Foodie Digest

Saturday night, or date night, and we’re off to Japantown. The Kabuki theater is the only one we’ll go to on a weekend because they have reserved seating. New Batman movie is out so we thought we’d grab some cheap ramen before the movie.

Except I happen to mention shabu shabu. Even as we’re walking through Japantown mall to our comfort food destination, Big is thinking shabu shabu. When I point out Shabusen and mention it has good reviews, he suggests we see how long the wait is.

10 minutes or so is what we’re told so we tough it out. We end up with a prime table near a window that opens.

Service here is super friendly and efficient. Big orders the seafood combo (shrimp and scallops) and then says AND to which our server says “oh, that’s plenty for 2 people”. He points out that he’s big and eats a lot and we add a dry aged ribeye shabu shabu. We order beverages and barely have time to sip before the hot pot is put on the table to boil. Before the boiling occurs 2 big plates with cabbage, veggies, tofu and udon appear along with a plate of shrimp and scallops, and another plate of thinly sliced beef.

We also get plates for the shrimp shells, and towel to clean our hands after removing said shrimp shells, and a bowl of rice each.

We eat. and eat. the servers keep asking us if we want more rice or need anything else (no). The food is really good. The broth doesn’t even get clogged with fat.

We pay the bill and leave. And notice the review on the way out that says “an order of shabu shabu is x dollars and serves two”. Um, yeah. Unless you’re us.

We were wandering through Potrero Hill with the dogs and needed a relatively quick, relatively healthy place for lunch. Oh, and it needed to have outside seating. Since we’d just had pizza from Gialina’s last night, we ruled out Piccinos. The last few meals we’d had at Aperto were nice surprises so we drove by.
Seats were available outside so we parked the car and wandered over. Small looked at the specials board and noted: huevos ranchero, huevos w/ chorizo, enchiladas verde, veggie sandwich, and orechette w/ lamb ragu.
If you’ve ever been here you know it’s a predominately italian menu. We’ve noticed that weekend brunches introduce some mexican options. In the past we’ve had the enchiladas verdes and remembered them being quite good. The menu is rounded out with classics like french toast and pancakes, along with lunchy items like a grilled chicken salad and sandwiches.
Small opted for the huevos rancheros but requested scrambled egg whites instead of eggs over medium and no sour cream.
Big went for the Orechette w/ lamb ragu pasta of the day.
Our server brought our drinks along with complimentary mini banana muffins. Big ate them so I forgot to ask if they were good.
The outdoor seating was roomy enough to fit two large dogs. There was one other couple seated outside; they also had a dog.
The huevos rancheros arrive. It’s 3 corn tortillas each topped slightly differently. One is with scrambled egg whites and a green salsa; the second scrambled egg whites with a red salsa, and the third with black beans. Both salsa have a fantastic flavor. The beans are nicely spiced as well. Something between the green salsa and the beans add a great smokey taste. This dish is very successful and very healthy.
The orechette is well-prepared (maybe a tad overcooked for Small’s al dente preference but perfectly suited for Big). The sauce is rich and flavorful. This dish is polished off by Big with Small stealing bites of the orechette.
Service is warm and friendly. Food is good. Definitely recommended. Small’s only complaint with the place is they almost ALWAYS have lilies inside. Small can’t be near lilies and usually dings restaurants a star in ratings for having something so fragrant interfering with her food. Sitting outside, tho, means the lilies are forgotten. Still, if you have the same allergies I do something to be aware of before you plan indoor dining.

Overall thumbs: Two thumbs up. Good relaxing place for brunch.

Tastiness rating: high. The food is always well prepared. The mexican dishes are a great weekend bonus and the salsas are rich and flavorful without being robust.

Service: Good. Our server was nice. We were checked on but not very frequently.

Dog friendliness: Very good. Our dogs were fine under the table and it’s not too crowded. They also keep a dog bowl filled in front of the restaurant.

WW points: 4.5 for the huevos rancheros (Small only ate 2 of the 3 corn tortillas for 2 points, plus the egg whites and beans). 

Celebrating a beautiful sunny Sunday in San Francisco Big and Small ventured out with a final destination of Bi-Rite Creamery in mind. That, combined with the desire to sit outside, led us to Farina. We’ve gone to Farina for lunch one time before and remembered really enjoying it.

We head to the Mission and drive around the church-infused parking lot streets. As luck would have it church was just getting out and parking spaces were freeing up. We drive past Farina and into a parking lot across the street. Score!

We pop in to Farina and ask for 2 seats outside. We get prime seating right in the sunshine. We’re given glasses and a bottle of water, and we each order iced teas. We lean forward to relax and read the menus and OUCH. The outdoor tables are topped with steel and can get very hot. Well-placed napkins become your friend here. Big immediately orders a Salumi plate to get us started. 

We’re also served some nice bread. We ask about the daily specials (there’s always a pasta and soup of the day) and order our entrees. Service the entire time is warm and friendly. Our iced teas are constantly refilled and silverware is changed out between the salumi course and our main courses.

Our choices:

• Tagliere Di Salumi Misti this was the salumi plate. It came with normal thick slices of salami and shaved thin slices of both speck and bresola(sp?). The salami was fine but could have used more pepper or spice. The speck was my favorite. The bresola (dry cured beef) was Big’s. Both of these were very lean pieces of meat with great flavors. 
• Taglierni with meat sauce the sauce on this was more a braised beef sugo. Very rich flavor and perfectly prepared pasta. This was Big’s main.
• Spinach tortellini This had a much more interesting Italian name. It was handmade tortellini that were a cross between tortellini and ravioli. Filled with spinach, cheese and nuts. The recommended sauce for this was a walnut cream sauce but Small (in an attempt to make it slightly healthier) asked for tomato sauce. I was happily accommodated. I LOVED this dish. The pasta was perfectly prepared; it was delicate with robust flavor. I’ll dream about this.

Overall thumbs: Two thumbs up. Service is great, the pastas are incredible and the patio is really comfortable.

Tastiness rating: Very high. I think these are some of my favorite pastas in the city. The salumi plate also had some interesting additions. Oh! and they gave us cookies with meringue along with our check that were also very tasty.

Service: Very good. Our server was warm and friendly. Our iced teas were constantly refilled and we had plenty of water. Plates were cleared quickly and fresh silverware was provided.

Dog friendliness: Very good. We’ve been here before with our two big dogs. They also have a dog bowl outside.

WW points: 8 for the ravioli, 2 for the salumi (small avoided the salami).