i like to eat.

Gap's doing these Nacho Fridays too often. They're not as special anymore. :(

Seriously, this is the fourth time I've had nacho Friday. This one was actually pretty darn good though. Then again, when are they never good?

Related: Nacho Friday 1, 2, 3

My Thursday food adventures at the farmers' market in the Ferry Building continues. Last couple of times (1,2), I had Namu, so I wanted to try something different.

Right next to Namu is Tacolicious, a project from Joe Hargrave of Laïola restaurant and Sara, senior editor of 7x7 magazine.

I ordered three tacos since it was $9 compared to $3.50 each. I got the "chef's favorite," house made chorizo potato, beef short rib and chicken taco.

I didn't eat the tacos right away (walked back to the office) and maybe that was a wrong decision. By the time I was ready to eat the tacos, they were already cold. The meats were all tender, but the flavor was ok. I liked the chorizo potato one the best. I never had this combination in a taco before. It actually worked.

I doubt I'd go back to Tacolicious - food's decent. There are 4 other booths I need to try! :)

     

Click here to download:

Tacolicious_tag_food_mexican_l.zip (676 KB)

After most of the festivities for Ray and Aki's wedding, we finally had the time to have dinner with them before they left. We went to Dona Tomas in Oakland because Mexican food options are minimal in Japan.

The restaurant is cute, dark and intimate (as you can see from my poor pictures). They also have a romantic outdoor patio area with lights.

We ordered guacamole that came with house made chips. Pretty good, nothing too special.

Jason and I split our entrees - carnitas and carne asada, so we could share. The carnitas was a slow-roasted shredded pork with Mexican spices and served with tortillas, rice and pinto beans. The meat was a little dry and salty, but not bad. The carne asada on the other hand, was very salty. The dish was thinly sliced grilled beef with a hot chile sauce, served with pinto beans and a corn and zucchini pudding. I don't remember what the pudding tasted like, I just couldn't get over the saltiness of the entree.

The ambiance of Dona Tomas is cute, but I wouldn't go back. The food lacked depth and flavor, it was just too salty for my taste buds.

   

Click here to download:

Dona_Tomas_tag_food_mexican_oa.zip (475 KB)

The day after the wedding was another big day of eating and hanging out with relatives from Japan and Indiana.

I had an amazing salad at Gap a few weeks back. It was a plate full of ice berg lettuce, ground beef, corn, black beans, salsa, chipotle lime dressing and tortilla chips.

It was pretty much a taco salad, minus the cheese. Yummy.

I wasn't in the mood for anything in particular, but the weekly special "sandwich" from the upstairs cafe looked flavorful.

It was a corn cake with bbq pork with a carrot and fennel slaw and housemade zucchini pickles.

The corn cake was more like a pancake with sporatic corn kernals. I've never had something like this before, but the corn cake was sweet and satisfying. I would have liked a little bit more corn because certain bites tasted too much like a regular pancake. The vegetables were nice, not too tangy or sour, but complimented the meat well.

Interesting lunch, but doubt I'd have this again.

Oakland's highly anticipated Eat Real Festival was in full swing. I arrived with Kate around 2 and we were ready to roam and try some food trucks.

Except, it was ridiculously hot.

So hot that we felt lazy and became indecisive about what to eat.

But, one thing we did know for sure was to get into the building with AC. The building was filled with a ton of different vendors that sold fresh produce, garden kits, yogurt, flowers, baked goods and other foodie related stuff.

After we cooled down a bit, we were ready to eat. There was so much to choose from - bbq, tacos, Mexican, cupcakes, pizza, Korean, chowder, Southern, baked goods, desserts..the food trucks were endless!

Our first stop was Tapas To Go, a truck from Whole Foods. We ordered garlic chili shrimp that was hot, but not super spicy, garlicky and delicious. The shrimp were large and fresh. The best part? Only $5. All the food at the festival was $5 or less!

It was still really hot and I didn't feel like waiting forever in a line (I know, I know, the good trucks have the longest lines, but still, it was way too hot!) I saw Pizza Politana had a short line and I was intrigued that they had their own little brick oven - definitely fresh! I ordered a slice of Market that had cheese, greens, onion and bacon. My favorite part was how amazingly thin the crust was. It was sooooo good. I love thin pizza and this was one of the thinnest I've ever had. The crust was crispy and held the toppings well, no soggy crusts here! So good.

Kate ordered a hot link from Phat Matt's BBQ that came with some sort of cheese dip and saltine crackers - interesting combination. Not bad.

