125 Best Things to Eat in the Bay Area

[Stone]

San Francisco Magazine just came out with it's food issue. It has its list of the 125 best things to eat in the Bay Area and a bunch of reader poll best ofs.

Any thoughts?

I was pleased to see Pane & Vino on the list as one of the best (Italian I assume). It's a great little place in the Marina (I know). Very friendly staff and terrific food.

I'm very surprised at the popularity of Andalu, the trendy tapas restaurant at 16th and Guererro. I never thought the food was that great, and I thought the restaurant reinforces my belief that the true translation of the word "tapas" is "appetizers at entree prices." Of course, considering that "Cha Cha Cha" almost made the top-three reader's pick list, I think we can guess at who's doing the voting.

Kudos for placing Duarte's olalliberry (sp?) pie on the list. If anyone has a chance to drive down the coast (or up) turn onto Route 9 (I think) towards Pescadero. At the stoplight, turn left, and Duarte's is right there. I think it's one of the Bay Area's few treasures -- it actually has old-time character and charm! Almost New Englandy.

In addition to the homemade pies, try the cioppino. And in my humble opinion, Duarte's has the best damn bloody mary's west of Great Jones Cafe (in the East Village).

[southern girl]

There is also mention of this magazine under Go West Old Man.

Edit for clarity

[Margaret Pilgrim]

Thanks for the heads-up for Duarte's olalliberry (works for me ) pie. I just skimmed this issue. Berry pie is such a favorite in our house that we usually have it at Thanksgiving dinner in place of pumpkin!

And Pane e Vino has been an Italian favorite of ours for ?20? years. Nothing flashy, but always excellent food and service.

[Stone]

Have you tried Luna Rossa on Hyde Street? Probably not as good at Pane y Vino, but also very simple, unpretentious Italian food. Same owner as the new Noi in Noe, but I didn't like the food there as much.

[Stone]

Number 1 on the list is barbecued ribs at Everett & Jones, in Berkeley. I've never been there, but considering that the Bay Area is pretty-much devoid of ethnicity, I find it hard to believe that someone at the magazine isn't accepting a pay-off. BBQ? In the Bay Area? Really? BBQ? The best thing to eat? Really?

But let's turn to the results of the readers' polls first (I'm skipping a bunch).

Best Restaurant:

Danko, Boulevard, Chez Panisse. How Boulevard gets on the list (especially when French Laundry is considered in the running), I'll never know.

Best New Restaurant:

RNM, Chez Papa, La Table. The only one I've been to is RNM, and it was pretty good. I'm surprised that neither Limon nor Platanos is on the list, but they may not be new anymore.

Best Restaurant Service

Danko, The Dining Room at the Ritz; French Laundry. Danko's service is great, but better than FL? Well, we can assume that so few people actually eat at FL, it's got a handicap.

Best Weekend Brunch:

Ellas, Dining Room at the Ritz, Cityscape Bar and Restaurant. Boring. Unless your Grandmother is in town from Connecticut, go to the Pork Store Cafe.

Best Outdoor Dining

Sams Anchor Cafe, The Ramp, Foreign Cinema. Seems that some folks confused "best" with "popular". Sam's is a great place to sit and drink on a beautiful day, but the food sucks. They might as well serve you a glass of old oil with some bits in it . Blue Plate in the Mission has a great patio. Zeitgeist.

Best Thai

Thep Phanom, Marnee thai, Khan Toke Thai House. I've been to 1 and 3, and both are overrated. Thep Phanom gets excellent marks for beautiful food, but other than the Tom Kha (which was fantastic), the food wasn't very good. The curry I had was bland, and the fish way over cooked.

Best Chinese

Elizas, Erics, Ton Kiang. Erics is very good. Eliza's isn't. Another abominable attempt at fusion.

Best Japanese (i.e., Best Sushi)

Ebisu, Blowfish, Sushi Groove. I find Blowfish to be consistently good, Sushi Groove to be very inconsistent and too fucking arrogant. Tokyo Go Go should be somewhere on the list.

