My iPhone has a “helpful” feature called the Journal App. Basically, if I take pictures of something, somewhere, it will prompt me to write something about it. Of course, since I have this blog, I don’t need to journal on the Journal App.
Screenshot of a “helpful” prompt.
It’s not perfect; this is not a mailbox, although the soba restaurant I was at was next to one so I guess it’s accurate. And about soba in San Francisco Japantown…
We had a go to place for freshly made soba called Mifune inside the Japan Center for years. I remember it from high school days. Was the place named after the actor?
This is Toshiro Mifune, the actor having lunch. This was Mifune the soba restaurant. I don’t see a resemblance.
Mifune was a go-to for a quick dinner or lunch special. Freshly made kake soba (soup noodles) or zaru soba (cold noodles with dipping sauce) was the specialty here and was the place to go for a noodle fix since ramen wasn’t a big thing yet. They’re no longer around, having closed due to the plandemic.
Since then, many ramen shops have opened up in Japantown to sate the need of noodle slurpers but sometimes you want noodles that aren’t overloaded with toppings and rich sleep inducing broth. You want noodles that are freshly made. And are healthy. You want soba. And there’s a new place where you can get it.
The queue for Sobakatsu. From Yelp because I forgot to take a picture of it.
Sobakatsu. A very low key, very small (4 tables with 2 seats each and a 3 seat counter) soba shop. It’s so low key, it doesn’t have a website of its own and to find information about it you go to Yelp or DuckDuckGo to do the internet search. Here’s a review; read for some background of the place and a hint of something upcoming.
Wasn’t kidding, those are the eight seats and four tables
Because of the size of the restaurant and their hours, you will encounter a queue for lunch and dinner. They’re open from 12:00 until 19:00 (or when they run out of soba). I showed up at 13:00 on a Thursday and I waited for 30 minutes before being able to order and then be seated. Your options are cold or hot soba and variations on same.
Wound up getting an order of cold soba, the Ten Zaru with tempura (because soba and tempura ALWAYS go together).
The Ten ZaruWhy I’m here
Yes, it’s freshly made soba. It tastes as good as it looks. Snappy, firm and springy all at once. And although I usually associate soba with soup, the cold soba is better for warm days (of which it was when I went). The tempura was bite sized as was the token green vegetable which was also coated with yummy tempura batter which made it edible. Will I return? Yes, but maybe later in the afternoon. And for the promised katsu in the SF Standard review earlier. I still hate queueing. But this was worth it.
There are a few times of the year when San Francisco is nice and quality of life is almost tolerable. One is the beginning of Indian Summer, when the kids are back to school, the hipsters are at Burning Man and it’s Labor Day. These three things converge and suddenly, traffic isn’t as bad, hunting for a parking space takes several minutes instead of half an hour and most importantly, the sun finally comes out and it’s gorgeous outside.
San Francisco summer is underneath that fogbank from May to August.
The second is Christmas Day, when all the carpetbaggers go back to where they came from and The City feels almost at peace. Of course, we will be chatting about the former since it’s September now.
I met some friends for Sunday Brunch at Original Joe’s in North Beach after the first GOP debate.
This is the sign from their original location on Taylor and Golden Gate, deep in the ‘Loin
It was a pleasant meal, with selections off their brunch menu and a split decision on who “won” the first debate. That’s the point of having a primary election, isn’t it?
In an old school San Francisco place, every meal begins with fresh baked sourdough and butter. As it should be.
Fresh sourdough demands butter. Not olive oil. BUTTER.
Two of us had crab and two of us had salad. I will admit, one of the salads looked damn good.
Maybe they should call this Crab with a side of greens.
The other salad was a Cobb and it looked good too. Just not DAMN good.
It’s pretty. Pretty good!
I went for the Crab Benedict. It was good, nice and crabby and the hollandaise was excellent. The potatoes were also excellent and fresh fried. Hot inside and seasoned perfectly.
A well balanced meal. With crab. Next time, I’m getting the Crab “Salad”. More crab.
So about that debate. One liked Ramaswarmy with his energy, his outsider status and his addressing issues that most Americans care about. He showed he could roll with the punches and punch back. Another liked Haley with her expertise in foreign policy. I disagreed with her analysis on why America should continue drowning Zelensky with taxpayer dollars. The third liked Burgum because he was middle of the road. Meh. Then we finished eating and headed out, still friends. This is the way.
It’s this sort of Sunday afternoon with good food and good friends in North Beach that diaspora from San Francisco pine for.
Washington Square on a pleasant Sunday afternoon with St. Peter & Paul’s towering above.
Original Joe’s 601 Union Street (@ Stockton) San Francisco
Now this is a Proposition I can totally get behind. My name is Rodney and I approved this message…
I’ve passed Proposition Chicken many times going to and from Downtown. I never thought much about the place, thinking it was just another overpriced meh place in Laurel Village.
