Kat's 9 Lives

Thank goodness I decided to come up early on a Friday night to hide out and what better place than Mitsuwa. I hadn't eaten lunch and I wanted to have something to eat before my big event at Leatherby's Cafe Rouge with the Bloggers. Thank goodness I chose to eat with TP or else I would be starving for food. It was not busy at all because I came before 5PM so it wasn't the dinner rush our yet. I wanted something simple, cheap, and good since I was going to have a nice dinner soon.
Since I was a bit hungry I got greedy and ordered a Curry Tonkatsu Rice Plate with an extra side of Tonkatsu. The quality of meat fluctuates with the cut but it's usually pretty tender. There isn't much flavor in their tonkatsu so be sure to pick up some sauces. Of course having curry and rice, you won't need any extra seasonings. The curry they use is pretty flavorful and thick, which goes great with the rice and tonkatsu. I was surprised at how good the Red Pickles were. They perfectly compliment the curry with the rice. I usually detest pickles so when I actually like them, it's a miracle! ^_^
Miyabi-Tei

Since I was still stuck in SF by myself, I decided to try Mehfil because I knew they delivered as well. They were highly rated for Indian food so I had been interested in giving them a try. I like that they have an interactive menu online where you can order everything. One thing that really concerned me was that they asked for a ton of detailed information that shouldn't even be necessary. At first I was a little worried that they were trying to steal my credit card number since my Discover card was stolen a month before. Soon after I placed my order, they called me to tell me that they ran out of the Gulab Jamun and I was really sad that I didn't get to try it out. The delivery did take a really long time to arrive and again... they never even give you a time range on how long it takes for the delivery.
I had decided to try the Lamb-Do-Piyaza because it said that Do-piyaza means two onions and that it would be Lamb cubes cooked with Onions, Raw Mangoes, Ginger, and Garlic. Little did I know that this was a curry based dish. I was hoping for a well-seasoned grilled meat dish. It was flavorful but I could not taste anything to do with mangoes. This was really just Mehhhhhhh for me. It was not special that I would ever want to have again, but not bad enough that I wouldn't give this place another try. Every dish comes with Basmati Rice, which was nicely colored.
Being greedy as always, I ordered the Paneer Pakora as an appetizer. It's home-made Cottage Cheese marinated in Chickpea Batter, Spices, and Herbs. How can you go wrong with fried cheese? That was my thought but this was not good. I really like paneer but they just didn't do it right. Maybe it needed to be thick cubes? The paneer was just flat and square with a rubbery texture. They do pack a variety of sauces for you to dip them, but they were only just alright too.
I ordered a Mango Lassi and Mango Juice as well. It's my habit to order Mango Lassis wherever I go. They must not use real mangoes for their Lassi because it just tasted like the mango juice I ordered. I should have just gotten the mango juice, L'ooza, sold at Whole Foods. Still, the drinks were good but I wished they used real mangoes.
For dessert they only had the Rabri. It's cooked by boiling Milk for about 3 to 4 hours. When the milk gets thick add Sugar, Saffron, Honey and Pine Water. Then boil again and served cold. I really really liked this. The amount they give is really really really really REALLY small! I felt a little jipped for $3 because it was stored in a glorified sauce container. Was there even 2 ounces of dessert in that tiny cup? Good thing for them that it was very tasty or I would never want to try them again.
Mehfil
600 Folsom Street
San Francisco, CA 94107
(415) 974-5510

So before Tofu left, we decided to have dinner Sunday night and he suggested Thai food. I was debating on where for the longest time because we can't have him leaving with a horrid taste in his mouth! We were tight on time so I suggested Spice Thai on Muirlands. I have gone to this place since I was in High School and I have always loved their Yellow Curry Chicken. Since I know Tofu loves Yellow Curry Chicken too, I thought this would be a good place. So we went and they weren't open yet, so we went back to Tapioca Express. They open at 5PM for dinner and they have early bird dinner specials.
To start the night off I wanted another cool drink so I ordered the Thai Iced Coffee, which was fine. I love looking at the drinks when you stir for the milk to mix. It's always so pretty. ^_^ They brought us their daily soup, which has not change. It's sweet and tangy with thin noodles, garlic chips, celery, & more. Tofu liked it because it's refreshing. I always liked this soup because it different from what you normally get.
We both decided to get the Early Bird Dinner #2 with Egg Roll and Chicken Curry, Khang Curry Kai. The egg rolls are deep fried stuffed with ground Chicken, Silver Noodles, Corn, diced Onions, and Celery served with Plum Sauce. I thought they were only okay, but I would almost eat anything fried. =P It was a little bland, so you really need the sauce to add flavor. The curry chicken is prepared in a Spicy Stew with Chicken, Potato, and Onions prepared in a Spicy Rich, Curried, & Coconut Milk Sauce. This was just as good as I remembered and Tofu really enjoyed the flavor. I don't know what they do here but they make the best yellow curry sauce that's rich in flavor. They go great with the rice and has the perfect amount of vegetables. One small sliver of Red Bell Pepper and tons of potatoes. Perfect! ^_^
The fried rice looked tempting so we ordered the Pineapple Fried Rice. It's Curried Rice with Chicken, Shrimp, and Pineapple topped with BBQ'd Pork. The rice was extremely flavorful and the presentation was unique. I am not a big fan of eggs and I have never seen the dried shredded pork on Thai fried rice. We were both really full from the curry so we had tons of fried rice left over. I had it the next day and it was still emanating with flavor and I love the small grain rice. It was a great left over meal. I would order this again.
All in all the food was good and I am really glad that Tofu like it. Or he claimed he did... hmm... lol It was a nice bittersweet meal. As you all know he has left, but I did enjoy the food and it has been a while since I have been back. I will have to make some more return trips. Warning though, I do not like that they charge for steamed rice so the early bird meals are more worthwhile. Try to get their early or take it home and make your own rice! ^_^

