Foodie Review - Murphy's Irish Pub

While I was in San Francisco last month, we stopped in Sonoma and had lunch at Murphy's Irish Pub, a traditional pub in the middle of wine country. The interior design and atmosphere of the place is awesome. The walls are chock full of European memorabilia and knick knacks.

Behind the bar, you'll find every kind of alcohol and a friendly bartender. The tv is turned to some real soccer (none of that MLS BS). The day we went there were two British girls at the bar rooting for their hometown team. It made the experience all the better.

I was a little sad that we only had about an hour to hang out in the pub before we had to move on. I bet it would've been cool to experience it in all its glory at night with locals who just wanted to tie one on. Still the food was nice and cheap. Best of all, it was tasty. We had soft drinks and the daily special - BLT with avocado and either a side salad with chardonnay dressing or chips (fries to us Americans). Yummy!

Total for grub at an authentic Irish pub (tax included): $17.44.

Foodie Review - Sears Fine Foods Restaurant

A convenient place to have breakfast in San Francisco's Union Square area is at Sears Fine Foods Restaurant, which is located right on Powell Street. It was about a half block uphill from our hotel so we ended up eating here twice. It opens at 6:30 a.m. daily so you can grab a meal and head out for your day.

The first time we ate here, my BFF and I split an Sidney Amber Special. This came with two eggs, two link sausages, two pieces of bacon and two large pancakes. We washed it all down with apple juice and POG (I believe they called it orange passion guava juice or some crazy thing like that). We walked away totally full and satisfied.



The second time we ate breakfast here we split an Al's Special. This came with nine dollar-sized pancakes, two eggs, corned beef and a hash brown. To drink we had an iced tea and diet coke. I didn't really care for the corned beef and the hash brown was only lukewarm like it'd been sitting a while.


On both occasions, the food tasted pretty ok (not heavenly but not the worst either), especially the pancakes for which the restaurant is known. The atmosphere is quite charming and has a small-town diner feel to it. The chairs and tables are wooden and sturdy. There's old memorabilia on the wall.

However, the service can be a iffy. During our first visit, we arrived early and there weren't many people there. Still, the place is cozy enough that we could hear our neighbor's conversation, an interesting conversation for 7:00 in the morning.

Apparently, the two men sitting beside us hadn't seen each other for a while. One obviously had lost some weight because the other kept saying how good he looked. Then the Biggest Loser said, "Yeah, I lost about 65 pounds. Now my d!ck looks bigger!" Yes folks, at 7 a.m. people are just as infatuated with their junk as they are during the wee hours of the night. We definitely didn't need that bit of TMI served up to us by some graying, pudgy middle-aged men. (But, I guess that's a good tip for you guys trying to pump up the volume down there.)

On our second trip, the place was packed! It didn't help that it was a Saturday though. This time the service was pretty lousy. Our options were to either wait for God knows how long for a table or take a seat at the bar. We opted for the bar. The poor older woman who was working the bar seemed frazzled. She had at least 10-15 people seated at the bar who were all hungry waiting for their food. She was a little disorganized and didn't seem to be a good fit for that busy area.

One patron who sat next to us had to wait a long time before she even acknowledged him and gave him a menu and coffee. He sat there for another 15 minutes without her returning to take his order and got up and left. I don't blame him one bit.

I guess the lesson here is to a) come early on the weekdays to beat the crowds and b) ask to be sat away from other patrons. You never know what'll pop out of their mouths!

Total cost for our Sidney Amber Special with a side of d!ck at no extra charge (tax included): $19.54

Total cost for our Al's Special on a slow boat to China (tax included): $20.31

Foodie Review - New Asia

Last time we flew into San Francisco, we wandered around Chinatown on empty stomachs and pulled into a cheap dim sum place only to be thoroughly disappointed. This time we were determined to find a truly worthy dim sum restaurant to fulfill our growing need.

Luckily for us, we dropped into the San Francisco Visitor Center to inquire about getting Wicked tickets (They don't sell them. You need to go to the Orpheum directly or buy them online). The friendly African American lady behind the counter was great to talk to and so much fun. She really seemed to know her stuff when it came to things going on in the city.

She asked us what else we planned to do, and we said we were in search of a great dim sum restaurant. She commented that she had just suggested a place to a Chinese woman and her mother (who is from China) to go to New Asia in Chinatown. The Visitor Center woman then drew us a map and told us which bus to catch and we were on our way.


New Asia is located at 772 Pacific Avenue between Stockton Street and Grant Avenue. When we walked in we knew this was definitely the spot to be at. For one thing, the entire dining room (which was quite humongous) was filled with what seemed to be local Chinese people. If locals go there, it must be a good sign, right? However, we used this same criterion our last trip but somehow got duped. More on that experience when I have time to get around writing up that review.


Like other dim sum restaurants, you get seated at a table and a slip of paper is left with you. Servers push carts around the room and you select the food you want to eat. They give you a wooden container filled with several pieces of the dish you ordered, then stamp your card for the correct price of the dish. Simple enough, right?


