San Francisco Food Trucks

San Francisco is a good city to experience the food truck scene because it's not that hard to hunt the food trucks and options are diverse. We first went to the Fort Mason Farmer's Market  to catch a few...

 

We tried Happy Dumplings which had solid reviews on yelp. The long lines also helped in drawing us in but the food didn't live up to hype. 

 

Cabbage & Pork Dumplings ($3)

The dumplings lacked authenticity. It was dry and bland.

Green Onion Pancake ($3)

Better than the dumplings but that's not saying much.  

Good thing we also lined up at Roli Roti which offers healthy sustainable slow cooked chicken and pork. 

Roli Roti

RoliRoti Combo of Chicken and Potatoes ($7.50)

Juicy free range chicken with a side of potatoes. Perfectly cooked and seasoned.

Gourmet Porchetta Sandwich ($9.50)

Roli Roti always makes it on the list of the best SFO food trucks and their porchetta sandwich is the reason why. An explosion of flavors with its winning combination of succulent pork with crispy skin, caramelized onions, arugula, and chewy bread. The sandwich also oozes with natural pork juices making it a yummy but messy culinary experience. 

On a different occasion, while exploring Union Square, I spotted Señor Sisig, San Francisco Weekly's best food truck of 2012 & 2013! 

I got so excited because I've been wanting to try their famous sisig tacos ever since I heard of its existence a couple of years ago. It was also quite surreal to see the popular local dish sisig making waves in San Francisco. 

Menu

Though still very full from my lunch at Umami Burger (more on that next time), I made room to try their signature tacos.

Sisig Taco ($4)

 Señor Sisig's sisig taco was a revelation! They marinate the pork shoulder (not pork head) for over 24 hours, making the meat so tasty. The flavors are familiar but Señor Sisig managed to elevate our happy hour favorite with the use of  fresh lettuce and their own cilantro cream sauce.  Best of all, it's not greasy so you can probably pop a couple of tacos without guilt. 

Finally, we also hit El Tonayense, a Zagat rated food truck, on Harisson St. near Best Buy for authentic Mexican food. 

Tacos ($2 each)

There are a lot of  meat options at El Tonayense.  We tried the chicken, pork, and beef options for the tacos and enjoyed it all. 

Carne Asada Burrito ($6.50)

I don't usually enjoy the beans but  El Tonayense's burrito was so packed in flavor that I didn't mind. 

Super Quesadilla ($7)

My favorite from all the items we ordered. What made this quesadilla super was the inclusion of guacamole and sour cream.  Cheesy and hot with the right balance of acid.

For schedules and more information on the food trucks, see links below:

Happy Dumplings: www.happydumplings.com

Roli Roti: www.roliroti.com

Señor Sisig: www.senorsisig.com

El Tonayense: www.tonayense.com

You can also check out the website of Off the Grid here to know the schedule of weekly markets where food trucks gather.

Eating Our Way Through Davao City

I know there are a lot of things one can do when in Davao City, but aside from zorbing...

Rolling Down the Hill

my friends and I wasted most of our time indulging in food related activities.

We first went to the Crocodile Park where there's a row of restaurants that prepare crocodile meat.

Riverwalk Grill

Having had a previous bad experience eating crocodile meat, I can only watch as my brave friends try these exotic dishes:

Croc Sisig

Crocodile Steak

Croco Roast Ribs

Still at the Crocodile Park, there was a line forming for Sweet Spot Ice Cream parlor so we all got curious.

It turned out that Sweet Spot offers unique flavors such as crocodile-durian which had a taste profile and texture that weirded me out.

During our stint in the city, we also went to Abreeza Mall and randomly chose to eat at Ranchero. It was only later that I learned that Ranchero is a popular local restaurant known for its ribs.

Food at Ranchero reminded me how comforting it is to eat good Filipino food.  

Complimentary Starter

Fried Squid

Seafood Soup

Sizzling Sisig

Bagoong Rice

Salted Egg & Chicharon Rice

Baby Back Ribs

Lechon Kawali

Most say that a trip to Davao is also not complete without eating at Ahfat Seafood Plaza. 

While the food was not bad, I would have preferred if we went elsewhere because dining in this local institution felt like eating at any other Chinese restaurant back home (read: nothing exciting or different).  On the plus side, our bill was a whole lot cheaper compared to what we usually pay in Manila.

Shark's Fin Soup

Sweet ad Sour Ribs

Broccoli in Oyster Sauce

Sauteed Prawns

Fried Eel

Crab Sotanghon

Steamed Crabs

If all the eating wasn't enough, we also chose to buy food for our pasalubong needs. Before going home, we dropped by Magsaysay Market for durian and suha....

and Lola Abon's, home of the best durian candy, for our candy fix.

Although Davao is not really known as a food capital, there certainly are a lot of restaurants in the city that make the eating experience worthwhile.

Riverwalk Grill is located at Davao Crocodile Park. For more information, call (082)2219643.

Sweet Spot Ice Cream is located at Davao Crocodile Park. For more information call (082) 225 0184 or 09152071607. 

Ranchero is located at 3/f Abreeza Ayala Mall J.P. Laurel Avenue, Davao City. For more information, click here.

Ahfat Seafood Plaza has 4 locations in Victoria Plaza Compound J.P. Laurel Avenue, Bajada, Davao City. For more information, call (082)2240002 or (082)2262688.

Lola Abon's is located at 23 San Miguel Village Matina Davao. For more information, click here.

Señor & Señora at XO46

Considered by Esquire as one of best restaurants of 2012, I was excited to eat at X046.

From all the food, my favorite turned out to be the complimentary puto!  The puto had a sponge like consistency which made it super soft and to die for. 

More than the food however, these moments made the trip to XO46 memorable:

1. The wait staff addressed us as señor & señora consistent with its old world theme.

2. Drawing the ire of the folks pictured below as we were so loud catching up. While it's undeniable that we were a noisy bunch, I partly blame the compact space and poor acoustics of XO46. haha

3. The simple get together became a very belated birthday treat courtesy of  Norbert! 

XO46 is located at G/F Le Grand Condominium 130 Valero St., Salcedo Village, Makati. For more information, call 5536632 or click here.