Enchiladas pobalanas – Santi’s Restaurante Mexicano

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Enchiladas pobalanas - Santi's Restaurante Mexicano
Two chicken enchiladas with brown chocolate mole sauce, melted cheese, and sour cream. Served with Mexican rice, refried beans, and salad. $7.50
Santi’s Restaurante Mexicano, North Charleston SC

Mmm, this was so tasty and the service was fast and friendly. The mole was very flavorful and I really liked the refried beans too. There was so much food on this plate and all for less than eight bucks, heck yeah! I couldn’t even finish everything.

Chips and salsa - Santi's Restaurante Mexicano
Chips and salsa. Complimentary. Noms, more please!

Charleston Waterfront Park Fountain
Charleston Waterfront Park Fountain. One of my favorite locations in Charleston!

She crab soup – Henry’s House

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She crab soup - Henry's House
This thick, rich and creamy soup was pretty good but definitely on the salty side. I’d have to say that I prefer Anson’s version more; it has more finesse and depth of flavor. Henry’s she crab soup is more homey and rustic. Cup $4.95
Henry’s House, Charleston SC

Daughters of the Confederacy Museum
Daughters of the Confederacy Museum. This historic building sits on the corner of Market Street and Meeting Street at the western end off covered market area. One of these days I’ll finally take the tour, hehe!

Strube Ranch wagyu beef tartare – McCrady’s Restaurant

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Strube Ranch wagyu beef tartare - McCrady's Restaurant
Egg yolk, cress and ramps. 4 course dinner $60
McCrady’s Restaurant, Charleston SC

This was such an exciting dish! The pork skin was so freshly fried that it was still crackling on the plate, and the cress looked beautiful on top of it. (I’m guessing that it was pork skin and not beef skin, hehe.) The egg yolk was cleverly presented as a solid “log” beside the tartare instead of mixed into it. I’m not sure where the ramps were, unless they were chopped into the beef. Everything tasted amazing, even down to the grilled piece of bread!

Tuscan white and multigrain breads - McCrady's Restaurant
Tuscan white and multigrain breads with olive oil and butter. Complimentary. Noms!

Strube Ranch wagyu beef tartare - McCrady's Restaurant

Charleston sweetini cocktail – Wentworth Grill

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Charleston sweetini cocktail - Wentworth Grill

Signature drink with Firefly sweet tea vodka, sour, triple sec. $10
Wentworth Grill, Charleston SC

Firefly is a local distillery that’s known for their sweet tea flavored vodka. Most of the restaurants in the Charleston area have some kind of drink that uses it. I liked this sweet tea martini at the Wentworth Grill. It was on the sweet side, but was nicely made and super cold. Heck yeah!

Strings of light, Mad River Bar
Strings of light, Mad River Bar. We came here on a random night and hung outside at the back bar. It made for a chill and relaxing evening early on.

Blackened grouper fish taco – The Taco Spot

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

This was my favorite taco because it was jam packed with flavor! The blackened grouper was delicious and the cayenne ranch put it over the top. Noms!

Untitled
View of Charleston Harbor from the Rooftop Bar at the Vendue Inn. This bar is pretty cool! It’s relaxing early on, then it becomes an upbeat hangout as it fills up with bar goers. They also have live music!

Ca tuyet kho to – Vung Tau Restaurant

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Ca tuyet kho to - Vung Tau Restaurant
Sea bass caramelized with garlic, fish sauce and served in an earth pot. $16.95
Vung Tau Restaurant, San Jose CA

I laughed when they brought this out! This was the saddest clay pot I’d ever seen. The singular piece of fish was tiny (notice its size relative to the spoon), and it looked pathetic in the dried, crusty clay pot. They cooked the hell out of this dish so the fish was dry and the remnants of the sauce was super salty. Yuck! This was a complete rip off at seventeen bucks!

Party crowd mural, Mac's Club

Outdoor patio party crowd mural, Mac’s Club. Gotta love the murals at this bar. This is a fun composition, espcially with the drag queen(?) chillin’ on the moon with a rainbow colored umbrella, hehe!

