Kevin K.'s Profile

Why no love for dinner in these reviews??

5 Spot is the dope spot...in a cool area at the top of Queen Anne that affords easy access to Kerry Park, leisurely after (or pre) dinner walks, and general good vibey-ness. In other words, the perfect place to take out of town guests (e.g. my parents).

The rotating menu is a fun component, and the pains that the excellent wait staff take to explain the reasoning behind the selections and their connection to the theme ("...artichokes are related to Cannery Row because they come from Northern California, Monterey is in Northern California, Monterey is where Cannery Row was set....") is admirable, and frankly endearing. Likewise, it does a good job of serving up a significant amount of variety to their otherwise semi-solid menu lineup.

We started with the Tucumcari Quesadilla and Fried Green Tomatoes (neither appearing on the Cannery Row menu) and were pleased with the taste and presentation of both. Not big portions, but these are apps folks, let's be reasonable.

My father had the blue plate special of chicken and dumplings (which, incidentally, is priced based on how the Dow finished that day), my step mother had the fish and chips, and I had the waiter's recommendation of tangerine-glazed chicken breast with asparagus and roasted potatoes (the only thing in the end that was ordered off of the themed menu). I was very happy with my choice - well-cooked, excellent presentation, tasty potatoes and perfectly cooked asparagus. My parents were so-so about their choices as far as I could tell, and my dad felt that he got stiffed a bit on his veggies and had to ask for his zuchinni - which they brought without issue. All in all, the food was a solid 3.5 stars in my opinion.

But the service, ambiance and overall vibe took this experience into the 5-star zone. This is a great place to kick back, enjoy a well-cooked, pleasingly presented and pleasantly served meal. All in the confines of a funky environ with a funny and attentive wait/cook staff that yells out the remaining availability of menu items at frequent intervals (2 blue plate!!).

Go. Soak it up. Have fun. Eat good food and be treated like a valued customer. 5 Spot gets my vote...and my stars.

Food was great, menu was big, and the staff was very friendly. Great little place on 1st street with cool places to wander around for a post-meal walk. The homemade corn tortillas were a particular favorite of the group, and everyone left full and happy. If you judge a taqueria primarily on the quality of its rice and beans as a barometer of quality (as I do) then you won't be disappointed - both were authentic, fresh and delicious.

I can't imagine a worse experience than dealing with Dr. Wolf and his antiquated, lazy and in my opinion careless office.

I went in for a shoulder injury I incurred about 2 months after starting an aggressive workout regimen. I waited weeks for an appointment, arrived 30 minutes early for my assigned time, and waited a full two hours+ before I was called into the office.

When I did finally get into the office, another doctor came into the room and asked me what was wrong. I explained my shoulder pain to him, and told him that I thought it was due to 'overdoing it' a bit in my workout routine, but that I was significantly concerned, because the pain was sharp and hadn't abated for 3 weeks. Just after that, Dr. Wolf arrived in the office and mumbled a 'Hi' to me and then immediately directed his attention to the other doctor and asked him what was wrong. He told him that I had worked out too hard (oversimplifying my explanation) and that my shoulder was sore. Dr. Wolf dug his fingers into my shoulder sharply, creating a lot of pain. I told him so and he asked me to raise my arm. I did so, and he made a joke to the other doctor about me being out of shape. They quipped back and forth for a few minutes, not even addressing me, throwing out terms to each other like 'bursitis' as they laughed.

Dr. Wolf then walked out of the room and as he left said, 'Don't work out so hard from now on' and then was gone. The other doctor (I think he was a doctor, he never introduced himself) then told me he was going to give me a shot of cortisone, then did so, told me to put my shirt back on and repeated that I should be more careful when I work out with a smirk on his face. Then he told me I could go.

Then it clicked for me - these guys are just arrogant, old-school, lazy, screw-the-patient kind of doctors. The kind that feel that bedside manner is a waste of time, and that you need them more than they need you. As the 'doctor' left, I asked him what I should do to take care of the arm, and he said, 'Don't worry about it'. I asked him if I should rest it, for how long, ice it, heat, what? He just said, "Take it easy".

A week later, the shoulder still hurt, and I went to see another doctor while I was in LA. He found that I had an impingement, and needed complete rest on the shoulder. He told me that I could have severely injured my arm had I chosen to simply 'Take it easy', and as a matter of fact took down Dr. Wolf's information to follow up on his own.

