It’s holiday time, and as per my usual tradition, I’m sick. Yep, it’s been over a week and I have been battling the coughing, sneezing, runny nose, congestion, etc. etc. Largely, this is all due in part to the massive amounts of holiday parties, dinner gatherings and work functions that I have been attending. December is one of my favorite times of year–all of my various friends trickle in from all sides of the globe, the gym starts to feel like an afterthought overshadowed by tins filled with gingersnaps and unending cups of cider/mulled wine/hot chocolate, what have you. The past few weeks have been filled with some very memorable dining experiences–my company’s holiday party at Nua in North Beach, a team dinner at Ame, a lovely dinner fete at Ginny’s house, Matt and my holiday housewarming, and a lovely evening at a gem called Namu.
Namu is a restaurant that I zoned in on after reading The Tablehopper, a food newsletter written by a San Francisco foodie that I religiously pour over every time in lands in my inbox on a Tuesday afternoon. Since Matt was flying home to Ohio for the holidays and both of us had separate plans during the week, we thought it would be a nice way for us to end a weekend by visiting this cozy little place across the park from our place. Located on a relatively quiet street in the Inner Richmond, Namu is a quite a find. It’s a fusion Korean/Japanese restaurant that has the feel of a hip and happening Mission location. Most of the food is to be shared, so we ordered a range of small plates that included a scallop carpaccio, seared tuna, skirt steak, shitake dumplings, and grilled okra. The restaurant kindly provides a complimentary order of house-made kimchee, zucchini and carrots to start off the meal. Since it was cold and rainy, and I we were both pretty exhausted, we skipped the wine in favor of a lovely pot of rose-infused tea.
Overall, I sort of felt like a food critic and I loved it. The waiters were very attentive and explained every dish’s elements as it arrived at our table. They even hinted that the scallop carpaccio was to be eaten sans the accompanying thinly sliced cucumber. The best part of the whole meal was that I felt comfortably full at the end of it–without that bowled over sensation.
It was one of those lazy Sundays post a very busy weekend. As it started to rain and we tried to run home as quickly as possible, neither one of us felt bad about getting wet or making the trek. I’ll definitely be checking out Namu again soon. In the meantime, home everyone has some fun and RELAXING plans for the holidays. I am heading out to my favorite tapas spot–Esperpento in the Mission–to reunite with some of my favorite people at a very large dinner gathering.
