Burma Superstar!

Welcome to San Francisco!
Last evening was the first of many dinners out this week. Let's hope my waistline can handle this. My best friend recommended a place that she likes here where I wrote to her panicked that I had to find a place for two of us to go. She excitedly suggest Burma Superstar! Here is what we had:

Lemon Mint Tea to drink

Tea Leaf Salad*
Featured on Food Network
Yes, we really do go to Burma to get the tea for this salad, and it's worth the trip. With textures from fried garlic, peanuts

Lettuce Cups
Crisp lettuce cups with a cured pork, pickled radish, carrots, and water chestnut stuffing

Pumpkin Shrimp*
Tender shrimp stew slow cooked with kabocha squash and ginger

Nan Gyi Dok*
(mild coconut chicken rice noodle curry, not available vegetarian)
Burmese rice noodles with a mild chicken coconut curry sauce, eggs, split yellow pea, and fried onion

Coconut Rice (per person)*
Aromatic jasmine rice cooked with coconut milk and topped with fried onions

Everything was very delicious. The Tea Leaf Salad was prepared table-side for us by a gentleman who explained each component that was in the dish. The textures of each ingredient was great. The lemon he squeezed on top added a refreshing element to it. This dish and the Coconut Rice were pushed strongly by my friend so I was sure to get both of those. I got the Nan Gyi Dok as my main and my dining partner shared the sauce from his dish which I put on the rice. I'm salivating just thinking about this. I left satisfied and full. This local place in a residential area is off the beaten path and is a must do if in the SF area.

4 out of 5

Pachenga Patterson

Last evening my friend and I had a date night at Pachanga Patterson in Astoria. Oh so delicious. Our gracious host greeted us and invited us to sit at the bar while we waited a few minutes for our table. With a rustic feel, lights webbed across the ceiling, and tables close I felt like I was in a little nook with friends and family. J and I settled on the half litre of Pachanga sangria (apples, oranges, mango juice, rum). Then after much more deliberation we decided to share the Cheese Quesadilla with oyster mushroom, roasted corn, and Monterey jack cheese. And after discovering that the Cider Braised Pork, ancho chili pork filled tamale was in fact not spicy we both picked that. Oh heavens. The pork fell right off into the pool of sauce sitting on the plate waiting to be absorbed into the tamales. The little salad made me feel super healthy. Of course we had so much room left in us that we needed dessert.  We decided on the El Diablito Cake which the blog We Heart Astoria describes so perfectly. I then proceeded to run 5 miles in an attempt to ever feel hungry again.

4 out of 5

Starbucks

I am very happy to report two things:

1. I have officially become a gold card member at Starbucks.

2. Regarding my previous post about becoming a 'regular' at a restaurant...today I walked in and the guy taking orders looked at me and said 'Ah, I can't remember it...'. Which means there was a spark of recognition. And I'm not that memorable. Sigh. So close!

Happy Friday Everyone!