Food review: Duck confit hash

Restaurant: Maverick (San Francisco)
Food description: Two poached eggs atop duck confit with crisp hash browns, oyster mushrooms in a mushroom cream sauce
Food rating: 9 out of 10
Times ordered: 1

How 'bout I cut to the chase and just say 'Holy crap! This dish was f*#&n incredible!' Definitely the best breakfast hash dish I've had in San Francisco. It's what happens when chefs put the same about of effort into brunch as they do for dinner. In case you didn't know, mushrooms and duck melt together like hot-butta-on-a-breakfast-toast. Something about the gameyness of the duck and the funginess of the mushrooms really work amazing together to create this deeply rich and hearty flavor without the grease of fattier meats. To make things even better, they threw in some crispy hash browns which retained their crispiness despite being drenched in mushroom sauce. This is a feat very rarely accomplished in a hash brunch dish! And mix all that together with the two poached eggs and it's simply perfection. Ok, nothing's perfect, and I'll admit that one of my eggs was slightly over-poached, but I'm a forgiving person and they can get another chance at that. There were also pieces of duck here and there a tiny bit dry, but it wasn't a big deal after the mushroom sauce kicked in. What really amazed me about this dish is that, given how heavy the ingredients were, how non-greasy the whole thing tasted. It was nice to finally eat a hash where your face and didn't end up covered in grease. Absolutely loved it, and what a 180° from the donut holes!

Food review: "Eggs in a Tasty Nest"

Restaurant: Pork Store Cafe (Valencia St, San Francisco)
Food description: Two fried eggs (over-medium) over a bed of hash browns, bacon, green bell peppers, tomatoes, onions, and cheddar cheese, with an English muffin
Food rating: 6.5 out of 10
Times ordered: 3

Tasty Nest, gotta love the name first off. I mean, come on, don't you always picture your breakfast eggs in the bird's nest? It's oh so appetizing! I guess it's not that surprising, given that the place itself is named Pork Store Cafe. But beyond the whole "nest" concept, the "tasty" part is pretty accurate. You gotta love grease though, and chances are you won't be hungry til dinner. Bacon, eggs, cheese, hash browns, mmmm... So if you can handle all that grease you'll be good to go, because the ingredients all blend together into this hearty, meaty, cheesy goodness (needless to say, great for hangovers). The onions were caramelized nicely and worked with the bacon to supply most of the flavor. The hashed browns alone are normally crispy, but under the "nest", turned out a little mushier than I prefer. Their hash browns, though perfectly crispy on both sides, are very oily, so that's where this dish gets all its grease from. They went a bit overboard on the green peppers, plus they were a little too crunchy and could have been cooked more. The tomatoes were slightly overcooked and were turning into mush. And the eggs--well--let's just say I ordered them over-medium and they came out over-easy and I had to send them back. This is a common inconsistency at the Pork Store, where I never know if today I'll be sending my eggs back or not. It can get a little frustrating, and that's why I don't come here as much as I used to. But when I do, I like to get down with the Tasty Nest or the french toast.