Shannon C.'s Profile

I ate dinner here with my business partner who, like myself, is a serious foodie and cook.

We loved our meal. Amazing and complex dishes, prepared perfectly with a range of techniques and flavors and highly seasonal ingredients. Overall one of the best meals I've had in San Francisco, very tasty, and priced quite fairly for the quality.

For the two of us, without any wine (I had to work and he was still on East Coast time) our dinner came to $98 before tip. We each had an appetizer, entree, and coffee.

My appetizer was the day scallops, two large, perfectly cooked and seasoned scallops over a great sauce and vegetables, for my entree I had the Pekin Duck which was a perfectly balanced and flavorful plate of two preparations of duck over vegetables and fruits. Great flavors with every bite.

My business partner had the Yellowtail for his appetizer and the prime skirt steak for his entree. The skirt steak was served over short ribs and a mushroom preparation along with lots of seasonal vegetables. A dish which he was greatly inspired by and will be attempting to make himself at home (did I mention he's a very, very serious and talented chef).

The space is upscale, open, and attracts a professional crowd. We ate there on a Tuesday night and while we were able to get a reservation at short notice the restaurant filled up quickly though our service was excellent and the food was great.

(and though my neighbor did spill wine on me that had no negative impact on my meal or experience and everyone handled the accident with great attention).

I will be back and will recommend the Salt House to many people for a range of occasions. This is serious, great food done well and priced quite fairly. (not cheaply but for the quality quite reasonable).

I am a coffee (and coffeehouse) snob. As a friend from Chicago who called me yesterday noted, I'm almost always in a cafe when he calls me.

Today I have been working all afternoon from Coffee Bar and it is rapidly going to be one of my favorite cafes in the city, especially for productive afternoons working or meeting with people. My other favorite cafes - Ritual Roasters on Valencia and Blue Bottle Cafe on Mint have their appeal (though Blue Bottle which I think has by far the best coffee in the city and perhaps in the country, doesn't have wifi), Coffee Bar is probably the best of the three for being productive and especially for business meetings.

I don't get the complaints of some Yelpers about the coffee or the prices - yes, these are not bargain prices, but neither are they particularly high (and the $3 for a Clover cup of coffee prepared quite well is actually a bargain). I had a cappuccino with a Madeline when I first got here - both were excellent and then now I'm enjoying a magnificent Clover coffee and one of their great small plates (anchovies over shaved fennel and oranges - a perfect afternoon light meal).

When I see a new cafe beyond the coffee which is of course key, a personal measure of a place is the size of the tables. Small, traditional "cafe" tables usually create a space with few people sharing tables, are not conducive to laptop use or spreading out and working. In contrast a cafe with larger tables, easily shared, and with one or more great  big group tables is a cafe whih is designed with working in mind. And further, a cafe with tables than physically can accomodate groups is a cafe where people are that much more likely to talk with each other.

Coffee Bar has by far the best and largest selection of shareable group tables I've seen in a very very long time. Three large tables each designed to easily accomodate 8-12 people around them on the large, comfortable benches, as well as a large couch seating area and a row of large tables along another wall which can easily also accommodate multiple groups. Plus two large bars along the edge of the balcony which are well designed for individuals with laptops to use and work at.

Overall a space that also due to the very high ceilings is extremely well suited for groups to work together, while also working very well for individuals. Unlike Ritual Roasters which often suffers from a lack of available tables and tends to be very loud due to the relatively small space and cramped layout, Coffee Bar's two levels plus outside space (and I think a further private room) make for a much quieter space where multiple groups can be talking and working at nearby tables and I can still hear myself think, could even take a phone call if I needed to.

In terms of the crowd Coffee Bar seems to appeal to a slightly older crowd (I'm sure the wine and beer help here, as well as the location). I would guess that most of the people in the space a the moment (about 40 people or so) are in their mid-30's. A professional and graduate student crowd vs. the more hipster crowd at Ritual Roasters. And I don't know how the crowd changes on the weekends, but at the moment at least there are a lot of women working in groups or by themselves and about a 50/50 ratio of men to women.

I don't live near Potrero Hill (I live in Noe Valley) but Coffee Bar is great enough that I fully plan on shifting my patterns to work here many afternoons.

Go for lunch.

Best Burger I've ever had. Anywhere.

And believe me, I've tried my more than fair share of burgers, Shake Shack and Burger Joint in NYC, many upscale places, great cook's home bbqs, and countless places large and small.

