To celebrate July 4th, we decided to bbq. Ok, no, there were no facilities to do that, so we went for vietnamese instead. There are a good number of vietnamese spots in the mission. Thanh Tam II was just the place we randomly picked. It’s a small little joint, dimly lit, with christmas lights on the wall. I dug it. The traditional vietnamese garbed lady on the cover of the menu is a bit menacing / creepy.
J got the chicken and shrimp rice plate. Good and good.
I wanted soup, but not pho or anything with meat, so I went with the seafood noodle soup. It came with scallops, shrimp, squid, and fish cake. All good. It was a really light broth, but spot on with just enough flavor. I can’t even really describe what it tasted like, but it was just what I wanted, and it was delicious. I practically drained the bowl.

Service was good, the food came out fast, it tasted good, and it was super cheap. What more can you ask for in vietnamese fare?

Thanh Tam II
577 Valencia St
San Francisco, CA 94110
(415) 252-1190

I told you there was tons of places to eat in the Mission. An off-the-beaten-path option is Walzwerk, a german place. It’s on South Van Ness, not near anything remotely interesting. Unless you consider used car lots and mechanic shops interesting. It came highly recommended from J2, so thank you to him. He usually doesn’t even eat strange food, so we’re very proud of him for trying something so ethnic. It’s a little itty bitty place that specializes in east german cuisine. We love their logo.
Before our dishes came out, they gave us complimentary appetizers. Yum!
They even have their logo on their plates. Adorable.
They had a special which was a vegetarian asparagus stew. This stew was thick and hearthy and super peppery. Beyond peppery, but in a good way. It had asparagus, along with some hunks of carrot, potatoes, and other veggies. It was served with some seriously grainy and chunky bread. It was perfect for this stew.
J ordered the sauerbraten. It is a big heaping of stewed braised beef, slow cooked so that it’s super tender, along with braised cabbage and a little bit of spaetzle. This is one of my favorite german dishes, so I loved it. It was tons of food, with strong flavors, and with high quality ingredients. I wasn’t in the mood for meat, so I got the cheese spaetzle. It’s basically a german version of mac and cheese, and I loved it. It was german comfort food at its best. It was served with a mixed salad, which consisted of white cabbage, carrot, and red cabbage salads. I loved them all! We also had apfelschorle, which is basically apple soda, which is one of my most favorite drinks in the whole wide world. And seeing as how it’s a german restaurant, they also have a fine selection of brews. This place is tiny, and quite popular, so make a reservation, or go early! Service is good, and the servers are genuine germans! I can’t recommend this place enough.

And so it begins! This is a nice little low-key spot. Miso, side salad, and seaweed salad. All good. I love me some seaweed salad. Explain it to me, why is this so good? Can one make this at home? J got the udon with beef. While the soup and the noodles and veggies were good, he was quite annoyed with the meat. I told him to get the shrimp tempura! But no, he insisted on meat. And then he got stuck with fatty chewy cheap slices of meat. Why does noone listen to me? But other than the meat part, he enjoyed it.