Roasted pepper and burrata tart – Park Tavern

Roasted pepper and burrata tart - Park Tavern
Crispy puff pastry, spicy pork sausage, caramelized onions, broccoli rabe, and bagna cauda vinaigrette. $14
Park Tavern, San Francisco CA

Do I need to reiterate my love for burrata? Lol. Mmm, this was so good! I sometimes wish that I could afford a personal chef who would make me beautiful snacks like this all day long. 🙂

Winecup clarkia
Winecup clarkia (Clarkia purpurea, Onagraceae), Bon Tempe Lake.

Rice vermicelli with seafood – Nha Hang Ngon

Rice vermicelli with seafood - Nha Hang Ngon
Bun gao xao hai san. With shrimp, calamari, carrot, cabbage, onion, sprouts, cilantro, and scallions. 120,000 VND
Nha Hang Ngon, Ho Chi Minh City VIETNAM

Mmm, another delicious dish from Nha Hang Ngon. This had SO much flavor and a variety of textures – it was perfect! The seafood was prepared properly and the sauce was amazing. I could eat two plates of this!

Place setting - Nha Hang Ngon
Place setting.

Saigon Notre-Dame Basilica
Saigon Notre-Dame Basilica.

Bulalo special – Leslie’s Restaurant

Bulalo special - Leslie's Restaurant
Beef shank stew with bone marrow, napa cabbage, corn, long bean, bok choy, and onion. 599 PHP
Leslie’s Restaurant, Tagaytay PHILIPPINES

Bulalo special - Leslie's Restaurant
I guess Leslie’s is famous for their bulalo and now I know why! This beef soup was SO delicious. It had SO much flavor with just the right amount of bitterness. The restaurant is super popular so be prepared to wait. The views behind the restaurant are also spectacular!

Raised hut overlooking Taal Volcano
Raised hut overlooking Taal Volcano behind Leslie’s.

Green mango salad – Vietnamese Kitchen

Green mango salad - Vietnamese Kitchen
Goi xoal kho sac. With dried fish, shrimp chips, and red chilies. 94,000 VND
Vietnamese Kitchen, Ho Chi Minh City VIETNAM

This place sucked! The food was mediocre at best, overpriced, and the service was rude and surly! This green mango salad was slimy and SUPER salty. I’m the last person to complain about saltiness because I love it, but this was TOO much. I really wish we hadn’t eaten here!

War Remnants Museum
War Remnants Museum.

Mango madness cake – Starbucks

Mango madness cake - Starbucks
I couldn’t find a description of this dessert on the Starbucks Philippines website, but I would describe it as a soft whipped cheesecake layered with buttery golden graham cracker crusts, topped with mango slices, whipped cream, and decorative white chocolate. Yet another example of how Starbucks shafts their American customers with crappy food options! 140 PHP
Starbucks, Tagaytay PHILIPPINES

Starbucks, Tagaytay
This is probably the most beautiful Starbucks location I’ve been to yet. The store is literally built into the side of a cliff overlooking Taal lake and volcano!

Starbucks, Tagaytay
Looking from inside the Starbucks down to their fire pit area over looking Taal Lake.

Crispy lemon chips – Park Tavern

Crispy lemon chips - Park Tavern
Burrata, chickweed, sorrel, and Hawaiian black sea salt. $14
Park Tavern, San Francisco CA

A new combination for me – fried lemons and burrata cheese! I’ll admit that I really haven’t had fried lemon slices as an actually appetizer before; perhaps as just a garnish in the past. Anyway, this was delicious and the lemons were nice and crispy!

Beautiful San Francisco homes
Beautiful San Francisco homes, Castro.

Beef salad – Nha Hang Ngon

Beef salad - Nha Hang Ngon
Goi bo bop thau. With vegetables and peanuts in spicy sauce, served with shrimp chips. 130,000 VND
Nha Hang Ngon, Ho Chi Minh City VIETNAM

Beef salad - Nha Hang Ngon
Wow, this dish was SO delicious! The bright, sour sauce was great and the beef was so tender and flavorful. I’m not sure what all the vegetables were, but they tasted great and had many different textures. Definitely a wonderful choice!

Puppies for sale
Puppies for sale! While walking down the sidewalk, we notice a guy selling these adorable puppies from the back of his motorcycle. There were probably a dozen of them and I wanted ONE! 🙂

Spicy salt and pepper chicken – Chelu Bar & Grill

Spicy salt and pepper chicken - Chelu Bar & Grill
With sauteed onions and bell peppers, served with vinegar sauce. 238 PHP
Chelu Bar and Grill, Manila PHILIPPINES

I was really confused by this dish. When I saw the menu item, I didn’t expect it to come out with a mound of sautéed vegetables on top. Oh well, it still tasted fine. And dipping anything in a vinegar based sauce is fine by me!

Cocktails - Chelu Bar & Grill
Margarita and mai tai. The cocktails here weren’t very good at all! It was definitely better to stick with beer.

Quirino statue and sleeping homeless person
Quirino statue and sleeping homeless person, Manila Ocean Park.

Custard pastry – Tous Les Jours

Custard pastry - Tous Les Jours
Banh lop kem. 10,000 VND
Tous Les Jours, Ho Chi Minh City VIETNAM

This was a nice little sweet treat for our morning walk to the War Remnants Museum. It got SO hot that we had to stop at Tao Dan Park for some much needed shade. The custard pastry was SO tasty and moist. This bakery was really popular since it had branches all over the city.

Gerbera daisies
Gerbera daisies, Tao Dan Park.

Demons on horseback – Park Tavern

Demons on horseback - Park Tavern
Lardo-wrapped smoked prawns, remoulade and cucumber. $16
Park Tavern, San Francisco CA

It’d be really easy for me to complain that these cost sixteen bucks, but then it was pretty darn tasty! They had me at lard-wrapped smoked prawns. There was SO much flavor in every bite (even though there were very few bites). 🙂

Alpine Lake, Mt. Tamalpais Watershed
Alpine Lake, Mt. Tamalpais Watershed.