Combination seafood with spicy basil – Thai House Express

Combination seafood with spicy basil - Thai House Express
Sauteed shrimp, squid, and scallop with onions, chili, carrot, bell pepper and basil leaves. A la carte $13.95
Thai House Express, San Francisco CA

I like the flavors in there, but the squid was a bit overcooked so it was tough to chew. The service also tends to be inconsistent. It ranges from the most attentive service to having to flag down the waiter depending on the night.

Salvia "Hot Lips" (Salvia microphylla, Lamiaceae)
Salvia “Hot Lips” (Salvia microphylla, Lamiaceae). I love the vibrant red and white flowers of this plant (Baby sage, Graham’s sage, Blackcurrant sage).

Breakfast plate – The Lowcountry Grill

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Scrambled eggs, three bacon strips, and “All the way” hashbrowns topped with ham, onions, green bell peppers and cheese. $7.79
The Lowcountry Grill, Charleston International Airport (CHS)

I was hungover from the night before so I thought that this large, greasy breakfast plate would do me good but it made me feel even worse, lol! It’s nothing against the food because it was exactly what I expected – a basic, no-frills plate. It tasted a little bland, and there was so much of it! The food ended up being too rich and fatty for my tummy. 😦

Basil tilapia – Basil Thai Restaurant

Basil tilapia - Basil Thai Restaurant
Lightly floured, deep fried tilapia fillets, topped with vegetables, stir-fry sauce, side of carrots, cabbage, and lettuce. $16.95
Basil Thai Restaurant, Charleston SC

Mmm, this was very tasty! Having traveled through Thailand, I think I can say that this wasn’t authentic Thai food, but it certainly had a lot of flavor and was nicely prepared.

View from the Rooftop Bar at the Vendue Inn

View from the Rooftop Bar at the Vendue Inn. You can see Saint Michael’s Episcopal Church in the distance.

Rustic skillet – Crave

Rustic skillet - Crave
Country ham, red bliss potato hash, caramelized onion, roasted red bell peppers, all sauteed together served with scrambled eggs and topped with black pepper gravy. Includes corn bread muffins, fresh fruit, and coffee. $11
Crave, Mount Pleasant SC

Argh, this looked SO good on the menu but it was SO frickin’ salty! And you know it’s gotta be super salty if I’m complaining because I’m usually a total salt monger. The ham and the gravy were the saltiest coomponents, but after a while everything just tasted salty and I had to stop eating.

Cornbread muffin - Crave
Cornbread muffin with butter. Mmm, these were SO delicous, warm, and fluffy!

Boquerones – Firefly

Boquerones - Firefly
Spanish white anchovies on toasts with roast red pepper, yellow pepper vin, avocado, basil chiffonade, olive oil. $5.50
Firefly, Las Vegas NV

Boquerones - Firefly
Mmm, I love white anchovies! They are SO flavorful and Firefly does a great job topping them with even more delicious ingredients. I just wish the bread was a little more toasted – these were limp and soggy.

Chicken pesto pizza – Firewood Cafe

Chicken pesto pizza Firewood Cafe
Rotisserie chicken, pesto sauce, roasted red peppers and sliced red onions. $10.95
Firewood Cafe, San Francisco CA

This pizza was ok. I usually wouldn’t say this, but I think it had too many toppings and pesto. The crust seemed weighted down by everything. I prefer some of their other pizza options.

Chicken pesto pizza - Firewood Cafe
July 3, 2015. $12.95
This was at SFO and it wasn’t as good. The crust was thicker and a little burnt. Not my favorite.

Pinot noir Firewood Cafe

Pinot noir, red wine. $6.95

Dolores Park, San Francisco
View from Dolores Park. From the corner of Church and 20th Streets, you can get a spectacular view of the city. Mission Dolores High School is to the left and the newly remodeled playground is to the right. On a warm, sunny day Dolores Park gets packed with hipsters and sunbathers!

Ceviche – St. Germain Bistro & Cafe

Ceviche St. Germain Bistro & Cafe

Mahi mahi, shrimp, red onion and bell peppers cured in lime juice. Garnished with apple slices. $11.68
St. Germain Bistro & Cafe, Old San Juan, PUERTO RICO

This tasted all right, but the mahi mahi was starting to get squishy and have a grainy texture. The flavors were there though.

