The Most Delicious Comfort Food in San Francisco

Deccan House

★★★★☆ 3.8 (751) • $$

"3.5 STARSSeveral weeks ago, I made the mistake of NOT combing through the reviews of a South Indian restaurant in Sunnyvale. I ordered spicy and it legit felt like I was eating lava. This is coming from someone who usually requests spicy and extra spicy, and it's not spicy enough.What's that saying, "IF it hurts going in..."?So, yea...I'm surprised I could walk straight the next day.This time, I wasn't going to make the same mistake and made sure I combed through the reviews for Deccan House. Some of the reviews state that "mild" = "very spicy", "so spicy", etc. so I went with mild. Mild was plenty spicy for me so thank you, yelpers!Deccan House is open for takeout, delivery, and indoor dining. I ordered delivery so not sure if they still have outdoor dining.M E N USouth Indian cuisine with a touch of Indo-Chinese: Soups, apps, tandoor, idli/vada (savory snacks), dosas, uttapam (thick dosa w/ toppings), curries, dum biryani, breads, and desserts. No upcharge for 3rd party delivery apps BUT steep pricing...prices are 20-35%+ higher than competitors in the area. Ex: Curries start at $16.95 and it costs extra to add protein...$5 to add tofu?!Spice levels: Normal (not sure what that means), mild, and spicy.I ordered lunch delivery via Uber Eats. Was quoted 20-40 minutes and it was delivered in 40 minutes. Food was hot and securely packed. F O O D* Chettinadu: Spicy curry w/ salan, onion, special tamilnadu spices, coconut oil ($16.95): https://tinyurl.com/mrym4ja7*** Add chicken (+$2)*** Requested mildThe chettinadu was robustly spiced and spicy with a few pieces of tender white and dark chicken meat. The gravy ran on the salty side, and "mild" packed enough heat to make my nose run. I tempered the leftover gravy with coconut milk to make coconut noodle soup. * Hyderabadi Dum Biryani: Indian basmati rice, aromatic spices, Mughlai-style ($15.95)*** Add goat ($4)*** Requested mildThe biryani was fluffy, fragrant, and medium spicy with a handful of tender, bone-in goat pieces. Some of the basmati wasn't separated and a bit clumpy. The accompanying shorba (coconut gravy) and raita (yogurt sauce) added a layer of cooling spice. It's my understanding that mughlai-style biryani is supposed to have veggies but this one didn't. Overall, Deccan House serves pretty good South Indian fare, however, it's overpriced. I will pay for higher quality food but I didn't feel the taste, nor the quality was any different than local competitors charging a fraction of the cost. 3.5 stars rounded up for a small local business."

Zhangliang Malatang

★★★★☆ 4.2 (327) • $$

"Quality of ingredients and freshness is excellent. The broths are amazing. A must visit for any Asian food fan."

Ollei

★★★★★ 4.6 (267) • $$

"San Francisco, Polk Gulch. January 2025.Polk is a very walkable and interesting street and a new place to eat there is often worthwhile checking out. The Ollei is near Lord Stanley, just north of Broadway, on the edge of Russian Hill. They're across the street from a Bi-Rite Market. I wasn't expecting much but I found the place to be welcoming and the food familiar Korean comfort food. The difference is the simple modern vibe with K-Pop videos projected on one wall.Meals come with a quartet of simple quick banchan. The danmugi, aka takuan, is sweet pickled yellow strips of daikon radish. The oi muchim is a quick simple sweet and vinegary pickle of sliced cucumber rounds. The beachu kimchi is also slightly sweet. The eomuk, ribbons of Korean style fishcake, is painfully bland. They're only there as flavor changes of pace.I tried the beef dolsot bibimbap. It comes in one of those modern style bowls that will not properly put a charred crust on the rice, so don't get your hopes up. The bulgogi marinated beef is sweet and fulfills its role among the soy bean sprouts, horenso spinach, simmered daikon, julienned carrots, slice mushrooms. The biggest appeal to me was the availability of proper modern Korean soju made with rice - allowing me to skip the green bottle stuff. Good sool will always make a difference to me among Korean dining choices. Won Soju, a label produced by AOMG CEO Jay Park, was the best bottle I saw, and the price point was very good.This is Korean comfort food that will appeal to western tastes. Satisfying, filling, with not too much depth of heat or flavors."

Curry Hyuga

★★★★★ 4.6 (159) • $$

"Curry Hyuga is now one of our go-to's for Japanese Curry in the city as the food has always been solid every time we've been. For the past couple times we've been here we just did walk-in and we were able to get seating very easily with no wait. The interior is clean and modern, with ample tables for groups to sit in. I've gotten the Pork Katsu curry along with the Corn Potage soup, which both are great dishes! The katsu here is really crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside, while the curry has a lot of flavor in it. They also have an interesting spice rack with various levels of spiciness so you can customize your own dish if you want it to have more of a kick. If you're looking for Japanese Curry in SF, this is another great spot to check out!"

