Lan's #17: White Horse Tavern

White Horse Tavern
635 Sutter St
San Francisco, CA 94102
(415) 673-9900

I was going to meet J at Cantina, but when I walked in, I realized I'd already been here last year (a review of this blog shows that the bar was called Lucid at this time last year. The decor hasn't changed). So, I walked up Sutter and happened upon the White Horse Tavern & Restaurant.

In Berkeley/Oakland, there's a gay bar by the same name on Telegraph. Here in SF, it is just a pub with a restaurant in the back. There seem to be a lot of tourists in this bar, which makes sense considering its proximity to Union Square hotels. In fact, while I was waiting for J to arrive (sipping Jameson and reading Camus--how obnoxious), a tour bus stopped in front of the tavern and dropped off a whole bunch of seniors. Most went to their respective hotels but some trickled in.

An old man with hairy ears stuck his hand into the bowl of pretzels/peanuts in front of me. He threw some of the pretzels back. EEEW. Good thing I wasn't eating those. Bartender was quite friendly, too.

Went to the subterranean sushi place for some uni and sake and called it a night.

Lan's #15 & 16: Alembic & Club Deluxe

Details to come:

Alembic: lots of whiskeys & scotches to choose from. Yummy sweetbreads, bone marrow, mussels, and frites. Knowledgeable waitstaff.

Club Deluxe: more whiskey and some comedy. Mostly bad but some good. Women's toilet doesn't flush.

Lan's #14: Cortez

Cortez
550 Geary Street
(between Jones St & Shannon St)
San Francisco, CA 94102

Wandered in here with J and 3 friends on a Friday afternoon after some drinks and snacks at Grand Cafe. My original destination was Ponzu but they were closed for a private party--boo!! I've heard good things about their small plates, but the prices are a bit ridiculous. Since we weren't hungry, I opted for a glass of Viognier...which tasted like the bottle had been open for a while. Service was slow and a bit retarded (there was a waitress staring blankly at us).

Free rosemary popcorn, which was nice. The decor is kind of random and the crowd is ooooooold. Probably won't be back although the foie gras looked good.

Jamie took us home and we met some folks at Godzilla for sushi and copious amounts of sake. I did not run the ascribed 10 miles the next morning.

Lan's #13: Olive

Olive
743 Larkin St
(between Ellis St & Ofarrell St)
San Francisco, CA 94109
(415) 776-9814

This is where the Marina folks head when they want to get "dirty" in the TL. I came here for a drink while waiting for hh for dinner @ Pagolac (Vietnamese food for the Marina folk when they want "authentic" TL...but another story for another time).

I sat down at the bar and it took a while for the bartender to get to me. During these 5-10 minutes, I looked at the limited food menu (the only interesting thing was pizza and only because I like pizza) and tried not to make a face every time a girl would scream. What is it with drunk white girls and high pitched screeching? This place is LOUD--not just because of the people but because of the concrete interior. I hate having to yell.

Well, the bartender finally came over...but first, he took two fernet orders from some old guy that had JUST wandered in. Bartender probably noticed my dismay at the wrongful order of orders so he asked me what I wanted: Kaffir Lime & Basil martini. Fernet is just OBNOXIOUS (and disgusting). My drink tasted watered down but it did the trick at almost 9pm on an empty stomach. HH wandered in and ordered a beer...a very flat beer.

Would I go back? Probably not. I'd go up the street to Rye where I don't have to yell and the bartenders don't complain about making the drink specials.

There's a pic on my cell phone that I'll upload later.