Farmer Brown Visited 3/13/2016 3.5 Forks

Farmer Brown  25 Mason St, San Francisco, CA 94102

Ahhh, San Francisco.  I have such a love/hate relationship with this city.  It's a great city with the views of the water and a great food scene but slowly the city has become a total cliche right out of the show Silicon Valley.  Literally the city is full of socially awkward, hoodie/back pack wearing engineers who only want to start about the start-up or app they are working on.  It's a bit overwhelming.  But there are still pockets of hippie bohemians still flocking around the city.  The hippie Southern rockers all seemed to be hanging out at Farmer Brown - a soul food place in the middle of the Tenderloin area, which is quite unique as SF is generally filled with either Mexican or Japanese food.  

Louise had gotten us a reservation for 1:30 for brunch which sounded great.  The place was packed when we got there.  While they have a full brunch menu, the star of the show is their Southern-Soul food packed buffet ($25.95).  It's got fried chicken, waffles, biscuit, gravy, scrambled eggs, bacon, grits, catfish, cajun potatoes, succotash veggies, brownies, banana bread, fruit salad and house salad. But when we sat down the waiter told us that they would stop filling the buffet at 2pm, which was 15 mins from when we sat down.  WTF?! Who stops brunch smack in the middle of the afternoon - especially on a lazy Sunday?  So we rushed over to the buffet to pile on everything that we could on our plate.  They still had a little bit of everything but you could tell that it was definitely down to it's last bits.  We were also disappointed that they were out of the biscuits and gravy - how can you have soul food with no biscuits and gravy?!  Luckily, the waiter was nice enough to sneak into the kitchen and get us a few extra.  The food was all pretty filling and I was a big fan of the cornmeal catfish - it was flakey and not too heavy on the cornmeal.  The fried chicken was nice and crispy although I would have liked to have gotten a few thigh or drumsticks, as by the time we got there, all they had left were the wings which was a bit thin on meat.  

Our friend May got there 45 mins late, so we asked to move to a larger table but it took forever for the waitstaff to figure out what to do with us and when they did find us a table it was smack in front of the live band that was there.  Maybe I am just an old lady and despite the guys being kind of cute, I was so not in the mood to have an electric guitar blaring in my right ear during brunch.  We quickly packed up our things and asked for the check but apparently that was a pain for them and that took forever too.  While I like the idea of live music, it just wasn't what I was in the mood for.  If you do want to come here for the buffet, definitely come here early so that you aren't eating the dregs of the pan and/or forced to sit next to the band.  Total bill:  $30/pp with tax and tip

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Ramen Parlor Visited 3/12/2016 3.5 Forks

Ramen Parlor  901 S B St., San Mateo, CA 94401

When I had to go to SF for a work conference, I jumped at the chance to go early and visit several of my good friends.  First stop, San Mateo to visit Neera and Levi and their adorable daughters.  San Mateo is about 15 minutes from the airport, so it's a convenient first stop before heading into the city. It's a cute town with its own downtown area but it's definitely doesn't have the same vibe as being in the city. 

 I've stayed with Neera and Levi before and have always found good eating options there.  I mean, this is California after all.  Unfortunately it was pouring rain on Saturday night and we were going to try for Ramen Dojo, which is apparently the best ramen in town, but even with all the rain, people were still standing in line outside.  No thank you.  So we went to Ramen Parlor right across the street where at least they have an awning you can stand underneath.  I like the system here (and in many parts of SF) of putting your name on a list on the door, so that you can see exactly where you stand and how many people are in front of you.  But the system is a bit weird here where they will call your name first to say that you're table is coming up and they will hand you a menu.  You then have to quickly make a decision on what you want to eat and place your order while you're still waiting in line.  So by the time you sit down, your food arrives within minutes.  I can't decide if that's genius or really stress inducing.  But in any case, I got a basic miso ramen with nappa cabbage, Neera got a spicy pork ramen with corn and we split the fried oysters to start.  

It is kind of nice to not have to wait for your food and I guess in a place like there where there aren't that many options to choose from, it's not so bad.  The fried oysters were nice and plump but steaming hot inside.  Be careful!  My ramen was your standard ramen with pork, seaweed and an egg.  The egg was done well, the noodles chewy but good, however the broth was a tad bit on the mild side.  I wish it had a bit more heat or kick to it (or maybe MSG?).  It was definitely good and I inhaled the whole thing but it didn't draw me in like the ramen at Ippudo does.  They did have a special lobster oil broth that is apparently their signature dish, so maybe I should have gotten that but for me, I like to keep my ramen more traditional and stick with a pork based broth.  Overall, it's a nice casual place that hit the spot on a cold rainy night although if I had to wait in line and order while standing every time I came here, I might be a bit annoyed.  Total bill for 2 people with tax and tip:  $61

