I can make this at home for cheaper...

SFGate.com had an interesting article today about restaurant mark-ups on food - Restaurant markups deconstructed.

Whenever I go to a restaurant, I always look at the menu and base my choices on 3 questions:

1. Can I make it at home?
2. Can I make it at home, but never cook it?
3. What is the price of ingredients and cooking time in relation to the cost of menu price?

Basically, is it worth it to me?  I know that to base my choices on these types of questions makes me a horrible foodie, but I am also first & foremost a frugal Asian person.  For example, I hardly ever order pasta because it's so cheap to make it at home.  Unless it's gnocchi...I effing love freshly made gnocchi and making it at home just isn't the same.  I'm Asian, not Italian.

So now, after reading this article, I will have to make some adjustments to what's considered 'worth it.'  I never thought about the cost of insurance needing to be factored into my food.  From now on, I'll know that it costs $1 just to wash my cup of free water.

Burger Throw Down

A Ham Burger Today did a taste test against In-N-Out vs Five Guys vs Shake Shack.  In-N-Out clearly won based on their own scoring criteria.  However, they pretty much said, 'Fuck the scoring sheet.  Shake Shack is the winner.'

Numbers aren't everything, and the Shack's dominance in the meat department should clearly be weighted more heavily than the other categories.


Seriously?  You created your own scoring sheet, but decide that it's really not that important since your fave burger place didn't win.  I was excited to read the article, but then when I saw how they came to the results I felt like I was being Bush-boozled.

Long Meadow Ranch Winery & Farmstead

2 dollar corkage fee!

BF, mom, and I went to wine country for Mother's Day.  After boozing it for several hours we had a late lunch at Long Meadow Ranch Winery & Farmstead.  This place is effing amazing - cheap corkage fee, fantastic food, and you get a token to drink more for FREE in their tasting room.

STARTERS

Creamy Mac + Cheese

Pretty dang creamy & cheesy.  It was good, but I'm not a mac & cheese person.  Mom & I had a bite each while BF slopped up the rest like a Dyson.



Cheddar Biscuits With Honey Butter

My friends know that I have had a long time obsession with butter.  (BTW, fave butters are Spaghetti Factory's garlic butter and Neiman Marcus' strawberry butter) But these biscuits were so oily and cheesy to begin with that I didn't put any butter on it.  Slightly crispy on the outisde and warm, moist, and chewy on the inside.  So good and I'm a sucker for anything that comes in a cast iron skillet, but I was annoyed. 

     SERVER: Would you like me to bring you some bread or chedder biscuits?

     BF + MOM: Sure!  We'll take some biscuits.

     (Server leaves)

     ME: You know they charge us for that, right?

The server made it sound like, 'Oh yea, sure...we give bread to everybody.'  Rule of thumb that I never can remember:

     FREE = Bread is brought to you automatically

     $ = Server asks if you want bread

I shouldn't be eating carbs anyway.

Salad of Lacinato Kale with Chile Pequin, Lemon and Toasted Grana

The picture makes the food look kinda gross, but it's really good.  Even BF, who can't stand kale actually like it.

Potato Gnocchi with Lamb Ragu, Peas, Mint and Grana

This was my dish and I couldn't be happier.  Being a drinking light weight I needed as much fatty & rich foods to keep me from passing out at the table in front of mummy dearest.  The ragu was perfectly gamey, but not too gamey, and had the perfect sauce-to-chunky meat ratio.  The gnocchi was crazy good.  They were teeny tiny soft pillows of carby goodness.  I would squish each pillow between my tongue and the roof of my mouth and it would ooze like butter down my throat.  Hands down the best gnocchi I've ever had in the whole entire world.

Cheeseburger on a Potato Bun with California Cheddar and Arugula

I thought this was a great burger with the nutty arugula and soft bun, but BF didn't think so.  Here are his thoughts:

The burger they serve is not a burger in my opinion. It tasted more like an Italian meatloaf. Don't get me wrong its good but I wasn't in the mood for a meatloaf sandwich. I was really craving the taste of a grilled beef burger. That charbroiled or grilled flavor of beef you get from a burger. So if you're looking for a good juicy burger know that this is closer to a meatloaf than a burger.

California Rock Bass With Wood Roasted Sausage, Fingerling Potatoes

And Cioppino Broth

This was Mom's dish and I had 1 bite and it was delicious.  She also Dyson'ed up this dish so I guess she really liked it.

More Drinking?

We were too full for dessert, and too sleepy from all the wine.  But for anyone who wanted to drink more they give you a token for a free wine tasting across the pathway for up to 4 people.  We didn't have to use it that day, so it's being saved for our next trip there.

 

Ambiance

The restaurant was converted from a nursery, so it looks like a barn inside with huge airy vaulted ceilings with a shabby chic country coziness to it.  I would definitely come back here again.

