House of Banquet (SF/Inner Richmond, Dim Sum)

Via EaterSF I found this map of someone’s favorite dim sum houses in the city, and having no lunch plans, and a bit short on time, Sarah & I decided to try out House of Banquet.  We arrived at 11:15am on a Wednesday and walked upstairs, surprised to find the rather large dining room completely packed!  It took only a few minutes for a table to open up, however, and we sat down, ordered a pot of oolong, and set about watching for carts.

It’s always difficult for me to be objective about dim sum halls, as I love the hustle, bustle, and the randomness of carts coming by, contents unknown.  We started with shrimp stuffed tofu, which was great.  The tofu had a crispy fried exterior and a piping-hot interior, topped by a crispy shrimp.

Next we had Har Gao, which had fairly thick, chewy wrappers, and big pieces of shrimp inside, then continued with Siu Mai, which was very good, with more flavor than many.

In addition to Har Gao & Siu Mai, I always get the Char Siu Bao at a new dim sum place, and House of Banquet’s was very good indeed.  My favorite is still at Ton Kaing, but this one was a close second.  The bun was perfectly fluffy and light, and the char siu within was flavorful, with a lot of ginger, and not gummy.

Still hungry, and not seeing the stuffed wide noodles we often enjoy, I picked a seafood dumpling.  The filling was tasty and had a nice texture, however the tips of the dumplings were hard, presumably due to too much re-heating.

We thought we were done until we saw many folks digging into green balls.  Three children at a nearby table were particularly enthusiastic about them, so we decided they must be one of the dessert balls, and ordered one from a very-helpful staffer who came by and asked if we wanted anything from the kitchen.  The balls turned out to be black sesame balls, one of my favorite dim sum sweets, and these were a good, if slightly too-sweet rendition.

Service throughout was informal, as befits the tea house setting, but was unfailingly friendly and attempted to explain what some of the dishes were, despite there being a bit of a language barrier.  Our tea, a tasty oolong, was refilled often, and several times a friendly maitre’d came by to see if we needed anything other than what was on the carts.

The real treat, however, was the bill - just $14 before tip for the two of us!  Although I have not been to many tea houses in the Inner Richmond, House of Banquet is the best of the ones I”ve sampled.  We’ll definitely be back.

My rating: Very good

House of Banquet (website)
939 Clement St.
(between 10th & 11th)
San Francisco, CA (map)

Santorini (SF/Downtown, Mediterranean)

Sarah, Linda & I dined here before a show at Grace Cathedral on 28 May and had quite a mixed experience. We chose the place largely because they were (sort of) close to Grace Cathedral, and had a table for 3 available at 5pm on opentable.com.

Sarah & I arrived a few minutes before Linda and were promptly seated. We perused the menu, which features the usual greek/mediterranean items - dolmas, hummus, tabbouleh, moussaka, gyros, and so on. Once Linda joined us, we decided to start with the “Santorini Island Platter” ($15), a combo appetizer of dolmas, hummus, tabbouleh, babaghanoush, falafel, and spanikopita. Linda & I liked the dolmas (which Sarah detests as a rule, and generally avoids), but the falafel was only so-so, ditto the hummus, which wasn’t any different than what we get in tubs from Trader Joes. The baba was better (as it is at most places). The spanikopita was flavorful, and had a nice crispy exterior.

For entrees, I had the Smoked Pork Chops ($17), Linda the Adana Kabob ($14), and Sarah the Chicken Souvlakia ($15). Quite a mixed bag here…. My chops were tender and smoky, with perhaps a bit more sweetness than would have been ideal, but they were otherwise very enjoyable. Sadly, the same could not be said of either the chicken nor the adana kabob, both of which were very, very dry and had little flavor. Linda also had to send her plate back, as the (overcooked) vegetable side was cold, and Sarah felt moved to order a side of tzatziki ($1.95) to add some moisture back to her dish.

Sarah & Linda each had 2 glasses of Bolla Pinot Grigio ($4.95/glass), while I had 2 of Gnarly Head Zin ($6.95/glass). About an average wine markup, I think. Service, much-maligned on Santorini’s Yelp page, was fine, not especially attentive, but not bumbling either. Our total (1 combo app, 3 entrees, 6 glasses of wine) was $103 after tax, before tip. Although I liked my pork chop, I would have to explore many other restaurants in the general area before feeling moved to return.

My rating: Mediocre

Santorini (website)
242 O’Farrell Street
San Francisco, CA (map)

Welcome!

Welcome to my newly-created food blog. I imported all of the food-related posts and comments from my nature blog to give them a place of their own.

