♪♪ Sbrocco: In San Francisco, Korean comfort food made to order.

Cho: My family asked if they could share, and I said, "No, no, no.

This is just for me."

Sbrocco: ...and beef tartare with a twist.

Schreiber: And then you prepared your own little sushi roll.

I love that.

Sbrocco: Then it's south to Daly City for a sizzling Filipino favorite.

Nelson: And I eat it so fast.

I was so shocked at how delicious it was.

Chin: Mmm-mmm-mmm!

Sbrocco: "You Gotta Try This!"

Sbrocco: Hi.

I'm Leslie Sbrocco.

Welcome to "Check, Please!

You Gotta Try This!"

We have three guests, and each one recommends the one dish they can't get enough of, and the other two go check 'em out to see what they think.

Along the way, we take a deep dive into the stories behind the dishes, learning the special ingredients and techniques that make them so delicious.

Joining me virtually at the "Check, Please!"

table today are TikTok content creator Nick Cho... Golden State Warriors "Dance Cam Mom" Robin Schreiber... and social worker Aisha Nelson.

Welcome, everyone.

Hello.

Welcome.

Cho: Hi, Leslie.

Sbrocco: If you love the idea of having breakfast for dinner, Aisha's got the perfect dish for you.

Sisigsilog is a savory breakfast staple in the Philippines, but Aisha's found a spot where you can order up the traditional sizzling platters any time of the day.

In Daly City, it's Tselogs.

[ Sizzling ] ♪♪ [ Indistinct conversations ] ♪♪ Gilla: [ Speaking native language ] Tselogs is a Filipino restaurant, and we offer authentic Filipino comfort food.

[ Laughter ] You'll notice when you visit us that this is a family.

These are our friends.

All: "You Gotta Try This!"

Gilla: You know, we always say that we want to share Filipino food one egg at a time.

So, silog is fried rice and egg and your protein, your meat.

The dishes that we offer, we eat any time of the day.

For us sometimes it's actually our midnight snack.

♪♪ Our most popular dish is the chicken sisigsilog.

And chicken sisig is sautéed chicken with onion, lemon, soy sauce, and a hint of jalapeño served in sizzling hot plate.

And the original sisig is coming from Pampanga, and it's mostly the scraps of the pork -- the pork ears, pork innards, and things like that, the fatty stuff.

It's really, really good.

And we're trying to come up with a dish that is a little bit on the healthy side.

♪♪ We use a whole leg, which is the dark meat of the chicken.

We debone it in-house.

We marinate the chicken with salt, pepper, lemon juice, and white wine.

And after that, we fry it at 350 degrees, chop it right away in very small pieces.

We sauté onions and make sure that it's caramelized because that's where the sweetness is coming from.

And then we just add the chicken.

We put more lemon juice, a little bit of salt, and soy sauce.

It's not complete unless you serve it in a sizzling plate.

That hot plate makes the chicken even crunchier.

So not just the fried skin, but even the meat becomes crunchy as it sits on that hot plate.

The other plate comes with garlic rice and sunny-side-up egg.

♪♪ One of the tests with an aspiring cook is we ask them, "Okay.

Cook your perfect egg."

You know, you'll be surprised how many people can't get it right.

So, really, the secret to that is the right amount of oil, so when you get that right, you'll have a perfect egg.

♪♪ When you crack that egg yolk, you just, you know -- I don't know.

It's just heavenly.

When you see that runny egg, it's just beautiful.

I don't know how else to say it, but I love eggs.

[ Laughs ] ♪♪ Woman: Yeah.

Sbrocco: So, Aisha, this is really, you know, breakfast any time of the day, isn't it, this dish of yours?

Nelson: It is, and the way I eat with my family, we don't specify specific breakfast food during a specific time of day, so this food can be eaten any time of day.

And when I went into this restaurant, I had it for dinner.

And this is basically just the tradition any time of day because it's that good.

Sbrocco: Right.

Because it started in 2008.

So this has some history in terms of serving great Filipino food.

Nelson: Yeah.

So, I visited the Philippines once, and I just remember being so amazed by how everything was cooked and everything was so flavorful and made with soy sauce and vinegar.

And this particular dish just reminds me of that.

It reminds me of Filipino cooking, home-cooked meals by my mom.

Sbrocco: Robin, when you had the sisigsilog, did you enjoy it?

Was this a new flavor profile for you or...?

Schreiber: It was not new.

I did love the little cast-iron pan that they served it in.

It kind of had a savory taste to it.

There was something that was sweet in it.

It was -- had a slight jalapeño kick to it.

