Savory pork wings – Wingmasters Sports Bar

Savory pork wings - Wingmasters Sports Bar
With authentic Buffalo sauce served with celery sticks and bleu cheese dressing. 3 piece $6.99
Wingmasters Sports Bar, Seattle WA

Mmm, pork wings! They French these pork ribs for easy eating and slather them with your choice of sauce – heaven! This place is around the corner from my bro’s in Ballard so we often head over for food, drinks, and games.

Hefeweizen - Wingmasters Sports Bar

Hefeweizen.

Decorative fence
Decorative metal and glass fence, 24th Ave NW.

Savory pork wings - Wingmasters Sports Bar
September 2013. With sweet ‘n hot sauce. 3 pieces $7.59
Looks like the price has gone up since my last visit!

Celery sticks - Wingmasters Sports Bar
September 2013. Celery sticks and bleu cheese dressing.

Thai bbq pork – Thai Lotus

Thai bbq pork - Thai Lotus
Seasoned skewer marinated bbq pork with tamarind sauce and steamed broccoli. Lunch special served with jasmine steamed rice, egg roll, soup, and salad with peanut sauce. $7.95
Thai Lotus, Reno NV

The lunch specials at Thai Lotus are such an amazing value! You get a lot of yummy food for very little. The pork had great flavor, but they could have been a bit more tender. Besides that, I had no complaints.

Seep monkey flowers (Mimulus guttatus, Scrophulariaceae)

Yellow seep monkey flowers (Mimulus guttatus, Scrophulariaceae), Mount Rose Summit Trail.

Deep fried stuffed dumplings – Good Luck Dim Sum

Deep fried stuffed dumplings - Good Luck Dim Sum
Fried sticky rice dough on the outside and filled with a minced pork mixture. 3 for $1.60
Good Luck Dim Sum, San Francisco CA

Deep fried stuffed dumplings - Good Luck Dim Sum
I’d never had this dumpling before and I really like it! If the sticky rice dough was any thicker or less cooked, I’m not sure I would have liked it though.

Barbie car, The Mission
Barbie car, The Mission. This car was kinda creepy and cool at the same time.

Creole gumbo – Eureka Restaurant and Lounge

Creole gumbo - Eureka Restaurant and Lounge
With house-smoked chicken and cajun sausage. $17
Eureka Restaurant & Lounge, San Francisco CA

Mmm, great smokey flavor and lovely ingredients. I really enjoyed this bowl of gumbo!

Bread and butter - Eureka Restaurant and Lounge
Bread and butter. Complimentary

The Lion King, Orpheum Theatre

Finally saw The Lion King playing at the Orpheum Theatre, Market Street.

Arepa con relleno – Poquito

Arepa con relleno - Poquito
A plain arepa topped with pork fritada, green onions, sweet plantain, cheese, white beans, pickled onions. $9
Poquito, San Francisco CA

This was not what I was expecting when I saw “arepa” on the menu, but this was SO good! It pretty much had everything on it so it was pretty filling. The pork was delicious as was the fried plantain. A heavy dish, but very nommy!

African wood sorrel (Oxalis pes-caprae, Oxalidaceae)
Yellow Bermuda buttercup/African wood sorrel (Oxalis pes-caprae, Oxalidaceae), 17th Street. It’s wintertime in San Francisco so these weedy plants are popping up everywhere! I wouldn’t want these rampants weeds in my own garden, but I will admit that they’re cute.

Steamed bbq pork buns – Good Luck Dim Sum

Steamed bbq pork buns - Good Luck Dim Sum
There’s so many cheap dim sum places along Clement Street in the Richmond neighborhood and Good Luck Dim Sum is one of the most popular ones. This is evident by the long line in front of the counter. The good thing is that you can grab a menu sheet and mark everything you want while you wait your turn. 3 for $1.60
Good Luck Dim Sum, San Francisco CA

Steamed bbq pork buns - Good Luck Dim Sum

Colorful botanically-themed mural
Colorful botanically-themed mural, Church Street. I think the plants in this section are probably California soaproot (Chlorogalum pomeridianum, Asparagaceae), rattlesnake grass (Briza sp., Poaceae), and filarees (Erodium sp., Geraniaceae).

