Han Cang 9 ($$)

Han Cang Restaurant

This Restaurant serves traditional Hakka cuisine. Located along the water front of HouHai Lake this restaurant is the perfect place to rest in the shade and enjoy the view. This restaurant is most well known for their three cup sauce roasted duck, foil wrapped fish and salted shrimp. I have eaten here twice now and their food has been consistently delicious.

I highly recommend the fried pork ribs, the three cups sauce duck and the shrimp. Everything was very flavorful, and very mildly spiced. The beer here is served very cold and on a hot day by the lake it tastes so refreshing.

There was only one dish that I found disappointing, the soft shell turtle. I had never had turtle before and I was feeling adventurous, but I expected it to taste fresher, and less chewy. It actually had a taste similar to chicken heart and cartilage, but a little muddier. I am not familiar with how fresh turtle tastes, but I would guess that it had been frozen too long.

For taste, excluding the turtle I give this Hakka restaurant a 10.

I love the mellow, drinking beer by the river feeling of this restaurant. All the tables and chairs feel like they are at the right height with enough space for your legs between them (rare in China). And due to its location on the eastern side of the lake this restaurant stays cooler during the day. Atmosphere rates an 8.

The cost of two people eating here is a little under $$. And a great deal for the amount and quality of the food.

Overall I give Han Cang Restaurant a 9 out of 10. Eating here is very enjoyable. It is my favorite place for lunch on a hot day. After lunch there are plenty of shops and boutiques in the area to explore as well and the river front to walk along. If you are tired of walking its really easy to get a ricksaw and just enjoy the ride.

Hatsume 7($$$)

Hatsume

The best sushi in Beijing…

….was disappointing.

Hatsume is well known for being the best in Beijing but it was quite a few steps below the neighborhood sushi restaurants back home. But considering it is the best, I would defiantly avoid any other sushi place in town.

Despite the quality of the fish this restaurant is pretty busy during the dinner hour. Reservations are absolutely necessary.

On this occasion Kris reserved the traditional sunken Japanese dinner table. We took off our shoes and climbed under the table hand picked out chopsticks from a little presentation and then ordered four dishes. Braised salmon and tuna in garlic cream miso sause, a salmon tuna roll in spicy 119 (911 in china) sauce, a roast duck and cucumber roll and tempura sweet potatoes.

In the taste category Hatsume warrants a 7. It was not that bad, in fact I did enjoy the braised salmon and tuna with garlic cream miso sauce. But their sushi grade fish was not what it should have been. The duck roll was actually the better of the two rolls, with is saying a lot for the duck and not a good review of the fish. I usually hate sushi rolls with anything other than fish it them.

For two people we spent $ for two people including a decent bottle of French Riesling. It was paired perfectly with the salmon and tuna but did not pair as well with the roast duck roll.

The atmosphere was kind of cute, it had little fountains and zen sand walkways but it was currently under construction or renovation so half the walls and ceiling were covered in painters tarp. Hopefully they will finish it soon.

Overall I give this restaurant a 7 out of 10. It was ok, and probably a little better than I give it credit for, but I have come to expect top rated sushi places to be absolutely exceptional. The quality of the fish is everything, and the variety and creativity of the menu should come second.

TimeZone 8 Editions 9($$)

Timezone 8 Editions

This restaurant is in the heart of the 798 art district, part restaurant part art book store. We picked Timezone because it was the busiest restaurant on the little strip; as they always say, “follow the locals”. This particular day was so beautiful! We sat outside in the cool weather at a little bistro table and just enjoyed the scenery. Kris ordered a hamburger steak, I ordered a pepperoni pizza and we shared a plate of fries.

The pizza was a tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese, fresh cut tomatoes, pepperoni, green peppers and parmesan cheese. The crust was baked perfect, on a real pizza stone. I personally prefer thin crust pizza but this fluffy and evenly baked crust did not fail to impress me. Timezone sure knows how to make a classic just right.

The hamburger steak was not an all beef patty, most likely a pork blend. But it was still thick and juicy and so delicious. It came out with steamed vegetables in vinegar dressing and a wheat bread roll.

For taste I rate Timezone a 9 out of 10. Everything was unusually good, and the vegetables were an especially good touch.

For Price Timezone receives a $$ which is very common in China.

Over all I give Timezone a 9 out of 10. Surrounded by book stores and art galleries, lunch or supper here has that exclusive beatnik art scene feeling. I would say that a lot of the art galleries here are over rated, but dinner here will not disappoint.

Tree 10 ($)

Tree

This place is more of a bar than a restaurant, their Belgian beer menu is extensive, while their food menu is limited to pizza a few pastas and some snacks.

We ordered a pizza with pepperoni, artichoke hears, . It was decent, and baked on a think crust wich I prefer. But it wasn’t enough, and I was still hungry after we had finished the whole pie. We hand to order a plate of steak fries to finish up.