And the garlic rice and the egg was served to the side, and I thought it was very attractive and tasty.

Sbrocco: And usually this dish is made with pork, but this one is made with chicken, correct?

Nick, you're shaking your head "yeah."

Did you enjoy the chicken?

Cho: Yeah, you know, I looked it up on the Internet first before -- before I went, and I saw that it was supposed to be pork.

And when I saw the menu and it was chicken, I was a little disappointed because usually we expect chicken to be a little bit less flavorful than things like pork.

But I was totally wrong.

It was an explosion in my mouth.

And as soon as I saw it, I knew exactly what to do, to use my spoon and just pierce that yolk and just kind of mix things around.

It just takes all the different flavors and just coats them and brings them all together in this really just savory and unctuous way.

Oh, my gosh.

It was so delicious.

Nelson: When the egg is on top of the rice, you can't help but to just break it and have it ooze down onto the garlic rice.

And I'm team vinegar, so I love to drench my garlic rice with vinegar.

Sbrocco: [ Laughs ] I think you've got another person on your team there.

Cho: Actually my family asked if they could share, and I said, "No, no, no.

This is just for me."

It was so good.

Sbrocco: What should people be looking for in terms of drinks, Aisha?

Nelson: Growing up, as a kid, I loved drinking mango juice.

There's a particular brand called Gina, and it comes in a blue can, and it's really delicious.

I believe this place also has calamansi juice and coconut juice, and all of those pair well together with any Filipino dish.

Sbrocco: So would you go back for this dish, Nick?

Cho: 100 percent.

I mean, my wife is part Filipino, as well, and we hadn't been there before, and so, for her, she was really thankful to be introduced to this restaurant.

We'll be back over and over again, for sure.

Sbrocco: All right.

And, Robin, what about you?

Schreiber: Well, you know, it's not that convenient for me, but if I were definitely in the neighborhood, I would go in there in a heartbeat.

Sbrocco: All right.

If you would like to try Tselogs, it's located on San Pedro Road in Daly City.

Aisha's pro tip -- try the mango juice for a truly traditional Filipino pairing.

By now, we're all pretty used to sharing gifts to express our emotions and reactions when we're texting, but Robin actually is a gift.

That's right.

Ever since she rocked the jumbotron at a Warriors game with her signature dance moves, she's gained a huge following as her alter ego, Dance Cam Mom.

[ Crowd cheering ] Okay, Robin, before we get to your restaurant, we need some moves from you.

Schreiber: Okay, well, this is my most famous move.

It's named after the Splash Brothers, our beloved Steph Curry and Klay Thompson.

And you just do this slowly, but then you just speed it up.

Sbrocco: Okay.

Everyone...slowly, Schreiber: Yeah, slowly.

And then speed it up.

[ Laughter ] Sbrocco: Now that the Warriors have moved across the Bay, Robin's on the hunt for new places to fuel up pre-tipoff.

One of her latest finds is a sleek new eatery serving beef tartare she says is a true slam dunk.

In San Francisco, it's Ernest.

♪♪ Man: Great.

Thank you.

♪♪ [ Indistinct conversations ] ♪♪ Rice: My whole career, I've worked in fine-dining restaurants from the East Coast to the West Coast, and I've wanted to open a restaurant my whole life, and it's all I've ever known or wanted to do.

And it's finally come to fruition in the form of Ernest.

♪♪ I don't want it to be pretentious.

You know, I want the music to be a hair too loud, and I just want it to be a really fun place to come and hang out.

♪♪ You know, the food, it's constantly changing because we're lucky enough to live in Northern California, where the markets are just constantly changing, and we pull a lot of inspiration from that, but I want this to be that "modern" California where it's like, "What the hell does that mean?"

And, well, it means you can do whatever you want.

Man: Ahh!

Rice: The way we've designed the menu at Ernest is you can really go at it two ways.

We have an à la carte option, but we also have an option where we just cook for you.

You can come in with however many people, and you just order that, and we just start sending food out.

Woman: It's very good.

Thank you.

Rice: I think this is really kind of the way I like to eat.

When I go to a restaurant, I don't really want to make decisions.

I just want to have them cook.

This is the beef tartare here.

This is ikura.

Pouring sake on top of it.

You can see how it's clarifying the eggs.

The beef tartare that's on the menu is something that I've done before at other restaurants.

Rendered fat.

And I've always really loved it.

It's based with sushi rice that gets seasoned with mirin and shirodashi and champagne vinegar and salt.

And then on top of it is a layer of beef tartare that's seasoned with duck fat and salt and chives.

