Eats

https://www.eatsrestaurantsf.com/


Place: Eats

Location:  50 Clement Street
(on the corner of 2nd Avenue)

Hours: open Monday - Sunday at 8:00am

Meal: (one) Waffle Berries & Crème (v) ~ homemade waffle(s) topped with honey butter, whipped cream, strawberries, blueberries, bananas, and dusted with powdered sugar; a side of Excellent! Homefries; and a large glassa Refresher ~ cucumber, pineapple, romaine[1] to drink

(Maybe this song woulda made more sense if today's date happened to be October 17th [and thirty years ago]. Close enough for government [and 'blog-] work.)


For a weekend Double-Header (or Double-Play) for the Post-Season Workout of my Breakfastary Starting Rotation, I went back to Eats (see last 'blog-entry from Saturday, October 19th, 2019... so, yesterday) again this morning.

I sat inside again this morning. I probably coulda sat outside (it was a bit on the cool side, but I did have on a sweatshirt and another sweat-jacket-thing), but I had gotten there just as they were opening and had no problem getting one of the inside small tables for two (which, surprisingly, also seats one).

There was really nothing extra-special about the single waffle (I went with a one waffle choice because I knew that I also wanted to order their Excellent! Homefries and would not have been able to finish a two waffles and potatoes order), but I did like all the fruits (which included two different types of berries [that would be: blueberries and bananas] and strawberries) and whipped cream on top.

Now, as usual, their version of homefries was truly Excellent! (hence my nickname for this menu item). Today's pile included six nicely roasted and caramelized garlic cloves and lotsa fresh rosemary sprigs. I woulda liked the potatoes to have been a little bit more on the crispied-up side, but I had gotten there kinda early in the morning and the grill may not have had time to sufficiently brown them up yet.

As for the Refresher drink, yeah, its nookular colour and ingredients do look and sound kinda disgusting, but the cucumbers and romaine lettuce actually worked well enough with the freshly-juiced pineapples. If I were ever to make a similar juiced-up drink myself at home (well, of course, I would first need to buy some cucumbers, romaine lettuce, and a pineapple... and probably an actual juicer of some sort), I might think about adding another element or two. I bet some fresh ginger (which I would also need to buy) or some fresh rosemary (which I could easily steal from a number of gardens or front yards in my neighborhood; 'round these parts, the stuff grows like a weed... albeit, a very nice, aromatic weed) would be nice flavour additions.

For condimentary supplementation, Eats has... well, same as yesterday... I did get to try some of the ?new? Mead and Mead Maple Syrup on my waffle. The waffle dish probably really did not need any extra sweetening, but it was authentic New Englander 100% maple syrup, after all. I did use a good amount of my own H*ll's Kitchen Sriracha Chili Hot Sauce (Thanks, Mom!) and also several grinds from my The Spice & Tea Exchange® Florida Sunshine Spice Blend (Thanks, Cindy!) on the homefries.

http://meadandmeads.com/


Glen Bacon Scale Rating:
Waffle Berries & Crème ~ 6.4;
Excellent! Homefries ~ 7.66

___________________

1. Stupid, useless cunning linguist/pseudo-botanical pointer of the day (stolen... er... borrowed directly from the friendly folks at WikipediA):

In British English, it is commonly known as “cos” lettuce, and in North America as “romaine” lettuce. Many dictionaries trace the word cos to the name of the Greek island of Cos, from which the lettuce was presumably introduced. Other authorities trace cos to the Arabic word for lettuce, khus خس [xus].

It apparently reached Western Europe via Rome, as in Italian it is called lattuga romana and in French laitue romaine, both meaning “Roman lettuce”. Hence the name “romaine”, the common term in North American English.

Eats

♪ "I'm headin' down Clement Street
Lookin' for the breakfast get-a-way... " ♫ 

https://www.eatsrestaurantsf.com/


Place: Eats

Location:  50 Clement Street
(on the corner of 2nd Avenue)

Hours: open Monday - Sunday at 8:00am

Meal: Spicy Kale Skillet (v) (okay, technically, they have this dish listed as "Spicy Tomato Skillet (v)" on their menu, but I just calls 'em as I tastes 'em) ~ kale, onions, potatoes, bell peppers, sunny up eggs, Parmesan, grilled bread; and, to drink, a large(-ish) glassa Power C ~ a mixture of orange, pineapple, and grapefruit juices

(I have it on good authority that both Kate Pierson and Cindy Wilson are big kale fans, too. However, I think that Fred Schneider hates just about everything if it is not from Idaho or Claire.)


