(Originally posted on August 17, 2008)
Drove into SF last night and tangoed with the misty fog in the process. One of Rar's closest friends - Matt - dropped in from Guam - that's right, "dropped in," from GUAM, so crazy! haha - and we all went up to have dinner - Matt, Germaine, Bora, Rar and I. Great little place, just wish the servings were larger so we didn't have to order as much, but who doesn't like variety?
Right in the Marina District on Steiner off Lombard, Isa seems to be a pretty popular with almost a full crowd at 9pm on a Saturday. We dressed up nice not formal, and we were doing quite all right. This joint is a trendy little French-Asian fusion tapas bar ensconced in dim lighting but a semi-rowdy atmosphere. Its dishes are towards the smaller end but semi-pricey. We ordered 9 dishes - lots to taste so here we go!
1. Dungeness Crab Salad with haricot verts, grapefruit, mango, arugula & citrus vinaigrette. This dish is pretty good - reminded me of the seafood tower (but shorter and flatter) from Lattitude in Monterey. The mango did it for me. The rest mixed in well. Not too good of an analysis here, but it's worth a try.
2. Seared Grade A Foie Gras with poached pear in port & vanilla custard brioche. The star of this little dish was the poached pear - LOVED it. It melts in your mouth. Did not try the brioche, but the foie gras was pretty good - just kind of over-greased.
3. Tuna Ceviche. This one came with little crostinis, citrus-marinated raw tuna carpaccios, and topped off with cilantro. The crostinis were great in neutralizing the vinegary taste of the well-marinated tuna, keeping each bite juicy but not overwhelming.
4. There was one more appetizer that I cannot remember...
5. Baked Butterfish in Paper with truffles, king trumpets & haricot verts. Awesome dish - fish just slides off in your mouth. Haven't had butterfish much, if at all, but the "buttery" taste comes through while the actual seasoning is relatively light. It comes wrapped in cooking paper with mushrooms, capers, and some other unintelligible seasonings. Really good!
6. Potato Wrapped Halibut with capers, tomato confit, lemon & beurre noisette. Totally forgot to try, but from the responses of others, I'd say it was bangin.
7. Rocky Jr. Range Chicken with fresh herbs under crispy skin, mashed potatoes & jus de poulet. Comes in a small portion of dark meat and a bigger portion of white meat. Skin = crispy and well-seasoned (you can see herbs all up in its business). Meat = VERY juicy and tender, especially near the skin. The middle part was a bit dry and flat on taste, just because the piece was so thick. Overall pretty good!
8. Grilled Natural Flat Iron Steak with summer squash, potatoes, moutarde verte & bordelaise sauce. That bordelaise sauce is pretty good on the steak. 8 little slices gave everyone a chance at a bite. Tender and medium-well (I think?), the steak was well grilled on the outside - hard but with lots of strong flavor. The potatoes were great, too!
9. Maple Leaf Duck Breast with grilled spring onion, young mustard greens, wild huckleberries & port. Good dish here that came out last for Germaine. Duck came in 8 little slices, and it is tender and well-seasoned. There were some beets on that dish - had this interesting smokey taste/feel to it.
So all those dishes later, we did not have room for dessert. Overall did not feel that whole French-Asian fusion feature, but it's a good place to try some cool dishes!
http://www.yelp.com/biz/isa-san-francisco
http://www.isarestaurant.com/index.html
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