Southern Indian on Valencia

Review of: Dosa

By: Avery Glasser

Rating: 4

Read review on Judy’s Book.

Tonight, after watching Dosa being built and then finally opening just weeks ago, we decided to stop in for a quick dinner.

Dosa is a special sort of restaurant for San Francisco – instead of focusing on the common tandoori dishes of northern India and Pakistan, it focuses on the crepes and chickpea dishes of southern India – the wonderful dishes of cities such as Chennai, Goa and Tamil Nadu. Here, you’ll find mostly vegetarian with a single chicken appetizer and a few meat based curries. The main courses revolve around dosa and uttapam – vegetable filled crepes and pancake like chickpea breads with added in vegetables and spices.

Arriving at 7pm, we were lucky to be able to get a table – a single two-seater that had just become available. Considering that a group of four that had arrived just before us had been quoted a 1.5 hour wait for a table, we felt that this was a good omen.

The food? Wonderful. I started with the Chicken Chennai – spicy chickpea battered chicken served over mixed greens and garnished with slivered red onion – which was fantastic, possibly the second best Indian chicken dish I have had, surpassed solely by Mehfil’s Chicken Laccha. Following that was the Coriander and Chili Uttayam – perfect on its own and magically made better by dipping it in the wonderful coconut chutney.

Dosa’s decor was also quite nice – using deep salmon colors accented by brown wood and frosted glass partitions. From a restaurant flow perspective, the bar was too crowded, making it difficult to follow the maitre d’ to our table. The bathrooms were clean and the service seemed to lack any noticable defects aside from the fact that our main courses came a little too quickly after our appetizers.

Two appetizers, two main courses, three beers and a “chai russian” – a variant of a white russian using chai and soju instead of Kahlua and vodka came to $61 without tax. We’ll certainly return here – next time saving room to try one of the tempting desserts.

No reservations for parties of 4 or less and no hard alcohol. Beer, wine and soju “cocktails” available. Credit cards accepted.”

Visit Date: 03/26/2006

Good Valencia Corridor Chinese

Review of: Yum Yum House

By: Avery Glasser

Rating: 4

Read review on Judy’s Book.

Let’s just face it… the Chinese food in San Francisco might be authentic, but does it always taste good? Sure, there is damn fine dim sum out here – and the dumplings from Henry’s Hunan are aces in my book and don’t get me started about Chef Jia’s amazing fresh garlic chicken, but the run-of-the-mill Chinese food here just doesn’t compare to what I grew up with on the East Coast. Ah… such fine memories of Boston’s Chinatown…

But I digress. This isn’t a review about unsatisfying Chinese food, it’s about Yum Yum House, the best of the “standard” chinese joints I’ve found here.

Tonight, on my first trip, I started with the Hot and Sour soup, which was both hot (spicy) and sour. Have I had better? Definitely – Jade in Munich holds the spot for best Hot and Sour soup in my book, but this was a better than average rendition, tasting of mushrooms, black vinegar and spice.

Following that were the potstickers, nicely seasoned and tasting of ginger. Accompanying the dumplings was a standard soy sauce, vinegar and a small dish of dried pepper flakes and seeds in oil. Again, there are better potstickers in the world, but they were better than average.

The surprise of the night was when I ordered a dish that wasn’t on the menu. I was in the mood for Moo Goo Gai Pan… blanched sliced chicken breast cooked with mushrooms in a clear garlic starch sauce… a dish that I rarely see outside of the East Coast. I asked if they could make it and was extremely surprised when the waitress said that they could make it.

I was even more surprised when it came. The dish was spartan, consisting of only quartered button mushrooms, sliced carrots and chicken – but it tasted just like I remembered. Sure, I would have preferred straw mushrooms, snow peas and water chestnuts – but the dish worked without them.

2 bowls of soup, an order of pot stickers, two entrees, a coke and tea for two came to $30. Sure, I could have schlepped myself out to Henry’s Hunan and paid twice as much, but with Moo Goo Gai Pan like this, why bother?

A good middle of the road burger

Review of: Flippers Gourmet Burgers

By: Avery Glasser

Rating: 4

Read review on Judy’s Book.

Though you can find good burgers in San Francisco (Barney’s, Choppers, Grumpy’s), more often than not, you either end up with an undercooked (Burger Joint), overcooked (Brickhouse), over salted (again, Burger Joint) or just plain bad (3rd Street Grill) meat puck on a bun.

But we were in Hayes Valley, and our friend from overseas wanted a burger for dinner, so we decided to stop in at Flippers and give them a try. Not only was the burger good, I might go as far to say it was darned good (though Grumpy’s with bacon, cheese and a fried egg on top still holds the number 1 slot).

