Chinatown DC: A Tale of Two Lunch Specials

Jackey’s Café $3.50 lunch special is the cheapest around, besting neighboring Eat First by a whole 40 cents! Eat First boasts a picture of John Travolta dining and some old, decent reviews hanging in the window. Which adds up to the best value for lunch? At that price, is either edible?

Jackey’s Cafe
Dish: Kung Pao. Peanuts add a great crunch to the dish. It’s covered in your standard sugary brown sauce which is not bad if you’re in the mood for sweet Americanized Chinese food. The chicken chunks aren’t too big, but you’ll get all the protein you need, and have enough left for a 2nd or even a third meal. At a second visit, tofu with vegetables is not exactly exciting, but is plenty satisfying.




Another diner’s chicken and broccoli makes me think I made the wrong choice. I stayed away, fearing white sauce, slivers of broccoli, and minced chicken. Her plate had many fresh looking crowns and big chunks of good looking chicken.
Rice: The fried rice is just brown and a little bit gummy.
Extras: Comes with a spring roll. It’s dripping grease, but filled with tasty cabbage and shrimp. Above average if it wasn’t so oily.
Condiments: A decent red chili oil, with duck sauce, mustard, and soy on the table.
Tea: No
Service: Friendly and attentive servers. Lots of water refills.
Décor: Surprisingly one of the quaintest spots on the block. Dimly lit with wood paneling, it’s newly renovated.
Cleanliness: Clean.
Cost: $3.50.
Really? The menu lists all specials at $5.95. I have to ask about the $3.50, and find I have two choices. Prices are regularly $5.95, so you’re saving $2.50 if you stay within the confines of the special.

Eat First
Dish: Spicy Chicken. It’s not spicy, and the red chili oil doesn’t help much. The dish has a lot of cabbage in it. It’s all pretty bland.
Rice: Fried rice doesn’t have much in it, but has some crisp and is tasty.
Extras: No.
Tea: Yes.
Service: The place is busy and it’s hard to get my servers attention, whichever one she is. I have to ask for chopsticks and condiments.
Condiments: The red chili oil is boring and is the only thing on the table. If you want soy or anything else, you’ll have to ask for it.
Décor: Stark and white, hospital cafeteria style.
Cleanliness: Seems grimy and worn around the edges.
Cost: $3.90
Really? Some specials are $3.90. Some are $4.20 or $4.80 or higher. There are many more choices here hovering around $4.00.

The winner is Jackey’s by miles! Despite the ‘higher’ price tag, Eat First packs them in because they’ve been written up in the past. Positive reviews give them credence, but I’ve never been impressed. Jackey’s, a relative new comer, is the cheapest around, and offers good quality to boot. If can fit yourself within their limited choices, you’ll be out of Jackey’s for less than $5, including tip!

SF Trip Meal #5: Ebisu

Ebisu has been honored by locals with numerous best sushi awards, making it the perfect spot for my last meal. Rushing to the airport, I didn’t have time to grab a seat at the pleasant sushi bar, but phoned in for a Sushi Dinner to go ($11.99, served with Miso Soup). The spot was bustling, with an inviting classic sushi bar/wood pane décor, friendly waitresses, and some sushi chef’s lording over the bar like they knew what they were doing. This time, my white to-go bag would have to do. Settled by my gate at Oakland International, I was eager to tear into my nigiri. My 8 nicely arranged pieces had been jostled had been scattered around their container and dried out slightly from their trip to the airport. But the quality of the fish still shined through, as did their generous sizes…3 or 4 bites for each! The octopus offered a good snap to it and the mackerel was smoked modestly so the nature of the fish still came through. Japanese omelet was many times larger and tastier than anything I’ve seen on the East Coast.

http://www.ebisusushi.com/

SF Trip Meal #4: Louie's Dim Sum

I had trouble finding a winning pick for Dim Sum downtown. The general consensus is that the consensus picks have all gone downhill. The fact that it’s 9:30 on a Monday morning doesn’t help matters any. Most dim sum houses open at 11:00, with the best dumplings and/or cart service being offered only on the weekends. Hunan’s Home, with 2 ‘downhill’ reviews for every 3 raves, is closed. I nearly settle on a Broadway kitchen advertising cheap Chinese breakfast specials until spotting Louie’s Dim Sum tucked into a small storefront. I remembered enough Internet praise the night before to slide in. Countless trays of plain white Chinese buns fill the place, and that’s what the mostly Chinese clientele are coming in for.

But between the buns sits Louie’s pleasantly presented dim sum plate, and though it’s more than I want, for $5, I can spring for the whole thing. Thankful to not be handed the display plate sitting out, the cashier reaches into two large bamboo vats to grab 2 of each dumpling, which look prettier on the plate than in the plastic take out container they’re shoved into.

