El Burrito Express 2

1812 Divisadero St
San Francisco, CA 94115

Occasion: Lunch 04.05.12

Carnitas plate 

Haven't been my favorite cuisine for many years, but every time I see my coworker, Hana, chowing down on this dish at lunch...she makes it look so good that I wanted to try it.  It was so good.  During lunch, I was only able to finish half of this plate.  It's huge.  The carnitas are super delicious and I would totally get this again.

Don Pisto's

510 Union St
San Francisco, CA 94133

Occasion: Birthday dinner with friends 03.10.12

Not my first time here and it definitely will not be my last! Though we were not seated until about an hour after our reservation time, the staff were really nice.  Well  our waiter was super nice and helpful.  I love their food and I would come back again for a date night or even a get together of some sort.  Downside of this place is that it's super hard to find parking, especially on a Saturday night.  They don't even have a valet service, so make sure you either come early or cab it.  Since we had a group of 20, we had to choose from a pre fixed menu, though we were allowed to add to our order.

Sashimi

I forget what type of fish it was, but it was served with some kind of soy sauce like sauce, topped with jalepeno and sprinkled with cilantro.

I found it a little spicy, but some thought it was the perfect kick of heat.

Chorizo Mussels

It wasn't on the pre fixed menu for our group, but I remember it  being delicious, so I decided to add that onto what was on the pre fixed menu.  Probably everyone's favorite dish there.  The chorizo definitely makes the dish, as it adds flavor and a kick of heat to the dish.  Everyone loved the sauce so much that they put spoonfuls of it into their tacos.  It definitely enhanced flavor and a level of spice to the tacos. So glad we got it and so glad everyone enjoyed it.

Camarone Tacos

Sauteed Shrimp, garlic, red onion, avocado salsa

My favorite of the three tacos.  Fresh, juicy, plump shrimp that everyone enjoyed.

Al Pastor Taco

with grilled rib chop and charred pineapple

Flavorful and tasty, but the shrimp was still my favorite.  A lot heavier in flavor than the shrimp.

Carnitas

Slow braised pork,onions, cilantro, arbol salsa

The meat was pretty dry and it was my least favorite.  By the time this one came out, we were all pretty full.  I'm glad the best came out first.

C Casa-An Innovative Taqueria

Oxbow Public Market
Napa, California

Occasion: Birthday brunch. 03.09.12

We had some delicious tacos the last time we were here, so we decided to once again try something else from here.  At the end, I was regretful in ordering two tacos.  Pica Pica was so good that I wished we had ordered one more item there and one less item here.

Mahi Mahi Taco

The mahi mahi was delicious, but it was buried under all this cabbage.  I think there was just too much cabbage going on.  I wish it was more of a mexian style taco instead.  It doesn't consist of a lot of the components that a real mexican taco is composed of.  Definitely minus points with no avocado.

Breakfast taco

with diced up tomatoes, chorizo, chopped onions, avocado, black beans and cilantro

Between the fish taco and this, I enjoyed this more.  Loved the poached egg, as it's yolk oozed out after breaking into it.  I love the freshness of the vegetables used. The chorizo seemed to be in ground up form, which is the star of the dish.  I enjoyed it, but I loved the Pica Pica Cachapas more.

Don Pisto's

510 Union St
San Francisco, CA 94133

Occasion: Friday night, date night! 12.30.11

 Tortilla Soup

stewed chicken, tortilla strips, avocado, queso fresco 

They say that it serves two, but if  you're all planning to share everything, I'd say it could serve up to 4.  This was super filling, but perfect on a cold and rainy evening.  It's simple, but at the same time comforting.  I would definitely recommend getting this to share between 4-6 people.

Pescados Taco

It came with two and we each had one.  I was reminiscing the fish tacos we had in Cabo so when I saw this on the menu, I was hoping for something that's only now in my memory.  Unfortunately, it did not compare.  It wasn't bad, it just wasn't fabulous.  For more than double the price, I just thought it was okay.  Sigh, now I've got to find another place to satisfy my fish taco cravings.

House made chorizo mussels

mexican country sausage, white wine, and cilantro  

Absolutely flavorful, especially with the chopped up chunks of chorizo in it.  Henry really enjoyed the extra kick the chorizo chunks added to this dish.  Though it was delicious and flavorful, I found the dish a little too salty for my liking, which means, I couldn't load up on it as much as I usually would. Overall, a great dish.

