Food review blog from San Francisco.

Restaurant: Stelline (San Francisco)
Food description: Braised lamb shank with ossobuco sauce over soft polenta, served with string beans and cauliflower
Food rating: 7.5 out of 10
Times ordered: 7

Though I'd rather not admit it, I've tried almost every single entree on the menu at Stelline, so I can say that the lamb ossobuco is one of their better dishes (along with the lasagna special). And for $11.50, you'll be hard pressed to find a better value, especially given the quality. Like the caprese, it's not authentic ossobuco, but it's a really good lamb shank. Traditional ossobuco (literally "hole of bone") is made with veal and the flavor comes from the bone marrow, which is eaten out of the bone and the primary flavor constituent of the dish. As you can tell from the photo, using lamb for ossobuco precludes the whole hole-in-bone concept, so there's not really much marrow to be had. If you can live with this and just think of the dish as a braised lamb shank, you'll love it. Though this time it was slightly overcooked, it's normally very tender, falling right off the bone with just a pluck of the fork. The lamb is nice and lean, no trimming necessary, and has tons of flavor on it's own. The sauce is more of a tomato sauce than ossobuco sauce (given no marrow), but when mixed with the polenta and lamb, it makes a tasty combo. Though the ossobuco is consistently good, the vegetables are consistently overcooked and too garlicky. They round out the meal, but could and should be improved. Other than that, the dish is delicious and a great value, but lacks the authenticity and flavor of traditional ossobuco.