Unreported Undies - Kasa Indian Eatery

by Melissa

You might think that we have abandoned ship, gave up on the dream of the perfect $20 meal, or suddenly become stinking rich.   But not to fear, faithful reader(s)!  We are still here and still combing the streets for good cheap eats.  We're just a little slow on the follow through.

And with this writing, I do believe I have lapped Monique on her write up from two outings ago.  This may be the only time I will ever lap my speedy friend, so I will relish it :-)

Anyhow, enough with the excuses. On with the food!


What:  Kasa Indian Eatery
4001 18th Street @ Noe

Who:  The usual suspects minus George, who was missed!



What:  So you can order in two ways here, either a roll, or a plate.  The plates comes with two dishes, rice, roti, chutney, pickles, dal, and salad.  Since we wanted to try lots, we opted for 5 plates, with two dishes each.  The ordering went something like this:

Friendly Kasa Guy (FKG):  What can I get you?
Me: I'd like one of everything on the menu.
FKG:  *laughs*  What would you like to order?
Me:  I seriously would like one of everything on the menu.
FKG:  *stares*
Me:  Ok.  Like this.  Plate number 1 - Entree #1 and #2;  Plate number 2 - Entress #3 and #4, etc.

This involved:

• Chicken Tikka
• Chicken Tikka Masala
• Lamb Curry
• Turkey Kebabs
• Karahi Paneer
• Aloo Jeera
• and two vegetable specials
• Extra raita and roti
• A pitcher of King Fisher beer

Total Bill:  I don't remember, but it was definitely under $20/head!  As a bonus we had some extra cash left over from last time, so we bought a extra round of beer.  Success!!

Undies Ratings (out of 5):
Food: 3
Value: 4.5
Overall: 3.5

Review:
The dishes varied.  I thought all of the veggie dishes were pretty tasty.  The Aloo Jeera, Karahi Paneer, and the other veggie specials were the stars of the meal.  Flavorful and spicy.  The meats were a bit disappointing.  The kebabs were on the dry side and the other meats were not nearly as flavorful as the veggie dishes.  The roti and the sides were all good and satisfying compliments.

The place is small, friendly and has a nice neighborhood feel.  Lots of folks coming in for take out or folks coming in for a fast dinner.  It's the type of place where all of the food is already prepared, so they just dish it up, which makes for fast counter services.

Seems like a good spot for lunch, and their food truck probably does good lunch business.  Not sure I'd go out of my way to go back here again, but would stop in for lunch if I were near by.  All in all a good Undies pick!  Good job, Sunny and Tadd.

Ramen Dojo. Slurpee Goodness.



Whoops. There goes a month. I wasn't looking and it slipped right by! But we did get an undie outing in.

On a cold Sunday in March the Undies lined up outside Ramen Dojo in San Mateo. The wind turned our noses red and chilled our bones, quite the perfect prep for ramen gorgeing. At 5pm, with about 20 people in line, the waitress slipped out the door and took our orders in the cold. Garlic pork broth. Add quail eggs. Extra pork. Cabbage and mushrooms. Beer. Oh and some pot stickers. An eternal 10 more minuites went by, the Undies looked longingly in the empty dining room. And then finally, we were let in. Our beers arrived in the next few minuites and the steaming bowls of ramen about five minuites after that. Eager slurping ensued.

The overall experience was unanimous. Legit ramen. Hand stretched noodles are excellent. The broth was a just shy of knock out. With beers, sake, ramen, apps and a few desserts, total for 6 was $133 pre-tip, $22.16 each. Here's the breakdown.

Noodles- 5 Undies

Broth - 4.5 Undies

Price - 4.5 Undies (hard not to go over with 4 ultra athletes in the group!)

Overall - 4.75 Undies

So, go. Line up at 5pm and wait in the cold until you can't feel your toes. And then relish in the slurpy warm goodness interspersed with hoppy beer burps.

Extra-Curriculuar Eating: Udupi Palace

by Melissa

Not yet an official Undies review destination, but one we plan on taking the gang to.  We stopped by the Udupi Palace in Berkeley prior to a show at the Berkeley Rep for lunch.  Love this place.  Vegetarian AND delicious.  All in for 3 people at $36 bucks. Only one salty lassi to drink,  but even had we all had a beer, we would have easily cleared $20/head. 

