Date of Last Visit: Saturday, July 19

The Victim: Kristin

The Damage: $31 each

The Background: I haven't seen Kristin in ages. Back around my 30th birthday in Chicago, she helped organize the best karaoke party ever. I do a good Pat Benetar. I've told Kristin I've been eating like it's going out of style, so something light and refreshing would be great. She suggests Fish & Farm.

Kristin's made the switch to San Fran from Chicago, where she works at a winery on the weekends. This is key because it means Kristin has access to a lot of wine. And in San Fran, you are allowed to bring your own wine to dinner. And if it's local, chances are you'll only pay a small corkage fee. We paid Fish & Farm $5. That's only £2.50! How cool is that? (Now there's an idea for the domestic U.K. wine industry…encourage London restaurants to offer a £5 corkage fee on domestic bottles.)

The Food: So I order some seafood chowder (overly salty), a green salad, and we split an order of chips with chilli mayo. Not exactly the lightest combo of options. The chips are great though.

The Service: Super friendly and nice.

The Odd Bit: There are two Japanese girls at the table next to me. The next day, I see them at the airport.

The Verdict: The chowder was just way too salty. Not my style.

The post Fish & Farm San Francisco first appeared on Passport Delicious | Solo Travel Blog | Solo Female Travel.

Nob Hill Grille
969 Hyde St
San Francisco, CA 94109
+ 1 415-474-5985

Date of Last Visit: Friday, 18 July 2008

The Victims: Blair, and Blair's girlfriend, whose name is so totally escaping me!

The Damage: $35 USD each

The Background: A long time ago when I lived in Chicago, my friend Bryan worked with this girl who had a reputation for being high maintence. She had a boyfriend named Blair that I met a few times. So this one day a few years later, I'm sitting around in grad school and I'm talking to this guy Blair and I'm thinking "You look VERY familiar."

And it turns out that it's the same Blair. Funny how life works.

Well now it's ages later and I'm in San Fran for BlogHer '08 so we make plans to meet up for dinner.

After some very decent cocktails at my hotel, we head over to Nob Hill Grille. We take a taxi, and it costs about $7 with tip. So firstly, I feel insanely wealthy in the U.S. Secondly, the restaurant really wasn't THAT far, and when I think about how far I made Melia walk the other night…well…

The Entrance: The Nob Hill Grille is empty up front when we arrive, but has a decent crowd in the back. It strikes me as a neighborhood place with a good crowd of regulars. Our server is young and very enthusiastic. She confidently walks us through all of the specials and her particular favorites. Sometimes I fall in love with America all over again.

The Food: We get spinach and artichoke dip to start and a wave of homesickness hits me. God how I've missed this stuff. It's really hard for me to stop eating it.

I order the scallops as a main and golly if they're not the hugest scallops I've seen in a long time. It's a generous serving. I sorta want to ask if the scallops are from a box that's from Vietnam, but I hold my tongue. The unfortunate part is that the scallops are served with a sh*tload of tomatoes. And I just can't eat tomatoes in huge quantities like this. 

The Bad Part: I am so wobbly from jet lag, I keep losing my train of thought. I think I hid it well though.

The Verdict: The Nob Hill Grill is nice. I guess that's like me describing a guy I don't want to date.

The post Nob Hill Grille, San Francisco first appeared on Passport Delicious | Solo Travel Blog | Solo Female Travel.

Date of Last Visit: Thursday, 17 July 2008

The Victim: Me

The Damage: $50 USD

The Background: I'm in San Francisco for BlogHer 2008, the conference for women bloggers. I'm dying of jet lag, but I've refused to let myself fall asleep and have booked myself into Canteen for dinner, a place that's supposedly great for solo dining. My San Fran friends are all very impressed that I was able to finagle a booking.

The Entrance: Canteen IS great for solo dining. There's a counter with about seven stools, and then there are four (maybe five) small booths. The staff are really friendly and welcoming and Californian. I'm pleased. Oh yes, and they're playing Cat Power. Old Cat Power. I love Cat Power.

The Food: It's a short and concise menu. I start with the halibut gravlax which is very cooling…this would have been great if it had been 80 degrees Fahrenheit outside. It has to be about 55. I'm serious. (12 Celsius.) Still, it's a nice dish and very well-presented. I proceed to the pork schnitzel, which is comforting and done in Japanese panko–only one of my favorite things ever–and it comes with a soft-boiled egg on the side. It's a generous serving (if haphazardly so), which is good because I haven't eaten since about 9 a.m. California time. (Saving myself for dinner!) I round it all off with a hazelnut chocolate mousse…I should have had the vanilla souffle. The mousse was too soupy for me.

The Camaraderie: Everyone is a solo diner at Canteen. I make friends with the two random strangers to my right. Curiously, we're all from Strong Island. This was nice and made me fall in love with America all over again. Americans are good about talking to random strangers.

The Verdict: I liked Canteen. It was good. And the service was truly excellent…knowledgeable and friendly.   

The post Canteen, San Francisco first appeared on Passport Delicious | Solo Travel Blog | Solo Female Travel.