19647 Tue Apr 30 22:02:07 -0700 2002 12 1 San Francisco Bay Area 0 66080 Greetings all! Memorial Day weekend, I am planning another father/daughter date with my soon to be 14 year old daughter, a great kid.(I spend alot of time at Boy Scout functions with my son, so equal time is in order.) She is a straight "A" student with one "B" this year (gosh, how she hates when I tease her about that). I am planning on taking her to see some art at the California Palace of the Legion of Honor, then dinner, and ???????? I love to turn her on to new foods, as she is adventurous. So I am looking for suggestions for good places to take her in that general or not so general area. We love "hole in the wall" places, but anything will do. She like spicy food too, like her dad, though that is not a requirement. She loves dimsum, Korean BBQ, Moroccan, Thai, Ethiopian, Salvadorean, Vietnamese, Indian, and all the regular suspects (Mexican, Italian.........) Have never taken her for Japanese (though a good one is right here in San Leandro), Cambodian, Burmese and many more I'm sure. But other than that, where would YOU take her to turn her on to something new? She appreciates different cultures. Thanks all for your help. And remember....I adore her. Tue Apr 30 22:02:07 -0700 2002 0 The Handyman Can 1 66082 Burma Superstar is GREAT. Casual place at 309 Clement Street. Most people I know don't like to tell others about it, it's that good! The Superstar Shrimp are unbelievable. Stick with the Burmese food, not the Chinese food. Clement Street is a great place to find exotic food, for instance, Le Soleil is my favorite Vietnamese place in the city. Tue Apr 30 22:11:25 -0700 2002 66080 0 Maya 2 66086 Read in Cheap Eats of the Chron that the same owners of Burma Superstar have The Mandalay on California/6th Avenue. Have only tried The Mandalay (twice)and it was very good. Also read that the interior of the Mandalay is nicer, too. I agree to stick with the authentic Burmese dishes. They are happy to steer you towards the most authentic Burmese dishes plus No corkage charge which is always nice. Don't know if we got lucky on the free corkage or not. Give The Mandalay a try, too. Tue Apr 30 22:49:46 -0700 2002 66082 0 Bob Savelli 3 66109 Burma Super Star and Mandalay are the same owners? I'd like to see the article about that. I can't believe it. I really like both of them, but they do dishes differently, I go to Mandalay for the string beans, fish chowder, catfish curry, and tea leaf salad. Burma Super Star has the yellow bean tofu. Wed May 01 12:12:57 -0700 2002 66086 0 edwardpark 4 66119 I know The Mandalay owns another Burmese/Chinese place on Clement Street. It might not be Burma Superstar, but it's something. I'll look for the article for you. I could possibly be losing my mind, that wouldn't surprise me. Wed May 01 14:00:41 -0700 2002 66109 0 Bob Savelli 4 66183 Sorry Edward Park, NOT same owners I guess. The comparison said that the Mandalay has the same combination Burmese/Chinese menu (not ownership) as the Burma Superstar. O.K., so you busted me, it was over 7 months ago that I read the thing and I am a senile citizen! That was in "Cheap Eats" of S.F. Chronicle, Oct 21, 2001. The Mandalay made it, Burma Superstar did NOT. Guess I can't put one past an intrepid Chowhound, can I?? I stand corrected and the article added that the Mandalay was prettier, for what that's worth. Wed May 01 19:49:12 -0700 2002 66109 0 Bob Savelli 3 68502 I also have been to both places and have talked to the owners. Although they are close by to one another, I am certain that the restaurants are not own by the same owners. Can't remember Mandalay's owner's name, Desmond and Joyce own Burma SuperStar. Thu May 30 15:49:19 -0700 2002 66086 0 alexandra 3 68507 Went to burma superstar because of the S.F. Guardian's 2001 Annual Best Of The Bay edition, and i still use the edition for guidelines. Burma Superstar had the best heading... "BEST PLACE TO GO FOR LUNCH AND STAY FOR DINNER" We've been guarding this secret for years, and now we come clean about the best restaurant meal in San Francisco. BURMA SUPERSTAR could be called a dive, with its tacky paneling and artificial flora, and yet everyone we know has a religious devotion to the place. Actually, our crowd isn't exactly from the right side of the tracks, and we dig the trailer park decor. Beyond appearances though, it all comes down to this: the salt-and-pepper chicken wonderful. We love to show up around 1pm, have the chicken as a lunch special, and get caught up in some fabulous conversation until about 4:30 - then we order the divine dish again as a dinner entree... Thu May 30 16:09:30 -0700 2002 66086 0 alexandra 2 68500 Handyman Can's comment about BSR, "Most people I know don't like to tell others about it, it's that good!" I feel exactly the same about Burma SuperStar... Why have it discovered and wait in line??? Food is great and environment is unpretentious. FR Thu May 30 15:39:14 -0700 2002 66082 0 F. Romano 1 66110 What a nice message! As for the food, how about Tibetan? I think there are at least two restaurants here in SF, but I can only remember Lhasa Moon at Lombard and Scott. Close to the Legion of Honor is Traktir, which is Russian and Georgian. I've attached a link to my description from a few months ago. Then there's Afghan, Peruvian, Persian... Link: http://www.chowhound.com/topics/show/18665#60018 Wed May 01 12:15:43 -0700 2002 66080 0 Millicent 1 66133 I've heard great things about Bissap Baobab, a Senegalese place in the Mission. Though Persian food isn't that exotic it *is* delicious, so you could try Alborz on Van Ness or Maykadeh in North Beach. Get khoresht-e-fesenjoon (a stew of chicken in a pomegranate and walnut sauce served with rice) or a combination kabob plate of koobideh (seasoned ground beef kabob) and barg (filet mignon kabob - also seasoned and grilled - yum!) served with a huge plate of rice. One thing to consider, though, is that Iranian food isn't spicy at all. Have fun! Bissap Baobab 2323 Mission San Francisco, CA 94110 415-826-9287 Alborz 1245 Van Ness Avenue near Sutter San Francisco, CA 94109 415-440-4321 Maykadeh 470 Green Street San Francisco, CA 94133 415-362-8286 Wed May 01 15:32:07 -0700 2002 66080 0 Alexandra 2 66182 I've found the Baobab has slid, especially since they moved into their new larger space. They used to have a perfect salad, lovely plaintains, and delicious mafe with couscous. In the past six months, I've been twice and while the ginger- and hibiscus-based drinks are still spectacular, the food was mush--overcooked, ugly sections of chicken, overdressed salad, with lackluster service. Has anyone else had this experience? It's a shame, just as they've been noticed (Bay Insider top 101 included them), to have the quality decline so noticeably, but they wouldn't be the first. Wed May 01 19:41:24 -0700 2002 66133 0 Windy 1 66149 I second that recommendation for Persian food. But I would also really recommend The Helmand, for Afghani food. She's old enough (and smart enough, it sounds like!) to appreciate trying the cuisine of a place she's been reading and hearing about. Culturally, I think it would be a really cool experience. And the food is really incredible. Don't miss the baby pumpkin appetizer... There've been tons of posts about this place in the last 6 months (every one positive). I'll see if I can't find a couple and post the URLs this afternoon. Wed May 01 17:10:14 -0700 2002 66080 0 Fatemeh