And then on top of that is a layer of ikura, a salmon roe that's cured in sake and soy.

And it's all built in tiers, so you should have three even tiers.

♪♪ We season the rice really aggressively, and the beef is obviously, like, rich and a little bit fatty because of the duck fat, and it has a bit of gaminess to it.

And the ikura is very creamy in its texture in your mouth.

So the acidity and sweetness from the rice with the richness and gaminess of the beef with the texture of the ikura, it all just works really well together.

♪♪ And then you get toasted nori to make handles at the table with, and it's just, like, a really perfect way to start a meal with a beer or a cocktail or whatever you want to drink.

It's just fun.

You know, you get to eat with your hands.

I just really love it.

I really love this dish.

I've been doing it for five years at this point, and I'm still not tired of it, so... [ Chuckles ] ♪♪ Sbrocco: Now, Robin, how did you find Ernest?

Schreiber: Actually, our son lives in San Francisco, and we get together for dinner a couple of times a month, and we love to scout out new restaurants.

And he was the one that told us about Ernest, and we went there and just were blown away by all of the food and the atmosphere.

Sbrocco: But you honed in right away on the beef tartare?

Schreiber: Well, I like things that are prepared in a unique way.

And the beef tartare was not your regular beef tartare.

They prepared it using a toasted nori, and then you prepared your own little sushi roll.

So I love that.

I love the interactive component of making your own food.

Sbrocco: Right.

Schreiber: When I had the appetizer, I started with a wonderful lime fizz cocktail with gin and fresh squeezed lime juice and the zest of the lime and a little bit of soda.

It was just really refreshing.

Sbrocco: Aisha, give us your opinion on the beef tartare.

Nelson: You know what?

I was pleasantly surprised.

When I walked in, I didn't know what to expect.

I have never had raw beef before, but the way that it was served on the plate -- just so simple.

When I first took my bite, I wasn't sure.

I was like, "Is this Japanese?

Is this an American restaurant?

Is this a Japanese dish?"

But it tasted just like sushi.

I was honestly so shocked at how delicious it was, and I ate it so fast.

I can't even really tell you what it tasted like.

I just thought was good.

Cho: You know, one of the things about, like, fine dining and cuisine is that sometimes things can get really serious.

This was so fun, and it made me so happy.

You know, it kind of reminded me of one of my favorite foods, Spam musubi -- just the way it was, like, rice and then the meat on top of it and having the salmon roll pop in your mouth instead of the traditional sort of, like, I guess, French way when you do tartare with actually having the egg yolk on top.

It was really fun.

A lot of texture.

A lot going on.

The saltiness and the savoriness.

It was delicious.

Schreiber: And one of the highlights of this menu is you can have the chef cook for you.

You tell him what you love, what you don't like, what you're allergic to, and he tailors the menu for you.

And what fun.

Sbrocco: They do have, you know, a wide array of dishes in terms of -- Lo mein is one of their other signature dishes.

Nelson: That was another one of my favorites.

Oh, my gosh.

Again, I ate that way too fast.

And I'm glad that the restaurant brought out both the dishes at two separate times because it wouldn't have been pretty between me and my partner.

We'd be fighting over the food.

Sbrocco: So, desserts, they've got some specialties.

Schreiber: Okay, well, Leslie, I had all three of their desserts.

[ Laughter ] So, they have this beautiful -- almost like a volcano where it's oozing out with shaved ice, and it's a sesame flavor.

It's huge.

I mean, it's definitely an splittable dish.

And then we had the sundae with the soft-serve ice cream and the shell of the chocolate on top.

And it was just creamy, and there was some crunchy inside.

And then we had the Basque style cheesecake.

It was so creamy, so decadent.

It almost tasted like a crème brûlée instead of a cheesecake.

And I'm not a huge cheesecake fan, so this was -- this was a surprise for me.

Sbrocco: Aisha, would you go back?

Nelson: One million percent, and I'd go back tonight if I could.

Sbrocco: [ Laughs ] And what about you, Nick?

Would you go back for the beef tartare?

Cho: Oh, for sure.

And, you know, there was enough things on the menu that I didn't get to try.

I've got to try it.

I got to get back there.

Sbrocco: If you would like to try Ernest, it's located at the intersection of Mariposa and Florida Streets in San Francisco.

Robin's pro tip -- save room for the special desserts.

I first met Nick a few years back when he shared the finer points of the perfect coffee pourover in a segment we filmed at his coffee roasting company.

Over the past year, from reviews of $30 grapes to Walgreens snacks and takeout pho, he's been sharing all kinds of observations in his wildly popular TikTok videos.

