A little placed called Buko Nero

My brother had booked a table for 2 at Buko Nero a couple of months in advance and I had completely forgotten about it until he reminded me last night. This was one of the most hard-to-secure reservations in town, not only because the cuisine is amazing, but the fact that there restaurant is so small it only had space for half a dozen or so tables. I had heard a lot about the husband and wife team that ran the bistro, their food philosophy and their dedication to their craft by using only the freshest ingredients procured personally each morning from the local markets. Needless to say my expectations were cranked up a couple of notches higher than usual.

We started with Pappardelle with meat sauce, a simple dish full of flavor and pasta cooked al dente, and a tasty monkfish crostino. We were then served a plum and peach sorbet cleanser before our mains arrived - a crusted cod with saffron reduction and a kurobota pork sausage with balsamic reduction. Absolutely fabulous. This was the kind of food one would come to expect from more expensive fine dining establishments with exorbitant prices to match, but Buko Nero stands out as a very affordable gem in this part of town. I'd certainly make another reservation for dinner sometime soon, but with my erratic travel schedule, I'm not sure if I'll end up giving away my reservation again.


Buko Nero is at 129A Tanjong Pagar Road. Reservations are highly, highly recommended a couple of months in advance.

I Must Have Died And Gone To Croissant Heaven

It's Monday morning 8:30AM, I had a couple of hours to spare before my flight. Monday's can be hard sometimes, they hit you like a sledgehammer on the head and leave you spinning till noon. I wasn't too hungry, but a light breakfast would be perfect to cushion the start of the day. A walk around the block brought me to Tartine bakery, one of the better known pastry institutions in San Francisco. It's sister establishment, which I raved about last year over a weekend brunch, serves most of its breads and cakes from Tartine Bakery. The reason why the line snaked around the block of this corner cafe would soon be obvious to me. I ordered the vegetable quiche and an almond croissant to go with my latte. I've had many croissants in the past few years, in fact it's one of my favorite breakfast pastries despite the amount of butter that is used in the baking, but the almond croissant holds a special place in my heart because of the richness of the almond flavored filling, the toasted almond flakes on top sprinkled with icing powder and toasted to perfection. When I sank my teeth into Tartine's version, which on first impression looked a little bit on the burnt side, I knew this was a significant moment in my quest for the perfect pastry. Not too oily, very crunchy on the outside, and moist on the inside, just the right sweetness, with almond flakes drizzled with syrup and toasted around its edges. Unbelievably delicious, and well worth the $3.75.

I would have ordered a second had I not already ordered the quiche, which turned out to be equally delicious, wonderfully smooth and flavorful. French pastries and cafe fodder tend to be on the heavy side, but Tartine's versions were simply deceptively light, something which I thought was not possible until now. Obviously, this goes against my diet rules, but since I was going to embark on a 14hr trans-pacific flight in a matter of hours, this was the perfect excuse to mitigate the airplane food I was going to have to put up with. More about the airplane food later, if I have time. I'm not quite looking forward to it, but United's new menu should be a big improvement over their poor showing in the past few years I've flown with them.

By 9:00AM, the crowds started strolling in and a line was forming all the way out the door. Young families, couples on vacation, businessmen on the way to work picking up a quick fix, the neighborhood came alive with a buzz and fervent activity at the pastry counter as the bakery staff stepped up their pace to keep the patrons happy. What I scene, I felt I was sitting in a movie set watching the day's drama unfold before my eyes. I loved this city, but it was time to go.
Tartine Bakery is located at 600 Guerrero St, San Francisco, CA 94110. Tel: (415) 487-2600

My first Passover dinner experience

I've been meaning to try Firefly for the past 3 years, but was never quite made it there, for many reasons. So tonight must have been my lucky night, I was able to secure a table for 8:30PM at the last minute. I had heard many good things about Firefly and so my expectations were a little high when I arrived at the door. Above the main entrance sat a very large metal firefly sculpture with a blinking electric bulb affixed to its body. Quirky, but interesting. We were shown to a small table overlooking the main entrance, with a good view of the kitchen and the diners in the adjacent dining area. Kind of romantic, but I was there for the food, not romance.

This being Easter week, Firefly presented a special Passover menu featuring a number of traditional Jewish dishes, and some Californian fare. I have to admit this was the first time I've had a Passover meal, so this in itself was an adventure for me. I ordered gefilte fish with a two colored horseradish sauce, which was essentially cold fish dumpling meat served with a side of horseradish. Not how I would usually eat fish dumpling, but the flavor was very well balanced and delicious despite being cold. Perhaps a warm version of this would have tasted much better, over broth, but that's just the Cantonese in me talking. My main course was the beef brisket over sweet potato mash and warm gravy. The beef brisket melted in my mouth, and the sweet potato mash was an excellent complement as was the gravy. For dessert, I ordered the grapefruit sorbet with honey mousse and sliced fruit. The sorbet was very refreshing, not too sour or sweet, and the honey mousse was light as whipped cream with a delicate honey flavor. I can see why Firefly has remained so popular throughout the years, with amazing homestyle dishes that are affordable and very good value for money.
Firefly is located at 4288 24th St. San Francisco, CA 94114. Tel: (415) 821-7652

Eating French On Easter Sunday

There's a quiet French cafe located by the side of a small park in historic South Park in San Francisco with an unusually English name. Called The Butler and The Chef, this little French bistro overlooked the small park surrounded by older turn-of-the-century houses in this cul-de-sac, and as I strolled up the old lane to the cafe, I remembered the mornings I spent walking around the Montmartre quarter in Paris years ago.
The bistro was very brightly colored and cheery on the inside, fresh flowers adorning the counters, and the scent of fresh pastires wafting through the air. It seemed we were not the only early birds, the bistro was already half full. We managed to get a table at the front by the window, and were greeted by a friendly Japanese waitress, and there and then my French illusion shattered. This was San Francisco after all, and very rightly so, because all the items on the menu were organic and grown from sustainable farming methods in the neighboring farms.

