I ordered the Short Rib Hash ($15) and side of Breakfast Potatoes ($3) because I was HUNGRY!!!  Oh, and a GIANT Pomegranate/Grapefruit mimosa.

Here’s the description of the hash:

Braised Prather Ranch short rib hash, brussel sprouts, sweet potatoes, golden yams, 2 eggs, horseradish, creme fraiche, au jus

When my dish came, I was very surprised.  I guess in my head I was envisioning a big plate of hash – lots of veggies, potatoes/etc with bits of short rib… you know, like corned beef hash but with short rib.  This dish was definitely a very modern interpretation – everything was purposefully placed, it looked so delicate and neat (see below).  After a half of a nanosecond I got over my “non-hash” surprise and broke the egg yolks and started mixing everything around. No time to eat like a sophisticated human being after waiting over an hour… lol.  This freaking dish was so AWESOME my plate was cleaned and wiped dry within minutes.

I ended up glopping forkfuls of the short rib and eggs onto the bread and eating it that way.  The (Acme) bread didn’t last long… then I ended up dipping my potatoes in it.  Overall the dish was very excellent.  So good that there was not even any liquid left in the bottom of the plate/bowl.  The meat was tender and juicy and a little bit smokey, just perfect!  I admit I was disappointed there weren’t more potatoes/veggies since it was supposed to be a hash… only got 1/2 piece of 1 brussel sprout (cut into 2 pieces), 2 tiny cubes of sweet potato and some onions.  Oh well.  It was good anyway, hehe.

The breakfast potatoes: these potatoes were A-MAZING!!!  I accidentally yelled “OMG!” after I took the first bite!!  They were crispy and hot and salty, buttery with dill sprinkled around.  The crispiness of these potatoes were what made them amazing and addictive! I didn’t care that I was already full from eating the entire bowl of short rib hash, I needed to finish this bowl of potatoes.  I swear to the gods I could eat a bowl of these potatoes at every meal for the rest of my life! And guess who much this bowl of potatoes cost? $3, yay!

Mission Beach Cafe

www.missionbeachcafesf.com

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The line was terribly long and out the door.  People were standing around on the street waiting for their food.  The place is as small as a freaking closet.  There isn’t a clear menu on the wall either – I couldn’t remember the name of the sandwich I picked out on the website so I described it to the woman working there and she knew immediately which one it was – but she actually put my order in wrong anyway.  What I wanted was the King Koopa Sandwich – which is filled with meatballs, mozzarella sticks, jalapeno poppers and marinara sauce… what I got was the Super Mario Sandwich – which has meatballs and mozzarella sticks.

We waited a long time for our food to come out.  Apparently they were slammed and they even had one of their employees (who was there picking up food) log in to help take orders and work.  We waited a longass time for our food…. it was ok though, because we just snagged one of the very few tables outside after a really annoying family left.

Sidenote: Don’t you hate it when you go to a restaurant and you’re in close proximity to a table where everyone is complaining about something (really loud, then they complain to the people at the restaurant)?  Apparently they ordered a sandwich without the Dirty Sauce (which is standard on all sandwiches.  What they didn’t know is that the dirty sauce (a garlic aioli) is actually baked into the bread.  When their sandwiches came out they then decided that they wanted the dirty sauce after all and complained that they didn’t get any on their sandwiches.  They caused a scene, holding up the line inside and even made the cook come out, who had to explain that the sauce was baked into the bread but that they actually ordered their sandwiches without it anyway.  UGHHH.  People like this annoy the hell out of me.  Shut the EFF up already and eat your gddamn sandwich! OOohhh they were makin me so mad!

Ok, so here come our sandwiches.  The anticipation was killing me so bad that it made me forget that I ordered the most fattening greasy sandwich ever… I didn’t care… I just wanted stuff those meatballs and those crispy jalapeno poppers and mozz sticks right into my little fryhole….

When the sandwich came, IT WAS MISSING THE POPPERS!!  Take a good look… I just died… ohhh the poppers were the only thing I was truly looking forward to, but I didn’t have the patience to go back and order another one (or the gall to complain about it… at least the mozz sticks were there).

THE TASTE: I was sadly disappointed.  The hype about the mozz sticks and poppers definitely got me extra excited about this sandwich, and it ended up being a lukewarm mushy mess.  I gather that the mozzarella sticks were pre-fried in bulk because they were FAR from crispy and the cheese inside was not warm… with each bite the mozz stick just mushed along with the meatballs, you couldn’t really taste either of them separately – it was just a big mushy mess (and there’s nothing worse than eating something that’s supposed to be crispy and hot and sinking your teeth into a soggy mush instead).  The marinara sauce was not bad and the bread was pretty good, but overall what I thought would be a party in my mouth turned out to be a total buzzkill!

If you go to Ike’s Place, I recommend looking at the menu on their website at www.ilikeikesplace.com because it’s kind of difficult deciding what to get on the spot when your’e there.  The menu online is also huge and overwhelming – unless you know specifically which sandwich you want, you probably won’t find it on the wall at the actual location because the entire selection is not posted anywhere big and bold…. just an fyi.

Lastly, and this is very important info: THEY DO NOT SERVE FRENCH FRIES ON THE WEEKEND!  My little fried heart nearly stopped beating when I waited in line for the 2nd time because I forgot to order fries, and when I finally made it to the cashier 15 minutes later, she said they don’t serve fries on the weekend. Just shoot me why don’tcha! UGHHHH!!!!

