Mission Bowling Club ***

Vegan burger and regular burger as good as I remembered them. Good home fries. Fried chicken very crispy, but just o.k. nice cocktails.

COMMONWEALTH ***'

This week I had a chance to check out Commonwealth with a few other folks.  The restaurant sports a fine dining menu in a casual environment right in the heart of the Mission.  The style of food is refined yet accessible and the value is outstanding. We sampled the majority of the from the menu and found each expertly executed. 

The standouts were the dishes at the top of the menu card.  The chilled summer squash soup was perfect for a summer evening, both rich and refreshing with some complexity provided by vadouvan and the crisp fried blossom.  The compressed watermelon dish was also a hit, the watermelon was sweet and bright, with a crunch texture that played against a savory dollop of creamy sauce. We also enjoyed their gnocchi which was light and creamy with the full flavor of mushroom and truffle coming through. This is a familiar dish executed perfectly and probably the most boldly flavored of the first courses.

We went on to have a variety of the entrees, the corn custard and sea urchin was a corn chawan mushi, the sweetness of the corn worked well against the sea urchin, with the heat of jalapeno kicking in at the finish. I thoroughly enjoyed this dish though the flavor of the sea urchin was not as prominent as I would've liked -- then again, I love sea urchin. Another success was the stuffed squid, the tamarind pork filling was juicy and the shelling beans were full of the flavor. The black cod dish and the hen with spot prawns were enjoyed by the others, but were not my favorites, though I did appreciate the execution and the thought behind them.
We ordered all the desserts they had available. The desserts were so good that as soon as we finished them we all agreed that we could eat seconds of every one of them.

The tasting menu had a few interesting items such as goat cooked in hay and a foie gras dish, that we did not have an opportunity to try.  All the first course dishes are worthy of ordering again as well as the entire dessert card. 

Considering that the menu echos the sophistication of Coi and Commis (even the clean white interior reminded us of Commis), I can't think of a better value for this style of food in the City.  I love seeing a kitchen take some risks and offer creative dishes, at their prices there's every reason to give them a try.  I'm looking forward to seeing how their menu evolves.

KITCHENETTE @ Heart ***

The porchetta is my new favorite at kitchenette, just slightly edging out the fried chicken sandwich.  Thinly sliced porchetta on a toasty green onion foccacia-ish bread.  Every bite drips with rosemary and sage scented jus balanced by freshness from crunchy shaved fennel and peppery arugula.  The space at Heart is comfortable and I like the option of being able to sit down inside when it's sixty degrees outside.  I'll have to come back and see what other food they can do without a kitchen.


More on Kitchenette

TAQUERIA SAN FRANCISCO **

I've gotten into the habit of going straight to the Tonayense trucks and having tripe tacos on a fairly consistent basis.  Today, I decided to mix it up by trying out Taqueria San Francisco which is only a hop, jump and skip away at 24th and York.  TSF is in a clean, well lit corner spot with plenty of seating and Telemundo playing on one tv screen. 

Good, I can practice my Spanish while I munch on the some chips.  Unfortunately the chips were the generic type found at the majority of taq's around town.  They were saved by two varieties of salsa, one an innocent looking pico de gallo that revealed its inner spiciness after I ate a huge spoonful. It was fresh and piquant while the other liquidy red pepper tomato looking number, tasted bright and vinegary.  Both were good counterpoints to the heaviness of cheese and pork that was to come.

I ordered a Super Quesadilla Al Pastor, despite the fact that Burrito Eater gave it a lower mustache rating than the Carne Asada.  You might wonder, what kind of Mexican food afficionado orders a quesadilla?  Well, it's just a burrito minus the beans and rice.  Cutting these corners are critical part of my strategy to avoid the need for a post lunch siesta and therefore a sign of prowess (think of everything I accomplish while you burrito eaters are sleeping).  The al pastor was juicy and tender with the right amount of smokiness and char without any of the dried out burnt bits that you sometimes get at other places.  It wasn't coming right off of a Mexico City style rotisserie, but it was on par with the al pastor at the trucks.  The cooks took a lot of care in making the quesadilla and I appreciated that the tortilla was fresh and nicely toasted.  I'll come back to try some of the other things on the menu.

SCHMIDT'S *'

Schmidt's - German sausages and beers at Mission and 20th.  The food is authentic according to Jan.  The best sausage we had was the Marzen.

