Undercover Gourmet

For this vacation, today was my favorite day for eating as 2 out of 3 meals left me almost speechless. It starts off mid morning on Guerro Street as we queue up to enter Tartine. I’ve heard many stories of this bustling little bakery, which raises my expectations for what’s inside. We split a pain au jambon, and croque monsieur. While the open faced croque monsieur was quite delicious, it was the ham croissant that blew me away. The croissant was incredibly flaky, the outer shell emanating a perfect shade of golden brown, with a juicy slice of ham neatly rolled between layers of buttery pastry. It was absolutely mouth watering… even reminiscing about it causes my stomach to rumble. We take away a fruit tart and frangipane tart for later. It turns out to be a good decision.

Nick’s Lighthouse at Fisherman’s Warf. As I peer over the outdoor stall, watching in awe as the skilled men shuck fresh oysters and clams at a very impressive speed, all the while smelling a couple clams to esure his customers only receive fresh seafood, I squirm in excitement for another to-die-for favorite… oysters on the half shell. Our mollusks get tossed into clear plastic containers, and are topped off with a couple handfuls of lemons. Excellent, those are all the ingredients that should be allowed for ocean fresh seafood. It wasn’t the oysters and clams itself that made this one of my most memorable meals, it was the whole environment that made it unforgettable. We sit on a bench with plastic tray balancing on our laps, swarms of sea gulls several feet away are squawking and eyeing tourists’ leftover sourdough bread, the waves are lapping, the juice from our shellfish sloshing and spilling over the sides as we try to eat in a somewhat civilized manner. This is a moment I won’t soon forget.

For the drive back to Union Square, we take some fried shrimp and calamari along for the ride. Dinner takes place at King of Thai Noodle House on O’Farrell Street which turns out to be a very affordable place for Thai cuisine. The restuarant is very casual and has all the characteristics of an Asian noodle joint. The tables are long and cafeteria like, the service was quick and efficient, and the food was fairly authentic. We start off with a papaya salad, then progress into green curry with chicken and basil chicken with noodles. We order the salad mild, with regret not going for medium spice as there was no spice at all. The curry itself was good, although the chicken pieces were a little chewy. The noodle dish was more similar to Chinese ho fun than Thai noodles, with more after taste of soy sauce for my liking. The Thai iced tea was delicious.

2801 Taylor St
San Francisco, CS
415-929-1300