Rare beef and meat ball soup in beef broth with rice noodles, fresh bean sprout, basil, lime, onion, and cilantro. Medium $7.15
Ben Tre Vietnamese Homestyle Cuisine, South San Francisco CA
Pho tai bo vien – Ben Tre
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Tag Archives: basil
Corn salad – Firewood Cafe
With basil, tomato, and balsamic vinaigrette dressing. $4.50
Firewood Cafe, San Francisco CA
This was interesting – maybe a little too sweet for my taste. The combination of the sweet corn kernels and the sweet-ish dressing was a bit much. I will say that they give you plenty of corn!
Marinted olives. Complimentary.
Hacienda style home, Roosevelt Way. I love this house in the Upper Market Terrace neighborhood. It’s actually more of a mansion, and it’s absolutely beautiful!
Scramble special – Chloe’s Cafe
Two scrambled eggs with fresh mushroom, tomato, basil, zucchini and Jarlsberg cheese. Served with a cup of fresh fruit (strawberry, banana, orange, cantaloupe, honeydew melon), 2 slices whole wheat walnut bread, Darigold butter, and raspberry jam. $10.75
Chloe’s Cafe, San Francisco
Mmm, this scramble was very good and pretty healthy, even with cheese. Jalrsberg has less fat than other cheese so it was more guilt-free. All the vegetables were delicious, but I wish the eggs had been cooked as a softer scramble. That would have been perfect!
White Hygrandea (Hydrangeaceae), Jersey Street. The house down the street improved their sidewalk-scaping along the side of their building. I love the addition off these lovely Hydrangeas.
Moroccan lamb meatballs – The Tropicale
Project 365: Day 90
My yummy food draught is still in full swing. For lunch I had greasy fried seafood at Captain D’s and by the time dinner came around, I was SO tired of the heavy, local “Southern” food that I went to Cracker Barrel near my hotel and ordered the grilled catfish. It was decent, but I think the cornbread muffins were my favorite part of the meal, hehe! I am definitely gonna gain a few pounds on this trip. I’ve been trying to work out, but the hotel gym has minimal equipment and it’s kinda sad in there.
Three large meatballs served with charmoula pesto. $10
The Tropicale, Palm Springs CA
These were really good and I love the bright colors on the plate. I think the vibrant green was basil infused olive oil. Charmoula sauce is typically for seafood, but it worked beautifully with the tender lamb meatballs.
Prince Edward Isle mussels – Hubbard Grille
Chef’s beer selection, basil and sundried tomatoes, served with toasted baguette slices and lemon wedge. $12 ($6 for Sunday happy hour)
Hubbard Grille, Columbus OH
I’m glad that these mussels weren’t overcooked. The shellfish was still plump and juicy, yay! I really liked the broth too. Perhaps it was the beer, hehe!
Legendary cocktails – Hubbard Grille
“Hubbard Grille was proud to host our ‘Become Legendary’ cocktail-naming contest in which patrons submitted cocktail names. Fans voted & celebrity judges deliberated, listed below are the nine newly named cocktails, try one and enjoy! All cocktails are $10.” – Hubbard menu
But on Sundays, the cocktails are only $5. Heck yeah! I liked that the cocktails were tried were very different and all of them tasty. Sundays at Hubbard are the way to go!
Hubbard Grille, Columbus OH
Little Miss Rosemary – named by Ron Hosenfeld. Watershed vodka, rosemary syrup, lemon juice, lemonade; served in a chilled martini glass, garnished with a sprig of rosemary.
Cider House Rules – named by Allen Cochran. Absolut Citron vodka, apple cider, Pama liqueur, cinnamon sugar rim; served in a short rocks glass.
Rumdog Millionaire – named by Holly Beach. The Kraken black spiced rum, basil, honey, 7-up; served in a short rocks glass.
The Housecat – named by Samantha Giesige. Fireball cinnamon whiskey, apple cider, OYO whiskey, amber maple syrup; served in a short rocks glass garnished with an apple slice.
We sat at one of the tables next to the bar that has a couple beer spouts attached. Unfortunately, they were experiencing a glitch in their system to the spouts were working that day, but it’s a great idea. Apparently your table is charged by the amount of beer that you pour.
Penne bolognese – Firewood Cafe
Project 365: Day 54
I felt really tired this morning, so it was a nice surprise to arrive at work and find out that I’ll be in a training class for the next three days. It’s a nice break from the usually daily grind. I leave for Ohio on Friday so I’m looking forward to that. I just have to keep thinking to myself, “Just 3 more work days after today!”
I’m totally feeling like a gigantic fatty after this weekend. And I didn’t go to the gym this evening because I had to run some clothes to the dry cleaners, and also do some laundry at home. I’m gonna have to work really hard at the gym the next few days.
Penne pasta with a meat sauce of mild Italian sausage, ground beef, tomatoes, basil, fresh garlic, and grated parmesan cheese. Served with bread. $11.25
Firewood Cafe, SFO San Francisco
This was pretty standard, but it totally hit the spot. I was craving carbs for lunch and the meat sauce was nice and hearty. The portion was also generous and I ended up taking half of it to-go.