I saw some ladies making fresh pupusas at Los Angeles de Pueblas Frutas, so I had to give it a try. Yummy and filled with beans and cheese.

Seoul on Wheels had a long line, but I was determined to try their version of the Korean taco. They unfortunately were sold out of the rib eye taco, so we got chicken and spicy pork. LAME. Tacos were cold, meat was chewy and there was nothing special to it. No special sauce or toppings. I can make this at home! I don't get their hype.

As soon as the boys came, we had to leave, but we tried some of their food before we left - falafals from Liba (not bad and not dry) and also pork ramen from Poleng (decent, you can see the hair on the pork!).

The festival was a lot of fun and exciting to try all the different trucks. I wonder if this truck craze will last... Either way, I'm enjoying it and so happy that I was able to try so many in one place.

EDIT: The hot link was actually from Jim 'N Nick's Bar-B-Q. Sorry for the mixup. Thanks to Charlotte for the catch! :)

                                                   

Click here to download:

082909_eatReal.zip (7004 KB)

Saturday's lunch in Los Angeles was a hangover's cure at Tito's Tacos. Something about greasy food always seems to make you feel better.

Upon stepping out of the car, you can smell the fried food. Sounds kind of gross, but it was comforting that this place is definitely fresh. The restaurant is small, but they are very quick and you can order inside or outside. From the outside, you can see the kitchen and employees preparing massive amounts of refried beans, salsa and frying taco shells.

Jason and I ordered four tacos and a tostada that came with a large helping of fresh salsa and chips. The fried tacos were amazing. Every time I think or see these tacos, my mouth starts watering and I instantly crave them. The corn shell was still warm and fresh from the fryer. The combination of shredded beef, lettuce, cheese (extra charge) and salsa was delicious. I didn't need any of that sour cream or guacamole to enjoy this bad boy. And even better? Only $2.20 each! Everything on the menu is less than $5.

The tostada was the same fried tortilla but flat and topped with refried beans, lettuce and cheese. Pretty darn good too, but I'd stick with the tacos.

I usually like chunky salsa, but Tito's was the total opposite. It was a smooth puree of fresh tomatoes, onion, peppers, garlic, lime, cilantro and other herbs. The salsa was watery and made everything taste better. By having a smooth puree, it melted the flavors together, rather than tasting big chunks of tomatoes.

I loved Tito's Tacos and would love to find something similar in the Bay Area. It seems like most Mexican restaurants only have soft tacos, but there's got to be something similar. Suggestions?

                   

Click here to download:

Tacos_tag_mexican_food_lunch_t.zip (2030 KB)

After checking in at the Hyatt and enjoying a strawberry lemon drop from the bar, we were ready for lunch.

We drove to The Farmers Market, a historic destination of produce markets, specialty food markets and prepared food vendors.

You can find almost everything here - fresh young coconuts, crepes, mangoes, cakes, caramel apples, candy, marshmallow sticks (!), nuts, ice cream, margaritas, sushi, Pinkberry (my first time was at this location), meat, seafood, knick knacks, all sorts of hot sauce and even stickers.

There's also a wide assortment of ethnic cuisines - French, Korean, American, Brazilian, Southern, Japanese, Italian, Mexican, every thing's here! It's amazing how much there is at The Farmers Market.

Last year's visit to the market was lunch at Pampas Grill, a churrascaría (Brazilian steakhouse/barbecue) vendor. The meat was so good - moist, tender and had a bold barbecue flavor. The meat was roasted in a large open oven on sticks and were cut to order. It's definitely not a place for vegetarians.

Wanting to try something new, I ended up at Loteria for some Mexican food. I ordered two tacos that came with shredded marinated chicken on corn tortillas. Instead of your typical taco with guacamole, sour cream, cheese and salsa, it was topped with guiso, a traditional Mexican meat and vegetable stew. I've never had tacos with guiso, but it made the flavors all melt into one another. I was missing something that made it "fresh," whether it was salsa or a squeeze of lime. Either way, decent.

They unfortunately ran out of my favorite Mexican drink, horchata, so I quenched my thirst with hibiscus tea. I was surprised that they served this. It sounds like an exotic drink, something a Jamaican vendor would sell. It had a light floral taste and was refreshing, but I'd much rather have an agua fresca or horchata with my Mexican fare.

So far, lunch in Los Angeles, not bad. I couldn't wait for my next meal!

                                                     

Click here to download:

farmers_market.zip (7966 KB)