Category Archives: Restaurant

Tam bi tom thit – Vung Tau Restaurant

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Tam bi tom thit - Vung Tau Restaurant
Shredded seasoned pork, grilled jumbo prawns, and grilled pork served with broken rice and pickled vegetables. $12.50
Vung Tau Restaurant, San Jose CA

This was just ok. I don’t know why I keep getting the Vietnamese shredded pork? I never like it because it’s SO dry and chalky tasting. The grilled pork and prawn were decent, but at $12.50 for a lunch plate I expect it to be of better quality. And the service was SLOW!

Sweet chili fish sauce - Vung Tau Restaurant
Sweet chili fish sauce, gotta love it!

Panda "bear" and bamboo fence mural
Panda “bear” and bamboo fence mural. This was kinda cute! I like how they incorporated the real bamboo plants behind the fence to created this mural.

Sparkly Goat cocktail – McCrady’s Restaurant

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Sparkly Goat cocktail - McCrady's Restaurant

La Bubbly sparkling wine, Peychaud’s bitters, sugared lemon. $8
McCrady’s Restaurant, Charleston SC

This restaurant was recommended by a friend, so I arrived for an early dinner expecting great service and delicious food. I can tell you right now, that I received both! This cocktail was a great way to start off my meal. It was bright and refreshing tasting and had a beautiful peach-pink color.

Bar area - McCrady's Restaurant

The restaurant had just opened so I choose a table facing the bar so that I could people-watch as my meal progressed. The bar was quite tall, extending up to the open second floor and appeared cozy and warm from all the rich woods and leather.

NC style BBQ platter – Speedway Grill & Cafe

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NC style BBQ platter - Speedway Grill & Cafe
Pulled pork with bbq sauce, macaroni and cheese, fried okra, and a roll. $8.79
Speedway Grill & Cafe, Charlotte/Douglas International Airport (CLT)

This was a lot of food considering the price and that it was at an airport. The pork was ok and the bbq sauce didn’t have enough punch for me. I did love the mac ‘n cheese. It had a consistency that reminded me of elementary school cafeteria days, and that’s a good thing! The fried okra were a little dry and over done.

The pressed Cubano – Legends of San Francisco

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The pressed Cubano - Legends of San Francisco
Panini with thinly sliced ham, swiss cheese and sliced pickle, then spread with mustard and grilled on herbed focaccia bread with Classic Lays potato chips. $11.99
Legends of San Francisco Bar & Grill, San Francisco International Airport (SFO)

I was NOT impressed. The sandwich as super salty and the ham tasted like low-quality supermarket deli meat. The cheese wasn’t even melted all the way through! Ugh, Terminal 1 really needs to step it up on the food front!

"Wind Portal" art installation, Paul Woolford and Ned Kahn
“Wind Portal” art installation, Paul Woolford and Ned Kahn. Located midway down the Bart platform, this piece is composed of thousands of metallic sequins that move with the wind created by incoming Bart trains and aircrafts. It’s a spectacular installation and provides an beautiful San Francisco welcome to weary travelers.

Grouper fish taco – The Taco Spot

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Grouper fish taco - The Taco Spot
Six inch soft corn tortillas with cilantro soy aioli, shredded lettuce, grated cheddar cheese, and tomato-cucumber pico salsa. $2.95
The Taco Spot, Charleston SC

This taco was pretty good. The grouper was tender and I enjoyed the cilantro soy aioli. The flavors were surprisingly delicate, but very tasty. It was also on the small side, but I guess I’m just used to tacos from The Mission where they’re gigantic!

Array of hot sauces - The Taco Spot
Array of hot sauces. The counter is lined with a large selection of hot sauces. Some of the tacos are less flavorful than others so the addition of these condiments helps, hehe.

Pineapple Fountain, Charleston Waterfront Park
Pineapple Fountain at the Charleston Waterfront Park. I’ve been to Charleston several times and I love this park. It’s very relaxing and beautiful.

Bo bia – Vung Tau Restaurant

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Bo bia - Vung Tau Restaurant
Vietnamese fresh spring roll with Chinese sausage, egg, peanut, and lettuce wrapped in rice paper. $7.25
Vung Tau Restaurant, San Jose CA

Bo bia - Vung Tau Restaurant
This was a very disappointing lunch! The food was mediocre and the prices were high for what we received. These fresh rolls were the highlight of the meal though. I’ve never had them with the Chinese sausages before, and they were delicious. I also liked the addition of peanuts for crunch and flavor. Noms!

