Sunday funday. Pho sho.

I love a good steaming bowl of pho. We know this. For some reason I've had a craving for it this past week. That salty broth, tender slices of rare beef, crispy bean sprouts, ahhhhhh!

A coworker of mine was nuking some leftover pho so I thought it was totally appropriate to pick her brain about tasty pho places in the city. Lucky me, she's quite the pho lover as well :)

She suggested Turtle Tower, a restaurant with two locations (one in the Outer Richmond and one in the Tenderloin) that is known for some delicious pho and homemade noodles. Sold! I read some of the Yelp reviews (just to be sure) and everyone said it was delicious Northern Vietnamese Pho. Please remember these words.

Jamie and I planned to do one of the walks in the book my sister gave me so I figured we should start out with a hearty brunch of pho. Duh. We trekked over to the Tenderloin and sat down just before a ton of people came in for lunch. I got the Pho Tai (rare beef) and Jamie got the usual bowl of mixed meat-ness (beef, tripe, flank steak, brisket).

As we sat waiting for our food, I noticed that something was missing from the table - jar o oyster sauce. I didn't think too much about it and figured I'd try the other two condiments, fish sauce and vinegar instead.

Then our bowls arrive.

Hm. This is odd. That's a whole lotta scallions there, sir. AND the only toppings we got were lime and jalapenos. This had us scratching our heads. No matter. I dug right in (after a couple squirts of sriracha, of course).

Hm. This is what everyone is raving about? The meat was excellent (almost like butter!) and the noodles were a great texture, but the broth just wasn't doing it for me...and everyone knows pho is all about the broth!

Then something reminded me of what I read earlier...NORTHERN VIETNAMESE PHO. Was there a difference between this stuff and what I've been eating?? Enter Wikipedia.

There are several regional variants of phở in Vietnam, particularly divided between northern (Hanoi, called phở bắc or "northern phở"; or phở Hà Nội), central (Huế), and southern (Ho Chi Minh City/Saigon). One regional phở may be sweeter, and another variation may emphasize a bolder and spicier flavor. "Northern phở" tends to use somewhat wider noodles and green onions. On the other hand, southern Vietnamese generally use thinner noodles (approximately the width of pad Thai or linguine noodles), and add bean sprouts and a greater variety of fresh herbs to their phở instead. The variations in meat, broth, and additional garnishes such as lime, bean sprouts, ngò gai, hung que (Thai/Asian basil), and tuong (bean sauce/hoisin sauce) appear to be innovations introduced in the south.

Well then, looks like it's not bad pho after all...just DIFFERENT pho. I prefer the southern version. I'm just saying. If you know of any legit southern pho in the Bay Area, please pass that information along!!

Bellies full, we embarked on our 3 hour long walk from Russian Hill to North Beach. Well, 3 hours according to Frommer's. I heart my neighborhood:

First we made our way to the top of Russian Hill by way of narrow paths with views

and super steep hills with stairs

to get to this view

Pretty sweet, yah? This was taken at Ina Coolbirth Park at the top of Russian Hill.

Amazing views on a breezy, warm day. On the way down, I snapped a few photos of colorful flowers...because why not

Flowers make me camera happy.

We made our descent into North Beach and popped into the San Francisco Art Institute along the way. The location alone must inspire students. Check out this view:

Distracting or inspiring? I'd be distracted ;) I mean, hey, I wanted to take pictures all over that patio...including this nifty one. The wall on the left is just meant to look like wood.

After wandering around, Jamie and I put on on productive hats and stopped at World Market for some rugs (no, this was not an impulse shopping trip...we just lucked out and found the one city walk that started and ended exactly where we wanted it to). Came home, made the apartment look a little more livable and vegged out for a bit.

We decided on dinner after browsing some nearby options. Even though our walk only took about 1, 1.5 hours, we were pretty burned out and wanted to keep dinner local and low key. Polkers Gourmet Burgers seemed to fit the bill!

We sat down and settled on our burgers. A Mexican Burger (beef and chorizo patty with salsa, jack cheese and avocado) for Jamie

and a Turkey Habanero Burger (turkey burger with habanero salsa and jack cheese) for me.