Over the next few days I will be working on recategorizing the existing 100+ posts, and then adding new content.

Also, please visit my restaurant review archives, which are pretty extensive, although less up to date than what is posted here.

Best,

Adam

Magnolia (SF/Haight, Brewpub) reopens

After 10 days of being closed for remodeling, my neighborhood brewpub, Magnolia, reopened yesterday (22 May). Sarah & I dropped in at 6pm to check out the makeover.

The interior is much-changed, and gone is the signature Grateful Dead-inspired mural, replaced by a gold paint effect that mimics water leakage and damage. It’s a little stark (our waiter said they do plan on putting up some art), but nice. The new tables, made of wood salvaged from the old Levi’s building, are very nice, ditto the dark-paneled and black-upholstered booths. The bar’s kick-out is gone, and the west side of the dining room has a long communal table, one of the new’ish restaurant trends, and one that I rather like.

Menu-wise, the focus has landed squarely on their house-made charcruterie and sausages, with the former available, along with a selection of 5 cheeses, a la carte, and the sausages, 6 of them, are $12 which includes your choice of two sides. Local catch & chips, a $14 burger (ouch!), and various specials round out the menu. The new format encourages getting a bunch of smaller plates and sharing.

Before they closed we’d had the new burger a few times, and although $14 is a lot of money for a burger, it is very good, in my opinion the best one Magnolia’s served in the 5+ years I’ve been going there. Still, Nopa, Zazie, and The Richmond all have at least equally good burgers for less money.

This time we started with their brewer’s yeast pizza ($11) with cheese, mushrooms and watercress. The new chef previously worked at Pizzetta 211, one of our favorite SF pizza joints, and this pizza was worthy of that heritage, although not a thin or crispy-crusted a 211’s pies.

For entrees, Sarah had the local catch & chips (a ling cod), $14, and I had the lamb sausage w/sides ($12). I got the wrong sides, lentils and chard, but they were delicious, so I didn’t mind at all. The lentils were perfectly cooked, with some tooth in them, and the chard was sauteed with rather a lot of garlic. Presented in a spiral shape, the lamb sausage was very flavorful, if a touch dry. Even Sarah liked it, and she’s not a big fan of lamb generally. The F&C were good, with neatly-stacked fries and 3 fillets of moist cod. As has always been the case at Magnolia, however, the breading was a little doughy and not as crispy as would be preferable.

Service can be hit & miss, but opening day with a new menu isn’t the time to be critical, and they generously comped our sausage dish for having gotten the sides wrong.

All told, I’m pretty happy with the new Magnolia - although the prices make it one of the most expensive brewpubs around, the food has improved greatly, and their focus on local and house-made ingredients is welcome.

Olivia’s Brunch and Fine Dining Restaurant (SF/Outer Mission, Breakfast)

Wanting to try somewhere new en route to pickup our Boccalone box, Sarah & I checked out this place after nearby Pastore’s (noted on Chowhound for their chilaquiles, one of my favorite breakfast dishes) proved to be closed until Jan 18.

Located in a nondescript and somewhat run down section of town, Olivia’s featured heavy bars on the windows and doors and 60’s-era decor, with vinyl-covered seats and suchlike. This is the sort of place I’d never have noticed if it hadn’t been mentioned on an internet forum. Aside from us, a regular was at the counter, and one other table was occupied. We were seated promptly by a friendly fellow who took our drink order and left us with the menus.

The breakfast/brunch menu has the usual american standards, along with huevos rancheros and chilaquiles (both around $10). I chose the green chilaquilles after our waiter said they were spicy, while the red chilaquiles were not. Sarah, upon hearing that there was a choice in sauces on the chilaquillaes, a fact not mentioned in the menu, changed her order from huevos rancheros to red chilaquiles.

Our OJ arrived freshly squeezed and delicious, just like it should be, and the coffee was decent as well. Their very large boombox played a strange mix of Latin electronic dance music, 80s one hit wonders, and modern tunes.

My chilaquiles were tasty, although a somewhat different prep - the plate consisted of 3 piles, one of creamy refried beans, one of somewhat overcooked scrambled eggs, and one of tortilla chips drizzled with a tangy green (tomatillo, I assume) sauce. The eggs were forgettable, but the beans and chips/sauce were rather good. Sarah’s red chilaquiles weren’t as good, however, and the red sauce was too rich and too savory for breakfast, with a hefty infusion of garlic.

This was a nice place to try, although with its out-of-the-way location and so many other places in the general area, I don’t know that we’ll be back soon.

My rating: Good

Olivia’s Brunch and Fine Dining Restaurant
3770 Mission St.
San Francisco, CA (map)