Yank Sing

Yank Sing
One Rincon Center
101 Spear St
SF
415-957-3900

I know SF is an expensive city. But I never expected dim sum to cost so much. Yank Sing has pretty good dim sum but it's very expensive and not worth the price.

The first picture has chicken egg rolls, stuffed crab claw, and phoenix tail shrimp. The eggs rolls were crispy but very greasy. They were some piece of chicken but it was most vegetables. The stuffed crab claw are stuffed with shrimp paste and then deep fried. There is a very small amount of crab at the claw but it hardly noticable. I did not like this dish at all. My favorite dish was the phoenix tail shrimp. A huge piece of shrimp, coated in batter with some green onions then deep fried. The shrimp was crispy and tasty. It was greasy at all.

The second picture is the chicken satay. This was terrible. The chicken was like processed chicken or mystery chicken. They put a small coating of peanut sauce on the chicken and that was salty and overpowering. Not the thing to order.

The third picture has shrimp dumplings, pork siu mye, and Shanghai chicken. The steamed shrimp dumpling, while small were tasty. The pork siu mye was smaller than the siu mye I'm used to. But they were steamed and tasted fine. The Shanghai chicken is basically Yank Sing's version of Kung Pao chicken. It was tasty but nothing special.

The bacon wrap shrimp was ok. The bacon would have been better if it was crispy. But it was chewy, as if they cooked it at too low temperature. The shrimp was pretty fresh and tasty. But the combination would have worked better if the bacon was crispy.

Service was good. The dim sum carts came around frequently, almost too frequently. But we weren't left wanting anything, service wise. But our wallets and palates were left wanting. The cost for two people, was $60!!!! $60 for TWO PEOPLE FOR DIM SUM????? Something isn't right here. We had two plates, no sure which, for $9.20 each. I'm guessing the shrimp and maybe the Shanghai chicken? But neither was worth $9.20.

I would not go back to Yank Sing again. Most of the food is good but there are not worth the prices they are charging. There has to be many places in SF Chinatown that serve just as good if not better dim sum, at much better prices.

House of Sushi

House of Sushi
2157 Polk St
SF
415-441-1797

Polk Street in the Russian Hill section of SF is filled with many restaurants and bars. After tapas at Pesce, we went to House of Sushi for our main entree, if you can call sushi an entree. But I was pretty full from tapas so I only had the yellow tail and tuna sushi, both $3.75.

I thought the tuna was one of the best tuna sushi I've had. It was so fresh. The texture was perfect and the color was eye pleasing. I left thinking I should have gotten another order.

The yellowtail was fresh too but there was nothing outstanding or bad about. It was basically average.

Service was outstanding. You're greeted by friendly people and they are there to make your dining experience a pleasant one. Many restaurants could learn from House of Sushi about service.

I would go back to House of Sushi anytime. The sushi is fresh and tasty and the service is outstanding.

Pesce-Moved

Pesce
2227 Polk Street
SF
415-928-8025

Pesce is a seafood tapas restaurant. We ordered the Capasante, $13, pan seared day boat scallops and lobster mushroom cream. This was an amazing dish. The lobster mushroom cream sauce was so tasty and wonderful. The scallops were so fresh, I'm pretty sure they were in the water earlier that morning. The

The Granchio, $9, dungeness crab risotto cake and rasted pepper vinaigrette, wasn't as good. First of all there was little to no crab at all, mostly fillers. For a kid from Baltimore that's not a good thing. The vinaigrette was pretty good but I'm not paying $9 for a dipping sauce.

Service was OK. The server was very friendly and helpful, when we saw her. There were long stretches of time when she wasn't anywhere to be found. What she was doing, I have no idea.

I wasn't aware this was a tapas restuarant, I had expectations of bigger portions. But the scallops, were worth the price, even if it was a small plate. I would go back to Pesce but I would not order the crab cake. The oysters on the half shell look fresh and I may give those a try. But I will either sit at the bar or get another server because our server just wasn't around enough.

Mastrelli's Sandwich

Mastrelli's Sandwich
One Ferry Bldg. #47
San Francisco, CA
415-397-3354

Located in the Embarcadero Center in SF, Mastrelli's Sandwich is a popular sandwich shop. Saturdays there is a Farmer's Market in the Embarcadero and even with all the other vendors, this sandwich shop is packed.

First thing to know about Mastrelli's is that you need to take a number, which are located by the front register. You will not be served without taking a number. If you order a sandwich you pick your bread from the bread box by the front counter.

I ordered a roast beef sandwich, $7.75, with mayo, lettuce and tomato on wheat bread. The meat was fresh and lean. But the sandwich was too dry. There needed to be more mayo or something on the sandwich. Dispite the dryness of the sandwich you can tell they quality of the meats and breads.

Service was good but there is a long line on Saturdays. The guys work hard and quick, much faster than at Claro's.

I would go back to Mastrelli's anytime, I would just ask for more mayo on my sandwich. Grab a sandwich and something to drink and sit down on a bench and see one of the most breath taking views of the Bay Bridge.

Steps of Rome Trottoria-Closed

Steps of Rome
362 Columbus Ave
SF
415-986-6480

So I'm in the city of San Fransisco. North Beach is Little Italy with tons of Italian restaurants. The one thing about the city by the bay. Parking sucks and is expensive. They have a great public transportation system. If you can take public transportation or call a cab. It will save you a lot of grief.

Caprese, $6.99, fresh tomatoes topped with mozzarella cheese and olive oil. The tomatoes were fresh and firm. The cheese was also fresh and chewy. It was very good.

My entree was the rigatoni alla norcina, $14.95, tube pasta with Italian sausage and mushrooms in a light cream sauce. This dish was great. The tube pasta was thick and it was cooked just right. The Italian sausage wasn't spicy was had great flavor. The sauce added a nice taste to this dish.

But really this is why I don't like going to Italian restaurants. The rigatoni alla norcina was $14.95 but the portion wasn't big and it's just pasta, some sausage and some sauce and they have the gall to charge $14.95? It's just not worth the price for what you get.

Service was below average. Well, service was good up to a point. As we got to the door, we were greeted by a very nice friendly man. He made everybody feel welcome. We were seated quickly. Our server was friendly at first. Our caprese and dinner were served without incident. Then he asked about dessert. He gave us the dessert menu. We asked to see one of the desserts. He said the desserts are made to order and he didn't have a sample display. He then walked away and igored us for the next 15 mintues. It's as though we weren't there. I'm not sure why he was so offended by that simple request. He could have came back and asked if we wanted dessert. He could have given us a small sample but he just ignored us. Only when I called him over and asked for the bill did he come to our table. Such an arrogant bastard.

I would not go back to Steps of Rome. The food was good but not worth the price. And service was below average. There is nothing wrong asking to see a dessert. I can't believe this place has stayed in business for so long with their arrogant attitude and high prices.