Corn salad – Firewood Cafe

Corn salad - Firewood Cafe
With basil, tomato, and balsamic vinaigrette dressing. $4.50
Firewood Cafe, San Francisco CA

This was interesting – maybe a little too sweet for my taste. The combination of the sweet corn kernels and the sweet-ish dressing was a bit much. I will say that they give you plenty of corn!

Marinted olives - Firewood Cafe
Marinted olives. Complimentary.

Hacienda style home, Roosevelt Way

Hacienda style home, Roosevelt Way. I love this house in the Upper Market Terrace neighborhood. It’s actually more of a mansion, and it’s absolutely beautiful!

Lamb burger – Cafe Mystique

Lamb burger - Cafe Mystique
Burger ordered medium, with lettuce, tomatoes, caramelized onions, and mozzarella cheese. Served with garlic French fries. $12.95
Cafe Mystique, San Francisco CA

Lamb burger - Cafe Mystique
Mmm, this burger was very juicy and flavorful. It had a mild lamb taste that was not overpowering. And the garlic fries were SO delicious! This was their burger special that night so I’m glad I ordered it – a great value!

Financial District from Lombard Street
View of the Financial District from Lombard Street. I love my city!

Scramble special – Chloe’s Cafe

Scramble special - Chloe's Cafe
Two scrambled eggs with fresh mushroom, tomato, basil, zucchini and Jarlsberg cheese. Served with a cup of fresh fruit (strawberry, banana, orange, cantaloupe, honeydew melon), 2 slices whole wheat walnut bread, Darigold butter, and raspberry jam. $10.75
Chloe’s Cafe, San Francisco

Mmm, this scramble was very good and pretty healthy, even with cheese. Jalrsberg has less fat than other cheese so it was more guilt-free. All the vegetables were delicious, but I wish the eggs had been cooked as a softer scramble. That would have been perfect!

White Hygrandea (Hydrangeaceae), Jersey Street
White Hygrandea (Hydrangeaceae), Jersey Street. The house down the street improved their sidewalk-scaping along the side of their building. I love the addition off these lovely Hydrangeas.

Carolina shrimp and grits – The Glass Onion

Carolina shrimp and grits - The Glass Onion
With andouille sausage and braised tomatoes. $17
The Glass Onion, Charleston SC

This dish was pretty good with great flavor. I loved the texture of the grits, but the shrimp may have been a little overcooked. Not too much, but they were definitely not as tender as I would have liked. Also, I did want to mention that the service was a bit awkward.

Cornbread and honey - The Glass Onion
Cornbread drizzled with honey. These were delicious and I wish I had requested another round!

Doubletree Guest Suites Charleston-Historic District

Lobby of the Doubletree Guest Suites Charleston-Historic District. Sat here several times waiting for my friend to get ready before heading out to dinner, hehe!

The Sleeper burger – Poe’s Tavern

The Sleeper burger - Poe's Tavern
Half-pound burger ground in-house and cooked to order. Served on a freshly baked bun, with lettuce, tomato, pickles, fried onions, and a side of hand-cut French fries. Topped with roasted garlic blue cheese and Buffalo shrimp. $11
Poe’s Tavern, Sullivan’s Island SC

The Sleeper burger - Poe's Tavern
What was I thinking ordering this super heavy burger? It was delicious, but super rich and large! I wasn’t very hungry at the time so perhaps this wasn’t the best choice. I will say that the patty had a weird texture. It was very crumbly underneath the sear and fell apart quite easily. The Buffalo shrimp was great though!

The Sleeper burger - Poe's Tavern
These fries were delicious, but they got soggy as they cooled down.

Gun powder room at Fort Moultrie
Gun powder room at Fort Moultrie. In the middle of the Fort, they had a reconstructed powder house containing barrels of gun powder. You can’t go inside, but I snapped this pic through the bars of the door window.

Alaskan king crab “sandwich” – The French Laundry

Alaskan king crab "sandwich" - The French Laundry
San Marzano tomato marmalade, parmesan, cornichons, romaine lettuce and Haas avocado. Chef’s Tasting Menu $270
The French Laundry, Yountville CA

Apologies for the iPhone photo being so blurry because I really loved this dish! The “sandwich” was amazing and the football-shaped avocado pieces were super cute. I enjoyed the crisp texture of the sandwich exterior, the warm firmness of the crab filling, and the creaminess of of the avocado “sauce”. Noms, a great dish all around!

Fried catfish sandwich – Magnolias

Fried catfish sandwich - Magnolias
With lettuce, tomato, cheddar chesese, green tomato, and tartar sauce on a toasted hoagie roll. Served with jalapeno-peach coleslaw and butter pickles. $12
Magnolia’s – Uptown Down South, Charleston SC

SO good! The catfish was delicious and perfectly fried – not greasy at all. The jalapeno-peach coleslaw was a pleasant option and you gotta love butter pickles. The sandwich was pretty large but the upper hoagie bun was too thick for me. I wish they could have toasted it a little more.