Spork's burgers - only available at lunch - are truly my current all time favorite burger.

I had the sweet heat, my dining companions tried all of the other varieties. The buns were fresh and tasty, the meat melted in my mouth, and all the toppings were pitch perfect.

Plus the smashed fries are quite tasty.

And did I mention that a single burger is $8, a double $10? For lunch truly one of the best deals in the city - both for the price and the quality.

I fully plan on going back for dinner, but for lunch when I'm in the neighborhood Spork is my current favorite lunch in SF.

I have tried many places in San Francisco for Chinese, Chung King is in my top two places in the entire city. Still dozens of places left to try, but for consistently great food (especially with a large group) Chung King is my favorite spot in Chinatown.

Whenever I eat here I am almost always the only or one of very few Caucasians. Mostly my fellow diners are multi-generational families enjoying the amazing feasts.

A few dishes I would recommend:

- a great (and relatively inexpensive) Peking Duck
- the Peking Pork Chops, very tasty, a bit surreal in color but great flavor
- nearly any seafood - especially the shellfish and whole fish dishes

and I'm looking forward to going back with groups to try even more dishes. I haven't yet gone with a Chinese speaker so the specials written on the wall and the family style combinations in Chinese remain a bit of a mystery to me.

A few comments - one of the reasons I love Chung King is that the dishes here are not greasy (at least nothing I've eaten or seen) and are not swimming in sauce or overly breaded and deep fried. Instead most dishes have a few ingredients prepared fairly simply and with great flavors.

Also of note, the Chili Oil on tables is excellent.

Plus the prices here are seemingly stuck in a timewarp, most dinner entrees are less than $10 (many less than $7) with generous portions. In short a great place to go with a group, order a bunch of dishes to share family style, and a place to try new dishes and branch out from americanized staples. Be friendly with the waitstaff and enjoy a quick and tasty meal.

I eat Korean food frequently - when I lived in Chicago as often as once or twice a week. In San Francisco not quite that often but multiple times a month. When I can get friends to join me its great, but often I end up dining alone (so don't get to grill my meats myself at most places).

So on my current business trip to NYC for a conference being held at 36th & Broadway I planned on inviting a group of my fellow conference goers to join me for some Korean BBQ.

Tonight three of us ended up at Don's Bogam and enjoyed one of the best Korean dining experiences I have ever had. Great panchan, amazing quality meats & fish, friendly and gracious service and for what we ordered extremely reasonable prices (even by non-NYC standards).

One of the party was a vegetarian so he ordered the tofu, mushroom and vegetables dolsot bi bim bop. He had never had this dish before, but greatly enjoyed it - and I who often get bi bim bop (and dolsot when  it is available) looked on with a bit of jealously - it looked and smelled great.

While we waited for the third person to join us, we had shared an order of the "silky tofu" which was indeed silky, very fresh, lightly spicy and though a very generous portion we had to restrain ourselves from not leaving at least a taste for our late friend.

For the two of us who are meat lovers we ordered three grilled dishes - the marinated, de-boned short ribs (kalbi), the tuna, and the bulgogi (also marinated). The short ribs were very good (though next time I plan on trying the "kobe beef short ribs which the table next to us had ordered and looked amazing). The tuna was very high quality, flavorful and truly excellent (we were served six large portions of tuna), and the bulgogi for which a new cooking surface was brought out, was served in a manner I had not previously seen - with an assortment of cabbage, noodles, & onions in a broth. Very flavorful and tasty.

We did not explore the large drinks menu but did enjoy the adjustable vents and the overall layout. The tables though a bit awkward to get into and out of result in a great atmosphere for group conversations - though I would not suggest going with a group larger than 8 people (unless they have a larger group table which I did not see).

With our various drinks, appetizer, meats and bibimbop our total bill for three people was $120 with tip & tax. For the quality I was happy to pay that - and for NYC I consider it not just great food but a very reasonable and good deal.

Perhaps the simplest way I can sum up my meal is that it was so good that I'm planning on returning again before I head back to San Francisco next week. I may still explore other options around k-town (and I'm sure some trip I'll end up at one or more of the 24hr options) but for a great experience, very high quality ingredients (down to the kimchi) and a space ideal for business or personal entertaining, I'll be back to Don's Bogam many times in the future.

Go for the Chicken, French Fries and chicha morada (purple corn drink).

Seriously, you have one major decision to make - a half chicken or a whole chicken.

