ZamZam Bar - Lille Juleaften

Lille Juleaften!

The little Christmas Eve!

Went to Zam Zam Bar on Haight.

Christmas shopping on Haight. The police is active on the street arresting street peddler, drug dealers and who knows - busy handcuffing. H

appy Christmas.

Larnie is walking off to "do something" secret Santa. Our daughter is going to house sit

Beautiful Bar and NO television. We like that.

The Manhattans were not big enough for the two glasses so Larnie's was "topped off". That usually is not good.

Bought earrings for our daughter. Had success at work - got my contracts signed and ready for payment.

Bistro Clovis - our 12 year anniversary

Drop the Manhattan, bring on the french champagne!

No Manhattan for this date. Instead, we had wonderful french cuisine at Bistro Clovis.

Our daughter dates the owner's son. She eats there all the time and told us which dish to order. Yum.

Broken Records in Outer Mission - $5

Lots of blue collar, after work guys, smart talk. Rough - like Bruce Sterling novel. Good art work on the walls. Probably art guys at the bar. We like that.

The Manhattans were unusual - a lot of bitters & some cherry juice. So much bitters that it was OK having cherry juice in the drink. So a bit out of the ordinary. Still good drinks.

We like this crowd. There is a restaurant in the back serving us duck confit, potato skins, fried shrimp salad, roasted mushrooms, pulled pork, buttermilk biscuits, crispy chicken wings with blue cheese dressing + buffalo sauce.

Gotta get back to this place again.

Glen Park Station - $5

Thanksgiving Eve.

Big Manhattans topped off by a bit of bourbon.

Lots of happy people.

Live music by singer/songwriter Kate Gaffney

Price is good for the size of drink.

Will try out th

e Thai place on Glen Park.

Latin American Club - $5

Two Manhattans for $10. A deal. Jim Beam Bourbon.

Nice decor. Good paintings. Very San Francisco.

Manhattans big. Looked like they were going to be watery but they were strong.

Overall good feeling in bar and great Manhattans.

Dinner at Herbivore on Valencia Street.

11/11 home - $ inexpensive

Special day!

11/11

Manhattans at home with good music and food ordered in.

The bartenders were wonderful.

The drinks perfect.

Argus for the world series - $7

The world series was on - Phillies vs. NY Yankees. We don't watch sports. But a bit of world series is fun when the bar is alive with anticipation and energy. The Manhattans were VERY good! Tiny bit of cherry juice but not enough to spoil it. Oh, please don't add cherry juice. But we are NOT trying to direct the bartender unless they ask. We are trying to enjoy what that particular bartender thinks is a great Manhattan. A tiny bit didn't spoil the drink but it wasn't enjoyed at 100 percent. Had a good time.

The Yankees won.

Then we had dinner at Jasmine - seafood pot, mandarin clay pot and sizzling rice soup.

oh good.

Wish - $8

The day after Larnie's birthday we went to Wish on Folsom Street. We had been there before but under another ownership/name. Now there was no food. Instead there was a DJ in the back of the bar.

Small candles were everywhere and created soft low lighting. There were NO TV screens - YES - perfect. Couches along the edges and a long narrow bar.

The Manhattans came in big glasses but not filled all the way up. Good for walking the Manhattan to our couch, but bad when you look at your drink and felt something was less than full. Bartender was fast. He liked to "stir" the Manhattans.

Larnie needed this drink as he had spent part of his day at a Union meeting. Drained him.

People looked happy. The crowd mostly young folks in their 30's.

The Brickhouse - $7

One Manhattan with bourbon and one with Rye. We were asked if we wanted to try the two different kinds and we agreed. I think we still like the bourbon better but not much better. Maybe we are just used to the taste.

We went here for dinner last week and noticed that they had a bar and a dinner ares so decided to come back. This is a great place that we wouldn't have found otherwise. Waitress was great - red and black hair. Having a bar and dining area in one place is perfect.

Turned out the bar was full so we couldn't sit there enjoying our Manhattans. There was a TV with sports that some people were enjoying but that we prefer to be off. We were happy to be seated at a table near the window with Larnie in an old overstuffed armchair and a pull-string lamp.

We enjoyed sitting away from the other people in a cozy out-of-the-way area.

This place has good draft beers too. And it was quick to get there using the freeway. We were happy. Ate here too. Owner fishes in AK in Summer and has farm where he treats his animals well. Then bring the meat to his restaurant. Thanks for sharing the good food.

The Gallery Lounge - $7

These Manhattans were small and watery and didn't taste that good. The $7 was way too much for such a watery drink.

We had high hopes that the Art Gallery part of the bar's name would yield great artwork, but that too was a disappointment. It was pretty bad especially the "rock stars". There was a floating "nude" in the ceiling.

Just one TV with the sound off - yeah.

Dinner: Brickhouse Cafe.

Rye Bar - $9

Geary and Leavenworth in the Tenderloin. Made with Rye instead of Bourbon. $9 was pretty expensive for the size. I guess Rye must be expensive!

Non-maraschino cherries - yeah - I love the non-dyed cherries. Don't care for the FD&C Red 40 dye. I try not to eat anything that won't compost.

No toothpicks either.

Lots of hipsters, striped socks, angular haircuts, artsy crowd.

