El Burrito Express - 1812 Divisadero, near Bush St., SFCA

   Our search for the best crispy taco continues, and I think we have a contender. Again, I wish there was a spot that fried the shells with the meat in them, but I don't think that's happening in SF - you will, of course, let me know if there is one. At any rate, these Ground Beef Tacos (1.5 each) were pretty otay. The meat was somewhat akin to sloppy joe style, nicely seasoned, and the shells were thin and crisp.The cheese appeared to be freshly grated and didn't have that processed comes-in-a-bag flavor.
   Tobias, being the animal that he is, had two tacos AND a burrito, with pot beans and cheese. Somewhat of a connasewer of the bean and cheese, he pronounced it to be excellent. And the price is right - $3.95, which is the cheapest I've ever seen.
  This place has been around for a while, and apparently has a loyal following. The whole time we were there the line of people waiting to order was ten to twelve in number. And they crank out the goods pretty fast, the lady behind the counter yelling out someone's order number about every five seconds.
   On the Food-O-Meter, 8.5. Check it out.

What's Going On?

   I'd like to apologize for the paucity of posts in the last few weeks. This has been due to lack of funds, since business has been extraordinarily slow, and a lot of my dining companions have been out of town or otherwise busy. We'll try to get back in the swing of things soon.
  I had a coupon for this place called Dunya, at 1609 Polk, near Sacramento. It was good for $30 worth of wine only, and I managed to rope Roger and Kimberly into going on a pleasant Sunday afternoon. Apparently, it's always been a Mediterranean style eatery, but they've shifted their emphasis to wine, so now it's a wine bar that serves food. At right is the Meze Platter, and I apologize for not having a price - I think it was $15 - but the server told me their menu was available online. So today when I went to find it, it naturally wasn't there. Could they have gone out of business already? Well at any rate, you have your baba ganouj, huumus, eggplant salad, dolmas, feta cheese egg roll, white bean salad, something made of ground meat and nuts, cucumber salad and whatever else. Served with pita points, of course. We agreed it was pretty good, and perfect as an afternoon snack. We also had a falafel salad with avocado that was adequate.
   So what about the wine? I spotted a bottle of Cross Creek Viognier, 2008 that was just $30, right on the nose. The server brought it out, poured a little, I tasted it and said okay. Now, I'm not in a class with sommeliers and wine aficionados. When the check came the boss, who'd arrived near the end of our meal, said, 'You still have $6 left for wine.' I said the menu stated the wine was $30 a bottle. He picked up the empty bottle and showed it to me; it was the 2010 Cross Creek Sauvignon Blanc. I was a bit chagrined, but I was also surprised that a so-called wine bar could make a mistake in the selection of a customer's wine. I usually look at the bottle when it comes out, but perhaps encroaching senility prevented me from doing it that day. The boss was nice enough to get my email, and sent me a $6 credit to use on my next visit, if there is one.

The Potsticker - 150 Waverly Pl., between Clay, Washington, Grant and Stockton, SFCA

   You can now make it 406 Chinese restos I've been to in SF. I hadn't been in this place in years, and when I found out it had been taken over by one of the former chefs from Z&Y, I had to try it. Joining me once again was the intrepid Janet Clyde who, like me, is willing to try just about anything that doesn't have shrimp in it (allergic). We share a fondness for the Xiao Long Bao (5.95), those delectable steamed soup dumplings, made with pork in this instance. The broth was acceptable, slightly fatty; the dough was not overly thick and chewy.
   Cucumber Salad (5.95) is another item I find hard to resist. Here they add jalapeno, cilantro, onion, bits of red bell pepper and of course, a healthy dose of garlic. This is one of those things that I should keep a supply of in the fridge at home, especially during our brief flurries of warm weather. We both gave this a thumbs up.
   The BBQ Lamb Skewers (5.95) were a knockout spice wise, incorporating cumin and hot pepper in a mouth watering way. The big drawback here was that the meat was a little undercooked, which made it a bit chewy. I would definitely order this again and I won't hesitate to ask for it well done.
   As is our habit of ordering too much food, we tried the ChongQing Hot Spicy Chicken Mini Hot Pot (18.95), most of which I took home and tossed into a curry vegetable soup. It goes nicely on top of a bowl of rice. Like a lot of the Sichuan style food being served here recently, there is a sizable amount of red chile oil and Sichuan peppercorns (hua jiao) in this dish, along with lotus root, baby bamboo shoots, tree ear fungus, clams, some odd bean sprouts and even a little corn on the cob. While the flavor of the chicken was great, I thought this was just a little too busy for my taste. It does come on a nice gas burner to keep it warm, in case you're a pokey eater. I would probably not order this again.
   I'm definitely coming back, especially since they have some  'Chef's Masterpieces' which have to be ordered a day in advance and are not printed in English. We're gonna start with a 7.5 on the Food-O-Meter.