Schlachten Platte

 

Spaetzle

 

Although the sausage plates with potato salads are a bit too filling for me, I'd return for the beer, cold cuts and spaetzle.

LA CICCIA ***'

A recent visit to La Ciccia:

Spaghittusu cun Allu Ollu e Bottarga - I can't get enough of the creamy bottarga flavor of this spaghetti.  Our table unanimously agreed that it was our favorite.

Spaghetti with Sea Urchin and Shrimp - a tomato based sauce, rich and creamy texture from the sea urchin that I would order again.
Octopus stew in a spicy tomato sauce - with little octopuses in a spicy tomato stew with a deep tomato flavor.   

Pizza Bianca - decent thin crusted pizza, much better than the pizza's I've had here in the past. The crust was crisped on the bottom, though not blistered.  The richness of the cheeses and salumi were balanced by a layer of shredded fresh radicchio. 

Fregula with Fresh Ricotta and Cured Tuna Heart - the ricotta worked nicely to round out the salty tuna heart, but the faro pasta did not feel like the right pairing for this flavor.  I prefer the spaghetti with tuna heart, garlic and red pepper.

Previous Notes:
La Ciccia September
La Ciccia June

MISSION STREET FOOD ***'

There has been a fair amount written about Mission Street Food and it's Thursday (and Saturday) dinners. After several visits that were hit or miss, one thing became clear to me, the best nights have been those when Anthony Myint is cooking. Great flavor, textures and interesting often unconventional combinations of ingredients. The menus aren't bound by convention, as if the chef is treating the place as a laboratory to experiment. With much of the proceeds going to charity it could only be the labor of love for someone passionate about food. Something I wholeheartedly support.


I won't go into a play by play of everything I've liked but here are a few standouts from menus I saved:


Asian Pear Salad with watercress, chinese celery, chili oil, roasted peanut


Crispy Tofu with slow egg, sauteed greens, garlic-sesame glaze


Salt & Pepper Cod with guacamole, sweet corn, bacon, mustard greens


Aged Angus NY Strip Steak with goat cheese, seared cherry tomato and shishito peppers, and black bean demiglace


Peking Duck Flatbread: duck confit, duck cracklins, cucumber, cilantro, scallion and spicy hoisin


country-fried chicken livers with brussels spouts, buttermilk dressing


seared beef tongue with blackened grits, spicy mustard greens, pickled anchovy


trotter flatbread: ham hock rillette, cornichon, sauce gribiche, on a homemade flatbread

EL DELFIN **'

Looking for soup and menudo, so we ended up at El Delfin.  The menudo was full of tripe in a thick and deeply flavored red broth.  The tendon and tripe were prepared so that each piece was thin and tender.  My only issue with the dish was that the stew broth was too thick and strong, almost a stew. 

The chicken soup was more of a soup with good chicken flavor and chock full of vegetables.  One of the better chicken soups I've had in the Mission.  Perhaps it was because they were busy, but I recall that they used to serve freshly fried tortilla chips.  No such chips on this occasion.  In any case I'll trade the fresh tortilla chips for the comfort that they'll be in business for a while.  I was glad to see that they were busy, I used to worry about them a little when I so often found the place empty.

Everytime I dine at El Delfin I get either the prawns with chile de arbol or with chile chipotle.  Yes, I know, a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.  I just can't help myself, I'm a chile head.  This time I went for the chile de arbol which was exactly as I remembered it, buttery, garlicky and addictively spicy.

Previous Post on El Delfin

MISSION BURGER ***

I'm not one that craves burgers.  Yet I have not been able to resist the temptation of making a weekly visit to Mission Street Food's Mission Burger.  The stand is run by two chefs that that used to man the stoves at Bar Tartine.  And they prepare everything with care -- the burger is a well seasoned blend of brisket, short rib and chuck formed into a column of meat.  It's then cut into burger patties so that the grain of the meat is lined up and cut against the grain creating a burger tender to the bite.  The burger then gets a good char on the flat top with beef fat giving it that old school greasy spoon diner flavor.  The beefy goodness is accompanied by a toasted Acme bun, caper aioli, jack cheese, well carmelized onions and a garnish of grilled hot peppers.  Their caper aioli has a zing to it, but the burger could use a bit more of an acid element.  Instead of ketchup, I opt for a cup of their tangy mint lemonade which cuts right through the rich burger.  Good combination. 

