Eggplant caponatina – Beretta

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Eggplant caponatina Beretta

Fried Japanese eggplants with cherry tomatoes, celery, basil, capers, Sicilian green olives, toasted pine nuts, white balsamic vinegar, and topped with a generous portion of burrata cheese. $9
Beretta, San Francisco

Wow, Beretta doesn’t skimp on the burrata cheese for this dish!  I personally love buratta.  The cream filled fresh mozzarella cheese acquires such a creamy, luscious texture.  It’s absolutely divine.  I’ve never had eggplant caponata before this, but I really enjoyed it.  The dish was very flavorful and the fresh vegetables, basil and pine nuts helped to brighten the fried eggplants.  There’s a lot going on here, but they all work.  The buratta is additional, but I highly recommend ordering it.  I don’t think I would have enjoyed this dish half as much sans the buratta!

Congee – Ton Kiang

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Congee Ton Kiang

Rice porridge topped with fried crispy wontons and chopped cilantro.
Ton Kiang, San Francisco

My first congee experience was horrible and I’ve never liked this Chinese rice porridge since.  I was in the San Francisco Chinatown and had walked into a random Chinese restaurant where everything was written in Chinese except for a few menu items tacked onto their walls, one of which was congee.  I ordered the chicken congee without really knowing what it was.  When I received the HUGE bowl of white rice porridge, I was so disappointed.  There are a few textures I really don’t enjoy and runny, slightly slimey, slightly thick and gelatinous porridge with bits of things floating in it is one of them, lol!  I took a few bites, left the restaurant, and have never tried congee since. 

…Until my trip to Ton Kiang!  And I must admit, that it wasn’t half bad this time around.  It still took some mental tricks on my part to try it, but I believe that I almost enjoyed it.  I think this version was thinner than the previous and didn’t have any mysterious ingredients hiding inside.  The crispy wontons and cilantro also helped to disguise the porridge texture and added some familiar flavors.  I’m not going to start ordering congee on a regular basis, but at least now, I know I can somewhat enjoy it!  🙂

7×7 Magazine’s The Big Eat San Francisco: 100 Things to Eat + Drink Before You Die – 2010, 2011, 2012

Cocktails – Beretta

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Nuestra Paloma Beretta

Nuestra Paloma – tequila, elderflower, cointreau, grapefruit, bitters. $10

7×7 Magazine’s The Big Eat San Francisco: 100 Things to Eat + Drink Before You Die – 2010

Dolores Park Swizzle Beretta

Dolores Park Swizzle – rhum, lime, maraschino, absinthe, bitters, garnished with mint. $9

Airmail Beretta

Airmail – rum, honey, lime, prosecco. $9
Beretta, San Francisco

If I had to rank these 3 cocktails from best to OK, I would say Nuestra Paloma, Airmail, then Dolores Park Swizzle.  The Nuestra Paloma had a great, distinct flavor combination.  I personally love tequila, and the addition of the other ingredients made for a wonderfully bright (and strong) drink.  The Airmail was good and very drinkable.  It didn’t taste particularly special though.  I didn’t enjoy the flavors int he Dolores Park Swizzle.  The cocktail was beautiful, but there was something in it that turned me off.  Perhpas it was the addition of absinthe.  I must say that I’m always impressed by the bartenders at Beretta for their cocktail making abilities, and almost all of their speciality cocktails are DELICIOUS!  During my last visit, though, our first drinks didn’t arrive at our table until our second dish was out.  Now that’s kind of inexcusable – sorry!

Carne asada burrito – El Farolito

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Carne asada burrito El Farolito

Super burrito with soft flour tortilla filled with grilled steak, rice, beans, fresh tomatoes, onions, cilantro, salsa, cheese, sour cream, and avocado. $6.25
El Farolito, San Franciso

Like most Mission burritos, this one from El Farolito is ginormous (and quite delicious if I may add)!  The carne asada was tender and flavorful, and the other ingredients are evenly portioned.  They don’t over-fill the burrito with rice like some other taquerias.  The salsa, however, was SO frickin’ salty!  It pretty much destroyed my taste buds and ruined several bites of the burrito.  I immediately stopped using more once I figured out that it was the salty offender, lol!  If you plan on tackling this huge burrito, save your appetite or stow half for later!

7×7 Magazine’s The Big Eat San Francisco: 100 Things to Eat + Drink Before You Die – 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

Gao choy got – Ton Kiang

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Gao choy got Ton Kiang

Steamed then pan fried green chives and shrimp dumplings.
Ton Kiang, San Francisco

I’ve mentioned before that these dumplings are one of my favorite kinds of dim sum.  I love the strong, sharp taste of the garlic chives and the crisp texture of the fried ends.  These dumplings at Ton Kiang, however, were SO tiny!  They were the size of those frozen dim sum dumplings you get at Asian markets that always seem to be on sale.  Naturally, these 4 dumplings went down quickly and barely made a dent in our dim sum hunger.  I also remember the filling being somewhat dense and dry.  This maybe one of my favorite dumplings, but this version was a disappointment.

Dipping sauces Ton Kiang

Dipping sauces.  The yellow sauce was hot mustard, but I’m not sure what was the green sauce.

