Pescheria report (long)
Pescheria (Church @ 29th)
4/6 Four out of 6 dishes ordered were great- the bad news 2 out of the 3 entrees we received were really substandard flops.
The 2 salads were ordered were fantastic, 10’s -just perfect, spot on- I wish I could make salad that well. We had greens with beets and cheese- a beautiful looking as well as tasting salad composed of maybe arucola, roasted beets, some delicate white cheese with some apples tucked in to the bitter greens and a wonderful dressing. The second was 3 lettuces (radicchio, little gems and castel forte (green speckled lettuce) with sieved egg and maybe a nod of parmesan? And again a wonderful dressing on each perfect leaf. Both salads generous portions (2 amply fed 3 pax , +/-$8 ea.)
We ordered 3 fish entrees: Grilled Salmon over a brunoise of squash and potatoes in a creamy sauce. The salmon cooked perfectly was on a bed of while beautiful looking gold and white jewels the taste was bland and way too fatty & buttery and the vegetable flavors were not pronounced. A failure of a dish, the salmon was not even that tasty (no acid nor lemon to be found). The next was butterfish en papillote, with porcini dust, sunchokes, carrots and fennel. The sole problem with this dish was that it was over salted, way over salted, almost to the point of returning it. The salting issue was the reason for a failed dish.
The next was a seabass pan seared on a bed of pureed celery root, with a bit of sautéed bitter greesn tucked in between. The fish was perfectly cooked with a beautiful crust on one side and perfectly moist inside, it sat on a bed of pureed celery root that was rich and delicious and the bitter greens in between gave a counterpoint to that sweet note. Perfect dish, again spot on.
The fish entrees were +/-$25
The final dish was a warm hazelnut and chocolate cake with an ice cream or a sauce with a cool creaminess. Again a perfect dish. Sweet, warm, cool- perfect flavoring each element stood out yet harmonized beautifully. Wonderful end.
Wine list was focused, descriptive, easy to navigate – wines by the glass from +/-$8-10- not a lot of selection but then you are more likely to have a fresh glass of wine and enough selection. Can’t speak to the pricing of the bottle list but the list is focused (1 page of red and one of white) seemed a reasonable range for the style restaurant.
The wait staff was professional and lovely, attentive. Food was timed appropriately. Refills, bread and a nice olive oil all perfect.
The interior of the restaurant is small, adequately spaced tables and a bit of a funky layout. There is a very small main area with several good tables, several mediocre tables and a couple of poor tables (near the door or an aisle and then there is an aisle seating area that I wouldn’t have liked either.) Sound was not too bad when we left the full restaurant. Nothing but hard, cold (like the aluminum seats in dining room that conducted the nights’ chill) surfaces. This is winter though -there is a yard and front sidewalk dining area that might be nice- it was a SF 50 degree wet night.
With the tweeking of 2 dishes this could have been a brilliant restaurant. I would definitely try it again as the potential for a superlative meal exists. In my scoring it would be a C+/B-, because two out of three entrees were subpar. You could tell that the restaurant cares and uses quality ingredients.
I would have liked to give you fully accurate pricing but I didn’t write them down and they are not listed on their own website (pet peeve) and it looks as if they’ve had a price increase since Chron review. They obviously rotate to seasonality their menu (a good thing.) The neighborhood while not vibrant, has a bit of energy with La Ciccia, Deep Sushi, Toast, Pomelo within a block and further down Incanto, and is a food enclave with Drewe’s and the great vegetable market, and XO coffee (sorry to the ones I missed.)
Parking was a worry but in the end while only street parking is available we did manage to find it.
510jeff
Dec 20, 2007 12:24PM
sorry to hear the fish en papillote was disappointing. i went here several weeks ago with some friends and was pleased with the experience. fuzzy memory, but from what i can recall...
for starters, we had the grilled calamari, which i thought could have used a bit more char. good though, not at all chewy. the sauce was great for dunking bread in. the table also got a half dozen oysters, which i did not try.
entrees: two had the sea bass, one had the papilotte, and i had the skate wing. the papilotte was definitely the winner at the table. the fish was beautiful, the veggies were bright and delicious, and the sauce was fought over. it was a couple months ago, so the veggies were more "fall" than what you had... i remember tomatoes and zucchini? it wasn't oversalted, so it's sad to hear that your more recent experience had that problem.
i had the skate wing, which i remember having some kind of citrus sauce. it came with roasted beets, which allowed me to remember that i am seriously not fond of beets. the fish was again cooked perfectly, with a nice light brown crust (pan fried a bit maybe?) and white, flaky, tender interior. the sauce i found to be too sweet, it needed some acid to balance it out, which i self-doctored with some lemon wedges.
the other two attendees got the sea bass. i'm afraid i can't remember much about it, though i did try it and like it.
we also found the wine list accessible. the staff was friendly and attentive. as a table of mid-20-somethings, sometimes we find waitstaff don't take our table seriously, but that wasn't the case at all here.
a word to the ladies though: the chairs are metal -->COLD. if you are wearing a skirt, your legs will find the chairs a very unpleasant encounter. i made one of the gentleman diners switch seats with me so i could sit on the booth side.
agreed: websites without prices are very annoying. i do remember thinking it was a bit pricey for the neighborhood, but not so pricey that i wouldn't go back again. i'd go to pomelo twice (better value) before i returned to pescheria though.
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Pomelo is a whole different animal. What is nice is that area is becoming a nice neighborhood food enclave. Too bad that Mikey Thom went the way of a furniture store and Star bakery became a Curves and now is morphing into something else.
Back to Pescheria- for me I've got dietary restrictions which make veg./seafood rest. the only places to go so I only have certain menu choices in seafood rest.
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I was there a few weeks ago, or perhaps a bit more than a month now, as well. Of the dishes we had, the only ones I can remember were the grilled calamari, which was excellent, and the oysters, very good. Great cocktails as well, and the full bar is a draw since most of the spots that are walking distance from my house don't have one. However, I am in no hurry to return: obviously the mains weren't memorable at all, and it was pricey.
The patio is very pleasant when it is warm enough (they do have heat lamps which were adequate the November night we were there). The patio is also much quieter than inside, and tables better spaced.
service was fine, though a bit slow.
When the weather is nice enough to enjoy the patio, I might go back to try brunch, which has gotten good mentions here...
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Thought I added a link to my post above but it didn't go through. Trying again....
1708 Church St, San Francisco, CA 94131, USA
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