Pacifica Riptide

Puerto 27: Good Food, Bad Acoustics, High Prices, Slobby Diners

By The Muncher, Riptide Reviewer

We went out to Puerto 27 last night for dinner. The food was good. I give it a solid B grade, but I am pickier than most. The menu was disjointed and confusing, along with fairly steep prices, but the food made it worth the $$$.

It was very loud, but we could all talk without shouting most of the time. The floor is bare concrete with high ceilings, so it is a sound box. Also, there is a large sports bar in the middle high point of the room, making for a lot of the noise.

My only real complaint, and it bugged me all night, was how customers were dressed in the dining room. Not that it is a jacket kind of place, but it seemed the dress code for 90 percent of customers, including the women, was a clean t-shirt with dirty jeans and grubby tennis shoes. And I'm talking about all age groups. I felt overdressed in clean khakis and an aloha shirt.

Sun, Fun, Food, and Live Music @ The Surf Spot

This afternoon, the alternative/country music band Secret Town played at The Surf Spot and I shot these photos. I thought some Pacificans would enjoy seeing them.With sun, great music, good food, and fun for all, The Surf Spot was THE place to be this afternoon in Pacifica!

Erik Piro

Burlingame Restaurant Mokutanya Stops Serving Lion Meat

Update: No More Lion Skewers

Get the Outrageous Story Here

Anyone serving or eating cat should choke to death on a hairball.

Poppy's Crab Shack Rolls Up the Coast

Ian Butler says, "I spotted this food truck parked at Montara Beach last weekend and pulled over for the best crab sandwich ever! Poppy's Crab Shack is run by Tom Borden, an adventurous Coastsider with a penchant for tasty crustaceans. He will be setting up shop at the Pacifica Farmer's Market next month, but now I'm dreaming of crab delicacies at our own Linda Mar Beach."

Pomegranates: Ancient Persian Fruit Pops Up @ Oceana Market

Imagine my surprise when I went into Oceana Market for groceries and found a few round, red pomegranates in a straw basket. The produce guy said some enterprising farmer had stored the unique winter fruits and just now released them to the store. So I bought a bagful, plus a green plastic Cleverco deseeder for $3.99, stacked up next to the fruit basket. The device works perfectly and the little jewels of pomegranate are crisp, juicy, and sweet. Bravo, Oceana! But hurry on in, because I plan to buy as many of the pomegranates as I can fit in my Radio Flyer. The produce guy says he will get more pomegranates soon.

"Farmer John" Maybury

Surf Spot: Wall Street Journal Discovers Pacifica's "Mountainside" Eatery

Keith Bailey, left, and Surf Spot co-owner Derek Burns in the kitchen of the Pacifica eatery. (photo by Lori Eanes for The Wall Street Journal)

Built into a mountainside [Editor's Note: Rockaway Headland is not exactly a mountain, but I guess it looks like one to a New York newspaper reporter] along the ocean in Pacifica, Surf Spot keeps patrons coming back for its ahi tuna poke and pizza—along with a round of beach volleyball.

Chef and co-owner Derek Burns, 48, opened the restaurant with two partners last June with the hopes of combining his tastes for seasonal and global cuisine with a casual surf-culture atmosphere for locals and tourists.

Surf Spot offers "food [that] vacations are made of," says Mr. Burns, who adds that the menu was inspired by his travels in the South Pacific, Europe, and Latin America. "We wanted safe food for kids, like hamburgers and pizza, while giving the adventurer something new to try."

The menu features dishes including $7 Vietnamese-inspired sweet chili-glazed chicken wings and a $12 ahi tuna poke, a kind of raw salad popular in Hawaii. A local favorite is the $12 Ballpark Pizza, made with a beef hot dog, sauerkraut, onion, and mustard sauce.

In the back, the restaurant offers beach volleyball, hula hoops, and beach blankets.

Marlyn Hansen, 37, who brought her Pacifica family to Surf Spot for the second time recently, had a $9 pulled-pork sandwich while her children, ages 8 and 5, enjoyed a $9 cheese pizza. "The atmosphere is like a beach lounge. We hang out around the fire pit while giving the kids a safe place to play," she says.

Surf Spot is at 4627 Coast Highway in Pacifica [in front of Sea Bowl]. It serves lunch Tuesday through Friday from noon to 5 p.m. and on Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

(from an item by Sharon Massey in The Wall Street Journal, April 24, 2013)

Moonraker Gets a Great Review in the Mercury News

Read the Full Review Here

Garlic Roasted Crab

JAC Closes @ Fairmont Shopping Center

ALBERT CHENG

Riptide reviewed JAC on February 10, 2011 (see below). Sorry to hear it has gone out of business.

We highly recommend this place. We checked it out today while waiting for an alignment at Sanford Firestone next door. The food is delicious, the price is right, and the people are very friendly.

