Belated comments about my meals in SF & surrounding areas.

Regional Dining Discussions SF Bay Area, NorCal, Tahoe
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This is probably going to be more of a list than detailed comments because I was there in late July-early August, and the finer points of what I had aren’t remembered very well. Except for one meal at the airport, my San Francisco meals were in the Duboce Triangle area–some take-out, some eaten on site.

SAN FRANCISCO

Taco Boys (on Market Street) - carnitas tacos (carnitas were a bit over cooked but they were still good tacos), good salsa & chips

Shanghai Dumpling King (14th Street) - Very good food. Had lunch specials of twice cooked pork and Szechuan beef with my dining partner. Also had Shanghai soup dumplings. Would not hesitate to eat there again if in the area.

Bonita Taqueria y Rotisserie (16th Street) - Had my first actual mission burrito here. It was a regular carnitas burrito and the one I liked best of the two mission burritos I had in San Francisco. I skip the tortilla at Chipotle and Qdoba, but the tortilla here is actually worth having. Good chips & salsa here, too.

Beit Rima (Church Street) -Take-out. I really enjoyed the beef kabob and chicken. My dining partner liked the food overall much more than I did. Also had falafel and whatever dips came with the food. Pita bread from here was the best I can ever recall having. Batata harra was a miss for me because it was so heavily spiced, I’d have been hard pressed to even identify it as potato. I’ve had a version of that at Mazza in Salt Lake City that was more to my tastes. Still, I considered it a good meal.

El Castillito (Church Street) - Take-out. Another regular carnitas burrito from here. It was good but I didn’t think it was as good as the one I had at Bonita. Also had al pastor tacos which were good. The not so good was a large cup of watery guacamole that didn’t taste much of avocado.

Los Amigos(Market Street) - Take-out. Had revueltas (pork, cheese, & beans) and hongos y ajo (mushroom & garlic) pupusas. First time I’ve had Salvadoran food. I liked it okay but I’d rate is as one of my lesser meals in San Francisco. They did have good guacamole that came with regular chips and some kind of thick chips. Yelp says this location has closed. I had to try a couple of times because they weren’t open when when their hours said they should be open.

Woodhouse Fish (Market Street) - I enjoyed this place more than the other two seafood meals I had this trip. The fish & chips were very good. And I wanted to have clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl before I left San Francisco. I liked the chowder here better than the other two places.

Mama Go’s (SFO) - First time I’ve had Filipino food. Chicken adobo, coconut chicken curry, garlic rice, lumpia Shanghai. Really liked all of it. The rice was very garlicky, but it’s very hard to make something too garlicky for me, and it wasn’t. For a quick serve place in an airport I was impressed.

HALF MOON BAY

Barbara’s Fishtrap - This was extremely busy, so there was quite a wait. Had prawns, scallops, rock fish, & chips from there. It was all pretty good. Some guy outside was raving about the scallops. They were good but not that good. Also had a cup of clam chowder which was good but not as creamy as I prefer.

BODEGA BAY

Fisherman’s Cove - I had halibut, cod, & chips. Also a cup of Portuguese style fish stew and a cup of clam chowder. Clam chowder was okay. Didn’t much care for the fish stew. The halibut and cod were enjoyable.

DAVIS

Village Bakery - Had a sausage & mushroom pizza there. It was one of the best pizzas I’ve had in quite a while. The crust was about perfect.

Four Seasons Gourmet Chinese - Had sesame chicken, curry beef, and potstickers. I’d rate this as one of the worst meals of the trip, but even at that, it was still okay. The curry beef was far too fatty. I expect some of that with beef in Chinese food but this was too much for me. I liked the potstickers best of what I had at this restaurant.

Taqueria Davis - Had carnitas tacos, carne asada tacos, and guacamole & chips from there. Really enjoyed the food. It was a bit greasy but I don’t mind a bit of grease. The guacamole needed salt, but there weren’t any salt shakers on the tables, and I didn’t bother to ask for any.

