Seared sea scallops served on a bed of spinach noodles in a spicy galangal coconut green curry sauce. Toppped with green papaya, zucchini, and fried basil. $20
Zadin, San Francisco CA
This was a weird dish, and I’m not sure it was a successful one. The spinach noodles and green curry sauce didn’t taste amazing together, and the seared scallops just seemed like an afterthought.
Mr. Bluebird came to visit my balcony.
Summer rolls. Steamed shrimp and pork, rice vermicelli, bean sprouts, red leaf lettuce, cilantro and mint wrapped in rice paper served with peanut sauce. $8.50
Zadin, San Francisco CA
Being the little piggy that I am, I enjoyed that these summer rolls came with both shrimp and pork inside! In gnereal, I’d also have to say that I was impressed with all their sauces. Go Zadin!
Marble stairs, US Customhouse, Battery Street.
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, Helen Diller Playground, Mission Dolores Park.
Grilled lemongrass pork, pickled carrot and daikon radishes, cilantro, cucumber, jalapeno, and mayo on a French baguette. $4.75
Dinosaurs, San Francisco CA
Floral mural, Church Street. This section of th emural has butterflies, some plants in the Geranicaceae, Polemoniaceae, and Lamiaceae families.
Seafood noodle soup with prawns, fish balls, and squid, accompanied with a plate of bean sprouts, basil leaves, lime wedge, and sliced jalapenos. Large $7.95
Hometown Noodle 2, San Bruno CA
This tasted pretty good, but they were definitely skimpy with the seafood. You got two pieces of each if you count that the fish balls were cut in half. Meh.
Purple blazing star or prairie gay feather flowers (Liatris spicata, Asteraceae), West Field Road. It’s always interesting to post flower pics on this blog because that’s usually when I find out what the actual names are. I can usually get them to at least the family level before I have to do additional research, but there are just way too many ornamentals out there! 🙂
Chicken thigh cutlets seasoned and marinted, pickled carrot and daikon radishes, cilantro, cucumber, jalapeno, and mayo on a French baguette. $4.75
Dinosaurs, San Francisco CA
The fog rolls in past Sutro Tower, Noe Valley. I took this pic one evening when I was walking home from Bart. It was getting chilly as the fog crept in from the ocean.
Sea bass caramelized with garlic, fish sauce and served in an earth pot. $16.95
Vung Tau Restaurant, San Jose CA
I laughed when they brought this out! This was the saddest clay pot I’d ever seen. The singular piece of fish was tiny (notice its size relative to the spoon), and it looked pathetic in the dried, crusty clay pot. They cooked the hell out of this dish so the fish was dry and the remnants of the sauce was super salty. Yuck! This was a complete rip off at seventeen bucks!
Outdoor patio party crowd mural, Mac’s Club. Gotta love the murals at this bar. This is a fun composition, espcially with the drag queen(?) chillin’ on the moon with a rainbow colored umbrella, hehe!
Shredded seasoned pork, grilled jumbo prawns, and grilled pork served with broken rice and pickled vegetables. $12.50
Vung Tau Restaurant, San Jose CA
This was just ok. I don’t know why I keep getting the Vietnamese shredded pork? I never like it because it’s SO dry and chalky tasting. The grilled pork and prawn were decent, but at $12.50 for a lunch plate I expect it to be of better quality. And the service was SLOW!
Sweet chili fish sauce, gotta love it!
Panda “bear” and bamboo fence mural. This was kinda cute! I like how they incorporated the real bamboo plants behind the fence to created this mural.
Vietnamese fresh spring roll with Chinese sausage, egg, peanut, and lettuce wrapped in rice paper. $7.25
Vung Tau Restaurant, San Jose CA
This was a very disappointing lunch! The food was mediocre and the prices were high for what we received. These fresh rolls were the highlight of the meal though. I’ve never had them with the Chinese sausages before, and they were delicious. I also liked the addition of peanuts for crunch and flavor. Noms!
Pink snapdragon flowers (Antirrhinum majus, Scrophulariaceae). I’m not familiar with all the streets in San Jose so I’m not sure which street this was in downtown San Jose. These plants were in large cement planters lining the sidewalk of a commercial street.
Catfish clay pot simmered in traditional homestyle sauce and garlic, spinkled with black pepper, served with a bowl of steamed jasmine rice. $11.25
Ben Tre Vietnamese Homestyle Cuisine, South San Francisco CA
This was one of the saddest clay pots I’ve had in a while! The three pieces of fish were SUPER small and most of the liquid in the sauce had been cooked down too much making it SUPER salty, yuck! I expected more substance from this dish. Don’t think I’ll be ordering this again!
Roasted pork, fancy pork loaf and pork pate with pickled carrot and daikon radishes, cilantro, cucumber, jalapeno, and mayo on a French baguette. $5
Dinosaurs, San Francisco CA
Wow, pork three ways all in one sandwich! This isn’t the healthiest sandwich out there, but it sure is one of the tastiest – yes, please!
Sea lions at Pier 39. I know this is cheesy, but the sea lions are a major tourist attraction in San Francisco (Lou Seal is the mascot for the SF Giants, btw). They swim into the Bay and sunbathe on the floating docks along Pier 39 – kinda cool.
Imperial rolls and BBQ pork served over soft rice vermicelli noodles, shredded lettuce, carrot, cucumber, crushed peanuts, accompanied by their house special “Nuoc Mam” sauce. $8.25
Ben Tre Vietnamese Homestyle Cuisine, South San Francisco CA
Vittle Monster 