Last night we hit a place in downtown San Francisco called Cafe Claude and had the best meal we’ve had since moving to the bay area 5 months ago. It’s a small restaurant tucked away down an alley that you probably wouldn’t notice if you didn’t know it was there.
We were attracted to the place because they were had live jazz, but the music ended up being pretty forgettable background fare. The food was universally excellent though. Service was a little snooty and french, but it wasn’t obnoxious.
I had a flat iron steak which was incredible, and it’s hard to impress me with a steak. It was perfectly medium-rare with a delicious sweet pepper sauce. My wife had a pork filet that was in an almost dessert-sweet sauce with hints of caramel. Everyone at the table commented on how delicious the sauces were on their various dishes. The chocolate mousse for dessert was great, and didn’t just feel like pudding the way a lot of mousse does. Entrees were about $30, and although portions weren’t huge the quality was great. We’ve definitely spent a lot more for much worse food so this place is definitely recommended.
We went to a Mediterranean place last night called Astaria in downtown San Mateo. It’s got nice presentation, and feels like it should have been a good experience and came highly recommended, but we were thoroughly unimpressed with everything we had.
The food is not strictly mediterranean, but more of a fusion with french (they served duck l’orange for example). We had the saganaki, a standard greek appetizer of cheese set alight in burning brandy. Then my wife had the mousaka and I had an herb stuffed salmon. Everything was just ok, but not as good as any of half a dozen generic greek places we went to when we lived in Florida (hardly a bastion of greek culture). I think the difference is that we are used to Greek food prepared in family owned restaurants and it’s got a more authentic flavor. This tasted like someone’s own takeon Greek. Not bad, but not what we were looking for. We won’t be going back.
The price was $60 total for the dishes above plus 1 glass of wine.
Last night we hit Joy Sushi in downtown San Mateo. It was recommended to us as being good quality and inexpensive. The restaurant itself was nice, with a clean, though non-asian atmosphere and the service was good.
The food itself was just “good,” with no real stand out items. The most notable fact is that the portions are very large. A single piece of nigiri here is maybe 50% larger than what I’m used to at other restaurants.
We split a nigiri mix plate (10 peices) and 2 specialty rolls and came out at $31. I’d say if you are looking for decent every-day sushi this place is pretty good.
Yelp reviews of Joy Sushi.
Tonight we went to a place in Foster City, CA called “The Fish Market.” There are a few of them around, and their thing is that the menu changes daily to reflect the currently available seafood and market prices.
I had a ginger crusted halibut which was actually very tasty, and I don’t normally like fish. My wife had a tilapia dish which was pretty bland, but then, it’s tilapia. We had oysters rockafeller as an appetizer and 3 drinks between us and came out at $90. Most entrees are around $17-25.
There was a 45 minute wait at 7PM on a Friday. The food was good, but it wasn’t steller. Overall verdict: meh.
On the recommendation of a coworker we checked out Clay Oven, an Indian restaurant in downtown San Mateo. It was solid, but not extraordinary. It seemed a little expensive for what it was, but that may just be that I’m not used to the bay area yet.
We had two main dishes (chicken tikka masala and chicken vindaloo), two orders of rice (everything is a la carte) and one side of nan and it came to $35.
Yelp reviews and map