4505 Meats

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Another trip to the 4505 booth at the Ferry Building Farmer's Market, this time for a Thursday lunch.  The first time was for their famous burger (see post HERE).  Seems like these days everyone is doing a fried chicken plate or a fried chicken sandwich.  Know for all things meat, I was a little surprised that 4505 decided to take a stab at their take on fried chicken. 

Fried Chicken Yum Yum at 4505 Meats-  2013 7x7 SF's Top 100 Eats

One bite says it all, a succulent, juicy piece of breaded, fried yum yum chicken between a lightly toasted pan de mie bun.  A house pickled slaw and some fresh market greens added a freshness to the sandwich.  The only gripe is the very generous spread of coriander aioli, which oozed everywhere and made it a 5+ napkin sandwich.  I think I actually prefer their chicken sandwich over their famous burger.

Whats a burger without some fries.  A different twist on fries with an Argentinian chili sauce with lemon parsley aioli.  It was crispy deliciousness halfway through until you realized how much oil sat at the bottom.

updated - Working my way through the 2013 7x7's SF big eat 100 things

Address:                  4505 Meats                                       
                                 Ferry Building Farmers Market (Sat)                                       
                                 San Francisco, CA
 

Type:                       American

Popular chomps:     burger
                                 fried chicken yum yum

Chomp worthy:       fried chicken yum yum 

Little Star Pizza

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I'm back again at Little Star Pizza, this time to taste The Brass Monkey.  Last time I had the Classic (see post HERE) and I wasn't too impressed.  Thin crust probably will forever and always be my first love, but I'm trying to be open minded about other types of pizza, even though it seems wrong to eat a pizza with a knife and fork.

The Brass Monkey at Little Star Pizza-  2013 7x7 SF's Top 100 Eats

The Brass Monkey isn't actually on Little Star's menu.  Its their Little Star Pizza (spinach, ricotta, feta, mushrooms, onions, and garlic) topped with sausage.  As always, their buttery cornmeal crust is always delicious.  The taste reminds me a little of Pizzeria Mozza's pizza crust (see post HERE).

The sausage on this pizza could be a little bit more generous, but after being disappointed by the taste of the Classic, the Brass Monkey had a lot more flavor.  So I'm admitting this pizza is pretty good, even better the next day after the flavors soak in, but I'm not giving up my beloved Pizzeria Delfina (see post HERE) any time soon.

updated - Working my way through the 2013 7x7's SF big eat 100 things

Address:                Little Star Pizza
                               400 Valencia St.
                               San Francisco, CA
 

Type:                      pizza

Popular chomps:    The Little Star
                                The Brass Monkey
                              

Chomp worthy:      The Brass Monkey        

El Hurache Loco

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I was excited to revisit El Hurache Loco.  The last time I was to cross of the huraches nopales off the 2011 7x7 The Big Eats list (see post HERE) and I was pleasantly surprised.  Also, all the food coming out of this little tent in the Alemany farmer's market looks so good.

Lamb tacos at El Hurache Loco-  2013 7x7 SF's Top 100 Eats

 Once again, the 7x7's Big Eat led me back here to El Hurache Loco.  This time for the lamb tacos.  No surprise that the lamb tacos were just as good as the huraches.  Juicy, tender chunks of shredded lamb on top a handmade corn tortilla, cilantro, and salsa.  Usually, I don't like much salsa on my tacos, but their orange salsa is amazing.  I really wish they would sell that separately.  At $4 each, these lamb tacos are a little on the pricey side, but so worth it.

Since being a repeat customer, I knew to order cautiously so I would have room to try something else.  On my first visit here, I was a little sad that I didn't have enough room to taste the gorditas.  This time I remembered to add that onto my order.  The thick handmade corn tortillas filled with ground pork and topped with steak, chorizo, bacon, grilled peppers, grilled onions, and cheese (alambre) looks like it would be a mess of flavors, but in each bite you can taste the freshness of every ingredient.  Tastes as good as it looks.

updated - Working my way through the 2013 7x7's SF big eat 100 things

Address:                  El Hurache Loco
                                 various famers' markets
                                 AND
                                 1803 Larkspur Landing Circle
                                 Larkspur, CA 
 

Type:                       Mexican

Popular chomps:     huraches
                                gordita
                                lamb tacos

Chomp worthy:       huraches
                                gordita
                                lamb tacos        

Dianda's Italian American Pastry

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Dianda's Italian American Pastry's location in the Mission area of San Francisco seems misplaced amongst the blocks and blocks of taquerias. 

