Click MAP to locate destinations preceded by yellow numbers.

Many newcomers from the Pacific Rim have made their presence felt throughout San Francisco, sometimes in surprising places. Start out in the Tenderloin, historically the city’s underbelly. Today it bustles with family life with kids playing in the street and grocery stores well-stocked with Far East foods and features the city’s Little Saigon.

If you are here on Wednesday or Sunday, check out the colorful 52 Heart of the City Farmers Market at U.N. Plaza (Market and Seventh St.), the primary source of fresh fruit and vegetables for the Vietnamese, Cambodians, Laotians and Filipinos who call the central city their home.

Start with a dense, rich Vietnamese coffee at one of the bahn mi sandwich shops in the neighborhood: 53 Mong Thu (248 Hyde), 54 Kim Hoang (393 Eddy) or 55 Ba Le (571 Jones). These places specialize in bargain-priced sandwiches of thinly sliced barbecued meats zesty with fresh jalapeño and cilantro on soft rolls. For heartier appetites go to 56 Pho Hoa Restaurant (431 Jones; 415-673-3163) with its 24 types of noodle soup. The ultimate contains rare steak, well-done brisket and flank, tendons and tripe packed into a steaming tureen of noodles.

Stroll down to Market St. and cross into lively SoMa. In addition to many artists on the edge, it is home to Filipino newcomers who — like the Southeast Asians in the Tenderloin — bring a family focus to an otherwise wild-side neighborhood. Visit 57 Arkipelago (953 Mission St.; 415-777-0108), the only publisher and major purveyor of books on Filipino arts and culture in the city. In the showroom pick up Art Philippines or a T-shirt that sports the ancient Tagalog alphabet. Nearby, at the corner of Sixth St. and Folsom, is the 58 South of Market Rec Center (415-554-9532) which often displays the work of budding young neighborhood artists.

For lunch, hit the ever-popular 59 Tu Lan (8 Sixth St.; 415-626-0927), perhaps the first Vietnamese restaurant in San Francisco. This hole in the wall with a counter is packed with regulars. Spring rolls redolent with cilantro and lemon chicken salad with a peppery peanut and vinegar sauce are not to be missed.

For more varied Asian venues, you have to head south. Top off your lunch with Mitchell’s prize-winning ice cream (688 San Jose Ave.; 415-648-2300), including flavors from the islands found nowhere else — halo halo, macapuno, ube, and unusual domestic flavors such as cantaloupe, pumpkin and, yes, avocado.

A few miles farther is the best-known Filipino venue in the Bay Area: Goldilocks Bake Shop (3535 Callan Blvd., South San Francisco; 650-873-0565), almost a community center in its popularity. This spacious food emporium features a full menu from adobo to lecho, pancit and noodles. For dessert, try leche flan, halo halo or moist mango or sponge cake. Not far is Max’s (1155 El Camino Real, South San Francisco; 650-872-2465) for crispy chicken, juicy pork and beef barbecue.

Head back to San Francisco for some shopping in stores featuring items from the Pacific Islands. The Pacific Islander Cultural Assn. (415-281-0221) has the best information about events, services, food and merchandise. Highlights include the 60 Tita’s hale ‘aina (3870 17th Street; 415-626-2477), Hawaiian food that is “created with much Aloha,” says the owner, “so take your time and enjoy.”

April, May and June watch for the United States of Asian America Festival, a program of dance music, theater, literary readings and visual arts at various venues sponsored by the Asian Pacific Islander Cultural Center (415-864-4120).

While on the Pacific side, have dinner at one of the city’s first Vietnamese restaurants, for many years a lonely outpost on San Francisco’s western edge, but now a popular venue most famed for its succulent roasted crab: 61 Thanh Long (4101 Judah; 415-665-1146).