Yogurtsoda – Page 92 – Eating my way around the world by Mariam Hosseini

Sea Salt

April 28, 2010April 28, 2010

Oysters are my happy food. Well that, and just about any shellfish. I stopped by for dinner at Berkeley’s seafood-themed Sea Salt restaurant one evening eager to try their oft-praised oysters, and ended up ordering much more.

The dimly lit and mellow restaurant was packed, and my dining companion and I had a hard time keeping ourselves from wanting to order just about everything on the menu. We started, of course, with the oysters.

Fried oysters with remoulade, to be exact. You know when fried oysters achieve that super-crispy crust on the outside and are oozing with steaming, creamy, hot-but-delicious lava on the inside? Yeah, that’s what we had here. A drizzle of lemon juice and a quick dip in the sauce, and these babies were gone in no time.

Next we tried the fried smelt with green goddess dressing.

I have a lot of recipes for smelt and I’ve always wanted to try my hand at making them, but can never locate smelt at the market. I’m so glad we ordered this because it ended up being my favorite dish of the evening. The smelts were very savory and rich without being greasy, and the dressing added a textural contrast to an otherwise crispy, crunchy dish.

Our next dish was the Baia Nicchia Tomato Salad.

Baia Nicchia is a small farm and nursery in Sunol that grows primarily gourmet tomatoes. The ones we were served were meaty and sweet, and topped with fresh mozzarella, pickled onion, and cilantro. I loved the addition of the tart, vinegary onions.

Our mini lobster roll came next.

Served with house-made chips, pickles, and slaw, the lobster was fantastic but the portion was pretty small. We had one bite each before I polished off the pickles. (Did I mention I love pickled vegetables?)

The last dish of the meal was the grilled local squid.

Squid is so easy to overcook, which results in a rubbery texture, but not these. These squid were grilled to tender, smoky perfection and were served atop a white bean salad. A drizzle of basil almond pesto completed the dish, though I think the squid and beans were so delicious on their own they could have done without the pesto.

Sea Salt is a gem in a city that’s already chock-full of good restaurants. They have a daily $1 oyster happy hour too; I know what I’m going back for next time.

Flour + Water

April 19, 2010

I can’t remember the last time I heard so much buzz about a restaurant since Flour + Water opened up in San Francisco’s Mission District a few months ago. Fresh off of a strong review in the Chronicle, the restaurant was a packed house every night of the week. Things were no different when I visited Flour + Water with a group to try their renowned hand-rolled pastas and house-cured meats on a weekday evening. The restaurant opens at 5:30 so we showed up at 5:15 to be on the safe side, but a line had already formed outside.

Our group waited for about half an hour before we were seated at a long communal wooden table and began to peruse the menu. We started with the yellow peach and rabbit confit salad.

Served with pistachios and wild arugula, this salad was refreshing and despite the wide range of flavors, it worked. The peaches were succulent without being too sweet, so it complimented rather than overwhelmed the rabbit.

Next we tried the crispy oxtail terrine.

This was probably my favorite dish of the meal. Terrines have a texture similar to pate and they’re usually not crisped on the outside. Flour + Water managed to pull it off though, and the terrine held up its form both on the interior and exterior. They were served on top of a watercress salad with delicious bits of chantrelle mushrooms.

Our third dish was the biancoverde pizza.

Topped with ricotta cheese, anchovies and nettle pesto, this was a rich pizza without being too greasy. It was also my first foray into nettles, which had a very mild flavor. I’m curious to try them again. While the anchovies provided a salty kick, I would have been even happier if this pizza came with a healthy sprinkling of garlic or something equally flavorful.

Our last dish was the eggplant and crescenza cappelletti.

Cappelletti are similar to tortellini and these were incredibly ethereal. The eggplant filling was light and was topped cherry tomatoes and gypsy peppers. After having sampled this dish, I can easily see what all the fuss is about over Flour + Water’s handmade pasta.

It’s been awhile since I’ve eaten there, and I imagine that the initial crowds at Flour + Water may have died down a bit. That being said, Flour + Water’s menu is constantly changing, which only means one thing: it’s time for a return visit.

5 Joy Restaurant

April 18, 2010

5 Joy Restaurant is in the middle of nowhere. Technically, it’s at the edge of Foster City to be more exact, but it may as well be the middle of nowhere. I’d long been searching for exceptional Chinese food in the Peninsula, so I was more than willing to make the drive to Beach Park Boulevard near the water on a Sunday afternoon in the hopes of finding what I was looking for. The long wait outside was a promising sign, and I was rewarded with some of the best Chinese food I’ve had in quite some time.

You know you’ve stumbled upon an authentic Chinese restaurant when all the patrons are, well, Chinese. My dining companion and I stuck out like sore thumbs, and our waiter was happy to offer suggestions on what to order.

We started with the beef noodle soup.

The broth was incredibly rich and hearty, and was full of tender cuts of beef and hand-cut noodles. I couldn’t quite make out the spices, but I think I detected a good hit of anise and onions. It was hard to not go back for seconds, but I had to save room for the next dish.

I tend to stay away from run-of-the-mill dishes like chow mein at Chinese restaurants, but the mu shu chicken chow mein at 5 Joy Restaurant is anything but. Like the soup, the noodles in this dish were hand-cut.

The noodles were tender and slightly chewy and although the dish was pretty greasy, it was also incredibly flavorful. A combination of fresh vegetables and juicy chicken made this dish a winner.

