Hi-Tea StorefrontHiTea
Neighborhood: Financial District
100 Bush St #110
(between Battery St & Sansome St)
San Francisco, CA 94104

Rated: ♣♣♣

HiTea is one of those restaurants that has a serious identity crisis. It’s not a bad thing, I just find it pretty random that they serve ice cream and tapioca, pho, Vietnamese rice plates and Hong Kong style baked rice dishes.

The scene:

I actually came here after work for dinner so the restaurant was completely empty. The decor is modern as it is in the FiDi, but the prices are very reasonable. The restaurant also smells like pho, so it’s really hard to order anything else because it smells so dang good.

The food:

Well, I purged my craving for pho and got one of the Hong Kong baked rice plates. It was only about $7 and the serving was HUGE. I ended up splitting it into 2 meals.

Hong Kong style baked pork chop over rice – Mmm… I almost always order this dish when I’m at one of those Hong Kong restaurants. I just love the soft rice with the fluffy egg mixed with a sweet ketchup-like tomato sauce. The pork chop is actually the secondary favorite in the dish. Although, the one at HiTea was super tender and juicy – must be because of all the fat around the bone. Don’t worry, I cut it off!

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Paella Served

I’m not usually a fan of leftovers, but when I made this version of paella, I was seriously looking forward to go home after work and eat it. You will too! It’s so simple once you have all of the ingredients and it doesn’t require a specialty paella pan.

I initially started off using this recipe by Ina Garten (Barefoot Contessa), but it completely transformed into something else.

Check out my recipe after the jump.

Read the rest of this entry »

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Blue Bottle Coffee StorefrontBlue Bottle Coffee
Neighborhood: Embarcadero
1 Ferry Bldg
San Francisco, CA 94105

Rated: ♣♣♣♣

I loooooove Blue Bottle Coffee. Their lattes are amazing and the affogato is TO DIE FOR! Blue Bottle Coffee is a local coffee shop that vows to serve coffee only 48 hours out of the roaster. You can’t get any better than that!

The scene:

This location of BBC is a storefront in the Ferry Building. It’s across from Ciao Bella Gelato and both stores have insane lines. At times, it can be nearly impossible to pass through to the other end of the Ferry Building.

Behind the counter, you can see how they make their own drip coffee. Instead of an ole coffee maker, they use their own filtering system in which hot water is poured over a rack filled with filters and coffee grinds. The coffee then drips out of the filter and into a cup. Check out my photo below and you’ll see what I mean.

The food:

Drinks aren’t that cheap in Blue Bottle. You still have to pay anywhere between $3-5 for a cup of coffee/espresso.

Latte – The lattes are so beautiful. The barista creates a fancy heart or flower shaped design in your cup using the coffee and milk. I have to knock off a point just because the latte is never hot when I get it.

Affogato – Mmmm…. I seriously need to stop myself from getting this as a midday snack during work. BBC uses the Breakfast Secret (bourbon ice cream with cornflakes) ice cream from SF’s Humphrey Slocombe and pours a shot of espresso right on top. The espresso melts and mixes in with the ice cream and makes the coffee both sweet and creamy. Downside is that it costs $5.50.

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Delancy Street Restaurant StorefrontDelancy Street Restaurant
Neighborhood: SOMA
600 Embarcadero St
San Francisco, CA 94107

Rated: ♣♣♣♣

I love the concept this place! The Delancy Street Restaurant is the “training school of the Delancey Street Foundation, the country’s largest self-help residential organization for people who have hit bottom to completely rebuild their lives.” The foundation also clothes and houses the ex-convicts in the very apartment building in which the restaurant resides.

All tips are considered donations, and all restaurant proceeds after food costs go directly to house, feed and clothe our residents and teach all skills, values and attitudes needed for a successful drug-free and crime-free life in the mainstream society.

The scene:

The restaurant actually looks pretty upscale with the white table clothes and emply wine glasses sitting on the table. They even offer vallet parking for only $4. And if you’re lucky, you could be seated next to a spectacular view overlooking the Bay Bridge.

The food:

The food here is insanely cheap. You could get a full breakfast for only $6 a plate.

Orange Juice – This first caught my attention walking into the restaurant. One of the employees was squeezing fresh orange juice at the bar and it looked insanely delicous. The juice was semi-pulpy and sweet, just the way I like it.

Strawberry Pancakes – At only $5.75, this dish was impressive. The pancake batter was made from a strawberry puree. I  couldn’t believe how strong the strawberry flavor was in the pancakes. The pancakes had a soft chewy consistency which also indicates a good quality pancake.

Southwestern Chicken Hash – K got the Chicken Hash topped with 2 poached eggs. This hash was a healthier version of the usual hash. The spicy salsa on the side added a real kick to the dish. K never had a poached egg before and he fell in love. The oozy yellow center spilled onto the hash making it super moist and creamy with each bite.

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Go on and get it!

Ben and Jerry's Free Cone Day

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