St Honore Cake at Dianda's Italian American Pastry-  2013 7x7 SF's Top 100 Eats

The St. Honore cake is this bakery's claim to fame.  A creamy rum cake surrounded by a ring of rum filled cream puffs.  Unfortunately, you can't buy this cake by the slice, but they do sell the cream puffs that are filled with the same rum filling.

Its somewhat cheating on the 7x7 2013 list since I'm not going to buy a whole St Honore's cake right now.  Although, I'll have to remember to pick one up when the holidays roll around again.  They pointed me to their cream puffs that are filled with the same rum filling and drizzled with a sugar glaze.

When they tell you it's a rum based filling, they really mean rum.  Its probably one of the strongest liquor flavored food items I've had in a long time.  The sweet rum flavor mixed with the cold whipped cream is utterly finger licking deliciousness.

You cannot walk into an Italian bakery and not get a cannoli.  Cannoli derives from the Silicilian word "cannolo" meaning tube.  This Sicilian pastry is made of a tube shaped fried pastry dough piped with cream. 

Although I prefer the tiramisu cakes layered with lady fingers, this tiramisu was decadent.  They don't hold back on the liquor here, the cake was sweet, creamy, and heavily soaked with liquor.

These days I don't have much of a sweet tooth, but when it does make an appearance it comes out full force.  I love the fact that the eclairs here come with an option of custard or the traditional cream filling.  This chocolate covered pastry filled with whipped cream is a classic eclair done right.

updated - Working my way through the 2013 7x7's SF big eat 100 things

Address:                    Dianda's Italian American Pastry

                                   2883 Mission St.
                                   San Francisco, CA
 

Type:                          bakery/Italian

Popular chomps:        St. Honore cake
                                    tres leches
                                    tiramisu
                                    eclair
                                    cannoli

Chomp worthy:           St. Honore cake
                                    tiramisu
                                    eclair      

Irving Cafe & Deli

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More banh mi!  A friend commented that I always review Vietnamese food and banh mis.  Well, I still have a little hope that there is a good banh mi spot in the city that is a suitable replacement for my #1 favorite banh mi spot in Oakland - Banh Mi Ba Le (see post HERE).

The one thing that did catch my eye is they sell fresh sugar cane juice.  I made a mental note to come back and try it when the weather gets warmer. 

These fried aren't your standard cha gio seen in most Vietnamese spots.  Instead of the normal egg roll wrappers, these are made with rice paper, which give it its transparent, white color.  Also, it gives it a different type of crunch.  I'm not sure what they use for filling here, but its softer with a mild taste so I'm thinking maybe rice or some type of rice ingredient.  A nice addition to my repertoire of all things fried.

Banh mi at Irving Cafe & Deli-  2013 7x7 SF's Top 100 Eats

The banh mis at Irving Cafe & Deli don't resemble a banh mi to me.  The bread is too thick and dense.  It actually made my mouth a little tired from chewing.  The bread to meat ratio is way off and the mayo is pretty nonexistent.  The bbq pork banh mi had huge chunks of pork, but the flavor was bland and the meat was tough.

The combo #1 (dac biet) banh mi had really thick slices of meat.  It reminded me of a regular sandwich than a banh mi.  Also, I didn't realize until afterwards that it didn't include the pate and that cost fifty cents extra! 

updated - Working my way through the 2013 7x7's SF big eat 100 things

     

Address:                   Irving Cafe & Deli
                                  2146 Irving St.
                                  San Francisco, CA
 

Type:                        Vietnamese/sandwich

Popular chomps:       banh mi
                                  fried egg rolls

                                  sugar cane juice

Chomp worthy:          fried egg rolls      

Soup Junkie

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When it comes to Asian, its hard to find anything that's authentic in the FiDi/SOMA area.  Soup Junkie seemed like a promising lunch (only open M-F for lunch) with hot soups, fresh ingredients, and a close walk from work.  Its recommended to call in an order since this tiny Vietnamese spot is so popular.  Besides the usual banh mi, Soup Junkie serves up soups, obviously.  I have to give them some respect for trying to bring something other than the usual Vietnamese pho to the mainstream. 

