Blue Bottle Coffee and Bowl'd Acai (San Francisco) - Ah-sigh-EE Bowls and New Orleans Iced Coffee

It's hard to get your veggies in while on vacation, which was why Rae and I were so happy to stumble upon a vegan, gluten free smoothie food truck while in SOMA.

 They serve acai (pronounced ah-sigh-ee) bowls, smoothies, juices, and power up 'shots'.

By the way, I absolutely love how they serve gluten free granola. As a person with a recent wheat allergy, it's good knowing there are still healthy eat out options for me even though I can't eat flour/wheat.

Rae and I split a These Nuts Acai Bowl (reg $9.60 US) composed of a smoothie on the bottom that is blended with acai, strawberry, banana, and almond milk. The toppings include one planet gluten free granola, banana, hemp seed, bee pollen, honey, sliced almond, and peanut butter.

Oh my god it was sooooo good! It was totally a refreshing and healthy way to start our day. It was so delicious, we tried experimenting with our own version of acai bowls at home after our vacay.

Next to the Bowl'd Acai food truck was a Blue Bottle Coffee stand. The area was quite industrial and just a little side street but there was already a lineup forming in front of the stand. Most people got the New Orleans Iced Coffee ($4 US) which was what we got too. The coffee was drip so it took a little while, but it was definitely worth the wait. It was so smooth, so creamy. I want one now just thinking about it.

Blue Bottle Coffee also serves freshly made waffles. Rae and I got one to share and thought it was only okay. The batter was too cake-like and dense for the morning. Also it was a little greasy so it didn't stay well in our stomachs.

Blue Bottle Coffee: 
Food Rating: 4/5
Price: $
Overall Rating: 4/5

Bowl'd Acai:
Food Rating: 4.5/5
Price: $-$$
Overall Rating: 4.5/5

Happy Eating!

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Boba Guys (San Francisco) - Horchata Boba and Thai Milk Tea

One of the districts Rae and I wanted to visit while in San Fran was the Mission District. It's an area decorated with murals and street art, delicious authentic Mexican taquerias, and hipster apothecary and taxidermy shops.

On our way I noticed a lot of people passing us were drinking bubble tea. They all seemed to have bought it from the same place, so I searched up the bubble tea place closest to where we were walking. Turns out, the ridiculously famous bubble tea shop called Boba Guys was right around the corner!

Unlike a lot of bubble tea places where you can choose from 50 different flavours and customize everything and anything, they have a set menu in place with only a few topping/milk/sweetness options. The Horchata Boba and Thai Tea TOTALLY caught my eye. 

The Horchata Boba (left) was a tad sweet for Rae's liking. I'd suggest getting it with 50% sweetness if you want the drink to be more refreshing than rich. On the other hand, I absolutely loved the Thai Tea (right). It was my first time trying authentic Thai Milk Tea and I am now a fan.

I hear it's really hard to make Thai tea because it includes ingredients like Ceylon tea, star anise, condensed milk, tamarind seed, and orange blossom water. It's something I'll never attempt to try at home so I wish Boba Guys would make its way to Vancouver because I promise I'll keep coming back for more!

Service Rating: 3/5
Food Rating: 4/5
Price:$

Overall Rating: 4/5

Happy Eating!


                  Thai Tea made me like...

 

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HRD Coffee Shop (San Francisco) - Kimchi Burritos and Katsu Po' Boys

When Rae and I were touring San Francisco, we made it a point to hit up the ever famous HRD Coffee Shop in the SOMA district. Luckily, it was only a few blocks from the Airbnb we were staying at so we didn't have to bus. This place is located in a pretty unassuming neighbourhood with absolutely no flashy signage. It's definitely a hole in the wall alright.

HRD Coffee Shop was featured on Diner's Drive-Ins and Dives a while ago and right after it aired, this little family owned restaurant exploded with lunch hour line-ups down the block. 

We came right when they opened (10am) to avoid the lineups. Their menu is eccentric and is a combination of Mexican, Korean, Japanese, and American cuisine. You can get anything from Breaded Oyster Burritos to Japanese Curry Hamburg on rice.

We got two things to share which was a bad mistake. We could have easily shared one meal and be completely satisfied. Nevertheless, the food coma route was what we chose so we stuck with it and left nothing behind. This is the Kimchi Burrito with Spicy Pork ($9.95) and it's stuffed with spicy rice, kimchi marinated pork, cucumbers, kiwi (it weirdly worked!!), and daikon. This was absolutely delicious and I would recommend it in a heartbeat.

