SF: Dinners & drinks

November 28th 2011katie

Back to San Fran posts, even though the holiday feels like a long time ago now…

A large part of our reason for visiting SF was the food and drink – it’s known for great Mexican food as well as a thriving microbrewery scene and of course the local Napa Valley wines. All my favourite things! Luckily we were not disappointed…

A tasting flight of beers at Rogue Ale‘s brewpub – a mere sampling of their 40 beers on tap!

I loved Fat Angel, a tiny, cosy local place with a charming barmaid and delicious rustic sharing food – flatbreads, cheeses and even flavoured butters. They also had the longest and most impressive beer menu I’ve ever seen (sorted by taste, from Smoky through Sour and Malty), and delicious wines to match. If this was in London, I’d be hanging out there quite a lot.

Oooh, dirty oozy nachos. At the hipper-than-thou (it’s in a converted launderette, to give you an idea) Brainwash Cafe in the SoMa district.

Great Japanese bites at Nojo – mayonnaised roast potatoes, soft sesame tofu and lemon & vegetable tempura. Almost like being back in Kyoto.

Farm Table‘s tiny (when they say ‘table’, they really mean one table) but adorable eatery. There’s a new menu every day of comfort food done proper, from meatball-stuffed challah sandwich to silky potato soup. – and great coffee.

More beer at Social, very fresh from their on-site brewery. Super sweet potato tempura fries, too. We then bar-hopped to Magnolia around the corner, where I had an amazing rose-flavoured brew.

The holy grail of West Coat eating: FOOD TRUCKS! We went along to the Haight evening eat-up organised by Off The Grid, which comprised about 15 trucks serving everything from Mexican tamales to Korean sliders, Chinese steamed buns to American mac ‘n cheese. It attracted a diverse crowd including lots of families and an awesome dude with his pet budgie on his shoulder (who he shared all his food with, aww).

I had an amazing paneer tikka burrito from Curry Up Now followed by a salted caramel cupcake from Cupkate’s, and was then sad to be too full to eat any more. I also dropped and broke my camera in all the excitement, boo. Worth it, though.