Tolga E.'s Profile

Halu. A different kind of Japanese restaurant.

That's what the sign outside says. And, for the most part, that's exactly what it is. It's really refreshing to find a place that doesn't fit the typical mold, decor, feel, design, jeux-ne-se-qouis, etc. of 98% of Japanese restaurants in the US. When you walk into the closet-sized restaurant, you realize two things. First, it's tiny. Since we're talking about Japan, tiny is authentic. Second, it's all about the Beatles. Everywhere, floor to ceiling, the decorations are all Beatles, all the time. Of course, the soundtrack is too. It's a different kind of Japanese restaurant.

We came here for the ramen. Yelp let myself and my Japanese friend down when it suggested we have the ramen at Izikaya Sozai. That ramen was pretty weak and we felt betrayed. Nonetheless, given that Sozai didn't clear the bar and Nombe is no longer even offering ramen, Halu became our last ray of hope. The ramen here is very typical, and very delicious. All of the tastes are understated. The pork is even and not too fatty. The addition of a little bit of ginger is a simple, nice touch. The noodles were dead-on great. Best ramen in SF? Possibly.

We also had the chicken kara age and chicken kushikatsu. The kara age was definitely fried well and the portion is pretty good for $7. The kushikatsu was pretty unique in that there were basil leaves intermixed with the chicken under the panko breading. I loved how the basil and chicken worked with the mustard dipping sauce.

Anyways, Halu overall was a great food experience. The only thing holding it back was the service. Their 15-minute waiting estimate would have been about 45 had we not decided to sit at the bar. A couple came in later with a reservation and were told to wait another 20 minutes (always unacceptable). And most egregious was that they charged for "green" tea. It's bad enough to charge money. It's inexcusable to not know what kind of tea it actually was once I asked them to specify. That's not ok.

So, overall you're left with some great food, some terrible service and a different kind of Japanese restaurant.

Fair enough.

DC-3 is the best new fast-food place I've been to in years. The concept here is pretty fantastic, when you enter, you board a figurative DC-3 (it's a plane...that's why there's a propeller in the dining room), and you fly around the USA and decide which town's style of hot dog you want to eat the most. Everything from the Sonoran dogs of Arizona to your standard Chicago Dog to the Maine Red Snapper. I had always regretted going to Maine and not eating a Maine Red...and DC-3 afforded me the chance. You can't find satisfaction like that in very many places.

Perhaps the best part is that they make a damn-good hometown DC-style half-smoke. The service is fast, the food is awesome if you want a hot dog or three. It's probably your best cheap dining option on Barrack's Row or even in all of Capitol Hill.

St. James Infirmary is not just the best bar in Reno. It's one of the best bars in America. I couldn't be happier that a place like this has found a home in Reno. All that potential is finally starting to be realized in this town.

The reason this place is so fantastic is simple - it has everything you (or any of your friends) could want. You want fancy, plush white seats with some glitz and odd shades of purple? You got it. You want interesting mixed drinks you haven't heard of before with names the bartender made up 5 minutes ago? You got it. You want a gender imbalance favorable to men? You got that too! Or...you want the best beer selection in Reno? Or a sweet juke box with some Micheal Jackson tunes? Or a totally chill roofdeck where you can have a beer in the warm, quiet, summer air until 3am? You can have all of it.

Seriously, no matter what vibe you are looking for, the combination of up-tempo glitzy downstairs and the rooftop deck upstairs, the liquor, the beer selection, and the totally underrated Reno Local Person make this a really, really good time.

The first time I heard of Fifty-Fifty brewing is for their excellent barrel-aged stouts. They age their winter stout annually in Rye, Bourbon, and Scotch, and all three are fantastic. I have a few bottles at home waiting for a special occasion. So, when I was driving through the area with a friend on the way back from the Rib Cook-off in Reno, this was a must-stop.

Unfortunately, one of the other reviewers on here hit it right on the head. Everything about this place is 50-50. Especially the service. It takes a lot to get me to complain about service, but wow. 30 minutes of awesome followed by 2 hours of terrible. Some of the food was great, some of it wasn't even up to the stuff you'd get on the mountain at the local ski resort. Even the beer - an epic stout followed by sadly unimpressive pale ales. It's bizarre, the flashed of brilliance amidst the bland mediocrity.

Still, the interior is mountainy-woodsy and welcoming. The beer is fresh and you're in Truckee on a snowy night. I guess it's not that bad after all.

I went here with my decidedly non-token Japanese friend as we were on a ramen bent and had already tried a couple of the highly-recommended SF places. Almost surprisingly, we found the restaurant was actually inside in the Japantown mall, which scared us due to the tourist-targeting potential. But we forged ahead anyways.

Overall, Suzu has a really comprehensive menu of Japanese favorite (tempuras, tonkatsus, curries, soba, and such) but this is a noodle house, so the ramen took center stage. Wanting to be honest judges, we order the straightforward and basic Tokyo Ramen bowl. And...we receive a straightforward and basic ramen bowl. There was absolutely nothing special going on here. The noodles were the best part, a little thick, a little raw, a little dense...they were the highlight. But everything else (and there wasn't much else floating in there) was disappointing. The broth was...insubstantial soup, the pork was ultra-thin and beef-jerky salty, and nothing else really happened in there.