The beer on the other hand was exceptional. The Orval I had was almost its own meal it was so rich and smooth. The head lasted the entire drink it was so thick. This beer is a must try, it had absolutely no bite and it drink like milk. Perfect pairing for anything.

The atmosphere in tree gets pretty busy on weekends and is very popular amongst the other ex-pats in Beijing. It has the feeling of a local pub. It is though a little off the beaten trail, that means that only seasoned Beijiners go here and it had a little bit of a locals only feeling.

For taste I give Tree an 8. It was pretty good, but it’s a much better bar than a restaurant.

Overall I rate Tree a 10, but go for the drinks and not for the food exclusively.

Xiao 9($$)

Xiao

This restaurant serves food from Guizhou province. Traditionally food from this area is very similar to Shichuan food, but is usually served in small bite size pieces. This restaurant is located in the popular Gulou area of Beijing surrounded by trendy clothing stores, guitar shops and bars. The restaurant has a most interesting interior architecture. The dinning floor is set on four levels; four tables on each level.

We ordered three dishes and it was more than enough food for two people. Ham and Chicken soup, Pork Spare Ribs and Mint Chicken Wings. Everything was very good, and definitely had a distinguishable flavor different than typical Chinese food.

I was most impressed with the Mint Chicken wings. They were marinated in a spicy sweet sauce and stir fried, fresh mint added last to keep the flavor. The mint gave the spicy chicken a cool almost basil flavor reminding me of some Indian dishes. The pork was breaded with a flour and pepper crust and then fried in little pieces. It was wonderfully spicy, crisp and a perfect balance to the sweeter cool taste of the chicken wings. This restaurant is most famous for their soup, particularly their sour fish soup. But we ordered ham, I thought is was refreshing and the broth was very good, but it wasn’t really all that unusual or special.

For taste I give Xiao a 10, it was an adventure in taste well worth the visit. In fact it may be my favorite restaurant experience so far in Beijing. Everything was hot and so good!

For atmosphere I give it a 7. Xiao has that little family owned restaurant feeling. The tiered dinning levels were definitely a home job and it’s a little weird that the kitchen is located below the floor but every thing was very clean. One major down side though is that there is not a bathroom on location, you have to walk a block to get to the nearest public toilet, not really a problem for locals but a little inconvenient for foreigners.

For price Xiao gets a $ and ½$ for two people; about $30 American dollars in total.

Overall I give Xiao a 9. I loved the flavor and variety that this restaurant has to offer. It was a treat to try something different. But I did not like having to run around the corner to go to the bathroom and the facility was terrible, which has no reflection on the restaurant other than the fact that they didn’t have one, but I would walk the extra block to go to the public bathroom with the doors on the stalls.

Grandma's Kitchen 9($$)

Grandma’s Kitchen

This little restaurant is exactly what you would think; home style American food served piping hot in large American portions without loosing that “made just for you“ taste. Getting to this little gem was a little hard, it was a little further off the beaten path than we thought it would be, and we had an unexpected walk ahead of us getting there. But it was ultimately worth it. The location that we went to had a little living room set up in one corner with comfy couches and arm chairs in front of a fireless mantle and an indoor patio bistro set up in the other corner. The larger dinning room was just beyond the warp around coffee house counter. I would have to say that over all feeling was cute, with the wainscoting and molding you would find in a country kitchen, complete with cherry curtains.

On this occasion Kris and I just wanted that little bit of home. I ordered the spaghetti with meat sauce and garlic bread, and Kris ordered a Philly cheese steak sandwich. My spaghetti was wonderful, it was not the best I have ever had, but it was just what I wanted. The meat sauce was thick with ground pork barely and just enough tomato to keep the traditional color.

Kris’ sandwich, looked amazing, and considering how quickly it disappeared I have to assume that it tasted amazing. Kris remarked that it was the best Philly cheese steak sandwich he has ever had.

For taste I give Grandma’s Kitchen a 9 everything tasted good, was made from scratch and completed to perfection. They had a very extensive menu, including steaks and meatloaf; there were at least five different spaghetti dishes alone. Grandma’s only looses a point because I like to be impressed to give out perfect scores; Grandma’s met all my expectations.

For service I have to rate them, again, at a 9, it met my expectations.

For atmosphere I have to call it a family joint, this should seem obvious. It was very clean, and much larger and open than most little family run restaurants are in China. It would be an ok place to take a date but really only if you knew each other pretty well and were there for the food.

For Price, typical of Beijing, a meal here for two people was about 1 ½ $

Over all I give Grandma’s Kitchen a 9 out of 10. Again Grandma’s met all my expectations, but it did not really surprise me other than the fact I am usually disappointed. I definitely recommend going. They are supposed to have really good home made cheese cake.

