Friday, March 4, 2011

Alamo Square Seafood Grill in San Francisco

Alamo Square Seafood Grill in San Francisco's Hayes Valley is a quaint Parisian style cafe tucked away between Victorian homes on Fillmore Street. It's a popular neighborhood spot that's been open for 9 years. The restaurant is tastefully decorated and very small, about 10-15 tables total with no formal bar. The General Manager, Andre, is a highlight of the place. His garish French attitude is fun and he says everything with a smile while God knows what he is thinking in his head. He adds quite a bit to the charm and amusement to the place.

The menu is proportionate to the restaurant, small but good. It is almost entirely seafood except for three land lover dishes: a rib eye, a chicken and a vegetarian dish. Fish is their speciality, with few shellfish choices, so you really need to like fish fish to enjoy your meal here. I had the blackened sole with tomatoes, capers, olives and my mother the grilled salmon with bearnaise white wine, shallots and tarragon hollandaise. Both fish dishes were delicious. My fiance asked Andre what he would recommend and in fine French fashion he looks him over and said, "you will have the sauteed salmon with beurre blanc" and quickly scribbled it down on his pad. We all called out "no!"  as he was looking for one of the land lover dishes and not fish, but we all liked his enthusiasm. His rib eye turned out to be delicious with its yummy truffle butter and pmme frites (french fries). We had the creme brulee for dessert and it was divine but the crust wasn't hardened enough and I wasn't able to get that cracking sound when I dove in for my first bite.

Alamo Square Seafood is a delicious under recognized restaurant. Its a neighborhood favorite but should also be a San Francisco landmark. It's got everything you need on a night out on the city, a little attitude, quaint atmosphere and delicious fresh seafood. Plus they have 1/2 wine on Mondays and no corkage fees on Wednesdays!

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