Z'Tejas- Costa Mesa

GameBoy and I went to Z’Tejas last night before seeing Rent at the Orange County Performing Arts Center for two reasons: its location within walking distance of the OCPAC, and its happy hour. We sat ourselves down at the last empty table in the bar area, then promptly ordered drinks- a margarita for me, and a Budweiser for him. After GameBoy walked up to the hostess stand to check, we verified that their happy hour meant half-off appetizers. I had been here several times before, mostly with my family, and GameBoy had been here once before with me. I really like the catfish beignets, so we ordered some catfish beignets and perused the menu. I normally hate fried fish, but these are coated with cornmeal and the dipping sauce has a bit of a spicy kick, which really makes a difference. That, and they don’t overcook it.

The drinks and the beignets came out, and while the waitress was there, we ordered shrimp Tostitos, a chicken quesadilla, and guacamole. The guacamole came out and it was yummy- nicely spicy unlike many versions, with tons of chips. We had some leftover, and it we hadn’t been on the way to the musical, I would have taken the leftovers home. The chicken quesadilla was fairly good, and filling to boot. I had eaten a huge lunch from Maggiano’s at work that day, so I was completely filled, and couldn’t even touch their usually yummy cornbread. GameBoy felt full too, so we sent back the shrimp tostitos, though those looked yummy too. We ended up taking the cornbread back with us, and hopefully my mom will not have tossed it by the time I get back from work today.

The best part about it was that GameBoy and I ended up having all that, plus another $1 off happy hour drink each, all for about $35 including tip. We stumbled away pleasantly buzzed and full. Happy hour, indeed.

Z’Tejas
3333 Bristol St.
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
(714) 979-7469

Baker's Square- Davis

By the time we made it to Davis and checked into our hotel room, it was pretty late, so we were pleased to find Baker's Square was still open. My tooth was aching, so I ordered spinach and artichoke dip. GameBoy was starving, so he ordered a BLT. He was pretty please with his, but mine was not too good. The service was really nice, though. If I go back here, I wouldn't order the artichoke dip. Stick with the basics like GameBoy did. They did have promising looking pies here, which I might try when I come back.

Date of Visit: 4/20/07

Baker's Square
225 2nd Street
Davis, CA

Cattlemen's- Roseville

My second cousin and his wife recently had a baby, so GameBoy and I drove across Sacramento to visit them in Rocklin. On the way, we stopped for dinner at Cattlemen's. I had been to the one in Rancho Cordova about six years ago, and had a good experience, so we figured this location couldn't be too bad. It was located right off of the 80, which was convenient in the pouring rain. As advertised, they had plenty of parking in their lot. At 6 pm on a Saturday night, the place was packed with lots of families, young couples, and even old couples. We grabbed a pager and studied a menu so that we would know what to order by the time we were seated. As promised, we were seated twenty minutes later in a booth deep within the noisy resaturant. Since I was on painkillers, I ordered a Coke, but GameBoy went for a mug of Budweiser, which turned out to be a huge 25 ounce mug. Given his low tolerance, I thought that was pretty funny, and took a series of photos as he slowly made his way through the mug that night.

GameBoy loves filet mignon, so he ordered the "petitie" 7 oz. cut of that. I had heard that the sizzling prime rib was pretty good, but with my tooth aching, I decided to go for the filet mignon as well. We both ordered it medium rare, as is our custom. The dinners included bread, salad, beans, and a baked potato as well. The sourdough bread, despite the fact that we had ignored it for about 5 minutes, was still warm, soft, and deliciously chewy. Much better bread than had been expected for this restaurant, which, with its hokey Western theme, evoked memories of Claim Jumper and Lone Star Steakhouse. The all-you-can-eat salad arrived next, served family-style in a large metal bowl. Again, we were pleasantly surprised to discover that they used good ingredients in their salad. Our dressing, Thousand Island for GameBoy and bleu cheese for me, was served in metal gravy boats. I was pleased to discover that mine had chunks of real bleu cheese.

After a few small plates of salad, our steaks and potatoes came. GameBoy's was perfectly medium rare and yummy. Unfortunately, mine, while surprisingly good, was medium well, separated into two pieces, and a bit small for 7 ounces. I don't usually send food back, but this one got sent back, and GameBoy gallantly shared his with me. The baked potatoes were fairly standard, and served with the usual sour cream and chives for toppings. We added the butter served with the bread as well, but some bacon bits would have been nice. That's just nit-picking though- I love baked potatoes.