Preethi - I went to the lunch buffet. I’ve been to better Indian lunch buffets, but the food was still pretty good. Had butter chicken , biryani, tandoori chicken, rasam, pakoras, naan, and some other chicken curry. The tandoori chicken was especially good here.

Raising Cane’s - Some of the best chicken fingers I’ve had. Good fries, too. I went there because there aren’t any locations of that chain near me, and I was curious about it.

In-n-Out - Been to the chain a couple of times before. I’m not as crazy about it as a lot of people seem to be. Just had a burger, fries, and a chocolate shake. Ordered the fries well-done, and they were too well-done. In-n-Out is okay for what it is.

My Burma - First time I’ve had Burmese food. Had samusas, pumpkin chicken curry, and beef curry. Really enjoyed everything. I was expecting stronger flavors but everything was very good. Worst thing about the meal was that I was seated by a window and was plagued by flies throughout the meal. I really need to remember to avoid that.

Tasty Gourmet - Some of the best Chinese food of the trip. Had potstickers, bbq pork fried rice, and beef chow fun. Standout was the beef chow fun.

Hunan Bar & Restaurant - Another very good Chinese meal. Had lunch specials with Kung Pao chicken, General chicken, fried rice, chow mein, and hot & sour soup. Also had potstickers. This was probably the best bargain of the trip.

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What was the Davis part of the trip about?
Out in the real California.
:wink:
PS: I would have been interested in your West Coast vs. Rocky Mountain vs Tex Mex Mexican food impressions.
Sounds like you had fun :blush:

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Some fun. Enjoyed seeing the area. I’ve been to California a few times but not to the places I went this trip.

I may post about the Mexican food differences sometime. My favorite local taqueria is part of a small chain based in California. I think all of the other locations may be in California. Not sure how one ended up here in Colorado.

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IMO, the sweet spot for In-n-Out fries is “light well”. Their regular fries are too limp, and well done fries are overcooked, but if you ask for “light well fries”, they’re fried half again as long as the regular fries and are much better. Still, I don’t go to In-n-Out for the fries.

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For years, Woodhouse was a regular stop for fried full belly clams and a lobster roll. Then supply problems set in and fried clams weren’t served. Thanks to you, we just looked and they’re back.

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Nice report.
Two thoughts:
At In and Out try ordering fries Medium Well or Light Well would probably get you the Fries you want.
If you are at a Burmese Restaurant again, Tea Leaf Salad, Palata/ Palatha/ Parrotha with Curry Dip, Nan Gyi Thoke(Rice Noodle and Chicken Curry), Mint_____(insert Protein of choice), Fiery Tofu with___ or Sour leaf curry (Chin Baung Ywet) would all be great Dishes to try.

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Thanks for yours and ricepad’s tip about fries at In-n-Out. I won’t be going there again anytime soon, but I’ll keep it in mind.

I am planning on having Burmese food next time I’m in San Francisco, that or Indonesian/Malaysian food. I’ll order palatha, and it looks like Indonesian restaurants have a version of that with a somewhat similar dipping sauce, too. I’ll be sharing food with someone else, so whatever else is ordered will probably have to be negotiated. I’m thinking one of the Burmese restaurants in Inner Richmond or The Lime Tree (also in Inner Richmond) --or possibly somewhere else. I haven’t really searched through the posts here for those cuisines in San Francisco yet.

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I am sorry to hear that.

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I never ordered “light well”, didn’t know it was a thing. Ordering well done adds 10 minutes to the order, so I skip most of the time. The relatively cheap burger made from fresh beef is the reason for InO hype. Double cheese is $4.90, hamburger is $3.15, this after an August increase. There’s definitely better burgers…but not many for the price.

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The trick with In N Out burgers is you can customize it to dial in exactly how you want it. Almost all the customizations are off menu.

