This season's first episode (#401) of Check, Please! Bay Area didn't merit its own post. It was odd that the three guests were so unanimous about how great everything was at Mescolanza, a neighborhood Italian place in the Richmond, the Basque Cultural Center in South SF, and Alexander's Steakhouse, an expensive, Vegas-style place in Cupertino, especially given that the writen reviews on KQED's Web site include some critical remarks, but they didn't seem to be very sophisticated diners.

This week's episode (#402) is another story. Most experts rate the xiao long bao (soup dumplings) at Shanghai Dumpling King the best in the Bay Area, but the two guests who were trying the place for the first time didn't order them. One didn't make the connection between the restaurant's name and the menu. The other didn't order them because she's a vegetarian. What!? Sending a vegetarian to review a restaurant that specializes in XLB is like sending an observant Jew or Muslim to cover a pig roast. If the producers want to have vegetarians on the show, wouldn't it make more sense to give them their own all-veg episodes?

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The adorable tea salon Crown & Crumpet, in Ghirardelli Square (900 North Point St, E207), is offering three special holiday tea events between now and Christmas. There's a Children's Gingerbread Tea on Fridays from 4 to 6 p.m.; a Ladies' Tea on Sunday from 4 to 6 p.m.; and a Hanukkah Tea on Monday, December 22, from 4 to 6 p.m.

All three feature special menus of sweets and savories (we love their housebaked scones with clotted cream and lemon curd), Christmas crackers and gifts for everyone, surprises and special guests. Crown & Crumpet bills itself as a "doily-free zone," its décor is a charming and cheerful blend of chintz, checkerboard flooring, chandeliers, and a swell view of the Bay. The Gingerbread Tea and the Hanukkah Tea runs $40 per child, $45 per adult; the Ladies' Tea, $58 a person. Book at 771-4252. --Meredith Brody

For the holiday season, the elves at Ghirardelli Square's Ice Cream and Chocolate Shop (located at 900 North Point St.) are offering two Christmas-y concoctions: peppermint hot cocoa and a peppermint bark sundae. We thought the sundae was a wee bit overpriced at $8.95 (before tax), but figured hey, we don't get the chance to indulge in all things peppermint till this season comes along, so why the heck not? The sundae features three large scoops of peppermint ice cream, decadent layers of fudge, peppermint bits atop the cream topping (which are also mixed into the ice cream itself) and a square of Ghirardelli Peppermint Bark for garnishing. Good for two, or well, one if you don't give a darn about your waistline. --Janine Kahn