Bauer Endorses a Trip to La Costanera, Kauff Likes Eating With His Hands at House of Sisig, and More

Bauer on Wheels has a nice two-and-a-halfer for La Costanera, Carlos Altamirano's Peruvian restaurant on the coast just past Half Moon Bay. Chef "seems to have found his groove over the last year," and thanks to dishes like the "hot fried chicken," "meaty grilled pork ribs," and "spot on" ceviche, "there's now food that begins to compete with the ocean views. La Costanera provides another strong reason to head for the coast." [Chron]

Kauff tries one of the "off-menu" kamayan "eat with the hands" dinners at House of Sisig in a Daly City strip mall. He's eaten with a knife and fork there before, "but it was hard to match the spectacle of banana leaves covered in food." His "favorite dish of the night" is "laing...taro leaves cooked until satiny, then stewed" and "the kamayan meal itself was better than any one component: Something about the act of reaching onto a communal table of food, or pressing rice and vegetables together with fingertips on the banana leaves' smooth surface, displaced the sensation of being in a restaurant, or eating in public, or being served by waiters." [SF Weekly]

Virginia Miller's first review for the Guardian is a round-up of San Francisco Korean spots that are worth checking out. New Aato is "an unexpected oasis" in the Marina where "initial highlights include ssam," and man-du Korean dumplings are "exemplary." She likes Japantown's Nan for its bulgogi beef mixed with wheat noodles and Asian beers on tap; and the Inner Sunset's Manna has a buttery seafood Korean pancake that's "one of the best I've ever had." [SFBG]