The bean girl arrived next, bearing baked beans in a big metal bucket, which she spooned into a cute metal bowl for us. The beans were only mediocre, but I don't really like beans that much anyway. The novelty was cute, though, and she seemed nice enough. This steak was noticeably larger than the first (and GameBoy's) and cooked rare. I normally prefer medium rare, but I felt bad about complaining again, especially when the servers had been very nice about taking it back the first time (I got free button mushrooms while I waited). Despite this, the steak was very good cooked rare, and I enjoyed every bit. I was going to shared some with GameBoy, but he likes his steak more done than that, so he only had a few end slices, and I ended up eating most of it- yummy! The button mushrooms, by the way, were not good, but I was so happy with my filet mignon that I ignored them completely.

All in all, a good experience for a good price (about $20 each for the petitie filet dinner). I'll keep this one in mind too.

Date of Visit: 4/21/07

Cattlemen's
2000 Taylor Road
Roseville, CA 95678

My new steak arrived fairly quickly, and

Cafe Bernardo- Davis

As we checked out of out hotel, I stopped at the computer in the lobby to consult Chowhound.com for a place to go for brunch. I was quickly pointed to Cafe Bernardo, a popular cafe in downtown Davis. We parked easily a few blocks away, then walked into the restaurant, which was bustling at around 11 am on a Sunday morning. We waited in a short line to get to the counter, then ordered and sat down at a table next to the floor-to-ceiling windows looking out onto the patio and the sunny tree-lined streets.

GameBoy ordered his usual two eggs over medium, toast, and rosemary breakfast potatoes. Acting on the Chowhound revier's tip, I got the Eggs Bernardo, which was a version of Eggs Benedict. It turned out to be two poached eggs over thinly-sliced rosemary ham and toast, and topped with a delicious hollandaise sauce. I like Eggs Benedict normally, but my main experience with it is at buffet brunches. This version was yummier. The eggs were poached a little more than I would have liked, but it still tasted good. My only regret is that I didn't get extra sauce, which only cost 50 cents more. I also got a small glass of orange juice which was very fresh and high in quality.

The restaurant also offered great people-watching, clean bathrooms, and fast service, all at levels higher than typical LA brunch hot-spots. Since I'm pretty sure I want to go to UC Davis Law School next fall, I'll keep this place in mind.

Date of Visit: 4/22/07

Cafe Bernardo
234 D St.
Davis, CA

Thai Cuisine- Bakersfield

Given this restaurant's generic name and its location in a seedy discount strip mall in Bakerfield, I was understandably skeptical of GameBoy's former roommate, QuietLawyer, when he suggested this place for dinner. Still, though, I was hungry and was willing to settle for anything that promised to be better than Benji's, the unmemorable Basque restaurant from a few weeks ago.

The decor wasn't much- very diner-like, with a few Thai Buddhist statues, some Asian instrumental music, and a very basic menu. We started with Chicken Satay, and ordered different types of curry for our entrees.

The Chicken Satay was surprisingly decent. Not spectacular, but well above what I had expected. It was relatively moist, and served with a peanut sauce and a cucumber relish. The appetizer came with 6 healthy sticks of chicken, which we gobbled up quickly.

Next came the curries. QuietLawyer got the green curry with tofu, which was the spiciest. GameBoy got the Panang curry with beef, and I got the red curry with chicken. These two curries were rated as medium spicy. The curries came with rice, and we spooned the curry onto the rice. Mine was yummy, despite the mysterious profusion of bamboo shoots. Not bad for about seven bucks.

The dishes used were surprisingly nice, without chips, with intricate lacquer designs in bright blue and gold. The place seemed clean, and brought our food out fairly speedily. For a restaurant in Bakersfield, this is a good bet.

Date of Visit: 4/22/07

Thai Cuisine (formerly Thai Gardens)
Somewhere in Bakersfield, a few blocks from the 99

Mother India- Costa Mesa

GameBoy likes Indian food, so we tried Mother India for lunch today. Like most Indian places, it had a lunch buffet for a reasonable prince- $7.95 per person. Eagerly, we headed to the buffet. Unfortunately, this wasn’t a particularly good buffet, even for an Indian lunch joint. There were two meat options: a mediocre chicken korma and tandoori chicken. While both were not bad, neither were they that great. This would have been fine if I could have supplemented them with the other dishes. However, the samosas were lukewarm and bland, the saag burnt, and the garbanzo bean dish unappetizing. I’m not sure if it’s our taste buds or what, but I normally enjoy Indian buffet more than this, even if it’s not my favorite cuisine. There was no lentil dish, surprisingly, and only the squash dish proved to be relatively okay. In addition, I got saag on my sleeve from where someone had smeared it on the glass protective cover. Since there aren’t too many other Indian options in the area, I guess this is okay if you have a real craving. But I’m not going back.

