Dine Again?
We recently visited Hong Kong and dined on excellent Cantonese Chinese food and more. Hong Kong is a modern city like New York, that is progressive, packed with energy, and filled with top-notch restaurants.
Buffets: Conrad Nicolini’s Sunday Brunch Buffet, Harbourside Buffet,, JW Marriott Hong Kong, Tiffen Buffet Grand Hyatt Hong Kong.
We recently visited Hong Kong and dined on excellent Cantonese Chinese food and more. Hong Kong is a modern city like New York, that is progressive, packed with energy, and filled with top-notch restaurants.
We recently visited Hong Kong and dined on excellent Cantonese Chinese food and much more. Hong Kong is a modern city like New York, that is progressive, packed with energy, and filled with top-notch restaurants.
The quest for the ultimate Sunday Brunch buffet continues. Foie gras check, Iberico ham, 2 kinds, unlimited champagne and wine, check, dinner, forget about it.
Why did we dine here? – Leopold’s is a hot new Austrian – German restaurant located on Russian Hill that has been getting a lot of positive press. Bauer liked it and Yelp fans are all over it. As the place opens at 530pm and the waiting starts around 6 PM. No reservations. A loud party every night! As they put it – “Casual, urban-rustic neighborhood gathering spot and bierhaus”. Are you ready for the 5 Liter beer?
Scratch is a new restaurant from Rob Fischer who runs Palo Alto Creamery, Reposado, and Gravity. This restaurant opened at the end of 2010. Fine Dining meets American Comfort Cuisine is their motto. We happen to be in the area and decided to give this place a try. The restaurant is modern, with clean lines, lots of wood, and large windows to the Street. Our last visit was at the end of 2011.
Taste In is a family owned Mediterranean deli and restaurant in Burlingame’s Broadway Street shopping district. They focus on Mediterranean cuisine including falafel’s, schawerma, kabobs and the like. This place opened in late 2009. Our last visit was in fall 2011.
The Ferry Building Marketplace is one of our most favorite destinations in San Francisco. Filled with restaurants, food stands, and gift shops, this place is on any foodies must visit list. Here are some of our favorite shops to visit and dine at.
We visited the Granville Public Market in Vancouver, BC and found it to be a must visit for foodies to visit, but not as spectacular as San Francisco’s ferry building, Beijing’s Dong Hua Men market or London’s Borough market. The network of small vendors and gift shops almost overshadowed the food area for us.
Bouchon Bakery in Yountville is a fabulous place we love to visit whenever we are passing through the wine country. This location is situated right next door to Bouchon in Yountville. They even bake for the legendary French Laundry. Here are some photos of their delectable products.
Rosamunde Sausage Grill is a small Sausage restaurant in the colorful lower Haight district of San Francisco with an additional larger location in the Mission district. This Place has a cult like following. Sort of like Vancouver’s Japadog. They serve grilled sausages on french rolls. You can select 2 free condiments from sauerkraut, grilled onions, peppers, or spicy beef chili. They also sell uncooked sausages, which we took advantage of one time.
Z&Y Bistro Peking Duck is the Peking Duck focused sister restaurant of Z&Y in San Francisco’s Chinatown. We can for dinner in the summer of 2025. Lots of tourists were there when we dined. 4.5 stars on Yelp. They have everything from Peking duck to Soup Dumplings on the menu. Stick to the Beijing dishes.
Service was better than expected. English was spoke.
Murracci’s is a casual Japanese restaurant that focuses on Curry dishes and grilled items. While they have 4 sushi items on the menu, stick to the Japanese-style curry. They have locations in both San Francisco and Los Altos. Last visit was in April 2012.
Jang Su Jang is a popular Korean restaurant in Santa Clara, located on El Camino Real, home to many Korean businesses. We decided to give it a try having seen many reviews on the restaurant, in addition to personal recommendations.
Kabul Afghan Cuisine serves Afghani cuisine on the San Francisco Peninsula with locations in Burlingame and San Carlos. We dined for lunch at the newer Burlingame location. They do have some options for vegetarians. Our last visit was in February 2011.
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.
