#97: Lamb shawerma at Truly Mediterranean

Ugh, lamb. I've never liked lamb. Lamb to me is too gamey -- and gamey meat tastes rotten to me. So when I bit into this lamb shawerma today, I thought I was eating a rotting lamb carcass. I'm sorry, folks. Different strokes for different folks, I guess.
But because I'm a smarty-pants times a million, I conned Paul Nadeau into going with me to order something with chicken and do the ol' switch-a-roo if I didn't like the lamb shawerma. Needless to say, I finished my meal with a chicken kebab. Now since I'm not the right person to review something with lamb in it, I have asked Paul to write a review for me.

Paul:
Thin marinated slices of lamb and beef, broiled tomatoes, parsley, seasoned onions, with tahini sauce on Lavash. Now, I love shawermas and I've had them from tons of different places I do prefer chicken normally, but obviously had to get the lamb one cause someone's a pussy. I do love lamb and obviously beef and this one was good, but that's all I can say -- it was good not great and not something for Food and Wine magazine to call one of the 75 best buys in the U.S. The meat had a really great earthy flavor and the seasoning either on the meat or the onions was great (lots of cumin). But it could have been better, there were too many onions and I'm paying for that now as are all my co-workers. The strong flavors of the meat drown out the Tahini sauce, so it obviously could have used more. And it could have use a few more sweet veggies, e.g. cucumbers (or sweet fruit as it were, all you fruit/veggie nazis stop being so technical) to counteract the earthy richness of the meat. I don't know if cucumbers are traditionally in shawermas but I get them in there sometimes and they always work so that would have been nice. Also of note, the size, you get a lot of food for the price $8. But now I want to take a nap. It's a fine line I guess. Would I go to this place again? Yeah if I am craving Mediterranean food and I'm in the Mission, but I might try something else (falafel?) Would I trek there for lunch during the week, no, I wouldn't. I'd just go to Oasis downtown.

Thanks Paul for taking one for the team.

Sidenotes: $8
Lamb shawermas served every day except Tuesday & Friday. On Tuesday & Friday, they have chicken shawermas.

#84: A margarita at Tommy’s Mexican Restaurant

It wouldn't be a real hooky day if I didn't start drinking at some point and luckily, Tommy's Mexican Restaurant was only one block from Ton Kiang and their margarita is on the list. So I ordered the margarita, on the rocks, no salt. It was super strong at first (I think anytime you have a good margarita as your first drink of the day, it's going to taste extra-strong) but a few sips in, it just got really GOOD. No simple syrup used here, just several limes squeezed into the drink.
You know what else is good? Their chips and salsa. Spicy salsa (to the point that it made me reach for my margarita after each bite).
If you're a tequila lover, this is your place. They have hundreds of tequilas and seem to really know their s**t too (after a few sips, I started firing off questions, natch.)
I would totally go here again next time I'm in the hood and will definitely have more than just one margarita.

Sidenotes:
$7
50 down/50 to go! Let's do this!

#62: Shrimp shumai at Ton Kiang

I planned this all wrong. You can't just go into a dim sum place, sit down and order one item. In fact, once I realized that was what was going on, I ordered the pork buns to be fair. But we were so stuffed from breakfast and then the Korean place, that we couldn't sit there and have a full-on meal.
Yes, the shrimp shumai was good. No, I don't think it is good enough to be on the list. No, you shouldn't try to eat it in one bite. Yes, it will burn the roof of your mouth. Yes, I want to go back and have pretty much everything that they came around with. Any takers?

Sidenotes:
$4
The 7x7 publication says to get the shrimp shumai at Ton Kiang and the website did at one point too. But now the website says to get the Dim Sum. This isn't the first time I have noticed a discrepancy. More on that in the coming months.

#9: Tofu soup with kimchi at My Tofu House

Took the 38 Geary bus out to 10th and Geary to check out some tofu soup at My Tofu House. I thought this might be a vegetarian restaurant based on the name, but it's a Korean restaurant and there was pork in my soup, so there went that theory. You have your choice of beef or pork in the soup. My little Korean hipster waiter recommended the pork, so I went with that. While waiting for the soup, a different little Korean hipster comes out with all these side dishes filled with crazy stuff. There was pickled cabbage, pickled radish, pickled cucumber (which tasted like pickles ... natch), an egg, some chopped up anchovies (no thank you), some bean sprouts (they were tossed in sesame oil and tasted yummy) and a fish. Yes, a whole fish. Not a big fish, but still it was a whole fish and he had mini teeth and he was staring at me.

