Not Again
Hong Kong Flower Lounge is synonymous with Chinese food on the SF Peninsula. They are part of the Mayflower restaurant group that has 2 Chinese Cantonese restaurants locations in the San Francisco Bay area; Millbrae and Milpitas. Several others have closed. We have eaten at their location in Millbrae many times.
Why did we dine here? – Balthazar is a classic French bistro in New York’s SOHO district. It has been packing them in for over 20 years. We have eaten here for breakfast in the past and decided to try their weekend brunch on our latest trip to the big Apple.
Angler is a more casual seafood – meat restaurant from Three Michelin Star Saison’s Joshua Skenes.
Il Fornaio (The Baker in Italian) is an Italian restaurant serving “creatively prepared, premium-quality Italian cuisine based on authentic regional Italian recipes.” They have 21 locations, many in California. They have been around since 1972, initially starting as a baking school. Now they are owned by a Private Equity group, no doubt trying to squeeze out profits.
Why did we dine here? – Akiko’s Restaurant is a small Japanese restaurant that has been on our list for a while. They are known for serving fresh fish but now have a lots of competition from newcomers. (Kusakabe, Yoshizumi, Juni, An, etc) The restaurant is stealth, without a sign in the front. It is located below the irish bar sign. They had a chef change from Ricky Yap to Geoffrey Lee in 2014.
Steak on the Peninsula. Town Restaurant 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. Over the years, this restaurant has been consistently busy. Town is definitely a hit with the locals, many of which can just walk over for a meal. Our last visit was in December 2015. It is so busy, we had to make a reservation over a week in advance.
Why did we dine here? – Sage is in the Aria Hotel and has 4 stars on Yelp. We were seeing Cirque du Soleil Zarkana in this Hotel, so that is why we dined here. The show was good but seemed like a mash up of the usual Cirque stunts, go to the Beatles or Michael Jackson one instead.
Why did we dine here? – Pabu is a Japanese Izakaya-style restaurant in San Francisco’s Financial District from Michael Mina in partnership with Chef Ken Tominaga.
The chef’s Hana restaurant in a Rohnert Park had garnered a local following including Mina. This is the first Japanese restaurant for Mina.
Peggy Sue’s is a burger place that has been there since 1958 that also serves classic American breakfast. They have two locations in downtown San Jose, right near the major destination including the Children’s museum, The Tech Museum, and San Jose State. Free all-day weekend parking with validation. They push their USDA lean 100% Angus Beef. Our last visit was in April 2013.
Gioia is a top rated Pizza place in North Berkeley. It has been there since 2004. As they put it: “Gioia Pizzeria takes the best of pizza traditions from the old world and the new. Classic flavors and ingredients such as artisanally made sausage, fresh mozzarella cheese and arugula come together in inspired traditional ways, seasoned with the influence of Bay Area kitchens such as Zuni Café, Chez Panisse and Oliveto” Gioia is a small hole in the wall with minimal counter seating. The place specializes in thin crust pizza and is known for local, organic ingredients. It was rated as a top pizza place by Michael Bauer. Our last visit was in late 2011 and we noticed prices had gone up. Their San Francisco location opened in 2012, we dined here in May 2012. It is located right next door to burger heaven, Polkers.
Why did we dine here? – AQ restaurant has been getting alot of positive press recently, including a three star rating from San Francisco Chronicle’s Michael Bauer. They change the menu, ingredients, and decor based on the season, a gimmick that sounded appealing. (We dined on their Spring menu) AQ stands for As Quoted or ask the server for the price, but all the prices at this restaurant exist on the menu. The crowd consisted of foodies in their 30’s and 40’s.
Why did we dine here? – Great China is a popular Chinese restaurant in Berkeley right near UC Berkeley. A friend recommended this restaurant to us and Great China has been rated highly in Zagat’s.
Why did we here? – This restaurant is located in the brand spanking new Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong, making it a no-brainer for those seeking out beautiful new restaurants. They received a surprising 2 Michelin stars in 2013. Guess the food has improved since our visit in 2011.
Shanghai Winter Garden recently opened in Millbrae, continuing the trend of new Shanghai restaurant on the Peninsula. This restaurant is located in the spot that once housed the deli, so the interior is pretty nice.
Summary – Shanghai Winter Garden is a pretty mediocre restaurant except for a couple interesting dishes.
Insider Tip – Go for Snacks
Spicy Empire is a Chinese restaurant that recently opened in the former location of Shanghai East. They focus on Sichuan Chinese cuisine with an emphasis on spicy dishes.
Z&Y Restaurant is a Sichuan restaurant in San Francisco’s Chinatown that focuses on spicy dishes. Chinatown is a Cantonese community, so finding a good Sichuan restaurant here is an unlikely proposition. The place was full so we decided to give it a try.
Armadillo Willys is a local BBQ restaurant with 8 locations in the San Francisco Bay Area. It was started in 1988 and offers ‘real Texas barbecue’ cooked over a wood fire. We were in the shopping center and decided to give it another try so we could more fairly gauge other BBQ restaurants. We visited the Foster City location.
Alice’s Restaurant is located in the San Francisco coastal mountain range at the intersection on Highway 35 Skyline Blvd, and Highway 84. They are “Home to the best specialty burgers in the world”, as they put it. Lots of motorcyclists stop here on the weekend as well as hikers, bikers, and those touring the area. We have eaten here several times, the last time in June 2010.