Tasting Table SF says: "...Juan dela Cruz Asian Cuisine (J.A.C.), home of some of the finest Filipino food in the Bay Area. J.A.C.'s chef Leo Trinidad was trained in classic French technique and spent years working on a cruise liner. In J.A.C.'s stationary kitchen, he refines his home country's multifarious cooking, which borrows from Chinese, Malaysian, Taiwanese, and Spanish traditions. So alongside age-old Filipino recipes like sinigang and pata, Trinidad also plays inventive with new-style dishes. Sinigang ($11), a made-to-order soup with a fragrant, sour broth, comes with milkfish belly, huge chunks of beef on the bone, and fat slices of jalapeño to balance the tartness. Baboy, aka pork, comes in many forms. The most exquisite is pinalutung na pata ($14), crisp deep-fried pork hock that is virtually greaseless. Have it with a side of aromatic garlic fried rice ($2.50). Inthaw na pusit ni Juan ($9) is chef Trinidad's nouvelle squid dish: grilled baby squid stuffed with small bay shrimp, at turns sweet and smoky."

Juan dela Cruz Asian Cuisine (J.A.C.), 713 Hickey Boulevard in the Fairmont Shopping Center, Pacifica, 650-359-4522." (Thanks to Todd Bray for the tip)

Power Point: Pizza, Pasta, and Plenty of It

By John Maybury, Editor & Publisher

I finally "got" The Point. Went to check it out as part of my investigative-journalism fieldwork, along with my buddy Bob of Arabi. We weren't too hungry at 4 p.m., so we just ordered appetizers. The plates of calamari and chicken wings were enormous (enough food to take home for later). As we were eyeing other diners' good-looking pizzas, some sort of twentysomething flash mob showed up and took over the place. They were chatting about resumes and such, so I assume they had come straight from work at some techie/geeky company. Fantastic to see this year-old Pedro Point pizzeria getting some love. We shall return soon for a slice or a pie. Stay tuned. If you want to "yelp" about this Pacifica pastaria, hit the Comment link below and do your thing.

Beach Monkey Cafe @ Adobe Plaza: Have You Tried It?

A hip, modern coffee bar and restaurant has entered the Pacifica scene, bringing an imaginative menu and fresh, healthy ingredients to town. Beach Monkey Café opened January 31 in the Adobe Plaza Shopping Center on Linda Mar Boulevard at Adobe Drive, offering organically minded, modern California food and fair-trade, organic coffee in a well-designed, casual environment.

Chef Michael Pakes lives in Linda Mar with his wife and co-owner Therese Sollars and their two young sons. He recognized a demand for small-batch coffee, quality ingredients, and simple, creatively spiced dishes in an inviting environment. Converging trends quickly moved The Beach Monkey Cafe from concept to reality.

The team has staged a soft opening, beginning with coffee, pastries, bagels, and breakfast sandwiches seven days a week from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. They launch their lunch and dinner service on February 13 once the coffee business is firmly on track. At that time, they will extend their hours for dinner, opening Thursday through Sunday from 5 to 9 p.m. A grand opening celebration is planned for late February.

Says Pakes, “People in Pacifica are concerned about their health and dedicated to preserving the environment. They want a place that uses fresh, organic ingredients chiefly sourced from local farmers—at prices they can afford for the whole family.”

The 28-seat, 700-square-foot Beach Monkey Café offers casual customers hand-crafted, pour-over coffee, espresso drinks, and quick breakfast options in the morning. At lunch or dinner, they can choose from entrees that include “hot brick sandwiches” and baked pasta, dinner salads and homemade soups, appetizers, desserts, and a selection of beer and wine. Their “good-for-your-kids” menu has wholesome, affordable meals that will delight children and adults alike.

“We offer coffee that is hand-made. It’s roasted in 25- to 30-pound batches in Port Townsend, Washington, and we make it one cup at a time. With six roasts to choose from, you get coffee on your terms. First thing in the morning or after getting in the water, it’s going to make you happy,” says Pakes.

Menu offerings include, for example, a Cuban pork sandwich, a chicken bahn mi, and creative vegetarian combinations like the Sweeney Ridge, which features roasted portobello mushrooms. Baked pasta options include the Beach Monkey’s trademark macaroni and cheese. The beer and wine selection reflects local tastes, with beer on tap and by the bottle.

The café offers an intimate dining experience with tables indoors and out, a cozy bar area, and takeout service. It features local photography shot by David Handler and produced by Photoworks in San Francisco.

“We wanted to create an authentically local restaurant that we would enjoy when we are on a date, but also a place we could afford to bring our kids when we don’t feel like cooking,” says co-owner Therese Sollars. “The Beach Monkey offers Pacifica that hard-to-find option. And the food is healthy, not processed. There’s a lot of love in this place.”

www.beachmonkeycafe.com