How to eat like a Superstar!

Ever since I moved to San Francisco, I've been hearing about Burma Superstar. When you drive down Clement in the Inner Richmond, it doesn't look like anything special, but drive by it around dinner time any evening and you'll see the crowd waiting outside to get in. Before this experience, I'd never thought about Burma, or what they eat in there (sorry Burma). I had no idea what they're style of food was going to be like. When you think about the location of Burma, you start to get a better idea of what they're food is going to taste like. Burma (click the link, learn something!) shares borders with India, China, Laos and Thailand. All of these food cultures influence Burmese food, which combines their dishes and spices in unique ways.

I went with a couple girl friends a few Monday nights ago. Now, on a Monday, right before the holidays, we still had to wait almost an hour for a table. Tip: You can call ahead when en route and put your name on the list. The restaurant isn't very big, but it's nice that they keep the vibe they have going instead of expanding into some giant space. The dishes are pretty big sized, so keeping it family style will fill you up and let you try multiple things on the menu. We started with the salt and pepper calamari, which is mixed up with scallions and jalapeno peppers. The dipping sauce is a balanced combination of spicy and sweet. Next we got the rainbow salad, which was my favorite dish of the evening. It's been featured on the Food Network before and deserves all the hype. The salad is made from 22 ingredients and the server will mix all of the up in front of you. This may not be all 22, but the salad contains papaya, cabbage, cilantro, carrot, tomato, shrimp, onion, vermicelli noodles, potato, string beans, tofu, red chili flakes and garlic. It's topped off with a tamarind dressing. The chefs are actually cool enough to share out the recipe, so if you're a good cook, this may be a good way to impress guests. We also ordered the pumpkin shrimp stew, with shrimp, squash and ginger, and the Burmese style curry, which is pretty mild and comes with you choice of meat and potato. One of my other favorite things that we tried was the side of the coconut rice. The rice has been cooked in coconut juice and is topped with fried onion. I'm not a huge white rice fan but the flavors this rice soaked up are amazing. So if this place worth the hype, most definitely. The flavor combinations are like nothing else. Just make sure to call when you're on your way! They also opened a sister restaurant down the street, B Star, that has shorter wait times and is great for carryout.

Caturday iz on Xmas! Happy holidayz :)

Tastes around town

Last weekend my friend from Boston came to San Francisco, so I gave the whirlwind 48 hour tour. I'm getting pretty good at this. We hit multiple neighborhoods, drove across the Golden Gate Bridge and down the curvy part of Lombard Street, saw the Full House house, took in the city skyline from Dolores Park and ate some really good food.

Saturday night we went to this Mediterranean restaurant I had a Groupon for, so I wasn't sure what to expect. The restaurant is called Taste by Paul K, named after it's Armenian owner, which cleared up a bunch of things for me as I couldn't think up any famous chefs by the name of Paul K. The place in near the Civic Center, on Gough and Oak. The interior is warm, with lots of vibrant colors and art. The menu features a lot of traditional Mediterranean fare, with everything from Greek to North African dishes. we started out with salads. I got their iceberg wedge salad, which was drenched in my very favorite green goddess dressing and topped with shaved pecorino cheese. For dinner I got a Greek sampler platter of sorts, the mezza with lamb riblets and kebabs, baba ganoush, pickled cucumber, olives, rosemary and yogurt. It was nice to get to try a little bit of everything. The kebabs and baba ganoush stood out amongst the rest of the plate. My friend got the pappardelle, which usually comes with duck but the evening special was with wild boar. She said it was good but complained that it was too "meat heavy," which a lot of other people I know would consider a definite plus. We tried some fun cocktails from the list as well, which were good but nothing to write home about. Overall, a good experience but not amazing enough to draw me back. In a city like San Francisco where there's so many amazing restaurants, you really have to be good to garner repeat visits!

