We recently finished up our latest culinary tour of China in the Summer of 2010. Hong Kong is a world class city full of great food. Most of the Chinese food was superior to that in the San Francisco Bay Area and even Vancouver, BC Canada.

Here are some quick mini reviews of places we ate at, so you can understand how Hong Kong food compares, and so you select the best places on your visit. We have full reviews for places we deemed important enough;

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We recently finished a culinary tour of China in the Summer of 2010. Shanghai is a world class city full of great food. Most of the Chinese food was superior to that in the San Francisco Bay Area and even Vancouver, BC Canada.

Here are some quick mini reviews of places we ate at, so you can understand how Shanghai food compares, and so you select the best places on your visit. We have full reviews for places we deemed important enough;

Read the rest of this entry »

Fu1039 is a classic Shanghai restaurant that is mentioned in many tour books, making us cautious. It is located in the Hongqiao area of Shanghai not far from the subway. The restaurant is located down an alley from the 1039 address marker. Read the rest of this entry »

South Beauty is a very beautiful restaurant located in the Super Brand Mall in Shanghai’s Pudong district. The view of the Bund was awesome from this location making us worry about the quality of the food. You have to spend at least ¥200 per person to sit by the window. Dining on the outdoor deck is unparalleled. South Beauty, founded in 2000 by Zhang Lan, has over 40 high end restaurants throughout China including Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Tianjin, Chengdu, Suzhou, QingDao, Shenyang. They also run Steam, LAN Club, and SUBU. We had eaten at this location about two years ago and had mixed results. South Beauty Was picked this time because the other restaurants in the Super Brand Mall had already closed. They serve a combination of Sichuan and Cantonese Chinese food in stylish environments.

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Zero Zero is a new restaurant in San Francisco’s SOMA district by Bruce Hill. (Pizzeria Picco, Picco, Bix) The restaurant is named after “00″ or doppio zero ultrafine milling flour, used in many pizzas. They feature ‘Calipolitan’ pizzas, pastas, Italian small plates, ‘two big time bars’, and organic soft serve. The focus is on farm driven ingredients and a party like atmosphere. Reservations for parties 5 or larger only, so by 6:45pm there was a wait. Read the rest of this entry »

Bottega Restaurant Napa Valley is run by star chef Michael Chiarello. Chef Chiarello is acclaimed chef, Emmy-winning host of Food Network’s Easy Entertaining, tastemaker behind NapaStyle, originally starred at Tra Vigne, and proprietor of Chiarello Vineyards, as well as a Napa Valley resident. The focus is on “micro-regional Italian cuisine, selecting the best dishes from across Italy and anchoring them with artisanal, heritage, or house-made ingredients.” This restaurant is located in the V marketplace complex in Yountville, directly across from his Napa Style store. Bottega as a 4.5 Star rating on Yelp. Read the rest of this entry »

Ristorante Capellini is a popular Italian restaurant in downtown San Mateo, near the Caltrain station. Since 1990, this beautiful Pat Kuleto designed restaurant has been packing them in. It looks pretty unassuming on the outside, but once you open the door.. Our last visit was in the middle of 2010. Read the rest of this entry »

The Slanted Door is a famous modern Vietnamese restaurant located in San Francisco’s Ferry Building. Legendary chef Charles Phan’s empire includes several Out the Door restaurants, Moss Room in Golden gate Park, as well as Heaven’s Dog. They use a lot of local, organic, sustainable ingredients and focus on essentially California cuisine with the Vietnamese influence.

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Koi Palace is a popular Cantonese Chinese restaurant in Daly City. The Peninsula is ground zero for some of the best Chinese food in the SF Bay area. It has been around since 1997 and specializes in wide selection of Dim Sum for lunch and special dishes for dinner. They also have locations in Dublin and at Thunder Valley Casino. We came for dinner and have previously reviewed Koi Palace dim sum lunch. Our return trips were in late 2009 and several times in 2010. Yelp reviews emphasize lunch and don’t factor in where this place falls in the Chinese restaurant pecking order.

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Donato Enoteca is an Italian Restaurant in downtown Redwood City, located right next to City Hall. They serve modern Italian focusing on fresh, simple ingredients, and focusing on the chef’s Donata Scotti (formerly of La Strada) Northern Italian roots. Our last visit was in the middle of 2010. Read the rest of this entry »

Prospect is a long-awaited new restaurant from the Boulevard restaurant team – Nancy Oakes, Pam Mazzola, and Kathy King – located in the posh residential Infinity Tower complex of San Francisco’s Financial district / SOMA district. They named it with anticipation, expectation, and looking forward. Prospect mirrors restaurant RN74 and its place under the nearby Millennium tower.

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Since 1993, The House has been cooking up top notch Asian fusion cuisine in San Francisco’s North Beach. Using local ingredients and blending American foods with Asian accents is their strong suit. Their mastery of sauces is evident in many dishes. The House flies under many foodie radars. Our last visit was in early July 2010.

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