Memorial Day Weekend Pigout!

I love long weekends. They just awaken the inner carnivore within me and throw any diet plans that I've been following out the window. I don't think I've eaten out this much within a 4 day span since my last trip to Vegas last January. Mostly a lot of firsts.

On Friday, I went to Mom's Tofu House for lunch for the first time. It's a small but pretty popular spot in Downtown South San Francisco. I ordered their Bulgogi lunch plate and a side of wings. Not pictured are the dozens of side dishes (banchan) that they serve you.


These wings are their specialty. You can order them dry like I did here or you can try them glazed with their house sauce. I should've done that, next time!!


That's a pretty big serving for lunch!!!

Then for dinner I decided to stop over Jack's Prime in San Mateo to try their famous burgers for the first time. Jack's Prime (not to be confused with the newly opened Jack's Restaurant in San Bruno) makes some really great burgers. I ordered their Great With Beer which is essentially a Mushroom Swiss Burger with a FRIED PICKLE. Yes, I said FRIED PICKLE. It really couldn't get any better than that. I'd say their burgers could compare to Pearl's Deluxe in the San Francisco, but I haven't eaten there yet. Stay tuned...


Jack's Prime's Great With Beer - Swiss Cheese, Iceberg Lettuce, Sauteed Mushrooms, DEEP FRIED PICKLE, and Pale Ale Mayo. OOOH YESSS!!

Satuday I unknowingly discovered that it was National Burger Day. Although I already had a burger at Jack's Prime the night before, I had to celebrate it. And for the occaision, I decided to go to Red Robin since it was the closest to me and included fries. I had the Royal Red Robin Burger with is a Bacon Cheeseburger crowned with a Fried Egg. I used to love this burger, but this time it left me disappointed. That my fault for going to Jack's Prime the night before. Set the standard too high for Red Robin. Sorry no pic for the burger =( But you can check it out on their website here.

Sunday night, the weather got a little chilly, which made for perfect Ramen weather. I decided to finally take the plunge and find out what all the fuss was about Ramen Dojo in San Mateo. Now when I got there at around 6:30 pm, there was already a long line standing outside the spot. On that note, it was very easy to speculate that I would be in for some EPIC Ramen. And that's exactly what I got! I ordered their Garlic Pork Ramen *Mild Spicy* and it was very delicious. It's pretty simple Ramen, but I've never had Ramen that had Ground Chicken Gravy inside and it came with two huge pieces of Roasted Pork. That was simply amazing!


Garlic Pork Ramen *Mild Spicy.* Really good!!

And on Memorial Day, I decided to try a new guy on the block. Batter Up in San Francisco. Located on Geneva Ave, it's very easy to drive by this spot because it's simply a window next door to Popeye's. These Corn Dogs are CRAZY GOOD!!! I remember when I was eating them, I couldn't stop being very giddy and yelling out how good they were. Luckily, I was at home to avoid any embarrassment.


Top: "The Freak" - 1/3 Turkey w/ Basil and Sundried Tomatoes, 1/3 Pepperjack Cheese, 1/3 Chicken Apple. Bottom: "Big Barry" - 1/3 Smoked Bratwurst, 1/3 Cheddar Cheese, 1/3 Louisiana Hot Link. OMGYUM!! What are you waiting for? Go get some!

So that was my food filled weekend. I hope that you all had a great long weekend and enjoyed some good eats as well!

SF Dine About Town June 1-15

It's that time of year again where the best restaurants in SF are showing off what they offer with their special Dine About Town prix-fixe menus.

This time around it's a 2-course lunch for $17.95 or a 3-course dinner for $34.95. You can see the list of restaurants and their sample menus here.

Here's what I had last year when my friend and I went to Chaya Brasserie on the Embarcadero for dinner. Oh, and please accept my apologies for the dark pics as lighting in the restaurant was really dim and also for not remembering what I had. The descriptions are just guesstimates except for the NY Steak. LOL


1st Course: Shrimp Pasta Appetizer. Pleasant starter.


Main Course: NY Steak, Roasted Potato, Green Beans, Matre d'butter, Veal jus. This was one of the best NY Steaks I've ever had!


Dessert: I have no idea what this was....some Strawberry shortcake thing w/ some white chocolate thing w/ some macaroon thing. Oh well. It was goood!

So that was it! Pretty good selection for $29.95 and everything was delicious. Hope you guys go out in the next couple of weeks and enjoy some really great food at really affordable prices.

Sorry....Been Eating.

Al Pastor Super Tacos from Taqueria Polanco

Holy Tacos!! It's been a long time since my last posting! Please accept my sincere apologies for not posting any new entries. It's been kind of hard thing for me to balance between working, staying fit, eating out, and yelping that its been kinda hard for me to squeeze in some blogtime. Fear not! I'm back AGAIN! And to make up for my absence, here are some pics that'll make you drool. Stories for them will follow in the near future!