It was somekind of mexican drink with hot sauce and beer.

Reminded me somewhat of a bloody mary, but tasted nothing like it. Disgusting to me.

El Burrito Express 2

1812 Divisadero St
San Francisco, CA 94115

Occasion: Friday lunch. 10.28.11

Chicken and Sour cream El Expresso Burrito - it comes wrapped in a giant flour tortilla with rice, beans, cheese, chicken, guacamole, onions, tomatoes, and cheese on top. Topped off with a special expresso sauce and sour cream.

It was just a mediocre burrito.  Flour tortilla was too thick, there wasn't enough guacamole nor beans.  It seemed like they skimped on most items except for the special sauce and the sour cream.  What I did like was the chicken, which was cooked flavorful and moist.  I hate dry chicken and was happy to find it nice and juicy.

Los Cabos Airport

Los Cabos Airport, Mexico

Occasion: We had spare time since our flight was delayed for two hours so we decided get our grub on at the airport. 09.12.11

Combo platter: mozzarella cheese sticks, onion rings, honey glazed chicken wings and pizza

the highlight for me were the chicken wings!

Pretty decent and better than the sandwich below.

Tri tip steak sandwich

with fries

This was gross. The bread was hard to chew and bite into.  The meat was dry and pretty much flavorless. Best part of this dish were the fries.

Oh airport food...what can you expect...

Gardenia's again!

Cabo San Lucas, Los Cabo, Mexico

Occasion: This time we came with everyone.  Lunch was so good the previous day that we had to share this deliciousness with everyone else. We were all very happy to have had this as our last real authentic meal in Cabo San Lucas. (Airport doesnt' count). 09.12.11

Ceviche, Fish tacos, chicken taco

Best thing here are the fish tacos, so we came  back with the rest of the gang to get this.  Tried something different at this second visit: chicken taco.  Loved it.  Tender, moist flavorful shredded chicken.  Everything we ordered were delicious!

Taco Shop again!

Cabo San Lucas, Los Cabo, Mexico

Occasion: After trying the four tacos at the taco shack up the block, we all came back to the taco shop for the third time for their pork tacos. I wanted to try something different that a local had recommended to me the night before. 09.11.11

Huarache

It's a much larger form of sope, where the tortilla is a bit different. Their tortillas are a bit thicker than the ones you eat with tacos and has a more distinct cornmeal flavor to it. It's good especially when it soaks up the juices from the meat and the toppings that are piled on top. Tasty, filling and wonderful.

Taco shack

Cabo San Lucas, Los Cabos, Mexico

Occasion: Sunday night dinner. We encountered another group of youngins (probably oldies compared to us. LOL!) from San Francisco and they had talked about this Taco shack that was up the block from the tacoshop that we had been going to during the late nights. We decided to make a journey two blocks up and we found it. This place is literally a shack, not a restaurant.  There's just two guys working there. 09.11.11

Between two people we decided to share their 4 different tacos: Chorizo, pork, beef tongue and carne asada

Beef tongue was my favorite, then the chorizo, followed by the carne asada then the pork. The pork is way better at the taco shop down the block. Not to say that this place wasn't good because  it was and it as cheap. So worth the try, since they don't have chorizo nor beef tongue at the taco place down the block.

Gardenia's

Cabo San Lucas, Los Cabos, Mexico

Occasion: After a morning of Dolphin Swimming in the Marina, our group split up. Some went a couple went parasailing, a couple went jetskiing and our group decided to go eat! After an hour of walking in the heat and searching for this hole in the wall place, we finally found it. 09.11.11

Fish Ceviche

So freaking good and fresh. This is what I've been craving for. Ceviche soaked in flavorful lime juice, salsa, cilantro and topped with avocado.  I like how they gave us packages of tortilla chips.  I topped each chip off with some ceviche and enjoyed each bite. There were three of us and it was definitely more than enough for us!! YUM!

Chicken Quesadilla

Delicious.  The chicken was shredded and very tender.  To my surprise, it wasn't dry at all and very flavorful.  The gooey warm cheese definitely made it better.  It's a simple creation, but it was absolutely amazing!