Pink snapdragon flowers (Antirrhinum majus, Scrophulariaceae)
Pink snapdragon flowers (Antirrhinum majus, Scrophulariaceae). I’m not familiar with all the streets in San Jose so I’m not sure which street this was in downtown San Jose. These plants were in large cement planters lining the sidewalk of a commercial street.

Baked monkey roll – Saru Sushi Bar

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Baked monkey roll - Saru Sushi Bar
Baked California roll topped with salmon, masago (capelin roe), scallions, spicy mayo and sweet soy glaze. $14
Saru Sushi Bar, San Francisco CA

Mmm, this warm roll was SO delicious! I thought that because it had so many things on it including a spicy mayo and soy glaze that I wouldn’t be able to taste all the ingredients, but I was wrong. You could definitely taste the CA roll and salmon too, yum! I would order this again.

Noe Valley Farmers Market mural, 24th Street
Noe Valley Farmers Market mural, 24th Street. I don’t actually know what this mural is called and I should really figure out who painted it. The mural is located in the parking lot that hosts the Noe Valley Farmers Market on Saturdays. I think it’s absolutely beautiful and it extends on both sides of the parking lot.

Kassem’s Plate with chicken – Ali Baba

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Kassem's Plate with chicken - Ali Baba
Chicken shawerma with pickled onions and parsley, served with rice and choice of salad. $10.35
Ali Baba, South San Francisco CA

The chicken in this dish was dry, which was an unfortunate theme. I really liked the rice though! It had lentils in it which gave it a great texture. A pretty good value if that’s what you’re looking for.

Yogurt cucumber salatat - Ali Baba
Yogurt cucumber salatat (diced cucumber salad with yogurt and mint). This was pretty tasty, but maybe a little too yogurt-y. It did help balance out the dry chicken though.

Ali Baba street sign

Ali Baba street sign. This is definitely a destination restaurant since there’s not much around it.

Panda "bear" sidewalk stencil
Panda “bear” sidewalk stencil, San Francisco Bay Trail. Aw, isn’t he cute?!

Naked scallop roll – Saru Sushi Bar

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Naked scallop roll - Saru Sushi Bar
Snow crab, avocado, scallop, and masago (capelin roe) wrapped with white soy paper. $12
Saru Sushi Bar, San Francisco CA

This was a new one for me! I’ve never had a roll using soy paper before. It really didn’t taste like anything and the texture was weird, so I don’t think I was a fan. It gives the sushi roll an interesting look, but doesn’t do much in terms of taste. The rest of the roll tasted great though!

Planter with succulent plants, Jersey Street
Planter with succulent plants, Jersey Street. This building was renovated a couple years back and they’ve filled the planter in front with a few different things already. They originally had horsetails (Equisetum sp., Equisetaceae) in it, and currently they have a beautiful assortment of hardy succulents. I definitely prefer this over the horsetails.

Ali Baba’s Plate with beef – Ali Baba

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Ali Baba's Plate with beef - Ali Baba
Beef shawerma with pickled onions and parsley over hummus, served with pita bread. $9.95
Ali Baba, South San Francisco CA

This was a great value, but the beef was really dry. Thank goodness there was plenty of hummus to help moisten the beef. I will say that the meat was flavorful though.

Ali Baba storefront

Ali Baba storefront. The restaurant is pretty much in the middle of nowhere, lol!

South San Francisco Bart station artwork
South San Francisco Bart station artwork along the platform.

Halibut tartare – Saru Sushi Bar

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Halibut tartare - Saru Sushi Bar
Served with halibut bone, plantain, and black sesame chips. $15
Saru Sushi Bar, San Francisco CA

The halibut tasted very good and looked beautiful! I didn’t really enjoy the other components though. The black sesame chips were super hard and difficult to eat. The fried halibut tails were even harder and almost impossible to chew. And I really don’t remember if there were any plantains on the plate, lol!

Hens-and-chicks (Echeveria sp., Crassulaceae)
Pink edged hens-and-chicks (Echeveria sp., Crassulaceae), Divisadero Street. I think these succuclents are lovely. They come in many colors and often grow with long stems.

Marisha’s turkey chili meatloaf – Fork Cafe

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Marisha's turkey chili meatloaf - Fork Cafe
Turkey chili with kidney beans, onion, carrot, corn, shallots and herbs served with homemade mashed potatoes. $13.95
Fork Cafe, San Francisco CA

The meatloaf was moist and flavorful and the mashed potatoes were silky smooth. The combination of the bean chili and meatloaf was a bit odd, but the flavors were good. Overall, this was a decent dish.

Colorful graffiti artwork, Osage Street
Colorful graffiti artwork, Osage Street. There are many murals similar to this one around the city and they are all bright and colorful. They don’t appear to be of anything in particular.