Best Indian

Indan Oven, Shalimar, Pakwan. This highlights the dearth of good Indian food in town. I'm surprised that nothing from the South Bay got on the list. Pakwan is about as mediocre as you're going to find in Indian food. (I think people like it just because it's in the Misison and cheap.) I had Shalimar's Chicken Tikka Masala recently. Surprisingly different -- not overly rich and buttery. Good, deep flavors. Their aloo paratha was odd, though. Thin, not much potato.

Best Tapas

Cha Cha Cha, Andalu, Zarzuela. Cha Cha Cha is a post-college hangout bar. Lousy food. Andalu is, IMHO, way way overrated. Zarzuela is excellent. Classy and delicious. Platanos and Limon should be on the list. (But maybe they're not technically tapas places?)

Best Vietnamese

Slanted Door, Le Cheval, Tu Lan. Switch 1 & 3 and maybe i'll take this seriously.

Edited August 7, 2003 by Stone (log)

[tanabutler]

Justine Miner (RNM) was the guest chef for one of the farm dinners I'm involved with...I've been to over a dozen and I can tell you truly that not only was her food flawless, gorgeous and fantastic, but that she herself is one of the most modest people I've ever met. My husband, who meets all the chefs, thought she was just a helper. She seemingly has no ego.

And she's beautiful.

When I was researching her work, I found that no less a personage than Patricia Unterman wrote, "Right now I would drive across town just to sit in front of Miner's calm kitchen and work my way through the menu." That is some high praise.

She also included RNM in the San Francisco Chronicle's Simply the Best column (scroll down to Miner's Daughter).

I'm very much looking forward to eating at RNM.

[Stone]

The one time I was at RNM, they were serving a white truffle risotto that was perhaps the best risotto I'd ever had. It was exactly what I always thought a risotto could be -- creamy without being mushy; al dente without being toothy, flavorful but maintaining the essence of the rice.

[Jason Perlow]

I'm very suprised Fifth Floor and Fleur de Lys wasnt nominated in either best restaurant or best service categories.

[tanabutler]

I hadn't heard of Fifth Floor until I got to eGullet, among my community of friends in the Bay area or in SF itself. It sounds amazing, from what I've read here.

[Stone]

After reviewing the Best 125 things to eat in the Bay Area, I have little comments. Most stuff I'd never heard of. I think that including Slanted Door's shaken beef is a mistake. It's a great beef stir-fry (hell, it's made with filet), but it's not what I consider shaken beef. But that's just me.

[badthings]

Seems that some folks confused "best" with "popular".

This is the Zagat disease. Once, when I was in a particularly bad mood, I referred to Zagat as the collective wisdom of the starfucker unwashed.

Which is a little harsh.

But whoever put Everette and Jones on a list of good things needs to be quarantined and/or lobotomized. Such a statement is literally a crime against BBQ. The sauce is flavorless except for its revolting sweetness. The meat is simultaneously dry, gristly and flavorless. Every 5 years i forget how offensive it is and confirm its inedibility. What a joke.

perhaps unnecessary EDIT: changed "bad move" to "bad mood".

Edited August 12, 2003 by badthings (log)

[Stone]

"Bad things, man. Bad things."

[alanamoana]

Seems that some folks confused "best" with "popular".

This is the Zagat disease. Once, when I was in a particularly bad mood, I referred to Zagat as the collective wisdom of the starfucker unwashed.

yeah, as most people in the restaurant business would recommend, use the zagat as an address book and VERY general guide to dining out. don't take it too seriously.

but we're all human and entitled to our opinions and MOODS

[essvee]

...the Bay Area is pretty-much devoid of ethnicity...

What a strange thing to say, Stone. I couldn't disagree with you more.

[KelMH]

...the Bay Area is pretty-much devoid of ethnicity...

What a strange thing to say, Stone. I couldn't disagree with you more.

Surely sarcasm, right?

[melkor]

...the Bay Area is pretty-much devoid of ethnicity...

What a strange thing to say, Stone. I couldn't disagree with you more.

Surely sarcasm, right?

no one could ever say that eGullet members are slow to pick up on sarcasm...

