Colibri - 438 Geary, between Mason & Taylor, SFCA

   I ate here about five years ago or so, just after they'd opened, and I thought it was quite good in spite of being pricey. It seems to be weathering the storm, and now has competition from Tres (Agaves) and Regalito Rosticeria in the high-end level of Mexican cuisine. Nicely appointed in the style of a turn-of-the-century Mexico City cantina, with lots of dark wood and tile, you feel warm and cozy.
   You'll feel even warmer and cozier after a couple of Margaritas, which come in a number of variations, starting at $11. If you like your Guacamole (12), it's made to order at table side and comes with both regular chips and handmade soft tortillas, as well as a tomatillo sauce, mango sauce and red chile sauce that you can add to the guac to jazz it up. A gold star for this one.
   Unlike a lot of Mexican restos, beans and rice don't automatically come with every entree; those with an asterisk come with rice. I ordered the Enchiladas Divorciadas (14), which come with your choice of cheese or chicken - I had chicken. Arranged on top are a tomatillo-jalapeno sauce overlapped by a roma tomato-chipotle sauce, a nice contrast in flavors. These cost the same as the ones I had at Leticia's on Market, but were twice as good. I added an order of Black Beans (5), flavored with epazote, a popular Mexican herb whose Aztec root meaning is 'smelly animal'; it's also known as skunk weed and pig weed. The flavor was subtle in these bean, which also had a few chunks of what appeared to be queso blanco, or farmer's cheese, according to Mr. Justin Dossey who was accompanying me on this venture. 
   Now Mr. Dossey is a huge fan of Mole Poblano (16) and he said this was as good as it gets in terms of what you find in SF. The chicken moist and tender and the sauce not overly sweet and I agreed. There are, of course, a zillion recipes for 'puebla' style mole and it's a matter of taste.
   Overall, I like this place for a special occasion. It's a good place to take the parents when they come to visit
and want to be near Union Square or are attending the theater. 8 on the Food-O-Meter.
   To see the menu, go to:www.colibrimexicanbistro.com

Nob Hill Grille - 969 Hyde at Pine St., SFCA

  This was a nice late birthday treat from my friends Roger and Kimberly. I didn't scout the menu beforehand so that everything would be a surprise, sort of. Bone Marrow (sm. 5) is on a lot of your nose-to-tail restos these days and comes in a variety of serving styles. The presentation here is an approximation of what I had in London. The crostini for some reason were not toasted, and there should have been some good fleur de sel to sprinkle on the top. Radishes are a nice touch, but again, you need salt. The mustard helps to cut the richness of the marrow, if that's your aim.

  R. and K. are very fond of the Mac 'n' Cheese (6) and ordered it with bacon, but someone forgot to mention that to the cook, so we had to send it back and get that dang bacon added. Well worth the effort, this was some good mac.

   I was feeling beefy so I ordered the Beef Short Ribs (19), served with garlic mashers, sauteed spinach and a balsamic glaze. I gotta say, I'm tired of 'food towers'; spread things out on the plate so I can taste individual flavors. This was a healthy portion of well-cooked meat, the glaze very rich and a bit sweet. I had to take some home!
   Roger enjoys the Penne Bolognese (16), served in a house made red sauce with carrots, beef and Italian sausage. The pasta was perfectly al dente and not swimming in sauce, just coated enough to let you taste the other flavors. Again, a nice sized portion that could be split as an app.

   Kimberly was in the beef mood too and chose the Steak and Frites (20), a nice flatiron steak served with russet fries and herbed truffle butter. She asked to substitute some truffle fries for the regular, which the server said was OK, but again someone neglected to tell the cook...At any rate, the regular fries were good and the steak cooked to the desired doneness.
   You know there's always room for dessert and when I hear Peach Cobbler (7), it's just a given. Served warm with a chantilly creme, the fitting final touch to a nice meal with friends.
   This is a small place and apparently quite popular with the locals. By the time we finished, both levels were full and quite noisy.
   To see the full menu, go to:www.nobhillgrille.com
   They're open for lunch M-F and at Happy Hour (5-7pm, M-F) everything is 20% off.

"Where's the peppers and salseech?"

