Velvet Cantina

S'mores Nachos

This past Thanksgiving, I did a lot of reminiscing about things I was thankful for in my life: my wonderful family, awesome friends, amazing boyfriend, not being obese after all the food I eat on a daily basis, and many other really cool things in my life. Seriously, I’m a lucky girl. This year, I added something else I’m really thankful for: S’mores Nachos.

The Saturday night after Thanksgiving, some friends decided they wanted to go out in the Mission District of San Francisco to try out a new bar scene and get some high-rated Mexican food for dinner. I was definitely over eating Thanksgiving leftovers at that point, so Mexican sounded perfect. Becca (hey, girl) was on restaurant picking duty and when she sent me a text telling me she had found a restaurant known to have strong margaritas and something called S’mores Nachos, I was instantly sold.

The restaurant is called Velvet Cantina, and it certainly exceeded my expectations. The atmosphere of the restaurant was lively with very friendly staff which makes it a perfect place to go with a large group of friends. When we walked in, they had numerous large bowls of chips and salsa waiting for us on the table and the tortilla chips were some of the best I’ve ever had. My friends physically remove the chips out of my reach so that I could save at least some of my appetite for the rest of the meal. That’s what friends are for! We ordered a couple pitchers of Margaritas and they were definitely potent, cheap, and tasty- the perfect Margarita in my opinion. For my main dish I ordered the Avocado Cactus Enchiladas. I’m still not quite sure what exactly was in them, but I do know they were topped with a delicious jalapeño cream sauce and served with a huge side of rice and beans. I was happy. Everyone else ordered some sort of Enchilada or Burrito and they were also very satisfied with their choices.  Definitely check out their menu here.

Now for the moment you’ve all been waiting for: the S’mores Nachos. When the time came to order dessert, I think I was so painfully full that I almost teared up at the thought of eating more, but knew it had to be done. Sometimes, you have to fight what your stomach is telling you and just go for dessert. This was one of those times. The S’mores Nachos consist of fried cinnamon sugar tortilla chips, covered in melted Mexican chocolate, crumbled graham crackers, and flaming marshmallows. It was a lot of happiness on one plate and the perfect ending to an excessively large meal. I don’t know if everyone loved or hated me for forcing them to eat the S’mores Nachos with me as they were equally as stuffed as I was, but I do know that next time I go to Velvet Cantina, I will definitely save more room in my stomach for them. They’re worth it!



Shrimp Enchiladas

Playing Tourist

View from Bistro Boudin

We all know that Fisherman’s Wharf is a huge tourist attraction. I grew up only 30 minutes north of the area and definitely made it a point to visit every few months to grab a bowl of clam chowder from Boudin Bakery or an Ice Cream Sunday from Ghirardelli Square (or both).  Yes, I was the cliché San Francisco tourist for the first 25 years of my life. Ever since I moved to SF almost one year ago, my Fisherman’s Wharf visits pretty much stopped. I guess I became too cool to go to Fisherman’s Wharf because living here no longer classifies me as a San Francisco tourist. This is completely stupid. Fisherman’s Wharf has some the best food in town! Ive only been hurting myself.

This past weekend, I woke up to a weather forecast of 75 degrees (uh, what month is it?) and a huge craving for some clam chowder. I knew I had to feed the craving. Tourist or not, it’s a fact that Boudin makes the best clam chowder in town. I made the decision to embrace Mother Earth’s decision to give us   hot and summery weather in winter by spending the day playing tourist and eating my way through Fisherman’s Wharf.

The first stop of the day was of course, Boudin Bakery. Most people just picture clam chowder and sandwiches on delicious sliced sourdough when thinking of Boudin, but they actually have a full service restaurant upstairs called Bistro Boudin. Bistro Boudin  has one of the most breathtaking  views in all of San Francisco (pictured above) and an excellent menu. Of course I had to order some of their famous clam chowder in a bread bowl, but I also decided on an order of their Dungeness crab tacos. Anything filled with crab tastes fantastic. The crab was really fresh and the sourdough tortillas paired nicely with it.  In short, these tacos were perfect. My boyfriend ordered the sourdough gnocchi topped with lobster an some sort of citrusy love sauce. The name of the dish pretty much sells itself. I'm pretty sure he loved it considering the fact that he legitimately licked the bowl clean. I have the picture to prove it!

