BUY: This is ridiculous – Bling H2O

I just had to write about this. Today, while shopping for some food for our Christmas dinner tomorrow night, I ran across this pretty bottle of water. However, when I turned it over, I went into sticker shock as the price of the water was $55.00. I’m not kidding. I thought it was a misprint, until I picked up a smaller bottle and it was $30.00.

Bling H2O is a water designed to cater to the luxury lifestyle – according to their website, it was created because “In Hollywood, it seemed as if people flaunted their bottled water like it was part of their presentation”. Apparently FIJI water and SmartWater just don’t cut it anymore.

Couture water? Are you kidding me?

For that price, I better be pissing Cristal after drinking it.

OAKLAND Spotlight: Dorsey’s Locker

DORSEY’S LOCKER
5817 Shattuck Ave
(between 58th St & 59th St)
Oakland, CA 94609
(510) 428-1935

Hey sister, go sister, where all my soul sisters?

The answer to that question is….not in San Francisco.

With the closing of the famed SF soul food spot, Powell’s Place, us San Franciscans are experiencing a dearth of good and inexpensive soul food in our dear city, and had to travel outside of SF to find anything noteworthy. One evening, as we had a miserable dinner at PF Chang’s, we asked our server, “Where do YOU go to eat when you’re not working?” His answer: Dorsey’s Locker. I gathered up a large group of hungry people and made them all drive to Oakland on a Sunday afternoon. Wanna see what we got to eat?

The seafood combination, yummy yummy sides, and the short ribs platter

They do all the classic soul food favorites: fried chicken, catfish, snapper, gumbo, short ribs, pork chops, liver & onions, …and the sides: collard greens, black eyed peas, rice with gravy, mashed potatoes, fries, yams, red beans, green beans, corn, and mac & cheese (only available on Fridays and Sundays). Service was spectacular and entertaining, the food came in copious amounts, and we all left extremely full and satisfied. I think that Dorsey’s is actually vastly better than Powell’s Place – even in their presentation of the food. (Sorry Powell’s…I loved you, but you have been replaced.) Think I’m exaggerating on how good the food was? My friend Joshua, who had the pork chops, cleaned his plate.

SF Spotlight: My Tofu House

My Tofu House
Neighborhood: Inner Richmond
4627 Geary Blvd
(between 10th Ave & 11th Ave)
San Francisco, CA 94118
(415) 750-1818

As you can see, I have not been cooking lately – not for lack of want, but more so because I simply haven’t had the time. So, for those of you who are not familiar with the wonder of Soon Du Bu Chige, I am presenting you with my current favorite Korean restaurant in San Francico – My Tofu House.

Located on a pretty mellow section of Geary Boulevard, My Tofu House is a favorite amongst locals, apparent by the waiting list that you will encounter during dinnertime. The menu is simple – no mile long list of unpronounceable dishes, rather, two pages in Korean with the English translation on the bottom. Though they make a pretty decent Bi Bim Bap and Bulgogi, their specialty is Soon Du Bu – tofu stew – offering at least nine different variations: original, seafood, dumpling, vegetable…I can’t remember all of them, but I have not had a bad one yet.

Once you order, they bring you an assortment of na mul, the various side dishes commonly served with Korean food: bean sprouts, several types of kim chi, a fried fish, and little dried baby fish. Next comes a big stone pot of steamed white rice. And finally, the piece de resistance – your tofu soup in a stone bowl, still bubbling. My personal favorite is the dumpling tofu stew – a rich, spicy broth with soft tofu, rice cakes, and meat filled dumplings. You can choose how spicy you want it – I prefer mine “spicy”, but for those of you who can’t stand the heat…try the “white” or “mild” version first.

Usually, when I go with friends, we order our soup as well as an additional order of bulgogi – it’s a ton of food, and often times the wait staff will offer you refills of any of the na mul that you want seconds on. And it’s fairly inexpensive – $10.00 for your soup, and the bulgogi runs about $17 for a pretty large portion. I always leave here full and nice and warm inside.