The House Poet

Curbside Cafe has been a family favorite for a long time. The comforting French food, tiny space, and pretty location off of Filmore St have made it a wonderful place to have lunch or dinner with people who are closest to you~ :) My sister and I were lucky enough to be able to go have lunch there this summer, and it was great to spend time with her before she went off to college for her freshman year! (Go Fiona! :D) We had made reservations, since it is a popular spot for lunch, and were seated at a table in an alcove next to the window. It was quite cozy, and we appreciated being able to sit down, even though we were early for our reservation. The owner was accomadating, even if he was busy, and we felt taken care of. Our first course was, of course, French onion soup! We shared it, since it's very rich, and it was perfect for the both of us. The cheese was melted and satisfyingly stringy, and the onions were sweet. Fiona ordered the philly cheese steak sandwich, which was served...

I think this might have been the first San Francisco visit of the summer.....I went a few times, hitching a ride from my dad who had appointments and such. On this particular day, my dad had a lunch appointment, so I went off and had lunch on my own! I was particularly curious to see if my old ramen-ya favorite, Sapporo-ya, had changed, so I went to find out.... I ordered some gyoza on the side. The dressing on the salad tasted like mayo and ketchup mixed together....definitely un-appetizing. I would have enjoyed the salad if they had only used Japanese style dressing. The gyoza themselves were thin and tasted homemade, full of chopped meat and veggies. They come apart easily, and taste a bit salty. I still enjoyed them though~ Here is where I think I made an ordering mistake. I was into making miso ramen at home with my dad at the time, and I wanted to taste how Sapporo-ya made theirs. I used to love their shoyu ramen, and I think I should have gotten that instead. The noodles were c...

Hey everyone! Yes, it has been a while! This semester is super busy, but I'm hanging in there! Today is a rainy day~ Andrew left to go home and study (I miss youuuuu!) , and I'm making dinner, and then I have a meeting to go to at 8. I don't really want to work on my essay any more, so I thought why not update my blog? :D Yay! It feels awesome! Anyway, here are some pics from a lunch in the summer time! My dad took my sister and I to Japantown for a special lunch and some townhouse shopping for me! This was after I got back from Japan, so it was funny to be in Japantown, SF! XD Pictured above is a Japanese-style cheescake slice from Andersen Bakery! Yum! It was a typical Japanese cheesecake, soft and fluffy, with a light lemon flavor~ A decadent way to start the day! After shopping, my sis and I met my dad in front of Bushi-Tei, a rather upscale restaurant in Japantown. It's a up the street from Peace Plaza; perhaps people don't know too much about it. This lunch wa...

Yep, there's me and my cute baby getting ready to perform at Studio 24 in San Francisco last night! We had quite the adventure! Andrew performed AMAZINGLY and I really enjoyed hearing him improv with the techno beats and other musicians! It was sexy! ;) Since we were in the Mission District in San Francisco, I did some research on a good Mexican place to eat. I found a place called Papalote's Mexican Grill and the menus sounded awesome! We walked a few blocks and found the place booming with people at 5:30 pm! It's rather small, and you place your order at a counter before being seated. We ordered the nachos with chicken and carne asada tacos. I asked to "super" everything, which means they put sour cream and guacamole on your order for $.99, which made everything taste even more fabulous! The carne asade tacos gave me a foodgasm. Seriously. The meat was so flavorful and tender, and all the fixings tasted AMAZING! The sour cream and guacamole brought it all to an...

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! Here is what I ate in between the celebrating! Christmas Eve dinner was just about comfort food--breakfast for dinner! :) I had a cheese omelette with sausage, challah bread and butter, and peas! It was yummy and rich! Christmas came and we had a nice morning opening gifts. Then, we had to get ready to go to French mass in San Francisco, which was very cool! I loved hearing it in French and I understood it, which was special. The church was lovely as well. It was called Notre Dame de Victoires, which means Our Lady of Victory. There was a funny tiny old French man talking to everyone in his gravelly French voice. :D It was quite the experience! The last time I had gone to church was with Andrew over the summer, and being in a church again made me miss him so miuch. I was nostalgic for the summer days he spent at my place with me~ Our tradition is going to Gourmet Carousel, a cheap Chinese place in SF, for Christmas lunch. The food is good, qu...

This past Wednesday, I luckily was able to go to San Francisco with my sister; it was the first time I'd been in a long time! :) Fiona and I took the BART train and caught a MUNI bus. It was a lovely sunny day, which was such a treat as you can see in the pictures! We got off at Octavia Street because I wanted to look at a Victorian hotel that is so beautiful inside and out. :) This is the Queen Anne Hotel, which supposedly has a haunted room! :D One of my dreams is to stay there someday~ I really want to show this to Andrew too! On my 18th birthday, my friends and I walked inside and sat down in the lovely common room. I then proceeded to open all my gifts there; it was so fun! Japantown! Yay! :) This is Benkyo-do, the oldest business in Japantown. They make mochi, some of which is really good, and sell Japanese snacks. They also have a food counter where burgers and hot dogs are super cheap; it's very old-fashioned and charming! All the older folks like to congregate there ...

I can't believe I haven't put up this post yet! In the beginning of this semester, my college offered a trip to San Francisco by bus for only $5! Such an awesome deal! So, my friends and I were lucky enough to hear about it so we paid and were excited to go! Above is us putting our shoes together. My shoe is the awesome orange one!!! :D The bus dropped us off in Union Square, and since we were hungry we walked over to Katana-ya after shopping a bit in Macy's. Katana-ya is a super tiny and very popular Japanese restaurant in Union Square. The place itself is very narrow and the walls are adorned with colorful and funky pieces of art! There was a nice mix of jazz and Japanese pop music playing while we ate. :) I ordered a combination lunch of Miso Ramen and katsu don. Above is the katsu don, which is pork katsu with sauce on top of rice with a salad. The dressing on the salad was a delicious creamy sesame one. I wish Japanese restaurants sold the dressing they use, it's...

Talk about going from one extreme to another! Yesterday my dad, my sister, and I went to San Francisco and it was super cold! The sky was grey and little droplets of water hung in the air! I, of course, wasn't thinking and expected it to warm up so I didn't bring a jacket. Needless to say, I paid the price for it! However, perhaps because of the cold weather we all desired warm, comforting food. So, we decided to go to our favorite San Francisco joint, Americana Grill in the Richmond District. We've been going there for over 10 years and the people who run it still recognize it! The man who runs it never fails to ask if my dad needs another wine glass for me, hahaha. :D But first, Fiona and I went shopping while my dad met with a client. We walked around Japantown for a bit, and I picked up some cute folders for school. Then, we walked up to the Fillmore to do some clothes and pastry shopping! I got a nice shirt at Crossroads and then we went to the Boulange Bakery! I picke...