I always get my burgers medium rare, while my wife has started getting them medium because the last few medium rare burgers she ordered were more on the rare side (as in cold in the middle). These burgers were cooked perfectly – my medium rare ran from charred on the outside to a warm rosy pink in the center, while her medium was a uniform grey with a pink hue and a little area of pink in the middle. The third person at the table had a medium burger as well and the color was the same. A+ job, Flippers!

For $8.75, you get a burger (with toasted bun that didn’t fall apart at all), a heap of steak fries (very well prepared but a teensy bit mealy), and some mayo. I went with a burger that had avocado, bacon and cheese – the avocado was creamy, the bacon nice and crispy without being overcooked, and the cheese, well, it was cheesy. Greens, onions and tomato slices were also present, as was a small plastic dish with mayo. We also split an order of onion rings that were confusingly decorated with shredded cheese – which were quite nice as well.

If you want something affordable and not the least bit pretentious in Hayes Valley, this just might be your place

Well, it won’t kill ya…

Review of: Coopersmith Brewery and Billiards

By: Avery Glasser

Rating: 2

Read review on Judy’s Book.

As a stranger in a strange land, it’s always a challenge to find a good meal, so when the team leader I was meeting with recommended that we go to a brewpub for a beer and some dinner, I was as giddy as a school girl (personally, I blame the lack of oxygen and sleep).

It’s a big brewpub, with over a dozen beers on tap and a menu printed on newsprint. Since there was a cask IPA available, I immediately went for it, as did four other people in our group. The beer was ok… more in the British style than the Pacific Northwest style, but if you’re going for a british IPA, the choice of Cascade hops isn’t appropriate. Better to use Fuggles or one of the other classic British hops. Still, it was served at the right temperature, and if I wasn’t there for work, I could see having a couple. If that was the only thing I had at the brewpub, it would be a clear 3.5 star rating.

The other beers I sampled weren’t bad, but it wasn’t necessarily good. The scotch ale (or scottish in their terms) was bland, the chili beer was tolerable (if you’re making a chili beer, give it a kick!) and the Koelsch was just lackluster and too sweet for the style (and I lived in Cologne and drank literally hundreds of glasses of the stuff while I was there).

The food, well, let’s put it this way – there’s a reason I travel with Imodium. The brisket was sweet, drenched in a really bad barbecue sauce (think KC Masterpiece meets the McRib) and accompanied with a garlic mashed potatoes that lacked a significant flavor of garlic or potato (though it did taste a little like unwashed potato skin). I know we’re trying to be health conscious, but come on. We’re in a brewery… a little butter, salt and heavy cream isn’t going to kill you. The dysentery, however, could take a year or two off your life.

Just like any other Bennigan’s

Review of: Bennigan’s

By: Avery Glasser

Rating: 2

Read review on Judy’s Book.

Ugh. Yeah, while at a business meeting in Fort Collins, the team decided to go to Bennigan’s. What was it like? Like every other Bennigan’s in the chain.

The highlight? The coke. Man, they pour a good coke… a perfect blend of fizzy water and cola syrup. Mmm.

Yeah, that was the highlight.

The Reuben sandwich wasn’t bad, but it was bereft of flavor: so lean that it just tasted like red-colored cardboard, which is expected, considering the sauerkraut tasted like… well… nothing. I mean, sauerkraut should taste like sauerstoff – vinegar. It was limp, pale and flavorless. The thousand island dressing and swiss cheese were fine, and at least the sandwich wasn’t dripping in butter from the quick grilling, but this sandwich was an insult to the Irish and New York Deli Denizens alike.

The crock of “baked potato soup” was just too much. I asked for a cup to replace my fries, and what I got was a big-ass bowl (because they ran out of cups). The soup was just OK – and nothing special. When it’s done well, it is a beautiful balance of potato, green onion, cheese and bacon. Done like this, it tastes like you blended some pre-frozen potato skins with heavy cream.

It’s absolutely no worse than any other Bennigans, and the food came in 14 minutes (known only because of the tableside timer), which is a plus… but I just can’t recommend it.

A good cup in Union Square

Review of: Cafe Madeleine

By: Avery Glasser

Rating: 4

Read review on Judy’s Book.

After dealing with the hordes in Comp USA, I needed coffee… and since I won’t drink the brown drek at Starbucks or the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, that left me in a quandary.

Luckily, I remembered Cafe Madeline.

For $2.75, I was able to get a darn good double cappuccino. Sure, it’s not as good as one from Blue Bottle or Ritual, but it’s still a darn good Horn of Zeese (that’s cup of joe for anyone who doesn’t speak Boontling).

The sandwiches looked tasty and the insulated cups are a nice touch, reducing the need for a cardboard “Java Jacket”. It’s certainly worth a stop if you’re stuck in Union Square and need a nice cup of coffee.