Wayfare Tavern

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Tyler Florence has graced us with his presence in San Francisco with Wayfare Tavern.  With all things fusion and innovative gastropub fare popping up all over the city, Wayfare Tavern gives us the classic American dishes done right. 

The popovers make a perfect carb filled start to the upcoming rich meal.  They are light and eggy and always remind me of the Chinese egg puffs without the sugar.

I'm getting so used to eating bone marrow from canoes rather than this presentation.  I find it harder to scoop out every piece of all the fatty goodness.  This bone marrow dish was a more garlicy take than I've had before.  I think there might have been some garlic butter on the toasted bread.  The only negative to this dish was the whole parsley salad, its too hard to spread.

Each piece of the fried chicken is juicy and tender.  Its breaded very lightly, but packs a lot of seasoning.

Mac and cheese is hard to resist ordering in any restaurant.  Although the top had a nice crisp crust, the mac and cheese itself was rather bland and unexciting.

There are a lot of other fancier things to get on the menu, but the burger here is really good.  Plus you can add an egg, which is always a plus.  They put a very nice runny egg here.  The yolk drips over any and every piece of the juicy, flavorful burger.  The herb flavored fries also deserve a mention.  Almost as addicting as Bouchon's (see post HERE), these fries have the perfect balance of crispy and salty.

Address:                   Wayfare Tavern
                                 558 Sacramento St.
                                 San Francisco, CA
 

Type:                         American

Popular chomps:        burger
                                  bone marrow
                                  fried chicken
                                  popovers

Chomp worthy:          popovers
                                  bone marrow
                                  fried chicken
                                  burgers       

Nabe

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Nabe serves up Japanese shabu shabu (hot pot) that hits the spot for the chilly winter nights.  Each nabe set comes with a flavored broth and its own meat and vegetable accompaniments. 

Besides the traditional konbu flavored shabu shabu, they took a similar take to Chinese hot pot with different flavored broths.  Left to right: sukiyaki and spicy miso. 

 The sukiyaki has all its vegetables already mixed in the broth as well as shirataki noodles.  This is the first I've had of shirataki noodles, which were surprisingly crunchy.  The broth was rich with a sweet aftertaste.  Hearty, but satisfying.

The spicy miso was mildly spicy with a soothing taste.  A plate of vegetables and sliced pork were given to add as desired. 

A plate of sliced pork was for the spicy miso, but I found to be delicious with the sukiyaki broth as well.

The vegetable plate for the spicy miso included enoki mushrooms, udon noodles, sweet potatoes, carrots, cabbage, and tofu.

The slices of beef for the sukiyaki was deliciously marbled.  It soaked up the sukiyaki broth perfectly.

Make sure you save room for the after dinner presentation of the final zosui.  After you finish picking at the leftover soups, the servers come by and ask you which broth you would like to turn into the rice type porridge.  Not sure if you could choose both, but I chose the sukiyaki because the broth was more flavorful.  An egg, some green onions, some seaweed, a bowl of rice, and some swishing around later and zoshui is created.  The rice soaks up all the flavors of the delicious leftover soup.

The ending to a satisfying meal.  Enough to warm your tummy before you head back out into the cold.

  

Address:                   Nabe
                                  1325 9th Ave.
                                  San Francisco, CA

Type:                         Japanese/hot pot

Popular chomps:      sukiyaki
                                  shabu shabu with traditional konbu
                                  shabu shabu with spicy miso

Chomp worthy:         sukiyaki
                                  shabu shabu with spicy miso   

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       

Uncle Benny's

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I had heard there was a place whose apple fritters were better than Bob's Donuts (see post HERE).  Since I absolutely adore the apple fritters at Bob's (I think they are the best in the city), I had to check it out to see if it was true. I did notice that almost every table had an apple fritter.

Similar to Bob's Donuts, these apple fritters were dark brown and almost burnt looking.  They didn't look the most appetizing, but having learned my lesson that looks are deceiving with the apple fritters at Bob's, I quickly moved passed that.  First of all, these fritters have a hard crust, just breaking one in half takes a good snap. 

