Carnitas and lengua tacos – El Patron Lonchera

Project 365: Day 64

I had to work in Oakland in the morning today so I stopped by one of the Mexican food trucks in West Oakland for lunch. One of my co-workers suggested El Patron Lonchera because they have tasty tacos and the food hasn’t made him sick yet, lol!

Carnitas and lengua tacos El Patron Mexican Truck

Two carnitas (pork) and two lengua (beef tongue) tacos on corn tortillas topped with red onions and cilantro. Served with pickled carrots, radishes, and jalapenos. Tacos $1.25 each. Diet Coke $1
El Patron Lonchera, Oakland CA

These were pretty good! Both tacos had great flavor and they didn’t get me sick, hehe. The beef tongue was in large chunks (yum) and the carnitas were nicely shredded with a few crispy pieces (double yum). The guy running the food truck doesn’t speak English so you either have to gesture or try and remember your pathetic highschool Spanish grammar!  🙂

Deoji bulgogi – Jang Su Jang

Project 365: Day 52

So we had an early start today and went to the Gilroy Outlets to do some shopping for the cruise. I don’t even want to add up all my charges but I ended up with 3 pairs shoes, 6 pairs of socks, 2 polo shirts, 1 tank top, 1 belt, 1 pair of swim trunks, and 2 pairs of underwear. Omg, I got a little out of hand. Then we stopped by Jang Su Jang on the way back home. Papa Chang recommended this restaurant and I’m glad that we went because it was SO good! It’s in the middle of a shopping area on El Camino Real, but it’s actually really nice inside. The service was friendly, the prices are great, and the food is of great quality. Go try it!

Deoji bulgogi Jang Su Jang

Spicy marinated pork with sliced onions and green onions, served with rice and broth. $13.99
Jang Su Jang, Santa Clara CA

Omg, this was so good! I love spicy pork bulgogi and this was a amazing, sizzling plate of it. This version was fancier because they also served you a big bowl of crusted rice with peas and a bowl of soup broth. I’ve never been served the broth with bulgogi before so I wasn’t sure how to eat the whole thing.

Rice Jang Su Jang

We ended up just piling on spicy pork on top of the rice and pouring some of the broth over everything. Don’t know if that’s the right way, but we didn’t worry too much about it. We just stuffed our faces, lol!

Broth Jang Su Jang

This broth was very flavorful, and it had slices of cooked radishes.

Check Jang Su Jang

When the check arrived, it came with these cute bottled drinks. I’m not sure what they were, but they tasted great. It had a kind of citrus, fruity, flowery flavor. It says “Frozen Dessert” on the outside but it’s some kind of juice.

Jang Su Jang

The damage! We were SO full!

Willis Ranch lemongrass pork – Out The Door

Willis Ranch lemongrass pork OTD

Over broken rice, pickled vegetables, pork and crab quiche, spicy soy. $15
Out The Door, San Francisco

The pork had a great flavor, but DAMN it was salty! When I say something wa salty, then it must have been super salty because I’m a frickin’ salt monster! Thank god there was a pile of rice there to cut some of the saltiness. I loved the beautiful pickled radishes.

Pork and crab quiche OTD

Pork and crab quiche with cellophane noodles. This quiche was actually better than the pork even though it was just a garnish. It had a great crab flavor. SO nommy!

Stir-fried pork jowl and winter radishes – Mission Chinese Food

Project 365: Day 41

Happy Valentine’s Day! Silverfox dropped by after work last night and dropped of a beautiful vase of roses, aw! They’re absolutely beautiful and you can view them below. Tonight we are having dinner at Fish & Farm. It’ll be our first time dining there so I’m pretty excited. We looked at a few other restaurants and all of them seem to be doing a pre fixe, and some of them a little too spendy for us right now. Fish & Farm’s pre fixe includes 4 courses and a glass of champagne for $75 per person. Not too bad.

Stir-fried pork jowl and winter radishes Mission Chinese Food

With fermented black bean, mint, red perilla, served with steamed rice. $11
Mission Chinese Food, San Francisco

Red perilla refers to some of the greens (or reds, hehe) in this dish. (Most of the green you see is actually the radish tops though.) They’re also known as red shiso and these appear to be young sprouts. This dish was very tasty! It had a pungent odor from the radishes and leaves which was somehow familiar to me. The porl jowl, although super fatty, were so good and the whole dish was warm and comforting. Perfect for the cold weather.

Stir-fried pork jowl and winter radishes Mission Chinese Food

SO good!

Roses

Roses from my lovey!

