Raina S.'s Profile

Jake's appears to be a Hawaiian BBQ spot, though the lack of signage led me to guess at it.  This wasn't difficult, since they serve Spam Musubi and Loco Moco.  Maybe better signage and descriptions are coming soon.  The place is kind of new.

These guys cook everything to order, which is a rarity for "fast' food.  Yes, you have to wait a bit longer (and the line does grow quickly), but it's nice to have something fresh.

There aren't a lot of menu options, and most of them are odd combinations that come with a couple of (horrible tasting) fried shrimp and zucchini strips.  My daughter ordered the teriyaki chicken and she liked it, although I didn't.  I got an order of Spam Musubi:  two huge pieces for $2.50.  It was good, but overall... I'm not in a rush to return.

New Saigon is a pretty decent pho place.  Consider yourself lucky if you survive your drive through the parking lot of the shopping center where this place resides.  I can't tell you how many moving violations I saw in my short time there.  Suffice to say there was lots of stopping in the middle of the roadways for no apparent reason, and a good deal of drivers going in reverse without looking behind them first.

Anyway, back to the restaurant.  I ordered the pho with brisket, size small.  The bowl was enormous -- much more than I could eat in one sitting.  I loved the broth.  The meat tasted a little gamy (am I spelling that right?), though.  My husband had beef and shrimp vermicelli.  He devoured it pretty quickly, so I imagine it was good (he didn't offer me any -- what's up with that?!).  We also shared some spring rolls that were just okay.  They were overcooked and lacked flavor.  I did like the sweet shredded carrot and radish that came with them.

In all, a solid 3 stars.  Service was friendly and quick.  Don't expect to linger over your meal here.  The staff here likes to turn and burn the tables like crazy!

Gourmet Haus is both a grocery store and a restaurant -- and both are terrific!  It was a nice sunny January day, and we wanted to sit outdoors, but the area was packed by noon.  Indoors is nice, too.  You feel like you've been transported to a European Grandparent's house.

Beer is served by the liter, and while it was delicious, I could only drink one.  For appetizers, we tried the pickle plate (which was too spicy for the kids dining with us) and two of their giant pretzels -- one plain and one with salami and cheese on top.  I like my pretzels soft, and these were a bit hard for my taste.  But they tasted good, especially with the mustard that accompanied them.

For lunch, we tried various sausages and a plate of goulash.  I liked the garlic sausage and the Nuremburger the best.  Great sauerkraut, too!

After lunch, we did some shopping and picked up beer, salami, cookies and chocolate to take home.  The ladies in the shop are very sweet.  Next time I come I'm buying a giant glass boot for proper enjoyment of my German beer.  They are rather expensive, but so cute!

Sadly, Kim Fusch has sold her business and closed this Half Moon Bay Office.

I'm not sure how they manage to cram so much stuff into this tiny market, but I'm glad they do it!

From the outside looking in, this place looks like your typical mini mart.  But just about everything inside is better than you'd expect to find in such a place.  Coastside Market has a great beer and wine selection, but their produce area -- while small -- has surprisingly fresh offerings.  If you've had a long work day and you're in need of a quick frozen dinner, they have a ton of those, too.

The people working here are very nice.  They even sell "Homies," (you know, those little toy figurines) and that's something I haven't seen in quite a while!

Union Square has changed a lot over the years, but I think it's better now than it was when I was a kid.  It's cleaner and there are more trees and plants, for starters.

This is a great place for an outdoor lunch on nice days, though it can get crowded.

The best time to visit Union Square is December, when there are lovely decorations, an enormous Christmas Tree, a giant Menorah, and an ice stating rink.

There is a parking lot underneath the square, but it fills up quickly.  Best to take BART whenever possible!  Driving and parking in SF are notoriously difficult.

I like Brewcraft a lot.  The people working here are very helpful and they offer all sorts of brewing supplies and recipe ingredients.  It's rather difficult to move through the shop, as the place is packed floor to ceiling with stuff.  It's also pretty dusty, so don't expect pristine conditions.

My husband and I have brewed about 6 batches of beer so far, and we learn something new each time (though the most valuable lessons have come from the crew at Brewcraft).

If you're at all familiar with San Francisco, you probably already know that it can be extremely difficult to find parking in this area.  Best to come with a friend who can circle the block for 30 minutes while you shop.  Then take your friend out for a beer as a way of saying, "thank you."

Ki is a tiny restaurant, but they're able to cram a lot of tables into the small space.  That makes it difficult to negotiate, and it leads to slower service.  The food is good, though.

Our server was very friendly and helpful, but he and the one other server working on the day of our visit were clearly frazzled as both were serving too many tables.

There are many creative dishes here.  We liked the coconut toro:  just a hint of coco flavor, and the toro was perfectly fresh.  Kimchi pot stickers were good, though a bit light on spicy kimchi.  The Brussels sprouts appetizer was charred on the outside, but after peeling off the outer leaves, the sprouts were good.  Love the spicy dipping sauce!  We also tried a few sushi rolls, and most were excellent.

The location is odd -- the restaurant is located in a nightclub, and it feels strange walking into a club in the middle of the day (especially with an underage child in tow),  but once inside,  the atmosphere is welcoming.  Just one caution:  it's pretty chilly in the restaurant, so be sure to bring a jacket.

Cuvaison has great wines in a beautiful location along the Silverado Trail.  Although the tasting room is rather fancy, the staff are very friendly with no snobbishness to be found.  I like that!

I was visiting with my Mom and Erin S.  We tried both of the available tastings.  I can't recall the names, but one was the "standard" and the other was the "reserve."  There actually wasn't a huge difference between them, though with the reserve tasting, you have a bit more freedom of choice.  And, at my visit, you had the opportunity to taste a wine that runs about $90 a bottle.  Since I rarely spend that much money on wine, it was a nice treat.

They had a fantastic reserve Chardonnay, which was rich with nice buttery, oak-y flavors.  That's my favorite kind of Chard, though the un-oaked kind is nice, too.  Since they waive the tasting fee if you purchase wine, you really can't lose by having a tasting here and taking a bottle home with you.

This is a very nice store for casual, stylish men's clothing.  I found a perfect Christmas gift for my hubby here (shhhh!).

As you can probably guess from the name, most of the stuff here is (human) male-oriented.  But they also sell dog supplies like toys, gear, and collapsible water dishes.  I even saw several shirts and hats that I might have liked, but I wasn't shopping for myself on this day.

A man that must have been the store's owner was there on the day of my visit.  He was super helpful and nice.  He has a great sense of humor, too.