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!