Destination #3: Shimmering, Shining, Gleaming Chili Oil

Destination #1 on the list of 100, and my #3 experience: Mission Street Chinese Food for the ma
po tofu.

Before arriving, I prepared myself in full Debbie-downer mode. When I think of Chinese food, this is what I think of: Cops in movies sitting in the office late at night eating oily noodles out of a white and red to-go box. And it always looks so good. But whenever I go to a Chinese restaurant to recreate this image, it is always so disappointing. Chinese food, to me, is dark brown corn syrup with a pinch of MSG.

Mission Street Chinese Food was not this at all. First of all, if you go, don’t judge the book by the cover. The restaurant façade looks like all the other sketchy gated pawn-shops in this area of the mission, with a stained yellow sign that says Lung Shan Restaurant (Note: Nowhere on the sign does it say Mission Street Chinese Food). Walking in is a bit more comforting… clean, nicely lit, spacious, casual.

My buddy Winsie ordered the thrice cooked bacon, and I, of course ordered the ma po tofu. (It usually takes me a solid hour to choose an item off a menu, so thank you 7x7 magazine for making life so much easier!)

First of all, I will say that ma po tofu is where the idea of tofu as the vegetarian/health option goes to die. I received a steaming vat of ground pork with large cubes of tofu, red chili peppers, black beans, all swimming in bright red oil. Looking at this thing made me sweat. It was basically a giant bowl of Chinese Chili… but better!

The tofu was silky smooth. It melted in my mouth. And the flavor of this ground pork stew was indescribable. The only word that comes to mind is savory… not like the corn syrup sauces I was used to previously. And the spice… oh the spice. That was the best part. Although the menu gives this item the highest spice rating (Two cartoon flames!!! Whatchout!), it wasn’t the kind of spice that lights your entire body on fire preventing you from tasting the food. It actually gave my mouth the same feeling that a beer makes my body feel (yeah, I have a low tolerance); tingly, slightly numb, and extremely happy.

Tasting Winsie’s thrice cooked bacon made me realize that, although the ma po tofu is wonderful and unique, it need not be the only item considered on the menu. Each menu choice seems to be fantastic, original, and just as good, if not better, than the #1 item on 7x7’s list. Lung Shan is a must-visit destination in San Francisco.

Thank you, ma po tofu, for giving my mouth the most fantastic afternoon buzz. And the best part is that I was able to take about three quarters of it home (that is one big vat of ma po!) So I put my plastic container of stew in my backpack, rode my bike home, and once I arrived, happily found a pool of bright red oil in the bottom of my backpack.

What a lovely afternoon.

Destinations #1 and #2: I Survived the Tenderloin

I was a kid about to pee my pants with excitement about venturing off for my first food challenge destination: Number 58 on the list, Sai Jai Thai at 771 O'Farrell Street for the pork shoulder fried rice.

The fact that my first destination would be Asian food could not have made me happier. Thai, Vietnamese, Japanese, and Korean are my favorite cuisines. I'm fairly certain I was Asian in a past life so I feel entitled to eat Asian food at every meal. It's gotten to the point where my Aunt has to warn me that we're not going out for Asian food for dinner, and I am, more often than not, devestated.

I practically went skipping off the 5 bus and walked through the lovely Tenderloin, where crack heads stood in the middle of intersections yelling into their cell phones, which probably had no one on the other end, and muttering the words "m&ther f#cker" as I walked by, which may or may not have been directed at me.

I sighed with relief when I arrived at Sai Jai Thai, a cute, and thankfully clean, safe haven from the rest of the Tenderloin.

My cousin, his girlfriend and I ordered a few dishes. I ordered my favorite Thai soup Tom Kha, and of course, the fried rice with pork shoulder. We all agreed that the rice with pork was nice. Not life changing, and not something I would have chosen put on the list of 100. It was Jasmine rice, stir fried with egg, served with sliced pork shoulder on top and a side sauce.

The rice was, well, rice-y, and just greasy enough to leave behind a nice natural lip shine. The side sauce, which was a lime fish sauce, was so limey and fishy that it made me squint. It needed some sweetness and needed not be poured onto the lovely pork, which was tender, slightly crisp around the edges with few spices, just enough to keep the porkiness of the pork alive. It was the highlight of the dish and the sauce was the adulterator. And as for my soup, a soup I always crave... not fantastic. It was more sour than the sweet coconutiness that I have always loved.

After Sai Jai Thai, I conveniently had to pass by Bob's Donuts on Polk Street, where I picked up an apple fritter for dessert, number 78 on the list. When looking into the display window at Bob’s, the fritter looked like Moridor next to its other measly donut counterparts. Actually, I think its size and stature were the only reasons that it even made it to the list.

The outermost layer was an inch thick sugar glaze. Biting down through the glaze into the meat of the fritter was like sinking teeth into a big chunk of room temperature butter. I felt I needed to consume some sort of a healthy counterpart while eating the thing, so I went mining into my fritter trying to find the "apple" part of the "apple fritter." I found a few pieces,

but the butter and sugar disguise left only scant tartness and a trace amount of fruitiness. I ate about one tenth of the fritter and I had to go drink an alcoholic beverage to relax my jitters from the sugar intake. So if eating mounds of buttery sugar is your thing, go for the apple fritter at Bob’s!

So the first two destinations on my list were not mind blowing, unless you want to call the apple fritter mind blowing in the most dangerous way possible. I am excited to see what else is out there and am expecting some exciting eats coming my way.