Category Archives: Restaurant

Pickled egg and anchovy – Roxy’s Cafe

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Pickled egg and anchovy - Roxy's Cafe
Shishito pepper, bulgur wheat, sprouts. 10-course chef’s tasting menu $75
Roxy’s Cafe, San Francisco CA

Mmm, I love pickled food items! I really enjoyed all the flavors in this dish. The bulgur wheat was a little hard to chew, but I liked that its mellow flavor helped to tone down the acidity of the pickled egg and anchovy. And of course you all know that I love shishito peppers! I’m not quite sure what the pale condiment was because it had a very subtle taste that I couldn’t figure out. This dish was beautiful and tasty!

Holocaust Memorial
Holocaust Memorial by George Segal, California Palace of the Legion of Honor.

Denver scram – Judy’s Cafe

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Denver scram - Judy's Cafe
Two eggs scrambled with diced ham, onion, bell pepper, served with homefried potatoes and 9-grain wheat toast. $12
Judy’s Cafe, San Francisco CA

We came across this busy brunch spot in the Marina because another restaurant we were planning on eating at was closed. The menu items were pretty basic and standard fare. The Denver scramble was ok. There was A LOT of it so you definitely got your money’s worth. The potatoes were delicious though and I couldn’t stop eating them! They were soft and tender and super flavorful. The service, on the other hand, was sporadic, confused and difficult to flag down.

Mimosas - Judy's Cafe
Mimosas with orange juice and grapefruit juice. Each $9

Purple yarrow
Purple yarrow (Achillea millefolium, Asteraceae), Land’s End.

Garlic string beans – Dumpling Empire

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Garlic string beans - Dumpling Empire
Ugh, these tasted fine but they were pretty greasy and quickly became limp and sad. Perhaps they were overcooked (as evidenced by their heavily blistered skin) or perhaps they got overly steamed during transport, but I didn’t enjoy them either way. That makes me sad because I love string beans! $6.95
Dumpling Empire, South San Francisco CA

Large artichoke agave
Large artichoke agave (Agave parryi var. truncata, Agavaceae), West Field Road.

Pad eggplant with chicken – Sweet Basil Thai Cuisine

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Pad eggplant with chicken - Sweet Basil Thai Cuisine
Pad makur. Sliced chicken breast, eggplant, red and green bell pepper, onion, garlic, basil and chilies, ordered “hot”. $9.50
Sweet Basil Thai Cuisine, San Francisco CA

Again with the eggplants, yay! It’s a toss up whether I prefer Chinese or Thai eggplant dishes more, but this one was really good and spicy! The vegetables were cut nice and large and the flavors were amazing. Noms!

Edward E. Hillis Gallery
The Edward E. Hillis Gallery, California Palace of the Legion of Honor.

Ahi tuna nigiri – Roxy’s Cafe

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Ahi tuna nigiri - Roxy's Cafe
Ponzu, watermelon ice, sprouting greens, grapes. 10-course chef’s tasting menu $75
Roxy’s Cafe, San Francisco CA

Mmm, I loved this little bright, refreshing dish! The ahi was beautiful and delicious and the other ingredients were fun and unexpected. I’m not sure what the greens were (some kind of creeping succulent), but they had a great texture and added a different dimension to the dish. The Apiaceae flowers were pretty and the ponzu helped join everything together. Noms!

de Young Museum
de Young Museum, Golden Gate Park.

Szeged goulash – Paprika

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Szeged goulash - Paprika
Pork with sauerkraut and cream, served with gnocchi. $14.50
Paprika, San Francisco CA

I can’t say I’ve eaten much goulash in my life, but this was delicious and SO comforting! All the food at this restaurant would be great on a cold day to perk up your spirit and soul. The pork was tender and the sauce had so much flavor. The gnocchi were soft and pillowy and great for sopping up more of the tasty sauce. Noms!

