Hey, I'm actually blogging this from Thane's place in S.F. (It's Saturday, June 20th). A couple of days ago, Bert and I made use of a Cohn Restaurant Group gift card I got for my bday (thanks to Robsessed). Although we both like Kemo Sabe in Hillcrest, that place isn't open for lunch (anymore, boo!) so we went to
The Prado in Balboa Park. See the sculpture in the fountain? It's called "The Woman of Tehuantepec". It's by Donal Hord, the same sculptor who did "The Aztec" (aka Monty Montezuma) at SDSU. More info on Hord's sculptures
here.
Even though there were lots of open tables inside, we wanted to eat outside on the patio to enjoy the weather.
There's something about having a gift card that makes lunch seem more "exciting".
As I was snapping this photo, our waiter (who I didn't even realize was our waiter - I thought he was the manager or something) was watching me at the edge of our table, rather creepily. He said, "It's only hummus" when he saw me holding the ramekin closer for this shot. I was kind of irked but told him that I food blogged. He didn't know anything about it but asked if I would be interested in writing for his two blogs - one about technology (as if!) and the other about being green (something about the environment). I guess he must have mistaken me for someone who actually knows jack shit about those two subjects. I told him, "Thanks but no thanks". Yeah, just take my order dude and STFU. So, back to the food...These are the flatbread sticks that the Prado is known for as well as the "hummus" dip. In the past, they've used white beans and garlic for this dip. I think it's still the same - if it doesn't have garbanzo beans, should it still be hummus?
Bert and I actually got drinks! His was a Pisco Sour something. Sorry, I don't remember. Mine was a Mango Martini. You could put these drinks in a fancy glass or a plastic cup - I would still drink it. It's pretty rare for me to be drinking cocktails, but WTF. I had a giftcard!
The view below the terrace where we sat. Sometimes, people hold weddings down there. It's a beautiful location, but almost any place in Balboa Park is picturesque. Looks like it was getting set up for some event.
We sat up here on the terrace patio. It was hella crowded by the time we left.
Our first shared entree was the Salad (forgot the name), but it had arugula, strawberries, candied nuts, asiago cheese, a sprinkle of balsamic vinegar (this was so rich and syrupy and had a raisin-like flavor), a dash of black pepper and dressed lightly with sherry shallot vinaigrette. The dressing was quite light and perked up the flavors of the bitter greens, the sweet strawberries and the crunchy nuts. This salad was awesome and I plan to recreate this for an upcoming dinner party.
I ordered the Marinated Skirt Steak Panini which came with fried tomatoes, organic field greens, and horseradish cheddar on a housemade garlic shallot roll (this description lifted from the menu, by the way). It came with a side of fried taro and potato chips and a choice of either beans, salad, or broccoli mandarin salad (which is what I ultimately chose). I've never had broccoli that way before - it was dressed with a honey mustard and mandarin orange sauce. It was quite light and I'm glad I chose that instead of beans. That would have been too heavy.
My sandwich was so good! But it was a lot of food - I ended up eating only 3/4 of one half of the sandwich. The green stuff was some sort of chimichurri...I also ended up eating the sandwich filling and not the bread. I saved the other half for Bert and TC. I love skirt steak, which is just a fancy term for "flap meat", which is what my mother calls it.
Bert got the Pulled Pork Sandwich which was a ciabatta roll with pork that was braised in a five spice powder and served with creamy coleslaw. His side of choice was the pork and beans. Yeah, more pork.
I only had a small bite of his sandwich. I thought the sauce was pretty good but a bit too sweet for a sandwich. I only had eyes for my sandwich - damn, anything with flank steak is my friend.
The taro chips were really crispy! I love crunchy things! These reminded me of Terra Chips. Also, Sang Dao (at their old location on Logan Ave) used to sell bags of thicker cut taro chips. I liked those as well because whatever they did when frying those chips made them caramelize naturally. These were cut very thin and lightly salted!
This sculpture is by Niki de St. Phalle and is located in front of the Mingei International Art Museum.
Right next to this sculpture is another favorite of mine called "Nikigator". TC loves this piece and normally, there are kids crawling all over this, but lo and behold, it was bare at that moment!
Iris near the Nikigator...
The Spreckles Organ Pavilion:
Although I'm in S.F. right now, I'm still trying to finish up this post and another short one before I start our S.F. posts. Bert did most of the marathon drive today since we left at 3:45 a.m.! We got to the Bay Area by 12 noon but traffic at the Oakland Bay Bridge kept us delayed for about half an hour. Luckily for us, we are staying gratis with Thane at his place by the Embarcadero. We had lunch at Slanted Door and dessert at Ciao Bella Gelato and Miette Patisserie. For dinner tonight, we are heading down to San Bruno to eat at Patio Filipino. More later!
