Lots of good eats this year. I’m a sucker for novelty, so I’ve starred dishes dishes that were both outstanding and better than versions I’ve eaten elsewhere.
Asian and Hawaiian
- New Woey Loy Goey (Chinatown, SF): Taishan winter yangtuan
- Liholiho (Lower Nob Hill, SF): beef tongue, kimchi, cucumber, and poppy seed steam bun
- Liholiho (Lower Nob Hill, SF): salmon collar
- Huli Huli (Bayview, SF): Samoan turkey tail
- TLT BBQ (San Mateo): grilled A choy*
- Hankow Cuisine (San Jose): Wuhan bean skin
- Banana island (Daly City): roti canai*
Lamb
- Old Jerusalem (Mission, SF): Kalaya (lamb stew)
- De Afghanan Kabob House (Tenderloin, SF) : chabli kabob*
- Uyghur Tamliri (Outer Sunset, SF): lamb laghman*
- Thousand Tasty (Milpitas) : pao mo (lamb soup with bread)*
Other
- Los Carnalitos food truck (Redwood City): cemita*
- Los Carnalitos food truck (Redwood City) : choriqueso
- Beans and bites (Palo Alto): cuñape
- Da Flora (North Beach, SF): squid ink linguini with Monterey Bay squid
- Kitchentown (San Mateo) : banana cream pie*
- Della Fatoria (Petaluma) : pistachio pot de creme
Travel
- Big Sur Bakery (Big Sur, CA) : grilled gruyere and tomato jam on acme bread
- Post Ranch Inn (Big Sur, CA): olive agnolotti
- Mariscos Jalisco (Los Angeles, CA): fish tacos dorados
- Mariscos Jalisco (Los Angeles, CA) : aguachile on a tostadas
- Ricky’s Fish Taco (Los Angeles, CA): fish taco*
- Shen Yang (Monterey Park, CA): cumin chicken bones
- Fifty Licks (Portland, OR) : Thai rice pudding ice cream
- Pine State Biscuit (Portland, OR) : Cajun cheese fries
- Vinny’s Mulberry Street (East Islip, NY) : Calamari arrabbiata
- Mto Wa Mbu tour (Tanzania) : sauteed pumpkin leaves
- Kaba (Addis Ababa, Ethiopia) : spiced injera with salsa
- Kaba (Addis Ababa, Ethiopia) : chechebsa*
- Kategna (Addis Ababa, Ethiopia) : special ful
