Piperade

I had purchased a Travelzoo deal for Piperade in SF. The deal was $79 for any 2 appetizers, 2 entrees and 2 desserts on the menu. It's a Basque restaurant, located at 1015 Battery Street. On a Saturday evening, there was plenty of street parking.

Piperade--Slow Cooked Onion, Pepper, Tomato, Garlic + Ventreche (French pancetta), Poached Egg--$16. This had a lot of flavor but the poached egg was cooked a little too long.

Twice Cooked Oxtail, Pickled Pepper Salpicon (medley)--$16. This was the best appetizer. The oxtail was tender and delicious.

Thinly Sliced Serrano Ham, Extra Virgin Olive Oil Tomato Compote--$18. The ham and compote were nice but could easily have been purchased from a store. It would have been better to choose something that required preparation to showcase the chef's skills.

Four Cheese Plate, Membrillo, Spanish Fig Cake--$20. There was manchego, a sheep, a goat and a blue and the wait staff wasn't able to clarify further. There was only 1 slice of fig cake. It was nothing too special.

Blue Nose Sea Bass, Spinach, Fried Garlic Vinaigrette--$27. The fish was well cooked.

Braised Seafood + Shellfish Stew "Bizkaiko," Pepper Sauce--$29. This had a nice red pepper sauce. There was too much fish in the dish--I would have preferred more shellfish. Overall, I liked it though.

Roasted Rack of Lamb, Merguez, Fennel, Roasted Bread, Pecan, Cumin + Date Relish--$32. The lamb was well prepared and very flavorful. 

Baked Yogurt Cake, Roasted Apricots--$9. This was a cheesecake.

Gateau Basque + Poached Cherries--$9. This was my favorite. It was a marzipan cake but wasn't too dense.

Milk Chocolate + Hazelnut "Rocher"--$9. This was a mousse cake over a crunchy layer of rocher. This was my sister's favorite.

Orange Blossom Beignets--$9. I had read about this dessert on Yelp and everyone raved about the orange blossom fragrance. I thought this was just okay. It didn't have much flavor. 

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