No steak-frites today. I've been accumulating some Bay Area fish taco information, and though I would sketch it out here.
Papalote (3409 24th St @ Valencia) - sauteed cubes of fish, dripping wet from a wine based sauce. Tacos are way overstuffed, and they use romaine lettuce. Very, extremely messy to eat.
Weird Fish (2193 Mission St @ 18th) - Way too much going on. A mango salsa AND and adobo-type sauce AND melted cheese. Fish is not fried.
Salsalito Taco Shop (1115 Bridgeway, Sausalito) - Kind of uninspired. Only fish and cabbage. Salsa and sauce are provided separately, and are quite good, but they leave the choice up to you.
Pacific Catch (1200 9th Ave @ Lincoln Way) - Sauce is a bit heavy.
Flying Fish Grill (99 San Mateo Rd, Half Moon Bay) - Best I've found. Light and flaky fish, delicate sauce, crispy cabbage, wedge of lime. It's as close to SoCal as I've found.
Woodhouse Fish Company (2073 Market St @ 14th) - Yummy. Batter maybe a bit much though.
Friday, May 8, 2009
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Medjool
Certainly not a classical French restaurant by any stretch of the imagination. Rather a fabulous establishment with the famous rooftop deck with a lot of Moroccan and French-Moroccan inspired dishes and cocktails. Among the dishes, I spied the classical Steak-Frites, so decided to see how this place would interpret the classic bistro fare.
The steak was a traditional hanger steak, which I asked cooked rare and which they successfully delivered. The sauce, however, was overwhelming. I could barely taste the meat because the sauce was nearly as thick as a barbecue sauce with a strong yet difficult to place flavor. Not very subtle. The menu said there was a harissa marinade involved, which I don't think came through at all. The frites were a bit lifeless, dutifully shoestrung and fried, but not terribly inspired. The best thing on the table was the fried brussels sprouts appetizer, tossed with capers and garlic, which truly brought these frequently misunderstood mini-cabbages to life. The rest of the menu didn't really inspire. As for the rest, this is Medjool after all, so the ambiance was one-of-a-kind and the cocktails out of this world.
So Steak gets 3 points, Sauce gets 1 point, Frites get 2 points, Other menu items get 3 points and Ambiance gets 5 points.
Total 14 points.
2522 Mission Street (near 21st Street) in the Mission District.
The steak was a traditional hanger steak, which I asked cooked rare and which they successfully delivered. The sauce, however, was overwhelming. I could barely taste the meat because the sauce was nearly as thick as a barbecue sauce with a strong yet difficult to place flavor. Not very subtle. The menu said there was a harissa marinade involved, which I don't think came through at all. The frites were a bit lifeless, dutifully shoestrung and fried, but not terribly inspired. The best thing on the table was the fried brussels sprouts appetizer, tossed with capers and garlic, which truly brought these frequently misunderstood mini-cabbages to life. The rest of the menu didn't really inspire. As for the rest, this is Medjool after all, so the ambiance was one-of-a-kind and the cocktails out of this world.
So Steak gets 3 points, Sauce gets 1 point, Frites get 2 points, Other menu items get 3 points and Ambiance gets 5 points.
Total 14 points.
2522 Mission Street (near 21st Street) in the Mission District.
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