Pike Place Chowder

1530 Post Alley
Seattle, WA 98101

Occasion: We knew we wanted to check out their chowders here, just a matter of when we could fit it into our schedule filled with so many food stops. 09.01.13

There was a Yelp check in deal. 3 chowder sampler cups for $9 so we took advantage of it.

We got the regular chowder, salmon chowder and the seafood bisque.  They were all very creamy and flavorful, but my favorite is probably the seafood bisque. I'm glad the two of us shared all of this, otherwise I don't think I could have finished it. I love variety, seafood and good eats. I'd definitely recommend this for those who are visiting Seattle.

PPQ Dungeness Island Vietnamese Cuisine

2332 Clement Street
San Francisco, CA 94121

Occasion: Double dinner date for some crab! 07.29.12

Peppercorn Crab

My favorite between the two different preparations of crab.  It's deep fried, dry and not too messy to eat.  It's absolutely packed with a peppercorn spice.  

Seabass 

The meat is so soft that it seriously melts in your mouth.  There's a great combination of sweet and savory.  This is so good.  Though this is not their signature dish nor is it what they're known for, this is one dish that is definitely worth a try.

Roasted Crab 

It's soaked in garlic and butter and it's delicious, but it can get messy.  And if you know me, I'm not a big fan of messy!  Though I'd like for it to be more garlicy, it's still good in my books.

Garlic Noodle

How do you have crab without garlic noodles.  You can't!  Perfect pairing with some crab meat! I don't think their garlic noodles are the best, since I like it loaded with garlic flavor, which this place kind of lacks in.

Skool

1725 Alameda St
San Francisco, CA 94103

Occasion: Catch up dinner with my Big sis.  I got there a little bit earlier than our reservation time and made it there while their happy hour was still going on.  We ordered a couple of items on their Detention Hall (Happy Hour Menu) as well as from their regular dinner menu. Their food is AMAZING!  07.05.12

Eryngii Mushroom Fries

with Cornmeal Breading Served with Skool Miso Aioli

Deep fried mushrooms= amazingly delicious, especially when dipped into their miso ailoli sauce.  They're great to snack on and absolutely addicting. Genius.

Skool Sliders

Pork Belly Confit Sliders with Sugar Miso Glaze, Serrano Chille and Togarashi on Baby Brioche Bun

Another amazing bite from their happy hour menu.  Their buns were just whatever, but I loved the spicy and sweet combo on the pork belly.

Sexy Cocktail Drinks

Crab Bon Bons

Dungeness Crab Balls with Yuzu-Citrus Hollandaise and Herb Oil

They're okay, not too memorable though. 

Grilled Ika-Yaki

Large Grilled Squid with Tomato-Ginger Fondue 

Loved the charred taste of the grilled squid, which were really soft and not too chewy.  There were chunks of tomatoes that were so soft and flavorful. 

Squid Ink Spaghettina

Monterey Squid, Local White Shrimp, Garlic Tomato Compote, Japanese Red Curry, Lemon Grass Dashi-Broth, Seaweed Butter, Enoki Mushrooms, Shiso

This is seriously my favorite thing to get here.  One serving is enough to share between two and you can request for them to split it for you.  The soup is flavorful with a kick of spice to it.  The quid ink pasta is fresh and chewy. Oh and the variety of seafood in the bowl is generous.  It's just a really well put together dish. I love it and would highly recommend it.

Lavendar Panna Cotta

The taste of lavendar was just too strong for my liking.  It just didn't do it for me, but the little biscuit cookie it came with was delicious.

Skool

1725 Alameda St
San Francisco, CA 94103

Occasion: Catch up dinner with Fanny.  She's been hardcore studying for her CFA (I could be wrong with the exact term) and has finally taken the test, so she's now more free to eat and play.  Delicious food with great company!  Loved the theme of the whole place. Skool like a school of fish. Also, their menus consisted of lined binder paper on a clipboard with a pencil on top, like school.  Creative. 03.29.12

Uni Flan

Light Sea Urchin Flan topped with Ikura, Fresh Uni and Fleur de Sel

Served as a cold appetizer. Silky and smooth and best served over a piece of toasted baguette.  Not as rich in flavor as I had imagined it to be, but still flavorful.

Ama Ebi and Scallop Crudo

Shrimp and Scallop with cream dill mustard sauce and curry oil

Amazing!  It came with fried shrimp heads which were crispy and somewhat flavorless.  The shrimp and scallop were so fresh that they were melt in your mouth buttery soft.  The fennel added a refreshing nature like taste to the dish, which I enjoyed very much.  It was a well thought out dish.

