Mini getaway: SF

It's been awhile since I've actually been to SF.  Usually when I go to the bay, I would be in San Jose, and I never get to explore the city.  My friends and I decided to go to the bay and visit some friends that we haven't seen in awhile.

Thank god it stopped raining on Saturday.  It was a beautiful day to go sightseeing in the city.

Golden Gate Bridge

Palace of Fine Arts

 

Ghiradelli Square

cable car

Ferry Building

Bay Bridge

SF Eats

To do list: EAT, EAT, and EAT
SF has so many great places to eat, but we managed to try every single thing on our list.

Bi-Rite Creamery

I wanted to try out Mitchell's, but I've heard from a few people that Bi-Rite Creamery is way better.  After trying both spots, I can say that I like Bi-Rite more.  Although they have less flavors, their ice cream is DELICIOUS!  The girl that helped us was really friendly and she pretty much let us taste every single flavor.  My personal faves were toasted coconut and ricanelas (cinnamon with snickerdoodles).  I decided to go with the toasted coconut because it somewhat reminded me of the Somoas Girl Scout Cookies.  I'm so glad I got to try this out during the winter, because I heard during the summer, the lines are wrapped around the building!

Cako Bakery

R and G Lounge

Salt and Pepper Crab

SALT AND PEPPER CRAB. 'Nuff' said. OMG! Their salt and pepper crab is to die for! We also ordered honey walnut shrimp, and beef pan fried noodles, and we seriously devoured our food!  This restaurant was also featured on Anthony Bourdain's:No Reservations.  This place is a MUST.  I liked this crab better than PPQ's peppercorn crab.

Osha Thai Noodle

  Crab Fried Rice

Chicken Panang

Beef Pad See Eww

 Chicken Satay

Osha Thai is a late night thai spot in SF.  It pretty much reminds me of Thai Patio in Hollywood, but I like Thai Patio a lot better, and also because it is cheaper.  I really like their crab fried rice.  I could care less for the chicken satay only because I wasn't feeling the sauce too much.

Lucky Chances

 Tapsilog

I guess Lucky Chances is the place to be at when you are drunk in Daly City to get some late night Filipino food.  I love tapsilog, but I think i can spend my $10 elsewhere for late night grub.

Sudachi

Japchae

 Fried Calamari

Mori Soba

Bulgogi quesadilla 

The bulgogi quesadilla was surprisingly good, but it wasn't something that I would crave.  I didn't care too much for the soba, but the fried calamari and the japchae noodles were really good.  

21st Amendment

Watermelon Beer

 This beer didn't taste like watermelon to me, but according to Katrina, it tasted like a Sushi bar. haha 

The House

Classic Fried Calamari

Ahi tuna tartare with roasted nori chips

Warm wasabi house noodles with angus flatiron steak

Angus ribeye steak, housemade teriyaki, toasted garlic butter

Kobe Steak Special

Grilled sea bass with garlic ginger soy

 This place was soooooooo good! The house is a small restaurant that only has less than 10 tables.  Good thing Katrina made reservations, because we were seated right away.  For appetizers we got the calamari and the tuna tartarte.  I didn't like the the tuna tartarte that much because it had wasabi, and I am NOT a fan of wasabi.  The grilled sea bass was really good. It melts in your mouth good!  It also came with string beans and wasabi noodles. I ordered the angus rib eye steak, the meat was so tender and juicy.  For the price we all paid, they gave us a generous amount a food.  We were all too stuffed to even try their desserts!

Seniores Pizza

Garlic Chicken and Pesto Pizza

This has got to be one of the best late night pizza spots that I have tried.  The pizza itself is really good, but they have this special red/orange sauce which is kind of a mix of marinara, mayo, or ricotta, and some peppers.  I really have no idea what is that sauce but it was good!

PPQ Dungeness crab

Fried Calamari

 

Garlic Noodles

 

Roasted Crab

 

Peppercorn Crab

Our last meal was @ PPQ Dungeness Crab.  This place was was good, but now I wished I was able to try Thanh Long instead.  The garlic noodles were a little bland, but after using some of the roasted crab's sauce, the noodles tasted a lot better.  Between the 2 crabs, I liked the Roasted crab.  It had a lot more flavor.  If I wanted fried crab, I would want to go back to R and G Lounge for that. 

