Wise Sons Jewish Delicatessen

Wise Sons is a Jewish Deli, with several locations in San Francisco.  The biggest location is in the Mission, open for breakfast, brunch, and lunch, but they also have a space attached to the Contemporary Jewish Museum, lunch only, where you can dine in, or eat (and order) outside in the courtyard when the weather is nice.  They also set up a booth at the Ferry Building farmer's market, which is where I first encountered them.

I've tried a few different items, but I didn't really find anything I liked.  Perhaps it is just because I'm not familiar with Jewish cuisine, so it was my first time trying many of these items.  But overall, just not my thing.

I've also attended a brunch with their catering, which was equally lackluster for me.

Drinks

Fox Ubet Egg Cream.  $3.50.

This was my first egg cream, so I have no comparison point.

I wanted something refreshing, and I've heard about egg creams forever, so my curiosity finally lead me to order it.

It is just seltzer, runny chocolate syrup, and milk.  Hmm. I somehow thought it would be more like a milkshake, although I'm not sure why.  It was basically like diluted milk that was fizzy.  I really didn't get it.

I won't get another.

Decaf Cappuccino.  $3.50.

Wise Son's uses De La Paz Coffee, a local San Francisco roaster.  I've seen them around town often, but this was my first time trying their product.

The wait for my cappuccino was extremely long, about 15 minutes.  I actually went back to check on it around the 15 minute mark because I thought it must have been forgotten.  They weren't busy.  Even Blue Bottle doesn't take this long!

Anyway.  The foam was beautifully done.  Microbubbles of perfection.  But ... the coffee wasn't great.  Bitter, not in a good way.  Maybe they don't do a lot of decaf, or maybe De La Paz decaf just isn't very good.  The barista certainly demonstrated skill with the foam so I don't blame him.

I wouldn't get another.  The $3.50 price was standard.

Iced Decaf Americano.  $2.50.

On a hot day, I decided to get an iced coffee.  They only have regular iced coffee, but offered to do an iced Americano instead.

It was unremarkable.

Condiments station.

For the coffee, half and half and whole milk are available, along with sugar, Sweet & Low, and Splenda.

Side Dishes

Side of Potato Salad.  $2.79.

This was very, very creamy potato salad, mayo based.  At first glance I was a little confused that I received the proper item, as I couldn't even see chunks of potato, just creaminess!

The potatoes had skin on, which I didn't like, as they were kinda slimy and mixed in.  The potatoes were well cooked however, not too mushy.  The dressing was mostly mayo, but also had a slight interesting flavor from some grainy mustard, but not much.  There were also chunks of crisp, but almost too harsh, red onion.

Overall, this was fine, but not remarkable.  I like to have a little more zing to my potato salad, and like things like pickles or egg added.

The portion size was smaller than I expected, although not unreasonable for the price.  I wouldn't get it again.

Side of Cole Slaw.  $2.50.

Fairly standard slaw.  Two colors of cabbage, not over dressed, something interesting in the seasoning, it was a bit ... zesty?

Neither Ojan nor I loved this, but we also didn't hate it.  Unremarkable.  Price a bit high for tiny portion.

Pickle Plate.  $4.

Wise Sons is known for doing their own brining, so I was excited to check out their pickle plate.  I adore pickles.  My great aunt, who lives on a farm and grows all her own vegetables, makes the most amazing pickles ever.  She pickles everything - obviously cucumbers, but green beans, carrots, cauliflower, peppers, zucchini, etc.  Some sweet, some savory, some spicy, and everything in between.  Let's just say that I didn't encounter those strange store bought things that they call pickles until very late in life.  I still don't understand them.

The Wise Sons pickle platter contained sauerkraut, green beans, red onions, carrots, sweet peppers, and some classic spears.

I really did not like the baby carrots.  Far too vinegary for my liking.  My least favorite on the platter.

