this post is filed under Cuisine - French, Location - San Francisco

Only had one real dinner in SF before I went to Vancouver, and it was at a new place called La Suite. It took over the old Slanted Door location (the middle one along Embarcadero, not the Mission one), and serves brasserie-style French Provencal cuisine. The space is very large, with a dark wood interior.

kobe beef tartare with mustard, piment d'espelette, and croutons - $12

wood-grilled niman ranch entrecote au herbes de provence, with bearnaise sauce and pomme frites - $28

The beef tartare was great. They bring the various ingredients (beef, egg, mustard, capers, onions, etc.) and mix it tableside. The croutons (not pictured) were garlicky and crisp. Kobe beef works well with tartare, as you might expect. The marbled fattiness adds a wonderful soft texture to the dish. I ate a lot of beef at this meal. The entrecote (bearnaise sauce not pictured) was also very well done. I consider the steak frites a barometer for any bistro or brasserie and La Suite executes it well. The beef was very tender and flavorful, and nice and fatty like it should be. It was grilled just enough to give it a hint of that hot charred taste, but still very medium rare. The fries were well-seasoned and crispy.

La Suite has a huge and interesting menu. There were probably over 10 dishes in the appetizer list that I'd like to try. Certainly not the cheapest place for bistro-type fare, but I think I'll probably go back in the future. Let me also note that the service was very friendly. I went with Keith and my dad - Keith had a flight to catch, and we were late because of traffic, leaving us very little time to eat (less than an hour). The service was very quick and accommodating, and we got out of there quick.

Hi Arthur,
Are you still in Vancouver? I'm heading up there in a few weeks and am curious what you would suggest for restaurants. I have quite a few on my list so I know I won't get to all of them, but any eating info you care to share would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

Megan

Here's my tentative list that I MUST pare down:
Lumiere
Feenies
Vij's
Rangoli
Memphis Blues Barbecue House
Pink Pearl Chinese Restaurant
Sun Sui Wah Seafood Restaurant
Tojo's Restaurant
Tsunami Sushi
Umami Tapas & Wine Bar
Wild Rice
C Restaurant
Raincity Grill
West Restaurant and Bar (ouest)
Cassis Bistro
Kedah House
Pondok Indonesia
Gyoza King
Phnom Penh Restaurant

(Sorry for the long comment)

posted by megwoo on December 30, 2004 07:06 PM

Hey Megan - I'm in Vancouver until Jan 2nd. Got quite a few places to post. I've only been to a few of the places on your list but here are some quick thoughts:

Lumiere: I haven't been, but I've heard it's excellent - make a stop if you can. I just haven't had the chance to go.
Feenies: I went there last summer. It was solid, but it's not can't-miss.

Memphis Blues: Went there a year or two ago. I thought it was good, but I haven't really been to the real BBQ areas in the US for comparison. I haven't been back since the first time - I imagine it's nothing special compared to what you might get in the US.

Sun Sui Wah: Excellent high end Chinese banquet style food. Make sure to get the fried squab.

Tojo's: Just went there last night, and I'll be posting about it soon. We had a wonderful omakase. Expensive by Vancouver standards but still a deal compared to the US.

Gyoza King: This place is awesome. I went there once last summer and again this past week. The small dish Japanese/izakaya thing seems to be pretty hot in Vancouver right now. Make SURE you try the mentaiko yakiudon (udon with cod roe and butter). Also get the bonito sashimi which I don't think is listed on the menu.

Another place you should try is Hapa Izakaya just down the street from Gyoza King. Similar type of food and also very good. If you want some sushi, I suggest Ajisai. As you can probably tell I tend to favor Japanese when I'm in Vancouver...

posted by Arthur on December 31, 2004 03:40 PM

Arthur,
Thank you so much for the info--especially on which dishes to try. It's so helpful! I can't wait to read more about your Vancouver posts when you get them up.

Thanks again!
Megan

posted by megwoo on January 6, 2005 07:13 PM