Tuna Around Town

While nothing beats a quality piece of toro sashimi, I'm a sucker for a good slab of ahi tuna. I'm actually at the point where I'll sometimes choose that over a steak and I'm a Midwestern, red-meat eating type of gal. In the last month I've had two terrific tuna experience that I think are worth sharing.

In August I went to check out Straw SF, which serves "upscale carnival food." I kid you not. This city has every type of dining experience you could ever imagine. The restaurant is small and the kitchen is open. While there's a kitschy feel, its not in-your-face carnival, though the air reeks of mini donuts. There's bright colors and whimsical touches. Luckily they skipped clown art for the most part. We sat at their special table, where they've converted a tilt-a-whirl pod into a corner booth. I ordered "Picadilly goes East," a spin on the traditional English fish and chips dish. They panko crust ahi tuna and serve it over either a bed of greens or house fried potato chips. Both options are served with rice wine vinegar and sesame aiolo. I would take this Asian version over traditional fish and chips any day. It was fresher, lighter and more complexly flavored. I was there with celebrating a birthday, who ordered the "nerd's inspired Shepard's pie." I can't explain the thought behind this name but it was a tasty dish. The ground beef and veggie stew was topped half and half with sweet potato and regular mashed potato. This meal is for a serious eater, as it's pretty hearty and comes in a big skillet serving size.

The second place I went to that served up a great ahi tuna was Foreign Cinema in the Mission. This upscale restaurant is in the old Mission theater and lives up to my ambiance expectations. The inside of the restaurant has a warm yet minimalistic approach. There's an outside courtyard with dining where old movies are projected on a brick way. Their menu changes constantly, as its California cuisine focusing on seasonal ingredients. They also feature a very thorough wine list that also changes constantly. When I was there earlier in the month,we started with a tasting of several oysters from various regions. It's amazing how different oysters can vary by size, taste and texture depending on the climate. For the entree I had seared ahi tuna atop haricots verts, baby carrots, butterball potatoes, hummus and fresh curry leaf. I'd never tried tuna with hummus but the textures and tastes go well together. I'm going to test mixing hummus with a can of tuna at home to see if that tastes good. If that experiment is a success then that's a healthy alternative to mayo. Foreign Cinema is also known for their fried chicken, although in my opinion it is not as good as Wayfarer Tavern.

Spy Flicks

I've pretty much loved every movie that has to do with spies (I'm sure there's some glaring exception that I cannot think of). If you love spies and all things British, one of my favorite series is MI: 5. Maybe in a past life I was a Ukrainian spy? I digress. This weekend I finally went to see "The Bourne Legacy." I'm a huge fan of the Bourne trilogy with Matt Damon and was wondering if this addition was going to ruin that. Damon was so good as Jason Bourne, how could Jeremy Renner measure up? I am happy to report that Renner stepped it up and the Bourne series continues in all its glory. Instead of replacing Damon with a new actor for Bourne, Renner steps into the role of Aaron Cross. Cross is part of a different program, that's an offshoot of the CIA's Black Briar project. Edward Norton steps in as the "fix-it" man for this new offshoot and is amazing. Norton has been noticably absent from films for the last few years, making a delightful appearance as the scout master in "Moonrise Kingdom." In this film, he's calculating, cunning and has just the right amount of a frosty exterior. I will confess, Edward Norton has always been a movie star crush of mine. It's kind of weird, especially considering his age, the types of roles he takes (American History X or Death to Smoochy anyone?) and that he's probably really short in real life, but I just love him. One of my favorite actresses, Rachel Weisz, plays the brilliant mind behind the mind and body alerting for this offset. It's always more believable when they cast someone who's probably intelligent in real life as a genius scientist (do you remember Denise Richards as the nuclear physicist in "The World Is Not Enough"). There's plenty of tie-ins to the original Bourne trilogy throughout the movie. Joan Allen, as my favorite director Pam Landy, gets a cameo. No sign of Damon in this flick, but with the way it ends there's the promise of Damon and Renner sharing the screen in the future. Definitely go see this one if you still have time to catch it in theaters.