Photo Credit:  Yelp 

Yuba Visited 3/11/2016 4.5 Forks

Yuba 105 E 9th St., New York, NY 10003

This is a Fun with Eating blog first.  I have always said that I don't re-review places unless the place is drastically different - and for the most part, many places that I eat at multiple times are generally the same each time.  But this time when I went back to Yuba, I was so much more impressed than when I went 4 years ago and gave it 3 stars, that I had to give it justice and bump it up several notches.   I'll keep this short and sweet but I'll just say that if you read my first review of this place, it's definitely worth another visit - especially if you sit at the sushi bar. 

I met up with my friend Nicole and it turns out she's kind of a regular here (or at least several of the waitstaff recognized her), so we got some pretty loving treatment.  We sat at the bar which was great because we got to talk to the sushi chef, Jack (he used to work at Masa), and he took care of us.  We got a fabulous yellowtail carpaccio dish and then split a sashimi plate where he gave us several extra cuts of fish and a few rolls.  The quality of the fish was excellent and impressive.  It was much more high quality than I remember and much more traditional in presentation.  But what was really fantastic was the uni sushi we both got.  Amazing - so much so that we got another order of it before we finished up our meal.  It was creamy and delicious.  The place is famous for their uni risotto and we did see someone get it but we opted to stick with it in its purest form.  We did see a group next to us get the omakase (there is a $65, $85 and $105 option - all not bad considering the quality of the fish) which looked great and I would definitely try that next time I'm here. 

The only downside is that decor-wise, this place is kind of eh and the sushi bar only seats 7 people but none of that are deal breakers when getting good uni! I'm glad Nicole re-introduced me to this place because it's still kind of a hidden gem since it's not one of the super famous places and it's located on a random side street.  Total bill:  $74/pp with tax and tip

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Hakata Tonton Visited 3/9/2016 3.5 Forks

Hakata Tonton  61 Grove St., New York, NY 10014

This place had been on mine and Holly's list for a long time and every time either of us tried to make a reservation on OpenTable, they were booked for weeks on end, especially on the weekend.  Finally, we decided to try going on a school night and lo and behold, they had several openings after work on a random Wednesday night. 

After walking in and seeing how small it is, I get why it's so hard to get a reservation.  Unfortunately for us, we made a reservation for a place that's famous of their hot pot on one of the warmest days in recent months.  Oh well.  The place is incredibly authentic - from the staff to the decor to the food. During our entire meal there, everyone at the restaurant was Asian (mostly Japanese with some Chinese folks), so that's always a good sign of a great place.  They are famous for their pig's feet dishes.  Yes, you heard me right.  Pig's feet.  It's in many of the dishes on the menu.  I've had it before and honestly, I can't remember if I was into it or not but I remember gelatinous?  In any case, while both Holly and I are adventurous eaters, neither of us were really in the mood for hot pot or pig's feet. So we stuck to ordering a bunch of small plates.  We started with the sashimi salad ($13), spicy tuna carpaccio ($12), grilled miso black cod ($12), crispy scallion pancake ($6), and deep fried chicken ($8).  We got the sashimi salad with salmon and while it was a large salad, it was very heavy on the greens and not so heavy on the sashimi.  It paled in comparison to the sashimi salad I got at Izakaya Mita in Chicago - that one was out-of-this-world amazing, this one good but not great.   Luckily the spicy tuna carpaccio was great.  It was slice pieces of fresh tuna with scallions, fried garlic chips, and a dollop of spicy mayo on top of each bite.  Fantastic and lots of flavor with each bite.  This was definitely both of our favorite dish of the night.  Our 2nd favorite dish was the black miso cod - this dish is usually always a crowd favorite and it was not different here.  The obvious compliant is that the portion is too small - it always is.  But it was flaky, buttery and delicious.   I was also a fan of the crispy scallion pancake - although it was not how I imagined it.  I was thinking it would be like the Korean version but it was almost more like a roti with ground pork and a spicy sauce in it.  Good but unexpected.  Lastly, the fried chicken.  I was very excited for this dish but it was kind of a bummer compared to the one I also had at Izakaya Mita.  The batter was a bit too thick and fried for me.  Once I did get to the meat, it was juicy and flavorful but it was just too heavy handed on the coating. 

