Mission Mission

There is nothing unique about a feverish devotion to Mission Chinese Food, but I have one for the record books, and Mission Chinese keeps giving more reasons to adore it more. (This is despite the fact that I got a piece of accidental bacon in a dish there once, and it’s the only place I have ever returned to after that happened.)

My favorite thing on the menu is the tiger salad. It is superlative. The Mission Chinese magicians switch up their menu fairly often, but they never bench the tiger salad, which is the most flavorful salad in the world.

Word to wise vegans: If you haven’t been to (or ordered in from) this place, I won’t judge; I have never seen ET. Anyway, when you go, scan the menu for the Vs next to each of the vegan menu items.  You can get the Thrice Cooked Bacon done vegan, but not the Ma Po Tofu. Surprise!

In other news, I’m going to SF Vegan Drinks tomorrow night. Want to join? There will be sweet potato tater tots.

UPDATE: Just got a note from the Vegan Drinks people:

We recently saw your post about Mission Chinese and that you’re going to be attending SF Vegan Drinks tomorrow. Unfortunately, we had to cancel this month due to a scheduling conflict, but we’ll be back on in May. Hope to see you there!

Bummer!

This guy anadromy is going for it as we speak:

I am sorry but I am about to eat the burrito

that I left overnight

in my backpack.

To be honest, it smells a little

off.

Stay tuned.

Best of luck! [link]

P.S. Unrelated mostly, but my favorite tag on Tumblr right now is “history of backpacks.”

And this short video will surely prove it:

Thanks for coming, everybody! We’ll do it again soon, on another sunny Sunday, with another epic route. Suggestions (and demands) welcome!

After the jump, a tweet-by-tweet and tumbl-by-tumbl breakdown, including pics, of a lot of what happened:

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Peep Pal’s anniversary menu, full of contributions from Pal’s best pals:

Guest Chef Carlo Espinas from Comstock brings his rabbi pate terrine banh mi w/ ginger-pepper sauce, cucumber, River Dog farm pickled carrot-daikon, cilantro, jalapeno, mayo/Acme torpedo roll

Our original Pal Dave Knopp makes his coffee-rubbed and smoked Marin Sun Farm pulled pork on Acme roll w/ creamy slaw and Dave’s BBQ sauce

Bread populist Josey Baker gives us his 3-seed sourdough bread on our Aleppo-maple roasted turkey breast w/ Fromage D’Affinois, Richie from Hapa Ramen’s meyer lemon mostarda, black olive, wild arugla-mei choi greens
spring garlic mayo

There’s the usual veggie sandwich too, plus Kate’s Toffee Crack for dessert, and you can always grab one of their special TV dinners!

Dudes, we are getting our own vegan storefront. And it is within a slow 60 second walk of my casita! The owners announced it on the Facebook last week, so yes, I am fashionably late to the party, but I’m still excited to be there!

The shop will be called Pinko’s Vegan Mercantile and will open May 1. I, for one, am planning to race over there on my lovely but old and slow bicycle after work as fast as my two little legs will carry me and then spend as much of my paycheck as I can muster on delicious and/or beautiful vegan items.

OK and yes, let’s put it out there: being a pinko and running a store where consumers part with their money might seem a but contradictory. But look at our neighborhood culture: Ritual and Little Star have commie-influenced logos, so Pinko’s is hardly the first communist/ capitalist establishment here, mkay?

Look at that bottle! I don’t know about you, but I’d definitely pay $8 for a 10 ounce pour of PBR if they advertised it like this in the U.S.

[Angus Winchester]

They have bowling too, but MAN look at Mission Bowling Club‘s new brunch menu. 11AM-3PM Saturday and Sunday both.

I mean, it sounds pretty good, no?

[link]

En route to Minako, my friend warned me about the service. “The woman who runs the place is really friendly,” he said. “Cool,” I replied blandly.

“No, but almost too friendly. She talks to you the way your mom might. She sorta crosses a line sometimes.” This turned out to be unassailably true; the proprietor has a distinct personality that establishes itself early in conversation and makes its mark on every nook and cranny of the physical space as well. I like distinct personalities, so I dug this place, though it might not be for everyone. In fact, one of the things that drew me to Minako is the extremely polarized love/ hate reviews it gets on Yelp. Differing opinions? Sign me up.

Minako is unique, and so is the woman who runs the front of the house. There’s no doubt about that. But what the restaurant lacks in convention, it makes up for with delicious soup broth, homemade umeboshi, and clearly labeled vegan and vegetarian options. (When something is vegetarian but not vegan at Minako, it’s labeled “Ovo-Lacto.” WIN.) It also has lots of things for your omnivore friends, so you can take them there when they get sick of you suggesting dinner at Cha-Ya… again.

My soup had lots of seaweed and pickled plums; the latter were prepared by the proprietor’s mom 12 years ago, while I was driving around my hometown in a beat-up old Jetta listening to Weezer.

The twice-cooked eggplant had a beautiful texture – crunchy on the outside, mouth-melty on the inside, like a savory M&M – and came with a little pile of minced ginger, which was a perfect foil for the salty, fried dish.

We also got free agar dessert, which my friend thought was white grape and I thought was aloe. It wasn’t great, but it was free, who am I to look a gift horse in the mouth?

Drawback: it’s pricey, so save it for a night when you’re a) flush and b) willing to look past it.

I never ate at this restaurant, and now it’s closed.

Vaya con Dios.

UPDATE: Oh and it’s going to be a Burma Superstar, nbd.