I should have learned my lesson by now. If it says 'extremely spicy', chances are, it's ridiculously spicy. I made it about 1/4 through my burger before I wanted to scream uncle. WTF. I love spicy food. Is my spicy tolerance going down???

To cool things off a bit, we stopped at the Loving Cup Rice Pudding Shop on the walk home. I've passed this many times and it's piqued my interest. Rice pudding, ey? I had cash and a fire in my mouth...now was my perfect opportunity ;)

I sampled the plain vanilla and coconut varieties of rice pudding (please note that I've seen a ton of people leave this place with frozen yogurt and not rice pudding) and was sold on the coconut.

I ate about half of this before I gave up and had to refrigerate it for another time. I heart rice pudding, but I also know that if I eat too much at once it makes me feel pukey. Bleh.

Dear Loving Cup, thank goodness you use non-fat milk or I'd be in serious trouble :)

Sausalito - not just a cookie

Jamie and I were up super early on Saturday morning for our day trip to Sausalito. Located just across the Golden Gate Bridge, Sausalito is just a quick 30 (ish) minute ferry ride from the Ferry Building.

We buffered in enough time to walk to the Ferry Building, grab some coffee and breakfast and managed to have a few extra minutes to chill out and enjoy the weather before boarding. Jamie was reunited with his Prather Ranch Breakfast Sammich

and I got a much needed cup of Blue Bottle Coffee *swoon*.

I snapped a few pictures before getting on the boat...couldn't ask for better weather!

We arrived in Sausalito a little after 11am and it was a beautiful day for wandering.

Lucky for us, we were wandering on a SEGWAY. Yep. You know Jamie and I love to do random touristy things as evidenced here and here. We had an 11:30am date in a parking lot with The Electric Tour Company Segway Tour. These segways were fancy...you just lean the handles to the right or to the left, and poof you're turning! Super easy and way more fun than walking. Just saying.

I had the pleasure of rolling around Sausalito for 2 hours on Candy Pants.

Yep, Candy Pants. Our tour group and guide were pretty laid back and fun to zoom around with. I'd recommend it to anyone visiting...even those who mock the segway riders. Have you played with one of these suckers before? Fun as hell. I'd like to just zoom around on this guy for transportation!

I wasn't able to take a ton of pictures on our two-hour tour, but I think these capture the gist of it.

We were pretty hungry by the time the tour was over and decided to explore the restaurants on Caladonia Street, a quaint little street tucked away from the tourist madness by the water. Arawan Thai seemed to call our names as we walked by so we popped in for a bite. They had a reasonably priced lunch special, so we sat down for a nice relaxing lunch...or so we thought.

Apparently the restaurant closes at 2:30 and we wandered in around 2:15. Oops. Whatever, they were still willing to feed us. Honestly, we picked stuff pretty quickly and forgot the details of what we ordered. I know we got some Thai Iced Teas and our meals came with some salad.

Then these arrived:

I know I got Pad Thai...I didn't know it came with a Chili and Thai Basil Calamari thinger (which was delicious, btw). Jamie knew he got chicken w/a peanut sauce and some greenery and a duck curry of some sort.

Dessert came out mid meal and was a tapioca pearl salty/sweet concoction. At first I wasn't sure how I felt about it, but after a few bites, I really liked it! I wish we had more time to savor our food, but there's always next time! Leftovers will make delicious lunches in the meantime :)

Once we got back into the city, Jamie had some World Cup catching up to do and I was so exhausted that I crashed immediately. I also learned that I had some nasty sunburn to deal with. Yeeh.

After some downtime, we set off on a mission to find dinner. Jamie read about a pizza place near the apartment so we decided to check it out. We walked over to Za Pizza on Hyde Street, a small shop with outdoor seating. It was pretty crowded so we took care of some errands first. The crowd died down a bit by the time we got back and we sat with a couple beers as we waited for a table.

We snagged a table outside and quickly ordered a medium pizza, half Pluto (spinach, sauasage, feta, mozzerella) and half Scaliano (roma tomato, spicy sausage, fresh garlic and green onion).