Nopales Taco

Yes, I had a cactus taco. When I saw it on the menu, I just knew I had to order it.  I'm in Mexico, I need to eat something that was true to the Mexian roots.  It was really good and very flavorful.  The texture of the cooked cactus reminded of green beans.  It was a nice to finally be able to know what cactus actually tastes like, especially because it's so talked about in the food scene and on the food network.  I enjoyed it and would eat it again!

Shrimp Tacos

Before and after.  They serve it to you with just the fried shrimp on the tortilla so that we could add our toppings on it the way we like it.  The batter on it was perfect, not too thick and fried to the perfect golden brown.  It was flavorful and just plain delicious.

Fish tacos

What I've been waiting for the whole trip; some bombdiggity scrumplicious fish tacos.  At last, I've found it.  Totally worth the somewhat journey.  I was so happy that we finally found a place that and delicious tacos.  Hands down best taco through out our whole trip.  Not only were they good, they were also reasonably cheap.  Loved it!

Billygan's

Cabo San Lucas, Los Cabos, Mexico

Occasion: Sat night dinner. Someone REALLY wanted to eat Lobster tail, so we came here! 09.10.11 

Strawberry Margarita 

Sipping on my Mexican cocktail! What a huge cup!

2 Lobster Tail

Probably the worse meal we had during the whole trip.  The lobster tail was not fresh and had a sandy/ grainy texture to it.  Good thing two of us SHARED this!  

Taco Shop

Cabo San Lucas, Los Cabos, Mexico

Occasion: Late night grubbing after our first night out. First $1 shots then its $1 tacos. We were such happy Americans. 09.09.11

The pork on the bottom was a favorite amongst our group. Absolutely delicious especially after a night out! I like how they had a condiments bar that had everything from salsa to guacamole. We could design our tacos to our own liking with as many toppings as we'd like! So cheap and so good!

Popsicles off the street

Cabo San Lucas,Los Cabos, Mexico

Occasion: While we were waiting for our taxi after our adventure to the arch we saw an ice cream man selling really unique and authentic looking frozen fruit bars.

Left: Mango and Chile

Right: Mango and  Coconut

Both were refreshing and delicious.  I usually don't enjoy coconut flavored popsicles, but this one was really good.  The coconut flavor was not too sweet and creamy.  Kind of reminded me of an orange creamsicle.  The Mango chile was interesting because it had a little bit of heat.  Out of the two I liked the Mango coconut one more! So good!

Las Tortugas Restaurant Cabo

Los Cabos, Mexico

Occasion: First meal after our arrival in Cabo. By the time we checked in and got ourselves settled, it was just about dinner time.  We all got vouchers to eat at the hotel, so we decided to use it up the first night. 09.09.11.

Mango Strawberry and Strawberry Daiquiris

Strawberry tasted better!

Stuff from the salad bar: fruits, salad, salsa, ceviche, guacamole and chips. 

All you can eat! Woohoo. I was addicted to the guac and chips.

Catch of the day with veggies and rice.

It came with a delicious buttery sauce that you could dip the fish into.  I really enjoyed it, but thought it was overpriced.  Good thing we had coupons for the food.

Steak with a taquito and rice and beans

It was ok.  I was munching on the beans more than anything else on that plate!

Andale Mexican Restaurant

Terminal 2
SFO

Occasion: Lunch at the new Terminal 2 before we board our plane to CABO! 09.09.11

Fish Tacos

Starting our trip off right with some delicious tacos at the airport. I was impressed with how flavorful and delicious they were, considering the fact that it was airport food. Fish was soft and seasoned very well.  I was happy that there was a good amount of guacamole on it.  There was also some heat to the taco. Satisfied and ready for our trip!

XOCO

449 N Clark St
Chicago, IL 60654

Occasion: After lunch snack time.  We walked right next door to try their Mexican street food.  Also owned by Rick Bayless.  We were so full, we only had room for one thing. 07.01.11

 

Churros

So good!! Especially when it's fresh and hot! It was perfectly sweet with just the right amount of sugar and cinnamon and the pastry was not too hard as I've had it before.  It was soft and chewy and very memorable.

