I believe these were Baywater Sweet oysters from Hood Canal in Washington State. Served with a mignonette and lemon wedges. Being originally from Washington, I say “Noms!” Actually, I’m not a big raw oyster fan but I’ve got a sense of native pride to upload, hehe. These were pretty large and you can’t complain about the great happy hour price! $18 happy hour
Hog & Rocks, San Francisco
Spicy tuna, albacore, asparagus, scallion, and garlic ponzu. $12.95
Tokyo Go-Go, San Francisco
I wasn’t blown away by this roll. The spicy tuna wasn’t spicy enough for my taste. Compared to the Azteca roll, this barely had any heat. Everything just blended together so the flavors got muddled. I couldn’t taste the garlic ponzu at all. I’m not saying that this roll tasted bad, but the ingredients list was so appetizing that I expected more.
Spanish white mackerel slices over sushi rice, with pickled ginger and wasabi. $6.50
Tokyo Go-Go, San Francisco
This was on their nightly special list so we decided to try it. The waitress told us it was Spanish white mackerel. I’m not sure if that’s correct because Googling “shima aji” comes up with many different results, none of which are for Spanish white mackerel. This just adds to my frustration with the use of common names in communicative nomenclature, but that’s for another blog – lol! Whatever we ate, I really liked it! The shima aji wasn’t fishy tasting at all. It had quite a firm texture and a mellow flavor. I loved the peach color that gradated to a bright pinkish red.
With citrus soy butter sauce, tobiko, and wasabi oil. $14
Tokyo Go-Go, San Francisco
This was such a beautiful dish! It’s hard to see the grilled scallops beneath all that foamy sauce and tobiko, but it’s there and it’s delicious! A bit on the small side, but you do get five them. I’m not sure what the leafy green garnish was, but like most random garnishes, it neither added nor detracted from the overall flavor. I did like the pop of green, though. I also wish I could have tasted the wasabi oil more because that would’ve added a nice punch to everything. The scallops were cooked perfectly and had such a soft buttery texture. A winning dish!
Vodka, triple sec, cranberry juice, and fresh lime.
Tokyo Go-Go, San Francisco
I know that cosmopolitan cocktails have been relegated to “girly drink” status, but I don’t care! I enjoy the sweet, tangy flavor of this vodka classic. And who can complain when you can get it for happy hour prices!? Heck yeah!
Spicy crab, cucumber, avocado, gobo, lightly seared suzuki, sliced chiles, chili aioli, tobiko, and scallions. $14.25
Tokyo Go-Go, San Francisco
Wow, this roll was frickin’ amazing! I loved the heat from all the spicy components, and it looked pretty cool too. I thought I would experience Montezuma’s revenge afterward, but I didn’t – hehe! The lightly seared sea bass tasted great and had a great texture. The chili aioli was so flavorful and I loved the pale yellow color of it. The sliced chiles added extra heat and flavor. Not sure I could really distinguished the gobo (burdock root), but I actually didn’t know what it was when I ordered the roll. I will definitely order this delicious roll again!
Thin marinated slices of lamb and beef, broiled tomatoes, parsley, seasoned onions, tahini sauce, hot sauce and wrapped in a grilled lavash.
Truly Mediterranean, San Francisco
The shawerma at Truly Mediterranean are SO big and SO yummy! The meat is tender and flavorful, and I love the meaty broiled tomato wedges. The seasonings they put on everything is so good, as is the tahini sauce. I always agree to add the hot sauce, but it’s not very hot. So for those who need the heat, don’t expect much. Regardless, this wrap is very delicious and will definitely fill you up. The guys at the 16th Street store are very friendly and helpful. It’s a tiny shop with a stand up counter and a couple sidewalk tables. I don’t go there for the ambiance, I go for the food!
7×7 Magazine’s The Big Eat San Francisco: 100 Things to Eat + Drink Before You Die
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April 5, 2015. $9.99
Mild Italian sausage, red and green bell peppers, Bermuda onions and homemade tomato sauce. $10.75
Firewood Cafe, San Francisco
If you like THIN crust pizza, Firewood Cafe in the Castro is the place to go. They have one of the thinnest crust around which is great for their mostly carb-conscious patrons, hehe! I personally love thin crust so I often order pizza from here. They have 5 different pizzas on their regualr menu and usually one daily special, and they’re all pretty good. The pizzas aren’t the most creative, but they are tasty, decently sized, and very affordable. Win, win if you ask me. This Italian sausage pizza was delicious. I like how the thin crust stayed crispy, and the vegetables did too. Their homemade sauce isn’t particularly noteworthy, but it’s yummy enough and doesn’t detract from the toppings. For $10.75, I’m sold!
These marinated olives are complimentary with your order. The small dishes are lined up at the counter. I always want to take more than one! I can’t help it, I’m a sucker for olives…
You can’t really mess up Chinese bbq pork spareribs, right? I mean all you have to do is marinate it, cook it, and voila – deliciousness! Not so. You certainly can make them really boring and forgettable. And Ton Kiang succeeds in doing this, sorry. There was very little flavor in these ribs, and even the fat was somehow bland if that’s possible. This is also one of their larger dishes you it’s gonna cost you more $$. Take my advice, don’t pull this one off the roving trays.
Ton Kiang, San Francisco
7×7 Magazine’s The Big Eat San Francisco: 100 Things to Eat + Drink Before You Die – 2010, 2011, 2012
Steamed bean curd skins stuffed with what tasted like a meat and shrimp mixture, in a brown sauce and topped with chopped green onions.
Ton Kiang, San Francisco
This was one of the few successes during my visit to ton Kiang. It was very tasty and the 3 pieces were decently sized. I’m not sure what the oily brown sauce was, but it had a nice mild flavor. I loved the texture of the soft, filmy tofu skin surrounding the dense meat filling. I don’t know if these skins were store bought, but I would love to see how they are made by hand. It looks pretty cool from what I’ve seen online!
7×7 Magazine’s The Big Eat San Francisco: 100 Things to Eat + Drink Before You Die – 2010, 2011, 2012
Thick corn tortillas filled with minced ground pork and cheese filling. $5 for two.
Balompie Cafe, San Francisco
$5 for two large pupusas – SCORE! Even less if you order them to go. I’ve only recently discovered this delicious and addictive, traditional Salvadoran dish. Where have I been, right!? These things are so warm and comforting and they can be filled with so many things. I always seem to order a meat and cheese combination. These pupusas (shown above) were very good and quite large for the price. I also tried their fish and shrimp pupusa, but didn’t enjoy it as much. It had a strong, artificial seafood flavor and aftertaste. Regardless, I would definitely recommend Balompie Cafe for yummy pupusas!
The pupusas are served with pickled vegetables and a traditional curtido. The pickled vegetables were scrumptious! The curtido consists of a lightly fermented cabbage slaw with chilis and vinegar, and a watery tomato salsa. I couldn’t help but drown my pupusas with the curtido, lol! No sense in wasting food!
7×7 Magazine’s The Big Eat San Francisco: 100 Things to Eat + Drink Before You Die – 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013
Delicious pizza with squash, provolone, prosciutto, onion and goat cheese. $15
Beretta, San Francisco
I usually don’t go for vegetable pizzas, but this one was spectacular! Granted it also had prosciutto (that was my compromise, hehe). You can see that it had SO much squash on it – I kind of felt healthy eating this pizza. The thin crust was very good and it was sturdy enough to support all the toppings. It had a nice bite, good char and a great flavor. Beretta is up there with Delfina Pizzeria as one of the places where I feel confident on consistently getting a delicious pizza!
Vittle Monster 