More casual spot from the Liholiho Yacht Club crew in the heart of all the Mission action on 18th Street. Mission was jumping on a Wednesday night - what recession? what pandemic?
[I thought @mariacarmen did a review here but I don’t see it - maybe it was just her Mission Local review]
kalamansi cooler - passionfruit, calamansi, orange, pineapple. Good dry January drink, would have been better with some booze in it though.
crying tiger shrimp coconut-makrut cream, cucumber, crispy butter beans, mint, serrano
This was excellent, crunchy, sweet, sour - lots of great textures and flavors
good good chicken wing garlic rice stuffing, adobo glaze
Outstanding, one of the best bites I’ve eaten in a while. Crispy skin with a sweet and sour orange glaze. $9 per wing but they are bigger than they look in my photo.
housemade green curry catfish or sweet potato, clamshell mushroom, lemongrass, galangal
This was OK but nothing special. I should have gone with my instincts and stuck with the small plates.
my top one and probably no surprise because i keep going there and mentioning it is the extra hot at hot boys in oakland. 3 full wings and out is pretty rich and decadent and flavor in your mouth for a while. But I sure do like the looks of those sour glazed boned stuffed ones too and that’s a very convenient location time to time.
I agree about the hot boys chicken sandwich - the dark meat really makes it better, in addition to the real quality hot chicken prep. I do prefer however the more vinegar based slaw at Howlin Rays in LA or Hattie B’s in Nashville. Also they could use a pickle upgrade. All of this is nitpicking. I don’t know a better hot chicken sandwich in the Bay Area. Still I end up getting the wings there which to me are perfect and every bit as good as the top of the competition elsewhere.
I know they may not be original, but I think Howlin Rays here in LA is better than all of em, for the same reason i really like Hot Boys. I like the high quality yard bird. Hot Boys uses halal chicken which i enjoy. I don’t think the chef training and consistency of the Howlin Rays operation hurts either. They have a large new venue in Pasadena now too.
I haven’t tried Dinos - would like to. I def preferred Hattie B’s to Prince’s and Howlin Rays seems an unabashed knock off/homage of Hattie B’s down to the menu, decor and red checkered paper stuff. There’s a Prince family spot here in LA too, Hotville Chicken - it’s not as good as Rays or Hot Boys, sorta one note on the spice, and lesser quality chicken, but it’s still quite good and in the crowded field of hot chicken in LA anyways it’s near the top still. They also do a hot fish sandwich.
