Tommy's Joint
Watching food shows on T.V. especially the ones that travel the country looking for hidden gems always makes me want to hit the road. Fortunately San Francisco has many of the kinds of restaurants that are destinations for visitors so we can go to great places without leaving the city. My dad saw one of these kinds of shows and he was inspired to visit Tommy’s Joint, famous for its hand carved sandwiches, when they were visiting over Christmas. After a very disappointing meal at Lefty O’Doul’s, a similarly kitchy place I was hoping to redeem San Francisco’s reputation in my dad’s eyes. Vida wasn’t too thrilled with the idea having filled up on a big lunch and not much interested in dinner. Her brother was saying he wasn’t hungry either.
We parked close to Tommy’s Joint on Van Ness and Geary and walked into a relatively long roped off winding line. My dad immediately went to the bar to order us some beers and then wandered off. Just like at Lefty O’Doul’s you line up with trays cafeteria style and order your food from the guys behind the counter. The pressure to order is really not to my taste. Going frequently and knowing exactly what you want would help but there will always be a measure of impatience either from the people making the food in front of you, the cashier or the other people waiting in line. My dad was happy ordering the braised lamb shanks and my mom the roast chicken. I went with a barbequed beef sandwich with the sauce on the side. Vida reluctantly ordered some with some clam chowder and in a panic I ordered what Vic wanted, dessert, a large piece of chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and a piece of cheesecake. We also got green salads with dressing on the side having seen the glop of dressing we would get if we ordered otherwise. My dad’s wandering although very frustrating to my mother resulted in a mostly decent table to sit at in the very packed restaurant. The Seahawks game was on and I would have preferred to eat by myself and watch the game but instead had to crane my neck at one of the many screens and try and catch the score.
The atmosphere is dark, dirty and filled with memorabilia. I particularly like the warning sign that accompanied a small lamp above our table. One would think that if an electrical appliance needed a “do not touch” sign it probably shouldn’t be there. We had a prime view of the underground kitchen through an open service window just inches from the floor. It provided just enough distraction to Victor that we were able to eat in relative peace at our tiny table. Vida was happy with her soup and managed to finish it. A barrel of pickles where you could go and help yourself amused Vida quite a bit. My sandwich was fine except that the almost translucent brown barbeque sauce was not quite what I envisioned. I helped my mom with her chicken and converted rice.
I would love to go back to Tommy’s Joint any time—I can’t believe it took us this long to get to such a San Francisco institution.
Restaurant Total: 286
Kazu Sushi
On our continuing, and thankfully gastronomically expanding, sushi adventures Vida and I dropped by Kazu Sushi on Irving near 9th the other night. It was cold and since so few restaurants in San Francisco have heat we were happy to stand by some space heaters while we were waiting to be seated. There were no tables available but we were offered the sushi bar only to have the offer retracted after the mutterings of some Russian businessmen seated at the far end of an otherwise empty bar. A group of three people entangled at a two top were in the process of moving to a bigger table so it wasn’t too long before we were seated. Vida judges all sushi restaurants by whether or not they offer hamachi kama so I was thankful to see it on the menu. (Ironically she has recently burned out on it so it’s less of an issue now).
We started with the hamachi. It was very small, but good. We also ordered an avocado roll. We were pondering the mostly unintelligible specials board when I saw that they had fried calamari. I couldn’t resist the sad face Vida made when I said that we had ordered enough so against my better instincts I ordered it anyway. I was in the mood to branch out and so I ordered some steamed clams. When the clams arrived I was shocked at how small the serving was for the price but when we tasted the delicate broth graced with thin slices of lemon rind we were sold. It was so nice to see Vida appreciate the dish’s subtle flavors. The calamari, when it finally arrived, was unusual. It was cut in slices and scored in a crosshatch pattern rather than the more typical rings and although the tempura was delicate and nice the texture just was a little too intense for Vida. I enjoyed it though.
Probably the most amusing part of our meal was listening the group of nurses gathered for a holiday celebration at the table next to us. They were a motley crew with widely varying experiences of both the neighborhood and sushi. The first one to arrive at the restaurant was Danish and she was talking very loudly on her cell phone sipping a glass of white wine while she waited for her comrades. One of the ladies was late. She called and it turned out she was on the wrong side of Golden Gate Park and had no idea where 9th and Irving was until they talked her through it. They started drinking in a mild sort of way—and all were confused as to how to order as to satisfy their divergent tastes. I would have liked to listen to their conversation as their meal continued but Vida was so sleepy she was almost nodding off and we left.
Restaurant Total: 285
