V (for Vendetta) Day

You know what? Valentines Day IS a cheesy holiday, but instead of hating it for the hallmark holiday it is, is it not better to find the good in the bad? Since it occurs on a weekend this year, Valentines Day, much like Cinco de Mayo, Bastille Day, and St. Patrick's Day, they can all be good excuses to go out, eat, drink, and have a good time.
















Eating can be tricky because a lot of people have the same idea as you. Restaurants are PACKED. We eventually got into Mandalay (Burmese) Restaurant after signing up for their wait list (where they call you on your phone when it's your turn which is very convenient). Above items were coconut rice and ginger salad.
















Basil Beef
















Lamb Curry
















Chin Mong Jaw





















Dinner with Steve and Dan
















Over at the Fireside Bar in the inner Sunset for drinks. We would meet Jeep here. Dan and Steve's friend Fred also showed up. We would next go to King Cha Cha in North Beach, a newish brand extension of the King of Thai Noodle franchise in SF. It actually just says "King of Thai Noodle Bar" on the sign outside. There was some crazy party in the upstairs bar room. It was really crowded so we left to go to Church Key one block away where we could go try the infamous BACON BEER! We also picked up Jeep's friend Vicki along the way.





















Alas! Bacon Beer is out of season. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!! Instead we settled for...
Smoked Salmon Beer! Well it really is just of a smokey aroma but I don't know what else outside of Lox that has that particular smokey smell to it. Apparently they used to smoke their grains in medieval times because they would that rats wouldn't eat them. Smokey grains --> Smokey beer.





















KWAK! This was supposed to be a fruity beer but it was more like a beer beer. Nothing too special. Definitely different but when juxtaposed to Smoked Salmon beer, really a no-contest.
















Chocolate & Expresso beer. A common description for Porters.





















This last beer is from Russia. I asked for a beer that would "blow our minds." It was definitely a mind blower. Weird. I think Dan described it as rustic or seedy? Exclaiming, "damn this beer really makes we want a cigar." Tobacco beer? I know some wines have "tobacco" in their "notes" descriptions. He was the only one who liked it. I really didn't taste much of it since I was driving and decided to stop drinking at that point. No one else liked it.











Steve the photographer
















With faces like that, you can tell Dan is an animator.
































more pictures to come when I get some from Steve.