Beer - Paprika
Staropramen Lager. The well balanced, full bodied, highly drinkable and pleasantly smooth taste of our Premium Lager offers a rewarding pleasure of the Czech beer. $6
Weihenstephan Hefe. A brewery licensed by the City of Freising in 1040 and has a credible claim to being the oldest working brewery in the world, nothing refreshes you more than this naturally cloudy wheat beer with its wonderful yeasty fragrance and taste. $6.50

I’m really not sure how to review beer. I generally just decide if its drinkable for me or not. These were pretty good and I love the large glasses they were served in. 🙂

San Francisco
San Francisco wakes up.

Tofu kimchi – K-pop

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Tofu kimchi - K-pop
Sliced tender prime pork marinated in spicy sauce, pan fried with kimchi and tofu. $13.95
K-pop, San Francisco CA

The menu description made it seem like the tofu was incorporated in the pan fried pork and kimchi mixture. I was kind of annoyed when the dish arrived and there were large slices of fresh tofu on the side. Ugh! The tofu was bland of course so that’s why I was hoping it would have already been added to the spicy kimchi mixture so that it could have acquired some flavor. Otherwise, I like the dish enough.

Steamed rice - K-pop
Side of steamed rice.

de Young Museum

de Young Museum atrium area.

Shanghai soup dumplings – Dumpling Empire

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Shanghai soup dumplings - Dumpling Empire
Xiao long bao. Six pieces $4.95
Dumpling Empire, South San Francisco CA

These were decent. The dumpling wrapper was on the thicker side, but at least the dumplings all stayed intact and they were not steamed in those lame aluminum cups. The flavors of the soup and pork filling were pretty good so I can’t complain too much. And the price was really good!

Pink protea flower
Pink protea flower (Proteaceae), West Field Road.

Larb gai – Sweet Basil Thai Cuisine

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Larb gai - Sweet Basil Thai Cuisine
Minced white meat chicken, red onion, cilantro, scallions, chilies, lime, ordered “hot”. $7.95
Sweet Basil Thai Cuisine, San Francisco CA

I love larb! The rice powder gives it a great texture and I love the bright citrus flavors of the dish. The dish is also relative healthy compared to the other fried Thai options. I think it’s probably still high in sodium though. Mmm!

Filipino Festival

Filipino Festival at the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco.

Local Marin miyagi oyster – Roxy’s Cafe

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Local Marin miyagi oyster - Roxy's Cafe
House pickled shallots, red and black tobiko, black pepper. 10-course chef’s tasting menu $75
Roxy’s Cafe, San Francisco CA

What a great way to start a meal with great local ingredients that are beautifully presented and delicious to the taste! I really enjoyed the flavor combinations in this tiny bite and couldn’t wait to see what was next!

House red wine - Roxy's Cafe

House red wine.

Hamon Education Tower
View of the California Academy of Sciences from the Hamon Education Tower Observation Deck at the de Young Museum. Beautiful!

Mixed sausages plate – Paprika

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Mixed sausages plate - Paprika
Grilled Hungarian sweet sausage and Swiss bockwurst with mashed potatoes and homemade gravy, onions, cornichons, sauerkraut, and condiments. $13.50
Paprika, San Francisco CA

This was a really fun and delicious plate! I enjoyed both of the sausages and I liked how they were scored along their lengths and split on the ends. The added texture allowed for more grill marks on their surfaces which I loved. The mashed potatoes were good and I loved their Eastern European style gravy. It had lots of flavor. The accompaniments made it really fun to eat and to mixed and match all the different flavors. Noms!

Walkway with columns

Walkway with columns, California Palace of the Legion of Honor.

Spicy soy garlic Korean fried chicken – K-pop

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Spicy soy garlic Korean fried chicken - K-pop
Breaded Korean style fried chicken thighs in a spicy soy garlic sauce. Served with daikon non-spicy kimchee and a mixed green salad with strawberry dressing. $14.95
K-pop, San Francisco CA

Ugh, I keep thinking that the Korean fried chicken will get better at K-pop, but I’m wrong again. The chicken is way over-fried, has too much breading, and uses tiny sad cuts of chicken with little meat. I like the flavor of the sauces, but that doesn’t make up for the poor quality of the chicken pieces. 😦

Banchan - K-Pop
Banchan. Complimentary

Pax Jerusalemme

Pax Jerusalemme, 1999, painted steel, Mark di Suvero. Legion of Honor.