The outer crust has a surprisingly crunchy texture with a slight burnt fried aftertaste (not necessarily a bad thing).  The inside of the fritter is fluffy and fresh.  I was a little disappointed there wasn't many apple chunks in this fritter.  Better than Bob's?  I still prefer Bob's and their chunks of apples mixed well in the fluffy insides.  The apple fritter at Uncle Benny's is still pretty good with a nice crispy texture just not very appley. 

 

Address:                 Uncle Benny's
                                2049 Irving St.
                                San Francisco, CA
 

Type:                       donuts

Popular chomps:     apple fritter
                                 bagel sandwich

Chomp worthy:        apple fritter    

Pumpkin Spice Pringles & Cinnamon Sugar Pringles

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After months of searching for Pringles holiday limited chips, I finally found two of the three Walmart exclusive festive snacks.  Diverting from its usual savory flavors, Pringles released a few sweet flavors to confused the taste buds.    Unfortunately, the one that I couldn't find was the one that I really wanted to try (White Chocolate Peppermint).  A weird concept, but gave a "not bad" rating in my book.  Cinnamon & Sugar was very reminiscent of a churro and similar to Taco Bell's cinnamon twists.  The Pumpkin Pie Spice had a mild pumpkin flavor like the last taste of a bite of pumpkin pie.  Not sure how long these will last in the stores since only select Walmart Stores have them (I found these in Walmart- Story Rd).  I'm still crossing my fingers I'll find a White Chocolate Peppermint, but seems to be a unicorn at this point. 

Ha Nam Ninh

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I'm still on the hunt for the perfect bowl of hu tieu and to find why everyone raves about this popular noodle dish.  This time I ventured out to the Tenderloin where everyone raves about the 25 Dry (Hu Tieu).

For being in the middle of the TL, this restaurant is packed.  There was a nonstop rush of people the whole time I was eating.

I don't usually wrap my egg roll in the lettuce, mint, or basil leaves, but the mound of super fresh herbs and lettuce was too tempting to resist.  The lettuce and herbs tasted just as fresh as they looked.  It offset a little of the guilt from eating the fried egg rolls.

When you ask for the noodles dry style, the soup is served on the side.  The broth is pretty much pho broth without the noodles or meat with a generous amount of pepper.  I think the black pepper was too strong and took away from the delicate broth.

The sweet and salty sauce was served on the side so you can add as little or as much as you like on your noodles.

The plate of fresh herbs and vegetables for the hu tieu included cilantro, bean sprouts, jalapenos, and lemon wedges.

The hu tieu is the most famous dish here.  It might even be one of the most popular dishes in the Tenderloin.  I'd probably say this and the duck leg noodle from Hai Ky Mi Gia (see post HERE) and Turtle Tower's chicken pho (see post HERE), and Saigon Sandwiches (see post HERE) are why people risk their lives to eat in the Tenderloin.  The reputation of this dish is so widespread that most people don't even know the name of this restaurant.  Its just known as the restaurant with the #25 Dry. 

All the ingredients in the dish: chicken, fishcake, pork, squid, shrimp, and fish are really fresh.  They are placed on top of vermicelli noodles and you can add the sauce to taste.  It wasn't the lip smacking dish that I was hoping for, but still satisfying and delicious.

 

They don't have any housemade pickled jalapenos here, but they do have a housemade chili garlic sauce.  It's not very spicy, but it does add a nice flavor to the noodles.  

     

Address:                 Ha Nam Ninh
                                337 Jones St.
                                San Francisco, CA
 

Type:                       Vietnamese

Popular chomps:     Hu Tieu (#25 Dry)

Chomp worthy:       Hu Tieu (#25 Dry)

Spice Kit

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Lunchtime spots that specialize in Asian fusion seem to be all over the SOMA and FIDI area.  Spice Kit offers up its menu items in a simple format for all of us who really want to give our brains a break at lunch.  Step 1: Pick your Style (salad, ssam/wrap, or sandwich); Step 2: Pick your meat (Five spice chicken, beef short rib, pork belly, or tofu); Step 3: Pick a side (lotus root, pork bun, or ginger-peanut slaw).  Sound familiar?  Reminds me of an Asian Chipotle.  They sell themselves as Asian street food, but its definitely not any hawker food I've seen in Asia.