[essvee]

Sure, he might be trying to be sarcastic, but in the context of that sentence, I don't see it or get it.

[Stone]

I was being mildly sarcastic. I find San Francisco to be pretty much the Whitest, blandest, least ethnic city I've lived in, the others being NY, Boston and D.C. Therefore, I was surprised that something as "ethnic" as bbq could be considered the best thing to eat in this town -- especially when the obvious choice of Zuni's oysters is available. I guess I shouldn't expand my obersvation to include the East Bay or South Bay (I've certainly noticed that the South Bay has a more varied ethnicity).

But this is just my observation, and probably not deserving of argument or discussion on a food board.

Edited August 15, 2003 by Stone (log)

[badthings]

It thought it was clearly sarcstic in context: i.e., it is really amazing, considering the overwhelming plethora of superb asian and mexican ("ethnic") foods here that any bbq would be number one. And he didn't even realize the additional irony that it is a truly shameful simularcum of bbq.

This is what led me to my uncharitable assesment of Zagat voters, which I am very grateful no one seems to have been offended by.

[badthings]

I find San Francisco to be pretty much the Whitest, blandest, least ethnic city I've lived in, the others being NY, Boston and D.C.

Whoops. Guess I should stop trying to interpret other people's sarcasm.

Dude, you need to get out more. Come get some real Mexican in Oaktown.

I can see how SF might seem bland, but as a happy suburbanite, I think you need to consider the Bay Area as a whole. Compared to Boston? That is a joke. Though I do wish we could get some Cuban sandwiches...

[Exotic Mushroom]

Le Cheval - Best Vietnamese? Ugh. I utterly fail to see what people like about that place. I have eaten there probably 6 or 7 times and tasted every dish that came to the table each time and I have yet to find one dish that impressive me. I asked a friend about this when I saw the list (and every time he drags me there) and he said he thinks it's because "it's so good and cheap and you get really large portions." Yuck. Aside from the fact that it is actually not good, nor particularly cheap, I can't stand those kinds of explanations. That's what people tell you when they're trying to convince you to go to chain restaurants.

If you want good Vietnamese food in Oakland try Pho 84 on 17th and Franklin downtown. I seriously wish people would wake up and drop the East Bay-wide fixation with Le Cheval.

[homechef]

The Pakwan biryani (used to be the Saturday night special) is for real, unlike the pulaos or (worse) curry fried rice that most Indian restaurants try to pass off as the real thing. Their nans and kababs are pretty good, their curries acceptable, but not special. It's as close to the real thing as I've found in the bay area.

The fact is, that in order to be a good kabab shop, you have to pretty much focus on the tandoor. A good biryani shop has basically 3 pots (chicken, mutton and some sort of vegetable biryani) and when they've sold out of biryani, they close up for the day. You just can't get the volume to survive like that in the US... Till then, getting this sort of Indian food is like buying a pizza at an Italian restaurant that serves osso bucco and risotto milanese as well.

The only place that I know of that has the volume and business model to be able to replicate exactly the quality they have at their Indian branches is Saravana Bhavan. And that would be my vote for best Indian food in the Bay Area.

[merle]

Le Cheval - Best Vietnamese? Ugh. I utterly fail to see what people like about that place.

Agreed!

I work in the area, and whenever I mention Vietnamese everyone wants to trundle on down to Le Cheval.

I'll admit that the vermicelli salads there are good. I haven't liked anything else there, though, and they distinctly seat people based on how they're dressed (show up in a T-shirt and you're sure to get stuffed in the back; only suits get the window seats) when possible.

My current fave is Huynh, 15th between Franklin/Webster. Much the same as Pho 84, but slightly cheaper, and (I think) subtly better flavors. Their pho is not to be missed. Hunyh, Pho 84, Vi's, there are too many good places to waste time and money at Le Cheval.

[megc]

Was Cha-Am on this list? I hope not. Every time I went to the Berkeley location at least, the food was overly sweet. I never understood why people loved that place so much.

For tapas, I think Cesar in Berkeley is quite nice.