http://www.yelp.com/biz/spices-san-francisco-2

I went for a workout at the UCSF Mission Bay Bakar Fitness Center. The gym is so nice and new, I wish we lived closer to it. I wanted to try out the Samba class and convinced Tiffany to go with me. Man, we felt inadequate 😛 It was our first time and the class was full, there were a lot of other people in the class who were really good. Surprisingly for flailing around, we broke a sweat and had a pretty good workout I think. Not sure if I’d try it again but I won’t rule it out. I just wish there would be more direction on how to do the dance moves rather than just watch it once, then do it. The next class to try will be hip-hop.

Since the class didn’t end until 8:30pm, we didn’t really feel like going home to cook so Ron and I decided to visit Spices! but the other store on 8th Avenue because we heard they had stinky tofu.

We ordered a rather healthy dinner for the two of us, some stir fried green veggies with garlic, the stinky tofu, and sticky rice with mushrooms. Surprisingly we ended up with a vegetarian dinner. I’m sure Ron is going to eat a hot dog or something tonight.

So here is the fried stinky tofu served a a garlic sweet spicy sauce and pickled vegetables. Ron commented that the tofu was cut well, in that they were not huge cubes that could not soak up all the sauce. We’ve eaten it at other places where you have to double-dip because not enough sauce stays on the tofu.

This is the sticky rice with mushrooms. Something to fill us up rather than eating proteins.

Ron says, “can we eat stinky tofu every night?”

I wouldn’t say every night but once in a while is good. They have a large menu but they don’t always have everything on the menu so we’re likely to go back soon. We’re slowly finding the good Taiwanese restaurants in the area.

Spices!
294 8th Avenue

http://www.yelp.com/biz/t…t-san-francisco

Blast from the past… Ron and I used to go to Taiwan Restaurant in Berkeley on weekends for Taiwanese breakfast. We were driving on Clement the other day and noticed Taiwan Restaurant… Ron got excited since the way the name was displayed seemed almost exactly like the place in Berkeley. So we decided to check it out this morning.

We were disappointed the restaurant still treated Friday after Christmas as a weekday so they didn’t have all the weekend specialties. Oh well, just means we’ll have to visit again on a weekend! Also, it looks exactly the same as the Taiwan Restaurant in Berkeley so we think it’s the same owner, the decorations are the same, the menu is the same… yay!

We ordered soy milk, hot and sweet. It actually wasn’t very hot so when you add your own sugar, it doesn’t quite dissolve.

I can’t remember what this dish is called, I know it as bamboo rice with meat in a can. Ron says when he was a little kid in Taiwan, they would eat these as a late night snack. It was kept in a tin can and heated until ready to eat.

Fried turnip cake.

The youtiao was a bit more dense than we usually like it but it does soak up the soy milk well.

This is my favorite Taiwanese snack, called ba-wan. Outside is a glutinous rice “shell” and inside usually is pork with bamboo shoots and mushrooms. The “shell” can be yummy when its the right amount of stickness but can also be quite tough if overcooked or reheated too many times. In Taiwan, they are kept warm in a large vat of heated oil, sounds disgusting but it does keep it at a very nice temperature. It’s served with two sauces, sweet and savory.

Our breakfast came out to be $13, plus $2 tip.

Afterwards we went to check out Marley & Me. I cried. I don’t want a golden retriever and I love my cats, but I still really want a dog.

Taiwan Restaurant
445 Clement Street