Suzanne and I went out for dinner tonight. We’d heard people say that Aslam’s Rasoi.

When we peeked in we saw that it was busy but not full. Good sign. So we went in. We were shown to a cozy corner table … so cozy that we were almost blocked in by the surrounding tables later on. There was a feeling of trying to pack a few too many diners into the dining room.

The menu was reasonable, both in terms of variety and price, with the usual selection of North Indian dishes.

We got started with drinks and Assorted Pakoras (Vegetable Pakoras, Gobi Pakoras and Began Pakoras). The pakoras were nicely done. Whether it was Aslam’s practice, or specifically as we were there as a couple, I don’t know, but the selection of pakora were paired, two of each type. A nice touch in my opinion.

For the meal we ordered Lamb Vindaloo (Lamb curry cooked with potatoes and herbs in a hot curry sauce), Bengan Bartha (Freshly roasted eggplant sauteed with chopped onion, garlic, ginger, and spices), Chana Masala (Garbanzo beans cooked with onions, fresh tomatoes, and spices North Indian style, Aloo Gobi (Cauliflower and potatoes cooked with a hint of garlic and spices), rice, and Naan.

Serving sizes were good, providing a sumptuous meal and leftovers for another.

I’m not the world’s greatest lamb fan (yet) but I enjoyed the vindaloo. Tender and tasty with a nice level of heat. The bartha was ok … a little bland maybe. I would have liked it a bit more of a smoky flavor. The chana was very nice; good flavor and quite spicy. The aloo gobi was as expected, not exceptional, but certainly not a disappointment. The naan was quite nice, soft, with a touch of char.

Our waitress left a little to be desired, seeming to be somewhat ill at ease. Also, I didn’t think we were getting quite as much attention as we should have.

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After the LARubyConf wrapped up this evening, a large group of us headed over to Gordon Biersch for dinner.

For beer I had the Schwarzbier (Literally “black beer” in German. Schwarzbier has a fairly light body with a delicious dry, roasted coffee like finish.). Dark, smooth, and tasty.

I started off with the “Old Fashioned Chopped Salad” (Chopped salad with chicken, pepperoni, pepper jack cheese, onions, tomatoes and a variety of fresh vegetables, tossed in an Olive Lemon Vinaigrette). This was good, down to the artichoke hearts and olives, big cubes of cheese. Yummy.

For main course I gave their Beer Battered Fish & Chips a try.

OK, I didn’t think to take a pic until well into it. My first impression was “Oh Fish sticks.”. First impressions were misleading as the fish turned out to be quite good. Happily it came with malt vinegar by default. It also, however, came with garlic fries. Um… WTF?! Fish & chips with garlic fries? Really strong garlic fries. While they were tasty enough, they definitely were not mean to go with fish & chips. Bad call Gordon Biersch.

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I’m in LA (well, Burbank to be exact) to speak at LA Ruby Conf tomorrow.

Tonight I had the pleasure of having dinner at Granville Cafe with friends from Goldstar and Edgecase. Notably I had the chance to hang with my buddy @patmaddox, the BDDMF himself, as well as meet (in person) @gilesgoatboy.

The lighting sucked for the iPhone’s camera, but here’s a collage shot.

It was a nice place. Casual but with a good menu & beer selection. I opted for some Youngs Double Chocolate Stout. Damn, that’s good stuff. I had a “Southwest Burger” with sweet potato fries. I love the sweet potato fries occasionally. It was a burger, nicely done & tasty, but just a burger in the end. I did really like the bun, though. It had enough body and crust to it so as to hold up for the life of the burger, and not get all soggy like inferior buns tend to do.

As is often the case, the night is memorable more for the company than the food. After Granville, several of us went on to BJ’s for beer and conversation into the wee hours of the morning (yes… I’m backdating this post by a couple hours).

I had dinner tonight at Custom Burger with @stesla & @kagato. @stesla’s been trying to get me there for some time, and I almost made it a couple times, but had to bail. Custom Burger is brilliant! Truely a “build your own burger” experience.

@stelsa is a fan of their sweet potato fries. Rightfully so. Between the 3 of us we got 2 half & half baskets: a basket of fries, half white potato, and half sweet potato. Really nice… hot & fresh.

I can’t speak for the other two, but my burger was superb. Here’s how I had it:

• angus patty
• swiss cheese
• bacon
• sauteed mushrooms
• arugala
• chipotle ketchup
• multigrain bun

ZOMG Good!

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I stopped on the way home with @stesla at The Chieftain for a pint & light meal.

As soon as I stepped through the door I knew I’d love the place. It’s a simply brilliant little pub.

So, you’re in an Irish pub after work. What do you do? Why, order a Guinness, of course… unless you don’t like beer, in which case you order something else from their extensive drink menu.

The Guinness was exceptional and, other that @stesla’s slight run-in with basic physics, was consumed with gusto. We both ended up ordering the Guinness Stew (loaded with chunks of tender beef, carrots, potatoes, and onions, served with our brown bread). OMG this was good. Really good. the vegetables were soft enough to cut up with a spoon, and the beef was fall apart tender. Flavours were nicely balanced with a rich but not overwhelming broth. Plain, basic, hearty food that just works.

Cozy, subdued lighting (not the greatest place to take food pics), lots of drink options, and good food. To top it off, it’s between work and both BART and one of my MUNI alternatives home. I’ll be back, plenty.

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Suzanne and I spent part of Presidents Day wandering about the Financial District and Downtown. We started out by heading to the Ferry Building. I could spend some serious money there on ingredients. In fact, I expect I will.

