Dine About Town SF: Bisou Bistro

I'm in Taiwan now, but right before I left San Francisco I went to Dine About Town (Restaurant Week), which is going on until June 15th, so make your reservations ASAP! The way restaurant week works is you get a prix fixe menu of two or three courses for lunch ($18.95) or three courses for dinner ($36.95).

Our first appetizer was French onion soup. I felt that this was really well done; it wasn't greasy or overly sour like some can be.

Our next appetizer was salmon tartare (raw salmon) with four kinds of eggs: tobiko (the tiny fish roe), salmon roe, caviar, and a fried poached egg. The salmon was really fresh, and the fried egg is really creamy (although the egg white was a little underdone).

By far my least favorite dish of the night was the escargots (snails), which sit in a sweet potato puree. I really love escargots, but these tasted so odd with a sweet garnish; they end up tasting raw and rubbery.

Our three entrees were filet mignon, salmon, and pork tenderloin. There is a definite pattern with all three; although the proteins are all very well cooked, I just feel like they didn't do enough with the dish. For example, the sauce on the salmon (a veal glaze) wasn't very interesting or unique, and the garnishes are just kind of mediocre. They relied a little too much on the quality of the proteins, but they didn't make the dishes simple either.

Filet mignon

Salmon

Pork tenderloin

In addition to our prix fixe meals, we got a kobe beef steak tartare, which is raw beef with various condiments, which makes kind of a thick, chunky paste (I can hear my mom gagging). They put it together tableside, but honestly, it doesn't even matter what they put in it, because they add so much Tabasco that it's the only thing you can taste.

Our desserts were the chocolate cake, macaron, and creme brulee. I have to be honest: none of the desserts were very impressive, except for the strawberry basil ice cream served with the macaron. The chocolate cake (which is called a "sponge cake" on the menu) is just so thick and gloopy. The macaron had raspberries in it, which was kind of cute, but it was very dry and crumbly. And the creme brulee had an odd, grainy texture, which might have been just air bubbles, but it's a very strange texture to get from something that's supposed to be smooth and creamy.

Chocolate cake

Macaron

Creme brulee

Although this wasn't my favorite meal ever, I think Restaurant Week is a great opportunity to try some new restaurants. You may or may not get a deal at restaurants that are usually cheaper, so go to a really expensive restaurant for lunch for the best deal!

Also, I'm really sorry about the awful pictures! I'm working on getting a proper camera in the next few weeks (I use my phone right now, which is deteriorating) so I'll have nice looking pictures soon :)

Bisou Bistro
2367 Market Street
http://www.bisoubistro.com/

Lafayette (Part 2: The restaurant)

Lafayette just opened on April 15th, and I couldn't wait to come try it because it's owned by the same people who opened one of my favorite restaurants, Locanda Verde. Earlier this week, I posted about the bakery inside Lafayette--you can read the post here. This post will be about the actual meal.

For an appetizer, we got foie gras--fatty goose liver. Foie gras became illegal last year in California, because in order to get the geese to gain sufficient weight, farmers will force feed them by sticking a tube down their throats. It's a disgusting practice, but it's also delicious. The way you're supposed to eat this is you spread it over bread (or, if you're greedy like me, you'll eat it with a fork). For those of you who have never tried it, you're missing out. It tastes like salty butter, but better because it's creamier. The bread that comes with this dish, too, is really good. It's warm, buttered brioche that's chewy and light.

Our second appetizer was eggs Lafayette with smoked fish and caviar. It was just okay for me; the eggs were ice cold, which dulled a lot of the flavor. The smoked fish was also made into a mousse-type consistency, which I'm not really into. It's just seems a little dated for me.

My entree was duck au poivre ("with pepper"), with organic grains (mostly barley, among others), radish, and bacon. Although I requested my duck medium, it was a little less done than that, but it was nevertheless delicious. So tender and juicy, and slightly fatty. I thought that it was such a tease, cutting the radish to look like scallops (I'd forgotten that the dish came with radish, and got really excited when the dish came). I'm not sure if the dish really needed the radish, but it was still really good, especially with the bacon on top.

For dessert, I got beignets--basically donuts--which came with a chocolate mousse/cream and passion fruit syrup. These were quite nice, although it's large, large portion, but that just means you're getting your money's worth.

Overall, I was very pleased with Lafayette, both the restaurant and the bakery. I really want to come back for brunch or lunch, because they have a bunch of entrees that look really good. So far, I recommend the duck and the foie gras. Even though they're a little pricey ($29 for the duck, $20 for the foie gras) they are well worth the money--just share the foie gras with someone, and make sure to take a lot of it.

Lafayette

380 Lafayette St., at Great Jones St.

http://lafayetteny.com/

Thumbs down for Les Halles

This afternoon I was walking up Park Avenue looking for a restaurant to try. I decided on Les Halles in the Flatiron District; it's recommended by Michelin guides, and Anthony Bourdain (famous for shows like No Reservations) used to work here as executive chef. I didn't feel like eating anything too heavy, so I just got an onion soup and quiche. The onion soup was just fine, and not important to my story. The quiche, on the other hand, had tomatoes and goat cheese. I took one bite and spat it out. The cheese was more or less rotten, and it had taken me less than a second to taste it. I rinsed out my mouth, but I guess that wasn't enough, because just three hours later I got food poisoning. I'm not going to get graphic here, but I'm sure it's going to last for a while.

I was really expecting a lot more from a reputable restaurant. And I don't feel like two dishes is too few to form a solid opinion about Les Halles; a restaurant that serves its customers rotten, sour goat cheese and makes its customers sick cannot be forgiven.

Thanks, Les Halles. No like for you.