Sure, try the other dishes on the menu, including the donuts if you still have room, but go to Inka's for the chicken.

It is really, really good. Ask for the hot sauce to spice it up if you like (doesn't need it for flavor however - very flavorful and perfectly cooked).

The staff are all friendly and I would suggest exploring the rest of the menu with a large group (just be sure to get the chicken).

Yes, it is a large space, but the service is friendly, the prices very fair, and the chicha morada very tasty.

About chicha morada - this is a unique flavor that many Americans have not had before, but it is not just very tasty, it is also full of a wide variety of good things for you (google "purple corn" for the details). And furthermore, it is a great example of why preserving biodiversity (ala the Slow Food movement) also can result in unique and highly flavorful dining experiences.

Definitely a great option in the Bernal neighborhood - and for my taste buds, I prefer the chicken at Inka's over GFC across the street (though that is a bit cheaper).

A month ago I moved to San Francisco (finally), to a place in Noe Valley along the 24 Divisadero bus line.

So today I took the afternoon, hopped on the bus and headed up Divisadero to learn more of what was available along the 24 route. Did some shopping (Cookin' - more about that later), ate an okay meal, and now I'm sitting in Caf Abir, sipping a fantastic Machiatto, nibbling (and dunking) some great Madelines, and getting some work done.

The machiatto is one of the better I have had in San Francisco, great flavor, perfect foam. The service was fine - not hyper efficient (as a morning commute caf might be) but certainly not irritating or annoying.

The layout is very conducive to working. I have a theory about cafes - you can judge them in no small part by the size of the tables - only small tables implies they want people to sit, drink and leave. Large tables where a group can work together, take out their laptops and sit a while - that's my type of caf. The seating area is large, densely packed with well worn wooden tables and solid, comfortable chairs (also always a good sign). Lots of other options - benches, couches etc.

Plus besides the beer and bottled sodas, there is a large well stocked newstand adjacent (and what looks like a decent sushi joint next door w/connecting inside doors).

Definitely a spot I'll return to in the future, quiet enough in the afternoon to find a table, yet just busy enough to be a productive place to work. Power outlets appear to be in some what short supply so for a long afternoon/evening working you will need to pick your table carefully.

Just got back from dinner at Laurels Restaurant and it was a great meal.

It started when a group of us having left the podcaster meetup at Sauce wanted to find some dinner. We approached Laurels, only to find them shutting down for the evening, I asked the woman for suggestions of a place that might still be open. She didn't have any, and we then left to find our way to a cheap burrito stand in the Mission. While we were standing at the corner she approached us and said "I checked with the chef, he's happy to cook for you if you want to come back"

So right from the start, we were pretty favorably impressed. But the food more than matched our expectations.

We ordered a wide variety of dishes - fried chicken, peccadillo, calamari, spicy shrimp, tuna and chorizo, and a rice & chicken dish and a pitcher of sangria. With a group of 7 we ordered a variety of dishes and shared most of them around the table.

The food was, as one person in the group described it, homestyle cooking - but home style cooking by a very good chef with great ingredients. The fried chicken with french fries (and rice)  was simple to be sure, but the fries were excellent (and slightly spicy) and the chicken very well spiced and cooked expertly. The peccadillo was extremely good and the plantains that came with it were extremely good.

And everything else we ate worked very well - many of the dishes were simple, uncomplicated dishes, served in generous portions.

We saw a lot of Spanish influences, indeed most of the dishes we ate could have also been served (in a similar preparation) at a Spanish restaurant (which is a great thing in my book).

I'll have to come back to try some of the many other dishes on the menu - and in particular try some of the more Cuban dishes.

For about $20 a person (with a very generous tip) we had an excellent meal with many different flavors and options and no one left hungry. Given our unusual circumstances I can't comment on their regular service, but the action of staying open late to accommodate us speaks to me that will go that extra bit to serve their customers. I know I will be back, will blog about them, and will suggest Laurels as a great option for anyone dining in the area.

If you go, I highly recommend the peccadillo and the fried chicken. And given the other dishes we sampled, I don't think you can go too wrong here definitely try some of their seafood dishes.

(the rice and chicken dish - whose name I forget at the moment - was exactly as one of the women with me tonight's mom from Panama makes it. And she thought the peccadillo which is a dish she gets frequently from her favorite Cuban restaurant in Miami was also excellent)

And as general advice, it always pays to ask at restaurants, we had great service, over and above what we would expect, all because we asked a few simple questions.