Even though it was 70 degrees outside, most people here still got the hotpot and I would definitely come back to try it out since it did look really good.  I enjoyed the authenticity and fun atmosphere of this place and there were several solid dishes, but I was kind of disappointed by a few key dishes that I know can be better.  However, this place has definite 4+ fork potential, maybe I just need to wait for it to get cold again soon so that I can have the hot pot - pig's feet and all.  One thing to note, they will give you a 5% discount for paying with cash - obviously I get what they are trying to do but their credit card fees are no where close to that percentage although I did see a lot of people paying with cash. Total bill:  $60/pp with tax, tip and drinks

Photo Credit:  Yelp  

Surya Visited 3/6/2016 4 Forks

Surya 154 Bleecker St., New York, NY 10012

I had first heard of Surya when Aarti used to mention that she loved to order Seamless from there since it was close to her place in the West Village but then it sadly closed before I could try it out myself.  Luckily it reappeared not too far from it's old location recently, so we decided to give it a try in person.  

The decor is super casual and informal like most of the places on Bleecker Street but don't let that fool you.  The food is excellent and packed with lots of traditional flavors.  The menu has your standard Indian line-up of samosas, tandoori meats, and paneers.  It's so hard to order just one or two things so we ordered a lot knowing that we would end up taking some stuff home.  We started with the cauliflower chili fry ($7) and the baby lamp chops ($12) for me - it was the only meat dish we got for the night (that's the great thing about Indian food is that you can order a TON of great veggie friendly food). For entrees we got the spiced okra ($13), mutter paneer ($13) and the daal tadka ($13).  The cauliflower chili fry were bits of crispy cauliflower coated in a spicy tomato sauce.  Super super addictive.  Perfect combination of crunch, tang and heat.  It reminds of how great of a substitute cauliflower can be - this dish was sort of like a fake buffalo chicken.  I also really enjoyed my one meat dish of the night, the baby lamp chops.   They were indeed baby, as they are pretty small but they were tender and spiced well.   It would make for an excellent entree if they had larger chops.  As for the entrees, they were all wonderful and packed with spice.  The okra dish was huge - lots and lots of chopped okra with tomato, onion, garlic and cumin.  There was no gooeyness at all which can sometimes happen when making okra.  The mutter paneer was a bowl of delicious peas and cheese. We had originally wanted to get the paneer makhani which was a similar version with tomato gravy but when they listed butter as one of their key ingredients, we switched to the mutter paneer to be "healthier" but honestly it's probably not all that much better for you.  Lastly the daal was an excellent use of yellow lentils mixed with ginger, onion, tomatoes and cumin.  Despite eating several rounds of food, we still had a ton of leftovers and I can attest to the fact that it was all still awesome the next day. 

I also want to give a shout out on their mango lassi.  Fucking amazing.  Thick, sweet and full fat deliciousness.  I could have had a whole pitcher of it, but really 1 glass is probably all anyone should have in one sitting.  While the food was great, the service was a bit on the slow side although I'm mindful that there were only 2 guys working the floor of a pretty packed restaurant.  I've always loved Indian food and while this place is kind of in the middle of NYU-land, it still offers really quality Indian food in a low key atmosphere.  Total bill:  $45/pp with tax and tip

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Maco Trading Company Visited 2/24/2016 3.5 Forks

Maco Trading Company  311 Church St., New York, NY 10013

Years ago Maco Trading Company was one of the hottest restaurants in Tribeca, so I was really surprised to see it still packed to the brim on a random Wednesday night in 2016.  To their credit, it is quite beautiful inside and it definitely transports you out of NYC....it actually kind of reminds me of Vegas, but not in a terrible way, just that it doesn't have any windows inside, so you definitely can lose track of time easily. 

I met up with the B-school gals because April was in town and while 4 out of the 5 of us were there, the hostess refused to seat us.  While I understand that they like to seat full parties and put in food orders together, this one was being particularly difficult and not helpful.  In the end, we had told her that it would only be 4 of us (even though we knew our friend was going to join much later) and she finally seated us.  Luckily, we got a booth so squeezing in a 5th was no problem at all. 

