Moki's Sushi

People always look at me weird when I tell them I love sushi. I know... I don't eat fish, so the whole sushi experience is probably a little (ok, more than a little) incomplete for me. But still... I love sushi, I love how fresh and crunchy the cucumber roll is, how subtle the flavors are, I love the pickled ginger, and I love the kick of wassabi mixed in in soy sauce. So.. when Lalitha suggested we go to Moki's in Bernal Heights for dinner, I was excited! The only other place I know that is great for vegetarian sushi is Cha-ya, which I really should review some day because I eat there a lot!

Bernal Heights is a cute little neighborhood. with some decent restaurants. It's really quiet, and even on a Saturday night, the streets were pretty deserted. I guess what I'm trying to say is, if you want to go somewhere happening, where you can hang out at a bar or go dancing later, then Bernal is not the neighborhood for you. If you are looking to enjoy a nice, relaxing meal though, it's got a few places I would recommend - Little Nepal, Piqueo's, and Moki's to name a few.

So anyway, back to Moki's... Moki's doesn't take reservations, but when we got there around 7 pm on a Saturday night, it was a breeze to get seating. The place did get crowded as the evening progressed though, so I would suggest getting there early. Our server was really nice (meaning cute!), and took good care of us. Fran and me drank sake (I forget the name, have to check with Lalitha), it was really really good, definitely recommended. For appetizers we ordered the edamame, seaweed salad and the spicy corn cakes. The flavors in the seaweed salad were really good - just a subtle hint of spice, salt and some sesame.. yummy! The corn cakes... fried and with a tangy dipping sauce, you can't go wrong with that. Or edamame for that matter :)

On to the main course then... we ordered the Moki rolls, the tempura roll, spider rolls and of course the cucumber rolls. I was pretty happy with all the vegetarian options available... we actually had a tough time deciding what we wanted to get, which is awesome for a sushi place. They also had nigiri sushi with vegetables, something I haven't seen before. The moki rolls and the tempura rolls were really good - definitely recommended. The moki roll had mango, tofu and macadamia nuts - ummmm delicious. And the tempura roll had a spicy sauce, tempura'ed tofu, coconut and macadamia nuts. Both were pretty unique, I never would have imagined coconut could taste so good in a sushi roll. And ahhh... cucumber rolls, how can anyone not like cucumber rolls, so crunchy, so fresh... yyummy! I didn't bother to check but I think the spider rolls were good too... anyway, who cares... this is a veggie blog :)

After stuffing ourselves with all the rolls we ordered (not to mention we had already stuffed ourselves with nachos at the movies before) we very politely declined dessert. And then we undid all the good of skipping dessert by walking down the street and getting ice cream from a local ice-cream store - Maggie Mudd, which was nothing to write home about frankly, but hey, I'm all for promoting local neighborhood business, so if you are in the area, by all means try the ice-cream here. But Moki's - I think it's worth making the trek to Bernal to try their sushi. The food, service, atmosphere, and the sake was definitely worth it!

http://www.mokisushi.com/

Nirvana, Market Bar and Toast

I've decided I'm going to be lazy and combine reviews for three restaurants in one giant blog posting. Not that they don't deserve their own individual moment in the spotlight - at least Nirvana definitely does. But, these are restaurants I've been to over the past two months so some of my memories of the places are hazy and I'm going to get them all mixed up anyway :)

Lets start with Nirvana, an Asian fusion restaurant in the Castro. I tried this place for the first time with Judy, when I had just moved to the city three years ago. Wow .... time flies, and here I was again, celebrating my "surprise" birthday party with my awesome, awesome friends. From what I remember (very vaguely) the drinks at this place were really good! The food was pretty good too, but since I can't remember the names of any dishes, I'm guessing at least the vegetarian options were pretty standard fare. The seafood though, was a big hit! A friend of mine who doesn't really like seafood, started ordering seafood at every restaurant he went to for the next few weeks to see if he could find the same taste closer to home. Overall, I would recommend the restaurant - it's not that great for a date, but pretty good to go out with a group. Oh.. and remember, parking in the Castro is a nightmare, so take the muni :)

http://nirvanarestaurant.net/

After two months of no brunches out with Laxmi (parents visiting, south-indian breakfast every weekend at home, who needs brunch :)), we decided to go to Toast in Noe Valley, the Sunday after my folks left. For some reason this place is super-popular. We waited an hour and a half ( I kid you not!) to get a table. I mean yeah.. they make a good omelette, but don't people have better things to do on a beautiful Sunday morning? Apparently not! Anyway, once we were seated, the service was pretty quick. The restaurant has the usual brunch fare - I do recommend getting the omelette, it's perfectly made, with really fresh veggies, light and fluffy and most importantly, not runny. If eggs are just not your thing, the tofu scramble looked pretty good, and I guess you also can't go wrong with pancakes and syrup :)

http://www.toasteatery.com/

My last review is for Market Bar - it's this huge place with outdoor seating in the Ferry Building. The only reason I'm reviewing this place has nothing to do with food - it's the location! If there's one place in San Francisco that always makes me smile and want to give a great, big hug to the city, it's the Ferry Building. I don't know if it's because of the water and the Bay Bridge in all it's magnificence towering over the Bay on one side, or all the tall financial district buildings with busy people walking around purposefully on the other side that makes this such a special place. Every time I go here though, I can almost feel the vitality and energy around me lifting me up. So, anyway, back to Market Bar - we went here to celebrate Chetna's first marathon, we were a large group, and this place was awesome - they take reservations, unlike a lot of brunch places in the city, and it's big enough to accommodate a large group. The food... was as far as I remember, pretty lackluster. Once again, it was the usual brunch fare. I mean how wrong can you go with scrambled eggs and toast? So, go here if you need a place that is centrally located and can fit large groups - but if you are looking for a brunch place with really good food, you're better off picking your favoritest (I know it's not a word.. but you get the picture) person from the group and heading to one of the many smaller, neighborhood brunch places where you'll easily find a table for two (except if it's Toast :)).

http://www.marketbar.com/