“The roaring of the wind is my wife and the stars through the window pane are my children…” – John Keats

Spring arrives, the rain is pouring more than usual, but green abounds in promising lushness… new things are birthed out of the longest winters.

This month in The Established, we’ll explore Dim Sum alternatives to the most popular, overpriced spots. We’ll drink gourmet local coffees in Imbiber. In Around the Bay, savor an afternoon in Half Moon Bay.

I’d love your feedback on any spots you visited from my site. You can leave comments through the site on the Perfect Spot Blog or email me directly.

My Top Tastes of the month:

• Christopher Elbow’s Coconut Curry Dark Hot Chocolate at their brand new Hayes Valley shop
• EVERYTHING Penny makes at Penny’s Caribbean Café; like eating Trinidadian food in her home kitchen… yet sadly, she closing, rumored to be moving back to Trinidad. What a loss!
• Fabulous Rooster Sandwich at the Marina’s Blue Barn Gourmet
• Polenta (savory or sweet) at the new Blue Bottle Café in Mint Plaza
• A giant homemade pretzel and mustard at Monk’s Kettle in the Mission

Let me guide you to the perfect spot!

Virginia

DIM SUM around SAN FRANCISCO

After you’ve tried the hyped, delicious, but overpriced local dim sum kings Yank Sing, Ton Kiang or Daly City’s Koi Palace, check out these much cheaper options and see if they don’t fit the bill for your dim sum craving (minus the roving carts at all three spots):

Shanghai Dumpling King

Shanghai Dumpling King:
3319 Balboa Street (between 34th & 35th Avenues)
415.387.2088
Mon, Wed-Fri 11am-9pm, Sat-Sun 10am-9pm

Yes, it’s way out in Outer Richmond with a dingy dining room. But here you’ll find Shanghai specialties done in a way you rarely see in the US. Their wontons, buns and famed steamed soup-filled dumplings (watch out as they explode in your mouth) taste so unique and homemade, you’ll have to go back for more. At $4.25 for 10 spicy wontons, 10 dumplings or 8 mini-pork buns, it’s beyond a steal.

Great Eastern

Great Eastern:
649 Jackson Street (between Kearny and Grant)
415.986.2500
Mon-Sun 10am-12am

Long a Chinatown institution so not exactly “under the radar” for Chinese locals and tourists alike, it still remains one of the best dim sum meals in San Francisco at incredibly cheap prices and is a welcome respite from mediocre Chinatown spots. Check off preferred items on a list and feed two easily for $10 (usually 3 items to each order at an average of $2-3 an order).

Good Luck Dim Sum

Good Luck Dim Sum:
736 Clement Street (between 8th and 9th Avenues)
415.386.3388
Mon, Wed-Sun 7am-6:30pm

A hole-in-the-wall with zero atmosphere or service but cheap, fresh dim sum to go. $5 will get you well more than enough dumplings, buns or rolls for one person. Usually three items to an order at about $1.50-$2.50.

Mayflower

Mayflower:
6255 Geary Boulevard (at 27thAvenue)
415-387-8338

A cheap, clean spot serving unique additions to the usual dumplings and buns, such as shrimp and banana rolls or sweet pan fried water chestnut cakes. Eat plenty for ten dollars and enjoy the relaxed (and at prime meal times, bustling) dining room.

COFFEE

It wasn’t as apparent years ago, but to my profound pleasure, I’ve noticed that SF has become a damn great coffee city – one of the better in the country from my frequent imbibing of the world’s greatest drink. Here are a few favorites in a city blessed with coffees rivaling the quality of Italian greats:

Blue Bottle

Blue Bottle Coffee:  (Hayes Valley, Ferry Plaza, Mint Plaza) – The Bay Area’s best local coffee, on par with the best I’ve tasted in multiple visits to Italy. The dark, deep richness yet simplicity of their freshly roasted coffee (they only serve beans roasted within the last 48 hours), either in drip form or as a perfect cappuccino or mocha, makes any morning better. Now with their first official café just opened in Mint Plaza, you can order breakfast and take a peek at their famed test-tube-like $20,000 siphon bar. It makes perfectly brewed coffee over many hours (no espresso) and comes from Japan: the only one of its kind in the US. It’s a sight to behold (a recent New York Times article tells more. Blue Bottle, may you continue to expand across our fair city!

