Crispy fried fish skin is a common snack/accompaniment in Hong Kong. It's often found in wonton noodle or fish ball noodle shops (where the fried fish skins are a way to use up every part of the fish). I didn't think I would like it until I tried it. I wanted to know if anyone has been to a place in the Bay Area that serves or sells it.

I know of two sources and both aren't satisfactory when it comes to quantity or quality. At Koi Palace if you get their hot pot dinner, they give you a couple pieces of fried fish skin but they are TINY and like I said, you only get a couple pieces. I've also seen packaged fried fish skin (in clear plastic tubes, almost like tennis ball tubes but wider) sold in some Asian markets but to me it's kind of like packaged popcorn. All the elements are there, but the lack of freshness leaves a lot to be desired.

Believe me, I know we're limiting our choices A LOT by imposing this budget, especially coming from San Francisco.

Quartino and Cafe Iberico sound good. From what I can see on the website and on yelp, around $30 might actually be enough for a substantial dinner? I think tapas and small plates might be a good choice for us. Thanks!

-----
Cafe Iberico
737 N Lasalle Drive, Chicago, IL 60654

Quartino
626 N. State Street, Chicago, IL 60654

Thanks for all the suggestions!
Belly Shack sounds good!
Also Thai, like Mediterranean, is always good for good cheap eats, so thanks for those suggestions too!

Thank you! I've been reading a lot of your other posts as well.

I didn't include deep dish because it's not our first time to the Chicago area, just our first time in the city proper and without family/relatives. We've had Lou Malnati's and Uno. I think we may end up eating deep dish at least once.

Mundial Cocina Mestiza definitely looks interesting. Dinner may be stretching our budget a little but lunch is definitely doable. This is exactly the type of restaurant we're looking for.

Also, thanks for the heads up about Sundays, totally makes sense, just didn't think of it.

-----
Mundial Cocina Mestiza
1640 W 18th St, Chicago, IL 60608

My cousin and I are staying in The Loop from Saturday to Monday, the weekend of Lolla. Not going to the concerts but being the recent college grad/grad students that we are, we have to stay on a budget nonetheless. But we're adventurous foodies and looking for good food!

Our budget being around $10/person for lunch, around $15/person for dinner. We are giving in and splurging on a meal or dessert/drinks at the Signature Room or Lounge, just for the view.

In The Loop is great, but if it's outside and easily accessible by train (and in an area also worth exploring), that's awesome too.

We're open to any kind of cuisine but probably not Chinese, as we're Chinese and would be extremely picky with Chinese food. We're really looking for really good, unique, or can't miss food. As a reference, I'm coming from San Francisco and my cousin spends her time travelling the world (most recently France and Tunisia.) So really, we're open for trying anything.

These are the places I've found so far, input on any "musts" or "skips" is welcome. I feel like much of my list is more lunch stuff (and a lot of Mediterranean), so dinner stops are much appreciated.

Taza
Cafecito
Johnny's Grill
Big & Littles
Harold's Chicken Shack
Perry's Deli
FliP Crepes
Pastoral Artisan Cheese
Protein Bar
Mediterranean Grill
Avanti Caffe Inc
Pierogi Heaven
Oasis Cafe
Roti Mediterranean Grill
Benjyehuda

That sucks. Do keep us posted, I'm interested to see what you find/end up doing...for future reference. :)

Prices and menu toward the bottom of the page.
http://www.zenpeninsula.com/catering.htm

All wonderful suggestions. Sadly, she was never a pork person...so Boccalone is out. She's also had 4505 Chicharones before but was indifferent towards them (crazy, I know.)

In-n-out is just a random California craving and Anchor Steam because she likes beer. haha
Maybe hipster and funky aren't really the right words...I guess just less olive oil/truffle salt set?

I guess with this post, I was looking for things outside the jams and bread, even though those are lovely suggestions too.

-----
Boccalone Factory - Not Open to Public
1924 International Blvd, Oakland, CA 94606

I'm looking for gifts for a friend from the Indiana. She's in her early 20's and has traveled all over the world. She has been to SF many times. I'm going to visit her after she comes from from a year in Tunisia.

She wants me to bring her an In-N-Out burger, which I have done before...but of course, it's not exactly at it's prime after a 5 hr flight. So she'd be satisfied with a few packets of the sauce. haha But I'd like to bring her some unique items. She enjoys food but enjoys more funky and hipster than fancy.

I know she'd love a bottle of Anchor Steam but anyone know how well (or not) it would travel in checked luggage?

My friend was able to find it for around $110 HKD on Shanghai St. It is a small one, around the size of a ping pong paddle, with 14 wells. I think this size will work well for my gas stove at home.

Shanghai Dumpling Shop on Broadway is a good place for Shanghai soup dumplings and Shanghai cuisine in general. The "red oil wontons" are also very good.
This restaurant has the same Chinese name as Shanghai Dumpling King on Balboa in SF, which has it's own little cult following. We've asked the workers at the SF shop and though they're not owned by the same people, the chefs were apparently trained under the same "master."

