~ Margaret Lee Runbeck
(Just my luck, my train would blow by that station, anyway.)
http://www.universalcafe.net/
Place: UNIVERSAL cafe
Location: 2814 19th Street (between Bryant and Florida Streets)
Hours: open for "Brunch" Wednesday-Friday at 11:30am and Saturday-Sunday at 9:00am
Meal: Soft Scrambled Eggs ~ (?) with some kinda mushrooms and some kinda cheese and maybe one or two other ingredients (I didn't write down the exact ingredients as I figured I could just check on their web-site for this weekend's "Brunch" menu items; however, I figured wrong; they do not have the Weekend "Brunch" Menu updated correctly; kids, let this be a lesson to you, always take copious notes ~ and if Copious isn't around to steal his notes, just cheat off of Plentiful's test), toast, lettuces; a side of Garlic-herb Potatoes; and a cuppa (or, more likely, a "keep 'em coming" refilla) Equator Coffees & Teas™ Mocha Java Blend
http://www.equatorcoffees.com/coffee/all-coffees/mocha-java-blend
(Sure, I could have used the EweToobular juxtaselection of the original song by the Beatles, but Fiona Apple is much cuter than John, or even Sir Paul. Now just who the heck is this "Jack Groovy" guy that Fiona is singing a paean to? Om!
The secondary song is mainly a nod to one Jerome John Garcia, who would have been 72 years old on Friday. I just like Tim Pretty & the Homewreckers' version better than the Grateful Dead's.)
I went back to UNIVERSAL cafe (see last 'blog-entry from June 30th, 2012) for breakfast this morning (well, they have it listed as "Brunch", but they open early enough on the weekends for me to still call it by its less snootified name). This place really isn't in the Mission or Potrero Hill neighborhoods, it's kind of an in-between land (something like the "Gaza Strip" of San Francisco ~ if the Mission were "Israel" and Potrero Hill were "Egypt" ~ I wonder if that would make all the neighborhood Hipster Doofi "Hamas-holes"?); maybe we can come up with yet still another stupid, useless neighborhood acronym/designator ~ "MiPoH"?!
UNIVERSAL cafe is not that large of a place and their seating situation is: eight bar-stool/counter seats; fifteen tables for two (which can always be combined into tables for four, six, etc.); and a sidewalk patio area seating with four tables for four and two tables for two (this being the middle of the Summer in San Francisco, I opted to sit inside where it was a lot less overcast and chilly).
There were only two or three viable choices on this weekend's menu for stupid vegetarians, which really put a rimple in my breakfastary plans. The other two possible ideas: Grilled Flatbread (aka "thin-crust Pizza"; now, this may or may not have been topped with spinach, black olives, padron peppers, Pecorino, and Mozzarella ~ see above explanatory excuses for not having any idea what this weekend's "Brunch" menu really entailed; someone at the next table over ordered this and it looked very good) or French Toast (again, this may or may not have been with blueberry-strawberry compote, candied pecans and almonds and Chantilly cream).
Soft scrambled eggs: pretty hard to mess up really. I mean, these were good, but, other than the fresh mushrooms and cheese, I probably could have made these just as well at home… if I ever had any eggs, too. The side of "lettuces" was just a buncha rabbit food junk; also something that I could probably cook just as well at home myself. Their version of homefries was very decent, though.
Of particular breakfastary note, the Coffee was an excellent cuppa this morning. I have had Equator Coffees & Teas™ (a local roastery out of San Rafael) before and usually enjoy it, but today's was truly an exemplary one (and I mean that in a very positive way, I am not making an example out of a bad experience). I must have had three to four cuppas (that would be two to three refillas) of the stuff. It always surprises me how a professional restaurant or coffeehouse could mess up brewing Coffee. If I want bad Coffee made from good brands, I can always make my own at home.
I didn't really bother to ask what UNIVERSAL cafe had to offer for condimentary supplements, but the last time I ate there they had both Tabasco® Brand Pepper Sauce (the standard red) and Cholula® Hot Sauce. I used some of my own El Yucateco® XXXtra Hot Sauce Salsa Kutbil-ik® de Chile Habanero (Thanks, Brian!) on the scrambled mess and some Fat Cat® Chairman Meow's Revenge (Scorpion Pepper Sauce) (Thanks, Cindy & Greg!) on the potatoes. While this could very easily be an extremely painful hot sauce, Fat Cat®'s is actually not that bad (see yesterday's 'blog-entry for an extreme ridiculousness) and can be used with a little heavier hand than might be thought possible.
Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Soft Scrambled Eggs (including Garden-herb Potatoes) ~ 6.3; Equator™ Mocha Java Blend ~ 7.3
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