The Spicy Tuna banh mi – Dinosaurs

The Spicy Tuna banh mi - Dinosaurs
Chunk light tuna with spicy mayo, pickled carrot and daikon radishes, cilantro, cucumber, jalapeno, and mayo on a French baguette. $4.75
Dinosaurs, San Francisco CA

Omg, Dinosaurs is my new favorite banh mi sandwich shop near my neighborhood! (Saigon Sandwich still rocks it out in the Tenderloin.) I was surprised that this used canned tuna (I didn’t know what to expect), but I really loved it! These sandwiches are cheap and deliciously awesome!

Colorful graffiti mural, Market Street
Colorful graffiti mural, Market Street. I love the vibrant colors of this artwork found in an alley off Market Street.

Prawn spring rolls – Siam Saigon

Project 365: Day 126

Only worked a half day today so I could go to the dentist and get my teeth cleaned. I’m kind of annoyed with them because they thought I was a different person and had pulled the wrong records and even greeted me as the other person. Shouldn’t they know who I am when I make the appointment!? Gonna have to keep my eye on them from now on!

Prawn spring rolls - Siam Saigon
Fresh wrap in rice paper with bean sprout, mint, carrot, cilantro, lettuce and vermicelli noodles served with peanut sauce and hoisin sauce. $7
Siam Saigon, San Francisco CA

Prawn spring rolls - Siam Saigon
This tasted great. The shrimp was good (not old or grainy) and the other ingredients were fresh and clean. There’s not much shrimp in the rolls, but the flavors were there. Their peanut sauce is on the thick, creamy side and I like that they also give you the hoisin sauce as an alternative.

Ga quay chao – Ben Tre

Ga quay chao Ben Tre
Baked five spice chicken marinated in lemongrass and rich herb sauce, served with rice, salad, and fish sauce. $11.25
Ben Tre Vietnamese Homestyle Cuisine, South San Francisco CA

Ga quay chao Ben Tre
I’m not sure if this was actually baked, it had a semi-fried texture to me. Maybe it was just finished in the oven. But it was very flavorful and delicious. A bit on the salty side especially if you add the fish sauce, but I think Vietnamese food tends to be salty anyway.

Roast chicken banh mi – Saigon Sandwich

Roast chicken banh mi Saigon Sandwich

Vietnamese sandwich with sliced roast chicken, pickled carrots and onions, jalapenos, cilantro and mayonnaise on a toasted roll. $3.50
Saigon Sandwich, San Francisco

Yum, I love Saigon Sandwich for their absolutely delicious and CHEAP sandwiches! These sandwiches are quite large for only costing $3.50. The chicken was very flavorful and the pickled veggies were perfect. Mmm, if I lived closer to this place I would hit it up several times a week!

Bun with beef rolls – Hometown Noodle 2

Project 365: Day 81

Argh, I’m back in the real world! Had to go into work of a couple hours today. Kinda glad because I really need the money after that trip! Went to Whole Foods to grab groceries for my lunches this week. Ended up meeting Hubbs for catching up and drinks in the Castro. I hadn’t seen him in a while so I got a little too crazy with the drinks then ended up at 7-11 for nachos, lol!

Bun with beef rolls Hometown Noodle 2

Bun thit nuong bo cuon. Cold vermicelli, a thin rice noodle, is call “bun” in Vietnamese. With pickled carrots and radish, cucumber, and garnished with toasted peanuts and green onions. Served with fish sauce and choice of meat. Large $8.25
Hometown Noodle 2, San Bruno CA

Bun with egg rolls and grilled pork – Hometown Noodle 2

Project 365: Day 80

We’ve landed in San Juan PR and it’s departure day. We had brunch with the gang up in the Oceanview Cafe then headed down to the theater to await our disembarkation announcements. The 6 of us who were flying out today shared a cab to the airport. Our flight back was SJU-JFK-SFO. We were a little delayed leaving SJU but we made time in the air and arrived at JFK on time. As our connection was leaving the gate at JFK, some girl wanted to get off the plane so we had to return to the gate and wait for her to leave (so annoying!). Even though we had a super late departure, we still made it back to SFO at a decent time and I was in my bed before 1 AM.

