Too Much Food, Not Enough Time! Best Bites: San Francisco Trip Highlights

Hi, all! It's almost the weekend! Do you have any fun plans? I am planning to maybe finally unpack from my birthday trip to San Francisco. Yes, it's been two weeks already...I'm a slacker. Above is a photo of me (on the left) and Anna.

If you haven't yet, make sure to read my recap of Muir Woods & Wine Country day trip and all the other things we did/saw while in San Francisco.

Today I'd like to mention some of my favorite bites from the trip. Let me just say that there wasn't enough time to eat everywhere we wanted.

Anna and I met at the airport at 1 pm, took BART to our hotel room, checked in, fixed our make up and headed out to the Ferry Building in search of food. Amazingly (for us!) we agreed on a place for our late lunch within a few minutes: Hog Island Oyster Company. It was the perfect start to our birthday getaway: sitting outside, eating fresh oysters, thinly sliced halibut and a big pot of mussels with fries!

We then strolled through the Ferry Building and shared two flavors of Humphrey Slocombe ice cream. Thanks for this recommendation Sangeetha and Naomi!

The next night we took MUNI to the Mission district to meet our friend Laura for dinner at Pizzeria Delfina. The place was packed and we had to wait outside in the cool evening, but it was worth it.

We started our dinner with a bottle of wine, roasted olives and a super creamy burrata with grilled bread. There were hardly any crumbs left on the plate.

Because the pizza we chose was vegetarian, I had a huge craving for meatballs when I saw them listed on the menu. And let me tell you: those were some huge and tasty meatballs ;)

The pizza was plenty big for the three of us and had a great amount of mushrooms and cheese. There was definitely no room for dessert.

Brunch on Saturday was an accident. A happy accident. Anna and I went back to Mission to check out one of the places on my list, but Anna deemed it more of a café and not a brunch place. She was right. Luckily, her friend Laura texted and suggested we go to Foreign Cinema. As luck had it, we were within a 10 minute walk and stood in line for another 10 minutes before the place opened for brunch.

It was GORGEOUS inside. High ceilings, exposed walls, tall flower arrangements. And they had the exact dish that I wanted and described to Anna while standing in line.

First, drinks! This was a spicy Bloody Mary with pickled vegetables. A healthy way to start the day, yes?

This was pretty much the dish I described waiting in line as my dreamy brunch entrée without even seeing the menu: poached eggs, slow-cooked pork, plantain chips and salsa. And watermelon radishes! We devoured this.

For dinner that night we met two friends: one was our classmate from Russia who I haven't seen in 23 (!!!!!) years. Another was my friend Sara with whom I've been friends for 6 years but this was the first time we met in person. We had a fabulous time at Kin Khao. Apologies for no food photos, but please get their beef cheek curry with potatoes and their incredibly spicy squid dish. Again, great recommendation from Sangeetha and Naomi.

with Sara

with Anna and Lena

Sunday was our birthday! We turned 27!!! {well, maybe that's a lie} We met up with our two friends: Laura and Laura for dim sum at Lai Hong Lounge. If you go, be ready for a wait of over an hour!!! Good thing Anna and I had an earlier breakfast or I would have fainted.

Waiting with my friend Laura whom I've known for 14 years!!!

No photos of the actual food because we were too busy eating. Although this place did not have the typical dim sum carts, the food was spot on. We had several orders of shu mai, shrimp and onion dumplings, pork buns, eggplant and broccolini. It was a feast!

After a walk, ice cream, and a boat cruise and before taking a night bus tour of San Francisco, I forced Anna to stop at In-N-Out. I don't think either one of us regretted that decision! Animal style, baby!

For a super late dinner (after drink at The View) we went to Bluestem Brasserie. The highlight was a chocolate dessert with ice cream and cherries. I had to stop myself from licking the bowl!

If you are planning on traveling to San Francisco any time soon, I highly recommend you check out these places!