My return to Wayfare Tavern treated me to Fried Chicken Bliss



In Reno, California Fusion cuisine from Bistro Napa at Atlantis. Awesome Scallops by the way!!



These Garlic Noodles from Little Green Cyclo are also So Addicting!!!


Did that make you drool? Or just plain hungry?? Anyways, sorry for the long absence. I'll try my best to bring on the good eats so you all can be informed! Happy Eating!!

Food Trucks Now Stopping At My Work!!

Hello again! Well, the food truck gods must've been answering my prayers because now that the cafeteria at my work is going through an extensive renovation, they're bringing in five very popular food trucks in the Bay Area: Let's Be Frank, Sam's Chowdermobile, Roli Roti Gourmet Rotisserie, Curry Up Now, and Hapa SF.

Let's just say that my first week was very filling for me based on the following pics.

I don't really know much about Let's Be Frank. Though I do know that they serve organic hot dogs. The following pic was my Let's Be Frank Big Beef Dog from Underdog in the city, but I'm pretty sure what you'd get would be the same thing. It was really tasty hot dog!


Let's Be Frank Organic Beef Hot Dog

If you looked up the definition of food porn in the dictionary, you most likely see an image of the Lobster Roll from Sam's Chowdermobile. It's crazy enough that they throw in a whole lobster (claws and tail) in the sandwich, but to add insult to your health, they buttered up the roll!!! That calls for instant foodgasms.


Sam's Chowdermobile's famous Lobster Roll

There's nothing more I really need to say about the Porchetta sandwich from Roli Roti. I'm just glad that they brought it with them to Genentech since it was exclusive only at the SF Ferry Building Farmer's Market. This is a great opportunity for you guys to try it without waiting in line for 20-30 minutes.


Another beautiful pic of the Porchetta Sandwich from Roli Roti Gourmet Rotisserie

Curry Up Now seems to be the most popular truck. The line is super long every time I go out there. You gotta try the Chicken Masala Burrito. It's very flavorful, though I made the mistake to request to have it "Spicy" and didn't realize that it was put my mouth on fire. They even warned me about it too! If you're going to go the spicy route, I really recommend ordering their Mango Lassi to cool down after or during your spicy journey.


Spicy Chicken Masala Burrito from Curry Up Now

Hapa SF is a Filipino Food Truck that offers some interesting fusion twists on other food truck items. In particular, Sisig Tacos and the Chicken Adobo Banh Mi. I was really amazed how much chicken they threw in the Banh Mi. It really filled me up. And at first I was really reluctant to try the Sisig Tacos, but after trying them I realized what a brilliant idea it was! Fried marinated pork in a taco? Brilliant!!! Yeah it's basically like Al Pastor tacos, but it works and they too were loaded with a lot of meat.


Chicken Adobo Banh Mi from Hapa SF


Sisig Tacos from Hapa SF

So yeah, good stuff all around. Sadly, I have to find ways to restrain myself from visiting the food trucks everyday as it does get very expensive. Shoot me an email if you want so find this gold mine of food truck goodness!

Dinner at Wayfare Tavern

So I was checking out Yelp one day (no surprise!) and noticed that on the What's Hot On Yelp Top 5 there was this restaurant called Wayfare Tavern.


Wayfare Tavern at night

Little did I know that this was Food Network star chef Tyler Florence's newest spot in the San Francisco. The place had just opened a few weeks ago and when I saw that he was there overlooking the kitchen on the pics from its Yelp site, I knew I couldn't pass up this opportunity to meet him so I hastily made a reservation. When my friend and I got there and waited for our table, he actually walked by us. Well actually, my friend saw him and I completely ignored him, how embarrassing. Thankfully, being the really cool guy he is, he came out to our table to say hello. I shook his hand and my friend took our pic.


Tyler Florence and I

Honestly, I really didn't know what to expect from what I ordered, especially the appetizer. I ordered the Baked Avocado on a whim and I had no idea that it was a popular dish. But after I tasted it, that was easily understandable. The warm avocado had a nice texture and the lump of dungeness crab was creamy. And bacon definitely makes everything taste better!


Baked Avocado

From the first time I saw the menu, I immediately had my sights set on ordering the Wayfare Burger "Le Grand." You guys should know by now that I'm a huge burger fan, especially those of the gourmet type. I have to say that this burger ranks up there as one of my favorite burgers in San Francisco. And that's saying a lot because I've had a fair share of really good burgers around town. On the pic it may not look like it, but it was a huge burger! I highly suggest adding the egg!!


Wayfare Burger "Le Grand" with Sunny Side Up Petaluma Egg

I don't know how long Chef Tyler is going to be overlooking the kitchen, but if you have the time, definitely come on out and say hello and grab a nice bite to eat. The food is great, and the service is impeccable. I have to come out here again to try their other stuff!