AMAZING. Growing up around NY/NJ pizza, I'm somewhat of a pizza snob. I like my crust thin, yet substantial. Toppings should be simple. I really don't like Chicago style pizza and do not get me started on Dominos or Papa Johns. I'll take fancy pizza, but it will always be fancy pizza to me...not real pizza. Za Pizza is legit. The Scaliano side was a little too mushy for me, but I'll chalk that up to waiting too long to try a slice...or maybe the tomatoes. The Pluto - outstanding. I loved the feta, sausage and spinach. the mozzarella just added to my slice of heaven. Oh, yes. Za also sells pizza by the slice. Hello, neighborhood pizza joint :)

Because pizza and ice cream go so well together, and because Jamie has wanted to try this place since Tuesday, we made a pitstop at Swensen's Ice Cream. There was a decent line, but it moved pretty quickly. So many flavor choices! They make everything there so I was excited to sample some flavors before committing. Unfortunately, the line didn't allow for that :( So I went with a cone of Mocha Chip (AMAZING) and Toasted Almond (not bad).

YUM (note: I asked for SMALL scoops). Jamie did a cup of Fresh Banana (bleh. no sampling for me) and French Vanilla Custard. According to Jamie, the French Vanilla was much better since it was creamier.

Living this close to Swensen's and Za could be T-R-O-U-B-L-E!!

Let the eating begin!

Hey all! I hope everyone is having a great weekend! My camera bursting full of tasty week/weekend eats and sights so I thought I'd give you guys a quick photo recap :)

Jamie's welcome home meal took us to nearby Aux Delices for some Vietnamese food. I've passed this place a few times and read about it on Yelp, so I threw it out there as an option for Tuesday night dinner. We split an appetizer of Banh Cuon (steamed rice flour filled with ground pork & mushrooms served with fish sauce), which had a great gooey texture, but was lacking in overall flavor. Jamie went with his belly and got a bowl of Pho, which I sampled and thought was really bland (more on this later) and I went with my trusty standby of Bun Thit Nuong (charbroiled pork over thin rice noodles, shredded lettuce, cucumber, bean sprouts In our vinegar dressing sprinkled with ground peanuts). In my opinion, you can't really f up Bun. The pork was deliciously savory and had just the right amount of char to it. Not bad.

Final verdict - I might visit Aux Delices again if I have a Bun craving, but that's about it. It's close and the service was pretty fast...not bad for a weeknight quickie.

Wednesday night, I introduced Jamie to Nick's Crispy Tacos. I know, I know, we missed Taco Tuesday, but whatever. Remember my first visit to Nick's when friend and I sampled the two different fish tacos? I got the Pescado again, but this time around I got it Nick's way (crispy with guacamole and jack cheese) - AMAZING. I was a little nervous since I thought crispy meant crispy taco. Nono. The inner corn tortilla was just a little crisper at the bottom. DELISH. Totally recommend it!

I also tried the Camarones taco (grilled tiger prawns with tomatillo and pico de gallo salsas, cilantro, cabbage & onions in a corn tortilla). I thought it was ok, kinda bland next to the Pescado, but I'd try it again next time I'm craving shrimp.

Jamie ventured into the world of burritos at Nick's. He got the Carne Asada burrito (grilled steak rolled in a flour tortilla with pico de gallo and pinto beans) that looked like a whole lotta meat and beans with just a touch of rice. Apparently his burrito had shredded meat in it, which makes him think that they gave him carnitas instead. Oops. Perhaps the tacos are the way to go at Nick's.

Thursday night (o, you thought the food stopped there? HA) we met up with Selin for dinner at Bocadillos in the Financial District. The location was perfect for all of us since it was walking distance from my office and sort of walking distance from our homes ('sort of' factors in the hills to my home). Selin suggested Bocadillos based on Jamie's tapas craving and I was sold the minute she said they serve calimochos! Wooo!

Jamie and I got there first and grabbed some drinks at the bar. I watched the bartender make my calimocho (or to get the proper spelling down: Kalimoxto). He got the red wine going, then some Coke, and then he grabbed something else. WHAAT? ORANGE JUICE. I thought that was weird, but I went with it...especially since the menu described it as 'Basque sangria'.

DELICIOUSLY refreshing. Even more so than the trusty ol' red wine and Coke mix. Who knew?!