Sketchy from the outside. Not bad on the inside.

Cucumbers, bean sprouts and rice.

Anchovies, radish, cabbage, egg and that fish.

So here's a picture of the soup. It comes BOILING in a clay pot. You take the egg, crack it in, wait a few seconds and then stir it up. The soup was good. There's a lot going on, but I liked it -- and David and I both agreed that it would be great on a cold day. Would I come back? Eh, probably not. Nothing against the soup, but if I'm going to trek out to that 'hood, I'm going to check out a different restaurant that I've never been to.

I think this soup might just be on the list because of the novelty of it all. Kind of like how I felt about Dosa. It's more for the experience than the taste.

Sidenotes:
$10.05
Yes, I tried the fish and it was super fishy. Ew.

#83. French fries at Universal Cafe

The day of 7x7 fun ended with our trip to Universal Cafe for their french fries. I kinda felt like I did about the cheese pizza at Arinell, like, 'Really? French Fries? How good can these things be?' Well, what they do here to make their french fries so special, is that they toss in Italian parsley, sage and rosemary into the fryer with the french fries -- and what you get are herbed french fries with amazing flavor. It's an awesome concept. What wasn't awesome, was their "aioli" that they served them with. It was straight up mayo. I mean, if you're going to call something aioli, give me more than Best Foods (and this is coming from a girl who hearts mayo BIG time.) I ate them with the ketchup and they were damn good.

Ordered a bottle of Willamette Valley Vineyards Pinot Gris to wash our fries down with. Made this Oregon girl happy.

How cute is this place?

The place was adorable --and the menu was impressive. It was fancier than I thought it was going to be -- and I would totally come back. It's on a quiet street ... a little off the beaten path -- and would be a great date place.

Sidenotes:

$6 for a heaping plate of fries.

The chef is a woman, who believes in changing the menu constantly based on what's in season and what's available currently available at the local, organic markets.

#67: Paper masala dosa at Dosa

What the f**k is this? I was seriously in shock when this came out. Honestly, when I ordered the paper masala dosa, I thought it was those chippy things they bring out at Indian restaurants. Um, no. It is a huge f**king crepe that you tear into, fill with the potato stuff (front left, called Dosa) and dip in the little dippy sauces. It was good, but I wouldn't order it again. It's great for sharing with friends -- that part was cool -- and the taste was good too. But it didn't knock my socks and I couldn't help but think that it was only on the list because of the novelty of the whole thing. Anyway, it was fun to sit at the bar, have a drink and share this monstrosity with David and Dan.

Sidenotes:

$11 and it could feed an army.

#56: Nuestra Paloma at Beretta

So Dan and David came with me to cruise around the Mission on Thursday (they liked the pizza too) and next up, we went to Beretta to have something called a nuestra paloma -- and what that was was a cocktail made of tequila, elderflower, cointreau, grapefruit, bitters. It was pretty good -- nothing special -- but STRONG. No idea why this would be on the list. It was just ok. David had the improved whiskey cocktail (rye, bitters, dubonnet, absinthe, maraschino) and Dan had the rattlesnake, which was rye, lemon, maple, bitters and egg white. David's drink was frigging awful, but those ingredients are also disgusting to me. Dan's was definitely the best.

My nuestra paloma

David's drink sucks and what is his hair doing?

Dan with his drink plus David doing that creepy thing he does.

Sidenotes:

$10

I would only come back if I was going to have dinner and would sit at the bar just to watch the bartender make these cocktails. That part was super entertaining.

I heard that when the restaurant is busy it takes about 20 minutes to get a cocktail. Boo....

#86: A cheese slice at Arinell Pizza

A simple slice of cheese pizza. That's it. Cheese. Pizza. Who knew that a simple little slice of cheese pizza could be SO good. I mean, it must be something special to be on the list ... I get that ... but my expectations were pretty low for a slice of cheese pizza. Why was that slice of cheese pizza so damn good?!

Well, part of it might have been that as soon as I walked in, the dude was placing a fresh-out-of-the-oven cheese pizza on the rack and I got the first slice of the damn thing. Then, even though it had just come out of the oven, the dude then placed my slice of cheese pizza into the oven to make the bottom of it a bit crispy. Gotta love that. But I think the main thing is that it was one of the best pizza crusts I have ever had -- not to mention that the sauce was perfect. So I guess when your expectations are super low and you're just thinking that a simple slice of cheese pizza can't really be THAT good, then you're bound to be impressed.