Date of Visit: 4/10/07

Mother India Restaurant

688 Baker St # 8
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
(714) 668-9661

Scardino's- Torrance

Due to my dinner at Basilic, I was late for my friend’s birthday party at Scarindo’s. By the time I got there, it was time for dessert. I ordered a limoncello, which turned out to be some sort of sweet lemon sorbet in a glass. It wasn’t bad, and for $5, it was a steal. Also quite nice was the $10 overall corkage fee, which was generous considering that about six or so bottles were consumed by the birthday party. The service was a bit slow, but it didn’t matter with all the wine. I don’t know how the food was, but I think it’s my friend’s favorite. Not bad if you’re in the area.

Date of Visit: 4/3/07

Scardino’s

4803 Torrance Blvd.

Torrance, CA 90503

Santouka- Costa Mesa

We tried to go to an Indian place we had seen along that strip of restaurants along Bristol, but the parking lot was set up for it in such a way that, despite two attempts, we were still unable to navigate through traffic to get there. Time was running short, so instead we headed to Santouka once again.

Based on GameBoy’s previous visit, in which, he gave me all the fat from his special Kurobata pork, I recommended that he get the regular pork, which was less fatty. I, having tried the regular pork a few days before, stuck to the special pork. This time, however, I branched off from my usual miso broth to the much-recommended shi (salt) broth. GameBoy tried the spicy miso broth.

The shio broth turned out to be a great idea. Though I like the miso broth, the shio broth was so amazing I found myself picking the bowl up to drink the last drop of broth. And anyone that’s ever seen Tampopo, that classic Japanese ramen movie, knows that this sort of broth is the pinnacle of perfection in terms of ramen broth.

GameBoy thought the shio was a bit too salty, but to me it was all juicy pork slurpiness. In contrast, the spicy miso ramen was not bad, but reminded me too much of my college days of instant ramen to be too enjoyable. The noodles, of course, were perfectly chewy, and the pork was delicious. The regular pork isn’t bad, either, but definitely go for the special pork if you can spare an extra buck or two- it’s well worth it. GameBoy, notoriously picky, still ended up trading me some of his regular pork with fat for a no-fat part of the special pork, which he agreed is fantastic.

Santouka is still the best quick lunch in Costa Mesa, hands down. Too bad you have to go through parking hell to get to it.

Date of Visit: 4/5/07

Santouka

Mitsuwa Marketplace Food Court

665 Paularino Ave.,
Costa Mesa CA 92626
(714) 557-6699

Basilic- Newport Beach

I originally discovered Basilic while searching for a nice place to go to dinner with GameBoy’s parents. We found it to be a tiny, cute Swiss-French place with lots of charm, great service, and yummy food. Unfortunately for GameBoy and I, such greatness does not come cheap. On our own, we decided the best time for a return visit was for their Raclette Night, which is held on the first Tuesday of every winter month. We tried to get reservations for last month, but the restaurant is so small that it books up ridiculously fast, and after a bit of a muddle conversation on the phone with the maitre’d, who spoke only heavily-accented French, I managed to get reservations for April’s Raclette Night.

I was running late, and by the time I showed up at the restaurant, GameBoy was calmly sitting by the raclette machine, sipping a beer. Raclette is a type of Swiss cheese that is traditionally melted, and eaten with potatoes and cornichons. Baslic uses an electric device to heat half a wheel at a time. The heat source faces down, against the flat surface of the halved wheel. As the cheese on top melts, it is scraped off onto a plate and whisked away to diners. Unfortunately, this device, similar to ones used in Swiss and French alpine towns, also gets hot if you sit too close to it, so we squeezed onto the banquette side of the table so GameBoy could avoid the heat near his chair.

