Sanraku at Metreon, San Francisco

As my trip was nearing Carolyn and I spent our last meal together before my flight back to Hong Kong. We were feeling something seafood like and landed at one of her favourite spots in town, Sanraku. I'm not going to lie, I love my sashimi to death. Not the smartest choice to eat too much fish but I much prefer it over chunks of steak.

Starting off with some super fresh oysters with ponzu sauce...

A fresh seafood miso filled with sea bass, clams, and fresh king crab. Beautifully aromatic and clean.

A selection of our favourite sushi's Hamachi toro, kanpachi, amaebi, Mirugai, Hotate - Creamiest I've eaten in a long while. I am not a big fan of Uni. Something about the texture but there are certain uni's I can take sometimes, and this is one of them. BEAUTIFUL. Creamy without being overly pungent, but also fresh at the same time. I didn't pay for the bill but I do know that it came up to around $120USD. It's not a cheap place but it's a GOOD place. Definitely worth trying if you want quality sushi.

And to end the trip...? In-N-Out, no better way than making a full circle.

Singapore Airlines is the way to go...LOVE their seats, service, and flight. To the West Coast, I miss you. I cried on the plane and I will still cry right now while sitting at home. 7 years of great times in Vancouver. I honestly hated Vancouver at first. For the first 1.5 years I was not fond of you. You grew on me and I grew to love it so much I ended up staying longer than I intended. An end to a part of my life also starts a new beginning elsewhere. Asia you look out. I'm traveling again soon...VERY SOON.  

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Tartine Bakery and Bi-Rite Creamery, San Francisco

What to do on a Sunday? Walk out on a good day and do some afternoon food and neighborhood exploration. As a friend from college did her internship at Tartine Bakery, it only felt right to visit the place and try out its famous breads and desserts. Bi-Rite Creamery is in the same neighbourhood and recommended by Carolyn. Luckily both spots were just 2 blocks from each other within the Mission District. Off to Missions I went! Missions is a very interesting neighbourhood, and much like Vancouver's Kitsilano. I stepped off a block too early off the bus and ended up having to walk down to 18th through a rather sketchy area. Once you get pass those 2 blocks though you're in the clear and it's beautiful skies, landing in hipsterville.

Tartine has no particular large sign, but you can tell where it is by its line up. As told the line up is always this long. I tried look through everything with my eyes. It's not because the menu is long but I wanted to try everything! It's really hard when it's just one person!

Though I really should have gotten the cookies, brownies or whatever else I ended up ordering something I was partial to, a Lemon Square, and it was amazing. I couldn't finish it on the spot so I took the rest home...once I got home it was gone in no time.

I'm not ashamed to say I ate my meal in reverse because the Sandwich took a while to come. I don't blame them though their lines are ridiculous. The amount of people who come and go are insane. I ended up ordering a Jambon Royale & Gruyère hot pressed sandwich.

I should have known how big the portions were considering looking at everyone around me, 3 sides of a sandwich. Definitely wasn't going to finish it. I ended up packing up 1/3 of it. I gotta say it's pretty standard but the touch of mustard really made it and the bread is amazing. Must go for the baked goods at Tartine. If I ever go back? It's the Croque Monsieur, seems like everyone was having that.
If you walk down another 2 blocks of 18th, you'll hit a corner where the park is and you'll see a massive line up that leads to Bi-Rite Creamery. From what I hear the line is always there no matter when and what time you go. Aside from ice-cream they have plenty of other choices and daily flavours. But they were known for their salted caramel and I wanted to taste it. In all honesty I never had salted caramel ice cream before.

I was pleasantly surprised by the rush of sweetness. The salt really made that sweetness explode. Maybe a little tooo sweet for me. Good thing I asked for a scoop of vanilla below which mellowed out the caramel a little. Why couldn't I have another stomach or something. If someone else was with me I could have tried a bunch of other flavours they had. Lets hope I come back to SF in the near future, I'd love to try more of their other things. So tempted to buy their book. It's beautiful!

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Scoma's, San Franscisco

I was going to refuse another meal from my parents friends but they weren't having any of it. My dad's buddy loves this places call Scoma's, and I knew it was going to be good since his taste buds are pretty picky. Turns out one of his buddies is a waiter there, so we got a nice table by the water. It's always good to know someone! Since Scoma's has a no reservation policy, we went around 6.30 to insure we got our spot.

