Medicine: a new-shojin eatstation, San Francisco

When I was living in London (and thenafter Sydney), my friend, tiffany said "you HAVE to go eat at Wagamama". So I did, because Tiffany knows all great spots when it comes to bars, food and bars. Wagamama is a pan-Asian noodle bar of sorts with cafeteria-style seating (Americans generally aren't used to sitting right next to another person with your elbows touching, but it didn't seem to bother anyone in London or Sydney). And oh boy, is it yummy for those days when nothing sounds better than noodles, and lot's of it. Actually, my favorite dishes were Amai Udon (udon noodles with a sweet tamarind sauce, teppan-fried with egg, fried tofu, prawns, red onions, leeks and beansprouts and topped with crushed roasted peanuts and a fresh wedge of lime) and the vegetarian katsu plate, which came with slices of sweet potato, zucchini and butternut squash deep-fried in Japanese panko breadcrumbs and served with a mild curry sauce and sticky white rice. The Amai Udon is sort of like a Japanese version of pad thai and I immediately went home and recreated a recipe for it if you are interested...

Anyway, Tiffany happened to be in town and wanted to meet up for a quick lunch...ah, the office lunch. For me, there are the days where 10 hours pass in the span of what feels like 10 minutes and you suddenly realize that an unacceptable number of hours have passed without eating. There are days that swallow up the lunch hour and I am caught snacking on raisins, walnuts, dried fruit. And, of course, there are days where I sneak away from my desk to eat some good 'ol lunch brought from home (which generally consists of salad or dinner leftovers). But the extra special treat, for me, is when I can escape the office altogether for that precious hour to meet my friends who work near my office and try new restaurants...So I decided to take Tiffany to Medicine because, sadly, San Francisco does not have a Wagamama...

I have now eaten several of their dishes and, while it is no Wagamama, it is certainly unique and yummy (and they also don the cafeterian-style seating). Their signature is a sushi roll made with a purplish-colored 9-grain rice. My favorite appetizer is the Shiitake Croquettes--a mash of Japanese mountain yam, buttery sweet potato and shiitake, breaded and fried in panko breadcrumbs and served with a Tonkatsu-style dipping sauce. The curry udon is a big bowl of udon noodles in mild, creamy curry sauce (which is made from kombu, avocado, apple carrot, roasted soy beans, coconut milk, lemon and a secret spice blend) and they give you a bamboo wooden spoon to help you slurp up the noodles. But I think my favorite is the Miso-marinated tofu bento box (who doesn't love the Bento box with all sorts of yummy unexpected goodies??). It is tofu broiled with a thick, sweet yet salty paste made with pinenuts, pistachios and miso and then put under a broiler until it turns golden brown and sticky...

Oh, and I hope you can forgive me for forgetting my camera...somehow i flew out the door for the Office Lunch with out it...