A little Gem in Islington

A bit late... but when A joined me in London while I was there on business in February; I promised him that I would guest blog to share my thoughts on Gem. Note to readers, this review is going to be very biased as Gem is my favorite restaurant. Ever. 

We first discovered Gem when we first moved to London, many years ago. It's one of many Turkish restaurants in Islington, but Gem boasts a Kurdish take on food. Peering into the storefront, you will see an elderly woman making fresh Qatme (stuffed bread) for the patrons. 

On our last trip, we found a fresh new Gem, as it recently underwent a significant remodel. It's spacious, bright and while we checked out the 'new digs' we were brought our Qatme. This time around, we received one with potato and the other filled with spinach and green onions. Thin, warm and very comforting, it's a perfect quick bite while you peruse the menu. 

Being regulars, and not having a chance to eat there in so long (4 years!) we stuck to our usual: the Menu C. What is Menu C? 6 hot mezze and 7 cold mezze + dessert. Too much food you say? Never! Each item is appropriately portioned, and just enough for two people to share. Usually, the chef will select the dishes for you; our only comments to our server was to indicate that we were vegetarian and that we'd love to double up on the Halloumi (more on that later). We ended up with the following selection:

Cacik: yogurt with cucumber, mint, garlic and dill. It's very refreshing, and a great accompaniment to the hotter mezze

Yaprak Sarma: Essentially dolma. I'm not really a dolma fan, but I loved these! Gem's version had raisins, along with rice; which I thought was a great complement to the briney leaves.

Patates Salatasi: Potatoes with chopped pickle, parsley, dill, lemon juice. A heartier dish. The lemon juice and dill make it feel super light, even thought there are good sized chunks of potato. 

Kisir: Cracked wheat in thick tomato sauce. This one was a new one for us. In all our visits, we'd never had it, so it was nice to try something different.  It had a nice tang to it, very different from the other dishes, though I would have preferred this to be warm. 

Taboule: Of all the taboule i've tried or made, these guys do it best! They've mastered the parsley/wheat ratio and the results are amazing. Not too herby, not too lemony; but just right.

Patlican Soslu: This, to me, is more like a giardinaria. It's fried aubergine with tomato and red pepper. Alone, it's a little underwhelming; but spread on the foccicia like bread? Amazing. It's tart, yet sweet.

Falafel: If you haven't tried falafel, you don't know what you are missing. Made from chickpeas, broad beans, and onions they are deep fried. Gem's take on falafel rivals the famous Falafel's Drive In in moistness. 

Halloumi: A salty grilled cypriot cheese. I first tried halloumi at Gem, and I have been addicted ever since. It grills well, and pairs well with almost any mezze. It's hearty and surprisingly filling. 

Muska Boregi: Filled with Feta and spinach, these samosa shaped pastrys were our last hot appetizer. I'm not always a fan of feta, but these are consistently good and never over powering

Sounds like a lot of food? Well, it was sort of. Did I mention that we also had dessert? As part of the fixed menu, we received a small baklava, a small seker pare with a scoop of french vanilla ice cream. As all things Gem, this dessert is a great finish to the meal. The baklava is homemade, not overly sweet and full of pistachios and walnuts. Seker Pere is a soft sweetened semolina cake. If you have a sweet tooth, this is for you! With the two desserts, if the ice cream had been absent, it would have been fine - but after all who can resist!

After so many years, I was curious if Gem would still be as good as we always thought, and it was! We've been to many restaurants in our travels (as can be seen on this blog), but Gem has always been my favorite, and continues to be. It's always fresh, feels like home cooking and reminds me fondly of our time in London. If you ever happen to find yourself in London, make the trek to Islington to visit Gem. You won't be disappointed. 

The Gate in Islington, our old London stomping grounds

We're taking our blog oversees - London to be precise - the place that started our foodie fascination. Sheila recently had a business trip and I decided to tag along. Why not eh? London is a food haven, with a vibrant ethnic and cultural scene that serves up extremes - hole in the wall up stalwarts to much heralded Michelin star establishments.

This review is of The Gate, an Islington vegetarian joint just south of Angel tube station on St John's St. The Gate is new to the N1, we'd never been nor had our old friends who we came to visit. It's an inviting dining hall with a large center drinking counter which has the bones of a converted pub only much more airy and bright. We were seated within a side mezzanine area, a bit more intimate but with a great perspective on all the action.

The menu is a dizzying array of inventive seasonal vegetarian dishes, I joked earlier that we should have ordered one of everything. In the end, we settled on a shared mezze sampler for the table and individual mains. The meal was great, but for us catching up with old friends made it amazing.

