Adam "Kulinary Koala" B.'s Profile

Wow, they really take spices and herbs seriously!  Their shelves are daunting with ingredients I've never heard of priced as expensively as truffles.  Finally had the chance to grab brunch and was happy to see that they break the egg/pork/potato cliché.  All I can think is that I need to grab lunch here sometime because what they do is amazing!

Beignets: Seriously the best beignets I've had on the West Coast.  The center was key in that it was still moist, slightly more cooked than raw dough.  Amazingly fresh!  The outer shell was crisply fried with a nice sugar coating.  Perfect when dipped in a blue bottle coffee (for which you don't need to wait for mildly retarded slow workers to prepare).

Pork Shoulder w/ Partridge Eggs in Duck Fat: The pork was well braised-- totally soft and full of flavor.  I don't think I've had partridge eggs before (perhaps from a pear tree), but anything would taste amazing when deep fried in duck fat... great that they still had a soft poached center!  The refried beans were nice just like the freshly pressed tortilla, but nothing out of the ordinary.

Lamb Boulette: Basically lamb meatballs with the texture of a falafel.  Can't get over how many spices were in the lamb and in the mass of cream surrounding it.  There was some pile of red mush (maybe roast pepper?) that had a great harissa essence in it.

I don't get over to the panhandle much so was shocked to see such a vibrant late night eating crowd!  Every dish tries to leverage the simplicity of fresh and locally sourced ingredients, banking on the pairing to carry the dish to stardom.  It works in some instances (calamari, flatbread, pork chop), but falls flat elsewhere on dishes that beg for more pizazz.

Tomato-Bread Soup & Parmesan: It felt more like a chunky marinara than a soup.  The bread was in the form of garlicky croutons which had a pleasurable texture contrast of a soggy outside and true-to-form crispness inside.  They were definitely too miserly on the parmesan and it seemed more like powder from a canister rather than freshly grated.

Wood Fired Calamari, Smoked Tomato, Chickpeas and Grilled Bread: Loved the smoky flavor that was absorbed so well by the non-breaded calamari.  The contrast of fresh chick peas and deep fried spicy chickpeas made a fun co-star.  The tomato base was a tad lackluster.

Flatbread of House Smoked Bacon, Melted Leeks and Gruyère: You had me at bacon!  The leeks are often under appreciated, but gave a good kick without being overpowering.  The bread base was crispy and fresh.  I did miss that there was no tomato sauce, but thankfully had ample chunks leftover from my soup.

Country Pork Chop, Sweet Potatoes, Brussels Sprouts and Mustard Seed Vinaigrette : This must have came from some big pig because it was huge!  I enjoyed the vinegar glaze, but couldn't taste the promised mustard seed.  The yams were a tad boring, just roasted with the skin on.  I liked the crispy outer shell of the braised brussels sprouts and especially appreciated their choice of smaller ones which aren't as a bitter.

Roast Rabbit Loin, Thumbelina Carrots, Toasted Barely and Lacinato Kale: Most rabbit I've had has been in the form of slow cooked stew, so I enjoyed a leaner loin cut.  The white meat was tender, but lacked a strong flavor so could have used a strong glaze or marinade.  The toasted barley was semi-creamy and a much more exciting starch than overplayed rice.  The kale was heavy on the oil or butter so it was tastier than kale I normally know.  The carrots were ok, but seemed like a tease to the poor rabbit we were eating!

Ginger Molasses Cake, Spiced Poached Quince and Oloroso Crème Anglaise: I thought Oloroso was that chick from The Apprentice, but according to Wikipedia it is a sherry.  The cake was a bit dry, but I enjoyed the heavy molasses flavor.  The quince was nice, but I learned that I prefer paste over poached.  Not enough crème was provided to compensate for the dry cake.

The "Nuevo Latino" spin on South American favorites here just doesn't add enough benefit to justify the tampering.  I'm sure it can be done with some more effort, but it's just not there yet.  The cocktails are good with a large array of pisco mixed drinks including one with chicha morada!  The food is better than other drink and gobble Castro joints (e.g. Lime), but probably not worth checking out if the food is more important to you than the drink.

