California, Day Four: Goodbye San Fran!

My last day in San Fran was just as good as the other 3! It got started off perfectly with some of the most amazing pastries from Tartine!
It was a Friday morning around 9:30 and there was a loooooooong line... But no worries, we got everything that I wanted!
Croissant

The best everr.....

Gougeres

I love this! It was like a savory, herby, popover!

Morning Bun

Oh my goodness, the crusty, sweetness!

Frangipane Tart

Huckleberries?! And a flaky crust!



We ate all of this, and with a happy full belly, we walked over the Golden Gate Bridge. It was rainy, and super windy, but I didn't care. I had Tartine Croissant in my belly!

We took our rental car and drove to El Zocalo for some Pupusas for the ride to Monterey!
This was a first for me. I had never had a Pupusa before this glorious day!
Unfortunately, we waited to eat this because we were too full from the pastries... I bet it would've been even better if it were fresh and hot right off the griddle!

We got one with pork, bean, and cheese... (OMG, my fav)

And another with chicken and cheese!

Dude... seriously, crispy dough, meat, and gooey cheese.... how can it NOT be good?!
This fueled our like 2 hour ride to Monterey. We stayed in Monterey for our hike the next day in Big Sur...
In Monterey by our hotel, there were a bunch of places to eat so we took a chance and came here..

I was like, "what do you guys have?" They said, "Ribs and stuff" so I was like, I'm in!
To start, we got the Artichoke Bruschetta and Turkey Chowder (?)

I got the Ribs

Tiny got the Ribeye

They both came with this incredible Twice Baked Potato!


With a really full belly now, we went to bed in our new hotel room (which had an electric fireplace) without a fear of getting robbed/raped/drugged... Seriously, our hotel in San Francisco was badddddddd...

Tartine Bakery
600 Guerrero Street
San Francisco, CA 94110
Phone: (415)-487-2600

El Zocalo
3230 Mission Street (btw 29th St & Valencia St)
San Francisco, CA 94110
Phone: (415)-282-2572

Monterey Cookhouse
2149 Fremont Street
Monterey, CA 93940
Phone: (831)-642-9900

California, Day Three: San Francisco

Ahhh... the third day. It was interesting. We left our hotel on a mission to get "the best burrito ever" at El Metate. We were heading in the right direction but we realized we had no idea what the address was. Or the cross streets. So we asked random people. They had no idea. A nice mailman recommended his special spot...

El Toro

I got the Super Carnitas Burrito... aka everything (pulled pork, guac, sour cream, salsa, lettuce, rice, beans, and tomatoes)

Tiny got the Deluxe Chicken Burrito which was just rice, beans, salsa, and cheese.

The burritos were good. HUGE! Like the ingredients were fresh and tasty, but I think the fact that El Toro was not El Metate threw me off... Their chips were good tho! Oh, and they had a free toppings/salsa bar! So all in all, 'twas a good burrito experience!

But the real "good" part of the day came later. After running a bajillion blocks of San Francisco to catch our boat for Alcatraz, realizing we missed it, and then sneaking onto the next one, we made it back to the hotel in one piece. We were right out the door to get to another destination place (at least for me)...

Poc-Chuc
I was intrigued by the Spanish-Mayan fusion description of their food. Apparently Poc-Chuc is a traditional Mayan dish. Here is how it's decribed on the menu:
"Grilled citrus marinated pork, served with vegetable-bouillon rice, topped with grilled tomatoes and red onions and a side of black bean puree"... Ok sounds good to me.

This restaurant was a little bit of a surprise. We walked through what Tiny referred to as the "South Bronx" or was it "Spanish Harlem"... the neighborhood was quite, unappealing. And Poc-Chuc was right in the midst of this "let-me-hold-onto-my-purse-a-little-tighter" area.

But upon entering the place, we were awakened by the brightly painted walls and comfortable-chic feel.

Everything served here was delicious and served by the friendliest people ever.
Lemonade! Literally just water, lemon, lime and a little bit of sweetner...


Fried Plantains... almost better than the super fresh ones we were served at Latin American Cafe!


Tiny's Estofado de Borrego (Lamb simmered with onions, carrots and celery, served with rice and a side of black bean pure)...


My Poc Chuc!


Omg, it was more.. way more, than what I expected. It was delicious! This meal was sooooooooo tied with Zuni. Check out these fresh tortillas....

It was so good. Everything from the grilled tomatoes to the pork itself was perfect. Smokey, refreshing, tangy, meaty... it was alllllll there! And how HUGE was the portion... unreal! It was only $12.00!!!

We passed on dessert because we were about to bust open. But guess what?
We never pass on dessert.
So we stopped at Mel's Drive-in (ewww) just for ice cream! He got cheesecake!

