Luckily it was Mini Monday so I could get a bunch of flavors to try. I chose the following…

Mocha Java – stay away from anything with meringue butter cream frosting…has an unpleasant greasy/waxy consistency.

Salt ‘n sweet – should be called super salty! Probably better in the large size.

Frostfetti – frosting was overly sweet.

Maui coconut dream – good flavors but it has the dreaded meringue frosting.

Rose velvet – supposed to taste like red velvet but didn’t.

Snowball – THIS WAS THE BEST! Chocolate cake with marshmallow frosting and covered in coconut. WINNER!

The snowball will have me coming back for more.

Website: http://www.frostcupcakefactory.com/

We were immediately seated at a table upstairs overlooking all the action. We had a view of  the open kitchen, bustling bar and main seating area.

Since we were going to watch a movie following our meal Mike and I decided to share a few apps and a main so we didn’t feel bloated in the theater. We decided on the following…

Goat Cheese Bread Pudding w/ Sautéed Chanterelles and Upland Cress

Bread puddings can sometimes be heavy… this was light and flavorful.

Oven Baked Farm Egg w/ Spiced Tomato, Shaved Pantaleo and Grilled Bread

So,so good. We slopped up every last bite of the spice laden sauce with our toasty bread. It seemed to have every spice under the sun in it (cardamon, cinnamon, cumin, coriander) but it worked.

Grass Fed Hamburger – Bacon, Pickled Onions and Herbed French Fries

The burger was perfectly pink and juicy and the fries were a thicker version of In-N-Out but much better tasting.

This is a great spot to have a homey meal in an energetic environment.

Website: http://nopasf.com/

The menu was fairly simple composed of 6 grilled cheese sandwiches (called melts), 5 soups, 3 sweet melts and drinks. I was expecting some highly creative sando options but you basically just choose a cheese and bread. Mike ordered the special of the day… The Dirty combo (without jalapeños) - sharp cheddar, tomato, bacon, and BBQ chips on sourdough + Sweet Corn Tortilla Soup. I went with the Classic combo of sharp cheddar on potato bread w/bacon + Two Tomato Basil soup.

The Dirty

We took a seat and admired the cool order board that let’s you know when your food is ready. Since the menu was a bust I was hoping for a taste sensation. Unfortunately, that was also a disappointment. When biting into our sandwiches all we could taste was the cheese. The toppings were so sparse they disappeared completely. I was pumped that you could add bacon to anything for FREE (that should be a rule everywhere) but found you get what you pay for. It was razor thin, limp and flavorless.

The Classic

I can easily make better grilled cheese at home on my favorite panini grill. I will say we enjoyed the corn soup.

I guess if I was at the mall and wanted to grab a quick bite (we were in and out in 20 minutes) I might stop by again for some soup. If you are looking for grilled cheese done right, check out the American Grilled Cheese Kitchen in SF.

Note: if you don’t want to stand in line you can order in advance online.

Website: https://themelt.com/

S'more - Belgian dark chocolate cake filled with bittersweet chocolate ganache, topped with toasted marshmallow with a graham cracker crust

Although not photogenic, I had to show you the inside. The graham cracker bottom was genius!

Blake Lively of “Gossip Girl” teamed up with Sprinkles to create a cupcake for charity. 100% of the proceeds from the SUPER FABULOUS S’more cupcake will go to Oxfam.

Hurry up and go get one because it’s a top 5 flavor!

xoxo…Bay Area Foodie

Note: Only available January 6 to February 2, 2012

See how it ranks

Chez Panisse is a Berkeley institution where famed chef Alice Waters creates her fabulous farm to table feasts. In the 70′s Waters pioneered the concept of preparing meals using fresh seasonal ingredients that are produced sustainably and locally. The restaurant is located in an Arts and Crafts style house on Shattuck Avenue that is small and intimate. Each night they serve a new 3-4 course menu so you won’t know what you are being served until the week you have a reservation (you can check the website). If you are a picky eater and don’t like quail, duck or rabbit eating here may be a gamble for you. Mike and I are down to try anything so this was not an issue for us, but we ended up with a pretty safe menu.

Menu

Nov 19, 2011

An apéritif
Grapefruit champagne cocktail
Course 1
Bellwether Farms sheep’s milk ricotta with fall vegetables and coriander vinaigrette
Course 2
Roasted halibut with savoy cabbage and lobster butter
Course 3
Spit-roasted Piedmontese beef rib eye with Beaujolais sauce, potato cake, chanterelles, and Cannard Farm salad
Course 4
Black Mission fig tartlet with Chartreuse ice cream

Dishes were rustic and simply presented but service was a little stiff. I’m a meat and potatoes girl so course #3 was my favorite. They made beef melt in my mouth and a basic potato cake taste scrumptious. Mike and I both loved our meal. Chez Panisse lost its Michelin star in 2011 to many people’s dismay. If they are not deserving then I tend to question the guides’ ratings because it was more than a meal, it was an experience.

Note: if you are looking for a less formal (and less expensive) meal check out the upstairs cafe.

Rating:

Website: http://www.chezpanisse.com/

When humans eat, they use all of their senses (sight, hearing, smell, touch and taste) to form general judgments about their food, but it is taste that is the most influential in determining how delicious a food is. Conventionally, it has been thought that our sense of taste is comprised of four basic, or ‘primary’, tastes, which cannot be replicated by mixing together any of the other primaries: sweet, sour, salt and bitter. However, it is now known that there is actually the fifth primary taste: umami
- Umami Information Center

Umami burger if you are not familiar is a beloved Southern Cali chain that has now opened up on Union Street in San Francisco. When we arrived on a Monday night at 5:30pm the small space was almost empty. I made sure to come at a non-peak time to avoid the long waits I’ve read about.

