Where to Eat - The House

My friend Linda took me here for my birthday dinner back in December. I had heard a lot of buzz about it and we were pretty excited to check it out - I think it shows up in the top five listings on yelp for San Francisco restaurants. The food was tasty and the decor was super cute but the food styling felt dated. Everything we ordered was plated with a little too much care - it felt like someone back there was trying too hard. I also subscribe to the Coco Chanel jewelry theory of food - 2 things could have been eliminated from each dish to simplify it's appearance.

When we decided we wanted to have my dinner here we looked up the menu online and immediately decided we would eat the above deep-fried salmon rolls. The salmon is wrapped in seaweed, coated in won ton and fried until it is crispy on the outside and creamy on the inside. It is plated with a spicy slaw of carrot, cabbage and beansprouts and sprinkled with crunchy black caviar. The combination of flavors and textures is lovely and the quality of the fish is not compromised even though it is fried. I also love the spicy mustard dipping sauce.

Next we had the crispy white tempura shrimp served with avocado and greens. I think we should have ordered only one fried starter. I feel like I was a little overwhelmed by the double dose and these came off as kind of meh. I would have been happier with a full plate of greens and no shrimp. I also think the salmon was coated so well while the batter tasted greasy and the shrimp overdone. To be fair - I like my shrimp under.

I really loved the above white shrimp and chive dumplings but I'm a white girl from Connecticut so I'm not the best authority on them. I thought they were super tasty. The ponzu sauce had the perfect tang to it and none of the dumplings broken when dipped - a pet peeve of mine. I would definitely order them again and they were much lighter than the other appetizers we had.

We split the much raved about sea bass entree. It was marinated with a ginger soy sauce and was cooked to perfection. However, the circles of spray bottle squirted sauces and ruler stick length plantain chips were unnecessary and annoying. The sushi roll plopped on top was ridiculous. I would have preferred the edited version of the dish. All in all I would go back here but would be more selective on my menu choices. It definitely made me realize what a food minimalist I am!