Durty Nellie's Beijing Irish Pub 9($$)

Durty Nellie’s Beijing Irish Pub

This place is a lot bigger than you think it will be from the out side. On this night it was raining, and a walk down by the river to get here was not ideal. But I can see where this little pub can be a lot of fun on a summer night. This pub has a decently sized bar, two foose ball tables, a pool table and a dart board, there is a room in the back that can be separated for parties or rowdy game nights and the porch our front has some plastic picnic tables. There is not much a view since is just looks out into parking lot next to the freeway but the river side is nice.

In addition to being a great place to get a drink though, they also have a very good kitchen. Kris and I each ordered a Burger and we shared an appetizer of fried mozzarella sticks and Thai chilly dipping sauce. The cheese was ok, but really it needed to be fried longer so it would be hotter and the cheese would be meltier but it was good. The Burger, was amazing. Large hand formed patty, a fried egg on top, lettuce, tomato, mayonnaise all on a sesame seed bun and large salty steak fries. The best burger I have had in a while.

For taste I give Durty Nellie’s a 9 out of 10. That Burger was soo… good. Fresh vine ripened tomato thickly sliced, hand packed juicy beef patty, a sunny side egg on top. The French fries were salty, crisp, and piping hot.

For atmosphere I rate the Irish Pub at a 9. There was pool, and darts, a big screen TV plenty of seating chairs, a nice patio by the river and the good old neighborhood pub feeling.

Each burger cost 65 Yuan so for two people eating, and drinking it’s a little less than $$ for two people.

Overall I give Durty Nellie’s Beijing Irish Pub a 9. It was a fun place with great food and good beer.

Tairo Teppanyaki 2($$)

Tairo Teppanyaki

This restaurant sounded like a lot of fun. Kris and I love teppanyaki, good food, entertainment and fun with fire. Who could ask for more? Well unfortunately at Tairo Teppanyaki we could have asked for a lot more. Their more famous deal is 150 Yuan for all you can eat and drink. It sounded like a great deal, and it turns out that it was too good to be true.

We ordered, salmon sashimi, tuna sashimi, bacon wrapped mushrooms, shitake mushrooms, snap peas, lamb fillet, salmon fillet, fillet minion, beef tongue in red wine marinade, tiger shrimp, pineapple rice, a mango, vanilla ice cream, sake and beer.

First off, they were out of the snap peas and didn’t tell us, they forgot to get my beer, and they never got out second order of sake. Second they put mayonnaise on the mango and ketchup in the pineapple fried rice. We then had to order it without the strange dressing, they fixed the mango, but they would not fix the rice. Third the sashimi that we ordered was terrible. The fish showed signs of having been frozen. Under no circumstances are sushi grade fish ever supposed to have been frozen. If it is, then it can’t be sushi and it needs to be cooked.

In addition to the food being horrible, the service was obviously terrible. Our order kept getting lost, or forgotten, one of our friends swore he would order and the waitress only wrote down half of what he asked for. In the end we figured it had to be a scheme, they tell you its all you can eat, then they space out the meal until they close, then forget and run out of things and then they get to charge you the full amount.

Over all I give Tairo Teppanyaki a 2 out of 10, 10 being the highest. I was not pleased with the dinner. The only redeeming quality was the beef tongue which was very good for some reason. I have never had to give out such a bad score before, and I really hope that I never have to again. The only reason it didn’t get a 1 was because I did like the beef tongue and the beer was very cold.

This restaurant does not warrant any more ratings because it was that bad.

However the price of getting ripped off for a not that great all you can eat and drink place is just about right. 150 Yuan each comes out to about $20 So $$ for two people.

Hutong Pizza 8($)

Hutong Pizza.

The Hutongs are the traditional family homes in the ancient villages around Beijing. These little family homes consist of four homes that surround a common courtyard area. Traditionally Families would live here together, grandparents, and children and pass the home on to their sons, who would bring their wives to live with them there. Today the Hutong is composed of small families like in ancient times, small shops, convenience stores, boutiques and restaurants. For the most part these restaurants will be frequented by the locals, unless it is a larger restaurant facing the busy street or in touristy areas like HouHai.

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This little place was a little hard to find, though there are a few signs that point you in the right direction. Located in an actual hutong courtyard the little pizza place has four two person tables in the little covered patio area; and indoors there is more seating on the ground level and them more on the balcony level. But don’t get me wrong, this is a little hole in the wall kind of restaurant. There are two kitchens, one just for pizza and then a smaller separate one that would have been the family kitchen shared between four houses is used as a service kitchen where smaller dishes like salads are prepared.

I was not really that hungry but I wanted to try as much as possible. So we ordered the All Gone Pizza: pepperoni, ham, sausage, red, orange and yellow peppers, onions, mushrooms, crenel corn, olives, mozzarella cheese, and goat cheese on a tomato sauce thin crust. We also ordered Lasagna, two beers and a slice of apple pie a la mode.