Sammies!! You Gotta Love 'Em!

Sandwiches. The ultimate fast food. If it hadn't been for the Earl of Sandwich to come up with a brilliant idea of putting meat between two pieces of bread, none of the following masterpieces would exist today.

Let's start with a spot that's in my neck of the woods. Little Lucca in South San Francisco. I've had the luxury of coming here and enjoying their massive sandwiches since I was in High School. Just recently they came out with The Lucca Dog - Hot Dogs, Pastrami, Bacon, and Cheese. Yeah, sounds like a heart attack, and probably would be, but it's a serious sandwich and was very delicious! Keep in mind that although it may look small on the following pic, this sandwich was as big as my forearm.


Lucca Dog from Little Lucca

Not too far away in Burlingame, I dropped by another place that sells huge sandwiches that pretty much rivals with Little Lucca. It's Bonne Sante and they sell both burgers and sandwiches here. I haven't had the opportunity to try their burgers, but I did manage to try one of their specialties with is called My Favourite - Grilled Chicken Breast, Roasted Red Peppers, Mozzarella Cheese, and Chipotle Mayo. This was seriously good!


My Favourite from Bonne Sante

I don't think San Francisco is really known for having sandwiches to die for, but from the ones that I tried, I would have to retract that statement.

If you've ever been to a Filipino party or restaurant and have had in one way or another the Lechon Pork, you'll get that same taste with the Porchetta Sandwich at the Roli Roti Gourmet Rotisserie Truck at the Ferry Building Farmer's Market. It's essentially a Lechon Sandwich! The roast pork is so tender and then the crispiness of the skin will make you say "YUM" with every bite. This is on 7x7's Big Eat 2010 list, so it most likely will satisfy to your cravings.



Porchetta Sandwich from Roli Roti Gourmet Rotisserie

I remember watching the Pittsburgh episode of Man v. Food and was savoring the time when he visited Primanti Bros. and had their All-In-One sandwiches. So I did a google search and came across Giordano Bros. here in San Francisco! They are also from Pittsburgh and make the All-In-One sandwiches as well. While their sandwiches aren't as big as the ones at Primanti Bros., they're big enough that you don't have to order anything else. I had the Cappicola with a Fried Egg and it was amazing!!


All-In-One Cappicola Sandwich with Fried Egg from Giordano Bros

This next sandwich is a monster. I saw this in an episode of Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations when he came down to San Francisco. It's the Cubana Torta from That's It Market. It was just as big as it was on the TV. When you bite into it, your face hides into it and all you see is darkness. But every bite was seriously enjoyable. Finishing it...well that was a challenge. You're better off splitting this sandwich with a partner, but if you're up for it, more power to you. It took me 20 minutes, but I killed this sucker!!


Cubana Torta from That's It Market

Finally, we go to the mother of all sandwich shops in San Francisco - Ike's Place. I usually frequent the Redwood City location because it's closer to me, but you can pick up the DOOMSDAY from both locations. Yeah #188 - Roast Beef, Corned Beef, Pastrami, Salami, Turkey, Bacon, Ham, Habenero Salsa, Stuffed Jalapeno Poppers, and EXTRA Jack Cheese. As I said on my yelp review, "it's 4 lbs of gastronomic goodness." It's big yes, and even though it's not my favorite sandwich there, it was such a joy to eat!!


The DOOMSDAY from Ike's Place

So those are some of my favorite sammies in my area. Go out and try them and let me know what you think. Hope you enjoy them as much as I did!!

Vegas Is Where It Started...

If you ask me where my foodie craze started, I would answer you back with Las Vegas. Though it didn't happen right away and it did take quite a few trips. After all, my first couple of trips there I ate nothing but buffets. This was back in the late 90s before all the buffets started becoming all uber and expensive. Eventually, the buffets got stale for me and I wanted to try out the restaurants.

My first fine dining experience there was on my 21st birthday, at a restaurant in Caesars Palace called 808. It's an Asian Fusion joint...



808 at Caesars Palace (Closed, is now Beijing Noodle No. 9)

I had no idea why I picked that place. I guess it was because it was New Year's Eve and most spots were booked that night. Sadly, the place closed down a few years ago, but I do remember having a very pleasant experience there. A few firsts happened that night: First time dining at a fancy spot in Vegas, first time going to a spot where tap water was not an option (we spent $25 on water that night! Sheesh!!!), and first time having Potato Crusted Ono, which was really good BTW. I was kinda sad to see it closed, but I could understand why. It was hella expensive yo!

So that's where it all started. But things didn't go into high gear until Jan 2009. After going a few trips routinely watching shows and eating at the buffets, I decided that it would be fun to just go on an eating trip. Not at the buffets, but at all fine dining establishments and popular eateries.

And that will be another post coming soon!