The Great San Francisco Goodies Giveaway!

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The Great San Francisco Goodies Giveaway!

Between my previous blog and Vittle Monster, this is officially my 1000th post, yay!!! And to celebrate the occasion, I’ve decided to have my very first Giveaway!

I’ve assembled a few of my favorite San Francisco goodies to mail to the contest winner. Here’s what’s included in this prize valued at over $45:

– 4505 Meats chicharrones. Omg, these bad boys are the best fried pork skins ever!
– Papalote Mexican Grill roasted tomato salsa. The Mission location is blocks from my house and is always packed. If this salsa can beat Bobby Flay on Food Network’s Showdown, then you know it kicks ass!
– Four Barrel brass tacks blend coffee. This coffee shop is hipster central, and we can all be sure that hipsters know great coffee!
– Yank Sing chili XO sauce. Mix this with some soy sauce and chili paste and you can have your own dim sum party worthy of this iconic SF restaurant.
– Clairesquares milk chocolate bar. These Irish shortbread squares are handcrafted and worth every calorie!
– TCHO new American chocolates. “One of the 5 best food finds of the year” by Food and Wine, this Embarcadero based start-up is sure to satisfy your sweet tooth.
– Sunbud Bakery buckwheat cookies with chocolate and currants. These cookies are SO tasty, you’d never know they were on the “healthy” side. Shhh!

You know you want it, so do this!

Send an email to Vittle Monster of a pic of an AMAZING meal/dish/snack you’ve recently had. Describe what it was and why it was SO awesome in 50 words or less, so be creative! (Don’t worry, email addresses will only be used to contact the winner and will not be archived or used for any other promotions, etc. Cause that would suck!)

You have a week to submit an entry before a group of “foodie” co-workers and I vote on a winner!

Good luck! And check back for the next SF Goodies Giveaway!
(If you would like an email notification of future SF Goodies Giveaways, lemme know.)

Additional rules:
1. One entry person.
2. Submission deadline is Friday, September 7, 2012. Winner will be announced Tuesday, September 11, 2012 and will be contacted by email to confirm mailing address.
3. Prize will only be mailed within the United States. Foreign entries must designate a U.S. mailing address if chosen as winner. (So hey, surprise a friend!)

Seared steak taco – The Taco Spot

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Seared steak taco - The Taco Spot
Six inch soft corn tortillas with shredded lettuce, grated cheddar cheese, and tomato-cucumber pico salsa. $2.95
The Taco Spot, Charleston SC

This was my least favorite taco from The Taco Spot. The steak was chewy and didn’t have much flavor. I definitely had to use some of the hot sauce on this one! Overall, this was a boring taco.

Charleston Harbor
Charleston Harbor with the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge and USS Yorktown in the background.

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.

Foodie Penpals: August 2012

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Foodie Penpals: August 2012
For my first month as a Foodie Penpal, I sent a box of San Francisco treats to a woman in Orem, Utah and received a box from Annica at AnnicaNicole Blog, a student at the University of Missouri. Thanks for all the goodies, Annica!

Here’s what she mailed to me:
Sunrise Farm Market black bean & corn salsa
Sunrise Farm Market pumpkin butter
Chocomaker Simply Melt yogurt flavored dipping wafers
Roland quinoa garden vegetable
KIND apple cinnamon & pecan bar
KIND pomegranate blueberry pistachio bar
and a cute red card with an “a” for Annica!

I’ve actually never seen most of the products before, except the KIND bars, so I’m super excited to try them. The one item I’m a little hesitant about is the pumpkin butter because I’m not a huge pumpkin fan and I’m not really sure how to use it, lol! I’m guessing that I should use it as a spread on yummy breads and other baked goods.

I’m also tickled over the Simply Melt yogurt flavored dipping wafers. All you have to do is microwave the container and you instantly have a dipping suace for fruits or salty snacks! I never knew this product even existed! Can’t wait to see what I get next month, yay!

To learn more about Foodie Penpals or to join, click the image below!

The Lean Green Bean

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.