Because I really could not see myself eating breakfast without a cuppa Coffee and a doughnut afterward...
http://www.toasteatery.com/ (This web-site is more site-specific for their Noe Valley locations, but they offer a lotta the same dishes at their West Portal restaurant.) Place: Toast Eatery Location: 160 West Portal Avenue (between Vicente Street and 14th Avenue); phonicular contact: (415) 566-200 Hours: open at 7:00am every day of the week Meal: Huevos Rancheros ~ 2 eggs any style (mi estilo this morning was sobre medio) on corn tortillas with black beans, sour cream, salsa ranchera and a side of chipotle coleslaw; and, to drink with the meal, a large(-ish) glassa grapefruit juice (which came with an old-timey paper straw even) Whenever it is time for my annual eye exam (hence, the silly "see myself" pun in the 'blog-title today), I usually like to have a nice breakfast aforehand at one of the restaurants along West Portal (which, coincidentally enough, happens to be where my optometrist is also located). So, I headed back once again to Toast Eatery(see last 'blog-entry from Saturday, April 28, 2018 ~ so, yeah, basically-exactly one year ago). Dining Tip o' the Day: If you happen to be right-handed, do not seat yourself on the side of the table that is right up against the wall making your dominant hand mostly inoperable. Luckily, there really was not a lotta junk that needed any knife-action on it (at first, I did attempt cutting up the eggs on top of the tortillas with my knife, but just ended up cutting through them with my fork instead), and I have somewhat mastered the trick of eating Britishlander-style with the fork (as sinister as this may sound) in my left hand. I have eaten at all four of the Toast Eaterylocations several times now over the years, but, even so, there are still some other good ideas yet left to try: California Scrambler ~ egg whites, tomato, fresh basil, avocado and Cheddar, served with hashbrowns and choice of Toast; "Veggie" Omelet ~ mushrooms, spinach, tomato and Provolone, served with hashbrowns and choice of Toast;
or Wet "Veggie" Burrito ~ flour tortilla filled with scrambled eggs, grilled "veggies", black beans, Cheddar cheese and sour cream; topped with salsa ranchera and avocado, served with hashbrowns (this one was my back-up plan).
(Yes, I am well-aware that there was no actual "Toast" with my meal this morning, but you can not make a "tostada" without corn tortillas.) Now, there really is not much to a standard Huevos Rancheros dish: (in today's case) two over-medium eggs on top of some corn tortillas; so, not much really going on there. What makes a standard Huevos Rancheros dish stand out from restautante to restaurante is how their salsa ranchera is made. This salsa ranchera at Toast Eatery was una muy buena y sabrosa salsa ranchera; it was not very espicy, just very etasty. Of course, the real standout for me this morning was the side of chipotle coleslaw; now that was extremely etasty! I was not planning on messing with the flavour of their salsa ranchera in any way, but I did notice that they offered the Standard San Francisco Triumvirate of Hot Sauces™: Tabasco®Brand Pepper Sauce (Original Red Sauce), Tapatío®Salsa Picante Hot Sauce, and Cholula®Hot Sauce (Original). Of which, none was needed, nor was none used.
1. Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer of the day, unang bahagi: This particular cultivar of Coffee beans was not named after the 44th President of these here United States. The word "Barako" in Philippine languages is equivalent to the English term "stud" (both literally and figuratively), from Spanish "varraco" (meaning "wild boar"). The word is associated with connotations of masculinity and machismo in Filipino culture. Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer of the day, ikalawang bahagi: The Filipino word for "Coffee" is simply "Kape". I was once told by a native Filipina that the "F" in many Filipino words is usually pronounced like a "P", anyway. How pucking silly is that?!
