Pit Stop : Giordano’s Brothers
didn’t have to go to pittsburg to eat these yummy sandwiches. giordano brothers brought them to the bay. peeps from pittsburg are so smart – they cram french fries into their sandwiches. the history is that steel workers had really short lunches so sandwich shops put fries in them so workers could shovel everything in their mouth – exactly how i like to eat. i ordered the coppa (prosciutto) and they grilled it so it tasted liked bacon…yummmmm. every sandwich comes with provolone and an olive oil cole slaw. add some hand cut french fries and you have a great sandwich.
Giordano Bros.
303 Columbus Ave
(between Broadway St & Grant Ave)
San Francisco, CA 94133
(415) 397-2767
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Grub Station : Jordan’s BBQ
francis loves the ghetto. he finds amusement in sending us to the hood for BBQ. he was nice enough to send us a preview picture of where were going to eat so we could be prepared. pretty ghetto huh?
nick did his typical thing and went a day before so he could preorder for us. he ordered for about 12 but only 6 showed up. i think other foodies saw the picture and got scared. we showed up and walked into a bar basically with loud ass music. the “restaurant” is actually a walk up window at the back of the bar. we sat at our table and the staff had already started bringing out our food. brisket, pork ribs (that looked like beef ribs), bbq chicken, links, potato salad, corn, mac-n-cheese, baked beans and corn muffins. the brisket was good but it was subpar to other bbq places we’ve eaten at. ribs did not fall off the bone so it was too much work to eat. my chicken was dry but others said they had moist pieces. links were not good–ick. mac-n-cheese seemed basic but it had the perfect amount of cheese and seasoning. hands down my favorite dish here. as a bbq place, i think jordan’s is not worth the trip over to Hunter’s Point. but if i’m ever in the neighborhood (which is never) i would eat here.
Me and my foodies, we tighter than a glove. Chop a lotta food is how we do it at the foodie club.
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Pit Stop : Mission Street Food
mission street food started in october 2008 and i’ve been trying to eat there ever since. the chinese restaurant by day that hosts this weekly event is really small with a capacity of about 60 people. each week, mission street food invites chefs from all over the city to cook and all profits go towards local charities. this week, featured dishes from local guy brandon jew and the profits help san francisco food bank, my favorite charity, so i definitely had to go. doors open at 6pm and apparently their was a line before. we waited about an hour and were ready to eat. we practically memorized the menu by the time we got to the table. we decided to start with the scallops with grass jelly and lychee, then brioche bun with pork belly, then tat soi with sesame tofu and ended with the best dish of the nite – housemade flat bread with duck confit and spicy hoisin sauce. talk about mouthgasm =)
Tat Soi (green veggies) with Sesame Glazed Tofu
Housemade Flat Bread with Duck Confit and Spicy Hoisin Sauce
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Pit Stop Boulevard Cafe
its that time of the month. i’m stuffing food in my mouth likes its going out of style. i was supposed to have a nice and simple chicken salad but i decided that i wanted tutto mare from boulevard cafe. actually i was craving it. shrimp, white fish, mussels and clams in a garlicky wine marinara sauce. pile on the parmesan cheese and you are golden. they also have good mac-n-cheese dishes that come in different varieties – italian with italian sausage, asiago cheese and sun dried tomatoes is my favorite. need to branch out and try the other versions.
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pho is one of the greatest dishes man created…on the 7th day, there was pho. i crave pho often and my typical place of choice is yummy yummy. i wanted to mix it up today so we walked to turtle tower on 21st and geary. turtle tower offers hanoi style noodles from north vietnam so they use thicker rice noodles and do not use bean sprouts. the broth is full of flavor and already had chopped cilantro and onions in it. ordered rare beef with my noodles and i ate the entire bowl. their imperial rolls have a different kind of wrapper that was really thin and crispy and yummy with fish sauce. they also had a north vietnamese specialty, sticky rice with meat. we tried the chicken sticky rice and the chicken looked plain but it had tons of flavor. on a cold like tonite, it was perfect to have a warm bowl of goodness in my belly.
on our walk back home, we HAD to stop by Kowloon Cafe for some dessert.
