Cafe St. Jorge

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Cafe St. Jorge is a surprise, but pleasant welcome to the Bernal Heights neighborhood.  I came in hoping that I would be able to find some of the yummy goodies that I ate in Portugal, specifically pasteis de nata (see post HERE).  It was a little disappointing that by noon most of the Portuguese pastries and dishes were all sold out! 

The inside of this cafe is just perfect.  Its light and spacious, but quiet enough for laptop squatters.

Stumptown cold brew is starting to become one of my go to cold coffees and its seems like its starting to become available at a lot more cafes in the city. 

Cafe St. Jorge also makes fresh blended juices.  The orange sumo is made with fresh pressed oranges, bananas, and ice.  Very, very light tasting, but not sure if I would order this again.

Hipster toast is all the rage these days from Trouble to The Mill (see post HERE).  This cafe as a small toast menu, but the avocado toast was the menu standout for me and one of the few savory toast I've seen.  A toasted thick cut slice of bread slathered with a thick layer of avocado, lemon juice and sprinkled with chili flakes and sea salt.  It tastes pretty much like what it sounds mostly avocado and bread with a slight spicy kick.  I really liked the chili flakes, which I may have to steal when I make myself an avocado sandwich, but I wish the bread was toasted more.

The standard hipster toast seems to be the cinnamon raisin bread with butter and cinnamon sugar.  I still prefer Trouble's toast (see post HERE) over all the hipster toasts I've tried so far.  Cafe St Jorge's was a little too dry and it needs more butter and cinnamon sugar.

Address:                   Cafe St. Jorge
                                  3438 Mission St.
                                  San Francisco, CA
 

Type:                         Portuguese/cafe

Popular chomps:       avocado toast
                                   tosta mista

Chomp worthy:          avocado toast     

Grubstake

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Grubstake is one of those popular late night eating spots that are up there with El Farolito.  Its so popular that if you don't get here before 1a, be prepared to wait outside behind a red velvet rope.

Grubstake is diner food with a Portuguese twist so you can have your burgers and Portuguese sausage. 

Almost like an alternative to pho, the caldo verde soup is soothing and a seemingly preemptive cure for any aftermath from a late night session.  The soup is named after its green color, which is made green by shredded kale.  Potatoes and onions give this soup a slightly creamy texture. Spoonfuls of this less guilty late night treat are made a tad bit naughty by the spicy Portuguese sausage. 

Sometimes your stomach just yearns for something greasy and salty during the late night hours.  The bacon burger comes in a variety of different ways.  The Nugget comes with a fried egg, which I think makes any burger better.  Unfortunately, this one didn't come with any deliciously runny yolk.  Not sure why this burger is so popular here, its juicy, but the meat needs some seasoning.  If I'm looking for a late night burger, I think Sam's is better (see post HERE).  The onion rings, on the other hand, were pretty good.  They were juicy, sweet, and didn't fall apart.   

Address:                 Grubstake
                                1525 Pine St.
                                San Francisco, CA 

 

Type:                       burgers/diner/Portuguese 

Popular chomps:     burger
                                caldo verde soup

                               
Chomp worthy:       caldo verde soup       

Pasteis de Belem (Lisbon, Portugal)

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the outside of the cafe

this box holds six

tarts with packets of sugar and cinnamon

a tart with a sprinkle of powdered sugar and cinnamon

yum!

I was only in Lisbon for less than 2 days, but eating these custard tarts were on my to do list while I was there.  If you opt to stay in the Barrio/Chiado district, like I did, you will have to take a train to the Belem  district to snack on these.  You can either walk into the cafe and eat in or take them to go.  I chose to take a box of 6 and eat them outside (at the tables in the Starbucks next door).  The custard tarts were warm and soft with a crispy crust.  Similar in taste to a Chinese custard tart with a different tart shell.  Chinese tarts have a flakey pastry crust - this one had a crisp flakey crust.  These tarts are bagged up with packets of cinnamon and sugar to be sprinkled on before you bite into them.  Absolutely delicious and addicting.  The size is reasonably guilt free so you could eat a couple in one sitting.   

 Verdict:                    Definitely as good as they say.  Stop by when you are in Lisbon.

 

Address:                   Casa Pasteis De Belem Restaurant

                                Rue de belem 84
                                          Lisbon, Portugal

Type:                           cafe
                                         casual

Chomp worthy:  tarts

Pass:                      

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