Napoleon Bakery

1049 Stockton Street

San Francisco, CA 94108

Occasion: Wednesday treats from one of PCW's patients! They usually bring Golden Gate Bakery, but it was closed, so they went to Napoleon Bakery.

Eggtarts
It's comparable to my favorite eggtart go to place, Golden Gate Bakery. The crust is flaky, but not as flaky as GGB's. The curstard is not as eggy as GGB's, but it was still good. It was a bit sweeter than what I am used to. It was just what I needed that morning to pick me up, so I can't complain. Just appreciative to to the patients who brought them.

Spongecake
Not as spongy or sweet as I would have expected it, but still a yummy and light little snack!

Liguria

1700 Stockton Street

San Francisco, CA 94133

Occasion: Sunday lunch/dinner!

Pizza Focaccia
My favorite flavor. I've been eating this since I was in 5th grade and have loved it since then. Focaccia is related to pizza, but not considered to be the same. It's just dough and marinara sauce. It's simple, tasty and a great snack. The dough is awesome. It's not crusty or hard like pizza, but is a lot softer. I used to get it after school, but there were times when they were sold out before 2pm, so if you're craving it get there early!

Onion Focaccia
It looks simple, but it's so good. The bread is full of flavor topped with green onions.

Mushroom Focaccia
Doesn't beat the pizza flavor, but still very good. Nice simple, light and delicious snack. It's on BIG EAT SF 2010 for a reason. Definitely something worth getting as it is #69. Foccacia at Liguria Bakery.

Gorilla Barbeque

2145 Coast Hwy

Pacifica, CA 94044

Occasion: Leaving Pacifica, we noticed this little shack and decided to check it out, then ended up ordering some Pork Ribs.

BBQ Pork Ribs
Some one from food network came to visit this place and broadcasted. The owner said that since that episode went on air in February of 2009 they've been busy every single day they've been open. They're only open from 12pm until everything is sold out. The day I went in, everything was sold out before 5pm. That is just crazy! He said that he counted a total of 93 people waiting in line before 12pm. Oh what people would do for good food. I mean I would too if! Since it was so hyped before eating it, I really expected a lot. When I actually ate it, I didn't think it was THAT good. I've had better in RENO, CA at their annual ribfest. Half of the meat was so tender that it fell off the bone, the other half was kind of dry. It wasn't bad, it just wasn't as good as it was hyped up to be. The sauce was perfect and very smoky! My fingers smelled smoky for the rest of the evening. Definitely worth a try though!

Barcelona Chocolate

Occasion: Souvenir Diana brought me from Barcelona

They are an absolute treat! Seriously best chocolate ever. It has many flavors...my favorites are the creme filled ones or the coffee. The filling reminds me of a mousse or even a truffle. I just place a piece in my mouth and it melts and turns really soft, almost fudge like, but not as rich or thick. All I know is that it was absolutely divine!

Ella's Restaurant

500 Presidio Ave
San Francisco, CA 94115

Occasion: Sunday Brunch for two 4.25.10!

Ginger orange juice punch and Fresh sqeezed orange juice

I tried both and I like my fresh squeezed orange juice a lot better. The ginger orange punch didn't taste like ginger at all. It was sweet, yet better, where as the fresh squeezed orange juice was pulpy and sweet. Perfect.

Two stacked blueberry ricotta pancakes

Best pancakes in town. They're the fluffiest pancakes I've ever had. I seriously ate half in five minutes. They were soooo good, especially with the blueberries.

A side order of sausages
What a mistake. They were not good at all. It was hard and didn't taste that great. We thought it would come in a link form. This was the worse thing we ordered. If you want sausages, don't get them here.
Chicken Hash
On SF BIG EATS 2009 & 2010: #76
I loved it. We had it with sunny side eggs and a bisquit. Biscuit is best eaten while it's fresh and hot, once it cools down it just doesn't taste the same. Spread it with some home made strawberry jam and it's perfect. But don't fill up on the biscuit, the best part is the chicken hash! Loved the crispy outside and the potato mixed with shredded chicken inside. It tastes just as good as it looks, DELICIOUS!

Bob's Donut and Pastry Shop

1621 Polk St
San Francisco, CA 94109

Occasion: Snack time!

Apple Fritter

I was expecting it to be better than Randy's Donut down in LA. I found the dough to be a bit dry, but I did like that there were cinnamon sprinkles inside. There weren't many chunks of apple. It was just mediocre. Maybe I should have came during the late night hours or after clubbing/ drinking since they're open 24 hours. I don't really think it deserves a spot on SF's BIG EATS 2009& 2010: #80 Apple fritter at Bob’s Donuts. I think it's only because it's open 24 hours and incredibly cheap.