The waiter, who surprisingly remembered us despite that fact that we had last been there in February, was friendly and helpful as usual. We ordered a glass of Fendant wine each, which is the traditional wine one eats with raclette. We also split an order of raclette, which was all-we-could-eat, and a plate of Swiss charcuterie. The charcuterie plate was not bad, but not spectacular either. Still it was good to have some meat with all that yummy cheese. It’s a bit strong for some people, and definitely makes you breath smell, but for me it was all worth it. I’m glad this place isn’t in LA, because then it would be even more packed than it already is. I can’t wait for next winter already!

Date of Visit: 4/3/07

Basilic

217 Marine Ave
Newport Beach, CA 92662
(949) 673-0570

Sushi Zo- West LA

Sushi Zo had gotten rave reviews from two of GameBoy’s friends, one of whom works for Bon Appetit (though in the marketing division). A quick search on Chowhound yielded very good reviews as well. GameBoy had been wanting to try it for a while, and last Saturday, we finally did. It’s located in a surprisingly shabby area of town, between Cheviot Hills and the Culver City/ Palms area, just east of the 10 on National. Though we were able to find street parking just outside, at 6 pm it was about 1/3 full, with an all-Asian clientele.

I’m not sure if it’s because GameBoy is white, or if we just looked clueless, but the first thing the hostess said to us was that this was not a place where they served California rolls or cut rolls. Familiar with the Sushi-Nazi reputation, we reassured her that we were still interested. Then came the next question- whether or not we wanted omakase. Though we had heard it was well worth it, the fact that a price wasn’t listed on the menu gave us pause. When we inquired as to the relative price, she told us it would range from between

$100-200. Though I understand that sushi can get pricey at top places, the location, florescent lighting, and unremarkable interior of Sushi Zo certainly did not warrant that price, especially since I had seen omakase menus as low as $65 at Sushi Sushi in Beverly Hills. Since GameBoy and I aren’t making that kind of money yet, we opted to just order a la carte.

Surprisingly, we were still seated at the bar, possibly because the tables were reserved. This is especially remarkable, because I’ve found that seats at the bar normally book up before table, since people prefer to banter with the chef. I began to understand, however, as we began getting our food. Though there were only four diners besides us sitting at the bar, the two sushi chefs ignored us, and we were forced to order over our shoulders to the waitress. Our only communication with the chefs were when we were gruffly instructed on how much soy sauce to use (or not use).

As I may have mentioned before, GameBoy is a bit slow at reading menus, and even I have to admit that the waitress came to take our orders way too fast. In contrast to, say, the impeccable timing at bushi-tei, the timing of the service here seemed calculated to make you feel rushed and unwanted. Since you order by the piece, it was difficult for GameBoy and I to coordinate our orders so that we both got food at the same time. I didn’t think this was as big of a problem as GameBoy, but then, I knew that they would serve one piece at a time, to ensure freshness, while he didn’t, adding to the confusion. While we could have just kept bothering the waitress for each piece, ordering from her made me feel like I should at least order a few each time, to save her time, whereas I would have felt fine ordering sushi one at a time from the bar. In any case, we didn’t enjoy ordering from the waitress at the bar. To make matters worse, there was a bit of a language barrier, and she didn’t get down all of our orders.

Once the sushi got ordered, however, it was quite nice. It was very good quality, but definitely overpriced for what we ate. GameBoy felt stressed about eating the sushi correctly, but I thought the little guide they had on the counter on sushi etiquette was helpful in maximizing my enjoyment of the experience.

Besides the pricing, which was too high for the service, atmosphere and location, I was also bothered by the fact that I had to keep moving to let the waitress remove my plate while I was still chewing. This may sound minor, but I like to savor each bite of sushi, not be interrupted. The worst was when I was prompted to order by the waitress when I was still enjoying my mirugai (giant clam).

Having gone to many Chinese restaurants, I am very familiar with poor service. While not atrocious, the service at this restaurant clearly needs some work. I left with the feeling that they were upset we didn’t go for the omakase, and that we weren’t particularly welcome there. The sushi was really good, but given GameBoy’s particularly negative reaction to the service at Sushi Zo, it might be a while before we go back.

Though it is possible we hit it at the wrong time, the flurry of negative reviews recently posted on Chowhound makes me think our experience was not unique. I think we’ll head to Sushi Echigo or somewhere else next time we want fine sushi.

Date of Visit: 4/7/07

Sushi Zo

9824 National Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90034

(310) 842-3977

Hours:

Mon-Fri 12:00 p.m.-2:00 p.m.

