Monthly Archives: April 2009

Visit to Colma and Katana-ya Ramen

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http://www.yelp.com/biz/katana-ya-san-francisco

Earlier this month was the Chinese celebration of tomb sweeping day. It usually falls the week before Easter and we visit the graves of our dearly departed family members to clean their grave sites, leave some flowers, and pay our respects. I missed the celebration last year because we were in Singapore. Today I decided I’d visit my grandparents’ grave site in Colma to leave some flowers and clean up if necessary. My father’s parents passed away before my brother and I were born. When I was in junior high school, we did autobiographies and through this I learned about my grandparents and how hard they struggled to get here and how my dad almost wasn’t able to come to the US with the rest of his family. Sometimes when I whine and complain, I just have to remind myself how easy we actually have it now compared to when my family first arrived in the 1960s. It was a beautiful day to visit, the sun was shining high in the sky while I planted some flowers in the vases and scrubbed some of the dirt off their stone. I wish I could have known them, I’m sure they were wonderful people, look how great my dad turned out!

It was a beautiful day but I spent most of it inside. I had the windows wide open and was enjoying the warmth but it also made me really sleepy. I napped for a bit before heading out to meet up with Ron and friends for dinner. We ended up at Katana-ya for ramen. The restaurant is kind of small, maybe seats 25 people max. We had a group of 5 and the wait was about 30 minutes.

We ordered ramen since our friend said it was the best. They have a selection of about 15 types of ramen then you can choose from three types of broth (soy, miso, or salt) and if you want it light or strong, and if you want it spicy, the degree of spiceness. Actually quite a lot of choices.

Ron had the Katanya Ramen which is basically the kitchen sink, includes gyoza, pork, corn, and egg… this is with soy broth.

I had the BBQ pork ramen with light miso broth. The pork was good, maybe a little bit tough, not quite as good as Tanpopo. Although I asked for light miso, it was still a bit salty for me but overall, I liked the amount of green onions and bamboo shoots.

Service was decent, everything served pretty quickly. But there was an automatic 18% service charge included for our party of 5… seemed a bit much since usually places don’t start automatically added tip unless you have 6 or more… but I guess since we took up like 1/5 of their restaurant, they’d better make it worth their while.

They open until 1:15am per their window sign, good for late night munchies.

Katana-ya
430 Geary Blvd (at Mason)

Bay Area Rainbow Symphony and Sushi Tani

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Ron received some free tickets for a concert by the Bay Area Rainbow Symphony (BARS). BARS is a non-profit organization and their mission is to provide “a safe and supportive environment for musicians of all sexual orientations, gender identities, and gender expressions. BARS makes cultural, social, and educational contributions to the San Francisco Bay Area by performing ambitious repertoire to a high standard.” Ron knows one of the members of the orchestra who gave us the complimentary tickets. The concert was at the First Unitarian Universalist Church on Franklin @ Geary, their next concert is also there on June 20th.

We both enjoyed the concert and it makes us want to pick up our instruments again, Ron played the violin and I played the flute. We’ll see if that happens. Ron’s violin is in the closet but my flute is on loan to my parents’ friend’s daughter.

After the concert, we were starving so went to find dinner. It was already 10:30 so we weren’t sure what would be open. I had just purchased a whole bunch of gift certificates from Restaurant.com because there was a 70% off code (FEAST, expires 4/20/09) so that some $25 value gift certificates ended up only being $3. So we went to try Sushi Tani since we called and they were open until midnight. The GC had a few restrictions though: minimum purchase $50 but not including sushi, sashimi, rolls, alcohol plus 18% gratuity is added to the original bill.

The restaurant was empty when we showed up at 10:45pm but during out meal, two other couples walked into the restaurant. We ended up ordering lots of appetizers and their bento box. We ordered a bit too much so had leftovers to take home.

