Suzanne and I went out for dinner tonight. We’d heard people say that Aslam’s Rasoi.

When we peeked in we saw that it was busy but not full. Good sign. So we went in. We were shown to a cozy corner table … so cozy that we were almost blocked in by the surrounding tables later on. There was a feeling of trying to pack a few too many diners into the dining room.

The menu was reasonable, both in terms of variety and price, with the usual selection of North Indian dishes.

We got started with drinks and Assorted Pakoras (Vegetable Pakoras, Gobi Pakoras and Began Pakoras). The pakoras were nicely done. Whether it was Aslam’s practice, or specifically as we were there as a couple, I don’t know, but the selection of pakora were paired, two of each type. A nice touch in my opinion.

For the meal we ordered Lamb Vindaloo (Lamb curry cooked with potatoes and herbs in a hot curry sauce), Bengan Bartha (Freshly roasted eggplant sauteed with chopped onion, garlic, ginger, and spices), Chana Masala (Garbanzo beans cooked with onions, fresh tomatoes, and spices North Indian style, Aloo Gobi (Cauliflower and potatoes cooked with a hint of garlic and spices), rice, and Naan.

Serving sizes were good, providing a sumptuous meal and leftovers for another.

I’m not the world’s greatest lamb fan (yet) but I enjoyed the vindaloo. Tender and tasty with a nice level of heat. The bartha was ok … a little bland maybe. I would have liked it a bit more of a smoky flavor. The chana was very nice; good flavor and quite spicy. The aloo gobi was as expected, not exceptional, but certainly not a disappointment. The naan was quite nice, soft, with a touch of char.

Our waitress left a little to be desired, seeming to be somewhat ill at ease. Also, I didn’t think we were getting quite as much attention as we should have.

Sorry, no pics… my bad.

Tonight I cooked dinner for the first time in the new kitchen. Sure, I make brunch a couple times… but that’s not quite the same.

Fingerling potatoes, chopped into bite sized pieces. Tossed in a baking dish with olive oil, salt, pepper, coarsely chopped smashed garlic, and fresh rosemary. Roast them in a 400F oven, tossing occasionally, until they are lightly browned and creamy soft.

Brocolli, chunked up and stems peeled and sliced. Saute in butter with a touch of salt and pepper. Add the juice of a lemon near the end and reduce it.

Add a couple nice pieces of filet mignon, pour some red wine, and enjoy.

That’s what we had tonight. And it was good.

Our produce box this week contained beets, so Suzanne made Roasted Beet Salad with Beet Greens and Feta.

One change was that she tossed the greens into the salad rather than putting then somewhat on the side. With the tossing the feta was coated in the bright pink beet juice… so it goes with beets.

There’s not too much to be said: garlicky, tangy, but most of all: beety! The feta was a nice salty counterpoint.

If you like beets (and btw I love beets and maybe not so coincidentally, Jitterbug Perfume is one of my favorite books), this is well worth a try.

Doing a post every day on this blog is taking up too much time that I need for other things, so I’m going to cut back to once or twice a week, at least for a while.

After the LARubyConf wrapped up this evening, a large group of us headed over to Gordon Biersch for dinner.

For beer I had the Schwarzbier (Literally “black beer” in German. Schwarzbier has a fairly light body with a delicious dry, roasted coffee like finish.). Dark, smooth, and tasty.

I started off with the “Old Fashioned Chopped Salad” (Chopped salad with chicken, pepperoni, pepper jack cheese, onions, tomatoes and a variety of fresh vegetables, tossed in an Olive Lemon Vinaigrette). This was good, down to the artichoke hearts and olives, big cubes of cheese. Yummy.

For main course I gave their Beer Battered Fish & Chips a try.

OK, I didn’t think to take a pic until well into it. My first impression was “Oh Fish sticks.”. First impressions were misleading as the fish turned out to be quite good. Happily it came with malt vinegar by default. It also, however, came with garlic fries. Um… WTF?! Fish & chips with garlic fries? Really strong garlic fries. While they were tasty enough, they definitely were not mean to go with fish & chips. Bad call Gordon Biersch.

I’m in LA (well, Burbank to be exact) to speak at LA Ruby Conf tomorrow.

Tonight I had the pleasure of having dinner at Granville Cafe with friends from Goldstar and Edgecase. Notably I had the chance to hang with my buddy @patmaddox, the BDDMF himself, as well as meet (in person) @gilesgoatboy.

The lighting sucked for the iPhone’s camera, but here’s a collage shot.

