The
Bashful Bull
1222 Noriega
/19th Ave., SF
Map
This Restaurant
Pretrial
hearing at Eagle's Drift In Lounge
8/31/00
Turner
 Why
is the bull bashful? Because his restaurant is serving up plates of
bullcrap, that's why.
With a name like
The Bashful Bull, you can't go wrong, right? That's what we thought.
A reader-eater (who shall remain nameless) suggested the place, although
he'd never dined there. Lucky for him, or he'd have three unbashful
judges kicking his door down. But anyway, the Court trekked all the
way out to Noriega and 19th Ave. with high hopes. I ordered the chicken-fried
steak with mashed potatoes, veggies and a salad to start. With my
family tree I should know a thing or two about chicken-fried steak.
Yes, it was very cheap at 6 bucks. But when the salad came I puzzled
over their powers of flavor extraction. Soaked in water for hours?
Really cheap vegetables? Your guess is as good as mine.
When the main
plates arrived I was surprised again. There was brown gravy (as opposed
to cream gravy) on the chicken-fried steak, and it was smothered in
mushrooms. Shocking. But I kept an open mind. The side vegetables
apparently got the same treatment as the salad: complete flavor removal.
The potatoes were lumpy, but I think they were real potatoes. The
runny brown liquid on them was NOT gravy. I guess you could call it
a brown sauce -- but then sauces have flavor, too. The brown liquid
on the CF steak was not gravy either, but possibly a different brown
liquid. I couldn't nail down the mysterious hint of flavor -- maybe
tamarind. But it was crap, and I would guess that the mountain of
mushrooms were from a can. The actual "steak" was okay, but seriously
compromised by the nasty liquid. If there were chicken-fried steak
police these people would be hauled in on charges and given the rubber
hose treatment. Oh, and the "garlic bread" was a joke.
Cheap only gets
you so far with the Füd Court, but the prices keep me from doling
out a full cockroach rating. Maybe breakfast and lunch are their specialties,
but that's no excuse to serve up Ferdinand's meadow muffins and call
them dinner, no matter how cheap they are.
Bad bull! Bad
bull!
Vardigan
As advertised, there
was a bull's head stuck to the wall. We sat nearly directly under it.
I guess it was impressive...but all it did for me, really, was serve up
nightmares. Something about its right eye -- startling. Terrifying. Not
bashful, but wrathful. Mean. Insidious. Several bad words.
The meal itself showed
promise -- before it came. $5.95 for the entrees, and they include salad
or soup, "garlic bread," vegetables, and potato. Cheap and plentiful
-- things were looking good for the Bull. I chose meatloaf, with the soup
("chicken gumbo"), and fries instead of mashed (uncharacteristic
and stupid of me, but like I said, that bull had me rattled). The soup
arrived pretty quickly, so you'd think it would be hot -- or at least
warm. Wrong! Quite cold. And I counted only three microscopic pieces of
"chicken." And I don't know where the "gumbo" came
in -- it was just thin broth and carrots and celery and too-done noodles.
The meatloaf was...edible. On the dry side, with some suspect gravy. Judge
Turner and I repeatedly marveled at the universal lack of flavor among
the mixed vegetables. Garlic bread was pieces of probably Wonder Bread
with maybe some garlic powder. The fries were passable. In all, the place
was worse than mediocre, and certainly not worth the long N Judah ride.
I guess there's a
Bashful Bull II -- maybe it's better. But I doubt it. (And it's all the
way out on 46th and Terrible.) To be fair, the breakfasts and burgers
seem to be more of the place's specialty. But about its dinner entrees,
this Bull should be bashful, and ashamed. The Bashful Bull should slink
away -- horns, meatloaf, blank broccoli, and all. Especially that evil
right eye.
 McClure
It would have been
my recommendation to that bull that he keep his head down with the quality
of food served at his restaurant. It's too late though -- someone has
already lopped off his head and slapped it on the wall. It didn't do
any good -- the meal was still bad.
The Bashful Bull
seems to be more of a cheap breakfast/burger joint, a greasy diner.
For whatever reason we chose to treat it like a regular old restaurant
and we all ordered full dinners. My meal reminded me of being on the
road. I had the same thoughts of 'Why can't I get a good meal?"...
"Can't wait to get back home to a decent meal." I had spaghetti
and it was trouble from the start. I chose the salad over the soup,
and boy was that a bland salad. It did have potential. There were your
extras like garbonzo beans and shaved carrots with a mess of ranch dressing.
The one thing missing was the flavor. No flavor in any bit of that salad.
Next I was given a large portion of spaghetti and meatballs. The sauce
was odd, a little too thin and a little too weird tasting. Some spice
made up the flavoring that I can't quite describe. It was different,
not actually bad but not quite tasty. The meatballs were better suited
for use in a game of Jacks -- rubbbbbery! -- with that same odd flavor.
The garlic bread was just silly, sliced white bread with a bit of something
toasted onto it. The best thing about the Bashful Bull were the prices.
You can fill up for $5.95 plus the extras (drink, tax, and tip).
So, to conclude,
if you're in the area you may want to stop in and get some breakfast
or a burger, and let me know how it was, but please stay away from the
dinner meals, PU.
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