Cho: Hey.

I'm Your Korean Dad.

Have you ever had chocolate fondue?

Dip it in the chocolate.

Oh, my gosh.

Sbrocco: So, what's the Bay Area food Your Korean Dad craves the most?

It's jajangmyeon, a handmade noodle dish that's so popular in South Korea, it's got its own official holiday.

Nick says that the best place to try it is in San Francisco at Zazang Korean Noodles.

♪♪ ♪♪ Jung: [ Speaking native language ] ♪♪ ♪♪ Jajangmyeon is a very memorable food.

When I make this food, I'm happy.

And when customer comes to eat, that they think about this and like me.

♪♪ First time they come...

I just talk to them to, you know -- Just mix sauce and noodles very well.

It's good taste coming.

If you don't mix very well, it doesn't taste good.

The mix is very important.

[ Laughs ] ♪♪ I enjoy work in restaurant.

With the customer, sometimes talking some life, sometimes food.

Just I'm happy.

Man: "You Gotta Try This!"

Sbrocco: All right, Nick, I'm gonna ask you to help us all pronounce this dish correctly.

Cho: Jah-jung-myun.

Yeah.

"Jajang" is the black-bean sauce.

And "myeon" just means "noodles."

Myeon.

Sbrocco: So, do you have a memory of this?

You know, it's such a classic dish.

Cho: In a way, it's sort of like a classic plate of spaghetti where I think I have a lot of memories as a kid just kind of getting it all over your face and on your clothes a little bit, but that's how important it is in our culture that even though it can get a little bit messy, especially for young children, that just everyone loves it.

Sbrocco: Yeah.

Cho: And jajangmyeon is really special to Korean folks.

We grew up eating it.

It's almost like our mac-and-cheese in a lot of ways.

Sbrocco: It's a little different color than the mac-and-cheese, right?

Cho: It is.

It's kind of a dark brown.

There's a whole category of cuisine that's based on black-bean sauce, but, like a lot of dishes, people try to do their own spin.

Zazang's version is the classic.

It's just, like, the O.G.

version of jajangmyeon.

And, you know, the sauce is a little bit lighter.

Everything there is handmade.

Everything from scratch.

Sbrocco: Right.

Nelson: I loved it.

It was just so home-cooked.

I just think it's so simple, and I think everything went well together.

The noodles tasted very handmade, and that's what I enjoy about eating noodle dishes.

Sbrocco: And, Robin, what about you?

Schreiber: I found the restaurant welcoming when we came in, and I found the noodles cooked to perfection, but they were, for me, bland.

I didn't -- You know, I love to cook, and I always think that the water needs to be salted, so maybe if they salted the water, it might add a little more kick to the noodles.

And I found the black-bean sauce bland, as well.

And there -- I really couldn't find any beef.

But I just -- I wasn't feeling it.

I'm sorry.

Sbrocco: So, Nick, was it -- was it maybe an off day that Robin went?

Or is this a dish that does have muted flavors?

Cho: I think that it is a certain kind of muted.

You know, all Korean food, you kind of want to eat it with the banchan, the side dishes.

They are sort of almost more like condiments.

And so being able to kind of go back and forth between the pickled daikon and the onion, there's also a little black-bean dipping sauce for the onion, as well.

I think it's important to kind of go back and forth, but it is -- Like a lot of comfort food is, it's not necessarily, like, a big, like, flavorful thing.

It really is just about, like, a depth and complexity and just makes you feel good.

Sbrocco: Aisha, did you have anything else to eat?

Nelson: I ordered the vegetable dumplings, and just like the noodle dish, you can taste how fresh the noodles are, how handmade the dumplings are.

I really enjoyed it.

Schreiber: They served us a very good tea.

They served it in a really tall plastic glass.

Sbrocco: The hot barley tea.

Schreiber: Yes, it was very good.

Cho: Yeah, it's a classic sort of restaurant tea for Korean people.

It's called boricha.

It is barley.

And I think the reason that it's in a tall glass is that, you know, with food like that, you kind of want to drink it instead of water, and so it really is kind of Korean culture to just give you a big -- a big cup for tea.

Sbrocco: Now, I know, Aisha, that you like water with your food, but did you get a chance to try the barley tea?

Nelson: I did, and I think I finished the tea way before the needles came out, so that should tell you how much I liked it.

Sbrocco: All right.

Well, if you would like to try Zazang, it's located on Geary Boulevard in San Francisco.

And Nick's pro tip -- you've got to try the hot barley tea with your noodles.