Next time you find yourself around 16th & Valencia, do yourself a favor and get a slice of the cheese pizza.

Sidenotes:

$2.50 a slice (bargain times a mil)

Cash only.

Cheese f**king pizza!

#21: Pizza margherita at Pizzeria Delfina

Last night, David and I went to check out Pizzeria Delfina (the Pacific Heights location) for the Pizza Margherita, which consists of tomato, fior di latte mozzarella and basil. The pizza was ok. It had very thin crust (which I like) and had extremely fresh-tasting ingredients. Although... I gotta say... the pizza lacked some flavor for me. I mean, if you're going to to say there is basil on your pizza, then put some f*#%ing basil on your pizza. Two and a half leaves of basil isn't gonna cut it, sister. I mean, the tomato sauce and cheese alone is not going to make this one of the top 100 things to eat or drink in San Francisco before I die!
So even though it was one of the only times that I didn't feel like a total fat-ass after eating pizza, or how impressed I was by how fresh everything tasted (like GARDEN-fresh), I was still disappointed by the lack of flavor and excitement.

Sidenotes:
$12.50 (a pizza can feed two people)
All wines are Italian. I don't know s**t about Italian wines, and it didn't seem like the server did either, so that was challenging. Aside from that, the service was excellent.

#91: Albondigas soup at Mijita

7x7 Magazine really loves the Ferry Building and all it has to offer apparently, because today I went to check out ANOTHER place that made their list. This time it was to Mijita for the Albondigas soup.

The soup was really good and just enough food for lunch. Tons of fresh ingredients like cilantro, celery, zucchini, onion and carrot -- that along with their delicious meatballs and crispy tortilla strips -- made for a party, er ... fiesta, in my mouth.

It's a big portion, but it's broth-based like Tortilla soup, so you're not totally over-stuffed. Not spicy, but very flavorful -- and they're generous with the meatballs.

The meatballs were being shy. They're at the bottom.

Halfway through my soup, I added several shakes of their favorite hot sauce in the soup and in my opinion, it got way better. Not any spicier, just better.

Tastes just like Tapatio.

Like every other place in the Ferry Building, Mijita at lunchtime is busy, so get there early. Speaking of busy, I haven't knocked out one of these 7x7 things in two months and now I'm looking at maybe not being able to finish this in the one year I gave myself to finish. We'll see. Blame it on David.

Sidenotes:
$6.50 a bowl
There's a new location at the ballpark.
Outdoor seating available -- which on a day like today is rad.

#92: Bacon-wrapped hot dog from a cart in the Mission (preferably when you’re drunk)

It's nearly impossible to NOT get one of these after some drinks -- with the way the bacon-smell wafts through the bar at 1:30 a.m.

The magazine says to get this from a cart in the Mission -- but there's no way I would be down in the Mission at the time of night where one could find these. Maybe when I was 25 but not these days. Besides, they're all the same, right? It's a frigging hotdog with frigging bacon wrapped around it.

This particular cart was outside the R Bar last weekend -- and can be found out there most weekends lately.

I got grilled onions on mine and was pretty satisfied at the time.

The hot dog part is just a normal small hot dog (the kind that tastes like bologna) and the bun was really cold -- so if I'm going all culinary on my thoughts about it, I probably wouldn't get it again. But then again, if you've had enough drinks, there's no way you're NOT going to get one. Not based on how good they smell.

Sidenotes:

No idea what the cost was. I was wasted. I'll have to find out next time I see the cart. Next weekend?

#96: Ube ice cream from Mitchell’s

I'm really enjoying how there are three different ice cream places on this list, because before this, I cannot even remember the last time I went out for ice cream. As you know, I already tried the secret breakfast and salted caramel ice creams and today, I checked out the last one: Mitchell's Ice Cream in the Mission (the DEEEEEP Mission).

The flavor to try here is Ube -- which is purple yam -- and apparently a popular flavor in the Philippines. It was good -- but nowhere near as good as the other two ice cream places on the list. I can't even describe what it tasted like. It just kind of tasted sweet -- like vanilla but with less flavor. Does that even make sense? It wasn't bad -- not at all -- it's just that when you go to an ice cream shop and there's like 50 flavors, it's hard not to get something a little more interesting.

Bindi got Irish Coffee.

Hughie got Butterscotch Marble and Mig got Chocolate Caramel Crunch.

Sidenotes:

$1.70 for a junior (one scoop)

I also tried the strawberries n' cream and it was awesome.

Long, long wait. Could've had something to do with the weather today -- but nevertheless -- this isn't your in-and-out quickly ice cream shop.

