Saturday Food Crawl #1
One of my most enjoyable activities on a Saturday would be food shopping/planning. In college, I started using my Saturdays as meal planning, prepping, experimentation, and exploration days. Now that I'm (a bit) older, I relish the time I spend with my mom on Saturday mornings figuring out what we're going to buy and eat!
This morning was no different. We picked up my aunt around 9:30am and headed down to the Ferry Building Farmer's Market and Chinatown. Our secret: park at the Golden Gateway parking garage - it's the parking lot for the Chinatown Park and Ride program (er, not the exact name, but I'll dig that up later). The pros: $3 parking with validation in C-town (look for the red signs) but it's close enough for us to walk to the Ferry Building (like what, 2 little blocks?) as well as Chinatown (~10 minutes even for my stubby lil legs). Woo hoo for cheapness!
Anyway, onto the Ferry Building. Silly me, I had my camera with me but forgot to take photos...meh. After a quick stop at the ATM, I headed to Miette's for a pistachio macaron ($1.50), a hazelnut macaron ($1.50), and a package of lemon shortbread cookies ($5 - they'd better be worth it). I cut through the Ferry Building and headed to the stands in the back. After a wee bit of miscommunication with my mom and some harried discussion, we met up near the Blue Bottle kiosk.
After checking out the stands in the back, we headed to Acme Bread inside the building for a cranberry walnut loaf. I spied a pumpkin bread that looked interesting (which I picked up) and the sourdough cheese wheel. I wanted to know what the fuss was about this cheese wheel, apparently only available at the FB outlet according to this and other threads on the Chowhound boards. Let's just say: mmm...cheesy, chewy, oily goodness. *Homer drool* I LOVE gnawing on breads and this was absolutely gnawalicious. Each chew released this nice, intense, cheesy taste. Yum! I next ripped off a chunk of the cranberry walnut bread - yummy as usual. I love how every bite is loaded with walnuts - I hate skimpy breads with what amounts to THREE whole walnuts in the whole danged loaf.
On the way back to the garage, we saw the recently opened branch of the Pancho Villa Taqueria. Okay, my mom has an addiction to salsa bars so we had to stop to do a little taste test. After ordering and splitting some okay chips and a fish taco, we tested each salsa. None met mom's expectations...of course, she was eyeing the huge pile of pico de gallo behind the counter. Oh well.
After dropping off the goodies in the car, we trekked up to Chinatown up Washington Street. I noticed a weekend, 10 hour parking deal for $5 at the garage under the Hilton on Kearny (formerly, the Holiday Inn). I dislike the Portsmouth Square garage so this might be the next best thing. All the way up to Chinatown, we debated on what we were going to eat. Mom wanted clay pot rice, Aunt wanted phở, and I was fine with whatever. Auntie settled for jook or noodle soup, so we headed over to Utopia Cafe, a place I'd never been but had been itching to try. We had the seafood rice in clay pot, assorted pork giblet porridge (do pigs have giblets?!), and the salt and pepper fried tofu. My aunt noted that we really should have ordered the clay pot rice with something more oily, such as the salted fish with minced pork, or some sort of Chinese sausage (lop cherng). The flavor of the more oily, more pungent items would permeate through the rice while the oiliness would aid in developing a nice rice crust. Clay pot rice = about the flavorful rice and the CRUST. Mmm...crusticules (molecules of crust). The salt and pepper deep fried silken tofu came out first - deelish! These suckers need to come with warning labels: really freaking hot. Crispy on the outside, with the hot silken tofu on the inside...yummy! Next, the porridge came out. Now, I'm a fan of assorted organ meats so this was nice and organy. Except the ginger. I hate ginger. Yes, I'm Asian, and I HATE ginger. Ahh, but this was the good part - the reason why the clay pot rice was so late is that they actually cook the rice in the clay pot versus cooking rice then finishing it off in the clay pot. Believe me, there is a difference. You don't get that distinct flavor and smell that can only be generated from clay pot cooking. At last, the seafood clay pot rice came out (and unlidded by the waitress with a flourish!). So many scallops, shrimp, and perfectly cooked, albeit a bit salty, squid. Mom quickly added the special soy sauce into the rice and gave it a good mix. We scooped rice from the middle (another trick - gotta let the rice closest to the pot edges crisp) - absolutely yummay. Auntie reiterated that we should have gotten something oilier and stronger; Mom argued that she wanted something less greasy and "healthier." Auntie was right though - by the time we got to the crust, a section of the rice burnt a bit. I'm absolutely going to return - I spotted a childhood favorite on the menu: minced beef with (raw) egg over rice. This faboo lunch set me back a whopping $21 including tip.