Caught One!!

   I just checked out the menu at 2G Japanese Brasserie, 55 Cyril Magnin St. (5th St. North). They are still serving bluefin tuna (toro). As I stated in an earlier post, please boycott any restaurant that serves this, because the poor little critters are way up there on the endangered species list. Too bad I bought a coupon before looking at the menu!

This might be good for you...

   I'm always prone to trying anything once, well, almost anything. I found this item while puttering around at the 99 Ranch in Daly City. It doesn't purport to do anything for you, but who knows?
   Let's look at the ingredients in order of proportion from largest to smallest:
1. Purified Water
2. Cane Sugar
3. Common Selfheal Fruit Spike (Prunella vulgaris). This herb is found mainly in eastern China, and belongs to the family of plants that 'drain heat' in Chinese medicine. It has been shown to lower blood pressure in anesthetized animals, and also used to lower hypertension in dogs. It also has a broad antimicrobial range.
4. Chinese dates, or jujubes (Ziziphus jujubae). The Chinese name, da zao, literally translates to 'big date'. This plant grows in several regions of China, and belongs to the family of herbs that tonify the qi. It is often used to mitigate the harshness of other herbs.
5. Grosvenor Momordica Fruit 9 (Momordica grosvenori). Grown in Guangxi Province, the literal translation for this is 'arhat fruit', and its main ingredient is glucose. In combination with the Selfheal Fruit Spike, it is used to treat scofula. It belongs to the family of herbs used to tonify the yin.
6. Licorice Root. It's interesting to note that while the fruit spike supposedly lowers blood pressure, licorice that hasn't been deglycerized raises blood pressure. It belongs to the family of herbs that tonify the qi.
   On one online website selling Chinese goods, it is purported to be good for sore throats, neurosis 'paints' - I think they meant points - and swelled muscles, as well as providing relief from heat and poison and restoring vision.
   Panacea or snake oil? Who knows/
  

Dongbei Mama - 4737 Geary Blvd. at 11th Ave.