Continuing along with a Post-Season Workout of my Breakfastary Starting Rotation, I went back to Eats (see last 'blog-entry from Sunday, May 19th, 2019) this morning.

This dish (skillet, whatever) is probably my favourite one that they offer due to the amount of kale added to it (Sorry, Sean!). They even added extra kale in it for me this morning because they had misunderstood me when I said that I had renamed their dish "Spicy Kale Skillet" due to all the great kale-ocity in it. ("B-b-but, Brian, can you just go and change the established names of dishes at local restaurant?" Well, I just did!) However, I think that I have come up with even a mo' betta' name for this one now: "Kale-ifornia Shakshouka"[1]. ("B-b-but, Brian... " Shut-up and just go with it already!) Unfortunately, I had to explain what a "Shakshouka" was to my confused waiter-person-guy, though.

(So now maybe you will get the above EweToobular juxtaselection.)

For condimentary supplementation, Eats offers not only the Standard San Francisco Triumvirate of Hot Sauces (Tabasco® Brand Pepper Sauce [Original Red Sauce], Cholula® Hot Sauce [Original], and Tapatío® Salsa Picante Hot Sauce), but also Huy Fong Foods, Inc. Sriracha HOT Chili Sauce; additionally, I spied on a few of the tables El Yucateco® three ways (Salsa Picante Roja de Chile Habanero, Salsa Picante Verde de Chile Habanero, and XXXtra Picante Salsa Kutbil-Ik® de Chile Habanero). I used some of my own Dixie Crossroads Hot Habañero [which is appareñtly how they mispelz it in Floridialañd] Pepper Sauce (Thañks, Mom añd Briañ!) on top of one egg and a good amount o' sprinklage from my McCormick® Grill Mates® Smokehouse Maple Seasoning all over everything in the skillet.

They also now have on every table bottles of a new(?) maple syrup ~ Mead and Mead Maple Syrup. (I'd tap that!) Unfortunately, I did not have any items on which to try it this morning (but do not think that I was not tempted to pour just a little over the top of one of the eggs... ). Perhaps tomorrow.

http://meadandmeads.com/


Crafty Coffee Confabulation Interlude

I broke into another (and the last of, finally, my) Christmas (yes, Christmas) Coffee gift this morning. Before heading out to breakfast, I dripped me down (via the pour-over method) a mighty strong cuppa Lineage Coffee Roasting 431° Espresso. The package notes state: "A Classic Profile with a Heavier Roast Designed for Approachability[2] & Consistency"... whatever the h*ck that is supposed to mean. "Approachability", really?! It is just d*mn Coffee, not some kinda up-and-coming, hot, new Hollywoodland Starlet. Sheesh! Anyway... this was a decent enough roast/blend. I was expecting a bit of a darker roast from an Espresso and with a bit more kick to it, but I also did not prepare it with an actual Espresso-maker-thing. (Thanks, Barry! [even though he gets all of these "gifts" as freebie discards from his employer ~ Whole Paychecks®])

https://www.lineageroasting.com/products/northern-italian-espresso


Here's hoping that your tin roof never rusts!


Glen Bacon Scale Rating:
Kale-ifornia Shakshouka ~ 7.5;
Lineage Coffee Roasting 431° Espresso ~ 6.9

___________________

1. Ho-yeah!

http://www.pbs.org/food/recipes/shakshouka-2/

2. I checked. "Approachability" is a completely madeuppery word.

the Art Bistro

Richmond (District) Coffeehouses ~
Part 1b

(No official-type web-site.)


Place: the Art Bistro

Location: 2960 Clement Street (on the corner of 31st Avenue); phonicular contact: (415) 379-7119

Hours: open Monday to Friday at 7:00am; 
open at 8:30am every other day of the week (well, supposably)[1] 

Meal: All Seeded[ sic ] Bagel with Cream Cheese and Tomatoes; and a small cuppa Organic French Roast Coffee (whichever brand it might have been)[2]

(I just figured that the first Bruddah Iz song would be the perfect EweToobular juxtaselection to welcome a new/old business back to the 'hood. Besides, Bruddah Iz iz always cool to listen to on a placid Sunday morn, anyway, be you haole or native Hawai'ianese.)


the Art Bistro (see previous 'blog-entry from Sunday, July 26th, 2015) just recently reopened on August 19th at their new location on Clement Street. They had closed their old Geary Boulevard location (my guess is that the rent was just too d*rn high) about two months ago now. I was greeted this morning by (whom I can only assume is) the owner/manager-lady that was always at the old location. I had always thought that she was Korean, but she informed me that she and most of the workers are Thai. Not knowing many Thai words or phrases, I had to ask her how to say "Thank you!"; she told me it is "ขอบคุณ!", which sounds something like "Kapoon!" (to my untrained Siamese cat-ears).