It was very good. For some reason we were served our apple pie first. I think it was a miss understanding. I have been searching for apple pie since we got here (apple pie is my favorite dessert, though it rarely lives up to my expectations). It was pretty good. Had a little bit different taste to it, an almost anise taste like black licorice, not nutmeg.

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The Lasagna was also good, though it only had the one kind of cheese in it. It was basically some wide noodles with red sauce, sausage and mozzarella on top, bakes in a little dish. I needed at least ricotta to be a real lasagna.

Then the pizza came. I really was getting pretty full but it looked really good. Corn on top of pizza seems like a weird thing, but its not it adds to the flavor and I assume that other pizza toppings that are common in California are really expensive here, like artichokes or fresh tomatoes.

For taste I give Hutong Pizza a 8 out of 10. There were a few things missing, but it was overall very good. And where substitutions were made, it almost didn’t make a difference.

For atmosphere I give it a 7 out of 10. The place was unique. It also had a large Kio pond and fountain in the patio area and the inside had large red columns holding up the roof. But the bathroom facilities consisted of one single toilet, not that clean and very close to the door.

For price dinner for us and all that we ate cost $ in US dollars.

Overall I give Hutong Pizza a 8 out of 10.

The Saddles 9($$)

The Saddle

The Saddle is a hard place to get too. You can see the balcony from an alley way but there is currently no way to get into the square without climbing your way through a construction site. The surprising this is that the restaurant is full any given night. Saddle’s microbrews their own beer and their own whiskey; the brewery and the bar are located on the ground level. If you go upstairs there is a nice restaurant with a large outdoor patio. At one end there is a pool table. Kris and I went just to get some Chips and Guacamole two huge Margaritas and play some pool. Our game was terrible and probably the worst game I ever played. But the chips were very good, though a little shy on the guacamole. I assume Avocados are very expensive here in China. It was a fun place to spend a very nice night. I would recommend it to anyone. If you want to go here it’s behind China doll and you have to access the alley around the corner of a clothing mall.

Overall I give Saddles a 9 out of 10 for fun, but I didn’t really eat all the much. And my huge margarita only had two shots of tequila, it wasn’t enough.

For price Saddle gets a $$, its a little expensive for a restaurant in China but its good.

I now get to rate Saddle for taste because we have now actually eaten here. This time the guacamole was not as good, but Kris' tacos carnitas were good and my enchiladas were very cheesy. It was good, I rate Saddle a 8 for taste. Hey it's Mexican food, the scale doesn't go that high, but it is always satisfying.

The Book Worm 9 (1/2$)

The Book Worm

The book worm is a book store, library club and restaurant. Who could ask for more? The atmosphere here feels very similar to a college town café. Everyone is eating, reading, studying and everyone is on the lookout for a hot hook up. Located a little out of the way in the top story of a little box concrete building the Book Worm doesn’t look like much at first glance. On the inside, all the walls are lined in books the rest of the space is full of couches and arm chairs. There is also a patio on the roof with café tables and umbrellas for those rare blue sky days and those nice summer evenings.

Kris and I came just to read and get a bite to eat. I ordered a turkey leg sandwich and Kris had the lasagna. My sandwich also came with a little salad and some steak fries. The sandwich came out in little grilled triangles the kind you make with a sandwich press. It was really very good and the little pressed triangles were just cute! Kris’ lasagna was really good. Its hard to find real cheese in China and compared to other lasagna in China this one even had the three kinds of cheese ricotta, mozzarella and parmesan.

For taste Book Worn earns a 10 out of 10. Everything was delicious, well prepared, thoughtful and more than I expected.

For price Book Worm receives half a $ for two people in US dollars.

Over all I give Book Worm a 9 out of 10. Book Worm looses points just because there is room for improvement as far as comfort, facilities, and décor. But it was over all a fun place to visit and a great place to eat.

Tim's Texas Bar-B-Q 8($)

Tim’s Texas Bar-B-Q

This restaurant was rated to have the best burger in town by This Week Magazine. Kris ordered the Classic Burger plus cheese, and I ordered Pork Ribs and Texas Chile. The burger was very good, just like home. It came on an egg bread bun, with lettuce, onions and tomatoes; cheese was added to make it a cheese burger. My ribs were cooked till they were nearly falling off the bone and drenched in barbecue sauce. The only complain I have about the ribs it that they were a Chinese cut, meaning, extremely fatty. The fat of the pork holds all of the flavor in Chinese cooking, but in this case because the sauce was pored over the ribs after being cooked the fat did not absorb any of the barbecue favors. The Texas Chile was very good. Just the right amount of spice and chilies, it also came with cornbread that was a little dry and denser than it needed to be. I suspect the cornbread batter was not made with two parts wheat flour and one part corn meal which is what makes corn bread fluffy and light. Somehow the ratio was off and it just didn’t taste quite right.

For taste I give Texas Bar-B-Q an 8 out of 10. For the most part everything was enjoyable. The Burger and the Chile were very good and only the cut of rib and the corn bread were disappointing.