40% done!

#77: Eggs benedict on the back patio at Zazie

Had the pleasure of going to a neighborhood I never go to on a perfect San Francisco sunny day to have one of my favorite meals of all time: eggs benedict. If you've been to Zazie in Cole Valley, you know that it's extremely cute, very popular and their eggs benedict is out of this world. The great thing about this 7x7 list item is that it just said you have to have eggs benedict -- it didn't say what kind. And they have some good ones to choose from:

Florentine: with spinach and portobello mushrooms 8/ 11/ 14
Pierre Noir: with bacon and tomatoes provencales 9/ 12/ 15
La Mer: with fresh hand picked dungeness crab, green onions, and haas avocados 12/ 17/ 21
Monaco: with Zoe’s proscuitto and tomatoes provencales9/ 12/ 15
Albert: with bacon, white cheddar, and homemade salsa fresca 9/ 12/ 15
St. Trop: with wild smoked salmon, capers, and red onions 10/ 13/ 16
Valence: with roasted eggplant and spicy tomato-chevre sauce (no hollandaise) 8/ 11/ 14

I got three of the Albert (It was 2:30 p.m., ok? And I hadn't had anything to eat yet!) and Hughie got three of the Monaco. He gave me one of his and I gave him one of mine -- and although they were both so f**king good, I think mine was a little bit better. I mean, c'mon ... bacon, white cheddar (one of my favorite things ever) and salsa fresca? So good. So SO good. I was hoping Jen or Megan would get eggs benedict too so we could've switched three ways and I could've tried another one -- but in the end I was glad that I got to have two of the Albert.

Hugh's Monaco benedict was great too. The tomatoes were roasted, so they were so sweet and that sweetness combined with the saltiness of the prosciutto was divine.

My two Alberts (that I peppered-up) are on the left. Hugh's Monaco on the right.

Like I said, I was hungry.

If you like eggs benedict, then this is a must-go-to. Totally f**king list-worthy.

Sidenotes:

Prices above -- based on one, two or three eggs.

Although 7x7 said to have "eggs benedict on the back patio", the wait was too long. In fact, the wait is super long to even eat inside. But worth it!

You can't order one of one kind and one of the other. You can only order one, two or three of the same kind. So bring a friend and have them get eggs benedict, so you can try more than one!

#73: Popovers with strawberry butter at the Rotunda

I have an amazing boss, Felicia, who treats me to coffee in the morning, random mani/pedis and fantastic lunches when we can. Yesterday, she took me to the Rotunda at Neiman Marcus ... just because.

I was so excited to go because they have a 7x7 item there that I could try: the popovers with strawberry butter.


Absolutely delicious. Big, fluffy, airy, tasty, flaky, RAD. They bring them to you soon after you sit down when they're still warm. I definitely could've had two -- but I had this coming:

The lobster club: lobster, bacon, avocado, tomato, greens, lemon aioli and roasted red pepper -- served on brioche bread. The sweetness of the bread, combined with the buttery-ness of the lobster and the saltiness of the bacon made it one of the best sandwiches ever.

Definitely go here and try the popovers and this sandwich. And throw in a pomegranate martini in too for good measure ... it's delicious!

Sidenotes:

Popovers come complimentary.

Lobster club was $28. Def the most expensive sandwich I've ever had. Thanks Business Times!

You'll want to make a reservation -- or you can be waiting for up to 30-45 minutes.

#28: A Gibraltar at Blue Bottle Café

This is the Gibraltar from Blue Bottle Café. Isn't it pretty?

When I got to Blue Bottle (I went to the Mint Plaza location), I was a little confused because the Gibraltar wasn't on the menu.

"What's a Gibraltar?" I asked the girl at the counter.

"It's named after this glass (she held up the bigger shot glass from R Bar) and it's two shots of espresso with a little bit of steamed milk on top. And you can only get it for-here," she said.

"That sounds good. I'll have that," I replied.

So I sat there, played Words With Friends and sipped on my Gibraltar.

It was good. It's about the quality of the coffee here. The Oakland-based company is on a mission to be "a roaster for people who are clamoring for the actual taste of freshly roasted coffee." It was good coffee ... but putting it on the list of 100 Things to Eat and Drink in San Francisco Before You DIE (!) might make it a tad over-rated. Nevertheless, if you're in need of a caffeine-fix and you're near a Blue Bottle café, you might as well throw down a couple bucks to try it.