The lotus chips are one of the step 3 choices.  Served thin and fried, I found these to be a little too greasy.  I preferred the lotus chips at Freshroll better (see post HERE).

I was really excited to see pork belly buns on the menu  I was hoping for something fluffy and fresh like those at Chairman Bao's.  The bun here was a little too dense, almost as if they were prefrozen.  I usually swoon over pork belly, but this one was just okay.  The heavy handed sauce was too strong and distracting.

Taken from the Korean word "ssam" meaning wraps, these "ssams"were wrapped in the largest rice paper I've ever seen.  Korean ssams are wrapped in lettuce leaves.  I did take a moment to admire how well wrapped and sturdy the rice paper was.  I was expecting a smaller work appropriate lunch portion, but this was the size of a small Mexican burrito.  The five spice chicken was yummy and tender, but the pieces were buried in way too much rice.  For being Asian fusion, I found the tastes to be unexciting and felt like it needed something.  Maybe some spiciness.

You know you are in downtown SF when the Vietnamese sandwiches cost just barely under $7.  The banh mi was too sweet from the pickled vegetables and the bread was flat tasting.  The $3 banh mis from the ghetto are more satisfying. 

Address:                   Spice Kit
                                  405 Howard St.
                                  San Francisco, CA 
 

Type:                         Asian/sandwich/Korean/Vietnamese

Popular chomps:      five spice chicken
                                 banh mi
                                 pork buns
                                 wraps

Chomp worthy:        nothing        

Farmerbrown's Little Skillet

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Little Skillet is Tenderloin's Farmerbrown take out window that serves up some delicious fried chicken in a SOMA alley.  After you order, you can enjoy your meal in the sunny dock with the hipster crowd.  If you can't make it down here for weekday lunch, they now serve up their fried chicken for lunch seven days a week.

Little Skillet offers up biscuits with a choice of butter & jam, bacon, egg, & cheese, or gravy.  I went for the simple version of biscuits with butter and jam.  The biscuits were hard and dense.  Pillsbury makes better ones than these!

Literally everyone here orders the fried chicken meal and occasionally you see the po'boy sandwich, but surprisingly no one I saw ordered the waffle dog.  A spicy beef sausage is grilled to perfection and served on top of a waffle and topped with a slice of bacon.  The sausage is the winner of this dish with a savory spicy taste that lingers well after you've chewed and swallowed.  The thick kettle type chips, that are sprinkled with cayenne sea salt, are slightly too salty after eating a couple chips, but I love the crisp that the thickness of the chip gives.

Fried chicken and waffles at Little Skillet- #95 on 2012 7x7 SF's Top 100 Eats

You can order up to 8 pieces of chicken with a choice of either waffles or sides (ham hock greens, seasoned fries, potato salad, coleslaw, grits, waffles, fruit salad, garden salad, mac and cheese, or mashed potatoes).  The smallest fried chicken combo comes with two pieces of chicken, which is perfect for a lunchtime meal.  The chicken has a super crispy well seasoned crust.  Each bite of chicken is mouthwateringly juicy.  Its not Ad Hoc Fried chicken (see post HERE), but its a decent substitute when I don't want to trip out to Yountville.  Unfortunately, the waffles were soggy and the maple syrup was too sweet and tastes oddly like honey.

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

Address:                   Farmerbrown's Little Skillet
                                  360 Ritch St.
                                  San Francisco, CA
 

Type:                         soul food

Popular chomps:       fried chicken and waffles
                                   catfish po'boy

Chomp worthy:          fried chicken
                                   waffle dog
                                      

El Porteno Empanadas

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El Porteno Empanadas is a little hard to find in the Ferry Building.  Its located along one of the doors that face Market St.  They serve up both savory and sweet Argentinian empanadas.  I've eaten enough empanadas to know that not every empanadas is alike.  Every country and region makes these pastry pockets a little differently.  Also, as with all things sold in San Francisco and especially the Ferry Building, the ingredients are organic, farm fresh, and locally sourced.

