Archive for the ‘Not Again’ Category

1 Dec
2008

Greens Restaurant Review, San Francisco

Posted by admin, December 1st, 2008

Greens San Francisco 2

Greens Restaurant has been serving vegetarian fare since 1979. Their Green Gulch Farm provides much of the produce. Greens was a pioneer in the early days. Today almost every fancy restaurant accommodates vegetarians. The menu changes all the time. They have a $49 4 course prix fix menu on Saturdays.

Greens San Francisco 3

Decor, Vibe - Most tables have a stunning view of the San Francisco Marina’s harbor and the Golden Gate Bridge. The dining room has a mish mash of paintings, wood, and sculpture. There were a lot of folks in their 30’s to 50’s dining. A fair amount of hippies.

Menu Pictures

Website Menu

Greens To Go San Francisco Menu

Greens To Go San Francisco Menu 2

Picks:

Greens San Francisco Mediterranean Sampler

Mediterranean Sampler ($15) - French lentil salad with feta, lemon and mint; filo turnover with artichokes, spring onions, fromage blanc and pecorino pepato; golden and chioggia beets with mach; roasted pepper hummous; grilled pita bread; spicy tomato jam; olives. This was the best dish of the night, but it was tiny. We got to sample lots of fresh items with diverse flavors. Great dips.

Greens San Francisco Filo Pastry

Crepe ($25) filled with mushrooms, with a lite mushroom sauce, and served with sauteed rainbow chard and dinosaur kale. Light, Airy, and Delicate with well cooked veggies. Very good mushrooms and sauce.

OK:

Greens San Francisco Mesquite Grilled Brochettes

Mesquite Grilled Brochettes ($19) - skewers of mushrooms, peppers, garnet yams, fennel, potatoes, cherry tomatoes and marinated tofu with charmoula. Served on cherry-pistachio couscous. Many of the items were over charred. Quality of the product was there as was quantity.

Pans:
None

Greens Restaurant used to be cutting edge, but with such high prices, you could get much better vegetarian food elsewhere. Glasses of wine started at $10. A Navarro Pinot Noir was good. The view is beautiful and timeless, unless the fog is rolling in. We would recommend foodies come at least once to experience the place.
You can sample their food for less by getting some at their take out counter, Greens to go.

Greens on Urbanspoon

Overall Rating:

Come Back?

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Value Rating:

Guide: 0 = poor, 1 = Fair/Average, 2 = Good, 2.5 = Very Good, 3 = Excellent , 4 = Extraordinary

Alcohol:Beer, Wine
Attire:Casual
Hours:Tue-Sat Noon-230pm, Sun 1030am-2pm, Sun-Fri 530-9pm
Parking:Street, Paid Lot
Reservations:Yes
Prices:$16 - $23

Greens Restaurant

Building A, Fort Mason Center

San Francisco, CA 94123

415-771-6222

Website

Filed under: $$$, 2 stars, American, California, Cost, Cuisine, Dine Again?, Location, Not Again, Rating, Restaurant, San Francisco, United States | Tags: , , , |

24 Nov
2008

Town Restaurant Review, San Carlos

Posted by admin, November 24th, 2008

Town San Carlos Exterior

Town is a steakhouse serving American comfort food in downtown San Carlos. It opened in 2006 and has gotten positive press, so we figured we would see how it stacks up.

Town San Carlos Interior

Decor, Vibe - Modern, good looking interior, Sidewalk seating, big oval bar area, counter seating by the kitchen. Couple families, lots of local couples in their 40’s, 50’s out on the town.

Menu Pictures

Website Menu

Town San Carlos Dessert Menu

Dessert Menu

Town San Carlos Kids Menu

Kid’s Menu

Picks:

Town San Carlos Prime Rib

Prime Rib ($32.95) 16oz cut rubbed with garlic & spices, slowly spit fire roasted, served with creamy horseradish sauce and au jus. It came with 2 sides, Asparagus and baked potato. It was tender and very good even with very little au jus.

Town San Carlos BBQ Baby Back Ribs

Kids BBQ Baby Back Ribs ($8.95) with mashed potatoes had good tasting BBQ sauce. Decent sized ribs made it a great value.

Town San Carlos Ice cream Sundae

Kids Sundae ($1.50) was a cool make your own one. Kids will want to drag you back for only this reason.

OK:

Town San Carlos Cocktails Wine

Rasberry Mojito ($7.50) with cruzan st. croix raspberry infused rum, lime juice, fresh muddled mint, cane sugar, splash of sparkling soda tasted fine but had way too much ice.