We split a bunch of tapas family style (duh) and started out with some Patatas Bravas with Romesco Sauce

Perfectly crisp on the outside and soft on the inside. As I was eating them, I thought they were more french fry-like than what I'm used to (rough chunks), but they were still yummy :)

Next up were some Baby Artichokes with Lemon and Saffron Herb Aioli

Um, fried artichokes? Hello! These were pretty rich and the lemon was a fried (maybe?) lemon slice. I think it could have used a lemon wedge to squirt on the artichokes.

Then these little guys showed up on the table

O yes, Crispy Garlic Prawns. Have I mentioned my fear of food with eyes? I tend to get a little woozy when my food looks at me. One time in Malaysia, I was served a soft shell crab facing me...beady eyes and everything. I got lightheaded and didn't know what to do. I didn't want to offend our hosts so I turned it around and tried not to think about the eyes. I know, very strange. I'm trying to get over it, but it's a slow process.

I love me some garlicky grilled shrimp so I tried not to think about the faces on these puppies. Totally worth it. I also sucked on the shrimp head and it was delicious. Yay, me! :)

Then came what may be my favorite plate of the night:

Corn Fritters! I can't find the exact details about this dish, but I know they were cheesy, crispy, slightly smokey with a hint of chorizo, corny balls of goodness! Highly recommend these guys.

After that came the meat portion of our meal...

Steak with Chimichurri Sauce and

House-made Chorizo with Cabbage and Peppers

The steak was pretty good. The ends were a little over done, but that can be expected. I won't judge. The chorizo was fantastic. Just the right amount of spice and the cabbage and peppers gave a nice tang to the dish. Loved it.

It was a great evening and we ended up walking home in the wonderful weather. In fact, I didn't even mind the hills...too much ;p

Since we had a few days of spendy meals, Jamie and I did a quick 2 mile run (with a mapping fail - super steep downhill we had to walk) ending at the grocery store. I grabbed some ingredients for a tropical dinner and we bussed it back. Hooray for full fridge and cabinets!

On the menu - Tropical Pork Chops with Coconut Ginger Rice

Tropical Pork Chops

3 pork chops

3 cloves garlic, chopped

1/2 onion, chopped

1/4 c pineapple, chopped

1/2 c ponzu

1/4 c peach mango orange juice

1 tbsp dijon mustard

1 tbsp brown sugar

1/2 tbsp Maggi seasoning

1/2 tbsp salt

Combine all ingredients, except pork, in a shallow baking dish. Add pork and let marinate for 15 minutes on each side. Preheat oven to 425. Cover baking dish with foil and bake for 30-40 minutes or until pork is cooked through. Serve with Coconut Ginger Rice.

I ended up overcooking the pork chops, so this factors in that little oopsie. I'm a big fan of A Taste of Thai Coconut Ginger Rice. I came across this a few years ago and always keep a box on hand. Instead of water, I use 1 1/2 c chicken broth and 1/4 c milk.

annyeonghi gyeseyo

I am coming back to the States on Tuesday.  This has been the longest three months (haha) of my life, but I have absolutely no regrets.  The Republic of Korea is a stunning, friendly, delicious, confusing, and sometimes frustrating country.  It is a weird feeling to leave the place I have called home for the past eight months.  It is hard to contain my excitement to get back stateside…but, at the same time I definitely have some sadness about leaving the ROK.  I guess you could say I have “gone bamboo” a little.  Maybe bamboo is the wrong term, “gone kimchi” or “gone garlic” is probably more applicable.  I have made some great friends at both bases and without them my time here would have been a fraction as enjoyable.  So with that I would like to say farewell to the ROK.  You will be missed, but don’t worry, I will see you next year :)

Some things I will miss:

• soju monster
• one dollar soju
• two litre bottles of beer
• korean food (lets be honest, korean food in the States is good but it can’t touch the real thing)
• konglish
• kunsan and songtan
• my subs and korean family
• panchan and self service
• amazing and efficient public transportation

Some things you may see me doing in the States:

• bowing
• eating communally (more than normal)
• making “x” signs with my fingers or hands
• saying “aahhhh” or grunting in acknowledgement
• using two hands to accept/hand things over
• asking for “changeee”
• speaking in korean accidently
• use of non-proper english (most already know my limited grasp on the american language)

Things I will not miss:

• kimchi blossoms
• wondering what i just ordered
• 83 inches of snow
• working in negative temperatures
• juicies

These lists are not complete at all.  I’m sure I could add tons more to all three.  The above items are just what came to mind as I typed this post up.  I hope you guys have enjoyed my reports on Korea.  I still have a couple of ideas up my sleeve and have to fill everyone in on the side trips I took once I moved up north (including a visit to the DMZ).

