Trick Dog

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I've been wanting to eat here since they first opened, but the stories of the lines out the door kept me away.  Possibly an urban myth, but I never saw any lines here and was able to be seated right away.  You can opt to eat at the bar or their upstairs table seating section.  Words of advice on ordering here:  the dishes are really well priced and portioned larger than your average SF food; get drinks since the food is a little on the saltier side (not a bad thing).

Fun and creative, Trick Dog puts their drink menu on a pantone menu.

I love pickles.  The more original the better.  This pickle platter was gigantic.  Various veggies with what tasted like three different types of pickling were fun to taste and try.  Most interesting was the jelly looking substance on the wooden plank.  After some poking and prodding, I discovered it was a jelly of pickle juice.  Very creative.

Whats a place in the mission without a nod to its Mexican influences in the area?  The chunks of pork belly are crispy on the outside and cooked with brown sugar, salt and spices.  The dipping sauce is haunting similar to Tapatio. 

When I think of pimento cheese, I think oddly colored cheese dip from the 80s.  This dip was addictively delicious.  Made with cheddar cheese, Spanish cherry peppers, garlic, and vermouth, this dip has a good kick.  Best are the guilt free vegetables provided for scooping into the rich, creamy, "this is so bad for me, but I can't stop eating it" dip.

Deep fried tempura avocados.  There is so many "wow" things from that statement that it was heartbreaking when I bit into the soggy avocado.  Such potential with this dish, but it just needed the battery crunch! 

Of course, beer nuts are a must when you have drinks in hand.  Spanish nuts candied in Miller High Life (yes, the beer!), espelette chili, Lyle’s Golden Syrup & orange.  The texture is similar to boiled soybeans, in other words, soft.  Takes a while to get used to, but they are quite snackable. 

Another item that I think needs to make more of an appearance on SF menus - beef tartare.  The sirloin is sous vide, but still rare and combined with an egg yolk, capers, and mustard.  Fresh tasting and flavorful, its the perfect spread for the crispy toast.

I was really excited seeing scotch egg on this menu.  Why are there not more scotch eggs in the city?  This one was creatively put together with crab meat surrounding the egg instead of sausage.  Crisp with runny insides, the order only includes one egg, so keep this in mind if you aren't the sharing type.

Not just your average hamburger.  Trick Dog's burger is shaped like a hot dog, but its actually a hamburger.  Its fun take on a hamburger almost made me feel confused when I ate it, but its full of flavor and juicy meat quickly had my taste buds recognize this is one damn good burger.

At first glance of this menu item, I almost didn't order it thinking the rice cake was more of the Korean style type rice cake, but good thing I did order it.  The crispy rice cake that reminded me of hash browns was probably one of my favorite items on the menu and made think how can I recreate this at home.  Chewy with crispy edges, its everything that I love about all things rice.  The rice cake soaked up in the lemon grass pork and the fish sauce vinaigrette flavors made it even better.

Giant Kennebec potatoes that are thrice cooked!  They are boiled & twice-fried.  An extra $2 turns these tubers into manimal style.  The tricky wordplay made me think of In-N-Out's animal style, but really its topped with cheese, a pickly vegetable that I think is spinach, and a secret sauce.

The ice cream desserts seem to change, but today's was the fruity pebbles cereal ice cream.  Fruity pebbles made me flashback a little and ask myself, "Do they even sell the cereal in the stores anymore?" The ice cream is creamy and smooth and reminds me of Frozen Custard's cereal milk (see post HERE) with the exact flavor of Fruity Pebbles cereal.  Also, more Fruity Pebbles cereal is crumbled and sprinkled on top, which answered my original question, "I guess they do still sell the cereal".  A pretty perfect ending.

Address:                 Trick Dog
                                3010 20th St.
                                San Francisco, CA

Type:                      gastropub

Popular chomps:     hamburger
                                drinks  

Chomp worthy:       hamburger
                                pickle plate
                                ice cream
                                pimento cheese
                                rice plate