Food: The 10 best bites of 2008

Pagan: Coconut chicken noodle soup. (Examiner file photo)

Decor, service, wine list, price point — do we really care? Most of us bond with a restaurant over a single dish. The thought of eating it pulls us into the restaurant. Here are my addictions from 2008.

1: Pagan

Best bite: Burmese coconut chicken noodle soup ($8.25)
Location: 3199 Clement St. at 33rd Avenue, San Francisco
Contact: (415) 751-2598; www.pagansf.com

This is one of the great comfort-food dishes on the planet — a hot, creamy, sweet-and-sour coconut-milk broth with juicy dark chicken meat, chewy noodles and the crunch of fried shallots. Start with juicy, Caesar-like tea leaf salad ($7.95). Other great dishes: Burmese noodle salad ($7.75), dressed in a smoldering hot peanut sauce that grows in intensity with each bite; samusa soup ($8.50), a hot and sour dal or lentil broth, loaded with cut-up Indian samosas, chunks of falafel and soft potato; pumpkin pork stew ($9.50), sweetly marinated meat and cubes of orange squash in gravy thickened with lentils.

2: Poc Chuc

Best bite: Pato a la naranja ($18)
Location: 2886 16th St. between South Van Ness Avenue and Shotwell Street, S.F.
Contact: (415) 558-1583; www.pocchuc.com

This plate of citrus-marinated duck breast is meant to be shared. Spread a warm, delicate, house-made tortilla with velvety, liberally salted black bean puree. Load on slices of juicy, pink-centered duck breast with buttery skin and shredded cabbage dressed in lime. Then dribble on a few drops of incendiary habanero salsa to make a sublime Yucatecan-style taco. Other great dishes: Poc chuc ($14), citrus-marinated pork; platillo Maya ($10), a platter of five different bites made with mini-tortillas.

3: Nettie’s Crab Shack

Best bite: Sunday crab feed ($38)
Location: 2032 Union St., San Francisco
Contact: (415) 409-0300; www.nettiescrabshack.com

Nothing beats Nettie’s crab feed Sundays, when the kitchen serves a whole 2-pound steamed crab with a beautiful salad of mixed bitter and sweet lettuces, creamy boiled potatoes, a little pail of melted butter, dense skillet cornbread and delectably runny butterscotch pudding with two warm cookies for dessert. Other great dishes: Six West Coast oysters on the half shell ($10.50); perfect fish and chips ($16); made-to-order clam chowder ($7), with a satiny broth full of fresh clams, bacon and potato.

4: Zare at Fly Trap

Best bite: Two Pound Persian Meatball ($25) on Mondays
Location: 606 Folsom St., San Francisco
Contact: (415) 243-0580; www.zareflytrap.com

A huge sphere of moist, ground veal lightened with rice perches in a flat bowl of clear, flavorful broth. When broken open, the aroma of saffron and sweet spices wafts up from the center, where you will find a whole boned quail inside, delicately stuffed with barberries and chestnuts, although the stuffing is known to change. Other great dishes: Roasted eggplant slices smothered in saffron-scented yogurt sauce ($10); fork-tender lamb shank with shell beans and potatoes with torshi on the side ($24).

5: Beretta

Best bite: Sardines en saor ($7)
Location: 1199 Valencia St. at 23rd Street, San Francisco
Contact: (415) 695-1199; www.berettasf.com

Beretta’s marinated fresh sardines — delicately pickled filets with a whisper of allspice — are the best I’ve ever tasted. Share them along with other antipasti ($6 each): al dente cauliflower with a salty, crunchy topping of bread crumbs and fried sage; chunky roasted eggplant mixed with crisp bits of celery and capers, called caponatina, topped with a dollop of Burrata. Other great dishes: A warm salad of radicchio and escarole in pancetta vinaigrette ($7); thin crust pizza topped with spicy, house-made sausage, cream and spring onions ($14).

