Father's Day Nosh.

Sometimes good things don't fade away, they just keep getting better.

Father's Day marked my second return to Mission Beach Cafe. After hearing about my pie experiences there two months ago with SquirreMonk, he was rather intrigued and when I suggested it for brunch, he got pretty excited. Only problem? MBC doesn't take reservations for brunch or breakfast on Sundays.

And they open at 9am. Okkk.

Good thing we got up early - there was already a line 6 people deep when we got there at 8:50am! Holy Hipster Hangout Batman! But for good reason..Exhibit ACandied pepper BACON...mmm...delicious carmelized pieces of fatty pork. FRIED. You take delicious slices of fried pork product and you add a syrupy outer coating and none of that pancake nonsense. We tore through this pretty fast.

Mr. Jones had a pulled pork and sweet potato hash with sauteed gai lan (yeah, no joke) and a fried egg on top. What made this dish so good was the fact that the pork had been deeply marinated and almost double fried - sort of like carnitas. But the flavors were so yummy - well seasoned and juicy and the portion was substantial.

Mymymy and I both had the dungeness crab Benedict with house potatoes.Impressive hollandaise. It was light, citrusy and creamy all at the same time. House potatoes were sort of "meh" - they looked crispy, but weren't really. That's ok, the freshness of the crab (not a cake) and hollandaise more than made up for it. In fact, I believe the waitress actually told us that our orders were taking a little bit longer because the kitchen was making another batch of eggy sauce.

I love the interior of MBC, the tables are these roughly hewn but polished and laquired slabs of wood. light colors with a full pastry bar serving coffee to people who just happen to stroll in and couldn't get a seat. The only thing is the aisle walkway between two rows of seating is just a leetle too small (esp. when you have two bears sitting back to back) to pass through. But the food is delicious and at about $23 a person (not too bad of a deal). Dinner is just as good, with Pot Pie Tuesdays, a full dessert bar of at least three pies per night and

Plus we picked up some pastries that we ate for lunch: Croissant - best one I've had in a while, a little on the moist side, but had a delicious buttery center. Scone - YUMMY! blueberries in a crumbly dough. Pecan roll - surprisingly not as good as the croissant, a little on the too sweet side, but still really good.

Mission Beach Cafe
198 Guerrero Street @ 14th
SF, CA 94103
415.861-0198

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-oh, and my other theater news? Sugar's daughter that I recently coached for her summer drama camp's audition? Got the LEAD. She's Belle in 'Beauty and the Beast'! I'm literally over the moon.