R&G Lounge 嶺南小館 (San Francisco)

R&G Lounge is a Michelin nominated Chinese restaurant in Chinatown. Super packed but food is good. 

 Delicious chicken soup!

Smooth silky steamed egg with clams

Their famous salt & pepper deep fried crab - it wasn't oily but I also didn't taste much salt or pepper.

San Francisco Day 1 & 2: Union Square, Winery Tour, Chinatown

 

Oct 12-15, 2013. 

Day 1: It was sunny but extremely chilly when we arrived Saturday afternoon. Took a quick walk around Union Square and Westfield mall. No Superdry for me but bought a Uniqlo Ultra Light Down jacket to wear throughout the trip. Craving hot pot for the cold evening and stumbled upon a shabu shabu place near the hotel.. I was already very exhausted!

Day 2: Winery tour & Chinatown - R&G Lounge and Souffles Cafe

 

I was looking forward to visiting Napa Valley after hearing about the gorgeous views... but the winery tour actually comprised of two Sonoma Valley wineries and only one in Napa (Chandon) and even there I could not witness the views... -_-"  The wine wasn't that great either... but nonetheless an interesting experience learning about the whole winemaking process and touring the cellars, and I purchased a mini cheese board :D

Walking around the oldest/largest(?) Chinatown was like stepping back in time to 1960s... Everything was just so old.

We had dinner at R&G Lounge and then dessert at Souffles Cafe.

JaBistro

Birthday dinner #3 at JaBistro. It was definitely well worth it :) When I first walked in I was a bit taken aback - it was quiet and modern, like a cozy cave/underground exclusive bar... Food, ambiance, presentation and service were all great at this upscale Japanese restaurant by Guu owners.

Yukke - angus beef tartar, gochujang, quail egg, nori seaweed

Started off with beef tartare. (Of course I love wood serving boards!) This was a bit spicy with some Korean flavor, served with sprouts and seaweed. M & B loved it.

Next came the sashimi platter - love the artistic presentation on this slate(?) serving plate. Good variety of fish - my favorite was the amberjack. The tuna was very fatty & melty too. Some unique items - fish jerky (bottom right), deep fried fish bone (long piece holding up the amberjack and fish roe) and fish scales.

If I remember correctly: Blue Fin Tuna, Amberjack, Yellowtail, some Tuna, Pike fish (milder version mackerel), another part of Amberjack, Kobe Beef, Flounder, Tuna Otoro, Octopus, Squid, Uni

Now for some bright pictures taken with Canon by B...  I tried the pike and amberjack. All look super fresh and delicious! Server was very nice in introducing all the fish names; I tried my best to note it all down!

Diana's Oyster Bar & Grill

Calamari / Clockwise: Cherrystone Clam, Kumamoto, Shigoku oysters (I think? ><) / Swordfish / Tuna tartare

I don't always celebrate my birthday, but when I do, I eat eat eat all week. After Moxie's dinner with K & M on the Tuesday, I had Dinner #2 at Diana's 'cause I wanted to try raw Cherrystone clams. They were pretty large and chewy, not bad but I prefer my at-home BBQ version which brings out the sea water flavor. 

For oysters, we got Kumamoto, Shigoku (small yet meaty with a bite, not salty) and Lucky Lime (salty, flat). (Actually I have a suspicion that they may have mixed up the kumamoto and shigoku 'cause kumamoto are the really tiny ones..) The server was really nice and explained all the different types of oysters (East vs. West coast.. too bad I forgot everything!)

The calamari was soft inside and perfectly cooked with a really light, crisp coating. We even asked what they used and the server told us it's just flour... Tuna tartare wasn't that great. 

For the main, I had a bit of Swordfish which is a thick white fish. The salty coating really added flavor and it was nicely cooked. I also liked the cold rice pilaf with a mix of quinoa, lentils and other healthy seeds/grains.  Tempted by my friend's main, I added a side of three shrimp and three scallops 'cause they looked really big, but looking back def way overpriced at $24.

The Works

Three Ring Binder - 3 onion rings, gouda, mushrooms

love the die cut chips

Burgers & biking day for my last half day of the summer :)  I pretty much wanted to try this place because of the glass measuring cup cups and the onion ring tower. Burgers were thick which I like, but not much flavor.. I like the grilled charred juicy burgers like Harvey's back in the day. Also not much cheese or mushrooms taste, but the onion rings on its own were good - crispy and hot. The best thing was the die cut chips!