Off-Convoy: San Francisco!

We went to San Francisco partly for a library conference...but mostly to eat things.

"Paul Reubens" sandwich from Ike's Place-it was giant and I saved the second half, which I was very happy to have when I came back to the hotel...rather tipsy...from a vendor party at the Tonga Room with an open bar and a lackluster buffet.

Creme brulee and peach ice cream from Bi-Rite (with my charming and elegant college roommate Maria's coffee almond chip cone in the background).

Gorgeous pho from Pho 2000--we were going to go to Tu Lan but there was a huge line and this place was next door.

Almond butter, caramelized banana, and bacon toast from the super cozy Grove Cafe on Fillmore St.

Soft serve from the Straus Family Creamery in the Ferry Building.

Beard Papa!  I miss the SD location. :-(
I was excited that their flavor of the week was my favorite, caramel!

Burma Love in the Mission

Platha & dip -- this was DELICIOUS.

Chili lamb, yum.

Tea leaf salad-this is their famous dish but we thought it was kind of...too busy?

Izakaya Sozai -- we loved this meal so much that the taxi driver who took us home remarked that we were the happiest people she'd seen all night. 

Not too bad for three people!

Fried ramen egg!!

You really should have seen Miko's face while eating this.  It was blissful.

Ramen

I will always order yaki-onigiri if I see it on a menu.  SO GOOD.

We may have gotten two orders of the chashu fried rice. 
Because chashu fried rice.

I'd never had corn yakitori before!

We were super excited about this bacon-wrapped mochi, but we weren't actually that wowed by it.

Bacon-wrapped okra, on the other hand, was amazing.

Simmered snapper with bacon broth and pea shoots

Seabass yakitori -- this just melted in your mouth.

Caramelized banana -- this was just okay.
Order another fried egg instead. Or several.

Iceskimo

Is this culturally insensitive?  Hmmm...

Miko looking sort of wrung out...after kayaking six miles while seasick,
having a foot massage, and eating an entire order of xiaolongbao.

The "Old School."

The "Frrrozen Hot Chocolate" (three r's).

You can "build your own" like in a yogurt shop.

We like their cute designy style, and their nice server.

Rating: Two thumbs up

Date: 1/23/2015
Time in: 4:25 PM

Time out: 4:44 PM

Servers' recommendations: The Special (Frrrozen Hot Chocolate), Sweet & Salty, Strawberry Shortcake, Cookie Monster
What we ordered: Frrrozen Hot Chocolate (chocolate snow, dark chocolate bits, fresh strawberries, housemade whipped cream), Old School (Milk snow, slow-cooked red bean, grass jelly, condensed milk). We asked for half-orders, but they were giant!
Number in our party: 2
Final check amount: $8.06 + 0.15 for extra condensed milk, added later
Price per person: $4.11
Notes: 

• It's definitely the best snow we've had, although we only have two other locations to compare it to.

• Jenne really liked the chocolate snow -- it was rich, creamy, and really chocolatey. The whipped cream is good too, not too sweet. She was not a huge fan of the old-school.

• I liked my Old School, but next time, I would get an extra layer of condensed milk in the middle. The red bean is quite good. Tastes homemade.

• The design is really cute and simple.

• The music is at the perfect level! This never happens in trendy restaurants!

• The server at the counter was a lovely person.

• We're coming back to try the Sweet & Salty!

RESTAURANT INFORMATION
Address: 4609 Convoy St Ste B

Phone number: 858.216.1111

Noise level: 2

Accepts credit cards? Yes

Parking: Shared lot -- decent number of spaces at this time.

Ideal group size: Any.

A BACHELOR'S IN CONVOY!!

Happy Convoy Day! It has now been FOUR YEARS since we began our exhaustive Convoy study.
This year we tried to mostly go to different places than we did the first time...

This year we made T-shirts! 

The helmets were once again a big hit.
Lots of people honked and waved as we walked down the street.
It was interesting how we felt less and less embarrassed by them as the day went on...

We started the day with dim sum, joined by members of Convoy Recon:
Django, Andi, and Beston (not pictured).

 

Breakfast dessert at The Fruit Shop!

Mangosteens!  It's like they knew it was Convoy Day!

Midmorning tea and books at Big Joy Family Bakery.
(This was planned as introvert reading time,
but Katie showed up and we ended up just talking after all).

Miko was really worried that we wouldn't have enough books to read.

Pre-lunch beers at O'Brien's Pub.

With guest and fierce Convoy Day veteran, Katie!

A rainbow of beer!  I think the red one had hibiscus in it, or something.

Lunch at Crab Hut!  With guests Howie, Laura, Jessica and Katie.

The Viking spirit is strong.

Lunch dessert at Angels & Hearts! (That's Jessica with Katie.)

We didn't go here, but we like the idea of a cheery massage!

Finally trying the mysterious Korean spa!

Utterly relaxed after having many layers of skin rubbed off.

Dinner at Yokohama Yakitori Kobou (with the usual shot of milk).

Sarah H. brought Miko a birthday present! 
She has an excellent present-receiving face.

Ume panch!!

With guests Chelsie, Hildie, Cam, Nick, Katie, Santiago, Sarah H, Sarah P, Sarah M, Alli, Beston, and Andi.

Dessert (and looking epic) at Blush.

No new guests here!

Oh, Santiago.

With Howie, Summer, Emily, John, Erica, and a bunch of people from before!