Then two things happened:
1: They opened a location in SFO, at the Terminal 3 Food Court (across from the big United Club) 2: I happened to be in Laurel Village for an appointment.
So off I went for lunch.
I’m glad I went. The food was damn good. Now as the name of the resturant implies, they serve chicken. Well almost. They serve three kinds of chicken, Fried (the BEST), Flipped (rotisserie) and Fake (tofu).
Regarding that last choice, this IS San Francisco and they have to cater to those types here.
Your chicken (or soy product) can be had three ways, as a sando, a salad or an entree. The real chicken entrees deserves special mention in that it’s HALF a chicken with biscuit and salad. Too big for lunch today. They also have varied chicken wings and a lot of sides.
The menu is on the wall as you walk in. This reminder is on the way to the bathroom
I ordered the Fried Chicken Sando with a side of the Garlic Thyme Potato Wedges. The sando was excellent. It has the right amount of dressing, the chicken was moist and crispy and the roll was almost Dutch Crunchy.
The fried chicken sando is a good size for sharing or eating it all yourself
I will save my swoon for the Wedges. Crispy crust on the outside and when you bite into it, hot and almost creamy potato in the middle. I ate at the restaurant so my food came directly from the kitchen (I was sitting next to it). Because of that, fries demanded a fork and three bites to finish, lest I burn my tongue.
Look at that crust!Plating is important.
Another thing I learned about this place is that they are open to 21:00. Places that are open past 20:00 are becoming a rarity in San Francisco so this is a find!
Neon Chickens
Nice to find a chicken place nearby that doesn’t start with a K (FC) or that I don’t have to take a road trip for (CFA). I’ll update when I have the half a chicken and Matzo Ball soup.
I forgot to mention that all of their sauces and dressings are made in house
Proposition Chicken 3465 California Street, Laurel Village San Francisco, CA 94118 415-422-0646
Summertime is bookended by Memorial Day and Labor Day. Everyone tries to go on vacation, airfares and hotels have ridiculous prices and gas prices traditionally spike. This year, even worse. But it’s nice on Labor Day because all the idiots leave The City for Burning Man. Lots of Labor Day parties, despite inflation. And opportunities for rooftop views of a peaceful and empty Civic Center.
Empty City Hall and Civic Center from the roof of 150 Van Ness. Taken with a GR Digital
It’s common knowledge that San Francisco Chinatown has been slowly dying over the past few decades or so. The need to go to San Francisco and brave the traffic, lack of parking, crime, drug addicts and purposely homeless is no longer there. It started in the 70s and continued with the migration of the Second Generation to the Richmond and Sunset districts and their New Chinatowns. The Chinatown dispora continued to move to other parts of The City and eventually down the Peninsula and to the East Bay. Then Loma Prieta hit. Chinatown was cut off from the Bay Bridge by the destruction of the 480. As a result, Oakland Chinatown thrived at the expense of SF Chinatown. Things that you could only get in SF Chinatown, such as good food or Chinese groceries you can get in most parts of The City and the Bay Area now.
Then Wuhan Virus hit. And “our leaders” in Silly Hall and Sacratomato went overboard with their power trip, ordering businesses closed while continuing to demand full taxes from them. Many old school institutions in SF Chinatown such as the Empress of China, New Asia and Four Seas and even more restaurants and businesses, such as the small places that make noodles and quick food closed too.
SF Chinatown isn’t dead yet, despite San Francisco’s efforts to kill it. Since Wuhan Virus and the attacks on Asian seniors in San Francisco that led to the recall of Chesa Boudin, Chinatown has been experiencing a renaissance of sorts. New places have opened and old places have reopened and/or expanded. More people are attending events such as last weekend’s early Harvest Moon Festival. It’s as the attacks and virus has revived interest in Chinatown and being Chinese.
As I’ve whined about on this blog before, it’s been difficult to find a proper bowl of Hong Kong style Beef Stew Wonton Mein (牛腩馄饨面) in San Francisco. . There have been great places in the past, such as Won Ton King, formerly on Irving at 21st Avenue that made proper prawn won tons and noodles kneaded with the bamboo pole. Emphasis on “formerly”. Many of the shops that made decent WTM have either changed ownership or have closed outright. If you want a good bowl of won ton mein after 19:00, you have to drive to Hing Lung in San Bruno (north of Tanforan). If you’re around for lunch or early dinner, I have two restaurants here for your consideration in Chinatown.
Yin Du Wonton Noodle has been, according to my friends in the know, the best won ton mein in Chinatown for a while now. It even got a recommendation from the local “newspaper”.
They’re on Pacific near Grant Avenue, next door to the infamous Hollywood Bakery (daan taat anyone?)Newly reopened after a remodel brought on by a burst pipe in the ceiling. Please note the auntie in the middle of the photo. She’s making won tons.
I went with my friend who brought his GF and her son and had an early dinner. He raved about the ngau nam and how it was tender, flavorful (fatty) and almost perfect.