 It's a comforting feeling to enter a Chinese resto where you're the only non-Asian folks, as happened on our recent visit to this place. It was the beginning of Moon Festival Week and the joint was jumpin', as they say. This was recently the Panda Country Kitchen, which I really liked for their Sichaun/Hunan style food. At least one of the owners is still involved, and they've brought in a new chef and revamped the menu to provide a more Northern/Beijing form of cuisine. My friend Thatcher and I had had a jolly time at Finnegans Wake and I therefore apologize for not getting a menu to take home or the prices for our dishes, but our total was somewhere in the neighborhood of $50, and that includes two beers.
   I always get the Shredded Pigs Ear when I see it on a menu. Forty years ago, it was something the cooks ate as a quick snack. They simply put the whole head in a 5 gallon bucket with soy sauce and spices and set it in the fridge, and when they wanted a taste all they had to do was slice off a bit of ear or snoot and they could chew on it while flailing away at the wok. I have to say I prefer the ear at Spices II, since it's sliced thinner and has more of the numbing oil flavor.
   I've never had Steamed Lamb Dumplings before, so that was also a must. These were lightly seasoned to allow the flavor of the lamb to dominate, and brother, they were awesome. You may want to mix a little hot oil and soy in a bowl if you want a dipping sauce, but these will stand on their own.
   For a vegetable we chose the Baby Greens with Double Mushrooms, not an uncommon dish these days, and ours was cooked perfectly, the greens al dente, the mushrooms soft and velvety. Simple but tasty. I might venture to ask for a little garlic in this dish the next time around.
   Cumin Lamb is another dish I see popping up these days. I had my first taste of this at Spices II and I've been hooked ever since. I can't vouch for the origin, but I had it in Shanghai at a Xinjiang style resto, and that province is in the Northwest (and in the papers these days). At Dongbei they incorporate some red and green bell pepper and some fat noodles, which I could have done without. The overall flavor was good though, and we made short work of it.
   Which brings us to our last dish, the Kong Bao Shrimp. In the old days, the only kong bao dish was chicken, but over the years restos have added beef, shrimp, scallops, etc. I would'nt be surprised to see kong bao tennis shoe one of these days. Neither of us was overwhelmed by it, but I did bring the leftovers home and reheated it along with some things from my Friday lunch at Z&Y. So nothing went to waste.
   I definitely need to explore Dongbei Mama more. The staff of servers are fairly young, speak good English and I imagine will be helpful to me in my quest. There are lots of small plates, and they make good use of offal. Call me when you're hungry!!

Bodhi - 211 Valencia at Duboce St., SFCA

    Justin, Rachel and I ended up here for lunch last Thursday, primarily because yours truly, for once, read the only the fine print on the Groupon for Another Monkey Thai resto down the street. If  I'd looked at the large print I would have seen the word 'dinner'!!
   Oh well, senility aside, I've hit one more Vietnamese spot at least. We were treated with some complimentary Soup, a kind of tomato flavored egg drop number with diced potato and carrot.
   We'd never had a Green Onion Pancake (6.5) Vietnamese style, so that was a must. It had a lighter consistency than your average Chinese pancake, making it softer and more pliable, plus it comes with a green curry dipping sauce instead of peanut paste. This got a round of approval.
   The Chicken Salad (7) was a nice, adequate portion size with thin slices of white meat in abundance, but it lacked a spicy dressing and some crushed peanuts to give it knockout appeal. We all agreed that it was just 'OK' but not a repeat item.
   Garlic Noodles with Shrimp (8.25) were, again, adequate but not awesome. The shrimp were not overcooked and didn't taste frozen, always a plus, but the noodles were a bit light in garlic flavor for my taste. At least they weren't oily and had that nice semi-charred flavor from the wok.
   Justin chose the Lemon Grass Calamari and Prawns Rice Plate (8.50), served with crunchy green beans and a smattering of sesame seeds. Once again, a nice sized plate of food for the money, well-prepared, fresh but lacking that little something to really make it special. I suppose I shouldn't ask for too much out of a lunch menu, but I am looking for those aspects of Vietnamese cuisine that set it apart from its other Asian neighbors.
    Our last dish, Shaken Beef (8.5) seemed to be on a level with Charles Phan's 'shaking beef', at about half the price, and was my pick of the litter. Very similar to the Chinese 'steak Q' (cube steak) served in some of the old school restos in Chinatown, usually with choy sum (baby bok choy), lightly salt and peppered, with a hint of sweetened soy sauce. I was unable to find out what cut of meat was used, but it was tender and juicy.
   Unless the dinner menu promised to be more exciting, I probably wouldn't be back, unless I worked or lived nearby and just wanted to pop in for a cheap lunch. 7 on the Food-O-Meter.

