Food Adventure Team

I never got around to writing a detailed review of Bissap Baobab, unfortunately. Here’s the short review: Delicious food. Everything that was ordered was wonderful, especially the fish. Was a little disappointed about the meat to veggie ratio (too much meat, very little veggie), but I was told it’s not usually like that. Loved the hot ginger juice after dinner. Cocktails looked wonderful, though I did not partake. Service during the meal was a little slow, but that’s probably because they were very busy. Service before the meal was upsetting: I had made a reservation for 8, but then a couple of people bailed last-minute. I called about an hour ahead to let them know. Then one more person bailed, which I didn’t find out till I got to the restaurant. The owner was very rude and made us wait 45 minutes for our table because of the changes; apparently changing your reservation nullifies it? The host was extremely nice, though of course he didn’t have any power over the owner. The experience set the tone for the night, so even though the food and drink was delicious, I felt kind of “eh” about the place. I’d go back though, with a smaller party.

Neo-sortof-Italian place in the Mission. Incredibly tasty & worth the wait (though the 45 minute wait was frustrating, given that we had a reservation and it was freezing out).

Top-notch artisan cocktails (which caused me to break my “no drinking” rule). I got the agricole mule, and enjoyed it most out of all the drinks I tried (dolores park swizzle – delicious but SO STRONG; gaby de lys – DO NOT WANT; nuestra paloma – really fresh and yummy but also somewhat odd-tasting)

We ordered a bunch of appetizers for the table:

• cauliflower with pangratatto, capers & sage — loved the pangratatto, capers, & sage, but found the cauliflower just too much like something mom would cook (as an ingredient)
• bruschette of robiola & broccoli rabe (ok, that one was on the house for how long they kept us waiting even with the reservation) — not bad but not exciting either
• chicken liver crostini alla toscana — I’m not much of a liver person, but those who are were delighted by this one.
• gnocchi, fresh porcini mushrooms & guanciale — Holy crap delicious. Just delicious.
• herb bread with extra virgin olive oil — so soft and fresh and cheesy and herby and yuuuuuum.

My favorites were definitely the gnocchi and the herb bread.

Among the entrees that were ordered that I tried were:

• prosciutto di parma, tomato, arugala & mozzarella pizza — My entree. Quite tasty but not actually as exciting as I’d hoped)
• potato, rosemary, raddichio & gorgonzola piccante pizza — Very, very interesting, sharp flavors. Extremely rich. Wouldn’t be able to eat more than one piece.
• mozzarella, fontina & pecorino with garlic oil pizza — Had it for leftovers the next day. Was tasty but not amazing, but then again, it’d been refrigerated and reheated at that point.
• pork saltimbocca alla romana — Quite tasty! But only had a single small bite
• squid ink risotto with calamari Amazing! Being black from the squid ink, I expected it to be heavy, but it was very light and lemony — such an unexpected and awesome flavor/appearance clash)
• saffron risotto with osso buco — also extremely yummy!

Conclusion: TASTY! Would definitely go back, again, and again, and again.