   Dr. Hammond and the missuz were up cavorting around Ft. Bragg last weekend and stumbled across a little place called Roundman's Smoke House, which apparently has an impressive array of goods, including this Hot Ass Sausage. The Hammonds know my weakness for the spicy things in this world and felt I should definitely have these. Although they come fully cooked, I simmered one for about ten minutes to plump it up a bit and then I fried it a bit to crisp the skin. Two scrambled eggs and a couple of Trader Joe's Waffles - not the best I've had - with fake butter and Grade B syrup and some decaf and the NY Times Crossword and you've got a good start on the day.
   Well, the sausage has a decent kick to it, using habanero, jalapeno and cayenne and other spices. It's on a level with any Italian hot sausage I've had in the Bay Area. So if you find yourself in Ft. Bragg, stop in and check it out.

Bullitt - 2209 Polk at Vallejo St., SFCA

    On approaching this place, I noticed an "Olde English 800" neon sign in the window, and I said to myself, 'on this end of Polk St.!?' Sure enough, they have forties, and you also get a condom and a brown paper bag with your purchase - don't ask. They also have Maker's Mark and Fernet on tap and a full bar.
   But let's talk about food. Six kinds of tater tots. I see I have your attention now. Tons of mac 'n' cheese with lots of topping options. And grilled cheese, including the French Connection (7.95), with ham, or more likely picnic shoulder, Swiss and grilled onions on sourdough; then there's the Wake and Bacon (7.95) with cheddar, bacon and a fried egg. All these come with house made tomato soup (very good) and spring mix. A pretty good deal in my estimation. Throw in some Jalapeno Poppers (6.95) and you have your balanced lunch, plus that beer that Mom never gave you with your grilled cheese.
   There are a slew of burger choices with not only Angus beef but bison, ground turkey, chicken and garden patties;salads for the weight watchers. They're open from 11am to 2am, serving food til 1:30am.
  To see the menu, go to:www.bullittsf.com

Cafe Divis - 359 Divisadero at Oak, SFCA

   It was laundry day and I told myself I was going to try the currywurst from the street vendor who's been parked outside the laundromat for the last two months or so, but of course he wasn't there that day. So, I decided to check out the little cafe across the street and this is what I came up with, a Turkey Panini (7.95) with havarti, bacon, avocado and tomato and a smidgen of mayo, on sourdough. A nice little spring mix with house vinaigrette to round it out, this made for a very pleasing lunch. Yelpers give it high marks for Blue Bottle drip coffee and various other snacks and free WiFi, yee haw!! So if you need a laundromat with parking and several places to grab a bite nearby, you know where to go.

Be My Guest Thai Bistro - 951 Clement at 11th Ave., SFCA

   I had to fly solo on this one, which was okay since my $25 Groupon just covered the meal nicely. The Corn Fritters (6.95) were a little larger than I expected and quite good, but they screamed for a dipping sauce. I kept thinking Indian-style mint or tamarind sauce. I'm sure the kitchen could come up with something, maybe even the standard sweet-sour mix.
  Up next was the Nur-Tod (6.95), deep fried Thai-style beef jerky. It's chewy, but in a good way, and as you can see there is a dipping sauce. I ate about half and saved the rest for that important late night snack.

   I had wanted to order the Traffic Jam (12.95), a sampler platter of red, green and yellow curries, but they were out of some of the ingredients, so I chose the Bloody Curry (9.95) with chicken as my meat. This is a savory yellow coconut curry with green beans, red and green bell pepper and a few chunks of pineapple. The chicken is well-cooked so it's a tad dry, and the beans I thought were a bit too al dente, but the sauce was excellent. To the right is some Sticky Rice (2) that's perfect for sopping up that leftover gravy. I cleaned my plate on this one, folks.

   This place has a pretty basic menu, and I'm not sure where they came up with some of the names for dishes. Also, this was dinner time and they insisted on playing that non-stop house/trance or whatever-you-call-it music. Again, not a destination resto, but okay if you're in the neighborhood. 7 on the Food-O-Meter.
  To visit the website, go to:www.bemyguestthaibistro.com

Bund Shanghai - 640 Jackson St., between Grant & Kearney, SFCA

  It seems like an eternity since I've been to Bund, and in my absence they've added some new items to the menu, including the Orange Peel Beef pictured here. While it's more of a Sichuan/Hunan style dish, it adds a nice bit of contrast to the light flavors of Shanghai cuisine. If you're abstaining from beef, they also fix chicken in the same fashion.
   If you're not familiar with Bund from my past postings, you can go to my Flickr account and see all the dishes I've tried. For whatever reason, you can't access it from a link posted here, so just Google up
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8256207@NO8. When you enter the site, go the to set titled 'Bund Shanghai'. Click on the first pic to get a full sized shot with the name of the dish. You can go through all photos by simply advancing.

