Food review: Creekstone Farm short ribs

Restaurant: Maverick (San Francisco)
Food description: Braised Creekstone Farm beef short ribs with homemade tater tots, Vedure Farm cherokee tomato slices, watercress, and braising reduction
Food rating: 7.5 out of 10
Times ordered: 1

Short ribs always hit the spot on those brisk nights when you're in the mood for some comfort food. Such was the case at Maverick, with their California-cuisine-meets-Southwest rendition of this dish. The dish was hearty and heavy but I thoroughly enjoyed everything in all it's fatty glory. The the short ribs had a little crispiness to the edges but juicy and tender inside, giving it a unique but nice texture contrary to what I was expecting. The flavor was basically what you'd expect from short ribs: savory, salty, and buttery goodness. Though fatty, it was definitely not overly greasy. The braising reduction was thin but potent and added that necessary gravy requirement. I was excited about the homegrown tater tots, which were crispy and tasty, but came out a little on the greasy side. I get what the chef was trying to do with the tomatoes but I didn't think it really needed them. I guess it was necessary to appease the veggie complainers. Overall, the dish was simple but very well done and worthy of a second go.

Food review: Beef short ribs and oxtail adobo

Restaurant: Firefly (San Francisco)
Food description: Slow braised beef short ribs and oxtail adobo with jasmine rice, sauteed long beans, quail egg, and spicy banana condiment
Food rating: 7.5 out of 10
Times ordered: 1

This dish was pure deee-li-cious-ness! It's one of those dishes that you savor each bite v-e-r-y s-l-o-w-l-y to the point that you're still eating it when it's cold, which is basically torture since you really just prefer to inhale it. It'd be totally worthy of a higher score if the short ribs weren't tragically overcooked. I really think that overcooking stuff is a big no-no for a restaurant of this caliber, but luckily, everything else about the dish was a big yes-yes. So now that I've gotten the ugly part out of the way, let's talk about the luscious sauce. The meat was braised in a wonderful adobo sauce, which was really my favorite aspect of the dish. It was just the right consistency, not runny, nor thick, and wow--what amazing flavor! It was as if you cooked 10 steaks and reduced the drippings down into a concentrated beef gravy and then stewed it with the meat for several hours. After combining the sauce with the fattiness of the meat, you've got yourself some impressive flavor. As for the meat, the oxtail was so tender it just fell apart with one touch. It was flavorful and fatty, but the fat was marbled so it just dissolved without needing to be trimmed. The short ribs were less fatty and didn't have as much flavor as the oxtail, so regardless of the fact that they were overcooked, I would've preferred another oxtail instead of the short ribs.

Given the heartiness of all that red meat, you'd think it'd be heavy, but it wasn't, especially with the side of plain jasmine rice. I was literally eating it well after it had gotten cold. As far as the other sides are concerned, I barely paid much attention to them. The quail egg was interesting, but it didn't seem to fit, and the beans were pretty tasty and cooked to a nice al dente. The banana "condiment" was oniony, and I'm assuming was to cut the saltiness and fattiness of the meat, but it just wasn't for me. Given how tasty the meat was, I didn't really need much else to be happy--except of course that they overcooked the short ribs! Fantastic otherwise.