100 Things to try before you die

While I was up here in SF.  I wanted to try a few things from the The Big Eat SF: 100 Things to Try Before You Die list.  I was able to knock out 4 items from the list.

10.  Baja-style fish tacos at Nick's Crispy Tacos

The Pescado, baja style fish tacos "Nick's Way"

  Jalapeno Poppers

Elote (grilled corn on the cob with butter, fresh grated cheese and chili powder)

Out of all the of the restaurants on my list to try in SF, Nick's Crispy Taco,s was one of the places i really wanted to try. I was excited to try this place out.  I have heard great things about this place from yelp and a couple of friends.  I ordered the Pescado tacos "Nicks way" (guacamole and jack cheese).  At first I thought, damn $4 per taco, it better be damn good, and sure it was.  These tacos are so big, i had to use a fork to eat it because It was hard to eat.  The fish was super crispy and HUGE.  I also tried their jalapeno poppers which were really good too.  Jalapenos were stuffed with cheddar cheese and came with a ranch sauce.  The Elote corn was really good as well.  I was too stuffed from my taco that I had to force myself to finish the corn.  It was a bit spicy for me, but I still loved it. 

77. Eggs benedict on the back patio at Zazie 

La Mer: with fresh hand picked dungeness crab, green onions, and haas avocados 

Florentine: with spinach and portobello mushrooms

Croque Royale: with grilled levain, Zoe’s proscuitto, tomatoes provencales, and gruyere

Omelet

Mango Mimosas

This place is well worth the $30 bucks I spent for brunch! I decided to get the La Mer Eggs Benedict since our waitress said it is one of their signature items.  I am so HAPPY that I ordered this dish.  It was mouthwatering!  What can u not like about this dish: dungeness crab, egg, avocado, and hollindaise sauce.  My meal also came with home fries that were also really good.  They were crispy on the outside and soft on the inside with pieces of garlic.  The mango mimosas didn't taste too much like mango.  We all got slightly buzzed off this one drink.

96. Baby-coconut ice cream from Mitchell's

Move over Mitchell's because Bi-Rite has my vote!  Mitchell's has a lot of interesting flavors, and a lot of them were tropical: Buko, Avocado, Mango, Macapuno, and Jackfruit. You can walk into any Filipino supermarket to get those those and I even think the Magnolia's brand is way better than Mitchell's. 

 99. Clam chowder at Hog Island and Oysters

Clam chowder: Manila clams with aromatic vegetables, bacon, potatoes and cream 

Grilled Cheese Sandwich: Cow Girls' Mezzo Secco, cave-aged Gruyere and Fromage Blanc served with house made pickled vegetables

The clam chowder was just ok to me.  I like my clam chowder to be thick and creamy.  This one was very soupy, and it had the actual clam shells in the soup, which kind of got in the way of eating the soup.  I did love the grilled cheese sandwich.  This wasn't an ordinary grilled cheese sandwich.  The bread was soft, crisp, and buttery.  I would come back again to eat this, and maybe next time try their oysters.

New Years Day Brunch

 blueberry ricotta pancakes & ode to butterfields egg benedict w/ flat iron steak & cabernet hollandaise

My girlfriend and I decided to drive all the way to L.A. to try BLD. Ever since I watched The Best Thing I Ever Ate:Wake Up Call, I've been dying to try these pancakes! I'm not big on pancakes, but they sure looked good on T.V! I first tried the pancakes plain, and I wasn't too impressed, then I poured on the syrup, and wow it made a BIG difference.  They were really good, but I wasn't amazed by them. I really want to try Clinton Street Baking Company in New York.  I heard they have the BEST blueberry pancakes.  Hopefully I will get to try it when I go back to NY in May. The odes to butterfields eggs benedict was delicious.  I never had cabernet hollandaise sauce, but it was amazingly good. 

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