Frontera Grill

445 N Clark St
Chicago, IL 60654

Occasion: First stop for food on our Chicago Trip, not to say that it's the same for everyone else on the trip.  We happened to have been able to get a reservation for four.  We were excited to try Rick Bayless' restaurant.  We came here with all our luggage. LOL!! People must have thought we were crazy. 07.01.11

On the left: Sparkling Passion: Marisol beer, passion fruit, fresh lime and sweet "hibiscus" tea

On the right: Mexican Mojito: Fresh-squeezed lime juice, muddled fresh mint, organic cane syrup, your choice of tequila or rum, splash of soda

Trio, Trio, Trio: Sampling of Ceviche Fronterizo, Ceviche Yucateco & Coctail de Atun Tropical

From left to right: Ceviche Yucateco: Steamed Mexican blue shrimp & calamari, lime, orange, habanero, avocado, jcama & cilantro. 

Coctel de Atun Tropical: Sashimi-grade Hawaiian yellowfin tuna, avocado-tomatillo guacamole, tangy mango-grapefruit salsa

Ceviche Fronterizo: Lime-marinated Hawaiian albacore with tomatoes, olives, cilantro, green chile; on crispy tostaditas

They were all delicious, but my favorite was the middle one with yellowfin tuna, avocado and mango-grapefruit salsa.  The guacamole was amazing.  Yujae was actually contemplating as to whether or not we should order guacamole because he said "how good could this gaucamole be?" Well let me tell you, it was pretty darn good. LOVED IT! As I have mentioned in some of my previous posts, I've really grown to love and appreciate the pairing of seafood and tangy fruits.  It's just so refreshing and delicious, the perfect combination.

Quesadillas Nortenas: Flour tortillas folded over Wisconsin Jack cheese & grilled shrimp. Served with black beans & young greens

It was pretty good, but was not the highlight.  The ceviche took the attention away from this.  I loved the black beans it was served with; absolutely flavorful and delicious.

Sopes Rancheros: Crispy corn masa boats, savory shredded beef, roasted tomato, avocado, homemade fresh cheese

Delicious.  I just love the crispy corn masa boats.  I first had it in LA and here I am at Frontera Grill trying it again.  The shredded beef was tender and absolutely flavorful.  Each sope also had a piece of avocado topped on top, which added flavor to it.  It was the perfect size and each bite bursting with amazing flavors.  Not sure what kind of sauce was used, but that definitely complemented the sopes.

Tamales de Elote: Sweet corn tamales (in banana leaves), homemade crema, queso fresco, wood-grilled poblano chile

As a group decision, this was definitely our least favorite dish.  I've never had a real authentic tamale so I was expecting a lot especially from Frontera Grill.  It had texture like cornmeal and there wasn't a lot of stuffing.  The sauce had a little bit of heat and flavors that did not wow me.  I didn't think it was that great.

C Casa-An Innovative Taqueria

Oxbow Public Market
Napa, California

Occasion: Wine tasting and grubbing in Napa. 05.29.11

Tacos

One was Mahi Mahi, forgot what the second one was, but they were unbearably spicy for my liking.  There was just too much cabbage on there and it's not even a vegetable that I am that fond of.  It was decent with a lot of flavors, but not really my style.C

Lobster Salad

Delicious. I love seafood based salads.  It had chunks of grapefruit and avocado, which I really liked.  There's the bittersweet juicy grapefruit paired with the rich creamy avocado. I definitely enjoyed it more than I did the tacos.

El Burrito Express 2

1812 Divisadero St
San Francisco, CA 94115

Occasion: Lunch after a rough night before. 3.18.11

Carne Asada Fries

Fresh cut steak fries, grilled carne asada and onions, Expresso sauce, cheese, guacamole, sour cream and tomato salsa.

Rainy day comfort food for lunch. Nothing compared to Berto's in Vallejo, but closest thing we could find.

4505 Meats

1 Ferry Building
San Francisco, CA 94111

Occasion: Saturday Farmer's Market after Lyon's Street Stairs!

Chicharrones

Never tasted pork rinds better than these.  They are better than those deep fried shrimp chips you get at Chinese restaurants.  These seriously melt in your mouth instantly.  So full of flavor and so good. They were addicting because once you pop one in your mouth, you just can't stop. What a great little snack to have. Also on the SF BIG EATS SF 2010 # 58 Chicharrones from 4505 Meats.