pomelo

"Refreshingly Global"



http://www.pomelosf.com/


pomelo is located all the way at the end of Church Street in Noe Valley. In case anyone was wondering, a "pomelo" [pronounced: pom-uh-loh] is a large citrus fruit from which several other citrus fruits have been cultivated, e.g. a tangelo is a hybrid between the pomelo and the tangerine; and it is also known as "the granddaddy of grapefruit".

I used to go to this place all the time in the late 90's, when it was still known as Valentine's. Valentine was the name of the owners' Scotty Dog that would usually be parked out front on the sidewalk. Valentine's was one of my favourite places and part of my regular Breakfast Rotation back then; they had a great breakfast/brunch menu.

However, in 2001 new owners bought the place and changed the brunch menu extensively to match their theme of globularity and the unification of noodles and grains. pomelo still has their original restaurant over on Judah Street near UCSF, but they are not open for brunch/breakfast at that location. pomelo also offers a great breakfast selection, but the location (about as far away from my apartment as you can get in San Francisco without ending up in the Bay) and the fact that they don't open up until 10:00am on Saturdays and Sundays has prevented my going there as often as I used to.

pomelo is still a very pet-friendly place. There was a cute little Chihuahua waiting patiently for her human to finish breakfast this morning ~ and this little dog was not a monster like some unnamed beasts *cough-cough ~ Mini De Niro ~ cough-cough* ("Hi, Cheri!"). I found out that it is not exactly baby-friendly, though, as they don't have any high chairs, just booster seats; not that that really matters much to me ~ let the little rug-rats stay outside with the rest of the mangy pets.

Every breakfast starts with a complimentary mini-muffin. Today's was nectarines & almonds. It was pretty small, but very tasty and fresh-baked. I probably could have eaten another one if forced. Another thing I remember about Valentine's was that they used to start every breakfast with a little basket of several baked goodies.

As mentioned, their menu is pretty extensive and this was another one of those places that I could have chosen one of several good ones. I ended up going with altamira (caracas) ~ arepas - three crispy white corn buns: one filled with egg; one filled with potato, tomato, and queso fresco; and one filled with beef mechada, black beans, fried plantain & grated cheese. I had them substitute a second egg arepa in place of the beef one (I have no idea what mechada is, and I was not about to find out). Arepas are basically Venezuela's version of empanadas or pupupas. I have had this in the past and knew it to be a winner. This is served with guasacaca, a Venezuelan spicy avocado salsa. Next time I go there, I have to try their "Scandinavian cardamom pancake rolls ~ served with nectarine & pluot plum compote"; that sounds too good to pass up a second time.

I had all of this with a large glass of fresh-squeezed grapefruit juice (it just made sense).



As for the ubiquitous salsa offerings, they had a pretty decent collection. They have 3 types of Tabasco® ~ Red/Standard, Green/Jalapeño, and Chipotle; and 2 types of Cholula® ~ Original and Chili Lime. (I just found out today that Cholula® is licensed by Tequila Cuervo la Rojena, S.A. de C.V., the people that make Jose Cuervo® products.) I went with some of the Tabasco® Chipotle on the guasacaca; not that it really needed any extra heat or flavour, as it was pretty good on its own.

All in all, I think it was pretty funny that there was not anything on their menu (or none that I could see) that was made with an actual pomelo.


Glen Bacon Scale Rating: altamira ~ 7.4; mini-muffin ~ 7.0