From nobody@nowhere Wed Jan 24 23:15:09 2001 Forwarded: Mon, 01 Jun 1998 18:13:13 -0700 Forwarded: kabuki-west From: Richard Threadgill Subject: Dinner Wednesday, 5/27 Straits Cafe, San Francisco To: kabuki-west Date: Thu, 21 May 1998 14:11:09 -0700 Message-ID: <14527.895785069@yggdrasil.midgard.net> Sender: richardt Status: RO This Event: Wed 5/27: Straits Cafe, San Francisco Coming Events: Thur 6/4: Paradise Cafe, Mountain View Wed 6/10: Evvia, Palo Alto -- Please RSVP!! Wed 6/17: Fondue Fred's, Berkeley Wed 6/24: Tied House, Mountain View Wed 7/1: Kamei, Mountain View Thu 7/9: Jose's, Palo Alto Wed 7/15: Le Cheval, Oakland Wed 7/22: Mandarin Gourmet, Palo Alto Wed 7/29: Afghan House, Sunnyvale Thu 8/6: Suraj, Redwood City Wed 8/12: Cha Am, San Francisco Wed 8/19: Il Postale, Sunnyvale Wed 8/26: Hunan Home's, Los Altos Thu 9/3: Paradise, Mountain View Wed 9/9: Fondue Fred's, Berkeley Wed 9/16: Sono Sushi, Mountain View Wed 9/23: * open * Wed 9/30: Kuleto's, Burlingame Thu 10/8: Blue Nile, Berkeley Wed 10/14: El Paso, Mountain View Wed 10/21: Hunan Gourmet, Sunnyvale Wed 10/28: Passage to India, Mountain View Thu 11/5: Ploy Too, San Francisco Wed 11/11: Cenzo's, Palo Alto Wed 11/18: Han Gen, Mountain View Wed 11/25: Kathmandu West, Cupertino Thu 12/3: La Mediterranee, San Francisco Wed 12/9: Amarin Thai, Mountain View Wed 12/16: Swagat, Mountain View Wed 12/23: Hobee's, Cupertino Wed 12/30: Brandy Ho's, San Francisco Chris Hull maintains a Kabuki web page at http://remarque.org/kabuki. Time: Wednesday, May 27th, 7:30 pm Place: Straits Cafe 3300 Geary Boulevard @Parker Avenue San Francisco Description: Straits Cafe bills itself as San Francisco"s first authentic Singapore Restaurant (since 1987!) Singaporean cuisine is chinese food with strong Indian and Malaysian influences, hakka (a style of chinese cuisine), tamil, and occasional continental european touches, and is really quite delightful. Appetizers include unusual spring rolls and samosas, a stuffed indian bread, satay and calamari all served with unique dipping sauces and ranging in price from $4.95-$6.95. A selection of salads and soups are also available. Entree prices range from $6.50-$10.95 (most being between $6.50-$8.50), and include things like "half a juicy chicken simmered in a light curry with garlic and blue ginger" (at $10.95, this dish is one of only two dishes priced over $10), "spicy marinated beef simmered in lime leaves" ($8.50), "prawns in a tamarind marinade, stir-fried and served in the shell" ($9.25), and "Indian style fried egg noodles with tofu and prawns" ($6.50) to name just a few. Beer and wine are available, as well as Thai style Iced tea and coffee, and other exotic beverages such as Lychee, Rose, Coco Pandan, and Vanilla Bean (sodas perhaps, I don't recall.) Note for vegetarians: Straits Cafe also has fine vegetarian fare including the above mentioned samosas, a gado-gado salad, and several entrees. My favorite was chap chye which consists of black mushrooms, dried bean curd, lily root and cabbage, stir-fried with bean-thread noodles($6.95). Kabuki was last at the Straits Cafe January 29th, 1997. They're much better than is warranted by how often we eat there. Directions: BART/MUNI: Take BART to Montgomery Station and get out at the north/west most exit. Walk west on Market Street (one block) to the Market/Geary/Kearny Streets intersection. There is a bus stop on Geary Steet, a short distance from the corner. Take the 38 Geary bus (any of them) to Parker (after Masonic, and before the numbered avenues begin.) Straits Cafe is on the corner of Geary and Parker. FROM BERKELEY: Take I80 to the 101 North/Golden Gate Bridge exit. (Continue with "from south - on 101" below: FROM SOUTH - ON 101: Take 101 to the 101 North/Golden Gate Bridge exit. Take the Fell/Laguna exit (you will be forced to exit here) and keep driving west on Fell (in other words, there are no turns and no way to get lost) when you reach the panhandle, (10 blocks or so it will be on the left) you will be turning right in three blocks onto Masonic. There is a gas station on the right corner, and it is the first available left-turn (but don't) to cross the panhandle. Drive north on Masonic to Geary (right corner is the old Sears, now Good Guys, Toys R Us, Mervins...8 or 9 blocks). Take a left onto Geary Boulevard, Straits Cafe is about 7 blocks down on the right at Parker Ave. FROM SOUTH - ON 280: There are two ways to get to Straits Cafe. The first is longer, but undoubtably quicker, as 19th Avenue is always jamed with traffic. Take 280 to 101 North, follow the above "from south - on 101". -or- (don't say I didn't warn you...) Take the 19th Avenue/Golden Gate Bridge exit from 280. Drive north a whole bunch of blocks, then through the park (keeping right). After emerging from the park, you will then be on Park Presidio Drive. Geary Boulevard is your 5th light...take a right and drive west about 15 blocks to Parker Ave. Straits Cafe is on the left. FROM NORTH - ON 101: After crossing the GG Bridge, take the route 1 south, 19th Avenue exit. Geary will be the 4th light after emerging from the tunnel, and a left is not allowed, so go right on Clement, and make two lefts to get facing east on Geary. Proceed 15 blocks to Parker Ave. Straits Cafe is on the left. [review by the *fabulous* jeanne; the directions predate much freeway lossage, and I'll update them after this trip] -RichardT