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Sauce
Category:
Late Night Dining
131 Gough St
San Francisco, California 94102
(415) 252-1369
5 stars for the bar
Food not reviewed yet
On the recommendation of Isotope owner James, my wife and I decided to head over to Sauce for a quick cocktail on the way back home after picking up...
5 stars for the bar
Food not reviewed yet
On the recommendation of Isotope owner James, my wife and I decided to head over to Sauce for a quick cocktail on the way back home after picking up some comics at his shop.
The bar is warm and inviting, and the drinks are both strong and well poured. An "el Diablo" was well made, with a distinct tequila flavor typically missing in most tequila cocktails. My wife's "Pink Pearl Necklace" (gotta love that name) was also quite good.
The cocktail highlight was the negroni - quite possibly the best I have had in the United States. Made with Nr. 209 gin, it was strong, herbal and perfectly balanced in its sweetness.
If you're looking for good cocktails in Hayes Valley, Sauce is highly recommended.
Visit Date: 2/5/06
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Ah, Cafe du Soleil, or as I have been calling it, Cafe Desole... or Cafe of Apologies. Every time I have stopped in, the barista or server is apologizing for making a mistake: making a large instead...
Ah, Cafe du Soleil, or as I have been calling it, Cafe Desole... or Cafe of Apologies. Every time I have stopped in, the barista or server is apologizing for making a mistake: making a large instead of a small coffee, pouring something into a ceramic cup instead of a to-go cup, or in one case, overcharging us a couple of dollars (wish we caught that before leaving).
The coffee is ok... some of the best in the neighborhood, but nothing amazing. The barista steams a good pot of milk, but the coffee tends to be a little undertamped leaving an astringent espresso to be used as a base. The bread products, being from La Boulange/Bay Bread, are very good - the almond croissant is actually one of the best I have had in the city.
The decor is fantastic, and the selection of beer is quite nice - about a dozen taps with some intereting choices available.
Nothing amazing, but it's a great addition to the Lower Haight - better than another damned Starbucks opening up.
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Lately I have been getting a little depressed about the quality of delivery pizza in the neighborhood (Mission Bay/Ballpark). I mean, Amici's is good, but is 100% better when you eat it at the...
Lately I have been getting a little depressed about the quality of delivery pizza in the neighborhood (Mission Bay/Ballpark). I mean, Amici's is good, but is 100% better when you eat it at the restaurant. North Beach is pretty much inedible in my book - like a doughy sponge covered in gloppy cheese. I guess it's the Noah's Bagels of pizza. Extreme? Nice, but I don't feel cheddar has any place on a slice. Over the years, I've pretty much tried them all.
Except for Goat Hill, which I had for the first time today based on local reviews of the Harrison street location. For this test, my wife and I went with both a cheese pizza and a combo pizza - loaded to the hilt with pepperoni, sausage, mushrooms, green peppers, green onions, black olives and whatever else they could fit on the pizza.
The delivery: In the driving, pouring rain, the pizzas came here in 45 minutes, still very hot and without the dreaded cheese-slide that results in all of the toppings shifting over to one corner of the pie. It came with a bag full of paper plates, cheese packets and pepper flakes.
The Food: This is what I would call a standard "California Pie" - sourdough crust slightly dusted with cornmeal and covered with a slightly sweet sauce and a good layer of cheese. It's not what I would call world class pizza by any means, but it's a great delivery pie - able to hold up to the weight of the toppings and the potentially sogginess typically caused by the delay caused by delivery.
The pizza is a 4 out of 5. One point comes off due to the $3.95 delivery charge, bringing the final score down to three stars.
Overall, if you're a SOMA dweller looking for a good delivery pizza, you could do much worse than Goat Hill.
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When walking by at 6:30 on a Saturday, the bar was completely dark, with a pair of homeless people sitting in the stoop, so I figured it was another casualty of the"hipper than thou" 2006 bar and...
When walking by at 6:30 on a Saturday, the bar was completely dark, with a pair of homeless people sitting in the stoop, so I figured it was another casualty of the"hipper than thou" 2006 bar and restaurant scene. Needless to say, I was happily surprised to see that when walking by at 10pm that the bar was open.
Magnet is not a full bar - serving only beer ($4 per pint), wine, sake and soju cocktails. Personally, I am not a fan of soju as a mixer except in a highball (chu-hai!), but when in Rome...
The bar staff was extremely friendly, the crowd was tolerable (until 11pm when it got flooded), and the beer (Deschutes Mirror Pond) and cocktail (mango-infused soju with Red Bull - the bartender's current favorite) were fine.
Nothing exceptional - just a nice sort of lounge (with an Apple driven music system) with friendly staff and a happy dog that visited everybody in the loft-styled bar within the hour I was there.
