Saturday, June 9, 2012

san fran eats

san fran... the land of fog and way too many good eats. quick snapshot from our massive eat-fest all over the city:

i was most excited about hitting Umami Burger out there... i had read epic reviews on the chain on Serious Eats and was so happy there was a location out there. they were just as amazing as expected. the burger i had was the special... had pork belly and a fried egg on it, and a sauce i cannot recall. kyle had the Umami Burger which had shiitaki mushrooms, carmelized onion, roasted tomato, a parmesan crisp and umami ketchup... we went halfsies on both and they were equally amazing. if u see one, GO.

Pier 23 Cafe we stopped at for first night's din - it was featured on an epi of Diners Drive-ins & Dives, casual & right on the water so it seemed like a perfect fit. the DDD epi featured the whole roasted dungeness crab which is what K ordered; i had the fish & chips. Kyle really liked the crab but it wasn't as great as what he was expecting (over-hype?); my fish & chips were fantastic. that was actually the first time i ever tried AND ate all of my cole slaw. rather than shredded buggery looking mush, you could see all of the ingredients - just cabbage, seasoned mayo, normal stuff... so i gave it a go & it was fantastic.

ferry building market place Saturday farmer's market... this is the sausage, egg & cheese from Prather Ranch Meat Co - pasture raised, fresh made sausage with local eggs & cheese. mmmm.
late nite diner burger at Mel's Drive-In. The diner was too cute to walk by, so it was inevitable for a late night cheese burger was in the cards. i don't know if it was the drinks we had in us or the burger, but it was delish.

 


we took one day and hit Napa via the Napa Valley Wine Train - essentialy, you hop aboard this old antiquey train, eat a gourmet lunch, and eat desserts / sip drinks while cruising through the pretty views in napa. we opted to do a tour of the Domain Chandon winery while there as well which was bubbly and delish. (the creme brulee was fantastic... it's something i never order since i disregard it as "mushy", but holy cow, converted.

Dottie's True Blue Cafe was probably the most interesting dining experience we had in SF. on the walk there, you realize things are starting to turn slightly ghetto-ish. then you realize it's not slight, you're in the thick of the ghetto. and you say we must be lost, i should be right here... and now i've walked over a mile, and i'm too hungry to go on. and  just like that... amongst some of the most lively hobos you have ever seen, is the oasis of Dotties, with a huge line wrapped around the corner. in the rain. on a monday. WIERD. this place we had also found through Diner's Drive-ins & Dives. the menu is has all the traditional diner foods, but a lot of unique spins (all homemade) which is the draw. i ordered the Louisiana Hot Links & Eggs with Grilled Cheddar-Jalapeno Corn Bread (with Jalapeno Jelly) and Home Fries. the corn bread & jalapeno jelly was SO good... mother of god. i hot sauced my eggs for the first time (they had like 7 diff bottles on the table, how could i not) and am offically a fan. definitely worth a visit, esp with the rotating specials which seem like they would be unpredicable.


 as a pleasant surprise, there is a Burger Bar in San Fran. after missing it in Vegas, this was another work of burger fate. i did a build-your-own with pepper jack cheese, jalapeno bacon, grilled onions, chipolte mayo on an onion bun. kyle did mozz with roasted red pepper, grilled onion, basil pesto. both were amazing - i would say it would go in my top 5 of all burgers. juicy delicious patty that of course was not overcooked... Umami was a close contender but i think Burger Bar may have them beat by just a hair. GO.


after biking, we popped in to Lou's Pier 47 at Fisherman's Wharf for a late lunch / early dinner. i completely devoured these fish tacos. they never had a chance.


so there were 2-3 dim sum / thai / oriental places i really wanted to hit when we were there but it just never worked out. i was dyyying for asian something something before we left, so we hit the closest thing to us at Fisherman's Wharf (shocking they even had anything besides seafood), King of Thai Noodle House. we had the crab fried rice, crab wontons & red curry... we went in with zero expectations but everything turned out great. their red curry is now my new goal... i have to tweak my go-to recipe. mine is spicy & savory, theirs was spicy, savory & had a massive flavor-kick. mmmmmmm. 

and in conclusion, i'm eating very very healthy now that i'm back. un-frosted mini wheats, plain turkey sandwiches, and a lot of grilled chicken breasts with plain rice. will post more recipes when i'm 5 lbs down and back in the game : )