Mr. Digby’s

★★★★☆ 4.2 (185) • $$

"Arrive at 11:15am for bunch on a Saturday. Service was great, everyone was friendly and helpful. The menu has changed from 2 weeks ago / from what I read online but it didn't matter because there were many options especially if you share. The little gem salad was delicious, fresh, and the presentation was so bright and colorful. I tried a bit me of the fried chicken, it was superb. The French toast and waffle were great as well. Iced matchas with foam topped it all off. I will for sure be back!"

Victory Hall & Parlor

★★★★☆ 3.7 (223) • $$

"I like Victory Hall for a few key things. One, service, really solid bartenders. Two, ambiance, have to say the space/music/decoration combo gives off positive vibes. Three, food, diverse menu regardless of what you might be in the mood for.Lastly, the Happy Hour (see photo attached). Runs all night Monday and from 2-pm, Tues-Friday. If you're looking for a good spot to pre/post game after watching the Giants, come on in!"

BAOZ

★★★★☆ 4.4 (110)

"I should have left a review many moons ago, but this is one of my favorite places in sf! The food is amazing, beautiful to look out, tastes scrumptious, AND the take out has the cutest markings...I've yet to go to the physical location. It's one of my favorite treats to get for a cuddled night in. The food is warm and flavorful. A few of my favorite sweets are the nutella and the banana cream baos. The chicken bowl is my go to lunch/dinner."

The Mochi Donut Shop

★★★★☆ 3.8 (130) • $$

"I love that this Mochi Donut Shop has soo many food options. They have mochi donuts, Korean corn dogs (one even covered in hot cheetos!), filipino rice plates, filipino banh mis, and more! I also love their flavored tots. Their mochi donuts and corn dogs never disappoint and the staff is always friendly!"

Swing Shift

★★★★★ 4.7 (66)

"Very creative restaurant serving a variety of cuisines! American, Chinese, Indian, Irish, Mexican and more! It's all fused in this restaurant cafe. I wanted to order more than I did just to taste everything. All items in my order were made with good quality ingredients and care. Very delicious! I ordered the Siu Mai dumplings, Tandoori Chicken Wings and the 5-spice Pork Belly Fried Rice. All were flavorful according to the entree's cuisine.The Siu Mai dumplings are generous accompanied with soy dipping sauce and lots of scallions, this is a hearty treat. The Tandoori Chicken Wings were char grilled and juicy, bigger than average wings, cooked perfectly. The rice is really good and the 5-spice Pork Belly chunks I loved. The egg on top is cooked beautifully, lovely presentation. Cute cafe in San Mateo. Definitely will return to try some other entrees. The burgers look really good and juicy, too!Give them a try! Unique menu with cuisine for all tastes!"

Seoul Bunsik

★★★★☆ 4.2 (26) • $$

"Seoul Bunsik moved out of the International Food Court along with Katsuya and moved into 132 Bush St. The tteokbokki is as good as ever as a rainy day lunch downtown."

The Sarap Shop

★★★★★ 4.5 (13)

"I came here with a friend one day for lunch (we had been looking forward to coming to Sarap Shop for a while and were finally able to align our schedules for a weekday, since the hours here are somewhat limited). I ordered the lechon carbonara since all of the dishes here with lechon appeared to be a popular choice online and this seemed like interesting take on dishes that were familiar to me, a fusion of Italian carbonara and Filipino lechon. To be honest, the dish was a tad too oily and salty for my preferences, but also so tasty! I ended up finishing most of it and bringing the rest home since it was a generous portion and a good balance of toppings/mix-ins and noodles. I'd look forward to ordering it again in the future.The location was a bit... uncertain at first. Sarap Shop is located down a side street off of 4th St which is convenient if you're heading down to a game or concert. I went there from 3rd St and was a bit confused since it just looked like a residential area, but there it was! The red garage door (see other people's pics) was open so the business was indeed open, but my friend and I were confused at first since there was no one inside and it took a moment to realize we needed to order by QR code online. That was all fine, just a bit unexpected. (Other customers and delivery drivers that came in after us looked similarly confused by all the closed doors and closed serving windows inside, so perhaps they just need better signage for these cases?)Overall a good experience and I look forward to another visit here and the chance to try something new :)"

Cuisine Cø

★★★☆☆ 3.3 (4)

"This review is based on my two experiences ordering with Cuisine Co. I first found them through DoorDash. I was craving some breakfast at around 8pm and found they had a large menu of all sorts of foods - basically, whatever you're craving. Sweet or savory.The first time, my fiancé ordered their Salmon Atlantic and I had the Eggs Benedict and Strawberry Banana smoothie. The taste far exceeded our expectations. It was delicious and fresh. I don't think I've had an Eggs Benedict that good before! The smoothie was refreshing and they added some chunks of fresh fruit in there. Since our experience was good the first time, I decided to order from them directly the second time. This time we ordered the Eggs Benedict again (how could we not) and their chocolate chip pancakes. The pancakes were delicious and fluffy and could satisfy any sweet tooth. What I also liked is that they use safety stickers on the drinks and the bag to prevent any tampering with it. I recommend ordering from them for some delicious meals as I will be soon again."

Blue Plate

★★★★☆ 4.2 • $$$

"The patio in back with a glass of wine and warm focaccia bread out of the oven with trout deviled eggs was my SF sanctuary"