🍽️ West Coast Road Trip Eats – A Food Diary Through California! 🚗🌊

From LA to San Francisco, cruising along Highway 1 — when I wasn’t busy trying every fried chicken chain (ranked from 🔥 to 💩 based on personal taste), here’s what stood out: 🇵🇪 Mex Perú Gipsy – LA Downtown A 40+ year-old Peruvian spot. The fish soup with lime was refreshing 🍋, and tacos were generously loaded 🌮 — but the area felt sketchy and unclean. 🌟 Santa Barbara Shellfish Company A网红 spot by the old pier. The sea urchin was so fresh it was still moving — worth the $40? Maybe. But the scallop overpowered the uni’s delicate sweetness. 🍅 Sotto Mare – San Francisco In North Beach (Little Italy) — famous for Cioppino! A massive seafood stew 🦀🐚 — one pot feeds two easily. $3 East Coast oysters were a fresh, cheap add. 🦪 Brophy Bros. – Santa Barbara Another pier-side gem. Oysters with cucumber mignonette = bold & bright! Beer-battered fish & chips were crispier and tastier than standard. 🦆 Spotted Duck – Monterey A duck-focused restaurant! Duck liver pâté with red wine & bread = rich & satisfying (though my hubby wasn’t impressed). Duck breast cooked medium-rare was too rare for us, but the polenta underneath was creamy, textured, and delicious. 🇰🇷 BCD Tofu House – LA Popular Korean spot — expect a wait! Seafood soft tofu stew was loaded with goodies, and the scorched rice soup (nurungji) hit the spot. 🍄 Mario-Themed Restaurant – Universal Studios Hollywood Cute & fun — make reservations ahead! You can even take the mushroom bowl home 🍄💖 🍝 Jon & Vinny’s – Beverly Hills An OG网红 serving solid “white people food” 😄 Lemon pasta = fresh & zesty. Meat sauce was salty but great with bread. Skip the burrata with sea salt — not worth it. 🏞️ Mountain Oaks Cafe – Near Yosemite A cozy American family diner near the park’s south entrance. NY strip steak was juicy, Buffalo wings were well-spiced 🦬🔥 🇪🇸 Telefèric Barcelona – Santa Monica ASpanish tapas spot — but a letdown. Even with few customers: Paella was wrong… twice 1 of 3 tapas never arrived Tuna tartare taco was overloaded with scallions 🚫🧅 They overcharged us by dozens of dollars and only fixed the bill after I got loud 💢 #LosAngeles #SanFrancisco #CaliforniaEats #LAFood #SFFood #HighwayOneEats #FoodDiary