The onion was a bit strange.  It somehow tasted fishy.  I really don't understand how, but I didn't like this one either.

The classic spear was ok, a bit mushy, not as crisp as I like, and the the flavor wasn't quite what I like.  Pretty middle of the road.

The kraut was good, and I can see how it would make their sandwiches awesome.  A bit strange on a pickle plate however, as it was odd to just eat by the spoonful.  But flavorful, crunchy, fresh.  My third favorite overall.

The beans were good, crisp, but I love my aunt's dilly beans, and these were just vinegary, so I didn't like them as much as hers.  My second favorite on the platter.

The peppers were delightful.  Sweet, but vinegary, in a really fascinating way.  I'd easily eat tons more of these.

Desserts

Mandel Bread. 2 for $1.50.

And finally, I wanted to try something sweet.  I wasn't familiar with mandel bread before, but I remembered reading that Wise Sons was famous for theirs, and the generous cinnamon and sugar coating drew me in.

This was basically almond biscotti, covered in cinnamon and sugar.  Crispy.  Good crunch from slivered almonds inside.  It was good enough, better when dunked into coffee.  Not something I'd get again just because it isn't very exciting to me, but if you like biscotti and cinnamon/sugar, it was fine.

$1.50 was a good price for two small pieces.

Chocolate Chip. $2.

This was a hard, crisp cookie.  I greatly prefer soft, almost under-cooked, cookies.  It was loaded with chocolate, hard to see here, but it almost wasn't even chips, the entire thing was just chocolate.  Which, perhaps might be good, except that I actually like to taste buttery cookie dough, so this wasn't a winning aspect for me.

Really not my style of cookie.  $2 price was fine for quite a large cookie however.

Rugelach.

"Wise Sons' Assorted Rugelach features chocolate, apricot, and cinnamon-walnut varieties. A traditional Jewish pastry, rugelach is made with a cream-cheese dough that's rolled out thinly, spread with flavorful fillings, and baked into enticing spirals topped with crunchy sugar. Indulgent and special for a holiday dessert, or the perfect balance of sweetness for an afternoon tea break!"

Given the options, I went straight for the nut filled one, cinnamon-walnut.

It was very classic, fine rugelach.  Crispy flaky pastry wrapper, studded with pearl sugar, and filled with a bit of sweet chopped nuts.  Good alongside some coffee.  Not a go-to item for me, but, decent execution of what it was.

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Chocolate Babka

I've tried the babka many times, as it is front and center at the registers, and it is hard to resist a sample while I wait for my order.  But it is always so dried out.   I don't know, I love bready sweet things and this has absolutely never interested me.

Brunch

Noodle Kugel.  $3.50.

I feel a bit silly reviewing this since it was my first kugel ever, so I don't really know what I'm talking about.  Offered deep fried and warm with maple syrup, or cold with seasonal jam.  Since I was taking it to go, I opted for the cold version, but I'm intrigued by the idea of the hot, fried, version.

I had of course heard of noodle kugel before, but I've never seen it, much less eaten it.  So, I didn't really know what I was getting into, my vague idea was that it was supposed to be sorta like a noodle casserole, but a dessert, so like bread pudding but with noodles?  And a crispy top?  And maybe not a dessert, more of a brunch item?  I love bread puddings, and I like noodle casseroles, so ... seemed like something I might like.

I still don't entirely know what I ate.  Yes, it was a noodle casserole.  The noodles were in some sort of custard ... my research tells me it might have been cream cheese.  Or sour cream.  Or cottage cheese.  I have no idea what it was.  It also had some golden raisins.  On top was crispy things, a bit sweet.  I have no idea what they were either, but reminded me a bit of corn flakes?

I tried a few bites immediately, even though I was planning to save it for later, and I enjoyed the crunch from the topping, the custardyness of the filling, the softness of the noodles.  All the things I like about a good bread pudding.  I did wish it had more spicing, but I'm not quite sure what I wanted.