Scoma's is not an easy place to scope out if you're just walking along and looking out for a restaurant to eat at. It is located in a nook of a space by the harbour of Fisherman's Wharf. The restaurant has been open for over 40 years and is family owned. Quality has been kept good throughout the years. We tried some simple but standout dishes.

Clam Chowder

Seafood Salad

Calamari

Steamed clams

Ahi Tuna

Hands down, best clam chowder I've ever had. Perfectly creamy and had good amounts of filling in it. They don't chimp out on their ingredients at all. I like salad but somehow this one didn't impress me much. I wasn't much for the thousand island dressing, I'm more a vinegarette kind of person. Can't say much about it other than fresh! That Ahi tuna?? OHHHHH as bad as it is seared in tons of butter and garlic, it is oh so delishhhh. I could totally have it all to myself and that's a pretty big slab of tuna. Desserts are also good at Scoma's. They make a pretty good lemon tart. We also had this berries with burgundy ice cream. Damn I can't find a photo of it but if you see it on the menu, try it!

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Keep On Discovering - Ferry Building and Zero Zero, San Francisco

As I look back to my posts, I realized I'm traveling more and more lately. Nevertheless I shall continue my journey in SF as much as possible! I had 3 days to myself and slowly made my way to some iconic locations in the city from the famous SFMOMA to see Garry Winogrand, Deyoung Museum for Girl With The Pearl Earrings, Castro neighbourhood for the liveliness, Golden Gate Bridge for the view, and the Ferry Building Market for the fresh food.

My luck changed as the day went by and the weather got better and better and eventually fully sunny. It was a beautiful day out and gave me a chance to take some great photos. Ferry building was full of people on the weekend and the fresh market was all tented out in the sun.

Once I walked into the ferry building my eyes went wide and didn't know where to start. The oysters, coffee, fresh deli, cheese...? Ahhh Oysters it was. Freshly shucked Washington oysters in piles from the San Francisco Fish Company for immediate consumption. I had 2, but I went back for another 2 before I left. It was only $8 total. They sell tons of fresh seafood and fish and chips!

Next stop while walking was a nice sandwich to fill the lunch spot at the Cowgirl Creamery. Their cheese shop has a wide variety of artisan organic cheese and right next door is there deli. Delish delish Fresh Mozzarella, salami, arugula sandwich!

While looking around at all the artisan shops that sell olive oil and such, I found the famous Blue Bottle Coffee which always has a line. I wish they had this everywhere. I'm not a big coffee drinker but this really changed my mind. Those are  some damn fine beans in my latte. Aromatic, smooth, and well roasted.

Ferry Building brought back many memories of Vancouver's Granville Island Market. This just makes me miss and love the West Coast even more. As the day goes on I met up with my dad's high school friends who decided to settle in SFO. Chosen restaurant? Zero Zero.

 Starting off with an arugular salad. It wasn't bad but it didn't stand out.

Seems as if the day was destined for arugula to be in all my food as I was also having a carb and cream craving. Ordered below was the Casareccia, Prosciutto, Arugula, Grana Padano with breadcrumbs. It was creamy alright. But slightly too salty.

I didn't pay for dinner but prices do go from around $10-20 dollar range per main course dish. If you're looking for an amazing place to eat I wouldn't say it's great other than its pizza's. But if you're looking for a nice place to relax after work or have a drinks with friends, do go try it out. Its drink list is quite long and accommodating.

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Sushi SAM's, San Mateo

As the recovery of my night came to an end, Carolyn and I were to spend another night together before she headed off to her family vacation and left me to fend for myself in this relaxing city for the next 3 days. Off we went down and further out of SF to visit a friend I haven't seen in ages. Remus left our K12 school when we were kids and now that he was doing his PhD at Stanford it was a chance to meet up. It has been at least 4 years since he hardly goes back to HK these days.

I unfortunately did not take many photos at Sushi SAM's, but I have to say the quality of fish is not too bad, and portions are quite good. We had some sashimi, all varied very well and quite fresh. Remind you the sushi's are MASSIVE in size. I don't mind that, but I would prefer bite size. I think the best dish that night was this:

Their oyster agadashi was definitely a winner on the table. We also orded a tempura zaru udon, which was below par. I think anything that's not fresh or sushi wise isn't a smart order here. In total it was about 120 plus tips. Sushi definitely isn't as well priced as Vancouver, but I wouldn't compare it. Vancouver really is a place where seafood just can't be priced against.
As we ended the meal almost satisfied, there was one thing lacking: Dessert. Off we were to a Chinese dessert place around the corner. I can't recall the name for the life of me, but just know it was in the area, and it was Chinese dessert place.

