Eating Out in SF

Namu Gaji New Korean American

Oh, this will be exciting!  Lots of food from lots of places so I'm trying to get familiar with some of them.  One of the best things about visiting San Francisco as a child was eating out at foreign restaurants.  None are there any more, except maybe Schroeder's (which doesn't have potato salad anymore) and the Tadich Grill, which I don't remember being taken to as a child although I know Mother and Daddy went there.

I'm reviewing "The 38 Essential San Francisco Restaurants, October 2013" from eater.com to see if there are any that we'd be interested in: not too pricey and not pretentious.  I'm not familiar with eater.com or with their lucky number 38 but here are some that look promising:

Lers Ros Thai doesn't seem too pricey and the dishes are nicely presented.  The servings aren't huge but we don't want to gain weight.

Bar Tartine from the Tartine Bakery people looks "interesting" with " ahead-of-the-curve Eastern European menus". Are we brave enough to try things like Pistachio dip with laver and crackers, Beef tartare with bottarga on koji toast, Smoked potatoes with black garlic, Kale with rye, seeds and yoghurt, Sprouted lentil croquettes with cauliflower and kefir, Carob mousse with goat cheese and black walnuts, chased down with a Candied beet mimosa or Sparkling riesling with charred lemon and fennel...  Or maybe we can just go to their sandwich shop for lunch.  They are big on kefir and located in the Mission District, two pluses in Fernando's book.

Then there's the pizza place: Tony's Pizza Napoletana which is only across Columbus a few blocks from the apartment.  Tony was the World Champion Pizza Maker at the World Pizza Cup in Naples in 2007 so his pizza should be good.

Namu Gaji (New Korean American) looks interesting from its photos but the menu descriptions aren't that appealing.  Maybe they will improve by March...

Nopa and Nopalito are popular but I don't know that I'm convinced, especially by the Nopalito take on Mexican food.  Anyway, they are over beyond Van Ness near Golden Gate Park and wouldn't be worth a taxi ride...Perhaps we could rent some bicycles!

The R&G Lounge is a Chinese restaurant that was featured on Anthony Bourdain.  It is on Kearny Street in Chinatown so it is relatively close by.  The menu looks like classic Cantonese and we have to eat Chinese at least once, right?  And they have a takeout menu too!

Perbacco is a Northern Italian restaurant with a lunch menu that has pretty much the same choices and prices as the dinner menu.  Their appetizers seemed priced a bit high but we could go there for pasta like Raviora (spinach pasta filled with roasted butternut squash) or roasted wild mushroom risotto.  Or maybe we could follow one of their recipe videos and cook at the apartment!  It's located on California Street in the Financial District, just down the block from the Tadich Grill.

Super Duper Burgers sound good to me, just like the falafels were in Paris.  Super Duper makes them acceptable by using Niman Ranch beef but they are reasonably priced at $6.75.  Not like some of the other frufru artisan burgers listed in GrubStreet's "The 50 Best Burgers in San Francisco".  I need fresh tomatoes and raw onions on my hamburgers but I usually have to supply my own sweet pickle relish...

Greens Restaurant: Camila and I went there a long time ago.  Sort of a San Franciscan Moosewood vegetarian restaurant.  I'm surprised it is on this list of mainly new restaurants.

Flour + Water sounds pretty interesting, especially its pasta tasting menu because it specializes in home-made pasta.  Although it sounds funny when they say at the bottom of the menu that "bread is available upon request".  Isn't that flour and water??  It's one of many of these restaurants that are located in the Mission District.

Mission Chinese Food (Lung Shan) has a branch in New York City.  I like the idea that there are NO RESERVATIONS but I'm not sure that I would like the food although Fernando might go for Grandma's spicy lamb dumplings and the tea-smoked eel, but the pastrami and beef brisket??  Here's a review by a four-year-old.

Commonwealth: San Franciscans must love their 6 course tasting menus for $55-$75.  It sounds interesting but I'm sure I would be full after 3 or 4 courses.  This one is also in the Mission District, which leads me to believe that all of the restaurants must have moved out of downtown!

La Ciccia sounds like authentic Sardinian, including botarga and the Sardinian honey (hopefully the bitter kind).  But it is the furthest away, in Noe Valley which would take about 48 minutes to get to from the apartment, first taking the cable car and then the J Light Rail to Church Street and 30th.

La Torta Gorda sounds like a good place for Mexican food and Fernando will be happy since it features dishes from Puebla.  Naturally it is in the Mission District but Fernando wanted to go exploring there anyway.

OK, I've made it through 29 of the 38 restaurants and the last 9 will have to wait till tomorrow.