The March Hit List: AL’s Place, Ken, Daytrip, and More

The eccentric Aaron London’s welcoming and eclectic vegetable-forward restaurant is open for both outdoor and indoor dining, where proof of vaccination is still required. Instead of picking individual dishes, best to go “Family Style” and let the kitchen cook for you.

Charles Phan’s newest venture, a sandwich spot on 18^th St., delivers an array of delicious sandwiches on fresh-baked breads, like an egg salad sandwich on milk bread and a pork meatball banh mi of sorts that’s to be one of the best in SF. So good, it’s Pretty Freakin’ Good, as some might say.

Daytrip is a fun and hip natural wine bar in Temescal featuring fun small shared plates like miso butter pasta and celery salad piled with thinly-shaved aged sheep cheese. It’s outdoor only for now, but ask to be seated in the back if possible — it’s cute there. Walk-ins only for this one.

Good Good Culture Club is keeping that good good energy going for The Mission and the industry with deliciousness in the form of crispy rice balls with caramelized plantains, poppyseed steam buns with smoked beef belly and curry aioli, and so much more.

Whether you want to do a take-out sushi dinner or a dine-in multi-course omakase experience, KEN on Divisadero could be a good option to consider.

Let’s be real: fried chicken is almost always good. BUT there’s good fried chicken, and then there’s great fried chicken — Fernay McPherson’s Minnie Bell’s Soul Movement is the latter. The secret ingredient? Rosemary. And LOTS of love.

The glorious Liberty Farm Peking Style Roast duck for two is both a beauty and a feast: The set is served with housemade pancakes, peanut butter hoisin, cucumbers, cilantro, and scallions. Like all good things, it takes time and patience: please allow one hour to arrive.

Perched up at the bar overlooking the pass is truly where all the action is at Rich Table, where you’ll see all the kitchen in action. Chef’s tasting menu is the move here, but per usual, the choice is totally up to you.

Speaking of counters, the counter at San Ho Won is proper. The relatively new-ish casual Korean newcomer to The Mission offers much more than charcoal grilled meats: consider the appetizers section, like the raw beef yukwhe with Asian pear — a tableside DIY tartare of sorts — or the savory egg soufflé.

Speaking of charcoal grilled meats, our favorite part – always and forever about Rintaro — is the yakitori selection, a various assortment of Japanese charcoal-grilled chicken parts: chicken leg and knee (yakitori hiza nankotsu) and tsukune (minced chicken meatball).

This Burmese restaurant is a longtime “hidden-hole-in-the-wall-gem” for San Francisco’s Mission District, with lots of random/classic dishes like mohinga and lahpet. But the Yamo house noodles with beef is still the best way to spend $7.00 in The City.