
My trip is about drinking all the hot chocolate and coffee my already belabored stomach can hold. I adore the coffee shops I see around me and marvel at all the sweet offerings on display. This latte and mocha is from Emporio Rulli, a place that bills itself as the ”˜quintessential Italian pastry, caffé and wine shop.’
My friend Joy and I visit a shaded café that sits overlooking the breathtakingly beautiful stretch of Union Square. Surprisingly, none of the pastries appeal to me at the time ”“ cream cakes that remind me of Bizu and tarts layered with almond paste. So we settle for a cup of java each and find that that’s just fine.
Emporio Rulli Il Caffé at Union Square
Stockton Street Pavilion
On the Square at Stockton & Post Street
San Francisco, California
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Mexican food is something I yearn for often but can never get enough of. There certainly aren’t enough (are there any?) Mexican restaurants in Manila, so eating Mexican food is tops on my list in California. My tita takes me to Chevy’s, a Tex-Mex chain that she likes very much.
Chevy’s is very proud that their tortilla chips are always fresh, that they blend fresh salsa every hour, and that their tortillas are made fresh off of something they call “El Machino,” a machine that to me, looks like an enormous pancake turner complete with a conveyor belt. Cool.
Sadly, my photos at Chevy’s don’t turn out too well, so here’s a glimpse of what I had, a Grande Chimichanga: picadillo beef with red sauce layered in a flour tortilla with refried beans, Jack & Cheddar cheeses, topped with chile con queso, served with heaping piles of guacamole, sour cream, and fresh salsa. It’s one of those plates whose enormity I take in and then I just dig in. Their tortilla chips and wrappers are just the best, I must say. Hot and crispy, the essence of corn can truly be tasted. This ain’t your ordinary Doritos.
Here’s the flan we share, although I eat most of it. There are four of us, so four forks. Having been spoiled with leche flan, this flan is miserable in comparison. Gelatin-like without the velvety mouthfeel of egg yolks, its poor taste is only hidden by the largeness of its serving. It makes for a nice picture though, no?
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I have nothing against being taken to American chains while in the States, even though there’s a profusion of them here in Manila. I just don’t want to be taken to Asian restaurants because I staunchly believe that Asian food in the States can’t compare with what I get back home. So my cousin Joane takes me to Elephant Bar. We’re a large group and she says this is a good place since there’s something for everyone. She’s right ”“ the menu is overwhelming and there is a line out the door.
Joane introduces me to something called ”˜half and half,’ half lemonade and half iced tea. Up until this point, my version of half and half is cream and milk. It sounds delightful and it’s refreshing, although ‘refreshing’ is perhaps not what I need on this chilly San Francisco night. Still, what a discovery of a drink. Joane tells me that in other parts of the States, the drink is called an ”˜Arnold Palmer.’
Strangely enough, many of the dishes have an Oriental slant to them, and I end up ordering an Oriental Chicken Salad. It’s satisfying and tastes exactly like what I can get at California Pizza Kitchen in Manila. The Baja fish tacos here are a revelation to me, the first time I’ve ever tried fish … in tacos!
But while the rest of our party throw up their hands in surrender (gasp!) at the mere mention of dessert, Joane, my sister Charley, and I eagerly order the Giant Cookie Ice Cream Sandwich. A dessert that’s exactly what its name says, it’s two titanic chocolate chip cookies bear-hugging vanilla ice cream, drizzled with oreo cookie crumbs, and then someone overdoes the squeeze-bottle thing with this dessert, creating a crazy network of lines composed of caramel and chocolate sauces. As with anything that has chocolate chip cookies in it, this dessert is irresistible. I want to hog the entire thing for myself. Oink. On the car on the way home, my sister Charley tells me, “I am astounded at your capability to put away dessert, Lor.”
Elephant Bar website
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This place is dissed a lot on the Net, and even my tita has nothing good to say about it, but I love a good fish and chips whenever I can get it. In Manila, the only place that does it right is Fish & Co.