Served with "seasonal compote", which I think was raspberry.  It was sweet, went well with it, but, wasn't nearly as good as my mother's homemade jams.

I brought the rest home and tried warming it up, to see how it was that way.  It didn't heat that well, the noodles and custard sorta separated.  The top got nice and crunchy though, and I really think it would be good warm, perhaps when freshly baked.  I also added my mom's peach jam, and then tried drizzling maple syrup over it.  The syrup was the real winner for me, and I see why they serve the fried one with syrup.

So, for me, I think I'd love to try it hot and fresh sometime, but otherwise, cold worked better.  Maple syrup was a winner.  And I think I'd like it for breakfast, paired with a coffee.  It didn't quite meat my "dessert" desires, but if you have less of a sweet tooth than me, I think it easily could.  Brunch is likely where it best belongs.

I'm still trying to figure out how to classify or explain noodle kugel to someone else unfamiliar.  Bread pudding made with noodles instead of bread is my best description, but that doesn't get the custard part quite right.  Or fettuccine-alfredo-quiche?  I guess it just falls into that nebulous category of dishes that are a carb-in-a-custard, like bread pudding or rice pudding, where there are so many different spins, they can be sweet or savory, they are hot or cold, they have toppings or mix-ins, etc.  I'm certainly interested in exploring kugel further!

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Koi Palace Express, SFO

Update Review, October 2019

Another day, another mid-day return through SFO with delays (this time, with a airport wide power outage taking down ... everything, including border control, global entry, baggage claim!).  Let's just say, I was hungry, but time zone confused, and had no idea what I really wanted by the time I finally escaped and was able to get food.

Thus, Koi Place Express it was as I knew it was reliable enough (see my earlier reviews, starting with the original in 2017, and from early and later in 2018) .  I was pleased with my order.

Price Increase!

The label on the salad made me laugh - crossed out price with new, higher, price written on it (which is fine, inflation, yadda yadda), and the "NET WT (0 g)".  If you are going to bulk print labels, uh ... not sure about that weight - weightless salad!.

Kale Salad w/ Chicken ... Minus Chicken.

The salad was exactly as I remembered.

Torn crispy kale, shredded cabbage, shredded carrots.  All crisp and fresh enough.  A decent base for the salad.

I removed the lackluster looking chicken (since I didn't want it anyway, and can't order without), and added some of my own ingredients, and turned it into a nice salad.

The peanut sauce I again thought was delicious, just, not with the salad.  It is far too thick and rich to be a salad dressing.  (I used a mayo based korean spicy sauce + poke sauce instead, which worked great!). The peanut sauce I later used for other things.

Sesame Balls.

The sesame balls were good, but I thought they'd be slightly warm (why were they with the hot foods if not?), but, alas, just room temp.

Still, decent sesame balls, good crunch from the sesame seeds, nice soft glutenous rice wrapper, plentiful sesame paste filling. Good for a treat, but not sweet, when time zone confused and kinda just want ... something.

I took the rest home, heated in toaster oven for a few minutes, and liked them *much* more.  Being served warm really makes a difference.

Update Review, July 2018

Another day, another early afternoon arrival at SFO, with my logical side saying, "you should probably get lunch, at least to eat in the cab in a bit, its past lunch time here", and with my body saying, "its 6am, and you've already had two breakfast courses, what on earth are you talking about? Let me sleep!"

On these days, I always wish there was a Napa Farms Market *outside* security so I could grab something reasonably light (they really do make some tasty stuff, see review).  The options in the food court in the International Arrivals terminal are ... limited.  Burritos, Wendy's, greasy Chinese ... and Koi Palace, which I often resort to (see previous reviews below).

This time I tried something new, a grab-n-go item since the lines for the hot food were really long, and, I really didn't think I wanted a full hot meal anyway.  I was impressed with the quality of the fresher food.

Vietnamese Spring Roll. $8.95.

