Mariam – Page 74 – Yogurtsoda

Hon’s Wun-Tun House

April 15, 2012

If San Francisco’s Chinatown had an official hole-in-the-wall restaurant, Hon’s Wun-Tun House would be it. Homely, bare-bones, and crowded, Hon’s is where I go when I need a comforting bowl of noodle soup, and fast.

I’m not sure when the seemingly-dated menu was last updated at Hon’s, but I usually get the first item: wun-tun and noodle in soup. After I add my requisite garnish of chili oil, I’m in comfort food heaven. The noodles have a good bite, the wontons (or wun-tuns) are full of shrimp and meat, and the broth is flavorful without being greasy. My only complaint is that the serving size is small (a bowl costs under four dollars), so sometimes I explore the menu and order a second dish to share with my dining companions. Curry beef or offal with sauce, anyone?

Speaking of dining companions, some staff at Hon’s speak English, but it’s helpful to go with folks who speak Cantonese. Service can be slow when Hon’s is busy (which is often), but once you’ve ordered, food arrives quickly. Stick to the noodle soups here and you’ll understand why there’s nearly always a crowd at Hon’s.

Cha-Ya

April 8, 2012

I’ll be honest. Dining out at a vegetarian, let alone vegan, restaurant is rarely at the top of my list. Don’t get me wrong — I appreciate produce as much as the next health-conscious Bay Area girl, but I like meat. When my friend Natasha suggested we try vegan Japanese cuisine at Berkeley’s Cha-Ya, I was a little skeptical.

We sat down for lunch on a sunny afternoon and per Natasha’s recommendation, ordered the summer green roll as an appetizer. Any judgement I had over vegan fare quickly went out the door once our rolls arrived. We were served four large pieces of a reverse roll with avocado, cucumber and kaiware, topped with sea vegetable salad. (The sea vegetable salad, available as a separate menu item, is mostly seasoned hijiki seaweed, which I love.)

For my entree, I ordered the sansai hot soba noodles, served with ferns, nori, bamboo shoots, carrots, and enoki and wood ear mushrooms. This was my first time sampling edible ferns, and they were delicious. For a meatless dish, the mushrooms and noodles were filling enough that I couldn’t finish my bowl. I admit that I missed the umami-laden flavor of the traditional dashi broth (which contains fish) that’s typically found in soba, but I was satisfied.

I’m not sure I’ll be quitting steak any time soon, but my idea of vegan cuisine was indeed misplaced. And oh, Cha-Ya has an outpost in San Francisco’s Mission District too, for all the vegan hispsters.

Asmara

March 17, 2012

Oakland has no shortage of quality Ethiopian restaurants, but I usually find myself going to the same one and over again. When a friend suggested I try something new for dinner, we decided to go to Asmara, her favorite Ethiopian restaurant.

Located in Oakland’s Temescal district, Asmara is casual and cozy, with warm service. My friend and I were hungry, so we quickly ordered our meal. I’m a fan of tibs/tebsy (strips of marinated beef cooked in berbere sauce) just as much as the next meat-loving girl, but I was craving something lighter so I opted for the vegetarian combination.

My meal included yemissir wat (lentil stew cooked with berbere sauce), kik alicha (split peas cooked with spices), and ye-gomen alicha (mustard greens cooked with spices). This was served alongside a green salad, stewed potatoes and injera bread (oh glorious, tangy, spongy injera). The split peas were my favorite, but the best part was being able to sample all of the complexly flavored dishes at once. My “light” meal ended up not being so light after all, and I couldn’t finish my plate.

I’m glad I branched outside of my go-to Ethopian restaurant, and Asmara didn’t disappoint. Next time, I’m going for the tibs.

Himalayan Restaurant

March 12, 2012

If you told me a few years ago that some of the best Himalayan cuisine in the Bay Area would be in Sonoma County, I wouldn’t have believed you. The wine country has some terrific restaurants, but culinary diversity isn’t the first thing that comes to mind — especially in the sleepy town of Windsor, where the aptly-named Himalayan Restaurant opened up last year.

I visited with my family on a recent afternoon, hungry and curious to sample their Nepalese and Indian specialties. We started with a yellow lentil soup.

Hearty and cumin-flecked, this is comfort food at its best. Pureed legume soups are de rigueur in a lot of South Asian restaurants, but not all lentil soups are created equal. This one was freshly cooked and richly flavored.

For lunch, I had the lamb momos. These were my first momos, and they were deliciously juicy and beautifully pleated. The ground lamb and onion filling was encased in a slightly chewy dough and served alongside a mild sauce.

My family also shared an order of lamb keema matar (so creamy! so spicy!), lamb tandoori (so sizzling! so tender!), brown rice, and green salad. The salad was run-of-the-mill, but everything else was outstanding. To end my meal, I sipped on a cup of masala chai.

I’ve been back a few times since my first visit, and service has been consistently warm and friendly. Windsor might not be the first place that comes to mind when I think of Nepalese and Indian cuisine, but the secret is out. Himalayan Restaurant is serving some of the best South Asian fare this side of the Golden Gate.

Cotogna

March 5, 2012

“Oh, Cotogna? It’s overrated,” said a friend when I floated it as a dinner idea. “Cotogna is the best Italian food I’ve had in the city this year,” said another. I decided to find out for myself one evening and met up with a friend who hadn’t tried the restaurant yet. Straddled between the Financial District and North Beach (and adjacent to its parent restaurant, Quince), Cotogna was packed when we arrived for a weeknight meal, so we took advantage of the balmy weather and were seated outside.

Billing itself as a celebration of rustic Italian cuisine, Cotogna’s menu also seemed (perhaps unintentionally) influenced by Californian fare, and we ordered accordingly.

We started with the little gem lettuce salad, which was, well, exactly that. I love lettuce just as much as the next yes-please-I’ll-have-the-organic-greens eater, but I hoped this salad would have included a bit more than a light, piquant vinaigrette.

Next, we shared the sea urchin pizza with cauliflower and jalapeno. It may sound like an odd combination of ingredients, but curiously, it worked. The sea urchin was fresh and creamy and complimented the cauliflower’s texture. The jalapeno provided a much-needed kick, and the pizza itself was a wonderfully crispy, chewy vehicle for it all.

We ended our meal with a side of perfectly-cooked beets with creme fraiche and pollen. I love beets in any shape or form: roasted, pickled — you name it. I couldn’t taste the pollen here (to be honest, I’m not sure if pollen is supposed to taste like anything) and I didn’t really need the creme fraiche. Just give me the beets, thanks.

Conflicted reviews aside, Cotogna is a welcome addition to the city’s crop of rustic Italian restaurants. If you’re looking for a farmhouse feel in the middle of the Financial District (albeit with a crowd), look no further.