Munchboxx

Pin It Now!

It hard to find a good Vietnamese sandwich in the city, much less in Downtown.  A short hike into Chinatown led me to Munchboxx.  They sell American sandwiches as well as Vietnamese sandwiches, but I was here for the Vietnamese sandwiches.  At almost $6 a sandwich, they are on the pricey side by Vietnamese sandwich standards, but average for what you can find in the Downtown. 

Although the sandwiches are pricey, they are fully stuffed to the brim and quite heavy.

A couple odd things I did notice about these sandwiches.  First of all its stuffed with lettuce as if it was an American sandwich.  Not a big fan of this, but it wasn't as distracting as I expected.  Also, the bread is not typical type Vietnamese sandwich bread.  The exterior looks like a blistered cracker, but it serves the insides of the sandwich well.  Its light and the inside is hollowed out so its more of a shell than a sandwich bread.

The combo sandwich is layered with pate, ham, and headcheese.  The veggies are pickled and crunchy with spicy jalapenos.  A good flavor and a surprising lunchtime find.  I found the combo sandwich to be much better than the chicken and pork sandwich.

There is an option for either bbq pork or 5 spice chicken.  If you can't decide, they have a half and half.  While both the chicken and pork combo has a decent amount of large juicy pieces, the flavor wasn't very strong.

   

Address:                MunchBoxx
                               643 Clay St.
                               San Francisco, CA
 

Type:                     Vietnamese/Sandwiches

Popular chomps:   cranberry turkey
                               Vietnamese sandwich

Chomp worthy:      Vietnamese combo sandwich        

Salty's Famous Fishwich

Pin It Now!

Salty's Famous Fishwich is one of those hidden gems amongst the tourist traps and chain restaurants.

The fishwich has got to the best tasting fish sandwich I have ever had.  The fish is lightly battered and deep fried.  So fresh that the fish just flakes off with every bite.  The slaw is light and crunchy with a slight vinegar taste.   Its so good that you can even buy a side of it.  The fresh, crunchiness reminds me of Bakesale Betty's slaw (see post HERE).  Its so good its a candidate for my top ten chomps of the year.

For the non fish lovers, there is a chickenwich.  Essentially, the chickenwich is the same sandwich as the fishwich, just with chicken instead of fish.  The lightly battered fried chicken is good, but just a little dry.  The fishwich is MUCH better.

Address:                  Salty's Famous Fishwich
                                 Fisherman's Wharf
                                 Pier 43 1/2
                                 San Francisco, CA
 

Type:                        seafood/sandwich

Popular chomps:      fishwich
                                 chickenwich

                                 clam chowder
                                 garlic fries

Chomp worthy:        fishwich

Coqueta

Pin It Now!

Any place that touts itself as a tapas or even Basque cuisine makes me a little hesitant since I've never found any place that comes close to what I had in San Sebastian.  Michael Chiarello took a stab at it with Coqueta.  The restaurant is small and quaint with a bright, homey feel.  It was fun to look around the restaurant and see small ingredients used as decorations that reminded me of Spain.  While the cuisine still doesn't come close to the fabulous food I had in San Sebastian (see post HERE), its the closer than anything I've in SF so far.

Yay!  Estrella Damn!  A taste of a Barcelona beer was just the start of the Basque meal that took me back to memories of my Spain trip.

One thing I love about the pintxos in Spain was the plentiful seafood dishes.  The calamari were chewy and plated with squid ink aioli and onion aioli.

The wood grilled octopus was one of my favorite dishes of the night.  The octopus was tender, but chewy with a nice smokey, grilled taste.  A little firm, but a little soft, you can never go wrong with fingerling potatoes.

At $2.50 a skewer, its a fun way to snack before the rest of the meal comes.  Today's skewers choices were (right to left): quail egg "Diablo", pickled mustard seed and jamon serrano; house cured boquerones, white anchovies, olives, pearl onions, guindilla peppers; chorizo, roasted artichokes, and piquillo peppers; jamon serrano, manchego, and apricot-sherry conserva; baby beets, caña de cabra cheese, citrus, and spring onion a la plancha.

