The Good...

I went up to San Francisco this weekend, and filled myself up with some amazing food (including delicious homemade pancakes care of Jason and Kayvan). But this is blog is all about restaurants, so let's do it to it...

The first was Indian Oven, in the Lower Haight district. This non-descript restaurant had quite the wait outside (nearly 30 minutes), but was well worth it. The restaurant had a very homey feel to it. It was very intimate, the perfect place for a nice, relaxing dinner with friends.

This being a special occasion (no idea why though), we decided to go all out, ordering wine and an appetizer. While going to the restroom, I noticed an amazing appetizer dish ("assorted appetizers") on another patron's table, so we ordered it ourselves. It consisted of a samosa, vegetable pakora (spinach, onion, and potato dipped in a chick pea batter), and papadum (a sun-dried lentil wafer). The samosa was rather tasty, with just the right amount of kick to it that was a great complement to the amazingly sweet mango chutney. The pakora tasted like onion rings for the most part-- it was hard to really tell what you were eating-- but was satiating nonetheless. The papadum was a bit plain, until you added the mango chutney, becoming an outstanding combo.

I went with the dal (assorted lentils delicately spiced with sauteed ginger and garlic) for my main course (it was more than enough with the rice and garlic naan). I'm used to eating Ethiopian food, so I was very familiar with the dal (which is almost identical to some Ethiopian lentil dishes). The dal had a subtle (re: plain) taste, but was meant to be eaten with the naan (which was perfectly garlicky). Together, I couldn't get enough of them. The rice was flavorful by itself, needing nothing to kick it up a notch. Like I said, I ordered wine, a Riesling, Yalumba "Y" series (a white wine), that was sweet, with a slight apple taste to it, which went well with the mildly spicy dal.

I didn't try much else, because I had enough to deal with myself (waaaay to much dal), but it was definitely a satisfying meal. My fellow diners were also satisfied. And the fact that there were a few Indians enjoying the restaurant as well made me think that it was pretty authentic Indian food.

Indian Oven proved to be a great find in the city.

Indian Oven
233 Fillmore St
San Francisco, CA 94117


I also had the opportunity to go to the greatest food court in the world... found in a mall (because that's usually where food courts are). The mall (the Westfield San Francisco Centre), only a couple blocks from Union Square, is your typical high-end fashion mall (much like the Beverly Center here). Except, the luxury of the Beverly Center stops just before the food court. At the San Francisco Centre, the food court is an extension of the kind of luxury you can find at the nearby Bloomingdales (i.e. no Fat Burger, Sbarro, or McDonald's, de rigueur at most mall food courts). Food is served on white plates (similar to the presentation plates ubiquitous on the Food Network), alongside silverware. Soda can be served in a glass, and most restaurants (?) offer beer and wine.

After debating between Japanese food (the tempura platter was rather enticing), Korean food (the smell of Korean BBQ was tempting), and a steakhouse, I went with the steakhouse, the Buckhorn Grill, because I saw three people with Roadhouse Onions-- I'm a sucker for high end (-ish) onion rings.

I went with the Little Buck Sandwich (the perfect size), the side of Roadhouse Onions, and a soda. The meat was amazing-- it was so flavorful, juicy, and rather tender. I couldn't get enough of the carmelized onions either. For a rather simple sandwich (just tri-tip and onions on a french roll), it was bursting with flavor. It was the perfect choice. The Roadhouse Onions were what I expected-- fried deliciousness (is that a word? because it is now). With a little ketchup, it was a great side dish. Not nearly as oily as most onion rings, it didn't seem too unhealthy (although they give you so much, it still probably is). Getting all this, in a food court, at a mall, for only $8?! That's pretty insane.

...Apparently the redesigned Century City Mall has a similar food court (with a few of the same choices). It may be worth a gander.

Westfield San Francisco Centre
865 Market St.
San Francisco CA 94103