pengrin™ not so good eats

lunch buffet - so so

2011-01-28T10:24:00.001-08:00

lunch buffet - so so
Originally uploaded by pengrin™.

Wow, I've never had such bad Indian food. I mean I'd had okay Indian food but this is the worse. I don't care if there are a lot of non-Indian folks eating here. Indian is flavorful and on occasion spicy. If people can't handle it then try another place. I had the 11.95 lunch buffet. I never had watery Indian food till this place. Flavors were lacking and things were overcooked, dry. What a disappointment. Bummer.

No good Chinese food in SF Chinatown

2011-01-12T20:49:00.001-08:00

How can we be a city full of foodies and the Chinese food in SF Chinatown is horrible. I work in FIDI downtown SF and Chinatown is just a walk away. I am still hunting down a decent Chinese restaurant or even dim sum. How is this possible? So what the food is catered to tourist folks they should experience good and amazing Chinese dining in SF Chinatown. Instead people have to travel to Inner/Outer Sunset or Inner/Outer Richmond District to get a decent Chinese meal. I wish people can figure this out?! I haven't had amazing dim sum even Yang Sing is just too pricey and the food is mediocre. I found a delicious and reasonably priced dim sum place but you have to head to San Bruno just to enjoy it. OMG!!

Barbacco

2010-09-04T11:10:00.001-07:00

burrata cheese on grilled crostone / blistered cherry tomatoes / basil - this was very delicious!
Originally uploaded by pengrin™.

I'm disappointed but only this dish was impressive and their butterscotch gelato. Bummer. There lemonade drink was nice and sour and delicious.

They made this pickled veggie dish with their salad and sandwich that I just didn't think compliment the dish. Strange.

Great Oriental Restaurant

2010-01-06T13:51:00.001-08:00

tofu wrap - so so
Originally uploaded by pengrin™.

Why do I torture myself? My husband bought me some delicious shu mai (rarely eat it) around Clement street the other day. It was amazing. Of course, I decided to give chinatown a chance. Horrible experience at the same place. You have to watch them tally your bill otherwise; they will overcharge you. I wish there was a good dim sum in downtown SF. I have not yet found it.

People mention Yang Sing. It's mediocre and very pricey. Come on people?! I love how the waiters try to shove the pricey seafood dim sum to my international looking table. No, I will not try your $18.00 2 small pieces of cod fish. Gee?!

I've had good dim sum on the peninsula but come on. We're talking about dim sum in chinatown full of chinese people. HELLO!? I don't get it.

chicken gyro platter - so-so

2009-07-24T11:04:00.001-07:00

chicken gyro platter - so-so
Originally uploaded by pengrin™.

Hadi's Cafe
98 Battery St
(between Bush St & Pine St)
San Francisco, CA 94

I think it just lack some flavor. I thought the salad was okay and small a lot of greens. I didn't think the sauces had any flare. Bummer.

Aunt Mary's Cafe

2009-02-20T15:07:00.001-08:00

scotch eggs
Originally uploaded by pengrin™.

Aunt Mary's Cafe

It was good just not amazing. I thought it was okay. And I found the salad side to be small for $12 bucks. I thought the sausages were too spicy especially for kids. That's all the choice you had for side sausage. Plus, their kids menu $5 bucks for 1/2 grilled sandwich a bit pricey and I'm not even in SF.

City View

2008-12-23T09:26:00.001-08:00

XOXO noodles
Originally uploaded by pengrin™.

City View
662 Commercial St
San Francisco, CA 94111
(415) 398-2838

Closest to FIDI and chinatown and it's still bad and pricey. OMG!!

spicy sweet & cold fish fillets

2008-12-23T08:54:00.001-08:00

spicy sweet & cold fish fillets
Originally uploaded by pengrin™.

Saysetha
6230 Telegraph Ave
(between 62nd St & 63rd St)
Oakland, CA 94609
(510) 653-2837

The restaurant sits on the lonely path of Telegraph Ave with no other businesses near it. Since the area is different between night and day there is a buzzer to let the customers come in.

