Tag Archives: beef

Lamb shawerma – Truly Mediterranean

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Lamb Shawerma Truly Mediterranean

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

Lamb shawerma - Truly Mediterranean//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js
April 5, 2015. $9.99

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

Grilled beef shortribs – Bar Agricole

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Grilled beef shortribs Bar Agricole

Thick cut shortribs with scarlet turnips, padron peppers and romesco sauce. $30
Bar Agricole, San Francisco

This was one of my favorite dishes at Bar Agricole. I guess you can’t go wrong with perfectly grilled, fatty shortribs, lol! It’s hard to see from the pic, but there was a lot of ribs on the plate. I actually couldn’t finish all of them, but not wanting them to go to waste, I had them boxed up (hehe). The padron peppers were SO yummy, but I’m biased since padron peppers are my favorite. The turnips were good, but some pieces were a little dry. The romesco sauce provided another wonderful flavor and went perfectly with the grilled beef. I would order this again in a quick second!

Lumpia Shanghai – Kuya’s Asian Cuisine

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Lumpia Shanghai Kuya's Asian Cuisine

Filling of seasoned pork and beef, minced onions and carrots, and beaten eggs in a lumpia wrapper, deep fried, and cut into bite sized pieces.
Kuya’s Asian Cuisine, San Bruno CA

I grew up eating lumpia prito (fried lumpia) which are much larger and have more vegetables: sprouts, carrots, string beans, peas, onion, and sometimes potatoes.  My family always used ground beef in our lumpia, and it was great sitting around the table wrapping them to be stored in the freezer.  I’m sure my parents still have trays of it in their freezer, ready to be given to guests to take home.

As a kid I only had lumpia Shanghai at parties and, later on, at Filipino restaurants in the city.  Both lumpia varieties have their advantages, but lumpia Shanghai are less labor intensive to make and because of their small size, make excellent finger food at parties.  I’ve been known to order trays of it to serve at my house.  You can get a traditional “lumpia” sauce at Asian markets, but I prefer a regular sweet chili sauce because it has more flavor.  Beware, lumpia is VERY addictive!

Beef carpaccio – Andalu

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Beef carpaccio Andalu

Thinly sliced and pounded beef with lemon aioli.  Salad of mushrooms, parmesan and arugula.  Sprinkled with fried capers.  $8.50
Andalu, San Francisco

I would have never thought growing up that I would like raw beef SO much, but beef carpaccio changed my mind.  It’s simple nature allows you to truly enjoy the tender beef, and restaurants make it their own by topping it with creative ingredients and flavor combinations.  I like Andalu’s version. The lemon aioli keeps it bright as does the slices of raw mushrooms in the arugula salad.  The fried caper berries add some saltiness and a great texture.  I’m a fan!

Sangria Andalu
They also have 1/2 off carafes of sangria on Thursday nights!

Ropa vieja – Esperpento

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Beef chicken chorizo stew Esperpento
Beef, chicken and chorizo stew with onions, green and red bell peppers, chick peas, garlic, and garnished with chopped parsley.
Esperpento, San Francisco

The combination of all 3 proteins makes this a very hearty stew, but not too heavy.  Spanish chorizo tends to enough saltiness to a dish so be light handed on the salt when preparing something like this at home.  The parsley was a nice touch to add brightness and a fresh flavor. Great comforting dish and bursting with flavor.

Chinese BBQ platter – Mission Chinese Food

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Chinese BBQ Mission Chinese Food
Smoked beef brisket, pork trotter and hot link with smoked cola BBQ sauce. Side of pickled cucumbers, onions and jalapenos.
Mission Chinese Food, San Francisco

I randomly read on Eater.com that Danny Bowien, the chef at Mission Chinese Food, had acquired a smoker and was going to start having bbq on the menu.  So I HAD to order the Chinese bbq platter when I finally saw it on the menu.  I must say that the brisket tastes pretty amazing with a great smoky flavor and oh so tender.  The hot link was ok, didn’t taste very different from others I’ve tried.  I was pleasantly surprised how much I liked the pork trotters – very flavorful.  I was afraid that I wouldn’t like the texture of the skin, but I hardly noticed it from the rest of the meat. And of course, the homemade pickles were great!

Kung pao pastrami – Mission Chinese Food

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Kung pao pastrami Mission Chinese Food
Tender pastrami with explosive chilies, celery, potato, green onions, roasted peanuts, and garnished with sesame seeds. $11
Mission Chinese Food, San Francisco

This dish is even hotter than their Ma Po Tofu!  Perhaps it’s all the dried chili flakes that practically coat every piece in the dish.  But it is VERY delicious.  It has a wonderful smokiness and the variety in textures is absolutely fabulous.  Another go-to dish of mine from Mission Chinese Food.

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

Kung pao pastrami - Mission Chinese Food
February 1, 2014
You can really see how this dish has changed since my original post. Personally, I liked the original.

Old Story – Bisou

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Bisou burger
Bisou burger served with Choron sauce, butter lettuce, tomato, red onion, apple wood bacon, and Morbier cheese.  Side frisée salad and French fries.

Bisou, San Francisco

This is a large burger made decadent with the addition of Choron sauce, apple wood bacon and Morbier cheese.  You could even add seared foie gras for $5!  The lightly dressed frisée salad helped to balance out the heavy burger.  No point in counting calories here, especially with a large bowl of French fries!

Wagyu beef onglet – ANZU

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Wagyu beef onglet ANZU
10 ounces of grilled hanger steak served with Béarnaise sauce and blue cheese butter, regular and sweet potato frites, and a mushroom custard topped with sauteed carrots and zucchini.
ANZU, San Francisco

I ordered the onglet medium rare, and it arrived cooked perfectly.  I’m always weary when a beef cut is labeled “Wagyu” because I have to wonder if it’s actually imported from Japan.  I’ve heard that some places will call their beef “Wagyu” even though the meat is sourced locally.  Regardless, this meat was very tender and delicious.  I preferred the blue cheese butter more than the Béarnaise sauce.  I was disappointed that the frites were oily and soggy, though.

Juicy Lucy butter burger – Maverick

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Juicy Lucy butter burger Maverick
Made with 70% Meyer Ranch beef chuck which is cured for 24 hours and 30% butter with a slice of smoked gouda in the middle of the patty. The patties are individually vacuum sealed and sous vide’d with another stick of butter then seared in a buttered cast-iron skillet and topped with a slow-cooked egg yolk, sauce gribiche, and watercress.  Served with sliced cornichons and French fries.
Maverick, San Francisco