Restaurant Cuisine
We bought an Ooni Koda 12 Gas Powered Pizza Oven and took months to be able to reliably shape, stretch and cook a pizza.
Here are 3 videos to help your turbocharge your pizza making!
Why Here? A Mano or by hand in Italian, is a California Italian restaurant from Adriano Paganini’s group that runs many local restaurants including Super Duper, Delarosa, and Belga. A nice neighborhood joint in the trendy Hayes Valley area. We are big fans of pasta and pizza, so we had to give it a try.
Kauai Restaurant Reviews from our visit to the Garden isle in May 2022
Lots of local food trucks and Hawaiian favorites. We did not dine in once! None of these requires reservations.
Checkout reviews of the other Hawaiian Islands
Solid Dim Sum in Hillsdale Mall of all places!- Why did we dine here? – Palette Tea Garden is from the team behind top rated Chinese restaurants: Koi Palace and Dragon Beaux.
Why did we dine here? – San Ho Won is a super popular Korean Restaurant which opened in the fall of 2021 and is a collaboration between Corey Lee and Jeong-In Hwang. They use tock for their reservation system, in which you have a pre-pay
a $25/person deposit. It was very hard getting a reservation here.
Koi Palace is a popular Cantonese Chinese restaurant in Daly City, California. (Just south of San Francisco) 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.
This restaurant also has locations in Dublin and at Thunder Valley Casino. We came for dinner and have previously reviewed Koi Palace dim sum lunch. Our return trips included the latest in 2024. Yelp reviews emphasize lunch and do not factor in where this place falls in the Chinese restaurant pecking order.
Why did we dine here? – Sultana is a long established Mediterranean restaurant in downtown Menlo Park. This is a nicer place with a outdoor patio in the back, perfect during the Pandemic. This spot is definitely a step above all the casual Mediterranean restaurants you find around. (We like Hummus Mediterranean in San Mateo) A friend recommended it, so we decided to give it a go.
Flour + Water is a wildly popular Italian restaurant in the Mission district of San Francisco. They focus on hand rolled pastas, house cured meats, and an Italian pizza oven. The chef, Thomas McNaughton is a veteran of La Folie, Gary Danko, Quince. They take reservations on rezy and reserve space for walk ins (Communal table), causing a line to form 20 min. before the place even opens. Yelp rating has faded to 3.5 stars.
Village Pub is a fine dining establishment in the small town of Woodside. We have passed by many times, on our way back from hiking or biking, and felt it was time to try it. They have received One Michelin star starting from 2009. They use lots of seasonal, local, and organic ingredients. They have a sister restaurant Spruce, in San Francisco.
Limon is a Peruvian restaurant in San Francisco’s Mission district serving Nuveo Latin Fusion. It has grown to 6 locations now. Our last visit was in summer 2023.
Martin Castillo opened Limon with Emmanuel Piqueras from three Michelin star Arzak restaurant in Spain.
Why did we dine here? – Ernest is a hot restaurant in the Potrero Hill area not far from KQED. We had to set multiple alerts on Resy to get a reservation. They have outdoor seating in their courtyard, complete with heat lamps. We dine here twice, once inside and once outside.
Absinthe is a popular French restaurant in Hayes Valley, right near the symphony and War Memorial Theater. It has long been a favorite of art patrons before performances.
Greasy, Cheesy and satisfying! Square Pie Guys serves great Detroit Style Pizza. “A crispy, crackly caramelized cheese crust that comes from baking in rectangular blue steel pans originally used to ferry auto parts around Detroit automotive factories.” We’ve seen a lot written about them, so we finally gave it a try. Definitely have been back too. Great stuff. No dine in or outdoor dining, all take out.
Why did we dine here? – Star Noodle is a popular Asian restaurant on Maui focusing on a variety of noodle dishes that originate from Japan through other Asian countries. We have been here on all our recent Maui visits.
They moved to downtown Lahaina in November 2020, and are known as Star Noodle v2. Star Noodle also does takeout but you need to call it in early. Parking lot is part of the new location!
Best Buffet in Reno – Lake Tahoe.