First was the mezze platter of falafels, corn fritters, Stilton cheese pate, roasted butternut squash, and herb feta croquettes. The falafels, corn fritters, and feta croquettes were seasoned well and lightly fried. Each had a nice crispy exterior, but retained their original chickpea, feta, and corn flavors, respectively. The squash was fresh with hints of smokiness and the drizzled aioli provided an unexpected kick of spice. The bed of cous-cous below was a great balance of savory and sweet. This was my favorite of the mezzes. Conversely, the pâté was my least favorite partially because I'm not a stinky cheese fan. Plus I couldn't get over the consistency. With that said, it's worth ordering as a shared starter for the table as the portion is plenty for four.

Second was my dish of aubergine schnitzels with horseradish sauce, roasted kale, mashed potatoes. The presentation was amazing - two lightly breaded and baked aubergine slices laying delicately over a bed of braised kale and horseradish sauce with herbed mashed potatoes formed into a cube. Each component on its own was okay, but together they were fantastic. The earthiness of the aubergines, the sourness of the horseradish, the saltiness from the kale, and starchiness of the potatoes all gave an unexpected flavor combination. The kale flavor was a bit lost in the horseradish sauce, but that was a very minor ding. I particularly enjoyed the aubergines which could have come off as a heavy oily eggplant parmesan, but turned out to be very light filling dish that actually healthy. What a concept, eh?

Lastly was Sheila's dish of root vegetable tagine with mint and pomegranate cous-cous. Upon arrival, the aroma of the tagine won her over. It was spiced just right, with a hint of heat and sweetness. It came piping hot which was perfect on e dreary day. With came with the same cous-cous we had earlier in the mezze. The cous-cous added some brightness too. The dish had a slight tartness with the pomegranates and fresh mint. It also came with a handful of greens which though unexpected, was a nice touch. Overall, the dish was filling yet light. A great introduction to the concept of a tagine and she'd recommend it as a great solid dish.

The Gate is a neighborhood restaurant with an inviting ambiance, cordial staff, and wonderful vegetarian dishes. It is far removed from the tourist hubs that dot London, The portion sizes are just right and the price pricing is comparable to other establishments in the area. Even though it might come off as a bit pricey, the quality of food makes it worth it. Cheers to our good friends for finding this great place, we will most certainly be back! I give The Gate an 8 out of 10.

Piccino in the Dogpatch...

The Dogpatch neighborhood of SF is not known as culinary destination. However over the past few years, there's a been a gentrification as the IT industry continues to drive growth further down from SOMA. A few month's ago, I wrote about Mr. & Mrs. Miscellaneous. This time it's Piccino, an inviting restaurant on the bottom floor of a Victorian building. The open plan california-style italian restaurant has a large bar area overlooking the kitchen and communal tables spread throughout dinning area. 

At the recommendation of our waitress, we order several small plates for sharing, starting with a salad of strawberries, shaved fennel, arugula, mint, and toasted hazelnut. Sweet and tart, fresh and crunchy, this salad had a nice overall balance. You normally expect walnuts and goat cheese, but this take was a welcome departure. Definitely worth trying. 

Next up, we went for the falafel plate. This was a head scratcher to see on the menu, but that didn't stop us from trying it. Served on a cucumber yogurt, the falafel were crispy on the outside and very moist on the inside. It not uncommon for falafels to dry out if overcooked, so needless say we enjoyed them. Despite how great they were, we've had better...so stick to the italian dishes instead. 

For the main, we decided to share a margherita pizza. Served on a wood board with parchment paper, the pizza came out piping hot. As you'd expect, all the ingredients were simple and really fresh - tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil. The dough was slightly chewy; not as crispy in comparison to Delfina or Gialina. What was unique though is that this pizza didn't get cold and soggy. We both figured it was because it was served on a wood board that absorbed any excess moisture. Funny thing is, it didn't take us long to finish the pizza because of how good it was. 

For dessert, we shared the stonefruit crostata with brandy zabaglione, and spiced walnut. This wouldn't have been a normal choice, since I always opt for chocolate. Not sure what got into me, but it was definitely the right move. It had the right balance of fruit and dough; and was not overly sweet. The fruit (which I believer were plums) was appropriately the star of the dessert. The zabaglione and the walnuts were a nice touch, but not memorable. 

All in all, a great restaurant off the beaten track. And with a large communal space makes, Piccino is ideal for larger parties. Go try it! 

Super Duper…do we need another burger joint in SF?