http://www.toasteatery.com/ (As far as I can tell, there is not an official web-site for this specific restaurant location, but the menu is basically the same as in the above link.) Place: Toast Eatery Location: 160 West Portal Avenue (between Vicente Street and 14th Avenue); phonicular contact: (415) 566-200 Hours: open at 7:00am every day of the week Meal: Chilaquiles ~ house (well, restaurant) made tortilla chips in tomatillo sauce with 2 eggs any style (I stylized them as "over-medium") topped with sour cream; and a large glassa grapefruit juice
(However, I have no idea how either Gun-Marie Fredriksson or Neko Case feels about Chilaquiles or tomatillo salsa.) It had been a few years since I had last eaten at any of the local Toast Eatery restaurants (see last 'blog-entry from Saturday, November 19th, 2016), so I figured a return-visit was in order. I think there are now about four restaurants (eateries, whatever) located throughout the city: this newest one in West Portal; two in Noe Valley; and one on Polk Street (basically [s]Nob Hill area). I am not sure if they are all still owned by the same person/family, though. This location in West Portal just seems to be the easiest for me to get to; plus, the parking is so much easier in this neighborhood. There are still several other good ideas left for me to try off their (thankfully-not-named-"Brunch") breakfast menu: Huevos Rancheros ~ 2 eggs any style (fried or over-medium are generally the choice of style with this dish) on corn tortillas with black beans, sour cream, salsa ranchera and a side of chipotle cole slaw (I really need to check out this dish, if for no other reason than to try the chipotle cole slaw); Breakfast Burrito ~ flour tortilla with scrambled eggs, guacamole, Cheddar, pico de gallo salsa, sour cream, and choice of bacon, pork sausage, or ham (that would be a big no-trio for me, of course), served with hash browns; Wet "Veggie" (uggh!) Burrito ~ flour tortilla filled with scrambled eggs, grilled "veggies" (grilled uggh! if you ask me), black beans, Cheddar cheese and sour cream, topped with salsa ranchera and avocado, served with hash browns; California Scrambler ~ egg whites, tomato, fresh basil, avocado, and Cheddar, served with hash browns and choice of toast: white, whole wheat, rye, sourdough, or English muffin (however, for having such an eponym, I have always found their toast/bread all to be kinda pedestrian); egg-cetera...
I will comment on the "Pluses" of this dish first: 1) their tomatillo salsa was really very tasty (and not very spicy at all) ~ generally chilaquiles come with a red salsa; and 2) there was a good amount of food (luckily I did not order a side of hashbrowns) on the plate. Now as for the "Minuses": 1) it was rather a boring dish (kinda like those "one-note ponies" that are always singing it up in the circus) ~ just a lotta corn tortilla chips with two eggs on top; and 2) most places will normally serve chilaquiles with at least a side of rice and refried beans. It would have been nice to at least have a couple of corn or flour tortillas (which are basically Mexicantoast, anyway) to sop up the rest of their very good tomatillo salsa. (The waitress/server lady-person really gave me some strange looks when I started to lick the remainder off my plate... What?! I did not have a plastic straw handy.) As to what Toast Eatery offers in the way of condimentary supplementation, there was the San Francisco Standard Triumvirate of Hot Sauces (Tabasco®Brand Pepper Sauce [Original Red Sauce]; Tapatío®Salsa PicanteHot Sauce; and Cholula®Hot SauceOriginal) for use on all the tables. It really did not matter this morning as none were needed or used.