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So nice, we had to go twice...
- Bar Review Only! -
Since Magnet was closed at 6:30 on a Saturday, my wife and I chose to go to The Monkey Bar, the bar portion of Citizen Thai and the Monkey...
So nice, we had to go twice...
- Bar Review Only! -
Since Magnet was closed at 6:30 on a Saturday, my wife and I chose to go to The Monkey Bar, the bar portion of Citizen Thai and the Monkey as the place to meet up with our friends before dinner at House.
Being regulars of their other location, Koh Samui and the Monkey, I expected sleek neo-Asian decor and well made drinks, and I was not disappointed on either level.
I had a Citizen Cup: an interpretation of a classic Pimm's Cup with gin, Pimms and Ginger Beer - a very nice cocktail indeed! Spicy and sweet, it's a perfect drink for a Thai noodle bar like The Monkey. Others in the group had a Monkey Mojito (which luckily didn't have a hint of monkey flavor in the mix), a virgin Mojito (with sparkling water instead of rum), wine and a Red Monkey.
After dinner, the five of us returned there to have another drink before heading our separate ways. I had the same as before, while my compatriots mixed things up with a Melon Mojito (which was happily enjoyed), Iron Buddha tea (served in a nice iron tea pot for the group's designated driver) and a Shock The Monkey (also very red).
I'm looking forward to return there for some Thai street food, but until then, the bar review stands at 4 stars. Nothing was wrong with it, but I wouldn't give it that fifth star reserved for the best of the best.
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When Absinthe was packed on Saturday night, we decided to cross the street and have a cocktail at Sugar Lounge.
Here's the deal - the cocktails weren't fantastic ot even really very good....
When Absinthe was packed on Saturday night, we decided to cross the street and have a cocktail at Sugar Lounge.
Here's the deal - the cocktails weren't fantastic ot even really very good. Unbalanced, expensive and the bartender had just a hint of attitude that a new space like this just can't afford to have.
The free appetizers (a crudite plate, tostito chips, salsa, chopped pepper jack and canadian bacon) were not only uninspired, but presented without any serving utensils.
The space was nice and lounge-y, though two others in my party noted it smelled a little like cleaning fluid.
I won't return here when Sauce and Absinthe are cheaper, more friendly and build a better cocktail.
Visit Date: 3/13/2006
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Americano
Category:
Food & Dining
8 Mission Street
San Francisco, California 94102
(415) 278-3777
Great drinks, nice bartenders, and getting to sit next to Jerry Doyle, Babylon 5's Michael Garibaldi? What else could this cocktail geek want?
Yes, from Friday until Sunday, it's horribly mobbed...
Great drinks, nice bartenders, and getting to sit next to Jerry Doyle, Babylon 5's Michael Garibaldi? What else could this cocktail geek want?
Yes, from Friday until Sunday, it's horribly mobbed - and on nice nights during the week, the outdoor patio can be an absolute horror scene, but if you can get it when the crowds have ebbed down, it's a good place to go for a drink.
Cocktails are well made, and the bar gets extra points for using Campari in their signature drink. I with the beer selection wasn't so typical... Boont, Spaten, Heineken, Anchor, Fat Tire, etc. Something unique would be nice.
As hotel bars goes, it's one of the best - but it still can't hold a candle to one of the great bars such as Rye, Bacar or Range.
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The newly relocated Naan 'n' Curry is a godsend to drinkers: it's between the tenderloin bars and the bus shelters in Union Square and open 24 hours. For anyone who enjoys the British tradition of...
The newly relocated Naan 'n' Curry is a godsend to drinkers: it's between the tenderloin bars and the bus shelters in Union Square and open 24 hours. For anyone who enjoys the British tradition of heavy drinking followed by hellishly hot curries (subsequently followed by indigestion, intestinal problems, promising to never drink again if you could just get off the toilet and finally planning your next day's drinking and starting all over again) - N'n'C is your salvation.
Here's the deal - walk in and scope a table. Cross your fingers that nobody else takes it. Then go to the counter, place your order (giving your table number), grab your soda, plates napkins and silverware, consider getting a nuclear hot milk chai, then rush back to your table, hoping nobody has claimed it. Sure, you could just leave your coat at the table, but that would take all the skill out of ordering, wouldn't it?
There are three northern Indian dishes that I feel are perfect after a heavy night of drinking: mullagatawny soup, chicken jalfrezi and keema naan. Though Naan 'n' Curry doesn't offer soup, it's one of the only places in town that makes a jalfrezi - and a pretty damned decent one at that.