They have moved only three blocks away into the space that used to house Saltroot Café (insert frowny-face emoji here)[3]. The good news is that the Art Bistro will still now be selling their (very good) Brazilian 
Cheese Popups (Gorgonzola and Guava are my two favourite flavours, but they are all very tasty) in frozen boxes of ten each. This is a much smaller space than they used to occupy (by about one-third, I would guess) and a bit more off the beaten path (and Geary Boulevard is a well-worn, beaten path) than the previous location.

One nice thing about their new location is that I got to sit outside at one of the two small round two-seater tables along the Clement Street sidewalk. The old Geary Boulevard location did not have any space to offer any outside seating. Fortunately, the Sun was out this morning and shining brightly, but it was still a little breezy and I had to keep rescuing my errant napkins.

I thought it was kinda funny that they still have the old ★ Intelligentsia Coffee sign up on a back wall in the kitchen area. Apparently, when the painters had repainted the walls during the recent renovation, they painted around the sign instead of removing it. So now if the coffeeshop were ever to remove the sign, there will be an off-colour spot on the wall. (Hmmm?! Maybe the Art Bistro could start selling ★ Intelligentsia Coffee instead of "Some Guy Coffee"... )

I had gotten there too early this morning and they were all outta eggs. The owner/manager-lady told me that she had sent someone to a nearby grocery store to pick up some for the day, but she had not returned yet. Otherwise, there is not really a whole lotta choices for breakfastary items (or food in general). I was actually planning on getting a bagel or croissant sandwich with eggs (they only prepare the eggs one way: nuked-scrambled), cheese, tomatoes, and onions. Oh, well, maybe next time... 

There was nothing special about this meal, but I did not really expect anything more, anyway. I mean, it was just a toasted bagel (all-seeded and such; which, as best as I can tell, include: sesame and poppy [Sorry, Elaine.] seeds, at least) with cream cheese schmeared on it and some sliced tomatoes.

As for the Coffee (it is a coffeehouse, after all), it was pretty good. However, I did not discern any l'orange or ส้ม in the French Roast... They change the blend/roast that is offered over the counter as their standard drip Coffee every so often. I think that I liked the Colombian Coffee that I had there last week a little more, though. 

I have no idea what they might have had to offer in the way of any condimentary supplementation (it is just a coffeehouse, not a restaurant, after all).  I had come prepared and used some of my brand-spanking (If it is unbranded, does it not need corporal punishment?) new Sassy Mama Cuisine Fire Roasted Habanero Hot Sauce (Thanks, Kerry!) and a coupla good twists from my The Spice & Tea Exchange® Italian Street Fair Spice Blend (Thanks, Cindy!) grinder-thing on the inside of the bagel. This was my first time trying out this hot sauce (on anything other than a spoon when I had first opened it to test it out a few weeks back). I liked it a lot; it was not overly espicy, but had a decent roasted habanero flavour.

https://www.sassymamacuisine.com/

https://www.spiceandtea.com/seasonings-blends-rubs/italian-street-fair-spice-blend.html


Glen Bacon Scale Rating:
Bagel with etc. ~ 6.0;
Coffee ~ 6.8;
Bruddah Iz ~ 7.9 (on the Glen Bacon Scale... but fuggedaboudit on a standard weight-scale, it just don't go that high; you would need a truck-scale to do that)

___________________

1. I had stopped by there last Monday (as in Labor Day), and they had not opened yet for the morning at around 8:50am; no biggie, I figured I would just check them out on another day... as it is only three blocks away. 

"But, Brian, maybe they were closed to observe the labourious 'merican holiday?!" Nah, sorry. I had just stopped by there on the Saturday before and the owner/manager-lady told me they would be open at 8:30am on Sunday and Monday.

2. I asked the owner/manager-lady where they got their Coffee. Her reply: "Some guy." Of course, now knowing that she is Thai, she mighta been saying that they get their Coffee from a roaster named "Orange Chicken"*...