Chocolate Donut

In my opinion, I didn't think it was that great. Didn't taste that fresh. I don't like how the frosting flakes like that. Good thing it was cheap, otherwise...not worth it.

Baldo's Mexican Restaurant

1730 W Texas St
Fairfield, CA 94535

Occasion: On our way home from a weekend in TAHOE, we make a pit stop to get carne asada fries. My first time having these!

Carne Asada Fries

Fries, ground beef, guacamole, sour cream, lettuce and cheese

First time having carne asada fries and I loved it. For the first time, I had to eat fries without my hands and with a fork. It's best when it's hot, not as great after it has cooled down. This portion was huge and less than $7, which is really cheap. Portion was enough to serve two people. This totally lived up to it's hype.

Palamino's

345 Spear St
San Francisco, CA 94105

Occasion: Happy Hour!! 4.22.10

Cranberry Mojito

I liked it...even if it's watered down. I don't like it too strong because I didn't want to get drunk!

Hot Red King Crab and Artichoke Dip

The piece of cracker was very oily. I didn't like that, but the artichoke dip was so delicious. It was bit on the salty side. Yay cheese, crap and artichoke. Good thing for the cracker chip to balance out the saltiness of the dip.

Mushroom and Sausage Pizza
Didn't really taste much like pizza. The crust is really thin. I guess for 5 dollars it wasn't too bad. It definitely felt really greasy in my system after consuming it. I like my pizzas super cheesy with cheese that stretches with each bite. This is definitely not that type of pizza.
Brick Oven Roasted Clams
Generous portion and the broth was really salty. For half the price the clams weren't that bad. If I had to pay more it wouldn't be as worth it.

Mayes Oyster House

1233 Polk St

San Francisco, CA 94109

Occasion: $1 Happy Hour Oyster and dinner/catch up session with the besty! 4.21.10

$1 Washington Oysters
We ordered a total of 3 dozen oysters. I ate one and she had two. We were served two kinds of oysters. Diana liked one kind and I liked another kind. Perfect. We didn't have to fight over it. Love having $1 oysters

Clam chowder

I really liked it. The portion was very big and I almost got full off of that one bowl. The broth was not too thick nor was it too thin. I loved the generous amount of chunks of clams. They threw in cubed pieces of baked bread, which was really good. The bread was extra tasty because it soaked broth from the soup itself. The soup was very rich in flavor.

13 oz Ribe eye with mashed potatoes and veggies

We asked for it to be cooked medium, but it seemed more medium rare, which I am fine with. But Diana wanted it more cooked than raw. I thought the meat was very buttery in taste, but it was still good. We weren't able to finish it because we were were full from the oysters and the soup. The mashed potatoes had the flavor, but I wish it had more chunks of potatoes in it.

Cherry Blossom Festival 2010

Japantown, San Francisco

Occasion: After Embarcadero, Farmer's Market, Wine Event at the Intercontinental, we ended up here. The weather was nice and sunny. Definitely a perfect day to go to the outdoor festival.

Takoyaki Balls

Supposed to be a battered squid ball. This booth had the longest line with people waiting. I know people who waited a good 40 minutes or more. So not worth the wait. Thank goodness we asked some nice people in the front of the line to buy it for us!

Imagawa Yaki

Japanese dessert filled with red bean paste

This booth had the second longest line...but again we were able to find a friend in the front of the line. I was so disappointed when I bit into it. I've had so much better from Fullfilled desserts down in LA. The concept is there, but the taste just isn't. I dont' like the dough they used for it. It's not supposed to be so thick. Good thing we didn't wait long for these.

Up close

Farmerbrown's Little Skillet

360 Ritch St
San Francisco, CA 94107


Occasion: Saturday Lunch!

Chicken and a waffle

I loved how it was served very hot and warm. That assured me that it was made fresh. The waffle was huge and very fluffy. I like this waffle better than roscoe's down south, but Ilike the chicken down south more than I did up here. The chicken is a bit on the dry side! Wish we had gravy to dip the chicken in, that would have helped ease the dryness of it. I think it's pretty damn good and worth coming back to. One waffle and one chicken can easily fill you up!
Oh I forgot to mention, it's on the BIG EAT SF 2010: #4 Fried chicken and waffles at Little Skillet.

Roli Roti Cart

1 Ferry Building
San Francisco, CA 94111

Occasion: After a failed attempt to try free Ziplining at the embarcadero, we walked across the street to go to the farmer's market to wait in line for the Porchetta Sandwich.

Porchetta Sandwich

with traditional Italian farmer's market meat, porkloin rolled into the belly with crispy skin spiced with fresh organic herbs and garnished with onion marmalade and curly cress
So worth the wait. We waited about 15- 20 minutes in line. I've been meaning to try it out because I always see long lines and it's on the BIG EAT SF: #12 Porchetta sandwich at RoliRoti.