Trying to save room for the rest of the meal, I only chose 3 skewers (left to right): manchego cheese, quail egg, and chorizo.

Sunny side egg served with shrimp, crispy potato strings, and chorizo dressing.  The "gravy"made of bits of chorizo reminds me of my favorite XO sauce, but it made this dish a little too oily.  The shredded potato strings reminded me of this dish I had in San Sebastian, Spain (see post HERE)

I decided bypass the most obvious rice dish (paella) and choose the arroz cremosa.  Snaps for using the correct rice (bomba rice) for this dish as well as the paella.  The scallops were so lush and tender.  The English peas and sprouts gave this dish a nice fresh taste. 

The pluma seems to be the most popular dish, making its appearance on almost every table in the restaurant.  At $38, this was surprisingly the most expensive dish of the night.  The Iberico de bellota pork shoulder loin was lightly covered with honey chili glaze.  While the meat was cooked to juicy perfection, I was hoping for some charred or grilled taste to the meat.  I found the glaze to be too sweet for the meat and would rather have it with just a dash of salt granules. 

A bottle of chili glaze is given, in case you prefer your meat even sweeter!

Even if you are stuffed, Coqueta offers dessert bites as well as regular sized desserts.  Manchego cheesecake served on sticks with caramel popcorn.  A nice density with very cheese taste and texture.

Another dessert bite was the sangria "pop-rocksickles".  An adult popsickle with a sprinkle of poprocks for childhood nostalgia.  Cute, fun idea, but hard to eat.

Churros con chocolate is a nice way to end the meal.  Having had my fill of churros con churros travelling through Spain, I was excited to see this on the menu.  The drinkable chocolate was mixed with cinnamon and used for dipping the fried dough.  Although the churros had a nice crust, the insides were mushy.  The chocolate sauce was much thinner than the ones that I had in Spain.  It didn't coat the churros nicely.  Pretty disappointing. 

     

Address:               Coqueta
                              The Embarcadero
                              Pier 5
                              San Francisco, CA
 

Type:                     Spanish

Popular chomps:   grilled octopus
                               pluma
                               grilled razor clams
                               Chefs Grand Selection of Cured Meats and Cheeses
                               manchego cheesecake bites
                               arroz cremosa
                               roasted padron peppers

Chomp worthy:     grilled octopus
                              arroz cremosa          

Father's Office

Pin It Now!

The burger at Father's Office is touted as "the best burger in LA".  I had to check it out for myself.  There are two locations, but both are 21+ only.  So even during the day and for food only, its strictly for adults.  Anyone under 21 is pointed to the to go menus.  All orders are put in through the bartender then the food is brought to your table.

A lot of people rave about their sweet potato fries.  They have a nice crust and a sweet fluffy inside.  Not exactly the best ever, but solid sweet potato fries.  Its served with a blue cheese dipping sauce.  It wasn't the most traditional dipping sauce, but even though I'm not a huge fan of blue cheese, I found the flavor to be pretty good.

Finally, the main event - the burger.  The bun makes this burger look more like a hoagie or a sandwich.  Its lightly toasted and layered with arugula, blue cheese, caramelized onions, and gruyere.  The burger is juicy, but not oozing.  The meat is tender and flavorful, but not jaw dropping fantastic.  The taste of the burger is very sweet, which is from the very generous portion of caramelized onions.  While its not the best or most traditional burger, its still a good burger.  Nopa's burger in SF (see post HERE) outshines this burger by far.

Another ho hum dish - the bone marrow.  Again, with the sweet flavors!  The bone marrow, while fatty, was also a bit on the sweet side.  Nothing too memorable about this dish either.

Address:                 Father's Office
                                3229 Helms Ave.
                                Los Angeles, CA
 

Type:                       gastropub

Popular chomps:     burger
                                 sweet potato fries

Chomp worthy:        sweet potato fries    

Cafe Dulce

Pin It Now!

HAPPY NATIONAL DONUT DAY!

I guess this post is pretty fitting in celebration of today.  Enjoy! 