Spice Thai

Good thing we arrived early for dinner at Manora's Thai in SF, because it started to get really busy after 7PM. There were rave reviews on the internet for this place so we decided to step out and give this place a try. I believe I have been to this neighborhood on my last trip and tried this really bad restaurant that I still have yet to blog about. From the outside you can't really tell that the interior of this restaurant would be nice. They have this neon sign outside that looked kind of broken down, but once you step inside you would see the nice furnishing. I really liked the wood furnishings and gold finish. The fresh flowers really add a nice exotic touch.
To start off the night we both ordered Thai Iced Tea. I couldn't resist a nice refreshing glass that night. Their drink was good, but nothing special. We had to try the highly recommended appetizer, Pirate Treasure. It's a combination of shrimp, chicken, and bean thread sheet marinated in Thai herbs with a touch of lemon spicy sauce. This was definitely a different item from what I have seen at other Thai restaurants. It was very flavorful, tangy, sweet & sour with a touch of spice. I really liked the bean threads. Ms. Lin loved the sauce and kept it around so that she could mix it with the rest of the dishes. The presentation was on point and the taste was great even with the raw cabbage provided. I think this was the best dish of the night.

All the appetizers looked good and we debated for a long time before deciding on what to order. As a compromise, I got to choose the second appetizer and Ms. Lin will get to order a dish she really liked at her favorite Thai restaurant in Boston. As I have said before, I love anything fried. O=P We got the Katong Ton that was crispy batter cups filled with garlic shrimp, chicken, and vegetable mixed with curry served with chili garlic sauce. The presentation was very nice and cute. As for taste, it was good but nothing special. I think it's more about show than taste, but I did like the batter cups.
The Pad Thai here were suppose to be really good and highly recommended. It's pan-fried rice noodles with shrimp, tofu, egg, and bean sprouts. I thought it was only decent, I have definitely had better. It was a little bland for my taste and I didn't like the squishy texture of the tofu. Most of the Pad Thais I've had in the past were firmer tofu that packed more flavor. I don't think I would get this again or recommend it, try more appetizers instead! ^_-
One of my favorite Thai dishes is the Gang-Gari-Gai, Yellow Curry Chicken. Ms. Lin suggested that we get duck instead of chicken, so we ordered the Gang-Ped-Ped-Yang. It's roast duck cooked in curry with coconut milk & red chili sauce with pineapple and spinach. I thought it was yellow curry because I don't like red curry. The duck was good but I didn't like this dish because the pineapple taste was weird in my opinion. At first I though they were potatoes. Guess I didn't read the description before ordering. Ms. Lin ordered the Hoi-Tod because it's one of her favorite dishes. It's Thai style pan-fried mussels that's fried in crispy batter with spicy Thai herbs mixed with egg and bean sprout served with chili garlic sauce. The areas that were crispy tasted good only with the sauce. Overall it was quite disappointing and it wasn't what Ms. Lin imagined it to be. I definitely wouldn't get this dish again. It reminded me of the Chinese oyster omelette, Owah Jien. Trust me, skip this dish if you ever go there.To end the meal we ordered the dessert of the day, which was Fresh Mango with Sticky Rice. The presentation was nice, but the mango wasn't too ripe. It wasn't what I'd thought it to be, I like it when there's some custard on top of the sticky rice. The sticky rice with coconut milk was good, but nothing different from what you can get at other Thai restaurants. All in all this place was good, better than normal Thai restaurants but nothing spectacular. Overall the service and ambiance was nice. There's a lot of nice choices that differ from what you normally see in other Thai restaurants, but I think what stood out the most was the appetizers. If I lived up in SF, I would come back and try their other dish and appetizers.Manora's Thai
1600 Folsom St
San Francisco, CA 94103
(415) 861-6224

Trying to eat in Irvine and finding parking is really hard. So I decided to take my Mom to Curry House because it is in a big shopping center where I can easily find parking. When I was at UCLA, I use to go to the one on Sawtelle a lot. It is like comfort food to me. I love anything fried and the curry is always good, but it isn't anything you can't make at home. They took off one of my favorite items, the Crab Omelette. Still, I love my donkatsu, fried pork, any time.
To start things off, I always get the Curry Pan. The bread is fried to perfection, but I think the one that they have in Irvine is not very flavorful. I would still recommend everyone to try it because I love the texture of the bread. Maybe if you have the "hot" spicy one it would have more flavor.
I ordered the "Katsu" Curry at mild spice. My favorite type of meat is the pork, but I also ordered an extra Chicken Katsu and 2 pieces of Fried Shrimp. It has been a long time since I last had katsu so I was not sure which kind of meat I liked best. After trying them both, I decided that the pork is much more flavorful but the chicken is a little more tender. I really like the batter they use because it never feels greasy and it is always crispy. The curry sauce is always very flavorful and really compliments the rice. All the components work wonderful together and leaves you feeling full without feeling weighed down.
My Mom ordered a Mild Chicken Curry. She liked the taste and was extremely full afterwards. This was her first time trying Japanese curry. Even though the amount of chicken you get is very little, the rice really fills you up. I think next time she would rather get the katsu with curry because it tastes better.
All in all I enjoyed my meal as always. I would go more often if it wasn't a little pricey for something that you can just make at home. I am pretty sure they just use Vermont Curry, which you can buy almost anywhere. Our bill came out to be $30, which is a lot for lunch in my opinion. Don't worry, I will be back when I crave donkatsu & curry.