I see the yelp review and I'm like what?! A lot of people enjoy this restaurant and here I am saying the dishes are so Americanize. What are people talking about? I guess to each their own. I'm looking for authenticate Thai.

Mimi's Cafe

2008-12-23T08:34:00.001-08:00

mediocre fish and chips
Originally uploaded by pengrin™.

This restaurant is conveniently located across the shopping strip so my options were BJ Brewery or Mimi's Cafe. I've already been to the first one and I thought the food was bad. We decided to hit up Mimi's Cafe. It was busy inside the restaurant. It's dark when you first walk in so it was hard to read the menu.

We got seated. We noticed on the menu there was a lot of comfort food like meatloaf, Salisbury steak, etc. We thought goodie we might have found a good place to eat.

We received a nice very warm bread basket. Bread wasn't bad. We ordered the clam chowder, which we thought was great. Tasty, flavorful and you can taste the clams.

We ordered Ribs with veggies and Fish N' Chips. I tried my ribs and they were smothered in sweet sauce but extra tender the meat. I normally like to order dry rub because I'm not a fan of saucy ribs. We had no choice. Fish N' Chips I thought initially they were nice and crunchy and it was delicious. But after eating the second piece of fish I realized it was just too oily and a bit old. Old fish doesn't taste good even when they're deep fried.

Wow, what a disappointment. Bummer.

Merritt Bakery

2007-05-13T22:42:00.001-07:00

Originally uploaded by pengrin™.

Their desserts are amazing but their famous fried chicken I'd pass even if I did see many folks ordered it. I thought the taste was bland.. Sad but true and their veggies were just boiled up in water. Wow.

David's Kitchen

2007-03-23T10:27:00.001-07:00

fish cakes
Originally uploaded by pengrin™.

David's Kitchen
1713 Taraval Street
San Francisco, CA 94116
(415) 566-6143

Wow, what a disappointment. I thought the food was medicore. Not enough flavoring and small portion for the price you're paying for. I didn't like the fact you smell like the food while eating at the restaurant.

Chef was very nice and friendly.

Campton Place

2007-03-12T14:58:00.001-07:00

black cod with pork belly
Originally uploaded by pengrin™.

To my surprise I wasn't impressed with this restaurant. I thought the food was infused strangely. I was very reluctant to try their desserts so we passed on it.

Tomatina

2007-02-06T08:47:00.001-08:00

Originally uploaded by pengrin™.

It said it was a family place so I decided to check this place out.

I enjoyed this area it reminded me of South Bay with the strips of shops along the streets.

I thought their food was medicore. I thought the Mac N' Cheese was pretty bad. I was surprised. I think even the kraft Mac N' Cheese would have been better. Sad but true.

It's definitely kids friendly. They give covered plastic cups for drinks for them.

il fornaio

2007-02-06T08:44:00.001-08:00

Originally uploaded by pengrin™.

Wow, I was not impressed at this restaurant.

I thought their homemade bread was good. Their calamari was a bit chewy but their dipping sauce was delicious it was spicy and garlicy.

Turtei con Aragosta - Ravioli filled with fresh Maine lobster and Il Fornaio bread topped with shrimp and diced tomato; lobster cream sauce - missing a flavorful taste to the sauce. I thought it wasn't as fresh as it should be.

Conchiglie al Pollo - Shell pasta, chicken breast, broccoli, sun-dried tomatoes, pecorino cheese, roasted garlic, trebbiano wine - it was not enough taste or salt, chicken was tough to eat.

I don't know if I ordered the wrong dishes.

Regent Thai

2007-01-09T10:50:00.001-08:00

Thai red curry fish cakes
Originally uploaded by pengrin™.

