Go Again
The Firehouse is a fine restaurant in touristy Old Sacramento. This restaurant opened nearly 50 years ago and is located in an old firehouse. We were passing by the area and stumbled upon this restaurant after doing a little research. This area is filled with tourist traps, something we definitely wanted to avoid.
Pilita Grill, a Turkish, Mediterranean restaurant, is run by friendly Chef owner Burak Epir. He tries to “capture the freshness and vibrancy of Turkish cuisine, where vegetables, whole grains, and yogurt are the stars and meats serve as condiments.” This restaurant is on Laurel street, home to a ton of restaurant.
benu is the long awaited new restaurant in SF from French Laundry Alum and James Beard Award-winning chef Corey Lee. His old boss Thomas Keller is a partner in this new venture and has a wine locker by the front door. benu is housed where Hawthorne Lane used to be. We dined early on, during their 3rd week of operation. benu is a small product driven restaurant focused on contemporary American cuisine. benu is an Egyptian word and that stands for the phoenix, a symbol of something constantly renewing. benu received Two Michelin stars for 2012. The 17 course fixed price menu now costs $180. A la carte is offered Tuesday through Thursday.
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;
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.
Lei Garden is a well respected restaurant group with locations in Hong Kong, Singapore, China, and Macau. They opened location18 in Shanghai in 2010. We visited their location in the upscale IFC mall in Hong Kong for dinner in late 2008. This location earned one star in the 2009 Michelin guide but lost it in 2010.
bund Shanghai Restaurant is a Chinese restaurant in Chinatown that serves Shanghainese cuisine and opened in 2009. It is named after one of the touristy but must visit areas of Shanghai next to the Huangpu river. Most of the restaurants in Chinatown serve Cantonese cuisine in contrast to this place. We stopped by for a quick snack in 2009, then returned for lunch in late 2011.
Auberge du Soleil (Inn of the Sun) is a posh resort in the Napa Valley with a Michelin starred restaurant that opened in 1981. Executive Chef Robert Curry, formerly of Domain Chandon and Greystone, serves up Wine country cuisine.
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 and Hard Water. He failed at Heaven’s Dog and Wo Hing General Store. They use a lot of local, organic, sustainable ingredients and focus on essentially California cuisine with the Vietnamese influence.
Frances is run by Melissa Perello, formerly of Charles Nob Hill and Fifth Floor, was winner of several accolades including San Francisco Chronicle’s rising star chef in 2002. Her California Cuisine Castro district restaurant, named after her grandmother, is one presently of the hardest reservations in town. We didn’t have a reservation and went early for bar counter seating before the restaurant opened. (some seats here are pretty tiny) Frances never answered the phone when we called, but they did return our message. They use local, sustainable and organic products when possible.
Grand Palace Seafood Restaurant is a Cantonese Chinese restaurant in downtown South San Francisco. This restaurant opened in 2005 and is located on a street with a wide variety of different restaurants. They are best known for dim sum lunch and wedding banquets, but we were nearby at dinnertime and decided to give them a try. The restaurant is about 3 blocks from Highway 101’s Grand Avenue exit.
Roam Artisan Burgers is a new Burger joint on Union Street in the Marina district. They focus on humanely raised, grass feed meats, sustainable produce, organic ice cream salted caramel milkshakes, wine on-tap, and agave-sweetened sodas. Even their menu is printed on 100% post consumer recycled paper or using green energy. All their packaging is hundred percent compostable.
Wayfare Tavern is restaurant from celebrity chef Tyler Florence. He moved from the location on Sacramento Street earlier in 2025. They focus on local and sustainable ingredients for their classic American Tavern cuisine. Our last time dining here was in 2010!
Decor, Vibe – Wayfare Tavern has really nice decor out of the Barbary Coast era with dark wood floors, old school lightbulbs, lots of hunting trophies, counter seating, rustic booth seating,, and old-fashioned decor. Place was loud and packed with foodies and Food Network fans eager to try this new location.
Paradise Kabab House is a family run Persian restaurant in downtown Redwood City. They emphasis is on healthy home style cooking on an open fire. As they put it: “No deep frying, no artificial flavoring, no precooked foods and no canned products!”
Ramen Dojo opened in San Mateo at legendary Santa Ramen’s original location back in 2010, no doubt hoping to capture some of its good karma. In fact it’s owned by chef-owner Kazunori Kobayashi. They focus on spicy ramen, specifically Sutamina Ramen (aka Spicy Stamina Ramen) that is served in a couple restaurants in the SF Bay Area. They de-emphasised Spicy ramen and now even serve regular ramen. Our last visit was in October of 2017.
Ramen Santouka is a legendary noodle shop located inside the Mitswa supermarket in San Jose just off Highway 280’s Saratoga exit. They have locations in many different cities around the world including Los Angeles.