Dry Ngau Nam Wonton MeinTwo bowls of the same, in soup
You can order ngau nam won ton mein dry here. I didn’t know that. My experience with dry won ton mein comes from ordering the dish in Singapore and Malaysia where it’s served on a plate with a small bowl to dip the noodles in (In Penang, there are many great shops that does both dry and soup versions). I ordered the traditional soup and he ordered it dry. It looks damn good in food porn about and tasted even better. The beef was indeed full of flavor and really tender. The noodles weren’t al dente; they didn’t have that “snap” when you bite into them, but they were still good. The wontons had a decent amount of prawn in them and were good too. We all arrived at 17:00 and they had to kick us out at 19:30 because they wanted to go home (they close at 19:00) and we spent too much time talking about nonsense.
One of the Wuhan Virus victims in Chinatown was the Washington Bakery. They had baked goods and decent wonton. They closed due to the lockdowns, the government and because of some family drama, which I will not go into. The space was taken over by Hon’s Wun-Tun, a small unassuming shop on Kearny and Clay that has been there since 1972 that makes wonton soups.
From their website, their original shop is unassuming and has no parking
Much like Hong Kong shops, the kitchen is in front where they sling bowls of wontons and noodles so you can eat in the back (Photo: Dave Glass via Flickr)
One block over and half a block up, Hon’s on Washington Street has an expanded menu and a more upscale vibe.
Inside, it was well ventilated, about three times bigger than the old place and very swishYou can see the chefs making dumplings and wonton from the sidewalk
As is the current trend, you can scan the QR code, order and pay from your iPhone (or ‘droid if that’s what you use). Regular ordering via paper menus and a server are available.
Scan here for foodWhen you’re seated, you get a paper menu, utensils and tea
Prior to going to Yin Du, we went here the week before to try it out. We ordered a plate of gai lan to start and when it arrived, I thought they got the order wrong. My friend figured they sliced it as well as chopped it. That makes it easier to eat. He was right because normally gai lan is just chopped with oyster sauce on top. It’s kind of like trying to eat a telephone pole because it’s so thick and it does take a lot of effort to bite through it. In that case, I ask for a fork and knife.
You can chop gai lan both ways. Hon’s Ngau Nam wonton mein
I liked the noodles, they had the proper “snap” to them as well as being al dente. The broth was fish based, as is the norm for practically all the places I’ve been to in Hong Kong. There was some controversy here since my friend has never had wonton mein in Hong Kong and his first reaction was:
“Eww, that’s fishy!“
I’ve never really paid that much attention to the broth other than its consistency. But after he went on about never having broth here that was “fishy”, he had a point. Many places, if not all places here either do a light broth or some broth with the ngau nam gravy mixed in to make it more savory. So I will concede his point.
The beef was a different matter. Either by choice or not, the beef was on the lean side. Chewy. It wasn’t stewed long enough so it had that “falls apart when picked up by chopsticks” consistency. And the other thing about lean beef is that it is lacking in flavor, cos it’s lean beef (filet mignon not included). It was solid, but not yum. The wontons are made in house and they were good too. Good but not fantastical. There was more pork than prawns in the wontons. And the prawns were chopped small and I believe they were frozen.
Hon’s on Washington Street (pinched from Yelp review, link below)
I will give Hon’s on Washington Street the benefit of the doubt, since we went there during their soft opening. When they have their grand opening, we will do a return visit, because you don’t really need a reason for having ngau nam wonton mein, right?
There was a long line. Some of it was because of the early Picasso exhibit, but mostly it was because the SFMOMA is open late on Thursday night (to 2030!) and it’s half price starting at 1800.
The SFMOMA is in the middle of the block and there were two queues one off to the left and the other off to the right…
Unlike many of the other museums I’ve been to (Tate Modern, Louvre, MOMA, Musee d’Orsay), the SFMOMA forbids photography in the main galleries. WTF? I guess they REALLY want you to buy an overpriced exhibition catalogue. As a result, there won’t be a lot of pix in this post.
DSC00173
See the line that goes up the stairs? That’s for the Picasso exhibit. We’re looking at floor 2 and the exhibition is on floor 5
As with the other “modern art” museums I’ve visited in the past, much thought was put into the design of the building. SFMOMA is no exception to that. When you first enter the museum, your senses are assaulted by both a bright airy space and a very shiny patterened floor. It works.
DSC00174
The entrance from three floors above
It’s a nice building, the permanent exhibits are interesting and it’s half a block down from the W San Francisco and its XYZ bar. What more do you need?
On Mason near Bay Street, at the Powell-Mason cable car turntable, I give you the most caffeinated trash can ever seen, ANYWHERE!
Burp. Burpburpburpburp
Across the way is a Starbucks. They sell a lot of coffee to tourists waiting for the cable car to take them back to Union Square. Where there’s even more Starbucks for them to get their caffeine fix…
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