Category Archives: Restaurant

Imperial rolls – PPQ Beef Noodle House

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Imperial rolls - PPQ Beef Noodle House
Cha gio. Crispy fried rolls with ground pork, taro, carrots, and silver noodles. Served with lettuce, mint leaves and cucumber with nuoc mam. $6.75
PPQ Beef Noodle House, San Francisco CA

We don’t order the fried Imperial rolls very often because they’re less healthy than the fresh spring rolls. They’re so much tastier and fun to eat (since you get to wrap them in all the greens) though! I’ve always like how the wrapper gets super crispy and hard and blistered. Noms!

Tea - PPQ Beef Noodle House
Tea. Complimenatry

Rattlesnake grass
Quaking grass/rattlesnake grass (Briza sp., Poaceae), Bon Tempe Lake. I was surprised that I was able to get a clear shot of this tiny subject with my iPhone especially in the wind!

Homemade corn beef hash – Art’s Cafe

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Homemade corn beef hash - Art's Cafe
Spinach, onion, mushroom, melted cheddar cheese Served with hash browns, 2 eggs scrambled, and toast. $6.35
Art’s Cafe, San Francisco CA

OK, this was kinda sad. I get that the prices here are super cheap especially for San Francisco, but I would pay a little more to get a plate of food that would actually fill me up. The skimpily thin layer of corned beef hash (which is mostly potato anyway) placed atop another thin layer of hash browns isn’t gonna cut it! Like I said, I think this place is cute but they might want to reevaluate their portions.

Coffee - Art's Cafe
Coffee.

The Embarcadero

The Embarcadero.

Chicken with orange sauce – Makli Chinese Cuisine

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Chicken with orange sauce - Makli Chinese Cuisine
Chicken breast filet deep fried with a crispy batter served with a spicy orange sauce. $10
Makli Chinese Cuisine, San Francisco CA

Mmm, I love deep fried chicken dishes at Chinese restaurants. I know they’re not authentic and they tend to be super greasy and bad for you, but I still crave them. This orange chicken was executed pretty well. The batter was actually crispy (not soggy like most) and not greasy. The orange sauce was tasty, but not very spicy as advertised.

SOMA mural
Beauty and the beast mural, SOMA.

Cachapa de pollo – Pica Pica

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Cachapa de pollo - Pica Pica
Sweet yellow corn crepe stuffed with grilled chicken, black bean spread, tomato, queso fresco, Guasacaca sauce, served with ensalada Caracas and black beans. $15
Pica Pica, San Francisco CA

The cachapa was pretty large and I couldn’t finish it all, but I had fun trying. The corn crepe was interesting – I thought it would be thinner. The grilled chicken was good, but I wish that they had melted the cheese. I think the different house sauces that they have at the table were delicious and ended up dousing the cachapa in them. Noms!

La Chiffonniere

La Chiffonniere statue, 1978, Jean Dubuffet, Justin Herman Plaza.

Shredded chicken noodle soup – PPQ Beef Noodle House

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Shredded chicken noodle soup - PPQ Beef Noodle House
Pho ga xe phay. Hand pulled chicken in chicken broth with flat noodles. Accompanied by sprouts, lemon, jalapeno, basil, onions and cilantro. Medium $7.75
PPQ Beef Noodle House, San Francisco CA

This place was packed when we ate here and I could see why. The food is pretty good and the prices are great. The service is friendly enough but sometimes a little confused because the large volume of tables constantly turning. It’s all about the broth for me when eating pho, and this place has good broth. The flavor could have been a little deeper, but that’s easily compensated for by adding some spicy condiments. Yum!

Soup add ons - PPQ Beef Noodle House
Soup add-ons.

Thread agave
Thread agave (Agave filifera, Asparagaceae), West Field Road.

Hot sausage has brown sandwich – Art’s Cafe

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Hot sausage has brown sandwich - Art's Cafe
Spinach, onion, mushroom, melted cheddar cheese on hash browns, 2 eggs over-medium, and wheat toast. $7
Art’s Cafe, San Francisco CA

Ugh, I was not impressed by this hashbrown sandwich. Yes, I thought this small diner was super cute and neighborhood-y, and the family running it was sweet and efficient, but the food left much to be desired. My eggs were overcooked, and the hashbrowns were super thin and pretty greasy. Because it was so thin, it really didn’t hold up to the filling which there was little of anyway.

