Erica "It's shake n bake and I helped!" P.'s Profile

Such a fun day trip! Come to Sunken forest and walk the wooden deck trails to see really interesting foliage, and maybe some wildlife! Take a boat over, or walk down the beach from whatever town you are staying in. We had an awesome time, but definitely bring snacks if you are walking, it's a bit of a journey!

Snack shop and gift shop located on premises as well.

ps - wear bug spray.

Oh Del Posto, how I wanted to like you more :)
Not that it wasn't good... just a couple of snags here and there...

Went last night for mom's bday. Just the girls (mom, sis and me).
We were seated, in a decent spot in the front of the restaurant. We were asked if we wanted to start with a cocktail, champagne etc. Sis already had a drink from the bar, so mom and I said champagne (it was a celebration after all), well, unbeknownst to us (till the check came) the waiter gave us the most expensive glass on the menu (sis is in the biz and says this is very poor form). Oh well, but it was yummy.

We started with the amuse, a small cup of tomato soup (so-so), a lobster sandwich with caviar among other things (pretty good, though the bread was a little to soft imho), and some saurkraut wrapped in proscuitto (this was really interesting, like a fancy hot dog with kraut!)

We had our first courses and I enjoyed the abalone (what little there was of it) paired with asparagus and ramps. The veggies were delicious!

the next was the first of two pasta courses, the spaghetti with crab, jalapeno and scallions - quite tasty and given the size of the dish, a pretty generous portion of crab. Following the Spaghetti was the Scungilli with Conch, black garlic, lemon and pepper. This came out looking like an asian dish (the sauce was thick and brown, like teriaki) but tasted much more like a meaty gravy sauce on large (very al dente) pasta with small slices of conch, which honestly didn't have much flavor except for being vehicles for the gravy sauce.

Our main courses came next, and I ordered the Wood Grilled Lobster. The presentation was great, and the lobster was well cooked, however the sauce on the plate was offensively lemony (think - Baby's first lemon faces) which made it hard to enjoy the rest of the plate, but I managed :P Mom had the duck, which she said was good, and was accompanied by cantaloupe balls that had been rolled in nuts and breadcrumbs (i tried this and it was very good and a neat concept!)

We moved on to Dessert where I enjoyed the panna cotta. Mom got the Chocolate torte (which was good but very rich) with olive oil gelato. Now, I know Batali is famous for inventing this olive oil gelato, but something went terribly wrong last night. Both my sister and I, Independent of one another, announced that it tasted like cardboard! Unfortunately, or fortunately, the 2 bottles of wine were starting to get to us, and we mentioned this to the waiter (more out of amusement than criticism)... and he brought my mom some chocolate sorbet on the side (though we said we did not need anything!)

Lastly we had the petit fours, served in a neat wooden cheese grater. several choices, all of which I was really too full to eat (but I did anyway :) the most memorable being the champagne caramel wrapped in edible (rice) paper packaging.

All in all, it was a nice evening, with decent food and above average service, however for these prices, I would much prefer to dine at Babbo or the Modern, or somewhere a little more interesting... I guess at $115 a pop without wine, I was expecting more... Is that too much to ask?

Visited Chicago this weekend and came to Union sushi. While I would argue that this is not sushi in the traditional sense, the food was pretty good.. We sampled a ton of items from the menu. First off the waiter was extremely nice and knowledgeable (and what he didn't know, he found out for us). That said, out of all the places I visited in Chicago, and all the times I raved about the value of the food vs NYC, it was here that I was actually shocked by the $150 dinner bill for two people when we didn't over order and only had one bottle of $32 sake.

Anyhoo, on to the food.
We began with some edamame, with their house spice blend, which neither my dining partner nor I was particularly fond of. We followed that with the oysters on the half shell, which were decorated with scallion, masago and fried shallots; this was my favorite of the night. Next we tried the truffled tuna, this didn't taste terribly truffled and was seasoned again with their house blend, which we weren't fans of - if you go and have had tuna tartare before, skip this.

Next we had the Turtle soup - the broth was great, but I now know I do not like turtle meat- it reminded me of ox tail, but tougher.