Korean bbq dinner with work peeps – YakiniQ BBQ

There’s usually an occasion to warrant a work dinner for our group, but this time around I think we just wanted to grab some Korean BBQ in Japantown. What?! We don’t have a Korea-town in San Francisco, hehe. I’d never been to this restaurant, but it’s one of those places that’s all-you-can-eat for a set price. Or at least all-you-can-eat when the service feels like refilling your table. I’m not complaining, we had plenty to eat as you will see. Overall, I enjoyed the food and it’s always fun to hang out with my work peeps and their significant others. There were only six of us that night which made it easy to pass along food as they were ready off the central grill (and split the bill, lol)! $23.99 each, beer additional
YakiniQ BBQ, San Francisco CA

Intestine bulgogi tripe - YakiniQ BBQ
The grill is located in the center of the table and it does get dirty throughout the night, but they periodically replace the grill top. At one point, we had too much meat in the center which choked out the flame, so a server had to relight it. Oops! I tried to get a pic of everything we ordered, and I was mostly successful. We kept ordering multiple plates at once so it was a little difficult. You’ll get the general idea of the evening’s dining experience though, hehe!

Prime beef tongue and pork neck meat - YakiniQ BBQ
Prime beef tongue and pork neck meat. I’ve never had pork neck meat before and it was really tender and delicious!

Prime beef tongue - YakiniQ BBQ
Prime beef tongue on the grill.

Small intestine - YakiniQ BBQ
Small intestine. You definitely have to use the scissors to cut this and cook it to a crisp!

Honeycomb tripe - YakiniQ BBQ
Honeycomb tripe. Not my favorite, but they taste better with some chili sauce on top.

Marinated short rib gal-bi - YakiniQ BBQ
Marinted short rib (gal-bi) and marinated beef (bul-go-gi) on the grill. Delicious standards.

Spicy chicken - YakiniQ BBQ
Spicy chicken.

Beef brisket - YakiniQ BBQ
Beef brisket.

Pork skin - YakiniQ BBQ
Pork skin. Again, the trick is to grill this to a crisp otherwise there’s no way you can even chew through it!

Garlic butter chicken - YakiniQ BBQ
Garlic butter chicken.

Spicy pork belly - YakiniQ BBQ
Spicy pork belly.

Steamed egg - YakiniQ BBQ

Steamed egg.

Rice cake wraps - YakiniQ BBQ
Rice cake wraps.

Dipping sauces - YakiniQ BBQ
Dipping sauces.

Banchan - YakiniQ BBQ
Banchan. Complimentary

Hite Korean beer - YakiniQ BBQ

Hite Korean beer. Large bottle $13

Hite Korean beer - YakiniQ BBQ

Hite beer in a Cass glass beer glass. It was my first time trying this beer and I enjoyed it. It was light and didn’t make me burp as much as other beers, lol!

The Meatball banh mi – Dinosaurs

The Meatball banh mi - Dinosaurs
Pork meatballs, pickled carrot and daikon radishes, cilantro, cucumber, jalapeno, and mayo on a French baguette. $4.75
Dinosaurs, San Francisco CA

I think I’ve tried all but one of the different Vietnamese sandwiches at Dinosaurs. They’re all SO yummy that I couldn’t possibly choose a favorite. Fried tofu banh mi, here I come!

Wooden play sculpture, Dolores Park

Wooden play sculpture, Helen Diller Playground, Mission Dolores Park.

Appetizer sampler – Tastebuds

Appetizer sampler - Tastebuds
Chicharon bulaklak (deep fried pork intestines), lumpiang Shanghai (Filipino spring rolls), and chicken empanaditas. $9.75
Tastebuds, San Bruno CA

I don’t think I’ve had chicharon bulaklak since I was a kid, and now I remember why. These things are super hard to eat, lol! They’re difficult to bite into and you definitely need the vinegar to help soften them up. For those of you who’ve never tried them – be careful, hehe. The lumpia and empanadas were delicious, otherwise.

Spiral aloe (Aloe polyphylla, Xanthorrhoeaceae)
Spiral aloe (Aloe polyphylla, Xanthorrhoeaceae), West Field Road. I’m always mesmerized by the phyllotaxis of this beautiful succulent.