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

Wheat toast - Art's Cafe
Wheat toast with grape jelly.

Orange pansies
Orange pansies (Viola tricolor subsp. hortensis, Violaceae), Noe Valley.

Mashed chicken and sweet corn soup – Makli Chinese Cuisine

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Mashed chicken and sweet corn soup - Makli Chinese Cuisine
Thick broth cooked with tiny pieces of chicken, corn, egg. Cup $2
Makli Chinese Cuisine, San Francisco CA

This is a standard soup served in most Chinese restaurants. For me, it’s the consistency of the broth that either makes or breaks the soup. Too runny, and it is unsatisfying. Too thick, and it becomes a chore to it. Makli’s soup was just right in terms of consistency. It was also pretty flavorful and nice and warm. I prefer more egg though.

San Francisco Ferry Building Terminal
San Francisco Ferry Building Terminal.

Arepas de pernil – Pica Pica

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Arepas de pernil - Pica Pica
Grilled sweet yellow corn pocket stuffed with slow cooked pulled pork, avocado, tomato, pica’pun, ajo aioli. Served with Pica slaw and taro chips. $10.75
Pica Pica, San Francisco CA

This was really tasty and very filling. The texture of the grilled corn arepa was fantastic and I liked that there were whole kernels mixed in too. The pulled pork was flavorful, and the crisp fresh Pica slaw was a great accompaniment.

Sangria - Pica Pica

Sangria. Red wine, passion fruit, apple, and Adriana’s special spices. Glass $7

Noe Valley
This is how people decorate their trees in Noe Vally, lol! Ok, maybe just this house.

Volcanic beef – Sweet Basil Thai Cuisine

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Volcanic beef - Sweet Basil Thai Cuisine
Wok fried premium flank steak with basil, bell peppers and black pepper in lava sauce. $12.95
Sweet Basil Thai Cuisine, San Francisco CA

Hmm, I wasn’t a fan of this dish. The “premium” beef was really tough and it didn’t have much flavor. The lava sauce wasn’t lava-ish at all. I guess I should have requested it extra hot, but you would think that something called “lava sauce” would already have some heat to it.

San Francisco
Good morning San Francisco!

Yangtze spareribs – Jasmine Tea House

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Yangtze spareribs - Jasmine Tea House
Marinated tender spareribs BBQ with chef’s special light honey sauce. $11.95
Jasmine Tea House, San Francisco CA

Meh, I wasn’t a fan of these spareribs. The chef’s special sauce wasn’t very tasty and you couldn’t taste much honey. You would think that a honey sauce would have some sweetness and thickness to it, but this was somewhat bland and runny. The meat was also on the tough and dry side. I wouldn’t order this again.

Holiday topiaries

Holiday topiaries, Embarcadero Center.

Hangtown fry – Brenda’s French Soul Food

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Hangtown fry - Brenda's French Soul Food
Crispy oyster, bacon and scallion scramble with grits plus cream biscuit. $11
Brenda’s French Soul Food, San Francisco CA

Wow, another super heavy (but tasty) dish from Brenda’s. The fried oysters were pretty good, and they were big and juicy and filling. Omg, the grits was pure butter! It tasted great, but a couple spoonfuls was enough for me. The cream biscuit was also very rich. I liked the texture of it, but you really couldn’t eat the whole thing. Maybe I’m just used to eating more healthy lately so this dish was a bit too much for me.

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

Union Square Christmas Tree

Union Square Christmas Tree.

Seafood combination clay pot – Makli Chinese Cuisine

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Seafood combination clay pot - Makli Chinese Cuisine
Combination of scallop, prawn, cod fish, black mushroom, deep fried tofu. $11
Makli Chinese Cuisine, San Francisco CA

For eleven bucks, this was great! There was plenty of seafood and everything was tender and juicy. Not old and tough like some seafood dishes from cheap Chinese restaurants you sometimes encounter. The sauce was also very tasty and not overpowering.

Yuppie scum fuck off
“Yuppie scum fuck off” sidewalk stencil. Someone must not like yuppies!