Mon-Sat 5:30 p.m.-9:30 p.m

Wahoo's FIsh Taco- Costa Mesa

Today, I continued to explore the strip of restaurants along Bristol just west of the 405. I had been to a Wahoo’s before in Aliso Viejo, but wanted to try the one on the corner of Bristol and Baker to see how it compared. Unlike the Aliso Viejo location, which was located in a nice strip mall, the Costa Mesa II branch was an old free-standing ramshackle building with low ceilings. Since it was lunch time, it was very crowded, and all the tables appeared to be full. Luckily, it’s a sunny day today, so I ordered my two taco combo platter to go. The food came out quickly, and I got back into my car and parked on the roof of our office parking structure to better enjoy the weather.

My blackened fish tacos were hot and spicy. Topped with a little pico de gallo salsa, the corn tortilla tacos were pretty yummy, and I gobbled them right up. Unfortunately, the ahi rice was too buttery, and I don’t like black beans. As far as beans go, they were fine, but nothing special. Next time, I’ll just order more of their tacos.

Date of Visit: 4/9/07

Wahoo’s Fish Taco

3000 Bristol Ave.

Costa Mesa, CA

714-435-0130

bushi-tei, San Francisco

Although we were only in San Francisco for a weekend, I wanted to squeeze in a meal at a Michelin-starred restaurant. Unfortunately, most of them were too expensive. After a methodical survey, I found two one-Michelin star restaurants in the city of San Francisco that were somewhat reasonable- Range and bushi-tei. Both restaurants looked good, but Bushi-tei got better reviews and seemed to have a more interesting menu.

It’s a Japanese-French fusion restaurant located in Japantown. Unlike Orris, that other Japanese-French fusion favorite of mine, however, bushi-tei is decorated with wood from a 16^th century Japanese building. As you can guess, the design is more high-concept, and the prices are correspondingly so.

We were seated by an older woman in a kimono, which is actually sort of unusual given that this was a sophisticated city restaurant and not, hopefully, a tourist trap. The clientele was sleek, sophisticated, and in their 30s and 40s. I was very glad I had worn my Dian von Furstenberg wrap dress. While not quite as label conscious as LA, the diners were definitely a cut above the vegan people last night.

I wanted to order a glass of sake, but the first one I ordered was out. Given the foods we were ordering, a white wine or sake would have been fine, but I though a Pinot Gris would hold up better to the heavier plates than sake. Well, that, and I can tell the difference between good and better wines more easily than I can for sake. In any case, GameBoy got some white wine, and I ended up with some Pinot Gris. It worked well for me.

We nibbled the amuse bouche, a piece of cocktail toast with green flying fish caviar on top, and perused the menu. Having filled up on cheese and fries late in the afternoon, we decided to order four different appetizers to split. The first appetizer was smoked sockeye salmon. It consisted of about 5 slices of salmon, sliced sashimi-thin, and topped with delicate paper-thin slices of radish and a few soy sauce-marinated ikura. It was a bit awkward to pick up the fish with our stylish wood branch chopsticks, but deliciously rich and flavorful.

Next was the ahi tuna tartare. The tuna was made of big-eye tuna, which was chopped and mixed in with other stuff, then piled high on top of an avocado base. It was garnished with the typical wonton chip, but a very good version compared to every other place in California that does this dish. The thing that set this apart was the generous helping of tobiko flying fish caviar on top. It was a nice dark red, and had a satisfying crunch we both liked. Still, I think it’s hard to taste the quality of the tuna this way, and I would have preferred to try other dishes. Very yummy, though, and something to keep in mind when making my own variant of ahi poke.

Our third dish was the miso-marinated Kobe beef. This was sliced sashimi-thin, and topped with sprouts, slices of apple and melted cheese. The Camembert was nicely smoky and flavorful on its own, and complimented the beef and toppings nicely. It’ve had Kobe beef once before, but this was much better prepared and even GameBoy, who generally avoids fat, ate every morsel. We also noted that the General Manager, who was dining next to us, ordered this. He ordered this as an appetizer, and his date ordered it as her entrée. Incredibly yummy, and definitely a must-eat.

Finally, we had the foie gras. This was seared and served in a dish with a pumpkin crème. As you might have notice from my review of Orris, I love foie gras, but this version was particularly good. It was seared nicely and contrasted well with the sweetness of the pumpkin crème. My only complaint was that it was somewhat of a small portion for the price. I need to learn how to sear my own, since otherwise I’m going to spend all my money on this indulgence until it gets banned in a few years.