We split up and said our farewells to my aunt, who was heading to her aerobics class. Battling the crowds on Stockton Street, Mom picked up some beautiful tender super-baby bok choy ($1.09/lb), 6 (for $1) packets of snow vegetable, and some mooi choy (dried, preserved vegetable/mustard green?) for dinner.
(Dinner clockwise in bowl: Homemade shrimp and pork wontons, baby bok-choy, preserved snow vegetable with lean pork noodle soup).
Oops, back on subject. It started sprinkling so we headed back to the car. Before we returned to the Golden Gateway, the rain was coming down. Mom and I decided to grab some dessert and coffee somewhere warm. Off we headed down 101 to Burlingame. I swear, the parking gods seem to love me - I always find a spot near Starbucks or Straits Cafe on Broadway. We ducked into Copenhagen Bakery & Cafe for a snack and coffee. My mom was so excited to see all the pastries and sweets available. I ordered a slice of their napoleon and a slice of their Swedish princess cake. Sorry, no pic of the napoleon as we, er, demolished the "puff" pastry. Mom wasn't too keen on the dark chocolate layer and the super crispy almost cookie like "puff" pastry, but loved the custard filling. For me, the overly hard "puff" pastry kind of ruined it for me. Instead, I was mesmerized by the lovely princess cake.
*Sniffle* Oh so bee-yoo-tee-full. Almost too beautiful to eat...(it's sitting in my fridge right now to be consumed tomorrow, hehehe). Marzipan-whipped cream-raspberry jam-gold cake-custardy cream-raspberry jam-gold cake...how I love thee.
Anyway, that was pretty much it for today.
I'm still looking at my own pic of the princess cake. *Homer drool*
This morning was no different. We picked up my aunt around 9:30am and headed down to the Ferry Building Farmer's Market and Chinatown. Our secret: park at the Golden Gateway parking garage - it's the parking lot for the Chinatown Park and Ride program (er, not the exact name, but I'll dig that up later). The pros: $3 parking with validation in C-town (look for the red signs) but it's close enough for us to walk to the Ferry Building (like what, 2 little blocks?) as well as Chinatown (~10 minutes even for my stubby lil legs). Woo hoo for cheapness!
Anyway, onto the Ferry Building. Silly me, I had my camera with me but forgot to take photos...meh. After a quick stop at the ATM, I headed to Miette's for a pistachio macaron ($1.50), a hazelnut macaron ($1.50), and a package of lemon shortbread cookies ($5 - they'd better be worth it). I cut through the Ferry Building and headed to the stands in the back. After a wee bit of miscommunication with my mom and some harried discussion, we met up near the Blue Bottle kiosk.
After checking out the stands in the back, we headed to Acme Bread inside the building for a cranberry walnut loaf. I spied a pumpkin bread that looked interesting (which I picked up) and the sourdough cheese wheel. I wanted to know what the fuss was about this cheese wheel, apparently only available at the FB outlet according to this and other threads on the Chowhound boards. Let's just say: mmm...cheesy, chewy, oily goodness. *Homer drool* I LOVE gnawing on breads and this was absolutely gnawalicious. Each chew released this nice, intense, cheesy taste. Yum! I next ripped off a chunk of the cranberry walnut bread - yummy as usual. I love how every bite is loaded with walnuts - I hate skimpy breads with what amounts to THREE whole walnuts in the whole danged loaf.
