#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?