I went with the signature Umami burger and Mike chose the Manly burger and we shared the truffle cheese fries. When everything arrived I was surprised by the petite size of the burgers (they look larger in photos). I gotta be honest we were hungry… we both downed our burgers within 4-5 bites so I can’t give you a real in-depth evaluation. All I know was mine was sweet and had kind of an Asian vibe and Mike’s had little yummy bacon lardons. Oh, and when I took my first bite my wedding ring was swimming in meat drippings (which was a good thing). The burger was cooked to perfection at medium rare which is their standard. It was juicylicious!

Manly burger (beer cheddar, onion rings,bacon) & Umami burger (shiitake shroom,onion,roasted tomato,parm crisp)

The truffle cheese fries (not on the menu but should be) were great and not overly truffley. They came with a trio of sauces but what I liked best was the homemade ketchup which kinda tasted like it was made with brown sugar.

We will have to go back again to savor the flavor.

Note: I thought we were going to leave hungry but in the end we were perfectly full. No burger bloat.

Rating:

Website: http://umamiburger.com/

We can’t frequent a Mexican restaurant without trying the margaritas. I had the pineapple and Mike the prickly pear. Mine was grrrreat, Mikes didn’t really taste like anything. Then we snacked on the trio of tacos appetizer which was the same price as the main entree of the same name which didn’t make sense. The steak was good, the rest not so much.

For the main course I chose the chicken enchiladas which were not as I expected. It ended up being a pile of dry, plain chicken on top of 2 sauced tortillas. First bite included half a wish bone… No Bueno!

Mike chose the chicken mole which he liked. Tasted like pumpkin.

Portion size was not large so we were open for dessert. I love coconut so we went with the coconut cheesecake, which was unnecessarily decomposed.

For the price I prefer Casa de Cobre in Saratoga. The quality of food is ten times better. I would not return for dinner but probably happy hour or apps & drinks so we can sit outside.

Rating: 

Website: http://www.palaciorestaurant.com/

Fremont Diner is a small revamped diner in Sonoma that serves up tasty vittles like pulled pork, corn fritters, Oyster Po’Boy, mac n cheese and fried pies. Yes, another healthy meal for us! When we told a local we were heading over for lunch he said the food was good but then warned us about the service. When we arrived we put our name on the waiting list and joined the small mob that was standing in the parking lot (no seating area). It looks like it used to be open seating but it is no longer which means on a Saturday you got a good 30 minute wait for your name to be called.

When we were finally seated inside we were not only starving but knew exactly what we wanted because we had plenty of time to peruse the menu. Here is were the poor service thing comes into action. We sat at our table for at least 15 minutes before our waitress decided to come and take our order and it wasn’t like she was buzzing around helping others because the 3 tables around us had just left.

We started off with a milkshake because I had heard they were a “not to miss” item. We chose the salted caramel which had chunks of crystallized salty sweet goodness throughout. I agree, they make damn good milkshakes. Next up Mike ordered the Chicken and Waffles. Bonus was that is was a boneless breast so no dirty hands.

I went with the Shrimp & Grits which I enjoyed but it came with those tiny baby shrimps (I prefer the big guys) and was pretty spicy, but it was topped with an egg and bacon so I forgave them.
For dessert we had the peach bread pudding which wasn’t as good as I had hoped. It had the consistency of a quiche and was a tad burnt but we still ate it all. Stuffed we waited and waited some more for the bill to arrive. Our quick bite at a local diner turned out to be an almost 2 hour event. Good thing we were not in a hurry.
Overall, the positive did outweigh the negative so we will return — on a weekday– and give it another go.

Website: http://thefremontdiner.com/

Mike really wanted to try the homemade Root Beer but they said it was not ready yet. Say what? 3pm on a Saturday and you can’t get root beer. Somebody needs to get up earlier and start brewin’.

Note: No, they don’t have a sampler option where you can try a variety of macs. I have requested it but it looks like they want to get you to come back instead of trying it all in one visit. Boo!

Website: http://homeroom510.com/

Anyways, we came in early last Friday to check out the eats. They’ve only been open for a month so it can get busy with locals wanting to try the new eatery. We started with the fried clams appetizer which was not on the main menu but on a “specials” handout so I’m not sure if they have them all the time. I was very pleased with them although they were served with a tarter sauce and I prefer cocktail so we had to waive someone down to get some.

Mike went with the chowder in a sourdough bowl for his main course which he seemed to enjoy. I only had a spoonful and it was rich, creamy and buttery. Can’t go wrong with that!

For my main I decided to get the lobster roll (surprise) and against my better judgement I had it dressed instead of with just butter. When it arrived it looked great but as I took a bite the lobster had an unpleasant herby flavor and was dry. Also there was lettuce buried underneath the meat which I’m not a fan of, and I did find 3-4 pieces of shell – never a good thing. A plus was that the bun was nice and buttery but I could only finish half.

So overall we will return to try the other offerings (steamed clams, lobster chowder, fish & chips) but I won’t be having a lobster roll. If I’m craving that I’ll head to The Old Port Lobster Shack.

Note: this is not a cheap place to eat but they do have $4.25 pints of Blue Moon which made me happy.

Rating: 

Website: http://www.bostonchowderhouse.com/