Monday, October 20, 2008

Shangri-la in San Francisco


What a wonderful day in San Francisco! Despite the fact that V and I didn't get the fog-free day we hoped for (which it usually is in the months of October and November), we had an awesome time. We started our hike at the Legion of Honor museum at Land's end, went North up to Eagle's point, turned around and walked back through Sutro Heights and Golden Gate park to Shangri-La Chinese Vegetarian restaurant in Outer Sunset district.

When we got there at 2 PM ravenous from our walk, the place was practically empty. The menu was not too different from other Chinese vegetarian places. We ordered the "Stuffed Goose" from the appetizer section. For the main course V got his usual kung-pao called "Vegetarian Chicken" with extra peanuts on the side, and I got the "Pie Pa Tofu balls" that was recommended by our waitress.

The food arrived very quickly. the vegetarian goose was light and tasty and it was gone in no time.
The main entrees came with brown rice (a nutty mixture of brown and wild rice actually). The "Kung-pao" was just okay, I couldn't tell the chicken from the veggies and the sauce was not very tasty. V passed the same verdict for the kung-pao. However the Pie-pa tofu was very tasty. It reminded me of "kofta balls", a North-Indian cream sauce-based dish. Similar to kofta, the pie-pa balls were made of mushed-up tofu and other veggies and spices and deep-fried. The fresh lightly-steamed broccoli on the plate was refreshing.
To my surprise, V decided that we would go back to Shangri-la. He is usually not so kind to restaurants who don't get the kung-pao right.
The bill came to $27 with tax and tips for both of us. Our walk back to the parking lot at the Legion of Honor museum was adventurous, and I will save that story for another day and another blog!

No comments: