Food review blog from San Francisco.

Restaurant: Absinthe (San Francisco)
Food description: Pain de mie with orange-ricotta filling, poached pineapple, whipped cream, and maple syrup
Food rating: 9 out of 10
Times ordered: 1

I'm an idiot for not going to Absinthe for brunch sooner. It's a block away from my place so I figured "I can go there anytime!" A completely ridiculous excuse, now that I realize I've been missing out some amazing food. I ordered the french toast because I figured a French restaurant would know how to make real french toast. I figured right, because it was exquisite. The dish had the effect of transporting me to a Parisian cafe while I exclaimed "Oh la la!" after every bite. Every slice was a slice of heaven. The bread was awesome and cut thick to hold the rich cheesecake-like filling. It was cooked to perfection, to a lovely golden brown and had a thin crust all around the outside, while remaining light and airy on the inside. Though the french toast could hold its own without the filling, the sweet ricotta with a touch of orange zest added some flair and extra creaminess which was a bonus. The syrup was very sweet and concentrated, so I liked having it served on the side so I could control the intensity. In terms of flavor, well, I didn't know french toast could be this good until now. It had just the right ratio of cinnamon, sugar, egg, vanilla, orange, ricotta, and bread, and if you wanted to splurge, you could add a dollop of crème Chantilly to the mix (vanilla whipped cream).

The french toast was near perfect, so why not give it a 10? To put it simply, the pineapple. It just didn't work for me at all. It was heavily dowsed in syrup, making it too sweet to eat alone. When I tried pairing it with the french toast to tone it down, the pineapple clashed with the orange zest. I wouldn't know the difference if I never had this pineapple again. So to sum things up, french toast: amazing, pineapple: not so amazing. I'll let you be the judge, but seriously, for only $9.75, you're never going to find french toast of this quality anywhere in SF.