General Tso’s spicy boneless chicken – Red Jade

General Tso's spicy boneless chicken - Red Jade
April 20, 2015. $8.95

General Tso's spicy boneless chicken - Red Jade
Requested using only white meat chicken. $9.50
Red Jade, San Francisco CA

I love General Tso’s chicken (depending on the restaurant). It’s deep fried chicken goodness usually covered in a sweet, spicy sauce. Red Jade’s version isn’t too heavily breaded so you can still see the pieces of chicken inside, and their sauce it pretty tasty!

Sesame balls and fortune cookies - Red Jade
Sesame balls and fortune cookies. Complimentary

Teletubbies sidewalk stencil
Teletubbies sidewalk stencil with Putin(?).

Beef and cheese enchiladas – United Airlines

Beef and cheese enchiladas - United Airlines
Served with side salad, dinner roll, cream crackers, and coffee cake.
London (LHR) to San Francisco (SFO), United Airlines

OK, I’m a sucker for saucy dishes even then they’re subpar. This was covered in a whole lotta cheese and more sauce so I can’t complain too much, hehe. Everything else was pretty boring. I’m not sure why I ate most of this – maybe a I was just bored from watching all the in-flight movies…

The National Gallery
The National Gallery, Trafalgar Square.

Beef with oyster sauce – Tuk Tuk Noodle Bar

Beef with oyster sauce - Tuk Tuk Noodle Bar
Sauteed beef with mushroom, onion, bamboo shoot, carrot, and green onion. Set Menu A £11.80 per person
Tuk Tuk Noodle Bar, London ENGLAND

Ugh, another throw-away dish from Tuk Tuk. The beef quality was bad and the sauce was plain and boring. There was plenty to go around though!

The Shard building
The Shard building, London Bridge Quarter.

Pumpkin cream cheese loaf cake – Starbucks

Pumpkin cream cheese loaf cake - Starbucks
Pumpkin cream cheese in a classic, reduced-fat coffee cake recipe. $2.79
Starbucks, San Francisco International Airport (SFO)

I’m still disappointed with Starbucks pastries even though they’re now “made” by La Boulange. They still look sickly and inferior in the display case. Why do Starbucks stores in other countries serve such better quality bakery items?! I mean, Starbucks originated in the US. Why should be punished with these horrible products? 😦

Whale tail
Whale tail made of rope, Terminal 3.

Szechuan eggplant with minced pork – Red Jade

Szechuan eggplant with minced pork - Red Jade
Onion, garlic, bamboo shoot, green onion. $8.50
Red Jade, San Francisco CA

I know this looks really oily in the pic, but it actually wasn’t that bad. I think the lighting is misleading. I love eggplant dishes at Chinese restaurants and this was pretty tasty. The sauce was garlicky and delicious and the eggplants were nicely prepared. Noms!

Hen and chicks flowers
Hen and chicks flowers (Sempervivum sp., Crassulaceae), Noe Valley.

Roast chicken with gravy – United Airlines

Roast chicken with gravy - United Airlines
Served with potatoes, carrots, green beans, side salad, dinner roll, and cream crackers.
London (LHR) to San Francisco (SFO), United Airlines

The chicken doesn’t look very appetizing, but it was actually palatable with the salty gravy on top. The carrots and beans were way overcooked and had the consistency of soft food for the elderly. I’m not a salad person so I just picked at a few lettuce leaves. This was another underwhelming dinner service from United Airlines. Please, let me fly first class next time!

Jubilee Market Hall
Jubilee Market Hall, Covent Garden.

Chicken green curry – Tuk Tuk Noodle Bar

Chicken green curry - Tuk Tuk Noodle Bar
Spicy curry with green chilies, coconut milk, bamboo shoots, Thai aubergines and lime leaves. Set Menu A £11.80 per person
Tuk Tuk Noodle Bar, London ENGLAND

Yuck, this green curry was gross! It had a thick, gloppy consistency and was utterly unappetizing. There was also an odd bitter taste that I couldn’t figure out. Definitely one of the worst Thai curries I’ve tasted.

Piccadilly Circus
Video displays and neon signs, Piccadilly Circus.

Preboarding free food frenzy – Star Alliance Gold Lounge

Preboarding free food frenzy - Star Alliance Gold Lounge
Chicken sandwich, chicken satay, chicken cheese balls with sweet and sour sauce, Diet Pepsi, Guinness beer. Complimentary
Star Alliance Gold Lounge, London Heathrow Airport (LHR)

This was one of several plates I managed to devour before boarding the plane back to San Francisco. I was really impressed at how many food items, both hot and cold, that they carried at this lounge! The fried chicken cheese balls were my favorite though probably because everything tastes better fried and covered in sweet and sour sauce. And they also served a nice variety of sodas and beer. I will admit that I did stuff several bags of potato chips and Diet Pepsi’s into my carry-on bag, but only because I knew the food on United was going to be horrible and I didn’t want to starve for the next 11 hours. Lol, I’m pretty ghetto! 😉

Knealing cushions
Knealing cushions, St. Margaret’s Church.

Har gau and Steamed special fen guo dumplings – Yauatcha

Har gau and Steamed special fen guo dumplings - Yauatcha
A Taste of Yauatcha menu £28.88 for 2 people
Yauatcha, London ENGLAND

These were more your typical dim sum dumpling items so this steam tray was more familiar than the others (and maybe a little more boring). The two kinds of dumplings were actually really good though. The har gow is a tried and true standard. I’m not completely sure what all was in the fen guo dumpling, but I would guess it was a mixture of pork, shrimp, garlic chives, mushrooms and peanuts.

Golden aster martini and Ages Vesper martini - Yauatcha
Golden aster martini: Buffalo Trace bourbon, Antica forumula sweet vermouth, Aperol, saffron, lemon and chilli syrup. £9.80
Aged Vesper martini: Tanqueray No. Ten gin, Belvedere vodka and Lillet Blanc vermouth. £9.90
These cocktails were nicely made and delicious!

Oxford Circus

Oxford Circus with cute London cabs.

Cod and mushroom risotto – The Stockpot

Cod and mushroom risotto - The Stockpot
Arborio rice, cream, cheese, cod and mushrooms. £6.50
The Stockpot, London ENGLAND

Damn it! Unfortunately, The Stockpot failed to make a decent risotto; and I love risotto! This dish was WAY too salty and really fishy tasting (in a bad way). I liked the initial texture because it was creamy and the rice still had a nice firmness. But after a few minutes, the sauce seized up and quickly became too thick and gloppy. I’ve learned after-the-fact that this place is a local institution, but usually institutions are known for making at least something really well. All the dishes we tried were marginal and lackluster. 😦

St. James Park
Tulips and primroses at St. James Park. Here’s some beautiful flowers to brighten up this dreary food post.

Scrambled eggs and bacon – Patisserie Valerie

Scrambled eggs and bacon - Patisserie Valerie
Two eggs with bacon on granary toast. £6.70
Patisserie Valerie, London ENGLAND

The scrambled eggs tasted better than most of the scrambles I’ve had in Europe, but it was still that weird crumbly, somehow boiled kind of scramble that I’m not used to. Who knew there were so many ways to make basic scrambled eggs? 🙂 The bacon was tasty and I’m a fan of granary bread now! I’d never had this kind of bread before as far as I know, but I liked the light airy texture of it.

Lescure French unsalted butter
Lescure French unsalted butter. I thought these were cute.

Patisserie Valerie napkin

Patisserie Valerie napkin. Ooh, naughty!

St. Paul's Cathedral

St. Paul’s Cathedral west front with a statue of Queen Anne in the foreground.