Grab-n-go chilled items are limited to a few types of sushi (like the California roll I have reviewed before), a chicken salad (also tried that), and, an item I don't think I had seen before, fresh spring rolls.  And, of course, the mango pudding (I had my first time)

The idea of something lighter like this was quite appealing after my ~24 hours of flying, and feasting out of boredom on every flight, in every airport lounge, in every airport along my journey.

They only offered one variety: shrimp.

The serve was two massive spring rolls, not appetizer sized at all, with a pot of peanut sauce on the side, for $8.95.  For airport food, this was actually pretty reasonable.

Vietnamese Spring Roll & Peanut Sauce.

The rolls were well constructed, nicely wrapped up.  They didn't fall apart, not even after a few hours when I had the second one.  The rice paper wrapper was soft and pliable, not too thick, not dried out.

The shrimp were 3 pieces in each, right along the skin to show off, but were cut in half, so, this was actually only 1.5 shrimp total in each roll.  The shrimp was fine, not rubbery, properly deveined, but not exactly substantial.

I'm fairly certain the spring roll sauce was the same I had with the kale/cabbage/chicken salad before, and I liked it this time around too.  A bit oily, and it did separate and require mixing, but, good flavor from the soy and peanut. I think it really was just soy/peanut/sugar/salt, not really spiced in any way, but still, good enough.

Vietnamese Spring Roll: Inside.

The rolls were generously stuffed with greens (mint, lettuce, cilantro), shredded carrots, batons of cucumber, and vermicelli.  And ... apple slices.

All ingredients were fresh and crisp, and in good proportion.

The apples were a bit weird.  They were fresh, juicy, not turning brown, and added a refreshing bite, but, apples?  Usually I see something like jicama instead.

Overall though, very well made, very fresh spring rolls.

Update Review, February 2018

Sometimes, I get off a flight ravenous, because the in-flight options were less than spectacular.  Usually when that happens, I'm traveling domestic, in terminal 2, where I have plenty of great options air side to grab a quick bite on my way out, like Napa Farms Market or even Pinkberry.  But on my recent trip from Sydney, it was international, which meant, I wasn't able to get food until I cleared customs and everything, and thus was left with the pre-security food court.

Options were limited.  I considered just getting in a cab and heading home, but, I wanted salad.  It had been a long, decadent time in Sydney, and my body was clearly missing vegetables.  And, then, once I saw it, I wanted sushi.  So I got these things.  From Koi Palace of all places.

Sometimes, you just want what you want.  Even if it doesn't make sense.  Koi Palace is a good restaurant, but, their SFO outpost hasn't impressed before, and, um, salad and sushi is not at all what they specialize in.

They had only one salad, pre-packaged, and it had chicken.  I still got it.  The sushi I wanted was a California roll, even though made with imitation crab, even though made with avocado that I'm allergic to.  Just go with it.

My selections I'm sure weren't actually very good, but, I enjoyed them at the time.

California Role. $10.95.

The sushi was pretty basic, imitation crab, avocado, cucumber, seaweed wrapper, rice, sesame seeds.  I was impressed by the amount of crab filling actually, which I think is why I decided I wanted this.  I like "krab"!

And the krab was fine, shredded, pretty standard.  The rice was fine.  The ginger was fine.  The soy sauce was a packet of Kikoman's.  The wasabi was fine.

All, fine.  Worth $10.95 for 8 pieces?  Nah.  But it was airport sushi, from a Chinese restaurant.  It was what it was, and I liked it at the time.

Kale Salad W/Chicken. $12.95.

I was really, really craving salad though.  They had one type of salad, just called a "Kale Salad w/ Chicken", but I'd call it more of a Asian kale and cabbage slaw with grilled chicken and peanut sauce.  Which might be a bit more of an indication of why I picked it.  If it was just kale and chicken, meh!

Kale Salad w/Chicken: Close Up.