I'm sure people know by now I'm CRAZY about mangoes. Something about mangoes I can't stop eating it. Mango slices with Mango slush, with sago. Now that's YUMMAY. You really can't go wrong. $6 well spent.

My lovelies! Hope to see you in HK next Remus!

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Discovering the city and Yama Sho, San Francisco

Since I had exactly 7 days in SF I was in no hurry to do anything too touristy too soon. I was lucky that the weather was real great that week. The initial idea was to get a feel of my neighbourhood. I've always enjoyed that aspect of landing in a new place. When you're able to explore the area slowly and really know your way around at least the next 6 blocks around you before you get lost again. Since I was living near Market Street, the center of SF, I walked down at least the next 10 blocks. The beautiful heritage buildings are so captivating like the City Hall here. Great place to walk around, though do be careful of a section nearby which is rather iffy, quite like the Eastside of Vancouver.

A foodie like me can't go without finding out where the best eats are. I spent about a week before going there asking friends, yelp, and other sources for good eats. Finally I landed on a place called Saigon Sandwich which is rated quite high on the yelp list for Banh Mi's. This tiny little shop isn't made for sitting, or if you do, it's definitely not a place for more than 2, and not for comfort. The line is constant. people come and go and usually order take out.

These 2 Viet ladies rollin' those subs day and night and never stop. They even sell other Vietnamese treats and such like coconut milk with jelly drinks and desserts. I could hardly understand their English but all I had to say was Pork sub and they were on it. 2 minutes later I got this glorious beauty in my hands.

If I'm going to be brutally honest, I once ordered a house special banh mi at Au Petit Cafe in Vancouver (Main and 33rd), and so far I don't think anything has lived up to it yet. And that means to say, this one hasn't either but Saigon Sandwiches is a great deal for USD$3.50, and if I lived in SF I would come back for it no questions asked. Bread was slightly tougher than I expected, but the pork and pickled veggies were great. I'm not one for Jalapeno because I'm terrible with the heat, but this one had just enough to give it the right kind of kick. Pretty good first lunch!

Please tell me that I'm no the only one to find that 7up in the US tastes entirely different than everywhere else...? I had this after and it really ruined my meal. After my nice walk around downtown I managed to meet up back with Carolyn. This time of year is considered Spring break but she had some meetings at school. But this is where another whirlwind of adventure began.

Carolyn and her friends were out to celebrate their victory for their law school debate team, and so happens I was there that night. She brought me out with them to Yama Sho not for dinner but for karaoke. This seemed a little dangerous as we all didn't really think about eating dinner. Thus beginning a few rounds of Asahi beer, sake, and sake bombs. I'm quite sure the food would have been decent because they were open by Japanese people. We started at 5.30pm and probably left around 8.30. Then headed to another bar.

By the time we left the other bar happy with foosball and more drinks, we headed to the law school common dorms for more alcohol consumption. Things were getting hazy and my memory had ceased to recover itself to this day. For the amount we drank I was surprised Carolyn wasn't as inebriated as I was. All I remember was this:

I woke up with half a wasted day. 2nd day half gone? I'm okay with it. It was a good night.

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A Week in San Francisco

Traveling is always a hell of a toll on your body. I previously didn't know I wanted to be back in Hong Kong, so I booked a trip back for Chinese New Year way ahead of time. But I sprung my decision on my parents and thus...I had to return to Vancouver after CNY. So I thought, why not make it worth my time and make my final flight back to Hong Kong from San Francisco! The last time I was in SFO I was about 10-12 years old. My memories were quite fuzzy. Apart from seeing the Golden Gate Bridge and my parents friends I didn't remember much about it. This time I was there on my own, with my good friend Carolyn from high school to take me in for the week. So once again I was in the air for the 3rd time within 2 months.

Carolyn was the best host ever and the best suggestion right off the bat? In-n-Out Burgers. Only on the West Coast! I've been craving one of these bad boys for a long long long time. Last time I had one was back in June 2012 when I was in Las Vegas. Great first meal? I say Hell yes!

This was the beginning to a great week ahead.

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