Uh oh. Has Kauffman moved in on Patricia Unterman’s ethnic food turf? Patti files her review of San Dong House just two days after Kauffman’s, cuing those of us in the blogosphere to pull up with our popcorn to wait for the rumble. Patti also notes the “rhythmic thwack of dough being slapped on a wooden board” in the kitchen, and she also calls out the oxtail noodles soup (No. 3 on the menu). But she says the “most luscious” is No. 5 ‘Sour Vegetable Pork Noodles Soup’ — “rich pork broth with copious amounts of pickled mustard greens that make each slurpy bite tart and salty.” She shows off some of her East Asian travel cred talking about the “spicy charred stir fried cabbage ($6.99), [which] evokes Korea, just across the Bay from namesake Shandong.” And she disagrees completely with Kauffman about the dumplings, saying “The wrappers were too thick, yet easily broken, and the filling inside not succulent enough. “[Examiner]
Meanwhile over at the Chron, Carey Sweet steps into Bauer’s pizza-loving shoes to try out Boca Pizzeria in Novato. The verdict? “The 10 pizza combinations are honest renditions. They arrive moist-chewy in the center and crisp-bubbly on the edges, though one evening the undersides of two pies were nearly charred.” All in all: two and a half stars. [Chron]