Then we moved on to the BBQ skewers. We had one each of the Alligator (good, but nothing special other than that it was Alligator), The prosciutto wrapped scallop, (prosciutto was fatty not crispy), the Fishcake which was stuffed with cheese (we both found this offensive) and the whole squid, which was well cooked and seasoned.

After this we moved onto the rolls section of the menu and tried the Hokkaido (grilled scallop, avocado, masago-mayo, roasted pepper,
jalapeno, garlic + wrapped in soy paper) I didn't like this one so much, the belly(hamachi, cucumber, orange tobiko, scallion, chili
paste aioli, crispy tempura crumbs, fried pork belly strips + eel sauce) which was pretty yummy and lastly the soft shell crab roll which included rice puffs, sesame paste and fried ginger; this was pretty good, but as soft shell crab rolls go, I have had better.

The ambiance was very cute, and we may very well return, however I won't be scheduling any trips back to Chi specifically for this.

We tried out their buffet brunch today. According to the flyer I got in the mail, its $29,99 a person, all you can eat.

Well, we totally forgot it was mothers day when we went, but they were able to seat us no problem. What they forgot to mention was that they raised the price for mothers day to $35.

The food was ok, the oysters were fresh but lacked flavor, the omlette station was quick (though the selections were minimal) and thev french toast was very good (made with real french bread!)

The refills of the food were decent, the fruit layout was decimated and I never saw it get replaced. The bacon was crispy, and the tomato mozz salad was good.

They are unable to serve alcohol until 12 noon, which seems to be a big fail given that brunch is all about the bottomless mimosas and bloody marys. They charge for every drink (the bf finished his iced tea and asked for another, it took forever so another waiter came by and offered to get him a refill - next thing we know he has two new iced teas in front of him, he only drank one, yet they charged for all of them).

Lastly, the dessert table looked like they had gone to the bakery and purchased everything, vs making some items in house.

We might come back, on a non holiday weekend, but I'm almost willing to make the trek to manhattan for the Water Club brunch - its much better and only $7 more :p

So yelp asked me to update this. Apparently someone complained. Guessing it was the doctor who is worried this might hurt his practice. Well, that was the point. Here is some additional info.

My boyfriend went here. After a treatment was administered incorrectly, he shared my BFs info (w/o permission!) with some friend that runs a free clinic. See, he must have known that something went wrong with his procedure, cause he was ready to send my BF to this free clinic when he called the doc the next morning complaining that he was numb from the waist down. Obviously, my BF saw through this shady charade, and went to a real hospital, where he found out that he needed surgery due to this guys poor ability to do his job. He had 2 surgeries (the first one failed) and now forever has pain, and has no feeling in one foot, among other scattered pains all due to one procedure gone wrong, by an unskilled doctor. so again I implore you, DO NOT GO HERE.

Came here last night for a work dinner - large party so we had a prix fixe menu...

While the bartenders seemed fairly skilled, the food left much to be desired...  

I started with the Jonah Crab salad, a mound of crab meat mixed with diced cucumber, topped with some (seriously tasted like) fish sorbet and a spiced tuile crisp, finished with a smear of something avocado based on the plate. It was decent, but nothing to write home about.

Next was the Peking style duck. Let me tell you there was nothing Peking about this duck... I think peking and I think, cucumbers, hoisin and crispy skin. This was cooked duck breast on a plate with some shredded duck and bok choy on the side. It was served with one pancake, that wasn't even worth utilizing in traditional peking duck fashion, and the skin wasn't crispy at all, it had that quarter inch or so of fat that most duck orders come with (if you are going to put it on your menu, figure out how to prepare it well). Lastly, there was no hoisin sauce or flavor to speak of, anywhere! Why not just list this dish as duck, vs. peking? Total misnomer and highly disappointing.

The guy next to me got the short ribs which he described as "drier than I would have liked".

I skipped dessert as I was already so underwhelmed that I didn't want to waste the calories on what would likely be a let down.

I won't come back here unless I am in need of a fancy/expensive bar scene in this hood - there are way better food choices in every price range nearby.

Went here last week with my mom and her best friend. Mom and Bff enjoyed the short ribs appetizer. As a non cow eater, I did taste the side of pommes anna, which was literally a stack of potato chip like slices with some sort of spice (I could have sworn it was cinnamon, but what do I know)

I had the scallop and fennel crudo to start, which was clean and refreshing and really good! BFF agreed, and mom doesn't touch the raw stuff.

