Betty's List Departments
Signature Sponsors
Media Partners
Betty's List Columns
|
|
 
Blue Plate
Reviewed by David Grabstald, Special to Betty's List
3218 Mission Street (at Valencia)
San Francisco, California 94110
415-282-6777
www.blueplatesf.com
Cuisine: Comfort
Loved: Fast and friendly service, relaxed atmosphere, fresh meat and produce from local farms
To Die For: macaroni with drunken Spanish goat cheese, Blue Plate meatloaf, and Dungeness crab hush puppies
Prices: $$-$$$ (Inexpensive to Moderate)
Hours: Monday through Thursday 6:00 PM – 10:00 PM
(10:30 PM on Friday and Saturday)
Noise Level: Loud
Service: Extremely attentive
Romantic: no
Reservations: highly recommended
Good for Kids: no
Good to Know: gift certificates available, fairly extensive wine list from both known and lesser-known wineries
Recommended / Rating: 3 Stars (0=Don’t Bother to 5=Highly Recommend)
Growing up in the South, Texas to be exact, there was something comforting about sitting down for supper, as my Nana used to call it, knowing we’d soon be piling our plates full of her warm mashed potatoes, juicy fried chicken, moist meatloaf and fried okra. Of course, she’d never think of serving a good red wine with supper, instead giving us glass after glass of sugary iced tea or bottles of ice-cold Dr. Pepper to drink. While I haven’t found a place that serves comfort food like my Nana did, I must admit that Blue Plate, in the Outer Mission, comes close with some good comfort food at affordable prices. Nana would be proud.
What makes Blue Plate a great find is, despite being in business since 1999, it still remains one of those places that’s a little off the beaten path as far as restaurants go. Despite its location, it was still packed when my friends and I arrived for dinner on a recent chilly Saturday night. I’d picked Blue Plate for dinner as I’d received several emails and phone calls from friends telling me about its service and menu. I’d also recently starting dating someone, and on this night, was going to introduce him to a couple of my friends.
Atmosphere
The dark and comfortable dining room is a bit on the small side, but nonetheless comfortable. In addition to a back patio, there is also a quaint backyard garden to dine in during warmer weather. Inside, the walls are covered with a fun mix of various artwork from San Francisco artists. For more adventurous diners, there is a six-seat counter overlooking the kitchen. The main dining room seats fifty people. Upon entering the restaurant, we were promptly seated at our table, which was located directly behind a small bar/waitstaff area where washed glasses were continually being moved back and forth to a storage area before being used. Throughout our meal, there was a rather annoying clinking noise permeating our conversation.
On a more positive note, the friendly, casually dressed waitstaff were quite knowledgeable about the menu, including vegetarian and vegan options, and other specials for the evening. Fresh water was brought promptly and there was a steady stream of people asking us if we needed anything else.
The Food
Executive Chef Cory Obenour uses local organic meat, seafood and produce from local farms as much as possible. His eye for finding what’s fresh is apparent throughout his menu, which changes quite often.
Starters included a fresh, fun, and fabulous shaved cabbage and apple salad with New York cheddar and toasted walnuts ($8); delicious cornmeal fried oysters with smoked bacon, chopped egg and lemon-garlic vinaigrette ($9); succulent seared scallops with gold beets, shaved fennel, Cara Cara oranges, and watercress ($12) and pan roasted chicken livers with sweet and sour onion, pancetta, medjool dates and corn flakes ($8). One of my favorite starters was the marvelous Dungeness crab hush puppies with Piquillo pepper tartar sauce ($12), which were lightly fried, fresh, and ever-so satisfying without a hint of fishiness.
Two outstanding main courses included the New York steak with horseradish cream and herb fries ($28), which was a definite delicious hit, as was the Blue Plate meatloaf with mashed potatoes and blue lake green beans ($14). The meatloaf was moist and tasty without a hint of dryness. Other good choices included the baked penne with taleggio, walnuts, treviso radicchio, and vanilla poached pear ($16) which was a bit too cheesy for my taste; duck confit with butternut squash farroto, baby spinach and sage pesto ($19) and the grilled pork chop with braised cabbage, smoked bratwurst, and chestnut dressing ($23). If the large portions aren’t enough for you, try a few of their side orders, including broccoli rabe with lemon garlic and chili flakes ($5); brussel sprouts with pecans, sage, and brown butter ($5) and a not-to-be missed macaroni with drunken Spanish goat cheese ($7), which was the perfect blend of pasta and cheese, unlike the previously mentioned baked penne.
Desserts, which I could barely touch because I was so full, included a dusty road sundae with vanilla ice cream, malt, bittersweet hot fudge and candied almonds ($7); buckwheat waffles with huckleberry swirl ice cream ($7) and tangerine, Meyer lemon and grapefruit sorbets with cornmeal cookies ($7).
For an out-of-the-way restaurant, Blue Plate is a great place to find delicious comfort food that even Nana would be proud of. And, you can even order red wine if you want to.
 
Bio & Past Articles
Past Articles
|
Betty's List Restaurant Review
Columnist David Grabstald.
An enthusiastic freelance writer, editor and copywriter with marketing, media and daily newspaper experience, David serves as senior food critic for Betty's List. His articles have been published by Macy's Westbound, Mervyn's, The New Filmore, SF Examiner, Marina Times, North Texas Daily, And Baby Magazine and others. He is an experienced writer of grant proposals, documentation plans, feasibility reports, press releases, employee procedure manuals and other formats. David has written news scripts for NBC and produced video packages for the Irving Community Television Network. David can be reached at dgrabstald@gmail.com. His website is http://davidgrabstald.blogspot.com/ |
|