No carts here. No tables either, just a thin counter with 2 stools. Above the counter are sheets of colored paper explaining dim sum and its place in Chinese culture to the tourists that stop by. And though it explains that dim sum is never served without a pitcher of tea, they don’t serve tea and offer me a Coke instead. I decline. The garlicky green vegetable dumplings--leeks perhaps--with a large, thick skin are the best of the lot. Shu mai style pieces are greasy, somewhat grey, and at times gristly. I'm joining the choir that proclaims that the dim sum here is 'just okay.' But just okay was good enough to fill me up and leave me with snacks for the rest of the afternoon.

http://www.chow.com/places/11223

SF Trip Meal #3: Boudin Bakery

I figured you can’t be a San Francisco culinary tourist without getting a sourdough fix. And Boudin Bakery by Fisherman’s Wharf, an old, local bakery cum tourist bread factory, is the place for sourdough. But a chowder bread bowl? I thought chowder was a New England thing, and considered just getting a loaf to stand on its own. But a bread filled with soup, for only $6.99, seemed like the right food tourist thing to do.

I should have stuck with my gut. Go to Boudin for the bread and skip the chowder. They ladle the stuff out by the gallon for the hordes that come and you can even buy the chowder by the can in their shop. I envision the chowder coming more from a can than a chef slaving away at vats of large soup pots in the kitchen. My clam chowder comes lukewarm, and with a few potatoes here and a few less clams there, suffers from a creamy blandness of mediocre chowder.

The loaves come in all sizes and shapes (including crocodile shaped). It's not just the smell of fresh-baked bread that fills the air; bread is constantly buzzing above your head. The bakers are constantly churning the stuff out, and a suspended conveyer system hooks bread baskets from the ovens overhead to the shop below.

http://www.boudinbakery.com/

SF Trip Meal #2: The Boat House

The Boat House, by the cliffs of Bodega Bay, was the meal that had me grinning from ear to ear with contentment. A long day touring Sonoma wineries and Redwood forests, and the Bodega Bay had left us famished and desperate for dinner. But we wouldn’t have even found the place if we hadn’t turned back to check out a promising looking (from the outside) café we had previously passed. Looking for some fast comfort food, their $32 vegetable risottos were not quite what we were looking for. Ah, California cuisine! We kept driving.

Shortly down the road, a neon anchor sign advertising fresh fish and chips? Yes please! Walking to the entrance, with the Bodega Bay police force exiting the shack with happy faces, I knew we had found gold. Place your order at the counter and grab a table (with plastic checkered table cloths). A bottle of Boont Amber Ale helped tide me over. So did the snapshots of countless fishing expeditions. Memories from hauls of squid and sharks, mammoth albacore and cod, and crates of Dungeness crab line the wall and add to the anticipation of the meal.

As I wait for my basket to arrive and eye the bowls of egg and flour I could see by the fryer, I knew there’d be no Gordon’s fish sticks here! A generous portion of juicy fried clams and chips were perfectly fried, served in a perfectly quaint red plastic basket, and washed down by a perfectly refreshing beer. The four large filets that came with the fish basket were flaky, with a crispy, thick batter clinging to the fish. With a squeeze of lemon and an extra cup of tartar sauce, the greasy (but not too greasy) fist is simple, spot on, and filling. The Boat House also serves burgers, dogs, chicken sandwiches, and salads for the unfortunate land lubber. But stay away. You're here for the fried fish (and maybe a local microbrew or two).

http://www.chow.com/places/6757
http://www.avbc.com/beers/amber.html

SF Trip Meal #1: Pancho Villa

An award winning salsa bar draws the crowds at Pancho Villa Taqueria (Mission and 16^th). A bright green salsa verde is the most memorable choice from the bar. It's far too salty, but that’s made up for by the chunks of avocado within. As an East Coaster, I usually scoff at heat advisories. The 'hot' labels at Baja Fresh? No problemo. But I quickly learned that they take 'hot' labels for real in California. Whole roasted jalapeños and jalapeños and carrots en vinegar, meant to be used sparingly as a topping, make a great free side dish at first. I already requested the hot pico de gallo on my carne asada burrito. After my habanero hors d' oeuvres and after stuffing a few extras into my burrito, I'm tearing in no time. Mom calls to see how my trip is going, but I'm forced to get off the phone because I can't keep from crying and chewing the ice from my drained glass of horchata. The pain was so intense that I couldn't be bothered to take a picture of the burrito sans foil (see photo).

Along with the salsa bar, the variety of the English friendly menu also helps distinguish Pancho from its competitors. Choose from 12 meats from a mouthwatering chicken in green or red sauce to tofu ranchero. There's 4 types of beans and 5 wrap choices. The only Spanish being spoken is by a young woman there to apply for a job, and despite the heat, the enormous, all English menu leaves the impression that the place caters mostly to American palates. Tofu ranchero burrito with a sundried tomato tortilla, anyone?

http://panchovillasf.com/