Short story long: horrible bedside manner, inexcusable wait times in the cramped and dingy waiting room, a lax approach to his profession, and worst of all, an incompetent, careless and lazy diagnosis that could have put me in serious harm.

Avoid at all costs. You've been warned.

My idea of the perfect 10.

This is the kind of place that you take out-of-towners to in order to let them know that you're tied in to the scene. Off the beaten path, decidedly 'un-LA' and yet at the same time so distinctly SoCal, it's just hard to go wrong.

We arrived as a party of 4, my friend and his girlfriend and their 3-year old son. As soon as we arrived, we were warmly greeted by one of the well-dressed owners, and immediately seated to a table of 4. Since we had reservations (we later learned) the 'show' had not started without us. Within 5 minutes the owner and one of the waiters began to dance, encouraging all of the people in the restaurant to clap along as they moved through the tables energetically, occasionally stopping to pick up a glass of wine in their teeth, drink it down and toss it back over their head to smash on the floor. Showmanship galore....

Then the bellydancer came out. Tastefully yet intriguingly dressed, it was now her turn to dance expertly through the 20-odd tables in the restaurant. The owner pulled a few dollar bills out of his pocket and handed them to our 3-year-old companion, who with a little prodding was more than happy to present them to the beautiful and grateful dancer. Never awkward (a la dinner theatre or Vegas show), it was a great way to start the night.

Then, the food. We asked for recommendations and were steered toward the flaming cheese, fried eggplant and spanakopita. The flaming cheese is yet another show - lit on fire at the table with at least a 6-foot flame shooting into the air. Best of all - all three dishes were rad - the flaming cheese was lemony and light, and it was the best spanakopita I've ever had, and all perfectly cooked.

On to entrees. After perusing the meat tray (yes, you heard me) presented to us by the waiter, we decided on the NY steak and Kota Kefalonia - chicken breast in pastry with eggplant. The waiter offered to cut them up into bite-sized portions so that we could share. It was served with little bowls of egg lemon soup and a large greek salad (natch), plus some really interesting sauces to dip the meats into.

Overall, this certainly isn't necessarily five-star dining, but it is a five-star experience as far as I'm concerned. The food is delicious, interesting and different, the service is of the just right not-in-your-face-but-completely-attentive kind, it's a fair deal for the price and the atmosphere is warm and welcoming. My idea of the perfect 10.

Have to say, I was a bit skeptical about this place at first, and my girlfriend and I took turns talking each other into it before we went. But I dug the idea that we could get Persian and Italian food in the same meal, and we decided to give it a shot. We weren't disappointed.

Walking in, the decor is nice (a little over the top, but that wasn't unexpected), the staff was friendly and the ambiance - with a big fireplace,  generous large wooden bar and lots of multi-roomed square footage - was welcoming. We were seated immediately at around 7pm on a Saturday night, and the sounds of Frank Sinatra piping over the speakers got me settled in and comfortable quickly.

We tried the hummus, maust o'mooseer, maust o'khiar and salad shirazi as our appetizer. It afforded generous portions, but we may have been naive in this choice, since with two huge helpings of yogurt-based spreads, a bit of hummus and a small Persian salad it felt like we were at a Super Bowl party and got stuck at the end of the line with the dips - while the chips were on the other end. We had lavash to soak it all up, but had to ask for more to try to keep up. Still, it tasted great, and was a good start.

Our entrees arrived soon after - mine the Chicken Soltani with both chicken breast and ground chicken, and hers the Chicken Kebab - both served with a healthy amount of basmati and saffron rice and a grilled tomato. We were both happy - albeit not seeing stars - with our meals, and were well-satisfied with our choices. We both felt the chicken could have been a little less dry, and the ground chicken was a little overcooked, but the portions were generous, and generally the food was tasty.

We ended with a few desserts: the coconut sorbetto served in a coconut half (!), and the baklavah. Both were good, not great and our coffees were a bit lukewarm and flavorless.

All in all, we enjoyed our experience at this place. Even though almost everything we evaluated came in at or just above average, the fact that the staff was friendly and attentive, the environment, decor and place settings were a little better than they had to be for the price range, and that we had a wide range of eclectic choices available to us, we both gave it a 7 out of 10 when we played our standard post-meal rating game.

So, there you have it. If you ever find yourself in Cupertino on a rainy night, and have a craving for some hummus, chicken marsala, and little baklavah, come on by Arya - they gots the goods for ya.