Farm egg scramble – Local Mission Eatery

Project 365: Day 31

Lazy morning today. Putz around at home with Silverfox then walked down to the Mission for coffee at Philz Coffee then brunch at Local Mission Eatery. Don’t have much more to do today, it’ll be relaxing. I won tickets to a showing of Best In Show at the Castro Theater later. That’ll be fun! A couple of the actors in the movie are doing a Q&A beforehand. Silverfox has never seen the movie, but I think he’ll get a kick out of it. Codes is also arriving this evening and I’m sure he’ll want to go out. Thank goodness it’s only Saturday, lol!

Farm egg scramble Local Mission Eatery

Soft scramble with red and yellow beets, sliced radishes, greens on top of what I think was a sunchoke puree. $11
Local Mission Eatery, San Francisco

This was super tasty! It wasn’t what I was expecting since the menus said that the scramble was gonna come with “brussels, sweet potatoes, goat gouda”, but I think that this combination turned out better. I LOVE beets and the whole plate tasted fresh and light. The eggs were cooked perfectly and I loved the composition of the plate with all the beautiful colors.

Farm egg scramble Local Mission Eatery

Chicken enchilada – Tommy’s Mexican Restaurant

Chicken enchilada Tommy's Mexican Restaurant

One chicken enchilada topped with plenty of enchilada sauce and cheese. Served with rice, refried beans, salad, and corn tortilla. $8.95
Tommy’s Mexican Restaurant, San Francisco

Now this was good! I loved the enchilada sauce. It was dark and rich and very mole tasting. The refried beans were also delicious as was the rice. I only order the single enchilada and I’m glad I did because you get a lot of food. It also came with a side salad and a corn tortilla. Add all you can eat chips and salsa and you’ve got a filling meal! Noms!

Side salad Tommy's Mexican Restaurant

Side salad of lettuce, carrots, cucumber, radish and salsa. Complimentary.

Pozole – San Jalisco

Pozole San Jalisco Mexican Restaurant

Pork soup in a red, homemade spicy sauce complemented with corn hominy. Served with cabbage, radishes, lime wedges, chopped onions, Mexican oregano, and chili peppers on the side. $9.95
San Jalisco, San Francisco

This pozole had great flavor, but I wish it had come out hotter (temperature wise). It was only warm and quickly became luke warm. Not the way you should enjoy pozole! The preparation was rustic which I don’t mind, but Silverfox didn’t like picking around the bones and connective tissue of the pork. I did enjoy the number of accompaniments this came with. You could flavor the soup just the way you like it.

I do have to mention that the service at this restaurant was particular sweet and friendly.

7×7 Magazine’s The Big Eat San Francisco: 100 Things to Eat + Drink Before You Die – 2011, 2012

Pozole - San Jalisco
June 27, 2014. $10.95
Looks like the price has gone up!

Banh hoi with grilled prawns and pork – Hometown Noodle 2

Project 365: Day 6

Went to try this Vietnamese restaurant for lunch because this was the last day of their Grand Opening special. Free soda and 20% off the entire bill. Heck yeah! I guess this is their second location – the original restaurant is down in Redwood City. The food was pretty good and the lady was super nice, but a little slow and forgetful.

Can’t wait to bike to work tomorrow! I love the early morning cardio. My legs are still a little sore from squats at the gym yesterday. Rapunzel, Papa Chang and I are also gonna go for a quick ride during our lunch break. We’re gonna rule the road, lol!

Banh hoi with grilled prawns and pork Hometown Noodle 2

Banh hoi tom heo nuong. “Banh Hoi” is made by packing thin rice noodles together tightly into patties, then cut into squares. Banh hoi is combined with mint leaves, lettuce, cucumber, carrot, radish, cilantro, green onions, and ground peanuts. Served with house special fish sauce. $9.95
Hometown Noodle 2, San Bruno CA

This was very tasty, but you really can’t go wrong with Vietnamese food – the flavors are bright and refreshing. Both the pork and prawns were tender and flavorful. I really like the compressed vermicelli noodles! I don’t think I’ve had them like that before. I made one lettuce roll, but it was too messy so I ended up just dumping the fish sauce (and some chili oil) over the whole plate and using chopsticks to eat everything. I’m a simple man!

Pozole rojo – Nopalito

Pozole rojo Nopalito

Stew of pork shoulder, hominy, cabbage, radish, and chile ancho. $11
Nopalito, San Francisco

Can you say comfort food?!  In my opinion, this huge bowl of pozole is one of the best in the city!  The broth is pretty amazing and oh so flavorful.  I always squeeze the entire lime into the soup and throw in all the extras.  They give you nice and thick tortilla chips that retain their crispness even after sitting in the pozole for a while.

Pozole rojo Nopalito

Served with lime, red onions, oregano, chili powder and tortilla chips.