For Price Tim’s TBQ receives $ for two people in US dollars including beer.

Overall I give Tim’s Texas Bar-B-Q a 9 out of 10. The food was good, the beer was cold. There is a bar and a dart board in the back and it was just over all fun.

My Humble Home 7 ($$$$)

My Humble Home.

My Humble Home, is a very over priced restaurant in the Sky Ave. of the Oriental Plaza. It is known for its Chinese fusion cuisine and modern image. On this occasion Kris and I chose My Humble Home out of convenience, our apartment in Beijing it located directly above the restaurant.

MHH has an extensive menu and wine list. There are three set menus and also an al a carte menu. We ordered beef tri-tip salad, seafood soup cooked inside a coconut, fried rice, and Chinese pork belly. I was not able to take any pictures inside the restaurant because I got in trouble taking this picture of the salad.

The best part of the meal was the soup: a crab broth, with chunks of crab, lobster, clams, sea sponge and vegetables. It came out inside of a peeled coconut piping hot. It was delicious. The broth was very flavorful, and all the sea food was fresh and tender, it had just a hint of coconut flavor but nothing too milky.

The pork belly was very rich. Traditionally Chinese means very fatty to retain the most flavor. It was delicious but way too much for two people, the dish would have been better divided between six people. The fried rice was too oily and the oil and the wok was too hot when the rice was added. It had a distinctive burnt sesame seed oil taste. The only redeeming quality was that it had pine nuts in it.

For taste I give HMM a 7. It was ok, definitely was not worth the cost.

For service I have to give HMM a 4, for some reason it took forever to get the check and we had to ask more than a few times. It seems that more important people who were ordering more came in right when we wanted to leave and for some reason everyone just stopped and stared at the new dinner party.

Overall I give My Humble Home a 7 out of 10. In this instance the soup saved the day.

South Silk Road, Beijing 10 ($$)

What can I say about restaurants in China? The first thing everyone should know is that the restaurants you go to while on a tour are not very good. In fact they may be terrible. And the restaurants that are available if you go out on your own can be excellent. This should be obvious, but isn’t always because many times the restaurants that they take you to on tour are in fact famous, and can be pretty good. But you’re not Chinese and you don’t speak the language so they make you the dishes that Americans usually expect from their limited experience from home and they give you the poorest quality because you won’t notice the difference. There are no greater critics than the Chinese when it comes to food. Restaurants want to please the locals first, who have a much greater chance of becoming loyal customers.

The first restaurant of not is South Silk Road located in Houhai. All the food cooked here is from the Yunnan region or is influenced by the spices of this region. The Yunnan region is in the south of china located along the ocean and largely tropical. Food from this region tends to be very spicy and uses many more herbs not found in other Chinese dishes.

This being our third anniversary Kris and I went all out on dinner and ordered Rice cooked inside a bamboo pole, a roast quail, fried rice cake with roasted sesame seed butter and honey, and a banana wrapped tilapia.

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To say the least, all the food was amazing! This lighting in the restaurant was very poor but even in my badly taken photos of the evening you can see the color and the spice incorporated into everything. The Tilapia was a little spicy and we ended up pushing most of the herbs and pepper to the side, but its juices were so good. It was so moist and had such a cool burn to the spice. The rice cake was such a treat, the interpretation in the menu was very bad so we took and chance when we ordered it. The rice cake was warm and crunchy on the outside and so soft and sweet inside, then you get to the sesame seed butter filling and it just pops with warmth in your mouth. It doesn’t really need the honey that it comes with but even the honey has a floral taste to it. The quail was very gamy and tough, the toughness did not allow the flavor to penetrate very far into the meat so I was rather disappointed in the quail. But it was likely caught wild and I do support free range. The last little fun treat was the bamboo rice. Kris did not like this dish very much due to the very nutty flavor. It almost had a cashew and snap peas flavor to it. It was mixed with some kind of nut or bean and some green onion. This mixture is dry when it is poured into the bamboo pole and then capped with water. To cook it the whole thing is put directly into the fire. When the green bamboo slips the rice is cooked and ready.

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Over all I give South Silk Road a 10

Price $$ for two people

For taste 10

For atmosphere 10

For service a 9. Service in china is very different than in America, bordering on servitude rather than service. In China you do not leave a tip, good service is simply part of the job if you want to keep your job. In a city of 13 million the competition for jobs is huge; and every establishment can hire huge amounts of employees because they can pay their works so little; this mean there is often one employee for every customer sometimes two or three and they all wait upon you hand and foot. This often feels uncomfortable it you are not used to someone hovering over you wail you decide what to order, but you never have to wait for the check or hail someone for a refill. There is always someone there waiting to help you before you ask. In comparison to many places that I have eaten Silk Road surpasses any American restaurants but did not do as well compared to restaurants here.

