Urban Curry, 523 Broadway, between Kearny and Columbus, SFCA

    This was a vast improvement over Naan 'n' Curry. I brought along Mr. Brian Spiegel, who spent a couple of months in India, just to get an idea of how this food stacks up with the homeland style. The general consensus was 'pretty good'. His only negative comment was that the Lamb Tikka Masala (8.99) was a bit bland, but conceded that the Chicken Vindaloo (8.99) that he tasted first may have clouded his palate. I did the reverse and found it to be just fine. The dish at the top here is Aloo Tikki (3.99) kind of like a fat latke of mashed potato with herbs and spices, fried to a nice light crispiness on the outside. It comes with a tamarind sauce and the all-purpose spicy mint sauce, both seen in the background.
   I haven't included a pic of the  Navrattan Korma (8.99) because it was kinda blurry (hmmm, blurry curry...). This is an excellent vegetarian dish, with mixed vegetables and cheese in an onion-based sauce with dried fruits, herbs and spices.
    The Garlic Naan (2.99) was thin and crispy with actual garlic flavor, unlike some of the inferior naan I've had lately. Pictured below that is the aforementioned Lamb Tikka Masala, which had a decent amount of tender cubes of meat. The Chicken Vindaloo (second from the top) could have used a bit more chicken. This seems to be a fact of life here at most Indian/Pakistani restos and I would like to send out a message to all you guys: it ain't that expensive!!!
   And lastly, our Vegetable Biryani (8.99) would have been a meal in itself, and was a good complement to the other spicier dishes.
   Overall, I like this place. They have the usual buffet and they also feature karahi dishes, named after the wok-like pan that they are cooked and served in. When I saw these I was reminded of the great Balti (an area of Pakistan) food I had on Brick Lane in London. I going to see if anyone serves this style in the Bay Area.
   To see the menu, go to: www.urbancurry.com

Ziryab - 528 Divisadero, between Hayes and Fell St., SFCA

    I'll always miss the guy who used to inhabit this space. If you drove up and down Divis often enough, you couldn't help but see the wall of hubcaps and other junk plastered all over the front of the building. It was supposedly a front for nefarious activities of some sort. Well, all that is gone and in its place a nicely appointed Middle Eastern style house with a patio out front for those sunny days and a warm room inside. They have a full liquor license and an adequate bar stock for your cocktail pleasure. They also have a Lebanese beer, Al-Maza (4) pictured here. Your typical pilsner beer - tastes great when it's cold!
   I'm a sucker for Babaganouj (6) and the portion is generous, albeit a bit bland compared to others I've had (A La Turca has the best so far). The pita was fresh with just the right amount of chewiness.
    You can have the Shish Tawook (14) served with rice or couscous - I

 chose the latter. This was a nice portion of chicken, with a delicate marinade and good seasoning, grilled to perfection without sacrificing moistness. Being the dainty eater that I am, I saved about half of it for dinner.
   The City is awash in places that serve this kind of food and the menu isn't vastly different from others of its ilk. You do have a bit more ambiance and there's that business with the hookah, offering numerous flavors. Happy hour: M-Th 4 to 7pm; Fri 12 to 7pm; Sat-Sun 3-7pm.
For more info, go to: www.ziryabgrill.com

Nova - 555 2nd St., between Bryant and Branna, SFCA

    This is your basic nuts and bolts, downtown kinda place. Again, we had one of those coupons, $15 for $30 worth of food and drinks. Our starter of Buffalo Wings (8) came with your standard buttermilk blue cheese dip. The hot sauce was decent and the wings were meaty and moist. We had iced teas to go with our meal and I didn't get the price, but who cares? Janet went with the Lamb Meatballs with Capellini (14)
and this was pretty good, since there was so much of it I took about half home for dinner. The meatballs were nicely seasoned, the pasta al dente and just enough sauce to coat everything.
   I'm always intrigued to see how a resto makes their Cobb Salad (10.5) and this one wasn't vastly different from most I've had. I will say I think the spring mix hadn't been thoroughly rinsed, since I detected a little grit here and there. All the other ingredients were up to snuff, so I was basically happy.
   Nova has a number of infused vodkas - around 20 - as well as a decent selection of beer and wine. It's also conveniently located next door to the 21st Amendment brewpub and near the ballpark.
   To see the menu and hours, go to:www.novabar.com