We were able to sneak in some sashimi with the Ocean Trio Cocktail appetizer which had tuna, yellow tail, and salmon with yuzu sauce. We found the salmon and tuna a bit mushy but the yellow tail was yummy.

Agedashi tofu. There was a lot of it and very freshly fried, it was made really quick!

Chicken Karaage served with tonkatsu sauce. Yum.

Tempura, 2 shrimp and tons of vegetables. Hot hot hot (like heat-wise).

The dinner box special, we chose chicken teriyaki and ton katsu. The salad dressing was yummy, a bit sweet and nutty. The ton katsu was a little bit dry. The chicken teriyaki was good.

Sorry for the blurry pictures but I was just using my phone because it was convenient.

We haven’t figured out if buying those gift certificates are actually worth it… Our total bill was around $70, minus the $25 then adding 18% gratuity of original, so we ended up paying $57 for dinner. I think ordinarily we wouldn’t have ordered so much but we felt like we had to in order to meet the $50 minimum food purchase. We do have enough for lunch for both of us the next day so maybe it all works out. Plus it encourages us to try somewhere new.

There’s still plenty of other Japanese restaurants around our area so I think we’ll continue exploring.

Sushi Tani
4828 Geary Blvd

10th Annual SF Oyster Fest – May 16, 2009

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http://www.oreillysoysterfestival.com/

While driving home, I saw some banners for the 10th Annual SF Oyster Fest on Saturday, May 16. It’s going to be at The Great Meadow at Fort Mason. $23 for advance tickets, $30 at the door, and $60 for reserved seating. Buy tickets here, looks like you can buy beer tokens as well but there’s also a service fee… might almost be cheaper to buy at the door… hmm… anyone want to go? Oysters and Stout beer…

Shepherd’s Pie

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http://www.idahoan.com/recipes

Felt like something hearty for dinner. Ron bought this big tub of Idahoan mashed potatoes which has a recipe for Shepherd’s Pie on the back. It can also be found here.

Shepherd’s Pie (serves 8)

1 medium onion, chopped (I didn’t have any so didn’t use)
2 cloves garlic, crushed (I used 5 because we love garlic)
1 lb ground beef
Salt & Pepper to taste
1 can (14.5 oz) Italian stewed diced tomatoes, drained (I used a can of plain peeled tomatoes and cut them up)
2-1/2 cups fresh green beans, cooked (I used frozen mixed vegetables with lima beans, carrots, green beans, and corn)
8 servings prepared Idahoan Mashed Potatoes (I ran out of milk and butter so used heavy cream to prepare the potatoes)
1 egg, beaten

Preheat oven to 350 F.

In large frying pan, brown onions (if you have them), garlic, and beef. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Drain meat and place in a 2 quart casserole dish. Pour tomatoes over meat, top with vegetables. Mound potatoes on top and brush with egg.

Bake for 30 minutes at 350 F.

Broil for 1 minute to brown the top.

Voila!

I’ve made Shepherd’s Pie before but it was much better this time around. It probably has something to do with the heavy cream in the mashed potatoes and that yummy slightly brown crust on top from the egg. As you can see, this is a pretty easy recipe, even if you don’t have all the ingredients, just use whatever you have in your cupboards and refrigerator.

Bacon Wrapped Chicken and Brussel Sprouts with Vinegar Glazed Onions

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My attempt to cook dinner this weekend. Bacon Wrapped Chicken. Basically defrosted frozen chicken breasts, pounded to 1/2 inch. Smeared with garlic cream cheese and stuffed with mushrooms and thinly sliced garlic. Rolled with bacon and baked then broiled. I caused quite a bit of smoke with the broiling. Be careful with that. The meat was a bit dry, not sure how to quite remedy that.

Brussel Sprouts with Vinegar Glazed Red Onions. These were the brussel sprouts I just got at the market on Saturday. I didn’t use any butter and used a regular yellow onion and it turned out fine to me. A bit tangy but also bitter from the sprouts but I liked the combo.

I still think baking is easier…