Bun with egg rolls and grilled pork Hometown Noodle 2

Bun cha gio voi heo. Cold vermicelli, a thin rice noodle, is call “bun” in Vietnamese. It’s with pickled carrots and radish, cucumber, and garnished with toasted peanuts and green onions. Served with fish sauce and choice of meat. Large $8.25
Hometown Noodle 2, San Bruno CA

Diet Coke Hometown Noodle 2

Diet Coke.

Rice with egg rolls and grilled pork – Hometown Noodle 2

Project 365: Day 79

Today was the last sea day on the boat before returning to San Juan PR. I had mixed emotions – I was glad to be heading home after a long fun trip but sad to actually return to the real world. I’ll miss the constantly available food and waking up each morning to find myself at a new and exciting island. We decided to have a slow and relaxing day. We had brunch in the main dining room, had multiple snacks up in the Oceanview Cafe, played a slot tournment, played Bingo hosted by Jackie Beat, attend an Over The Rainbow T-Dance, had dinner in the main dining room, watched the Miss Richfield 1981 show (omg, SO funny!), packed our bags and called it a night.

Rice with egg rolls and grilled pork Hometown Noodle 2

Steamed rice, pickled carrots and radish, sliced cucumber, fried egg, egg rolls, and grilled pork with green onions. $8.95
Hometown Noodle 2, San Bruno CA

Hot chili oil Hometown Noodle 2

Hot chili oil.

Bun with grilled prawns – Hometown Noodle 2

Project 365: Day 78

Finally, we’ve made it to Gustavia, Saint Barthelemy (St. Barths)! We had a small breakfast at the Oceanview Cafe, then met the gang to tender to shore. Gustavia is really clean and pretty and EXPENSIVE! Everything is also in Euros so it’s more expensive than you think. We made our way to Shell Beach and rented chairs for the day. Thank goodness because there were a few downpours but we stayed mostly dry. We had a fabulous lunch at Do Brazil, laid out and swam all day, did some shopping in town, had coffee at a cafe, then tendered back to the ship. So sad to leave such a beautiful and relaxing island. We relaxed in our cabin for a little bit, then I went for a snack at Oceanview Cafe, met Silverfox for drinks at the Martini Bar, had dinner with the gang in the main dining room, took a disco nap, then partied the night away at the White Party!

Bun with grilled prawns Hometown Noodle 2

Bun tom nuong. Cold vermicelli, a thin rice noodle, is call “bun” in Vietnamese. With pickled carrots and radish, cucumber, and garnished with toasted peanuts and green onions. Served with fish sauce and choice of meat. Large $8.25
Hometown Noodle 2, San Bruno CA

Shrimp spring rolls – Hometown Noodle 2

Project 365: Day 77

Roseau, Dominica! The exclamation point means “get me out of here!” No joke, this place was super scary and the people were NOT friendly. I had 2 breakfasts this morning, one at Oceanview Cafe and the other at AquaSpa Cafe. Then we were stupid enough to go explore Roseau by ourselves instead of doing an excursion elsewhere on the island. The town was pretty dirty and some of the people were scary and mean. We walked around town just checking the non-existent sites, looked for a bookstore, visited Our Lady of Fair Haven Cathedral, had a Jamaican beef patty at Patty Shack, then ran back to the ship. We tried to decompress in the solarium while eating food from the AquaSpa Cafe and the Pool/Mast Grill. We then attended the 70’s T-Dance, had drinks at the Martini Bar, had a couple’s dinner at the main dining room, watch Mario Cantone, then went to the Oceanview Cafe for ice cream.

Shrimp spring rolls Hometown Noodle 2

2 large rolls with boiled shrimp, lettuce, bean sprouts and rice noodle are wrapped in thin rice sheets. Served with house special peanut sauce. $5.25
Hometown Noodle 2, San Bruno CA

Green tea Hometown Noodle 2

Green tea. Complimentary.

Chicken porridge – Out The Door

Chicken porridge OTD

Rau ram (Vietnamese coriander), crispy shallots, black pepper, topped with sliced Chinese donuts. $9
Out The Door, San Francisco

This was SO good! This had an amazing, intense chicken flavor and I liked the texture of this porridge better than most congees I’ve tried. And for $9, shut the front door! This is a must try.

7×7 Magazine’s The Big Eat San Francisco: 100 Things to Eat + Drink Before You Die – 2010, 2011, 2012