The Week's Local Eats:
I have to admit, this was a bit of a boring week. Some repeat locations, then I got sick and couldn't taste food for the rest of the week. I guess you win some, you lose some. Here are some thoughts on the places I checked out this week.
Martin Mack's:
Since I haven't talked about Martin Mack's yet, I figure I can add it to this week's list. It's a repeat, as we do weekly trivia here, and it's a fun one. In the center of the Haight, Martin Mack's is your larger-than-expected local pub, playing headquarters to Brainstormer Trivia and hosting its weekly quiz at 8pm on Tuesday nights. Definitely stick to the basics here, I don't recommend going for cocktails or anything fancy. The servers are friendly, the food is classic pub fare, and there's even a pool table in the back. Plenty of TVs for catching your favorite game.
Bartlett Hall:
Another repeat, but one I haven't talked about yet. My cousin was in town so we grabbed a quick beer and snack here. Great beer list, including house-made brews, and a hefty list of snacks and fuller plates. On this particular visit, I had one of their double IPAs and the shishito peppers. My favorite part of shishito peppers is trying to guess which'll be the hot one (and in my case, snagging it before anyone else does). Both Josh and I wound up with 2-3 hot ones, so epic success.
Mina Test Kitchen: The Company
This was supposed to be my pièce de résistance for the week. The third concept from the Mina Test Kitchen. I LOVED Middle'terranea, found Little Italy to be just ok, and I had high hopes for the Company. Of course, our reservation couldn't come at a worst time. After being sick for three days, I was just starting to be able to breathe through my nose again, but my ability to do so was unpredictable and I still wasn't tasting everything I was eating. Of course, the perfect cure for that should be very flavorful Indian food! My friend Jess and I opted for the full 11-course menu, not wanting to miss a single thing, and arrived promptly Saturday night for our 8:15 reservation. We weren't seated til nearly 8:45, but we were given complementary glasses of champagne while we waited, which more than made up for it! Overall... I probably give it 4 stars. The good things were better than Little Italy, but still not as great as Middle'terranea. Stands outs for me were the perfectly spicy rasam, the traditionally flavored pakora chaat, the refreshing spiced crab salad, the tenderly smoky chicken, and the potato side dish with an awesome kick. On the flip side, this was the first time I had dishes I didn't want to finish. The kashmiri kofta was so dense I couldn't eat it, and the service was so rushed that when we had five dishes piling up on our tiny table and getting cold, we actually had to send things back. This is SUCH a pet peeve of mine, especially when it comes to tasting style menus. If there are a bunch of unfinished things on the table, please don't bring more. Give us a spare second to actually relax and savor the meal, not just rush through it. Overall, some great hits and some solid misses. Either awesome flavors or completely lacking. I probably wouldn't repeat my visit for this concept, nor do I really recommend the full 11 plates, but I do think it's worth stopping by to see yet another side of the Mina Test Kitchen.
So, that was my week! Can't wait to see what next week has in store!