On the way back to the garage, we saw the recently opened branch of the Pancho Villa Taqueria. Okay, my mom has an addiction to salsa bars so we had to stop to do a little taste test. After ordering and splitting some okay chips and a fish taco, we tested each salsa. None met mom's expectations...of course, she was eyeing the huge pile of pico de gallo behind the counter. Oh well.
After dropping off the goodies in the car, we trekked up to Chinatown up Washington Street. I noticed a weekend, 10 hour parking deal for $5 at the garage under the Hilton on Kearny (formerly, the Holiday Inn). I dislike the Portsmouth Square garage so this might be the next best thing. All the way up to Chinatown, we debated on what we were going to eat. Mom wanted clay pot rice, Aunt wanted phở, and I was fine with whatever. Auntie settled for jook or noodle soup, so we headed over to Utopia Cafe, a place I'd never been but had been itching to try. We had the seafood rice in clay pot, assorted pork giblet porridge (do pigs have giblets?!), and the salt and pepper fried tofu. My aunt noted that we really should have ordered the clay pot rice with something more oily, such as the salted fish with minced pork, or some sort of Chinese sausage (lop cherng). The flavor of the more oily, more pungent items would permeate through the rice while the oiliness would aid in developing a nice rice crust. Clay pot rice = about the flavorful rice and the CRUST. Mmm...crusticules (molecules of crust). The salt and pepper deep fried silken tofu came out first - deelish! These suckers need to come with warning labels: really freaking hot. Crispy on the outside, with the hot silken tofu on the inside...yummy! Next, the porridge came out. Now, I'm a fan of assorted organ meats so this was nice and organy. Except the ginger. I hate ginger. Yes, I'm Asian, and I HATE ginger. Ahh, but this was the good part - the reason why the clay pot rice was so late is that they actually cook the rice in the clay pot versus cooking rice then finishing it off in the clay pot. Believe me, there is a difference. You don't get that distinct flavor and smell that can only be generated from clay pot cooking. At last, the seafood clay pot rice came out (and unlidded by the waitress with a flourish!). So many scallops, shrimp, and perfectly cooked, albeit a bit salty, squid. Mom quickly added the special soy sauce into the rice and gave it a good mix. We scooped rice from the middle (another trick - gotta let the rice closest to the pot edges crisp) - absolutely yummay. Auntie reiterated that we should have gotten something oilier and stronger; Mom argued that she wanted something less greasy and "healthier." Auntie was right though - by the time we got to the crust, a section of the rice burnt a bit. I'm absolutely going to return - I spotted a childhood favorite on the menu: minced beef with (raw) egg over rice. This faboo lunch set me back a whopping $21 including tip.
We split up and said our farewells to my aunt, who was heading to her aerobics class. Battling the crowds on Stockton Street, Mom picked up some beautiful tender super-baby bok choy ($1.09/lb), 6 (for $1) packets of snow vegetable, and some mooi choy (dried, preserved vegetable/mustard green?) for dinner.
Oops, back on subject. It started sprinkling so we headed back to the car. Before we returned to the Golden Gateway, the rain was coming down. Mom and I decided to grab some dessert and coffee somewhere warm. Off we headed down 101 to Burlingame. I swear, the parking gods seem to love me - I always find a spot near Starbucks or Straits Cafe on Broadway. We ducked into Copenhagen Bakery & Cafe for a snack and coffee. My mom was so excited to see all the pastries and sweets available. I ordered a slice of their napoleon and a slice of their Swedish princess cake. Sorry, no pic of the napoleon as we, er, demolished the "puff" pastry. Mom wasn't too keen on the dark chocolate layer and the super crispy almost cookie like "puff" pastry, but loved the custard filling. For me, the overly hard "puff" pastry kind of ruined it for me. Instead, I was mesmerized by the lovely princess cake.
*Sniffle* Oh so bee-yoo-tee-full. Almost too beautiful to eat...(it's sitting in my fridge right now to be consumed tomorrow, hehehe). Marzipan-whipped cream-raspberry jam-gold cake-custardy cream-raspberry jam-gold cake...how I love thee.
Anyway, that was pretty much it for today.
I'm still looking at my own pic of the princess cake. *Homer drool*
posted by Manda at
2/18/2006 05:29:00 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home