Les Halles
411 Park Avenue South, between 28th and 29th St
http://leshalles.net/

Lafayette (Part 1: The bakery)

Lafayette just opened on April 15th, and I was so excited to try it because it's opened by the same people who own Locanda Verde in Tribeca (post coming soon!). At the entrance, there is a mini bakery, and I ate at both the bakery and the restaurant. There's just a lot to talk about for each, so I'm going to split the review into two parts. This post is going to be about the bakery.

The bakery has some classic French pastries, like macarons and canele, as well as things like brownies and cookies.

They have some pretty unusual macaron flavors, like "birthday cake" and a signature Lafayette flavor. They all have a nice texture: crisp on the outside and gooey and dense on the inside. My standouts are the birthday cake (chocolate filling with sprinkles), Lafayette (I can't put my finger on the flavor, but it's like tea), and salted caramel. The one I didn't like so much was the pistachio matcha (green tea). It was kind of sour; not in a going-bad way, but it just has this off-note that green tea flavoring can have if it's not perfectly done.

I love that they know how to store each kind of baked good. Caneles should never be refrigerated, or else water condenses at the bottom, and you end up with a cold, soggy crust. I love these caneles for their texture; the shells are so crisp, and the insides are the texture of a bouncy, airy pudding (not the instant kind; more like Yorkshire pudding). I find that there's not much flavor variation between any canele; they all taste pretty light and slightly egg-y--really delicious, but what makes each one unique is the texture.

I also want to give a mention to their chocolate items. I think the mark of a great chocolate dessert is when it has a great, deep chocolate flavor, but isn't sweet (or at least not overly sweet) or cloying. I find that with a lot of chocolate desserts, I can only eat two bites because they're just so heavy. The brownie (you can get it with or without nuts) is the best one I've had in a long time; it's quite thin and flat, so the edges are nice and crisp. What ruins a lot of brownies for me, is when they make it too moist and too rich, and it just ends up being mushy and overly sweet. Lafayette's brownies, though, are just slightly denser than cake. The chocolate macaron is great, too. I'm almost never impressed by chocolate macarons, because they're just so basic and they all taste really sugary. This one, though, has a true chocolate flavor, which, ironically, is really rare in a chocolate macaron.

I hate that I will pass Lafayette everyday, because I am going to gain so much weight. I definitely will come back to try some of the other bakery items (like quiche and pain au chocolat) and I will do an updated post about those!

Lafayette
380 Lafayette St., at Great Jones St.

Isa

My boyfriend came here for Dine About Town (San Francisco's Restaurant Week), and I've been dreaming about coming here since he told me about it. Isa is described as "Cal French" and is served tapas-style, which is a great excuse to order many, many courses.

Our first course was the yellowtail tuna with avocado and seaweed. The tuna is incredibly fresh--pretty comparable to Sushi Sams's--and the seaweed (with white sesame, vinegar, and some soy sauce) and the avocado (just a simple guacamole, really) complement it really well. 

Next was seared scallops with corn, sugar snap peas, orzo (rice-shaped pasta), and truffle sauce. The scallops were just perfect; great sear and slightly translucent center. However, I would've liked both sides to be seared (only the top/presentation side is), just so it has more of that slight "crust" and caramelized flavor. The orzo was a great choice--it gives the dish really nice texture--but I think the sugar snap peas were a little too much; they were just barely blanched, so their fresh, "green" flavor overpowered the truffle aroma of the sauce.

My favorite dish of the night was the mushroom and truffle risotto. The risotto itself wasn't as al dente as I would've liked, but it wasn't mushy. I love that it was almost equal parts rice and mushrooms--I find that a lot of restaurants often will only add a little bit of whatever featured ingredient is supposed to be the highlight of the risotto. However, I do not like the big clump of cheese as garnish--by the time we got it, it was somewhat melted and very hard to mix into the risotto, and lucky me, I got the big mouthful of cheese. I think they definitely could've grated it a little finer or at least just spread it out a little more!

Next, we got the flank steak with zucchini and yucca. Although we asked for medium rare, the steak was definitely a medium, bordering on medium well, which was really disappointing. However, the center was still quite moist--it was just the edges that were dry and really tough to bite into. The zucchini was, like most vegetables served with steak are, steamed and not seasoned, but the edges were still crunchy and and not overcooked at all. I loved the yucca fries; I find that a lot of yucca fries can be dry and starchy and have a really mealy mouth feel  but these were nice and flavorful and moist. They aren't particularly crisp though, because they're kind of swimming in the steak's sauce/juice.

We got two desserts, the grapefruit granita (although it says granite on the menu) and amaretto semifreddo. The grapefruit granite had a great, true grapefruit flavor, with bitterness and all (which I actually like). The ice chunks were a bit too large for my taste; I would've liked it to be a slightly finer texture, so you don't actually have to chew through it. And check out that big sprig of mint! Mint and grapefruit go together so well, I don't know why they wouldn't chop up the mint and incorporate it into the ice.

The amaretto semifreddo, I think, was a glorified cookies and cream ice cream. The amaretto flavor is not for everyone; it's a really pungent almond milk-type flavor that people either hate or are neutral toward. The amaretto cookies on the side are nice--they're a hard, hard biscotti kind of texture, and the same almond milky flavor. The flavor is definitely not as strong as that of the "semifreddo," but if you have a strong aversion to that kind of almond essence, do not get this.

I think I would've liked Isa a lot better if I hadn't built it up so much in my head. Of course there were great dishes--the risotto and scallops--but I was quite disappointed with the steak and desserts. Come here for a fancy date with someone who will pay for you!

Isa
http://www.isarestaurant.com/
3324 Steiner Street