After we tired of wandering we realized we were hungry and looked for a place to eat. Everything in the ferry building was packed, so we headed back into the financial district. “What do you want?” she asked. “Hmm.. Thai” I said. I was just whipping out my iPhone to check for nearby Thai restaurants when we looked across the street and saw Osha. Suzanne raves about the location in the Mission, and I was impressed with their SOMA location, so we went in.

Suzanne got a Palmtinni while I went with an Anchor Steam. What was of note was the mug:

Notice where the handle is. I’m calling this a case of bad design. It’s too high. With the mug full it’s awkward to tip it up to drink from.

We started with Thai Samosas (Potato, onion, carrot and yellow curry in a pot sticker wrapper served with fresh cucumber salad). These tasted fine but we both thought they were a bit too light & flakey. They came with 4 pieces but we’d started in before think to take a pic.

Next up was the Mango Salad (Streamed prawns, sliced mango, red onions, mint, cilantro, Kaffir lime leaf and cashew nuts in spicy lemongrass dressing). This was the star of the meal. Beautifully done. Crisp and refreshing, tart & nicely spicy. And it was garnished with lots of sliced cucumber. I like cucumber. Suzanne doesn’t. I ate all the cucumbers. Win-win.
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For the main entre we got Volcanic Beef (Wok-fried grilled premium flank steak with basil and black pepperin Lava sauce garnished with onion rings). While it was well presented and flavorful enough, it lacked heat. We ordered it “spicy” but it was bland with respect to chilis.

The Mango Salad was far and away the star of the meal. In fact it’s the only dish that I’d order again.

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This is part 1 of a post… since I neglected to take pics today at lunch.

The Chaat Cafe is a regular lunch spot for the crew at Engine Yard, especially for @stesla and I. Generous portions of really good, North Indian food that’s reasonably priced. It’s a nice place, with bright colors abounding. Staff is always friendly. It’s very spare dining. You come in, order and pay. You get a number card to place at your table and food eventually shows up. Grab water, napkins and silverware on your way to a table. No seating… take what you can get. We’ve been aiming to have lunch about 11:30 so there are always seats.

Two of my favourites are the Paneer Vindaloo and Saag Paneer. @stesla is a man of habit and lately that habit has taken the form of Malai Kofta: Vegetarian dumplings made with a mixture of potatoes, carrots, paneer, and other vegetables, simmered in our tikka masala sauce. It’s looked and smelled so good the times he’s gotten it in the past that I had to try it today. And evidently tomorrow so I can get some pics.

So today I, did indeed, get the Malai Kofta. It was as good as anticipated. This really was no surprise as I’ve yet to be dissappointed by the food here. I’ll aim to have a more detailed review tomorrow, but if you ar ein the mood for some fine North Indian food and are in SOMA, head over to Chaat Cafe at 3rd & Folsom.

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Oh Beer, lovely beer.

Yes, I’m writing with with a bit of a buzz on. I spent some time at 21st Amendment with @stesla this evening enjoying their “strong beer month” offerings.

We both started with Two Lane Blacktop. Very dark, malty, hoppy IPA. Lots of body, nice dark color and intense hopiness.

@stesla went on to the Lower De Boom Barley Wine, which all he can manage now is “it was delicious”.

I had the Imperial Jack – Big ESB. (which @stesla finished with). Brilliant. Lovely bitterness. I loves me an ESB.

I finished up with a Blind Lust – Belgian Strong w/oak aged framboise. This was really nice. Beautiful color and lovely flavor.

So get to 21A and have some yummy beer!

Today was a beautiful day in San Francisco! So, naturally, we went for a walk, this time around Potrero Hill. The last stop on the way home was Humphry Slocombe Ice Cream. This is San Francisco Beer Week, and Humphry Slocombe is doing 6 custom beer flavored ice creams every day. Todays was: Albino Python, Hop Stoopid, Wassail, Hairy Eyeball, Old Thunderpussy and Smokestack.

I tried the ‘Hairy Eyeball‘ (from Lagunitas). Beer ice cream… honestly I wasn’t that impressed. I felt somewhat let down.

However, I didn’t stop at that. I also had a scoop of the ‘Chocolate & Smoked Salt’. OMFG… incredible depth of flavor.

Suzanne opted for ‘Cinnamon Brittle’ and ‘Blue Bootle Vietnamese Coffee’. ‘Cinnamon Brittle’ was ok, but not as intense of a flavor as I prefer, especially for cinnamon. The ‘Blue Bootle Vietnamese Coffee’, on the other hand, was incredible. @stesla had previously made a similar comment, but WOW it was good.

We’d dropped in last week as well and had ‘Secret Breakfast’ (Bourbon and Cornflakes) and ‘Balsamic Caramel’. Both were over the top good. I especially loved the ‘Balsamic Caramel’.

I’ll be making a habit of dropping into Humphry Slocombe semi-regularly. The best (and maybe worst) thing is that it’s only 2 blocks from home!

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Although I’ve been here repeatedly since @atmos introduced me to it, I’ve not written about it yet. Time to solve that as I actually sit here waiting to head over to 21st Amendment for dinner with @stesla and @xagile.

Unlike many of the cafes in San Francisco, Epicenter does not brew Bluebottle, Fourbarrel, or Ritual beans. They use they use beans from San Jose based Barefoot Coffee. Incidentally, Barefoot’s “The Boss” is my preferred beans for home use. So tasty I tend to have straight espresso rather than cappuccino.

Epicenter not only does a superlative job with the coffee, but is also has beer & wine, as well as a selection of food and pastries. The baristas here have mad skillz, their latte art creations are always impressive. For example:

The atmosphere is excellent for relaxing with a drink & snack, or having a meeting with potential biz partners. It’s a very startup-friendly spot. Free wifi (as expected), quiet background music and friendly staff.

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