It was definitely better than the lamb sandwich we had last time, which lacked in flavor. I loved the combination of sweet caramelized onions with the salty porkloin. The meat reminds me of chinese roasted pork that Chinese families have during New Years and all those special holiday dinners. The meat is much better here though. I loved that the crispy skin was not too thick, the meat was nice and tender, the bread was soaked with natural juices from the meat. The vegetable complimented well with the rest of the sandwich. Best part is that the sandwich is made with ingredients from the farmer's market. Loved it and will definitely be back.

Lark Creek Steak

845 Market St 4th Fl
San Francisco, CA 94103

Occasion: Happy hour and shopping with the coworkers.

A happy hour drink. I had two. and boy was I buzzed. It tastes good, but definitely a creeper. It's not good for a light weight like me. I had trouble walking around the mall. It was hard to shop due to the fact that it made me nautious.

Florida White Prawn Cocktail
with a horseradish cocktail sauce

The prawns were nice big and juicy. What's better than biting into fresh seafood. YUM!

Hand-cut fries
with a bearnaise sauce
I love big french cut fries. I like biting into it and smushing the potatoe with my tongue and the roof of my mouth. Love the interesting bearnaise sauce too. There's definitely mayo mixed with some kind of deliciousness.

Spicy Chicken Wings
house made hot sauce, celery and buttermilk blue cheese dressing
Yes, they were pretty spicy. I just ate it the way it was and didn't bother dipping it in the blue cheese dressing. Good enough to be a snack, but not for dinner.

Filet Mignon Steak Tartar
with crostini, fleur de sel, capers, onion

This is what we came here for. I love any kind of tartar. It went really well with the bread chips. Full of flavor. Enjoyed every last bite of it!

Roscoe's House of Chicken & Waffles- Long Beach

730 E. Broadway
Long Beach, CA 90802

Occasion: Lunch before we leave socal!

Arnold Palmer
I love ordering this. Lemonade with iced tea. Very refreshing especially with all this unhealthy fried chicken.

#2 Chicken(with gravy on the side) and Waffles (not pictured)
Chicken breast was moist, which I liked. I usually don't like ordering chicken breast because it tends to be on the dry side, but not this breast. This usually comes with the gravy smothered, but we asked for it on the side, which I liked better. That way we can dip the chicken into the sauce and smother as much as we'd like.

Mac and Cheese
I got to try a bit of this. I didn't think it was that great. It was kind of dry. I usually have a problem with the mac and cheese being too cheesy, but this one was too dry. I've had better.

Country Boy
3 pieces of chicken wings and a waffle.

I ordered this because it's smaller than the #1 and #2. Our waiter suggested I order this, since there's only one waffle and smaller chicken pieces. I loved the waffle drenched in their syrup. There was nothing special about the waffle,but it just tasted original and simple. After a bite of savory chicken I'd switch to a bite of the waffle that's been drenched in syrup. Sweet, savory, sweet, savory...it went back and forth like that.

Din Tai Fung

1108 S Baldwin Ave
Arcadia, CA 91007

Occasion: Lunch after a rough partying night and before we hit up disneyland!

Braised Beef Noodle Soup
After a night of partying this is just what we needed! I've never had taiwanese Beef noodle soup and in my opinion, since I have nothing to compare to I think it's pretty good. I love home made noodles because it has a bounce to it when you bite into it. The meat was very tender. Overall a satisfying dish.

Noodles with minced meat sauce and ground pork

It was pretty simple and reminded me of something I've had before. The noodles went well with the sauce. I love noodles so I was definitely a fan of this noodle dish.

Shanghai Rice Cakes

I love rice cakes and though the portion was kind of small compared to other places where I've had it, it was still pretty good. Another dish I enjoyed.
Pork Soup Dumplings
It's good, but it still doesn't compare to New York's: Joe's Shanghai. Maybe I was just expecting a lot because I've heard a lot of good stuff about their dumplings. It's definitely way better than their crab soup dumplings. I guess because it was in such high demand, only 1 out of our 3 trays came out. By the time our last trays came out we were so full we had to cancel one. I like how there is a good amount of soup in it. I wish the skin was just a little thinner. As for the taste it was pretty good but not as good as I had expected it to be.

Shrimp and pork xiao mai

I've never seen or had anything that looked like this. When I bit into it, it actually found that it resembled the xiao mai's that chinese restaurants serve at dim sum. What I didn't like about it was the skin. It was too thick and too dry.

Crab soup dumplings
They were able to decipher between the pork and the crab with a little carrot in the middle. This was not good to me at all. I would have so much rather gotten three more trays of the pork than to have these crabs. I was expecting it to have a similar taste, texture and ingredients as Joe's Shanghai in New York. It did not taste anything like joe's shanghai. I was really disappointed after my first bite. The crab meat itself as well as the flavor...did not do it for me.