Why did we dine here? – Atlantis Buffet Toucan Charlie’s is one of the leading casino buffets in Reno. The place was remodeled about 2 years ago and upgraded. We were in town for a conference, so we decided to see how good this buffet was. We drove up from San Francisco to Lake Tahoe, and added to our Road Trip Food Guide
Why did we dine here? – Terzo Is a Mediterranean restaurant in San Francisco’s Marina neighborhood. They been around for over 15 years, we haven’t been there in a while, so we visited it and dined outside during the pandemic. Easy availability spot on Opentable was the main reason we came! Nothing hot about this spot. The restaurant appears to cater to the neighborhood crowd, which mirrors the diners.
French Laundry Books at Amazon
With French Laundry it’s more than just a meal, it’s the whole experience. Beautiful atmosphere in the middle of the wine country, superb service, and of course great food. You could argue that this restaurant or that restaurant has a better beef course or appetizer, but few have the exquisite combination of everything.
Why did we dine here? – Gao Viet Kitchen is a Vietnamese restaurant in downtown San Mateo. The same folks run several, casual Ben Tre restaurants in San Mateo and Millbrae.
(Which we like for casual fare.)
Alas the Forest Buffet has closed during the Pandemic. It was replaced by Sapori Italian Kitchen.
The closest buffet is in Reno – Toucan Charlie’s Buffet at the Atlantis.
Hanauma Bay
We visited Oahu, Hawaii and chronicled our eating journey throughout the island including downtown Honolulu. It was her first time back in decades and we found the food much improved. Our May 2020 trip was during the pandemic, so many spots only offered takeout.
The Pandemic has brought Soup Dumpling or Xiao Long Bao quality to new heights!
Why did we dine here? – Dough Zone dumpling house is a regional small chain of restaurants that started in the Seattle area (2014) and has now expanded into Northern California, at Cupertino and San Mateo. They specialize in dumplings and have a menu that is very similar to that of popular Din Tai Fung.
Why did we dine here? – Monkeypod Kitchen by Merriman is a popular Pan Asian, American restaurant with 2 locations on Maui: Wailea and Ka’anapali. We’ve been to both locations on Maui.
They closed 12/31/2022. RIP.
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.
Godfather’s Burger Lounge opened in Belmont, December 2009 right on busy El Camino Real just south of the Ralston Ave. They focus on ½lb. fresh, all-natural “Certified Angus Beef” humanely raised burgers. No added hormones or antibiotics in their meat. Our last visit was in during the pandemic in July 2021, after indoor dining reopened. They still do take out and have some seats outside.
Happy lamb hot pot replaced Little Sheep Mongolian Hot Pot is a hot pot restaurant in downtown San Mateo, right across from Walgreen’s during the Covid 19 Pandemic. The decor is majorly improved and they use serving robots. Prices have also gone up.
Tony’s Pizza Napoletana is a popular San Francisco North Beach restaurant from Tony Gemignani, 9 time Champion Pizza Tosser, certified pizziaolo. It first opened in 2009. He also runs a the International School of Pizza next door. He is well qualified to make a great authentic pizza! Also part of his empire, the “to go” oriented Tony’s Coal Fired Pizza and Slice House next door, Slice house at Oracle Park, and Italian Restaurant Capo.
Why did we dine here? – Old Mandarin Islamic Restaurant is a Chinese Mandarin cuisine restaurant located in the foggy Outer Sunset District of San Francisco. They have been serving up pretty authentic Mandarin dishes for many years. Old Mandarin is an Islamic restaurant that does not serve pork and sticks to Halal certified meats.
Our last visit was about seven years ago, so we were eager to rekindle our fond memories during the summer of 2021 during the Pandemic for Take out.
The Kitchen is part of a restaurant group that owns Chinese Cantonese restaurants in California including Asian Pearl Peninsula. We have dined at many of them and find the food pretty very good. In recent years, they have slipped. New upstarts like HL Peninsula and Dragon Beaux has carried the torch forward.
Kokkari (Small fishing village on the islands of Samos in the Aegean Sea) is a long standing Greek restaurant in San Francisco’s Financial District – Jackson Square area. Our last visit was summer 2026, so it was time for some refreshing of our memories.
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Alexander’s Steakhouse is a high end steak restaurant located in an outdoor mall, situated in Cupertino, just off highway 280. They moved in 2016 to this new outdoor mall. Parking is surprisingly difficult! It was recently featured on Check Please and feature 28-day aged prime steaks. They opened a San Francisco outpost in Bacar’s former digs, in mid September 2010. We hadn’t been there in many years, so it was time for a revisit.