The base was shredded cabbage in assorted colors, shredded carrot, and shredded kale. All very crispy, and what I was in the mood for, it turned out.

On top was sliced  almonds, which I appreciated for the crunch, but I would have preferred something like fried wontons.

The dressing was very thick sesame peanut sauce, like you have with spring rolls.  In fact, I think it really was just spring roll or satay sauce.  Very thick, not a dressing, but quite tasty.  I thinned it with some soy sauce to make it a bit more dressing like, and used the rest to dip things in.

Original Review, June 2017

While I do a fair amount of airport dining, I don't usually dine at the San Francisco airport, particularly landside (not sure I've EVER done this actually), as it is my home base, and I usually just head home for food once I arrive.  But on a recent flight I was delayed taking off in Boston, and by the time I arrived in San Francisco, it was dinner time, and I didn't have anything waiting at home.  It seemed easier to just get a bite at the airport.

I was in the International Terminal, which has two landside food courts (North and South).  I actually almost went to Wendy's, as I haven't had Wendy's since I was in high school, and fondly remember my order of Biggie Fries, Small Chili with Cheese, and a Junior Vanilla Frosty (each from the $1 menu at the time).  But the International Terminal has been trying to bring in better options, and more local offerings, so I needed to check those out.

I headed to Koi Palace Express, an offshoot of the popular Koi Palace in Daly City.  They also have a second Express location airside in the International Terminal.

It ... was mediocre, generic food court food, and served at airport prices.  Not recommended.

Hot Wok Table, Dim Sum, Sushi.

The majority of the offerings were served from a steam table, as combo meals or individual entree, like any other generic Chinese food court offering, with items such as orange chicken, kung pao chicken, mapo tofu, etc, served with fried rice or lo mein.

They also had dim sum items available, again pre-made, on display in steamer baskets, including har gaw, pork bao, sui main, and sesame balls.  , They do make xia long bao to order.  The menu also listed other cook-to-order noodle dishes and rices, but they didn't have descriptions, and I never saw anyone order these.

The cold case had pre-made sushi rolls, seaweed salad, mango pudding, and drinks.

I'll admit, I was skeptical, as this looked like any food court asian offering, and really nothing like Koi Palace.  Do they even have sushi normally?

BBQ Pork Bao. $6.50.

After my long flight, what sounded good to me was simple, comforting, fluffy carbs.  So I got the BBQ Pork Bao, served 2 to an order for $6.50.  Ooph.  Not exactly dim sum prices.

Pork Bao: Inside.

The bun was good, soft, not dried out, not slimy, slightly sweet, very fluffy.  It tasted reasonably fresh.

But I didn't like the filling.  I was expecting BBQ pork, you know, little bits of pork in a strangely red sauce.  This was more like minced pork with onions?  The flavor just wasn't at all what I wanted.

Since I didn't care for the filling, I didn't really want these, even though I thought the dough was well done.  Would not get again.

Soy Sauce Chow Mein. $4.25.

My travel companion also sought simple comfort food, and for him, this was chow mein.  While most folks got this as the side to their combo meals, he went just for a side of the noodles.

The noodles were served from the steam tray, but were decent.  Basic noodles, not mushy, simple soy sauce flavoring, a few bits of green onion.  I thought this was really boring, but he seemed to enjoy, and they were good for what they were.

Mango Pudding. $6.50.

Finally, I wanted a sweet treat.

I was going to get the sesame balls or egg tarts, but, they really looked like they had been sitting there for far too long, so I opted for the mango pudding from the fridge instead.  Plus, I love pudding of all types.

It was thick and gelatinous, more like jello than what I think of as pudding.  It had some little bits of mango that I enjoyed, but was very, very sweet.

Overall, it was fine, but, I really wanted coconut milk, whipped cream, or something to compliment the otherwise boring pudding, so I brought it home, and added coconut whipped cream.  I enjoyed it much more this way.

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