Schmidt's - 2400 Folsom, at 20th St., SFCA

    Although my foster father was of Germanic heritage, the food from my childhood didn't include much more than braunschweiger and liverwust. I used to frequent a little place here in SF called the German Cook, at O'Farrell & Hyde. Even though the chef/owner was Austrian, he cranked out some mean daily specials, among them a dish called rouladen, a rolled stuffed steak that sold out consistently. Since those days, my consumption and knowledge of German eats has been pretty limited.

    Schmidt's, sister resto of Walzwerk, used to be open for lunch but is now open for dinner and brunch only. We went on a Friday around 7pm and it was already packed. I normally don't say much about decor and lighting, etc., but I will say they keep it fairly dark and minimalist.
   As for the food, we started with a Chicken Liver Mousse (9), served with grilled bread, red onion and pickles. Creamy, smooth and rich, just the way you like it! An excellent way to kick things off.

   I was in a mood for Veal Schnitzel (16), served up with fried egg, capers and white anchovy fillets, planted on top of some cauliflower and leeks uberkrustete, baked with cream and bread crumbs. I can't say I was knocked out, the toppings contributing the only flavor to an otherwise bland cutlet.
   Brother Brian opted for the Pan Fried Leberkase (12), a nice thick slice of a veal/pork terrine served with fried egg, roasted onion and some the tastiest potato salad I've had in a resto here. I wanted to switch plates! As you can see, we both added a side of spaetzle, and I honestly don't know if it was the norm for this dish, but I could've used some melted cheese on it.
  The best thing about our visit is that it has sparked my interest in Suppenkuche and the new place on Polk St. I have a coupon for a free beer at Schmidt's, so I definitely have to go back and when I do sausage will be fare.

Little Griddle - 1400 Market St., near 10th St., SFCA

   I'm getting hungry just looking at this picture. A recent addition to Market St., this little place has definitely got my approval. Although their capacity sign says '39' it looks more like 25. Pictured here is the Grandma's Griddle (9.65) with two light and airy cakes made with Clover milk, two cage free eggs and two Bruce Aidell Maple Sausages. What can I say? Everything was perfect, and they don't charge extra for the maple syrup - believe it or not, some places do. They do lose one point for using the word 'handcrafted' in regard to some fancy latte. Other than that, a winner!
  To see the menu: sanfrancisco.menupages.com/restaurants/little-griddle/

Yummy Yummy - 1015 Irving St., near 11th Ave., SFCA

   I went to this place about five years ago just for some pho and thought it was decent. The one thing that brings it up a notch is the extensive menu, with over 100 dishes. This definitely puts it in the dinner category for Vietnamese food. It gets busy but still has a shorter line than its neighbor, San Tung, one of my fave Chinese restos.
   Christine's friend Thatcher is visiting for awhile so he joined us and one of his choices was the Combination Salad (8.25) Goi Thap Cam, which comes with chicken, beef, shrimp and squid, julienned slaw and shrimp chips. Tasty!
   Christine voted for Grilled Clams with Special Sauce (10.95), Ngheu Nuong. The sauce was a nice vinegary mix with sliced jalapenos and the clams were sweet and tender.
   I can never pass up Squid with Salt and Pepper (7.75), Muc Rang Muoi. Nice thick chunks of squid, tender and not rubbery. While not quite as good as Yuet Lee's version, still a crowd pleaser.
  For filler material, we added Grilled Beef Sate (7.95), Bo Nuong Xa and a Shrimp Roll (6.25), Goi Cuon. Both of these were on a level with samples I've had in other restos. Fresh tasting with their own separate dipping sauces, the beef perfectly grilled, leaving a little bite to it, bringing back memories of street food in Bangkok and Singapore. Shrimp rolls are fast becoming addictive!
   I want to come back when it's not so busy so I can ask more questions about ingredients, house specialties, etc. All of our food was delicious and the service was excellent, the staff very accommodating. I'd say 9 on the Food-O-Meter.
  To see the menu, go to:sanfrancisco.menupages.com/restaurants/yummy-yummy

