweat sliced onions, mix them with tapioca flour and cornmeal, steam the mixture in a shallow layer, slice into pieces, deep fry. Mmmmm. Theyre just below.
The Farm at Carneros Inn
Lunch at Cotogna
Cotogna served very delicious, locally sourced food. The restaurant is also awesome because in the seating area there is an open fireplace where they cook various dishes and a wood burning pizza oven. And it’s quite reasonable. We sampled the squid salad, wood oven mussels, steak (I believe it was flank – cooked perfectly) and ricotta stuffed zucchini flours (coated in rice flour — gluten-free!). I’d go back. One of the best lunches I’ve had in San Francisco.