Saturday, September 15, 2007

Cafe Bastille

To celebrate our one year mark, my boyfriend Jonny and I went out to what turned out to be a really wonderful and incredibly special meal.

We took advantage of the transit system in San Francisco and took a bus to 22 Belden Place.. A lovely hidden little alleyway in the heart of Downtown. Between Bush and Pine off of Montgomery, Cafe Bastille is among about seven other restauratns of varous cuisine. From Mediterranean to French, the alleyway is lit with hanging white sparkling lights, and the seating is very European and all outside. It's really a great place. The food was just as great as the atmosphere.




We started off with an appetizer of goat cheese with a roasted red bell pepper cream sauce, which came with two pieces of toast to dip.. It. Was. So. Good:



Then we ordered penne pasta with a light basil sauce, and bay shrimp and tomato. This pasta was probably the best pasta I've ever had:



Grilled New York steak with pommes frites, french beans and black pepper sauce. Really great steak:



To top it all off, the prices are pretty reasonable.. And to top it all off even more, Jonny paid!

5 comments:

voidfiles said...

I love that little row. If you guys ever go back their you have to go to plouf ( the sound a stone makes when its dropped into a french stream). They have some of the best mussles in the city; with an order of their pommes frites , you have a cheap incredibly tasty meal. They supposedly have great desserts as well but I have never tried, the mussels were enough. its easy to get a reservation too you can use Open Table.

Nicole Leigh said...

I need to bring my boyfriend to that area! I love how you documented your meals and your pictures look great. This place got pretty good reviews on yelp, my personal restaurant guide. How did you find it?

Ryannn said...

I heard about the mini French quarter from one of my roommates and now it looks like I'll have to take my girlfriend there sometime. The pictures are making me hungry. A good place I could recommend is Volare Cafe, an authentic Sicilian restaurant in North Beach. Their Gnocchi Gorgonzola is amazing! Definitely check it out if you're interested in authentic Italian food for a reasonable price.

NattieAnn said...

That food looks amazing! I love going to new restaurants and enjoying their food. I went to a place down in southern California that was really good, a small Italian place. I can't remember the name but it was really good. I went to the Macaroni Grill today. It was only my second time there. This visit, I had the Lobster Ravioli, which was fabulous. I loved it.

Marie Drennan said...

Yum! Thanks for a great meal, Jonny! I'll definitely have to check this place out. You're an impassioned food writer, clearly; nice job here. I'd encourage you to write even a little more "deeply" about what you liked about the dishes (more specific than "good" or "great")! Looking forward to more delicious posts.

A few bugs to fix:

"From Mediterranean to French, the alleyway is lit" (awkward; means "is lit from Mediterranean to French")

Don't capitalize ingredients of menu items (goat cheese, penne pasta, black pepper sauce, etc.). If you're writing exact names of menu items, you can capitalize everything, but only then.

"pommes frites" (sp)