ByeBye Ken!

Due to mass stress for the past week, I got way behind on my blogging. Gotta hurry and catch up before my 6:00 flight to Berlin :)

Sadly, Ken left EA a little over a week ago. Although I didn't really work with him or see him much, losing our amazing plant lunches is totally a heartbreaker. Because I <3 him so much,  I was even willing to go to an expensive restaurant that I've been multiple times to support his goodbye lunch :). Old Port Lobster Shack in Redwood City.

This place has always been a favorite of my dads since my family used to live in Maine before I was born. It's a cute, small shop with a ton of thematic decorations and nautical charts all over the walls that remind me of things my parents used to hang up when I was much younger. They specialize in lobster rolls and dishes. I unfortunately do not like lobster, so I have to get creative

Other times I've been I tried the pulled pork which was quite tasty. This time was a Lent Friday though, so I had to go veggie. I ended up ordering a side of mac &  cheese and a side of sweet potato fries. WIN!! Not only was it a meal of my two favorite foods, but it also ended up being waaaaay cheaper than everyone elses meal. Mine was $9 for a ton of food, whereas the lobster mac was like $20 :D

Food there is pretty tasty if you are willing to pay. Be warned that it gets super crowded at lunch... we had to wait in line for like 15 mins and struggle to get a table large enough to accommodate the whole group

the Castro's late night back-up

Last night we had another wonderful time in the Mission, closing out the bars (at the whopping CA hour of 2 am). Due to the fact that it took us a good 35 minutes and 8 blocks (in like 20 degree weather) to get a Jess a cab, we all ended up super craving some hot cooked late-night snackage. Of course, the immediate thought was to hit up the beloved Orphan Andy's <3, so we naively quested from the taqueria filled Valencia st. to my hood. 

Desert Fries, not to be confused with Dessert Fries

Because the Castro is SF's most happening place, and OA can seat about 10 people at a time, it was completely packed with a huge line. After some pro-tips from the dude ahead of us, we found out that Sparky's was even more congested, and so we put our faith in a Yelp search. Up came Bagdad Cafe, the triangular place that you always see when you are waiting for the light on 16th & Market. Thankfully there was no wait so we were sold.

giant nachos

The menu wasn't exceptionally exciting, pretty basic cafe/diner food... but without the pizazz or special items. BEWARE! they try to trick you with claiming to have "dessert fries." I'm not entirely sure what that means, but I imagine that anything involving sweet and french fries (e.g. sweet potato fries, fries & ice cream, etc) must be hardcore win. Not so much!!! It's actually "desert" fries which are just regular with some spicyness. LAME and misleading

Beyond that, the food was kind of expensive and not memorable. The fries were all soggy. Ken got a giant plate of nachos which was exciting from a purely quantitative perspective. Took forever for food and bill and we didn't get home till like 4am. boooo

really cool IRL

The one positive was that they had some very nice artwork on the wall. My favorite was the above (horribly cell photoed) painting of the neighborhood. It has Mr. Sutro in it <3 so that always makes me happy :)

Journey Deep in to the Crocker-Amazon!

have you ever wondered what exists in that long stretch of land between south san fran and the mission?? you know, the random part that looks like some foreign country with houses piled on top of each other? its hard to notice since it falls in the middle of the confusing part of 101 where the road forks five directions, but it's there, looming mysteriously. i freaking DTS-ed tonight. within lies one of the best named boroughs of sf, Crocker-Amazon.

such awesome painting on the walls

Thanks again to Dave's suggestion, tonight i hit up Broken Record with eugi and ken. this place is a great dive bar/gastropub fusion with fun music, cheap drinks, and AMAZING food!!! the menu is small  but incredible. i started the night with baked mac & cheese (you can add bacon) and a giantttttttttt "side" of sweet potato fries ($3 ftw). i thought life was good. but then, after a heated match of scrabble arose between the three of us, ken decided to get more food. Enter the Truffle Parmesan fries with garlic ailoli!  i'm having a hard time putting the deliciousness in to words. you need to try them ASAP!! sooo soo good.

OH! and, they give you 50% off your first beer coupon for checking in on foursquare! after months of wasting time checking in, it's all paid off..

mmm baked mac & cheese and sweet potato fries