Golden Rice Bowl - 1030 Irving at 11th Ave., SFCA

    This makes 404 Chinese restos under my belt, and a very unique, or rather dumbfounding, experience. I thought for a long time that Chef Jia's in Chinatown was unique in the fact that they didn't serve hot tea. Well, Golden Rice Bowl has surpassed them by being the first Chinese resto I've ever been at that was out of steamed white rice! I'm not kidding; they were nice enough to give me a bowl of brown rice on the house - my lucky day, huh? This is on a Saturday night at 8pm. I ordered Curry Mussels - whoops, we're out of those too. People two tables away ordered asparagus, they were out of that too. When I mentioned all this to someone at Finnegans, they immediately brought up the Monty Python 'cheese shop' skit.
   I did manage to get some Five Spice Beef Shank (4.95), very tender slices without too much fat, and the five spice wasn't overwhelming.   When they told me there were no mussels, I decided a vegetable might not be a bad idea. Pictured here is the Chinese Broccoli (Gai Lan) with Garlic (7.95), not too oily and they didn't skimp on the garlic; good al dente crunch, too.
   You'll sometimes see a dish with chicken and prawns given a fanciful name like 'golden dragon and phoenix', but here it's just Hunan Chicken and Shrimp Sizzling Platter (8.95). I'm not sure this is an authentic Hunan dish - I can't find it in my Hunan cookbook. It has mushroom, celery, bell pepper, zucchini and dried chiles in a somewhat sweet and corn starchy sauce, and even though I specified 'spicy', it wasn't all that fiery. I will say the count on the shrimp was good, and the chicken wasn't overcooked or, as it sometimes occurs in Chinese restos, undercooked.
   Despite the shortcomings, this isn't a bad spot. The prices are right and they deliver as well as cater large parties - there was a huge take-out order while I was there, which may explain the lack of rice. I just wonder how they feel about being across the street from San Tung, where there's always a line, while their place is fairly empty.
  To see the menu, go to:www.goldenricebowlca.com.  7 on the Food-O-Meter.

Bottle Cap - 1707 Powell, between Union & Filbert St., SFCA

    Lots of mixed reviews about this one, with the Bauer not too enthusiastic overall, but that doesn't stop me, it just makes me want to go even more. In the home of the original Washington Square Bar 'n' Grill, and even earlier than that, Rose Pistola's, when it was a dive bar, the interior make-over hasn't been well-received by old North Beach types. But again, I go for the food.
   Accompanying me was the formidable eating machine, Michael Manson, who said we should definitely get two apps, the first being the Grilled Nectarines (7), resting on some smooth goat cheese, with grilled bread and an arugula garnish. Top notch juicy fruit, the slight sourness of the cheese providing contrast to the sweetness and the earthy, slightly burnt toast.
  Next up, the Fried Chicken Thighs (6), boned out and cooked to a crisp with a pronounced garlic accent. For your dipping pleasure, a tasty dill yogurt sauce. Manson had this before, and his recommendation was all I needed. Excellent!
   In addition to a burger and the nowadays seemingly requisite grilled cheese, there is a Chipotle Pork Sandwich (11) with sweet potato fries, and a Roast Turkey Sandwich (11) with onion marmalade, Swiss cheese, gravy and slaw. Mike had the former and thought the fries were a little salty but the sando was good. I had just a bite of the meat and thought it a bit dry and in need of a light BBQ sauce. The chipotle flavor was mild, but the heat came on subtly after a minute or so.
  This was my first hot turkey sando in years, and I was pleased, even though I couldn't eat it all. Don't worry, I took the remainder home, with extra gravy on it. I have to say, the onion marmalade was a great touch, but you are advised to take some Altoids with you. The Swiss cheese didn't get too stringy and the slaw had a nice German style vinegar base.
  I don't know how business has been in their first six weeks, but there was no problem getting a table at1pm on a Friday. I will say it doesn't have that lived-in look quite yet, so I hope they add some more knickknacks and gewgaws and give it that San Francisco look.
   8.5 on the Food-O-Meter.