Next up in February and Monique and George pick.  Stay tuned!

Chubby Noodle and Catch Up

by Melissa

Well, well, well.  It's been entirely too long.  Undies eating has occurred, was even documented, but failed in the reporting execution.  Here's the 2011 catch up.  And a 2012 resolution to keep eating on the undie!


December, 2011

Where:
The Chubby Noodle
Pop up located within Amante
570 Green Street
San Francisco

Who:
Sunny, Tadd, George, Monique, Chris, Melissa

What:

Ramenlicious.

Tuna Poke
Salt and Pepper Shrimp
Kimchi Hotdog
Two kinds of fried chicken
Pork Belly Fried Rice
Red Miso Ramen
Korean Pork Tacos
Spicy Scallion Grits with poached egg
Beers all around.

Total Bill: $22.83 / person ($137 tax included, no tip) 

Undies Rating:

Food: 3.75 undies
Value: 3 undies
Overall: 3.375 undies (ok, maybe we need a finer scale to account for some nuances.  Will reconsider for 2012!)

Review:

Here's what we calculated.

So, I'll admit to not having any preconceived notion of what this was, and will admit to conceptually not fully understanding it even after eating there.  That said, I still enjoyed it.

The menu is small and I think we ate about 80% of it.  It's a popup in an Italian bar in North Beach, which is a neighborhood we rarely go to on account of the parking situation.  And true to it's reputation, we were all late - circling for parking or walking really far.  I digress . . .

Back to the food -- it's sort of pan-asian-fusion + southern all mixed together. And since I have this weird thing about wanting to understanding classification schemas, I get a little itchy when I can't find logical connections in the way things are classified.  Don't get me wrong -- I like fusion.  I actually have often thought that Southern food and Chinese food have a lot in common since they both share a deep love of a good fry.   Anyhow, I was a little, well, itchy, when looking at the menu.  But that said, I like tasty food regardless of what you call it.  So we jumped in and order a lot of the menu!

Korean Kalbi beef tacos.

This was a few weeks ago, but the standouts in my mind now as I write this were the grits.  The strangest combo of all in the classification schema.  Nicely cooked stone ground grits with just the right amount of bite to them.  They had some sort of spice to  them, soy sauce, and all topped with a poached egg and scallions.  It all added up to a rich, creamy, and umami-y dish!  In retrospect it reminded me of home -- when my mom eats eggs with soysauce for breakfast.


The ramen was also very lovely-- fresh noodles and a nice deep miso broth.

Chicken in a bucket.

The tacos were very tasty.  Instead of tortillas they used scallion pancake type breads. The pickles, spicy yogurt sauce and sirracha on the side made for a fine dish.

I don't remember too much about the fried chicken, but I know we finished it all.  I remember it being pretty good chicken, though Chris and I are tough chicken critics.


All in all, I'd go back there if I were in the neighborhood.  Fun to try all these pop ups um . .popping up everywhere.





-----
October, 2011


And for another quick recap of other Undies dining.  Back in October, Monique, George, Chris and I ventured out to one of my personal favorite restaurants: Old Mandarin.  Sunny and Tadd couldn't make it and Monique was going gluten free that day, so the undies crew was not at it's full potential.  Perhaps we'll try again another time.  But here are the basics:

Cold tofu and cilantro salad.

Where:
Old Mandarin Islamic Restaurant
3132 Vicente St
(between 42nd Ave & 43rd Ave)
San Francisco, CA 94116

Who:  Monique, George, Chris, Melissa




What:  I don't remember, but here are some pics.  Will need to consult the Dinner Manual.

They make great stuffed pancake things.

Total Bill: $23.50/person ($94.02 with tax)
 













----
January 2012

Extra-curricular Undies Eating

Chris and I had dinner at Limon Rotisserie last week.  We had a delightful meal at the bar:  1/2 a chicken with 2 sides, an order of ceviche, and 2 cocktails for $40 all in.  Not bad at all!

On to 2012.   More to come soon!