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cheaper eats - all food reviews all the time
Mar. 19th, 2010
11:23 am - Coffee Wars: Roaster Rankings
In an effort to present current SF coffee wars results, I'm dividing the rankings into tiers. This list is only my opinion and is based on roasted coffee beans for brewing at home and were compared primarily using the old fashioned pour over drip cone brew method. No scientific ranking scales were applied - just how much I like them. The focus has mainly been on Ethiopian origin coffees and medium roast blends. The roaster is listed, location, and recommended beans. Most are here in the San Francisco Bay area, but some sure aren't.
1st Tier:
- Blue Bottle (Oakland/San Francisco)
Ethiopia Yirgacheffe, Giant Steps Blend
- Ogawa Coffee Company (Kyoto, Japan)
any, Fair Trade Organic Blend
- Stumptown (Portland, OR)
Hairbender Blend, Ethiopia Michelle Yirgacheffe
2nd:
- Barefoot Coffee Roasters (Santa Clara/San Jose, CA)
Ethiopia Amaro Gayo Sidamo, Guatamala Honey Michacoy, Metropolis Mix (RIP)
- Graffeo (San Francisco)
Light roast (of their trademark blend)
3rd:
- Four Barrel (San Francisco)
El Salvador Siberia Bourbon Estate, Ethiopia Mordecofe Natural Process
- Ecco Caffe (Sonoma County, CA)
Ethiopia Yirgacheffe, various Brazil
- De La Paz (San Francisco)
Ethiopia Yirgacheffe
- Verve (Santa Cruz, CA)
Ethiopia Misty Valley
- Flying Goat (Santa Rosa, CA)
Panama Esmeralda Geisha, Ethiopia Mordecofe, Panama Los Lajones
4th:
- Ritual Coffee Roasters (San Francisco)
various Brazil, Ethiopia Gedeo Yirgacheffe
- Caffe Trieste
North Beach Blend
- Intelligentsia (Chicago/LA)
Ethiopia Yirgacheffe and Sidama, Columbia Las Mesas
5th:
- Caffe Roma (San Francisco)
Vineto blend
- Philz Coffee
Tesora Blend
- Peet's Coffee
Major Dickason's Blend, Ethiopian Fancy
then...
6th - Starbucks, Tullys
7th - Folgers, Chock Full O Nuts (non-instant)
8th - Maxwell House instant
9th - Folgers Instant
10th - Sanka
Dec. 17th, 2009
11:25 pm - Shorts
Mission Burger
Hidden inside the Vietnamese grocery store at Mission and 18th st in SF
Damn good. The texture of the meat is very special with the "granulation" process. Crunchy on the outside and juicy on the inside. Unusual. Only toppings - aoli, onion, and cheese. Take-out only (other than a couch or something) A++
Pal's Take-Away
Hidden inside a liquor store on 24th and Hampshire in SF
pretty good sandwiches and salads in an unexpected location. Upscale version of vietnamese sandwich doesn't beat out Saigon Sandwiches, but is good. They serve real NY babka and nothing beats a babka.
Burma Superstar
(non-cheap)
Clement and 4th Ave, SF
Heard the hype and saw the lines for years. Finally got around to trying it. It fully lived up to the hype. Delicious Burmese food. Highlights: tea leaf salad, purple haired waitress
Lers Ros Thai
Larkin and Ellis, SF
I went in a group to this Tenderloin Thai restaurant. The Thai person in our group did all the ordering and made tons of substitutions. I have no idea what we ate but it was the best Thai meal I've ever had.
House of Prime Rib
(non-cheap)
Van Ness @ Washington, SF
The scene: old people, tourists, and ghetto-fabulous couples on dates in an atmosphere that is a caricature of a swanky English setting. Great prime rib.
Roland's Bagels
Haight and Webster, SF
pretty good bagel. not sure if it was available toasted. I'll have to go back. Outstanding cinnamon pastry thing. Hopefully they'll change from America's Best Coffee to Flying Goat Coffee. Then I'd be back more often.
slipping?
- La Perla Mexican restaurant in South SF. The last couple times this place hasn't been so great! Not so fresh or flavorful. What the heck, guys?
- Los Jarritos Mexican Restaurant S. Van Ness at 20th, SF. Last couple times should have been better or at least larger portions for the price. What the heck guys?
still amazing off 101:
- Rajjott: hole in the wall take-out indian at El Camino and Wolfe in Sunnyvale behind a gas station. The atmosphere of a modesto laundrymat and the cheapest tastiest food ever
- Gutierrez Drive-in: on Rossi in Salinas. Glorious carnitas and the best dry roasted hot pepper things ever
RECOMMENDED PRODUCTS:
- Semifreddi's cinnamon twist loaf bread. too good. goes too well with coffee
- Trader Joe's panatone bread. addictive in the morning.
video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OdB7GDZY
- Haig's baba ganoush - from their deli on Clement and 7th. so creamy.
