Radish

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I recently ate brunch at Radish in the Mission.  This place has been getting great reviews and I finally got out to try it.

I am usually a sucker for sweet things in the morning so naturally I ordered the french toast.  I really don’t know how to start describing it.  I was so good that I don’t know where to begin.

Ok. So great french toast is made with good quality bread, is not soggy and and has a fluffy texture in your mouth.  At radish they accomplish all of this because of one thing.  They make their own baguette.  Some baguettes can be bad for french toast because they are too hard to begin with so to get them soft enough they are overcooked and become soggy.  The homemade baguette was not hard nor soggy.  It was cooked to perfection.  The texture on the outside was crisp and slightly crunchy.  The middle was fluffy and smooth.  Two great feelings create one super feeling in your mouth when combined.  Add on the syrup and you’ve got one of the better french toasts in the city if not the best.  I feel like my advocation for their homemade baguette was underwhelming.  So you need to go try it yourself.

Clare’s Deli & Late Night Kitchen

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If you don’t know Clare’s Deli, you need to know.  Really good sandwiches.

When I went I had to get two sandwiches.  I ordered The Grinder and the Pulled Pork sandwiches.

The Grinder is hot meatballs, house marinara, on a french roll with provolone AND ricotta cheeses.  The meatballs seemed frozen and not fresh and were pretty small.  The marinara was great, though, and the two cheeses made it really great.  The ricotta, especially, was a nice addition on this sandwich.  I have never had ricotta on a meatball sandwich and it turned it into like a meatball, lasagna sandwich.  The bread was fresh, the sauce tasty, if the meatballs were fresh it would have made it exceptionally great.

The pulled pork sandwich was an exceptionally great sandwich.  The pulled pork is house made on a french roll with jalapeño cole slaw and chicharrones.  The pork was a little dry but the jalapeño cole slaw was a revelation.  Crunchy, spicy, wet, all created different sensations in my mouth and none went unnoticed.  The chicharrones were a little soaked from the slaw but good nonetheless.  Finally, the fresh bread was a dutch crunch that held everything together and soaked up the juices just enough that it wasn’t soggy yet still took in all the flavors.

They are open late night, so grab a few drinks at the 500 Club next door and then a delicious meal at Clare’s to soak it all up.

Absinthe

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Absinthe Brasserie & Bar has one of the best burgers I have ever tried.  Located in Hayes Valley, this french restaurant is known for its class and great food.  The burger definitely lived up to my pretty high standards that I had based on reviews and recommendations.

Made with Storm Hill Angus beef this juicy, succulent ground up patty of cow was topped with a house made aioli, lettuce, house made pickles and added with gruyere cheese and spicy caramelized onions.  The cheese added a nice aged taste and although the onions were not that spicy, I was okay with it because I wanted regular caramelized onions anyway.  The bun was nice and soft which was perfect because it sucked up all the juices flowing out after every bite.

Cooked to perfection.

Mission Bowling Club

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Mission Bowling Club is primarily, well, a bowling club.  But there is also food!

I went for brunch one beautiful Sunday morning and was delighted at how good the food was.  It’s not all the surprising, however.  Most bowling alleys have pizza or chicken tenders maybe some fish but definitely french fries.  What should I expect, though, from a bowling alley in the Mission? Only the best of course!

I ordered the Dungeness Crab Benedict.  Yes, at a bowling alley.

Dungeness Crab Benedict

They definitely lived up to the high expectations I had going into a bowling club in the Mission offering food.

The crab: fresh.  The English Muffin: toasted perfectly.  Slightly crunchy but easy enough to cut with just your fork.  The egg: poached and runny.  The Hollandaise sauce: egg yolk-y, buttery, lemon juicy, salty, and peppery.  Pretty damn near perfect.  Since I don’t know what a perfect Hollandaise sauce should taste like, I’ll call this one perfect.  The home fries would have been a little better if they were cooked with onions or bell peppers or something but they were decent, nonetheless.

I am going to have to return for some bowling but until then, I will reminisce about the Dungeness Crab Eggs Benedict.

Magnolia Pub

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I recently ate lunch at Magnolia Pub & Brewery.  Located at the North-East corner of Haight at Masonic, Magnolia is first and foremost a local brewery.  While I don’t know enough about beer to report on it, I can tell you about the delicious food offered at Magnolia.

I was able to try one appetizer and two entrees to split with a friend.

We ordered the Baby Back Ribs appetizer, Picnic Chicken Sandwich and P.B.L.T.

The baby back ribs were fall-off-the bone tender.  That was the first thing I noticed.  It was cooked with a root beer glaze and you could taste a slight root beer taste.  It wasn’t so strong that it was overwhelming but at the same time I’m not sure I was totally into it.  Since the meat was so tender, I was able to overlook this aspect of the dish.  The ribs were placed on top of a potato salad that was very poor.  It was like the potatoes were just soaked in a mayo tasting liquid.  Gross.  Forget about that image though.  Just focus on the beautiful baby backs.

Baby Back Ribs

The Picnic Chicken Sandwich sounds good just by name.  The name just rolls off the tongue.  Say it three times fast.  Picnic Chicken Sandwich, Picnic Chicken Sandwich, Picnic Chicken Sandwich.  Thankfully, the sandwich itself was just as good, if not better than its name.

The chicken was crispy after being breaded and then fried.  It was placed on a long roll and then topped with pickled jalapeños, fennel cabbage slaw, onions, fennel honey, and aoili. Man was this delicious.  I feared that with so much fennel listed in the ingredients it would be overpowering, especially since I am not a huge fan of fennel.  Thankfully the strongest was flavor was from the pickled jalapeños.  Such a great idea, pickling jalapeños.  Bitter and spicy mixed together makes a great feeling in your mouth.  Mix in the crunch from the crispy chicken, cole slaw and onions, add the moistness from the fennel honey and aoili and in my book you have a very delicious sandwich.

Picnic Chicken Sandwich

The last entree we tried was the P.B.L.T.  This does not stand for Pumpkin, Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato sandwich.  It does not stand for Pasta, Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato Sandwich.

It stands for Pork Belly, Lettuce Tomato Sandwich.  Let that sink in.  A new way to do an American sandwich.  Add a side of fries and this should be the new American classic.

Soft (but not fatty soft) pork belly, crisp lettuce, ripe tomato and cheddar cheese on lightly toasted texas toast. I can’t say much else other than delicious, really good, and yummy.

PBLT

GO to Magnolia Pub & Brewery.  TRY some beer.  EAT your heart out.