Home Plate

"People ask me what I do in Winter when there's no Baseball. I'll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for Spring." ~ Rogers Hornsby 

(No official web-site. They used to have one, though.)


Place: Home Plate
Location: 2274 Lombard Street (between Pierce and Steiner Streets); phonicular contact: (415) 922-4663
Hours: open every day at 7:00am
Meal: Angry Benedict ~ two poached eggs, shrimps 
[ sic ], spinach, jalapeños, with Cajun Hollandaise sauce, served with two potato-carrot pancakes or hashbrowns; and a large glassa orange juice (I really wanted to order a large glassa their "fresh-squeezed" cantaloupe juice, but I was told that the guy that makes their juices had not come in yet that morning... They have a special guy that just makes their juices? Really?! Even I think that I could manage a blender/juice-maker.)


Woo-HOO!!! It is Baseball (Spring Training-version) Season again!

So, I figured it was time to step up to Home Plate (see last 'blog-entry from Sunday, February 21st, 2016 ~ almost exactly a year ago) again. I sat at a "new" (at least since my visit last year) sheet metal-topped counter-table where there are four stools.

They have both a printed "Special" [ sic, in the singularity] menu insert and a weekend specials blackboard (well, it is actually a dry-erase "whiteboard", but those matter, too). My meal came off the weekend specials board (whether it be black or white).

A few other possible ideas this morning that I was looking at off the printed "Special" menu:

Dulce de Leche[1] Pancakes ~ 2 pancakes filled with dulce de leche and topped with caramel, sliced almond [ sic, also in the singular, but I bet they use more than one almond] and whipped cream

or

Bangkok Frittata ~ shrimps [ sic ~ again; now if they had only used this superfluous "s" for "Specials" or "almonds"...], mushroom, tomato, green onion, cilantro, jalapeños, kaffir lime leaves, galangal[2], served with 2 potato-carrot pancakes or hashbrowns and toast (of course, I would have ordered this dish without the dead, decaying aquatic insects, much like I did with my Benedict this morning; 555!).

Plus, there are many other great selections off their standard printed menu. I have had most of the items that are stupid vegetarian-friendly, but would not mind reordering any of them.

Like yesterday morning's meal, this was another very good take on your standard Eggs Benedict dish. I particularly liked that they used slices of fresh jalapeños and not the pickled version; and they used a good amount, too ~ so, this was not for the Gringo at heart. The Cajun Hollandaise sauce was also very good; it really wasn't that hot, but with the added jalapeños under the eggs, it all ended up being pretty picante.

I went with the side choice of two potato-carrot pancakes (which are not really "pancakes" in the 'merican sense of the word, but are really German-style Kartoffelpuffer). There is nothing wrong with their hashbrowns, I just think that this other potatoey option is very good.

As always, every breakfast starts with a complimentary (and complementary) homemade (well, Home Plate-made) mini-scone with two of their homemade (again, Home Plate-made) jams. Today's jams were: strawberry and mango. I used the surplus on top of one of the potato-carrot pancakes. (I am just glad that their mini-scone baker and jam-maker were not late into work this morning.)

For condimentary supplements, Home Plate offers Tabasco® Brand Pepper Sauce (Original Red Sauce), Cholula® Hot Sauce (Original), and Huy Fong Foods, Inc. Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce. I had brought a few of my own hot sauces with me, but did not feel it necessary to use any.

the Wild Parrots of San Francisco Interlude

While crossing Lombard Street to get to the restaurant this morning, I saw (which I heard overhead first) a pair (a mini-pandemonium?) of the colourful chatter-birds flying westward, probably heading back home to their roost in one of the Eucalyptus trees in the Presidio.


Glen Bacon Scale Rating: 
Angry Benedict ~ 7.1 (this is factoring in their great Kartoffelpuffer, too);
homemade (well, Home Plate-made) mini-scone and jams ~ 7.3;
the Wild Parrots of San Francisco ~ 8.5

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1. Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer of the day:

"Dulce de leche" literally translates from Spanish as "sweet from milk". It is a type of caramel pudding made from  slowly heating sweetened milk.

2. Huh?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galangal