Toast - 3991 24th St. at Noe, SFCA

   My dentist is located in Stroller Valley and nothing makes me hungry like a good teeth cleaning, so I decided to indulge in some protein, fat and carbs at Toast, the squeaky clean replacement for the beloved Herb's Fine Foods, which I guess was just a little too long in the tooth for the newbies. This on top of the fact that they took over Hungry Joe's, another fine greasy spoon revered by old timers that's only about ten blocks away on Church St.
   Enough ranting; I had the Godfather Omelet (9.95) with Italian sausage, onions, mushrooms, peppers and American cheese, which tasted like Whiz. Not a bad omelet overall - my server, a lovely lady named Emily, assured me it was cooked in a pan, not on the flattop. The hash browns were crisp but very oily, and the toast was, well, toast.
   I'll probably try this place again in six months after my next cleaning and see how the Belgian waffles are. 6.5 on the Food-O-Meter. To see the whole menu, go to:www.toasteatery.com

City View - 662 Commercial, between Clay, Sacramento, Kearny and Montgomery, SFCA

Dan Tak - Custard Tart

Jean Dwoy - Sesame Ball

Rice Noodle with Dried Scallop Sauce

 Why can't you add captions without the pics going all over the place? Someone will enlighten me. At any rate, people have asked me where to go for dim sum in Chinatown, and while I haven't really decided where the definitive spot is, I do like this one. It's not bargain dim sum - you can easily spend $20-$30 per person. You can eat really cheaply at Dol Ho on Pacific, but then again the last time I ate there it smelled like a cat box. City View is clean and has a large downstairs area for banquet style dining. The food is consistently good and fresh, and they have rice plates and noodle dishes as well. I haven't seen any chicken or duck feet, but I'm going to ask next time around.

Gai Lan - Chinese Broccoli

Shrimp and Pork Siu Mai

Shrimp Cheung Fun

Pork Biscuits

Gai Bao - Chicken Bun

Uncle Boy's - 245 Balboa, at 4th Ave., SFCA

   You never know where those coupons are gonna take you. I didn't know what kind of food was awaiting me when I bought one ($5 for $10 worth of food and drink) for this place, I was just intrigued by the name. Well, it's a little neighborhood hole-in-the-wall that serves up a decent burger, somewhat reminiscent of Big Joe's #2 out on Monterey Blvd. Pictured here is the O.G. Burger Meal (7.25), a six oz. Angus patty with the basic works on it, fries and a soft drink of your choice. You can get the burger alone for $5.25. For such a small place they have a fairly varied menu, with a number of chicken sandos, hot links and garden burgers. There are several apps and they have beer as well as soft drinks.
To see the menu, go to: http://www.letseat.at/uncleboyz/menu
   I was very happy with my burger, so I'm giving it an 8 on the Food-O-Meter.

   I have a sweet tooth, and it's hard for me to go to Chinatown on Friday and not buy something for Saturday morning when it's time to do the NY Times crossword. Here's one of the things I like - it's called loh poh ban, or winter melon cake. I buy mine at the New Hollywood Bakery, 652 Pacific, between Grant and Columbus. This is the industrial size, weighing in at about 4 inches in diameter and 3/4 of  an inch thick. These sell for $1.10 each. They also come in a smaller version, about 2 1/2 inches in diameter. You may run across these in some bakeries where they will be almost an inch thick, and will have red Chinese kanji printed on top. They all go very nicely with some good quality oolong tea.

Little Joe's - 1106 Market, near 7th St., SFCA

  In the heyday of North Beach eateries, my three Italian staples were Adolph's, the U.S. Restaurant and Little Joe's. When I first started eating there, it was just a counter on Columbus, with Franco and Paolo on the line. Good solid workingman's food at a reasonable price. One of my favorite dishes was cacciucco, a Tuscan stew supposedly created in Livorno, the second largest city in that area. It is also supposedly the basis for cioppino, the Italian-American soup/stew created in San Francisco. Genovese folks will tell you it's based on one of their stews called ciuppin. While Little Joe's now spells it caciuco, the traditional spelling above allows the recipe to have five kinds of seafood - one for every 'c'. In the old days, it wasn't on the menu and was served only on Friday and Saturday. After Joe's moved to the Broadway location (would that it was still there), it was put on the menu and served every day.
   Those of you who've been here awhile like me know that Franco has moved all over the city, leased the name to a few people and was most recently in the Pickwick Hotel on 5th St. Well now he's moved again to the Renoir Hotel on Market. He's still waiting for a beer and wine license and the dining area has a few rough edges. But the Cacciucco (16.95) tastes about the same as it has for the last 40 years, albeit maybe a bit saltier. I went on a Sunday and I think perhaps Friday would be a better day, since the clams tasted a bit off and they were out of mussels. But I still got some crab, some medium shrimp in the shell, some jumbo shrimp butterflied with the tail on, clams and cod. If you're shy about garlic, this dish is not for you. There are no bibs, so don't wear white, and don't be afraid to ask for more napkins and bread - you'll want to sop up that leftover soup!!