Sidenotes:
$2.75
Really nice place (the Mint Plaza location) to sit and enjoy a cup of coffee: It's really open, bright and airy.

#16: Katsu curry from Muracci’s Japanese Curry & Grill

It makes me so happy to go to these places and be like, 'F**k yes! THAT was GOOD!' Well that happened about 4 hours ago at Muracci's Japanese Curry & Grill in the Financial District. I had been to this place before with a co-worker and prior to that, I had never even heard of a Japanese curry restaurant. I had the beef curry the first time I went and I remember liking it a whole bunch and also thinking that it was a whole lotta food for lunchtime. This place is primarily a lunch spot -- and a very popular one -- with lines sometimes going out the door. Part of the line thing is because they make everything to order and so it can take a bit longer than most Fi-Di lunchtime take-out places. I had been putting off going here because of the quantity of food but realized this morning (I like to plan out my meals, ok?) that they close at 2:30 p.m. after lunch, but then they open back up at 5:30 p.m. Perfect!

The katsu curry is a pork cutlet that has been breaded in panko bread crumbs and pan-fried. It was very tender and tasty! The curry (which takes two days to make) is different from an Indian curry in that it is thicker and sweeter -- and you get your choice of mild, medium or hot. I had mine made medium spicy and it was perfect. I like spicy food though, so if you don't, you should maybe get it made mild.

You have your choice of white rice or brown rice (I got brown) and on the side are their version of pickles, which is just pickled cabbage and red peppers. Kinda nice to have something sour to snack on between some of the more spicy bites.

Close-up of the katsu!

Sidenotes:

$8.95 for katsu curry.

Muracci's was also on the list last year for their katsu curry.

Very little seating (it's mostly a take-out place) but if you go when I did (5:30 p.m.), there are plenty of seats.

#10: Nick’s Baja-style fish tacos at The Taco Shop at Underdogs

OMG, I love The Taco Shop at Underdogs on 19th & Irving. First of all, it's a sports bar -- and I don't think I've ever met a sports bar I didn't like. Second, they have pop-a-shot and old school video games. Third, they have buckets of beer. Fourth, they have purse hooks under the bar. And lastly, they have amazing tacos -- like #10 on 7x7's list: the baja-style fish taco. Now, fish tacos are never my first choice when I'm at a taqueria -- nor are they my second choice. I like them ... I just like pork, chicken and beef better. But I gotta tell you ... the fish taco was amazing.

The "baja-style fish taco" is beer battered fish in two soft corn tortillas with cilantro, cabbage, red onions and lime & roasted tomato salsas. There is also a very light and thin lime-y sour cream involved. You have the option to get the tacos "Nick's Way," which is one grilled crispy corn tortilla and one soft, filled with monterey jack cheese, pinto beans, pico de gallo and guacamole but you all know how I feel about beans in my tacos...

New favorite taco in my new favorite bar/taco shop.

Closer look.

It's not only the tacos that I thought were amazing here. Remember back in February when I went to La Papalote to try their chips & salsa? And remember when I said that it was good but it wasn't as good as that one Tortilla Heights salsa? Well, interesting connection here... The Taco Shop at Underdog's has the same salsas as Tortilla Heights! I should've known as Tortilla Heights has a couple tacos on their menu that are made through Nick too. Underdog's had squeeze bottles of the salsas up and down the bar -- so I was just going to town. Although to be quite honest, the taco had so much flavor, I didn't think it needed any salsa.

This is a definite must-go-to. I would love to go with any of you on a weekend to watch a Giants game. I'm dying to go back.

Sidenotes:
$4.50 for the fish taco.

Yes, the 'Nick' I speak of is from 'Nick's Crispy Tacos' fame.

Lots of TVs to watch your favorite team.

They had sangria that looked pretty good too.

#36: Dry-fried chicken wings at San Tung

Ain't no thing but a chicken wing!

Nadeau and I had been talking about this one for awhile -- as we share an affinity for wings. These ones were particularly intriguing based on the fact that they were "dry-fried" and neither one of us knew what that meant. Well, after doing a bit of research it seems that to "dry-fry" means to fry something without using oil. When ordering the famous dry-fried chicken wings (and based on how much there is on the internet about them, I would say they ARE indeed famous), you have the option of having them dry or wet -- which seemed to me to be glazed or non-glazed. I'm a big sauce person, so I always get wet (that's what she said).

These wings kick ass. I think I've only had non-buffalo wings maybe one other time. They were sweet -- but not too sweet -- and overall the flavor was great. The wings themselves were big and had lots of meat on them, which is always good.

