San Francisco Eats

I just got back from a three day weekend trip to San Francisco and my taste buds haven't been the same. Dallas food seems so bland and unfulfilling now. My first time to the Bay Area was in September of '07 and I enjoyed the cuisine of Chez Spencer and Aqua.

This time around, I got the real tour for the tastes of the town thanks to my local friend. The first dinner spot was Nopa. We ordered the warm goat cheese, crostini, pickled beets and frisée appetizer and the salad of bacon, chicories, poached egg, walnuts and pomegranate for my entree. This venue has spacious ceilings and warm candlelit tables. A great place to take your family and date.

Friday night was The House night, by far my favorite place! I've never cried over asian-fusion food as I did. For starters, we got the very delicious deep-fried salmon roll with chinese hot mustard and asparagus with roasted sesame seed dressing which tasted more like thai peanut sauce. For my dinner selection, I chose the special of the day which was grilled skirt steak with shitaki mushroom gravy and wasabi mashed potatoes. It just melted in my mouth. Each forkful just tasted as good as the last. I couldn't resist and had to try one of their desserts, another special which was their persimmon pudding with caramel ice cream. To loosely describe it, it tasted like a piece of warm, heavenly gingerbread pie. It tasted so good that I couldn't stop myself from laughing. It's funny how food can make you all emotional.

Moving on to Saturday, brunch was had at this little hip spot called Universal Cafe. Here I was a little impatient and we had to wait for about half an hour to sit. When we finally did, we already knew what we wanted and I got the french toast with pineapple compote, toasted pecans and chantilly cream. It was nice and warm and oh so big- I enjoyed it but couldn't finish it. I've been told this place is extremely popular and I could see where they're coming from, but personally I rate this brunch joint a 3 out of 5. Dinner time soon rolls around and we head to one of my friend's favorite sushi locations, Kiji. Here we let the guest chef cut loose and surprise us. He served us a duo of sea urchin, monk fish liver and quail egg concoction. Crazy and choice. The sushi sampler consisted of amberjack, tuna, squid, escolar (butterfish) and hokki clam. We also ordered the kanpachi carpaccio (thinly sliced amberjack with jalapenos, sea salt and olive oil) as well as the "green monster" roll (made of red and white tuna mixed with chili oil and topped with seaweed salad). Again, best sushi I've had in a very long time and the service was very friendly and accommodating. Kiji gets 5 out of 5.

My last Sunday brunch in good ol' San Fran was at St. Francis Fountain. This place is such an old and locally-loved hangout that it doesn't even have its own website. It's like one of those homey IHOP or Denny's in your old little hometown but with better food, music and people. I had a great time eating my country biscuits and gravy listening to LCD Soundsystem and watching the tattoo-sleeved waitresses. Not to mention, the service is fast and your food comes out literally in minutes of you ordering it. An extra plus about this cafe is that it's menu items are cheap which your poor wallet would greatly appreciate after a day in SF. Less pretentiousness and more personality, yes!