Camelot Fish and Chips is a tiny, nondescript place that serves a mean fish and fries. You can get just that or pair it with other seafood like fried oysters, scallops, and shrimps –the Camelot Special. I also enjoy the crab cakes and these fried balls of polenta, the name of which escapes me now. As you can see in the photo, the fries at this place are on steroids. Look at the size of them things!
would ya look at the size of that thing!
Camelot Fish and Chips
70 West Manor Drive
Pacifica, California 94044-1845
phone: 650.355.1555
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Krispy Kreme fan come to pay homage
Going to a Krispy Kreme store, for me, is like going to Disneyland. I become like a kid, marveling at the sight of donuts coming off the conveyor, seeing the ”˜Hot Doughnuts Now’ sign, and pressing my already-flat nose on the glass wall that separates me from the machines. As I step forward to squint at the overhead menu, one of the servers thrusts a donut in front of me with the characteristically cheery, “Have a fresh donut!” Why, thank you, I’ll have two please!
my first bite looks like a smile
This is what my fresh-off-the-conveyor donut looks like after I’ve sunk my teeth into it. People have told me that it melts in the mouth, but I can’t vouch for that. After waiting years to try a fresh Krispy Kreme donut, I don’t have the patience to wait for the delicious thing to melt in my mouth. I polish it off in under 15 seconds.
Being at this temple of fried dough is all about the experience: tasting the fresh sample, seeing the donuts made, and then being able to buy some for myself. As I sit there in Krispy Kreme with a donut in one hand and my latte in the other, I am the happiest kid on earth. By the way, it’s easy to see now why I’ll have no problem polishing off a dozen of these donuts — they’re light as air!
Related Post
A Donut Discourse (or how I think GoNuts Donuts compares to Krispy Kreme)
Krispy Kreme in Manila
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Something simple and down-home that I enjoy during this trip is having a slice of pie at Marie Callender’s. It’s a full-service restaurant, but if you ask me, their pies are the stars.
This is the Lemon Cream Supreme Pie: a layer of sweet vanilla cream on a moist lemon cake topped with a zesty lemon filling (love lemons!), reposing on a superlatively flaky crust that reminds me of broas, for some reason. This is like a Boston Cream Pie except in lemon.
Sigh. When life gives me lemons, I’ll gladly eat pie.
Other San Francisco posts:
San Francisco Part 1
San Francisco Part 2
San Francisco Part 3
Lori…
…I think I’m shaking just from looking at all this sugary goodness. Uuggghuhuuhhmy god, my head’s going to explode. And even though I never eat tacos or burritos, I WANT THEM NOW! OH JEEZ!
I can’t match your eating prowess. :O
I agree with robyn…lori, how could you eat so much? 😀 All the food pics…you were on a binge, girl! 😀 I’m already full just looking 🙂 Nevertheless, I will look at them all everyday hehe…your favorite food pics are on permanent slide show in my store hahaha…
Lori,
I know you were on a Dessert Mission here in SF, but I have to disagree with you: San Francisco has some of the Best Asian Food in the World! That’s it – next time, I’ll have to kidnap you and take you to my favorite (Asian) restaurants! 😉 Cheers
Beautiful! Thanks for the memories!
I believe those deep fried ping pong balls are called hush puppies, at least in the Southern US where they are made of cornmeal (same difference.)
When i was in the States, my uncle took us to Chevy’s. I loved their ribs.
Hi there, Lori!
This here is Lynette, I’m a 25-year-old scone freak from Singapore and I just wanted to give you a shoutout. I visit your site nearly every time I’m online, and love your writing and pics (even those half-eaten tortillas look good, ha!). Decided to de-lurk (for a bit, anyway :p) because I really enjoyed this SF series.
Okay, enough gushing for now. All hail desserts!
lynette :]
Robyn and Marien:
All this food was shared with other people! :p
tnm:
Hush puppies! That’s it! Thanks.
I adore San Francisco — although my experience of the city has been more limited to its sights and sounds than its tastes. I’ve been visiting the city since I was 7 years old and it’s still one of my favorite US cities to this day.