This is the Crispy Chicken Curry Platter ($11.25) with brown rice, wasabi apple coleslaw, and kimchi croquette. I've never had so many interesting flavours and textures on one plate before. I was especially surprised by the wasabi apple coleslaw. That thing was friggin delicious! Also, any place that serves brown rice over white rice is great in my books. ;)

Service Rating: 4/5
Food Rating: 3.5/5
Price: $$

Overall Rating: 3.5/5

Happy Eating!


             My friend and I when we saw HRD

 

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Umami Burger (San Francisco) - Real Juicy Meat

During my trip to San Fran, Rae and I stopped by Umami Burger because it was close to our apartment. I always just knew of this restaurant as an LA hipster burger joint with a cool "U" stamp on their burger buns.

They seem to be quite popular with line ups spewing onto the streets on a random weekday afternoon.

It's quite casual inside with lots of booths and tables. It kind of reminds me of Romers Burger Bar from Vancouver.

Obviously, their most famous burger is called the Umami Burger but they surprisingly have quite a few options for those that don't feel like eating beef. They've covered all their bases with black bean patties, ahi tuna for fish lovers, and even some 'manlier' patties like the Manly Burger.

Rae and I both got some beer to wash down our burger with. I opted for the highly alcoholic Golden Monkey (9% alc.) and she got a brown pale ale of some kind that she really liked. They also gave us a plate with four different types of aiolis, sauces, and homemade ketchup. We didn't know what they were for, so we kind of just dipped our fries in it.

We both wanted to try the original so we got the classic Umami Burger ($11.50) which has parmesan frico, shiitake mushrooms, roasted tomato, caramelized onions, and Umami house ketchup.

Our server praised their chain for using only the most local, organic, and fresh ingredients which include the ground beef they use to make the patty with. That's why all patties are served medium rare unless specified. 

I got the burger as is so as you can see, it was quite rare. It's a little freaky to see your burger patty so pink because it looks you'll get salmonella. LOL. It was delicious though and the 'fresh' ingredients really did shine through. One thing Rae and I both noticed though, were the lack of toppings. We literally got two slivers of mushrooms on each burger and that's it.

Last but not least, I ordered a side of Truffle Fries ($5.50) to add some carbs to my diet. Also, if truffle fries are on the menu, I have to try it at least once. These ones were disappointing though. The truffle was only infused in the cheese and the cheese solidified quite quickly after it was brought out so the whole thing was one clumpy mess. Not recommended.

All in all, Umami Burger is solid if you want to just try their burgers and beers. Their burgers are unlike any burger I've tried before and is way beyond the quality of the ones at A&W or Earls. Skip the truffle fries though, they're just not worth it.

Service Rating: 4.5/5

Food Rating: 3.5/5

Price: $$-$$$

Overall Rating: 3.5/5

Happy Eating!

this has nothing to do with Umami but I wish I could do this with my brows :D

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Sushirrito (San Francisco) - Please Bring This to Vancouver!!!

When I was on vacay with Rae in San Fran, there was one place on my list that I could not leave without trying. It's called Sushirrito (combination of sushi and burrito) and it's an original concept from San Fran. I can see this going big in Vancouver...unfortunately, it's not available here in the north so you'll have to travel to San Fran to try out these super cool sushi burritos.

 This one's called Salmon Samba ($10.00 USD) and it has oven baked agave soy salmon, tempura asparagus, namasu cucumber, butter lettuce, avocado, pepitas, wasabi dust, and teri-mayo. The agave soy salmon brought sweet flavours to the roll which was interesting. The crunchy tempura asparagus also brought the crunch factor, so all in all, it was a pretty good roll!

If you are to try Sushirrito and you can only get one roll, get the Geisha's Kiss ($12.00 USD). It's definitely the best tasting sushi roll/ burrito I've ever tasted in my life. It has yellowfin tuna (hand-line caught), tamago, piquillo peppers, yuzu tobiko, lotus chips, namasu cucumber, butter lettuce, avocado, and sesame white soya.

On a hot summer day, this was pure heaven. I was pleasantly surprised by the large chunks of high quality tuna, the crisp of the lotus root chips, and the burst of delicious flavours from the sesame soya and piquillo peppers. When I thoroughly enjoy what I'm eating, I continuously nod my head in delight and won't say a word. This was worthy of that.

In conclusion, GO TO SUSHIRRITO!! SO DELICIOUSSSS!!

Service Rating: 4/5
Food Rating: 5/5
Price: $$

Overall Rating: 5/5

Happy Eating!

     
      I would be this happy if someone gave me Sushiritto for my birthday XD

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