Five Favorite Places to Eat in San Francisco

I have really been enjoying the memes that Tigerfish has been tagging me for! The object of her most recent meme is to list my five favorite restaurants in my hometown, the City of San Francisco. Here are my five favorite places in San Francisco, in no particular order. These places are not high-end, but they are places I feel comfortable going to on a regular basis with great food. If you are a tourist, I recommend you to stop by the Ferry Building and "peruse" the foodie atmosphere there, but these five are definitely worth your visit and your money.

#1. Tu Lan: Although this is a recent discovery for me, every experience at this restaurant has been a extraordinary one. Touted as "Julia Child's favorite restaurant in San Francisco," the image of Julia Child scrawled across the cover of the menu is an endorsement to be remembered. You will always hear two things about Tu Lan: 1) the considerable portions of food served and 2) the rock-bottom prices. Although Tu Lan is in a relatively seedy area of the City (read: "non-tourist friendly") and it is a sticky-table dive in the truest sense, it is the best value in the City for great Vietnamese. My favorite item there, is the refreshing chilled noodle salad, or bun cha gio thit nuong, which comes dressed in a spicy fish sauce and lime vinaigrette. The cha gio (fried imperial rolls) are substantial, cylindrical hunks of oil-crisped rice paper wrapped around ground meat. Dizzam! Those cha gio are a force to be reckoned with! (By the way, the pictures in this post are from Tu Lan.)

#2. La Mediterranee: In the Fillmore District of San Francisco, this tiny restaurant is flanked by colorful boutiques with glistening glass windows that showcase flowing mesh skirts and dangly artisan jewelry. You can work up a hearty appetite after perusing what the neighborhood shops have to offer and then feast on soft and chewy pita breads that are kept warm in cloth napkins. The pita breads are partnered wonderfully with La Mediterranee's flavorful extravaganza of thick and creamy Mediterranean dips, made with ingredients such as chickpeas, eggplant, or tart Greek yogurt. Check out a recent post of mine on my lunch at La Mediterranee, here.

#3. Chutney: This is my all time favorite Pakistani restaurant, I cannot say enough about the creamy, rich, and tomatoey sauce in their chicken tikka masala. I was one of the first patrons of Chutney on the day they first opened, and will be a patron of this fantastic restaurant until . . . Well, forever! Other "must try" items include bengun bharta (which is made with softened cubes of tomatoes and eggplant) and garlic naan (which is served piping hot and liberally sprinkled with roasted garlic and fresh cilantro).

#4. Café Bastille in Belden Place: Belden Place is a quaint, cute alleyway bordering Chinatown and the Financial District in San Francisco. Belden Place contains restaurants that are San Francisco's closest equivalent to the bistros on the cobblestone streets of Europe. Strings of white Christmas lights dangle wistfully across the skies and outdoor chairs and tables line the length of the alleyway. The alongside the tables are glowing heater lamps that warm your relaxed shoulders on chilly evenings and open-faced umbrellas that provide a blanket of shade on sunny days. My favorite restaurant in Belden Place is Café Bastille--I love it because of the croque madame sandwiches, with the blistered and enveloping gruyere surface and the glistening and runny egg yolk that oozes oh-so-gracefully over this classic open-faced French ham sandwich.

#5. Marnee Thai: Walking into the restaurant, you will immediately notice several things about this comfortable place. First is the hatch-patterned bamboo façade on the walls. The second is the numerous plaques and certificates decorating those walls. Those awards are for winning international competitions for pad thai. And yes, I said "international" competitions. Their awards for the pad thai are extraordinarily well-deserved. This place seriously has the best pad thai outside of Thailand. The flavors in the pad thai are delicate and arousing, with the perfect amount of tartness and sweetness from the tamarind paste. The noodles are also immaculately textured--mildly agglutinative but firm enough to be discrete, separate from the other noodle tendrils. For more on the deliciousness that is Marnee Thai, please one of my previous posts on the restaurant.

Additionally, if you are lucky enough to have transportation around the City, check out Shanghai Dumpling King for the best Chinese meat dumplings in the entire City. Try looking up the MUNI bus lines for easy public transportation access from where you are staying (if you are a tourist). It is definitely worth the trip. Also, for good Chinese food in Chinatown, don't just stop in any old place. There are many tourist traps with really bad food in Chinatown. I recommend R and G ("RNG") Lounge, which is a pricier place, but their Chinese food is no-fail. Definitely amble down North Beach for some Little Italy dining. Finally, for cheap and delicious banh mi sandwiches, check out Saigon Sandwiches in the Tenderloin District. Oh yes, and for a touristy taste of San Francisco's sourdough bread, check out Boudin Bakery, where you can get affordable clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl.