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My Happy Place
typically, people say their happy place is a tropical place or a meadow. my happy place is a seat at my mom’s dining table. i can’t imagine a better place to be when i’m with my friends and my family, particularly my mom. she doesn’t make great food, just food with lots of love. my favorite quote of the nite “can you read? then you can cook.” not everyone can cook a turkey like my mom – just pass the courvoisier.
our 3rd quarter turkey dinner. photos by a. rando
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Pit Stop : Mamacita and Zuni’s
mamacita has the best chilaquiles ever. flour tortillas drenched in creamy queso sauce with roasted chicken and tomatoes. add carna asada tacos and chicken enchiladas, you have a perfectly guilty meal.
for dessert, went to Zuni’s. check out the pretty presentation of meringue 
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Grub Station: Baby Blues BBQ
memphis style bbq is traditionally smoked pork served in one of two forms: ribs on a slab or pulled. restaurants in the south typically have smokers that make some kick ass smoked meats. however, in SF its hard to find a restaurant that is able to accommodate a smoker. enter baby blues bbq. they have a smoker that really makes some flavorful meats. baby blues uses dry rubs for all their meats and then put them in the smoker. typically, the meat should be so tender that it falls off the bone but baby blues didn’t hold up to that standard but everything was still moist and soft. ordered the three kings – pork ribs, chicken and brisket. entrees cames with 2 huge sides – we opted for the mac-n-cheese and creamed spinach. added a side order of collard greens and grilled shrimps with a paprika mayo sauce. my favorite was the chicken, the smoker really lends well to making some moist chicken. favorite side dish was mac-n-cheese. good quality cheese and macaroni was cooked perfectly. no blues in my belly, only the sound of bliss….BURRRPPPPP
baby blues bbq 3149 Mission St (between Cesar Chavez St & Powers Ave)
ps. if you’re zooming past mission, look for the DRUGS sign in neons lights. their sign is really small
bonus. mitchells ice cream is only 3 blocks away
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Pit Stop : Champa Garden
laos food is pretty hard to find around the bay area so a decent one is even harder to find. if you venture out to the east bay, you can find a few. but the diamond in the rough neck woods of oak-town, you will find Champa Garden. From the outside, it looks like a run down house but they recently remodeled inside so it actually looks like a restaurant. Champa serves both thai and laos, two very similar cuisines consisting of curries and noodles. Lao sausages (saigock), filled with pork and lemongrass, was my favorite appetizer. It had a great consistency and full of flavor. They also had a thai favorite of mind – angel wings - fried chicken wings filled with pork, vermicelli noodles and mushrooms. AHHHHH – those are the gates of heaven opening. damn, those wings are good. The most authentic dish we had was the Lao’s Noodle Soup (Kaow Paik) which was a clear broth with thick cellophane noodles and fried garlic. The soup was very simple but it was very distinct. If you’re ever around oakland, give this place a shot (get it?).
Champa Garden 2102 8th. Ave
Oakland CA www.champagarden.com
ps. went to Fenton’s afterward and i had the blueberry cheesecake which was nice and airy – almost like eating a cloud. skip the mint chocolate chip, it tasted like generic peppermint candy you get from 2nd rate restaurants.
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I took a food writing class this past weekend so I got the writing bug again. Where does one start after going on hiatus for so long? Hmmm…well I guess I can work my way backwards since things are still fresh in my head. Mandalay is a city in Burma which used to called Myanmar (not Siam which is what Thailand used to be called). Confused yet? Burma borders China so it kind of makes sense that Mandalay the restaurant offers Burmese AND Chinese food. A few people ordered Burmese Iced Tea which is basically a Thai Iced Tea. The ginger lemonade was subpar – too sweet and tasted like tang. I expected the ginger lemonade to taste like Burma Superstar but it was not even close. Drinks were ok but the food was delicious – which is the most important criteria. Our host ordered from the Burmese options and my favorites were fish chowder, roti with curry dipping sauce, lightly breaded chicken breast with mango and noodles with garlic. The fish chowder had a rich curry base and tasted great with a splash of lemon and parsley. Roti was perfectly cooked and had a nice balance of crunchy with chewy and the curry sauce was yum-o. We had a special bonus at this dinner – birthday fruit tart from Schubert’s on Clement. Happy Birthday at Mandalay!!!!
| Mandalay Burmese Restaurant | ||
| 4344 California St San Francisco, CA 94118 (415) 386-3896 |
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