Jennifer and I went to Greens. The space is a little too cavernous, but very pretty, and there's a wonderful view.
We shared the Early Girl tomato bisque with fresh basil on top and mascarpone to stir in. Very fresh-tasting and nice.
I had polenta with melted cheese on top and some kind of sauce of white corn kernels, tomatoes, and onions. On the side there were two small grilled zucchinis and a little pile of amazingly flavorful sauteed chard, which left my teeth uncomfortably furry after dinner. After the lovely flavor of the chard and the tomato soup, the polenta seemed a bit too bland--it was good, but sort of a let down.
Jen had risotto with cherry tomatoes and chanterelles.
Thursday, September 08, 2005
Thursday, September 01, 2005
Casey and I went to La Balompie, an El Salvadorean restaurant in the Mission, on 18th and Capp (a block or two past Mission if you're walking away from Valencia). We met her friends Alisha and Oneida there.
I had a corn pupusa with loroco and cheese, and a rice pupusa with beans and cheese. They mixed up my order and Casey's, and also got one of Alisha's pupusas wrong, and brought an extra order of plantains to the table (Casey said something about her plato, and the woman heard this as platanos).
I thought I'd like the corn tortilla better, but the rice pupusa was actually really nice and toasty-tasting. Cheese oozed out of both and got deliciously browned and crunchy. We had cool, crunchy, sour cabbage slaw to contrast, and a rust-colored, liquid, spicy salsa.
Casey told us about how you're supposed to eat them: cut open the top like a pita, put in some cabbage and salsa, and then eat the whole thing with your hands. The last time she was there with Colin, he had started eating his with a knife and fork, and a man at the next table said to his family, "Look, they know a different way to eat pupusas." Casey turned around and said, "Oh, he's English" and the man got really embarrassed, and then wouldn't stop talking to her in Spanish.
The plantains were nice with sour cream.
I had a glass of melon juice (cantaloupe). I wouldn't get it again--too sweet, I'm just not fond enough of melons.
I also got some disappointing empanadas. They were basically stuffed fried sweet plantains with a thick, stiff, pure white "custard" inside that looked like a hard-boiled egg. Far too dense, oily, sweet, and rich.
I had a corn pupusa with loroco and cheese, and a rice pupusa with beans and cheese. They mixed up my order and Casey's, and also got one of Alisha's pupusas wrong, and brought an extra order of plantains to the table (Casey said something about her plato, and the woman heard this as platanos).
I thought I'd like the corn tortilla better, but the rice pupusa was actually really nice and toasty-tasting. Cheese oozed out of both and got deliciously browned and crunchy. We had cool, crunchy, sour cabbage slaw to contrast, and a rust-colored, liquid, spicy salsa.
Casey told us about how you're supposed to eat them: cut open the top like a pita, put in some cabbage and salsa, and then eat the whole thing with your hands. The last time she was there with Colin, he had started eating his with a knife and fork, and a man at the next table said to his family, "Look, they know a different way to eat pupusas." Casey turned around and said, "Oh, he's English" and the man got really embarrassed, and then wouldn't stop talking to her in Spanish.
The plantains were nice with sour cream.
I had a glass of melon juice (cantaloupe). I wouldn't get it again--too sweet, I'm just not fond enough of melons.
I also got some disappointing empanadas. They were basically stuffed fried sweet plantains with a thick, stiff, pure white "custard" inside that looked like a hard-boiled egg. Far too dense, oily, sweet, and rich.