Oreo Cupcakes

This cupcake was inspired by the ever delicious Anthony's Cookies 'N Cream cookie. It's one of the chewiest and freshest cookies I'd ever had. I personally think that Oreo cookies by itself are already overly sweet, so I was expecting the ones from Anthony's would be overly sweet also, but it wasn't. It was perfect! The cookie wasn't big also, it was a little bigger than a bite size which was perfect for satisfying my sweet tooth.

Anyhow, onto the cupcake! So the cupcake itself contains crushed oreos. I didn't add as much sugar in this cupcake since I think it would put my sugar level beyond what my tongue and body can handle. I use both the cookie and cream fillings of Oreos, so right away I knew the batter would be thicker. I should have added a little less flour, but I didn't, so the cake was a bit on a denser side but still moist though.

The frosting on the cupcake is just vanilla buttercream but I made it runnier than the average ones so that it can be creamier. Lastly, I sprinkled some crushed Oreo cookie crumbs onto the frosting and garnished it with 1/4 of an Oreo cookie.

Pisces California Cuisine

3414 Judah St, San Francisco, CA
(415) 564-2233
http://www.piscessf.com/

I get pretty tired and lazy on weeknights when I get home from work. So I don't have too much motivation to go far into the city for dinner a lot of the times. The first thing I would do is usually find something around the neighborhood or neighorhoods close by. So I was thrilled when I found out there is an Californian cuisine restaurant near me.

What caught my attention on their website though was the nice ingredients they use in their dishes and the money-saving price tag that goes with them. There are two different pre-fix menu, one costs $23 and one costs $33. Either one allows you to choose from a selection of food. Three courses pre-fix menu only costs $23 has selections like potato leek bisque, lobster ravioli, grilled hanger steak, etc or the three course menu $33, which I ordered, has selections like Cioppino, Ahi Tuna, Filet Mignon, etc.

Smoked Salmon Strudel with Asparagus, Mascarpone, Ikura and Strawberry Vinegrette

Pisces' presentation realy "wowed" me. It was amazing how they can dress up a salad with a spring roll-liked food item. The presentation was good to look at and the food was delicious! The smoked salmon was salty, so it was perfect with the mascapone, asparagus and simple spring lettuce mix. The Ikura added extra saltiness to the dish, which was a bit much for me, but it was perfect with the sweet and tangy strawberry vinegrette.

Chocolate Battered Soft Shell Crab with Fresh Mozzarella, Tomatoes & Basil

Again, awesome presentation! The crab was pretty heavy and so is the mozzarella, so I just wish there are more tomato to tone down at least the mozzarella and more lettuce to tone down the soft shell crab. Overall, it was just too oily and heavy for me. Maybe drain the oil from the crab a little more?

Crab Cioppino with Shrimp, Scallops, Mussels, Calamari, Fresh Fish and Tomato Broth

This is by far one of the best cioppino I had. The broth was rich and contains diced tomatoes, it tasted great with the juice from the seafood. The amount of seafood was very generous, especially the crab meat! The shrimps were a little too cooked but other than that, I would clean this plate!

Grilled Wild Ahi Tuna with Gnocchi, Edamame Beans, Oyster Mushrooms, Wasabi Emulsion & Dashi Sauce

The ahi tuna was okay. It was a little too grilled for me and too dry for me. I like mine just a little bit grilled so that just the outside is grilled and dry and inside still juicy and tender. I had gnocchi for the first time and it was delicious. The emulsion and dashi sauce definitely made the food on this plate taste great!

Vanilla Bean Creme Brulee
I love creme brulee! This one is pretty okay and creamy overall. THe caramel was not burnt. The egg was not overcooked. Nothing much to say about it other than delicious!

Warm Chocolate Brownie with Vanilla Gelato & Ganache Sauce

The warm chocolate brownie was too much for me. Super duper sweet and dense. It would go great with dark black coffee, which I did not order and would wish I order if I were to consume this whole piece of brownie.

I like Pisces. The ingredients were simple but nice when combined. The waiter was attentative. The ambiance is pretty good. The price for the kind of food you get is great! I think I would go back for more cioppino!

You Say Marco! I Say Gelato!

Marco Polo Italian Ice Cream
1447 Taraval Street, San Francisco, CA
(415) 731-2833

Gelato is a variant of ice cream from Italy. But one place where I love getting gelato at is Marco Polo. At Marco Polo, almost all their gelato flavors are Asian inspired. Flavors like guava, mango, soursop, taro, coconut, green tea, black sesame, and even durian! They also have American inspired flavors like strawberry, chocolate and rum raisin. But none can beat my favorite flavor—lychee! It has tiny frozen lychee pieces in it, so it adds a little bit to the creamy texture. I actually love the black sesame flavor one too because of its powerful flavor.