The food here is Pan Asian, which I usually don't like, but sometimes it's the company and setting that matter more than having a 5 star meal.  Everything is served family style and for lack of a better way of saying it, the menu seemed like Asian food that white people would make.  The appetizers range from kale salads (Asian people do not really eat salads) to steamed dumplings and the main entrees steamed cod and pork chops.  We decided to share everything:  kale salad ($13), charred octopus ($17), chicken and pork belly dumplings ($11), vegetable dumplings ($10), African chicken ($25), shrimp noodles, bacon and shrimp fried rice ($12), brussels sprouts ($8) and steamed jasmine rice ($5).  The kale salad was served chopped with sheep's milk cheese and a smoked paprika vinaigrette.  It was a good salad but there was definitely nothing Asian about it.   The dumplings, while good, didn't taste any better or different than the ones I can find at the supermarket in Chinatown for 1/8 of the price.   Interestingly enough, I actually found the vegetable one to be better than the chicken and pork belly one (gasp!).  As for the main dishes, the African chicken was similar to a masaman curry since it was served with a peanut curry sauce.  The meat was tender and juicy since they did leave a bit of it on the bone.  The shrimp noodle and fried rice were also totally fine but nothing mind blowing.   The portions were a bit on the small side given their price point, so we opted for 2 desserts, the donuts ($8) and the dark chocolate diablo ($10).  The donut was your typical fried ball coated with sugar on it and it came with this very lovely creme anglaise which was the perfect dipping sauce for the donut.  The chocolate was too chocolate-y for me but I did like that it had some heat since it had a thai chili flavor to it. 

Overall, the food was totally fine but definitely not worthy to be called a destination restaurant. However, their cocktail list is quite fun and kitchy, so I could see this being a fun place to bring out-of-towners or in our case, just having a fun night out with the girls where the company and ambience is more important than the actual food.  Total bill:  $86/pp with tax and tip

Photo Credit:  Yelp 

Casa Restaurant Visited 2/20/2016 4 Forks

Casa Restaurant  72 Bedford St., New York, NY 10014

I'm a big fan of South American food with all the ceviches, fish and great steaks.  But I will admit to never really craving Brazilian food very often.  Not necessarily because I don't like it but because there just aren't that many authentic Brazilian restaurants around that aren't BBQ places.  So I was pleasantly surprised when Aarti made a reservation at Casa which was literally right around the block from her.  I can't believe I had never heard or seen of it before!

It's on an adorable street in the West Village and it's quite cozy inside.  As I'm waiting, the waitstaff is having a heated debate in Portuguese - love the authenticity of this place already.  The menu is very traditional Brazilian food which is great - but a word to the wise, someone thought it was a smart idea to print the menu in all cursive so it's a bit hard to read...make sure you bring your reading glasses because it'll take some time reading it.  While I loved my time in Brazil last year,one big regret I had was never having their national dish, Feijoada while I was there.  Big miss.  So I figured this was as good of a place as any to finally try it.  We started with a nice assortment of fried snacks ($9.95), a basked of pao de queijo ($8.95) because how can you go to a Brazilian restaurant and NOT order that and the hearts of palm salad ($14.95).  As I mentioned, I got the feijoada ($26.95) and we also got a side of sautreed chayote ($6.95).  While I'm trying to be better about my carb intake, the fresh roll they serve you in the beginning is to die for.  Warm, soft and pillowy and it goes so well with the salted butter they serve.   The snack basket consisted of the coxinha - which is like their version of a croquette.  It's got shredded chicken packed in a fried dough ball.  Delicious - I remember loving these while in Rio too.  The basket also had risoles de camarao, which is another fried dough ball but stuffed with shrimp.  But both of these snacks are basically just vehicles for you to shove chimichurri-like sauce in your mouth.  It's spicy as hell but you keep going back for more. And of course there is the pao de queijo - simple, delicious puffy cheese bread but made with cassava root.  It's a staple snack in Brazil and I forgot how addictive it is to pop a few in your mouth without even thinking about it. 

Next came the star of the show - the feijoada.  Feijoada is a black bean stew with offal in it (leftover pork and beef bits) and served with white rice, collard greens, farofa, and a very addictive vinaigrette (in fact whenever Will and Aarti come here they get a whole helping of it).  I will say it was a bit intimidating to dive into a black bean stew with random meat parts in it since you can't really see/tell what kind of meat it is.  But when you mix it all together with the beans, rice, and vinaigrette, you could care less what part of the animal you're eating.  I can see why this is a lazy Sunday meal in Brazil because it's super hearty and I was definitely ready for a big nap when I was done with it.  It was very filling and satisfying.  It's definitely a bit of an adventurous eat, but just think in your mind that you're eating sausage or pork belly and you'll be fine. 

This restaurant review also wouldn't be complete without a mention of the caipirinhas ($12).  I have yet to find any bar in NYC that does a decent caipirinha - it always super icky sweet or not made with real cachaca. But this one is legit - it was tangy, sweet and strong as hell.  I had one of them plus a glass of wine and I woke up with a raging headache the next day (ok, fine, I also had a stein of beer too, but who's counting?).  I would come back here a million times just to have a caipirinha and some pao de queijo.   Overall - this was a lovely find and while I don't crave Brazilian food all that often, if I do, I know exactly where to go.  Total bill:  unknown as it was kindly paid for by my friends

Photo Credit:  Yelp