DANIEL T.'s Profile

This store is awesome. All the merchandise seem to be carefully selected and all FOOD related. Super cute finds, perfect for getting gifts for little ones and girlfriends. They are so unique you most likely will not find them elsewhere. The owner Daphne is super sweet too!

The restaurant went quiet 2 times last night. And everybody turned and looked at us.

It used to be one of my favorite happy hour restaurant near my place but not after last night.

We were having happy hour here before movie night at home. THEY WERE OUT OF OYSTERS at 5:45pm. Flat bread, mussels, no name white wine, grey hound ... were all good. Waitress was the usual aloof no smile lady, whatever, she's tolerable. We were seated at the little bar top facing the open kitchen.

Towards the end of our happy hour, one of the kitchen staff accidentally pushed a pile of plates (stacked on top of one of those flimsy pizza stands) and the plates landed on Aimme and Doreen's glass of red and bottle of beer!! The whole restaurant froze.

Wine glass and beer bottle were completely shattered and Doreen was covered with shards of broken glass!! Dude in the kitchen disappeared. Pastry chef came over and apologized. Bartender immediately came over and gave Doreen a bottle of water. Danny the manager gave Doreen his business card and said if the stains don't come off call him.

But after that we were pretty much shoved aside cuz they wanted to wipe the bar top and floor clean. Didn't even ask if she was ok or hurt.

I half jokingly asked the waitress for the check expecting her to tell us it's on the house cuz the restaurant almost cut Doreen's pretty face in half. She said sure and came back and handed me the check folded in half without even putting it in the bill folder.

Aimee saw that and she went OFF, got a hold of the manager and screamed "You expect us to still pay for this after you spilt red wine on my $12,000 dollar leather jacket?!" granted she meant to say $1,200, the whole restaurant froze again, for a second time.

Danny asked if we were staying for dinner and he'd comp us but Aimee said we are leaving we don't want to stay and we are not paying for drinks your kitchen staff ruined.

Conclusion: Zuppa staff members as a collective are not trained to deal with crisis while making sure the customers are well taken care of.

I love the food, especially the whole roasted chicken. But this incident put a big dent on my experience with them.

consistency since the first time i set foot in here (November 19, 1989).

#1 special (literally means train engine pho) is the bomb. i usually always order #1. my mom stills raves about it and that no-where else in the world serves it right just like that.

when i'm less hungry, i get the fish ball fish cake pho.

when i'm SUPER hungry i get the rice plates with a fried egg on top.

vietnam egg rolls (Ch giò) are good here, with the slightly more chewy skin i like.

the soup base is the best by far. and i've tasted MANY in SF.

Service was awesome and very friendly. All dishes came quick. We got a complimentary pint of Sapporo, bottomless diet coke, and an extra order of albacore toro nigiri. Bf said that's because we are cute. Oooookkkkkk ...

Here's the blow by blow breakdown:

Saba sashimi - forgettable, slightly higher grade than store bought Saba in a plastic wrap C-

Amaebi nigiri - big and sweet. And the heads were crispy and tasty with substantial amount of roe left in them. Served with tempura dipping sauce. I didn't use it.

Chicken karage - acceptable. Suzu's is the best I've tried. I make mine at home marinated with fresh ground ginger, honey, and yogurt, it's the BOMB.

Escolar nigiri - first time I tried this. Creamy and has a spongy texture.

Kobe beef nigiri - mm mmm mmmm!!!!' slight seared and served with a slightly sweet sauce. Silky texture with a lot of beef flavor packed in. I will go back just for this alone.

Albacore toro - they were out of the o-toro. Oh wells. It is what it is.

Hamachi toro - wasn't as fatty and creamy as I expected.

Caterpillar roll - unagi was still warm inside the roll. Good contrast to the coldness of avocado, surprisingly.

Overall a very enjoyable experience. The attentive service helped a lot. Sushi was not worth the price range. I would say this is closer to Sushi Rock quality.