Housemade bread and butter - Magnolias
Housemade bread and butter. I know that the butter was flavored but I forget what it was exactly – it was delicious though!

Daughters of the Confederacy Museum

Daughters of the Confederacy Museum. This historic building sits on the corner of Market Street and Meeting Street at the western end off covered market area. It looks cool from the outside, but I haven’t gone inside yet. I like that you can walk underneath it to enter the market behind it.

Lamb keema omelet – Dosa

Project 365: Day 118

Wow, morning traffic in London is crazy! It took us a while to get to London Heathrow Airport with D driving. It seemed like got on 10 different highways and all of them crammed with cars. I was super tired so I kept falling in and out of sleep.

The direct flight back to San Francisco wasn’t too bad although Hubbs and I were in different rows. He sat directly in front of me. I had this annoying Russian girl beside me and a pleasant older couple on the other side. I ended up watching 3 movies and trying to nap a little bit.

Now I’m back in my sunny apartment and SO excited to be sleeping in my own bed tonight. I have to head into work tomorrow but that doesn’t seem to bad right now. David and I are having a Cinco de Sonoma weekend so I’ve got something to look forward to, yay!

Lamb keema omelet Dosa
South India omelet filled with minced lamb, peas and diced potatoes. Served with coconut and tomato chutney, sambar (a lentil dipping soup made with vegetables and spices), masala (a traditional filling of spiced mashed potatoes), and salad. $12
Dosa, San Francisco CA

I came here alone for brunch and totally over-ordered. I had this and a paper masala dosa – way too much food! This omelet was really good though! It had a soft texture and the filling was absolutely delicious. I also love all the extra sauces and toppings.

The Mint Karaoke Lounge, Market Street
The Mint Karaoke Lounge, Market Street. I love this karaoke bar! I’m not a big singer – CORRECTION: I love to sing but don’t have the most melodious voice (hehe). This is a great place to start or end an evening out with a group of friends. Beware of the professional karaoke folk, but I guess you’ll find some at every karaoke joint.

Viejo San Juan panini – Cafe Cuatro Sombras

Viejo San Juan panini Cafe Cuatro Sombras
Chicken breast, lettuce, tomato, and recao and cilantrillo mayonnaise on a multigrain bread with a touch of cilantrillo oil. Served with potato chips. $6.75
Cafe Cuatro Sombras, Old San Juan, PUERTO RICO

This panini totally hit the spot before a heading out on a walking tour of Old San Juan. The cafe is super cute and the service was very friendly.

Lamb of God statue San Juan
“Lamb of God” statue located in the Plaza del Quinto Centenario. The other lamb statue opposite this one has the animal laying down.

Cuarto Sombras panini – Cafe Cuatro Sombras

Project 365: Day 111

I’m at SFO International Terminal A with Hubbs and waiting to board our Virgin Atlantic flight to LHR. Yippee! The flight is 9+ hours long so I’m gonna have plenty of movie-watching time. I’m SO glad it’s a direct flight. We arrive in London tomorrow morning but have to wait at the airport for our afternoon connection to Dublin on British Midland International. SO excited!

Cafe Cuatro Sombras panini
Black forest ham, lettuce, tomato, recao and cilantrillo mayo with a garlic and cheese spread on an olive oil bread. Served with potato chips. $7.50
Cafe Cuatro Sombras, Old San Juan, PUERTO RICO

Leave it to a cafe to deliver some of the better food we had in Old San Juan. This panini was delicious. Otherwise, San Juan was a food bust for the most part.

Iced lattes Cafe Cuatro Sombras
16 ounce iced latte. $3.75

Blue crab and avocado salad – Palio

Blue crab and avocado salad Palio
On grilled tomato with lime vinaigrette, served with toasted bread. $9
Palio, Old San Juan, PUERTO RICO

These were SO weird and totally not what we expected. The crab salad had a really weird texture, flavor, and color. And the grilled tomatoes were super cold. I was not a fan. 😦

San Juan Bay
View of San Juan Bay from the Palio balcony. There were usually a couple of cruise ships parked out front, but the terminals were oddly empty this particular day.

Jake sandwich – St. Germain Bistro & Cafe

Jake sandwich St. Germain Bistro & Cafe
Chicken, tahini sauce, walnuts, tomato, spinach, carrot, and hummus on a pita. Served with a watermelon, cucumber and radish salad. $10.32
St. Germain Bistro & Cafe, Old San Juan, PUERTO RICO

This was the weirdest sandwich I’ve ever had. The combination of ingredients wasn’t necessarily bad, but the it made for a dense mass with an odd texture. I would have preferred less of the sandwich and more of the delicious watermelon salad!

Discoverer statue Plaza de Colon

“Discoverer” statue of Christopher Columbus at the Plaza de Colon. This plaza marks what I think is the entrance to the main section of Old San Juan. Most of the traffic into this area passes by this plaza on the way to the nearby hotels and restaurants. The square isn’t very large, but the pillar and statue in the middle of the square stands prominently over the neighboring buildings.