Jerked red snapper, Brazilian mango, cabbage, serrano-tomatillo salsa. Garnished iwth arugula and lime wedge. $8
Pisco Latin Lounge, San Francisco
Another tasty bite from Pisco Lounge. They know how to make delicious snack food for when you’re hanging out with friends and having drinks. The fish was nicely cooked and the salsa was bright and fresh. They were a on the small side so if you’re super hungry, I’d order the empanadas instead.
Mexican mahi mahi, habanero, baby octopus, tiger prawns, tomato, meyer lemon, avocado. $12
Pisco Latin Lounge, San Francisco
This was very tasty! Maybe a little on the citrus-y side, but it had lots of flavor. I love the pieces of octopus tentacles, they were fun to eat. I didn’t like that it was served in a martini glass though, especially one with such a small base. It’s always difficult to pass around and I’m always afraid that I’ll tip it over since it’s so top heavy.
Yum! These sardines were delicious! They’re topped with a mixture of what looks like shallots, chives and olive oil. The fish had a great rich flavor but wasn’t too overly fishy tasting. I cut the fillets into small chunks and ate them on top of the sliced baguette. Noms! $5 for happy hour
COCO500, San Francisco
Baguette and olive oil. Complimentary.
Chanterelle mushrooms, new potatoes, Meyer lemon gremolata, greens. $28
Frances, San Francisco
I wanna know what kind of green those were on top! They looked (and tasted) great! This was such a beautiful presentation. The fish was cooked perfectly, but I will say that this dish was slightly over-salted for my taste. Everything tasted great but my salt taste buds had to work overtime. Despite the salt issue, I’d still order this lovely dish again!
Served in a red coconut curry broth. Part of Chef’s tasting menu. $25 per person
Mercury Lounge, San Francisco
The menu said this was supposed to be fish and tofu with vegetables, but it ended up just being fish and eggplants. They obviously didn’t have tofu that night. We were one of the first tables seated so I know they didn’t run out of it. The eggplant was way undercooked and I swear they used the same fried fish from the salt and pepper fish appetizer. Not a successful dish!
Lightly battered fish served with chopped green onions and a creamy sambal dipping sauce. Part of Chef’s tasting menu. $25 per person
Mercury Lounge, San Francisco
This was my favorite dish of the night. The fish was nicely fried and not oily at all. The rice flour gave the fish strips a light texture and the sambal sauce was a great accompaniment!
Project 365: Day 14
Yet another excruciatingly cold day in San Francisco! Those of you in places where is actually gets below 30 degrees F are probably scoffing at me, but we San Franciscans aren’t used to a lot of super cold days in a row. My workout was much more productive today. I’m always super hungry still though.
So a group of us went to Mom’s Tofu House as an early birthday celebration. I haven’t been to a tofu house since my Berkeley days. Everyone else had the sizzling stone pot rice, but I opted for the tofu soup. When at a tofu house…! We arrived just in time to beat the lunch crowd, heck yeah!
One of the ladies was so cute. I was taking a photo of Papa Chang’s food so I had it in front of me. Then one waitress brought out my soup and I told her to put it in the middle of the table so I can finish taking the pic. I think the head waitress thought we were confused so she came over and took Papa Chang’s food away from me, placed it in front of him, and said “This is HIS!” We started laughing!
Soft tofu stew served in hot stone pot with pork, calamari, mussels, clams and fish (? it’s kinda hard to make everything out) and mushrooms. Served with raw egg and rice. $9.99
Mom’s Tofu House, South San Francisco CA
This thing came out super HOT! The soup was steamed and bubbling when it arrived at the table. I ordered it spicy and it was SO delicious! I’m glad that I got the combination because it was fun to see everything in the soup with every spoonful. The flavors were great and it seemed spicier at first because the soup was so hot, but as it cooled down you could start comfortably tasting all the yummy flavors of the stew. Nommy noms!
Raw egg. They bring the egg out while you’re eating the ban chan, and when the tofu soup arrives the waitress cracks the egg into the soup. Yum!
Steamed rice. I was very good with my attempted healthy eating, and I only had about a quarter of the rice!
Bowl with steamed rice.
Fried fish fillet and cilantro wrapped in a sheet of rice noodle and topped with more chopped cilantro and sweet soy sauce. $3.95
Grand Palace Restaurant, South San Francisco
I really liked this dish! I was surprised that you could actually distinguish the fish fillet inside. I assumed they would chop the fish into little pieces, but the fillets were whole and intact! The rice noodles were steamed perfectly and I loved their texture. Put cilantro on anything and it’s usually good! I’ve never understood why some people can’t stand the taste of cilantro – they’re missing out.
Deep fried fish fillet and bread calamari. Served with french fries, cocktail sauce, tartar sauce, and a lemon wedge. $14.50
The Ramp, San Francisco
This may look like a great plate of food, but it was the greasiest pile of crap I’ve ever had. The oil they used to fry this in had to have been super cold because the fish fillet (especially) and everything else was saturated and dripping with grease. I tried dabbing (then pressing and pummeling) napkins on it to try to soak up the grease, but all the napkins on the table were quickly used up and I was left with a sad, flaccid still-greasy pile of food in front of me. They could’ve served me a cold sponge saturated in grease, and I wouldn’t know the difference. Sad…
Spicy tuna, albacore, asparagus, scallion, and garlic ponzu. $12.95
Tokyo Go-Go, San Francisco
I wasn’t blown away by this roll. The spicy tuna wasn’t spicy enough for my taste. Compared to the Azteca roll, this barely had any heat. Everything just blended together so the flavors got muddled. I couldn’t taste the garlic ponzu at all. I’m not saying that this roll tasted bad, but the ingredients list was so appetizing that I expected more.
Spanish white mackerel slices over sushi rice, with pickled ginger and wasabi. $6.50
Tokyo Go-Go, San Francisco
This was on their nightly special list so we decided to try it. The waitress told us it was Spanish white mackerel. I’m not sure if that’s correct because Googling “shima aji” comes up with many different results, none of which are for Spanish white mackerel. This just adds to my frustration with the use of common names in communicative nomenclature, but that’s for another blog – lol! Whatever we ate, I really liked it! The shima aji wasn’t fishy tasting at all. It had quite a firm texture and a mellow flavor. I loved the peach color that gradated to a bright pinkish red.
Spicy crab, cucumber, avocado, gobo, lightly seared suzuki, sliced chiles, chili aioli, tobiko, and scallions. $14.25
Tokyo Go-Go, San Francisco
Wow, this roll was frickin’ amazing! I loved the heat from all the spicy components, and it looked pretty cool too. I thought I would experience Montezuma’s revenge afterward, but I didn’t – hehe! The lightly seared sea bass tasted great and had a great texture. The chili aioli was so flavorful and I loved the pale yellow color of it. The sliced chiles added extra heat and flavor. Not sure I could really distinguished the gobo (burdock root), but I actually didn’t know what it was when I ordered the roll. I will definitely order this delicious roll again!
Vittle Monster 