Little Star Pizza and Mitchell’s Ice Cream

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Last day of vacation, a good meal to end it.

Ron and I headed to Little Star Pizza in the Mission. Even though the one in Western Addition is closer to us, I wanted to head out for ice cream at Mitchell’s after dinner. Lucky for us, we arrived just at 6:30pm when the first group of diners were finished so that we were seated right away. They also have happy hour 5:30-6:30pm everyday where alcoholic drinks are $1 off.

Ron anticipating yummy pizza.

We ordered a thin crust pesto pizza as an appetizer because the deep dish takes about 25 minutes to cook. The pesto is squeezed right on top. The thin crust was really crunchy, sort of cracker-like but really good, not a single soggy spot anywhere. The pesto made it extra yummy.

The deep dish we ordered is a special called Brass Monkey (it’s the Little Star Deep Dish + sausage). The sausage was delicious. The crust is pretty much the same as the thin crust so quite crunchy but a bit more oily. I think I prefer the chewy crust of Zachary’s. But the spinach made it really fresh and the ricotta made it really creamy and delicious.

Although pretty full, I saved room for ice cream. We headed to Mitchell’s to a really long line. But they have a queuing system that goes really fast. If it’s really busy, remember to grab your number the first thing when you walk in then decide on your flavors.

Ron had the Kahlua Mocha Cream single scoop and I had a double sccop with buko (young coconut) and mango. The buko had chunks of coconut in it, oh so yummy. Mango tasted a bit more like dried mango than fresh mango but still yummy. I tried the cantaloupe flavor but it wasn’t as strong as I would’ve wanted.

A good way to end my vacation. Revived and re-engergized to get back to work.

Little Star Pizza
400 Valencia St

Mitchell’s Ice Cream
688 San Jose Ave

Aloha Festival and walk through SF

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I decided to go to the San Francisco Aloha Festival at the Presidio. Ron had some things to do in the South Bay and I didn’t want to stay cooped up at home so decided to take a walk and see if I could find myself some spam musubi.

I walked from home, through the Arguello Blvd gate to the Presidio Main Post/Parade Grounds. As I neared, I could hear the music and smell the BBQ. Otherwise, they had some interesting knick knacks from Hawaii, some different foods, jewelry and such. It was pretty crowded, the music loud and plenty but the lines for food were way too long. I decided to just try the spam musubi at one of the stalls, 2 for $5, although I wasn’t impressed. The spam wasn’t pan fried and the seaweed was chewy and tough.

I only stayed for about an hour before continuing my walk. I exited the Presidio to Little Marina Green then to Chestnut St. On the way there, I stopped by the Palace of Fine Arts for some photos and saw three wedding parties there taking their photos.

It looks so much better after their restoration.

Continuing my walk along Chestnut St to Union St then the walk home, all totaled about 7 miles (as mapped on Google Maps). If you’ve never been, check out the view from Broderick St & Vallejo St but be sure to wear shoes that don’t slip because the incline is steep. Good exercise.

Dad’s Birthday at Koi Garden

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http://www.koipalace.com/….html?page=home

My dad’s birthday is tomorrow but we celebrated with an extended family dinner tonight at his favorite restaurat Koi Garden. We had a 8 course meal.

A suckling pig prepared like peking duck where you eat the skin with a white bun, green onions, and plum sauce.

Complete with LED cherries.

A deep fried something, I think it was pork wrapped in mu shu skin and coated in batter.

Lettuce wraps, loved the crispy fried bread in the meat mixture.

Scallops in broth.

Shark fin soup made in a coconut.

Abalone, fish stomach, and mustard greens.

Lobster noodles.

Plus there was a fish that I didn’t take a picture of.

We also had cake and these mung bean filled buns in the shape of a peach.

Happy Birthday Dad!

Happy, excited that we’re home to make her dinner.

As always, I leave stuffed after this Chinese banquet.

