B is for Burmese...

Tuesday, September 24, 2008


Burma Superstar
309 Clement St. (between 5th & 6th Ave.)
San Francisco
http://www.burmasuperstar.com/

Surprisingly, the decision for B was simple and the obvious choice became Burmese! The discussion on what we were going to do next came up at the first dinner club and more than 40% of the group recommended Burma Superstar. The other 60% of us had no clue what we'd be getting ourselves into, but knew by the glittering eyes and ravenous smiles of those that had been to this trendy spot in the Inner Richmond that we'd be in for something special. And like that the choice had been made and we were off on a more than 2,500 mile journey from Afghanistan to Burma.

Before we get into details of our dining adventure, we should talk cuisine and culture. Burma (also known as Myanmar) is the largest country in mainland Southeast Asia occupying more than 261,970 square miles (roughly the size of Texas) with more than 55 million inhabitants. Burma is bordered by the People's Republic of China and India to the north, Laos to the east, Thailand and the Bay of Bengal to the south, and Bangladesh to the west. Similar to Afghan cuisine, Burmese food incorporates the best its neighbors have to offer, heavily influenced by the cuisines of China, India, and Thailand. This melange of cuisines is what makes Burmese food so great (especially if you like spicy food with lots of complicated flavors and textures)! Indian influences include samosas, biryani, Indian curries, and nans; Chinese influences include noodles, stir-frying techniques, bean curds, and soya sauce; while Thai influences include curries, chiles, coconut, and delicate spices. Yum!

Now back to the restaurant and the food. Burma Superstar is one of those places that's ALWAYS busy. In fact, the restaurant is so popular that they don't even bother with reservations. Instead, the way Burma Superstar operates is that they have a waiting list which you can call in (awesome idea). They take down your phone number and essentially give you a call when your table is ready. The wait tends to be fairly long so be prepared for a +45 min wait (because of the size of our group our table was ready 1.5 hours after we called in. Pretty insane for a Tuesday night!). Luckily, we knew the wait would be long so we had a plan and parked ourselves at Plough & the Stars (local Irish Bar) until our table got called. Burma Superstar must do the wait thing on purpose cause once you get through those velvet curtains and you're inside smelling the food, you can't help but try and convince yourself to order as much food as humanly possible (at this point we were beyond starving).

Samosa Soup

Although the wait took forever, the food came out in droves and very quickly. As soon as we sat down, the group quickly peered through the menu, grabbed the waiter's attention, and ordered some classic and highly recommended dishes for appetizers that included: Vegetarian Burmese Samosas (slightly different than Indian Samosas in that the texture is similar to Thai spring rolls and served with a side of special sweet red sauce instead of tamarind), the Rainbow Salad (a salad made with four types of noodles, tamarind dressing, green papayas, and 22 other ingredients!!), and lastly, the Mighty Tea Leaf Salad (a must order! that includes Burmese tea leaves, tomatoes, fried garlic, yellow split peas, sesame seeds, and peanuts). The beautifully presented dishes were placed atop a rotating plate at the center of the table that made it easy for us to maneuver food from one side to the other. The Rainbow and Tea Leaf salads were introduced to the group by a waiter who meticulously described every single ingredient in the dish (you can only imagine how lost we were after the waiter walked us through ingredient #6 of 22 in the Rainbow Salad). After the "what's in your food today lesson", the waiter proceeded to toss and mix the salads with laser-like precision and delicateness. The tossing and turning reminded us of trained card dealers and their approach when working the 3am shift at a Las Vegas Casino. Within 5 minutes of being served our appetizers, the food was gone. Delish! (Speaking of Rachel Ray did you know that at least three Burma Superstar dishes made an appearance on the Food Network's "Sizzling Summer Destination" series. Each dish prominently gloated in italics on the menu). Now off to the entrees?

Rainbow Salad (photo courtesy of this blog)

Burma Superstar has so many great options for entrees. They have a large menu of seafood, meats, and vegeterian dishes. The long wait outside forced the group to ensure they all had orders in mind prior to sitting at the table. So one by one the group began blurting out their favorites and the dishes they wanted to try. To start, we knew we needed to try the Vegetarian Samosa Soup. Boy was this dish hearty, but full of flavor. We loved it. At first, when you think Samosa soup you probably think of an unappetizing soggy Indian Samosa that's been dipped in hot water for a short while. This was different. The Samosa chunks were a mix of both crunchy and soft samosa pieces and the soup was full of spices that made each bite a tongue pleaser. Next on the order was the Classic Burmese Chicken Casserole and the Burmese Style Curry Shrimp, which both included a nice palette of unique sweet and spicy Southeast Asian flavors. Other dishes ordered that evening included Shan Noodles (rice noodles in spicy tomato sauce with cilantro and peanuts), Pea Shoots (staff recommended), and this spicy lamb dish (quite spicy! some of us were in heaven with this one, others were chasing down the sweat beads that ferociously manifested themselves after every bite. This one was a hot one.).