Tostones: The free amuse bouche I suppose.  More textured than the typical mushy inside.  The creamy dipping sauce was smoother than typical garlic and onions, but not as tasty.

Arepas de Queso con  Ropa Vieja: It was more like a mozzarepa found at fairs than a traditional subtle white corn pocket filled with yummy flavorings.  The ropa vieja (pulled pork, not old clothes) was nice but too large a portion in comparison to the "arepa" so that it overpowered the centerpiece.

Pork Belly with Mofongo: YUCK!  Pork belly is not meant to by tough and chewy.  It should either be slowly braised and falling apart or crispy like bacon (or, in my favorite scenario, both).  The tough pork didn't taste right and the fat hadn't been cooked enough to melt into goodness.  The mofongo would have been better as the traditional style instead of being nuevo-latino-ized.  There were no bits of the mash that were crispy.

Chile Relleno: The ground meat inside seriously tasted like something from an Ortega packet.  The sauce was creamy, but I just couldn't get over the unimaginative flavoring.

Lomo Saltado: Probably the only dish saving this review from dipping below 3 stars.  The sirloin was tender with some rare portions, probably higher quality than what you'd get at a Peruvian hole-in-the-wall.  The tomatoes were definitely a higher grade than the typical slicing tomato.  I didn't like that the fries weren't already mixed in, but once mixing it myself the meaty soy onion gravy goodness, it became the Chifa comfort food that I love.  Could have been better with some green spicy sauce on the side...

Tamale Verde: The masa was green, but it didn't have a strong cilantro flavoring... I suppose the taste of that noble herb degrades at high temperatures.  The chicken had the right stringy texture but could have used more of a kick.

Don't let the droves of  bleach blonde hair and orange spray tans dissuade you, the food here is 100% legit!  Always a bit challenging to grab a table at the last minute, Salt House is one of the few high quality restaurants serving dinner late.  Every dish is packed with flavor and has some edge of reinvention to shapren its solid execution of well known favorites.  It gets 4-4.5 stars for the food alone with the extra rounding up to 5 stars for offering good food into the wee hours.

Poutine: It's not your traditional poutine, but enjoyable once you get over that.  The short rib gravy (probably wine based) gave a higher level of sophistication than any Québécois chicken gravy I've had.  The melted cheddar didn't add much so they probably should have stuck with squishy  curd.  I was neutral on the steak fry size instead of frites since it's all potato anyway.

Foie Gras: I'll admit, I'm a foie gras fiend.  Most restaurants that serve it only serve either the fresh seared version or the torchon.  If by odd chance a place serves both, I'm alway tempted to get the seared.  Salt House transcends the dilemma by offering both AND two small bits of tea smoked duck breast.  The seared foie gras was awesome and I love the use of wild huckleberries in the traditional sweet contrast.  The torchon was standard, but tasty.  The duck breast was very rare and very smoky.  Definitely the Solange to the star Beyoncé foie gras, but still quaint in small doses.

Pork Belly: The way I like it, cooked like over sized bacon!  There was some greenage below but I totally forgot about it while caught up in my pork frenzy.  Great crispy outsides with tender meat and soft fat inside.

Cassoulet: The beans were a tad large for my taste (butter beans?), but are more true to the medieval roots of cassoulet than the modern day smaller white beans.  The sausage was hearty and the duck confit was nice, but could have stood to be crispier.

Lemon Verbena Panna Cotta: This dessert jumped on the bandwagon of two widely popular trends in SF cuisine: lemon verbena (where was this herb a few years ago?) and the grotesque looking Buddha's hand.  Like Lady Gaga, not all popular trends are a bad thing.  The lemon verbena gave the creamy panna cotta a fresher citrus flavoring than traditional lemon/lime/orange varieties.  The Buddha's hand was thinly sliced and candied to a soft consistency floating in sugary syrup.  It gave a much more potent citrus burst which contrasted the fresh and subtle panna cotta well.

Brown Sugar & Cardamom Ice Cream: This is so simple, yet so amazing and unique.  Why has no one done this before?  The brown sugar gives ice cream a very caramel and molasses tone that regular sugar can't compete with.  The slight cardamom was just enough to add a hint of complexity.  Also, super creamy!!!