Chef's Red Crab Risotto 

Rich Risotto with Red Crab meat topped with pan seared nightly fish filet

I like risotto especially if it's made right.  Oh they know how to make their risottos here I tell ya.   It's not too mushy nor is it too hard.  It was absolutely perfect, rich and flavorful.  The pan seared fish filet was an excellent pair with the crab chunks in the risotto.  I loved the tomato chunks topped to the dish.  It was a great dish that we both enjoyed.

Squid Ink Spaghettina

Monterey squid, shrimp, garlic tomato compote, red curry, lemon grass dashi broth, seaweed butter, enoki mushrooms, shiso

My favorite dish of the night! They knew we were sharing and the kitchen was nice enough to split it into two bowls for us.  Even with the split portions it was still a generous amount.  I totally did not expect it to be in a soup is form, but I absolutely loved the flavors, despite the hint of spiciness in the broth.  The squid ink pastas were nice and springy and I loved the seafood that it came with.  I definitely would love to come back and have this all to myself. Yummy!

Misore Age

Fried Japanese eggplant, snow shaved daikon radish

Delicious! Soft and flavorful.  If you like eggplant, this is a must!

Cardamom Chocolate Cake 

Flourless Guittard Chocolate cake with cardamom spice topped with orange confit, orange sauce and sugar tulle

It has a dense texture almost like the insides of truffle candy, where as I was expecting a light fluffy chocolate cake filled with oozing goodness. At first bite, I thought it was good, then all the flavors hit my taste buds and I didn't think so anymore.  I tried another bite to test it out and it was still not that pleasing to my palate

Waterbar

399 The Embarcadero
San Francisco, CA 94105


Occasion: Dinner date with my big sis! 02.29.12


A restaurant with a spectacular view of the Bay Bridge, high ceilings and aquarium columns for us to enjoy while chatting away to delicious seafood, jaw dropping conversations with great company.  It's my third time here and I've enjoyed it each and every time. Great date spot, happy hour spot and a place to catch up with one of your girl friends.

Hearts of Palm

grilled and stuffed with either shrimp or crab (I forget which one) garnished with watercress and slices of grapefruit

I remember thinking the artichoke palms were really tough and just whatever to me.  I didn't really think it was a very well executed dish, though I did enjoy the slices of plump and juicy grapefruits it came with.

Cider braised pork cheeks

soft polenta, poached ranch egg, cipollini agrodolce
sustainably raised at the Hill Family Farm in Pendleton, Oregon 

Delicious dish, with soft, tender and flavorful pork cheeks.  The polenta was delicious and reminded me of something between mashed potatoes and grits.  Soft like mashed potatoes, but not as rich and grainy as grits. Loved the yolk gushing out of the poached egg, which added a creaminess to the dish.  The combination of the green sauce, pork cheeks and carmelized onions were also delightful. Savory mixed with tangy.

1 Dozen Oysters

We both love raw oysters and you just can't go wrong with these.  They were fresh and chilled and I drizzled each one of mine with lemon juice and the vinaigrette. The acidity of the sauce and the lemon really takes away the fishiness of the raw seafood.

Pan Roasted Black Cod

spring garlic jus, grilled baby leeks, romesco sauce

trap caught aboard the “Salmon Stalker” out of San Francisco, California 

Crispy skin with soft meat. So good. Probably my favorite dish of the night.

Hazelnut Profiteroles

fudge sauce, milk chocolate candied hazelnuts 

Like a cream puff, except instead of a cream filling it was an ice cream filling. Fluffy puff pastry with the perfect amount of ice cream drizzled with hot chocolate fudge and little pieces of hazelnuts sprinkled in it.  It was seriously the perfect dessert to end the night, as it was perfectly sweet with nice crunches of hazelnut. I am a fan of anything hazelnut flavored. YUM!

Cioppino's

400 Jefferson St
San Francisco, CA 94109

Occasion: Late dinner with a new friend, Jae. I couldn't think of any other place still open at 9pm on a Sunday night, so this place it was. 02.12.12

 Cioppino

Generous amounts of seafood, especially crab meat, which I love.  I do appreciate the fact that they loaded it with just about every kind of seafood there is.  Sauce was not too thick or chunky and seemed more brothy. Definitely best eaten hot.

Caprese Salad

Nothing special. I don't like how they were prepared...doesn't make sharing easy. The cheese was too thick, the tomato slices sour.  I've definitely had better.

Sotto Mare

552 Green St
San Francisco, CA 94133

Occasion: Catch up and dinner with two of my kiddos from the city; Michelle and Tiff.  Came here June of 2011 and realized that I hadn't added this to the food blog yet; well actually my sister reminded me.  She went for dinner last night and asked me for suggestions and when I directed her to my blog she said nothing was there, so I searched for it myself and was unable to find it.  I found these pics that were emailed to me by one of my bAbiEs. Great chats and delicious food. I can't wait to go back. Has it been that long?

