Summary:
Commonwealth – best, most innovative meal
Nopalito’s arroz a la Tumbada - best dish for Colette
Sanraku’s chirashi deluxe - best dish for me
Delfina – best Italian
Day 1
Lunch was a $3.50 pork Banh Mi at the Saigon Sandwich joint on Larkin St. where I snagged one of the two chairs, shoving aside pregnant women and urchins – not bad.
Then, when Colette showed up, she spent 15 minutes in the very long line there and stomped her pretty feet and we went across the street to scope three places and chose the Bodega Bistro, described in Zagat as having “From “phantastic pho” to “French-inspired” Vietnamese fare to “Hanoi street food” “not found ...” and she had pretty good spring rolls and I pretty good beef pho, which with 2 beers, was $24.30 before tip.
At dinner we ate at the highly touted haute-cuisine haute-Indian Amber and had three starters – sauteed (but really boiled) calamari with chillis, garlic and cilantro; a tandoori platter with a chicken kebab, shrimp and a lamb kebab; and “flash-fried” fried spinach with yogurt, tamarind chutney and cranberries; as well as roti with a mint sauce and fine Red Belly Black Australian Shiraz. The bill was an astonishing Emperor-has-no-clothes $84.71 before tip. Caveat emptor!
Day 2
I had lunch solo at the Metreon site of Sanraku since Colette was off Museum-Acquariuming and on a beautiful day, with fresh fish, what could be better?
I started off with some wine from DeLoach, edaname which were a cut above (and here I thought they all came from “Cafeteria Central”) and miso soup, which for the first time in my life did not burn the top of my palate off like a freshly-served Ray’s Original pizza; then moved on to 7 or 8 or 9 slices of fish atop a mound of “sushi rice” which was/were as good possible. I’ll be back.
With two glasses of wine and no coffee or tea, my bill was $50.93 before tip.
PS At the start of my sashimi feast a piece of egg thing broke off into my soy/wasabi sauce bowl and splashed all over my shirt front – I signaled the bus-boy, Mexican, although the French, Japanese and Chinese were well represented in both staff and customers, and presto-fixo, he found this wrap of stuff that whisked it away thus avoiding a quick trip back to the hotel for a change. Well done!
Dinner was at the 10+ year old haute Greek place – Kokkari Estiatorio.
We ordered 4 small plates (one too many), a nice persimmon, pomegranate seed, lemon dressing salad; some Kalamari stuffed with feta and black olives; fried smelts with aggressive raw garlic (gooooood) dip; and a horrible plate of “riblets” of mutton (yclept lamb) which they took off the bill after we spit them out like a best French Masterchef imitation.
Our bill with a bottle of Ribera, no coffee nor dessert, was $64.02.
Day 3
We ate today at the Straits (as in Singapore) which is a nice place except when one is seated under the speaker blaring American pop music (we quickly reseated ourselves in the “quiet room” towards the front. We’re learning or relearning how to order minimally given even Asians ideas of what portion sizes Americans craze/insist on. So we had spring rolls and garlic noodles with shitake mushrooms and prawns; both nice but not like I recall Singapore food. But the dessert, a shared cardamon Bread Pudding with a wonderful caramel sauce was terrific. The bill with two glasses of beer was $53.78 before tip.
Commonwealth calls itself a “progressive” American restaurant – how pretentious, how goofy, but how true – it’s great. Located in a really scuzzy part of town with more bums and tattoos per square inch than the Rue du Poteau, it is a burst of blessing. Colette and I could hardly decipher the menu but after chips with a malt vinegar mousse, settled on:
-sea urchins with trout roe, potato, gem lettuce, lime cream, corn chip and pickled wasabi leaf,
-squid and pork belly, soft boiled egg, smoked potato cubes, pickled onion and fine herbs,
-young hen, carrots and kombu, puffed barley, seaweed pesto and pea greens,
-corned beef tongue, brussel sprouts, white bean, rye cracker, fried quail egg and a scallop emulsion,
-a FABULOUS (Yes I’m shouting) pumpkin custard, ginger cake, frozen maple syrup and huckleberries,
- and a bottle of Mencia Ribeira Guimaro, a merlot, cabernet sauvignon, petit verdot, cabernet franc blend and a glass of Sicilian red.
Our bill was $123.69 before tip.
Day 4
Lunch was at an old favorite, Yank Sing on Stevenson where they threw a blizzard of dim sum plates at us (of course we asked them to) and it was delicious as usual. The bill was picked up by my famous winemaker/apparel-king cousin’s wife who insisted I paid last time which I’m not at all sure I did, but then a free meal is a free meal.
Dinner was at Delfina, another old favorite which was just down the road from the “Out of the Closet” which touts itself as “the World's Most FabulousThrift Store.” Colette had a very good roasted duck with turnips and pomegranates and I had paparadelle with a pork sugo which was equally good as well as a rice pudding for Colette. Our bill with a bottle and glass of Tuscan wine and no coffee before tip was $112.84. A “Do Again.” The highlight of the evening was learning that Obama had won re-election; a young couple sitting nearby were watching the returns on an iPhone – were we not Luddites, we’d have had one too! (Colette is heading to the Apple store as soon as we get home!).
Day 5
We had our final lunch at Nopalito, a place near where one of my regular dining partners in Paris owns a shop on Divisadero Street. We had a torta de chilorio (pulled pork), carnitas (braised pork) and what Colette said was her best dish of the trip – arroz a la Tumbada, a seafood stew. With a glass of tea, bottle of Alfaro Family Zinfandel our bill before tip for three was $96.02, thus, $64.66 a couple.
End of Journey query: How is it that all the men and women serving you, largely but not exclusively Asiatic, all speak perfect American English including ample use of “like,” “no problem,” and “Hey guys, would you like to order?”
