Cooking
Certain things it's just better to go out for. In this category of could-make-it-at-home-but-won't are really elegant multi-course French meals, sushi and Chinese food. Oh I guess I make a Chinese meal at home from time to time, but it's usually just one or two dishes and rice. I'm spoiled. San Francisco has some outrageously good Chinese food available in restaurants that are a hop skip and a jump from my front door.
A recent find is Happy Garden in the Richmond district. Happy Garden is on Clement street, where there are plenty of enticing Asian restaurants, fresh markets, and cafes. This is a great neighborhood for exploring and trying new things, but Happy Garden is truly a standout amongst its neighbors for its quality, quantity not to mention price.
One of several "Family Style" meals on the menu is $38.80 and feeds approximately 6-8 people. So what do you get for $38.80? A veritable seafood extravaganza is what. It begins with a seafood bean curd soup. The soup is primarily shrimp and tofu with creamy strands of egg white in a light viscous broth. Then comes the soft and creamy fried tofu stuffed with minced seafood. After that is the prawns and tender-not-rubbery squid sauteed with crisp vegetables, in this case carrots, bamboo shoots, snow peas, you know the drill. After this comes the house special chicken, which is perfectly steamed and served with a ginger garlic paste on the side, mustard greens with garlic, and a whole deep fried grey sole. Do you think the meal is over? Well, it's not. You are then served massive steamed oysters in the shell with black bean sauce and minced scallion and something they call spareribs in sweet orange sauce. Really it's not an accurate description, they are more like thin succulent fried pork shops with a reddish tangy sweet coating and chunks of pineapple.
Dessert is included but you might want to skip it or ask for sliced oranges instead. It's something you probably had to have grown up with to love--a red bean soup with tapioca. It's not bad, but it's not one of the worlds greatest desserts either. Of course what I haven't told you is that rice is not included in the price. But still with rice, tax and tip the grand total is still under $10 per person for a meal you'd be hard-pressed to duplicate at home at any price.
Go. Be happy.
Happy Garden
815 Clement St
San Francisco
415-831-3322
- Hakka Cuisine
If you want to try Hakka cuisine, head to Hakka Restaurant in San Francisco, or read Linda Lau Anusasananan's book, The Hakka Cookbook. I received a review copy of the book in the Fall, and was lucky enough to dine with the author at Hakka...
- Kappa: Restaurant Revisited
When I went to Japan I thought I knew what Japanese food was. Boy, was I ever wrong! Going to Kappa is much the same experience. In addition to the kimono-clad hostess, the menu written in Japanese and the virtually all Japanese clientele, the food is...
- Summer Rolls:recipe
When I first started eating Vietnamese food I was impressed with how often fresh uncooked herbs were used when compared to other Asian cuisines. And the quantity! Fresh herbs are used almost like salad instead of seasoning. Once when Lee and I were eating...
- Lotus Garden Restaurant
On Saturday night I joined a bunch of culinary enthusiasts from the Craigslist Food Forum (I've recently learned that some find "foodie" derogatory) for dinner at Lotus Garden. While I have yet to visit Vietnam, I am always amazed at how at each...
- Sunflower Authentic Vietnamese: Restaurant
When I was growing up Asian food meant Chinese and occasionally Japanese. But over the years Thai restaurants became quite common. Then Vietnamese restaurants started popping up. What strikes me about Vietnamese cuisine is how varied it is. Sometimes...
Cooking
Happy Garden:Restaurant
Certain things it's just better to go out for. In this category of could-make-it-at-home-but-won't are really elegant multi-course French meals, sushi and Chinese food. Oh I guess I make a Chinese meal at home from time to time, but it's usually just one or two dishes and rice. I'm spoiled. San Francisco has some outrageously good Chinese food available in restaurants that are a hop skip and a jump from my front door.
A recent find is Happy Garden in the Richmond district. Happy Garden is on Clement street, where there are plenty of enticing Asian restaurants, fresh markets, and cafes. This is a great neighborhood for exploring and trying new things, but Happy Garden is truly a standout amongst its neighbors for its quality, quantity not to mention price.
One of several "Family Style" meals on the menu is $38.80 and feeds approximately 6-8 people. So what do you get for $38.80? A veritable seafood extravaganza is what. It begins with a seafood bean curd soup. The soup is primarily shrimp and tofu with creamy strands of egg white in a light viscous broth. Then comes the soft and creamy fried tofu stuffed with minced seafood. After that is the prawns and tender-not-rubbery squid sauteed with crisp vegetables, in this case carrots, bamboo shoots, snow peas, you know the drill. After this comes the house special chicken, which is perfectly steamed and served with a ginger garlic paste on the side, mustard greens with garlic, and a whole deep fried grey sole. Do you think the meal is over? Well, it's not. You are then served massive steamed oysters in the shell with black bean sauce and minced scallion and something they call spareribs in sweet orange sauce. Really it's not an accurate description, they are more like thin succulent fried pork shops with a reddish tangy sweet coating and chunks of pineapple.
Dessert is included but you might want to skip it or ask for sliced oranges instead. It's something you probably had to have grown up with to love--a red bean soup with tapioca. It's not bad, but it's not one of the worlds greatest desserts either. Of course what I haven't told you is that rice is not included in the price. But still with rice, tax and tip the grand total is still under $10 per person for a meal you'd be hard-pressed to duplicate at home at any price.
Go. Be happy.
Happy Garden
815 Clement St
San Francisco
415-831-3322
- Hakka Cuisine
If you want to try Hakka cuisine, head to Hakka Restaurant in San Francisco, or read Linda Lau Anusasananan's book, The Hakka Cookbook. I received a review copy of the book in the Fall, and was lucky enough to dine with the author at Hakka...
- Kappa: Restaurant Revisited
When I went to Japan I thought I knew what Japanese food was. Boy, was I ever wrong! Going to Kappa is much the same experience. In addition to the kimono-clad hostess, the menu written in Japanese and the virtually all Japanese clientele, the food is...
- Summer Rolls:recipe
When I first started eating Vietnamese food I was impressed with how often fresh uncooked herbs were used when compared to other Asian cuisines. And the quantity! Fresh herbs are used almost like salad instead of seasoning. Once when Lee and I were eating...
- Lotus Garden Restaurant
On Saturday night I joined a bunch of culinary enthusiasts from the Craigslist Food Forum (I've recently learned that some find "foodie" derogatory) for dinner at Lotus Garden. While I have yet to visit Vietnam, I am always amazed at how at each...
- Sunflower Authentic Vietnamese: Restaurant
When I was growing up Asian food meant Chinese and occasionally Japanese. But over the years Thai restaurants became quite common. Then Vietnamese restaurants started popping up. What strikes me about Vietnamese cuisine is how varied it is. Sometimes...