This place was so authentic that the servers would call out the dishes they had in Chinese. Um, that'd be great if you actually spoke the language. Still it wasn't too hard to figure out what they were peddling by the types of dishes they had. There was one cart with desserts such as custards, jin dui and cookies. Another cart was serving char siu bao (manapua for us Hawaii people), shumai and potstickers. Other carts had more exotic cuisine like chicken feet.


We ordered fried rice, potstickers, pork shumai (aka pork hash locally), shrimp shumai and char siu bao. We arrived near noon so they actually had lunch menu items going around as well such as chow fun, beef broccoli, etc. We stuck with the dim sum though since this was what we'd come for.


After being majorly disappointed on our last trip, New Asia was like a godsend. The shumai wrapper was soft and moist. They packed a ton of pork and shrimp into it. They didn't skimp on the filling at all. Delicious!


The char siu bao were a bit small, but then again that's how they usually are at home as well. I guess you can't compare the authentic stuff with the gargantuan manapua we're used to from Libby's or Char Hun Sut. The char siu bao were tasty with just the right amount of meat-to-bun ratio. The bun was soft and moist but not soggy.


Surprisingly, the fried rice was really, really good. I hate ordering rice on the mainland for fear that it'll either be Uncle Ben's rice or overly wet. The only thing I disliked was that they put tons of onions in it. I really dislike onions - both round and scallions - but I suppose others wouldn't find this a turn off. Despite this (I tried to pick out as many onions as possible), the fried rice was very good. It tasted like local fried rice - lots of meat, good wetness, flavorful rice.


The potstickers were normal, though packed full of meat, which was good. They were crunchy and I guess that's all that you can ask of them.

Overall, New Asia hit the spot and killed that dim sum craving we've had since last November's visit. We would've never found this place had it not been for the SF Visitor Center lady.

Total cost for this authentic Chinese meal (tax included): $19.40

Foodie Review - Figaro Ristorante

Italian food is one of my favorite kinds of cuisine so I always like to try the local sampling whenever I can. North Beach is San Francisco's Italian neighborhood. You can tell because the Italian national flag is painted onto poles in the area. I think it brings about an immense sense of pride.


One thing I noticed while walking through this area is that the restaurant barkers (if that's what you call them) definitely aren't shy. They call from their doorsteps or behind their podiums for you to join them for a meal. They encourage you to try their restaraunt whether or not it's even mealtime. They're friendly and flirtatious, using just about every method to get you into the door. Normally, that'd feel so forced and too much like a used car salesperson but somehow in this quaint, quasi-European area of SF, it's charming.


My BFF and I tried out a place called Figaro Ristorante located right in the heart of North Beach on Columbus Avenue. Not only was it recommended by the looping infomercial on the hotel tv, but it was also pointed out while we were on a SF City Tour (more about that in another review). I figured it couldn't hurt to give it a try, despite all the money they must've poured into good PR.


We went in a bit after the lunch rush ended and before the dinner crowd even began to have an inkling about where they'd like to dine. This made lunch a very pleasant experience because there was only a handful of people in the restaurant. Even if it were crowded, I don't think we'd feel rushed. I noticed that people in SF really take food seriously. When they're out, they're out to enjoy everything - the atmosphere, the company, the food, the drink - and never seem to be in a rush to leave. They savor their meals. I could totally get with that.

To start we ordered bruschetta and just about died because it was so good. Who would've thought that tomatoes and some seasoning could taste so delicious on a toasted crostini? It was definitely a good choice. I also have to mention that the complimentary bread with vinegar and olive oil came to us still warm and very fresh. Yum!

For lunch we stuck with their lunch specials. We got the spaghetti mista and panino prosciutto. At first I was skeptical of the spaghetti. I like mine with tons of tomato sauce, but this looked very dry. One of my biggest pet peeves is not having enough sauce (whether it's in pasta or dressing for a salad). However, this spaghetti really didn't need to be loaded with the red stuff. The spaghetti pomodoro tasted fresh and was very light. It wasn't too overpowering where you felt like you'd need to take a cat nap after eating it. I suppose this is the European way, is it not?

The panino porchetta was melt-in-your-mouth good. The meat was salted just right so that all the flavor just tingled your tastebuds. The bread was lightly toasted and still warm to touch. It was served with tomato and provolone cheese. Both dishes came with a salad of mixed greens and a balsamic vinaigrette dressing. Everything was light and refreshing. To top off our meal, we had an ice tea and diet coke.

Figaro was a great place to kick back and relax, watch the foot traffic going by and take in the beautiful SF day. Interestingly enough, the staff all seemed to be Italian as they conversed to one another in their native tongue. I'm not sure if they're all from Italy or if they were Italian American, but I really liked the authenticity of it all. It made the experience unique and it felt as if we'd stepped into a small Italian villa for a quick bite to eat.

Total cost for this delish Italian meal (tax included): $28.70.