(a not so really) Strange Coffee Interlude I had skipped any Coffee-intake with breakfast with the expressed (Espresso?) reason that I planned on getting myself a mighty fine cuppa at Ballast™Coffee ~ like I have for the past few times whenever I have been (bean?) in the West Portal neighborhood recently. I just got a cuppa their standard drip-filter roast/blend that is ready to pour/go. I also like that they have a variety of fresh (well, at 8:30am, at least) dynamo donutdoughnuts from which to choose... from which I choosed a nice rhubarb one. I do not think that I have ever had this particular flavour of theirs before (h*ck, I am pretty sure that I have never had a rhubarb doughnut before, anyway). I really liked that it was made with actual bits/squares/chunks of rhubarb in it. As can be seen in the above photo, I enjoyed these outside in their backyard garden-patio area (which I had all to my ownsome... well, except for an extremely noisy next-door-neighbor pupster on the other side of the fence). https://ballastcoffee.com/ https://dynamodonut.com/ Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Chilaquiles ~ 6.3 (this was factoring in their very tasty tomatillo salsa which added at least 0.1 to 0.2 GBS points); Ballast™Coffeestandard Coffee ~ 7.3; dynamo donutrhubarb doughnut ~ 7.2
♪ "There's nuthin wrong with me lovin'... Challah French Toast... You know what I'm talkin' about... You don't have to worry that it's wrong... Let's get it on!" ♫
Place: the Manor~ An American Bistro Diner[1] Location: 321a West Portal Avenue (between 14th and 15th Avenues) Hours: open Tuesday - Sunday at 8:00am (they now open a half-hour later than they did last year, but this is still plenty early enough for me to be called a breakfast-joint) Meal: (main breakfast) Challah French Toast ~ with warm fruit compote (option); a side of Deviled Eggs with Togarashi[2] (this came as three halves ~ so, even using Common Core Math, basically 1-1/2 eggs); and a large glassa fresh squeezed orange juice (and afterward for a breakfastary dessert) at BallastCoffee™ a(n extra LARGE) cuppa their house "Regular" drip Coffee; and a PassionfruitChocolatedoughnut from dynamo donut
(See below for today's EweToobular juxtaselectionary-ratiocination.) I went back to the Manor ~ An American Bistro Diner (see last/previous 'blog-entry from Saturday, April 1st, 2017[3]) for breakfast this morning. Once again, I sat at the end of the diner-counter nearest the kitchen-prep area. This morning they were primarily playing on the house radio/stereo a pandora-channel (I guessed and asked, and was told it was indeed a pandora-channel) featuring cool 60's-70's Motown/Soul/R&B classics ~ suchas: the above-linked Marvin Gaye 1973 mega-hit; the Jackson Five; Aretha (no last name is really needed, is it?); Stevie Wonder; and Sam Cooke. There really are not that many different items from which to choose on their menu for breakfast, but I could have also made a meal of: Create Your Own Omelette ~ where I was thinking along the lines of either creating my own artichoke hearts, spinach, and Swiss omelette; or an avocado, roasted bell peppers, and Monterey Jack omelette creation; or possibly just getting one of their salads ~ Butter Leaf Salad with Roasted Beets, Apples, & Fried Goat Cheese or Green Goddess Salad with Little Gem Lettuce ~ and breakfastising them with either two poached eggs placed on top or (three halves) Deviled Eggs with Togarashi.
I mainly went with the choice of Challah French Toast because Passover started last evening... and this dish really should not be passed-over as it was truly exceptional. (I bet that it would have even made a great Last Supper for some unfortunate Nazarene.) The waitress/server-lady person offered some, but I decided (correctly) to forego any butter or maple syrup on top of the French toast; none was needed at all, as their warm fruit compote was perfect all on its ownsome. While this dish may not be in the same category as Baker Street Bistro's Pain Perdu Extraordinaire, it is definitely worth checking out. For condimentary supplementation, the Manor had both Tabasco®Brand Pepper Sauce (Original Red Sauce) and Tapatío®Salsa PicanteHot Sauce for use on the tables and diner-counter. I did not really need any with my particular choices this morning, though.