Black Sesame & Lychee

Also, Marco Polo’s gelatos are very pastel in color, which means it’s super creamy! But even though it’s creamy, it actually has a lower butterfat content than ice cream..and that’s what classify it as a gelato. I also like Marco Polo’s gelato because it’s not overly sweet like most other places I have tried.
For a small cup, you can have up to two different flavors, and they don’t charge extra for cones! It is a bit expensive though because a pint cost about $8.00 and it keeps going up every time I go back. But doesn’t matter how much it is, I think I will keep going back for more!

Anthony's Cookies

1417 Valencia St, San Francisco, CA
(415) 655-9834
http://www.anthonyscookies.com/

My friend Victor and I both craved for something sweet one night. So he decided to get cookies so that we can finish another thing off the 2010 7x7.com SF Big Eat List. He then told me he bought 6! And without knowing or ever seeing how an Anthony’s cookie looks like, I was like, “wow, that’s a lot for the two of us!”

So it turned out Anthony’s cookies are small in size, like 2.5 inches in diameter or so. It is also a thinner type of cookie. So the item to get from the Big Eat List was the Cookies ‘N Cream cookie. I never had a cookies ‘n cream cookie before, so I was excited.

Anthony’s Cookies ‘N Cream cookie looks like a chocolate chip cookie but instead of chocolate chip, it contains crushed oreo-liked cookies. One bite into it and I was in love! I thought since it is a bit thinner so it probably won’t be chewy…man I was wrong! It was chewy and moist! But I should have known when I pull it in half…very gooey and chewy. I could definitely taste the cookies ‘n cream cookie in there. I was also surprise that it was not that sweet! I mean an oreo is super duper sweet to me but Anthony’s wasn’t.
I also tried the other cookies they have, like the white chocolate—which was pretty sweet! I also tried the semi-sweet chocolate with walnuts, which was just okay, but it was memorable because the chocolate was still very gooey and creamy even though the cookie wasn’t warm anymore.

Paul K

199 Gough St, San Francisco, CA

(415) 552-7132

http://www.paulkrestaurant.com/

Came here on a Tuesday night with the boyfriend for our anniversary. We are both foursquare.com user. So right after we were seated, my boyfriend checked into foursquare. He found that if you're a foursquare user and is a first timer at Paul K, you get half off on your entree. Yeah yea! Immediately we figured we have extra money for appetizers!

Paul K is a Greek and North American inspired restaurants. The ambiance was very modern and dim. The walls were hanged with paintings by artists and Paul himself. It was very quiet that night, with only about 3-4 tables including us. The service was great! Our waiter was very helpful and attentive.

Shortly after given our menus, our waiter put down a basket of warm housemade flat bread with hummus. The pita smelled very different and tasted different from the ones I usually see at Greek restaurant. It was much thinner. The hummus was thick and lumpy. I like it because the hummus was not overly salty like most I had.

Ahi Tuna Tartare with Lemon Oil, Pickled Radish and Sweet Potato Chips

I love appetizers made with tuna! So I knew we had to order Tuna Tartare. The tuna was very firm and finely diced. It was not mushy at all. The pickled radish along with lemon oil added some tanginess to the fishy tuna. Pretty good, but nothing to wow for. The sweet potato chips were very crisp and did not taste like sweet potato at all...I just thought it was regular potato.

Batter Fried Green Beans with Lemon Aioli

The Batter Fried Green Beans definitely reminded me of the ones from Coco500. But of course, they were both good in their own ways. Paul K's battered fried beans uses tempura-liked batter, whereas Coco500's uses the kind of flour batter you can find in taro croquette.I like it. It was crispy, oily and very aromatic. Oh and you have to eat it with the aioli..yum!

Seafood Stew with Fennel, Merquez Sausage, White Beans, Chili, Harissa Tomato Broth

I love cioppino! So when I saw seafood stew on the menu, I just order it without any thoughts. The seafood stew contains two type of clams, mussels, fish and shrimps. One type of clam is Manila, and I have no idea what the other one is. The other kind was so mushy and fishy; it was barf-inducing. The broth was watery, and lack tomato flavor. The beans were interesting; I never had beans in a seafood stew. I wish the bean would soak up the favor of the broth more though. The sausage was not very good, it tasted gamey, like lamb. Ehh, I don't think I'll order this again.

Grilled Hanger Steak with White Beans and Salsa Verde

The hanger steak was made nicely as ordered--medium rare. It was topped on a bed of the same white beans I found in the seafood stew. The beef was tender, and the salsa added some sweetness and tanginess ot it. It's good!

The food at Paul K seemed pretty ordinary. I like the atmosphere, the services, but I think I'll come back only if they have deals or I am happened to be in the neighbor. Otherwise, I don't think I'll pay the money for it.