On another note, I wanted to watch something awesomely bad. Sticking with the spy theme, I queued up "Abduction." It was ridiculously horrible. The movie stars Taylor Lautner (best known for his poor acting in the Twilight movies). While he insanely buff for a teenager, his face does not change its expression for the entire 106 minutes. This is Taylor sad, this is Taylor in love, this is Taylor angry.... apparently all emotion carries the same scowl (see image below for reference). Basically Lautner's character discovers via a missing person's site that his current parents are actually government handlers and his real parents were top-rate spies. He then, miraculously, evades hardcore Russian assassins and the CIA as he and his neighbor (Lily Collins) go on the lam. Apparently neither of them had watched a spy movie before. Stop talking on cellphones! Don't you know how easy it is to triangulate a signal and get your exact location. Also, don't park the car you know is burned outside a train station when you actually intent to take a train to escape. Wait for cable on this one. Or never see it. Unless you want to feel more like a secret agency than Taylor Lautner.

Seduced by Sushi

First off, apologies to the few loyal readers (my parents, a co-worker, a couple really nice friends), life has been crazy so I haven't had time to write! I got promoted at work so now I actually have to work :) Thanks for bearing with me and constantly pretending that my blog is an important read.

Onto the sushi! My first review needs to go out to my favorite neighborhood joint, Sushi Toni. When I moved to Lower Nob Hill in December, I left behind an apartment a few blocks away from Japantown, where there were sushi joints on every corner. I tried a couple sushi places once I was settled at my new place, but they were too close to Union Square, which meant they were over-priced and aimed at tourists. I always walked by Sushi Toni on Bush Street, but it looked like such a random hole in the wall that I didn't trust them to fulfill my sushi needs. Eventually I looked them up on Yelp, saw they had four stars and a ton of rave reviews so I decided to give it a try. I am now hooked. To be honest, I get carry out at least once a week. The waitress has stopped asking me if I need one pair chopsticks or two (apparently I order way too much sushi for just me). Last week I officially added them to my favorite contacts list so I could call them quicker. Their maki rolls are creative, tasty and affordable. The 49er roll (tobiko, siso, avacado topped with salmon and a lemon wedge) tastes just as good as the salmon citrus roll at Michelin rated Sushi Ran. I'm a huge fan of seaweed salad, so the fact that I can get it over a spicy tuna roll and call is a Swamp roll is pretty perfect. Yelp reviewers rave about the Romeo and Juliet roll (salmon and avocado wrapped in soybean paper, topped with scallop) and I have to concur. I like the Family Affair roll (tuna, white tuna and cucumber) even though they get a little carried away with the white and green onion garnish on top. The Red Dragon and Crunch rolls are also worth trying out. They're also able to make spicy scallop handrolls, which are a favorite of mine ever since I moved to SF. Basic maki rolls range from $4.50-$6.50 and specialty rolls are on average $9-$10. Everything is rolled well and made with quality ingredients. If you're looking for an affordable sushi dinner, this is the place to go.

The next place warranting discussion is Zushi Puzzle. When I ask San Franciscans what the best secret sushi places in the city are, they usually say Zushi or Sushi Bistro (coming up next). This place also looks like a hole in the wall and an unattractive gray facade. It's on a rather barren part of Lombard, which is still technically Marina/Cow Hollow but definitely on the edge. I've tried to go here before but there's always a wait and it seems to be always at least an hour. Plus they have some random business hours, which means I have to go to Mas Sake (which is good but like eating sushi in a Vegas club after 10pm). A friend and I finally got in on a Friday night by going directly after getting off work. I can't wait until I'm old and it's acceptable to eat dinner at restaurants at 5:30p. Anyway, we ended up trying a couple of the specialty maki rolls. I'm going to spare you the details. No one roll specially popped as being more memorable than the others. My main takeaway from this place was that there was a lack of skill/finesse. The sushi wasn't rolled very well. Every time we went to grab a piece, it would fall apart by the time it hit the soy. I was pretty disappointed by my experience, this place definitely did not live up to the hype!

After checking out Zushi Puzzle I had to check out the other local favorite, Sushi Bistro. There's two locations, one in Inner Richmond and in the Mission. I went to the one in the Mission that's fairly small but didn't have its usual wait that night. I think my favorite roll was the Billie Jean. I fully support the new trend of using soy paper as a substitute for the seaweed wrapping. The Billie Jean was filled with baby lobster, avocado and cucumber, topped with salmon. I have a propensity to order anything with tuna, so I also got the albacore dream, which is spicy tuna and avocado topped with albacore and their signature spicy sauce. I have to say, if someone asked me if I would recommend Zushi Puzzle or Sushi Bistro, I would hands down always say Sushi Bistro.