SFSFF Part 2

Tea Time took a look at the list of vendors for the San Francisco Street Food Festival 2013 and knew there were specific places we wanted to try, old favorites we were destined to visit. However, there were plenty of passport tickets to go around and whenever someplace had an enticing menu item we would stop to spy. If it was something we couldn't do without then someone would stand in line while the rest o' the gang looked around a bit more and/or waited at a stand-up table for the food to appear. (Don't worry, we took turns standing in the lines!)

So we knew up front that the fresh Marin Miyagi Oysters on the half shell from Basa Seafood were on the list. What we didn't bargain for was this delicious  Spicy Salmon Poke. Once we saw it, we had to have it! The spice was just right and the seaweed salad filled our greens spot. The chips were extraneous to us, but we saw many people using them instead of a fork, scooping up the salmon and eating the chip too.  Tea Time knows better than to fill up on store bought carbs though. There's real eating to be done here! For instance, we each had a delightful (free!) california roll as we waited for our bounty from the Basa booth. It was the perfect appetizer.

'Oh Oysters, come and walk with us!'

Awesome Salmon Poke! One of our favorite dishes of the day.

No 'r' in August, but that's okay!

Everyone got a free sushi sample

Tio Chilo's caught our eye with their Grilled Quail. This was another big bite dish so it came with a side of vinegar style coleslaw. (Members of the coleslaw club rejoice!) It's always nice to get a red cabbage slaw, since many people just use the green stuff. We didn't gawk into the kitchen, but presumed that the Quail must have been cooked using the 'Brick' method as it was charred and flat.

Quail and Coleslaw-a big bite

 












Oh, we love Bahn Mi! This festival gives us all sorts of goodies, one stop lunch to dinner shopping, you might say. Central Kitchen gave us this Bunny Bahn Mi which we thought might be vegetables...but lives up to its name serving us rabbit on a bun (HA!).  This Vietnamese sandwich featured slaw with bits of rabbit and even rabbit pate. The fillings were tasty, but the roll didn't have the crunch we require. We've tasted a myriad of different types of Bahn Mi out there in the wide SF resto world and we've learned to love a sammie with the crunchy crusted french roll. Perhaps it was the workings of SF weather though, sometimes the best bread can feel down when served out of doors! Also, we paired our bunny with some carrot, juice that is. J.K. needed some extra veggie servings and insisted we try their drink. Central Kitchen is full of good ideas!

Bunny Banh Mi

We had already tasted their excellent pizza at the resto, so we went with more burrata to take along to the adult beverage area. The mini pizza oven was awesome although not quite as beautiful as the one at Mozzeria the restaurant.

Here we are at the other end of the festival, ready to kick back and relax at the bar with Rye on the Road (and burrata from Mozzeria). There was a choice of three drinks similar to what was served at their bar on the night of Bite Me.  J.K. (of course) chose the tequila and lime juice version. Angela tried the VX Swizzle (Appleton VX rum, lemon, black tea syrup and bitters) which had her coming back for seconds. Another awesome thing about the bar? All proceeds, including tips, were donated back to La Cocina.

T&L for J.K.

(Half eaten) burrata with chips from Mozzeria

Some of our drink carnage*

We also snorked down Tequila Jelly Shots from the Sweets Collection. These are the big brother sizes compared to the samples at the Bite Me preview night. Those pretty flowers had some real tequila to give it a kick.

Did you see any famous foodies eating at the festival? We caught a glimpse of a Serious Eater on assignment in our fair city. He looks pretty happy with his job (and his Mozzeria slice)! Tea Time is pretty sure we ate more than lots of people, but let us know your favorite item from this day of flavorful debauchery. Look for our other posts on the SFSFF 2013!

We spotted Hambone, and, sure enough, Kenji was at the other end of the leash.

*photos at bar courtesy of fellow StrEater Constance