I think this was the only thing that was at this restaurant. Sad but true!

weird fish

2006-12-08T08:21:00.000-08:00

Weird Fish
2193 Mission StSan Francisco, CA 94110
415.863.4744

We got there pretty early no one was there. It was a tad bit loud perhaps because I was trying to listen to my friend tell me her projects. I realize I'm not a HUGE fan of OPEN kitchen by the dining area because I already don't appreciate loud dining area and then you might hear the noise combination from the kitchen. :D

We ordered the fish n' chips and I was suprised to see how small the pieces were but then again I'm comparing it to cod fish. It was tasty the tilapia but if you're use to the texture and taste of cod it definitely is different. Their batter is light which is great. Their chips are a mixture between potato steak fries with skin and yams. I thought they were good. I thought the cole slaw was tasty with the cilantro but I wish it had more zing to it. Tartar sauce I thought was good but I believe there was some dill was a bit strong for my palette.

Little stack - grilled sweet potato with spinash, goat cheese and marinated tofu.. I thought this was tasty. We ordered seasonal stir-fry veggies it was nice and there was kale in it. I enjoyed their edamame salad it was pretty tasty. I ordered their vegan pumpkin pie with vegan whipped cream. I thought the pumpkin pie was delicious. I'm not sure if the whipped cream is some to taste more like tofu but it did when you ate it alone.

Front Porch

2006-11-28T21:23:00.001-08:00

fried chicken
Originally uploaded by pengrin™.

Service was extremely nice and good but unfortunately and surprisingly the food was bad.

I wish I didn't have to write a bad write up because all I see is rave reviews. At first when we walked in you can smell the sweet smell of fried chicken so that was already planned for our meal.

We got seated promptly on a Tuesday's night. I loathed Friday or Saturday looking for a dinner place that isn't crowded or noisy.

We started off with some nice corn bread with honey butter chili spread. I thought it was nice.

We ordered the cerviche and I thought the chips were bland and the cerviche was not just tart but acidic. I was quite surprised how powerful the taste because I couldn't tell I was eating a shrimp or any other seafood items because it was just too acidic.

dungeness crab and sweet white corn grit porridge with habanero, lemon and scallion - I thought this dish was interesting but I don't believe the crab was fresh. It was tasty but there wasn't that much crab.

miss ollie's organic fried chicken with fries/collards -- I thought the chicken was bland like I didn't taste the chicken including the skin and it was a bit dry. And to come to think about this now but the collards were actually missing. I thought the fries were just too plain in taste.

Wow, I can't believe this was an usual experience for me because I heard so many great things from other food bloggers. Oh, well.

scott howard

2006-11-20T19:54:00.001-08:00

Butterscotch pudding Rum roasted banana lumpia!
Originally uploaded by pengrin™.

Scott Howard

Wow, what is the hype about this place? I wasn't crazy about our service. He was courteous but he didn't seem friendly.

I order the pork shoulder and the pork was very tender but it was a little bit on the sweet side. I'm not too keen on the sweet dishes in my savory dishes. And the corn was too buttery that I felt like I was getting a bit nausea because it felt so buttery. I was a bit disappointed. Carrot soup with truffle oil - very carroty (is that even a word? HA) like soup of course with a nice drizzle of truffle oil.

Well the ONLY thing I can really recommend it the Butterscotch pudding Rum roasted banana lumpia -- I wasn't too crazy about the banana lumpia - I felt like it made it a bit bitter.

Bullshead in the Castro District

2006-11-09T16:14:00.001-08:00

Ground Buffalo steak with sauteed mushrooms and onions...
Originally uploaded by pengrin™.

New location for Bullshead from their West Portal location.

They took over the previous restaurant called Tallula.

Powell's Place

2006-10-23T23:25:00.000-07:00

Powell's Place
1521 Eddy St.San Francisco, CA 94115 [Cross street: Fillmore St]
(415) 409-1388

My friend ordered the dark meat 3 piece fried chicken - red beans & mash potatoes. I ordered the beef short ribs plate.

The atmosphere of this place was not what I've expected, the decor was fancy, and the prices were moderate. It was interesting since it's in the heart of Western Addition.

