Day 3: Part 3

After our adventures on the Marin county coast we were pretty famished. We decided on Chef Jia's after mulling over options in the guidebook. Our San Francisco food experience was overall a great one, and this was a fine example of an excellent meal. I ordered a bowl of hot & sour soup to start which turned out to be huge so Kate and I shared it. Kate enjoyed it despite the presence of prawns in it. (I got to eat all of the prawns which was a major score). This soup was awesome, easily the best hot & sour soup I've ever had. It had the mushrooms, tofu, and bamboo slices you come to expect in hot & sour soup, however the broth was much lighter compared to what we are used to on the East coast. I had Kung Pao prawns for the main course (yes more prawns), and Kate had cashew chicken. The food was hot and fresh and it hit the spot.

Kate directed us on a extensive tour of Chinatown, and my pictures don't do it justice. It is colorful, busy and, really just sort of exciting. This is more than I can say for NYC's Chinatown which is largely a haven for con artists and knock off merchandise vendors. I'm not saying they weren't in San Francisco's Chinatown, of course they were, but where in NYC they define the neighborhood, here they only accent it. The buildings and decorations are generally more attractive here. There are a couple of parks, and some great little alleys that are supposed to (according to our guidebook) show a glimpse of the residential area of Chinatown. Flushing Queens may be a more "real" Chinese American community, but Chinatown San Francisco for lack of a better term, is fun.

After Chinatown we walked by the Transamerica pyramid building. There is a redwood grove adjacent to the building that serves as a private park for the employees which the guidebook made note of.
We walked quickly through North Beach after visiting Chinatown. Along the way we saw Jack Kerouac Alley, See this link for more images, Washington Square, and Saint Peter and Paul Church, pictured below.
Afterwards we headed back into Chinatown to pick up a bus back towards the hotel. Another fulfilling day in the city by the Bay.