Dinner in the City at Circolo
A couple of weeks ago the Boyfriend and I went out on a dinner date for our monthly anniversary. We wanted to find a low key restaurant with a good menu and Circolo in San Francisco seemed to deliver that from what I could tell from their website.
When we arrived we found a lovely looking restaurant with chic ambiance without feeling pretentious. The interior is modern and dark with great lighting – the Boyfriend really loved the look and feel. But the food, well, the food is a different story for me.
We’re always drawn to Asian-inspired food and Circolo had a good mix of these flavors incorporated into items like Guava Glazed Pork Ribs and Miso-Glazed Chilean Sea Bass. In order to try everything we wanted, we decided to order a few appetizers and share everything.
For starters, I chose the Pulled Beef Empanadas – unfortunately not a great choice. The menu promised queso fresco. Instead we got fresh pico de gallo. It was nice, but cheese would have made this chewy, doughy mess a little better.
Since the Boyfriend loves any kind of ribs, we got the Guava Glazed Baby Pork Ribs. They were delicious and flavorful at first bite, even the second bite but then got just way too sweet for my liking. Although the little garlic chips used for garnish offered a nice, bitter contrast to the sweetness. Needless to say, my dinner date enjoyed the dish and wolfed it down 
We had originally ordered just two appetizers and one entree to share but since we were still a little hungry we decided to order one more appetizer – the Lemongrass Mussels. For me these were a slight let down as well. The best thing about ordering mussels is the yummy sauce that sits at the bottom of the bowl for us to dip our bread in. But alas, there was no sauce, not even a little bit. Le sigh.
Finally our last dishes arrived and the restaurant was nice enough to split our Star Anise Duck Breast. This plate was actually pretty tasty, but would have been even better if the duck were cooked medium rare like it’s supposed to be instead of over. We had our duck with a little side of Chipotle Mashed Potatoes but didn’t really need it; by this time, we were pretty stuffed but that didn’t stop me from ordering dessert.
I picked out the Mango and Asian Pear Crepes which I’m happy to say was the yummiest thing we ate all evening. The fruit was sliced thinly and then wrapped in delightfully light crepes topped with fresh strawberries, blueberries and powdered sugar. It was so delicious that I want the Boyfriend to take me back there for drinks and dessert – and skip dinner all together.
If you’re ever in San Francisco, check out Circolo’s bar and dessert menu located in Potrero Hill! I know I’ll be back from some of those yummy crepes!
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On September 16th, 2008 Marisol said:
I love your food reviews. They just make me hungry!