Foods tasted - Endive salad, Escargot, Braised short ribs, Foie Gras (served with crostinis)
Thoughts -
1. Endive salad - It's similar to a Caesar salad with the anchovies but with grilled endives, shaved Parmesan cheese instead of grated, and cherry tomatoes. Grilled endives really adds to the taste and quality of the salad. There is a fine line between just the right amount of anchovies and too much anchovies which can end up overpowering the whole salad, but La Goulue did a great job with its salad. Unfortunately, since I'm not usually a fan of cherry tomatoes I did not taste them personally but I was told they were great.
2. Escargot - It has been a long time since I've had escargot and this dish reminds me why I enjoy them so much. These were cooked outside of their shells in lots of garlic butter with a piece of puff pastry on top of each snail. I'm guessing it's suppose to resemble beef wellington. Although I liked that they weren't overcooked, I think I prefer them served in the shells so that I'm not fishing the piece of escargot out from the bottom of the tray from a pool of butter like this time. Although the puff pastry idea is great and I can see why it would go well with the garlic butter since it's buttery to begin with, I honestly think I could've done without it or have it come on the side because while it was baking on top of the wells of butter, the bottom layers of the puff pastry began to get soggy.
3. Braised short ribs - The ribs were served boneless and the meat was tender but I honestly think the dish would've been better if the bones were left on. From experience, the longer the meat stays on the bones, the better it tastes, and these were just above average. There's something about being able to use a salad fork to pick pieces of meat off the bone because it's an indication that the dish was very well made. The sauce was great. The carrots, celery, and mashed potatoes were all pretty good. As good as it was, I think the restaurant could've done much better in the selection of sides to go along with the braised short ribs and be more creative instead of having their dish turning out like a standard American pot roast that I can make at home myself. So on that note I'm somewhat disappointed.
4. Foie gras (fattened goose liver) with crostinis - I must say that I was a bit apprehensive in trying it because of all the bad experiences I've had with liver growing up, but I suppose it was time for me to suck it up and try something "exotic." The crostinis were nice, warm, and crunchy. The foie gras was surprisingly tasty with no irony after taste like a normal liver. Perhaps something was done to it to get rid of that taste? Since I don't know how to prepare it, I have no idea. As long as I think of it as something similar to salmon pate I'm fine. I don't see myself purposely ordering foie gras, but I think I can deal with taking a taste or two if someone else orders it.
Final thoughts - Very yummy in My Tummy? Yeah I guess it did the trick. Would I go back? I honestly don't know. Other than the fact I don't foresee myself visiting North Beach any time soon, I just don't think the food we got was worth the money. It was a nice atmosphere and all and we got to sit outside, but I think it was
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