And I would love to hear other people's take on San Francisco restaurants. For other San Francisco places, check out my posts tagged with "San Francisco Eats." For this post, I would like to tag my wonderful food blogging friends who write:

Taste Tests (see her list here)
The Short Exact Guide
Cooking with the Single Guy (see his list here), and
The Food Hoe (see her list here)!

As for all of my meme tags, even if you are tagged, feel no obligation to write a response. I understand you are busy. However, I would love to learn what restaurants earn your seal of approval. Also, if you were not tagged but are interested in this meme, let me know!

Killing Two Memes with One Post

Things have been awfully silent at in Passionate Eater land lately. I've been busy, busy, busy, but am going to take a brief break to complete two memes and share more about the gory, nitty-gritty, and uninteresting deets (details) about my life.

Meme #1: "Save Our Faves" meme, by Chubby Panda

I have so many favorite Mom and Pop places in San Francisco, because almost every restaurant I frequent can be categorized as "Mom and Pop." San Francisco has notoriously stringent municipal ordinances that prevent large chain restaurants and corporations from even thinking about laying roots down in San Francisco. (Ironically, there are an average three Starbucks coffee shops within each and every city block in the Financial District. But hey, we San Franciscans amped up on a caffeine-high need to make exceptions.)

Living in San Francisco, I've gotten so used to the anti-corporate mentality, that one time, when I was down in Los Angeles, I couldn't believe it when I saw a voting booth setup where volunteers were soliciting signatures regarding a future Wal-Mart development project. Why couldn't I believe it? Because the volunteers were trying to solicit signatures "for bringing another Wal-Mart into the city," and not making Wal-Mart get the hell-outta-town! We green-loving, crazed, mottled hair Bay Area people like to drive stores like Wal-Mart out of our cities! You stylish and fashionable Los Angelenos are unbelievable!

Well, getting back to the purpose of the meme, I would like to feature a secret Mom and Pop restaurant that I always order take-out from: Sushi Zen in the Sunset District of San Francisco. The food is typical (and enjoyable) faire, but the Mom (server) and Pop (sushi chef) are abso-freakin'-lutely adorable. They fight and banter with each other when business picks up, and always rush around in a frenzy trying to serve everyone. When the "Mom" walks by, you just want to spontaneously give her a hug.

Yea. It really is that intimate.

If you haven't guessed already, in this post are some pictures of take-out from Sushi Zen. There are pictures of sushi, tempura, and chicken teriyaki, to whet your appetite.

And for this meme, I'd like to tag Short Exact! And he's already put up an amazing response on one of his favorite restaurants!

Meme #2: "Five Things Most People Don't Know About You" meme, tagged by Christine and also by Jaden from the Steamy Kitchen!

Although I sorta already did a meme like this way back in the day, I will go ahead and give you five new facts.

1. I used to own a Razor scooter. I also rode it. But I swear to you, that is when they were "in!"

. . . Oh freak. Who am I kidding? They were never "in."

2. I have been watching Days of Our Lives since I was less than six-years-old.

I learned about the "birds and the bees" from that show. It was like a third parent to me.

3. I hate wearing high-heels because I am a "loud walker." When I walk with high-heels, it sounds like a jackhammer going off near your eardrum.

4. I have double-jointed fingers.

Yea, it looks creepy, but if yoga moves for the hand ever became popular, you would be envying me then!

5. I have only visited a dentist twice in my life, and I've never had a cavity! Well, at least I didn't have one the last time I saw the dentist. . . Which was about fifteen years ago.

In Pictures: The Secret's Out with Tekka

Tekka Japanese Restaurant in San Francisco is the City's best-kept Japanese secret. It takes an enterprising treasure hunter to search out Tekka. It is in an area with extraordinary limited parking and is a tiny box-of-a restaurant with no identifying signage, and tattered and weathered facade. Inside the restaurant is the hidden treasure: the grandparently figures and "Mom and Pop" team of Nobu and Yoshimi, and a homey, warm, comforting, and "cozy" area (some may say "cramped") with seating for at max, 10 to 12 patrons. If you can't find the restaurant itself, look for the line that starts forming at 6:30 p.m.--the restaurant itself opens at 7:00 p.m..

Tekka is a unique place, with ocean-fresh and vibrant-flavored seafood that literally transports you directly to the noisy, bustling, and neon-lighted streets of Japan. There are also some unique and atypical attributes about Tekka. A list of stringent rules adorn the wall and window, with such rules as "No to go. . . . No forks, no soda. . . . No complaining." There is a small television that plays Wheel of Fortune and Dancing with the Stars in the background. And, the most idiosyncratic characteristic about Tekka is the glistening, melt-in-your mouth sashimi and sushi that is unbelievably not in Japan, but in San Francisco.

Here is a photo essay of the array of sushi and hot entree options offered by Tekka. The pictures should give you an idea of how delicious and attractive the sushi and the food at Tekka is. We only ordered one hot entree, and that was fresh shiitake mushrooms stir-fried with sliced asparagus spears.