Bread is so hard to resist, especially in this small Japanese plaza.  Literally turning around from Yamakazi Bakery (see post HERE) puts me smack dab in front of Cafe Dulce.  With more of a modern pastry twist, Cafe Dulce offers Ritual Coffee as well as its own LA spin on pastries. (They have spirulina buns!) 

These days you can't step too far without seeing something with bacon.  Bacon donuts are nothing new, but often the savory sweet combination can be a winner.  These bite size donuts were topped with a thick frosting and pieces of crispy bacon.  While the bacon had good flavor and was not overly salty, I found the frosting to be too much.  It reminded me of store bought cake frosting.

Still with the taste of fruity pebbles on my mind from my dessert at Trick Dog (see post HERE), I was immediately intrigued by the fruity pebble donut.  The crispy cereal flakes gave a nice crispiness to the donut, but not sure if I loved it so much I would order it again.  Fun and really colorful though!

I'm not stranger to roti buns, having had my share at HoneyBerry back home (see post HERE).  Cafe Dulce offers a variety of flavors: chocolate, green tea, blueberry, cherry, etc.  Having just purchased a bag of pastries that exceeded my daily carbs from Yamakazi Bakery, I limited myself to just one roti bun - green tea.  The top was really crunchy.  The bun had an amazing deep matcha green tea flavor, which I love.  I liked these much more than the ones at HoneyBerry back home.  Only regret that I didn't purchase each of the flavors.  Next time!   

Address:                  Cafe Dulce
                                 134 Japanese Village Plz Bldg E
                                 Los Angeles, CA  

Type:                        bakery/Asian

Popular chomps:      roti buns
                                 bacon donut
                                 fruity pebbles donut
                                 green tea donut
                                 brick toast

Chomp worthy:        roti bun

Yamazaki Bakery

Pin It Now!

Even hundreds of miles from home, I can't escape my love for Asian baked goods.  Yamazaki Bakery is located in LA's Japantown and reminds me similar bakeries back home.

Sweet, savory, cakes, buns, Yamazaki Bakery has something for everyone.  They also have a case of "warm" pastries and goodies on the left side of counter.

The croquette bun was picked from the "warm" case, but it wasn't warm at all.  Even bought in the morning, this crisscross pastries with a fried potato croquette tucked inside was not fluffy at all.  It tasted like it was possibly a day old.  Disappointing as I had high hopes for this one.

Almost every Asian bakery has some hot dog type bread.  Yamazaki Bakery has a couple.  Their regular hot dog bread was dry and lacked a fresh, spongy texture.

Similar to the hot dog bread was the jalapeno hot dog bread with the only apparent difference being a little on the spicy side.  Not too spicy, but gave the lacking hot dog a much needed kick.  Although it had the same issue as the regular hot dog with the disappointing bread.

Niku doughnut offered no explanation to what surprise was hidden inside.  One bite inside the crunchy, but soft shell made way to what I think is minced meat.  Hard to say exactly what the filling was, but it was good and my favorite treat from this haul.

Curry pan is one of my favorite breads in Asian bakeries.  Their fried exterior with Japanese curry filling is always a delight.  This one fit the standard curry pan expectations. 

Address:                  Yamazaki Bakery
                                 123 Japanese Village Plz Mall
                                 Los Angeles, CA
 

Type:                       bakery/Japanese/Asian

Popular chomps:     curry pan
                                 

Chomp worthy:        niku doughnut       

Apple Pan

Pin It Now!

This LA trip was all about the 2 B's:  burger and bakeries.  Apple Pan was the easiest to conquer with its super late night hours (Fri/Sat 1a and midnight all other days).  Apple Pan is an LA institution and they pride themselves on keeping everything the same from the food to the interior design. 

The restaurant itself is all counter seating.  There isn't a hostess so you pretty much have to stake out for an open spot, but after 10p it wasn't much of a problem.

Sodas here are served paper cones held up by a metal cup holder.  Quirky, but cool.  It reminds me of a poor man's goblet.

