March Birthdays = Excuse to INDULGE

March is a delicious month to celebrate birthdays, and I'm lucky to have been a part of the celebratory eats.  Dru and Kuya Mike- thanks for being a year older and happy birthday again!

Now- on to the goods.   

BEWARE! The following is NOT for Vegetarians & Vegans, or anyone with meat-phobia.  To the rest of the carnivorous population: you may want to add this next restaurant on your food bucket list.

Ladies and Gents, I present to you SF's famous Brazilian Steakhouse: "Espetus Churrascaria." 

Some facts/ first impressions:  $50/person.  Big, loud, Spanish-artsy ambiance.  Great for parties.  Friendly staff.

First you start off at the salad bar/buffet where you can get appetizers, like salads, paella, rice, fruits, couscous (whatever you want to pair the meat with).   Then the real fun begins.   

  

Upon sitting down from the perusal through the salad bar, all sorts of glorious meat in skewers started appearing.  They were attached to waiters with huge carving knives, ready to cut us a piece of succulent meat.   My favorite was the garlic steak, which I was too busy drooling over to capture a picture.  However, I was able to get a couple of mouth-watering shots.

 

Medium-Rare Top Sirloin Steak

Tender & Juicy.  Tasted excellent with the red sangria.

Beef Ribs 

 

This is how my plate looked 90% of the meal

 My plate was overflowing with meat, and the WHITE sangria (that I have never tried before) was off the hook.  When I thought I had made a dent on my plate, a waiter with a skewer of pork tenderloin or lamb chops would materialize out of nowhere.  Because my eyes are usually bigger than my stomach, I ended up obliging 98% of the time to the meat-wielding waiters.  One dish I was surprised that I enjoyed was the garlicky, tender chicken heart.  Sorry- no pic, but maybe it's better that way? =)

 Dulce De Leche Crepes

After all that meat, we needed a palate change and HAD to have dessert.  We ordered the Dulce De Leche Crepes, which sounded amazing.  Too bad it was every diabetic's worst nightmare.  At least there was vanilla ice cream to offset the caramel sweetness.  In the end, we ended up leaving a "Dulce de Leche" massacre on the plate. 

Although it's a bit on the pricey side, you have to at least try this place ONCE in your life if you have a passion for meat.

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Now, on to the other side of the spectrum: FISH!  For my brother's bday, we celebrated @ "Umami" in SF's Marina.  "Umami" is a Japanese fusion restaurant with a moderately elegant vibe and some memorably tasty dishes, which I couldn't wait to share below. 

 White Tuna Tataki

One of our first appetizers; albacore sashimi with sizzling sesame oil, ponzu sauce, grated ginger, puffed rice & micro red shiso.

Udon Carbonara

Fresh japanese noodles tossed with king crab, smoked bacon, english peas, stinging nettles, hedgehog mushrooms & a miso-white pepper sauce.  There was even a quail egg yolk (in a shell) that we mixed in. The combination of all of these ingredients is a party in your mouth, that left me wanting more.  We ordered 2. 

 Hamachi Ceviche

Yellowtail jewels in a mandarin-sunomono salsa with strawberry & mango; sesame rice crisps.  Although it was very fresh-tasting and unique, there was a lot going on with the flavors, so much that I couldn't appreciate the Hamachi to its full potential.

 Hotsui Roll

Snow crab, avocado & cucumber/ butterfish & hamachi - served new style with ginger, scallion & sizzling oil. One of the best rolls I've ever had due to its exquisite flavors and fresh fish.  Butterfish is definitely making it's way to the top of my sashimi list.

Shogun and Hanabi Roll (Top to bottom)

Shogun Roll: spicy tuna, kaiware & avocado/albacore, tobiko & ponzu.

Hanabi Roll: avocado, cucumber & tobiko/ocean trout, micro cilantro &
yuzu kosho.

These rolls were very fresh, simple, and satisfying.

 Dojo Roll

Snow crab & avocado/bbq eel, eel sauce, tempura flakes, tobiko
& scallions.   

We were in the mood for unagi so we asked the waiter to bring out one of his recommendations.  The eel melted in my mouth and you can't go wrong with the rest of the ingredients.

 

The Cookie Dough Roll

Vanilla bean gelato wrapped with chocolate chip cookie dough, topped with chopped peanuts & drizzled with chocolate & caramel sauces.  

Clever idea- it combines sushi and cookie dough/ ice cream; what's not to love?  We devoured it in minutes.

Tapioca Crumble

Tapioca pudding & coconut cream mixed with seasonal fruit, topped with coconut gelato.  Get this dessert- trust me.  It is reminiscent to "Rice to Riches" rice pudding back in New York, except it's warm, with a touch of fruit.

I will definitely be back to this place to cover the rest of the sushi and dessert menu....plus I saw that they have "Sumo Hour" aka "Happy Hour"  5:30pm-7pm daily- $4 rolls! (which beats the normal prices by a mile).