a rather sad meal at 3 luigi's - my pizza (sausages & pineapples) was not bad, but m's philly steak sandwich was not as good as last time. and they forgot my salad for a while as well, which was just so-so too.
still not too bad for the price, but from next time we will have to go when a certain cook isn't around...

early (but HUGE) breakfast at mike's diner. i got a waffle and sausages, and m his usual steak & eggs with grits. their steak was a bit tougher than usual today, but it was still really good. i don't think i've ever eaten sausages at different places that cooks it better than mike's here. butterflied to maximize the crispy surface, and every bite is so so crispy and well-cooked. so good, paired with sweetness of the waffle & maple syrup.

although i have to say, the waffle wasn't my favorite - the best one recently was from another diner near by, john's. mmm~!

feeling like warm food but not feeling like going too far, we went back to café 232.

i got yookgaejang (spicy beef soup with vegetables), which i almost never get (i've had this maybe 3 times in my life?) and m got his usual favorite, spicy grilled chicken. it's a very regular spread for us here, but it was very satisfying today - blustery weather and spicy meat & hot soup - mmmm~!

 

too bright a day for photos so these are a bit blown out...

veggie/hummus bagel sandwich and a lox & bagel sandwich at bedford hill coffee.

nothing amazingly special, but solid, and their coffee sure is good.

 

 

cong ly never disappoints - not only in food but in their amazing prices!

this big bowl of pho and chicken curry with rice only cost $11.50.

curry is so good - not too thick or rich, but perfectly spicy with well cooked chicken.

but i have to say their chicken was a bit better last time.

a long evening walk, ending up in some kind of food is always good - we meandered along until we got hungry and ended up at pequeña. though the food took a long time to come, it was so good, even after our california trip. m got pork enchiladas and i got grilled chicken tacos.

the rice & beans on the enchiladas was well cooked, and the seasoning was so delicious - kind of herby, savory flavor. i was super happy with my tacos - the pickled onions were so delicious with the rest of the tacos, giving it a little tangy kick. mmm~ 

first day feeling a little better (normal) from the cold, we decided to ride our bikes somewhere.

we decided on chinatown (in lieu of sunset park, our original plan) since i wasn't a 100% well yet.

we walked around the lower east chinatown, which is our favorite - when we got hungry, we went to get some chicken thighs over at excellent pork chop house, only to see their shutter down for their day off. so we went a couple doors down to nom wah tea parlor - a very old nyc landmark dim sum joint from the 50s or 60s, which we'd been thinking of checking out one day.

we got dumpling soup, shrimp & chive dumplings, pork bun, and a pile of yu choy in oyster sauce.

they weren't amazing or cheap but decently good - and i didn't really like that they charged for tea, but then again, i guess their name is tea parlor after all.

it was definitely an experience but felt almost manufactured, like a movie set. 

too bad it really is a historical place - we'll be going elsewhere in the future for good dim sum.

we had some banh mi and pho at nicky's but i forgot to take a photo. 

but this little red velvet cupcake (which i rarely get) was a couple bites of yummy goodness at one girl cookie, brightening up a cloudy, rainy day. but their coffee was off their usual game - it was not good, all old and tepid. :(

finally caught up on some sleep (though my sleep schedule is messed up thanks to the redeye + cold), we made it out to get some food that would soothe my head and throat at café 232.

we got some kimchi jigae/stew and some spicy pork. they were both excellent, except the pork was a little too overridden with onions. it's too bad this place seems like it's on a avery slow decline. :(

{ San Francisco / East Bay | Day 8 }

 

our last day in california, we took a leisurely start to the morning - hung out in the neighborhood a little bit and when we got hungry we walked over to la boulange for some coffee & breakfast.

m got a delicious oatmeal, and i some french toast. i wanted some fruit more than anything and some coffee. la boulange, i heard, has been sold to starbucks, sadly, but hopefully their food won't change. the quality is pretty good for a chain store. my french toast wasn't too great but i liked that it was more than half fruits and that it was so light. and their cafe au lait is huge and delicious!

 then we packed our bags and headed over to berkeley again. luckily, it was a free day at berkeley art museum, and i'd been meaning to check out the barry mcgee show anyway! it was a good show, though somehow it didn't feel as awe-inducing as the first/last time we saw his work at deitch projects 7-8 years ago. still really good stuff.

we went back to pho k&k that we accidentally tried last year and fell in love with. this time, i was craving rice, so i got their clay pot. vietnamese clay pots are one of my favorite dishes but this one was my favorite so far - filled with sea food, chicken, beef and vegetables, it wasn't too greasy or too over flavored. just so good and satisfying, in a very clean though delicious way.

we wandered down to oakland after berkeley - we took their free broadway bus up and down to k-town area and to the downtown/chinatown area. before heading out to the airport we wanted to sit somewhere and not be bothered for a couple hours - we ended up at shooting star cafe, a hong kong style cafe/restaurant with tons of bubble tea drinks, desserts, and fusiony dishes.

m got a mabo tofu deal which wasn't too bad but still too much food for us - and the drinks were too sweet but it was a good place to hang out and watch the locals for a couple hours before our (delayed) long flight back home to nyc.