My original plan after breakfast was to go back to Greenhouse Cafe (as I had been doing after breakfast for the past few years whenever I was in the West Portal neighborhood ~ and I was really looking forward to two or three of the mini-macarons that were sold there); however, they have closed up (Coffee-)shop and there is a brand-new (I was told by one of the barista-dudes ~ since October 2017) coffeehouse in its place. I actually walked right by BallastCoffee™ before back-tracking to discover that Greenhouse Cafe had closed; I did not recognize the façade at all with its new paint-job. Luckily, they did retain the backyard garden patio area; however, it was still way too foggy and chilly this morning to enjoy my Coffee and doughnut out there. Both the Coffee and the doughnut were very good. Happily, BallastCoffee™'s Coffee is much better than the Coffee that they used to serve at Greenhouse Cafe (which was never bad at all, anyway). I have had dynamo donut many times before (and this particular flavour, too) and knew beforehand that I would enjoy it. One of the barista-dudes told me that they do all their own Coffee-roasting in a facility in South San Francisco. I did not grill (or roast) him on exactly what blend/type of beans that are used in their "Regular" house Coffee (I will probably do so on a future visit, though). In a musical-juxtaposition to what was playing earlier at the Manor, BallastCoffee™ was playing on their house radio/stereo (I did not bother to ask, but I can only assume that it was another pandora-style channel) mostly 70's and 80's Rock-and/or-Roll songs ~ suchas: the above-linked Jimi song (while, little Robbie Zimmerman may have penned this song, Jimi completely owns it with his version); Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Yang; (and even a solo) Noel Yang; the Rollink Stonz; ... and Johnny Cash(?!?). Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Challah French Toast ~ 7.4; Deviled Eggs with Togarashi~ 6.2; BallastCoffee™ "Regular" drip Coffee ~ 7.3; PassionfruitChocolatedoughnut from dynamo donut ~ 7.2; Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get It On" ~ 7.5; Jimi's "Watchtower" ~ 9.5 (yes, I know, this may be the highest GBS Rating points that I have ever given here, but this song ~ tied with Bob Marley's "No Woman No Cry" ~ happens to be my All-Time Favourite Rock-and/or-Roll Song of All-Time and topping it would be very hard to do in my book[4])
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1. They informed me that this was shortened from their original idea of: "An American Bistro Diner Café Coffeehouse Grill Roadhouse Canteen Eatery Dive Restaurant Kinda-thing". 2. Stupid, useless cunning linguist/pseudo-culinaristic pointer of the day: Contrary to popular belief, Togarashi is not a Starfleet Academy no-win training exercise. Tōgarashi (唐辛子) is simply Japanese for genus Capsicum, or specifically the species Capsicum annuum, and commonly translated as chilli pepper. When the term is used in English, it refers to any number of chilli peppers or chilli pepper-related products from Japan, including Shichimi, or Shichimi tōgarashi, a condiment that is a spice mixture of seven different ingredients that varies by maker. 3. No foolin', this was exactly one year ago today. However, this is not necessarily a coincidence; my optometrist is directly across the street and I had to make my annual eye-appointment, anyway. 4. As I have stated many times before in the past, "my book" is just a 12-page colouring book, but I do try to stay within the lines... well, most of the time.
http://squatandgobble.com/ Place: Squat &Gobble Cafe & Crepery Location: 1 West Portal Avenue (on the corner of Ulloa Street) Hours: open seven days a week at 8:00am Meal: Tropical Island (Sweet Crepe) ~ fresh pineapple, papaya[1], banana, shredded coconuts [ sic ], brown sugar (at least not "brown sugars"), caramel sauce, candied walnuts, topped with pineapple papaya sauce, served with your choice of vanilla bean Ice Cream or whipped cream; (then for dessert) a side of Our (well, Their) "Famous" Rosemary Garlic Potatoes (just not "Rosemary Garlic Potato"); and a large glassa fresh-squeezed (well, fresh-machined) oranges juice Their awful name aside, I went back to Squat &Gobble Cafe & Crepery (see last 'blog-entry from Saturday, February 27th, 2016) for breakfast again this morning. I sat downstairs in the main dining area (I am not exactly sure when they even open up the balcony seating area upstairs) because it was still pretty early and there were lots of open tables. I have eaten at Squat &Gobble Cafe & Crepery so many times already that I probably have had just about all of their Savory Crepes (well, those suitable for stupid vegetarians). Some of the other ideas that I was thinking about today: Mama Mia (a Savory Crepe; Mozzarella, Parmesan & cottage cheese, onions, mushrooms, spinach, eggplant & tomatoes, topped with Marinara sauce; I have had this [at least once] before and really like it); Whole Thing (another Sweet/Dessert Crepe; fresh bananas, candied walnuts, brown sugar & cinnamon, topped with nutella® & powdered sugar); Castro (Omelette; Feta cheese, tomatoes, spinach & Kalamata olives; oh, yeah ~ this was going to be my choice if I hadn't gone sweet this morning); South of the Border (Omelette; pepper Jack cheese, black bean chili & avocado, topped with salsa, jalapeño, sour cream & cilantro); Fillmore (Omelette; sautéed bell peppers, mushrooms, tomatoes, ham & melted Cheddar cheese; which I would have ordered without the porky-bits); or Milan (Scrambler; Italian sausage, spinach, mushrooms, onions, tomatoes & Parmesan cheese, topped with pesto sauce; of course, I would have also ottantasei-ed il culatello di maiale morto in decomposizione).
