San Francisco - Sites + Good Eats + Shopping

My Labor Day weekend was spent in San Francisco with the boyfriend. Spent two whole days in the city, definitely not enough time to do all of the site seeing, shopping, and food indulging that I wanted/intended to do. The weather was exactly what you would expect in San Francisco, overcast + chilly breeze, just the type of weather I love.

Sites.
We got to see the Golden Gate Bridge + Union Square + Pier. I wish we got to visit all the tourist spots, but due to public transportation + city traffic + restaurant wait times, time was limited.

All the times I've been to San Francisco, I never took the time to go to the tourist spots and if I did, I was young and didn't understand why my parents wanted to do all these tourist activities. You really do appreciate more as you grow older.

The Golden State Bridge was breathe taking, just like a scene out of a movie. So much character to this city and much more I still need to discover within it.

Good Eats.

Our first stop was Hog Island Oyster Co. at the Ferry Building. The line was long, which is always a good sign that the food must be amazing. We only waited about 20 minutes since we had no preference where we sat, we were starving at this point. People were waiting well over an hour for outside dock seating, I didn't mind the inside since I was cold anyhow and the view was just as amazing. 

We started off with Oysters + Beer&Wine. I don't know much about oysters since I just started to eat them after discovering I am no longer allergic to them, so we got the Oyster Bar Mix to have a taste of each Oyster offered. To tell you the truth, I can't tell the difference between them all, except that some are bigger than others. I absolutely love the refreshing taste of  raw oysters and will definitely have to try it on every menu, maybe then, I will be able to tell the difference between amazing and mediocre oysters. 

After reading yelp reviews, we decided to get the Clam Chowder + Grilled Cheese Sandwich and split the two. The Clam Chowder consisted of Hog Island Manila clams + aromatic vegetables + bacon + potatoes + cream. This was no ordinary clam chowder, when I think of chowder I think of thick and creamy, but this was more of a soup with cream broth. Very delicious. The Grilled Cheese Sandwich was mouth watering AMAZING, it consisted of Mezzo Secco + cave-aged Gruyere + Fromage Blanc. The texture of the crisp bread and the perfectly melted cheese created an orgasmic sensation in my mouth and with every bite there was a "mmmmmm" as a result. 

I will definitely come back to this place!  

I always need dessert after my meals, so we stopped by Miette Pastry Shop, also in the Ferry Building. I got a Rose Macaron + Rasberry Macaron.  A few hours later, we walked by Cako Bakery, by our hotel in the Union Square area, and picked up a couple cupcakes Red Velvet + Blueberry. I have to try every bakery's Red Velvet, Cako's Red Velvet was pretty good with just the right amount of moistness. I would go back for more.  You will learn that I have a major sweet tooth, it is very rare that I will turn down sweets of any kind, unless they have nuts in it (major allergy!).

 For Dinner we met up with my sister and her friend to eat at Thanh Long. A definite must, for me, every time I am in the city. I've been going to this place since I could remember vacationing in San Francisco. It is the first&original of  the established An Family restaurants. They are known for their crab & garlic noodles. For those of you in Southern California, Crustaceans in Beverly Hills & Anqi in Costa Mesa (South Coast Plaza) are branches of this famous restaurant, but, of course, with location they are a tad bit more pricey.

 My sister and boyfriend ordered the crab: the Roast Crab + the Drunken Crab. I always go with the Shaken Beef, since till this dinner, I was allergic to Crab. As usual, we got sides of Garlic Noodles + Garlic Rice.  If this place was close by, I would order Garlic Noodles for dinner at least once a week. The garlic taste isn't overbearing, but I love garlic, in general. I am determined to figure out a good Garlic Noodle recipe, if any of you know one, let me know.

I've been pretty brave about trying things I am allergic to, in hopes that I have outgrown the allergy. Having a doctor and nurse at the table was convenient when trying the crab, thank goodness I didn't need their expertise though. I definitely like crab, but I don't know about the process of getting to the crab meat.

To end the scrumptious meal, we had creme brulee, one of my favorite all time desserts. Don't forget to order a cocktail with your meal, the pineapple lycee martini was just to my liking, not too strong but still had a kick. If there is a lychee cocktail on a menu, it is a given I will be trying that.

