Week of May 9th 2011: Ma*velous

So I actually had kind of an interesting experience with one. Ma*velous is the only "new place" where my first and second trip occurred in the first week. Even more interestingly, my two trips were for completely opposite reasons...

Ma*velous first popped onto my radar when I was researching places for my Coffee Shop Study Challenges. 7x7 had been raving about the new shop and I couldn't wait to check it out. It also had the added benefit of a being a short walk from my apartment. However, everything that I had read about it indicated that it was a coffee shop so when my friend, Joe, offered to take me there for a wine night since he couldn't make it to my birthday celebration the week before. As it turns out, Ma*velous is a coffee shop and wine bar - a combination that definitely piqued my interest.

On the Wednesday night we went there, the shop was pretty quiet which made it perfect for two friends to talk over some glasses of wine. There was actually a very decent selection of wines by the glass which allowed Joe and I to sample a decent amount of the menu. The owner (and sole employee on both of my visits), Phil Ma, was very knowledgeable about the wines he had on hand and was very friendly the whole time we were in his cafe. Joe and I also managed to find quite a bit of entertainment by people-watching some of the passersby. All in all, it was a great place to have a few glasses of wine.

However - I'd read so much about the coffee aspect of the shop that I didn't want this blog post to only be about the wine so I decided to make myself another loophole - as long as it was still the same week a post could encompass multiple trips. So that Saturday, I grabbed my books and headed out to Ma*velous. Technically, it would fall under my coffee challenge, but since this post is long already, I'll give you a more condensed version of my normal rankings.

If you remember, after I went to Blue Bottle, I was really excited to try Siphon Pot coffee. As far as I am aware, they are fairly rare. Mint Plaza Blue Bottle has one... and so does Ma*velous. Even though it's a little pricey, I knew I had to splurge for it. I ended up getting a cheaper coffee than what Phil Ma suggested so it didn't taste quite as good as I'd hoped but boy was it worth the light show. It terms of cool, it definitely would have gotten a 10.

Ma*velous also proved to be a great place to study if you found the right seat. There are several nooks and dark corners where you could get lost and minimize distractions. It also doesn't get terribly crowded on weekends so you don't feel so bad taking up a seat for a while. If you get a siphon pot - it takes a while to drink anyways so that will help pad the study hours as well.

If you get a chance to watch the siphon video then you'll know that this place aced presentation and novelty as well. There was a good selection of coffees as well and the menu read more like the wine menu than a coffee menu.

I really enjoyed my trips to Ma*velous and can't wait to make it back for some more study trips over the next few months.

Week of May 2nd 2011: Kennedy's

I am already failing at my resolutions. An early January trip to Las Vegas is not helpful for reading, gyming, blogging, and not going out.... We all get one week off though, right? I promise I'll make it up to you. Anyways, here's your post!

At my last job, I had a coworker that loved Kennedy's. His weekend plans often included a trip there with his friends and his love for the place was so well known that whenever a deal came through Groupon or any other deal site, he would get tons of people forwarding it to him. Clearly, this was a place I had to check out. Since Kennedy's is a combination Indian restaurant and Irish pub located conveniently in the middle of North Beach, it seemed like an ideal place to start my birthday celebration.

Kennedy's was a fun environment. They allowed me to reserve a table big enough for all of my party guests and the food was reasonably priced. Food and beer had to be ordered at the counter, but for the price and space, it was worth the inconvenience. I think the only other qualm I had was that it only served beer. In most circumstances, this would be fine, but after a really filling meal, I didn't feel like a filling beverage either.

Kennedy's seems to constantly show up on deal websites though so keep your eyes peeled for one before you go!

Week of April 28th 2011: Hog and Rocks

Every now and then you get a chance to combine two things you enjoy - like eating great food and helping out a good cause. So when my friend, Shannon, decided to be a Dining Out for Life representative at Hog and Rocks, I thought it was a great opportunity to have a great dinner and give back a little and my friend, Oleg, agreed to be my date.


Long before our reservations were made, I scoured the menu for what I want to order and I'd already decided that I wanted the pork sandwich (sadly, it looks like this isn't on the menu anymore) and some oysters. Oleg was a little surprised that I already knew what I wanted. He told me that he hates to look at menus before going to a restaurant. I'm trying to remember what the reasoning was - I think it was something to do with not wanting to be disappointed if they didn't have the dish he wanted since a common practice at nicer places is to have a menu that changes daily.

For our plate of oysters, we got a wide variety - ranging from the cheaper to end to the nicer selection. I do have to say, as someone just getting into oysters, it's worth it to pay more. There was a clear correlation between price and taste (as well as an inverse relationship between size and taste...).

As we enjoyed our oysters, Shannon told us about the raffle tickets we could buy. With a grand prize of a week long trip to Mexico for the winner and ten friends, I figured I could get a couple of tickets and help out the cause.

While I didn't win, it was nice to get dinner with a good friend, have an amazing meal, and know that it was all going to help the fight against Aids. I'm hoping Shannon decides to do this again next year because she definitely knows how to pick a good restaurant.