The Second Helping House: Two Restaurants in the San Francisco Mission District

Monday, September 04, 2006

Two Restaurants in the San Francisco Mission District

The “Roosevelt Tamale Parlor” is located in the colorful Mission District of San Francisco. A mural project started some years ago has given the district an out-of-doors museum status. Work up your appetite by taking in the mural walk ending with a late lunch at the Roosevelt Tamale Parlor. Contact Precita Eyes Mural Arts and Visitors Center for more information about the area murals. Getting back to actual eating. We ordered the combination plate of tamales to taste as much as possible. this entree was enough to fill us both up. A beef tamale smothered in special tamale gravy, calabacitas con crema (a squash tamale) covered with a tomatillo cream, and a shredded chicken tamale wrapped in a banana leaf with Oaxacan red mole, served with rice and beans. My beverage choice was “agua fresca” seasonal fruit drink, today it was mango, cool and refreshing. A plate of tamales with sauce does not photograph well, but taste it does, exceptionally well. I am a fan of tamales and the beauty is there are no hard set rules, only the chef’s creativity. I savored each bite trying to unravel the subtitles in each – eventually I just savored realizing my meal was a symphony of flavours to enjoy, impossible to reproduce. Stepping out of the restaurant, I turned to hold the door for my wife and spotted a news paper clipping about Diane Kennedy in the window(the cook book author of Mexican cuisine). The short of it was she had come here to demonstrate her tamale techniques. Need I say more? $14.95 plus drink will buy you a memory not soon to be forgotten.
Roosevelt Tamale Parlor
2817 24th street
San Francisco, California 94110
located between Bryant and York
415.824.2600

At El Delfin taste is as bright as the setting. The interior is covered with murals depicting the Aztec culture and Spanish Conquest. The remaining walls are hues of terra cotta, red and ochres. The taste of the food here matches the color, vibrant without a hint of pretension. We started with “tostada de ceviche, fresh, fresh. For our main entrée Polly had “pescado a la Veracruzana” marinated red snapper cooked in a chunky tomato sauce. $11.00 and my plate “camarones borrachos”, tequila prawns was sublime $11.00. Our plates arrived hot with generous portions, all with amazing flavor. For dessert (featured here) we chose flan $3.00 not your typical slick eggy custard sitting in a little puddle of sauce – no, this flan rivalled any flan on the planet. My dining experience was one of my best in recent memory due in part to the gracious host Anjelica Sarabia, who’s sweet smile, makes me feel I should live near to her. Her family is very lucky her spirit is genuine and affecting. We ended the meal with “atole de nuez” a pecan and masa harina drink made by Anjelica herself, bravo! Look for the drink on our posting “ Three Drinks in San Francisco” coming soon. If you are looking for some well prepared Mexican style sea food this restaurant is a must do.