When Ino Sushi in Japantown closed down last year my heart sank. There went a great little shop that specialized in traditional nigiri, simply fish and rice with hardly any additives. It will be missed. However, moving into the space was the former owner of Koo, Kiyoshi Hayakawa. A place I loved for, you guessed it, traditional sushi. Not that the...

Time for another night of omakase and tonight we are checking out Sakae Sushi. It’s a modest size establishment on the corner of Burlingame, right across the street of the Caltrain station. So if you’re traveling by rail, this place would be convenient. But if you’re driving here, you should be able to find parking around...

Saturday was about the perfect weather you could have the “Lumpia Palooza” Food Festival at the SOMA StrEat Food Park. Clear skies and sunny. So we had to get there early to secure seats and, of course, take advantage of our $35 all-you-can-drink tickets. Seating at this event was pretty tough to find. In the middle of the...

Sushi in kaiseki style is the theme of the omakase at Kusakabe. And that drew us here. Along with the fact that it was finally a bit easier getting a reservation. That is of course, if you don’t mind four weeks advanced booking for a table at opening time. We certainly didn’t. Inside there was seated and given...

Ever since I moved back to the Bay Area there seems to be more and more sushi shops. I’m not talking about the serve-you-the-usual-assortment-of-fish places. These places are catering to the eager nigiri lovers looking for hard to get fish paired with creative flavors. The one we went today was a relatively new establishment in Hayes...

There are many places around South Bay where you can go to enjoy some food and drinks with your co-workers. For starters, you have all those restaurants around downtown Mountain View on Castro street. Of course, most of them cater to the power lunch crowds. You can’t blame them since business rents in that area are as astronomical as residential...

Once again, not in San Francisco, but in San Mateo do we discover good sushi at I would add, very affordable prices. A 30 minute drive south of the city is DASH Japanese Tapas and Sushi. Located right across from the movie theater, you’d probably overlook it if it weren’t for the lines. We had reservations...

A little south of the San Francisco airport is where you can find the New England Lobster Company. A bit out of the way but when you’re craving a good lobster roll, you might want to make the hike. It’s not in a strip mall or near other restaurants. It’s just there, surrounded by warehouses and...

When it comes to lively sushi places, Sushi Sam’s Edomata nails it. This place had been on my dinner list for quite some time. Countless number of friends posting delectable pictures and raving about their times here was getting unbearable. Even with the number of good sushi restaurants opening up in the city, this restaurant...

We took a chance coming to Yakitori Kokko without reservations. It’s usually filled with people waiting outside. But today, we got out of work early. So we headed there right when they opened to see if they had any seats. Luckily they did. And I have to stress that lucky part. They already had a...

What’s for lunch after yesterday’s amazing sushi dinner? Sushi. Yes. It’s sushi time again. However, it’s at another well known establishment, Akiko’s Restaurant. Not to be mistaken for Akiko’s Sushi Bar on Mason. My friends made that mistake and I hear it happens quite often. The Akiko’s I’m talking about sits on Bush near Grant. There’s no...

You hear of good sushi places all the time. And if you’re like me, you have a bit of skepticism. But when it came to Saru Sushi, it wasn’t how many people said it was amazing, it was who, plenty of fellow skeptics and food snobs. And after coming here, I get it, it’s good. It’s...

We went back to my old neighborhood when we found out Brenda’s opened a new restaurant. Her famous soul food was no longer just in the Tenderloin, but out on Divisadero with all the other new shops. Man the area sure changed in a year. My only complaint would be why this didn’t happen when I...

We thought we would be clever to hit Swan Oyster Depot on Monday, a holiday, and right when it opens, at 10:30am. Well, there were plenty of people who thought the same. Preparation got us parked and in line by 10:15, misfortune placed the cut off line for first seating right at us. That sucked. But...

Pabu is the type of place that can make you hate your Facebook friends. Every time someone checks into the restaurant, I was guaranteed to see posts of some delicious looking food. Now, it was my turn to return the favor. And after dining here, I understood why everyone was so excited. It’s a great...

I looked out of my office window today and saw JapaCurry. A food truck I heard about and being that I love Katsu Curry, it was on my list. And with them sitting outside the office, I had to run down and give it a try. It’s your typical food truck. Order in one window,...

This Japanese restaurant opened up earlier this year. And while a friend of mine works there, I wanted to give it some time before trying. Not that I wasn’t eager. My friend kept posting delectable pictures on their Facebook page. Metal note: block food porn. So many months later I found myself making reservations at...

One of the few places around the city that specializes in, as the name suggests, prime rib. They take a classical approach. A standing rib roast carted out to your table in this silver domed contraption. For some reason, with that Hindenburg looking thing and the cozy wood trimmed atmosphere, I felt like I was...

I go by this place everyday. Each time it gets more and more enticing. The aroma that comes out of here makes me feel like Winnie the Pooh around a jar of honey. My steps gets lighter and my grin was unstoppable. So unfair to deal with that each and every day. Maybe I should...

Not sure how I ended up at this place. It sat on the second floor in the blocked out street of Buchanan. I think it was relatively new, because come on, I’d notice the ramen sign walking by this area on the way to karaoke. Oh so many karaoke memories. “These guilty feet have got...

We happened to mosey on by State Bird Provisions one afternoon after a movie at the Kabuki Theater. My geeky explanation of why I didn’t like Captain America was cut short. We came across State Bird Provisions, where I had to reboot my story telling of impossibilities to that of getting a reservations at this...

On a walk to one of my favorite watering holes on Friday, I saw this place. One of three actually, on the way towards North Beach where I’ll sit in a tiny bar and cry out my day’s miseries. But first thing I do when I see my bretheren was to mention the onslaught of...

If you didn’t look this place up online, you would have walked right by and missed out on a great dining experience. It’s nestled between a convenience store and residential apartments. Although the sign was right there in plain view, the whole place just somehow blends in. Maybe it’s because you never get a full...

This place opened up a few years ago, and although I tried it last year, I had to come back to give it a full review. There was nothing memorable last time I tried it, but I did pick a boring set, the shabu shabu. Sure, they could have made this really good, but why,...

Here’s the deal. I’ve been meaning to head up to Tomales Bay for some oysters for years. Ever since I moved up to the Bay area four years ago, I never got the chance. Until now. And of course, this technically wasn’t Tomales Bay. But still, this place was in the vicinity about thirty minutes...

Airbnb, what a great service. For a friend’s birthday, we booked a room out in Napa Valley. Wine country for those who don’t know. It’s a little getaway for those of us in Northern California. Only an hour away from San Francisco. I do wonder why I don’t go as often as I should. Gotta...

A winter reward after 15 grueling kilometers, totally worth it! http://www.hotchocolate15k.comk...

Generally I wouldn’t write about sports. And if you talked to my friends, they’d say the same thing. However, this day I couldn’t pass up writing about. It was the day I got to watch the Niners battle the Panthers. But not only did I get access to the field before the game, I got...

When the weather gets as good as it does like today – sunny, bright, high sixties, with random cold breezes. It was a perfect day to spend outside. Really. Any warmer around here and all the fedoras would look even more ridiculous. No joke. Anyways, being outside with food was the goal and we needed...

Bay to Breakers has always my favorite race. A time where people come together to show its colors in a journey from the one side of the city to the other. For some it was a goal to the finish, for the rest of us, it was to find all the fun. The funnest parts...

To spare you on the back story, I got treated to dinner for a hot tub incident. Yeah, I said I wasn’t going to talk about it. So let’s just say, out of it, I got to go to one of my favorite Japanese places, Eiji. It’s a small little place in the Castro near...