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Old 08-01-08, 05:36 PM
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bikingshearer 
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Chinese - Brandy Ho's (already mentioned - Columbus and Jackson) is very good. http://www.brandyhos.com/ So is Henry's Hunan on Samsone just north of Broadway. http://www.henryshunanrestaurant.com/home.nxg I have lunch at one or both at least once a week. Both will make it mild or mouth-searingly hot, as you prefer. Neither one is that "special occasion" place you are looking for, but are great for another, "not the blowout" dinner or lunch.

Tommy Toy's (also already mentioned - Montgomery b/w Clay and Washington - across the street from the Transamerica Pyramid) is the "special occasion" place. It is expensive by Chinese standards, but the food is excellent and unique, and the service is good, if a tad obsiquious. Your budget sounds about right for the place. http://www.tommytoys.com/

WARNING ABOUT EATING CHINESE IN SF - Do not go to Chinatown (or anywhere else, for that matter)expecting to get a good Chinese dinner unless you have a recommendation for a specific place,whether from us, or Zagat's, or yelp.com, or somewhere else. There are great hole-in-the-wall Chinese places all over San Francisco. But there are many more that are mediocre at best. There has long been a joke in SF about there being a secret underground mega-kitchen that cooks up all the Chinese food served in town, and there are a frightening number of places that have food that gives credence to this by serving food that tastes exactly (and blandly) like every Chinese restaurant you can see.


Steak - Alfred's is a tremendous steak house. It's on Merchant Street, which is actually the alley that runs from Montgomery to Kearny and is between/parallel to Washington and Clay (Tommy Toy's is actually on the corner of Montgomery and this alley). Excellent beef, excellent service. You cannot go wrong there. http://www.alfredssteakhouse.com/


Souflees - Yes, I said souflees - Cafe Jacquline (pronounced zhock-uh-LEEN) is perhaps the best little romantic, different, tasty, memorable experience you could do in SF. Souflees, and almos tnothing but. It's been some years since I was there, but from what I've heard others say, it's every bit as wonderful as when I was there last. This one deserves very serious consideration, even though it's probably the hardest one to get to (not on a bus line, as far as I know, and the parking absolutely sucks donkey balls). http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...100REST_CG.txt

All of these are a cab ride away from your hotel - as for taking the bus, you really don't want to be riding Muni in your Sunday-go-to-Meetings to and from your big romantic night out. Trust me on that.
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