Boxing Room

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         Right around the corner from Absinthe (see post HERE) is their sister restaurant, Boxing Room.  Very different from the food at Absinthe, Boxing Room indulges the comfort food that can satisfy almost anyone- Southern cuisine.  Surprisingly, on a Thursday nite the restaurant was rather empty.   

A refreshing change from the usual bread and butter, the Boxing Room starts the taste buds with crackers and pimento cheese.  The cheese was rich, creamy, and a little spicy.  A possible foreshadowing of what's to come.

These savory fried balls of dough made for some delicious, but dense hushpuppy.  It came with a spreadable pepper jelly that reminded me of sweet and sour sauce.  The only other time I had pepper jelly was at Comstock Saloon (see post HERE), but theirs had a more peppery flavor. 

The gumbo is offered in two sizes.  The smaller size is good enough for two people to share.  Mixed with shredded chicken and huge slices of andouille sausage, the gumbo was a little salty and lacked any spiciness.  The white fluffy rice absorbed the stew nicely, but there could have been a little more rice. 

#23- Duck and Sausage Jambalaya at Boxing Room - 7x7's 2012 Top 100

One odd thing to note about this dish is that its made here with brown rice.  I didn't really notice any difference in taste or texture from the brown rice.  The rice was flavorful and delicious, but I thought the duck was the better part of the plate.  The duck was juicy and cooked to perfect, but just a tad salty.

One fried dish is not enough at a restaurant like this.  Fried chicken!  Three meaty pieces of fried chicken served on top a bed of collard greens with bacon-giblet gravy.  They give you vinegar for your collard greens and homemade hot sauce for your fried chicken.  Street cred?  Possibly because the fried chicken is legit.  It still doesn't knock Ad Hoc's Fried Chicken (see post HERE) off my pedestal, but its pretty frickin' good chicken.  The crust was crunchy without being oily and every bite chicken was ultra juicy.  The collard greens were ok, but better with a dash of vinegar.  The fried chicken was probably my favorite dish of the night and overshadowed anything else on the plate.

     

#10- Dirty Rice at Boxing Room - SF Foodie's 2012 50 dishes

The dirty rice is one of three choices of side dishes.  The others are braised greens with ham hock and cornbread muffins.  ($6 each or all 3 for $12).  This traditional Southern dish was made with rice, green peppers, onions, and celery.  Good, but nothing to rave about.

After a lot of heavy dishes, I almost didn't order dessert, but its such a must to order beignets at a Southern restaurant.  The beignets here were surprisingly light as a feather.  Each bite was like biting into air with a sweet note.  Don't inhale for fear of choking on the powder sugar. 

updated - Working my way through the 2012 7x7's SF big eat 100 things

updated - Working my way through SF Foodie's 2012 50 dishes 

       

Address:                   Boxing Room
                                  399 Grove St.
                                  San Francisco, CA
  

Type:                         Southern/Cajun/Creole

Popular chomps:       jambalaya (Thursdays only)
                                   fried chicken

                                   beignets
                                   dirty rice
                                   hush puppies
                                   shrimp po'boy
                                   gumbo
                                   fried alligator
                                   boudin balls

Chomp worthy:          jambalaya
                                   fried chicken
                                   beignets