I went to Delfina in San Francisco yesterday with TJFKAK. This restaurant has been pretty well-reviewed, with a four star yelp rating and a pretty full reservation list. In fact, we could only get reservations on Saturday at 5:30 or 9:30…and the place was packed until nearly 11pm.
Delfina is located in a plain building in the mission. Parking is pretty tough to find and there are not really any parking garages nearby.
The restaurant itself is nice, but plain. TJFKAK said she liked the quilted material lining the top of the walls. But the place was pretty small and noisy. It’s one of those places people call ‘intimate’, but they really mean cramped.
Apparently the menu here changes frequently…and we got a good one. For starters we got salt cod mantecato, not really knowing what mantecato was. We also got fresh cured anchovies and Gnocci. TKFKAK got the pork belly for her entree, while I got the hanger steak.
The anchovies came first. This was a really neat dish. The anchovies were arranged in ‘x’s in a pool of oil. The flavor of the anchovies was amazing, with the salty kind of briny taste infused throughout the meat. It was impressive how they got so much flavor in the little filets of fish.
The mantecato came next (not pictured). What we discovered was that the mamtecato is a spread that you put on crackers. The cod had an interesting consistency - it was baked, I believe, into a brulee-like dish, and was rich and easy to spread. But it wasn’t like a puree, the cod was almost flaky. This dish was also very good, although the spices on the lavosh-style crackers was a bit overwhelming. It also didn’t fit well into the meal, I thought. I would have preferred a salad in place of the mantecato…or to be served the mantecato first, followed by the anchovies.
Next was the pasta course, and Delfina conveniently split a single order into two smaller dishes. This was actually perfect size-wise for us.
According to TJFKAK, the gnocci was perfectly done. Light and fluffy, bit a bit of spongyness. The light sauce was also very well done. It was a subtle tomato basil sauce, but the ingredients were clearly very fresh and this really gave the gnocci a kind of crisp, herby flavor. I’ve had gnocci that was just submerged in a heavy sauce and that was always a bit disappointing…but at Delfina, the sauce was light enough to really keep the gnocci well-textured.
The hanger steak entree came last, of course, and by this time I was pretty full. The waitress suggested that the meat be cooked medium rare, and this was a good call. The steak had a flavorful crust, while remaining red and juicy in the middle. The sauce was red-wine based, I believe, and it worked.
Out of all the dishes, this was probably the least inventive dish, but it was done very well and was very satisfying. The side served with the steak was french fries, and these were nicely done as well with fried rosemary and basil integrated into the fries.
TJFKAK’s entree was interesting. It was a pork belly surrounded by clams and sauteed cuttle fish. The combination of seafood and pork was unusual. The pork belly was cooked nicely - the fat was crispy while the meat was fall-apart tender. TJFKAK didn’t really like the addition of clams, and I agree that it created an odd mix of flavors. The sliced cuttlefish was a great addition though - with a rubbery texture that absorbed the flavor of the dish well.
All in all, Delfina exceeded expectations - and all for a $90 bill including tax and tip and a bottle of wine. I like the idea of a constantly changing menu, and it seemed that the menu we saw had a good mix of different italian dishes.
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