I wasn’t sure what we were going to do for lunch, but lunch kind of found us. The Taqueria had a line out the door and all at once, Mexican sounded amazing. The restaurant was casual, quick, and very reasonably priced, plus it had an extremely extensive menu that included a ton of vegetarian options. We decided on vegetarian nachos and each of us got a taco, Jim a fish taco and me a tofu taco. Yeah, that’s right, a tofu taco. They also had a tofu burrito, but we were trying to eat light on account of our 5:45 Slanted Door reservations. There were several other vegetarian tacos, but the tofu taco sounded the weirdest, err, most unique.
The weather was absolutely gorgeous, so we took the opportunity to eat outside and enjoy the gorgeous views of the Bay. Our table overlooked the Bay Bridge, and while visibility wasn’t absolutely perfect, it was pretty close.
Our food took a little while to come out, but it was definitely worth the wait. The nachos reminded me of taco truck nachos, with lettuce and tomatoes on top. The chips were very corn-based and crumbly. Jim liked his fish taco, but he could have done without the white sauce. The fish wasn’t battered and deep fried, but rather it was a very thin slice of meat that looked more grilled or pan fried than anything else. My tofu taco had diced chunks of tofu. I thought it would be crumbled like ground beef. It had a pretty spicy sauce and it was mixed in with pinto beans, pico de gallo, and some milk salsa. The tacos came with bags of chips, and there was a salsa bar, of which we tried four out of the five salsas. I think only one of them was any good.
Anyway, overall, it was a good meal. It wasn’t anywhere near exorbitant, especially considering that we were in San Francisco. And it was right along the Embarcadero, which was perfect. Oh, and the view made it all worthwhile. We actually started getting warm sitting outside.
After lunch, we walked all the way down to nearly the end of Embarcadero, practically to Fort Mason. We stopped and sat for a while, talking and looking out at the Bay. We were entertained by all of these crazy little crabs that crept out of the rocks. Eventually we made our way back to Pier 1, after a detour through Ghiradelli Square and Cannery Row. Part of me really wanted some ice cream, but at the same time, dinner was right around the corner and the line was out the door.
I had forgotten that spring break had started on Friday, so there were tons of tourists crowding the streets. I was a little disappointed at the street performers. They weren’t anywhere near the numbers or quality that I remember. We walked past four robot acts, the last of which was a very bitter, pissed off robot complaining about the other acts. None of them were very good, and they all moved and acted in very non-robot ways.
We were actually a few minutes late for our 5:45 Slanted Door reservation. I’ve been dying to go back there since we went before Cirque du Soleil in December. We went with L, his brother J, E, and L’s friend Morgan. Although the food was excellent, we were very much pressed for time and didn’t get to enjoy the meal as much. L said we’d go back again someday, and I’m sure we will eventually, but it was nice to go on a date there with Jim.
Reservations are crazy hard to come by, but thanks to Open Table, things have been arranged for over a month now. The Slanted Door is a Vietnamese restaurant that’s probably one of the most popular places to eat in the City. Even at 5:45, the place was packed and things didn’t let up at all.
I was hoping that we’d be seated at a table with a view of the Bay Bridge, since the restaurant is located in the perfect spot to see it, and I got my wish. In fact, we had a view of Coit Tower and the Embarcadero on the other side.
I looked at the menu beforehand and knew exactly what we’d be ordering. All of the vegetarian items were repeats from our last trip and Jim got the Niman Ranch Shaking Beef dish, which was cubed filet mignon with watercress and red onions. For appetizers, we got the two types of vegetarian rolls, one crispy and one with rice paper. I prefer the rice paper ones and Jim likes the deep fried ones better, so it works out. I had four of the cold and two of the hot and Jim had the reverse. Te rice paper rolls came with a peanut dipping sauce with accents of coffee and something spicy that I couldn’t quite discern. The cha gio also had a really good dipping sauce. I think it was more of a ponzu-style and was slightly sweet. The crispy rolls came with the traditional accompaniments of mint, lettuce, and vermicelli.
Jim’s filet mignon came out first, along with our organic brown rice. It had some sort of lemon pepper vinaigrette sauce on the side, which Jim actually used. We had been debating as to whether or not he had eaten it the last time we were there, with me saying no and him saying yes, but when he tasted the meat, it was determined that I was right. He absolutely loved it and in his words he had “no complaints.”
My dishes came out together a few minutes after Jim’s did. We shared lemongrass tofu and glass noodles (bean thread). Sooo yummy. The tofu came with two types of tofu, the regular firm kind and the one that tastes more imitation-meatlike. It also had a peanutty essence to it. The glass noodles came with tofu and shiitake mushrooms. Both were amazing and just as good as I remembered them.
When we ordered our food, our waitress asked us if we were hungry, clearly dubious that we’d be able to tackle all of it. Boy, did we prove her wrong. I have to give Jim credit for doing most of the work, but I wasn’t too shabby myself. We ate everything, including all of the rice, plus dessert, which was a Meyer Lemon Tart. The tart came with blow-torched meringue and an almond pastry crust. It was so good, and I was glad we didn’t get the crème brulee (I know! Crazy talk). I don't think I've ever had meringue before, but this one was very mild and neutral tasting, which paired nicely with the tartness of the lemon.
The walk really did us good, especially me, since I was so sore from wakeboarding. Since we kept moving for most of the day, it helped to keep me from stiffening up. But when I got in and out of the car or stepping off the BART train, it was game over. Muscles I forgot existed screamed out at me in pain. I had this grandma staring at me crazy when I struggled to get up from my seat. It was pretty funny to see the look on her face.
It was such a great, full day today. I feel very lucky to live so close to San Francisco and luckier still that the weather turned out to be perfect. And of course, the luckiest part is that I have someone to share it all with.
No comments:
Post a Comment