They’ve had the star. That’s why I ate there 
It said “new” on Eater’s list.
2 Likes
since 2024, not new.
3 Likes
I guess with Eater you get what you pay for.
3 Likes
Went to Maykadeh for the first time in a long while.
Complimentary basil, onion, radish, and butter.
Olives and feta. No walnuts, WTF?
Fresh warm sangak.
Kashke bademjian, excellent version. The Persian deli on San Pablo in Berkeley used to make a really good one but it went downhill somehow.
Ghormeh sabzi, excellent version. I wish I’d ordered it.
But my baghali polo (Sundays only) was also delicious.
Excellent bastani.
Still a really good place, one of the best Persian restaurants in the region. Very reasonable prices given the quality and quantities.
2 Likes
Cibele’s Ice Cream (1199 Willow Rd, Menlo Park, CA 94025), next to the Back-A-Yard Jamaican right off 101 in menlo park
this michoacan paleta/snack shop has been around for a while, but i only happened to notice the other day that they had a big jug of Nance agua fresca filled with fresh nance, which i hadn’t seen north of LA before (maybe they’re more widely available now??). if you happen to have a craving for nance, they have it. they also have a good range of paleta flavors (mamey, soursop, pine nut, etc). good pairing with a jerk plate or a curry goat from backayard
4 Likes
Zola (Palo Alto). Competent cooking. Few home chefs could manage this, so I guess it deserves its place in the Michelin guide. The worst flaw—the most common among Michelin guide restaurants—was that two dishes (those pictured below) were oversalted. My mouth now tastes like salt.
1 Like
keeku da dhaba (down in fremont, limited hours, https://maps.app.goo.gl/xiDbZAxFnMnkcJp88?g_st=am)
tremendous kebabs, which is basically the entirety of their menu. definitely worth driving for
i would rank
1 - mutton
2a - fish
2b - chicken
3 - paneer
3 Likes
Web site seems out of date, per Yelp it’s no longer a truck.
Per the online menu the “mutton” is goat.
To bring the original flavor he has the charcoal barbeque grill custom made in India and installed on the truck
2 Likes
their insta is ~up to date (https://www.instagram.com/keekudadhaba/), but yes its now brick-and-mortar, but they just run the same grill outside in front of the restaurant.
nopa fish in ferry building
-they know how to fry fish perfectly
-their french fries are horrendous. somehow despite being freshly fried they have zero crisp of any sort. arguably worse than in-n-out because they have the clear potential to be good
-everything feels $3-5 on the expensive side
2 Likes
Back to Sirene.
Delicious Chenin.
Rise Up sourdough was really good though I would have preferred they left off the salt on the top crust. Very nice strong-flavored butter.
Nice lobster terrine. Shrimp sausage was very good though tasted freakishly like a hot dog.
Cucumbers with tonnato dip, good but probably wouldn’t order again.
Halibut and nectarines with mussel vinaigrette, gift from the kitchen. Sounded like a strange combination but I liked it.
My wife wanted fried chicken. Good but at Sirene I’d rather have fish. I’m hoping Sarah Kirnon does another popup soon. Potatoes were super-rich, verging on Robuchon territory. Very good greens. Nice biscuit, might order that again.
Donuts again hot and delicious. Vanilla peach almond ice cream was good though we couldn’t figure out how they prepared the almonds, seemed kind of like cookie dough.
I like this place a lot. Reservations justifiably essential.
1 Like
Had dinner once when they opened but really love the cafe at Sirene during the day. Been a number of times, the patio or up at the bar are nice spots
I’d say the cheddar biscuits are my favorite treat so far
3 Likes
1 Like
I am just curious how you come to this conclusion. I know you really believe in the Michelin guide and so it is because they don’t list restaurants in that area ? I haven’t explored that area too much myself but I know from a number of Indian friends in the tech industry that there are a number of very good small Indian restaurants (more Mom’m’Pop shops) as there is obviously a large Indian population (but these are obviously not covered by Michelin). This area is also quite popular with the Korean population (many Korean supermarkets etc) and has a large number of Korean restaurants (again nothing Michelin tends to cover)
3 Likes
Indian here is very good, I agree. You’re right I was too generalized.
1 Like
Went to Le Central for lunch, first time I’d been back in 40+ years. I’d heard it went downhill but https://www.sfgate.com/food/article/new-owners-resurrect-iconic-downtown-sf-restaurant-20174220.php made me think it was worth a try.
Really good wine list. Shared a carafe of excellent Quincy (already gone from the BTG list a couple of days later) and a bottle of Chidane red blend (very good value).
Good pate. Had one of my friend’s deviled eggs, very rich.
Good cassoulet. Huge portion, took half home. Same for my friend and his huge salade Nicoise, which correctly had tuna confit rather than the bizarre rare seared tuna that’s usual in the US.
Tarte tatin hit the spot but I’ll get something else next time. My friend said his espresso was better than at most Italian places, reminded him of Rome.
Good service, classic Parisian-ish atmosphere. Excellent choice if you’re craving classic French bistro cuisine. Deserves more traffic at lunch.
2 Likes
Teni East (California Burmese in Oakland). I enjoyed it. It’s squarely a California interpretation of Burmese. For example, the tea leaf salad uses baby kale as the base and tea leaves as a dressing. Not traditional, but it worked for me. Other dishes, like ginger chicken and curry prawns, were too safe (a little boring actually) but still pretty good. I didn’t taste any of the pungent shrimp and fried shallot flavors that make up many Burmese curries. If you’re in the mood for exotic Burmese flavors, this is not the right place. If you’re looking for a more comfortable and familiar dining experience, this is a great choice.
2 Likes
Burmese restaurants usually include Chinese and Indian dishes (both cuisines are popular in Burma) in their menus, and those are usually boring compared with the Burmese dishes. I wrote about that a few years ago in a review of Larkin Express Deli, which evolved into Burmese Kitchen (still in SF but now on Geary).
2 Likes
Kokkari Estiatorio. Fine, nothing special. I’m a little surprised that it seems outclassed (in terms of food and Greek wine) by Louka and Avra in LA.