As I had expected, this was a very good (and definitely sweet) crêpe (or crepe). I was surprised that there was a bit more papaya in it than both the pineapple and banana combined, though. As strange as it may sound, I actually opted for the whipped cream option instead of the Ice Cream one; this was breakfast, after all, and I wanted to maintain a semblance of breakfastary decorum. Squat &Gobble Cafe & Crepery has both Tabasco®Brand Pepper Sauce (Original Red Sauce) and Cholula®Hot Sauce (Original) for condimentary supplementation. I used a little of my own Palo AltoFirefighters Pepper Sauce XXX Ghost (Thanks, Brian!) on one half of the potatoes and some Dixie CrossroadsHot Habañero[ sic ] Pepper Sauce (Thanks, Brian! [Who happens to be no relation to the first Brian thanked previously.]) on the other half of the potatoes. Additionally, I broke out a brand new pepper-grinder/shaker from Morton® (Yes, the salt-people... "When it rains... it grinds?!"), which I had purchased just last week. I tested it out all over the potatoes... and stopped short of trying some on top of the crêpe (or crepe), too. (Don't judge me! It would probably have worked nicely. There used to be a local Berlin [well, "local" if you lived in the Kreuzberg or Tempelhof neighborhoods] restaurant that served fresh cracked black peppercorns on top of vaniller Ice Cream [itself on top of a warm fresh fig] and it was delicious.) the Wild Parrots of San Francisco Interlude After breakfast, while walking along West Portal, I saw (well, I heard them squawking loudly first) a medium-to-large pandemonium (probably twenty to thirty or so) of the Wild Parrotsflying overhead. I was somewhat confused as to why they were in this southern part of the city, then I remembered that they have a good-sized roost nearby in the trees at the top of Rocky Outcrop Park or Golden Gate Heights Park (which are just over the [Forest] Hill from the West Portal neighborhood). I had purposely skipped any Coffee with breakfast as I figured I would head to the other end of West Portal to get a decent cuppa at Greenhouse Cafe once again. I got a medium cuppa (whatever the [Green]house roast/blend may have been today) Naked Coffee. It was still a bit too cold to sit outside in their garden patio area this morning, so I ended up drinking it inside for a change (or for the warmth). http://www.greenhousecafe-sf.com/index.html Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Tropical Island (Sweet Crepe) ~ 6.7; the Wild Parrots of San Francisco ~ 8.5 ___________________
1. Stupid, useless pseudo-botanical and pseudo-geographical note: a) The papaya fruit (like the banana fruit) is a berry, botanically speaking. b) The papaya plant is native to the tropics of the Americas, perhaps from southern Mexico and neighboring Central America. It was first cultivated in Mexico several centuries before the emergence of the Mesoamerican classical civilizations. So, having this ingredient in a crêpe (or crepe) named "Tropical Island" is a bit misleading*... unless the island you are speaking of happened to be named Cozumel or Isla del Tiburón. *(Sub-note: The pineapple plant is indigenous to South America and is said to originate from the area between southern Brazil and Paraguay. The Spanish introduced it into the Philippines, Hawai'i, Zimbabwe, and Guam.)
