Monday, February 18, 2013

Jones

A group of friends and I stopped by Jones in the Tenderloin for a late dinner in the middle of a night of drinks. The inside tables were full, but we took a table in the (mostly) empty outside patio area.


There's a multipage drinks menu with some tasty mixed drinks, but we focused on their one page dinner menu.


Braised rabbit and pappardelle- this sounded interesting but turned out a bit bland. When shredded, the rabbit tasted like a bland shredded chicken.


Roasted Coho salmon with black risotto and kale - the salmon was a bit dry. I actually liked the risotto though, and there were good flavors. 


Crab cakes - I didn't get to taste the crabcakes, but they seemed alright.


Truffle fries - nicely done.



I personally liked the flavor of the roasted cauliflower (lots olive oil and capers!) but a bit too mushy. Wealso had the spaghetti bologness, which was bland. So bland it didn't even deserve a photo. 

Some in our party got a ginger mixed drink from their long drink menu, which was tasty. However, most of the food was unexciting and bland. When we left it was still quiet, especially for a Saturday night, but the outdoor area is very nice. A nice place to chill with drinks with a lovely outdoor area, but there's better options in the area if you're looking for dinner.

Jones
San Francisco, CA
Jones Yelp

Friday, February 1, 2013

Crown and Crumpet (Ghiradelli Square)

Afternoon tea is something I picked up while studying abroad in Hong Kong and since then have always wished would gain popularity here in the states. Who doesn't get that 3pm slump, and just have a quick cup of coffee and some stale snacks to tide them over until dinner? Now, imagine that instead you can go and have legitimate sandwiches and sweets and teas... yum.

Crown and Crumpet is located in lovely Ghiradelli Square in a small corner shop (until May 2013). This is the tea party of every big girl's little girl dream: vintage furniture, pink and white floor tiles, decorations of pink and florals and kitschy designs covering every inch of the cozy and adorable room.


AW and I took a girls day out to come here, and ordered the set tea for two. It comes with two pots of tea. We chose a black tea and a green tea, and though I can't remember which ones we chose (there's a large section), both were quite delicious.

The food is brought to you on a three tiered serving tray.


You get, per person: 4 half sandwiches, two scones, one crumpet, and four desserts.


I believe the selection varies day by day. We had a salmon/cream cheese, egg, an unidentified one in the back that I don't recall, and a curried sandwich which I found interesting but AW didn't like that much. 


Each person gets one plain and one chocolate chip scone as well. I liked the crumpets the best (so soft... so fluffy), and hence did not get a close up photograph. Clotted cream went lovely on allof these!


The desserts, however pretty, tasted only mediocre though.

It was a fun two hours sipping tea and nibbling finger foods. You can order additional items, but we found that this tray was way more than enough for two people. At $26 per person the food is, admittedly, not spectacular, but we enjoyed ourselves and had a great time. This is not the kind of place you'd go for great food, but more a good place to hang out and catch up with people in a fun atmosphere.

I saw that Crown and Crumpet is moving to a downtown location in May 2013, and I'll be interested to possibly try them again after the move.

Crown and Crumpet
San Francisco, CA
Crown and Crumpet Yelp