- M&M's Premiums Mint Thrills - they look stupid and taste stupidly good
- Wallaby Organic Down Under dark chocolate at the bottom yogurt. suspiciously good
COFFEE:
Sightglass:
7th St off Folsom. In the process of converting an auto garage into a roastery. Currently using good beans from Verve in Santa Cruz. Friendly people making good coffee in a chemex using cups that are too small so it appears that a lot of the coffee gets wasted, unserved.
Matching Half
Baker and McAlister. This place also uses Verve coffee beans from Santa Cruz. Filter drip one cup at a time, slow and deliberate. strong and good.
Graffeo
Columbus off Filbert
Old school Italian roaster. Finally tried their light roast beans. Top notch. Smooth and mellow. Tons of caffeine.
Blue Bottle Yemen beans
... I'm not sure what the deal is with these. I inherited a whole pound of these beans. Sometimes they were good and sometimes grinding them, they would smell pretty gross. I realize they're wild and wooly gamey coffee beans, but I suspect that some beans were weirder than others and therefore when I would make it grinding the beans each time, sometimes it would be good and sometimes bad. Past the halfway point, I was grinding some and it smelled too urine-like and I just had to get rid of it. I gave the rest of the beans away. I'm glad I tried it though. I should also mention that Blue Bottle's Ethiopian Yirgacheffe is some of the best coffee ever made.
Four Barrel
Valencia and 15th, SF
This place is still pretty good. I had a truly great cup there a few weeks ago - their El Salvador Siberia made in a french press. It's on my coffee wish list. I'll have to see if it can be as good made at home.
Oct. 15th, 2009
06:14 pm - Yirgacheffe Mania! (sf coffee wars update)
Thanks to my mom. She was reading through Blue Bottle's online web store's coffee descriptions. These are always very abstract, but something convinced her to try their Ethiopian Yirgacheffe beans. She shared some with me and that's where it all began. I didn't particularly like single origin African coffees up until this point - too exotic or pungent or something. Blue Bottle's Yirgacheffe was some of the best coffee I'd ever had.
According to legend, Ethiopia is the birthplace of coffee. Way back when, a goat farmer there noticed how excited his goats got when they ate some mysterious berries. The rest is history. According to informal online research, Ethiopia grows tons of coffee beans and Ethiopians drink tons of coffee. Yirgacheffe is an area/region/town/district that grows a distinctly delicious type of coffee bean. It is sometimes described as citrus, floral, and juicy, which is very different from the rich roasted bitter taste of typical coffees.
Blue Bottle gave it this description:
"The Yirg is the most delicate of all Ethiopian coffees: the mint-julep-sipping younger sister to the burly, assertive Harrar, or the conniving Sidamo. At this roast-level (which we are calling medium-plus), much of the oven-cleanery aftertaste is eliminated, and what we are left with is a mild cocoa powder and vanilla bean flavor, with reasonably good body, and low but interesting acid. As it cools, hints of jasmine float delightfully to the surface. This is a coffee on the demure side: this organic Yirgacheffe is to hearty robust fudginess as Rickie Lee Jones is to impeccable diction. In spite of the above, it takes milk or cream reasonably well, and is best as a filter or French press."
If you're ever in Ethiopia:
So I've been going around trying Ethiopian Yirgacheffe coffee beans from a bunch of different local places. They are not all equal.
- Blue Bottle, SF/Oakland:
outstanding. This place doesn't fool around. Fresh beyond fresh. Perfect roasting level - "medium plus." Very mild with a special magic flavor that can't be described. Very clean. not bitter at all. No aftertaste.
- Barefoot Coffee Roasters, Santa Clara:
pretty much the same description as blue bottle's version. Unfortunately it isn't currently available. I drove all the way out there to find this out. I had to leave with some of that "conniving Sidamo." It was good, but just not the same.
- Target Stores, nationwide:
Target of all places is trying to go upscale with their coffees. They sell a whole bean organic fair trade single origin Ethiopian Yirgacheffe coffee. I was shocked when I saw it. It's really cheap too. The package has a graphic indicating a light roast level. My hopes were dashed upon opening the bag. Dark oily beans that look like French roast, broken pieces in the bag, and a cup that tastes like ash. Oh well.
- Ecco Caffe, Sonoma-area roaster:
I was so happy to finally find this brand in a grocery store - the Whole Foods on California and Franklin in SF. Their organic Yirgacheffe has won contests or awards or a high score or something. This stuff only strengthened my affinity for the stuff. Excellent. Top notch. Similar description to that of Blue Bottle.