The brick walls brings good feelings. The concrete tabletops are worn down and need a new sealer.

Dinner at Borobudur Indonesian Restaurant.

La Cantina - $8 (huge)

HUGE Manhattans - now wonder they cost $8. The bartender did not know how to make them. We ended up with Maker's Mark, bitters (Bartender asked if the bottle he was showing us was sweet vermouth - it was), vermouth, and "no cherry juice".

One of those Manhattans that stay with you for a while.

Didn't bring the camera this week.

Had dinner at La Cantina. Just had to walk into the dining. A short walk which was good since the Manhattan was so potent.

Saw Michael, one of the Ximm's friend.

Yancee - $4.00

Manhattans were just $4 'cause it was Happy Hour. Lots of students enjoyed this Happy Hour too. Six TV screens in a row. Ugh. But couches to sit closely. Yeah. This Manhattan was swished, not shook. Bartenders vary on this issue of swishing or shaking. Supposedly, the shaking brings air into the alcohol which is good.

Dinner at Marnee Thai Restaurant.

3300 Club $5.50

A strong Union bar, the 3300 Club was purchased in 1933 by the Kearne family. A dive bar for the working class. A nice place and the Manhattans have always been great each time I have been here.

We went here to discuss the possible strike at Larnie's union. Not fun discussion but interesting in this day and age.

"Up- is there any other way?"

Dinner at Pomelo in Noe.

Argus for a needed strong drink $7

Headed to Argus to have a strong and good drink. Work trouble needed to be resolved over a Manhattan. It did. The well drink was $7 this week. Recently, it was only 5 during Happy Hour. We knew the drink would be good. The bartender topped it off with extra alcohol to make it to the rim.

Headed to Jasmine for dinner.

Hi-Dive on the Water Front $6.25

The Hi-Dive on the Embarcadero at Pier 28 served Manhattans in ICE cold glasses. Yummie. The view of the waterfront is great with windows right on the dock. This place has been here for a while. Probably has a history that I'd like to hear. The Giants were playing at the AT&T stadium just down the street and on TV. Lots of watchers.

Larnie had hiked all day with colleagues in Palo Alto and needed a Manhattan

We decided to eat the turkey burger and fish taco with cold Fat Tire beer.

Tama Say Sushi with Nigori

We were walking through Noe Valley heading towards one of the regular bars and happened to look into Toma Say Sushi. To our delight, it was our old friend and NOH dancer who was tending the tables. She used to own our favorite Sushi restaurant on Mission Street - Country Station Sushi. Same owner. We were delighted.

Forget the Manhattans when we can have unfiltered sake like we did at Country Station Sushi.

Yummmm. Sushi was great too.

Then went to Eliza's for a hot tub.

Manhattans at home $0

We like having Manhattans at home. They are free. Our glasses are special and quite large. Actually kind of huge.

We always order in.

Did I mention that the Manhattans are quite large :-)

Argus on Mission Street $5.00

We came in time for the Happy Hour - not our usual time - but the Manhattans were just $5 and they were big and strong. We liked them.

We never ask for the good brand like Maker's Mark 'cause they'll all taste the same more or less. On Thursdays they so serve the Maker's Mark for $5 but since our date night is Wednesday, we have to get what we can get. They do have a Limoncello Martini for $7. I want to try that some day.

This bar has an atmosphere we like. Will come back sometime soon.

Cafe du Nord with Savage Republic - $6.50

Not a Wednesday night date! Hmm, no consistency, but we wanted to see Ethan Port play wiht Savage Republic at Cafe du Nord. Two other bands played as well - Toiling Midgets & Flipper - good show. Also, I had the flue on the Wednesday date night.

Manhattans were small but good. $6.50

Dinner at Cafe du Nord afterwards - burgers for both.

Wild Side West on a hot evening $5.00

Manhattans in the back garden of the Wild Side West on a hot summer evening is perfect. The Manhattans, rather small, were good an just $5.00. Three guys were playing guitar and laughter and cigarette smoke drifted from other garden areas. Laughter. Electric lights slung in trees. A water fountain dripping slowly overflowing onto my stony seat. Then the neighbor started watering his garden. The sprinkler blasted onto the wooden fence spraying us sitting on the other side. I wonder if he does this on purpose.

Dinner at Shiso on Mission Street featuring both a traditional Chinese menu as well as Japanese. Sushi. We decided on the Chinese and to return to try the Japanese next time.

Dalva Bar on 16th St in the Mission $6.26

Walked down the street and looking into this bar, Dalva, to see if we wanted to stop in for the Manhattan there. We found the bartender to be friendly and knowledgeable and he poured a big Manhattan. So big in fact that he asked us to sip the top off so he could pour the rest into our glasses. We like that.

Dalva might have been called Fireside in another lifetime 'cause that's the name outside on the brick. They show movies there but we didn't see any playing.

Went to dinner at the Thai place nearby on the corner of 16th and Guerrero. The owner had owned it for 25 years that night so we were treated to a free dish.

Finnegan's Wake $6.25

We saw some customers get thrown out of this bar!

First time that has ever happened. A woman did it. The male bartender was happy she did it. Not sure if she was an off-duty bartender. Out they went.

Then we had a great dinner at Zazie sitting outside in the back garden with a heating lamp. Saw Trevor and his girlfriend and their best friends.