The Bay Area’s best bites of 2023

From sandwiches to seafood, here’s most memorable dishes

2023-12-31 -

Paring down this list was like pulling teeth. As I scrolled my phone, reminiscing on all the momentous bites and plates I devoured this year, I came away with a list of nearly 50.

I know rules are a buzzkill, but I needed to set some guardrails to create a more balanced picture. In an effort to not regurgitate my favorite new restaurants of the year, I made the painful decision to omit those spots. Don’t be fooled though, those places produced unforgettable dishes. Some shining examples include Burdell’s phenomenal chicken liver and waffle, Dalida’s memory foam-esque chubby pita, Aphotic’s melt-in-your-mouth tuna collar and Copra’s technicolored chutneys.

Even still, I was left with a big list. With some advice (and pep talks) from my editor, I shrunk it down to 10. As a reflection of where my mind was this year, all of the picks are relatively affordable.

This list is a distillation of what excites me as a diner. I’m a sucker for sour and spicy food. I want food to force me to feel something. Whether it was a blistered skillet of tripe, smoky grilled chicken doused in a creamy sauce or the spiciest aguachiles in the Bay Area, these dishes demanded attention.

These are my 10 favorite Bay Area dishes of the year, ranked.

10. Beef rendang from Mingala Restaurant

While compiling a list of the Bay Area’s great Burmese restaurants, I was pleasantly surprised to come across the charming Mingala Restaurant in Newark. The vibrant yellow restaurant makes one of the flakiest rotis in the Bay Area, and the tea leaf salad has a real pleasing funk. But the dish that I think about most is the beef rendang ($20), a coconut curry popular in Indonesia and Malaysia. The meat morsels are notably tender, and the slightly creamy gravy punches you with spice. It’s served with cucumbers, for nibbling purposes, and if you need more spice, add some homemade sambal.

39055 Cedar Blvd., #108, Newark. 11 a.m.-3 p.m., 5-9 p.m. Tuesday-Friday, 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Saturday-Sunday. https://www.mingalarestaurant.com/ or 510-565-1339

9. Chicken korma from Mrs Khan

Sometimes this job puts me in unexpected places. I just so happened to be in Menlo Park on doughnut duty when I randomly happened upon Mrs Khan. It’s one of the few remaining Uyghur restaurants in the Bay Area. The food here is liberally dusted with chile flakes and cumin, and there’s a range of noodles on offer — almost all of which are hand-stretched. The heftiest of the bunch are those found in the massive chicken korma ($39). In it goes succulent, bone-in chicken, potatoes, bell peppers and rope-like, chewy noodles. The imposing dish is what you might eat to battle a blizzard and can easily feed two or more.

712 Santa Cruz Ave., Menlo Park. 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m., 5-8 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday. 650-800-3019

8. Tuna kitfo from LeYou

I first visited the delightful LeYou when I was in San Jose searching for standout Ethiopian food. The restaurant puts a modern twist on the cuisine without sacrificing flavor. There are several dishes that encapsulate that sentiment, but my favorite was the tuna kitfo bites ($11.95), a snack of raw fish cubes marinated in spicy oil. The accompanying toasted injera chips add a hint of tang. Overall, the snack is crisp, melty and fiery, and begs to be washed down with a Gojo beer.

1100 N First St., Suite C, San Jose. 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m., 5:30-9 p.m. Thursday-Sunday; 5:30-9 p.m. Monday-Wednesday. https:// www.leyouethiopian.com/ or 408320-2620

7. Grilled cheese burrito from La Vaca Birria

While seeking the best Mission-style burritos, I consumed a frightening number of them. I most enjoyed S.F.’s La Vaca Birria’s burritos for their distinctive tweaks on the formula. The taqueria’s take on the style is dubbed the grilled cheese burrito ($19), which benefits from a gooey cheese skirt and a proper sear on the plancha to evenly distribute temperature. There are several fillings worth trying but the smoky, charcoal-grilled asada and bold beef birria are the strongest.