I wanted fried chicken dinner, and I guess I didn't think I'd be paying for 12 bucks for southern food. Fried chicken wasn't dry a bit on the juicy side. It was okay. Flavoring wasn't bad on the fried chicken, they offered Crystal hot sauce.

The beef short ribs plate was good but a bit on the fatty side, and at some point it was a bit salty for my taste buds. I had the corn and dirty rice as the 2 sides. I wasn't crazy about either one of them. Dirty rice was pretty dry. Corn was okay.

I don't know if I'd actually recommend this place. It's definitely a place to try once. Service was okay, and it wasn't busy.

Tangerine

2006-10-23T18:28:00.000-07:00

blue crab omelette innards, originally uploaded by pengrin™.

Tangerine

Wow, I heard so many good things about this place. I was sadden to say I won't visit this place again unless I hear otherwise.

I had the blue crab omellete - it was very salty and very eggy. I felt like I could just taste the buttery eggs. It was a bit overwhelming for my taste buds

I had their dinner thinking it would be better but it was so sweet that I was very disappointed. Presentation of the food was amazing but it was just overly seasoned. I didn't know what I was tasting. Bummer.

Cafe Grillades

2006-10-23T18:09:00.000-07:00

Cafe Grillades

I finally went to the recently opened Cafe Grillades in Hayes Valley. I thought the menu selection for the food was very appealing and it's kid friendly place. We were prompted seated to a table of 7.

I really liked our server, she was patience and very nice but here are the issues that I had today:

1. Everyone's dishes took over an hour to come

2. We accidently spilled a cup of tea on the table that managed to spill on the floor also. The problem was it took over 20 minutes for someone to respond to the mess on the floor. We cleaned the top table but they didn't seem to respond to the spillage.

3. I ordered panni with ham and brie. I think a warm sandwich shouldn't have aiola inside the sandwich. It should be served separatedly. I thought their fries were cold, stale. I was surprised.

4. I tried a little bit of my friend's smoke salmon crepe and it was very salty.

5. My friend ordered buttermilk pancakes and she said it was medicore and later was a bit sick from it.

6. I thought their ice chai tea wasn't bad. I was looking around to see why things were taking awhile and I felt that their were short staff but didn't communicate that to us.

Also, their is single bathroom for men and women for a reasonably sized restaurant that caters to the family oriented area AND they also need to install some sort of ventilation in there. It was pretty bad.

Crimson

2006-10-05T16:52:00.000-07:00

Crimson restaurant, Los Gatos

Wow, it would have been easily missed in Los Gatos. This area is full of strip shopping stores but luckily we spotted it in time.

I thought it was odd that our reservations were pushed further because the restaurant wasn't busy. I ordered their pre-fix menu for $25.00.

I had their cesar salad, which I thought was medicore. I had the chicken with broocolini and I thought the chicken needed salt. It seemed flavorless. My friend had the salmon dish and it was also flavorless. Surprising because my friend recommended this restaurant but another friend ordered this slank dish, which is their signature dish. I thought it was tasty and it melted in your mouth, of course the plate was $33.00. We had the tiramisu and I thought it was too rich and creamy instead of an evenly taste of the bread with rum taste and cream.

My friend also ordered steamed clams and mussels, which I thought was tasty and dipping the bread of the sauce was delicious too.

I thought the bathroom was in a weird location. I've been in places where the bathroom is through the kitchen but literally we were passes the sous chefs just to get through the bathroom. It was a bit weird their configuration and the owner's mini office looked like a crevice between the bathroom and the area where they prepare the food. Strange.

Massawa

2006-10-05T16:46:00.000-07:00

Massawa - 1538 Haight St, San Francisco 94117Btwn Ashbury & Clayton St Phone: 415-621-4129

Yet, another Ethiopian place to cure a fix that I need before I leave on vacation.

Decor was bright and relaxing.

I thought the selection for the food was similar to Assab and it was pricey too. Combination wasn't really that enticing for my friends and I to try.

