Scenic route from SF > Monterey > Carmel by the Sea > Santa Barbara > LA
First stop: Monterey. A small quiet town, we walked around the fisherman's wharf, sampling clam chowder at five consecutive restaurants. Second stop: Carmel by the Sea. A more upscale small town with nice beach. We had lunch at Le St. Tropez - a small French restaurant and one of the better meals I had on the trip. The tuna nicoise salad was great, and we got to have souffle again ^^
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Leisure last day in SF. Walked around the Japanese tea garden and saw these two neat displays outside de Young Museum before hopping back on the bus to Palace of Fine Arts and across the bridge again. Recommended by the tour guide, we went to Tommy's Joynt for dinner - as featured on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives.
My first time at a diner. Big portions for $10 - cheapest meal in the trip. I decided to try corned beef with side of mashed potatoes and beans. The corned beef was kind of lukewarm and overly salty - others who ordered beef and pork shoulder were much better flavor and texture!! :( Mashed potatoes were good though. Bread was rock hard.
For dessert, we finished with Cheesecake Factory since it was closer than going to souffles again. Funny conversations with good company.
Keep it simple!
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After biking, met back up with mom for lunch at Fisherman's Wharf. Tried the famous In-N-Out burger - the place was packed!
I just keep eating burgers these days but nothing really wows me. I read the paper wrapper and these patties are always freshly made, and other things about the freshness of the ingredients but taste wasn't that great to me.
Walked around Fisherman's Wharf and can't do without clam chowder so I tried the famous Boudin Bakery in sourdough. Again, nothing that special but I had to try!
Lazy and loud sea lions.
After FW, we walked to Lombard Street - the famous most crooked street. The houses alongside are pretty nice, cute little colorful houses.
Then we walked back to FW for dinner at Bubba Gump's. The theme of the restaurant is Forrest Gump - haven't seen the movie but it was pretty creative. The food was disappointing - garlic shrimp was bland and the small frozen type.
Souffles Cafe is a Chinese-run dessert place with a large selection of desserts and teas. All the souffle flavors were so appealing! Takes 30 mins to make souffle and you can call ahead to reserve (just found out after we arrived)
Very nice almond flavor but just personally didn't like too many slivered almonds inside 'cause I
prefer just the soft/moistness.
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| Coffee Souffle |
The souffles are really big. Very strong coffee taste
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| Almond Souffle |
prefer just the soft/moistness.
R&G Lounge is a Michelin nominated Chinese restaurant in Chinatown. Super packed but food is good.
Delicious chicken soup!
Smooth silky steamed egg with clams
Their famous salt & pepper deep fried crab - it wasn't oily but I also didn't taste much salt or pepper.
Oct 12-15, 2013.
Day 1: It was sunny but extremely chilly when we arrived Saturday afternoon. Took a quick walk around Union Square and Westfield mall. No Superdry for me but bought a Uniqlo Ultra Light Down jacket to wear throughout the trip. Craving hot pot for the cold evening and stumbled upon a shabu shabu place near the hotel.. I was already very exhausted!
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Day 2: Winery tour & Chinatown - R&G Lounge and Souffles Cafe
I was looking forward to visiting Napa Valley after hearing about the gorgeous views... but the winery tour actually comprised of two Sonoma Valley wineries and only one in Napa (Chandon) and even there I could not witness the views... -_-" The wine wasn't that great either... but nonetheless an interesting experience learning about the whole winemaking process and touring the cellars, and I purchased a mini cheese board :D
Walking around the oldest/largest(?) Chinatown was like stepping back in time to 1960s... Everything was just so old.We had dinner at R&G Lounge and then dessert at Souffles Cafe.
Birthday dinner #3 at JaBistro. It was definitely well worth it :) When I first walked in I was a bit taken aback - it was quiet and modern, like a cozy cave/underground exclusive bar... Food, ambiance, presentation and service were all great at this upscale Japanese restaurant by Guu owners.
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| Yukke - angus beef tartar, gochujang, quail egg, nori seaweed |
Next came the sashimi platter - love the artistic presentation on this slate(?) serving plate. Good variety of fish - my favorite was the amberjack. The tuna was very fatty & melty too. Some unique items - fish jerky (bottom right), deep fried fish bone (long piece holding up the amberjack and fish roe) and fish scales.
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| If I remember correctly: Blue Fin Tuna, Amberjack, Yellowtail, some Tuna, Pike fish (milder version mackerel), another part of Amberjack, Kobe Beef, Flounder, Tuna Otoro, Octopus, Squid, Uni |
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| JaBistroll - salmon, snow crab, uni, tobiko / Aburicious - 2 each ebi, salmon, saba, JaBistroll |
My favorite of the night - Amberjack fish head!! Fish was so soft and delicious.
For dessert I got the parfait and who knew cornflakes could be this delicious! The tiramisu was surprisingly good as well.
And to end the meal - dark chocolate truffles
Overall: Service was friendly, love the quiet ambiance and presentation of food.
I'm happy I finally tried JaBistro and for my birthday 'cause it's really a great place for special occasion that has both good environment and taste.. and of course with good company.