http://www.manorsf.com/ Place: the Manor~ an American Bistro Diner Location: 321a West Portal Avenue (between 14th and 15th Avenues) Hours: open Tuesday - Sunday at 7:30am Meal: Create Your Own Omelette (but, luckily, not "Cook Your Own Omelette" ~ I made sure to ask) ~ (my creation included) 3 eggs, caramelized onions, spinach, and chèvre (that would just be "goat cheese" for the French-impaired), served with house potatoes and toast (I went with the sourdough choice); a glassa orange juice; and, afterward, for a breakfastary dessert-thing, two mini-macarons (one vaniller and one mustachio) and a medium cuppa Naked Coffee (some kinda medium roast; that was the best I could get out of the counter-lady person) at Greenhouse Cafe http://www.nakedcoffee.net/
(I may have already used the second EweToobular song before for another April 1st juxtaselection. Am I supposed to remember [or fool-proof-check] this junk myself?!) For only being about three-to-four blocks long, there are actually a few decent places(at least four places now that I am aware of, so that would average out to be about one-per-block, even using Common Core Math) along West Portal that are interesting breakfastary destinations. This morning I headed back to an all new/old place, the Manor ~ an American Bistro Diner (Restaurant Food Eating Place?) (see previous 'blog-entry from Saturday, November 12th, 2011). I am calling this place "an all new/old place" because it is under new ownership, with just a slight name-change from its old diner/coffeeshop roots; however, they now offer a much smaller menu with (upscaley) diner-style food. They only re-opened in June of last year after having been closed for about a year or more when the old family-owned place had closed.
I sat at the restaurant-length diner-countertop (at the very end seat next to the kitchen, so that I could keep an eye on them preparing my creation), which I was glad to see remained from the original restaurant (diner/coffeehouse/bistro, whatever). They have retained several of the old-time diner booths, too. There are really not a lot of choices for breakfast (particularly for stupid vegetarian-types). I could have gone with another omelette combination (I was originally thinking of creating my own artichoke hearts, spinach, and Swiss omelette). I also saw on their daily specials board that they had a mole chicken dish of some sort. I asked the owner/manager(?)-person guy and he said that they make their own fresh mole sauce (and he confirmed that it is 100% vegetarian-friendly). I bet that would be a great topping to an avocado, roasted bell peppers, and Monterey Jack omelette creation. They do have a couple of salads that I could have breakfastized (Okay, maybe that is not a real word, but I am sure that I am not the first fool to use it on the World Wild Webs.[1]) by adding a couple of poached eggs on top of them, or, better yet, by adding some of their Deviled Eggs with Togarashi[2].
My creative creation turned out to be a good one (no foolin'), if I do say so myself. The spinach was fresh (baby?) spinach and lightly grilled/sautéed, and really complemented both the caramelized onions and creamy goat cheese. I liked their style of homefries, too. For condimentary supplementation, I was informed that the Manor had Cholula®Hot Sauce (Original), a Sriracha hot sauce (probably Huy Fong Foods, Inc., I didn't bother to check), and a Sambal hot sauce (I also didn't find out which brand this might have been). I just used some of my own ★ Pope's ★ Whiskey River Hot Sauce (Thanks, Amy and Chef Joe!) on the potatoes (and I am happy to report that I have finally killed the last of that bottle... which only leaves me with twenty-seven more to go in my refrigerator currently) and some Lucky Dog Medium Fire-Roasted Pepper Sauce (Thanks, Brian!) on top of the omelette (and there is probably only one dose left in that bottle, too).
I purposely (purposefully?) had skipped any Coffee with the breakfast meal because I had it in mind all along to stop back by Greenhouse Cafe (just a few doors down the street, anyway) for a breakfastary dessert-thing. (Does anyone know a fun portmanteau for a "breakfast dessert"?) I sat outside in the solitude and tranquility of their backyard patio area to enjoy my Coffee and breakfastary dessert-thing. Mustachio is one of my favourite flavours of those mini-macarons. I was told that they alternate between serving Naked Coffee and Equator Coffees & Teas™. It really didn't matter to me, as I like both of these local(-ish) purveyors of fine Coffees. Glen Bacon Scale Rating: CYO Omelette ~ 6.7; Naked Coffee + mini-macarons ~ 7.0
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1. Ha! Do a Google-search for "breakfastized" and see for yourselves. 2. As best as I can figure, Togarashi is some kind of Japanese chilli powder/seasoning. It's either that, or some kinda impossible Star Trek-ing training exercise...