{ San Francisco / Berkeley | Day 7 }

finally the weather was the usual gorgeous bay area weather. we went over to berkeley and decided to have some light lunch before walking around. we went down telegraph and stopped at smart alec's, a large cafeteria full of Cal students. we wanted to get some simple soup, salad, sandwich type meal,

so i got a half soup/half salad deal - tuna sandwich and corn chowder. both were very very mediocre.

m ordered what looks like that monstrous thing in the second photo - a large salad with a burger patty.

but it was actually a really good salad - underneath the obscene looking patty were lentils, edamame, among other veggies, fully dressed well in sesame vinaigrette. it was so huge that we were beyond filled.

then after some meandering walk through neighborhood streets, we ended up at crixa cakes, a small bakery on adeline. we got iced coffees and a pumpkin pie to share - just AMAZING!

this was the best coffee experience on our entire trip. pumpkin pie was exceptional as well, with flaky crispy crust and not-too-sweet filling. yummy!!!

+ not documented was the super janky looking chinese food & donuts (that was the actual name of the place) with a surprisingly good $1 coffee and old fashioned donuts. we went there nearly every day.

we had some after we came back to the mission that day for some discount donuts and coffee before heading over to watch the silly debate.

{ San Francisco | Day 6 }

 

it was another day of insane sun-blast, and we scrapped our original plans to go hang out in east bay (which is hotter than SF peninsula), and went to what we heard to be one of the coldest (foggiest) neighborhoods, the sunset district - which really wasn't foggy at all, albeit a bit cooler than other areas,

it was still just as blasted with sun and no AC and insane heat.

luckily this pho place was very cool (maybe it was AC'ed) inside - weird that we'd even crave these hot bowls of pho, but it called out to us. we chose kevin's noodles house, aka Pho Huynh Hiep 2. man, it was so so so so good. the perspective on the first photo and no size reference on the third really don't illustrate how huge this bowl of pho was - the only gauge of size being the bean sprouts. in my bowl (middle photo, a medium sized pho) the bean sprouts fill the bowl as opposed to floating in the middle in m's large bowl. the soup was so umami and soothing, perfect on my super soar throat.

after roaming about the neighborhood (only about 5-6 square blocks, really, it was too hot), we sat down at sheng kee bakery to have some cooling drinks - m got a milk tea (too milky) and a macau style egg tart. not bad, not great - still warm without AC but felt better by sitting still.

back in noe valley for dinner with sister-in-law & her boyfriend, we took them out to dinner at their favorite restaurant near by - saru sushi. it was definitely one of the fanciest sushi joints we'd been to in years. but everything was delicate and perfectly made, and just right for our not too hungry stomachs.

m & i got 4 things - ankimo (monk fish liver sashimi), mackerel nigiri sushi, negi hamachi rolls, and a yellowtail collar (the last photo). c & d ordered some various sashimi (some that came on a block of salt!), other nigiri sushi, and some scallop sashimi rolls we got some bites of as well.

the yellowtail collar was a hit, as our hosts had never had it but loved it, and was definitely one of the largest collar i'd ever had. huge!!

and thus ended the fanciest meal of our lifetime. >_<

{ San Francisco | Day 5 }

a very rare day of 90ºF heat wave in SF, we walked over to excelsior neighborhood down mission from noe valley. the walk couldn't have been more than 3-4 miles, tops, but with the heat and having a cold, it felt like it was about 30 miles far. 

there were no bars or coffee shops in SF that is properly equipped with A/C for hot weather like this, so we took refuge in big box stores (savory!) like big lots, walgreens or payless shoes. -_-

we ended up at the semi-cool restaurant for some nosh before heading back to the mission, and had some late lunch specials at henry's hunan - they came with one of the best hot & sour soups i've had in ages. and my hunan ham with veggies was surprisingly good. m's veggie stir fry was too greasy and not 

too much veggies, but still decent. their dumplings were very very good though.