Luella - 1896 Hyde at Green St., SFCA

   Guess what? I had another coupon to use up. So off to Luella went Ms. Rachel and myself. This was $33 for a prix fixe meal for two, with three choices in each of the three courses. At top is the Romaine Radicchio and Watercress Salad with Gorgonzola, walnuts and red wine vinaigrette. Nothing special here, but a good way to start. Next are the Veal Meatballs in tomato and porcini sauce. I should have talked Rachel into splitting the salad and meatballs in half - these were good.
   For the second course, Cheese Ravioli  with roasted butternut squash, wild mushrooms and sage brown butter. Again nothing fantastic, but perfectly edible. And then there's the Coca-Cola Braised Pork Shoulder with white bean puree and pickled red onion. The problem here is that the braising liquid wasn't chilled and the fat removed, so you've got that greasy coating on your lips that spoils it for me. Other than that, the meat was falling apart with tenderness, the bean puree lacked any real discernible flavor and the onion provided a nice tart rejoinder to the sweet sauce.

    Which leaves it all up to the dessert to save the day, and it did just that. We're looking at a Cappuccino Panna Cotta with Chantilly cream, and the Luella Ice Cream Sundae. I can say nothing bad about either - the panna cotta was smooth and creamy, the sundae a mountain of sweet excess.
   Let me warn you that if you want to come here, bring a Mag Lite. They like to keep it near dark, I imagine for some sense of intimacy and ambiance, which is OK with me if they put something besides a dinky little candle on the table.
   Two glasses of a nice Steele Pacini Zin (20) and two Espresso (7) rounded out this meal.
   To see the menu, go to:www.luellasf.com

Frances - 3870 17th St., between Noe & Sanchez, SFCA

   At long last we've made it to Frances, and let me tell you right now, it was worth the wait. Melissa Perello has done a marvelous job with this small, intimate space. Trust me, you'll probably end up chatting with your neighbors if you sit along the wall; you'll also get to see what they're eating. With a space this size, you keep the menu simple but you provide something that will please almost anyone.

   We started with some comped Panisse Frites (reg. 6.50) which is listed as chickpea fritters. I had visions of some East Indian style fritter with whole chickpeas, but this was an almost tofu/custard like consistency that melts in the mouth, served with a Calabrese pepper infused aioli.
   It's gotten to the point where I just can't resist anything with beets, which is why we ordered the Roasted Beet and Rainbow Carrot Salad (5.5) with wild arugula and sauce gribiche. I should have asked for more details on the sauce, since it's normally a basic mix of hard-boiled egg yolk, mustard and oil, with any number of diced vegetables and even chopped hard-boiled egg whites. I don't recall the sauce being anything like that, but it still tasted quite nice. I'll email Melissa and get the lowdown on this for you, dear reader.
   Onwards to our pasta dish, Spugnole with Cotechino (13) with black trumpet mushrooms and fiore sardo pecorino. Spugnole is basically a larger form of radiatore, a great pasta for catching and holding sauce. The pasta was perfectly al dente and the trumpets lent a subtle undertone to the pecorino. There was one nice fat slice of cotechino for each of us. An excellent dish!
   Something you see popping up on the menu in a lot of restos these days is the Bavette Steak (25), this one produced by Five Dot Ranch. Meat cut nomenclature has always been a confusing situation in the US. Some people say the bavette is just flank steak, others say it's from the short loin and also known as a 'flap'. I'll add that question to the list in my email. This was accompanied by toasted farro (Italian barley) ragout, maitaki mushroom and baby fava greens. The meat was medium rare and tender as could be, plus of a sizable portion. The farro is a welcome alternative to a starch and the sauce in the ragout was ideal for dabbing the meat in.
   Janet is a huge fan of scallops and I don't blame her. These Caramelized Scallops (26) were big and fresh, soft and buttery, served with a sunchoke puree, sauteed endive and nicoise olives. Between the steak and the scallops I'd say we had an awesome surf 'n' turf going here. I will say that for $26 I think one more scallop could've been tossed in there.
   Dessert was definitely in order, with Chicory Panna Cotta (7) topped with Mandarin orange, and a Clafoutis (7.5). Traditionally, this is made with black cherries, but here it's made with poached comice pears, topped with the cake mixture and then drenched in a warm burnt caramel sauce. Both of these were just exquisite.