-----
Shanghai Dumpling Shop
455 Broadway, Millbrae, CA 94030

Shanghai Dumpling King
3319 Balboa St, San Francisco, CA 94121

$12 USD sounds about right. I have friends that got them from friends that went to Hong Kong that got them for $100 HKD.

That's perfect! Thank you so much! I had seen that Shanghai Street was a good place to check but didn't know if they had it for sure. Thank you for confirming it and giving me a price point too.
I was willing to pay up to $200 HKD since that's still half the price of what it is here!

Thanks so much! My uncle managed to find one awhile ago and he doesn't remember where to find it, just that there's one street where he was able to find it. Shanghai St may be the street!

And oh how I WISH there was a good place. I found this thread:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/742526

The food stand at the Cherry Blossom Festival in Japantown in SF is the only freshly made one I've seen. I often curb by cravings with bags of frozen ones from Japanese markets, sadly.

I don't think so. You need to be able to flip it like a Belgian waffle to get that light, eggy inside. Although, I have an aebleskiver pan and I could try and see if I can get close...

Thanks for the input!
I found out that my uncle actually has one that was given to him by my other uncle but he has a glass cooktop stove and cannot use his pan! I'm trying to find out where in HK, he found it. Apparently, there's one specific place to find them in HK! I'll post if and when I find something.
If I end up not finding anything, I may ask for the WS one as a birthday or Christmas present! hahaha

I go to Kamei on a pretty regular basis and I haven't seen it. Haven't been to Forest...

I have friends going back to Hong Kong and I was wondering if anyone knew where to buy such a pan in Hong Kong. A store here in the US is selling them for $50 USD, which, in my opinion, is a lot of money.

My parents are from HK and I was born in the US but I go back regularly. The 雞蛋仔 here cannot even begin to compare to the best I've had in Hong Kong (in North Point). I'd love to be able to make them myself.

Thanks!

I know that Williams Sonoma has been selling these pans, but they're $50 and that's quite a chuck of change.

Has anyone seen such pans sold anywhere else? Like Chinese kitchen stores etc? I also have friends going to Hong Kong, any Hong Kongers know where to find them over there?

(Copied and pasted from my original post; I thought it'd be best if I updated both of them) :)
This is what I ended up doing. Breakfast in SB didn't happen I ended up not making very many stops for one reason or another but I had a lot of very good food.
For lunch, I stopped at Zookers in Carpinteria. It's not too far off the freeway and the service was great. I had an heirloom tomato grilled cheese with goat cheese and smoked mozzarella, which was a special that day. It came with ceasar salad, blue corn tortilla chips, and pita chips. It was a little pricey for $12 but it was made perfectly and the different cheese married perfectly with the tomatoes. I thought it was worth it for a perfectly executed sandwich. Also, I sat outside and it was just beautiful. Most of their other food is very reasonably priced.
My next stop was Doc Burnstein's Ice Cream lab in Arroyo Grande based on a toodie jane's recommendation. I had the motor oil ice cream, which was dark chocolate and kahlua ice cream with fudge. Very good. It's a very cute looking place. They have lots of special events too. Later that night there was going to be all you can eat ice cream. $5 per person for a a group of predetermined flavors.
I stopped at Pismo Beach, not really to eat, but I stopped at the Hotlix store to look around and ended up getting a few things. (nothing with bugs though)
My final stop was for dinner. I stopped at Salinas City BBQ in Salinas. Now this was a little ways off the freeway, in a very unassuming part of town. But I was pleasantly surprised. I had the tri tip dinner which came with 1/3 lb of tri tip, 2 sides, and garlic bread. It was only $9.95. It was really good. The sides were good. The meat was deliciously tender and smoky. I know there were a lot of other opportunities for good BBQ along the way but my schedule just didn't allow me to eat at those places. But Salinas City BBQ was so good, even though it's a little far off the freeway.