All you can eat Korean BBQ beef ribs. That alone is worth it, though they are not Kal Bi. They are still nicely marinated and yummy.

I tried one piece of every kind of meat and concluded that only the beef short ribs were worth it. So I downed 20 pieces within an hour may be.

The Pan Chan buffet station didn't have fishcake though. The spicy soft-shell crabs were loved by many but I couldn't stand it. Raw soft-shell crab was a bit too far out for me.

I didn't/couldn't see much more than ribs ... =)

Been here before and enjoyed the sushi, came back Tuesday and was not disappointed. We ordered:

Toro Tartare Nigiri $5 a piece
- chopped negi toro and avacado, deep fried shiso leaf + seaweed on top, marinated Rakkyōzuke onion and a reddish tartare sauce
Very refreshing combination. The tartare sauce had a hint of spice, added depth to the taste and cut through the creaminess of the toro.

Saba Nigiri
- the sushi chef served this with a thinly shaved sheet of Kombu, an added dimension/connection to the ocean, also a clever and sensitive combination. Saba was top grade, soft creamy texture without being too vinegar-y. Mikey rated it A.

Amaebi $2 a piece with fried head
- nothing to complain about

Unagi
- THE biggest piece of unagi on nigiri i've ever seen in my whole life. A little more charred than the usual ones but I welcome the crispy brown parts.

Tamago Zousui $5 may be $6
- egg and rice in chicken broth with napa cabbage, some Kamaboko fish cake (the ones with PINK "rind") served in a small Agemono nabe pot. A very simple and satisfying dish, a filler, if you may.

Overall very satifying experience, above standard sushi with some inventive new ideas.

Best Xiao Long Bao I've had lately. Plenty of soup inside, the meat's flavor has depth and a bit to the sweet side. Skin is on the thick side - more shanghai street style than the thinner Ding Tai Fung Taiwanese style. VERY good.

Dry cooked spicy chicken is WET. No flavor. Please do not order it ever. It's a sorry excuse of a sad version of the ChungQing dry cooked chicken. Order the same dish at Spices or Spices II and you will know what I mean.

Black bean sauce cod on rice wrapped in lotus leaf. Yawn. Another sorry excuse. Rice was not cooked in the lotus leaf. It was just scooped into the lotus leaf right before being served. no point. Completely gimmicky. Zero dignity.

Spicy dumpling not spicy at all. Got peanut sauce on top. Huh? Dumplings are the thick skinned kind. I'm more used to the thin skinned Winton-like chili oil kind with no peanut butter on top.

Shanghai fried thick noodles was one of the best I've had though.

Worst Xiao Long Bao I've ever had in my whole life. They are seriously worse than the frozen ones you buy from Ranch99. They look like they were wrapped by a 5 year old and at almost $1 a piece, it's definitely not worth it. The skin is tough and thick with no elasticity. There's absolutely no soup inside. The stuffing tasted like frozen meatballs you buy from Costco by the pound.

Other dishes I've tried are ok, e.g., scrambled eggs with shrimps on flat rice noodles, though not as substantial as the lower priced B&M. The E-Fu noodle's under-cooked. I would most likely not go back again. If I do, I'd be trying out the Chef Specialties which look a bit Taiwanese/Shanghainese.

Very disappointing overall.

Is it unfair for me to decide NEVER to eat here cuz they won't let me use d bathroom?

First, of all, Nicholas F., this place is on the 4th floor, not 25th.

I had my first physical ever at my doctor's and he ordered labs at LabCorp. I went there on a Saturday (I am very happy that this place has Saturday hours), got in at 11:20am, got out by 11:45am, no kidding (no-one was waiting granted).

The lady there was super efficient and super nice. Paper work was finished within minutes. I told her that I get very nervous about getting blood drawn, about needles in general. She explained the process and kept chit-chatting with me until the needle was out. I couldn't say that it was a painless experience but she made it very enjoyable within her power.

I rewarded myself with Jack in the Box . . .