*(Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer/joke-explainer of the day:

Unfortunately, my "knowledge" of the Thai language is limited to only those few items that I have seen on menus at local restaurants. 

There is a Thai restaurant in my neighborhood [very good, by the way] that is named "Bai Som" ["ใบ ส้ม" in Thai], which the best that I can figure means "orange leaf"[?]. I was also aware that the Thai word for "chicken" is "gai/kai" ["ไก่"] [this word is very similar in Chinese, Lao, and Vietnamese, too]. So, I jokingly added the two words together which sound somewhat like "Some Guy" in 'merican-speak.)

http://www.baisomthaisf.com/

3. Luckily, I stopped by Saltroot Café (see previous 'blog-entry from Monday, February 20th, 2017) just a few weeks before they had closed-up their retail-storefront operation for good. Thankfully, I was informed by one of the owners that they are not out-of-business, they are now only selling their (very good) Brazilian Cheese Popups at a few local organic markets in town.

Breadbelly

https://breadbellysf.com/


Place: Breadbelly

Location: 1408 Clement Street 
(near the corner of 15th Avenue)

Hours: open at 8:00am Wednesday to Monday 
(so, basically, they are closed on Tuesdays)

Meal: Smashed Cucumber & Avocado (salad) ~ dressed with nam prik num (spicy Thai chili-lime vinaigrette)[1], sesame seeds, basils[ sics ]; to drink with the meal a glassa Mandarin Monkey ~ Orion Lager, mandarin, & OJ (I kid you not, Mike D!); and, afterward, as a breakfastary dessert-thing, a Bavarian Cream doughnut from Frena Bakery

https://www.orionbeer.co.jp/brand/draft/index.html

https://frenabakery.com/product/dozen-bavarian-cream-donuts

(I do not care how "reet" or "new" the "skank" is, I would rather stick with a Bavarian Cream doughnut, Chrissie.

And the second EweToobular video is just because I know that ol' Petey Gabbie is a big fan of orange juice-and-Beer for breakfast, too.)


Yeah. It was inevitable that I would return to Breadbelly (see last 'blog-entry from Sunday, June 16th, 2019) to try their version of a Brass Monkey[2].

With this morning's dish, I think that I have about now run through their gamut of st*pid vegetarian-friendly breakfast items, leaving only: Mushroom Barley Broth ~ Maitake & Enoki mushrooms, roasted barley tea, spring peas (I have no idea what this might look like or taste like, but I will try anything once... hence the Mandarin Monkey this morning). 

Additionally, there are a few more drink items that I do want to try:

Iced Sesame Horchata ~ oat+rice milk, Saigon cinnamon; 

and, off their "Specials" board,

Watermelon Lychee Tea (which is served cold; I asked).

With the drink and salad, this may have been one of 
the stranger breakfast combinations that I have had 
in a while.

Ya know, as disgusting as it sounds, the drink was really not half-bad (so I only drank the half-good part). Hey, do not judge me! It had both orange juice and mandarin bits in it, so that makes it breakfastarily sound. "But... Beer... for breakfast, Brian?!" Apparently, you did not see last Saturday's silly li'l 'blog-thing. This was made with a Japanese (Okinawan, to be exact) Beer, so I am not sure why it is labeled specifically as "Mandarin Monkey"; perhaps all the monkeys in Okinawa have swum over to mainland China. (And if you think this combination of Beer and orange juice is a bit strange, I would like to introduce you to a Montana Red Bird ~ made with Beer [usually a light Lager-style] and tomato juice.)

On a previous visit, one of the counter-server guys told me that the nam prik num dressing is made with fish-sauce in it, but they could make the salad with a different vinaigrette; so, they substituted a champagne vinaigrette for me instead. All in all, this was a pretty simple and basic dish. It was not really "smashed", but was made with a cubed avocado (about a whole half) and cucumbers, and with several halved cherry tomatoes; plus, a good amount of basils[ sics ] leaves/sprigs throughout. In my opinion, I think that it mighta coulda used just a little something extra in it: some fresh sliced jalapeños or pickled onions, perhaps. I also wonder if it could possibly be made with a poached egg on top.