Seafood linguine in their pink sauce

When I had gone down to Irvine and friend had recommended getting this dish there.  Pink sauce is not on the menu so you need to ask for it.  Best decision we made all night.  It was the best dish we ordered, even though everything was delicious.  Generous chunks of seafood ranging from clams, mussels, calamari, scallops.  The sauce was not overly creamy, but had some tartness from what seemed to be marinara sauce.  It's a seafood lovers type of dish. Definitely a must get dish.

Clam chowder

It was good, not too thick nor too thin of a broth, filled with chunks of clam (yay).  Though the taste wasn't the best I've ever had, it was still pretty good.

Cioppino 

Good thing there were three of us because it came in such a generous serving.

 I was amazed with how fresh the ingredients tasted and how much seafood was actually in it. Loved the fact that there were pene pasta tubes in it. It's probably the best cioppino I've ever had. So freaking delicious.

Fish & Farm

339 Taylor St
San Francisco, CA 94102

Occasion: Catch up and dinner with the college roomie for Dine about Town. Definitely long over due. 01.25.2012

 Complimentary shot of soup

Not exactly sure what it was, but it was nice to have something warm and free to start the meal off to.

 

Gem Salad

Simple, but delicious and refreshing.  Seemed to be seasoned with some salt and pepper and some kind of vinaigrette.  I also loved the chopped cherry tomatoes.

Salmon entree

Absolutely delicious.  It was cooked perfectly and flavored very well.  The skin was slightly crispy and the meat was soft.  Portion was generous and was laid on a bed of potato chunks and sauteed veggies.  It was delicious and filling.

Chocolate lava cake with vanilla bean ice cream

I am not usually a big fan of chocolate desserts, but this was truly something special.  The cake was warm, moist and filled with molten chocolate.  It was rich and decadent. A bite of the chocolate goodness and a spoonful of the vanilla bean ice cream combined was definitely the perfect marriage, but eating it separately was just as good. One of the best molten lava chocolate cake's I've ever had!

Sam's Chowders

4210 North Cabrillo Highway
Half Moon Bay, CA 94019

Occasion: Saturday lunch after the pumpkin festival in half moon bay. What a perfect excuse to come here for lunch. We planned our lunch here knowing that we'd be in the area. Been meaning to give this place a try and we finally did. 10.15.11

Pumpkin bisque

It was a special on their menu.  Since we just came from the pumpkin festival we wanted to give this bisque a try.  It's thick, smooth, creamy and sweet.  The sunflower seeds(?) that were sprinkled into the bisque  definitely added a nice flavor and a crunchy texture to the soup.  It was my first time having it and I enjoyed it.

Clam Chowder

The bisque definitely does not beat this clam chowder.  It was so good and perfect for the moment, since it was just a little bit breezy out there.  The broth flavorful, not too thick nor too watery. There were generous amounts of baby clams and hearty chunks of potato.  I almost wished that we got another bowl of clam chowder so that we could each have a bowl.

Lobster roll

Finally the moment we've both been waiting for! I've been dying to try this lobster roll, but never made my way out to half moon bay or had the patience to try it at Off the grid in Fort Mason. It was delicious. I just wish it was bigger! I shared this with Henry, and if it wasn't for the two soups we had prior, I probably would have eaten his half too. There's generous amounts of chunky lobster meat, with not too much mayo (just the way I like it). It also came with cole slaw and chips, but I barely touched it. I'm still thinking about it

L20

2300 N Lincoln Park W
Chicago, IL 60614

Occasion: Saturday night dinner/ fancy dinner also celebrating Tiff's Bday! 07.02.11 *Food Pics courtesy of Tiff*  We had four couples.  Each couple sampled stuff from the prix fixed menu and the singular luxury ingredient tasting menu.

** 3 Michelin Stars **

Amuse Bouche

Complimentary bread

Amuse bouche

Complimentary bite sized lobster roll.  It was so good, we wished they had this on the menu! So delicious!

maryland blue crab en gelée with fennel cream, basil

part of the singular tasting menu

hand cut fettucine with lobster-uni emulsion, oscietra caviar

part of the prix fixed menu

Scallop

hand harvested maine scallop cooked in the shell, leeks, black truffle

part of the singular tasting menu

braised foie gras • rhubarb, torchon, indonesian peppercorn

from the prix fixed menu

turbot • yuzu, black lime

from the singular tasting menu

maine lobster • smoked foie gras, chanterelles, vin jaune

stripped bass - braised preserved lemon, warm crab salad, piperade

from the prix fixed menu

a11 wagyu • grilled, potato fondant, black truffle

from the tasting menu

lemon zest sorbet palette cleanser

praline soufflé • hazelnut anglaise

from the tasting menu

Complimentary canales

 

Complimentary lemon macaroon