Monthly Archives: November 2013

What I ate for Thanksgiving 2013!

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Turkey

I went back to the Puget Sound to spend time with my family over Thanksgiving. It was great to see everyone, even my dad who usually doesn’t leave the house very often in his old age. My oldest sister and her family were having their own Thanksgiving in Tacoma so I wasn’t able to see them, but there were so many others I was glad and fortunate to spend time with this holiday. Everyone else (which included 5 of my siblings and too many nieces and nephews) met up at the second oldest siblings house in our hometown. We and an amazing time catching up, telling stories, playing games, and generally teasing each other and having a good laugh. There was TOO much food, but here are some of the pics I was able to snap before I literally drank myself to sleep, LOL!

Pancit
Pancit.

Acorn squash with stuffing
Acorn squash with stuffing.

Mashed sweet potatoes
Mashed sweet potatoes topped with maple-glazed nuts.

Lumpia
Fresh fried lumpia.

Roasted duck and lechon
Roasted duck and lechon (roasted pork).

Crab foo yung
Crab foo yung.

Turon
Turon (dessert lumpia with banana and jackfruit).

And WAY too much wine!!!

Roasted cauliflower soup – Alamo Square Seafood Grill

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Roasted cauliflower soup - Alamo Square Seafood Grill
With croutons and freshly ground black pepper. Daily 3-course prix fixe $14.50
Alamo Square Seafood Grill, San Francisco CA

This restaurant has a great daily prix fixe for under fifteen bucks! The service was a little unfocused, but the food was great especially for the price. This cauliflower soup was tasty and had lots of flavor. It had a fairly light texture which was probably healthier, but with the current cold weather a thicker, creamier based would have been amazing. Ugh, this is why I will never be super skinny! LOL

Asian Art Museum of San Francisco
Asian Art Museum of San Francisco.

Shrimp ceviche – El Techo de Lolinda

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Shrimp ceviche - El Techo de Lolinda

Ceviche de camaron. Shrimp, lime, roasted tomato, red onion, cucumber, avocado, cilantro, served with tortilla chips. $13
El Techo de Lolinda, San Francisco CA

Eh, this was a standard ceviche; nothing special and maybe a little on the too sour side. I wasn’t very impressed with this ceviche knowing how popular this place is for drinks and bar food. I think they’re banking on their rooftop location more than providing delicious drinks and food. We’ll see how long before people catch on.

El Cid statue
El Cid statue, Anna Hyatt Huntington, California Palace of the Legion of Honor.

Warm hand pulled mozzarella – Ragazza

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Warm hand pulled mozzarella - Ragazza
With heirloom tomatoes, brown butter and sage. Banquet-style dinner
Ragazza, San Francisco CA

Simple dishes with quality products are the absolute best! This was SO yummy! I love mozzarella and heirloom tomtatoes so it’s not a surprise that I would like this dish, but they added even more flavor with the brown butter and fried sage so I was a total fan.

California lilac
California lilac (Ceanothus sp., Rhamnaceae), Land’s End.

Cornmeal fried oysters – Town Hall

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Cornmeal fried oysters - Town Hall
Herbsaint spinach puree, Zoe’s bacon, preserved lemon. $15
Town Hall, San Francisco CA

Please forgive the poor pic quality. I had my friend snap it with my iPhone and they’re a Galaxy user and not familiar with the iPhone camera, lol! Anyway, these oysters were delicious and super juicy inside. The flavors were great and I loved the presentation using the shells.

Ruth Asawa

Contours in the Air sculptures, Ruth Asawa, de Young Museum.

Cheese arepa – Roxy’s Cafe

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Cheese arepa - Roxy's Cafe
Sweet white corn bread, Howard McGinnis Ranch fresh berries, homemade ice cream. 10-course chef’s tasting menu $75
Roxy’s Cafe, San Francisco CA

This dessert was very tasty and I liked that it wasn’t super sweet. The warm cheese arepa was delicious and slightly savory which was a great contrast to the sweet berries and ice cream. I also loved the colors on the plate.

Robert Emmet statue
Robert Emmet statue, California Academy of Sciences.