It was a nice place. Casual but with a good menu & beer selection. I opted for some Youngs Double Chocolate Stout. Damn, that’s good stuff. I had a “Southwest Burger” with sweet potato fries. I love the sweet potato fries occasionally. It was a burger, nicely done & tasty, but just a burger in the end. I did really like the bun, though. It had enough body and crust to it so as to hold up for the life of the burger, and not get all soggy like inferior buns tend to do.

As is often the case, the night is memorable more for the company than the food. After Granville, several of us went on to BJ’s for beer and conversation into the wee hours of the morning (yes… I’m backdating this post by a couple hours).

I had lunch at Twitter, hosted by @ladyfox14 (thanks!). I got the tour of the new digs, and they’re cool. Being that this is a food blog, I’ll keep discussion to lunch. Twitter provides breakfast and lunch to it’s employees (incidentally, employee 140 was hired recently, and being that that’s a significant number at Twitter there was a party). Lunch was great: salads, baked beans, and assemble yourself pulled pork sandwich (with a vegan alternative. It was tasty and nicely executed. Alas, I was too engrossed in conversation with old & new friends to think of taking pics.

I was pleasantly surprised when I discovered who ran their food operations: Gastronaut, and today owners Nate Keller and Mirit Cohen were there running the show. I know both Nate and Mirit from my days at Google.

I was also delighted to learn that a lot of employees are foodies, and that there are vibrant beer and coffee cultures. Apparently beer has been brewed in the office and the only coffee making device missing is a siphon brewer. Nice.

I had dinner tonight at Custom Burger with @stesla & @kagato. @stesla’s been trying to get me there for some time, and I almost made it a couple times, but had to bail. Custom Burger is brilliant! Truely a “build your own burger” experience.

@stelsa is a fan of their sweet potato fries. Rightfully so. Between the 3 of us we got 2 half & half baskets: a basket of fries, half white potato, and half sweet potato. Really nice… hot & fresh.

I can’t speak for the other two, but my burger was superb. Here’s how I had it:

• angus patty
• swiss cheese
• bacon
• sauteed mushrooms
• arugala
• chipotle ketchup
• multigrain bun

ZOMG Good!

I stopped on the way home with @stesla at The Chieftain for a pint & light meal.

As soon as I stepped through the door I knew I’d love the place. It’s a simply brilliant little pub.

So, you’re in an Irish pub after work. What do you do? Why, order a Guinness, of course… unless you don’t like beer, in which case you order something else from their extensive drink menu.

The Guinness was exceptional and, other that @stesla’s slight run-in with basic physics, was consumed with gusto. We both ended up ordering the Guinness Stew (loaded with chunks of tender beef, carrots, potatoes, and onions, served with our brown bread). OMG this was good. Really good. the vegetables were soft enough to cut up with a spoon, and the beef was fall apart tender. Flavours were nicely balanced with a rich but not overwhelming broth. Plain, basic, hearty food that just works.

Cozy, subdued lighting (not the greatest place to take food pics), lots of drink options, and good food. To top it off, it’s between work and both BART and one of my MUNI alternatives home. I’ll be back, plenty.

Suzanne and I spent part of Presidents Day wandering about the Financial District and Downtown. We started out by heading to the Ferry Building. I could spend some serious money there on ingredients. In fact, I expect I will.

After we tired of wandering we realized we were hungry and looked for a place to eat. Everything in the ferry building was packed, so we headed back into the financial district. “What do you want?” she asked. “Hmm.. Thai” I said. I was just whipping out my iPhone to check for nearby Thai restaurants when we looked across the street and saw Osha. Suzanne raves about the location in the Mission, and I was impressed with their SOMA location, so we went in.

Suzanne got a Palmtinni while I went with an Anchor Steam. What was of note was the mug:

Notice where the handle is. I’m calling this a case of bad design. It’s too high. With the mug full it’s awkward to tip it up to drink from.

We started with Thai Samosas (Potato, onion, carrot and yellow curry in a pot sticker wrapper served with fresh cucumber salad). These tasted fine but we both thought they were a bit too light & flakey. They came with 4 pieces but we’d started in before think to take a pic.

Next up was the Mango Salad (Streamed prawns, sliced mango, red onions, mint, cilantro, Kaffir lime leaf and cashew nuts in spicy lemongrass dressing). This was the star of the meal. Beautifully done. Crisp and refreshing, tart & nicely spicy. And it was garnished with lots of sliced cucumber. I like cucumber. Suzanne doesn’t. I ate all the cucumbers. Win-win.
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For the main entre we got Volcanic Beef (Wok-fried grilled premium flank steak with basil and black pepperin Lava sauce garnished with onion rings). While it was well presented and flavorful enough, it lacked heat. We ordered it “spicy” but it was bland with respect to chilis.

The Mango Salad was far and away the star of the meal. In fact it’s the only dish that I’d order again.