Bun Rieu at Soup Junkie-  2013 7x7 SF's Top 100 Eats

Bun rieu (aka #1 crab and tomato soup) is one of the less known, but very delicious Vietnamese soups.  I've noticed that this soup has had a rise in popularity as well as popping up on many Vietnamese menus all over the Bay Area.  Bun rieu is a tomato based soup topped with crab and usually egg droplets, noodles, various herbs.  If you've never had bun rieu before, I can see why Soup Junkie's version seems like you feel like you've unearthed a new delicious item in Vietnamese cuisine, but its nothing like real bun rieu.  More like bun rieu 101.  Soup Junkie's version is very mild with a fragrant smell of crab, but no crab meat.  The broth has a slight tomato taste.  The noodles are fresh and chewy.  Instead of a flurry of fluffy egg droplets, a huge egg omelet sits at the bottom of the bowl waiting for you to tear it up and mix with the soup.  Overall, its a satisfactory lunch option, especially when you are looking for something light and relatively healthy to warm you up, but its far from a real tasting bun rieu.  It has no complexity to the broth at all.  Bun rieus are hearty with lots of shredded crab, like Kim Son's authentic version (see post HERE). 

updated - Working my way through the 2013 7x7's SF big eat 100 things

      

Address:                  Soup Junkie
                                 388 Market St.
                                 San Francisco, CA
 

Type:                       Vietnamese/soup

Popular chomps:     crab and tomato soup (#1) - bun rieu
                                 banh mi
                                 chicken porridge  

Chomp worthy:        nothing      

Machine Coffee and Deli

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The first time I walked by Machine Coffee & Deli I did a double take.  This small, quaint coffee shop that serves Four Barrel coffee is located in one of the most dangerous areas of the city.  Even with Pearl's burger (see post HERE) across the street and Dottie's new location down the street, I'm still surprised a place like this exists here, although it reminds me of the first days of Blue Bottle.

The prices for the sandwiches are pretty high considering the area.  You can either eat there or take your sandwich to go.  Considering the sketchy neighborhood, I prefer the later.  Same goes for the coffee.  It's not exactly the most relaxing place to enjoy a sandwich and a coffee.

Crankshaft sandwich at Machine Coffee and Deli-  2013 7x7 SF's Top 100 Eats

The Crankshaft sandwich is a tuna salad with melted cheese on toasted bread.  There wasn't as much mayo as a regular tuna salad sandwich so that led to a lighter tasting sandwich.  I'm no stranger to happily scouting out food in ghetto neighborhoods, but this sandwich is not worth it.

updated - Working my way through the 2013 7x7's SF big eat 100 things

Address:                  Machine Coffee & Deli
                                 1024 Market St.
                                 San Francisco, CA
 

Type:                        coffee/sandwiches

Popular chomps:      cappuccino
                                  crankshaft
                                 

Chomp worthy:         four barrel coffee

Tony's Coal Fired Pizza & Slice House

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I've been to Tony's Pizza Napoletana (see post HERE) and I found the menu to be a little overwhelming when it comes to pizza, from what type of oven to what temperature the pizza is cooked at.  Next door at Tony's Slice House, they keep it much simpler with only a couple choices: cheese, pepperoni, slice of the day, and Silician.

I prefer the thin style pizza over the thicker style.  The Sicilian was the only thick style pizza at Tony's Slice House.  Slices of peppers, prosciutto, and pepperoni are topped on a thick slab of what takes like focaccia bread.  The bottom of this pizza has a nice crisp crust that has a buttery taste.  Surprisingly, this slice was better than their thin slice of pepperoni.

Mini pepperonis that resemble moon craters are speckled over a cheese slice to create Tony's pepperoni slice.  Each slice glistens with grease so much that I have to refrain from dabbing it with a napkin before sampling it with a bite.  The pepperoni doesn't have much flavor, but I do like the thicker texture of the pepperoni. 

Cheese slice at Tony's Coal Fired Pizza & Slice House-  2013 7x7 SF's Top 100 Eats

The best slice ever?  Definitely not, but its a decent slice.  Its crust is sturdy enough to do a proper New York fold and the cheese stays put after each bite.

updated - Working my way through the 2013 7x7's SF big eat 100 things

Address:                   Tony's Coal Fired Pizza & Slice House

                                  1570 Stockton St.
                                  San Francisco, CA
 

Type:                         pizza

Popular chomps:       cheese slice

Chomp worthy:         cheese slice
                                   Sicilian   

Schubert's Bakery

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If you've never had a cake from Schubert's Bakery and you live in SF, then sorry you aren't a real SFer.  I think 9 out of 10 birthdays, graduations, baby showers, and any other type of celebrations include some type of Schubert's cake.

This place is always busy with people ordering cakes.

You don't have to buy a whole cake to enjoy Schubert's delicious and beautiful creations, you can get most of them by the slice or as mini cakes.

