San Francisco Roundup II: Excellent Afghan, Terrible Breakfast at Overrated Brenda's, Shabu Bar hits the spot and the Best Pork Belly at Zero Zero

What a nice surprise finding an excellent Afghan spot in Burlingame, about 30 minutes south of San Francisco. Kabul Afghan Cuisine was a gem. My favorite was this mini-dumpling in a yogurt sauce called mantoo. They sound like mandoo, Korean dumplings, except they are onion and ground lamb filled dumplings topped with yogurt and mixed vegetables. They were perfect appetizers to get your palate going before diving into the main courses. The combination of mini dumplings and with the tangy yogurt sauce was well-balanced.

The lamb stew with green peas, tomatoes, onions and spices was also spot on. The lamb was
fall off the bone tender and was perfectly prepared without any strong lamb odor. It was seasoned just right -- a great comfort dish.

The vegetarian platter included spinach, eggplant and cauliflower cooked with onions, tomatoes and spices. It was just what the other meat-heavy dishes needed. All in all, top notch. I reminded me of this fantastic homemade meal I had years ago.

On the other hand, I finally tried Brenda's Soul Food, a place serving "French Soul Food" that always has an insane line out the door. So much hype and so little to back it up. I had the pork with a poached egg and cheddar grits. The pork was smelly and the texture of the grits was all wrong -- too mushy -- and the flavor was watered down. The egg was poached right but everything else, including the tomato and onion sauce drizzled over it, was a big thumbs down.

We got an order of the famous beignets and they were ok but nothing to write home about. It had too much sugar and had to dust off a bunch before biting into it.

The shrimp and grits were equally unimpressive. It just didn't have flavor. It tasted like mass produced food. I didn't taste any quality ingredients or care that had gone into it.

You know how you crave comfort food when you're traveling and going through airports? Shabu shabu was my craving so we headed to Shabu Bar.

The important thing was that it hit the spot but it wasn't the best shabu shabu I've had.

I didn't love the sesame sauce that was too watered down and lacked flavor. I wouldn't return. I'd rather go to Shabu sen in Japantown.

Then we stopped by one of my favorite SF restaurants, Zero Zero, or 00 for the type of flour they use to make their delish pizzas.

Hands down the best dish here is the slow cooked pork belly with seared polenta squares ("Roman-style dumplings"), broccoli, shaved cheese (pecorino or parmesan), poached egg and harissa. That pork belly is perfectly cooked, super soft on the inside and nicely browned and crispy on the outside. Pop the egg and wow, I could have this for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Their specials change so make sure to check but they are almost always excellent. This mushroom pizza, in addition to the classic Margharita, was first rate with a crispy thin crust and aromatic mushrooms.

This was a duck confit rigatoni with fennel, which complemented each other well with their strong flavors. Highly recommended.