So for some time now, Hubs and I have been trying to head up to SF to eat at Nopa after our friend Ben raved about how they made the best pork chops. EVER. Growing up, I never had a fondness for pork chops, until about two years ago, we stopped in at Martin’s West and the waiter convinced me to try the pork chops. They were divine. Thick cut. Juicy. Cooked to a medium, and that was when I discovered that Wilbur could be safely eaten at a medium doneness. It was over. I was on a mission to find the best pork chop ever.
We decided to head into the city on a random Wednesday and Hubs drove up to meet me. I tried making a reservation on my trusty yelp app but Opentable was showing seatings at 10PM. EH!?!?! It’s Wednesday! Not Friday…. undeterred, I called the restaurant and got a table for 9PM. Not as late, and not as bad either. We circled the blocks and snagged some decent parking and went inside. We were waiting at the bar area while our table was being cleared when a SFer snapped at me and stated “just to let you know. I’m waiting for these seats.” Okay… Chicky-poo… no need to get territorial! I was merely standing in the bar waiting for 5 minutes while the waitstaff was prepping our table. Sheesh! She might as well pee on the bar stools to mark her territory! I can see why some tourists and say that people from the city aren’t very nice.
The server brought out an amuse-buche of a housemade crouton topped with some hummus. Delicious! I wish they had all you can eat croutons. That was a mean crouton! Oh yeah… along with some Maldon Sea Salt.
We ordered the grilled broccoli. Probably because the idea of lemon zest and anchovies really appeal to me. And quite frankly, who grills broccoli? I always figured that the second it touched a grill, the little florets would go up in flames like hair. It was delicious. The BEST broccoli I’ve ever had. *sigh*
I ordered the pork chops… it came with pureed celery root, shaved kumquats and since I absolutely hate carrots, subbed out the roasted carrots for roasted brussel sprouts. YUM!!
Hubs also got the pork chop. Hence we were having ourselves a nice big piggy fest.
I hated it. Here’s my plate:
Just kidding. It was THE BEST pork chop I’ve ever had. Luscious. Juicy, perfectly porky and the vinagrette and kumquats balanced Wilbur out perfectly. Oh yeah… and now I can actually say that I like celery root puree! 😀
Sorry for the crappy iPhone pics… I need to seriously update my phone. 
Seriously… how is my iPhone4 taking crappy pictures that’s similar to the ones that my original metal backed Edge iPhone did!?