San Juan Bay
Looking out onto the San Juan Bay along the Paseo de la Princesa. This was near the start of a pleasant waterfront stroll on the Paseo. The shade trees were abundant in this section, but were nonexistent on the latter portion of the Paseo.

Roasted red pepper salad – Canela

Project 365: Day 62

Tried out Canela for a pre-birthday celebration for Silverfox. My roommate had already been here and said that it was pretty good. We’re planning to have a nicer dinner in San Juan next week to really celebrate Silverfox’s birthday but it’s nice to go out and have a dinner closer to the actual date of his special day.

Roasted red pepper salad Canela

With apple, manchego cheese, walnut, flat leaf parsley, lemon, olive oil, egg. $8
Canela, San Francisco

This salad was really refreshing. I loved all the different components but I have to say that the Italian parsley was killer in this salad! In combination with the lemon, it really helped to brighten up the salad and gave it a fanastic flavor. I would definitely order this again!

Red sangria Canela

Red sangria. Bottle $21
I really enjoyed this sangria. It was overly sweet and the wine that they used had a great flavor. It wasn’t too bitter or funky tasting. Noms!

Alambre taco – El Huarache Loco

Alambre taco El Huarache Loco

Mexico City style taco. Organic corn tortilla topped with bacon, chorizo asada, bell peppers, melted mozzarella cheese, cilantro, onions, and salsa. $2.75
El Huarache Loco, San Francisco

Wow, this taco had everything on it! Don’t know if I remember melted mozzarella cheese in there, but there looks to be queso fresco in there instead. This monster had SO much flavor, but I will admit that it was greasy! It’s definitely worth a try though. It’s pretty big so 2 of them would make a large enough meal for me. Mmm!

Autumn salad – Fish & Farm

Autumn salad Fish & Farm

Red endive, frisee, red pear, candied walnuts, pomegranates, and Humboldt Fog goat cheese with mustard vinaigrette. Menu says $11 but receipt says $12 – BOO, LAME!!!
Fish & Farm, San Francisco

So the price discrepancy is totally lame! I don’t know if the menu wasn’t updated or out server was completely brain dead. I did mention during dinner that our server wasn’t very good compared to the server at the next table. Ours didn’t even give us the specials before we ordered. I didn’t even know there were specials available until the server at the adjacent table told her guests! Whatevs, our server was definitely “slow”, if you know what I mean.

This salad was tasty, but not very original.

Red bell pepper soup Fish & Farm

Red bell pepper soup. Complimentary. I really liked this shot of free soup. It was hot and very flavorful.

Pad eggplant – Siam Saigon

Project 365: Day 46

It’s a long 3-day weekend for me and I don’t feel motivated to really do much. I haven’t just relaxed at home for a while and I’m enjoying it. I did have to go into work for a couple hours of OT but that wasn’t too bad. Besides that I’ve just been going to the gym, catching up on DVR, cleaning, cooking, and playing games on my iPhone. I think that’s some quality relaxation time if you ask me!

Pad eggplant Siam Saigon

Sliced chicken breast, eggplant, basil, bell peppers, and bamboo shoots in a mild curry sauce. $9
Siam Saigon, San Francisco

This is a new one for me. Siam Saigon serves both Thai and Vietnamese cuisine, nice! I was on my way to the Mission Safeway and I was starving so I ducked into this place because I had never noticed it before. I think it’s new. It’s a small space but the service is friendly and efficient (when they’re paying attention). This dish was pretty good. I liked the large slices of tender chicken, and all the vegetables were also large and chunky. The curry sauce seemed too timid at first, but after a few more bites the flavor came through.

Pad makuer tofu – Lers Ros Thai

Pad makuer tofu Lers Ros Thai

Stir-fried eggplant and tofu with red bell peppers and carrots in a garlic chili sauce. $9.25
Lers Ros Thai, San Francisco

I usually love eggplant dishes, but I could have done without this forgettable version. The eggplants were SO undercooked and the tofu was bland despite it swimming in garlic chili sauce. But I guess since the garlic chili sauce was bland to start with, it couldn’t impart much flavor to this sad dish.