It's a resounding YES! The name is Super Duper. The tag line is fast food burgers…slow food values (meaning the use of local, fresh ingredients operating in the most earth conscious way possible) The concept comes from the Paganini group – the ones who introduced us to Pasta Pomodoro and more recently the pizza / cocktails concept at trios Beretta, Delarosa, and Starbelly in SF.

With the above introduction in mind, you expect bright signs, quirky artwork, “green” furniture, and compostable serving products. When I walked into their outpost on Market St (a block east from Powell St BART station), it didn't disappoint. Small indoor and outdoor tables flank the walkway; then the restaurant opens up with a loft seating space directly above the cash till and kitchen. There’s a small eat in counter that overlooks the cooking area. They serve Straus ice cream, which can either be soft-served or made into a milkshake. I opted to not have any ice cream – had to cut the calories at some point.

The burgers can be ordered mini or super – I went for the super. You chose the patty and then select the toppings (everything on it also works). I ordered a veggie burger (with hummus, lettuce, tomatoes, grilled onions, cheddar cheese, and super sauce); and fries (with garlic and skin on). My total bill came to around $10.50, not bad for an elevated fast food burger. Within 5 minutes, my burger and fries were up. Orders are yelled out from the counter and on the opposite end, there’s station with ketchup, mustard, fresh (store made) pickles, and fountain drinks. Green lettering on the wrapper meant my order was vegetarian. I sat at the counter watching as the chefs work over the searing hot griddle and the wait staff mixed up delicious looking milkshakes.

The veggie patty was made with carrots, corn, oats, onions, and garlic (at least that’s what I could see). It was cooked crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside. For my taste it was a bit too crispy and kinda tasted like a flattened falafel. However the flavor balance was great – much better than veggie patties I’ve eaten at Barney’s and Taylor’s. The sesame seed bun (from La Boulange) was toasted off with hummus on one side and super sauce on the other. I was surprised to also see cucumbers inside. This just added to Mediterranean feel of my burger. The grilled onions were juicy and tender; but by the end of my meal, they had oozed down onto my serving tray. I couldn’t really make out the super sauce – some sort of thousand island-ish spread. There just wasn't enough of it (and the hummus) so I ended adding ketchup to keep each bite from being too dry. This is common with veggie burger; didn’t really taint my overall view.

The fries were just all right – not great but above average. The garlic and salt seasoning were uneven making some fries overwhelming and others plain. I’ve had better garlic fries at Taylor’s and Gordon Biersch. The serving portion is enough for one, but I’ll probably pass next time and opt to save room for a milkshake.

Maybe it’s me, but I like the look and feel of these types of places – open eating area, crisp design lines, sustainable elements, and lots of stainless steel / natural woods / bright colors / mod lighting. All in all, Super Duper is a welcomed addition to the crowded burger scene. Sheila is going to have to try it soon since I flew solo on this visit. For the rest of the veggie burger aficionados, you be the judge given that I have yet to try Burgermeister, Burger Joint, or The Grove. Let me know what you think!

falafel heaven at maoz!

While traversing Europe a few years back, S and I came across several fantastic restaurants. One in particular, a hole in the wall, quickly became one of favorites - Maoz Vegetarian. We stumbled upon it in Barcelona and ended up eating our way through their outposts in London, Paris, and Amsterdam (the original). Recently they opened up a shop on Telegraph in Berkeley near Cal's campus; so we decided to be nostalgic and head across the Bay!

Their menu is simple - couple of meal deals and a la carte options. We opted for a junior maoz meal (falafel in a pita, sweet potato fries, & lemonade) and a regular falafel. The falafels were freshly made and fried crispy on order and served in a warm pita. Ingredients were fava beans, cilantro, and parsley giving a distinctive moist flavor and green color inside. The best part is the unlimited salad bar - filled with garbanzo beans, carrots, cucumbers, carrots, cole slaw, pickles, olives, cabbage, and an assortment of sauce (tahini, garlic mint chutney, yogurt, and spicy ketchup). All the sauces were excellent, but the tahini was my favorite. By the time you take a few bites, it's back to the salad bar to top up!

Overall, the falafel was just like we remembered it; brought back fond memories! The pita was a bit thicker than in Europe, but tasty none the less. As for the fries, they were a bit under-cooked so by the time we were on the last few, they were cold and raw. The lemonade was surprisingly refreshing, not sour and not sweet. Located in heart of a college town with a price point to suit, means there will always be a steady stream of hungry students for years to come. In my book it's on par with the famed Falafel Drive-In of Santa Clara/San Jose. My vote when in Berkeley (or in the East Bay), check out this place for a fast, healthy, vegetarian meal and you won't be disappointed.