In awe, I watched Norman slather the soft, fluffy pillows of freshly fried dough with a thick layer of Nutella and dusted it with powdered sugar. Piece by piece, I ate through an entire Indian fry bread and savored every bite of the warm chewy goodness. I had walked around the park twice to find this stand. Out of breath and $8 poorer, it was completely worth it. It was Stormin’ Norman’s.
More after the jump.
Primavera
1 Ferry Plaza
Ferry Plaza Farmers Market
San Francisco, CA 94101
Neighborhood: Embarcadero
Rated: ♣♣♣♣
The Ferry Building Farmers’ Market can get overwhelming. Luckily, most of the food stands also come on Tuesdays or Thursdays, but it really takes a while for you to try food from every stand. On my last visit to the Saturday Farmers’ Market, I decided to try Primavera. Expensive, but great tasting tamales.
The scene:
I checked out their Yelp page and it seems like they switched up their menu quite often. I appreciate that because it shows they put real thought into their food and they keep their food fresh.
The food:
I got the 2 tamale plate for $9.50 and a pineapple cucumber aguas fresca.
2 tamale combo (pork and mushroom/spinach/cheese) – Both were moist and tasty. Good ratio of masa to filling. I’m a masa lover, so I could care less about the filling. However, the filling in both these tamales were delicious. Even though I love my meats, I always somehow prefer the vegetarian option over the meat. In my opinion, the mushroom and cheese tamale was better. The mushrooms were buttery and there was just enough cheese in the filling. The beans served with the tamales are thick, creamy and fresh. I could tell these beans were made in house rather than from a can. Muy perfecto.
Pineapple Cucumber Aguas Fresca – I am not a cucumber fan, but ordered the drink since it sounded really interesting. It was amazing. I never had anything like it before. It had some kind of tea base mixed with the juices of a pineapple and a cucumber. Occasionally, you’d run into chunks of the ingredients which added a little texture. Perfect drink for a hot day.
I’m thinking about coming back here next Tuesday to see what special tamales they’ll have on their menu. I read they sometimes serve a butternut squash tamale. I HAVE to try that if I ever see it on the menu.
Scream Sorbet
1 Ferry Building
94104
Neighborhood: Embarcadero
Rated: ♣♣♣♣
Every Thursday, I walk by the Scream Sorbet stand at the Ferry Building Farmer’s Market and I’m always intimidated because they charge $3 for sample size cup. But a couple weeks ago, my mom offered to get me a scoop.
The scene:
You can by the sorbet buy the scoop or in a tiny carton. They have very unusual flavors such as peanut brittle or beet lemon, and you’ll be amazed by how alike their sorbet tastes to the real thing. The dude working the stand isn’t friendly at all though. The only thing I remember him saying was “keep your spoon,” so if you try something, a spoon doesn’t go to waste. I can imagine why he’d be on the unfriendly side though since he probably gets hundreds of people asking for samples all the time.
The food:
Chocolate Raspberry – Wow, the flavors were very strong in this sorbet. The chocolate was rich and somewhat bitter, it tasted like I was biting into an actual dark chocolate bar. There was just enough raspberry flavor to balance out the chocolate. You really can’t go wrong with the pair.
I will most likely come back to Scream Sorbet, but probably not as often because of the service and price. It is amazingly tasty though.
Tacos Peralta
342 E Hillsdale Blvd
San Mateo, CA 94407
Rating: ♣♣♣♣
One thing that I love about working in the Peninsula is the great, cheap eats that are close by. I love to eat at sit down places where I can just sit and talk to my coworkers about random things like Glee and P90X, but when we’re down for some awesome, fast mexican food we go to Tacos Peralta. It’s not a Taqueria, it’s what people call a roach coach. However, it’s not one of those trendy food trucks that serve Fancy Desserts or Gourmet Sandwiches. This one has been in the same spot for the last couple of years that I’ve been coming here. Nestled in front of a BevMo and gas station, this is probably the best place to drop a food truck, especially one that has these long lines which requires ample parking space.
The Food
When I come here I always get the Tacos. Can you believe they are $1.25! The best part is you get your choice of awesomely flavored and cooked meat. I started experimenting with every type of meat they had on the list: Carnes Asada, Pastor, Cabeza, Lengua, Pollo, Tripa, Chorizo, and Carnitas. My favorite by far is Cabeza. Yeh, for all you non-Spanish readers, that’s head. There’s something about the way they grill the head meat, and there’s nothing wrong with eating it if it tastes awesome. The meat is placed on top of corn tortillas, mixed with onions, and some hot sauce with pickled carrots, and a lime on the side.
I’ve given their Quesadilla a try, but I felt that my heart has fallen for the tacos. Quesadillas are $4 and are pretty much the same, except they use a flour tortilla and add cheese.
The Scene
So, the truck is always in front of BevMo, and there’s always a line during the main dining hours, rain or shine. There was once a time where a different truck showed up instead of Tacos Peralta, and my dining companions and I had a little tear. Three grown men, crying on the side of a road (a little more than a tear, I guess). Well, all in all, this is just a taco truck, and people shouldn’t go there. I just want to keep the lines really short.
Blue 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.