Swedish Princess cake at Schubert's Bakery-  2013 7x7 SF's Top 100 Eats

I was a little surprised to see the Swedish Princess cake on the 2013 7x7's The Big Eat list.  Its one of the cakes I haven't had here.  The cake to get here is their mango mousse.
Swedish Princess cake is a layered white cake of raspberry creme and kirsch custard filling wrapped in a marzipan icing.  Marzipan is usually one of those components of a cake I shy away from.  The commonly dry, pasty, too sweet, unnatural consistency is something I usually peel off the cake and push aside after a few polite nibbles.  I surprised myself by eating the whole piece of cake, marzipan and all.  Well, it shouldn't be too much of a surprise since Schubert's makes some pretty damn good cakes.  The marzipan here is delicious.  Not too sweet with a subtle almond flavor and the consistency is chewy.  The cake is fluffy and light like all their other cakes I've had.  The Swedish Princess cake is good, but it doesn't top their mango mousse cake.

The tiramisu cake is one of the cakes you can get as a mini cake.  One of things that makes Schubert's popular is all the cakes are sweet, but not too sweet.

updated - Working my way through the 2013 7x7's SF big eat 100 things

    

Address:                  Schubert's Bakery
                                 521 Clement St.
                                 San Francisco, CA

 

Type:                        bakery

Popular chomps:      mango mousse cake
                                  black forest cake
                                  white chocolate raspberry
                                  Swedish princess cake
                                  tiramisu

                                 
Chomp worthy:         mango mousse cake
                                  black forest cake
                                  tiramisu
                                  white chocolate raspberry
                                  Swedish princess cake      

Bar Tartine Sandwich Shop

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I've been to the brunch at Bar Tartine pre-Nicolaus Balla era and it was pretty awesome.  With what seems like a new restaurant opening on Valencia every day, it was hard to find time to come back.  I'm no stranger to their magnificent freshly baked breads from Tartine Bakery (see post HERE), so the thought of eating freshly made sandwiches on their luscious bread needed no persuasion.  Unfortunately, their sandwich hours (Weds-Fri 11a-3p) takes some MacGyver moves in my work schedule.

Walking into the restaurant turned sandwich shop, you can order to go or place an order and sit at one of their tables and have the food brought over to you. I thought it would be crowded, but it was relaxingly peaceful and a nice place to enjoy lunch if I was that lucky.

Corned beef reuben sandwich on rye pan loaf at Bar Tartine Sandwich Shop-  2013 7x7 SF's Top 100 Eats

I rarely order ruebens so its hard for me to fairly judge it, but the sandwich was hearty and meaty on their rye pan loaf.  A little too greasy for me, but the corned beef is flavorful.  Doubt I'd order this again, but I can now cross one more item off that 7x7 list.

I didn't plan on ordering another sandwich besides the reuben, but the egg salad, avocado, grilled onion sandwich caught my eye.  My eyes naturally draw attention to anything avocado.  First of all, I highly recommend cutting (carefully!)  this sandwich in half.  Its one of those sandwiches that one bite and everything would gush out and the disappointment would ruin how great this sandwich is.  Its not the ordinary egg salad.  The egg salad is custard and creamy, almost like it was poached or something.  I can't figure out how they got the consistency to be so smooth and creamy.  However they did it, its absolutely delicious.  I don't normally like to order things I can make at home, but this egg salad is far from anything I could conjure up.  Large chunks of avocado are oddly misplaced in the sandwich and slip all over the place so its hard to get a good bite of everything, but it works well with the egg salad.  Much better than their popular reuben, I think.

updated - Working my way through the 2013 7x7's SF big eat 100 things

Address:                   Bar Tartine

                                  561 Valencia St.
                                  San Francisco, CA
 

Type:                         sandwich

Popular chomps:       reuben
                    

Chomp worthy:          egg sandwich      

Shanghai Dumpling King

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Sugar Egg Puff at Shanghai Dumpling King-  2013 7x7 SF's Top 100 Eats

When the 7x7's 2013 Big Eat came out, I was a little perturbed that a part of the list included previous restaurants with different dishes.  With an exasperated "again", I hauled myself to Shanghai Dumpling King.  Shanghai Dumpling King made it appearance on the 7x7's 2011 Big Eat, but for its soup dumplings (see post HERE).  It was a big fail on that dish, but the one dish I was looking forward to was the sugar egg puffs, which I loved as a kid.  The only problem with the first time around here was that they ran out and the next batch would take another 30 minutes to fry up.  I filed it under my things to possibly eat later and thought I actually might not come back since the rest of the food was subpar.
Fast forward two lists later and I'm back.  With quick maneuvering around the huge crowd of people, that must never have had good dumplings before, and quick to go order of one sugar egg puff dish, I was in and out in less than 5 minutes.

