Food review blog from San Francisco.

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.