Golden Star - 11 Walter U. Lum Pl., between Clay, Washington, Grant & Kearny, SFCA

   The Right Honorable Michael Manson and I continue our quest for the best in Vietnamese fare at yet another place I stumbled across by surfin' the net. Situated on the western edge of Portsmouth Square, this resto was doing a thriving business at 1pm on Friday, but we waited only about 2 minutes for seats. Our hostess was a real charmer in every sense of the word, offering to let me pay for the entire lunch, for what reason I can't recall.
   For openers, the Grilled Beef Salad Roll (6.55), Bu Nuong Cuon. Tender thin sliced beef with rice and mint and a subtle note of garlic, wrapped in rice paper. These were quite good, and as I've said before, I don't think you can go wrong with any kind of rolls in most Vietnamese joints.
   Just as I've made a quest for the best in Chinese, Mr. Manson has started his own search for the best Vermicelli with Grilled Pork and Imperial Roll (6.95), Bun Cha Gio Thit Nuong. He thought the roll was fine but that the pork was not sliced quite as thin as that served at Bodega Bistro, and not as tender either, so the Bistro is still ranked #1 right now. He did say that the portion size was very nice.
   I vowed to avoid pho for a change, even though everyone around was having it and it all looked good. I'm a sucker for a good seafood soup, so I chose the Spice Sweet & Sour Seafood Soup (7.75 for the small), Canh Chua Seafood (ca, tom, muc - fish, shrimp and calamari). In addition to the seafood, you have bits of tomato, pineapple, celery and sprouts. I added a touch of Sriracha to an otherwise delicious light broth, cuz I need that little kick. I liked this for the most part, except that I would prefer something other than catfish. Don't get me wrong, I grew up eating it, but one way and one way only - cornmeal fried, and that's the way it's going to stay.
  While Michael placed this resto in that middle range, I gave it an 8 on the Food-O-Meter. I see the Number One on the menu,  pho with all the beef ingredients, in the near future!

Limon Peruvian Rotisserie - 1001 S. Van Ness at 21st St., SFCA

   Tobias and I were intending to go to Schmidt's for a little sausage festival but alas, they weren't kind enough to call me and tell me that they're no longer open for lunch, the *&%#@$! So, we weighed the neighborhood options and me being on foot, we decided to hit Limon Rotisserie, the little brother to Limon on Mission St. This was my second visit and I've included pics from the previous one.
   We started with a Ceviche de Pescado y Camaron (9.75) that hit the spot on a warm afternoon. Nice amount of fish, there could have been a couple more shrimp for my taste, tart but not overwhelming.
   Chicharron de Pollo (8.50) came with a bit of salsa criolla, but we were smart enough to order a side of Rocoto Molido (.50), those fiery little peppers that make a perfect dip for meats. The chicken was tender and moist and had its own flavor from a marinade of soy sauce, garlic and aji amarillo. Very nice!
   Lomo saltado is a staple dish in Peruvian cuisine, and since it's served here as a small plate it's Lomito Saltado (9.75). Tender stir-fried slices of top sirloin with onion, tomato, soy sauce and French fries, you could almost cut the meat with just your fork. I tried to substitute fried yucca for the fries, but it's not possible - you have to order it as a side dish.
  We had room for dessert and went for the Profiteroles (6.75), a plate of miniature cream puffs drizzled with chocolate and caramel sauce - something nice and light!
   Throw in three Cristal Beers (4) and you have a lunch that comes to 53.93 plus tip. Not exactly a cheap date in the Mission, but a pleasant eating experience. To see the menu go to:www.limonrotisserie.com
   The dishes from my previous visit, starting at the top, were the Anticuchos, a popular dish of beef heart marinated and grilled, served with choclo on the cob; ceviche and Ensalada Rusa, a salad of seasonal root vegetables and peas in a mustard dressing, showing the influence of Russian cooking by the Jews who migrated to Peru during the Revolution; Jalea, a frito misto of seafood and yucca; and Rotisserie Chicken and Tacu-Tacu, an empanada style dish with a rice and bean filling.