During this dish, the owner came over to talk with us, which was quite nice and interesting. He was a short, well-groomed Japanese gentleman who spoke knowledgeably about his chef, restaurant manager, and the food. Though I suppose it’s very common for owners to go over and talk with customers, I felt especially flattered since I’m relatively younger than his target demographic. GameBoy seemed especially happy when the owner asked if he was in the hospitality business. Since his father actually is in that industry, it was fun for GameBoy to be asked this, apparently. The owner talked with us for some time, and returned later, which was very nice of him.

For dessert we split the apple dumpling, which the owner described as a signature dish of the chef. It was a good version of an apple tart, and had cute presentation. GameBoy stopped eating when we ran out of ice cream, but it was not overly sweet like many desserts, and I finished it on its own.

Surprisingly, the bill, while pricey, was not as high as for Millenium, despite the top-quality dishes we had ordered. To us, this reaffirmed our initial feeling that Millenium was not a good value for the money. In contrast, bushi-tei, though pricey, was well worth the expense, considering the quality of ingredients together with the sophisticated preparation and presentation of the food. The timing, in particular was of note, since each dish came out at just the right time, without making us feel rushed, or like we were waiting forever. I’ll definitely be back, but I might have to supplement this fine dining with food afterwards- the portions, like many similar restaurants are a bit on the small side. However, it made up for this with its beautiful décor. The wood added charm and character to an otherwise somewhat sterile design, the place settings were nicely done, and the fancy automated Japanese toilet was a fun quirky touch. Well worth a trip if you’re in town.

Date of Visit: 3/31/07

bushi-tei

1638 Post Street

Hotel California's WIne and Cheese Reception

After drinks and a snack with M, GameBoy and I headed back to the Hotel California to watch the UCLA game. However, we arrived in the middle of the daily wine and cheese reception, which featured complimentary cheap wine and cheese. We poured ourselves glasses from the carafes sitting across from the front desk, grabbed a few slivers of cheddar and Munster, then walked upstairs to the mezzanine to sit and talk for a bit. When drinking cheap wine, I’ve found that it’s generally better to go with red. GameBoy made the mistake of going with the white, but switched to the red, which was not really that bad, for the second glass. The cheese was nothing special, but it was free, and worked well in filling us before our 9 pm dinner reservations.

Date of Visit: 3/31/07

Hotel California

580 Geary Street, (formerly The Savoy Hotel),

San Francisco, CA 94102

Cafe de la Presse- San Francisco

As mentioned in my review of Wat Thai, lunch last Saturday was rather underwhelming. So I wasn’t surprised when GameBoy began mentioning, with increasing frequency, that he was hungry during our afternoon walking tour of San Francsico. Though we were in Chinatown when we began to look for food, I was hesitant to stop without guidance from Michelin or Chowhound, since I was wary of a tourist trap. Instead, we continued on to just outside of the gates, where we stumbled upon a cute French café in what M described as San Francisco’s “French quarter.” I saw a blue street sign posted on the corner of a building in French, so I guess he was somewhat accurate. In any case, the area, and the café had a great atmosphere. Café de la Presse vaguely rang a bell from my research, and it was Michelin-recommended, so we ventured inside.

It was around 4 pm, so we felt free to order drinks. I got a glass of Chimay Rouge, GameBoy tried a Kroenburg, and M got some sort of alcohol as well. GameBoy and I also split a cheese plate, which consisted of a semisoft cow’s milk cheese with a bit of blue veining, a creamy soft sheep’s milk cheese, and a dish of goat cheese in olive oil. GameBoy normally doesn’t like goat cheese, but either his hunger or the olive oil suddenly made it more palatable. The cheeses were pretty good to me, especially the sheep’s milk cheese. Nothing extraordinary, but above what I expected for the price and location. There wasn’t enough bread served with it, so GameBoy had to request more. We also got a cone of frites, which was served in a large metal cone, accompanied by mayo and ketchup. Again, basic but well-executed French cafe food. All in all, a yummy experience.

M got some sort of dessert, which he was pleased with, but he ate it so fast I didn’t get a chance to taste it. This cafe is a nice place to keep in mind should I return to the area.