El Toro
598 Valencia Street (corner of 17th and Valencia)
San Francisco, CA 94103
Phone: (415)-431-3351

Poc-Chuc
2886 16th St
San Francisco, CA 94103
Phone: (415)-558-1583

Mel's Drive-in
3355 Geary Blvd
San Francisco, CA 94103
Phone: (415)-387-2255

California, Day Two: San Francisco

We walked everywhere so we rationalized why it was OK to eat everything. On Day 2, my first goal was to eat at Assab Eritrean Restaurant. We found it after walking what felt like forever, but it wasn't open for lunch! No worries. This is San Francisco. I trusted that we would find some other kind of ethnic delicious food.

By chance, only a few blocks down, we came across Pot de Pho. My first time eating Pho!
The restaurant was really modern looking and cool. The food was really good as well! "Organic, house-made noodles"... yum!

We started off with the Fresh Roll filled with shrimp and pork.


I got the Phở Bò Tái which is rare beef steak pho... omg heavenly.

It was so incredibly flavorful, and it came with these fresh toppings!


Tiny got the Bánh Xèo which is a crepe filled with shrimp, chicken, squid, and bean sprouts. Damn, how did I miss out of Vietnamese food for this long?!


We walked around a bit more, did nature stuff, and BAM. It started raining so we went back to the hotel. One hour later, we were out again trekking to Zuni Cafe.

One of the best meals in california!

The restaurant is super cute and cool. We were seated right next to the open kitchen so we saw all the action! It was the first time me and Tiny sat on the same side of a table. It was cute.

It was really simple food where they showed up great tasting ingredients such as:

The Ricotta Gnocchi

Caesar Salad

And the famous "Roasted Chicken for 2 with Bread Salad" (sorry for the ugly flash photo... it was getting dark!)...

I thought it was kinda silly to order the roasted chicken cuz how good can chicken be? But my friend said that I HAD to try it, (and I read how good it was) so I tried it. Can I just say first the chicken is really good. It was moist and very flavorful. But no offense Zuni, the bread salad was the knockout! Chewy, crusty bread toasted, thrown together with a salad with olive oil, vinegar, pine nuts, chicken stock? Im guessing the ingredients, but it can be found in the Zuni cookbook.

**Oh wait! This website has the recipe and some info on the chef Judy Rodgers!

My next mission is to make the most awesome bread salad and open people's eyes to a delicious side dish. It really just sounds like croutons and salad, but the way the bread soaks up the liquid is unreaaaaalllllll!!!!!

Pot de Pho
3300 Geary Boulevard (at Parker Avenue)
San Francisco, CA 94118
Phone: (415)-668–0826

Zuni Cafe
1658 Market Street
San Francisco, CA 94102
Phone: (415)-552-2522

California, Day One: San Francisco

I've said this a million times in the past week, but I'm really surprised that my pants still fit! I ate so much in 10 days... and I am the happiest girl ever.

Upon arrival in San Francisco, and having not eaten for like 10 hours, we decided we needed to get a good meal. We agreed that we would be up for a 30 minute plus walk to get In-N-Out burgers!

Beautiful! It reminded me of Mos Burger in Japan, just because it looked so fresh and it was constructed very neatly.


I loved the toasted bun. I loved the sauce. I loved the crispy veg.


We walked alllllll over just to explore, and on the way home to our hotel, we found The Crepe House! I am completely obsessed with French things, I'm completely obsessed with crepes in general, and my favorite thing in Japan the crepe stands in Harajuku!

Apple-Cinnamon

Super Simple and Super Delish!


For dinner, we were kinda exhausted cuz we walked around all day so we went somewhere near our hotel... somewhere very random.
Mel's Drive-In. Ughhh we totes both got food poisoning after eating here. It was just like a 1950's wannabe old-school restaurant. The food really didn't taste THAT bad but let's just say my Strawberry Shortcake was a cut-in half semi-ok, out-of-the-box pound cake with strawberries and Reddi-wip.


In-N-Out Burger (Fisherman's Wharf)
333 Jefferson
San Francisco, CA 94133
Phone: 1-(800)-786-1000

The Crepe House
1755 Polk Street
San Francisco, CA 94109
Phone: (415)-441-2421

Mel's Drive-in
1050 Van Ness Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94109
Phone: (415)-292-6358

A Good Excuse

There is a good excuse for my lack of posts.

1. I was in San Francisco until 2 days ago.

2. I was in Monterey until yesterday.

3. I am currently in Los Angeles.

4. I will be in San Diego tomorrow until this Saturday :-)

TONS OF FOOD HAVE BEEN CONSUMED BY TINY AND I... many pictures were taken as well!



I am falling in love with Cali...