Foreign Cinema 10 ($$$)

Foreign Cinema

Foreign Cinema is located in the heart of the Castro district of San Francisco. You would not know if from the street but this restaurant is the trendiest and ritziest restaurant in San Francisco. The restaraunt consist of four district features. In the front there is a small oyster bar that seats only about six but they will serve to any table. The main dinning hall has an open view of the kitchen, a bar in the back and a wall of high windows which look out into the covered patio. The patio tent is clean so that on a good night sitting outside you might see the stars shining. On one wall of the open courtyard the restaurant will project a old foreign film, thus the name. On this particular night we watched the Diving Bell and the Butterfly. This restaurant also houses balcony seating, is attached to a bar, club and an art gallery.

All their menus are updated and printed daily to reflect the very best of the market and what is in season. So on any given day you may have a different menu then any other day. On this occasion I had fried chicken on rice and stewed vegetables, my husband had lavender beef, and our friends each had duck in cherry port reduction. But of course we started out with oysters and a 2003 California chardonnay. We finished with Opera cake and North Beach coffee. Everything was wonderful! It was a perfect night!

My fried chicken was very good. Nearly half a bird the chicken looked really imposing on my plate and turned out to be more breast meant than I had expected. It was spiced and breaded but it didn’t feel heavy or oily to eat. It was really very good and I ended up sharing it will everyone because there was so much.

10 taste

10 service

10 atmosphere, romantic location

Price $$$$ for two people eating moderately, wine or champagne will add more to the price.

10 overall. I could eat here over and over I love Foreign Cinema

Goldy's Breakfast Bistro 10 ($)

Goldy’s Breakfast Bistro

Goldy’s is the best breakfast in America, according the Idaho attractions website. I haven’t eaten everywhere in America yet, but I can say that it was the best I have ever had in America.

Located in an unassuming brick building in Boise’s downtown district it would be very easy to miss. In fact my husband and I did walk right past it when we explored downtown the day before. Goldy’s has about 14 tables all together, six tables on the indoor balcony level and about eight more on the fist floor. There is usually at least a ten minute wait because the tables are always full for breakfast. At Goldy’s breakfast is served until 2pm.

I had heard that the salmon hash was excellent so I started with that and then one biscuit and gravy. Kris ordered the A dark forest ham breakfast sandwich.

Everything was exceptional! The salmon hash was made with diced potatoes, red bell peppers, onions and capers and of course salmon smoked to tender perfection and salted before being added to the hash. It was covered in hollandaise sauce and came with an egg. After the salted salmon and the capers the hash was really very salty even for me, a salt lover but eaten with the egg and possibly a piece of toast it was really very good. I give Goldy’s a 10 out of 10 for taste.

Goldy’s also gets a 10 for service. For price Goldy’s rates $ for two people and coffee.

Overall I give Goldy’s a 10 out of 10 for breakfast. Even though I ate a lot of food, I was completely satisfied without being overly full and felt satisfied all day until about seven at night. It was very hearty without being too fried or buttered tasting.

108 S Capitol Blvd
Boise, ID 83702
208-345-4100

Jack's Urban Eats 7 ($$)

Jack’s has two locations one in midtown and the other in Lomman’s Plaza. I have eaten at the one in midtown once and the one in Lomman’s Plaza twice, there isn’t really and difference between the two that I can tell. They are both always busy. The first time that I ate at Jack’s Urban Eats, I have a club sandwich and cheese mashed potatoes. The sandwich was not really that impressive. The bread seemed stale, the lettuce and tomato was really not the ripe or fresh and I over all was not impressed. I was further disappointed by the gritty, plastic cheese flavored potatoes. They were horrible. It tasted like who ever had made them had not first mixed the powdered milk cheese flavor with boiling water but had instead, poured the powder directly into the mashed potatoes. It was atrocious.

I have since tried it twice more, because I always give a place a second change. The second time I took my mother in law out to lunch, she likes a lot of chicken and a lot of American food so this place is perfect for her. All that stands out in my mind about that experience was that it was better than the first time I went.

So today when I Kris and I went for lunch I was not really expecting more than a slightly better than fast food sandwich and a mostly lettuce salad. I am happy to say that my expectations were not met. I ordered the Chicken wings sandwich. I had crispy friend strips of chicken with house wing sauce that was neither too mild nor too tangy, with blue cheese, tomato and lettuce. I also ordered macaroni and cheese as the side. My sandwich was so good. It really hit the spot for a hungry meat eater on a hot summer day.

For taste I give Jack’s Urban Eats a 7 out of 10. It is a great lunch or light meal kind of restaurant. All their dishes are Cali-American, American food taken to the next level. Their meats are carved strait from the bone and put directly on your sandwich or salad. This means that the meat is moist, fresh and slow roasted or cooked in its own fats and juices to retain its favor.

