San Francisco Take 3️⃣
75% of the Busboy team have made the trip to the Foggy City this year and I've been twice.
Hope you’re all having a lovely weekend! For moi, I’ve spent the last few days readjusting back to EST time after spending about a week in San Francisco. This was my second visit to the West Coast this year and dare I say, SF is my favorite city in the state? Sorry, Los Angeles - you’re still in my top 10 but you just don’t have that je ne sais quoi that I look for.
Anytime the busboy team travels, we of course, divulge in all of the local eateries. I have only just started exploring all that SF has to offer, but I was lucky enough to not waste one mediocre meal the entire time I was out west.
Here are my top recs that I will also be going back to next time I’m out west.
Okane gave me all the feelings of a local neighborhood restaurant where I would be a regular if I lived here. The only sign that it was in SF instead of a suburb was the alarmingly large Adobe campus that neighbors the restaurant. You can’t win ‘em all. I + my wallet loved this cozy experience over a done-up, sometimes cold and almost always, very expensive omakase meal. Check out the daily specials at the sushi bar but always start with an Agedashi tofu and put an order in for Unagi Nigiri.
Daeho Kalbijjim & Beef Soup was a last minute dinner decision and it might have been my best surprise #1 experience. Though the Kalbijjim (a braised short rib dish) is the go-to and the showstopper - most tables got it with a heaping toping of cheese that gets torched tableside - I thought the standout was the Seolleongtang, a white, milky oxbone soup. I ate mine with a generous sprinkle of salt and pepper and paired each bite with purple rice & tangy banchan.
There’s not much to say about Buena Vista except this is an institution and you need to walk in, grab 2 bar seats and enjoy an Irish coffee. That’s all.
Great Eastern Restaurant in Chinatown had the best chicken feet I have ever had. I swear the collagen just went straight to my face. I am glowing. ✨
I didn’t have ‘share a dozen oysters’ at 8:30 AM on my bucket list but you don’t say no to walk-in seats at Swan Oyster Depot. You say bottoms up and have shellfish for breakfast. They also served the best clam chowder I have ever had & you know it’s fresh when you are watching the day’s deliveries enter through the front door as you are eating. Next time, I’m coming here and ordering crab backs + uni.
PS. Last tip - if you are near a Blue Bottle, grab a Shaken New Orleans. It is DELICIOUS. I have never seen this on the NYC menu and I’m hoping it makes the trek this way soon.
Have a great week x
Angel