Taqueria La Altena

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It takes a lot of persuasion for me to actually try a new burrito or taqueria spot because I think my two favorite spots are well placed on my burrito pedestal:  La Palma (see post HERE) and El Farolito (see post HERE).  Taqueria La Altena is one of those taquerias I must have passed by hundreds of times on my way to El Farolito without even glancing in.   

I had heard about this spot and their amazing al pastor freshly made while marinating in its own juices on a spit.  Walking right in, I had high hopes for this spot.  True to the rumors, you see well piled slices of pork on a spit.  On an even better note, there was a line for this place in the middle of the day and no one in line spoke English.   

Al Pastor Burrito - #8 on SF Foodie 92 list

I came here for one thing only:  the al pastor burrito.  Usually, I prefer my al pastor on a taco so this was one of the few times Ive actually had it in a burrito.  The al pastor was juicy and tender, so tender that the pork almost seems like it was stewed instead.  Even in a super burrito with all the fixings, the meat is the most dominant ingredient so those that aren't a fan of rice might dig the burritos here.  Although the meat was dripping with sauce, I didn't find the meat to be too flavorful and a tad too salty even by burrito standards.  A nice venture and I wasn't too disappointed, but I think I'll stick to my favorites for now.

updated - Working my way through SF Foodie's 2012 50 dishes  

      

Address:             Taqueria La Altena
                           2588 Mission St.
                           San Francisco, CA
 

Type:                   Mexican

Popular chomps:  al pastor
                           carrot juice

Chomp worthy:    nothing            

Boxing Room

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         Right around the corner from Absinthe (see post HERE) is their sister restaurant, Boxing Room.  Very different from the food at Absinthe, Boxing Room indulges the comfort food that can satisfy almost anyone- Southern cuisine.  Surprisingly, on a Thursday nite the restaurant was rather empty.   

A refreshing change from the usual bread and butter, the Boxing Room starts the taste buds with crackers and pimento cheese.  The cheese was rich, creamy, and a little spicy.  A possible foreshadowing of what's to come.

These savory fried balls of dough made for some delicious, but dense hushpuppy.  It came with a spreadable pepper jelly that reminded me of sweet and sour sauce.  The only other time I had pepper jelly was at Comstock Saloon (see post HERE), but theirs had a more peppery flavor. 

The gumbo is offered in two sizes.  The smaller size is good enough for two people to share.  Mixed with shredded chicken and huge slices of andouille sausage, the gumbo was a little salty and lacked any spiciness.  The white fluffy rice absorbed the stew nicely, but there could have been a little more rice. 

#23- Duck and Sausage Jambalaya at Boxing Room - 7x7's 2012 Top 100

One odd thing to note about this dish is that its made here with brown rice.  I didn't really notice any difference in taste or texture from the brown rice.  The rice was flavorful and delicious, but I thought the duck was the better part of the plate.  The duck was juicy and cooked to perfect, but just a tad salty.

One fried dish is not enough at a restaurant like this.  Fried chicken!  Three meaty pieces of fried chicken served on top a bed of collard greens with bacon-giblet gravy.  They give you vinegar for your collard greens and homemade hot sauce for your fried chicken.  Street cred?  Possibly because the fried chicken is legit.  It still doesn't knock Ad Hoc's Fried Chicken (see post HERE) off my pedestal, but its pretty frickin' good chicken.  The crust was crunchy without being oily and every bite chicken was ultra juicy.  The collard greens were ok, but better with a dash of vinegar.  The fried chicken was probably my favorite dish of the night and overshadowed anything else on the plate.

     

#10- Dirty Rice at Boxing Room - SF Foodie's 2012 50 dishes

The dirty rice is one of three choices of side dishes.  The others are braised greens with ham hock and cornbread muffins.  ($6 each or all 3 for $12).  This traditional Southern dish was made with rice, green peppers, onions, and celery.  Good, but nothing to rave about.

After a lot of heavy dishes, I almost didn't order dessert, but its such a must to order beignets at a Southern restaurant.  The beignets here were surprisingly light as a feather.  Each bite was like biting into air with a sweet note.  Don't inhale for fear of choking on the powder sugar. 

updated - Working my way through the 2012 7x7's SF big eat 100 things

updated - Working my way through SF Foodie's 2012 50 dishes 

       

Address:                   Boxing Room
                                  399 Grove St.
                                  San Francisco, CA
  

Type:                         Southern/Cajun/Creole

Popular chomps:       jambalaya (Thursdays only)
                                   fried chicken

                                   beignets
                                   dirty rice
                                   hush puppies
                                   shrimp po'boy
                                   gumbo
                                   fried alligator
                                   boudin balls

Chomp worthy:          jambalaya
                                   fried chicken
                                   beignets                                          

Smitten Ice Cream

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This shipping container probably houses one of the most futuristic ice cream that the Bay Area has to offer.  Its like a Marty McFly meet Harry Potter ice cream concoction.   