I still have not bothered to ask what they might have to offer in the way of condimentary supplementation. I used some of my own Dragon's Lair Extra Hot Cayenne & Habanero Hot Sauce (Thanks, Mom!) all over the salad junk (mainly because it did not include any spicy Thai chili-lime vinaigrette) and a couple of shakes of McCormick® Grill Mates® Smokehouse Maple Seasoning on top, too. The Grill Mates® dealie is brand new to my condimentary arsenal; I just bought it last weekend because I was all out of both black pepper and grains of paradise and wanted to try something new. While this is not really a "salt-substitute" ~ as the first ingredient listed is "salt" ~ I did like the flavour it added... I am just not exactly sure how the "natural flavor (including smoke)" is included (there are probably some mirrors involved in the manufacturing process).

https://www.mccormick.com/grill-mates/flavors/seasoning-blends/grill-mates-smokehouse-maple-seasoning


Glen Bacon Scale Rating:
Smashed Cucumber & Avocado ~ 6.3;
Brass Monkey-thing ~ 6.5;
Bavarian Cream doughnut ~ 6.7

___________________

1. http://thaifoodparadise.com/recipe/nam-prik-noom-recipe-northern-thai-green-chili-dip/

2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brass_Monkey_(cocktail)

Breadbelly

https://breadbellysf.com/

(I find it funny that their web-site needed to add an 
"sf" in it to distinguish it from any other possible "Breadbelly" businesses that might be out there.)


Place: Breadbelly

Location: 1408 Clement Street
(near the corner of 15th Avenue)

Hours: open at 8:00am Wednesday to Monday 
(so, basically, they are closed on Tuesdays)

Meal: (the simply-enough named) Breakfast Sandwich ~ fried egg, ham (where they were nice enough to substitute some sliced avocado in its place for st*pid vegetarian-types), braised kale, Gruyère (they have this printed in the minuscule et sans l'accent grave, but I just felt like majusculing it and correctly accenting it here), fermented chili (for a change, I did not bother to ask them what it was exactly, but I think it was of the Korean Gochujang-ilk); a Raspberry Brioche Bun; and, to drink, a cuppa Matcha Cappuccino (I made sure to thank them for not St*rbucks-upping the name of the drink into something nocuous and noxious like "Matchaccino")


I specifically waited until Sunday to go back to Breadbelly (see last 'blog-entry from Saturday, June 8th, 2019) so as to not incur any undue criticism from one of my brothers (who shall remain named "Sean") for frequenting a place twice in the same week...

I plan on going back again soon (maybe just not next week, Sean, but in the near future still) and will probably order either: 

Smashed Cucumber & Avocado ~ (a salad) dressed with naam prik nuum (Thai chili-lime vinaigrette), basils[ sics ] (one of the counter-server guys told me last week that this dressing is made with fish-sauce in it, but they could make it with a different vinaigrette; and if they could add a poached egg on top of it, that would make it a bit more breakfastarily sound even);

or

Mushroom Barley Broth ~ Maitake & English peas, roasted barley tea, Chinese cabbages.

To drink, I want to try either the Sesame Horchata or (most likely) that "Brass Monkey"-thing that I saw on the menu on my initial visit two weeks ago now.

(Ooops! It looks as though someone completely forgot to take a photo of the Breakfast Sandwich to start. Hopefully you get the idea from the already 3/4-eaten remainder.)


I had asked last week what the Matcha Cappuccino was and was informed then that it is basically a chrysanthemum-based tea drink with matcha powder and frothed into a Cappuccino-style drink. I also felt proud of myself for not having to ask any additional st*pid bothering queries to the counter-server guys today.

The sweet bun-thing was a bit denser than I was expecting from a "Brioche"-described pastry. It was all still very good, but probably would have paired much better with a Coffee drink and not a matcha tea one. 
I ended up eating half of it before the main meal (well, if a "sandwich" can be considered a "main" meal ~ outside of Kennebunkport or Crabapple Cove) came and the last half as a breakfast-ending dessert.

As for the Breakfast Sandwich, there was not really much to it (as can almost be seen in the above photo), but it was still way better'n anything the demented clown at Mickey D's could ever conjure up. Their fermented chili sauce had a nice "sweet heat" thing going to it. And the only time that Mickey D's would ever have "kale" printed anywhere on their menu is if there were a major typo when they meant to have "imitation pork-fat-stuff" instead. I also like that they did not fancify-up (It's a real phrase, look it up!)[1] the name of this meal into something like "Brekkie Sandwich" or "Breakfast Sando", or the even worse "Brekkie Sando". (Hmmm?! Egga-McBrekkie Sando®, does kinda have a nice twang to it... )

Once again, I did not bother to ask (or bother the counter-server guys by asking) what they might have to offer in the way of any condimentary supplements. I had even come well-equipped with two of my own hot sauces, but none were needed or used this morning.


