Everything I Ate in San Francisco
I was in San Francisco for 2.5 days and here is everything I ate.
At Craftsman and Wolves, my friend Michele and I shared the Rebel Within (a savory muffin with a soft cooked egg in the middle - OH YEAH), chilled corn soup (I could have this every single day; it was delicious.), and BLT with candied bacon that we both thought was way too sweet.
Chocolate (duh) at Dandelion Chocolate included a hot chocolate with unlimited marshmallows that you can get in a case at the counter, Frozen Mocha (ice chips were too big so it was hard to drink with a straw), and S'more that was toasted to order, which was just ok. Super soft marshmallows dipped into hot chocolate was the favorite.
Morning Bun at Tartine Bakery was eaten by peeling off layer by lovely layer. Loved that they had a quince iced green tea which was very refreshing and full of flavor.
I had a great afternoon tea at The Fairmont San Francisco with friends Michele and Julia. Solid afternoon tea for just $39/pp. (Read my review.)
My friend Rob lives in San Francisco and he recommended Kingdom of Dumpling, this hole-in-the-wall he goes on a weekly basis which has great Chinese food. The soup dumplings were fantastic, but I loved the Garlic String Bean the most.
Rob also took my travel buddy, Michele, and I to Smitten Ice Cream, where ice cream is made to order using liquid nitrogen. They make it right in front of you. And the ice cream itself? So good.
The Slanted Door was also heavily recommended, but it was a miss for me. We ordered the pork belly (too big of an order for an appetizer and way too heavy), and two kinds of noodles, one with crab, and one with vegetables (it was good, but not memorable). They did have something that I did love -- the cotton candy dessert (I love cotton candy)! We came back the next day to have it in the lounge area since we didn't know they had it the first time we went. Thanks to the sweet couple I met at Song Tea & Ceramics who told me about it!
TIP: The cotton candy comes as part of the Confection Plate ($10) with a selection of sweets, but you can just order the cotton candy on its own for $6.
Everyone told me I should go to Bi-Rite Creamery and I got the roasted banana on a cone. I don't know...it was good, but not exceptional as expected.
You can't go to San Francisco without a stop in at Blue Bottle. The one at the Ferry Building has caramelized Belgian waffles that are made to order which makes for a tasty breakfast, especially when paired with a latte.
But really, everything is GARBAGE compared to this AMAZING Kouign-amann from b. patisserie. It was so good I wanted to cry. HOLY CRAP, it was beyond perfect. There should be love songs written about this pastry. A trip to San Francisco is totally worth it just for this.