My favorite San Francisco memory has to be running through the heart of the city last year with my family (12 kilometers of it!) for their annual Bay to Breakers race. =)
gosh, lori, your pictures are amazing! they make me want to cry first, then head out to search for good eats 😛 do you sell your baked stuff? i was just blog-hopping and stumbled upon yours. i’ve been going back ever since! mind if i link you?
Wow! You’ve made me so curious about Krispy Kreme. I have no way though in the near future of satisfying that curiosity, unless sombody gets the rights to open a branch here. And gone in 15 seconds… I have to time myself next time I eat a Cello’s donut… 😉
OMG Lori, great photos to the end. By the way, next time you’re in Marie Callender’s take a slice of the strawberry pie. A la mode too. There are probably better strawberry pies out there, but MC’s is my childhood favorite, it only used to come out in the first half of the year, and the berries would come straight from the orchards near LA. Ginormous berries, and pretty sweet too.
Also, I agree that there aren’t enough good Mexican restaurants. I have to go to Cali each year just to have a good chili relleno and mole. But there are definitely better tex-mex places in SF, especially in the Mission area!
Glad we all got to share in your orgasmic food trip!
wow! bobbie p. is in sf na pala. haven’t seen her since dlsu. i was very close to her sis, t., all the way till she moved on to new york too and we lost touch. she still looks like she’s still in college.
oooh chevy’s i live right beside that resto right off of hickey.. wonderful margaritas in flower vase sized glasses. their motto is always fresh daily. nothing canned. they also have this wonderful dessert siding thats sort of a mashed sweet corn thingy.. oh crap now im hungry…..
please find a decent mexican restaurant in the philippines soon. please….
Loooori… Oh my gawsh. Two years ago, during my parents’ trip to the US, you know what my only request for pasalubong was?
KRISPY KREME DOUGHNUTS; because even then, I was already a total sweet-toothed fanatic over doughnuts and cheesecakes and some uber chocolatey cakes and pastries!
Sad thing was when my parents hand-carried that box home and arrived without waking me up, my siblings gorged on those precious rings, leaving me the next morning with nothing more than tiny remnants of the glaze and the smell of doughnuts captured in that empty box.
One of my closest friends is going to the US a week or so from now, and after asking me what I wanted, the answer just popped out of my mouth: KRISPY KREME DOUGHNUTS. I hope to get even just a bite, a taste, an experience of those different flavors!
Hi Lori,
Greetings from Singapore. I adore your blog as I’m a major dessert freak as well and looking at the amazing pictures makes me drool.
I’m so tempted to catch a plane to the states this very instant. It has been nearly 6 years since I last tasted Krispy Kreme. They are the best! I can still remember eating a warm chocolate donut. *drowning in pools of ecstasy*
Hi Again!
A few more suggestions if you come to San Diego. Must try the “carne asada” burritos and fish tacos here. But like in SF, DO NOT go to “chain” restaurants, go to the real mom&pop restaurants or holes-in-the-wall that are authentic. In SF, chinatown is best for asian food, though there are some upscale restaurants that serve really awesome asian food, be it authentic or fusion. Dim sum is one of the first things we have when visiting SF!
I’m surprised you didn’t go to Michelle’s Ice Cream in the Mission District where they serve pinoy-inspired flavors such as ube, macapuno, mango, avocado.
I had been in San Francisco x 1 month in November 2005. I arrived exactly at Thanksgiving and saw their Christmas tree lighting infront of Macy’s. I spent Christmas there too.
I had been to different Chinese restaurants in San Bruno and they are all good.
I had been at Starbucks in Chinatown. In Concord
( in the Contra Costa County), they have their drive through Starbucks there.
San Francisco is beautiful but definitely I missed the noise of Manila. I remembered the song of Hotdog way back in the 80’s. ” Hinahanap hanap kita Manila, ang ingay mong kay sarap sa tenga! There is definitely no place like home.
Hi Lori! Any chance you can share a recipe similar to the Oriental Chicken Salad you have here? I’ve been looking and looking and looking…
Thanks! Love your blog, btw. It keeps me occupied even though other things ought to come first. Haha.