Coffee Bar

Coffee Bar (Mr. Espresso Coffee): Mr. Espresso is another great local coffee long served in fine form at Tartine Bakery, and now in this newly opened warehouse space in the Mission. An improvement from former Arc Café in the same cavernous space, leather couches and massive artwork makes it approachable and hip. I like the touch of a shelf lined with quality books on chocolate, coffee and food, including Zagat’s Top US Restaurants and Alice Waters’ latest book. Browsing the books while sipping a cappuccino has lately been a favorite rainy day respite.

Sundance

Sundance Coffee: Serving only fair trade/organic coffee, this refreshing cafe in the Mission and Dogpatch neighborhoods looks corporate, but there are only two locations thus far and they serve an enjoyable cup of coffee as well as a comforting, cinammony Chai.

Ritual

Ritual: (Mission & at Flora Grubb Gardens), There are elements about Ritual that have gone downhill since their early “glory days” (e.g. they no longer issue punch cards or won’t heat your ham and cheese croissant? This says: “We make enough $$ so don’t want to be bothered”), along with the ever annoyingly excessive hipster/laptop crowds. Their coffee is not in the same league as Blue Bottle and though they do foam well (foam as artwork), their cappuccinos are too milky, not enough coffee. Still, it’s a local favorite employing the higher qualities of gourmet coffee, such as freshly roasted beans.

Philz

Philz: (Mission, SoMa) – People I talk to seem to love or hate Philz and I can understand why. Its garage sale, grunge atmosphere and at times stomach-wrenching (i.e. super strong) coffees put some off. But I like the drip coffee-only menu with a wide range of roasts, all strong, aromatic and fresh-dripped in front of you. I also like friendly service and catching an occasional glimpse of Phil himself, who reminds me of delightfully crusty Italian men common in the land of my high school years, New Jersey.

HALF MOON BAY

Less than 30 minutes drive from the city, Half Moon Bay has long been a charming excursion offering stunning Pacific vistas along Highway 1 and an idyllic small town both on Main Street and in the canyon. I love wading through tide pools and seeing seals (go at low tide or you won’t see a thing!) at nearby Fitzgerald Marine Preserve in Moss Beach; walking Main Street to check out chicks and bunnies for sale at Half Moon Bay Feed & Fuel; or checking out records, books and magazines in the “attic” of antique shop, Half to Have It. I make annual excursions through the canyon’s fabulous pumpkin patches or Christmas tree groves.

LUNCH or DINNER:

Flying Fish Grill

Flying Fish Grill: This is my favorite place to eat in Half Moon Bay, kitschy though it may be. This colorful shack serves some darn great fish tacos and addictively good (if a little too small) cheesy crab bread. Quirky charm and good food all in one little roadside spot. I always leave satisfied.

Barbara’s Fish Trap:
281 Capistrano Road

Princeton, CA 95970,  650-728-7049
Maybe not the best seafood you’ve ever tasted, but great fish and chips and a seaside vista make for a nostalgic, New England-style ‘seaside shack’ . Rather than braving long waits for the restaurant, I prefer to order from the “to go” hut next door and sit on the sandy rocks behind Barbara’s with my fish and chips.

Sushi Main Street

Sushi Main Street: When looking for something besides ever present, touristy seafood joints, this spot just off of Main Street is one unusual surprise. Small towns in general don’t often have great sushi, but at reasonable prices in a Zen-like dining room (except for the roar of too many children), this place does it right.

DRINKS:

Moss Beach Distillery

Moss Beach Distillery: Please believe me and don’t ever go for the expensive, below average food… but do go through the restaurant to the big deck out back, sit on a rocking chair, snuggle under a comfy blanket (or bring your own if you don’t want to use theirs) and order a plain ‘ole cup of coffee or a Bloody Mary as you watch the waves roll in. I love to bring a good book and start my weekend off right in this special place, then take a walk on the dunes beyond (access from the parking lot).

Sam's Chowder House

Sam’s Chowder House: Again, beware the high-priced, crappy food… despite appearances, don’t be tempted to eat here. They got recent accolades from NBC but among other expensive, lackluster dishes, I had a lobster roll, and trust me, it’s completely sub par and less fresh than others in SF. Accompanied by diner quality clam chowder, the high price tags really irk. But spectacular ocean views, fire pits and Adirondack chairs welcome you, begging you to sit awhile on the tiered patios out back… order some oysters, drinks and watch the sunset. Sometimes the view is enough to lure you in. But don’t say I didn’t warn you about the food.