Our favorite soups in the Bay Area
When it comes to cold and flu season, sometimes you feel so lousy that you have to leave the cooking to someone else. Here are some of the Chronicle Food Team’s favorite spots for liquid comfort.
Rasam at Ananda Bhavan: Normally, rasam is served with rice and other foods as a side dish. There are many versions, including my favorite, poondu (garlic) rasam, but the one at Ananda Bhavan is good for when I don’t want to make it myself. It’s peppery, sour and a little spicy. — Urmila Ramakrishnan Multiple Bay Area locations. www.anandabhavanusa.com. Available for dine-in or delivery.
Matzoh Ball Soup at Wise
Sons: When I feel a bug coming on, I reach for two things — Emergen-C and the Caviar app on my phone to order two bowls of Wise Sons’ matzoh ball soup. I eat one as soon as it arrives and put the second in the fridge to reheat for later. — Sarah Fritsche Multiple locations. www.wisesonsdeli.com. Available for dine-in or delivery.
Posole rojo at Nopalito: At the tail end of a cold or flu — when I’m getting tired of mildly flavored foods and want to mix it up — nothing beats Nopalito’s posole with its rich, chile-laden broth with tender chunks of pork and chewy bites of hominy. — S.F. 306 Broderick St., San Francisco, and 1224 Ninth Ave., San Francisco. www.nopalitosf.com. Available for dine-in or delivery.
Ramen at Hinodeya: A steaming bowl of ramen can warm you up, but personally, a fatty, creamy tonkatsu or paitan broth is not what I want when I’m feeling under the weather. Hinodeya’s base for its house ramen is a dashi broth — light, but packed with flavor from bonito and kombu. — Esther Mobley 1737 Buchanan St., San Francisco. www.hinodeyaramen.com. Available for dine-in or pick-up.
Birria at Gallard only available on n the weekends, the Mission resta aurant’s birria is another pick-meme e-up that makes feel so much better after I eat it: a hearty huunk of spoonrounded tender lamb surro zesty, chile-rich b llas for sopping uall the goodardos ness. If only Galladelivered.— S.F. 3248 18th St., San Francisco. (415) 436-9387. Available for A dine-in or pick-up
Tom Yum at Yukol Palace: When I have a cold, I go for hot and spicy to flush out my sinuses. The Tom Yum Goong — a Thai spicy and sour prawn soup — is ready in 15 minutes or less for take-away, and it’s a great balance of acid and heat. — U.R. 2380 Lombard St., San Francisco. Available for dine-in or delivery.
Avgolemono at North Beach
Gyro: Lemon supposedly reduces phlegm in the body, and avgolemono packs in the tartness with the homey feel of chicken soup. — U.R.
701 Union St., San Francisco. www.northbeachgyrossf.com. Available for dine-in or delivery.
Kitcheree at The Dosa Brothers: Kitcheree, or kichuri (as spelled in Bengali), is a mix of lentils and rice. It’s the one thing my mom used to make me when I had the flu, and it’s come to symbolize my definition of comfort food. — U.R. 598 Market St., San Francisco. www.thedosabrothers.com. Available for pick-up.
Pho at Pho Ao Sen: Pho Ao Sen’s southern-style pho is soothing enough to eat at any hour of the day and aromatically complex enough to marvel over each time a bowl arrives. There has to be healing in all that tripe, brisket and tendon. — Jonathan Kauffman 1139 E. 12th St., Oakland. www.phoaosen.com. Available for dine-in or pick-up.