Lost Treasures - Caleta's

   As some of you know, I'm a huge fan of menudo, and I don't mean the pop group. I started eating it in my teens, when I hung out with my homies on the West Side of KCMO. Most people there were from Jalicso, Mexico, and they all tended to make their menudo the same way, with smooth beef tripe (stomach), oesos (marrow bones) and white hominy. Cooking it is an all day affair, allowing the tripe to become soft and tender. You serve it up with diced onion, chile molido (crushed red pepper), lemon wedges and oregano. I always put the oregano between my palms and rub it into as fine a powder as possible, releasing the flavor. Add some warm corn tortillas and butter and you're all set.
   Everyone has their hangover cure, and for a lot of people it's menudo.. We would occasionally hang at an all-night joint in KCKS until dawn on a Sunday morning. On the way back to the West Side, there was a little Mexican eatery on Kansas Avenue that opened at 6am. You would always see a line of bleary-eyed men with glass jars, waiting to get their 'cure'. We'd roll down a window and yell, 'menudo por los crudos!!' (menudo for the drunks!!). This would elicit a number of epithets and gestures and we'd speed away, laughing our heads off.
   When I moved to SF, I began a search for decent menudo, and couldn't find anything that suited my taste. Nobody puts hominy in it here, and it's always soupy. In the mid 70's I had a failed relationship with an old high school sweetheart that I'd talked into moving out to live with me. She moved into an apartment in Noe Valley with some other Latin folks, and one day she called me and told me she'd found THE menudo place. I agreed to meet her there on the following Saturday.
   The place turned out to be Caleta's, a little mom-and-pop hole in the wall at 24th and York, next door to the York Theater. It was owned by Angie and Alberto, a sweet couple in their 60's who ran the restaurant as a labor of love. Angie was one of the darkest Mexican ladies I've ever seen, with skin the color of burnished copper and jet black eyes. Albert was a soft-spoken, round little man with a gold scapular that must've weighed a pound. And the menudo - I thought I'd died and gone to heaven! Thick, with hominy, bones and an offering from Angie of some pata (hoof meat). It even came with a side of beans and rice, and if Alberto liked you, he'd offer some of his home made manzana ('apple' pepper) green salsa, which had quite a kick to it.
   I became a regular Saturday customer, and noticed that among other bits of decor there were a number of pics of a local group known as Bubba Lou and The Highballs, some of whose members also formed groups like the Durocs, Little Roger and the Goosebumps, and Dick Bright and His Sounds of Delight. Apparently, they were regulars, and Angie and Alberto would go to see them play at an old place in Stonestown called the Red Chimney. They were the kind of people who didn't really like hanging around with those of their own age. During the Christmas season one year, they had calendars made and gave them to regulars. At first glance, the color picture looked like an ordinary Christmas tree decorated with ornaments, but if you looked closer you saw that it was actually a very large marijuana plant!
   I remember the day Maria, my ex, called and said she had sad news. I thought, 'uh-oh an old friend in KC has died', but no, it was the fact that Caleta's was closed for good. Angie and Alberto were tired after 30-plus years and wanted to retire. Somebody might as well have died, that's how I felt. I've been looking for a replacement for years and the closest I came was the now defunct La Rondalla; it's so ironic that a resto with really bad Mexican food for white drunks could turn out such a good menudo. It was also ironic that they didn't open until 5pm, kinda late for a hangover cure. Well, the search goes on, so if you know a good place let me know!

Luna Park - 694 Valencia at 18th St., SFCA

   Try as I might, I cannot re-arrange the pix and start the text at the top, so we're just gonna eat dinner out of the proper order.
   My friend Mae had a $50 coupon and invited me to a place I've always wanted to try, especially since The Bauer or someone else just recently gave a re-evaluation and said that it hadn't slipped.
   I wouldn't really mind eating dessert first, I sometimes tell myself, since in some places it's been the best part of the meal. Here at the top we have a classic, Bananas Foster (8.5), a New Orleans original, and I'm ashamed to say that in my umpteen visits to the Big Easy, I've never had it! It's just hard for me to get past sweet potato pecan pie with whipped cream, I suppose. This version comes with Bi-Rite Creamery's banana ice cream and it was great, sweet without being cloying, with a lasting finish on the taste buds.
   My main was the Breaded Pork Cutlet (23), stuffed with mushrooms and Gruyere and topped with apple-cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes and string beans. I've had plenty of veal cutlets, so this was a new experience and thoroughly enjoyable. The meat was moist and tender, the string beans al dente and the taters smooth and creamy. This reminded me of something my mother might have cooked.
   Something my mother did cook, or bake rather, was Coconut Cream Pie (8.5) and I have to admit this slice was just as good as any that I had in my youth. I'd love to see lemon meringue pie on somebody's menu, and banana cream, chocolate and the list goes on.
   We actually began our little feast with Moules Frites (13.50), prepared in classic French style with shallots, white wine and a bit of Pernod. I'd say this was on a par with Plouf, but of course the fries were not quite as good as the ones I had in Paris, but that's no surprise, is it? They were still pretty good, with that desired combo of crunch and softness that we all seek in fried bits of tuber.
   Mae had the Grilled Salmon (21) with a sweet corn ragout with peas and cherry tomatoes. I naturally had to snag a bite of fish, and it was wonderful, fresh tasting with a rich fatty flavor and a decent portion size.
   I can see how Luna Park has survived. I'd put it on a level with Chenery Park, my go-to for this style of good basic comfort food.To see the menu, go to:www.lunaparksf.com
   We have to give it a 9 on the Food-O-Meter.