Hands down the best Japanese restaurant in the city. Innovative sushi dishes, really fresh fish, great menu selection (especially if you have guests that are a little squeamish about sushi - i.e. there are many more cooked options than just teriyaki chicken) and an all-around nice dining experience.

Prices are a little high-end, but the service and atmosphere live up to the final numbers on the check. Not to mention, it's in a pretty badass date location (half a block to gorgeous views of the Bay Bridge and a romantic stroll along the Embarcadero).

Go there. Eat sushi. Drink sake. Have fun. You'll be happy you did.

This is one of the best breakfast/brunch places in the area. The food quality is great, with lots-o-organic, healthy and vegan choices if you feel the need to make penance for a late night drinking and taqueria-ing (don't worry, going to add a definition for that one to http://wordie.org right now). Plus, the big basket of mini-muffins and scones will help soak up any of the leftover firewater still in your gullet.

Add to this a nice, clean convenient location right next to the Embarcadero, and you have the makings of a great spot. The wait staff hasn't been impressive nor a huge disappointment in any of the times I've visited, but that might have earned a perfect 5 for Town's End from me. Regardless though, I'll be back for Mary's special sometime very soon....

We used Orange for a corporate party we throw annually for clients and employees, and we couldn't be more pleased with the level and quality of service we received from them. Our photographer Gene (one of the founders of the company as I understand it) was prompt, professional, fun and above-all, extremely talented. We're very happy with the quality of the photos that were taken for our event, and will certainly be using Orange for all of our photography needs going forward.

We wanted to add a little more life to a corporate party that we throw annually for clients and staff, and thought that an airbrush tattoo artist might be the perfect addition. And we were right....

The airbrush tattoos were a huge hit at the party, and there was consistently a line of guests happily waiting for their turn 'in the chair' while they perused the numerous books of stencils that Family Fun offers. We got a lot of compliments on the service from our guests, and by the end of the night it looked like virtually none of the 400+ guests missed out on the temporary tattoo fun.

Even better was the service that we received from Family Fun and its owner, Franco Fonseca. To put it simply, Franco is an easy-to-work-with, professional businessman that knows how to make an event planner's life easier. He gave me a quick quote, made an appointment with me to walk the venue and choose a setup location on short notice, and even worked with me to get a stencil made of our logo on his own dime.

But his management of the scene at the party was truly the best part about working with Franco. He goes beyond simply sitting in a chair airbrushing tattoos, he provides oversight over his entire area: managing the queue of guests, keeping them happy, and moving them through quickly. In other words, he's a one-stop shop, and anyone who has ever planned an event knows how valuable that is.

We will definitely use Franco and Family Fun again. I'd give him 6 stars if I could. Show owner comment »

Here's me, sitting on my couch, writing this review, mouth agape. (I'm not sure exactly what mouth agape actually looks like, but I can only imagine it's exactly how I look right now).

I'm blown away by the negative reviews I've just read for this place. Perhaps I've just been lucky the half dozen times I've been here, or perhaps I'm just a shitty judge of what constitutes good Thai food, or I'm a lame country bumpkin (I'd actually rather not know the answer to that), but let me say it out loud so that both the people of Koh Samui and the monkeys that they love so much hear me - I LOVE THIS PLACE! (Full disclosure: I actually have no idea if there are monkeys in Koh Samui, and I think that the 'monkey' portion of the name is actually based on one of the owners being born in the year of the monkey, but please read on in ignorance of these heartfelt confessions).

The pumpkin curry makes me want to cuss in front of my grandmother without apologizing. I love it so much that for days after I eat it I have dreams of it's coconutty goodness and visions of the carved decorations on the green pumpkin in which it's served dance in my head. Spooned over the sticky jasmine rice it approaches the sublime feeling of kissing the girl you've been crushing on for months for the first time, or taking that first shower after you've been camping for a week. Love is not a strong enough word.

Add to that some very good and eclectic appetizers, an honorable selection of the traditional pad thai-ish-type selections, an impressive menu of 'house' drinks, and a very cool, very relaxed, SoMa-style ambience, and you have the makings of one of my favorite San Francisco destinations.

So, for what it's worth, this lucky, shitty judge of Thai food, bumpkin of a boy gives 5 stars to Koh Samui....but make sure to get the pumpkin curry. And call me first, cause I'm hungry and will meet you there.