Glen Bacon Scale Rating:
Egga-McBrekkie Sando® ~ 6.4;
Raspberry Brioche Bun ~ 6.7;
Matcha Cappuccino ~ 6.5

___________________

1. Actually, I was joking there when I first typed that phrase. However, I done looked 'er up my d*mnself, and "fancify" really is a verb. Hoo noo?!

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fancify

(This is the case where even Joseph Francis Tribbiani, Jr. may know something that Miss Chanandler Bong did not. Well, supposably.

"Even a blind pig can find a blind squirrel every once in a while... with or without the assistance of Ray Charles 
or Stevie Wonder.")

Breadbelly

Kaya von Dios?![1]

https://breadbellysf.com/


Place: Breadbelly

Location: 1408 Clement Street
(near the corner of 15th Avenue)

Hours: open at 8:00am Wednesday to Monday (so, basically, they are closed on Tuesdays)

Meal: Kaya Toast ~ griddled Breadbelly milk bread, coconut-pandan jam; Gyeran-Bbang ~ sweet cornbread, Korean chili (by which, I am guessing they mean "Gochujang"[2]), Cheddar cheese, soft jidori egg[3]; and, once again, a cuppa Wrecking Ball Colombia Cauca El Totoró to drink 

https://www.wreckingballcoffee.com/collections/all/products/colombia-cauca-el-totoro-12oz

(I am not sure how this Bruce Springfield-guy feels about coconut-pandan jam...but the point is probably moot. Ever since he lost the girl to that Jessie-guy, he has been in kind of a funk, anyway.)


I returned to the scene of last Sunday's crime, and ate at Breadbelly (see initial 'blog-entry from Sunday, June 2nd, 2019) again this morning. (Yeah, so, maybe I am running outta new places at which to breakfast.)

There are still a few other good ideas that I will probably check-out in the near future:

Breakfast Sando ~ fried egg, ham (which I would have substituted with avocado), braised kale, Gruyère, fermented chili (I was told last week that this included more dead, decaying porcine junk in it, so I would also have to 86 that ingredient);

Smashed Cucumber & Avocado ~ dressed with naam prik nuum[4] (Thai chili-lime vinaigrette), basils[ sics ] (one of the always-patient counter-guys informed me that the dressing has fish-sauce in it, but they could make this with another vinaigrette; I saw this dish on another table this morning and it looked pretty d*rn good; I wonder if they could add a poached egg to it to make it a bit more breakfastary);

or possibly

Mushroom Barley Broth ~ Maitake & English peas, roasted barley tea, Chinese cabbages.

I did not see any "Brass Monkey" listed on the Drinks menu this morning (which is okay, I really was not in the mood for any Beer-orange juice concoction this morning), but there was a Matcha Cappuccino that I had missed last week. I had to ask about that (Re-lax! I pestered the poor counter-guys a lot less than I did last week.) and was informed that it is not a Coffee/Espresso-based drink, but it is made with chrysanthemum tea (or something like that). Which is good, 'cause I would think that Matcha and Coffee would not be a perfect matcha (Get it? Matcha... matcha... whatever!).

So this was basically a "sweet and savoury" pastry-shop combination breakfast for me. (Well, seeing as I had mostly finished the Gyeran-Bbang before they had even brought out the Kaya, more like "savoury and sweet".)

I liked the cornbread-egg-thing; it was made with lotsa whole corn kernels in the batter. I did not find it overly spicy, though. I bet some gochuchang drizzled on top of it would really have added to it.

Now, the Kaya was really a stand-out for me (even if it was all rather a bit simple in design). This was kinda like an egg-less French toast; however, I would not think that it would be considered Vegan-friendly if their "milk bread" contains actual bovine juice in it. The coconut-pandan jam had a strange and interesting taste... I can not explain it, but it still had a very nice flavour. I liked this enough so much so, that I am calling this "My Favourite New (not necessarily) French Toast of 2019" (well, for now, at least). I have no idea if this dish is actually named after the Bob Marley song, but the fluorescent green colour of the jam is similar to the colour used on the lettering of the album of the same name (this is one of the things that I probably mighta-shoulda asked the poor counter-guys... next time). I and I am sure that Bob would much di fuud im be proud a, man!

