Fisherman’s Wharf on a sunny San Francisco day teems with tourists and seagulls. After living in the city for more than a few months, you tend to avoid the neighborhood as tryingly kitsch but there’s a reason all the tourists flock here: spectacular views across the bay and boat-fresh seafood.
The summer fog still hasn’t arrived and I still hadn’t eaten Dungeness crab this season, so David and I took a meandering walk through Chinatown toward the wharf. At $10 a pound (most crabs are between 1-2 pounds), fresh crab wouldn’t necessarily fall into “cheap street food” category, but it’s still about half the price of eating it at a local restaurant.
When it comes to a fresh crab, I’m not sure there’s much difference in quality between the food stalls lining the corner of Jefferson and Taylor (I think the food-quality test is in the chowders), so we chose Nick’s Lighthouse. It had a steady flow of patrons but wasn’t overwhelmingly crowded.
Sidling up to the counter, we ordered a crab and drinks. I guess Dungeness crab is typically pared with a white wine but today Buds in brown paper bags for $2.80 were pretty hard to beat. The somewhat bland flavor of the “King of Beers” didn’t interfere with the sweet and briny taste of San Francisco’s favorite crustation. The crab was expertly cracked open and we fished out the succulent meat, squeezed lemon over it and dipped it in melted butter.
Stepping back from the counter I moved into the sun, my hands and face were smeared with crab and the Bud had given me a nice little Saturday morning buzz.
I hear the clam chowder at some of the food stalls is stellar—I guess I’ll need to plan a trip back…
STREATS 