One of the things I was most excited to check out during our trip to San Francisco was the Ferry Building. It had been remodeled in 2003 and is now a marketplace with gourmet food shops and restaurants. They also have a Farmers Market on Tuesdays and Saturdays- but those both happened to be days I wasn't going to be in the city. But that didn't mean I couldn't wander through the building and eat a gourmet lunch! After much deliberation (there are about 15 available choices), we decided to go to the San Francisco Fish Company stand because their daily specials sounded too good to resist.
Andy had the mahi tacos:
Complete with a delicious tomatillo sauce!
And I couldn't resist the lobster burger:
It was a huge sandwich- it had two fried lobster patties, some sort of special sauce (a mix of ketchup and mayonnaise and some spices), onion, tomatoes, lettuce- all on a square sourdough bun. I wish it had been slightly less fried because all of the oil muddled the taste of the actual lobster, but it was still rich and I didn't mourn my decision too much (although I wish I had had room for a second lunch so I could've gotten a noodle bowl at Out the Door!).
After much walking, it was time to eat again, and I knew just the place to go- a place that reminds me of my childhood and is a must-stop in San Francisco. Because, even if it's a tourist trap, the hot fudge is still worth it at Ghiradelli. Andy and I strayed from the original sundae and went a little more decadent with a Cookie Bottom Sundae with dark chocolate hot fudge:
It looks pretty perfect, but I must admit that there wasn't enough ice cream! It was an ice cream sundae, and almost every bite I took had nothing but cookie and hot fudge in it. Now I know a bite of cookie and hot fudge isn't the worst thing in the world- but it certainly got much too rich towards the end. The ice cream is crucial in a sundae like this because the vanilla ice cream helps cut the saltiness and intense flavor of the chocolate. We still ate the whole thing, though. And I was still sad when it was all gone...
Many hours and more walking later, it was time to eat again! On a recommendation from Andy's father, we went to a small sushi place called Tsunami in the Lower Haight. The place only serves beer and an impressively large stock of sakes (the list is probably 6-10 pages long!) so Andy and I decided to start with a sake cocktail called "Tsunami's Wrath":
The drink was a mix of sake and plum wine sangria and went down like juice. It was incredibly well mixed and the light sweetness complimented the sushi meal very nicely. We had miso soup:
And 4 maki rolls:
Clockwise from the bottom left we had the Tsunami, Five Sisters, Mama San, and Tempura Shrimp rolls. Along with the salmon, tuna, and unagi sashimi we had- this was the absolute best sushi I have ever had in my life. The sashimi was fresh and smooth and melted in my mouth, and the rolls were fresh, inventive, and packed with so many different levels of flavor the process of chewing was an adventure. Every time Andy and I took a bite of a roll all we could do was shake our heads in disbelief at how incredible it all was. The Tsunami roll was our favorite because of the thinly sliced salmon, flash fried asparagus, and mounds of tobiko. It was spicy, crunchy, warm, and cold all at the same time. There were so many textures and flavors that every time I ate one I discovered something new. To make the experience even better, we were treated very well. Towards the end of the evening Andy and I wanted to order one more cocktail (and informed our waitress) but because of training issues, it took her over 15 minutes to come back to our table to take our drink order once we'd decided. But the minute she returned, she was apologetic and upset and so gave us a complimentary dessert along with our drinks. The dessert was an ice cream mochi- puff pastry outside, red bean ice cream inside, and a dusting of macha powder. Phenomenal! I would recommend this as a must eat in San Francisco, and I will also note that it was very inexpensive as far as fancy sushi goes. Each of these rolls were about $8-10 and they were huge!
Recent Comments