Tag Archives: pasta

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.

Penne pasta with meatballs – United Airlines

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Penne pasta with meatballs - United Airlines
Side salad with ranch dressing, dinner roll, butterscotch brownie.
San Francisco (SFO) to Paris (CDG), United Airlines

Ugh, I’m never liked the meals on United international flights. They’re usually worse than bad cafeteria food, but I guess they succeed in their goal of being heavy and fattening and making you fall asleep so you’re not a disturbance on the plane. This pasta was actually passable as decent microwave food though. The salad and roll were throw-aways, but the brownie was pretty tasty. 🙂

Classic board games exhibit
Classic board games exhibit, SFO Terminal 2.

Veal and ricotta meatballs – Alicante

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Veal and ricotta meatballs - Alicante
Spaghetti, tomato, parmigiano-reggiano cheese, basil. Half order $8
Alicante, Palm Springs CA

A half order only got you one meatball which was kinda lame, but the singular meatball was tasty and tender. Still, it’s all pasta and the meatball just looked lonely so I don’t think I’d order this again.

San Jacinto Mountains
San Jacinto Mountains.

New York steak – Jardiniere

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New York steak - Jardiniere
Oxtail ravioli, horseradish, bordelaise. Tasting menu $140
Jardiniere, San Francisco CA

OK, so here’s where I get confused. Our tasting menu read that we were going to get wagyu beef during this course, but our first waiter said that they weren’t running the wagyu that night and would be replacing it with New York steak in the same preparation. Whatever, I’m fine with that. But as this course approached, another waiter mentioned that the wagyu would be next. I asked for clarification from our original server, and he said it would be New York steak. Then when we go the plates, they were presented as wagyu. Huh? I’m still confused.

Either way, the beef was WAY underdone and we really coudn’t eat much of it let alone cut through the cold, raw, stringy interior. This was the one truly failed dish of the night. The ravioli and accompaniments were delicious, but the star of the dish was a major flop. SAD!

Fallen redwood trees

Fallen redwood trees, Purisima Creek Redwoods Open Space Preserve. This is how I felt about the dish above.

Fort Bragg sea urchin – Jardiniere

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Fort Bragg sea urchin - Jardiniere
Chicken skin, peas, pasta. Tasting menu $140
Jardiniere, San Francisco CA

Omg, this was probably one of my favorite dishes of the night! It was so delicious and the uni was smooth and luscious. The simple pasta lightly coated with a creamy sauce with peas was heavenly and the crispy chicken skin pieces were fun and tasty.

California scorpionweed
California scorpionweed (Phacelia californica, Boraginaceae), Purisima Creek Redwoods Open Space Preserve.

Lobster mac and cheese – Grub

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Lobster mac and cheese - Grub
Maine lobster, fusilli pasta, creamy blend of white and sharp cheddar topped with grana padana parmesan breadcrumbs. $13
Grub, San Francisco CA

The mac and cheese was ok, but I would have preferred larger chunks of lobster. The small pieces got lost in all that pasta and cheese.

Alcatraz Island
View of Alcatraz Island in the San Francisco Bay from Fisherman’s Wharf.

Mushroom tortellini and Duck confit – Bankers Hill

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Housemade mushroom tortellini - Bankers Hill
Housemade mushroom tortellini, rapini, hedgehog mushrooms, truffled sherry sauce, parmesan cheese. $17.95
Bankers Hill, San Diego CA

Both these dishes were really tasty! Unfortunately, we didn’t plan our entrees very well though and weren’t ready for two super heavy and rich dishes. Sorry for the almost indistinguishable pics! 😦

Crispy skin duck confit - Bankers Hill
Crispy skin duck confit, andouille sausage, cassoulet, braised collard greens. $19.25

Lady slipper orchids
Lady slipper orchids (Paphiopedilum spp., Orchidaceae), Balboa Park Botanical Building.

Mac and cheese – Citizen’s Band

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Mac and cheese - Citizen's Band
Baked macaroni and fontina, cheddar fonduta, and onion rings. $8
Citizen’s Band, San Francisco CA

Meh… Being on the 7X7 list, I was expecting to be blown away by this dish, but this was a bit of a disappointment. The onion rings where very large, but really limp and soggy. And the mac and cheese was too hard and congealed. The cheddar fonduta did little to help add much needed moisture to the dry block of mac and cheese. Too bad…

7×7 Magazine’s The Big Eat San Francisco: 100 Things to Eat + Drink Before You Die – 2013

The North Windmill
The North (Dutch) Windmill, Golden Gate Park.

Bolognese – Pasta Pomodoro

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Bolognese - Pasta Pomodoro
Rich beef, pork and porcini mushroom sauce tossed with rigatoni, topped with shaved pecorino. Lunch epxress with casesar salad $5.50
Pasta Pomodoro, San Francisco CA

I don’t know why, but the pasta at Pasta Pomodoro is always super comforting. Maybe that’s just the power of pasta, but I don’t think so. For a local chain restaurant, Pasta Pomodoro definitely presents a very tasty product!

Grilled focaccia - Pasta Pomodoro
Grilled focaccia with pesto and olive oil. Complimentary
SO good!

Green Muni streetcar
Green Muni streetcar, Market Street.

Tutto mare – Boulevard Cafe

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Tutto mare - Boulevard Cafe
Spaghetti, prawns, clams, mussels, fish, garlic, basil, white wine, red sauce. $15.95
Boulevard Cafe, Daly City CA

This restaurant is one of those places where the menu is gigantic and appears to contain food from all cuisines. Usually the food at these places are sorely lacking, but the things I ordered were actually pretty good. The tutto mare had plenty of seafood which I was surprised about since most places will skimp of the more expensive proteins. It had bold flavors and the pasta was perfectly al dente.

Avgolemono soup - Boulevard Cafe
Avgolemono soup. Traditional Greek soup with chicken, rice, lemon and egg. $2.95
This was OK. It was mostly broth.