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I've been reviewing everything that crosses my path for years, but only recently have I discovered Yelp. When I worked for Everythingwecouldthinkofster.com, I was instructed to create an account on Yelp to investigate all of their competing features, especially since Yelp had a friends network. Direct competition. Ironically, I now use Yelp much more than my ex-employer's site! Most bloggers are familiar with Yelp, but if you're wondering just what you're missing, then for God's sake get in there! Leave a private message on my Xanga with your email address, and I'll invite you. Review some good and bad restaurants and also remember to add your fellow Xangan Yelpers to your friends list.
I mention Yelp tonight because a friend and I just ate at a restaurant in San Francisco, and it was one of those rare occasions where the heavens opened up and dropped perfection upon our table. I issue only one 5-star restuarant review per year, so when it finally happens, it's worth mentioning. Let me share the experience with you. After the review, inspect my ratings for many other restaurants in San Francisco. Then lastly, get your bum on Yelp and get your profile in gear!
Luna Park was ripe with awe tonight. The fun began with reading the menu, one of those satisfying moments when you know you've picked a damn good restaurant. The appetizer of choice was obvious... the Moules Frites, a kind of working-class mussels and fries. The fries were so exact, they didn't need a single condiment (even malt vinegar)!
We added Luna Park's house sangria to the table to start washing all of the food down. Then the meal of the year arrived. They called it "Pot on Fire," a deep and hearty stew of beef brisket, golden potatoes, leeks, heavenly turnips, and tender carrots. It's a composition based loosely on German hunter's stew or Irish boiled dinner, but everything went right, and all those root vegetables left me more nourished than I've been all year.
My dinner mate, whose steak was made precisely to order, shared his side of macaroni, broccoli, and cheese. Again, they outdid themselves here. Another American embarrassment turned gourmet again!
The dessert. We had already decided no, but after learning of the do-it-yourself S'mores with fondue trays, there was no resistance. It came out as a married fondue set. Pressing the brown roasted marshmallow and dark chocolate into the homemade crackers transported us right out to a campfire in the mountains at night.
The uncomfortable wooden seats and lightweight tables seemed odd at first. But the packed-like-sardines style is a sign of the times in California, and I learned that it was intentional expressly for this reason.
Regardless, no other restaurant could do all of this to us, and we concurred that this was the jewel of Valencia Street.
Daniel's Business Ratings on Yelp (daniel.yelp.com)
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