Sunday, January 31, 2010

Best Brunch in SF? Mission Beach Cafe . . .


I'm taking nominations for the best brunch spot in San Francisco. I know, it's a contentious question. But there are two criteria for nominations that make the task harder than you think:
1. If the wait is 2 hours plus on the weekend, don't even bother
2. Tell me about something new. None of the same Foreign Cinema, Mama's, Dottie's, etc.

I have one place in mind. It's fairly new on the SF brunch scene, and a welcome addition: Mission Beach Cafe. The spot is cozy and unassuming, tucked into a residential street corner in the upper Mission. The simple decor serves as a nice canvas for the food, which is spectacular. Prices are also reasonable here - you can get a (giant) mimosa and a delicious dish for $20-25. And the services is welcoming and warm, with bits of hipster mixed in.

Did I mention the MBC mimosas? These ain't your normal orange fizzes. They offer an entire mimosa menu, with exotic options like tangerine lime, pomegranate, orange cranberry and more. The juice is fresh and delicious, the alcohol graciously poured, and the size is GIGANTIC. You may have trouble walking out of the restaurant straight. . .

But the highlight here is undoubtedly the brunch food. Everything we had was delicious. The menu at MBC is full of heartwarming, hearty food that retains a touch of class. Truffles with home fries, french toast with lavender, sliders of ahi tuna and caviar. You can see for yourself on the menu.

I had the eggs benedict with wild mushrooms and spinach. The standard hollandaise was substituted with a better, lighter sauce made with bravo farms white cheddar. The english muffin was freshly made. And a Saturday special: the kitchen kindly topped the dish with a hearty shaving of truffle. It was delicious - light and fluffy eggs, earthy spinach that was perfectly (and barely) cooked, and a sauce that was divine. Refined and deeply satisfying, I'd take this upscale benedict dish over the usually clumsy and heavy original any weekend.

By the way, I should mention that MBC has an amazing menu all week round. In fact, you may see their Pot Pie Tuesday featured on here sometime soon. . .

Mission Beach Cafe
198 Guerrero Street
San Francisco, CA 94103
415.861.0198




2 comments:

cat forrest said...

yes! that place is the best. when i first moved to sf, it was my go-to delicious brunch without a line. they must've gotten written up somewhere though, because now every time i pass it on the weekend there's a pretty huge line.

my other favorite is zazie by carl and cole, but they also have pretty brutal lines.

smith said...

But, should you use our roulette ideas, you’ll 우리카지노 be much better-geared up to improve your odds and lengthy-term wins