Sorry Ike’s Place, you only get 3 fries.  It was good but not great.  If I return, I will probably try something way way different, and come during the week so I can have french fries.

3506 16th St
San Francisco, CA 94114
(415) 553-6888
www.ilikeikesplace.com

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Here you have it! The Portico Meatball Sandwich.  It wasn’t bad!  The bread was soft (just a normal soft roll), and the meatballs were hot and there was alot of cheese inside.  If the sandwich had just a tad more sauce it would’ve been perfect, but overall it was good, and I would probably get it again.

Portico
245 Market St
(between Drumm St & Main St)
San Francisco, CA 94105
(415) 777-9950

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Here’s the burrito bowl.  It is monstrous.  And I felt pretty sick after I ate the whole thing since I wasn’t so hungry to begin with…. but it was good.  …Not amazing like OMFG, but salty and tasty.

Chipotle
1050 Gilman St
(between 10th St & San Pablo Ave)
Berkeley, CA 94710
(510) 526-6047
www.chipotle.com

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I ordered the Meatball Sandwich.  I also arrived at an off-peak lunch hour so there was no line which was nice.  The sandwich was ready in about 5 minutes, during which I had time to pick out a bag of chips and grab a soda.  I will blog about the chips in another entry, as they were 5 fries themself!

Ok so here’s the sandy:

It looks like any old meatball sandwich.  Actually, the meatballs were small, and you could tell there was more bread or filler in the mix than beef (or it was just shredded up ALOT) because the consistency gave the meatballs that softer, “smooth” kind of bite vs. meaty/chunky kind.  Actually, they look frozen, like the cafeteria kind… (they’re probably from costco) – I hope I never find out the truth!

Anyway, I thought the sandwich was amazing.  The combination of the softish meatballs (which were very flavorful btw) with the really good marinara sauce on the toasted soft roll was to die for.  The roll was kind of sweet, and they toasted it just enough so that the outside layer had a little crunch, but soft enough that it was easy to bite into and chew.  The marinara sauce was on the sweeter side and there was the perfect balance of tomato and spices.

Another thing, it’s very rare to find a good sandwich that is heated up so much that the cheese is actually soft enough to ooze out.  This sandwich was perfect and the mozzarella was melted perfectly and strings of cheese did ooze out when I got near the “inside” of the sandwich.  It was awesome. This meatball sandwich was heated perfectly and you could even see the steam waffing out of it up til the last bite.

Overall, this sandwich rocked and I really can’t think of anything that would make it better.  I finished it pretty quickly, as it was so good that I couldn’t resist slowing down for fear it would cool off too much… i didn’t even get around to drinking my soda or eating my chips, it was THAT good.

…this sandy was HISTORY!

Here’s a shot of the cool wall of toasters:

…and lastly a shot from outside.

The Toaster Oven
145 2nd St
San Francisco, CA 94105
(415) 243-0222
www.thetoasteroven.com

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When we got there, the place was packed and there were people waiting in line.  I was surprised since it seemed like such a quiet street… so we waited for a few minutes before sitting down.  Their menu has both breakfast items as well as some brunch and lunch/sandwiches.

Since it was my “St. Patty’s Day” weekend, I decided to go for the corned beef hash and I also ordered a piece of cornbread too.  The corned beef hash came with home fries, 2 slices of toast (I ordered wheat but they gave me sourdough), and 2 poached eggs on top.

Here is the dish as it came out to me.  It smelled really good and I noticed there were ALOT of potatoes…

A closeup of all of the elements of my meal… if you look closely, you’ll notice the corned beef hash is tossed with peppers, onions, and potatoes.

Broke the egg yolks and dug in.  It was very good.  The dish needed a little salt, but overall, it was very good, and I was able to finish all of the corned beef hash section of my plate.  The corned beef in the hash was nice and salty with that little bit of tanginess… it was great!  I have to say there were just too many potatoes.  This is a pretty heavy dish and I really was hungry but even so, I couldn’t finish the home fries.

The cornbread was COLD and VERY DRY.  I will not be ordering it again.  I tried to give it the benefit of the doubt by telling myself that it was warm when it came out and I waited too long to eat it – but NO, this was in the fridge.

All in all, my meal was good.  It wasn’t like, to die for, but it wasn’t crappy either.  It was good and I will eat at this place again.  I would rate this place 3.5 fries, but I can’t so I’ll give it 3.

Doyle St. Cafe
5515 Doyle St
Emeryville, CA 94608
(510) 547-3552
doylestreetcafe.com

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I’m definitely a corn-ie and will rarely refuse anything with corn in it.  The Cream of Corn soup is pureed very finely (there are no whole pieces of corn in it).  They use alot of butter also so it is buttery and corn-y with a smooth n silky texture, yum!  (I actually went to Zebulon two days in a row to get this soup).

The sandwich on the other hand was just good.  Nothing spectacular about it.  My general complaint with most hot sandwiches is that they could be hotter (don’t just toast the bread and broil the cheese down, heat up the meat too, geez!), and this sandwich was no exception.  The sweet potato fries were excellent as usual – sweet, crispy and chock full of yam.  The sweet potato fries are magnet that keeps pulling me back to Zebulon, I could eat them everyday and every night for the rest of my life.

Overall, a good lunch.

Zebulon
83 Natoma Street
(between 2nd St & James Lick Fwy)
San Francisco, CA 94105
(415) 975-5705
www.zebulonsf.com (this place is now closed)

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