Vegan in San Francisco (Day One & Two)

I've been in California for only a little over two days now and I've already eaten so much food that I think I should start this saga sooner rather than later so as not to get too far behind. This trip comes at a perfect time because I haven't been much in the mood for cooking lately... But for some reason, eating at awesome vegan restaurants seems to be something I can handle right now.

so... Day One

Naturally, we had ice cream for breakfast at Bi-Rite. Appreciating the Morrissey reference, we opted for the "Everyday is Like Sundae" (Chocolate Coconut Ice Cream with Blueberry Compote, and Newman O's). If you get there later in the day, expect to see a line out the door. It was pretty empty when we went, but it was breakfast time soooo........

Then we lunched at Cha-Ya, a vegetarian Japanese restaurant. Being a big sushi enthusiast, this was kind of a dream come true for me. But ultimately, while the agedashi tofu was awesome and I appreciated all the creativity put into their menu, it definitely wasn't the best sushi I've ever had.

Agedashi Tofu with grated daikon and ginger

Vegan Roll

Green Seaweed Roll

Portobello Nigiri Sushi

Cha-ya Roll

Sushi drunk

Then we walked around the Golden Gate Park and had tea at the Japanese Tea Garden. We had two cups of my favorite tea, Genmaicha. It's a green tea with puffed brown rice.

The gardens are really beautiful and worth a visit.

For dinner we ate at Underdog. It's an organic sausage joint with a nice selection of vegan dogs, INCLUDING homemade hot sauces, sauerkraut, and potato salad. We opted for the spicy chipotle dog, red pepper dog, and tater tots. This is one of my favorite spots thus far.

DAY 2

We started at the Ferry Plaza Farmer's Market for Pepple's Doughnuts. I'm not normally a huge fan of cake doughnuts but these were surprisingly light and airy. I loved em. My picks were Matcha Green Tea, Coffee, and Vanilla Glaze:

We washed our doughnuts down with a sweet corn and roasted chile tamale from Donna's Tamales.

The farmer's market offers excellent views of the bay bridge...

AND some of craziest mushrooms I've ever seen.

For lunch we walked to Weird Fish and had a basket of vegan fish n' chips (with vegan tartar sauce and chipotle dressing).

This is a completely candid picture of Lindsey shot after her first bite>>> Proof it was unbelievably delicious.

And finally.... dinner at Gracias Madre. We had sweet potato quesadillas with caramelized onions, nacho cheese, pumpkin seeds, and a cream sauce.

Followed up with greens dressed in chipotle dressing, almonds, roasted peaches, and queso blanco toasts. Everything tasted super fresh.

Phew! that's it for now. I'll check back soon.