- Four Barrel Coffee, SF:
This new hipster mecca is roasting their own beans in-house now. Their Yirgacheffe is a little different - especially citrus/juicy/very light roast. Tiny beans (different varietal?) and requires more grounds per cup. Anyway, it's not bad, but not as intoxicating as Blue Bottle/Barefoot/Ecco.
- Rodger's Coffee, SF:
The mysterious ultra-square cousin of Philz in the mission district that also does it "one cup at a time." I just got a cup of their Yirgacheffe coffee in which they did their crazy treatment splashing it between cups with whole cream and wringing the last drops out of the filter. It's a darker roast than most of the others. It still had that distinct Philz/Rodgers flavor, but maybe with just a little Yirgacheffe magic? It was hard to tell.
I know other roasters sometimes sell Yirgacheffe beans, but they aren't always available. Now I have a clear favorite single origin coffee. I'd like to go hang out in Yirgacheffe someday and help water the coffee plants or something.
Apr. 6th, 2009
09:52 pm - Los Compadres
Taqueria Los Compadres
116 Grand Ave
South San Francisco, CA 94080
Goddamn I love this place.
Best super nachos around and best hard shell taco I've ever had (try it with al pastor).
This place combines all the best of a peninsula taqueria, a killer's taqueria, a central valley taqueria and steps it up another notch. The people who work there are great.
It's so confusing how you pay after you eat, but that's part of the fun.
It surprisingly lived up to how good it was the first time I'd been there. It's my kind of Taqueria. Why can't we have one of these in the SF Richmond District?
Dec. 16th, 2008
06:34 pm - SF Coffee Wars Update (warning - boring)
The Winners:
Dynamo Dounuts on 24th - Good weird expensive donuts with top notch coffee - using Portland's Stumptown beans as far as I know. The chocolate spice donuts and french press coffee are recommended (if you've got a bunch of money burning a hole in your pocket)
Piccino Coffee Bar - 22nd near 3rd St. in the Dogpatch - fresh delicious Blue Bottle coffee
Four Barrel Coffee Roasters - Valencia and 15th - they're roasting their own beans, have been consistently good, and do their own version of Stumptown's classic Hairbender Blend. They're giving Ritual a run for their money.
Coffee Bar - Bryant and Florida or something - a yuppie wine bar that serves good coffee
Trouble Coffee - 46th and Judah - outer outer sunset - really good coffee made by excited artist girl who makes toast and coconuts?
Outside of SF:
Caffe Roma - El Camino Real in Millbrae, CA: North Beach's Caffe Roma opened a new cafe on the peninsula and the service is outstanding and the drip coffee ranges from good to great.
Verve Coffee - 41st Ave and Portola - Santa Cruz, CA - WOw! so good I was shocked.
RIP: Broken Door Espresso, formerly known as Emocha Cafe in downtown San Jose across from the new city hall.
Jun. 5th, 2008
06:01 pm - now with more pictures
Finally, I'm figuring out how to post more pictures.
Here are a few:
Laguna Honda Hospital staff cafeteria, SF, CA:
szechuan beef bowl every other wednesday:
make your own sandwich:
Rajjot in Sunnyvale, CA complete with new sign:
House of Prime Rib - king's cut - (warning: not cheaper eats), SF, CA:
Best chocolate milk in bay area grocery stores: Clover:
Best thing ever: Bokun Habanero, Japan:
Bob's Donuts art, SF, CA:
Passage To India buffet plate, Mountainview, CA:
May. 23rd, 2008
08:16 pm - Coffee/bakery/coffee
SHORTS:
Four Barrel Coffee
in an alley behind 375 Valencia, SF
Italian French Bakery
1501 Grant at Union, SF
Graffeo Coffee Company
735 Columbus near washingtown square, north beach, SF
The newest, hottest coffee place in SF isn't open yet. Four Barrel Coffee Roasters cafe will open on Valencia between 14th and 15th street sometime soon. Meanwhile, they're selling coffee out the back door in the alley behind the place! You go ring a bell and they come out from their carpentry work and make espresso drinks. Supposedly this place is the new home to one of the founder's of SF favorite, Ritual Coffee. Has Ritual gone downhill because he left or did he leave because it went downhill? Anyway, hopefully this place will be at least as good as Ritual used to be. Meanwhile before he roasts his own beans he's using Stumptown's Hairbender Blend which is about the best thing of all time. So I got an Americano and it was good.
I wandered into Italian French Bakery in North Beach today. They had a ton of different kinds of biscotti. I tried the anise version. Not bad. I felt like it was 1980.
