Nice to Meat Ya!

I've been craving protein lately and my bosom buddy, Shameless Shama, had the best recommendations. Sorrry, veggie folks, this posting is not for you. With Shama, it's all about the meat. For her first recommendation, we went to Parada 22. It's a Puerto Rican restaurant that is located towards the end of Haight Street. It's just beside old standby, ChaChaCha. Parada 22 has incredible food! Que sabroso! See biftec encebollado (beef and onions) pictured below.

Another great dish was their pernil asado, which is a plate of roasted, marinated pork leg with garlic and spices. This dish was even more of a stand out, even though it's not as photogenic (see below), it was really sumptuous. Yes, sumptuous is the perfect word for this plate of goodness. 

Shameless Shama proved her credibility by introducing me to this Puerto Rican place. The restaurant is the perfect combo of hole in the wall appeal and delectable plates. However, she did not stop there, for she is a true meat connoisseur and she insisted we try another restaurant the next time we step out - Valencia Pizza and Pasta. This second place is also all about the meats and  boy, do they know BIG portions! Below is Shamelss Shama with her order of Beef Ribs. 

Much like Divisadero corridor, Valencia street had slowly undergone a renaissance of sorts. It has morphed from stale street to boudacious boulevard in a relatively brief period of time; it's a a wonder to behold. With a well-organized thrift shop, earth-friendly organic beauty stores, a hip barber shop, and lots interesting restaurants, I always jump at the opportunity to traipse around this hood. Below, see me gawking at the giant slabs of porkchop in creamy mustard sauce. I swear to goddess, I almost fainted with delight!

B44 and After

I was super excited to break bread with my pre-op transgender friends, Fantastica and Prosthetica. We wanted to celebrate the success of my girlfriend’s recent cosmetic surgeries (adam’s apple shaving, and elbows and knees bleaching), so we decided to go to B44, located at Belden Place, that pseudo-European-trying-hard-to-be-more-than-SF-truly-is alley. The plates we ordered from this Catalan-inspired restaurant were brilliant. Although some of the dishes were more fully realized than others, we still enjoyed our experience at B44.

We ordered a bevy of appetizers. The Sauteed Mussels, made with sofrito, pancetta, green peas, and tarragon was the stand out winner (see mouth-watering picture below) Growl, oops. Sorry, that was my tummy having a gastronomic memory.

The sizzling skillet of prawns and garlique was phenomenal and if I could marry it I would have, but I think Republicans will have a lot to say about a marriage between a space alien avatar and a plate of sizzling gambas (see photo below).  Anywho, Prop 8 is dead, so the last laugh is still ours, so take that you repressive Republicans!

The Plate Of Cured Meats which include slices of jamon serrano, chorizo, and fuet was, in a word, meh. I love jamon Serrano, but their version of it was lackluster at best. The chorizo could have just been those mini-sausages by Hillshire farms for all I cared. Anywho, I suppose what I’m saying is you may skip the plate of cold meats. It kinda made me snore, actually. Yawn.

We also had stuffed squid in black ink sauce which was divine. A little scary looking to the uninitiated, but it was still worth the try. What we really wanted was to try the blood sausages (morcilla), but they did not have it that night. Booo! How do they think they'll entice continued patronage from vampires if they don't consistently serve blood sausages?

We shared an entrée of grilled pork chop with a sweet honey sauce. Yummilish! Nuff said.

Below are photos of the seafood paella and the fideua negra, both outstanding plates. However if I'm being nitpicky, I'd say the rice and the noodles were ever so slightly undercooked.

After a very satisfying dinner, we decided to take our culinary journey elsewhere. Where else can we go for delicious dessert? I’m craving purple yam ice cream…UBE! Mitchell’s here we come! Please pronounce it as "Oooh Beh"....Never say "Yooob". The E is never silent. Saying "yoob" would just prove that you're nothing but a total newb...Hey, I made a rhyme.  I think I'll make a poem:

I love you, Yoob;

I'll eat you in a cup or in a cone.

But when I drip you all over my fingers and clothes,

I feel like a total boob.

For more information about B44, check out their website. You can also look through Mitchell's ice cream's site and peruse through all their fab flavours by clicking here. I suggest ube, halohalo, avocado, macapuno; all of them can be found under the sub-heading of Tropical Flavors. Cheers!

Citizen's Band

Aside from the quality of the restaurant's iced tea, nothing sets the tone of the meal like the very first bites of their appetizers. However, before you put that food in your mouth, your eyes need to be titillated and the people at Citizen's Band, on the corner of Folsom and 8th really came up with a doozy.  Above, you see a photo of their ...well, can you guess what it is?  Hmmm, give up?  No, it's not sliced sea cucumbers on top of a tres leches cake.  It actually is a mac and cheese appetizer topped with three onion rings.  Tres interesante, right? Yes, it looks odd, but oddly enough it's soooo goood! The melted cheese on the crispy onion rings ties in well with the macaroni and cheese that's quite melty and, of yes, cheesy. The sweetness of the onions was a great counter point to all that creamy goodness.

Above, you'll see another awesome appetizer which is inspired by a Quebecois dish called poutine.  French fries with gravy, and chunks of meat - you can't go wrong!

The entree that they're famous for is their fried chicken.  The well-deserved buzz is merited because...well, just look at it!
Note, if you visit their website, you'll see a sample menu, but since they're menu changes everytime, don't fall in love too soon.  I was browsing through their website and I thought I was going to order the bacon and egg appetizer, but...Alas, they don't have it anymore.  Darn you, false advertiser!