1550 Hyde Cafe & Wine Bar

1550 Hyde St. (and Pacific)
(415) 775-1550

Californian in Russian Hill

We had the game hen and rabbit -- game hen was a bit too salty and the accompanying risotto was funky. It was an interesting (in a good way) change to chicken though. The rabbit was good, and the accompanying pasta was very unique. Both dishes require quite a bit of work to eat, though, since both animals have a lot of small bones -- imagine trying to eat a chicken wing with fork and knife.

Service is good, atmosphere is very cute -- very popular place. Overall, it's pretty good and the food was pretty original. I wasn't blown away, but it's still good =)

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Pesce

2227 Polk St. (and Vallejo)
(415) 928-8025

Italian/Seafood in Russian Hill

i thought that the food here deserved more than four stars, but the friend i was with didn't like one dish, so it must not be a five star restuarant. it's a small little italian seafood restaurant that serves both small plates and regular entrees. (i've decided that i really like small plate restaurants because you get to try more more dishes.) because of its small size and really good food, i would have expected it to be more crowded than it was. most likely it wasn't as busy because of the weekdayness of our reservation. i actually went there on a saturday night, and it still wasn't that crowded. it wasn't empty; just not packed.

the service is okay (i thought the hostess was HORRIBLE! she didn't even show us to our table! she just said "you can sit at that table right there" and pointed. if our waitress wasn't so nice, i would've skimped out on the tip =P) as is the ambience, but the food is great. i would recommend every dish that we tried - oyster shooters with a cool hint of cucumber, braised octopus salad with potatoes, celery, and garlic-lemon vinaigrette, seared day boat scallops in a creamy sauce (the scallops were the best i have ever had!), swordfish rolls (these were just ok... a bit dry), and a smoked platter of salmon, sturgeon, and another fish. the only questionable dish was the squid-ink risotto which i really liked but my friend did not enjoy (this was pretty good - not too cheesey like most risottos, which was nice). (i liked this place so much i was almost tempted not to add that there was a questionable dish, but i guess i must warn other non squid-ink risotto fans.) we also had a main dish - sole - which was ok but nothing special.

come eat here (and bring me along too, i still want to try the crab cakes). This is also a good area to walk around before or afterwards (around Polk and such in Russian Hill), so you can work off your meal =)

- s - k

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La Folie

2316 Polk St. (and Union)
(415) 776-5577

French in Russian Hill

I am uncomfortably full and $85 poorer. Oh, but it was worth it. The restaurant was much smaller than I had imagined - very intimate with warm colors, like most date-ish places. The location is also great - prime Russian Hill area. Service was also very attentive, and our waiter humored my party's silliness and wasn't snotty.

The menu is very flexible - you can choose from a 3-, 4-, or 5-course menu that you arrange yourself, based on lists of appetizers, seafood/meat, and desserts. Don't be fooled - 3 courses is already A LOT! They brought us complimentary extras aside from the bread - high quality raw hamachi before our appetizers, a double shot of melon cream/smoothie to cleanse the palette after our entrees, and additional mini desserts after dessert! SO MUCH FOOD.

Appetizers: foie gras soup (very rich and creamy), foie gras & squab "lollipops" (REALLY GOOD), crab napolean with pineapple chips and apple gelee (the sweet and fishy combo didn't quite work... but it was refreshing in a strange way), goat cheese tartin with roasted vegetables (ok), scallop (yes, singular. i've never had it not fully cooked. was not a fan).

Entrees: sea bass (the corn was realllly good, pea-truffle gnocchi was ok... could really only taste the truffle... the skin of the fish was delightfully crispy, but the taste was a little too fishy for me), veal wrapped in some kind of mushroom (ok... the mushroom was kind of cheesy, which threw me off), lobster with ginger ravioli (ok... beautiful plating though, i must say... amazing colors), rabbit trio (one part looked like sushi and it was a bit dry. the good part was the leg - very moist, unlike most rabbit you'll find), quail&squab (very good. truffles did get a little tiresome, but the flavors were all there, and the surrounding potatoes gave nice texture).

Desserts: coconut tapioca with passionfruit sorbet & basil sauce (the basil totally threw me off. it tasted kind of foul by itself, but altogether it actually worked) and frozen lemon cream torte with fresh fruit (honestly, i like anything lemon). I must say that the best part was the assortment of mini desserts when we got our check. One of them was this bite of chocolate ganache with a hazelnut something... so rich and soooo goood. It was like eating a tiny ferrero rocher but ten times more rich.

I haven't had good food in awhile, so this meal was definitely a welcome change of pace. I must say that this is one of the best (and most expensive) restaurants I've been to. Lots of foie gras and truffles which can get old, but even though I tend to be attracted to creativity and uniqueness, nothing beats high quality classics. Very solid. =)

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