As an entree we all split the ravioli of polenta and marscarpone, which was served with corn, zucchini and squash blossoms. This was so good that I kept putting more on my plate from the shared plate. Had it not been inappropriate, I might have licked the plate. maybe.

All in all, good service (my water glass never got empty) and great food.

The reason for the missing star? This place is LOUD. Do not bring your curmudgeonly grandpa here. While you may not be able to hear him complain over dinner, I am sure you will hear all about it for some time to come.

Best Pizza in Ocean Beach, and sorry Kent W, it ain't the only pizza place, its just the only GOOD pizza place. I have made sure to try the pizza sober as well as drunk and can confirm that it is just as good without the influence of alcohol. Yes it is expensive, but so is everything on the island, you are paying the premium that the stores must pay in order to cover the freight charges.

Anyhow, best pizza, and best pizza boys on the island :) And I am NOT just saying that! :P

Enjoy!

Oh also - their sandwiches (chicken parm, etc) are yummy!

Saw this last night with mom sis and bf. The music was great - you will likely recognize a couple hits. Dancing was very fun - very swinging 60s. Marge in act two was def a show stealer (as someone else mentioned below) and Sean Hayes (in his first ever bway show) did really well!

Kristin Chenoweth is adorable (per usual) and her voice is still as amazing as ever (how that much sound comes out of someone that tiny still amazes me!) Have seen her in You're a good man Charlie Brown, Wicked as well as her Carnegie hall solo performance, and I never get tired of her (even though bubbly blondes can sometimes make a person want to gag)

While I didn't think the show was as "broadway" as other musicals I have seen (i.e. not a glitzy big time with bells and whistles) it was a very enjoyable performance, and the costumes/dresses made me want to hit up my favorite mod clothing site!

A hint for those who have trouble sitting still - the seats aren't terribly comfortable, and with the 15 min intermission the show runs approx 2.5 hrs.

I really do enjoy anything Scott Conant!

Ate dinner here last night with some colleagues. The bar and dining room are gorgeous, somewhat minimalist, but airy and elegant.

As we were a party of 6, and the general idea with most of the dishes is to share, we got to try a ton of stuff. We also had some delicious wine, so I will do my best to remember all the dishes!

We began with the puzzle, a cleverly presented assortment from the raw bar. 6 different plates (that all matched up together in a puzzle like way) were brought out and included the Scallop Carpaccio (light and refreshing served with grapefruit), the spot prawn crudo (which had interesting texture, and a little bit of kick), The Kanpachi with Garlic Chips (one of my favorites!), the orata rossa with pink peppercorns (a little fishy for my taste but interesting flavor pairing), the lobster susci with concentrated tomatoes and a tuna toro plate which I can't remember what the pairing was.

We then moved on to the cheese, salumi and bread course, We had mortadella, salami and procuitto (sliced perfectly!) and a pecorino with aged balsamic, a ricotta paired with another cheese and a blackberry (I think) jam. There was some olive oil foccaccia, a stromboli (a rolled up piece of bread with procuitto and cheese inside) and a grilled cibatta served with a poached duck egg for dipping. As a lover of all things bread and cheese, this course was awesome :)

The next course, the entrees and meats, included the rock shrimp (really good, and the breading wasn't too heavy at all!), The pork belly with fingerling potato slices, which was surprisingly less fatty tasting than most pork belly I have had, the short rib of beef (not as good as mom's but whose is? :) The semolina dumplings with ox tail and bone marrow  was absolutely my favorite cooked item and I didn't even know I liked ox tail and bone marrow! We also enjoyed the black truffle risotto with sea urchin which had an interesting flavor, the asparagus beans which tasted like green beans and the cauliflower which was perfectly caramelized (and would make any child actually eat his veggies!) We also had a yummy pasta,  Tajarin, Tomato & Ricci di Mare which I think was also made with sea urchin.

For dessert we split the chocolate dessert (not sure what it was but it was chocolate, hazelnuts and crunch, and reminded me of a gourmet kit kat), the apple strudel which was good and the panna cotta which also had hints of hazelnuts and was very tasty.

We will definitely be back!