Myung Dong Tofu Cabin is a Korean restaurant with two locations, San Mateo near Highway 101, and Santa Clara. We went to the San Mateo location which is in a strip mall next to a Marina supermarket. Our 2010 revisit of the restaurant occurred in April 2010. They had dropped the weekend specials and added half orders.
Kirin Mandarin is a well-respected Chinese restaurant in downtown Vancouver, which is named after a mythical dragon like monster. They have five locations in the greater Vancouver area. This particular location focuses on Northern Chinese cuisine and opened in 1987. Sherman recommended we visit this restaurant. We came for dinner in a previous review.
Sea Harbour Seafood Restaurant is a non descript Chinese restaurant in Richmond, BC, a suburb of Vancouver. It took a 20 minute Canada line subway ride to get here from downtown Vancouver. This place was highly recommended by food God Sherman. This restaurant has two locations in Southern California.
Blue Water Cafe and Raw Bar is as they put it “City’s definitive destination for seafood”. Our goal was to eat local food that defined Vancouver. Executive Chef Frank Pabst is known for his innovative and brilliantly executed West Coast plates, insisting on using seafood from wild and sustainable harvest. At the raw bar, cut master Yoshi Tabo has his own dedicated following for his expert sushi and sashimi. We had eaten at their sister restaurant, Araxi, in Whistler a couple days before our dinner here. Blue Water Cafe is located in the trendy Yale town district, which literally has restaurant after restaurant on each block.
Kirin Mandarin is a well-respected Chinese restaurant in downtown Vancouver, which is named after a mythical dragon like monster. They have five locations in the greater Vancouver area. This particular location focuses on Northern Chinese cuisine and opened in 1987. Sherman recommended we visit this restaurant. Dim Sum Lunch is covered separately.
Araxi Restaurant + Bar is a popular restaurant in Whistler’s village. They focus on British Columbia cuisine with lots of seafood. Executive Chef James Walt celebrates carefully sourced local ingredients including the freshest seafood. This restaurant is renowned to be the top spot in Whistler. Araxi has 3 well regarded restaurants in Vancouver.
We recently visited the greater Vancouver area. This week we feature reviews from our neighbor to the north.
Marzano is a casual neighborhood Italian trattoria restaurant in Oakland with two locations. Their specialty is woodfired oven neapolitan pizza. We dined at the location on Park for brunch. Their sister restaurant is Garibaldis.
The Original Falafel’s Drive-In opened in 1966 and has been serving up falafel’s duty ever present lines since. The restaurant is located in San Jose not far from the Santana Row shopping center.
Decor, Vibe – Small dining room inside with picnic tables outside. Old school drive-in decor, with ordering from window. Mostly younger folks were ordering when we visited.
Sichuan Fusion is a new Chinese Restaurant located in way in the back of Richmond’s Pacific East Mall that opened in 2009. We came here because it was new, busy, and had people waiting. The focus here is on SPICY Sichuan Chinese food. Our normal goto place in this mall is Asian Pearl.
Sumika is a small low key Japanese restaurant in downtown Los Altos, hidden away on a sidestreet. You really need to seek out this two year old restaurant. The focus on home style comfort foods with rice bowls during lunch and Kushiyaki or Charcoal Yakitori grill for dinner. They use organic chicken and other ingredients.
La Pinata Mexicatesen is a Salvadorean/Mexican restaurant in San Mateo, near the Caltrain station. It is located in an area that is full of Hispanic businesses and opened in early 2008.
L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon is a ‘less’ formal restaurant from “Chef of the Century” Joël Robuchon. He has more Michelin stars than any other chef in the world. This restaurant is located on the Las Vegas Strip in the MGM Grand, right next door to the more formal Joël Robuchon at the Mansion restaurant. This restaurant received One Michelin star. Elegant French food is created right in front of you and served on the counter or on one of the surrounding tables. Our meal at L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon was right before a show, so we tried their new low cost pre show menu.
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.
Chuen Kee Seafood Restaurant is a seafood restaurant located in Hong Kong’s northern Sai Kung area, about an hour subway and bus ride from tourist central Tsim Tsa Tsui. Take the MTR to Choi Hung (Kwun Tong line), exit through at Exit C2, walk a couple feet forward, and take bus 92 or 96R at the bus stop (arrives every 5 minutes), and get off at the end of the line after a 25 minute bus ride. This restaurant opened in 1988. Chuen Kee Seafood has another location a block farther down the promenade.
Jin Sho Restaurant is a ‘Executive-Class’ Japanese restaurant run by 2 chefs formerly of Nobu in New York, Noriomi Kaneko and Ichiro Takahashi. They bought several dishes with them from their past experiences. It opened in late 2007 and is located in Palo Alto’s California street shopping district right off of El Camino Real. They serve everything from classic sushi rolls, sashimi, omakase, to more western entrees.