It was a decent dinner for $7.95 based on the noodle quality alone, and who knows, maybe the tonkatsu is bomb. But overall, I'm not in a hurry to return.

This is my new late-night SF munchies stop. Unlike most city residents, I drive pretty much everywhere I go (don't worry eco-peeps, it's a Prius). In the pantheon of SF late-night cheap munchies, your choices are usually Mission burritos or North Beach pizzas. But if you're not hanging out in those 'hoods, it's not easy to drive into those places to make your pit-stop. Da Beef to the rescue. Located in an empty parking in SOMA right off Howard, you can drive right on up, park for 5 minutes, and get your fill.

And oh, what a fill. The most legitimate Chicago Beef sandwich you'll find in the Pacific time zone. The lady well confirm you want it authentically "hot and wet" - that means with jardiniere peepers and drenched in jus. But she take the jus drenching beyond Chicago levels. Unless you can eat a pound a beef in less than 100 seconds, you will be eating a spongey beefy peppery stew-sandwich hybrid. A really delicious, really messy, really wet time. And if you're not in the mood for that, she does a pretty decent Chicago Vienna beef dog as well. It's easy, it's driver-friendly, it's cheap, it's delicious, and there's never a line. Sorry mission taqueria, but unless I really need a taco, this will do just fine.

By far, Father's Office is the best place for beer and a great burger in LA. Situated in an odd shopping center in a slight-off-center, nothing-special-in-particular part of LA sprawl, it's heartening to see this place is always overflowing with customers, particularly customers that know a few things about beer.

First, the food. The menu here is hearty American comfort food meets a few touches of California sophistication. The burger is their flagship item and it doesn't disappoint. I ordered mine medium with fries and it was great. Huge, tasty ground beef, blue cheese, grilled onions, all done just right. They loaded so many crispy shoestring fries on the plate that I definitely lost some to overflow. But the burger was so juicy and awesome I actually managed to finish it all. The second time I came, I had the strip steak, which was good, but not great. Save the cash and get the burger - it's a much more original experience.

Next, the beer. This is the best beer selection in Los Angeles county and it's not even close. They've got about 25 taps and the selection is the mark of somebody who understands how to showcase both breadth and depth. Almost every style was represented, and the main styles had at least two varieties. Most importantly, they understand the value of freshness and had multiple beers from local brewer Craftsman and from my favorite San Diego brewery, AleSmith. In particular I had a Craftsman Belgian Triple brewed with sage in it...and it was one of the greatest beers I've ever tasted (which is honestly saying something). It was a revelation. That was of course seasonal, and you probably won't find it now. But the point is, there's a beer bar in LA capable of providing that experience. While eating a kick-ass burger. Awesome.

I am completely enamored with The Edison. I'm also probably not cool enough or have invested enough in my wardrobe to get through the front door on a Saturday. So...an old high school friend took me hear on a Monday night instead. I still got yelled at..."Sir, I understand your shoes are black, but please wear something a little more formal next time..." And there were only 20 customers in the entire place (the capacity must be upwards of 400). Despite this, I really geeked out here.

The Edison is a power-plant themed industrial basement that would have starred in Will Smith's "Wild Wild West" video has it existed at the time. Beautiful, elegant interior lighting, twisting staircases, great interior design. They have burlesque shows here sometimes and it's a perfect fit. They're old-school cocktails focusing on bourbons and absinthe are top-notch and not too much of a rip-off given the circumstances. I can imagine coming here with all your friends, hats-n-heels, for a great and stereotypical "night on the town".

Very cool.

A beer bar in the middle of LA's downtown revival on Spring Street. The Spring Street bar makes you feel more like you are on Spring Street in NYC than Spring Street in LA. This is a very positive thing. New Yorkers understand what a good watering hole is. They get the value of a bar where you can linger on a Tuesday night and pass time talking to friends, strangers, and bartenders alike without the agenda of looking great or "making connections".

First and foremost, this is a beer bar. I'm not going to say it's the Toronado or Monk's Cafe of Los Angeles. But it does have a fantastic selection at reasonable prices. SoCal beers are fairly represented, including the new and exciting stuff from local brewery Craftsman. Grab a beer or three, hang out on the sidewalk patio with the hipsters and enjoy the new old downtown LA.

Let's level-set. This is a bar near the W hotel in downtown LA. Kind, modest people are going to few and far between. If you can accept that, then I can tell you that I actually liked the Library Bar. When you walk in, you realize that yes, it does feel like some wealthy person's private library. Dark wood, fireplace, books, carpeting, and strong drinks. Makes you want to lounge around in a plush robe and get comfortable. Unfortunately, we're in LA (again), so people don't get the hit and are entirely way too loud in here. I wish they had an informal speakeasy rule.

Still, the vibe is comfy, the music was actually a really awesome eclectic mix of 90's rock (think Smashing Pumpkins) and current hipster-emo tunes. The drinks were strong, the beer selection was pretty decent and it's a much better bar to spend your dollars at if you're not up for the frenetic pace of the W's rooftop. It's a great alternative watering hole.