For atmosphere it gets a 7 out of 10. It is cafeteria style to order but your plates are served to you after you pay. Jack’s is more casual than many restaurants, but it has a fun, young attitude and is often full of young professionals, and students.

For the price of two people to eat lunch order a side dish and get a soft drink Jack’s gets a $$. It is possible though to get out of there with just $. The salad plates are large enough to share or you could easily skip the side dishes and still feel full at the end of the meal.

Arioli Bodega Espanola 9 ($$$)

Arioli Bodega Esanola

A Spanish restaurant in midtown well known for its wine!

On this occasion out Kris and myself invited two of out friends out to a wine bar. We had planned on visiting 58 degrees but when we got there and found out they didn’t serve appetizers or anything we walked back to Arioli. Arioli is a little Spanish restaurant. They serve excellent wine, and authentic Spanish cuisine. I ordered mussels in white garlic and wine sauce, calamari in spicy tomato and capers sauce and the pork loin in balsamic and port reduction with figs and onions. It was all very good.

I give Arioli a 10 out of 10 for taste. It was authentic, cooked very well, balanced to perfection, familiar and still exotic. The pork loin was the best, and while I could barely eat any more I finished the entire dish it was that good. The color and spice were so rich and thick. The aroma was sweet and tangy. The pork cut was on the fatty side but it was cooked to perfection.

The service here is very homey. The owner is a very gruff friendly neighbor sort of man. He often stays late to keep his customers happy, he makes excellent wine recommendations and usually comes and greets each table at some point during the night.

Arioli keeps a very nice table, but I would rate the atmosphere at an 9. It is a very romantic restaurant; quiet and cozy. In the summer they have a secluded garden patio that is very nice in the evenings. If you go for a nice summer night plan on spending the entire night talking and drinking very good wine.

For price I believe we paid $$ for dinner but I was the only person eating and then another $$$ for the wine.

Over all I give Arioli a 9. Delicious, colorful, and full of character; the flavor will seduce you.

1800 L Street
Sacramento, CA 95814
(916) 447-9440

Wasabi and Ginger 8 ($$$)

May 04, 2008 after Maker Fair.

After a day at the fairgrounds I really needed some real food, something light and refreshing. Sushi!

Wasabi Ginger was not my first choice, second choice or even my third choice. But #1, 2, and 3 Zagat rated sushi restaurants are closed on Sunday. So we drove around until we found Wasabi & Ginger. This restaurant was on the smaller side despite how it looks from the inside, a little neighborhood kind of place, where many of the locals grad take out. I didn’t really have very high expectations but I was pleasantly surprised about the quality and innovation for the cut rolls we ordered. I had a Volcano Roll and a Money Train Roll. The Volcano had tuna, unagi and mango, the sweet tangy mango contrasted the more rich flavors of the unagi and tomago. I have had a few rolls that try to incorporate fruit before and many of them have failed miserably, but this one succeeded where the others failed.

Kris ordered the Fantastic Roll. It was a special that was described as having asparagus and spicy tuna in it, but when they brought it out it was nothing like the description. Kris also ordered a Nigiri of Toro. It was old, and not that fresh anymore, but it was buttery all the same.

Price wise Wasabi and Ginger would rate a $$, very reasonable for two people who ate three rolls, an order of Toro and a beer. The décor was a little lacking in style and newness but it was obviously a nice family operations. The Sushi chiefs were friendly and the service was very prompt.

Taste wise I would rate it an 8; better than expected and better than many that I have had. The Sushi Chiefs were all Japanese men who knew their fish. The rolls were not very traditionally Japanese but their California fusion was much better than many local sushi places I have eaten at here in Sacramento. I thought the chiefs were perhaps a little heavy on the sauce but it was mostly on the plate so you didn’t have to dip it if you didn’t want to.

Overall I would give Wasabi and Ginger an 8 because I liked their food, the service was prompt and I thought the chief was innovative without being intrusive with his California fusion rolls. They are available to do catering, take out and delivery.

2299 Van Ness Ave. at Vallejo
San Francisco, CA 94109
415-345-1368

www.wasabiandginger.com

Thai Basil gets 8 ($$)

I love Thai Basil. It is in my opinion the best in Sacramento for Thai food. The vegetables are always fresh, the curry is fresh. Nothing ever tastes like it was made in large quantities. The fish and meat was definitely frozen but Thai Basil is generous with the portions. They have a few locations, two I have eaten at: the Midtown location a number of times and the Roseville location twice. When ever I go I am completely satisfied for what I paid, what I expected to get and the quality of the food preparation. The only problem I have ever had there is when the waiter got my order wrong. I was in a hurry and so did not have the time to let them correct the mistake though they offered.