Angel Island and Alcatraz

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http://www.alcatrazcruises.com/

I’ve lived in the bay area most of my life but have never visited Alcatraz, so I thought it’d be a good idea to pay a visit. The only tickets left online were for the combination Angel Island and Alcatraz tour for $58.

My morning ride.

We stopped briefly at Alcatraz for a photo opportunity before heading to Angel Island which is where we would disembark.

Upon arriving at Angel Island, we boarded the trams for the 1 hour tour (included with your alcatraz/angel island combo tour ticket).

Their is an audio tour inside the tram. Although the tram itself was pretty noisy so it made it difficult to hear everything. We stopped near the top for a photo opportunity.

Our tour was around perimeter road, passing by all the soldier homes and the old hospital. Beautiful buildings just waiting for restoration.

The last sight on the tour was the immigration station where the Chinese and Japanese were first held before being allowed on the mainland. We didn’t get to stop here though so I’d like to go back at some point to learn more.

We had a short break for lunch before catching the ferry to Alcatraz. I settled down at a park bench to have the lunch I brought. Surprisingly they do have a small restaurant there that serves some pretty good looking eats. The view from the park bench.

My lunch buddy.

Only on the water do you get to San Francisco streets this way.

Alcatraz Island. An audio tour is included with your ticket as well and it’s pretty good. You follow a certain route through the cell block with some great history and well set up exhibits.

On thing though, you better not be super sensitive to urine or bird dropping smells. It’s either the public toilet or the sea water or the birds that cover the island but there is a distinct odor throughout the island. There are lots of birds, including this baby one.

My tour started at 9:40am departure from Pier 33
Arrival at Angel Island 10:30am
Angel Island Tour 10:45am – 11:45am
Departure for Alcatraz Island 12:45 pm
Alcatraz Island Audio Tour 1:30 – 2:30pm
Departure for Pier 33 2:45pm

Ron came to pick me up and we went to have a late lunch/early dinner at Doobu in Japantown.

Their yummy side dishes.

I tried their chicken bi bim bap. There was plenty of the meat the stone bowl was super hot so the rice on the bottom was yummy and crispy.

Ron had the spicy pork and tofu soup combo.

It’s been quite a day. Alcatraz is quite a hike up to the top. Ready for some rest.

John’s Snack & Deli

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http://www.snackanddeli.com/

After reading about it on SFGate, I’ve been wanting to try the kimchi burrito at John’s Snack and Deli and today I got my chance.

I arrived a bit after 11:30am and was one of two customers. By the time 12pm rolled around, there was a line of at least 8 people. I wasn’t sure what to order besides the kimchi burrito but the owner kindly pointed out the specials sign on the outside window. I decided on 2 kimchi burritos (one for Ron and one for myself) and a kalbi soft taco.

We brought it home to eat since there isn’t anywhere to sit inside.

The soft taco had plenty of meat and some great spicy pickled turnips and kimchi on top. It was a bit weird on a corn tortilla though. Still quite tasty.

Next I dug into the burrito which had lots of meat, greens, kimchi, rice, some cheese, and that delicious Korean spicy sauce. It was still a bit weird to be eating a burrito that didn’t taste Mexican but I know I’m going to be craving this again.

The place has specials each day and can be found on their website at the beginning of the week. Today was soft tofu stew day and the wait time was up to 30 minutes (and customers were willing to wait in that little store). This Friday is my favorite Korean dish, rice cakes, aka rice pinkies… may have to go back for more.

Parking there is difficult but it’d be worth the trip by public transportation or if you work around the area. The owner is really friendly and efficient in taking your order and phone orders.

I still have 1/3 of my burrito to enjoy tomorrow… yum, can hardly wait. I also want to go back to try their spicy pork soft taco, spam kim bap (Korean sushi), bim bi bap, and ramen… sometimes I wish I could eat more.

John’s Snack and Deli
40 Battery Street