SF: Day 3

We spent most of the day at the Ferry Building, starting with SF's famous farmer's market. I found that the market there is mainly produce, whereas the Union Square farmer's market in NYC has a wider range of items.

I saw varieties of fruit I'd never seen before. We bought a bunch of strawberry peaches (pictured left - white flesh, very sweet) and were tempted to buy these HUGE peaches called sugar giants. However, we would've had way too many peaches to consume. Another cool thing at the market - the fruit vendors would have sample stations and they really made us want to buy everything. After the market, we browsed the shops inside the Ferry Building, buying fancy chocolate at Recchiuti Confections. While Josh was figuring out which box to get his parents, I bought a dark milk bar because I love dark and milk chocolate (even though dark is supposed to be better) and a small package of their fresh marshmallows. I've had a fondness for good marshmallows ever since my first one at City Bakery, where I find the only good thing is the marshmallows. I also whined a little when Josh was buying a big box for his parents and he gave in and bought me one fleur de sel caramel. It was great, just the sweet/savory hit I was looking for.

Lunch was at the San Francisco Fish Company, also located inside the Ferry Building. I had the oyster po' boy and Josh went with the jambalaya. The food was so good and we sat on stools in the small eating area enjoying the vacation happiness. Josh's jambalaya was perfect with chunks of seafood sprinkled throughout and a spicy kick at the end. For dessert, we shared a gelato from Ciao Bella Gelato. One scoop of a Mexican (or was it Aztec?) chocolate and one scoop of strawberry.

On our way back to the condo to unload our bag o' peaches and relax before dinner, we stopped at the artists' stalls outside of the farmer's market. One photographer recommended a steak house, off the tourist path, and it became our mission to eat there during the week. After buying a bunch of pictures that we probably don't need and will probably procrastinate on framing, we stopped at a Peet's Coffee on the way home. We shared a jasmine lime iced tea and I wondered why we don't have Peet's Coffee in NYC. Josh tells me they were edged out by Starbucks. How sad, because Peet's also sells Recchiuti chocolate!


Dinner was at the Slanted Door, one of SF's most popular restaurants. I started with the manila clams with thai basil, crispy pork belly, and chilies. Josh went with the much more subtle sweet white corn and dungeness crab soup, which was surprisingly tasty. I thought it was going to be too mild, especially after I saw Josh's bowl, but behind the mild-mannered exterior, the flavors seem more complex and I wanted to get my own bowl! The clams were good, but the soup was more special.




For our entrees, I got the cellophane noodles with fresh dungeness crab meat and Josh went with squid stuffed with a mixture of cellophane noodles, pork, and maybe mushroom. It's not on the menu anymore, so I can't verify. That's what I get for waiting around to do my vacation blogging. The Slanted Door gets really mixed reviews, but even non-enthusiastic reviews would recommend the cellophane noodles with dungeness crab. Maybe it's the crab again, but this is not a dish that punches you in the face with bold flavors. It tastes really fresh, and little bits of noodle have browned, so you get these layers of flavor. Josh's squid dish was pretty good, but I could sit around eating the cellophane noodles all day.

For dessert, we shared monkey bread with peaches and apricots. The first time I heard of monkey bread was Alton Brown's "House of the Rising Bun" episode. The monkey bread at Slanted Door had the texture of something I'd expect at breakfast, crispy on the outside and chewy/tender inside. It wasn't very sweet, but the natural sweetness of the fruit was more than enough. Josh and I shared my pot of Hong Kong milk tea, which was only $5 and was more than enough for two people. Actually, my lychee-infused black tea, at $2.50, was served in a glass along with a half carafe more! Seriously good deals on the tea!

We had a great time and the bill was surprisingly reasonable considering all the food we ordered. Josh said he'd be more than happy to go back again.