Recently named the best new restaurant in America, angler is not inexpensive and calling it more casual and affordable than saison is like saying the lamborghini veneno is more affordable than the lamborghini veneno roadster.
Service was great and overall it was really good and i would return just for the pertral sole and soft serve sundae.
purple sea urchin
More of a lobster bisque with about three tongues of uni in it. Good, but not great and pretty small at $40. I wish they were serving saison’s uni toast instead.
petrale sole (half moon bay) #solefood
best dish of the night, cooked perfectly and served with a side of brown butter. better than dover sole i had at republique
heirloom tomato with honey vinegar
holy shit, mind fucking blow, the best tomato i’ve ever had and possible the best thing i’ve had at angler so far. the tomato itself was perfect but then it was topped with fourteen tomatoes cooked down in the embers and the concentration of sweet, smoky, umami flavors was incredible. it was basically tomato turned up to 11 and as dave chang would say a “fuck you josh skenes” dish.
Near to the kitchen live tanks bubble, filled with abalone, urchin, fish, and all manner of sea creatures, delivered daily by fisherman to the pier outside the restaurant.
Where the hell did she get that bit of nonsense? Pier 14, which is across the street but separated from the restaurant by six lanes of traffic and two sets of streetcar tracks, does not have a dock.
Fun spot that’s open late along the Embarcadero. I’d go back for the oysters & clams, tuna tartare, heirloom & embered tomatoes, and some cocktails specifically. There were no uni or spot prawns on the menu that day, unfortunately.
We drank a 1er Chassagne Montrachet, some 1er Chablis, and 2 cocktails - a bbq pineapple daquiri with coconut that was smooth as Marvin Gaye, and a maple Islay whiskey drink. All very good, particularly the daquiri.
Oysters & clams, with seaweed vinegar, meyer lemon, and hot sauce Beyond reproach; great! The seaweed vinegar was quite interesting and savory. Pacific Gem oysters and Cherrystone clams were our favorites.
Nashville hot fried rabbit wrapped in foie gras. (Like a rich version of rabbit meatloaf; spice was mild, but it picked up with their house hot sauce).
Nice report @BradFord. Encouraging to hear that Saison’s casual spinoff is generally very good. In terms of execution, satisfaction, etc., would you say it’s like a Michelin 1 Star? Or more casual / less well executed than that? Thanks!
Thanks - I’m not sure about Michelin these days; I think they’re rather over-inclusive and predictable. There are some in SF that baffle me, 1* in particular, so I’m not sure a Michelin 1* is that good a gauge of a great restaurant anymore, unfortunately.
What I can say is that I really liked the oysters & clams, tuna tartare, heirloom tomato, potato, and simple salad. (note that the tuna doesn’t have a ton of taste but the dish is well composed with the heirloom tomato water gelee and shiso buds; delicious overall). I’d go back for those. And the super smooth daquiri. I’d also like to explore more of the menu - the whole fish, for example.
There’s no tasting menu but the cost can get up there, naturally. Ingredients were very nice across the board, but if I’m going to nitpick, I didn’t care for the albacore (olives were too strong; the toppings kind of fell off when you pick it up, I guess you could fold it but it didn’t eat as easy as most “crudos”), antelope was nice but I prefer classic preparations of steak tartare, the citrus on the abalones was a little strong (perhaps that’s intentional), and the rabbit was juicy (it was wrapped with foie before frying) but the meatloaf-like texture was not quite what I expected. Now, I’m known to be quite critical, but I definitely want to try it again. I will do the oysters & clams (these are beyond reproach, and the seaweed vinegar is so interesting!), tuna tartare, heirloom tomato (beautiful smoke flavor and different textures and flavors of tomato), and maybe the whole chicken, whole fish, or whole steak. Overall, ingredients are very good and execution is nice - there are some great dishes to try there and I’m glad it’s an option in SF.
Recently named the best new restaurant in America, angler is not inexpensive and calling it more casual and affordable than saison is like saying the lamborghini veneno is more affordable than the lamborghini veneno roadster.
Service was great and overall it was really good and i would return just for the pertral sole and soft serve sundae.
purple sea urchin
More of a lobster bisque with about three tongues of uni in it. Good, but not great and pretty small at $40. I wish they were serving saison’s uni toast instead.
petrale sole (half moon bay) #solefood
best dish of the night, cooked perfectly and served with a side of brown butter. better than dover sole i had at republique