Trattoria Di Umberto is a high end Tuscan Italian restaurant at the Mountainside Lodge in Whistler’s village, slight off the Village stroll. Our dining companions had tried and liked their sister restaurant Il Caminetto Di’Umberto, so we decided to give this place a try. They have 4 locations.
Super Duper is a new hamburger restaurant in the Castro. It was opened by the folks behind Delarosa, Beretta and Starbelly. They use Niman Ranch meats. This restaurant opened in mid-April 2010. They have grown to several location in San Francisco as well as North and South Bay. We returned to this location in 2016.
Decor, Vibe – Brand-new Burger restaurant with some retro decor and stainless steel seats. The place had a couple younger folks stop by for a quick bite.
Baby Blues BBQ is a new BBQ restaurant in the Bernal Heights area of San Francisco that opened in late 2008. They have locations in Venice, California and West Hollywood. They have hybrid BBQ Memphis style rib and sauces that hail from North Carolina. Their racks are slowly smoked and rubbed with pepper and spices.
Shabu House is a Japanese Beef Fondue restaurant with locations in San Francisco and Burlingame. Shabu Shabu is a Japanese culinary dish which inspired from the Mongolian tradition of nabemono, or “one pot” cooking. In traditional shabu shabu, thin slices of beef are placed in a communal pot of boiling water and swished back and forth until cooked. We went to the new Burlingame location, open since late November 2009. The San Francisco one opened in late 2007.
Lao Tseu, which means Old Master in Chinese, is a Restaurant Chinois or Chinese restaurant in Paris’s 7th right on busy Saint Germain Boulevard. We were looking for some non French cuisine to vary things a little bit.
Chez Vong is a fancy Chinese / Vietnamese restaurant located in the 1st Arrondissement, specifically the Les Halles area of Paris. We wanted some Chinese food for a change, so we decided to try this place.
L’As du Fallafel is a very popular, low cost Middle Eastern Fallafel restaurant and is known as the favorite fallafel place of Lenny Kravitz. They have a walk up window that seems to always have a line, as well as a sit down restaurant. Opened in 1979, it is located in the stylish Marais neighborhood, 4th arrondissement, not far from the Musee Picasso. This place is covered by the usual tour books.
L’ Epice and Love is a quirky but small restaurant in the heart of Avignon, France. Modestly priced, they serve simple food that is well prepared. Madame Marie is the chef and owner and speaks English. The place is rated #1 on Tripadvisor for Avignon probably because it only costs 16.80€ for a 3 course dinner.
La Pizza Nice has served Italian cuisine including pasta, salads, and (You guessed it) pizza since 1956. Their menus do list English translations. They have 3 restaurants in Nice and one in Cannes. They have huge custom made ovens and use volcanic ash baking stones.
Decor, Vibe – Old traditional french decor with lots of dark wood decor and tables. Sidewalk seating was where most people sat. Lots of people watching as this street of shops is very busy.
Restaurant Acchiardo is a small family run restaurant serving reasonably priced simple traditional French Provencal nicoise cuisine. It is located in Old Town district which is a maze-like labyrinth of small streets. This restaurant is listed in several travel guides.
Woodside Bakery & Cafe is a combination Bakery and cafe in upscale Woodside, right next door to Buck’s. The bakery has been here since the 1980’s. Our last visit was in October 2011.
Shan Dong Mandarin Restaurant is a family run Chinese Restaurant in Oakland’s Chinatown focusing on Shan Dong regional Cuisine. The focus is on noodles and dumplings. It was top rated on Yelp and has been mentioned in newspapers, so we decided to try it.
Gordo Taqueria is a long standing Mexican Restaurant in the San Francisco Bay Area, with 5 locations. We went to the original Clement st location in San Francisco that opened in 1977. Burritoeater ranks it highly.
KK Cafe is a small family owned cafe in the Western Addition neighborhood of San Francisco. This place has gotten 4 stars on Yelp. We decided to visit and try their highly touted burger.
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.
Golden Boy Pizza is a hole in the wall restaurant in North Beach. This place takes only cash and serves pizza slices from big trays that are warmed up. There are lots of beers and two rows of counter seating.
A stylish high end pizza place with 4 Northern California locations. We reviewed the location in upscale San Jose’s Santana Row shopping center. Pizza is the draw, so we focused on it. The pizza is thin crust artisanal Roman style. They also serve pasta and meats.
Classic Chicago-style deep dish pizza is the reason to visit. Pronounced “paw-CHEESE”, this place is run by a former cook and manager of Zachary’s Pizza in Oakland. With that heritage, it was time to compare it again the reference.
El Coleguita 2 is a popular seafood restaurant for the locals, in the Marina Vallarta area. It is located in the boat marina for Puerto Vallarta. An english version of the menu is available. The place was consistenly packed, while most other restaurants had only a couple tables occupied.
La Palapa is a popular beach front restaurant serving a variety of continental cuisine. It is located in the heart of the romantic zone and is recommended by the Fodor’s Guide with a star. An English version of the menu is available. This is definitely a more expensive touristy restaurant. You’ll see vendors walking the beach trying to sell you stuff.
Tommasos, Open in 1935, this place is a North Beach institution that seems to have a line every day
from 530pm onwards. It is an old school Italian eatery that hasn’t changed much. Big communal table down the middle. A small basement eatery with old fashion decor and yellow lighting, this is a classic and full of tourists. Tommasos is well know for their wood-fired brick oven pizza.