Date of Visit: 3/31/07

Café de la Presse

352 Grant Avenue,

San Francisco,

California
Telephone: 415-398-2680

Millenium Restaurant- San Francisco

This past weekend, GameBoy, M, and I went up to San Francisco to attend the UC Hastings Admitted Student Day. To maximize out dining experience, I did some quick research at work. Since M could only get off work at 2 pm, we ended up leaving Orange County at around 3. Not surprisingly, we hit a lot of traffic getting out of LA. Thanks to GameBoy’s efficient driving, however, we were able to roll into the Hotel California at around 10 pm. While GameBoy handled our check-in, I ran to the hotel restaurant, Millenium, in an attempt to make our 10 pm reservation. Leaving M to hold down the table, GameBoy and I raced upstairs to our tiny hotel room to drop off our bags, then joined him for dinner.

We were seated in a large booth near the bar area of the restaurant. Since the Hotel California’s building dates back to the turn of the century, it had high ceiling and nice, dark wood. The restaurant area was a curtained-off section of the lobby near the bar, but the high ceilings made it seem much larger than it was.

Though the hotel had provided us with frosted tequila shots at check-in, GameBoy and I opted for beer- an Ommegane Witte for me, and some sort of pilsner for GameBoy. M, less of a beer drinker, ordered a French 75, which proved to contain currant seeds. M was very excited about this, since apparently it’s an ingredient that’s hard to find. Mostly, I was just puzzled as to why it was so different than the French 75 at French 75 restaurants in LA and Orange County.

M was really eager to try the four course tasting menu, and one could only order it if the whole table did so, so GameBoy and I somewhat hesitantly agreed to do so. The reason for our trepidation was that Millenuim is a highly regarded vegan restaurant, and the tasting menu cost $48 per person, before tax and tip.

Our first course was a strawberry salad, which, while yummy was basically a salad with nuts, topped with strawberries, something one could easily do at home. We were so hungry from the trip that this was scarfed down quickly. Once we realized how unfilling it was, M and I started to get worried.

The next course was a tiny triangle of mushrooms over polenta. The presentation was nice, but it was too small to be filling, and again, we had questions about the monetary value of the ingredients.

For our main course, we had a choice between an Asian-influenced black rice cake or artichoke over risotto. M got the rice cake, and GameBoy and I opted for the risotto. Both were good, and the rice filled you up. The waiter made much ado about the seitan sausage, which, in my mind, does not taste at all like sausage. We were very hungry, so we cleaned our plates, but I think I just don’t like still feeling hungry or ripped off.

I don’t normally finish desserts, especially rich chocolate ones, but I devoured my chocolate brownie sundae. It was decent, but the strawberry banana sorbet was a bit too sweet, and it lacked the creamy goodness of non-vegan desserts.

The food was not bad, but I don’t think I’ll go back here unless someone else is paying and I’m very full already.

Date of Visit: 3/30/07

Millennium Restaurant
580 Geary Street
San Francisco, CA 94102
Tel: 415-345-3900
Fax: 415-345-3941

Orris- West. LA

After a few bottles of wine and some good cheese, GameBoy’s friend Ember, M, and Beta stumbled a bit tipsy down the street with GameBoy and I to Orris. Since it was a Sunday night, we walked in and were seated at the bar right away. To continue our buzz, we ordered some sort of nice red wine. Unfortunately, I haven’t the slightest idea what it was, other than to say it was good. M and I decided to split the foie gras, shrimp mousse ravioli, and the seafood spring rolls. However, due to our late arrival, they were out of both the ravioli and the spring rolls, so we ordered the seafood salad and roasted quail instead. In addition, we ordered a Seafood salad, featuring Maine Lobster, squid, tomatoes, cucumber, and green beans. Finally, M selected the quail, which GameBoy and I had had before, and rather enjoyed. GameBoy, familiar with my passion for foie gras, split another order of the foie gras, which came seared atop a chunk of Japanese eggplant in shoyu sauce.

The food here is a bit pricey for my current salary, but compared to pricier and trendier small plates options in LA, such as the overrated A.O.C., Orris has better quality food for less cost. The service is good, and I like that they don’t take reservations, so you can actually go to a good place on a moment’s notice. Parking is readily available, both in the lot and on the street. One of my favorites delivered once again.

Date of Visit: 3/18/07

Orris

2006 Sawtelle Boulevard
Los Angeles, California 90025
(310) 268-2212