So my staple dish to order now is the Kantisha, which is a mushroom dish. I thought their dish was a bit medicore and their injera was slightly sour. Also, I noticed my fingertips were a bit filled with injera bits, which I was suprised because I never had the sticky feelings on my fingertips. We ordered the beef dish, which I thought was okay and collard greens. I thought the only thing that was flavorful was the added spicy & flavorful lentils.

Bummer.

E & O Trading

2006-09-08T09:50:00.000-07:00

corn fritters, originally uploaded by pengrin™.

E & O Trading, San Francisco

Okay, the last time I went to E & Trading was on Valentine's Day about a couple of years ago. All I remembered the only thing that was amazing was their corn fritters. Well, my friends treated me to a meal here and I must say I was very disappointed. It was very starchy comparably to the light taste that I had before. We ordered some other dishes but all to discontentment. I'm not a fan of sweets in my savory. Yeah, I'm just weird like that. HAHA...

Naan 'n Curry

2006-08-25T10:21:00.000-07:00

Naan 'n Curry
642 Irving St.San Francisco, CA

Good lord! What was I thinking? Alright, I wanted to check out MATEO's ZOZOVILLE show at Canvas Gallery. I felt like Indian food but to have left with bad Indian food taste on your tongue is REALLY bad.

Well, generally speaking -- this restaurant has poor ventilation. I don't care how aromatic curry is that doesn't mean you have to leave the restaurant with the food smell on your clothes and your skin. ILL!!! I wonder if the neighbors are complaining of the obnoxious smell because the door was closed. I think this place is just too hyped up well considering the clientele that goes in here they've expanded this restaurant. We ordered Vegetable Biryani and Baingan Bharta - eggplant curry and one naan bread. Every dish was incredibly salty so I couldn't really taste what I was eating. The naan bread was cold and I felt like it was old.
I think I need to consider another Indian restaurant out there.

Farmer Brown

2006-08-19T07:52:00.000-07:00

Po' sandwich - delicious crab cakes, originally uploaded by pengrin™.

“Restaurant located in an odd location because it's in the Tenderloin area. It was packed on a Wednesday's night we had waited over an hour for our reserved table. They gave us complimentary fries for our wait. We ordered jumbo shrimp and I thought it was medicore, it needed some salt. Shrimp cocktail was medicore but if you added their hot sauce to their dish it would make it flavorful. We ordered their salad and it was tasteless. I thought their fried chicken and mac n' cheese (over cooked, pungent) was medicore also. KFC is still delicious for their fried chicken. I tried their stuffing which was surprising tasty and their Po' sandwich - very tasty & flavorful crab cakes but their cole slaw was ok. I'm still hunting for the best soul food in SF. ”

Cafe Ethiopian

2006-08-15T14:59:00.000-07:00

ethiopian food, originally uploaded by pengrin™.

Cafe Ethiopian
415-285-2728
878 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110

Decor is nice. I really enjoyed the x-large platter that was served. They place the large platter that had injera at our table and then waitress individual poured each individual dish onto the platter. And they gave us extra injera.

Here's what was ordered:
Drumstick
Lentils
Mushroom

I thought all the dishes were a bit bland and not as flavorful as what I've had before.

La Parilla Grill

2006-08-08T14:02:00.000-07:00

plate for two - a whole load of meat, originally uploaded by pengrin™.

I ate Mexican food a few nights ago. I was trying to open about the whole cuisine thing. The decor of the restaurant was really nice. Surprisingly, it was very quiet for a Thursday night and I don't think I can blame the summer season for it.

Service was medicore. We ordered the cerviche and this huge meat dish that you can see above. I thought the cerviche was tasty but this huge meat dish well I have to pass on this plate. I thought it was bland the chicken pieces, and the sauces were okay to dip with. Flank steaks were tasty and the shrimps were nice. Overall, I wasn't impressed with the meal at this restaurant. I wonder how long they'll be open until.

Rib Shack, San Bruno

2006-06-22T14:22:00.000-07:00

mini-size lunch with hotlinks, corn, and dried up corn muffin, originally uploaded by pengrin™.

