Dining

When our lunch came to an end, it wasn't clear which dish had been our favorite.

If you aspire to the kind of greatness that Shoki Ramen House has achieved in just three years, all you need are the most elusive of ingredients – passion bordering on obsession, creativity, a desire to please and a willingness to be different.

The answer to my question was the same from a half-dozen folks: "I've driven past it but never stopped there."

Bangkok, Thailand, seems a solar system away. It's early afternoon in the parking lot of a strip mall not far from Arco Arena as the lunch rush subsides at Tuk Tuk restaurant.

I wrote about Valentine's Day dining a couple of weeks back, and since then, I've heard from readers, friends and a guy on Facebook I friended but have no clue who he is. They all said eating out can be hard for singles.

Call this a friendly review. We'll go over plenty of the food, but we're not going to hammer away at anyone. We won't complain – much. I'm putting away my sharp knives.

The Hard Rock Cafe, a downtown Sacramento landmark location with its 36-foot-high Gibson guitar sign, will close when its lease expires in March, vacating a key location as the city struggles to revitalize its urban core.

How does that line go – something like, "So much food, so little time"?

The Squeeze Inn reopened Wednesday in a new location serving the same, famed burger.

Robert Lind, former sous chef at Mason's Restaurant, is heading about two miles south to lead Taylor's Kitchen.

When money is tight but you still want to go out for a treat or take something home that's something special, dessert is the way to go. And you don't need to spend a lot to get the very best.

Welcome the Year of the Tiger in a frugal fashion with an array of sweets and savories at the ridiculously affordable Dim Sum House in Sacramento.

Leatherby's Family Creamery is offering a free root beer float for a Valentine couple to share today and Sunday.

First, a few points of interest about Volturno Ristorante: It opened Aug. 1 and was named after the ancient municipality of Castel Volturno in Campania, near Naples, Italy.

Looking for a romantic restaurant for Valentine's Day? I am going to offer a list, though to be honest, I don't find going out to eat all that romantic. Fun, yes. Inspiring, sure. But for romance, give me a long walk, a nice view, a place with good music.

When we arrived early in the week at this wonderful and understated little place on I Street, two other tables were occupied in a cozy dining room that can accommodate 55.

You won't find a better corned beef on rye than the one served at Brownie's Lounge, in the far reaches of South Land Park.

This is the last week to squeeze in at the Squeeze Inn's cramped location on Fruitridge Road.

We went, as we always do, because we hoped to find all that's good about a place that features a somewhat novel cuisine. In this case, they call it soul food fusion.

We were inside Dominick's New York Pizza & Deli in Folsom, taking in the aroma of pizza bubbling in the stone oven, looking around the spacious, expertly decorated room. We liked what we saw.

Ladies and gentlemen, Appetizers is about to get even more appealing.

You arrive early, and there's already an edge to the place as you pull up to a blocky building on a once-grand boulevard that's in the process of trying to claw its way back to prominence.

It was during the week between Christmas and New Year's, which helped explain the drink choices on the sandwich board in front of the 2-year-old Corrina's Cafe: gingerbread latte, roast chestnut mocha, cinnamon dulce (all turned out to be quite tasty).

What's it like when a relatively obscure restaurant gets a positive review in The Bee?

The Bee's Sam Amick recently gave you a behind-the-scenes feature on Sacramento Kings rookie sensation Tyreke Evans.

Last week, I told you about some of the culinary discoveries we made during our trips along the coast in 2009, and offered a sampling of restaurants from the San Francisco Peninsula to Moss Landing, and from upscale to casual.

OneSpeed has terrible, gag-inducing food. The people who work there are really funny- looking and much shorter than average, and they walk around in Lycra racing shorts and skimpy, sleeveless triathlon thingies.

Dine Downtown lures people to go out to eat during a stretch when they might just stay home and watch videos.

The question is simple: Whose cuisine will reign supreme?

We Sacramentans just love our road trips. This column took a lot of them in 2009, making a cornucopia of culinary discoveries along the way.

Shaz Restaurant, a new place in town that serves fresh, exciting Indian and Pakistani cuisine in what was recently a huge room in a a warehouse district, has compelled me to start a new list: worst locations for restaurants in the history of restaurants.

As regular readers of my reviews know, I am a fan of Mark Helms and his creative, precise and rigorous cooking at Ravenous Cafe.

Sometimes, bread really can be the staff of life, especially when it's the genuine thing – hearty and dense with fiber, ripe with chewy texture from the inclusion of whole grains (especially rye).

I know some people who believe Moxie is the finest restaurant in Sacramento. What follows is not an argument. It's a look at why they just might be right.

The fifth annual Dine Downtown Restaurant Week will run from Jan. 8-17.

The year 2009 began with a 90-minute wait for our food – at Grange, the hot new hotel restaurant downtown that would soon establish itself as an enlightened and exciting fine-dining fixture.

As the year winds down and I conclude my first 12 months as The Bee's restaurant critic, it's important to me to recognize the best servers I have encountered along the way.

Sometimes it's more than just lunch, if you pick the right spot for midday casual dining.

Here is the second installment of what I hope will become a monthly feature in this space: good food at good prices.

In the narrow stretch of kitchen in the back of the Art of Food cafe on Del Paso Boulevard, one appliance is boldly missing – the stove.

For a long time, we've enjoyed what chef Evan Elsberry puts on the tables at his Evan's Kitchen in the Antiques Mall near 57th and H streets in east Sacramento.

I am hopeful about Iron Steaks even though it charged me for two items I never ordered, overcooked one of my steaks, didn't have the wine I wanted, served me side dishes that fell short and provided a wait staff that was charming but unprofessional.

I am hypersensitive to just how short of the mark the food is at Orphan, the oddly named, nicely adorned and smartly painted new breakfast restaurant on the edge of upscale McKinley Park.

Chances are good your December travels will take you to San Francisco for some holiday-oriented shopping and sightseeing.

The distinctive restaurant with the buttoned-down name can now add another title to its menu: Small Business of the Year.

I will not be insulting the formidable husband-and-wife team of Adisak and Supatra Vacharasovan if I use shorthand language to describe their restaurant: It's a dive.

The game is apparently over – at least for now – for Center Court With C-Webb, the sports-themed restaurant opened three years ago by former Sacramento Kings basketball star Chris Webber.

One of the nicest things I can say about Sofia Restaurant is that it's out of step with the trends.

"Appetizers" sends a happy one-week birthday to Owen Price Nelson, the newest member of the Selland restaurant family.