-----
Zookers Restaurant
5404 Carpinteria Ave, Carpinteria, CA 93013

I ended up not making very many stops for one reason or another but I had a lot of very good food.
For lunch, I stopped at Zookers in Carpinteria. It's not too far off the freeway and the service was great. I had an heirloom tomato grilled cheese with goat cheese and smoked mozzarella, which was a special that day. It came with ceasar salad, blue corn tortilla chips, and pita chips. It was a little pricey for $12 but it was made perfectly and the different cheese married perfectly with the tomatoes. I thought it was worth it for a perfectly executed sandwich. Also, I sat outside and it was just beautiful. Most of their other food is very reasonably priced.
My next stop was Doc Burnstein's Ice Cream lab in Arroyo Grande based on a toodie jane's recommendation. I had the motor oil ice cream, which was dark chocolate and kahlua ice cream with fudge. Very good. It's a very cute looking place. They have lots of special events too. Later that night there was going to be all you can eat ice cream. $5 per person for a a group of predetermined flavors.
I stopped at Pismo Beach, not really to eat, but I stopped at the Hotlix store to look around and ended up getting a few things. (nothing with bugs though)
My final stop was for dinner. I stopped at Salinas City BBQ in Salinas. Now this was a little ways off the freeway, in a very unassuming part of town. But I was pleasantly surprised. I had the tri tip dinner which came with 1/3 lb of tri tip, 2 sides, and garlic bread. It was only $9.95. It was really good. The sides were good. The meat was deliciously tender and smoky. I know there were a lot of other opportunities for good BBQ along the way but my schedule just didn't allow me to eat at those places. But Salinas City BBQ was so good, even though it's a little far off the freeway.

-----
Zookers Restaurant
5404 Carpinteria Ave, Carpinteria, CA 93013

I had a similar post previously with little to no helpful information on my part, my bad. So after doing a little research, this is what I've come up with.

I'm obviously not going to all of them.
I'm also looking for more funky coffee shops to stop at, that's just a random thing I like to do.
Any input would be great!!

Basics about me...I will be traveling alone. I'm a major foodie college student. Don't want to spend TOO much money but I'm willing to splurge if it's worth it. Not a picky eater, love to try new things. I love places that are local, quirky, and/or unique.

I'll be having breakfast in Santa Barbara for breakfast. My other stops will probably depend on my mood. I'm thinking Salinas BBQ (or something in that area, or Gilroy) will be my dinner stop.

Carpinteria:
Zookers Cafe and Juice Bar
The Worker Bee Cafe
Garden Market

Summerland:
Summerland Beach Cafe

Los Alamos:
Full of Life Flatbread
The General Store

Arroyo Grande:
Doc Burnstein's Ice Cream Lab
Alphy's Broiler

Pismo Beach:
Splash Cafe
Old West Cinnamon Rolls

SLO:
Jaffa Cafe
Sally Loo's Wholesome Cafe
Kreuzberg CA

Atascadero:
Hush Harbor Artisan Bakery

Salinas:
Salinas City BBQ

Also, recs for stops with nice downtown-y areas that are nice to walk around in? I've heard SLO and Paso Robles, any others?

Thanks!

-----
Alphy's Broiler
130 W Branch St, Arroyo Grande, CA 93420

The Worker Bee Cafe
973 Linden Ave, Carpinteria, CA 93013

Zookers Restaurant
5404 Carpinteria Ave, Carpinteria, CA 93013

Summerland Beach Cafe
2294 Lillie Ave, Summerland, CA 93067

I'm so glad you enjoyed it! :) My friends and I all crave Little Lucca during the semester when we're away for school!

-----
Little Lucca
724 El Camino Real, South San Francisco, CA 94080

No problem, from what I remember, if you're taking the bus, it stops right by it. No matter what you get...garlic sauce, pepper sauce, plus dutch crunch bread are all musts! :)

And I've also heard from friends that the Chinese restaurant right next to it (shares a parking lot with Little Lucca), New Mandarin Garden, has good beef noodle soup. That's all they go there for.

Thank you x100000! hahaha I haven't driven 101 before, I figured it'd more fun to go up 101 than 5 since I'm going alone.
I'll likely be looking for lunch, dinner, and snack stops. Bay Area leg of the trip is no biggie, since that's home.
You've given me some great ideas. And I'll definitely do some more digging. Thanks again!

I guess I wasn't sure which towns to stop in either. Thanks, I'll do some more searching.

For your lunch near Golden Gate Park, Q Restaurant on Clement St is really good. I've heard good things about their brunch but have only been there during dinner. Oh, and a simple search will let you know that Guy Fieri has been there on Diners, Drive-In's, and Dives. Please disregard that. haha. It's none of those. It's just a cool place with great food. If you're not too stuffed, I'd also recommend Schubert's Bakery on Clement as well.

-----
Schubert's Bakery
521 Clement St, San Francisco, CA 94118

Little Lucca is a local FAVE for sandwiches, although the line can get long during lunch time. After seeing the menu once, you could just call in the order and pick it up. Warning: it is a little messy.

-----
Little Lucca
724 El Camino Real, South San Francisco, CA 94080

I know there are posts like this all the time, but I didn't seem to find exactly what I was looking for so I thought I'd try starting a thread. (Links to helpful threads would also be greatly appreciated)

I'm driving up from LA back up to SF (home) on a weekday on 101. Trying to get back within a day (no hotels) but not in that much of a hurry. I'd love suggestions on places to stop for food and/or food finds. (or actually good places to stop in general...)

Major foodie with no real dislikes. I will be travelling alone though, so nice restaurants/bars aren't really the kind of thing I'm looking for.

Thanks in advance!