Even though there were lots of open tables inside, we wanted to eat outside on the patio to enjoy the weather.
There's something about having a gift card that makes lunch seem more "exciting".
As I was snapping this photo, our waiter (who I didn't even realize was our waiter - I thought he was the manager or something) was watching me at the edge of our table, rather creepily. He said, "It's only hummus" when he saw me holding the ramekin closer for this shot. I was kind of irked but told him that I food blogged. He didn't know anything about it but asked if I would be interested in writing for his two blogs - one about technology (as if!) and the other about being green (something about the environment). I guess he must have mistaken me for someone who actually knows jack shit about those two subjects. I told him, "Thanks but no thanks". Yeah, just take my order dude and STFU. So, back to the food...These are the flatbread sticks that the Prado is known for as well as the "hummus" dip. In the past, they've used white beans and garlic for this dip. I think it's still the same - if it doesn't have garbanzo beans, should it still be hummus?
Bert and I actually got drinks! His was a Pisco Sour something. Sorry, I don't remember. Mine was a Mango Martini. You could put these drinks in a fancy glass or a plastic cup - I would still drink it. It's pretty rare for me to be drinking cocktails, but WTF. I had a giftcard!
The view below the terrace where we sat. Sometimes, people hold weddings down there. It's a beautiful location, but almost any place in Balboa Park is picturesque. Looks like it was getting set up for some event.
We sat up here on the terrace patio. It was hella crowded by the time we left.
Our first shared entree was the Salad (forgot the name), but it had arugula, strawberries, candied nuts, asiago cheese, a sprinkle of balsamic vinegar (this was so rich and syrupy and had a raisin-like flavor), a dash of black pepper and dressed lightly with sherry shallot vinaigrette. The dressing was quite light and perked up the flavors of the bitter greens, the sweet strawberries and the crunchy nuts. This salad was awesome and I plan to recreate this for an upcoming dinner party.
I ordered the Marinated Skirt Steak Panini which came with fried tomatoes, organic field greens, and horseradish cheddar on a housemade garlic shallot roll (this description lifted from the menu, by the way). It came with a side of fried taro and potato chips and a choice of either beans, salad, or broccoli mandarin salad (which is what I ultimately chose). I've never had broccoli that way before - it was dressed with a honey mustard and mandarin orange sauce. It was quite light and I'm glad I chose that instead of beans. That would have been too heavy.
My sandwich was so good! But it was a lot of food - I ended up eating only 3/4 of one half of the sandwich. The green stuff was some sort of chimichurri...I also ended up eating the sandwich filling and not the bread. I saved the other half for Bert and TC. I love skirt steak, which is just a fancy term for "flap meat", which is what my mother calls it.
Bert got the Pulled Pork Sandwich which was a ciabatta roll with pork that was braised in a five spice powder and served with creamy coleslaw. His side of choice was the pork and beans. Yeah, more pork.
I only had a small bite of his sandwich. I thought the sauce was pretty good but a bit too sweet for a sandwich. I only had eyes for my sandwich - damn, anything with flank steak is my friend.
The taro chips were really crispy! I love crunchy things! These reminded me of Terra Chips. Also, Sang Dao (at their old location on Logan Ave) used to sell bags of thicker cut taro chips. I liked those as well because whatever they did when frying those chips made them caramelize naturally. These were cut very thin and lightly salted!
This sculpture is by Niki de St. Phalle and is located in front of the Mingei International Art Museum.
Right next to this sculpture is another favorite of mine called "Nikigator". TC loves this piece and normally, there are kids crawling all over this, but lo and behold, it was bare at that moment!
Iris near the Nikigator...
The Spreckles Organ Pavilion:
Although I'm in S.F. right now, I'm still trying to finish up this post and another short one before I start our S.F. posts. Bert did most of the marathon drive today since we left at 3:45 a.m.! We got to the Bay Area by 12 noon but traffic at the Oakland Bay Bridge kept us delayed for about half an hour. Luckily for us, we are staying gratis with Thane at his place by the Embarcadero. We had lunch at Slanted Door and dessert at Ciao Bella Gelato and Miette Patisserie. For dinner tonight, we are heading down to San Bruno to eat at Patio Filipino. More later!
2 comments:
Ohh The Prado! Love this place. I go bananas over the hummus and breadsticks.
LOL @ people who give us funny looks when we take pictures at a restaurant.
hi roger
yeah, FK them! it's not like i have a tripod or anything!
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