One of the dished that often gets overlooked it the green curry. This dish is my favorite, at any Thai restaurant but I like it best at the Roseville Thai Basil. Green Curry is light and almost flowery in taste. The taste of green curry has a lot of bouquet to it, but not a lot of spice or musk usually associated with curry. When I order green curry the dish comes as two bowls. One bowl has the jasmine rice in it. And the other is shrimp, scallops, and mussels swimming in green curry along with, broccoli, green beans and bean sprouts. Then you just add the elixir to your rice. It’s divine.

For food taste I give Thai Basil an 8. They use fresh produce, but not fresh meat. All their dishes can be made vegetarian. It just means you get soy tofu instead. And their general mixing of flavors is brilliant.

For price I give Thai Basil an $$ even with an appetizer and a drink.

For ambiance: I have to give Thai basil a 5 unless you are out on the back patio of the downtown location. The back patio is a smaller enclosed out door seating area near a fountain, and under an old growth oak tree. The back patio is quieter, and more private feeling. They have since put a lounge and night club on the floor above Thai Basil so their reputation is growing.

Overall I rate Thai Basil at an 8. Its not the best, it could be better, but its still delicious just the way that it is.

Sushi Ran 9 (3x$$)

Sushi Ran

This little restaurant located in the quaint and expensive Sausalito is supposed to be the best sushi on the West Coast. I expected it be an expensive and trendy place and it was, but not necessarily upscale. Kris and I got all dressed up and I wore my birthday dress. We probably looked out of place, him in a suit and me in a cocktail dress, but it was a celebration and we didn’t let appearances stop us. Weather or not it is the best in the west, Sushi Ran is extremely popular so I recommend making a reservation no matter what time you expect dinner.

Sushi Ran has an interesting custom of over pouring their sake to over-flow the sake glass until it runs down the sides into a bamboo cup. I really don’t think this is a traditional custom, but rather something that sushi ran started so that their customers feel like they are getting their moneys worth. In either case the taste of the sake from the bamboo cup is supposed to contaminate clean taste of the sake. It is much better to drink sake from a ceramic or glass container.

The Toro was spectacular and best I have ever tasted. Sushi Ran flies fish in daily from Japan; this makes the biggest difference when eating sashimi. On this occasion Kris and I shared an order of Toto, a platter of nigiri and vegetable tempura. My only complaint would be how much wasabi was used. The sushi was often way too hot for Kris and I and we had to keep asking for water. After dinner we had banana foster for dessert. I was a little disappointed that they didn’t have a green tea ice cream but the foster was really pretty good. And I don’t usually like bananas.

The service was nothing to get excited about. I needed to ask for service on a couple of occasions and the woman got our order wrong once and then billed us incorrectly later but it figure it was really busy and perhaps she was new or something.

For Price Sushi Ran rates $$$$$$$ for two people who share an appetizer, order toro, share a 7 piece nigiri platter and drink a glass of sake. It is expensive, the toro was worth it though.

I would give the quality of their fish a 10 out of 10. The fish was fresh, caught healthy, and the best cut. The wasabi though strong was authentic, and mixed correctly to have that really clean burn and flowery after taste. The sake was smooth, I just cant remember what it was.

The atmosphere was trendy, and popular but local feeling. I got the impression that most people eating there eat there on a relatively regular basis. Due to the crowd though, it would not be a very intimate kind of restaurant and so not good for a first date. You have to yell a lot to be heard in Sushi Ran.

Pasific'O 4 ($$$$)

Pacific'O the worst food I had in Maui.

Its actually quite terrible, because Pacifi'O has won numberous awards, is a beautiful restaurant, uses fresh local grown vegitables when it can get it, and local fresh caught fish everyday, its right there on the beach and is popular enough that the owners opened a similar place just next door; but I thought the food was horrible. I was more than disappointed. And after a presentation like Hula Grill, which was entirely unexpected. I was more than disappointed.

We acctually ate here for Valentines day (yeah it took me this long to cool off about it).

This is the lobster won tons, the best part was the fresh pineapple salsa. Its a nice plate to look at but not really all that spectacular in taste.

I ordered tuna and salmon sashimi battered and flash fried, but the sashimi was not that good, it was warm and tough. Completely unbalanced in taste and texture.

My husband ordered curry deep sea swordfish. I usually love sward fish. We had intended to split both dishes because we were not individually able to make a decision between the special and the sashimi. Well I don't think you can see it in this picture, but all that light green cream sauce is wasabi. It was horrible! I didn't want another bite after the first one. Kris ended up scraping the sauce off the meat just to eat it and it still wasn't any good.

For romance and atmosphere I give Pacific'O a 10. Its on the Beach facing west towards the sunset. Most of the tables are open air patio seating to best see the ocean but even with indoor seating there isn't a bad seat int he house.

Over all I will give Pacific'O a 4. A little too heavy on the wasabi sauce, on everything. Tone it down a little, and taste it before you send it out to be consumed. I like hot, and spicy, but I like it to accentuate the natural flavors of my food not mask everything.
808-667-4341
505 Front street
Lahaina, Maui 96761