How was the food? It was McIndian - typical fast-food indian and nothing special - but actually much better than expected. The keema naan was stuffed with a thin sheet of ground lamb paste similar to the sliced meat used on a gyro. I prefer coursely ground lamb, but the flavor was spot-on (though it could have been spicier, and because the lamb was ground into a paste, many times the naan bread itself would tear off, leaving a grey sheet of meaty goodness attached to the remaining naan ) and it was nice and moist. The jalfrezi was a little heavy on the tumeric, but the chicken had a nice flavor as did the peppers and onions that comprised the dish. The rice was pretty pitiful - mushy and overcooked, but for a dollar, I could put up with it. I know this doesn't sound like a rave review, but it was just alright... however, at 3am, it would be the perfect way to avoid the post-drinking spins.
The curry, naan, rice and a can of squirt soda came to just over $10 without tip - a perfect deal! Now, if they can just include free dry cleaning so my clothes don't smell like a tandoori oven, I'd be happy. Seriously, I've been to enough Indian restaurants around the world to learn to appreciate which ones invest in a good ventilation system!
A word to the wise: don't wear anything there that you don't plan on immediately throwing into the wash.
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When the Embarcadero Center Cinema opened in the late 1990s, it was a beacon for indie moviegoers. However on this afternoon's visit, the cinema has started to really show its age.
I'm not going...
When the Embarcadero Center Cinema opened in the late 1990s, it was a beacon for indie moviegoers. However on this afternoon's visit, the cinema has started to really show its age.
I'm not going to judge the theater on its movie selection - it gets the more general-public friendly indie flicks - the movies that in most cities would be relegated to the smallest screen at the multiplex or at local college campus movie theaters.
I will, however, take issue with the theater itself. What was once pristine is now showing its age, with the cushions in the cold, impersonal waiting area showing the stains of concession stand heartbreak. Why heartbreak? At $3.50 for a small bottle of water, spilling a drop of overpriced espresso or cola is a tragedy more dramatic than anything shown on the screen.
Maybe we were just unlucky, but the print of 'Thank You For Smoking' was just poorly handled, considering we saw it soon after its release - lots of pop, hiss and other signs of damage. This movie seemed to have been shot in 2 channel stereo, so I would have expected all of the speakers to fire - but the sound tech at the theater only piped the dialogue through the front left and right speakers. I counted 6 speakers in front of me (and there were probably 2 behind) - feel free to use them, folks! Sometimes I had to strain to hear the audio.
This should be a two screen theater, three at the most... because the screen in theater 4 was so small, I would have had the same experience watching it on DVD at a friend's house that has a widescreen TV - ok, at least at my friend's place the water would be free and the sound would have been better balanced. To add to the annoyance, there was no insulation between the projection room and the theater floor, meaning I heard the annoying clacka-clacka-clacka of the film reel throughout the movie.
With Sundance taking over the Kabuki and a new multiplex opening at the San Francisco Centre, the Landmark chain that owns this theater needs to really think about making some major updates if they want to keep hold of the downtown moviegoer's hard earned money.
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Canteen
Category:
Cafes
817 Sutter St
San Francisco, California 94109
(415) 928-8870
Flipping through the 1961 Michelin Italy guide (the Red Book) while pondering what to have for dinner, I already felt that there was something special about Canteen, and I was right. From the simple...
Flipping through the 1961 Michelin Italy guide (the Red Book) while pondering what to have for dinner, I already felt that there was something special about Canteen, and I was right. From the simple decor to the amazing food and better than average coffee, Canteen is a force to be reckoned with if you're looking for modern interpretations of comfort food.
Dinner started with a drink, which tonight would be beer - a $6 bottle of Pilsner Urquell (yeowch!), followed by a challah dinner roll and a heavenly creme of green onion soup with prawns. I haven't had a cream soup this good since leaving Munich.
The main courses were all in the mid $20s. I elected to have the poached duck breast with lentils and a mustard crust - rich and flavorful without the grease that accompanies most preparations of this tasty bird. I finished with the vanilla souffle and a cappuccino.
Unlike many restaurants, Canteen selects two different sets of beans: Jeremiah's Pick for the drip coffee and Mr. Espresso for the espresso drinks. Both were well selected for their purpose.
The wrap up:
Service: 4 of 5. The waiter was knowledgable, friendly and truly interested in everyone's dining experience. The service was prompt but professional, considering they had a strict 90 minute seating policy. Providing a bottle of water at every table to reduce the load on the staff is brilliant. The only rub is that the bus-woman could have been a little more personable.
Food: 5 out of 5. Exactly what you expect - reinterpreted classic American comfort food.
Prices: 4 out of 5. The beer was outrageously priced, but the food was appropriately priced based on the great portion size and overall quality of the daily-changing menu.
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