On the Road Eats: San Francisco

Though it's hard to shun dim sum when in Chinatown on a weekend, congee (Chinese rice porridge) is a good alternative. And Hing Lung specializes in it. My dining companion and I ordered two bowls — one with pork and preserved egg and the other with salted pork bone — along with a Chinese fried doughnut. Two bowls was too much and we could have done with just one. But they were both delicious and the doughnut tasted fresh — a crisp crust with a chewy, doughy inside.

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I had my first burger from In-N-Out Burger from a branch in Fisherman's Wharf. It was good, but I'll go ahead and admit that it didn't surpass Shake Shack for me. Though the cold lettuce and tomato that the chain is known for using was refreshing, the patty was much thinner and the meat wasn't as well seasoned. But it was under $3!

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I don't associate San Francisco much with pizza, but when it comes to eating pizza there, the most famous seemed to be Tony's Pizza Napoletana. (The owners recently decided to enter the competitive New York pizza market with a placed called 900 Degrees.) Even when we arrived for a very early dinner there was a line forming out the door.

There are several different styles of pizza offered, but the waitress kindly explained the differences and offered her recommendations on some of them. We went with the Napoletana Margherita pizza. It was similar to pizza you might find at places in New York like Grimaldi's or Motorino. While it was good, it seemed pretty standard and wasn't better than any of the pizza I've had in New York.

The Caesar salad was nice and light with several large slices of good Parmesan.

And the affogato — espresso poured over vanilla ice cream — was a good, classic end to the meal.