the promises we leave behind (sf recap)
My last memory from San Francisco is from the airport, of me locking pinkies and swearing that I'd wait a year for love to return. Before last week I hadn't been back since. I'm glad to say the precipitous hills full of pastel-colored buildings still take my breath away, though what's happened in the two years since tinges my views of the city with blue.
I didn't plan much for my SF trip this time around. I stayed with friends, one of whom was visiting SF for the first time, so I was happy to take him around to the places I had already been. Besides, having a long list of things you want to see can be a curse. Things I set my sights on and don't get to do will always eat at me from inside, and getting three other people to follow you around to places that suit your fancy takes no small miracle.
I got to visit quite a few places I went to in 2022. Here's the complete list from last week:
Fisherman's Wharf
- Chowder's (2 Beach St, San Francisco, CA 94133)
- Honestly, you could do a whole lot worse than a $14 sourdough bread bowl full of hot clam chowder in the most touristy part of town.
- Musée Mécanique (Pier 45, San Francisco, CA 94133)
Ouch???
Chinatown
- Good Mong Kok Bakery (1039 Stockton St, San Francisco, CA 94108)
- Never really had a good experience here. I never expect good service in Chinatown(s) but at least don't treat me like I owe you money.
- If you come around midday they'll likely be out of a bunch of popular items, though there's no way to tell until you're actually at the counter.
- Good shumai, mediocre har gow/xia jiao and cha siu bao.
- AA Bakery & Cafe (1068 Stockton St, San Francisco, CA 94108)
- The friendly lady here was a breath of fresh air after Good Mong Kok's belligerent grandmas. I liked the egg tarts and got to try my first egg white custard tart! The egg white ones are less sweet than the original, and it's worse off for it (though still decent).
Japantown
- Daeho Kalbijim & Beef Soup (1620 Post St, San Francisco, CA 94115)
- The kalbijim here is still one of my favorite meals ever, anywhere. Sweet tender meat, rice cakes, vegetables, and glass noodles you can cut with pickled daikon and white/purple rice.
- Yasukochi's Sweet Stop (1790 Sutter St, San Francisco, CA 94115)
- I personally liked the coffee crunch cake ($6/slice) but maybe the hype spoiled it a little bit for me. My friends weren't huge fans. It's not very strong on the coffee flavor and the crunchy part tastes more like caramelized sugar or dalgona chunks? Worth a try, though maybe not a trip.
- Cash only.
Haight-Ashbury / Panhandle / NoPa
- Buena Vista Park (Buena Vista & Haight Street, San Francisco, CA 94117)
- Steep trails with great views, though this being a park in SF you probably didn't need me to tell you that.
- Amoeba Music (1855 Haight St, San Francisco, CA 94117)
- Feeding our vinyl addiction!! The sheer size of the collection here is dizzying.
- Hahdough (1221 Fell St, San Francisco, CA 94117)
- I loved their pretzels! They pair so well with the honey mustard and I ended up getting another after my first (shhh...).
- I'd probably skip the pretzel croissants though; I'm not sure why they're so popular.
Mission District
- La Taqueria (2889 Mission St, San Francisco, CA 94110)
- Pancho Villa Taqueria (3071 16th St, San Francisco, CA 94103)
- Tadka Indian Restaurant (3066 24th St, San Francisco, CA 94110)
Sunset (sort of?)
- Pineapple King Bakery (1915 Irving St, San Francisco, CA 94122)
- My friends love this place. It's definitely good, though I don't know if I fully share their obsession with it.
- The mango pineapple puff is my favorite of the ones we tried.
- The yuenyeung (HK drink of coffee, black tea, sugar, and milk) was delicious. Highly recommend.
- Saigon BBQ Noodle House (1936 Irving St, San Francisco, CA 94122)
- Yummy garlic noodles! The clay pot catfish disappointed me, though.
- We went to this place serving shengjianbao ($14 for 12 tiny ones) and 山东-style 煎饼 (Shandong style jianbing, or Chinese savory crepes) on its grand opening that I couldn't find on Google Maps. I don't recommend it. $14 for 12 golfball-sized baozi is criminal, I don't care how good they are.
Misc
- b. patisserie (2821 California St, San Francisco, CA 94115)
- Alamo Square
- Never realized that's what this park overlooking the Painted Ladies was called!
Looking back, we didn't do a whole lot, even less so when you consider how many of those things I listed are repeats from previous trips. Normally that might bother me, but I was pretty tired and am just happy I got to spend time with my friends. Hopefully I'll be back soon to explore and try new things.
I'll leave you with some pictures of the resident Airbnb cat. A cat named Baby prowling around feels cruel to me, though (fortunately?) it was shy and I never got a chance to properly greet it.
