THE BEST DISHES EATER SF EDITORS ATE THIS WEEK: APRIL 15

There’s certainly no shortage of excellent food to be found in San Francisco and the Bay Area — but there’s plenty worth skipping, too. Luckily for you, Eater editors dine out several times a week (or more) and we’re happy to share the standout dishes we encounter as we go.

Here’s the best of everything the Eater SF team has eaten recently. Check back weekly for more don’t-miss dishes.

Tingly spicy chicken sandwich at Mamahuhu

If you want to fall in love with chicken sandwiches again — because I’ll be honest, it’s been a while since I had a chicken sandwich that truly impressed me — look no further than Mamahuhu, the casual local mini-chain from Brandon Jew, the chef behind Michelin-starred Chinese restaurant Mister Jiu’s. There are two versions of the restaurant’s chicken sandwich, including this spicy variety, but be warned that there’s a distinct possibility it’ll leave you reaching for a tissue or, at the very least, a cup of water. Nevertheless, it’s worth the risk of burning your mouth off. The chicken comes wrapped in a light and crispy rice batter, sprinkled with mouth-numbing dry spice, then drizzled in Sichuan chili oil. Cabbage provides texture and black vinegar mayo contributes just a touch of umami, but it’s the crackly pineapple bun that seals the deal with its delicate sweetness. The sugar underscores the heat coming from just about every other component of the sandwich with the result being that it’s just too good, too painfully good, to stop eating until you’ve downed the whole thing. Mamahuhu, 3991 24th Street, San Francisco

— Lauren Saria, Eater SF editor

9 Flavors at Eight Tables

It’s not often that dinner starts with a lesson, but at the fine-dining restaurant Eight Tables by chef George Chen, the first course shows diners the flavors of China in a beautiful way. Showcased on a stunning plate with nine miniature bowls on top, each vessel holds a bite emblematic of different tastes of Chinese food — in this case, sweet, salty, sour, bitter, numbing, spicy, fragrant, fresh, and smoky. It’s a mix-and-match, choose-your-own-adventure of items, as you pick your way through the dishes and decide on which order to try each one (although to be fair, my dining partner and I were told it is best to try the numbing and spicy bites last). Certain tastes may be challenging if, say, you’re not a fan of bitter — in my case, it was an elegant bittermelon bite — but it’s a lovely way to get acclimated while learning the tenets of Chinese flavors through taste. During my visit, a croquette with mala spice gave off that lovely, numbing, tingling sensation, while a carefully folded dumpling served as the dish’s spicy item, set atop a house-made chile sauce. The bites change with the season, so it won’t be the same each time, but it’s a signature dish that Chen promises will never leave the menu and it’s a smart way to get diners excited for the meal ahead. Eight Tables, 8 Kenneth Rexroth Place, San Francisco

— Dianne de Guzman, Eater SF deputy editor

Tteokbokki rose-style at the Korner Store

The smell of Ina Jungin Lee’s creamy, saucy tteokbokki, chockful of fish cakes and noodles swimming luxuriously through the bowl, alone could romance a passerby to pull up a stool at this Excelsior restaurant. Her Korner Store Bites & Vibes is the revival of the much-beloved Valencia Street restaurant the Korner Store with indeed more bites and more vibes. The vibes are tough to top from those pre-pandemic Valencia days, soju slushies spinning endlessly as house sets thumped from inside, but there are K-pop parties and all kinds of wildness at this larger location. But back to the tteokbokki. Her rendition on the street food relies on a thinner and longer noodle than ardent stans of the mega-popular dish might expect. Lee says it allows for more sauce and less noodle in each chomp, like a tortilla better proportioned to deliver more of its interior than simple carbohydrates. The approach works like a charm, making for a chewy, but more importantly, decadent and well-spiced soupiness. That texture is thanks to ordering the tteokbokki rosé-style for an extra two bucks, making for an almost spaghetti-like flavor and richness. Then the smart diner gets six gimmari — glass noodles stuffed in seaweed before fried — dropped on top for another $3, allowing for a crispy crunch texture to enter the chat. As a full ensemble this meal is not only filling and more than worth its roughly $18 final price point, but it’s also dynamic from start to finish, providing twists and turns in bite density and taste profile. Lee remains a proper legend in San Francisco’s Korean fast-casual game, and her riff on Korea’s most popular dish further cements her place at the top. The Korner Store Bites & Vibes, 4516 Mission Street, San Francisco

— Paolo Bicchieri, Eater SF reporter

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