The price-to-size ratio may cause a lot of fuss among the cost conscious, but I try to focus on the food alone.  I've had Best-O-Burger before at their Pine Street location and discovered that this new venue had a slightly different menu.  I tried to focus on the new options since I knew from past experience that the non-burger options like sloppy bob, sloppy dog and the chicken were not that great.  In general their freshly baked bun has a great chewy texture, their burgers have a flavorful sear and their veggies are fresh.  They are adventurous with their burger permutations, but aren't always successful in execution.  I'm a fan of their pesto sauce, veggie burger and seared burger patty.  Everything else is ok.  If there was a 3.5 stars available, that would be a more precise rating for me.

Cobb Burger: Basically a bacon & blue cheese burger with avocado slices.  Would have been nice to make it truly Cobb-y with eggs and chicken too!  No secret sauce.

Shroom Burger: Perhaps mushroom overload, could have stood a few less.  They use the boring button mushrooms instead of one of the many more exotic varieties.  The mushrooms did oddly act like a good conduit for the secret sauce flavor.

Veggie Burger: The burger portion is basically a "patty" made of melted cheese and sautéed mushrooms.  I really got into that burnt cheese concoction the more I ate!  The pesto was quite pleasant and had whole pine nuts.  No secret sauce since it'd probably overpower the pleasant pesto.

Yam-O Strings: I liked that they were thin since a lot of sweet potato fries are chunky.  The rice oil does make them feel lighter.  They were a tad overcooked with some bitter burnt ends.

Definitely not the most crowded food stand and has a penchant for long waits when the oven queue is backed up.  As opposed to crazy fusion innovations, this place focuses on a freshly made comfort favorite: pizza!  Even if you feel New York or Chicago makes the best pizza and all California pizza is inferior, you can at least appreciate the magic of dough right out of the oven.  It's not blow your socks off amazing, but sure hits the spot when you're craving a made-to-order pie.

Market Pizza: I have to be honest, I was worried when I saw kale as a topping.  I was pleased that it was nothing like my bitter experiences with raw vegan kale, but similar to a heartier spinach or chard.  The sausage could have been more savory given all the great meat available inside and outside the Ferry Building.  The crust itself was great because it was fresh out of the oven.  The ricotta was nice, but too subtle.

I don't think I had ever anticipated a restaurant as much as Stone Korean Kitchen.  It's part because there are no non-fast food Korean restaurants in the FiDi, but mainly because they were in "soft opening" mode for such a long time after start up.  I sampled some of their lunch take-away on the first day they opened their doors to the public.  I avoided ordering dishes I knew would be better for a sit down experience (e.g. bi bim bap in a stone bowl).  What I tried had potential, but got the bulgogi all wrong!

Korean B.L.T.: The "B" allegedly stands for "Bulgogi".  The part of the cow may have indeed been rib eye, but the meat was no bulgogi (fire meat) as we know it.  It was about the thickness of a pot roast slice you'd have at a family dinner.  This thickness prevented it from absorbing the marinade and exhibiting char marks.  It was also very tough, unlike the typical crispy and tender smaller slices of bulgogi.  The tomatoes, lettuce and bread were fresh, but that's almost a given nowadays.  They did have a nice spicy mayo topping.  If they had just used the kind of bulgogi you get at any other Korean joint, even Sorabol, this sandwich would have been awesome!

Jap Chae: Pretty standard.  Fresh veggies.  Soft and slimey noodles.  The beef was smaller and more tender than the sandwich "bulgogi", but still reminded me of Chinese beef & broccoli style thick beef chunks.

I really enjoy raw prepared foods more than salads because a lot of thought and care goes into creating a unique reimagination of a cooked favorite.  I may be an omnivore, but I'm also a foodie that appreciates complexity... even if the raw food stand doesn't include raw meat (hmm... steak tartare!).  I enjoyed my sampling from the food stand at the Ferry Building.  Not everything is a home run here, but some of the flavor combinations make you go "Wow!" since we often don't appreciate all those raw veggie flavors together at once.

