A rather tasty weekend. basil, SOMA either on 7th or 8th st, in between folsom and howard C and I went to dinner at Basil before going to see RJD2 at Club Q (which was amazing). It's a cute little Thai place, there's some sort of construction scaffolding out front so I could barely pick it out, and there's a neon 'open' sign in the window. Minimalist elegance inside, with a pretty intense menu. I chose the julienned roasted duck and pinapple in red curry; C chose a spicy seafood dish that had squid and mussels among other things. We agreed that my dish was the better of the two. I've always been so-so about curries -- I'm not very keen on picking a curry that is identified by its color. But this red curry was rich and delicious and tasted great on their rice, which was somehow perfectly cooked to be moist but not wet. sushi okoze, russian hill, 1207 union at hyde, next to swenson's Really subtle store front. Amazing sushi. Apparently they never have okra -- every time my cousin has tried to order it, they're out. The japanese pickles are as delicious as home made. Very good uni (not sure if that is the correct spelling -- sea urchin roe) which was rich and velvety on the tongue -- much less scary than it looks. I think it was better than the one I had at my favorite sushi joint, whose name I do not know. The waitress suggested the toro which practically melted in your mouth, except for a little bit of fish membrane. We tried the aji which was 'horse mackerel' -- like mackerel except less fishy. The scallops were huge and divine. Wasn't so keen on the maki-style inari, which didn't taste like much to me. Oh -- the discovery of the evening was definitely the mountain yam, which has a clean crisp taste and texture. I'll be ordering that again. My favorite had to be the albacore, which was almost as melty as the toro. Oddly, they play reggae music in the bathroom.