6: La Mar

Best bite: Cebiche classico ($9)
Location: Pier 1½, The Embarcadero, San Francisco
Contact: (415) 397-8880; www.lamarcebicheria.com

The excitingly chewy slices of pristine raw Pacific halibut are transformed by habanero-scented leche de tigre, a citrus-based marinade made with fish stock. When diners sit down, they are brought multicolored potato and plantain chips with three haunting Peruvian dipping sauces. Other great dishes: Lomo saltado ($22), a Peruvian-Chinese stir-fry of butter-tender beef filet, french fries, tomato wedges and onion seasoned with soy sauce, cilantro and yellow chiles; and exquisite linguine with shrimp and Dungeness crab in cream infused with Peruvian yellow chiles ($20).

7: Quan Ngon Pho Ha Noi No. 3

Best bite: Chicken salad ($5.95)
Location: 725 Clement St. between Eighth and Ninth avenues, San Francisco
Contact: (415) 668-8896

Each bite of this sparkling chicken salad engages with pungent fresh herbs, moist free-range chicken and crunchy bits of deep-fried shallot and toasted peanuts. Also, don’t miss Chef Sarah Le’s classic Hanoi-style pho bo ($6.25) — beef broth with thin slices of raw beef, brisket and a huge, rustic meatball scented with lemon grass; it needs only slivers of onion, lime wedges and slices of jalapeño. Other great dishes: Spongy, dill-infused fried fish cakes ($5.95); clay pot catfish ($9.95) in an intense caramel sauce; and smoky Hanoi-style fried rice ($7.95).

8: Udupi Palace

Best bite: Fried idly ($4.75)
Location: 1007 Valencia St., San Francisco
Contact: (415) 970-8000; www.udupipalaceca.com

Idly are soft-steamed dumplings made of fermented lentil batter. Deep-fried idly ($4.75) seasoned with spicy chopped onion and cilantro give a sensation of pure crunch. Other great dishes: Ravishing onion rava dosa ($7.95), a crisp, lacy, crepe-like pancake with toasted onions; dhai vada ($4.75), a deep-fried ground lentil doughnut smothered in yogurt and drizzled with sweet-tart tamarind and green chutneys; and the divine, outlandish paper dosa ($7.95), folded into a megaphone as long as the table.

9: Pilita

Best bite: Turkish meze platter ($12.95)
Location: 680 Laurel St., San Carlos
Contact: (605) 508-8960; www.pilitagrill.com

Burak Epir captures the authentic flavors of Turkey in a changing medley of appetizers, including mint-scented zucchini fritters; thick yogurt studded with chewy whole-wheat berries; a “salad” of fine grained bulgur tossed with complex pepper paste, cumin and parsley; eggplant and sweet pepper salad with a haunting smokiness; swooningly silky chickpea humus; and velvety dried fava bean puree, served warm. Other great dishes: Buoyant Turkish lamb musakka ($15.95), layered with vegetables and eggplant, and topped with tomato sauce; dreamy ground meat kebabs ($13.95).

10: 1300 on Fillmore

Best bite: Hot cornbread with red-pepper jelly
Location: 1300 Fillmore St., San Francisco
Contact: (415) 771-7100; www.1300fillmore.com

Irresistible crisp-edged triangles of hot cornbread, one per diner, snugly wrapped in a linen napkin, served with sweet, hot red pepper jelly and whipped honey butter, set the tone for the whole meal at this evocative jazz lounge and dinner house. Other great dishes: Yellow hominy grits enriched with mascarpone that magnify the elusive flavor of sautéed wild mushrooms ($9); fried organic chicken ($23), in a powerfully spicy crust; maple-syrup-slow-braised beef short ribs ($28), crowned with huge, cornmeal-crusted onion rings.

Patricia Unterman is author of the “San Francisco Food Lovers’ Pocket Guide” and a newsletter, “Unterman on Food.” Contact her at pattiu@concentric.net.