Pumpkin Lasagna: A full forkful of all the layers will bring you to a point of complexity you've never tasted with traditional pasta-based lasagna!  The topping is shiitake mushroom covered in an amazingly fresh tasting sun dried tomato paste sprinkled with kale, blackish red pepper, green tomatoes and red tomatoes.   The main component is a pumpkin paste which contains carrot, celery and red cabbage separated from the top by thin zucchini slices.  The bottom part is really cool.  Not sure what nuts, beans and grains are in it, but it is hearty  and adds that needed substantive texture.  The was some cauliflower near the bottom too, which I mostly avoided due to the bitterness.

Falafel & Hummus Sandwich: The sandwich base is very seedy, like savory granola.  The hummus was standard hummus, which works well to compass the celery, carrots and cabbage.  The "falafel" bits mixed in the hummus was kind of dry and chewy, but did have an awesome flavor.  Everything on top of the sandwich base worked well in harmony.

I really enjoy raw prepared foods more than salads because a lot of thought and care goes into creating a unique reimagination of a cooked favorite.  I may be an omnivore, but I'm also a foodie that appreciates complexity... even if the raw food stand doesn't include raw meat (hmm... steak tartare!).  I enjoyed my sampling from the food stand at the Ferry Building.  Not everything is a home run here, but some of the flavor combinations make you go "Wow!" since we often don't appreciate all those raw veggie flavors together at once.

Pumpkin Lasagna: A full forkful of all the layers will bring you to a point of complexity you've never tasted with traditional pasta-based lasagna!  The topping is shiitake mushroom covered in an amazingly fresh tasting sun dried tomato paste sprinkled with kale, blackish red pepper, green tomatoes and red tomatoes.   The main component is a pumpkin paste which contains carrot, celery and red cabbage separated from the top by thin zucchini slices.  The bottom part is really cool.  Not sure what nuts, beans and grains are in it, but it is hearty  and adds that needed substantive texture.  The was some cauliflower near the bottom too, which I mostly avoided due to the bitterness.

Falafel & Hummus Sandwich: The sandwich base is very seedy, like savory granola.  The hummus was standard hummus, which works well to compass the celery, carrots and cabbage.  The "falafel" bits mixed in the hummus were kind of dry and chewy, but did have an awesome flavor.  Everything on top of the sandwich base worked well in harmony.

Never trust a chubby dude (with a cute a puppy beagle) that recommends nearby taco joints.  Hungry after an evening French class at Alliance Française, I carelessly stepped into an independent facsimile of a Tex-Mex chain restaurant.  I didn't have time to do pre-Yelping and I should have been less lazy and used my new Droid.  When the highlight is simple fried yucca, you realize you have been gringo gotten!

Chicken Taquitos: Mediocre at best.  The chicken was more chunky than pulled.  The taco shell was flaky (like a chimichanga) instead of denser thick-style tortilla versions.  The pico de gallo side had too big of tomato chunks without enough chile kick and herb flavoring.  The guacamole seemed machine processed and not fresh (perhaps made in-house in the morning in an industrial sized food processor).

Cheese Fondue: Gross false advertising!  This was basically a queso con salsa dip.  The nachos were nice because they were super thin and freshly fried.  The veggie aspects of this dip didn't taste too fresh, more vinegary.  The cheese was processed, but didn't taste as good as cheez whiz.

Tortilla Soup: Basically a bland chicken soup with carrots, potatoes and celery that happened to be topped with some deep fried tortilla strips.  Where were the pepper, tomato, avocado and cheese?

Chimichurri Steak: Really, NY Strip?  Shouldn't it be something more like flank that can maintain moisture (via marbleized fat) after being seared?  The chimichurri  sauce seemed absent, or at least hidden, under the creamy mushroom sauce that topped the steak.  It was like diner quality steak with no noticeable trace of Argentine chimichurri .

Yucca Fries: I snuck a few tastes of these from my dining partner.  SAVING GRACE of this joint!  All fried yucca tastes awesome.  Their creamy chipotle sauce was a great dipping accompaniment.

Garlic Lime Salt Fries: These were supposed to come with my steak, but I got regular fries instead.  I will concede that the staff was extremely gracious when I had a mere twitch of an oncoming fit.  They immediately brought me out a side of the real deal.  It was garlicky, freshly minced and freshly sautéed, but the lime was absent.