I still did not ask what condimentary supplementation Breadbelly might have had to offer. For a change, I did not even bother schlepping any of my own bottles of hot sauces with me this morning. Nothing much was really needed this morning, anyway.

Strange Dietary Restrictions of the 21st Century Interlude

(While this story may not be actually breakfastarily related, it still involves "food" and that is good enough with me.)

It seems that everyone these days has their own set of dietary restrictions, whether those are religion-based, allergy-based, self restricted-based, or morally-based. Last Friday night this came into play because both of my dining companions each possess their own gastro-afflictions. 

I met with two very old friends ~ I have known Jordan now since the Summer of 1979 (Man, is he old!) and his wife, Pam, since December 1982 (when she was "just" our roommate at the time... uh-huh!) ~ on Fisherman's Wharf to have dinner. Jordan is a bit lactose-intolerant, Pam has wheat/gluten-allergies, and, of course, I am of the st*pid vegetarian ilk. So, to find a restaurant that might be able to cater to all of our needs might prove to be a bit difficult. (Thankfully, there were no Hindu, Muslim, or Jewish friends joining us for dinner that night or we woulda had to really tighten our search.) Luckily, there are many (many, many) different restaurants from which to choose along that particular tourista-haven. A few ideas were either an Italiano seafood joint[5], where I could always get some kinda salad (bo-ring! What am I? Some kinda silly rabbit?!) or at least a basic pasta (non-fishy-based) dish, or Thai or Korean restaurants.

We finally decided on Surisan, a Korean restaurant (mainly because I really like the place and it was only a two block walk from where we had met up). I had eaten breakfast there a few times before (see last 'blog-entry from Saturday, October 14th, 2017) and have been wanting to check out their dinner fare, anyway. It was pretty funny as we all ended up ordering basically the same dish ~ Dolsot Bibimbap[6]. The only differences were that Jordan went with the "beef" option, Pam had the "seafood" variety (read: those dead, decaying aquatic bugs), and I had the only intelligent choice ~ "tofu". 

Pam was smart enough to ask them first if they used any soy sauce in the dish, as soy sauce usually has wheat as a main ingredient in it. I had never even thought of Bibimbap as being soy sauce based, though. It was lucky that Pam had asked, because they do use soy sauce in this dish, but they were able to make it for her without any undo gluten-junk affecting her.

We all really enjoyed our meals. And afterward, Jordan even partook of a night-cap of a once-in-a-while treat of Ice Cream with Pam and me. (For which, I am sure he suffered a bit on the long drive back to Moffett Field where they were staying the night.)

Of course, your nonna italiana or ελληνική γιαγιά would have none of this!


Glen Bacon Scale Rating:
Gyeran-Bbang ~ 6.8;
Kaya ~ 7.0;
Wrecking Ball Colombia Cauca El Totoró ~ 7.2

___________________

1. ¡¿Gott it, señor?!

(I am sure that any cunning linguist that is fluent in both Español y/und Deutsch will get these st*pid puns/spoonerism.)

2. https://mykoreankitchen.com/gochujang-korean-chili-paste/

3. "Say whaaaa', Brian?!"

https://www.samuelsseafood.com/products/jidori-eggs/

Just think Japanese "free-range chicken" eggs, d*mmit!

4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nam_phrik_num

5. Yeah, sorry, did you really think that you could get away without one st*pid, useless (be it only pseudo-)cunning linguist/culinaristic pointer of the day?

The Italiano seafood joint that I was thinking of taking them to is called "Cioppino's" (pronounced "Chip-ee-no's").

http://cioppinos.letseat.at/

Now this is where it gets fun (and is one of my favourite pseudo-cunning linguist pointers). The word "Cioppino" is not an actual Italiano word, nor is it derived from someone's Italiano name.

I will just let il restaurante Cioppino's explain it to you (and this comes directly off their web-site):

The origin of both the dish and the name came from the Italian fishermen in the early 1900's, when Fisherman's Wharf was still called Meigg's Wharf. Someone would make the rounds of the moored fishing boats, calling out for for contributions to a common, festive stew. One fisherman would toss a nice, fat fish into the bucket, another would drop in a succulent Dungeness crab, another some herbs and vegetables. The cry that prompted each contribution was "Chip In!, Chip In!". But coming from an Italian throat, this American slang had to end in a vowel. And the "in" was, of course "een". So "Chip-een-o" was born.

6. https://mykoreankitchen.com/dolsot-bibimbap/