Food Review: Mr. Pollo

I hate soup! Argh.

Mr. Pollo is a 10-seat, no reservation, cash-only restaurant in the Mission that has been getting a bit of press lately. They base the menu on ingredients found at one of the local farmers markets that day. They do a $20 fixed price, 4 course meal. You can add on arepas and dessert. Arepas are like quesadillas but with more substantive ingredients so it’s kinda like a sandwich. You can also buy beer or pay the corkage fee if you bring wine.

Course #1 was a fresh arugula salad with tomatoes, nuts, and fruit, lightly seasoned, letting the freshness speak for itself.

Course #2 was a green soup. Ick.

Then we had the arepa which was good.

Course #3 was a prawn with potatoes.

Course #4 was a hearty soup. Ick.

The dessert was a caramelized pear. Hated it.

The menu changes daily.  I could see myself going back, but was not happy with 2 courses of soup.

 

The Weekend in List Form

Saturday

Slept in. This is a luxury I cannot fathom giving up. I have been sleeping in on weekends since I was born. I remember talking to a friend about how I sleep in until around 11am almost every weekend and he said, “What’re you like 16 years old?”

Hung out with friends and their twins. Dean’s really good with kids. I think they think he’s one of them, but just super tall.

Got car tires changed. My mechanic, the Toy Shop on Geary, is the best. If you own a Japanese car, get your car fixed at the Toy Shop. Very good at what they do, and honest with reasonable prices. I love the guys there. The only thing they don’t do are tires so we had to get those changed elsewhere.

Watched the new Skyfall movie. Entertaining. Can’t say it’s the best Bond flick ever, but pretty good. I think it’s been hyped up so much, I was disappointed.

Dinner at Mr. Pollo. I will review in another post.

Sunday

Slept in

Got my toe nails painted. Cut my own nails, filed them, then went to the nail salon across the street and had them do a french paint.

Drinks at the Phoenix. The Mission is now fully packed on the weekends. We went to 3 places in a row and there wasn’t any place to sit.

Dinner at Mission Chinese. Still, hands-down, one of my favorite restaurants in the city. Last weekend, I went to Chinatown and ate at Great Eastern which is the restaurant Obama got take-out from. I swear to God I gained 3 pounds when I weighed myself the next day. What a waste of calories, the food wasn’t even good. But Mission Chinese is good Chinese food, not that crappy stuff they serve in the bowels of Chinatown. After gorging on Mission Chinese, I weighed myself the next day bracing myself for another 3 pound gain and I swear to God I lost 2 pounds. Who loses weight after eating Chinese food? Mission Chinese–best diet ever.

Drinks at Beauty Bar. The place has turned into a major decrepit dive. Wow, won’t be going back there again.

Wine at a friend’s house. Can’t go wrong drinking wine with a friend who has hundreds of bottles at his home.