After a few visits, I began to sample the specials.  Their perfectly fried halibut, with a light crispy batter hit the spot on a hot day.  Another time they were topping the burger with a Soul Food Farms fried egg and Benton's Bacon.  I'm a sucker for runny egg yolks.  As much as I enjoyed the rich yolk and bacon, it was a bit over the top.  

The guys recently added chili cheese fries to the menu.  A meaty chili with a spicy kick over their crispy fries.  If I didn't crave their burger so much, I'd just order these fries for lunch. 

Because I'd been happy with everything they'd ever fed me, I decided to really put myself in their hands by trying the vegan burger.  Yes, I have eaten at Millenium and Cafe Gratitude, but other than that, I have never purposely ordered or knowingly eaten anything vegan.  These guys start with their own patty of mushrooms, edamame and some other good tasting stuff, fried, then topped with crunchy fennel slaw and a chili paste that looked like sambal olek. 

The vegan patty didn't hold together as well as the beef burger.  A nearby diner admired my eating gusto and commented that I was making a mess like one of those sloppy burger commercials.  Aside from the soft texture of the patty, I wouldn't change a thing about the vegan burger -- it was delicious and, to my surprise, almost as hearty as the beef burger.  I would definitely order this again. 

Corner of 18h & Mission inside Duc Loi Market.

INCANTO***

Every time I get close to the end of Church Street I start to crave tuna heart.  A specialty food from Sardinia that is the heart of tuna cured into a purple red colored meaty piece with a strong umami flavor.   Two restaurants in that neighborhood serve it shaved onto pasta.  

It was a perfect night to hit Incanto, the restaurant was busy enough to have some atmosphere but not so busy as to overwhelm the kitchen.  I had a good view of the kitchen where the two chefs worked quickly, efficiently and at controlled pace.

I started with a dish of clams and tripe in a buttery broth tasting of the sea with a little base note of heat from a bit of chili, topped with some leaves of lemon verbena.  The tripe had a perfect texture -- tender with just enough meaty bite.

The spaghetti was just as I remembered it, a balance of briny smoky tuna heart with the smell of garlic and the silky richness of egg yolk.

Incanto might have a sort of 90's staid old world traditional Italian decor, but it's friendly service keeps it from being stuffy. 

December 2007 Report

POC CHUC ***

Poc Chuc panuchos, fried to a crisp and stuffed with their delicious black beans. Topped off with shredded turkey and some ultra spicy and vinegary salsa and you've got the crunchy, spicy, vinegar and herbs against the earthly beans and turkey. It looks like the place is busier than it used to be, but the food is as good as ever.

Previous Posts on Poc Chuc:

October 2007
September 2007 as Popol Vuh

STARBELLY**

Starbelly, on a sunny afternoon during this heat wave of a week. First thing I notice are jars of pickles lining a wall -- good sign. I ordered the porchetta only to discover that they had run out. Went with the BLT. A very large sandwich. I thought, at these prices, no wonder they ran out of porchetta. Good bread, fresh red and yellow tomatoes, aioli, nice balance of flavors. The housemade bacon was fine. The jasmine green tea, lemonade and sage refresher was great. I would order either of these again.

Luckily on my next visit they had porchetta and it was by far the best thing I've had at the restaurant. Very thinly sliced moist pork, perhaps dipped in jus, served on a baguette nicely grilled with a giardiniara-salsa verde that had nice bits of nuts mixed in with the herbs. Great combination of pork, herb greens and giardiniara, though I would've loved a little more pork. The greens accompanying the sandwich had too much vinaigrette causing them to be limp. The clam po' boy was very light on the clam and heavy on the cornmeal crust, but had a good flavor.

FLOUR + WATER **'

I was resistant to have dinner at Flour + Water because I've been often disappointed by the pizza in SF and I usually avoid places where there's a wait. We arrived just after six and there was no wait. So far so good. Dug into three of the antipasti: tuna conserva, lamb's tongue and headcheese. The tuna conserva was well balanced. Crunchy thinly sliced celery and lightly cooked tuna which was good though not as complex as the similar dish at SPQR. The lamb's tongue was the standout of the night. Tender well seasoned tongue with rich egg yolk over it and a bit of crunch from the greens -- nice. We had a similar lamb's tongue dish at Babbo and loved it. This one was as good, it makes me wonder why there's not more lamb's tongue on menus around the city. The headcheese was fine, yay for thinly sliced fried pig's ear, but ultimately a muddle of meaty flavors that was forgettable.



