OUTERLANDS*** September 29, 2009

Outerlands is everything I love in a neighborhood restaurant.  The main menu is straightforward — fresh wholesome food that nourishes and comforts soups, sandwiches and stews.    The heirloom tomato soup was well balanced with a strong tomato flavor and spicy tap at the end.  A side of grilled cheese was made with thickly cut pieces [...]

MING TAI WUN-TUN *’ July 14, 2008

Soup o.k., won tons very large and porky, noodles were overcooked. I prefer the soup at Just Won Ton and their won tons are better balanced between shrimp and pork. Noriega and 32nd

LARKIN EXPRESS DELI ** March 21, 2008

I was excited when I happened to be in the neighborhood of Larkin Express Deli with an hour to spare. Upon perusing the menu of Burmese fare, I settled on trying the Mohinga which has been discussed several times on the local food boards. Mohinga is a fish soup with a curry base and rice [...]

SHIN TOE BUL YI*** January 22, 2008

A satisfying lunch of Yuke Jang at Shin Toe Bul Yi. Yuke Jang is beef brisket in a spicy soup with egg and green onions. STBY’s has great soups and stews, so I thought I’d give their Yuke Jang a try. The soup was excellent spicy with a deep beef broth base. The egg and [...]

EL PATIO**’ December 6, 2007

My Salvadorean friend brought me to El Patio a while ago for some pupusas which he said are good, of course not as good as his mom makes. I thought they were pretty good, the outer shell not too thick and doughy with a good ratio of cheese to beans or meat. Made fresh. This [...]

JUST WON TON**’ November 9, 2007

Just Won Ton is a noodle soup shop located across from some accountants’ offices, on Vincente Street in the Outer Sunset. Hot Beef Wonton Noodle Soup and their fried tofu stuffed with pork are the two items I consistently order. It’s a Cantonese diner style food with some homestyle rice plates and a neighborhood crowd. [...]

NEW CHEUNG HING** November 2, 2007

**Update: This restaurant is now closed** I’ve passed New Cheung Hing too many times to count. Somehow their hanging ducks have never enticed me to taste something from their counter of prepared foods. The few times that I have walked into the restaurant, the prepared foods seemed like they had been in the steaming trays [...]

BALOMPIE**’ October 23, 2007

The pupusas at Balompie’s come in several varieties, unable to remember which ones I liked best I ordered the revueltas, a mix of chicharrones (fried pork) and cheese; and the nopales (cactus) and cheese. Both were tasty, but the nopales was very aromatic worked nicely with the cheese and was all around more flavorful. The [...]

POPOL VUH**’ Revisited October 9, 2007

This place has been renamed POC CHUC and serves the same excellent panuchos, beans and tortillas as before. When you’ve got a cold, nothing hits the spot like soup. The spicier and saltier the better, because all subtle flavors are lost to your cold. Perhaps that is why I thoroughly enjoyed the Mondongo at Popol [...]

PHO HOA HIEP 2 *** June 26, 2007

Beefy broth, well done brisket, tripe is the best combo. The broth is less salty than the branch in SSF and much better than PPQ’s. The raw beef plate was just o.k. grade of beef not good enough and served too cold. 19th/Irving. Wonderful Foods: Cherry coke bottles and the sour cherry (red). The blue [...]