Last came our Zhong Hua Road potstickers. We had been warned that this dish takes the longest to cook, and indeed, it arrived at the tail-end of our meal.

I can see why. The care and labor it must take to make these super-delicate potstickers must be time-consuming. These babies were much larger than the potstickers I’m used to, and the soy-chili dipping sauce served alongside them were an ideal accompaniment to cut through the richness of the filling.

The portions at 5 Joy Restaurant are huge, and I went home with plenty of leftovers. 5 Joy Restaurant may be well out of the way, but I can easily see why it gets so busy. I no longer live in the Peninsula, but it remains a must-go eatery for when I’m in the area.

farmerbrown

April 6, 2010

I’ve lamented in the past about San Francisco’s lack of sufficient soul food restaurants. I might find some good fried chicken at one restaurant and tasty mac and cheese at another, but a restaurant hitting every southern classic nail on the head has been hard to come by. Until now.

Located in the Tenderloin, farmerbrown is where the great dishes of the south meet the organic and sustainability-consciousness of the west coast. When I visited with a large group, we waited at the bar while our table was made ready. I enjoyed a Scrimshaw Pilsner while I took in the warm, hip vibe. The crowd is young here, with a fantastic playlist to match. (farmerbrown often has a DJ as well.)

Once we were seated, cornbread and honey butter was served, which comes with every meal.

These were light and fluffy to nibble on while we waited for our appetizers. Next came the fried okra.

I’m a huge fan of okra, and wish that more people appreciated this often-overlooked vegetable. These were crispy without being too oily, and the creamy sauce on the side was the perfect compliment. I could eat these all day.

Our potato steak fries with aioli arrived next.

These were good but I found myself wishing for more okra instead. The sauce was a nice compliment, but overall this wasn’t very flavorful.

Next came my entree: Rocky Range fried chicken with macaroni and Tillamook cheddar cheese and collard greens.

Internet, the trifecta of perfect chicken, mac and cheese, and collard greens all at one restaurant has been achieved. Whatever spices they’re putting in their chicken at farmerbrown, they need to keep doing it. The chicken was so juicy, the skin was so crispy, I hardly knew what to do with myself. And the mac and cheese? So creamy. Best of all, it didn’t form into a stuck-together mass once it cooled down, the way some mac and cheese does. Oh, and the collard greens were tender and lip-smackingly seasoned.

I walked out of farmerbrown stuffed and content. I can no longer complain about a shortage of soul food in San Francisco. farmerbrown has a Sunday brunch buffet too which I’ve heard is fantastic (and yes, they serve their fried chicken for brunch as well). Next time, I’ll check that out. I can’t wait to go back.

Destino

April 2, 2010

Hayes Valley is one of those San Francisco neighborhoods that I rarely venture to, and I really don’t know why. It’s a lovely neighborhood, and happens to be chock-full of restaurants. When I found out that Destino serves grilled beef hearts, it’s all I needed to hear to make the trek to this cute little restaurant on Market Street.

Destino serves Latin American tapas with an emphasis on Peruvian cuisine, all of which I’m crazy about. Service is friendly and prompt here, and our group’s dishes began rolling in only a few minutes after our order.

We started with the causa con picante de camarones.

A Peruvian potato torte topped with tiger prawns and spicy prawn reduction sauce, the torte was colder than expected but the shrimp were juicy and succulent. “Picante” might be a relative term here, though, since the shrimp weren’t very spicy.

Next came the filet de bacalao and arroz de acietunas.

The black cod was encrusted with plantains and served alongside olive rice, toasted almonds and aji amarillo salsa. The cod was incredible: subtly seasoned and cooked to perfection. The aji amarillo provided a nice kick of heat.

Our third dish was the Peruvian chicken empanada. How can you not order empanadas when you see them on them menu?

Unfortunately, we were pretty disappointed in this dish. The empanada was undercooked and the filling was pretty flavorless. Even the sauce on the side couldn’t save it.

Our next order to arrive was the one I had been most looking forward to: anticuchos de corazon.

Anticuchos de corazon, or grilled beef hearts, are one of my favorite foods and here they were served with an aji panca reduction, green garlic and Peruvian choclo. Choclo, or large Andean corn, is hard to come by and they were a good accompaniment to the hearts. The grilled hearts themselves a little overcooked and the sauce overpowered them, but the pickled onion topping was wonderful.

Our next dish was the churrasco.

The grilled sirloin was topped with a chimichurri salsa and Maldon sea salt; simple and cooked just right. This was my favorite dish of the evening, and the chimichurri provided just the right kick of spice to the beef.

But we weren’t done yet. Our sixth tapa was the chile relleno.

Stuffed with ground sirloin and cheddar cheese and topped with chipotle salsa and citrus crÃ¨me fraiche, the chile relleno was smoky and hearty. Despite so many different flavors happening in one dish, it really worked.

We ended our meal on a sweet note with the banana bread pudding.

You can’t really go wrong with caramelized bananas and caramel sauce, and the pecan crunch was a nice touch too. The pudding was moist and even though I’m not a big fan of desserts, I was all over this one.

Destino’s menu can be hit or miss but the food is imaginative and the ambiance is worth the visit. Just make sure to factor in extra time to look for parking, which can be difficult to find. Which reminds me, maybe that’s why I don’t go to Hayes Valley all that often.