Talong (eggplant) salad – Mesa

Talong (eggplant) salad - Mesa
Grilled eggplant soaked in sweet tangy vinaigrette. 250 PHP
Mesa, Boracay PHILIPPINES

I really do love eating eggplants, so it was a shame and annoying that this grilled eggplant salad wasn’t very good. It tasted WAY too sour the eggplants were cooked unevenly. Some were undercooked and on the hard side, and others were overcooked and super mushy. Lame!

Main wing pool, Boracay Regency
Main wing pool at night, view from our room.

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Whole roasted pig – Incanto

Whole roasted pig - Incanto
Served with warm baby leeks and truffle vinaigrette, broccoli rabe, pork stuffing, and pork jus.
Incanto, San Francisco CA

I’m back! OK, I know I’ve been MIA and I apologize. Life has been hectic and I haven’t been able to adjust as quickly as I wanted to.

Anyway, it took the closing of Incanto to get me to blog today. Over the weekend, we celebrated a friend’s bday with the FINAL whole roasted pig dinner ever to be served at Incanto. It was a wonderful dinner and the food was delicious.

Whole roasted pig - Incanto
They brought out the whole roasted pork and it looked beautiful! I thought the gold leafed snout was a nice touch.

Whole roasted pig - Incanto
Our server carved the pig tableside. I was surprised that the body had actually been deboned prior to cooking so only skin and meat remained.

Whole roasted pig - Incanto
The meat was SO tasty, especially smothered in the pork jus.

Roasted pig skin - Incanto
I made sure to go back for plenty of the crispy skin.

Warm baby leeks - Incanto
The sides were also very good. The baby leeks were beautifully presented.

Broccoli rabe - Incanto
The broccoli rabe had a nice bitterness to them.

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

Hand picked dungeness crab salad – Contigo

Hand picked dungeness crab salad - Contigo
With chicories, winter citrus, avocado and lime vinagreta. $15
Contigo, San Francisco CA

This was such a great salad. It was bright and fresh and the dungeness crab tasted delicious. I also really loved the beautiful, multicolored chicories that they used especially the pink-splotched variety. Noms!

Hand picked dungeness crab salad - Contigo
Chicories, clementines, avocado, fennel, lime vinagreta.
January 26, 2014

Pier 43 Ferry Arch
Pier 43 Ferry Arch, Fisherman’s Wharf.

Salade frisee aux lardons – Le P’tit Laurent

Salade frisee aux lardons - Le P'tit Laurent
Frisee salad with bacon and poached egg, croutons, sherry vinaigrette. $11
Le P’tit Laurent, San Francisco CA

This salad was very tasty! I loved the poached egg and the crunchy croutons. Perhaps some people would think this salad was a bit tart from the sherry vinaigrette but I enjoyed its brightness.

Pinot Noir - Le P'tit Laurent

Pinot Noir, Tarrica, Monterrey, CA, 2011. Bottle $34
Mmm, nice and peppery!

Ocean Beach
Ocean Beach, Great Highway.

Asian chicken salad – Escena Lounge & Grill

Asian chicken salad - Escena Lounge & Grill
Shredded napa cabbage, carrots, red peppers, mandarin oranges, caramelized almonds, cilantro, green onions, wontons and grilled chicken tossed in soy-ginger vinaigrette. $13
Escena Lounge & Grill, Palm Springs CA

Wow, this was like a huge Asian chopped salad! And a very good one at that. I loved the perfect combination of all the different textures and flavors.

Escena Golf Club view - Escena Lounge & Grill

The view from our table – absolutely beautiful!

“All natural” furikake rubbed New York cut steak – Sansei Seafood Restaurant

New York cut steak - Sansei Seafood Restaurant
Garlic demi glace and hamakua shiitake mushrooms, roasted new potatoes, arugula salad dressed with Japanese umeboshi vinaigrette. $28.50
Sansei Seafood Restaurant, Waikoloa HI

New York cut steak - Sansei Seafood Restaurant
Mmm, this was very tasty. I loved the tender steak and all the components were pretty and delicious. I just wished the potatoes could have been crispier and not SO greasy.

Noni infructescence (Morinda citrifolia)
Developing noni infructescence (Morinda citrifolia, Rubiaceae), Lololu Valley.

Arugula salad – Tinto

Arugula salad - Tinto
Serrano ham, mission fig, fried goat cheese, spiced almonds, sevilla orange vinaigrette. Summer prix-fixe menu $38
Tinto, Palm Springs CA

This salad was pretty tasty! I especially loved the little fried goat cheese balls – they were delicious. The salad had lots of great ingredients and they all tasted great together.

Large rock formations, Joshua Tree National Park
Large rock formations, Joshua Tree National Park.

Pork belly with fennel – Eureka Restaurant and Lounge

Pork belly with fennel - Eureka Restaurant and Lounge
Endive, caramelized grapes, honey-thyme vinaigrette. $10
Eureka Restaurant & Lounge, San Francisco CA

I think they replaced the endive with pickled onions! I really enjoyed this appetizer. I know that this pork belly is super fatty, but it was oh so yummy. The thinly shaved fennel underneath and the acid from the pickled onions helped to cut the fat. I must say that I enjoyed the caramelized grapes the most, lol! Those little suckers were amazing!

Christmas decorated Noe Valley parklet

The sidewalk parklets in my neighborhood have also been decked out for the holidays!

Crab and mango tartine – Papillote

Crab and mango tartine - Papillote
With avocado, radish, grapefruit, Italian parsley and spiced sauce on toasted brioche. Served with greens and ginger vinaigrette. $10.99
Papillote, Savannah GA

This was bright and refreshing, and so different from anything I’ve tried before! There were so many yummy components to this and they all tasted great together. I do wish that the salad was pre-dressed because it was difficult to toss the salad on such a small plate. The ginger vinaigrette was a nice addition though. A beautiful dish!

Coffee - Papillote

Coffee. $1.99

Revolutionary War Haitian Soldiers Monument
Revolutionary War Haitian Soldiers Monument. Walking around Savannah was quite fun and you can’t help but feel the history surrounding you. This statue is located in a cute plaza next to the City Market.

Georges Bank sea scallops “confit” – The French Laundry

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Fava beans, piquillo peppers, braised pine nuts and serrano ham vinaigrette. Chef’s Tasting Menu $270
The French Laundry, Yountville CA

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Hmm, compared to the rest of the meal this was probably one of my less(er) favorites. There was an unpleasant bitterness from the combination of pine nuts, scallop, and vinaigrette. It didn’t all taste bad, but it was too sharp on my palate. The scallop was super soft and tender though!

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.

Autumn salad – Fish & Farm

Autumn salad Fish & Farm

Red endive, frisee, red pear, candied walnuts, pomegranates, and Humboldt Fog goat cheese with mustard vinaigrette. Menu says $11 but receipt says $12 – BOO, LAME!!!
Fish & Farm, San Francisco

So the price discrepancy is totally lame! I don’t know if the menu wasn’t updated or out server was completely brain dead. I did mention during dinner that our server wasn’t very good compared to the server at the next table. Ours didn’t even give us the specials before we ordered. I didn’t even know there were specials available until the server at the adjacent table told her guests! Whatevs, our server was definitely “slow”, if you know what I mean.

This salad was tasty, but not very original.

Red bell pepper soup Fish & Farm

Red bell pepper soup. Complimentary. I really liked this shot of free soup. It was hot and very flavorful.