When I was a kid, these fried egg puffs were really common on dim sum carts, but now they seem hard to find or at least freshly made ones.  My order was still warm when I got home.  Hollow, eggy, and fluffy with heavy dusting of sugar, they are almost like I remember them.  Still missing a crispier outside, but better than the greasy ones that have been sitting out all day in the Chinatown bakeries.  

updated - Working my way through the 2013 7x7's SF big eat 100 things

Address:                       Shanghai Dumpling King
                                      3319 Balbao St.
                                      San Francisco, CA
 

 Type:                            Chinese

Popular chomps:           Xiu Long Bao (XLB) (#4)
                                       Green onion pancake (#21)
                                       Sugar egg puff (#141)

Chomp worthy:              Tianjin steamed dumplings (#6)
                                        Lion Head Meatballs (#37)
                                        Sugar Egg puff (#141) 

Da Lat Restaurant

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I'm still on the search for that perfect bowl of Hu Tieu noodles.  Another attempt in San Jose led me to Da Lat restaurant.  The menu is pretty large, but only two dishes populated every table - the fried chicken dish and the Hu Tieu (dry).

The Hu Tieu sauce comes on the side so you can add as much or as little as you like.

Looking for Hu Tieu on this menu is confusing!  As with most Vietnamese restaurants, the English translation doesn't help much.  They were kind enough to point me to the #47, which is rice noodles with a crab claw and prawns.  There are 2 other types of Hu Tieu on the menu:  #45 is the same with clear noodles, #49 comes without crab, regular shrimp and egg noodles, which is the same version as the one at Nam Vang (see post HERE).  Of course, you can get Hu Tieu  as a soup, but the dry (kho) version with the soup on the side is the preferred method of eating this dish.

The Hu Tieu here is fantastic.  The seafood is fresh and the dish really hits the spot.  Also, they have fried chinese donuts (yau tieu) here.

Toppings for Hu Tieu here are jalapenos, limes, and beansprouts.  I like to add jalapenos to my soup for an extra kick.

The soup is your standard broth with a light, satisfying taste.

Address:                  Dalat Restaurant
                                 408 E. William St.
                                 San Jose, CA
 

 Type:                       Vietnamese/soup

Popular chomps:       Hu Tieu (dry) - #47
                                   fried chicken rice plate

Chomp worthy:         Hu Tieu (dry)- #47      

Eiji

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The sushi snob in me was a little excited when I saw how small the restaurant was and how simple the menu was.  With only 6 tables and couple seats at a so called bar, Eiji fills up quick!  Even on a Sunday, the consistent flow of admiring customers never stopped from the minute the restaurant opened.

The oboro tofu is literally cooked in front of you.  First time I've ever seen this.  It's quite an experience after eating tofu all my life.  The closest I've gotten to fresh tofu was picking up at the store, still warm in the plastic containers.  I'm still in awe that it takes such a short time to cook it.  Each spoonful was creamy, smooth, and delicate.  Very similar to the silken tofu made fresh in the store without the sweetness.

Along with tamari soy sauce, a tray of toppings are provided to add to your tofu.  From left; clockwise:  bonito flakes, green onions, sesame seeds, shisho, spicy radish, and grated ginger.  I found that adding just tiny bits of each one with a dash of tamari soy sauce was the perfect combination.  

The seared ahi tuna steak was perfectly cooked and slightly rare in the middle, just how ahi tuna should be cooked.  The ponzu sauce balanced perfectly with the tuna and even better soaked into the salad.

I can never resist a good chirashi.  Eiji's is simple and not overcrowding with slices of fish.  Each piece is fresh and clean tasting.  Even the ikura led the perfect amount of saltiness to the rice.  It's hard to find good tamago.  It's some of the fluffiest, custardy tamago I've had in the city. 

The sushi combination:  tuna maki, magura (tuna), aji, sake (salmon), hamachi, tobiko (flying fish roe), ebi (shrimp), halibut.  Super fresh fish with just the right amount of rice.

Saving the best for last.  Since these homemade strawberry mochis are so popular, you need to make sure you order them right away.  In the middle of the winter, it makes you wonder where these strawberries came from.  They are fresh, sweet, and juicy.  Although, they don't fool me, these strawberries are sprinkled with sugar or dipped in a simple syrup before wrapped with a thin layer of red bean and an outer layer of mochi.  Slightly cheating, but still delicious.

Address:                    Eiji
                                   317 Sanchez St.
                                   San Francisco, CA
 

Type:                          Japanese

Popular chomps:        strawberry mochi
                                    oboro tofu
                                    miso cod
                                    

Chomp worthy:           strawberry mochi
                                    oboro tofu
                                    seared ani tuna steak
                                    chirashi
                                    sushi dinner