He really did lick the bowl

Gnocci with Lobster

After leaving Boudin, we felt it was only right to take the short walk over to Pier 39 and say hello to the Sea Lions. Rough life those animals have just sunbathing and snuggling all day. Anyways, as we were on our way too see the Sea Lions, we spotted  Eagle Cafe- a restaurant and Oyster Bar with an outdoors seating area overlooking the pier. We decided to stop in and grab some oysters and beer. Yes, we were aware that we had just finished a huge lunch, but the two block walk to the pier was really strenuous and made us hungry again, ok? Of course the oysters were delicious, but the view alone was well worth the visit! I’d highly recommend that anyone visiting Pier 39 check out Eagle Cafe and ask to sit outside. They have outdoor heaters so don’t worry about freezing to death if it’s a cold San Francisco day.

Oysters and Beer, the perfect combo! 

No visit to Fisherman’s Wharf is complete without an Ice Cream Sunday from Ghirardelli square.  Right when the Oysters and beers were finished, we made our way to Ghirardelli Square and shared a delicious, hot fudge Sunday. Side note: the fact that I agreed to share and not have my own is a huge milestone in my eating habits. I’m not even going to make a recommendation as to what Sunday option to order. Anything smothered in Hot Fudge works out just fine.  You cant go wrong at Ghirardelli!

I’m not ashamed for all the food I consumed on that warm little Saturday afternoon in Fisherman’s Wharf. Technically, calories don’t count when you’re on vacation. Since I was playing tourist, we’ll just consider that a vacation day. Deal?

  

Assab Eritrean (South African) Cuisine

Assab Sampler

I haven’t done a post in forever, sorry. I really have no excuse. My eating habits haven’t changed a bit. Halloween reminded me of a restaurant that makes me feel like a kid so I figure this is a perfect time to get back into the blogging game. For obvious reasons, Halloween always makes me reminiscent of my childhood days. This of course inspired me to write about a restaurant that always lets me re-live a childhood obsession- eating with my hands.

Assab Eritrean (South African) Restaurant is the one restaurant I go to where I am not required to use a fork. Or knife. Or spoon. You get it. In South Africa, food is eaten with inerja, spongy bread that closely resembles a crepe. Any dish you order gets served on top of a very large piece of the inerja and also comes with some inerja on the side. The inerja is the only tool provided to eat with. (Ok, I’m done saying the word inerja, but I wanted to really reiterate that this place does not give you silverware.) It’s a bit messy and not a very attractive way of eating, but it sure tastes great. The picture above doesnt do it justice, but I wanted to give you an example.   

South African food can best be described to people who have never tried it as spicy, exotic and flavorful. The best thing to order for your first time at Assab is a meat sampler and a veggie sampler. I’d describe each, but it’s definitely easier to just read the menu for this one. Click here for the menu link. All their meats are very tender. I’m pretty picky when it comes to meet, but all three options (lamb, chicken and beef) really are delicious. I’m not also not a huge vegetable lover (shocking), but they cook their veggie dishes to perfection and add so much flavor that I forget I’m even eating vegetables in the first place.  Please just trust me and order the samplers, even if something included sounds way out of your acceptable food ordering range. It won’t disappoint you.  

The food at Assab pairs well with a glass of their Honey Wine. I’m not a huge fan of sweet wines, but theirs isn’t overly sweet and does a good job of curbing some of the spice from the food. Assab is a great place to take someone to if you want to impress him or her. You will definitely seem all fun, cultured and cool for suggesting this restaurant. It’s a fun experience, guaranteed. If the lack of silverware thing scares you, they will give you a fork, but you’d only be ruining your own fun!

Midori Sushi

The GoGo Roll

I think it’s an unspoken rule that when eating at a sushi restaurant, you never order two of the same roll. I used to live by that rule until Midori Sushi changed everything I know about sushi.

We wandered into this restaurant one night because we heard they had cheap sushi rolls and a nightly special of one-cent sake shots. My kind of party. We did our standard menu scan and after much deliberation went with the typical order of edamame and miso soup along with four different rolls. One of our roll selections was the GoGo roll: shrimp tempura, crab, avocado with crunch, sauce. (This is exactly how they describe it on the menu). I know this description sounds a bit boring and vague, but the second I had one piece of this roll I was hooked. I don’t have any other way to describe it other than the fact that it’s delicious. The crunch on top is so good that I’ve been known to sit and pick at my plate until every little crunch scrap is gone. Don’t judge me.