Why did we dine here? – Best Steak in the US? Peter Luger is a legendary steakhouse. Our last visit was about 25 years ago, time to dine again. Since 1887 this institution has been packing in meat lovers from all over the world. Most of the folks in the dining room were clearly tourists like us. Remember, its cash only, no credit cards. They also have a location in Great Neck, NY. Our last visit was in 2016. The only thing that changes are the prices.
This buffet got downsized after the Pandemic to a Weekend Breakfast Buffet at Aveo during the summer. June-August, Saturday-Sunday.
Why did we dine here? – Yauatcha is a fancy Chinese restaurant chain with several locations in London. They are the more inexpensive sister of Hakkasan. We came for dinner and found it packed, with a loud clubby atmosphere. There are locations in India and Saudi Arabia.
Why did we dine here? – Indian food is a MUST when visiting London. Dishoom is a popular local chain of Indian restaurants that combines reasonable prices and decent food. (8 locations and counting) Rated 4.5 on Yelp. We had to wait 45 minutes for a Table at 5pm Monday!
We visited London right before the Covid 19 Pandemic Hit. This restaurant may have changed their seating, menu, and more.
We visited London right before the Covid 19 Pandemic Hit. This restaurant may have changed their seating, menu, and more.
Buckeye Roadhouse has been serving up American comfort food In Mill Valley since 1937. Robert Price (Rumpus, The Capital Hotel in London) is currently the chef. This restaurant is located right on the side of 101 and is quite popular. Our last meal was in the Spring of 2020 after they reopened the patio.
Celebrity Cuisine is a One Michelin star Cantonese Chinese restaurant in Hong Kong. It has ping ponged between one and two stars for years. Michelin 1 Starred Restaurant (2010, 2017-20), Michelin 2 Starred Restaurant (2011-2016) We were looking an easy same day online lunch reservation after a disappointing meal at Maxim’s Palace. This spot fit the bill, Perfectly. It is located in Central, across the street from the old school Lin Heung tea house.
Where does a San Francisco Foodie eat in Thailand? Follow our journey and learn from our experiences.
Here is a compilation of more casual restaurants, snack places we visited during our 2020 Asia trip. Our goal was to find good eats at reasonable prices, primarily restaurants where locals go. We have no interest sampling cuisine that is done better at home in the San Francisco Bay Area. This is challenging on an expensive ‘island’, full of pricey tourist traps.
Where does a San Francisco Foodie eat in the Singapore? Follow our journey and learn from our experiences.
Here is a compilation of more casual restaurants, snack places we visited during our 2019 Asia trip. Our goal was to find good eats at reasonable prices, primarily restaurants where locals go. We have no interest sampling cuisine that is done better at home in the San Francisco Bay Area. This is challenging on an expensive ‘island’, full of pricey tourist traps.
Gluttony in Hong Kong. We are lovers of high end buffets. Hong Kong is one of the top spots for pure gluttony with high end food options for Sunday Brunch. (Prime rib, Many raw seafood options, sushi/sashimi, Foie Gras and more) Past visits have seen us visit other top hotel buffets. We have methodically tried to dine at all the heavy hitters.
Best Buffet in the world?
In late 2019 we went back to the Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore Colony buffet. It changed name and upgraded in 2015. The interior is much more ornate and structured. After reading about the food options in 2019, we felt it remains the top buffet in Singapore, in from of Rise and The Line.
Top notch Thai in Chiang Mai. Our original restaurant pick, Blackitch, was full, so our hotel concierge suggested this spot. Boy was he spot on. This was the best meal we had in Thailand. The restaurant is located in a posh hotel that costs US$700 a night and is rated at almost 100% on Trip Advisor.
3 Star Hong Kong Restaurant with no wait. T’ang Court is a 3 Michelin star restaurant in the ritzy Langham Hotel in Hong Kong’s touristy Tsim Sha Tsui district. It got upgraded from 2 to 3 stars in 2016. Our last visit was in 2020 for dim sum lunch when we stayed upstairs and could just walk right in. (Protests worried visitors.) We previously ate there in 2011.
