burritos at LA burritos.

LA style it was!

mission burrito (all vegetables) & jerk chicken burrito in spinach tortilla.

next time i'll try some other burrito with black beans instead of pinto.

tried a new lebanese joint called tent.

we ordered a lamb gyro, falafel sandwich, lentil soup and lebanese salad.

unfortunately, none of these were great - very weird balance of taste for

the soup & the salad, and the wraps were just mushy.

i'm just hoping our regular falafel place reopens soon.

homemade soup with tons of veggies from everywhere & our CSA.

so perfect on a chilly rainy day.

an EPIC brunch with tanley of arrested motion at five leaves.

starting with their mussels (so good with the soaked bread),

tanley got their famous ricotta pancakes and a side of bacons,

and i some granola with fruit.

it was definitely too much food for me, but so yummy!

then for dinner :

janky chinese food (always good) at shanghai lee.

chicken & veggies in curry sauce and the chinese broccoli with garlic.

pretty dang good today!

amazing salad m made with our CSA veggies & eggs.

arugula, escarole, kale, grilled eggplant, tomatoes, eggs, carrots, walnuts,

mushrooms, gorgonzola cheese, potatoes & smoked herrings.

omg so good!!!

oh my, i forget how good cocoron was.

we were lucky to get in right when there were only 2 seats left open.

above are their kashiwa soba (chicken meat & meatballs) and my tororo & wakame soba.

the white stuff is tororo - grated yamaimo (mountain yam).

it's got a thickening, gooey texture, which i'm sure some people hate,

but i like it a lot in soup.

i'd have eaten the cold natto soba (amazing), but it was a chilly day,

and i felt i needed their bonito broth.

this is a mixture of photos from 2 separate trips to lollipop,

a new vietnamese joint in the neighborhood.

because we'd just had amazing vietnamese in california during our trip,

it definitely couldn't be as good as it was there, but the banhmi's were decent here.

we got shrimp rolls, 2 banhmi's (classic dat biet & pork?), and a bún (vermicelli bowl) with shrimp.

i had a sardine banhmi the first time, and i think that was my favorite.

i didn't care for the bún too much, as i didn't expect the shrimp & veggies to be stir-fried...

i guess i'll have to save pho & bún cravings for chinatown and go to lollipop when

we're jonesing for some banhmi.

{ SF trip food 6 }

last meal in california was at a random vietnamese place, pho k&k,

farther south on telegraph (away from the main drag) in berkeley,

before heading off to oakland airport.

it was definitely one of the best vietnamese meals i've had in a long while.

the shrimp rolls were great, filled with veggies, the rice noodles were cooked

perfectly, with all of its elasticity and flavor in tact.

the pho broth and my seafood broth were both amazing!

{ SF trip food 5 }

family dinner (parents, sister, sister's boyfriend & us) at an italian place

in noe valley, Lupa Trattoria.

m & i got an arugula salad and this penne with mushrooms to share.

others had ravioli that seemed to look so delicious!

{ SF trip food 4 }

Great outdoor eating in carrie's backyard.
Cheese & crackers for lunch the BBQ chicken and corn for dinner.
Yummy!

{ SF trip food 3 }

breakfast at la boulange in noe valley.

this place had good coffee, and near my sis-in-law's place,

so we kept coming back for the mid-day hump coffee.

oatmeal with fruits, frittata with salad, and special breakfast sandwich

with egg & bacon.

{ SF trip food 2 }

family burrito bar dinner at my sister-in-law's place.

so delicious!!!

{ SF trip food 1 }

our first full day in SF was rainy and chilly, but it was very pleasant

and fresh feeling to us.

after taking a long walk, we stopped at blue fig in the mission

for a bite - bagel & lox and i got waffles.

nothing amazing, but decent, simple food.

{ LA trip food 5 }

before leaving for san francisco out of long beach airport,

we hung out in long beach for a while - made a stop for a mexican

meal (it's imperative to have some mexican in CA when we can!).

we found a small place called Lola's on 4th street.

it was yummy food - their chips & salsa (free, of course!) was really good.

i got mushroom & spinach tacos, and m got a huge mole chicken burrito.

i forgot how much they give you at mexican places here!

{ LA trip food 4 }

Pho cafe in Silver lake has surprisingly good food

(surprising because of the location and the hip factor).

We used to frequent this place 8 years ago when we lived in CA

but hardly anything has changed so far - in a great way.

The crepes are simply amazing, and I forgot how much better the pho noodles are on the west coast.

Sooooo good.

{ LA trip food 3 }

After eating so much meat last night, then a huge pasta for lunch,
We didn't feel much like a lot of food.

We ended up with clean, fresh (albeit being made in an assembly line) grilled octopus & arugula salad and seared tuna at tender greens.

{ LA trip food 2 }

Lunch at Spoon House in Gardena with an old friend.
I haven't found a Japanese-Italian place to match this in NYC.
Spaghetti bolognese, uni tarako spaghetti, and natto spaghetti.

{ LA trip food 1 }

Post-print-signing epic yakiniku meal with Mari, Audrey, and Yoskay at Tokyo Kalbi.
I hadn't eaten so much meat in so long!

So good though, with especially in such great company.