Town San Carlos Steak

Town San Carlos Brussel Sprouts

Bone-in ribeye steak ($36) 18 oz of black angus steak, salt and pepper crusted and seared at 1400 degrees with a red wine demi glace. It came with baked potato and a huge portion of sauteed brussel sprouts. It was huge but quality was average and it was not too tender or flavorful. Nice bone-in cut.

Town San Carlos Mac and Cheese

Kids Mac and Cheese ($4.95) was good enough to satisfy kids.

Pans:
None

Town serves up high end food in the suburbs with San Francisco prices. At these prices, I would not hesitate driving up to Harris’ in San Francisco instead. The value proposition here is not good.
If I lived nearby and wanted to enjoy their atmosphere, I would order cheaper items like the Chicken Enchiladas or Skirt Steak. They have a kids menu.

Town: Chops, Steak & Seafood on Urbanspoon

Overall Rating:

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Guide: 0 = poor, 1 = Fair/Average, 2 = Good, 2.5 = Very Good, 3 = Excellent , 4 = Extraordinary

Alcohol:Full Bar
Attire:Dressy
Hours:Mon - Sat 1130am-2:30pm, 5-10pm, Sun 5-9pm
Parking:Street
Reservations:Yes
Prices:$10.75 - $49

Town

716 Laurel Street

San Carlos, CA 94070

650-595-3003

Website

Filed under: $$$$, 2 stars, American, California, Cost, Cuisine, Dine Again?, Location, Not Again, Peninsula, Rating, Restaurant, Steakhouse, United States | Tags: , |

12 Nov
2008

Oola Restaurant Review, San Francisco

Posted by admin, November 12th, 2008

Oola is a stylish restaurant in San Francisco’s South of market area serving American food. It stays open late, so it is popular with the late crowd.

Oola San Francisco 14

Decor, Vibe - Dimly lit, exposed brick, high tech stylish lounge decor with loud music. Soma hipsters, couples, and people in their 20’s and 30’s were dining.

Menu Pictures

Oola San Francisco Menu 1

Picks:

Oola San Francisco Seared Ahi

Seared Ahi ($13) had 4 pieces of seared tuna with radishes and fingerling potato chips. Decent quality and quantity.

Oola San Francisco Baby Back Ribs

All natural Baby Back Ribs Entree ($26) had 6 pieces of good cilantro, ginger and soy glazed ribs with a scoop of cole slaw. Lots of meat on the bone and decent BBQ Sauce.

Oola San Francisco Root Beer Float

Root Beer Float ($7) had root beer schnapps, vanilla ice cream, whipped cream and was very good. Super creamy. Even came with more root beer.

Oola San Francisco Panna Cotta

Vanilla Blood orange Panna Cotta ($8) had layered panna cotta, citurs pate de fruit, and blood orange sorbet. The sorbet was real tart. Very smooth panna cotta.

OK:

Oola San Francisco Beet Salad

Roast Beets and watermelon Salad ($12) with watercress, pistachios, goat cheese and a thyme vinaigrette was expensive for what we got, but it tasted decent at least. Good quantity of beets.

Oola San Francisco Scallops

Scallop Entree ($26) was fair at best. Quality was average and their cooking style was not great. Artichoke vinegar was weird.

Oola San Francisco Filet Mignon

Filet Mignon ($28) was average. Had golden enoki mushrooms, mash potatoes. It was of good size and cooked to the correct wellness.

Oola San Francisco Mac n cheese

Goat cheese Mac and Cheese ($7) was an average side order. Nothing special to it.

Oola San Francisco Chard

Sauteed Swiss Chard with bacon ($6) was an average vegetable dish. We needed to have some healthy food and this was it.

Pans:

Oola San Francisco Cobia

Cobia ($23) this fish looked good but was botched. We should have sent it back.

Oola was an expensive experience in small plates. Food was fair, this is a place to go for cocktails and appetizers after partying. Wines by the glass cost about $10, with specialty cocktails going for $8. If you want to try this restaurant, consider the cheaper happy hour (Mon-Fri 5-7pm) specials or weekly 6-8pm special menus.

Overall Rating:

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Value Rating:

Guide: 0 = poor, 1 = Fair/Average, 2 = Good, 2.5 = Very Good, 3 = Excellent , 4 = Extraordinary

Alcohol:Full Bar
Attire:Casual
Hours:Su-Mon 6pm-Midnight, Tu-Sat 6pm-1am
Parking:Street
Reservations:Yes
Prices:$12 - $26

Oola

860 Folsom Street (Between 4th and 5th St)

San Francisco, CA 94107

415-995-2061

Website

Filed under: $$$, 2 stars, American, California, California Cusine, Cost, Cuisine, Dine Again?, Location, Not Again, Rating, Restaurant, San Francisco, United States | Tags: , , |