Usually the line can get quite long and the wait can be lengthy, especially in the summer, since each order is made to order.  Only four flavors are made daily, one per machine.  All the ingredients for the ice cream are locally grown and sourced vendors.  

Kinda like a witches brew, this machine aka Kelvin, is Robyn Sue Goldman's one of a kind ice cream invention.  Its purpose is to make the smoothest, creamiest ice cream by using liquid nitrogen in 60 seconds. 

Almost every ice cream parlor in the city seems to do their own take on salted caramel.  Smitten's salted caramel ice cream is creamy and smooth with small flavor bursts of salty flecks that make your mouth salivate.  Bi-Rite's salted caramel is still my favorite, but Smitten's gets points for not being sickly sweet like others I've tasted.  I was expecting the ice cream to be extremely cold since its made with liquid nitrogen, but it didn't bring on any sudden ice cream headaches.    

#20- Kelvin-made ice cream at Smitten Ice Cream - 7x7's 2012 Top 100

The TCHO chocolate flavor is made by local vendor TCHO chocolate.  The chocolate is velvety smooth on your tongue with a deep rich chocolate flavor.  Almost as chocolately as Mitchell's chocolate flavor (see post HERE). 

updated - Working my way through the 2012 7x7's SF big eat 100 things

updated - Working my way through SF Foodie's 2012 50 dishes 

Address:                 Smitten Ice Cream
                                432 Octavia St.
                                Ste 1A
                                San Francisco, CA
 

Type:                       ice cream/dessert

Popular chomps:     TCHO chocolate
                                 salted caramel

Chomp worthy:        TCHO chocolate
                                  salted caramel        

SFoodie's 50 - countdown of Favorite Things to Eat and Drink, 2012 edition

Pin It Now! A noticably smaller list this year (last year's consisted of 92 items), but still excited to start checking off each one before the year is over.  Yay! I've even got a couple already done!  I'm usuallly a bigger fan of this list than the 7x7 top 100 SF eats.  Check out the 7x7 Top 100 List HERE.

Here's the newest SFoodie's countdown of Favorite Things to Eat and Drink, 2012 edition:

  1).  Bar Tartine's Blood Sausage
  2).  Steamed Sea Bass with Lime and Chile from Lers Ros
  3).  Koo's Spoonful of Happiness
  4).  Falafel From Sunrise Deli
  5).  Smitten's Chocolate Ice Cream
  6).  Josey Baker's Black Pepper and Parmesan Loaf
  7).  Hakka Restaurant's Stuffed Tofu
  8).  Taqueria La Altena's Al Pastor Burrito
  9).  Liguria Bakery's Pizza Focaccia
10).  Dirty Rice at Boxing Room
11).  Wing Wings' Chicken Salad Biscuit
12).  Pamonhas de Sal from Pamonhas
13).  Gobi Aloo Kati Rolls from the Kasa Indian Truck
14).  Delfina's Trippa alla Fiorentina
15).  Leatherneck Steakhouse's Truffled Tater Tots
16).  Baia Pasta's Durum Pasta
17).  Fish with Flaming Chile Oil at Z&Y Restaurant
18).  Fried Catfish at Auntie April
19).  None But the Brave at Heaven's Dog
20).  Vegan Kibbeh at Saha Arabic Fusion
21).  Hazelnut Kouign amann at Starter Bakery
22).  Pupusas at Cafe and Restaurant Montecristo
23).  The Apple Fritter at Bob's Donuts
24).  Le Sanctuaire's Vadouvan
25).  Cobb Louis Salad at Nettie's Crab Shack
26).  Soy Sauce Chicken from Happy Bakery & Deli
27).  The Jewish-Style Artichoke from Locanda
28).  Local Mission Eatery's Asparagus-Egg Sandwich
29).  18 hour Brisket from Memphis Minnies
30).  Custard buns from City View
31).  Kung Pao Pastrami from Mission Chinese Food
32).  Panisse Frites from Frances
33).  Chawanmushi from Izakaya Yuzuki
34).  Chorizo from Fatted Calf
35).  Silvanas from the House of Silvanas
36).  Linden Street Brewery's Black Lager
37).  Red Blossom Tea Company's Aged Oolongs
38).  Broken Record's Crawfish Grits
39).  La Mar's Cebiche Mixto
40).  Black Jet Baking Co.'s Nutella-Hazelnut Hand Pie
41).  Fifth Floor's burger
42).  Perbacco's Agnolotti dal plin
43).  Iced coffee from Sightglass
44).  Cypress Grove's Purple Haze Chevre
45).  Lechon from Tastebuds Cuisine
46).  Duck with beets from AQ
47).  Tai nigiri at ICHI Sushi
48).  Fish with explosive chilis from Spices!
49).  Baker & Banker Bakery's blueberry cream cheese muffin
50).  Kufta tajine from Cafe Zitouna