The restaurant was BUSY -- especially for lunchtime on a Saturday afternoon. It was about a 15-20 minute wait for two people -- and when we finally got seated, it was at a communal table (which was fine). Speaking of communal tables, this would be a great place to go out for Chinese with a group: They have 6-8 round tables that seat 10.

Definitely go check out the chicken wings next time you are in the Inner Sunset and let me know what you think!

Sidenotes:
$9.00 for 12 wings

We also got the dry-fried asparagus which was really good.

#17: Samusa soup at Burma Superstar

It's been a couple of weeks since I've knocked one of these 7x7 adventures out, but in all fairness I went to Burma Superstar on March 31 ... I just haven't written about it yet!

Meg, Jen and I went there because a) none of us had ever been there and b) the Samusa soup is on the 7x7 list and c) we like to hang out. It was actually a perfect day to go eat soup -- cold and dreary. The soup is a vegetarian soup -- made up of beans, samusas (basically just like Indian Samosas, just Burmese) falafels, lentils, cabbage, onions and a bunch of spices ... and it was TASTY! In fact, out of all the things we ordered, the soup was my favorite thing.

We also ordered the tea leaf salad (on last year's 7x7 list), the pumpkin pork stew, the beef kebat and the platha and dip (platha is a coconut chicken curry sauce that I pretty much wanted to bathe in.)

The tea leaf salad was very good but there was something going on with the dressing that I wasn't a fan of. Both the pumpkin pork stew and beef kebat were good and I'm pretty much a huge fan of coconut rice. Mmm...

After all the hype that I have heard about this place since I have lived here, I'm just not sure it lived up to it. I mean, it was good -- but I wasn't wowed or anything. I would definitely recommend the soup -- especially on a shitty day. It's your call.

Sidenotes:
$10 for Samusa soup (1-3 people)
Burma Superstar doesn't take reservations. We went at 6:00 p.m. and got the last open table. When we left, I heard the host tell some people that it would be a 40-minute wait.
You could potentially get out here really fast. They bring the food out like you called it in ahead of time.

#51: Maccaronara with ricotta salata at A16

Met Bindi for a glass of wine at A16 on Saturday (walked over from the Final Final during a break in the tourney action) and ordered the maccaronara while I was there. Ordered the half portion, which was perfect for a mid-day meal.

This was really good. I had never had maccaronara before -- and I liked it. It was like a thick spaghetti and I liked it that they cooked it al dente. I'm guessing the "ricotta salata" part was the sh*t-ton of cheese on the top -- but I didn't think that ricotta came like this. This looked like mozzarella. I was so excited when this plate showed up. I mean, I put so much cheese on my pasta, but I do it AT HOME. To have somebody else do it for me was awesome.


The sauce was frigging amazing and as you can see ... I ate every last drop.



Sidenotes:
$9 half order/$16 full order

#54: Spiced-chocolate doughnut at Dynamo Donut with a Four Barrel coffee

Hughie and I went down to the Mission to check out Dynamo Donut and get the spiced-chocolate doughnut and a four barrel coffee.

This place is super cool. They use all sorts of inventive ingredients not typically found at your neighborhood donut shop (apricot, cardamom, chipotle, rosemary, thyme, rose water).

We were there to try just one doughnut and walked out of there with six ... FOR THE TWO OF US. Can you say fat-asses?

Hughie wanted to try the Caramel de Sel one and Vanilla Bean (my favorite ... it had orange zest in the cake part.) The other ones we got were: Chocolate Rosemary Almond, Meyer Lemon Huckleberry (which had a bright red berry glaze on it) and of course the Maple-Glazed Bacon Apple (um, yeah.)

Of all the doughnuts that they make (and there are many that are not on the website), it was the Chocolate-Spiced Doughnut that made 7x7's list. It is a chocolate doughnut with cinnamon, sugar and a chipotle dredge.

Like it -- don't love it.

It was good. The doughnut didn't taste cakey like a normal doughnut. It was super dense and super rich -- so much that I could only eat a couple bites of it. The chipotle went well with it, although at first I thought it was chili powder. Again, the doughnut was good -- but not rad.

Vanilla bean with orange zest. The perfect doughnut.

Maple-Glazed Bacon Apple.

The four barrel coffee was great. Much better than Starbucks -- but not as strong as Peet's. A perfect middle-ground coffee.

As you can see from the pictures, Hughie and I ate these in the car -- just like any two people ordering six doughnuts would. Shameful.

