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!

Off the Grid

Off the Grid is one of the best things that’s ever happened to my Friday nights. A huge variety of food trucks, free live music, and an excellent location at Ft. Mason in San Francisco, make Off the Grid a dream come true for any foodie in the Bay Area. The hardest decision I make all weekend is what food truck to order food from first. All of the food trucks have unique and delicious food, but I definitely play favorites with Koja Kitchen and the Crème Brulee Cart.

Two words describe my love for Koja Kitchen: Kamikaze Fries. Kamikaze fries are Crisscut fries topped with Korean BBQ Beef, kimchi, green onions, and drizzled with signature sauce and Japanese sweet mayo. The combination of awesome on these fries is like nothing I’ve ever tasted before.  They have a perfect ratio of sweet and spicy and the BBQ beef is always cooked to perfection. Don’t even think about trying to split just one order with a friend. Be greedy and get your own.  You’ll thank me later.

The Crème Brûlée Cart is conveniently located on the way out of Off the Grid. I’m usually disgustingly full by the time I mosey on over to this cart, but it's there to remind me that you can never be too full for dessert. The Crème Brûlée Cart has perfect portions of a variety of crème brûlée flavors. My favorite is the Si Por Favor which is Nutella and strawberry flavored creme brûlée- the perfect OTG nightcap. Even better, the cart advertises free high fives and the folks working inside always stay true to their high five promise. I like that.

If you aren’t interested in the food I described above, Off the Grid has many food trucks to choose from. Also, don’t let long lines scare you away. I think I’m stating the obvious that the trucks with the longest lines have the best food. So grab a beer, tell yourself you’re burning calories by standing in a long line, and enjoy the atmosphere. If you’re not an SF resident, Off the Grid has multiple locations they travel to in the Bay Area. Check them out here!

ROAM

It’s almost weird how much I like burgers.  I have burger separation anxiety if go too long without having one. Whenever I’m at a restaurant, if there’s a burger on the menu, I sit and have this weird inner battle whether or not to go for the burger or be adventurous and try something new. The burger wins, a lot. I love burgers so very much that I wouldn’t say this next statement if I didn’t truly mean it: Roam makes one of the best burgers I’ve ever had. Roam is so good I legitimately feel bad for anyone who hasn’t tried it yet.

The first and most important step when ordering at Roam is choosing the type of meat you want. Now stay with me for this next comment because it might be rough to hear at first: When selecting my meat of choice, I always opt for the ground turkey instead of the ground beef. I am one of those people who used to think ordering a turkey burger instead of a beef one was a crime. Or that only people on annoying diets order turkey burgers. Roam completely changed my mind. The turkey burger is so flavorful, juicy, tender and amazing that I still have this huge amount of guilt for ever thinking negative thoughts about turkey burgers. I don’t know how they cook it, but I want to hug the chef. Don’t get me wrong, all Roam’s meat options are great, so if you’re going to be difficult and are repulsed by the thought of a turkey burger they also have beef, veggie, and bison. Bison just sounds cool.

After the meat decision, you have to pick the style you want. My usual order is the Tejano. It comes topped with Pepper Jack, Jalapeño Relish, Avocado, Tomato, White Corn Strips, and Herb Ranch. Yes, tortilla chips. They really are the perfect burger topping. Anyways, there are many other topping styles to choose from and any style choice is good. I usually eat my whole burger in under 3 minutes and often forget to breath.  It’s that good.

Roam has two locations in San Francisco, which doubles your chances of going. You really have no excuse not to at this point. For directions or to drool over their menu, click here.

My name is Nicole and I like to eat.

Do you ever find yourself sitting at a restaurant completely angry and unsatisfied because the person you’re dining with ordered something that looks and tastes way better than what you ordered? They think they are being nice by giving you a bite so you can try their delicious meal, but deep down you know they did it just to prove a point that they are far superior at ordering than you are. You never admit it to them, but you’re so jealous of this person’s meal that you sit quietly crossing your fingers in hope that they will suddenly get sick and not want to finish their meal so you can conquer the rest for them. Yea I know it sounds mean, but I think we’ve all been there. My friends seem to feel that way about me. I’m the girl with the best order. I don’t have many skills, but I sure can eat. My friends requested I make a blog about my foodie ways. They don’t ask much of me, so here it is.

My name is Nicole and I like to eat. I don’t know where my food habits came from. Maybe it’s because my last name is Fulmer, which has the part of the word “full” in it, thus implying I should always be full. Maybe it’s because I was the pickiest eater growing up and lived off tuna fish and bologna sandwiches. When you miss out on years of good food and replace it with those two food items, I’m pretty sure that when you “grow up” you have this subconscious desire to make up for lost time by stuffing your face with as much good food as possible.  Regardless the reason, here I am eating my way through the Bay Area and blogging about it.

A few things to note before you read even consider any of my advice: I will never post a negative review because I simply do not waste my time or the calories on eating food that doesn’t taste amazing. Who likes to read about bad food anyways? I am not responsible for any food coma or calorie self-loathies you induce upon yourself from trying out my suggestions. I think its really important to surround yourself with people who wont judge you if you go to Taco Tuesday, eat 6 tacos, and then eat a burrito at midnight the same night. Lastly, calories don't count if you blog about them...

Enjoy!