And now time for a detour along the culinary road less traveled.

Producer Cecilia Phillips is on the hunt for more Bay Area bites you've just gotta try.

♪♪ Woman: One, two, three, smile!

♪♪ Phillips: We're here at Japan Center Plaza.

Why is this area so important to the Japanese community?

Viloria: We're one of three Japantowns left in the United States.

We're the biggest of the three.

And it's kept its tradition over the years with festivals, Japanese restaurants and eateries.

And all the restaurateurs take pride.

They'll come up with a new recipe for a crepe or a mochi cupcake, so they're very creative that way.

Whether it's grab-and-go to the omakase, they're really curating the multi-course meal.

Phillips: So what kind of foods can people come and eat when they come here?

What's the one thing they have to try?

Nakamura: Curry.

Yeah.

Chicken curry takes three days, three nights.

Phillips: Wow!

Nakamura: [ Laughs ] Cooking.

Phillips: For three days and three nights, the whole time?

Nakamura: Right.

Phillips: Okay.

All right.

You must have strong arms.

Nakamura: Yeah.

[ Laughs ] Takanishi: So, this is our signature ramen.

Most customer order this ramen.

This is a umami enriched flavor.

So that broth's made -- pork bones for long hours.

So...very flavorful.

[ Laughs ] ♪♪ Chen: Chawanmushi is the traditional dish right after the main course.

Phillips: Can you, um...?

Chen: Oh, yeah, of course.

Phillips: Oh, wow!

♪♪ It's like custard.

It's very creamy.

Chen: Mm-hmm.

Phillips: And then the snow crab is very delicate, very light.

And then the ginger and the green onion -- just a little bit of finish at the end.

Chen: Yes.

Yakamoto: Takoyaki is one of the traditional fast food from Japan.

It's basically a pancake ball with octopus inside.

We have a special griddle.

We get that from Japan.

Has, like, a ball shape.

So, what we do is we put a batter in it.

We put octopus, other ingredients, and then we just keep prepping until it gets the ball shape.

And then we put Japanese barbecue sauce, mayo, seaweed, and bonito flakes.

Phillips: Do people just traditionally eat this in one bite or -- Yakamoto: Yes.

Phillips: Yeah?

Yakamoto: That's what they do.

Phillips: Are you kidding?

Okay.

Here I go.

♪♪ Mmm!

[ Laughs ] That is delicious.

Komatsu: What we specialize in and have been doing for 30 years is the okonomiyaki.

So, it's like a savory Japanese pancake.

♪♪ And you can have all sorts of fillings in there.

You can have pork, seafood, even chicken if you want.

And it's topped with okonomiyaki sauce, and it has Japanese mayo and other garnishes on top.

Phillips: Cheers.

Mmm!

That's good.

Woman: Thank you.

Yakamoto: The mochi donuts are, like, the perfect combination of American culture and Japanese culture.

But then it's made out of rice flour, so it really has a chewy texture.

So, kinako is like a soybean powder.

It's pretty popular in Japan.

Phillips: Give it a try.

I've never had this before, so I'm excited.

Mmm!

That's interesting.

It's kind of sweet, but it's also a little savory.

Yakamoto: Yes.

Chin: Agar is like a plant-based gelatin.

So, it's made from seaweed, and then we drizzle with the kuromitsu syrup, which is a Japanese black-honey syrup that we use in there.

And then we have corn flakes that we put in, so that gives it a crunchy texture.

And then you have the red beans, azuki red beans in there.

And then we have matcha chiffon cake.

And then we top it off with the soft serve.

And the yellow one is the chestnut, and that's our mochi balls.

Our matcha powder that we use, it comes from a 300-year-old family farm in Uji, Kyoto, Japan.

Mmm-mmm-mmm!

If you love matcha... you gotta try this.

Phillips: [ Chuckles ] All: "You Gotta Try This!"

Sbrocco: Well, that's our show.

I have to say a big thank-you to my terrific guests.

I am Leslie Sbrocco, and I'll see you next time on "Check, Please!

You Gotta Try This!"

Cheers, everyone!

Thank you!

[ Laughs ] Which of these dishes would you try?

Follow us on Instagram or like us on Facebook and let us know what you think.

Sbrocco: Now let's do the Salad Toss.

Schreiber: Here we go.

Here's a little Salad Toss in honor of "Check, Please!"

♪♪ And then you can go... ♪♪ Sbrocco: I thought you did this move, Robin.

I saw you do this before.

Schreiber: That's for the jumbotron, Leslie.

Cho: Oh, my gosh.

[ Laughter ]