We went to Mas Sake on Lombard for dinner on Sunday night, and I will be going back here! We stumbled across this place on accident. Everyone always recommends Zushi Puzzle, which is also right there in the Cow Hollow/Marina area of Lombard. Turns out they're closed on Sunday, but we were determined to track down sushi, so we kept walking. We were drawn into Mas Sake by its tagline, "freestyle sushi." After eating there, I'm still not sure what that means but you have to admit, it does sound fun.This isn't your typical Japanese sushi restaurant. They actually boast themselves as a Japanese/Mexican fusion, which is two cultures I never thought I'd see on a menu together. While options like the ahi tacos sounded delicious, we stuck to the rolls. We tried the You're Hot, I'm Scot (yellowtail in spicy cream sauce, with avocado and cucumber), the Spice Marisa Roll (my friend visiting is Marisa, so this tempura spicy tuna roll topped with seaweed salad was a must!), the Crazy Courtney roll (tempura shrimp, mango, avocado, sirracha and cilantro) and a standard spicy tuna roll. The prices weren't too bad but if you're looking for affordable sushi, this place has all-you-can-eat every weekday from 6-7p and all day on Sundays. There's also all-you-can-drink hot sake, which is irresistible. My only minor complaint, the ambiance is that more of a club scene that a restaurant and I feel like that's overdone in sushi restaurants. regardless, it's a great place to eat. I can't wait to compare it to Zushi Puzzle.

Horrible Bosses is not so horrible

A couple weeks ago I Netflixed the movie "Horrible Bosses," which ended up being much funnier than I thought it would be. The movie centers around three friends who have very different but equally uncomfortable work situations that involving have a truly horrible boss. Charlie Day's (from "Always Sunny In Philadelphia") situation made me laugh the most. He's a dental hygienist who's boss (played by the surprisingly hilarious Jennifer Aniston) is sexually harassing him and the unconscious patients. Jason Bateman's character is has an egomaniac boss (played by the always amazing and intense Kevin Spacey) who seems to have a rage problem. Last but not least, Jason Sudeikis's character has a great job until the owner of his company dies and his new boss becomes the son of the owner, a womanizing, politically insensitive coke-addict (played by the almost unrecognizable Colin Farrell). These three friends come to the realization that the only way they can get out of their current work situations is to kill there bosses (clearly this realization came to them while at a bar multiple drinks in). Since none of them have an experience in this area, they ask their On-Star representative to take them to a crime-ridden area of town, where they ask the advice of "Motherfucker Jones" (played by Jamie Foxx). Basically, none of them are very good killers and hilarity ensues. It's an easy watch at a relatively short 98 minutes length. IMDB ranks is 7.1/10 and 69% on Rotten Tomatoes. It was a surprise hit at the box office, accruing over $28 million in the first three days to make it the number two film in the US during its opening weekend, and going on to become the highest grossing black comedy film of all time in unadjusted dollars, breaking the record previously set by "The War of Roses" in 1990. The film has grossed over $209 million worldwide to-date.

Iz tired, is it Caturday yet?

 *The above two I have fellow lolcat fan Christine to thank for, who stole them from the very awesome blog iowagirleats.com.

SF Underground

Earlier this week I met a friend in North Beach at the La Trappe Cafe. I'd never heard about it but my friend said it was one of her favorite places in the city, so I wanted to check it out. They advertise themselves as a Belgian Bistro & Trappist Lounge, which just sounds fun (albeit obscure/mysterious). When you walk into the restaurant at street level, it looks like you're walking into a small, cheesy, generic Italian restaurant. The scene completely changes once you walk downstairs. The lower level underground feels like you're walking into a Belgian grotto. All the walls are brick, it's dark and there's an old-world European feel. There's a seating area for people eating meals and a dark lounge area in back for those who prefer to drink their dinner. We sat at the bar because to quote my friend's mom, "you never know who you'll meet when you sit at the bar."

Here's the part of the review where I explain their beer offering seven though I don't drink beer, so bear with me on this. Since it's Belgian, they're know for their beer selection. The feature a lot of Belgian/Trappist brews (which cracks me up because I just visualize drunk monks). They also feature a lot of local reviews and actually host events for microbreweries in the area. Outside of the beer, the wine list is pretty good and they have cider. The bar staff is friendly and knowledgeable. They want to share their knowledge in a way that's approachable and not as snobby/aloof as a place like The Monk's Kettle.  

My favorite things about the cafe, outside of the unique ambiance, is the food. It's a mix of bar snacks, American comfort and Belgian specialties. I was immediately drawn to the mussels and fries dinners. Who could resist such a combination? With the mussels, you can pick from three different options: Mariniere (the most popular, white wine and beer reduction with lemon, shallots and herbs), Konkan (East Indian style, with Serrano chiles, turmeric, cumin, ginger and coconut milk) and Spicy Tomato (slow roasted tomato puree with rosemary and dried chili). I tried the Spicy Tomato, which had just the right amount of kick to it without overwhelming the mussels themselves and you get a giant kettle full of them. The Belgian fries are twice cooked, which means they're crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, which is my absolute favorite. With the fries you get to pick two of their ten special dipping sauces. I went with the chipotle and garlic mayos, both of which were flavorful and went quite nicely with the fries. Overall, a great experience and I will definitely be back, either for drinks or dinner.

