Spicy tuna and cucumber roll topped with more chili sauce, sesame and green onions. $6.50
Katana-Ya, San Francisco
Why are “spicy” rolls never really that spicy at Japanese restaurants? This roll was more sweet than spicy to me. I think it had some good flavors but lacked the spice. C’mon guys, gimme some heat!
Served with cilantro, ginger, thai chilies, and onions. $15
The Slanted Door, San Francisco
This was my absolute favorite dish at The Slanted Door! I remember ordering this back in the day when the restaurant was still in its small space on Valencia Street. I loved it then and I still love it today. It has such a deep, rich flavor and the catfish is so tender and fall-apart flakey. The sauce is SO amazing with the caramelized onions. The catfish slices do have a lot of bones in them so be careful! I’m used to fish bones, and I actually like that they’re there because they add more flavor to the dish. Beautiful and delicious!!!
With green onion, fresh dungeness crab meat, and garnished with cilantro. $19
The Slanted Door, San Francisco
This has got to be one of The Slanted Door’s most popular dishes. It’s absolutely delicious and the flavors are amazing. Even the noodles have absorbed a great seafood/crab flavor. There are large chunks of dungeness crab hidden throughout the pile of clear, al dente noodles.
7×7 Magazine’s The Big Eat San Francisco: 100 Things to Eat + Drink Before You Die – 2010, 2011, 2012
Red cabbage slaw, chipotle cream, mango and jicama salsa. $5 happy hour
Hog & Rocks, San Francisco
Wow, these were amazing! And only five dollars for two huge tacos! The shrimp was tender inside with a great crispy fried coating. Sometimes it’s hard to taste the batter when there’s so many other components, but this batter stood out to me. The chipotle cream was delicious and I loved the crunch from the cabbage slaw and the mango and jicama salsa. I wish the salsa came on the taco though. It would have provided just another smattering of color, and I’m too lazy to put add it myself, hehe. I would order this again any day!
I believe these were Baywater Sweet oysters from Hood Canal in Washington State. Served with a mignonette and lemon wedges. Being originally from Washington, I say “Noms!” Actually, I’m not a big raw oyster fan but I’ve got a sense of native pride to upload, hehe. These were pretty large and you can’t complain about the great happy hour price! $18 happy hour
Hog & Rocks, San Francisco
Served with cauliflower, arugula, fennel, olives, croutons and preserved lemon. $12
BIN 38, San Francisco
This was a refreshing plate but disappointing because it’s not what I thought I ordered. The menu read “Grilled calamari” and perhaps the squid was grilled at some point, but there was so much citrus juice in the dressing that the calamari got further cooked by the acid and its texture changed drastically. It could have almost been called a “ceviche” at that point! I did appreciate the different textures from the fennel, croutons, cauliflower, etc. I’m not sure what was the painted green puree on the plate. It was never explained and I forgot to ask. Pretty dish…
Beautifully striped ravioli pasta filled with spinach, artichoke, and ricotta cheese. Topped with lump crab meat, smothered in a wonderful lemon butter sauce, and sprinkled with paprika.
Anchor Oyster Bar, San Francisco
I have to admit that I was a little surprised (and impressed) at this dish. I think of Anchor Oyster Bar as serving simple, delicious food – caring more about freshness and quality than presentation. So the spinach-striped pasta was a nice surpise. It was abolutely beautiful and had a wonderful sheen to it. The ravioli was cooked perfectly and the crab meat was SO delicious. This was another special item on their menu, but I would love to see this again!
Pan roasted 1/2 dungeness crab with sliced garlic, sprigs of thyme, parsley, lemon and LOTS of butter.
Anchor Oyster Bar, San Francisco
This was actually a special they had that night, and I was in absolute heaven! The crab was fresh and tasted amazing! I squeezed most of the lemon onto the dish and it added even more flavor and brightened up the garlicky butter sauce. It was no easy feat extracting all the flesh from the crab, but I did a pretty good job. I didn’t want any of that soft, tender crab meat to go to waste. As you will see, I don’t mind getting messy and eating with my hands – I am Filipino, lol! This dish was so comforting and I used the table sourdough bread to soak up all the butter sauce. Thank goodness I live in San Francisco. We get our fair share of amazing crab!
Mezza Corona Chardonnay 2009, Italy
I didn’t like this white wine very much. I rated it 3.3/10 on the Wine Notes app on my phone. But dinner always tastes better with a glass of wine, mediocre or not…
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
Vittle Monster 