Margherita pizza. A very nice neopolitan style thin crust with the ends showing off a stiff exterior and tender interior and a slight sogginess in the center. The moisture in the center was not from the dough, but from the excellent fresh tomato sauce that was on the wet side. The tenderness of the crust reminded me of the crust at Luzzo's, though missing a blistered crisp exterior. I prefer the crisper style, but wouldn't hesitate order this one again.



Next course was two pastas one fat ribbon herb pasta, the other was a tagliarini with lobster mushrooms. Both of the pasta noodles themselves were well made. The preparations were simple, one with a pork cheek sugo which had a slight sweetness counterbalancing the herbed pasta and the brocolli. The tagliarini was a bit less al dente than I like but that's typical of fresh pasta. The consensus at our table was that the dishes were somewhat oversalted. A minor distraction because the preparations were flavorful enough that we could still taste herb in the pasta, deep earthiness of mushrooms, and a hint of citrus.



Ended with the chocolate budino which was fine, if fairly straightforward. I'd order it again, but it's actually just two notes, rich chocolate with a hit of salt.



My friend commented that the server was rather brusque, the diner sitting next to us leaned over and agreed. Perhaps she was just a little overwhelmed by the wait that was forming, so I understand. Despite the lukewarm service, the food and prices were friendly enough to make it a good neighborhood spot. Next time try more of the antipasti.

KITCHENETTE**'

Korean Tacos - sweet thinly sliced bulgogi in a corn tortilla with the usual taco fixings.




May 2009

Fried Fish Roll with avocado, slaw, fried peppers, lemon mayonnaise. Great combo, nice bright slaw with a spicy kick from the peppers.


More Kitchenette

Ice Cream Rankings

Having been banned (for spring training) from making my own ice cream for a while. I've been back at some of the shops around town. Tried Meyer Lemon and Coffee Porter at Bi-Rite. Meyer Lemon is a bit too mild and lacks the tang I like in Ici's version. I like my own Meyer Lemon Sherbet best. Coffee Porter was delicious, nice bitter beer tones with some rich coffee flavor.

At Humphry Slocombe had scoops of Kumquat Poppy Seed, Earl Grey, Guiness Ginger Bread, Blue Bottle Vietnamese Coffee, Bacon Pistachio, Secret Breakfast and Black Sesame. At Mission Street Food, I had a Green Tea Sesame. Out of these I liked BB Vietnamese Coffee and Guinness Ginger Bread. I loved Kumquat Poppy Seed and the Green Tea Sesame. I did not like the Bacon Pistachio or the Black Sesame I had at the shop. The sesame seeds were whole and not crushed or chopped at all which overwhelmed the taste of the ice cream. I have mixed feelings about this place, I think it's great that they are experimenting with flavors, but they shouldn't be experimenting on their customers. Some of the flavors, that I had small tastes of, proved to be better as concepts than as ice cream.

At Ici, had the Vanilla Cherry Almond and the Candied Kumquat. Both were excellent, loved the dried cherry tartness against the almond crunch. The Candied Kumquat was perfect. I think I'm developing something for kumquat ice creams, I've got to try making some. As I left Ici, I thought of how much admire the first person that solved the problem of ice cream dripping through the bottom of hand rolled cones. Put a dollop of dark chocolate at the bottom! Truly problem solving of the highest order.

Also made it to Sketch to try their soft serve style. Sesame and Earl Grey were both very good and deeply flavored and the soft serve style gives it a creamier mouth feel. At a dinner party, I happened upon Polly Ann's Lychee and Green Tea. The Green Tea had a good bitter tea flavor, though the consistency of the ice cream was more air fluffed and less creamy -- similar to Mitchell's style.

New Rankings:

Candied Kumquat - Ici
Kumquat Poppy Seed - Humphry Slocombe
BB Vietnamese Coffee - HS
Vanilla Cherry Almond - Ici
Salted Caramel (add toasted almonds) - Bi-Rite
Macapuno - Mitchell's
Coppa Mista - Gelato Classico
Sesame - Sketch
Cookies and Cream - Bi-Rite
Ube - Mitchell's
Green Tea Sesame - HS

Previous: Ice Cream Ranking in July 2007

LIMON ROTISSERIE'

As I scanned the menu this weekend, I was kicking myself for not making or taking any notes on this restaurant. I completely forgot which dishes were the hits and misses even though I had tried much of the menu on my last visit. Here's what we had this weekend:

Rotisserie Chicken - Clearly they brine the chicken before putting it on the spit. The chicken was succulent, juicy and a bit over salted to my taste. .
Papas Fritas - fine
Arroz - fine and salted
Ceviche Mixto - this was a disappointment. A straightforward lime juice ceviche that was over marinated, so that the fish pieces were a bit tough and the overall flavor was overly acidic. I much prefer creamy aji amarillo type ceviche at Mochica.
Lomo Saltado - C said it was on the salty side, would not get this again.