Delicious Delarosa

Friday night I went to dinner with a friend in the Marina/Cow Hollow area. She recommended we try Delarosa on Chestnut, which was a good recommendation. This restaurant is owned by the same group that owns Beretta. They do Roman style pizzas, pasta and small plates. They also feature a great wine list. I tried the Barbera (an Italian wine) that went down easy and complemented all the food.

To start off, we ordered a couple small plates. The first was fried pickles with a spicy marinara sauce to dip it in. I mean, who could resist fried pickles?? I don't know if I've ever even seen them offered outside of a state fair. They were quite tasty, although the frying made the pickles a little less crispy that I would have liked. We also got the burrata brushetta. Burrata (meaning "buttered" in Italian) is my new cheese obsession. It's a fresh, smooth cheese from Italy, with a mozzarella shell and a mix of mozzarella and cream on the inside. It was served on break with hazelnuts and honey drizzled on top. With the sweetness from the honey, I could have eaten it for dessert (and probably will have to make it as such one of these days). For the main course we tried one of their pizzas, with fennel sausage, onion, tomato and scamorza. We also added extra burrata on top, which made it super cheesy. The pizza was the perfect size to share and the crust and balanced enough to not take over the toppings.

The only negative thing I could say about the restaurant is one of the things that also sets it apart. The seating is all long tables, so if it's busy (which it usually is) you can easily get sandwiched between other dinner parties. It definitely gets little hard to hear the people you're with sometimes, but also makes it possible to strike up camaraderie if you're seated by friendly parties. The price is pretty good for a Marina restuarant and the food is enjoyable, so I would definitely recommend this if you find yourself out on Chestnut or wanting a tasty pizza.

Holiday movie season begins - The most wonderful time of the year

I love love love the holiday movie season! If I didn’t have a job, I could spend all day every day going to movies and predicting which will be nominated for the upcoming awards season. Over Thanksgiving vacation, I was able to see two which I think we receive multiple nominations.

The first one I saw is “The Descendants,” with George Clooney. It’s by the same writers that did “Sideways” and “About Schmidt.” They are able to bring humor and life to middle aged men characters going through change. In this one, Clooney’s character must reconnect with his two daughters after his wife has a terrible boating accident. As he says, he was always the “substitute parent” to his wife. His daughters are quite the characters. The younger one is bullying girls at school and has quite the mouth. They have to go pick up the teenager daughter from a rehab facility. She decides to bring a guy friend along on the emotional journey the family has to go on during the film. It’s a realilstic story of family and is really heartwarming. I feel like the actors who play children in these indie movies that go on to win awards usually end up having great careers afterward and I think that will be the case for the two daughters and the male friend in this movie. The entire movie takes place on the various islands of Hawaii, which has made me really want to travel there now. The backdrops are gorgeous, the beaches look like screensavers and the water is that special shade of blue that apparently only the Hawaiian Islands get to enjoy. The only bad thing I have to say about this movie is that I think I am a little younger than the target demographic and at some parents when it was delving into the 50 year old male psyche, it dragged a bit for me. Regardless, this movie will definitely be getting a lot of buzz come awards season.

The other big movie I saw was “My Week With Marilyn,” starring Michelle Williams. This movie is based off a non-fiction book written by a guy who was in his younger 20s in England and worked on the set of a Marilyn Monroe movie that never got made. This was right before her big hit, "Some Like It Hot" and during her tempestuous marriage to playwright Arthur Miller. I was a little skeptical of this one, as Michelle Williams did not seem like a good casting for Marilyn to me. Williams seemed to wispy and not charismatic enough. I totally take this back because she transformed in Marilyn and it was amazing. I will be shocked if her acting in this does not get some form of nomination. Eddie Redmayne plays the boy who gets to work on the set with Marilyn and ends up becoming her friend. He does a fantastic job, coming off as lovably naïve and caring. Emma Watson (HP, woohoo) has a small role. Kenneth Branagh and Julia Ormond also embodied their roles as famous screen icons Vivien Leigh and Sir Laurence Olivier. I would recommend either of these movies to theater-goers this holiday season!