Q, Chloe's and Park Chow - brunch anyone?

My laziness has finally caught up with me, and I decided to condense my reviews for these three places in one big brunch post!

Lets start with Q - I went here with my swim friends. It's all the way on Clement Street, parking is a pain here so be warned. The place itself is pretty small, we got seated all the way in the back. Our table was funky (in a good way), there was this tree trunk in the middle of the table, added an interesting touch to the decor of the place.

The service was a bit random... our server kept telling us that the coffee mugs were missing and brought us our three coffees one by one. The food was pretty good brunch fare. I got an omelet with corn and some spicy salsa. Lalitha got the french toast which was pretty good too. Overall I would say the place was good... was it worth the trek all the way to the Richmond though, not sure!

Ok the next place is also that side of town - Park Chow is right outside the Golden Gate Park. Again parking here is a pain, but if have a lot of money, you go into the park and park at the De Young :)Park Chow is really popular - you can tell because the place is pretty big, it has two levels but it was full. There's a really cozy feel to it, maybe because of the giant fireplace downstairs. We were a group of 8, so we got put upstairs in a large, spacious room. This place is good for kids - I always have trouble finding places to take my friends who have kids, so this is a great find! The food is a mixture of traditional brunch options with some Asian and Italian options thrown in. Pretty good food and service. Overall, this seems like a good place to start the day off with a nice relaxed lunch, and walk across to the park and hang out - definitely recommended!

Last, but not least is Chloe's - it's a block away from my apartment, and I don't go there nearly as often as I would like. Why? This place is super-popular, and tiny! Which means, you end up waiting for a table for at least 45 minutes, and they don't take reservations. But, Chloe's makes you wait for a good reason - the food is awesome, made with fresh ingredients and always flavorful. I love their rosemary thyme bread - the french toast and most of their omelets. So, if you have a couple of hours to spare one weekend, make the trip to Chloe's - it's definitely worth it!

Firefly!

I've been dying to try out Firefly for over a year now.. and finally got to do it thanks to the urgency of checking out my favorite SF restaurants before I leave.

Firefly was everything it promised to be - the place is charming, with this whimsical feel to it. The food is good southern cooking, meaning that it's so heavy that you feel the need to hit the gym the next day. But the food is soo good that it's worth it!

We went for the prix fix menu one weeknight - it includes an appetizer, main course and desert and is a great deal. We were four of us, so we ended up trying most of the things on the menu between us. Appetizers were beet salad, baby lettuce salad, brussel sprouts and shrimp dumplings. The main course was really rich - if you see the pictures you'll know what I mean. They are really not stingy with their portions, and the amount of cheese and butter they put in it :) But that's what makes the food soooo good I guess. I couldn't finish my main course, besides I had to save room for dessert. Which, as expected, did not disappoint!

Firefly is one of those places that demand a special occasion - it's not cheap, and the ambience is romantic and very cozy. Definitely an awesome date place! As someone once said - " If I ever propose to someone, I'll bring them to Firefly to do it!" (you know who you are ;-))

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/