Spicy Chili Lamb Dish

Burma Superstar proved to be a great choice for B and a remarkably great value play (we were surprised at how reasonably priced it was especially given the glutenous amount of food we had all ordered). So far 2 for 2 on this A to Z adventure. Next stop on the train, Columbian? Cuban? Cantonese? Cambodian? Stay tuned... :-)

A is for Afghan

Date: Tuesday, September 9th, 2008

Helmand Palace
2424 Van Ness Avenue
San Francisco
http://www.helmandpalace.com/

So marks the beginning of what we're hoping to be a spectacular run of restaurants. The first spot in the A to Z dinner club series was a success. Tucked away at a busy intersection on Van Ness Avenue in Russian Hill, Helmand Palace treated us to remarkable food at surprisingly reasonable prices. For most of us, it was our first experience with Afghan cuisine and apparently our first geography lesson on Afghanistan (a number of us actually wondered whether or not Afghanistan was landlocked). Here's a quick Afghanistan geography question: what four countries ending in "stan" border Afghanistan: 1) Pakistan, 2) Turkmenistan, 3) Uzbekistan, and 4) Tajikistan. Who knew? And yes, Afghanistan is landlocked and aside from the "stans" listed above it borders China and Iran.

Now to the food. As with many other countries, Afghanistan was influenced heavily by its neighbors and by the fact that it lay in between important and ancient trade routes between Central Asia and India. As a result, Afghan food has strong ties with Persian, Mongolian, and Indian cuisines. Indian spices, Persian meats, mints, and subzi (spinach), and Mongolian noodles, are just a few examples of some of the things you'll find at an Afghan restaurant.

At Helmand Palace we were treated to a menu with a ton of options. So many options in fact that for a moment we were all caught too paralyzed to make a decision. Luckily, we had some Nan-e Afghani (Afghan bread) and tasty dips to hold us over while we decided. The strategy then became to simplify and select five dishes each representing one of the following: beef, chicken, lamb, vegetarian, and fish. The fish choice was easy (actually only two choices on the menu. Not much more you can expect from a landlocked country). We ordered the Quormay Ma-He, which is the fresh fish of the day, pan-fried and sauteed with ginger, garlic, sundried tomatoes, potatoes, peeled tomatoes, and spices. Yum! The dish was flaky, light, perfectly cooked with a beautiful blend of spices. A hit for sure and a top two candidate for the evening.

Next choice was vegetarian. The Kaddo was highly recommended by foodies and Afghan cuisine enthusiasts and it did not disappoint. The dish incorporates sweet, spicy (not spicy hot), and creamy characteristics and is made up of pan fried then baked baby pumpkin seasoned with sugar and served with garlic yogurt sauce (+ground beef sauce in the non-vegetarian version). This dish was spectacular and the #1 hit at Helmand. A website with a Kaddo recipe for those interested can be found here: http://mikes-table.themulligans.org/2007/11/07/kaddo-bourani/ (interestingly enough and totally random the site references Helmand's sister restaurant in Massachusetts).

Aside from these two favorites, other dishes ordered during the night included the Mourgh Challow (sauteed chicken breast with sauteed spinach and pallow), Dayjee Kabab (leg of lamb with yellow split peas, onion, red peppars, and vinegar) and the Chapendaz (beef tenderloin served on sauce of grilled tomato, cumin seeds, hot peppers, onion, and wheat barley).

Safe to say that our first stop on the A to Z train was a hit! Next up for B? Bolivian? Burmese? Brazilian? hmmm.... stay tuned.

A to Z Dinner Club Kickoff!

We started the A to Z Dinner Club as an excuse to both check out great new restaurants throughout San Francisco and the Bay Area and to bring together people, who normally don't get together on a day to day basis, for dinner & drinks. The goal is to essentially expand our food horizons by exploring new cuisines from various parts of the world every two weeks or so (any region is fair game!). The restaurants will be chosen in alphabetical order based on the relevant cuisine or region.