At this point you may have figured out that we’re pretty sandwich obsessed. So it’s with great pleasure to announce that there’s a brand-new spot for you to get quality sandwiches during the week: BELCAMPO MEAT CO. on Polk is now serving lunch Monday through Friday! You’ll find an array of sandwiches, all featuring Belcampo’s quality and organic meats from animals raised humanely on their farm in Shasta.
Their newish chef, Dirk Tolsma, who came on earlier this year, has put together quite a sandwich menu (in conjunction with the Belcampo team) that includes a tartare tartine ($12), in which their fantastic steak tartare—mixed with creamy and bright yellow-orange egg yolk and pickled ramps—is piled on toasted whole wheat from Della Fattoria. You’ll also see their fantastic cheeseburger ($12), which is a rather perfect burger, with caramelized onions and butter lettuce; I so dig this burger.
Pork lovers will want to veer toward the roast pork Cubano ($11), a rare thing to find done well in this town. It has thin and juicy slices of mustard-roasted pork loin, ham, melty Swiss cheese, and their house pickles, all tucked into crispy ciabatta. It’s a beaut. But then there’s the wicked bacon & bacon ($14), with pulled bacon (yeah, think about that for a second) and slices of crisp bacon inside a sesame bun, and Tabasco aioli and tangy cabbage slaw. Don’t tell your cardiologist.
High on the creativity scale is the mean eggs & ham ($12), a deep-fried egg (again, get ready for the bright orange and creamy yolk!) inside a sesame bun with their deviled ham (it gets mixed with sriracha aioli and scallion), slices of avocado, basil, and cilantro—it’s kind of like a banh mi that ate a Scotch egg and went to California.
If you’re a sloppy joe fan, prepare thyself for the next level: the sloppy mutton ($12)—or, as I discovered, the “slutton,” as the team calls it (I am still laughing to myself over it). And the moniker is well deserved: a deeply flavorful filling of braised mutton shoulder and belly is tucked inside a soft sesame bun that soaks it up just so. And here’s the kicker: there’s a layer of roasted garlic mascarpone in there, genius! That sandwich is not one you want to miss. And here’s a little tablehopper insider deal: if you order the slutton (you have to call it that!), you’ll get a free side of their beef tallow fries ($3 value). And trust, you want those fries. It’s slutton time!
One last tip for you: if you are hungover, or fighting a cold, or just need a little comfort, a cup of their bone broth egg drop soup ($6) is what you want.
You can enjoy lunch Mon-Fri 11:30am-3pm. (And be sure to pick up a dozen of their amazing free-range eggs and a little something from the meat counter on your way out the door—they have a bunch of new products, like sausages stuffed with jalapeño cheese, oh yeah.) 1998 Polk St. at Pacific, 415-660-5573.
The Cubano. Photo: Matthew Runeare, for Belcampo Meat Co.