Almost every burger is here is not without a plateful of fries.  The fries are obviously frozen, but they still make them above average.  Its all about full service here.  Ketchup is squirted on a paper plate for you.

There are two burgers offered at Apple Pan. Although everything else in the restaurant seems to be stuck in a time capsule, their prices are definitely not.  Their burgers fit perfectly in two hands and cost $6.75 with cheese being $.50 extra.  The hickory burger is their most popular burger.  Its served with all the basics - lettuce, pickle, mayo, and a secret sauce.  Their secret sauce just tastes like a sweet bbq sauce.  Their burger was just average, not really that juicy.

Although the hickory burger seems to be the staple order here, many people do order the other burger - the steakburger.  Its served with its own secret sauce, which reminds me of a sweet relish.  Not sure which burger I like better, neither really hit home for me. 

The lettuce served on their burger is not one of those wimpy, wilted lettuce leaves.  Its a huge wedge.  While some people may not enjoy the lettuce to meat ratio, I found the wedge to provide a nice crunch to be really refreshing.

A slice of pie seems to be a popular way to end the meal here whether its to eat here or to go.  They often have different flavors so its best to ask what that day's pies are.  I pretty much had my heart set on a banana cream pie.  It didn't disappoint.  Layers and layers of sliced bananas topped with a thin layer of banana pudding and whipped cream.  I loved how this banana cream pie was a no nonsense type pie and filled with bananas in each bite.  Definitely the highlight of the meal. 

Address:                  Apple Pan
                                 10801 W. Pico Blvd.
                                 Los Angeles, CA 
 

Type:                        burger 

Popular chomps:      hickory burger
                                  banana cream pie
                                  apple pie

Chomp worthy:         banana cream pie     

TCHO

Pin It Now!

Goodbye Hersheys and hello TCHO.  TCHO is steadily becoming more of a household name, at least within the Bay Area.  Many restaurants and cafes use their product, Smitten being one of them (see post HERE).  Their factory along the Embarcadero provides a free chocolate tour daily, but because of its popularity you have to reserve online ahead of time.  Not exactly Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory, but it does offer some fun facts on chocolate and some free tastings.  No tickets are needed to peek through the giftshop and cafe.   

TCHO chocolate already has a pretty rich chocolate taste, but for $2 you can get a "shot" of 3oz of rich drinking chocolate.  For those that want to test how much of a chocolate lover they are, I suggest ordering that.  Its intense dark chocolate that is so thick, it coats your mouth with a velvety smooth chocolate layer.  Supposedly drinking this shot will give you a euphoric feeling, but I had to stop myself at a couple sips and tap out.  Too chocolate for me.

    

Address:                 TCHO
                                Pier 17
                                San Francisco, CA
 

Type:                       dessert

Popular chomps:     chocolate shot
                                 mocha

Chomp worthy:        anything chocolate        

Reveille Coffee

Pin It Now!

Reveille Coffee is a minimalistic in a bright open space on a random corner situated between Chinatown and North Beach.  Its an awesome place to have delicious coffee and people watch.

I think I found the most perfect food on sliced bread -fried egg with a generous amount of sliced avocado.  Fresh, runny with a bit of crunch.  I think all the necessities have been checked off with this dish. 

I thought nothing could get better than Outerland's Eggs in Jail (see post HERE) until I saw Reveille Coffee's egg sandwich with bacon.  The top layer of the sandwich is essentially Eggs in Jail with one egg.  Inside the sandwich is layered with crispy bacon, cheese, and kale.  The only dilemma I faced was how to eat this.  Utensils are given so you can cut pieces of the sandwich, but its best to get dirty with it and bite into like a regular sandwich.

The only way to make the sandwiches even more tasty - with two of my favorite hot sauces:  sriracha and crystal.  Other hot sauces are available here as well.

    

Address:                  Reveille Coffee
                                 200 Columbus Ave.
                                 San Francisco, CA
 

Type:                       coffee

Popular chomps:      egg sandwich with bacon

Chomp worthy:         egg sandwich with bacon
                                  avocado with fried egg