UPDATED MARCH 17, 2008

Of all the sources of friction between my darling Mackie and me – and there are many – the one which seems to be the most irreconcilable is eating. The problem is not what but where. I love to eat in restaurants. She’s a die-hard proponent of take-out. Maybe I’m getting soft but I’ve been acquiescing a lot lately so we’ve been doing a ton of to go.

Some recent and not so recent forays…

Little Star Pizza  is (almost) every bit as good to go as it is to eat in. Our take out order duplicated what we had when we dined in so you can get the scoop by reading my recent report.

Little Bangkok  is a recent find out in the Avenues. [N.B., I'm pretty sure their open on Saturday despite what the linked page says.] Mackie’s partial to the pork pad kew mow ($6.95). The dish consists of wide, flat pan-fried noodles with your choice of meat, sauce of your desired spiciness, tomatoes (which Mackie 86es) and basil. I’ve tried it and it’s tasty but I won’t make a special trip to the Inner Sunset for it the way she will. I’ve also sampled the gung hair (marinated prawns wrapped in noodles, deep fried and served with a sweet and sour dipping sauce, $6.95), the Bangkok Garden B.B.Q. chicken (marinated grilled chicken served with a sweet and sour dipping sauce, $8.95) and, for dessert, the fresh mango with sweet sticky rice ($3.95). All were decent with generous portions but none stood out. My only gripe was that the meat on one chicken drumstick was too pink for my liking near the bone. I know I’m being overly paranoid about salmonella but I tossed it to be safe. All in all, I’d give the joint a C+ or a B- but Mackie thinks it’s an A player. The folks who run the place are nice and friendly. Importantly for take-out, they recently switched their containers from a cardboard that tended to get soggy and lose its strength to what seems to be a plasticized paper that holds up really well.

During our most recent venture out to Little Bangkok, I decided to walk a couple of blocks down Irving to San Tung so I could pick up some of their incredible dry fried chicken ($8.00). This stuff is the BOMB! While many people go for the wings, I prefer the diced – cubes of chicken that have been lightly battered, deep fried and perched atop an absolutely delish sweet, soy-ginger sauce with a hint of garlic. M’m! But, doh! It was Wednesday night and I’d forgotten that San Tung is closed on Wednesday. Why does a restaurant choose Wednesday as their closed day!!! I get Sunday, I get Monday, I even get Tuesday if you stay open on Monday to serve the industry peeps who have the day off. But Wednesday???!!! Give me a freakin’ break! So now I got me a Jones the size of Texas for some San Tung chicken and I needs to get me some.

HOT OFF THE PRESSES: Asian Week just ran a glowing review of San Tung. Just freakin' great! It's not like the lines weren't already long enough if you want to eat in! Another reason to take out. At least the article clears up the mystery of why a Chinese joint serves kimchi.

Going to Little Bangkok reminded me that it’s been a while since we went to Thai House Express, a favorite for take-out when we lived on Russian Hill. If you’ve never been, go if only to try their nuer kem (Thai beef jerky, $6.95). THE is located on a really crappy corner in the Tenderloin but the inside of the restaurant is rather nice. Extra points awarded because it's open until midnight every night. Their web site is possibly the most annoying restaurant web site I've encountered. You may want to turn off your sound before navigating to it.

It was a total surprise to discover that San Tung garnered a much better food inspection score (see below) than Thai House Express. Based on the appearance of the dining room, I'd have guessed it would be the other way around. THE's score is so low that it gives pause about eating there. OTOH, I've never gotten sick from their food.


Little Star Pizza
400 Valencia Street
at 15th Street
San Francisco, CA 94103
415-551-7827
Web site
Food inspection score: 100
Symbol of Excellence: No

Little Bangkok
845 Irving Street
at 10th Avenue (online maps place the address between 9th and 10th but Little Bangkok is actually on the corner)
San Francisco, CA 94122
415-681-7156
No web site
Food inspection score: 96
Symbol of Excellence: Yes

San Tung Chinese Restaurant
1031 Irving Street
between 11th Avenue and 12th Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94122
415-242-0828
No web site
Food inspection score: 94
Symbol of Excellence: Yes