Today’s sightseeing was a bit of a nightmare, it involved getting incredibly lost, thankfully this was more than compensated for by the quality of the food.

Breakfast – Sweet Maple

Eggs benedict are incredibly popular in San Francisco, with umpteen variations offered by restaurants. On my host’s recommendation I ventured past Japantown to Sweet Maple. The friendly staff had me seated in seconds and I ordered their signature dish – dungeness benedict with a side of millionaire bacon. Dungeness benedict is essentially a scone, with wilted spinach, crab meat and a poached egg, drizzled with hollandaise and served with fried root vegetables. Millionaires bacon is an ultra thick slice of belly pork, cured and marinated in a spicy maple syrup before being fried and dipped in yet more maple syrup. Both were gorgeous. Sweet Maple is almost as good as ‘Mama’s on Washington Sqaure’ but without the ridiculous queue!

Lunch – Blue Barn Gourmet

Highly rated in the Lonely Planet, blue barn gourmet is situated down in the marina district. It specialises in organic salads and sandwiches. Their most popular special is their Cobber salad. Lettuce, tomato, croutons, chicken, bacon, avocado and egg. The dressing is a house special ranch. As a salad, it’s perfectly nice, but it’s just that – nice. The ingredients are great but it doesn’t do anything particularly inventive or exciting with them.

Dinner – Harris

America is synonymous with steak. Finding the ‘best’ steak restaurant in San Francisco proved a real challenge, with lots of conflicting opinions. I finally settled on ‘Harris’.

They offer a 21-day dry-aged steak in a sophisticate, but relaxed environs. Modelled on a stereotypical view of a London members club, it’s all dark oak and comfy armchairs. A pianist plays in the corner while the barman rustles up a stunning martini.

Ever wondered how to keep your Martini cold enough without diluting it with too much ice? Harris chill all the ingredients, quickly shake over ice in a chilled container before straining into a small carafe which is placed into a miniature barrel of ice, ready to pour as needed. Yum.

The steak itself was enormous, I went with a bone-in rib-eye, and it must have weighed upwards of 20oz. The plate is vast.

I asked for rare it it definitely came medium, but it was so good I couldn’t really complain. I’m writing a longer post soon about beef/steaks in general so the detail of what I thought will be there. But overall it was a great experience which I would heartily recommend to anyone visiting San Francisco.

Having finally made it back to San Francisco (via an unscheduled recharge in Sausalito) we set off in search of a light mobile lunch. The local store is Whole Foods. I admit that I have never ventured into their London store, but after having visited here I certainly will. Any shop that lets you make your own peanut butter, sells more flours than you can shake a baguette at and has every kind of Valrhona couverture available by weight is definitely worth a trip!

The evenings sustenance came courtesy of ‘Scoma’, one of San Francisco’s oldest restaurants and a waypoint on the tourist trail. Almost completely unchanged since the 1950’s, haute cuisine it is not. Compared with ‘The Girl and the Fig’ it offers a fascinating insight into where American cuisine has come from, and where it’s going.

Scoma sells seafood, the menu groans under the weight of fish, shellfish and every combination possible. To start I shared their platter, a mix of oysters, clams, prawns and crabs. All were fresh and delicious. The main was a fried mix of halibut, scallops and shrimp, served with a frankly odd side of pasta, rice and steamed veg.

Monday brought with it the chance to branch out on my own while my flat mate headed off to work – following the Lonely Planet, reinforced by his recommendation, I went for breakfast at ‘Brenda’s Soulfood’. On arrival the queue was reassuringly large but I was quickly seated by the friendly staff and the house special ordered. The ‘Hangtown Fry’ consists of an oyster/bacon/scallion omelette, grits and ‘biscuit’ (American for scone). It was incredible – oysters work superbly in an omelette and the biscuit/grits ensure you’ll have enough stodge to make it through the day.

Part way through a fantastic walk round three of San Francisco’s many hills I ducked into ‘Molinari’s’ to pick up lunch. It’s exactly what you think an Italian deli should be, family run, busy, loud and brash. The ‘luciano special’ sandwich was stunning, piles of Parma ham, buffalo mozzarella, sun dried tomatoes and lettuce all with a special sauce inside a fresh focaccia, then lightly toasted. It did not last long.

I cooked dinner for my flatmate, a simple steak with salad and potatoes, but it did give me a chance to sample the best beef available to the average consumer in America. I’m partway through writing up a post on beef in general so I’ll hold off on that. Whole Foods also provided a stunning bottle of wine, Duckhorn’s Duck Hunt Zinfandel. I’ve sampled this before at ‘Marcus Wareing at the Berkley’, but at almost four times the price. It’s a great little drink and a perfect example of how refined a Zinfandel can be.