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Ideale Restaurant is an Italian restaurant in San Francisco’s North Beach serving authentic Roman cuisine for over 12 years. They focus on hand picked ingredients, homemade pastas, and breads.
San Mateo Prime restaurant opened in late 2007 in Downtown San Mateo. They specialize in dry aged prime rib cooked with rock salt and slowly roasted. We have driven by many times and decided it was time for a prime rib dinner. San Mateo Prime is modeled after places like House of Prime Rib in San Francisco and Lawry’s The Prime Rib. Entrees come with hot corn bread, salad, popover, and choice of two side dishes.
Cheung Hing Restaurant is a low cost Chinese restaurant in downtown Millbrae serving Seafood and Hong Kong Style BBQ. They also have a location in San Francisco’s Outer Sunset district. They specialize in items like BBQ pork, Roast Duck, Roast Pig, etc.
Hong Kong Saigon Seafood Harbor is a popular Cantonese Chinese restaurant in Sunnyvale. It has been located in a strip mall for about three years.
Cetrella is located in Half Moon Bay and serves Mediterranean cuisine with local ingredients from named sources. The restaurant closed for a winter hibernation, then reopened in May, 2009 with a new chef, Sylvain Montassier (Boulevard, Alinea). We were fans of the previous chef and hoped the food would live up to our expectations. It was great to find a solid place for food after a day at the beach. Tourist places like Half Moon Bay are always difficult places to find good food. They have live Jazz on Friday & Saturday nights. Menu changes all the time, plus you can order off the bar menu.
Silver House Restaurant is a long standing Cantonese Chinese restaurant on El Camino Real in San Mateo, just south of Highway 92.
Emilia’s Pizzeria is a new small pizza place in Berkeley, located about a block from Berkeley Bowl supermarket. Keith Freilich, the owner, has worked at Pizza Hut, Grimaldi’s Hoboken, Pizzaiolo, and Flour + Water in San Francisco and serves up ‘New York style’ pizza. Emilia’s sells pizza by the slice and pie. Regular and sausage and onion were the pizzas available today. They often sell out, so go early and check their Twitter feed. The place was recently on serious eats.
Decor, Vibe – Tiny pizzeria with two small tables run by one person. Most people got pizza to go. Pizza foodies and locals were the main ones eating.
Le Cinq is a famous two Michelin star restaurant in the Four Seasons George V Hotel in Paris, right near the Champs-Élysées. The restaurant had earned 3 Michelin stars in the past. Eric Briffard, formerly of Paris’ Les Elysées has been head chef since 2008. He is known for dishes with a precision of flavors. They serve classic French Haute cuisine using classic French culinary techniques. Le Cinq embraces newer, lighter cooking styles, and always incorporates the freshest regional ingredients. Le Cinq serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner and has been open since 1999. A la Carte as well as two prix fixe menus (160, 230€) are available at dinner. We choose the cheaper Decouverte Gourmande Summer Menu de l’ete. (160€)
L’Arpege is a famous three Michelin star restaurant in Paris run by star Chef Alain Passard. This famous spot opened in 1986. They serve classic French Haute cuisine focusing on seafood, poultry, and vegetables. Their three organic farms outside Paris grow their produce. Vegetables are bullet trained to the restaurant several TIMES a day, to maximize freshness. Alain became bored with meat and removed it from the menu several years ago, but later adjusted to include seafood and poultry. We came for lunch Menu L’Ete des Jardins (The Summer Garden) (120€) available July-September 2009, to lessen the damage to the pocket book. It looked like everyone else ordered it too. They had actually lowered its price by 15€!
Chez Georges long standing French Bistro located in the 17th Arrondissement that is known for its Rib Roast, Leg of Lamb, Steak Frites, and desserts.
La Fontaine de Mars is the known as the famous bistro in the 7th Arrondissement where President Obama went. There is a fountain right outside the restaurant that helped name this place. It is not far from the Eiffel Tower, making this a good place for a meal before/after a visit. They have serve South western French Cuisine including foie gras, duck, and cassoulet since 1908.
Restaurant Guy Savoy (Pronounced G Savoy) is a three Michelin star restaurant in Paris named after the chef owner, who often greets visitors. The Arc de Triomphe is just a couple blocks from here. It was opened back in 1980 and earned 3 stars for the first time in 2002. Guy Savoy has a location in Caesar’s Las Vegas as well as less formal restaurants in Paris. His motto, “Cuisine is the art of instantaneously turning produce suffused with history into happiness.” We had eaten at Guy Savoy Las Vegas and were hesitant to eat here, but one step in the door, eased our fears.
Pain de Sucre (Sugarloaf in English) is a Foodie must visit patisserie in Paris’s dynamic 3rd Arrondissement known as The Marais. This shop is located a couple blocks from the Museum Pompidou. We visited many food shops in Paris and this one still stands out. The owners used to work for 3 Michelin star chef Pierre Gagnaire, but left to open this store in 2004.