Meyer lemon cremeaux – RN74
With pistachio streusel, kaffir lime meringue, citrus wedges, coconut-shiso sorbet, micro Thai basil. New Year four-course tasting menu $80
RN74, San Francisco
I enjoyed this dessert very much. It was very different and fresh tasting. I think my favorite components were the kaffir lime meringues and the cremeaux. It was mostly citrus flavors but the pistachio streusel helped to neutralize the acidity. I’m still on the fence about the coconut-shiso sorbet. Maybe that was a little too out there for me. Perhaps the flavor wasn’t intense enough so it faded into the background.
Coffee. $3.50 per cup. Very cute service.
Pad eggplant – Siam Saigon
Project 365: Day 46
It’s a long 3-day weekend for me and I don’t feel motivated to really do much. I haven’t just relaxed at home for a while and I’m enjoying it. I did have to go into work for a couple hours of OT but that wasn’t too bad. Besides that I’ve just been going to the gym, catching up on DVR, cleaning, cooking, and playing games on my iPhone. I think that’s some quality relaxation time if you ask me!
Sliced chicken breast, eggplant, basil, bell peppers, and bamboo shoots in a mild curry sauce. $9
Siam Saigon, San Francisco
This is a new one for me. Siam Saigon serves both Thai and Vietnamese cuisine, nice! I was on my way to the Mission Safeway and I was starving so I ducked into this place because I had never noticed it before. I think it’s new. It’s a small space but the service is friendly and efficient (when they’re paying attention). This dish was pretty good. I liked the large slices of tender chicken, and all the vegetables were also large and chunky. The curry sauce seemed too timid at first, but after a few more bites the flavor came through.
Cocktails – Betelnut Restaurant
This was a random choice for a Christmas eve dinner, but I’m not traditional in many ways, lol! The food was hit or miss, but the drinks were very good overall. I loved the creativity!
Betelnut Restaurant, San Francisco
Betelnut’s famous mai tai. Myers’s rum, orgeat and the “cabin sink”. $9.25
Sweet and delicious! Makes me wanna be poolside.
Mao-jito. Betelnut’s take on the classic mojito. $9
A little too sour for my taste.
Phuket gimlet. Hendrick’s gin with lemongrass and thai basil. $8.50
The lemongrass and thai basil combo makes this drink very refreshing.
Burma sour. The classic sour made with Bulleit bourbon, fresh orange and lemon juice. $8.75
All you need is a warm beach and a beautiful sunset!
Why did I go to a lunch buffet? – Fresh Choice
We must have been bored or something and that’s why we randomly went to Fresh Choice for lunch. OK now I remember! Papa Chang thought he found a coupon we could use for the buffet, but it ended up being expired. They ended up giving us a discount anyway so we paid less than $8 for the lunch buffet. Although the food wasn’t amazing, I’m not going to complain at that price. And I have to commend them because they have healthy options and they post the ingredients and calorie counts for the dishes. I’m not a big lunch buffet kinda guy (except in Vegas, omg), but it’s fun to go every once in a while.
Fresh Choice, San Bruno CA
Mama Mia’s pasta toss. Spaghetti with a meat sauce of ground beef, tomato, onions, celery, garlic, and spices, sugar and salt. Pretty good. Carbs + meat sauce = comfort food!
Tuna tarragon salad. Medium shell pasta wtih tuna, red onion, celery, carrots, red peppers, relish, mayonnaise, oil, lemon juice, tarragon, and black pepper. Decent.
Watermelon radish. These were pretty, healthy, crunchy, and tasty!
Tomato basil soup wtih shaft blue cheese. Tomatoes, onions, vegetable stock, basil, croutons, blue cheese, parmesan cheese, garlic, canola oil, olive oil, kosher salt, thyme, black pepper. This soup tasted like it had cream in it too but it didn’t! It was rich and tasty and the croutons added a nice texture.
Pepperoni pizza. Standard.
Sesame kale toss salad. Kale, rice wine vinegar, canola oil, carrots, red cabbage, sesame seeds, olive oil, kosher salt, sugar, sesame oil, black pepper. I loved this salad! It had a great texture from the kale and the light dressing was flavorful.
Greek orzo salad. Orzo pasta, spinach, balsamic vinegar, red onion, feta cheese, olive oil, pinyon pine nuts, dried walnuts, basil, white pepper. Yuck! Too sour for my taste and it had an odd texture.
New England clam chowder with oyster crackers. Clams, clam base, cream blend, red potato, celery, yellow onion, diced red pepper, garlic, Tabasco, sherry, parsley, roux, and spice. Good standby. Pretty flavorful.
Hard boiled eggs. Great source of protein. Try not to add salt.
Chocolate and vanilla swirl soft serve ice cream. Somehow not very satisfying. :-(F
Spicy Thai basil chicken – Mercury Lounge
Seasoned minced chicken, chilies and thai basil with side of romaine lettuce leaves. Part of Chef’s tasting menu. $25 per person
Mercury Lounge, San Francisco
This was very tasty. The chicken was nicely seasoned and I loved all the thai basil mixed in. It could have been spicier though.
Vittle Monster 