The carne empanada is stuffed with Prather Ranch organic dry aged grass fed beef, raisins, pimiento stuffed olives, and hard boiled eggs.  I was really hoping for a flaky, buttery pastry, but I was pretty disappointed to find a limp, tasteless outer shell.  The beef is so stuffed in the empanada it practically explodes out from the first bite.  Too bad its bland and if I didn't read the ingredients I would have never known there was pimiento stuffed olives in there.  Also, I wasn't a huge fan of the raisins.

More raisins!  Raisins, chicken, chicken chorizo, and olives were stuffed inside the pollo empanada.  Its a tie between which was worse:  this one or the carne.

Same tasteless crust as the rest of the empanadas, but the mushroom stuffing was probably the best of three.  The locally picked organic mushrooms gave a nice, earthy flavor with a slight crunch.  Other ingredients include shallots, parmesan cheese, and creme fraiche, but all I could really taste was the mushroom, which wasn't a bad thing. 

I had some pretty tasty alfajores at Lolinda (see post HERE) so I was excited to see them sold at El Porteno.  Besides the traditional dulce de leche, they offer lemon and a housemade quince paste.  I decided to stick with the classic dulce de leche, but was pretty unimpressed with the too crumbly and too sweet cookie.

Address:                   El Porteno Empanadas
                                  1 Ferry Plaza
                                  San Francisco, CA
 

Type:                         Argentine/Latin

Popular chomps:      chapinones
                                  pollo (chicken)
                                  carne (beef)
                                  humita

Chomp worthy:         nothing

Nieves Cinco de Mayo

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So it may not be Humphrey Slocombe or Bi-Rite ice cream, but Nieves Cinco de Mayo scoops up some odd and exotic flavors of its own.  They serve mostly Mexican flavors like hibiscus, tamarind, dragon fruit, corn, and even cheese!

While its no creamy, smooth Bi-Rite ice cream, but Nieves Cinco de Mayo is nothing to scoff at.  Their elote (corn) flavored ice cream may sound a bit odd, but its simple sweet taste gives your taste buds an eye opening experience. 

       

Address:                  Nieves Cinco de Mayo
                                 Fruitvale Public Market
                                 3340 E 12th St. Ste.2
                                 Oakland, CA
 

Type:                        ice cream/Mexican

Popular chomps:      cheese ice cream
                                  corn (elote) ice cream   

Chomp worthy:         corn (elote) ice cream      

Lois the Pie Queen

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Lois the Pie Queen is a modest brunch spot that is an institution in the East Bay. 

Best known for their pies and brunch items, its satisfying comfort food.

It's always a good sign when you see Crystal hot sauce on a table in a place that serves fried chicken.  No tabasco ever for me, the tang that Crystal hot sauce has just cannot be replicated.

You can get the fried chicken plain or with a waffle on the side.  I like mine with a waffle.  The waffle here is thin with a sweet flavor.  Don't expect a crispy waffle here, these are more on the soft side.

 

The fried chicken is a must order here.  The lightly battered chicken has a crunchy shell and a juicy inside.  Every single bite of chicken is guaranteed to be juicy and moist.  A couple squirts of Crystal hot sauce is always a nice touch as well.

Another option with the fried chicken is with a side of grits and eggs.  I love the grits here.  They are really creamy with small bits of grainy texture.

The biscuits here are light and fluffy and served cut in half with a generous slather of butter in the middle.

The lemon ice box pie is on of the most popular pies here.  Served cold with a heap of whip cream, a bite of this tangy, sour citrus pie hits the spot. 

       

Address:                   Lois the Pie Queen
                                  851 60th St.
                                  Oakland, CA 
 

Type:                         Southern/Soul food/Brunch

Popular chomps:       fried chicken and waffles
                                  grits
                                  lemon icebox pie
                                  sweet potato pie
                                  salmon croquettes
                                  biscuits
                                  pork chops

Chomp worthy:         fried chicken and waffles
                                  grits
                                  lemon icebox pie
                                  biscuits