A great hearty soup with large chunks of steak, potatoes, celery and carrots. This was their soup of the day so it’s not always be available, but I’m glad I got it since I was very hungry that day, hehe. 1/2 sandwich 1/2 soup combo, $5.95
Luigi’s Sandwich Palace, South San Francisco
Steamed and served with drawn butter and lemon wedge, seasonal vegetables, rice pilaf and homemade sweet cabbage. $21.95
The Lobster House, Palm Springs
I think that you can probably already see in this pic that the lobster is WAY overcooked. Why, why, why!? This was another sad plate at The Lobster House. I just checked on Yelp and this place only has 2 stars. I should have checked before we dined here! The sides were throw-away items that did nothing to save the butchered lobster tail.
The (cajun) shrimp is served with seasonal vegetables, rice pilaf and sweet cabbage. $19.95
The Lobster House, Palm Springs
Omg! These shrimp were SO overcooked! This plate made me more than a little sad. Everything on it was poorly cooked and/or drenched in butter to try and cover up the bad quality of the ingredients. I couldn’t taste much of the cajun flavor on the shrimp since the overcooked taste overpowered everything. Sadly, this was a meal I can’t take back. 😦
Served with pickled paper-thin cucumbers, spicy carrots, and chopped parsley. $3.25
Chairman Bao Truck, San Francisco
So I’m a big fan of The Chairman Bao truck and I’ve been slowly trying all the buns whenever I see the truck on my way home from the gym (great way to lose weight, right?). Although the pork belly bun is still my favorite, this chicken bun was also very good. It had great flavor and I love the thin cucumber slices. The chicken was tender and they certainly put plenty of toppings on the bun. Go Bao!
7×7 Magazine’s The Big Eat San Francisco: 100 Things to Eat + Drink Before You Die – 2014
Angel biscuits with pulled pork and topped with slaw. $10 for happy hour
Farmerbrown, San Francisco
Another decadent bar snack at Farmerbrown! And you get three of these delicious morsels for only ten bucks! The pulled pork was super tender and the biscuits were sinfully buttery.
Large pile of shredded chicken, napa cabbage, onions, carrots, green onions, black fungus, and scrambled eggs. Served with mu shu pancakes. These are always fun to eat because you get to make yummy Chinese burritos of sorts. The hoisin (or plum sauce) tastes great with the mildly flavored filling. $7.95
Xiao Long Bao Kitchen, South San Francisco
Noms, this soup was SO good! Hot and sour soup is one of my personal favorites, and this one was especially flavorful. It also had a great kick to it. They definitely didn’t skimp on the ingredients like some other Chinese Restaurants trying to save a buck. This was the soup of the day that came with a combination meal that my friend and I ordered. The meal was very affordable and we got SO much food. Definitely going back to this place for the delicious food! 2 person lunch combo $14.95
Xiao Long Bao Kitchen, South San Francisco
I’m not a big Bloody Mary fan, but this one was absolutely beautiful! I love the purple cauliflower made the entire cocktail. It was unexpected and pretty. The drink had a nice kick, but it took forever to reach out table. I think we had eaten a course or two before it finally arrived – not cool! $10
The Slanted Door, San Francisco
Grilled pork patty and sliced pork with sliced carrots and fennel bulb(?), vermicelli noodles, lettuce, mint, and cilantro. $8.20
Turtle Tower Restaurant, San Francisco
I’ve never had this before, but it was really good! I think this was the only non-pho dish ordered in the entire restaurant. Seriously, lol! I wanted to try something new and this fit the bill. The grilled pork slices were yummy. These were cut thicker than at other Vietnamese places. The pork patties were flavorful, but way too fatty for my taste. They left that gross fatty film in your mouth. The sweet, fish saucey liquid that it came in was delicious. The fresh herbs were great and really made the Vietnamese flavor. I wasn’t really sure how to eat this so I made things up! I first wrapped everything in some of the lettuce, but that proved too messy. I ended up using a small bowl to mix everything in small batches, poured some sauce over it and enjoyed!
Chile and agave nectar sauce, sprinkled with chives and served with carrots, celery, and ranch. $5 happy hour
Hog & Rocks, San Francisco
Yet another amazing happy hour value at Hog & Rocks.! I’m not suer that the chile and agave nectar sauce really stood out though. It didn’t have a very defined flavor. In fact, it tasted pretty light and mellow – if that’s possible with chicken wings. You certainly get a lot of wings for five bucks, but in terms of flavor I don’t think I’ll be ordering these again (and they were cold!).
A mouth watering cup of one of the best clam chowders in San Francisco! Cup $4.25
Anchor Oyster Bar, San Francisco
This creamy Boston clam chowder has such amazing flavor! It’s not too thick, nor is it too runny. What I love about this chowder is it’s simplicity – the ingredients are the stars. You can taste all the vegetables, the clams, and the cream. Anchor Oyster Bar has always served straightforward food made with amazing ingredients. And I think that’s the key to their success. It’s a small restaurant and there’s always a wait for their delicious seafood, but don’t get discouraged, the tables somehow turn quickly.
7×7 Magazine’s The Big Eat San Francisco: 100 Things to Eat + Drink Before You Die – 2011, 2012
March 14, 2015. Bowl $6.50
There’s a bowl of cute oyster cracker bags on every table for the chowder, but you can also get a large chunk of delicious, crusty sour dough bread with pats of Dairygold butter. How cute! $1.95
Filling of seasoned pork and beef, minced onions and carrots, and beaten eggs in a lumpia wrapper, deep fried, and cut into bite sized pieces.
Kuya’s Asian Cuisine, San Bruno CA
I grew up eating lumpia prito (fried lumpia) which are much larger and have more vegetables: sprouts, carrots, string beans, peas, onion, and sometimes potatoes. My family always used ground beef in our lumpia, and it was great sitting around the table wrapping them to be stored in the freezer. I’m sure my parents still have trays of it in their freezer, ready to be given to guests to take home.
As a kid I only had lumpia Shanghai at parties and, later on, at Filipino restaurants in the city. Both lumpia varieties have their advantages, but lumpia Shanghai are less labor intensive to make and because of their small size, make excellent finger food at parties. I’ve been known to order trays of it to serve at my house. You can get a traditional “lumpia” sauce at Asian markets, but I prefer a regular sweet chili sauce because it has more flavor. Beware, lumpia is VERY addictive!
Vittle Monster 