Asian Eats around San Francisco
Polishing Silver
Whilst an army might march on its stomach, my cravings include comfort foods as well as traditional and something special. And I’m not talking about an In-and-Out burger (tempting as it is).
Let’s explore a few Asian eats around San Francisco.
In this Tier Point-laden adventure
- All I ask is for one decent airfare. Just ONE. Anyone?
- Off to Birmingham Airport
- FR669 Birmingham to Dublin Airport with Ryanair
- Welcome to Dublin, Premier Inn – Dublin Airport
- Early Morning Dublin Airport and US Preclearance, 51st and Green Lounge
- AA723 Dublin to Philadelphia – Flagship Business Class
- A Rocky Interlude – Exploring Philadelphia
- Return to PHL and the Philadelphia American Airlines Admirals Club
- AA2663 Philadelphia to San Francisco – US Domestic First
- A new terminal and The Crowne Plaza, Burlingame
- The Intercontinental San Francisco (and trying the new BART trains)
- Asian Eats around San Francisco
- A challenge unto myself: Crossing the Golden Gate Bridge
- Ferrying around the bay with Golden Gate Ferry
- Of Dragons and Lions – Celebrations in San Francisco Chinatown
- Back to SFO, American Airlines Admirals Club
- AA164 San Francisco to New York JFK – Transcontinental Business Class
- A snow-laden pit stop at JFK and the American Airlines/British Airways Greenwich Lounge
- AA104 New York JFK to London Heathrow – Flagship Business Class
- Transiting across Heathrow Terminals and the British Airways Galleries North
- BA836 London Heathrow to Dublin Airport – Club Europe
- A Two Hour Dublin Turnaround featuring the Dublin Airport Lounge
- BA4469 Dublin to London City Airport – Club Europe by BA CityFlyer
- To the trains… and on the cheap
- Points in the bag
Time for the usual disclaimers. As usual, I didn’t do any research on where I was going, how much to pay, etc etc, etc. Rather, this is me being driven by my hunger at the time I was walking around the city.
Or how soaked I was. There’s not much of a difference if I’m honest.
I’ll put the prices in the headers so you can work out if it’s a good value for your pocket.
Takoyaki at Mochill/Yama-chan, Japantown
Cost: $9.80+tax
I had wanted to go to a Ramen place in Japantown, however, the waitlist time was 55 minutes. Given it was a wet day, maybe I should have waited it out. However, street food is always a good thing.
Takoyaki is octopus pieces, in a wheat-flour batter, mixed with dashi. It’s cooked in a moulded pan to give you those balls. There were various options- I went for a $9.80+Tax variant, with just mayo, tonkatsu sauce and bonito flakes on top for eight pieces.
Here’s how they come paced – in the classic takoyaki tray, in a paper container.
As expected they will burn your mouth if you’re not careful, with a lovely flavour. The octopus wasn’t overcooked either – which meant you could chew it without fighting it.
For a street food option that’s not a burger – a good stop. Just allow some time for the order to be cooked.
Ippudo, San Francisco (Off Market Street)
Cost: Around $38
We’re sticking with Japanese cuisine. Given the weather conditions were what I would call “soaking” on the Saturday I was in San Francisco, there is one thing that I find makes the world a better place – a bowl of noodle soup.
Japanese chain Ipuudo opened a branch of its ramen shop here. Given it’s normally a highly-rated bowl of ramen, I thought I’d give it a try.
As I was a one-person walkup, I suspected that I would have a fair old wait on a Saturday. So I was pretty delighted with a 15-minute wait and being able to be seated in 10.
Bar/Waiting Area
I was in a shared seating area – which suited me.
The noodle bar
With a menu in front of me, it was time to decide what to have.
Ippudo is a Tonkotsu Ramen place – Pork bone broth. I fancied something a little spicy, so I chose the KARAKA Spicy ramen (which contains the broth, thin straight noodles, a blend of hot spices, topped with pork belly chashu, cabbage, sesame kikurage mushrooms). Being extra fancy, I added a chashu bao and of course a brown sweet sticky liquid.
And water too. Admittedly, I was going through liquid fast as my body attempted to rehydrate after flying.
The items arrived pretty quickly, with the cola first, then the pork belly bao. This is very much the traditional white wheat boa bread which is steamed, with a piece of pork belly in the middle, topped with mayonnaise. A little different from the Chinese version (which focuses on marinated pork in the middle of the bao, but enjoyable nonetheless.
This was followed by a big bowl of noodles. And wow.
Hello spicebomb.
After taking my initial slurp of the delicious broth, it was time to ruin this lovely-looking bowl, by mixing it all together so the spices get distributed evenly.
Don’t look at me in that tone of voice. You would do the same. The broth now has a lovely spiciness to it, along with the porky taste. This is combined with noodles, which are Hakat-style – thin and straight.
The charshu was tender to eat, with it falling apart easily in a lot of cases, with the toppings helping along the way. And you can bet I cleared the bowl.
The payment was by card – with the bill coming to around $38 – around £30 converted. It’s a pricey bowl of ramen with a side and a drink – but I didn’t feel ripped off when I had it.
More importantly, it provided some deep warmth that only a bowl of spicy noodle soup can fill some days.
Snow Garden, Chinatown
Cost: $24.90+ tip.
This has been a familiar spot for me, and I’ve always seemed to end up going to this small Chinese restaurant in Chinatown. I’ve found it to be friendly enough… and when I have the desire for Wonton noodle soup, that takes over.
Snow Garden is a classic Chinese restaurant that does cash only. Sadly, it seemed, I was the only diner when I arrived (with a couple arriving midway through).
I was seated and browsed the menu for something comforting.
I went through the menu, selecting some egg rolls, wonton noodle soup and to be classic, black tea. Sometimes, I like to be very classical when dining out
The tea turned up quickly. And black tea sometimes just hits the spot (just keep that poison that’s milk away from me).
The deep-fried egg rolls and the Pork Charsui with wontons and noodles came at the same time.
The eggrolls were crips and had plenty of filling.
Meanwhile, the Pork and Wanton Noodle soup… the Charsui did feel more than a little tough, but still had flavour. Meanwhile, the wontons were nice and bouncy. The noodles were slurpable, and the broth – lovely and clear, with delicate flavours.
It’s very simple food – and sometimes simple food can be a real blessing after pounding the streets of the city and you just want familiar and tasty flavours.
I finished up and a bill was presented – city prices at work.
I just wish the char sui didn’t look or feel like it had more than an evening out and a heavy day after.
I know there are a lot of food options – and someday, I’ll explore more of them. Of course, there was one thing I missed this trip… a visit to In and Out Burger and more than a few burritos
I guess that can wait for another trip – the West Coast is good value for a points run.
Next
Something a lot more personal. Challenging me – walking across The Golden Gate Bridge
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