I spent a big chunk of Day 7 in Chinatown. Surprisingly, I didn’t eat a whole lot of Chinese food. (There was more Chinese food coming up in the near future though.)
Francisco met me for breakfast at Café de la Presse. Café de la Presse is conveniently located around the corner from where I live. But the convenience doesn’t end there. It’s directly across the street from the Chinatown Gate. A perfect spot to begin the day before traipsing around Chinatown.
Despite the convenience, I won’t be rushing back. I ordered a spinach, feta, and tomato omelet. It was okay, but it didn’t live up to the very high menu prices. The staff was a little incompetent. I had trouble getting a table even though it wasn’t busy at all. It took 2 tries for the staff to bring me what I had actually ordered. Over all, it was no Soma Inn Café. Definitely a disappointment.
We had lunch at DELICA, a take-out “Japanese delicatessen” in the Ferry Building. (I think “DELICA” represents “Delicatessen California”, but it’s just a guess.) I got an order of the spicy burdock salad. What’s that? Glad you asked. It’s a “mildly spicy mix of burdock root [whatever that is] and konnyaku (mountain yams) tossed with thinly sliced organic onions, celery, carrots, and mixed greens.” It was fairly interesting. I also got an order of crab croquettes. They are officially described as “Alaskan Dungeness crab blended with a creamy béchamel sauce and lightly breaded in panko made with ACME BAKERY Pain De Mie bread.” Just so you know. (I think “Pain De Mie” is a fancy name for white bread.) Unfortunately, the croquettes were barely warm. Based on the way all the hot food was presented at the counter, I bet most of the hot food wasn’t too hot.
We did indeed have dinner in Chinatown. We went to the popular House of Nanking. (I can’t honestly say it reminded me at all of Nanjing, formerly known as Nanking.) I got the “Melts In Your Mouth Fried Calamari”, lightly coated in Asian spices and served in a lemon garlic sauce. It tasted as good as it sounds. But as you can see, it’s probably more appropriate as an appetizer dish. I should have ordered something with vegetables.
Later that night, I went to an unfamiliar (to me) part of San Francisco to Mitchell’s Ice Cream. Mitchell’s is considered to be among the very best of ice cream in San Francisco. I can’t say I disagree. The ice cream I got was top-notch. Just one thing. I didn’t write down what I got, so I can’t tell you what it was. I can guarantee it was chocolate-something.
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