Angry Korean wings – Wing Wings

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Angry Korean wings - Wing Wings
Fried chicken wings with homemade Angry Korean sauce, green onions and sesame seeds (blue cheese 50¢). Six for $6
Wing Wings, San Francisco CA

Omg, these wings were AMAZING! I’m a huge fan of chicken wings and I’ve tried a lot of them over the years, and these Angry Korean wings are probably some of the best I’ve had. Their homemade sauce is frickin’ out of this world and believe you me, I sopped up all of it from the paper boat, lol! I also found out that they deliver – crap, this could be a problem. 😉

7×7 Magazine’s The Big Eat San Francisco: 100 Things to Eat + Drink Before You Die – 2013

Yellow angel's trumpets
Yellow angel’s trumpets (Brugmansia sp., Solanaceae), The Castro.

Margarita – El Techo de Lolinda

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Margarita - El Techo de Lolinda

Pueblo Viejo tequila, lime, combier orange liqueur. Pitcher $29
El Techo de Lolinda, San Francisco CA

Meh, this margarita was marginal. It tasted pretty bland and watered down. This was their basic margarita, but at almost thirty bucks for a pitcher, I expected something with a little more flavor (and alcohol). Lame.

El Techo rooftop
This rooftop restaurant and bar get super packed on a sunny day so get there early to score a table without a long wait. The food is better than their drinks.

Fried arancini – Ragazza

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Fried arancini - Ragazza
With smoked mozzarella and sun-dried tomato pesto. Banquet-style dinner
Ragazza, San Francisco CA

We came here for a friend’s birthday celebration and sat in the cool white tent located in the back patio. We had a great time with amazing friends and, of course, the food was fabulous. These arancini were delicious and perfectly cooked (not greasy at all!). The smoked mozzarella inside the fried risotto ball was gooey and flavorful, and the accompanying meat sauce was wonderful too.

Cowboy statue
I really liked this (tacky) cowboy statue at the de Young Museum, hehe! Hey, it has lots of movement! 🙂

Faith’s warm ham and cheese toast – Town Hall

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Faith's warm ham and cheese toast - Town Hall
Poached egg, jalapeno cream. $14
Town Hall, San Francisco CA

Omg, this appetizer was a meal by itself! And a delicious one at that, but you certainly can’t have more food after this dish. It’s super heavy and filled with fatty goodness. You are not warned on the menu, but it also comes with 3 jalapeno poppers, lol! The jalapeno cream sauce is frickin’ delicious and the poached egg is great after it’s broken and mixes with the cream sauce. This dish is like a fancy croque madame gone crazy! (But a good kinda crazy.) Noms!

7×7 Magazine’s The Big Eat San Francisco: 100 Things to Eat + Drink Before You Die – 2013

San Francisco home

Beautiful San Francisco home, The Castro.

Painted Hills top sirloin and pork belly – Roxy’s Cafe

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Painted Hills top sirloin and pork belly - Roxy's Cafe
House cured bacon, sprouted beans, red pepper, okra. 10-course chef’s tasting menu $75
Roxy’s Cafe, San Francisco CA

Aside from the beautifully cooked and delicious proteins on this plate, the sprouted beans were my favorite part! I’d never had them before, and they had a wonderful texture and tasted great! I will say that my cut of beef had a lot of connective tissue, so while it was still tasty, I really couldn’t cut through it very easily. Lame.

Weathered mailboxes
Weathered mailboxes, The Castro.

Cadillac margarita – El Torito

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Cadillac margarita - El Torito
Made with premium 1800 Reposado, triple sec and sweet and sour, hand-shaken and served on-the-rocks with a side shot of Cointreau Noir. $8.29
El Torito, Burlingame CA

El Torito is a local chain so I was skeptical that they would make a decent margarita because most chains serve really bad cocktails. They’re usually way too sweet and have very little alcohol. I was pleasantly surprised that this margarita actually tasted good. And the extra Cointreau shot really sneaks up on you, lol! Yay!

San Francisco Bay
Looking out towards SFO and the San Francisco Bay from Millbrae.