7×7 Magazine’s The Big Eat San Francisco: 100 Things to Eat + Drink Before You Die – 2010, 2011, 2012

Albacore crudo – Reform Club

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Albacore crudo Reform Club

Served with fava, mint, strawberry, aged balsamic, and garnished with wildflowers. $40 for 4-course dinner.
Reform Club @ Specchio, San Francisco

We went to this weekly pop-up held at Specchio Restaurant in the Mission. It was $40 for four courses with a $25 drink supplement, and the menu changes every week! Overall, I enjoyed the meal partly because we were there as part of a great food club. This albacore crudo was SO good! It was such a small portion though, and this seemed to be a theme throughout the courses. I must say that I was still hungry afterward. But back to the albacore, hehe. It looked beautiful (loved the wildflowers) and all the flavors worked great together. Would’ve never thought that fava, mint, strawberries and balsamic would taste that amazing together!

Dungeness crab arancini – Beretta

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Dungeness crab arancini Beretta

Deep fried crab arancini served with a calabrese aioli. $10
Beretta, San Francisco

These are one of my favorite appetizers at Beretta! They are perfectly cooked and taste amazing with the calabrese aioli.  The warm arancini balls have delicious bits of dungeness crab inside and the arborio rice is soft and comforting – YUM! I only wish you got more that 4 arancini because I could eat these all day. I snapped the photo as the sun was setting through the front window to a pretty cool effect.

Ha gao – Ton Kiang

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Ha gao Ton Kiang

Steamed shrimp dumplings wrapped in a translucent wheat and tapioca starch wrapper.
Ton Kiang, San Francisco

Har gow is one of my favorite dim sum items because it’s delicious and the least scary looking thing on the roving carts (or trays in the case of Ton Kiang). I didn’t like a lot of the dim sum at Ton Kiang, but I did like these. They were filled with HUGE chunks of shrimp and had a great flavor! The wrapper was on the thick side, but it wasn’t tough or dry.  Still a favorite! (Thank god Ton Kiang didn’t ruin this one for me.)

Green tea Ton Kiang

Complimentary green tea.

7×7 Magazine’s The Big Eat San Francisco: 100 Things to Eat + Drink Before You Die – 2010, 2011, 2012

Chips and salsa – Papalote Mexican Grill

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Chips and salsa Papalote Mexican Grill

It’s all about the salsa!  It’s hard to describe its unique flavor because it’s not like any other salsa I’ve tasted.  Papalote has been on the show Throwdown with Bobby Flay for a burrito challenge, and it was their AMAZING salsa that gave Papalote the winning advantage. When ever I go to their 24th Street location (conveniently close to my house) I pay for extra containers of this delicious condiment. They even sell jars of it at several Whole Foods supermarkets in San Francisco. Not sure if they’re sold in other cities/states, but they should be! Everyone should have the chance to taste their distinct salsa creation! $1.50 + .50 for extra salsa
Papalote Mexican Grill, San Francisco

7×7 Magazine’s The Big Eat San Francisco: 100 Things to Eat + Drink Before You Die – 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014

Cheese slice – Arinell Pizza

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Cheese slice Arinell Pizza

Thin crust, New York style, neapolitan cheese slice. Simple and delicious! $2.25
Arinell Pizza, San Francisco

I’ve found out that people either LOVE Arinell Pizza or they think that it’s overrated. I’m in the former group. Perhaps it’s because it reminds me of grad school, but I think that it’s just plain tasty! I prefer the classic neapolitan slice over their thick Sicilian slice. The crust is thin, crispy, and has a nice chewy bite. The marinara is quite flavorful and although the cheese can get a bit greasy, I think it just adds to the flavor – lol! The pizzas are parbaked, sliced to order, and reheated with your choice of toppings. Plop down in front of their small window counter and enjoy!

7×7 Magazine’s The Big Eat San Francisco: 100 Things to Eat + Drink Before You Die – 2010, 2011, 2012

Red velvet cupcake – Susiecakes

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Red velvet cupcake Susiecakes Bakery

This is one of Susie’s signature “frosting filled” cupcakes, in one of their most popular flavors. And yes, that indentation on top is intentional, all of the cupcakes had them (personally, not a fan). Something else that I wasn’t impressed with was that they throw these cupcakes into a paper bag for you to take home. Needless to say, my cupcake was smashed on the sides when I got home. Who wants to eat an ugly cupcake, am I right!? I tried patching it, but it still looked sad and defeated. Even Mission Minis boxes their tiny morsels for take-home. The red “sprinkles” on top are actually red velvet cake crumbs. This cupcake was OK. Perhaps a frosting overload with it both on top and inside, and I couldn’t get over the smashed look to it.  $3
SusieCakes Bakery, San Francisco

Chicken roulade – BIN 38

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Chicken roulade BIN 38

Served with butter beans, greens and a salsa verde. I’m not sure what were the purple leaves. $20
BIN 38, San Francisco

Wow, this chicken was melt-in-your-mouth good! I’m not sure how they cook it, but it was SO tender and juicy. I’m assuming it was cooked sous-vide, then seared for color and texture. I’d be surprised if it was roasted since there was absolutely no dry spots, but then I’m not a chef – lol! I don’t often eat chicken out at restaurants but if they were all as perfect and flavorful as this one, I would order it all the time. Great job, BIN 38!