Traveling with the Jones

Since traveling to Asia multiple times during the last five or so years, we have developed a love of dim sum.

There’s something wonderful about those baskets of freshly-steamed dumplings, whether in Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, or in the Hong Kong airport, where we always make a beeline to Pak Loh Chiu Chow Restaurant in Terminal 1.

We first embraced dim sum, however, when we lived in San Francisco, at the James Beard award-winning Yank Sing.

During our mid-May visit, we wanted to try a different place, and searched Yelp for recommendations for dim sum in San Francisco’s Chinatown.

Our search led us to the Great Eastern Restaurant at 649 Jackson Street in Chinatown.

Yelp reviews were mixed, but we were intrigued by the fact that President Obama had dim sum at this establishment when he was in San Francisco a few years ago.

Plastic laminated picture menus are usually a strong signal that a restaurant is not going to be great.  Plus, there was about a 20-plus minute wait in a crowded entryway to get a table on a Saturday morning.

But we stuck with our decision, and finally got a table on the lower level of the restaurant.

We sipped on the tea as we studied the menu and made our selections. Unlike many dim sum restaurants, the offerings do not come by on a push cart for you to choose what you want. You order from the menu.

Something many Yelpers complained about is noted at the top of the menu: tea and water costs $1 per person. The pot of tea is terrific, and a $1 per person is quite reasonable.

The menu also warns that there is a $20 minimum charge to use a credit card.

We ordered six different items, heavy on shrimp. All cost $4.50 per steamer basket.

This was the steamed Shanghai Pork Dumpling.  Or, perhaps it was the Mushroom, Pork & Shrimp Dumpling. Whichever it was, it was seriously Yum!

Three of our favorite dumplings were very similar in appearance. This might have been the shrimp and spinach dumpling, or the Cilantro shrimp dumpling, or the Snow Pea Sprouts & Shrimp dumpling.

If you like shrimp and fresh vegetables steamed in a light dough wrapper, you will love all of these.

As soon the steamer baskets arrived at our table, we consumed them. Even though it took a little longer, we liked the idea of getting what we wanted cooked to order, rather than choosing off of a push cart.

While the decor was dated and the service was brusque, the dim sum was delicious, and extremely reasonable compared to Yank Sing.

Where’s your favorite spot for dim sum? We’d love to hear your recommendations; please share in comments below. 

Check out these other posts on food finds during our travels:

• A Taste of Tokyo at Shinjuku Station in Fort Worth, Texas
• Eating Our Way Through San Telmo With Buenos Aires Food Tours
• Exploring the Cuban Coffee and Food Culture in Key West, Florida
• The Master Chef’s Table on Holland America’s Nieuw Amsterdam
• Dining at Ristorante Guido in Rimini, Italy

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Experiencing two world-class cocktail bars was one of the biggest fun surprises of our late-May visit to Antwerp, Belgium.
On a Saturday evening when we had just arrived in Antwerp, we set out for a quick walk around the historic old town.

We came upon this subtle sign, and Mr. Jones remembered reading somewhere about this being a good bar.  The doorway led down a long entryway to an older building. Once we entered, we were in a contemporary, relaxing-looking bar.  We took seats up at the bar.

We  noticed that while the bar area was relatively small, three different bartenders we. There was also a large selection of alcohol and many, many different ingredients at the bar.  After choosing our cocktails, we sat back and watched the preparation.

The bartenders at Cocktails at 9 don’t mix drinks.

They craft them.

Slowly. One by one.

Mr. Jones’ gin martini was stirred, very carefully, to chill the drink without watering it down.

My cocktail was one of the bars signature drinks – with Aviation in the name. The bartender carefully measured and mixed all of the different ingredients.

The drink was tasty and delicious.

We appreciated the smoke-free bar, which we noticed attracted a wide range of clientele — from groups of young women in their 20’s to couples that were in their 60’s or 70’s. Even with the three bartenders, the careful handcrafting of the cocktails meant they took a while to complete (especially after 10 pm on a Saturday night as the bar filled up completely.)

The wait is worthwhile. The cocktails are unexpected, and delicious. The vibe is relaxed and fun. Everyone sips their drinks as if to savor every drop.

We would have returned on other nights during our stay, but Cocktails at 9 is only open Wednesday through Sunday nights.

During our Sunday night walk-around the historic section of Antwerp, we were drawn to this street with the heart-shaped lights.

Down this street, we discovered Dogma, another cocktail bar.