2962 24th St., San Francisco. 11 a.m.-9 p.m. daily. https://www.lavacabirria.com/

6. Chicken from Keeku Da Dhaba

At this Indian barbecue food truck in Fremont, I was mesmerized watching spears studded with tofu, chicken or mutton sizzle on the grill as charcoal flame tendrils licked rendered fat drippings. The chicken ($12) was absolutely stunning. After it is grilled, the smoky chicken cubes are coated in a buttery, tangy sauce. It’s a great reminder that quality can come from unexpected places.

3400 Mowry Ave., Fremont. 5-9 p.m. Thursday-Saturday. https:// www.keekuz.com/ or 510-789-3427

5. Trippa alla fiorentina from Delfina

Delfina came back with a vengeance when the San Francisco restaurant debuted its handsome new look last year. While I could write sonnets in iambic pentameter about the perfect spaghetti, I want to highlight another winner: the trippa alla fiorentina ($19). One of the Italian spot’s classics, this skillet of tripe was succulent with a slightly smoky, lip-smacking savor. I was already a fan of the offal cut but the execution of this dish showed me new ways to appreciate it.

3621 18th St., San Francisco. 5:30-10 p.m. Monday-Saturday; 5-9 p.m. Sunday. https://www.delfinasf.com/ or 415-552-4055

4. Aguachiles verdes from Mariscos El Aguachiles 8

Good aguachiles are like a religious experience. At least that’s what it felt like to me when I saw the light at Mariscos El Aguachiles 8 in San Jose. The mariscos food truck makes perilously spicy seafood, so much so that I won’t venture past the third level. (There are 12.) The aguachiles verde mixta ($40) is my go-to order. It is composed of bouncy octopus and cooked and raw shrimp — all marinated in a deadly elixir of serranos and lime. It’s guaranteed to clear your sinuses, tear ducts and maybe even your conscience.

1111 N. Capitol Ave., San Jose. Check https://www.instagram.com/ mariscos_elaguachiles8 for exact hours.

3. Chorizo con papas torta from Peña’s Bakery

Maria De La Luz Briones is like a Renaissance painter in the way she makes tortas at Oakland panaderia Peña’s Bakery. I want my last meal on earth to be one of her deeply comforting chorizo con papas tortas ($9). Inside feathery telera bread goes a mix of crumbled spicy sausage and potatoes; the medley is rested overnight, allowing for the starch to absorb the pork fat. I’ve had this torta more than any other food this year, and my hunger for it is still cartoonishly insatiable.

3355 Foothill Blvd., Oakland. 6 a.m.-2 p.m. Monday-Thursday; 6 a.m.-5 p.m. Friday; 7 a.m.-noon Saturday. 510-536-0661

2. Tomato tostada from Tacos Sincero

Sincere Justice is the creative force behind Tacos Sincero, a pop-up that puts Mexican, Indian, Japanese and other cultural influences on a tortilla. On my last visit a few months back, the pop-up had a mind-numbing tomato tostada ($13) that was gushing with juicy umami. The chef smeared the fried corn disk with labneh, layered on fermented Desi Girl tomatoes (a bit sweeter than Early Girl variety) and garnished it with shaved egg yolk. It was my favorite tomato dish of the summer.

Check www.instagram.com/tacossincero for pop-up locations.

1. Sisig Bolillo from Ok’s Deli

I’ve tried virtually all the sandwiches at Ok’s Deli in Oakland, but none have stupefied me the way the sisig bolillo ($15) did. After one bite of the bubbly, pointy roll, I needed to take a moment to process its majesty. The bread’s crust had the crunch of a fried wonton but was still light and aerodynamic. It was stuffed with succulent bits of pig head, onions and sliced bird’s eye chiles. Nestled inside the mix was an over-easy egg that provided rich lubrication. Calamansi provided a crucial hit of acidity. I would climb a mountain for this sandwich. I’d slay a dragon for one more bite. I’d do so many other hypothetical hyperbolic things for this beautiful concoction. It’s not currently on the menu, but I hope the deli brings it back.

3932 Telegraph Ave, Oakland. 11 a.m.- 3 p.m. Thursday-Monday. oksdeli.com