Time out.

Hey guys, it's been super busy around here so I'm going to do a quick photo post. I'm also taking a brief time out from posting since Jamie returns on Tuesday!! He's only here for a week, so I figure I should spend time hanging out w/him and not blogging :p Don't worry, we'll be doing some touristy stuff and I'll have PLENTY to write about later!

Big news first - I MOVED! I finally have my very own apartment :) After a somewhat stressful Memorial Day weekend move, I think I've finally gotten the bulk of my stuff unpacked and organized. One of these days I'll show you the final product!

From now on, I'll be creating delicious dishes in here

And blogging to you from somewhere in here

All while staring at this

Hurrah!

During all the moving/shopping/unpacking, I was able to meet up with Susan for dinner in the Mission. We met up at Limon, a pretty snazzy looking Peruvian spot on Valencia and 16th. From the website:

Limon's menu boasts entrees that offer a bounty of fresh Pacific seafood, hearty beef, succulent pork, and rich savory sauces. Tempting ceviches and masterful tiraditos tempt your palate with the freshest sashimi grade Ono, Ahi Tuna accompanied by flavorful and colorful Peruvian sauces.

So many delicious options on the menu! I settled on the Ceviche Limon (mixed seafood ceviche - fish, calamari, shrimp)

and the Costillas Nikkei (crispy spare ribs with Peruvian style slaw and rocotto-soy sauce)

The ceviche was good, but not as exciting as I wanted it to be. The ribs were deliciously crisp and sweet, but the slaw was way too bitter. Have you ever had cabbage that was incredibly bitter? bleh. Overall, I thought the food was ok, but not worth the price.

The weekend ended with some serious outlet shopping in Napa, where I loaded up on fun accessories. No fun weekday eats since my cabinets and fridge are pretty bare. By the time Friday rolled around, it was time for me to head back east for a wedding in Vermont!

I've never been to Vermont and I was really bummed I'd only be spending a whopping 14 hours in the state that has such awesome stuff, like Ben & Jerry's, maple syrup and Magic Hat!

I wandered around Burlington and loved all the cute shops along Church Street...such a great pedestrian street to stroll!

The wedding was in nearby Charlotte, Vermont (note: it's pronounced shar-loht) and was absolutely gorgeous. Of course I forgot my camera in the hotel room, but I managed to get a few little shots w/the camera phone

The breathtaking view from the reception (held outdoors in the bride's backyard)

no one could resist busting out the phone cameras for this one!

Speaking of Magic Hat...

I was told that the Wacko was a legit summer brew and had to sample one. Two giant thumbs up. It was crisp, refreshing and much lighter tasting than my favorite #9. Big sadface moment of the evening - THEY DON'T SELL THIS IN SAN FRANCISCO! AAAAGGGHH!! At least that's what the location map says :( :(

After a few Wackos and appetizers, we sat down to dinner at this simple and pretty table

Salad was exactly what this girl needed and it was promptly followed by a dinner of salmon and chicken

Not sure how the salmon was cooked, but it tasted sort of teriyaki-ish to me. There was definitely a sweet factor in there.

Then it was time for dancing!

How cute is this setup?? I've never seen the pointy tents before and I like them!

A few hours later, I was up and at the airport for my 6:45am adventure home. Apparently I was so tired that I took a brief nap pre-boarding and a very kind person woke me up as the tail end of boarding took place. PHEW. I eventually made it home with a pitstop in Chicago and Orange County (o hey, John Wayne Airport...I didn't know you existed).

It was a very fun filled weekend, but now I'm so exhausted I can barely move! How was your week/weekend??