SF Travelog: Dinner at The Old Clam House + Bags!

The Old Clam House is a wonderful gem in the City by the Bay. I can’t sing enough praises about this place because 1. I already love seafood to begin with, 2. The food they served was excellent!!

The restaurant is like an old friend to the locals in the City (kinda like the bar, Cheers :D)– after all, The Old Clam House has been serving patrons since 1861! Can you believe it, they’ve been operating for that long already? Well, they have and for good reason!

When we got there, the whole place was packed. This restaurant gets to “standing” room only especially when there are football/ baseball games. Thank goodness, we got good seats with our family friends LC+JC and their lovely children J&H 🙂

As I’ve iterated above, I love seafood, and I intended to eat a whole lot at this hangout. So without further ado, let me delve right into the food we ordered! (I am holding off my diet again, thanks to this meal haha)

Fried calamari– This dish would be perfect with an alcoholic beverage (beer preferred), but drat, I’m driving so I can’t take alcohol *boohoo* 🙁

Steamed clams in broth– Oh My Gawd. Ok, first off, those clams are HUGE. And second, they are by far the best steamed clams I’ve ever had (and I’ve had plenty). The broth was very flavorful and the clams were very tender. One might be inclined to think the clam flesh would be tough to chew, but these were so tender. I give this dish two thumbs up (and if you have not tried this dish at this restaurant while you’re in the Bay Area, you are MISSING OUT!!!)

DM ordered the Shrimp Scampi pasta which she said was really, really good. (haha, she didn’t even offer me a bite! Pffft :D)

JC ordered the fried catfish with rice (ok, I don’t remember the exact name of the dish, but isn’t that just visually appetizing?)

DB is a perennial vongole lover, and this white sauced vongole pasta really did it for him. I was sorta regretting not ordering the vongole, but I braced myself for the dish I ordered, because I got the House Specialty 🙂 *and the biggest dish hahaha*

And my order was called the Mescalanza! Holy COW!! The plating is remarkable. Check out the “flame” on my dish 🙂 The “votive” used was a mussel shell *high marks for creativity!!!* I have skewered prawns with veggies (on the barbie!), mussels, clams, and oysters in that special cream sauce (laced with rhum I think– I could’ve gulped the sauce… it was sooo tasty!!). And oh, my bit of carb for the night– corn on the cob 🙂 My dish might look small in the photo (again, my photos don’t do the dish any justice), but the actual dish was HUGE!!!

*Burp* So I finished EVERYTHING on my plate *rubs belly*. I was one happy camper for the evening. This restaurant will now be a family tradition (and I join the thousands of others who come to this place for the food, drinks, and the fast+friendly service). Last I heard, Rick and Kathy Hilton ( the pretty parents of Paris Hilton ) came into San Francisco for a few days, and had asked their hotel concierge to book them at this restaurant for dinner. True to their high society form, they pulled up in a limo and dined at The Old Clam House!

Hags and food lovers, if you come to San Francisco, this is one restaurant you should NOT miss. The Old Clam House is located at 299 Bayshore Boulevard, San Francisco CA 94124. For reservations/ directions, call (415) 826-4880; fax (415) 826-1689.

Two Thumbs Up!!

Hope you hags enjoyed the food photos tonight! We’ve been sorta hanging in the house lately because DB still has jetlag 🙂 Now here’s a little bag report (I’ve not been bag blogging, so let me do a bit of that now)
Neiman Marcus now stocks the new YSL Anais Tote in Patent leather. Priced at US$945, this large tote measures 13″ x 16″! These belted or cinched totes are very chic, giving the bag that nice shape (figure!). This bag reminds me of the Banana Republic Sandhurst tote, which is becoming very popular by the way (and is a lot cheaper)! I think the reason why this style is popular is its ability to remain a classic design, and as such, will transcend trends and look timeless.

I also saw the Chloe Tracy bag (saw the Tracy tote in a nice shade of blue too!). It’s quite heavy (and I don’t know why this is so), but it’s really a functional bag. I really like bags with outer pockets, so this Tracy bag isn’t so bad. But the one setback for me is, I don’t like bags that look too chunky, and this one seems to border on chunky. Priced at US$1,575.

Net-a-porter has the Chloe Betty in small size. This is the bag I am highly recommending. I succumbed and bought this exact style in blue back at Intermix in Vegas. I’ve been so incredibly happy with the bag. Priced at £721.70, the bag even has a little detachable coin purse included. It’s such a happy bag 🙂

Ok that’s all for tonight. I have to get some shuteye!! 🙂 Til tomorrow hags!

xo