   As I've joked to a number of people, Frances is a ten minute walk from my house, which may be both a blessing and a curse. For right now, let's say it's a blessing! To see the menu, go to:www.frances-sf.com

Trademark - 56 Belden Pl., between Kearny, Montgomery, Pine and Bush, SFCA

    Another lunch with well-respected businessman Doug Baker in busy Belden Place. Trademark lists itself as an 'American Grill and Bar' and I'll go along with that. A little champagne for Mr. B. and a Hendricks Martini (13) for myself. You can't get more American than Deviled Eggs (3) and these were superb, light and fluffy, perfectly seasoned. Add some Crispy Buttermilk Calamari (7) and you're off to great start.
   I needed some brain food, so I ordered the Pan Roasted Halibut (23) which comes in a court bouillon with baby bok choy, tomato concasse and saffron aioli. The halibut was sweet, moist and flaky, the bok choy retained a bit of crunch and the aioli lent a nice touch.
   Doug opted for the Scallop Salad (12) with Massachusetts day boat scallops, pear, orange, grapefruit and walnuts in a honey vinaigrette. It was pronounced 'good'.
   The low point here was the wine. A glass of Joel Gott Sauvignon Blanc (10) held what looked to be about 2 1/2oz. We commented on this to our server and she apologized, offering to pour some more, but Doug declined.
   The dessert menu wasn't all that exciting, but the Tangerine Creme Brulee (8) caught my eye so we agreed on that. I thought perhaps the custard itself would be tangerine-flavored, but not so, just four little segments plopped on top of standard creme brulee.
   While we thought the food was good, we won't exactly be rushing back, as there is so much out there waiting to be discovered. If you'd like to see the menu, go to:www.trademarksf.com

Chaat & Curries, 2026 San Pablo, at University Ave., Berkeley, CA

    The Tuesday Lunch Club finally got around to actually eating on a Tuesday again, and of course we had a coupon, $15 for $30 worth of food and drinks. This place, located in what should be called Little Mumbai (if it isn't already), is pretty bare bones but boasts that their curries are 'a good source of antioxidants and cancer-fighting carcumin (sic)', found in turmeric. Naturally we had some curry, but first a couple of appetizers. The Paneer Pakora (3.99), the farmer's cheese that you usually see cooked with spinach, is deep-fried in a spiced batter, and the Samosas (2.99) are the plain potato-stuffed variety. Both of these nibbles were good, but not exceptional.
    For curries, we chose the Navratna Korma (5.99) and the Chicken Vindaloo (6.99). Both of these contained tomato chunks, which I'm not used to but didn't mind. The vindaloo could have used a little more heat - it can always use a little more heat - and I had trouble differentiating between the two sauces. As a sidebar, the last time I had the heat actually exceed my normal desired level was at Zante's, at Mission and Cortland. I had sweat running down the back of my head. That's hot!
   A little rice and a Garlic Naan (1.99) rounded things out, along with a couple of cold beers. They have a few Indian beers in both 12oz. and 25oz. bottles. They will deliver from 6-9pm, seven days a week, to Berkeley, Rockridge, Kensington, Emeryville and some parts of Oakland, with a $15 minimum (6.99 delivery fee) and free on all orders over $25. This is not a destination restaurant, but adequate and cheap if you're in the area.

Grand Pu Bah - 88 Division St. at Henry Adams, SFCA

  
  I had trouble placing this restaurant, simply because I hadn't been in that neck of the woods for some time. What had been an empty lot has been completely developed, and if you're in the market for some ugly furniture there's a big store full of it right next door to the resto.
   Look at that Brown Rice (3), isn't it pretty? Well, on to the important things. I always try the Som Tum (Green Papaya Salad, 8) when I go to a new Thai restaurant, and I ask for it 'Thai style', which means hot and spicy. This serving was respectably warm, and the trick is to place some on your plate and then carefully drain off some of the dressing that's settled to the bottom of the serving bowl onto your portion.
   Chicken Satay (8) always reminds me of how cheap it is to eat on the streets in Bangkok. The peanut sauce here is thick enough to adhere nicely to the tender white chicken, grilled well and still juicy.
   You can get green or yellow curry with your choice of meat and/or vegetables, so we chose the Green Curry Beef (11) which had nice tender beef and a flavorful sauce but arrived at table at almost room temperature. I let it pass this time but not in the future. 

   You gotta have something fried if you're dining out with Mr. Charles Hardy, so we had them pony up some Crispy Calamari (9). There was nothing extraordinary about the calamari itself, it was like what you'd find in any good Italian resto; however, the lettuce bed it sat on had a light spicy dressing that went well with the dish.
   Who says we're not getting our vegetables? Mr. Hardy is a die-hard fan of the Eggplant (10) stir-fried with zucchini, carrots, green beans and chiles in basil-tinged sauce.The eggplant was cooked just right, without soaking up a lot of oil.
   This is a fairly large, nicely appointed space with a great full bar and good service. I hope they pull some people in from Potrero Hill and South Beach, maybe even some Giants fans.
   To see the menu, go to: www.grandpubahrestaurant.com