There is something exciting about having a secret that you have the power to share with a few lucky individuals. Secret menus are the restaurant equivalent of hip, speakeasy bars in San Francisco. 

Instead of whispering a password to gain entrance, restaurant patrons have to know of the existence of a secret menu and what they have to do to access it. Namu is the latest hotter-than-hot restaurant to launch a secret menu in the city.

Do not worry, you will not have to  show up with a hard boiled egg in your pocket (90210 reference anyone?). Simply subscribe to tomorrow’s May 19th Blackboard Eats passcode. It’s a measly $1 to get the deal, the same you would pay to earn about 10 minutes of time in a FiDi parking meter. You have 30 days to claim your secret meal at Namu. When everyone else in the restaurant is ordering off the regular menu you may just snicker to your self and sit up a bit taller as you indulge in the special hand-picked dishes from head Namu chef, Dennis Lee.

Here is a miniature preview from my tasting last week:

• Korean style beef tartare with wild chive blossoms, Marin Sun Farms grass fed beef, beautiful golden egg yolk, wild arugula, sliced beets and seaweed

• Homemade miso and chili paste; recipe compliments of Dennis Lee’s aunt

• Izakaya inspired skewers

• squid legs paired with green garlic and drizzled with chili paste

• spring lamb skewers dusted with plump coriander seeds and a bit of pesto and walnut bits

• Namu chicken wings – Dennis uses smaller pasture chickens from Marin Sun Farms and tops the wings with fried garlic and a bath of umami goodness.

• Denjang lamb stew with spicy chilies, fingerling potatoes, zucchini, the softest silken tofu and a spicy broth with quite a bit of depth.

• Ramenyan – similar to ramen but the texture is a bit different as Dennis fries the noodles a bit.

Plan ahead and subscribe to Blackboard Eats email list here: http://www.blackboardeats.com/san-francisco

Blackboard Eats will email you tomorrow May 19th with the Namu secret menu deal.

http://www.namusf.com/

Anne Pao is a contributing food writer for SF Station and Yum as well as the SF Burger Examiner. When she is not satisfying carnivorous tendencies, you can find her adventuring in the Bay area outdoors. For more Pao reads check out her blog at http://sftaoofpao.com

• Tag: chicken wings, Namu, Pan-Asian, Restaurants, secret menu, the Inner Richmond