Undercover Gourmet

Second day of the drive north up the Pacific Coast Highway. We wake up in the city of Monterey, and stroll down the wharf in search of breakfast food. The weather is a bit chillier in the morning, and a clam chowder soup in a bread bowl seems like an excellent way to warm our hands and stomachs. Every stand claims their clam chowder is the best, but I think my choice of the Old Fisherman’s Grotto was superb. The soup was creamy and hearty, although I would have preferred more of that versus the bread bowl. By the time Rappa’s opens for lunch at 11:30am we are ready for some more seafood. A light snack of Fanny Bay Oysters on the half shell, and steamed local manila clams with garlic and parsley were decent but not as fresh as I hoped it to be. The view on the other hand was their main selling feature.

The scenic drives begins. A random stop at a farmer’s stand by La Gropa Beach for some freshly picked strawberries, followed by several more hours of driving lands us in San Francisco. Yee’s Restaurant in Chinatown was the picturesque example of a bustling restaurant in Hong Kong. A table full of soy cooked duck and chicken wings, and fried chicken wings sat on a table inviting people to pick what they eat. The take-out portion of the restaurant was extremely busy with customers shouting for bbq pork, roast pork, roast duck, other typical Chinese bbq joint goodies. I order a bbq pork lai fun, delicous round shaped noodles (similar in shape to spaghetti, but with the texture of rice noodles) in a savory broth topped with slices of tender bbq pork.

Cocola Bakery and Pastry located on the to level 4 of Westfield San Francisco Center draws us in for dessert. Their Millefeuille is excellent as well beautifully crafted, and they offer one of the best mocha’s I’ve ever had.