PlumpJack Cafe is a restaurant in the PlumpJack Squaw Valley Inn, at the Squaw Valley ski resort. They serve breakfast the hotel guests, lunch and dinner to all. A more informal bar right outside the cafe, also serves food. We were in the area and decided to drop in for a quick bite to eat.
Another trendy fancy burger place… The Counter opened in 2006 and is another fancy casual restaurant located in the Palo Alto, California Avenue shopping district. They have locations in CA, CO, GA, NC, and TX with many more coming soon. We revisited in March 2011 at the brand-new San Mateo location, click next door to Trader Joes. Loud music greeted us as we entered the place along with some flat screen TVs at the counter.
Cheeseboard Pizza Collective is a worker owned collective of 12 people who served a different pizza each day. It is located in North Berkeley’s Gourmet Ghetto. They also serve a single type of salad. Cash or check only. There can be a line around the block at peak times. It is located next door to the Cheese Board Collective, which sells excellent cheese, bread, cookies, muffins, etc. Our last visit was at the end of 2010.
Downtown San Mateo has a very high concentration of Japanese restaurants with one on almost every block. Hotaru 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. Nearby Yuzu and Sakae are also very good Japanese Restaurants. Our last visit was in 2016.
Crouching Tiger Restaurant is a Chinese Sichuan, Hunan, and Mandarin style restaurant in downtown Redwood City on a Street full of different restaurants. Their name in Chinese is really Crouching Dragon. They specialize is spicy dishes, noodles, and authentic local dishes like Xingjian Lamb and Pickle Fish soup. Our last visit was in October 2011.
Since 1932 Toto’s has been serving ‘authentic’ Neapolitan pizza. They have restaurant locations in San Bruno and Belmont. The Belmont location is an order and sit type restaurant with no table service. They have a to-go only facility in San Mateo that we also dined at. Toto’s uses Baker’s Pride pizza ovens.
Sweet Basil Thai Cuisine is a restaurant in Foster City, a couple doors down from popular 5 Joy Chinese restaurant. They also run a vegetarian Thai restaurant next door. We were going to 5 Joy decided to mix it up a little bit after having a very good meal at Osha Thai in San Francisco.
Decor, Vibe – Sweet Basil Thai Cuisine has very nice interior decor with Buddha fountain by the door, modern art lamps, wooden banquettes, and bamboo tables. The place was pretty full for a weekend evening.
Menu
Yes, we don’t eat at French Laundry everyday.. we do eat everyday food. We recently visited Chevy’s and has a some very good Guacamole. Fresh Hass avocados seasoned to your taste with diced jalapenos, fresh cilantro, fresh tomato, onion and fresh squeezed lime.
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.
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.
Din Tai Fung is a popular Shanghai dumpling restaurant with locations in Los Angeles, Taipei, Japan, China, Singapore, and several other countries. We dined at the location in Shanghai’s touristy Xintiandi. The Los Angeles location is in Arcadia with Yelp reviews unfortunately indicating it is a step down from the ones abroad.
This restaurant started in Taipei City and has expanded over the years based on the popularity of their Shanghai steamed dumplings. We decided not to visit the USA, Beijing, Tokyo or Hong Kong branch and eat at one in the heart of Xiao Long Bao dumpling territory, Shanghai, China. We were hoping that this would be the star location for dumplings.
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.
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.
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.
Gourmet Village is a Chinese restaurant that opened in April 2010 on Millbrae’s Broadway Street. The chef used to work at the well-respected The Kitchen restaurant. We came once for lunch and once for dinner.
Decor, Vibe – Gourmet Village has bare-bones Chinese restaurant decor with just a couple artifacts on the walls and some seafood tanks in the back. Mostly locals were having lunch when we were dining. Dinner was another story, with the place jam packed. Asians seem to like trying new places.
Menu
5A5 Steak Lounge is a contemporary take on a Steakhouse, and is located in San Francisco’s Jackson Square area. They serve , 100% natural beef with no antibiotics or hormones. Executive Chef Allen Chen formerly cooked at Cupertino’s top rated Alexanders Steakhouse, so you see a lot of similarities here.
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.
