The Tipsy Pig, San Francisco (Again)!

I know, I was just at The Tipsy Pig and gave it high marks for food. Well, I'm back again, but this time for lunch.

This is one of the best lunches I’ve had all year; a crispy fried chicken sandwich with a side of tater tots.

Looking at the plate was impressive to me, almost imposing. Could I really eat all this food? Taking my first bite of sandwich, the chicken is outstanding. Freshly fried and well seasoned, the succulent chicken really stands out. A moist, but not soaking wet coldslaw was placed on top of the fried chicken. It must have been applied at the last minute and didn't sit at the pass, as the fry job on the chicken wasn't a hint soggy after the placement of the slaw. There was a hint of Barbeque sauce on my sandwich as well, but it wasn't oozing out. The bun was grilled and stayed intact from first to last bite. Damn good sandwich.

And then there were tater tots, which were featured as one of The Cured Ham's Guilty Pleasures. I loved these with all my heart. Call it “kid food”, “stoner food”, “unhealthy”, whatever you’d like, every single one of these taters were wonderfully salted, crunchy outside, hot and moist inside. 

Again, The Tipsy Pig continues to impress.

Guilty Pleasure, Tater Tots

Kid Food. Stoner Food. Junk Food.

Call it whatever you like, I have loved tater tots since I was a kid. Sure, the public school cafeteria didn't always do them right. The bag of frozen taters had that funky smell after they were baked. McDonald's breakfast Hash Browns are almost like a flattened tater and has a certain nostalgic appeal.

When tater tots are made fresh and seasoned with nothing but salt, there's nothing more wonderful than powering down a bowl of these taters. Thank you Tipsy Pig for making these exactly right.

Cafe Des Amis, Cow Hollow, San Francisco

Luckily, I was able to stay out in Cow Hollow recently and walked down to breakfast at Café Des Amis on Union St. A quick review of the menu and I spotted a standout, Duck confit hash. 

Since they also serve liquor, I ordered up a Bloody Mary as well.

 

I don’t know if I was just hungry or what, but I actually had to consciously stop myself from eating this meal too quickly. I’m a huge fan of duck confit and I’ve never thought to use leftover (probably because there never is any) confit for my breakfast. The potatoes were fried nicely and the eggs poached wonderfully. This was food to feed the soul and would tide me over till dinner.

Oh yes, the Bloody was very good too.

Bocadillos, San Francisco

It seems each time I eat at Bocadillos, it’s busy. Good to see. We were a 3-top that night, dining on the communal table. I’ll get my complaint out early, the service was a little haphazard. I’d say one server short with an expeditor filling in the gaps. I suppose it’s the trained versus the untrained with regards to the service aspect. It didn’t upset our table, but it was noticeable that service just wasn’t very smooth or coordinated that evening.

We started with Gambas, head and tail on, like I’d expect from a Dim Sum restaurant. I ate all the heads at the table. The prawns were cooked properly, plump and juicy with a nice hit of salt to complete the dish, probably my favorite dish of the evening. Patatas Bravas, a staple at tapas bars, was well done. Thick chunks of potato with an even browning on all sides make for crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside potatoes. Again, well prepared. The sauce that came with the potatoes was a little flat, simply lacking in salt. Next up, flank steak with a hint of chimichurri was also a hit. The steak was medium-rare, salted and tender. The chimichurri wasn’t too spicy and did lend some acid to the dish.

We finished on a salad of arugula and peaches along with the cheese plate. The salad was a good finisher, a little more heavily dressed than I would have liked, but nonetheless, a nice contrast to the other fried and protein packed foods we ordered. The cheese plate was good, with the bleu styled Spanish variety being the hit.

Other than the service element, I’ll happily be coming back to Bocadillos for tapas, like I have since it opened.

Bistro AIX, San Francisco

We ate a full meal at Bistro AIX, but one dish stood out as one of the best I’ve had this year and it was pasta at a French themed bistro.

Tagliatelli with artichokes and chicken braised in Riesling could be one of the best meals I’ve had in a while. Not overwrought, not overcooked, just perfect, simple, and satisfying.

Sure, we had more food that night (calamari fritte, a dish I often avoid was fried and seasoned wonderfully and skirt steak beautifully medium rare) and the service was on, but the pasta and chicken was just so simple and wonderful, I thought about it for 3 more days. I look forward to recreating the dish when I can spend more than 3 days at my home and have people over for dinner to share in this spectacular dish.

Who would have thought, a French Bistro would make such impressive pasta?