Mission Chinese Food
Monday, May 23, 2011 at 12:20PM On a recent trip north, we stopped at a non-descript Chinese restaurant in San Francisco's Mission District for a late afternoon lunch at Mission Chinese Food.
Because we were dining so late in the afternoon, we had the restaurant almost completely to ourselves. A quick glance around confirmed the first impression from the exterior - this is your typical hole-in-the-wall Chinese joint, the type of establishment which is near and dear to my heart. A glance at the menu, however, contradicted the restaurant's looks - the unique dishes elevate the food from the provinces of greasy-spoon dining to the sublime. We literally wanted to order every item on the menu - the only thing holding us back was our stomach space and later dinner plans.
We started with an order of tangy peanuts (below, right), and soon after that, a complimentary dish of the Szechuan pickles (below, left) appeared at our table, delivered by the chef.
After much back and forth, we managed to come to an agreement on the thrice-cooked bacon, thick slices of fatty pork tossed with rice cakes, bitter melon, tofu skin, scallion, black bean, and chili oil (below).
I couldn't help but order the ma po tofu, with ground Kurobuta pork sholder, Szechuan peppercorn, and chili oil (below). MCF's version of my favorite dish cuts down on the heat and numbness factor in favor of flavor. Even after Mark cautioned me not to make myself uncomfortable, I could not stop spooning the umami-packed sauce over the accompanying rice.
Everything at MCF was absolutely fantastic. But the thing that really blew us away was the smoked beef brisket, cooked to an unbelievable tenderness in smoked cola BBQ sauce (below). The flavor of the tangy sauce punched us both in the face, which didn't stop us from using the slices of white bread that came with the messy dish to sop up as much of it as possible. By the end, the flavor was almost too powerful...that wouldn't stop either of us from ordering it again the next time we stop in.
Finally, I enjoyed a little ramekin of the savory egg custard with sea urchin and country ham (below). My initial bite was overwhelmingly greasy, but underneath the oil was a luscious velvety custard filled with delicious bits.
After we had stuffed ourselves silly with all that goodness, Danny stopped by our table to chat. He doesn't just churn out delicious food - he's also one of the nicest people we've ever had the pleasure of meeting. I am definitely going to come here next time (and maybe every time) I'm in San Francisco, and I urge anyone in the area to do the same.
Chinese, San Francisco in Reviews: On The Town
Reader Comments (4)
The Trotter Pulled Pork and Kung Pao Corned Beef is the best dishes there in my opinion. This place is a hidden gem and well worth the trip to SF.
Ooh, we were torn between the trotter and the brisket. We'll have to get both those dishes next time around - luckily, that's next month already!
Love San Fran! And, I love how many hidden Chinese gems that city has. Great post! xoxo
Yeah, San Francisco may be my favorite city for Chinese food EVER! And everything else there is pretty nice, too. :)