I'm hungry, what's for lunch?

A special tuna sandwich with Shiso

by foodhoe on January 30, 2012

I took this photo last summer of the shiso that grows in our backyard.  Years ago, a potted plant of shiso had flowered and spread its seeds, and so each spring I find tiny sprouts growing in the yard.  Because I love shiso so much, I pluck up the sprouts and replant them in my herb garden.  Shiso is a uniquely flavorful herb that is difficult to describe.  It has an intense flavor similar to anise but with a cinnamon kick that tickles your nose.  I think it tastes best eaten fresh, and is excellent paired with fish, or vegetables, or chopped fine in a chiffonade and spread over pasta or tofu.  It is so popular in Japan that in the summer of 2009, Pepsi Japan released a new seasonal flavored beverage, Pepsi Shiso.  Shiso (its scientific name is Perilla), is also known by its more common names of beefsteak plant or ooba.  Perilla seeds form an essential part of the famous “shichimi” seven spices of Japan , which originated more than 300 years ago in Kyoto.  I am so smitten with this lively herb that I named one of my kitties Shiso, who sadly, passed on over the weekend.  This is the only baby picture I have of her, she was awfully cute; a tiny fuzzball that loved frolicing and playing.

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Elios Family Restaurant, San Leandro

by foodhoe on January 24, 2012

260 Floresta Blvd, San Leandro, CA  94578 | 510.351.0463 | website

My cousin Megu recently directed Mr. K and I to this local restaurant after hearing us whinge about the lack of a really good breakfast spot in our fair city of San Leandro.  We regularly shop at the OSH hardware/garden shop in the same complex, but from the looks of the outside we had assumed it was another mediocre restaurant stuck in a bygone era, slinging greasy and uninspired hash… We went to check it out and I’m glad to say that we were so very wrong – we have been for breakfast almost every weekend since!

The interior has a certain nostalgic appeal, cushy booths with swanky naugahyde upholstery that just purrs supperclub…  even the stools at the counter have been given the royal treatment, and match all of the chairs in the overflow banquet room next door. [click to continue…]

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Dinner at State Bird Provisions then a visit to Holy Dog in San Francisco

1529 Fillmore St (@Geary), SF, CA 94115 | 415.795.1272 | website | twitter Have you heard of this restaurant?  The name refers to one of the Chef’s signature dishes, the crispy spiced quail (CA’s state bird if you didn’t’ know) from the  now-closed Rubicon, along with the providing of good food and libations.  Located on the [...]

Koreana Kitchen in Walnut Creek

Foodhoe crashed and burned recently, this restored post was previously published, lost the comments too.  So, yes you may have seen this already, sorry for the duplication/confusion, but I was busy making some enhancements to the site… bear with me, I’m still tweaking! 1546 Bonanza St., Walnut Creek, CA | 925.938.5959 | This is one [...]

gobo, kaiware and eggs

Yes this is a redo…  If you happened to try to visit last night between 7-8 pm, the site was down and I had to have the site restored to a state from a couple of weeks ago.  Reminder to do more frequent backups…  However, nothing on the web is ever truly lost, I was [...]

Peruvian at Limon Rotisserie

1001 South Van Ness Avenue. SF, CA 94110 | online reservation | 415.821.2134  | website JT organized yet another holiday get together this time at the South Van Ness location of Limon Rotisserie, one of several in the City.  I hope you all are enjoying the holidays!  As the name implies, they proudly serve the official dish of Peru, [...]

Umami Burger in San Francisco

2184 Union Street,  SF, CA 94123 | 415.440.8626 | website My friend DebbiG chose the new temple of ground flap meat, Umami Burger as the location to celebrate her birthday last week.  Our party of 10 were told to expect a 45 minute wait for the only large table in the restaurant, so we wandered down [...]