So what do you think? Gorgeous huh? Let me let you in on a secret: it was delicious too.

Ten Simple Pleasures

I was just tagged by Goldfishy 526 (or Miss Jinerous) to list my ten simple pleasures.

Ten Simple Pleasures
1. Free Weekend and Night Minutes
2. Spontaneous Emails or Phone Calls from Old Friends
3. Family Pictures
4. Dressing Up for a Date with the Beau
5. Using Frequent Flyer Miles
6. Cookbooks with Step-by-Step Picture Instructions
7. Links to Passionate Eater
8. Phoenix Suns Games During the Playoffs
9. Hour-Long Showers
10. Comfort Food (see the pictures in the post for some of my comfort foods)

Also, about the photos: The beau and I got take-out at an inexpensive Tommy's Joynt-style hofbrau near his home called Chick-N-Coop, and it was savory food, that was very comforting.

Hofbraus in the city are lil' gems. Obviously, the food is never going to be stellar, but if you want comfort food that time-warps you back in the 1950's and amply fills your stomach, they are definitely the places for quick, affordable, and heartwarming meals, and oftentimes, rejuvenating conversation with the older patrons and restaurant employees.

Our order at Chick-N-Coop was classic American hofbrau faire, including spaghetti with thick noodles saturated with an "interesting" sauce flavored with the essence of ground cloves,

Roasted chicken with a heaping side of mashed potatoes and gravy,

Pickled magenta-colored beets, soaking in a dark purplish liquid that could be used as a staining dye, and,

The obligatory crusty roll with a small pat of butter.

I apologize for the quality of the pictures (I am borrowing a lower quality camera while mine is in the repair shop), and I hope that you enjoy the post anyway! Also, I am tagging... Umm, would you like to do this meme? Go ahead if you do! And Rachel just put up her great list of ten pleasures!

Amusing Musings on Marnee Thai

The best place for Thai in the city of San Francisco and its environs is Marnee Thai. I mentioned it briefly in a previous post, but I want to fully explain everything, from the appetizing angel wings, to its celebrated pad thai. Why the sudden motivation for this post? Well, I just went to Marnee Thai this week, and was able to snap a generous amount of shots of my meal there. Thus, this post is so that I may pander to your viewing pleasure.

Although I hardly ever order appetizers at restaurants, I always begin with the wonderfully sticky angel wings at Marnee Thai. The crinkly, deep-fried Thai basil looks beautiful atop the gooey wings, and they taste even more delicious. The basil crackles and evaporates onto your tongue like a fresh communion wafer. The light sprinkling of nutty sesame seed-like granules pop in your mouth as you bite into the chicken, and the wings are coated in a concoction made from sweet, nectared honey.

However, eating the wings is impossible to do so with chopsticks or a fork. Unfortunately, if you use your hands to eat the wings, you will experience "Cheetos-finger syndrome," (when your fingers become stained and sullied with a ghastly mess that cannot be cleaned with a dry napkin). Furthermore, another pitfall of the wings, is that if you smell your besmirched fingers after devouring a set of the wings, they will reek of vulgar-smelling fish sauce. However, you won't notice the smell of your fingers, when the visually-appealing main dishes are delivered to your table.

Marnee Thai's pad thai is world-renowned for a reason. Unlike other Thai restaurants, Marnee Thai perfectly harmonizes the sourness of tamarind paste with a rich sugary flavor that tastes like it came straight from the sugarcane. Additionally, the silken rice noodles aren't just sloppily coated in sauce, but are cooked until they have absorbed and fully inhaled the flavor of the sauce into its body. The other ingredients only accentuate the majestic flavor of the sauce: cooling and invigorating bean sprouts; leafy feathers of cilantro; crunchy curls of pink shrimp; and munchable crushed peanuts.

Other than the pad thai, I'd say that the other dishes I've ordered are generally pretty good. For instance, in addition to tender slivers of duck meat, the duck red curry has refreshing bites of tomato, julienned bell peppers, rolly-polly green peas, and moist chunks of pineapple, all swimming in a pool of curry-infused coconut milk. The duck red curry is pretty good. It isn't the best I've ever had in San Francisco, but it tastes great with the pad thai (like how everything does).

The last dish that we ordered on this week's trip to Marnee Thai also merits a recommendation. It was the seafood combo, which really did "combine" many seafoods together, including: delicate squid tentacles, julienned ginger, circular rounds of scallops, mussels on the half shell, shrimp, and colorful bell peppers. But if you order the seafood combo, be careful of the twiggy sprigs that are decorated with spicy peppercorns--they are just like bay leaves, because they are not to be eaten.

I hope that this post got you in the mood. . . In the mood for Thai food! If you live in the San Francisco area and have never tried Marnee Thai, or will be visiting the San Francisco area sometime soon, just remember that Marnee Thai is high on my list of "SF" restaurant recommendations.