There was a large party going on and this seems like a good place to have one because the prices are just slightly above fast food, but the ambiance and service are comparable to the original Limon restaurant. I wish they would lighten up on the salt -- this would be a great bargain, if so much of the dinner was not overwhelmed by sodium.

Kitchenette - April

Lunch at Kitchenette a little lunch box spot in the dogpatch run out of one of the loading docks.

Surprisingly good fried chicken sandwich. In spite of the fifteen minutes it sat in its wrapper before I got around to eating it, the chicken was crispy with a well-seasoned crunchy crust. Perfectly matched with the sweet spicy garam masala honey and herb freshness of the coriander slaw. This was much better than the sandwich at Bakesale Betty's.


Photo courtesy of R. Pereirea.

The chickpea salad with tumeric oil, served on the side was overpowered by the tumeric oil and acid, but still good enough for me to finish. I was hoping to try the chicharrones, but that day they had spicy chips. The chips were thin crisp and had the right hit of spice. I also had a bite of the coconut devil cookie which was chocolaty, chewy, and airy.

Beef & Pork Polpette Sandwich- the meatballs were a bit dry, the sauce was fine.

CONTIGO**'

Pulpo - tender nicely cooked octopus with fingerling potatoes, dusted with a nice hit of spice.
Calamares a la plancha - another good rendition of this dish, loved the harissa kick.
Clams - too salty and the broth lacked flavor.
Fried Sardines - medium sized sardines with delicious thin pieces of fried meyer lemon
Oxtail Croquettes - the fried outer shell was a nice crunchy compliment to the slow cooked oxtail.
Callos - tripe, reminded me of trippa a la fiorentina at Delifina, the tripe was well cooked though the sauce was a bit one note.
Butter Beans w/ trotter - bacony beans with chorizo, didn't get a bit of the trotter
Papas Bravas - this was a decent recital of this dish, crunchy potatoes. The smokey spanish paprika was familiar, but I would've liked some spiciness.

Halibut with peas and romesco sauce was somewhat bland. The fish was steamed and the romesco sauce lacked flavor to carry the dish.

Catalan musician's tart with vanilla ice cream - definitely get this again. pecan pie with mixed nuts, buttery flakey tart crust and a perfect balance of savory nuts on the sweet filling.

Overall, the quality of the food is high, though the value is questionable due to the portion size. While I appreciate their expertise, time, sourcing, overhead etc, it's a challenge not to feel a bit foolish for paying $7 for three little sardines the size of my pinky finger, or some fried potatoes equivalent to about half a potato. Particularly when the ingredients aren't so precious that such spending feels decadent.

The atmosphere was nice and the service efficient. Something about this place reminded me of Nopa (which I like better). I'd probably go to La Ciccia or Incanto instead where I might spend more but get a better value. That said, it's nice to have a good Spanish place nearby. It's a good place for someone on a diet. If I did return, I might get: pulpo, calamares and butter beans again. Also good were the tripe and oxtail croquettes. Next time try some of the beet salad.

BOOGALOOS**

One of the pleasures of waking up late is spending the remainder of the morning reading the newspaper at a diner like Boogaloos. This is all but impossible on weekends in the City because of the lines that form at most brunch spots.

Lucky me, I had a special weekday morning with Templed Spuds topped with an egg and a side of Andouille. Home fries, melted cheese, green onions, sour cream, salsa, friendly service, lots of coffee refills and no one rushing you out the door -- nice.



22nd and Valencia

BURGER JOINT **'

Last week I was on the road and I ate at In n' Out Burger for the first time in many years. It was fine, but not as good as I remembered it. I've been spoiled by the local burger places. Of the local burger places that are convenient quick stops, Burger Joint is the place for me. The Niman Ranch burgers are always juicy flame broiled with a little bit of smokiness and a natural tasting beef flavor. I order it with grilled onions and a thick piece of quality cheese. It's all served on a toasted sesame seed bun and I'm happy to say that that's our city's version of a fast food chain.


Valencia at 19th