Only in San Francisco. I couldn't resist ordering the Belgian waffle with blueberry preserves, bananas and fresh organic whipped cream, eggs benedict with Niman Ranch ham on the side, and an almond croissant to share. The lattes came first, followed by the croissant and the main dishes minutes later. There is something to be said about organic food, you can really taste the difference, the flavors seem more vibrant, natural and just delicious.

I'm always excited about trying new restaurants in the bay area, mostly because of the indelibly strong influence the sustainable farming and slowfood movement has on the local community. Most restaurants in the city have embraced this philosophy and has helped create a renewed awareness in healthy flavorful eating.
The Butler and The Chef is located at 155 S Park St, San Francisco, CA 94107. Tel: (415) 896-2075

Maverick in the Mission

Every so often, I stumble upon a gem in the city by pure chance, rewarding me for taking the risk to try something new or different. When I was glancing through the latest edition of San Francisco magazine's food review section, the name Maverick caught my eye. Not because it reminded me of Tom Cruise's character in Top Gun, but the name itself held the potential of being something different and unconventional in this city that constantly pushes the limits of individuality and steadfast conventions*. Ever hopeful and very hungry, I decided this would be the evening's dinner venue. We almost missed the restaurant when we first drove past 17th Street, because it wasn't the most prominently lit on the row, nor did it have a clear signage that caught one's eye. Anyway, GPS saved the day and we were able to find parking a block down the street.

We were 15min early, and the table before ours had not settled their bill yet, so while we were waiting by the door of this tiny restaurant, the chef came over with 2 pieces of pureed fava beans pesto on toast to distract us. Then Mike the manager offered to let us try some of the featured house wines of the evening, and introduced himself as the restaurant's sommelier as well. The little details in taking care of their patrons made me ever hopeful of the wonderful dining experience I was about to embark on, and truly I was not disappointed at all.

The menu at Maverick constantly changes depending on the season and availability of local produce, and tonight's list featured octopus tostadas, grilled pork balls with polenta and green and sweet potato soup. These were great starters and every selection was truly awesome. The octopus chunks were very well marinated and tender, the grilled pork meat balls had a light fennel flavor and grilled perfectly, and the sweet potato soup was deceptively bland on first sight, but hid an abundance of flavor. For the mains, I had to try their famous buttermilk soaked southern fried chicken with citrus flavored chard and wild rice. This was truly a decadent twist on a traditional southern staple, the chicken was moist, juicy and very tender, and the skin was crispy and full of spiced seasoning. The lemon flavored chard was a very good contrast to the chicken, as were the wild rice seasoned with a tomato based sauce.
Maverick is located at 3316 17th Street in the Mission, San Francisco, CA 94110. Tel: (415) 863-3061

More brunch discoveries in Cole Valley

I had heard of a cafe called Zazie in Cole Valley that was very popular with the neighborhood scene. I guess word of mouth had spread far and wide, and several coworkers had vouched for the fantastic brunches they served at the cafe. So I decided this morning would be the perfect time to stroll over to check it out. At first the name sounded very Greek to me, but menu was typical San Francisco brunch fare, with organic produce and ingredients featured prominently on the menu. Unlike most cities I've been to, restaurants in San Francisco are happy to serve you egg whites only by request, in place of regular eggs and will almost always accommodate any dietary restrictions you can name. My friends who live in the city generally order their egg white scrambles and vegan pancakes, but for me, I believe a little bit of cholesterol in the food makes it even tastier sometimes. i also often wonder what they do with all the egg yolks that are unused.

Locals tend to have breakfast a little earlier than most other people on the east coast, so arriving by 10:00AM assures you a very short wait to get seated. Stepping into the restaurant, I was greeted by the morning light streaming through the skylight near the back, and the whole dining room was abuzz with the morning feasting ritual. The small table in the middle of the dining room was the perfect vantage point to catch all the action.

At Zazie, you get hearty servings of breakfast staples, accompanied by strong fresh brewed lattes. In particular, the candied ginger wholewheat pancakes were amazing, fluffy and full of sweet ginger flavor. I loved the crispy bacon and fresh scrambled eggs (yes you can really taste organic eggs from the regular ones), and not forgetting one of the best French toasts I've eaten in a very long time.
Zazie is located at 941 Cole St, San Francisco, CA94117. Tel: (415) 564-5332

The local global diner

Went to Pomelo, a local breakfast diner in Noe Valley this weekend. Billing itself as a global diner, the mostly breakfast and brunch menu featured typical Californian brunch fare with a little Asian twist, as well as a long list of omelet dishes named after popular destinations around the globe. The special of the day was the Noe Valley, an egg scramble dish flavored with cut chili, thai basil, cilantro, shallots and shrimp. I never thought a Thai style scramble would be so delicious, and the juicy fresh shrimps added to the overall appeal. We also had side orders of their homemade fennel sausage, which were served meat patty style. I didn't quite catch the fennel flavor, but the sausages tasted fresh and were not too fatty.

Coffee was another good thing about Pomelo, the beverages were served in extra large mugs that would probably not require refills from most people. All in all, this was a very pleasant discovery, and right in the heart of one of my favorite neighborhoods in the city. If you're looking for homestyle meals and a very affordable price, Pomelo would be an excellent choice. For a fancier experience, I'd go with Bar Tartine or Empire Cafe any day.
Pomelo is located at 1793 Church Street, San Francisco CA94131. Tel: 415-285-2257.