Sidenotes:

Donuts range from $2-$3.50. Chocolate-spiced doughnut was $2.50.

There are two other places on the list within two blocks of Dynamo Donut: La Torta Gorda and Humphry Slocombe.

#35: Salted-caramel ice cream at Bi-Rite Creamery

"Do you Jacquie ... take salted-caramel ice cream ... to be your lawfully-wedded husband? To have and to hold from this day forward?"

"F**K YES."

Hey ... so .... remember when I was raving about Humphry Slocombe and their secret breakfast ice cream (bourbon & corn flakes)? And I basically said that it was the best ice cream I've ever had? Well, last night Bi-Rite Creamery stepped up and gave ol' Humphrey a run for his bourbon-soaked money. I'm not saying it was better than Humphry Slocombe -- but I'm not saying it was worse. We're going to call this one a tie. They're both very different -- but the same in that they both have unique flavors I've never had or dreamed of before, they both taste very fresh (like it was made 5 minutes ago) and they both totally deserve to be on 7x7's list of 100 Things to Eat and Drink in San Francisco Before You Die -- or as I'm hearing it called, "7x7's Big Eat 2010."

There was a line out the door about oh ... 20 people deep -- but it moved very fast. Let's keep in mind too that it was the warmest night of the year thus far. It's a cool atmosphere in there too with Mission hipsters doing their Mission hipster thing with their uber cool hair-dos and their I'm-not-trying-to-be-trendy-but-am-way-more-trendy-than-you fashion choices. (Oh Mission Hipsters ... you are so, SO cool ...) Old 'A Tribe Called Quest' music was blaring from the kitchen as flavors like coffee toffee and honey lavender got served up. Overall, it was FANTASTIC ice cream at a really cool place.

Sidenotes: $3.25 for a single (they give you two scoops with a single)
Paul got mint chip -- which tasted like normal mint chip and roasted banana which was f**king awesome.
Was so happy to get the pig taste out of my mouth. Oink.
30 down -- 70 to go!

#66: Pig parts at Incanto

Notice the little pig heads on the outside -- like gargoyles.

One of the more vague items on the 7x7 list, "Pig Parts", was a little scary to me. I mean, I know from The Next Iron Chef that Chris Cosentino is famous for using every part of the animal (from the rooter to the tooter!) -- but because Incanto tweaks their menu daily, I wasn't sure what I was going to get. I wasn't sure if "Pig Parts" was on the menu and you just got a plate of random s**t -- or if you just had to pick whatever random pig part was on the menu that night. Well, "Pig Parts" is not a menu item, it means that I got to pick from whatever random parts were being used.
I figured I was probably going to be stuck trying the "trotters" (aka: pigs feet) because they were in a few different menu items -- and let's face it -- a pig has 4 of 'em so they have more to use. For some reason, I also thought there's a chance I might have to eat a pig's ear -- but I think I was only psyching myself out. I was pretty stoked that pig snout was on the menu last night and that it was a starter, not an entree. (Wait a second ... stoked for pig snout?!)

We also ordered pork belly as a starter, which was served with a pickled walnut relish. It was good -- but it wasn't great -- and I could not get past how fatty it was. I ate the fatty part because ... well ... the whole thing was mostly fat ... and I thought that's what you were supposed to do. When in Rome.

The pig snout was served with potatoes and morels (little mushrooms?) and was cut up in little bits. THANK THE LORD it didn't come as the whole nose ... I would have died. The pig snout had a good flavor but it was SO oily. The texture was like that of ... say ... really overcooked sausage? Like it was a little tough and pretty chewy ... I guess they fried the s**t out of it. The oily part came in as soon as you bit-down. It was like squeezing a mini-sponge and oil coming out ... but into my mouth. Blech. Ugh. I am f**king grossing myself out describing this right now. Barf. Let's change the subject.

I ate frigging pig snout.

For an entree, I had the handkerchief pasta and rustic pork ragu. Good, not great. I've had pork ragu before that was more flavorful. I think they don't want to over-season the meat -- so that the flavor of the meat can speak for itself. The ragu tasted like pork and pork only -- and well ... I wanted some garlic, etc. But the pasta was fresh and fantastic.


Paul's was flipping awesome. He got the paccheri with sausage, potato, braising greens & poached egg. Lots of flavor (the broth alone was a star) and the sausage was DELISH.


Overall, I wasn't wowed by Incanto -- which is a little sad because I wanted to be. I wouldn't recommend it -- unless you are a big-time carnivore, who loves culinary adventures. I will say this ... the bread was terrific (caraway seeded breadsticks, focaccia and another artisan-y bread served with a very tasty olive tapenade), the wines (all Italian) were fantastic and the service was out of this world.

