South Sea Seafood Village took the place of Fook Yuen Seafood Restaurant in Millbrae in February 2010. Fook Yuen was a long standing Chinese restaurant in Millbrae that acquired a good reputation over the years. South Sea Seafood has a location in San Francisco’s Sunset district. Millbrae is home to many fine Cantonese Chinese restaurant including Asian Pearl Peninsula and Zen Peninsula. With such high powered competition we wondered how they would position themselves. We came for dinner about 2 weeks after they opened. Read the rest of this entry »

Restaurant Gary Danko is one of the top restaurants in San Francisco, they serve contemporary American cuisine. Open in 1999 and located near Ghiradelli Square, it has been at the top of the Zagat Guide for the last couple years. “Danko combines classical training with focuses on French, Mediterranean, and regional American cooking. He incorporates influential culinary traditions from around the world into his own work, adding seasonings and techniques drawn from Asia and India.” Read the rest of this entry »

Tsukiji Sushi is a Japanese Restaurant in downtown Mill Valley that opened in July 2009. Haruo Komatsu is the Sushi Chef, he was the head sushi chef at Sushi Ran for many years. Tsukiji uses Koshihikari rice (a super-premium rice) and rice bran oil for their frying. The restaurant is named after the Tokyo Tsukiji fish market, the largest fish market in world. Most fish is sourced from this market. We decided to try this place because we’ve been to Sushi Ran so many times. Read the rest of this entry »

Downtown San Mateo has a very high concentration of Japanese restaurants. Almost one on every block.This one is one of the best and most economical.  No surprise, there is a line out front most of the time. We’ve tried pretty much all the nearby Japanese restaurants. Sushi Sam and Kisaku are also good but more expensive. Read the rest of this entry »

Tao Restaurant is a Asian fusion restaurant located in Las Vegas’ Venetian Resort. It opened in 2005 and is the #1 grossing restaurant in the United States. Tao has an outpost in New York City. This place is home to lots of celebrities. They focus on Hong Kong Chinese, Japanese, and Thai cuisines. Read the rest of this entry »

Manzanita Lake Tahoe is the new restaurant by Traci Des Jardins in the posh Ritz Carlton Highlands at Northstar Lake Tahoe. It opened in Decemeber 2009. Rooms here start at $350 a night. She is best known for Jardinière and Mijita Cocina Mexicana in San Francisco. Manzanita serves French inspired California cuisine with a focus on organic, sustainable, seasonal ingredients. Free valet parking for dinner guests. Read the rest of this entry »

Zen Peninsula is a Cantonese Chinese restaurant in Millbrae.  Millbrae is ground zero for some of the best Chinese food in the SF Bay area. It has been around since 2004 and specializes in wide selection of Dim Sum for lunch and special dishes for dinner. They have an extensive printed menu that you order on, and a small number of carts, servers serving dim sum. We last visited in early 2010. Zen Peninsula Dinner has a separate review. Read the rest of this entry »

Limon is a Peruvian restaurant in San Francisco’s Mission district serving Nuveo Latin Fusion. It closed for 16 months due to a fire and recently reopened. Martin Castillo reopened Limon with Emmanuel Piqueras from three Michelin star Arzak restaurant in Spain. They reinvented the menu so the food is different from the old Limon. Michael Bauer recently gave the place 3 stars. Read the rest of this entry »

Poggio is an Italian trattoria Restaurant situated in the Casa Madrona Hotel, right on the main touristy street of Sausalito. They serve breakfast, lunch, and dinner. They focus on Northern Italian cuisine using local ingredients, sustainable products, and property-grown organic herbs and vegetables.
The founder Larry Mindel has a long history with restaurants including Ciao, Prego, and Il Fornaio. Peter McNee is the executive chef. Read the rest of this entry »

Champagne Seafood Restaurant is a new Chinese Restaurant in downtown San Mateo that opened in Joy Luck Place’s old location. The Chinese name for the restaurant translates to First Class Kings Court. They redid the internals and create a large dining room along with several very classy private dining rooms. The chef is Kam Pui Lai. This restaurant serves higher end traditional Cantonese Chinese Dinners. A separate Champagne Seafood Dim Sum review was done previously. We remembered several waiters from the old Joy Luck Days. Read the rest of this entry »

San Tung is a popular Chinese restaurant in the inner Sunset of San Francisco. They serve northern Chinese food that has some Korean influence as the San Tung region of China is near Korea, hence the free Kim Chee. We have eaten here many, many times, back to when it was located west of here. Our latest visit occurred at the end of 2009. Read the rest of this entry »

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 their dim sum lunch. Our return trip was in late 2009 and early 2010.

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