Pork and glutinous rice xiao mai
It reminded me of sticky rice you can get at dimsum, but less flavorful. I don't like the skin at all because it's too thick. It was kind of bland. We did not like it at all.

Katsuya

6300 Hollywood Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90028
Occasion: Our fancy dinner while in LA, where we sat right behind Dave Navarro (Carmen Electra's Ex-husband)! I ordered the...

Katsuya’s Tasting Menu
Best of the best signature dishes. All of the items that Chef Katsuya is famous for in one tasting menu.

Katsuya Ceviche

a blend of sashimi and citrus ponzu

This was the first dish that came out from my tasting menu. The sashimi were fresh and the citrus ponzu added to it and made it a very refreshing first dish. A delightful start!

Then a Platter with 4 mini plates came out...

Crispy Rice with Spicy Tuna
This is supposedly one of their more popular dishes and I can see why. I liked this and it reminded me of something I've had in San Francisco's: Blowfish Sushi to Die For. I am feeling this whole crispy rice thing. The rice was both crispy and chewy. It's like eating rice from the bottom of the pot after it's been cooked til its tried. Like the korean stone pot bibimbop. I just loved the usage of texture. Really beautifully presented and delicious.



Spicy Albacore Sashimi with Crispy Onion
This was the second little plate on the platter.
Fortunately, it wasn't too spicy. There were thin slices of the albacore sashimi buried under a layer of crispy onion. The crispy onions were very aromatic in flavor and the texture of it added to it. Kind of reminded me of vietnamese beef carpaccio. It was light and refreshing.

Creamy Rock Shrimp
creamy rock shrimp tossed in chef's spicy creamy sauce
Third dish on the platter as part of my tasting menu
It's look reminds me of walnut prawns at a chinese restaurant, but the taste is completely different. Unlike walnut prawns, it's not overpowering in the mayo taste. The cream is nice and sweet with a kick of spice to it. I loved how it's small enough I could just pop it in my mouth

Yellowtail sashimi with jalepeno
fresh yellowtail, ponzu and jalepeno
Fourth little plate on my platter
Another popular dish, which was tasty and refreshing

Kiwi Scallops
Jumbo scallops on top of sliced kiwi with yuzu vinaigrette

Not part of my tasting menu, but I also got to try this. Yes it sounds weird, kiwi and scallops, but it compliments each other well. The kiwi's tangy sweet taste brings out the flavor of the scallop. A very unique dish!

Salmon Sashimi with Caviar

Salmon sashimi slightly rolled with Japanese onion chutney, topped with tasty caviar on a slice of cucumber

Also not a part of my tasting menu, but was able to give it a try. Like everyhting else delicious. I was really amazed by the presentation and the combination of ingredients used. Salmon has a natural buttery taste to it, while the caviar has a slight overpowering taste, but the cucumber is bland. All three mixed together went very well and was nice and refreshing.

Kobe Tobanyaki

with wild mushrooms served sizzling hot

Another item not on my tasting menu that I got to try. Mushrooms were delicious and buttery. The meat could have been a little bit more rare, but still very good. Meat was hot, tender and had a very buttery taste to it. Because it's meat, I thought it was kind of filling...maybe the butter added to it. Good meat choice.

Baked Crab Handroll (to the left)

baked snow crab lightly kissed with Chef's signature sauce wrapped with rice in soy paper

Tuna roll and yellow tail roll

This was also part of my tasting menu. At first sight the baked crab handroll didn't look too appetizing, probably because it was in soy paper. It was tasty and full of flavors, but it was nothing spectacular. As for the tuna roll and the yellow tail roll, it was good and fresh but again nothing special because you can get it at any other Japanese restaurant.

Kobe Filet with Foie Gras

medallions of foie gras served on top of tender kobe beef. Smothered in Chef's plum wine reduction

Part of my tasting menu, but in mine there were only two pieces instead of three. Filet was nice and tender. Loved this dish more than the other meat dish. Went very well the the foie gras and the plum wine sauce. Very enjoyable and addicting.

Dessert

with green tea mochi, some fresh fruits and puff pastry drizzled with chocolate.

I love mochi so I attacked half of it and it was delicious.

I thought it was really worth it to get the tasting menu. I like variety and that is exactly what the tasting menu does. It's great because it gives you a little taste of most of the signature dishes on the menu. I had a little bit of a lot of things and it really did fill me up. I am so glad I got it. Portion here are not extremely big and its more like Tapa styles where one person would get about 2 or 3 items to be able to fill themselves. Good experience. Not somewhere I'd always try to dine, but it was a nice little dinner on our weekend out of town.