Ever since that night, every time we go back to Midori we don’t even waste time looking at the menu and order three GoGo Rolls to share. The first time we placed this unheard of order, we got some weird, confused, and slightly judgmental glares from the waitress. I think after making this a weekly habit, the waitress finally accepts us for who we are: the GoGo Roll’s biggest fans. We’ve since gotten quite a few friends onboard with our GoGo addiction. At least we're not in this alone. 

All of Midori’s other rolls are fresh, delicious and well priced. They even give you complementary ice cream. How nice of them! The next time you’re in the mood for a great sushi dinner and don’t feel like spending way too much money, check out Midori Sushi. It's conveniently located on Geary and Stanyan (in San Francisco) and there's always plenty of street parking close by. They don’t have a website, but click here to view their menu. 

Magnolia Pub and Brewery

Scotch Egg

Last week, I finally got the chance to go check out a spot I have been hearing about for months- Magnolia Pub and Brewery.  This place defines cool.  Magnolia is located on Haight St., one of my favorite areas of San Francisco. Inside, Magnolia has a great atmosphere with nice employees and friendly customers. They have an awesome craft beer selection and their menu is not the standard menu you find at most pubs. It has many unique food combinations along with a few items I have never heard of before. I think I definitely increased my personal cool points by trying a couple of items I’ll share with you below.

The first thing we tried were Devils on Horseback: goat cheese-stuffed, bacon wrapped dates.  I had never eaten dates before, but anything wrapped in bacon wins in my book. These little gems are so good that after trying them, my boyfriend and I were legitimately left speechless for at least 30 seconds. If you know either of us, 30 seconds is a long time to be silent after trying amazing food. We usually sit and make weird food loving noises, creeping out everyone surrounding us. This time, we couldn’t even get words out to describe our happiness about the food we had just experienced. Yes, eating these is an experience. I think it really was a milestone in our relationship.

A mystery, unheard of food I ordered was called a Scotch Egg. Magnolia’s menu doesn’t even describe what this so the best I can do is tell you that it’s an egg, wrapped with sausage, deep-fried and placed on top of a reddish sauce. I know, it sounds a bit odd, but it is fantastic. The sausage is extremely flavorful and perfectly crispy while the egg actually adds a nice flavor and texture. From my previous post, you already know my love of sauces, so obviously the red sauce adds the perfect finishing touch. The Scotch Egg tastes even better when paired with one of Magnolia's perfectly crafted beers. Be daring and try it, ok?

 

We ate so much other food that night and were so full after, that it was seriously an obstacle just walking one block to the car. Worth it! I can’t wait to go back to Magnolia and try more of their awesome food. Do me a favor and go eat there to give me suggestions. Click here to see their menu! 

The Stinking Rose

The Bagna Calda

I don’t think I’ve ever had a moment in a restaurant where I looked at a menu, something had garlic in the recipe, and I thought it sounded disgusting. Has anyone? I truly hope not because I absolutely love garlic on almost any food item and hope you all feel the same way. That’s why The Stinking Rose is my absolute dream come true. This restaurant is dedicated to one thing: garlic. Almost everything on the menu has garlic in it, even their ice cream. It’s hard to go wrong with any order at this place because garlic makes everything fantastic, but I have a couple must-order favorites that everyone needs to experience.

Immediately upon sitting down, I always order the Bagna Calda appetizer. Picture garlic cloves soaking in a tiny little butter-filled bathtub. This is exactly what the Bagna Calda is: garlic cloves, oven roasted and soaked in butter and olive oil. It’s served with The Stinking Rose’s house-baked focaccia bread which I use as a spoon to very unattractively shovel as much garlic into my mouth as possible. I’d recommend doing the same.

For my main dish, I always go with the Dungeness crab soaked in The Stinking Rose’s “special secret garlic sauce”. First of all, if you put the words “special” or “secret” in front of any sauce name, I’m going to eat it and probably enjoy it. There’s no exception to this sauce. It’s delicious. Even when the crab is gone, I’ve been known to eat spoonfuls of the sauce by itself. You’ll understand one day.

Lastly, The Stinking Rose really does make garlic ice cream as promised above. This ice cream is definitely unique and worth a try. You’re already going to have garlic breath for days, so why not top your meal off with garlic ice cream?. You can’t get garlic breath by just reading the menu, so check it out here!