For example, here’s my in n out burger order:

  • 3 by 3 (3 meat, 3 cheese)
  • Animal style
  • Extra toast (buns on griddle a bit longer to get the bread crispy)
  • Extra mustard on patties (enhances umami-ness on the patties while they grill)
  • Extra lettuce
  • Chopped peppers (for the heat and acid)
  • Cut in half (two halves that you can eat from the middle)

Skip the fries. I find that no right amount of frying doneness gets them to a state where I’m satisfied

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The workers there must love you. :laughing:

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At least in my experience, in and out employees seem to enjoy their jobs and working there.
No stoned disinterested teenagers ignoring you like other FF places.

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in and out employees seem to enjoy their jobs …

I agree something remarkable must happen behind the scenes at INO HR to get the “cohort” that they do. But this doenst defuse “beyond the pale, high maint request (at a FF joint)” any more than “the customer is always right”. First two asks, totally fine, but three “extras” and two “chopping instructions” seem to be pushing it.

Can you ask for say 12 samples if the ice cream scooper “seems to be enjoying his job”?

How about asking an engaged or interested teen to pick off the sesame seeds on a seeded bun?

I remember a foodie friend of mine “not reading the room” and ordering a Pimm’s Cup at a beer/shot/rum-and-coke type bar (at an extremely busy time). Unclear if the bartender didnt know what that was or was uninterested/unable to accommodate but it wasnt entertained. I forgot what the second – also declined – ask was. At that point I wanted to disappear/disassociate myself but I’d offered to get the round, so I couldnt “who dis?” disengage. I think she eventually settled on a a white wine, but I think that also involved some picky questions about what was avail. OMG.

I once sent back a baked ziti made with penne.

I ask for alumette carrots instead of julienne to get to a state where I am satisfied.

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As always, I recommend Burmese Kitchen in the inner Richmond for good, strongly flavored Burmese. Glad you had a good trip!

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Haven’t gotten any eyerolls yet (that I could see). It’s all options on a secret menu they support since they’re just selecting options on the register, that show up on the receipt, and never had to yell out to the kitchen.

You’re probably thinking I’m “that guy” but In n Out is the only place I do this.

I think it helps that In n Out seems to properly staff their restaurants. It’s a whole army back there, not like 1 person trying to keep up.

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In N Out (at least in CA) pays above market wages.

Same is true for Chik-Fil-A.

For some strange reason, money tends make people more friendly.

/sarcasm

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Is there usually much of a wait to get into Burmese Kitchen? I think I’ve read comments saying Burma Superstar can take quite a while. I’ll put Burmese Kitchen as my favored option based on your recommendation.

Also, do you have any experience with Mingalaba or Yangon in Burlingame? I’ll probably be having one or two meals down that way. I’ve decided one will be Filipino food at Isla, but I may be able to have a Burmese meal in that area, too.

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Never had to wait.

Went to yangon a long time ago – good, some things very good, but not at the level of Burmese Kitchen or Mandalay, which can’t come close to Burmese Kitchen on a great night but is consistently very good.

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Yeah!

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Thanks for the write-up.

For the future, if you ever get to a Burmese restaurant again, you should go for items you don’t find on an Indian menu.

You need to go for the truly unique stuff, which in my mind is the ginger salad and tea leaf salad or perhaps any other salads. I’ve never met a ginger salad I didn’t like, so that’s always my first choice. If you are ok with spicy/garlicky/fermented, then you can always ask if they have balachaung which is a dry condiment made with hot peppers, garlic, and fermented shrimp. A really good place will have many salad options that are varied and fascinating with so many textures. Their ‘rainbow’ salad might fill the bill.

Burmese curries are usually very simple and homey tasting, unless otherwise specified on the menu as spicy or having unusually strong ingredients like fresh mango.

I see also they have yellow tofu on the menu. It’s not really tofu, but made with chickpea flour. Can be excellent.

The chicken noodle soup is probably kaukswe, in which case the noodles should be served separate and added to the soup as you eat. This can be crazy delicious.

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