The Waterbar

Located behind Googles' backyard in San Francisco lies a small restaurant with an ocean front view called the Waterbar. 

Right:  Waterbar's Bay Chips.  The potatoes were cut into thin slices and fried to perfection.  

A hint of a sea salt to add a little bit of flavor from the sea.

The bay chips is large enough to share between 2-3 people.

Left:  Strawberry Pop Tart.  The name says it all.  It's a strawberry pop tart.  It's moist inside from the strawberry jelly; the exterior, flaky.  The pop tart breaks down as you bite into it.  A delightful brunch pastry/appetizer Waterbar has to offer.  

Right:  Hama Oysters from Seattle.  Before I NEVER liked oysters.  The smell of it; repulsive.  The texture, too raw.  The taste, too fishy.  But Waterbar has completely changed my perspective on these seafood delights.  Perhaps it's because they were fresh and small, but they were delicious, unlike the various times I've had them before.  Waterbar's $1 per oyster deal is too good to pass.  So if you ever get the chance, get some.  Especially the Hama Oysters.

Left:  Grilled Calamari Fried Rice.  Not my cup of tea, but thankfully I didn't order this for myself.  It's basically an American-style fried rice with a char-grilled squid on top.  I have nothing against squid.  It's not exotic to me since Korean's eat it all the time, but it was just too smoky and the fried rice seemed a bit too bland for my taste.  It just didn't work very well in my opinion.

Right:  Salmon Tartare.  My culinary vocabulary is not up to date.  The rookie mistake I made was not knowing what the word "tartare" meant.  I ordered this dish thinking that the salmon would be cooked, but it was a surprise when it wasn't.  Oh, Lina.  Good thing I like raw fish, especially salmon.  It wasn't necessarily like eating sushi though; more like ceviche.  The lime "cooks" the raw salmon and brings out a new taste on raw salmon.  I liked it.

Out on the patio of the Waterbar.  Such a magnificent view.

<3 Lina Chen

399 The Embarcadero, San Francisco, CA 94105
415.284.9922.   www.waterbarsf.com 

Brunch @ Sweet Maple

Today I decided to go to Burma, a restaurant that served Burmese dishes, recommended by my good friend Kelsey.  Unfortunately, I accidentally typed in the wrong address on my GPS (good job Lina) and ended up at Sweet Maple (another restaurant Kelsey recommended) instead.  I decided to stick around since 1.  driving around downtown San Francisco is a nightmare, 2.  finding a parking spot is difficult, and 3.  I already paid for parking.

Why I wasn't too excited for Sweet Maple:

Breakfast foods do me no good.  Honestly, breakfast isn't my thing.  Even though it's the most important meal of the day, I usually skip it.  I don't like eggs because they get me a bit on the gassy side.  I'm not lactose intolerant but I might as well be if I can't handle a glass of milk (unless if it's complimented with dessert).  French toast and pancakes can be too sweet and bacon...well bacon is probably my favorite breakfast foods, but even then it's a little greasy to start the day.

HOWEVER, I'm glad I decided to try this place out.  I ordered the Norwegian Eggs Benedict which consisted of smoked salmon sandwiched between an English muffin and a poached egg smothered in their specialty Hollandaise sauce.  The salmon was nicely complimented with capers and spinach.  Every ingredient used in this dish tasted unbelievably good especially since I'm not a breakfast lover.  The spinach was a little slimy, but, you soon forget about that ooey-gooey feeling after taking a bite.

The dish came along with a medley of roasted potatoes.  For me, the crispier the potatoes, the better.  Unfortunately, some of the chunks on my plate were big and tasted a bit mushy and uncooked.  The smaller pieces had more flavor too since the seasoning complimented the potatoes and not the other way around; which I wasn't a big fan of.

When the dish itself came out, it was nicely presented so I give this place an B+ for taste, A for presentation, and a B+ for the atmosphere.  It's a lovely place for brunch and/or take time to enjoy the day by yourself.

<3 Lina Chen

2101 Sutter Street, San Francisco, CA 94115

415.655.9169.   www.sweetmaplesf.com