Sidenotes:
$12 for the pig snout
$16 for the handkerchief pasta with pork ragu
Chris Cosentino was there and was very present. I kept staring at him in the kitchen. That dude was on the line working the whole time -- and laughing the whole time. Pretty cool.
My Dad loved adventurous food and always made me try things I didn't want to: rabbit, venison, chicken liver pate' -- and even made Hughie try 'Rocky Mountain Oysters' (bull's balls). I think he would've loved this place and would be very proud of me for trying pig snout!

#14: Beef brisket sandwich at Il Cane Rosso

What a lucky girl I am! The last two 7x7 food experiences have been sandwiches that I get to RAVE about!

This time it was the 'Prather Ranch Beef Brisket' sandwich from Il Cane Rosso and well ... it's up there in the ranks, people. It is prepared, "al pizzaiolo with parmigiano and basil" and as far as I could tell the "al pizzaiolo" part means that it has some sort of tomato-based sauce on the bread. When you combine that with the basil and parm, it ends up tasting like a beef pizza sandwich and it's just about the most juicy, mouth-watering, flavorful sandwich I've ever had. In fact, I liked it more than the porchetta sandwich from Roli Roti. The trick with this one is that it's not on the menu everyday, so I've had to keep my eye out on their website (which they update daily ... RAD) to see when they're serving it again. In my opinion, they should serve it everyday -- but I'm guessing the legwork that goes into slow cooking that beef for so long must require too much time to have everyday. Anyway, I am highly recommending this to you guys. I've never had anything quite like this sandwich -- and I completely agree that it should be one of the 100 things to eat in San Francisco before you die! Let's just hope I don't eat so many that I do die.

Sidenotes:
$9 (a little on the spendy side for a sandwich -- but I'm not going to say it's not worth it.)
I split this sandwich with Paul for lunch, and as you can see from the picture, we got baked beans too. Not your traditional baked beans with that really smoky flavor. More mild with a very strong taste of rosemary. Really good though.
Il Cane Rosso is IN the Ferry Building like Hog Island Oyster Co., not outside at one of the stands on Thursdays/Saturdays.

#85: Pulled-pork sandwich at Roadside BBQ

Dudes ... I was SO looking forward to this one. I love everything about BBQ: lots of meat options, numerous sauce options and tons of sides (especially mac n' cheese). But it was the pulled pork sandwich that brought me to Roadside BBQ on Friday night and it DID NOT disappoint! I have to say the star of the show here was the bread and I know that may be a little odd because there is so much more to this sandwich -- but the sandwich wouldn't have been half as good on a typical roll. The bread was crunchy, but not too crunchy and had the perfect flavor to compliment the smokiness of the pork and the vinegar-y taste of the coleslaw -- and it never got soggy.



I got a corn muffin and my choice of side with my sandwich and I picked mac n' cheese. It was delicious. The sides are:

Mac n’ Cheese
Baked Red Beans
Cole Slaw
Potato Salad
Mashed Potatoes (gravy on request)
Roadside Veggies
Fresh-Cut French Fries
Grilled Corn on the Cob
Sweet-Potato Fries
Garlic Fries w/ Happy Mouth Spice
Side Salad
Fresh-Baked Corn Muffin

I tried Hugh's baked beans and David's mashed potatoes and both were awesome. Sharon got some sweet potato fries and was a little less impressed -- but I liked them and thought they were great dipped in BBQ sauce. Speaking of BBQ sauce, Roadside has a little BBQ sauce station where you can try as many as you like. They were all great. I also got a taste of the beef brisket and the ribs and both were amazing -- especially the ribs.

Even Hughie likes it -- and he don't like nuthin'

This is a casual spot where you order at the counter and they bring you your food -- which actually works out really well with a large group and the whole splitting-of-the-check thing. They serve Shiner Bock beer -- which brought me right back to my San Antonio-living days. It goes so well with BBQ. This is one of my favorites on the list thus far and I can't wait to go back!

Sidenotes:
$7.95 including your choice of side
They don't take reservations but we had a group of 12 and it worked out fine.
Roadside uses a combination of Apple, Hickory, and Mesquite woods to smoke all their meats -- and they're all delicious.
I could have gone for a little more slaw in my sandwich but I kind of didn't even want to mention that to you guys because it really was the best pulled pork sandwich I've ever had (and I've had my share...) and I want you all to go try it.