Bissap Baobab's

Bissap Baobab's is sort of an oddball in on Mission, home of all the tacquerias. It serves appealing Sengalese food with a fun atmosphere, and has awesome drinks made with things like hibiscus and tamarind. I usually like it a lot, I just hadn't been there in a while because I sort of overdid it a few months back.

So we went to Bissap Baobab's around 9 PM on a Tuesday, just sort of looking for something not-too-fancy to eat. We ordered the beignets (black-bean, vegetarian with some sort of peanut sauce), the shrimp dibi (i love their oniony sauce) and a salad. I personally thought everything was just fine. You know, not the fancy-shmancy atmosphere with good service where they bring things out in the right order, but the food was good and satisfying. Except for the plastic. My poor dinner partner had a gigantic piece of plastic buried deep within his salad. Kind of put a damper on the whole evening...guess you get what you pay for.

The drinks were good though! I like the hibiscus and vodka one, the whiskey/ginger/tamarind was interesting too, but i really liked the ginger/rum/punch one my friend had. They have a nice bar in the front (where you can order food, just check for plastic) so maybe just going for drinks would be a better idea next time.

Zazie

This morning was a gorgeous San Francisco Sunday, so what else could my tummy desire but a great brunch somewhere outside. We decided to go to Zazie's since I'd heard (aka read) great things about their pancakes and atmosphere. The seating was a bit weird -- apparently the staff does its best to avoid people asking how long the wait is, by posting a do-it-yourself seating list and several menacing signs.

So we added ourselves to the list and went to find some reading material. After not too long (20 minutes?) we were seated on a great outdoor patio, surrounded by gorgeous flowers. Perfect for a lovely Sunday. Unfortunately inside seemed stuffy, so I would recommend holding out for an outdoor seat.

I started with a "Sunshine", which is a mango-juice mimosa. Good, but not great. Mango juice can be a little weird and to be honest Mimosa's are very touch-and-go with me. Then I had the Gingerbread pancakes with the roasted pear. It was very good, but totally heavy and filling. Too much bread! I tried the salmon eggs benedict but again, I find Hollondaise sauce sort of gross. All in all, it was an ok brunch in a nice setting, but my heart goes with Universal Cafe. Better food and service.

Food around SF

This is the beginning of a food blog I'm starting, to record my thoughts and impressions of food I have at tons of great (and some not so great) restaurants around SF.

At the very least, I'll be able to remember what NOT to order :)