Troya Mediterranean Kitchen in San Francisco

Pre everything, I remembered I visited Greece for a couple weeks. Oh the joys of traveling without care! It’s in the mediterranean, Aegean Sea, over there place. I ate a lot of food because that is what one does when they travel to another country. You wanna try the food, or maybe that is just me? I hope not since it really is part of the experience of getting to know a country. Sure, it seems every country has those fast food names on every corner too, but where is the fun in that. Travel is for experience and if I haven’t taught anything else while reading my rambling machinations over the years, food is experience and one of the easiest things you can do to get to know a place and a people.

Of course, this post isn’t about my food journey in Greece, though, now I think about it, I’ll do it next time. No, the Greece trip reminded me of a time when my friend Mr. D from Seattle came to visit when people could just hop a plane without a thought and visit friends in other places. Fresh off the short flight he was totes hungry and wanted something healthy-ish, quick and close. After a little Google search I hit upon Troya which had recently opened another location in SOMA a few blocks away. See the train of thought—remembering Greece, friend visits, wants healthy, mediterranean diet, healthy, Troya. Well, my though process anyway.

The space they are in used to be a Caribbean spot I liked but they closed when the rent went up and couldn’t come to an agreement with the landlord. Seems Troya didn’t have the same issue. Go figure. One of the fun things about the location is it’s back patio. A somewhat rarity in SF. Plus it was enclosed and protected from the swirling winds of the city which can turn an outdoor dining experience into an arctic adventure. Kind of like what we all experienced during the (felt like) brief period you could still dine outside before whatever number lockdown the city is in now.

I didn’t know much about them except their Marina location seemed to be popular with the ponytail Lulu Lemon crowd thus the expansion of their burgeoning empire. There is a lot of mediterranean in the city now and it seems it’s a trend. Part of the fast casual grab and go trend which I guess can be a little lockdown resistant (to a point) and survive enough till we get to vaccine normal.

The “new” space is all white, kind of reminds me of the whitewashed walls of houses on Greek islands. Like this:

The menu is some pita sandwiches, salads and a few sides. Simple, direct and like a lot of the other Greek spots. Seems the sandwiches start at $12. Hmmmm, here we are again, the inescapable inevitableness of my simmering rage against the sandwich-archy. Yet, I’m in the presence of visiting company who has graciously said, “it’s on me,” and who am I to argue with my own personal cheapskateness and happily accept said offer by going all in and getting the lamb pita for $14. Yes, I truly have no shame. I’m comfortable with it, own it and accept it.

Yep, there it is, meat inside bread with some tahini eggplant hummus like stuff, cucumber, romaine lettuce, tomato, yogurt saucy stuff and harissa. I realize looking at it now I seem to eat many a thing that is a variation on this meat inside bread concoction. Steamed pork buns, pierogis, quesabirria, hand pies the list goes on. Seems every culture has some version of this or maybe we just like stuffing meat in things. I guess in a since these are all ways to just eat on the run. Whether running errands, an on the go life or running from dinosaurs, you gotta keep your energy up so what better way than with some meat, veggies and complex carbs to keep you going. Can’t let the sabertooth catch ya’! I wonder who first came upon the idea? Was it on purpose or by happenstance? I mean, I know the supposed sandwich popularization person, but pork buns where around long (bao) before this, right? Yes, says the internet. But I’m betting some earlier civilization did it because people are kind of lazy but still gotta eat in the easiest most convenient way possible and such slothful behavior sometimes breeds invention. See history of tv dinners or the tv remote.

Right, the sandwich. The lamb was tender, harissa was a nice little kick, crunchy vegetables, blah, blah, blah. I couldn’t continually plop down the cash for it, but it was fine. Mr. D went with the chicken version.

Same pita sandwich, different meat $13. But this isn’t about the sandwich really. When I took the picture I didn’t really notice the one seeming issue. Can you spot it? Look closely toward the middle top of the sandwich. There it is in all its thin glaring gloriousness. Yes, it was a hair. A long one which seemed to extend from top to down around and underneath the sandwich. I was recently shorn and Mr. D is follicly challenged. He was not terribly but off by it and me, well, years of restaurant work have kind of numbed me to a number of things I sometimes find in food. Sucks but it happens. At least pre-COVID. Now I might be all “ewww, I don’t want your germed up hair in my expensive sandwich!” Which is funny because I probably wouldn’t have gotten a pricey sandwich to start with! You accept/put up with more when you ain’t paying a lot for it.

Right, the sandwich. Mr. D said the chicken wasn’t dry, it tasted fresh and half the pita was enough to fill them up. They are lightweight eaters. He was paying, it filled him up, there you go.

You can’t have a sandwich without fries—we told ourselves as we went all in with $7 Turkish fries. Wait, this whole time I thought of this place as Greek, seems they were more Turkey, which is still the mediterranean so I’m just gonna go with it. Ask me what Turkish fries are. I have no idea. These were fries tossed with lots of paprika, a few pepper flakes and what seemed like oregano. Okay, Italy is mediterranean too, mostly so I’m still gonna go with it. There was the tzatziki for dipping which is pretty much mediterranean ranch dressing. I mean I like ranch for some things but I was never really into dipping fries in it. Same is gonna go for tzatziki. People seem to ask for ranch to dip everything in these days, even pizza. I just don’t get it. No wonder America is obese. Thus the need for the mediterranean diet! See, more off the rails train of thought. I asked for ketchup because I’m just a Philistine.

Right, they were french fries. If you cook ‘em to order and don’t burn them, they were fine, even beyond the yogurt dipping sauce.

So what have we learned today. Greece, Turkey and Italy are all around the mediterranean which is both a sea and a region/area of the world. The mediterranean diet is supposedly good for you. Sandwiches are still expensive in SF but if someone is buying for me, I’ll get one. I’m a cheapskate. Hair in food I didn’t pay for doesn’t really bother me. Fries can be Turkish for no reason. I prefer ketchup over ranch on fries. Houses on Greek islands are whitewashed. Troya can be found in the Marina and SOMA and is still doing take-out and delivery—which I just checked on. The history of sandwiches, bao buns, tv dinners and remotes. I have random train of thoughts and ramble off topic about stuff. And if nothing else, Troya has pitas, salads, fries and a nice back patio.