In an attempt to get into the old school SF coffee scene, I finally made it to Graffeo. This place has been doing it since 1935. They only sell coffee beans - no drinks available. You have to make them yourself at your home or your restaurant. They make one single blend and that's it. It's available in dark roast, light roast, half and half dark/light, and decaf. I got half a pound of half and half. I got home and put it in the french press. That stuff is nuts! It foamed to high heaven. It almost bloomed out of the press pot! I've never seen anything like it. It's strong as hell and pretty crazy. I'm going to try it again in different proportions. I enjoyed it, though it wasn't exactly the smoothest cup I've had in a while. Maybe there was a chemical reaction in my mouth with the anise biscotti thing mixing with Graffeo coffee.
Feb. 18th, 2008
11:10 pm - pricehike!
Saigon Sandwich
560 Larkin @ Eddie
San Francisco, CA
Saigon Sandwiches in the Little Saigon section of SF's Tenderloin has always been my favorite Vietnamese sandwich shop. It's been coming up a lot lately - like the time I was there in line behind the drummer of Deerhoof. Well anyway on the always incredible Pantera message board there was a thread about an article in Esquire magazine that listed the best sandwiches in the country. The one listed for San Francisco was none other than Saigon Sandwiches. It's the place that used to have the best $2 lunch in San Francisco until it became the best $2.25 lunch, then later the best $2.50 lunch. They take orders for about 10 people in line at once and then make all the sandwiches before letting anyone pay for them. One time I was trying to go there between classes and my car door was destroyed by a passing bus. I didn't go back for a while, but I couldn't stay away long. Their toasted french bread, Asian roast pork, mayo, pickled carrots, cilantro, and thin sliced fresh jalapenos are the best combination. Wait, are there some sort of pickled onions or something like that on there too? Esquire is on the right track.
anyway, here's the news:
I haven't been there in a few months so I don't know how long ago this happened, but they raised the price another quarter. Now Saigon Sandwiches sells the best $2.75 lunch in town. No big deal. I'll keep going until they're $6, but don't tell them that.
Feb. 1st, 2008
09:53 pm - SF's latest coffee shops
Trouble Coffee
4033 Judah (at 46th Ave), San Francisco
Coffee Bar
not really at 1890 Bryant, but around the block on Florida and Mariposa, San Francisco
Blue Bottle
66 Mint (between mission and market near 5th St), San Francisco
So these are the latest hot coffee shops in San Francisco. I went to all three in two days. I got the same thing at every place, an americano (2 shots of espresso with a little hot water, to which I add half and half). They're all really good, but Blue Bottle can't be beat.
Trouble Coffee and Coffee bar do the same thing that Ritual does with the intentionally sketchy hand-stamped logo on the cups.
Trouble Coffee is way way out in the outer sunset near the beach and the 7-11 and the health food store. It's small and had a bunch of old records or magazines or something on the wall. The americano was good and sort of "bright" tasting if that makes any sense. It was down to earth and a friendly old man insisted on showing me his ID card.
Coffee Bar is more yuppie than just about any place I'd ever been. It's big, open, and modern. I think someone in front of me was getting a glass of champagne. There is a staircase that leads up to tables where rich young professionals can sip wine. This place was the opposite of down to earth. The americano was good - on par with Ritual since they started using their own beans.
I already talked about the new Blue Bottle in a previous post. If it's at the Ferry Building farmer's market, down the Linden alley, or at their new coffee shop, Blue Bottle makes the best americano. I don't know what their secret is. Maybe they slip in chocolate or La Victoria orange sauce or something.
Jan. 24th, 2008
12:06 am - SF coffee wars update
another post about coffee...
Blue Bottle Coffee has opened a new
coffee shop downtown. It's in that L-shaped alley between Market and
Mission off 5th St, by the Mezzanine. I think today was the first day
it was open.
It was crazy and crowded with yuppies. They have this insane looking
Kyoto light siphon thing which looks like a mad scientist lab of glass
balls full of coffee with light shining through them. I'm worried
about this being quite gimmicky. This is an actual shop with a few
pastries on the menu and tables and I think they serve toast(?).
The good news is they still make the best damn americano in the
universe.
Phils beans:
So I recently picked up some coffee beans from Philz on 24th. I chose my favorite, the Tesora blend. Though they made some good coffee at home, it didn't taste much like it does there. The beans were dark and very moist. In fact, upon grinding they looked like potting soil. Anyway I guess it's that combination of the secret dash of green mystery powder Phil adds, the "mechanical cream," the use of what looks like a milkshake blender to grind the beans, and the mint leaf that give the coffee at Philz that extra pizzazz. That's fine with me. That place is in a category of it's own. It's still special if I can't replicate it at home.
Barefoot Coffee at home.
So I had this exciting moment where I drank drip coffee at Barefoot in Santa Clara that really surprised me by how good it was. This was their Metropolis blend. I finally got around to buying my own bag of those beans and making them at home. I can't believe how delicious they are! Outstanding and highly recommended.
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