Sorabol - SF Center

I really like Sorabol at the San Francsico. Being Korean-American it's hard to find great cheap Korean food in San Francisco. The East Bay & South Bay has cheap Korean restaurants galore, but not so much in SF. Also, the parents live so far away that it's difficult to go home and get great momma's home cooking.

Enter Sorabol - SF Center. Please keep in mind that I like Sorabol in the SF Center. All other locations sucks ass. This is probably because SF Center food court is more bougie than the Stonestown and the Emeryville locations. On Sundays, Mr. Belly Jiggle and I like to eat Korean food and watch a movie, and so SF Center is the perfect place to go.

Soft Tofu Soup: There's only 1 kind offered and it comes with a couple veges, clams, 1 oyster and 3-4 med sized shrimps. It's pretty decent and it's about $1.50 more expensive than Kukje (Peninsula) and $2.00 cheaper than My Tofu House (Inner Richmond). It comes with a bowl of rice cooked in the Korean sticky style, and not that lame fluffy Chinese way.

Spicy BBQ Chicken: So good but I wish it was spicier. Portion is hearty, so I always eat half pre-movie and half post-movie. I can never seem to save it for left overs the next day.

Egg Rolls: Totally not Korean food, but great greasy goodness.

Potstickers: The skin is really thick and chewy and steamed. I prefer the thick skin as opposed to the thin wimpy skin.

Kim Chi: Not spicy and really gross. It tastes like they took tobasco sauce, watered it down dipped some cabbage in it, and then put it in tiny little plastic cups. Gross.

3-Bone Teardrop Kalbi: They only give you 2 lame super thin slices. Taste is so-so. Net - not impresssed.

Short Ribs: Decent portion and flavor. I've had better elsewhere, but it's pretty damn good for mall food.

Steamed Veges: Veges are perfectly steamed and firm. Not wimpy and really good.

Aperto Had A Little Lamb...

I've been wanting to go this Aperto for a while. Every time I pass it I always want to be on the inside and not on the outside. This is an Italian restaurant with a homey feel to it. But really, what Italian restaurant doesn't have a home feel to it? Even Bucca di Beppo has a homey feel to it. We came here with another couple and it's really perfect for 4 people, maybe 6 max. The table by the bay window in the front is where I wanted to be since it has a great street view, but there were 4 old women that were parked there forever and I was hungry.

We were indecisive about a wine selection, so the manager gave us a tasting of a couple red wines. WTF? How great is that? You really don't get that kind of kindness and food service any more.

Portobello Mushroom: Special appetizer of the day and I love portobello mushrooms. It's so beefy, like my man. HAHA.

Orecchiette w/Lamb Sausage: I LOOOVE lamb. I really do. Gamey ground lamb sauteed to perfection. Herbs & spices are lovely. I felt like Homer Simpson drooling over beer. I gave some of my entree to Mr. Belly Jiggle and one of the our friends, but really it was out of manners that I did so. I didn't want to share and I wanted to be a fat selfish pig who ate it all.

Chocolate Tart: WTF was this? The waitress raved about it, but it really was not that great. She said that it was dense and reeeeallly good. So we took her word for it. When she said dense I thought she means dense like a torte. No...it was dense like a cookie. Really, the only thing wonderful about it was the freshly whipped whip cream. One of our friends can't stand whipped cream. What a weirdo...more for me.

 

1434 18th St.

San Francisco, CA 94107

415-262-1625

Zachary's Chicago Pizza - Sauce Only

Big H is so obsessed with Zachary's Pizza that it's really annoying. He talks about Zachary's all the effin time. UGH. I've heard him tell this story of how he would drive from SF to Berkeley for lunch during work just to get the pizza. And then everyone in his office would think that he's the greatest for bringing Zachary's back. I think that he has Alzeimer's because he's told me this story about 20 times.

Sauce: He bought some sauce and made home-made pizza with it. I never got to eat any of it because I was out of the country and he didn't save me any. How selfish.

5801 College Ave
Oakland, CA 94618

Cigar Bar & Grill

Mr. Belly Jiggle was already drinking with his friend and so I went to Cigar Bar & Grill after work to decompress after a long day of dealing with retarded people. He had some food waiting for me...YES!

The friend also had a surprise...had just picked up an engagement ring for his girlfriend: 2 Carats, G Color, Unknown Clarity, setting was beautiful. I wanted to try the ring on because it's something that I would have picked out myself. But I can't try on a ring before the bride-to-be does. Right...?

I admit that I was a little jealous because I would like a large sparkly ring on my finger. Mr. Belly Jiggle, please take notes.

Fish Tacos: Delicious but teeny tiny. Very annoying since I was hungry and I wanted food for a person, not a model.

Plantains: Cooked in the traditional way, but not a fan. It was a little dry.

Bulleit, Gingerale & Bitters: My favorite drink in the world of my own creation. Of course it's good.

850 Montgomery Street
San Francisco, CA 94133
415-398-0850