save your sol

well shit. when i emailed my pictures from this excursion from my phone, i deleted the images because ive never had any transfer problems. not receiving my first set of pictures just goes to show that i can never be too cautious. so i'll just tell you that youre missing out on my plate of bacalao and some house specialty limeades. anyhow, on with the show.

last time we were in novato, T wanted to take me to sol food, which was down the street from his internship at a newspaper. i love puerto rican cuisine, and was ready to be impressed. their full menu is on their website, but on location they have some unlisted specials (such as my bacalao). sol food originally started out as a small walk-up outpost with sparse outdoor bar seating, but soon expanded to a sit-down restaurant just down the block. since there was no seating at the smaller sol, we decided to try our luck at the restaurant.

sol is fast-paced at busybusybusy. as soon as you walk in, grab a menu and place your order with the host whos perusing the line for people ready to go. (s)he hands you the check, then you take it up to the register to pay and take a number. we were lucky to find some spots at the bar and just made do with the narrow tabletop.

T went with the cubano, which is a pressed sandwich of roasted pork, ham, mustard/mayo, pickles, and swiss cheese. he said he enjoyed it, but there was a bit too much mayo for his liking. just on the right edge of this picture you can see my plate and a leaf from my salad. dammit dash!!!

both J and M ordered the bistec sandwich upon the urgings of one of J's high school buddies. this (also pressed) sandwich includes thinly-sliced steak, grilled onions, avocado, garlic mayo, and swiss. J devoured his sandwich, and M said that it was just "alright."

as noted several times above, i effed up and am without pics of the fizzy limonatas and my bacalao plate. my dish included sauteed bacaloa over sticky rice, a cup of saucy pinto beans, a field green, lime-dressed salad, tomato slices, and an avocado quarter. the bacaloa was tasty, but bones thwarted a glowing review. the rice was bomb and soaked up their housemade, sloshy hot sauce. the salad was tasty as well, but there was no crunch in it, which would have aided in forking it. the avocado was a nice touch, though. oh yes, my plate also included plantains, my favorite! sorry, J's homie, but you were too excited and kind of fudged the details of my order. i ordered frijoles negros, and i received pintos; i ordered one tostone and one platano dulce; i received two sweet plantains. they were good....just too much, too sweet.

i liked this place...it just wasnt the bees knees. i bet if i worked close by, i would be visiting the walk-up outpost quite often.