On a Sunday night, there was only one bartender working at Dogma.  He was working like crazy – always in motion.

Once again, we sat at the bar, where the metal seats resemble old-fashioned tractor seats.

The menus at Dogma are hand-written and illustrated books. Drinks are divided by category; for example, “Elegant” drinks are grouped together.

Once I saw this “Nearly an Original Cosmo” drink, I had to try it.

The gin-raspberry-basil-lemon concoction was tasty, without the sickly-sweetness of many cosmos.

Another lemony gin drink was served in a glass jar, with the lid.

Dogma offers many surprises. As we left the bar, we recognized our bartender from Cocktails at 9. (It turned out his brother was the bartender that night at Dogma.)

Have you been to a terrific cocktail bar lately? Please share the details in comments below. 

If you enjoy cocktails, check out these posts:

• Smoking Martinis, Hearty Food and Fun Vibe at 300 First in Rochester, Minnesota
• Martini Madness Onboard Holland America’s ms Veendam
• Destination Discovery: The Cruise Room in Denver, Colorado
• Our Favorite Drinks from Around the World
• An Update on the Signature Beverage Package on Holland America Cruises

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When we visited San Francisco for a weekend in mid-May, we decided to try something new. We love walking tours, but we’d never been on one in San Francisco, which was previously our home city for more than five years.

There are more than 90 different San Francisco City Guides walking tours, which are led by local volunteers who love the City, its history, lore and legends. The tours are free but are supported mainly by participants’ donations.

To join a walk, you just check out the current tour schedule, pick the one that interests you, and show up at the appointed time and place.

We chose the 1850’s San Francisco: Paris Of The Pacific tour, mostly because it best fit our schedule and location in the city during our brief weekend visit.

At 1:30 pm on a Saturday afternoon, we met the volunteer guide and other tour participants at the corner of Clay and Montgomery under the shadow of the Transamerica Pyramid.

West of the spot we were standing near Transamerica Pyramid had been the water of the San Francisco Bay in the early 1840’s. This was to change.

On January 24, 1848, James Wilson Marshall discovered gold in the American River at the base of the Sierra Nevada Mountains near Coloma, California, kicking off the California Gold Rush. Before long, waves of immigrants from around the world, later called the “forty-niners,” invaded the Gold Country of California or “Mother Lode”.

The rush to find gold changed San Francisco forever, as the city population grew from 1,000 residents in January, 1848, to more than 2,500 residents by December 1849. The rapid growth continued through the 1850s and under the influence of the 1859 Comstock Lode silver discovery. Miners extracted more than 750,000 pounds of gold during the California Gold Rush.

San Francisco was the arrival place for those heading to the gold fields, and a wave of French Parisians arrived to set up shops to supply those working the gold fields.

This walking tour traces some of the places in San Francisco that grew in the 1850’s under the influence of the newly arriving French Parisians, who brought their taste for the finer things of life.

This French connection helped San Francisco to blossom almost overnight from the mud of Yerba Buena Cove into a sophisticated, cosmopolitan city.

Our walk covered the locations in the Financial District, in Chinatown, and then we walked toward Union Square. A stop at the French Catholic Notre Dame des Victoires Church was included on our walk.

As we walked up Bush Street, we passed by the Le Central French bistro, a hang-out for some of San Francisco’s prominent politicians.

Our tour ended at Union Square under the Dewey Monument, while our guide continued to share of more French connections to the city of San Francisco in this location.

The tour lasted about 1.5 hours. We would highly recommend the free (but funded through donations) San Francisco City Guides Walking Tours.

If you are traveling to San Francisco, or live in the area, check out the tour schedule.

Any scheduled tour is open to the public but NOT open to parties of 8 or more. If you plan to bring 8 or more walkers to a regular tour, please click here for more information on booking private group tours.

The next 1850’s San Francisco: Paris Of The Pacific tour is scheduled for Saturday, June 20 at 1:30 pm, to be given by Harry Rabin.

Have you participated in one of the San Francisco City Guides tours? If so, please share your favorite tour in comments below. 

Check out these other posts related to San Francisco: 

• Going to San Francisco? 8 Tips for First-Time Visitors
• Discovering Fort Funston for a Beach Walk in San Francisco
• Trying Out San Francisco’s New Cruise Ship Terminal at Pier 27
• A Peek Inside the San Francisco Marriott Union Square Hotel
• A Peek inside the Stanford Court Renaissance Hotel – San Francisco

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