Food review: Rock cod salad

Restaurant: South Park Cafe (San Francisco)
Food description: Sautéed rock cod (fish of the day) salad with mixed baby greens with cauliflower, broccoli, red bell pepper, and zucchini, and meyer lemon vinaigrette
Food rating: 5.5 out of 10
Times ordered: 1

I'm not sure if I actually enjoyed this salad, or liked it solely due to the fact that it wasn't a sandwich (they get old fast). It was a nice attempt, but I won't be ordering this again. I really don't even like cod outside of fish-n-chips, unless its really outstanding cod. I saw "rock cod" and I got all excited thinking it was going to be better than the usual ole cod. I'm so gullible when it comes to menu descriptions--make it sound good and I'm game. Anyway, the cod was fresh but too mild--you had to concentrate real hard to appreciate its subtle flavor. I had to add a bunch of salt to help that process along. The lemon dressing worked well with the mesclun, no so much with the veggies or the fish. The lemon part worked fine with the fish, of course, but I didn't like the vinegar flavor overpowering the already muted flavor of the fish. I thought the dressing also tasted weird with the veggies, and was missing some garlic or herbs or something. The zucchini was delicious, notice the nice black grill marks--that'll make anything taste good! Definitely my favorite part of the dish, despite its small ratio. The other vegetables were steamed and bore-ing! They also seemed slapped together, without giving much thought to how they would integrate with the rest of the dish. This was especially evident in the strong red pepper, which would have completely dominated the delicate cod flavor if eaten together. I guess the lesson here is to not bother with cod until it's been endorsed by Mr. Cod Connoisseur himself. Plus, I had a much better experience with the ahi tuna salad and would rather try that again and say the heck with cod for now.

Food review: Grilled ahi tuna salad

Restaurant: South Park Cafe (San Francisco)
Food description: Grilled peppered ahi tuna atop a salad of mixed greens, canellini beans, fennel, and basil
Food rating: 6.5 out of 10
Times ordered: 1

When it comes to lunch in South Park, I'm partial to the Butler and the Chef , but today I needed a change, and South Park Cafe is second on my list. It was warm outside, so I thought, hmm, do I really want something greasy and heavy and be asleep in an hour? The ahi tuna was the perfect solution, being the right balance between sustenance and healthiness. For me, the salad was all about the tuna. If they didn't get that part right, I wasn't going to enjoy it. I'd say they mostly pulled it off flavor-wise, but the tuna was overcooked to point of being dry, but not rubbery. Since I'm a huge sushi head, the rarer, the better. However, the tuna seemed like it wasn't a high enough grade to be served ultra rare. At the bargain price of $10, I wasn't expecting it to be either. Nevertheless, the tuna still tasted pretty good, but only if you like black pepper (I sure do). It was spiii-ceeee, and I'd say maybe even a little over-peppery for the average person. There was actually some green pesto sauce on top of the tuna, but it got seriously lost in all that pepper. There were plenty of greens in the salad to cut the pepperiness, and to me, that's really the only purpose for having them there at all (like I said, I'm not the pillar of health). I'm also just not a huge fan of eating canellini beans or fennel in this fashion. So basically, I'm rating the tuna--which was good, but could be great if it was cooked less and eased up on the pepper factor. Despite its flaws, I think it's an excellent choice for lunch for the price, and I'd have no qualms about trying it again.

Food review: Chicken crepe

Restaurant: The Butler and the Chef Bistro (San Francisco)
Food description: Buckwheat crêpe with chicken and emmenthal cheese in a dijon white wine sauce, side of baby spinach salad
Food rating: 8 out of 10
Times ordered: 1

No, I haven't gone anorexic on y'all--been braving a rough week of bronchitis and pink eye--and god, I could use some good food right about now. But first, lemme catch up a bit... So I'll start by mentioning that the menu didn't really do this chicken crepe much justice. They didn't even give it a fancy little French name, like the La Parisienne crêpe right above it. Though it may have sounded drab, it tasted the complete opposite and I'm soooo glad I stumbled upon this hidden gem. I kinda gave up on crepes after everyone and their mom started offering them and the quality was just whatever. I pretty much forgot about how good crepes can be, until this crepe thankfully reminded me. You'd think there's not that much you can with just chicken, cheese, mustard, and a crepe, but seriously, they did a terrific job and has caused me to reevaluate my current postion on crepes overall. I'll start with the crepe itself: it was made from buckwheat and was a lot less sweet than Americanized crepes. I'm not a big fan of the sweet-and-salty mixing up, so I liked that it was hardly sweet. The buckwheat was very strong and flavorful and added a robustness to the overall dish that was a nice change from the usual bleached flour crepe. The crepe was razor thin but still strong enough that it didn't fall apart under the weight of the chicken. It was also slightly toasted, which added a nice crunchy texture, yet was still pliable. The chicken, which I was half expecting to be generic and dry, was smothered in melted cheese and had the perfect amount of dijon to add zing without overpowering the dish (but you have to like dijon to enjoy this dish). The ratio of ingredients was perfectly balanced and blended together to form a very sophisticated tasting crepe. The cheese was a great selection and was light, so you didn't feel all weighed down after eating it. The spinach salad was a nice break between bites, but there was sooo much of it. Plus I tend to avoid the salads here, after being served one with a dead housefly in it on a previous visit (and not even receiving a discount!). But salads aside, this crepe was a winner and I'm using it as my benchmark for what constitutes a good crepe.