A Lesson Learned...

   I've been going to Giant's games for 30+ years. I'm kinda sentimental and traditional when it comes to ballpark eats - you gotta have a hot dog or bratwurst or something on a bun with mustard and whatever (ketchup does NOT belong on a dog, BTW). At Candlestick, my first stop was a concession stand near the 1st baseline side of the park. I always went to the same little old lady and ordered a 'Colossal Dog' with kraut, simple but delicious. I never had a problem with the dang thing falling apart. Now, last Wednesday my long time bud Glenn Walters and I went to see the Gents kick a little ass. Glenn usually brings a sammie from Whole Foods and I get a kosher dog. Glenn came unequipped and asked what I thought would be a good choice of food. We were on the View Level near 317 and there's a stand with hot dogs, etc. I said, 'try the Sheboygan Brat'. Then I saw the 1/2 lb. Kielbasa for $.25 more and said heck, I'm gonna try one. We both got one 'loaded', which means kraut and grilled onions on top.A little mustard and you're set. When we got to our seats and started to eat, the buns fell completely apart on the bottom because the kraut hadn't been drained. We had a bunch of soggy white bread and sausage that couldn't be picked up and eaten. Glenn, being quick on his feet, just twisted one end of the paper wrapper around the end and said, 'eat it like a burrito'. This worked fairly well, except for the mustard all over my face - I guess it's better than egg. But still, you pay $7.75 for a mess? Not me, it's back to kosher dogs for this boy!

Melt!- 700 Columbus Ave. at Filbert, SFCA

   I hadn't had fondue in ages, so when a Groupon popped up for this place I said, 'let's get on it!' Melt occupies the space that was formerly the Cafferata Ravioli Factory, which at the time of its demise was the oldest operating business in North Beach, dating from 1884. In addition to serving food, they have a 'Film & Fondue' night, open mic night and live music on a few days of the week. There also appears to be some board game competition going on, with current champions listed on a small blackboard.

   Food wise, the menu is fairly simple, concentrating on fondue. Tobias was a bit more hungry than I, so he ordered the French Onion Soup (7) with a Gruyere crouton, sourdough bread and butter. I had a taste and I think it was just as good as the onion soup I had at Chou Chou out on Dewey Blvd.
   We decided that a small Scrumpy Rarebit (30) would suffice for two. Pictured is the individual green salad that accompanies all fondues, a nice spring mix with a light vinaigrette. Not pictured is the large basket of sourdough bread cubes that sits on a small stool next to your table if you're sitting at a deuce.
   As you can see, a nice plate of red and green seedless grapes with a bit of sliced apple is included. This provides a sweet acidic balance to the richness of the fondue, which is made with extra sharp cheddar melted in English cider and flavored with 'whasthishere sauce' (also known as Worcestershire sauce) and spices.
   If your party is more than two, a larger portion is available for $40. There are dessert fondues available, as well as cheese plates and other items and they have beer, wine and coffee drinks.To see the menu, go to:www.melt-cafe.com. I like this little spot - 8 on the Food-O-Meter.