For Sunday Brunch, we had to try Mama's, as suggested from friends. The line was super long, in the photo below, that is just a 1/4 of the line and there was still a small line inside! We waited 2.5 hours to be seated. I am not a breakfast person, but my boyfriend loves breakfast, so we had to try this place.  I was going to go with a burger since breakfast foods are just not appealing to me, but after waiting 2.5 hours I opted to go with what they are known for, their Crab Benedict dish and the boyfriend got the Crab Omelette dish. I don't know what it is about breakfast, but definitely not worth waiting for. However, to all the breakfast lovers, I will review this place based on my boyfriend's comments. He absolutely loved the food, he said he liked the Crab Benedict better, it had more flavor. He did say he would come back to this place. I suggest if you try Mama's come before it opens so the wait isn't so crazy.

As our last meal in the city, we had dinner at Salt House in the SOMA area. My sister suggested this place because she knew I would love the interior of it. Initially I planned this trip in hopes to get inspired by fabulous interiors.  I was sad to find out that the few restaurants I researched with cool interiors were closed on Sundays. I was a little disappointed of the restaurant interiors in San Francisco, I expected a lot more. Maybe  I didn't research enough to find more or suggestions from friends were more about the food than the interior.

Anyways, loved the open floor plan of Salt House. It is an industrial sophisticated atmosphere with exposed brick, high ceilings, rustic iron&wood details, vintage edison light bulb fixtures, and custom made drum shade pendants, made out of some sort of index card/order cards. The lighting made it feel very warm and inviting.

The food complimented the great interior. To start, we ordered the Oysters (I think I might be slightly obsessed with oysters) + Poutine : kennebec fries + vermont cheddar + short rib gravy. I liked the fries, but they weren't amazing, maybe because they were steak fries instead of the skinny fries, which I prefer. I love well balanced fries that are crispy yet soft.

For our entrees, I got the Duck, which was cooked to perfection, crispy on the outside and so tender in the inside. I could have done without the apple + dates mixture that accompanied it. I love my meat salty not sweet. The boyfriend got the New York Steak, medium rare with braised short rib + crushed fingerlings + snap peas + bacon. I got to taste a little bit, his steak was also cooked to perfection, pink + tender. I wish my duck came with his sides instead.

To accompany our meals I got a vodka cocktail, can't remember what was in it, except the fact that I could taste the tonic water, which I do not like. I thought the other ingredients would mask the taste, but I was wrong. The boyfriend got a beer, Racer 5, he claims this beer to be his new favorite beer. I am not much of a beer drinker, never acquired the taste.

Shopping.

Shopping was on the top of my list. You can't go to the city and not shop! All my favorite stores just a short distance away and super sized. It was heaven.  Among the many things I bought, I will only share what I got from Marc by Marc Jacobs. I make it a point to visit every cities Marc by Marc Jacobs store, he is one of my favorite designers, more specifically handbag designer. I love the style of his bags, they are trendy + youthful and come in lots of functional shapes + colors + modern patterns. And his bags aren't over the top expensive!

On to what goodies I came home with. I've been wanting new sunglasses and I'm not very good at keeping my sunglasses scratch free so I constantly buy new ones. Mbymj is perfect for hip shades that aren't pricey but got the quality factor. I got new shades, an updated version of my old shades with mirror lens. I love the yellow detail on the sides. I also purchased a canvas tote, I wish I had this when I was still in design school, but its perfect for work it fits my notepad + design mags + ipad + personal stuff. They always have cute little knick knacks + jewelry (you wont find on their website or other common websites), I always leave the store with some kind of new jewelry. I bought a simple woven leather bracelet with the MJ initials on the it. Lastly, I bought a new purse, a shoulder bag with metallic python-embossed leather. I LOVE LOVE LOVE it. The size is perfect for everyday use, not too big and not too small, a great accent to any outfit.

There was so many new things I wanted a clutch + watch + earrings + etc, but I will have to save those purchases for my next trip to Chicago.

I hope everyone had a great Labor Day weekend.

XOXO