223 El Camino Real
San Bruno, CA 94066

Okay, on one of the hottest days I head out to Rib Shack thinking I'm going to have some great BBQ. Instead, there was no A/C nor fan to be found. I must have caught them on their off days because there was only one person there. I was dismayed to find the food looking medicore from the glass casing and what they served my coworkers. My coworkers said their pull pork and brisket was good but the chicken was dry. I chose the hotlinks lunch menu. It came with a handful of slices of hotlinks with a very dried corn muffin served with a decent corn on the cob. It was definitely not worth a $7.00 meal. I think I'm going to have to run out for a snack.

Sorry the pic is blurry because I was using my boss's treo. I forgot my camera today. :(

Burma SuperStar

2006-06-19T08:11:00.000-07:00

See Jyet Kaukswer (duck) - delicious, originally uploaded by pengrin.

Burma Superstar

I'm not sure what the hype is all about at this Burmese location. I went there for lunch and I ordered all their noodle dishes. I tried all of them and I wasn't impressed with any of their dishes. I thought their samoas was undercook and bland. I think the only dish I enjoyed was this dish with egg noodles and duck. I wasn't crazy about the dipping sauce that is on the plate.

Sad to say, I just don't think it's worth the wait. I've been told their Samoa soup is suppose to be good but I wasn't interested in eating any soups.

Let's be Frank

2006-06-16T22:22:00.000-07:00

organic hot dog??, originally uploaded by pengrin.

Let's be Frank

Well, we were strolling alone on Crissy Fields and all of the sudden I saw grass-feed beef hot dog. I was like okay let's see how good this hot dog really is and even the bun was organic. I looked at the color and it was an odd color a bit on the blue side. It was strange. I bit into it and it was just not appealing. I was like OMG this was pretty tasteless.

I think so far Boar's head hot dogs/frankfurters are the best tastiest hot dogs.

California Pizza Kitchen, Palo Alto

2006-06-16T10:41:00.000-07:00

Well, what can I possibly say for this place? My coworker offered me their coupon this morning and I was like even if you gave it to me free I wouldn't want to eat that.

My Team June team ordered their pizza and I dared tried a small slice. It was tasteless even with the mushrooms and the chilli peppers. I think it's the generic cheese and tasteless bread that just doesn't cut it out for me.

Wow, I had a bad meal during lunch and then dinner. Incredible. Bummer.

Well, I might get me some bad food today because KFC is conveniently near Trader's Joe and it's cheap too! ;) Clog my ateries and I was almost tempted to eat some leftover tater tots my coworker offered to me. :D

burma superstar, SF

2006-06-14T09:49:00.000-07:00

See Jyet Kaukswer (duck) - delicious, originally uploaded by pengrin.

krungthai, san jose

2006-06-14T09:47:00.000-07:00

bbq beef salad, originally uploaded by pengrin.

rangoon, palo alto

2006-06-14T09:26:00.000-07:00

"Wow, I dislike giving bad reviews. I really don't understand. I think this place focuses more on chinese cuisine then Burmese cuisine. We ordered only Burmese dishes: tea salad (bitter, bland, no dried shrimp) and it was already mixed for us, 2 Burmese pre-mixed noodle salad (sorry I forgot the names) they weren't that good except for the lemon one but that was still medicore, palada and it came with sugar - how odd, and the Burmese chicken curry. Uhummm, the potatoes were undercook and curry looked watery and it wasn't flavorful. I've only found Mandalay restaurant in SF that has great Burmese food and not even the famous Burma Superstar can match up to that."

Rangoon - 565 Bryant St Palo Alto, CA 94301 (650) 325-8146

<< note to readers >>

2006-06-14T09:06:00.000-07:00

I'm starting this blog for my own personal information about "not so good eats" or the food is just medicore from my own experiences. Also, I feel bad to tell people what "not" to eat when I really enjoyt to tell people what food recommends they should really eat. So I just want to remember what bad eats I've had so I know not to go there again. I apologize if your experience with the restaurants differs from my experience. Here's my other site: pengrin™ eats