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.